Martinborough Museum is planning a series of mini-exhibitions to tell local stories through items in its collection. The first exhibition will open on the weekend of 15-16 February.
The exhibition will be about travel and features a cabin trunk donated to the museum by a local couple back in 1982, as well as other vintage travel memorabilia and curiosities.
Almost 100 years ago a young English woman set off on the long sea trip to the other side of the world. Her name was Lilian Hopwood, her destination Wellington where she was to work as a governess for a family there. She must have been an adventurous person because travelling to a faraway country as a single woman would have been a bold decision back in 1928. She arrived with a cabin trunk that eventually found its way to the Martinborough Museum.
She planned to return to England eventually but this never happened. She came over the hill to work as a governess for Margaret and Howard Spooner of Ngawaka, Hinekura. While Wellington must have been very different from her former life, moving to a Wairarapa farm must have been even more strange and distant.
What happened next? Why did she stay in New Zealand? Who are her descendants in the South Wairarapa today? If you are curious about the answers, go to the museum and find out.
Location: corner Oxford Street and The Square.
Opening hours 10:30 – 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Sunday & public holidays.
Admission: free, but a donation/koha is much appreciated as this is the museum’s main income.
