More Info →The Gunning Family of Shannon

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On Sunday 4 March 2012 Radio New Zealand played another story of The Horowhenua Collection - by members of the Levin Combined Probus Club.

This episode contained 'The Shannon Family' by Phyllis (Bille) Tennant, read by Veronica Allum.

It was about the Gunning Family of Shannon:

"My name is Phyllis but I've gone through my life being called by my nickname Billie - Billie because if I'd been born a boy, I'd have been named William - after my grandfather William Henry Gunning.

My grandfather was born in Wiltshire, in England. In 1886 he emigrated to New Zealand and arrived in Auckland. He then moved to Wellington where he worked in the grocery business. He married in 1891 and decided to move to British Colombia, in Canada, with his new wife and two young children where he opened a trading on the Yukon goldfields. The climate didn't suit them so they returned to New Zealand and settled in Shannon, in the Horowhenua. They had seven children - my father, was the eldest. Grandfather took over the Manawatu Supply Store in Shannon and expanded the business to include a branch at Tokomaru. The stores sold groceries, hardware, drapery, furniture and grains - everything that those coming to settle in the area might need. Most of the supplies for the shops were shipped into Foxton by boat. Whenever a boat came in, the staff would go over to the docks by horse and cart to collect everything and bring it back to Shannon.

The Manawatu Supplies Stores traded for one hundred years before the big shops and supermarkets opened in Levin and Palmerston North and grocery customers went into town. Sadly the old Shannon store was burnt down around 1985.

My grandfather, William Gunning, served on the local Shannon council for many years and was Mayor of Shannon for part of that time. He had a severe stroke when he was just in his forties - a young age even in those days - and was forced to give up his business and local interests but he lived to 83 and died in 1940.

My father, then aged 25, stepped up and took over and developed the businesses further until they closed. During those years we lived in Stout Street in Shannon. Both my parents were keen gardeners and we had a wonderful vegetable garden and orchard thankfully, because when the depression hit, they were needed to feed our family with eight children.

That house burnt down when my brother was just a baby and, after a time with relatives, we moved into a house in Vogel Street and finally we moved into the old vicarage back in Stout Street.

Of the eight children, all us us born in Shannon, there are just four of us left and we're spread around the country.

Father served in the 1914-18 war. But it was after the Second World War that he saw the need for assistance for returned servicemen and he dedicated his time and effort to building up the Shannon R.S.A. under the auspices of the national body. For his outstanding achievements, he was awarded the R.S.A. Gold Star Award which is still treasured in the family.

Shannon only had a primary school and we all started our education there. For secondary schooling I went to Palmerston North Girls' High. I had a very long school day - it started with catching the train at Shannon then a long walk from the station at Palmerston North to school towards the other end of town. I got to school about 10:30 - so every day I missed the first hour and a half of classes. To make up for this, the school ran a 'train' class every day, after regular classes, which all the train girls went to. This was to help us catch up with the work we had missed - then we walked back to the station for the train back to Shannon, arriving home about 7.

This routine stopped for a couple of years when I went to stay with an aunt in Morrinsville but I came back to the brand new Horowhenua College in 1941 for my final year of school.

One of my happiest memories is of the ballroom dancing classes I went to in the Shannon Parish Hall when I was in my early teens. The Maxina, Two-step and waltzes I learnt then have been part of my social life ever since and I still enjoy a turn on the dance floor.

I was a teacher all my working life and now I'm enjoying my retirement - and my grandchildren and great grandchildren in Levin.

The town of Shannon and much of the North Island owes much to my grandfather, William Henry Gunning. As a direct to his persistence and drive, his idea of an electricity power house on the Mangahao, a major tributory of the Manawatu River, became a reality. The hydro station was officially opened in November 1924 by Prime Minister William Massey., and the power it generates still feeds into the National Grid today - a lasting legacy to the foresight of my grandfather."

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Date

March 2012