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Rutherford - The Early Years
Ian Cox and Mike Whittall
Nelson Teaching Resource Centre 1991
ISBN 0-473-01479-3
48 pages. Soft Cover.
22 black/white photos and 10 figures embedded in the text.
Purchasing Details.
Out of Print
My Comments on This Book
The authors were the school teachers at Rutherford's old state (primary) schools at
Foxhill and Havelock respectively. The concept of a small book about Rutherford's
education in the state education system in New Zealand late last century was a good one.
The authors had some local archives to work from but many others weren't accessed. The
book appears as though it were rushed out and there are too many little errors for it to
be highly recommended to schools. For example, the photograph on p24 is not of
Rutherford's parents, as would be obvious to anyone who had seen any photograph of either
parent. Several little errors grate. Some are obvious to anyone with a passing knowledge
of Ernest Rutherford. (For example he was not the 4th son (p7a) but the 4th child and 2nd
son of 12 children.) Other statements (p42 ``his parents outlived several of their
children'' is hardly surprising with the four they outlived being one who died as a baby,
two as children and one as a young married woman) make one wonder about the accuracy of
minor statements which one doesn't know anything about. It is to be hoped that if there is
another edition the book will have a thorough overhaul beforehand.
Errors Noted.
p7a Ernest was the 2nd son and 4th child of James and Martha, not their 4th son.
p10 The reminiscence of the waggon trip to Foxhill was Jim's not Ern's.
p15a His ashes are interred under the flagstone bearing his name in Westminister Abbey.
p24 The photograph is not of Rutherford's parents. This one is from the Nelson Provincial Museum, W E Brown Collection (ref No 11079)
taken in May 1868. It is labelled "Mr and Mrs Rutherford". However it is not of Mr and Mrs James Rutherford, Ernest's parents.
I don't think it is of anyone related to the wider James Rutherford family. It has been copied as Rutherford's parents in several publications.
p37b Ern's failure to obtain a Marlborough Education Board Scholarship in 1885 cannot be
attributed to his having to sit it in Blenheim as he sat it in Havelock.
p47 The family photo was not taken at Brightwater. The props show it was taken in a
studio, Tyree's in Nelson.
Contents
| Part 1 |
The Foxhill Years |
5
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| Part 2 |
The Havelock Years |
23
|
|
Appendix |
45
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Reviews
Not known at this stage.
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