Delivered in St Francis de Sales Church Hall at 7.30 pm Monday 16 February 2009.

Memories and Visions

About Myself

How I came to be in Island Bay:
I was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland on 7 June 1926

Why I immediately became enthusiastic about Island Bay:
Firstly, when I first came to Wellington in 1982, with my Kiwi wife Caryl-Louise. I immediately thought Wellington, with its magnificent big harbour, was one of the most beautiful, impressive and attractive places in the world (and in my then-already-long –life I had seen many of the most famously beautiful places - and harbours) in the world.

I was amazed to discover later that many New Zealanders were not accustomed to thinking of Wellington as an outstanding tourist centre. (It is heartening that, in the years since then, that error has been being increasingly corrected).

And when I first in 1982 came to Island Bay I immediately felt a warm affection for the place.