New Zealand Gold Prospecting & Metal Detecting Forums Archive

Hi all,
Headed out before dawn on Sunday morning to meet up with Erickd for an all day hunt. Eric had researched this little known domain and found some very interesting historical data.
The first couple of hours yielded a good number of pennies and a few small silvers.....then, a deep hit at around 9 inches....scratchy-as but undeniably stable silver numbers.
On first sight of the target I thought it was a small plain silver egg ornament. Within seconds it became very obvious when I noticed a neatly engraved name, then the word "Beckenham" that it was a lot more important than just a piece of jewelry.
Long story short, the small silver egg turned out to be a miniature silver rugby ball, given as a 1st place prize to a small boy in the Canterbury Schools 7 a side rugby tournament, held at Lancaster Park, Christchurch on August 26th , 1916.
Didn't take a huge amount of research to find an article in papers past, detailing the event and naming the winning under 11's team.....and giving the name of one certain young boy who lost his much loved 1st place prize medal.... for me to find some 50 kms away from where it was won...nearly 99 years later.

The next step is to go to Beckenham School and try to locate a school roll of attendance for 1916. If I can find a full name, I hope to be able to track down a living relative and return this precious little momento to it's rightful family decendants.
I'll post any results I get....watch this space.

GL & HH to all.

Edited by user Tuesday, 9 June 2015 9:12:58 AM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

That is very cool num8 & I bet that little fella was very upset!

Yeah, I would think that more than a few tears would have been shed....poor little guy :(

A bit more research has enlightened me to the fact that all donations and proceeds given by the public during this tournament, were donated to the family of a Canterbury Rugby Representative who had died suddenly a couple of months before at the age of 35, leaving a widow and a young family behind. His name was Lewis Corbett.

In honour of his Father, Lewis's son (little Leo Corbett aged 6 years) played in the 7 a side tournament in the under 10 year olds category for Marist Bro's (his Fathers club).........and ended up in the winning team! No doubt his father would have been so very proud of him, and I'm sure that the wee fella would have been presented with one of these little inscribed football momento's too.

Such a cool story learned from such a small piece of Canterbury history.........................man I love this hobby!


Here's a link to Papers Past for those interested, all about Lewis Corbett.....a very accomplished Rugby stalwart of his day.

http://paperspast.natlib...amp;d=SUNCH19160713.2.11


...and a biography of his life and death from TB.....

...........Biography

"Lewis and Johanna were Married in Catholic Cathedral Christchurch

Died from General Tuberculosis

When Lewis George Thomas Corbett was born July 14 1880 in Masterton, New Zealand.

His father John was 34 and his mother Emily was 27.
He married Johanna Christopher on September 27 th 1905 in the Catholic Cathedral Christchurch New Zealand.

They had 4 children during there marriage. Fredrick Lewis Hicks Corbett 1906-1988 Rita Hilda Corbett 1908-1933 Leo John Corbett 1910-1941 Joyce Corbett 1913-1983

He died on July 12, 1916 in Christchurch at the age of 35.

Lewis parents are John Hicks Corbett and Emily Percival

Lewis obituary - Christchurch Press-P8-13th July 1916

In 1905 Lewis was a Carpenter, for New Zealand Railways at the time of his marriage to Johanna

Lewis had 10 siblings Emily Jessie Esther Corbett 1870-1940 Maud Beatrice Annie Corbett 1871-1872 Adela Mary Alice Corbett 1873-1904 Constance Bertha Mildred Corbett 1874-1955 Florence Mabel Corbett 1875-1875 John Percival William Corbett 1876-1959 Henry Claude Bertie Corbett 1878-1952 Oliver Rupert Hicks Corbett 1882-1963 Hilda Margaret Anneline Corbett 1884-1976 Alfred James Edward Corbett 1886-1934

When Lewis George Thomas Corbett was born on 14 July 1880 in Masterton, New Zealand. His father John was 34 and his mother Emily was 27 years of age. He married the love of his life Johanna Christopher on 29 September 1905 in Christchurch, New Zealand. They had 3 children during their marriage. He died on 12 July 1916 in Christchurch New Zealand at the age of 35 from general Tuberculosis".

...awesome info.

Edited by user Tuesday, 9 June 2015 2:35:57 PM(UTC)  | Reason: added link

thats very cool andrew that will mean a lot to someone

Good luck with that, hopefully someone will have some info

Such a nice find, has to be worth something.

CTX3030, Propointer 25

What a lovely story, hopefully you have some luck with the celebration. Yes, I agree iwith you, we need all these treasures out of the ground for our future generations. It's a great if not compulsive hobby, and if I had my time over again would love to have been an archeologist.
Thanks for all that info

On ya