There are things you grow up always knowing – you don’t know how or when you learned them – they’re just facts you’ve always known. For instance, I always knew mum was adopted by a single woman who was the headmistress of Woodford House. I also always knew that mum grew up speaking German (in New Zealand) as her first language – but that her mother wasn’t German. I always knew that the reason was because my grandmother had employed a German maid to look after mum and they spoke German in the home. And I always knew that the German maid had been sponsored to come to New Zealand by my grandmother to escape the reach of the National Socialists (Nazis) in Germany.
But how did it all come about? Was there anything else to the story? Who was this woman who had adopted a baby girl in 1930 and then, 10 years later, a baby boy?
Dorice Mary Holland was born the third child of Mary Elizabeth and John Holland on 22 March 1885 in Christchurch. Her mother died 6 days later on 28 March 1885. Mary Holland’s oldest sister, Elsie Freda was born in 1882, and her brother John Noel was born in 1883 but only lived for 10 hours. In 1885 Mary’s father, the Rev. John Holland, was the Chaplain of Public Institutions in Christchurch. He then moved to be the Vicar of Papanui (1989-1891), the Vicar of Rakaia (1891-1900) and then the Vicar of Kaiapoi for 20 years until he retired.
In February 1890, shortly before Mary turned 5, her father married Miss Ellen Wreaks. In 1895 a daughter, Frances Phoebe, was born. Mary and her step-mother didn’t get on and there was some quite severe punishment for childhood misdeeds (being shut out of the house overnight). Her stepmother was also opposed to girls furthering their education and made Mary leave school at around 15. Mary’s response to this was to run away to Christchurch and stay with an Anglican minister (Bishop Averill who later became the Archbishop of New Zealand) and his family so that she could finish her studies and go to university. Mary matriculated in January 1907 (accepted into a university program including law) and in April 1909 she gained her BA. Continuing her studies she then gained her MA with 1st class honours in mental science in April 1911.
The following year she moved to Arthur’s Pass where she taught at the primary school as the sole charge teacher for two years. (1912-1913) This school was established for the families of the men building the tunnel through to the Otira Gorge.
In 1914 she sailed for the UK – this was a momentous trip as it was on this journey that she met Erica Hoby (Aunt Tiki). Flatting together in London during this time, they became lifelong friends. There’s no clear indication of what she was studying in London but at some point she became one of the ‘leading authorities in the Montessori system in the Dominion’. Erica, who was flatting with her, was studying violin and piano. With the outbreak of war both Erica and Mary were stranded in Europe and ended up joining the VAD. Eventually they found a way home and 1 January 1917 saw them arriving back into NZ (Auckland) via Vancouver. While she was overseas her older sister Elsie married Alfred Gruchy Pallot in 1915, and her niece, Nancy Dorrice Pallot was born in 1917.
(There are reports that around this time that Mary volunteered to do missionary work in India, however after about two years was, under medical advice, forced to give up work in tropical areas. This is largely unsubstantiated – only mentioned in a press release about her appointment to Woodford House – and is very similar to her father’s own experience as a missionary.)
After her return to NZ in 1917 she took up a position as head teacher at Oromahoe school in the Bay of Islands. This was a ‘native school’ which still exists today. The next year (1918) Mary took a position with Diocesan School to lead the teaching in the Montessori style. This was met with mixed success – according to a newspaper report from May 1923 – while the “intellectual side showed a balance of good, the disciplinary side was not quite what Auckland children needed, but that any danger would be counteracted by Miss Holland’s vigilant and vigorous personal discipline.” At Diocesan, Mary was the head of the junior school – Cowie House. A Woodford House Old Girl, June Williams, remembers Mary from both places – first Cowie House and then at Woodford House.
In 1922 Mabel Hodge retired from Woodford House and the call went out for a new headmistress. Mary Holland applied for and was accepted into this role. She took over at the start of 1923. In 1924 Mary offered Erica a position at Woodford House teaching ‘musical appreciation’ and she and her father, who was retired at this point, moved to live in Havelock North.
In December 1926 Erica and Mary returned to England. Newspaper reports from February tell the story: Mary studies the latest education methods; she visited a teaching conference in Heidelberg, an educational conference at Locarno, and a head teachers conference in Oxford. She also had time for a Greek Drama Festival in Italy/Sicily. She arrived back in New Zealand on October 28, 1927. In November an article titled “An Extended Trip – Interesting Impressions” was posted in the Poverty Bay Herald about Mary’s trip.
Miss Holland, principal of Woodford House, Havelock North, has returned from an extensive trip abroad, which embraced England, Holland, France, Germany, and Italy.
During her travels Miss Holland participated in a world conference of educationalists at Locarno, which, she states, was very interesting.
During her visit Miss Holland had full opportunity to study the Germans, and she was particularly impressed by their keen desire to study and learn. She found the Germans very polite and kind, without any visible resentment towards the British.
Miss Holland paid a visit to various battlefields, and was quite surprised at the amount of repair work still necessary as a result of the war. Great work had been done with the Rheims (Reims) Cathedral, but in other towns which were being built the architecture was not nearly so beautiful as in the old buildings.
Little evidence of active militarism was seen in Germany by Miss Holland, but what did impress her was the hard work which was done by all classes – a great contrast to England, where the working classes appeared to be much better off than before. In England there appeared to be plenty of money for entertainment. It may be mentioned that Miss Holland was nursing during the war, and naturally came into contact with many classes of people. Consequently she was in a position to note a marked improvement in the speech of the less educated people of England.
Referring to an aeroplane flight from Croydon to Paris, Miss Holland stated that she travelled in the greatest comfort.
The grip which Fascism has on Italy left a great impression on the visitor, whose opinion is that if there is any danger in Europe, Italy is likely to be that danger. She found that Italy had become entirely militaristic, ruled by Signor Mussolini, under the strictest discipline. Fascism was very noticeable, but it was also clear to the visitor that there was discontent amongst certain classes, especially in regard to taxation.
In regard to education in England, Miss Holland expressed the opinion that literature was taught better in England than in New Zealand, and children were given excellent literary work to do in quite early stages.
During her visit, Miss Holland attended another educational conference at Oxford, where principals from all kinds of schools were present, and were able, as at Locarno, to profit from one another’s experiences and ideas.
In late 1930 Miss Holland adopted a baby girl, Margaret Joyce, who would spend most of the next 19 years at Woodford House. (About 20 years ago I happened to share a table in a local cafe with two Woodford House old girls. When we discovered our mutual connection they both were able to tell me about the huge surprise when Miss Holland announced the arrival of Margaret. It was very fascinating to hear them talk about it.) 1930 also heralded the arrival of Edith Pendlebury. She had been working for the Ormond family, and when two of the sisters decided to take over the housework (Jackie Giesen and Kit Acland), their father insisted that the two English maids who had been working for the family needed to have jobs before that could happen – he then got them both jobs at Woodford House. Edith Pendlebury became personal maid for Miss Holland.
The 1931 earthquake came as a huge shock to all. Erica and Mary (Holly) were at Waimarama Beach and drove frantically back to Havelock North not knowing what they were going to see. Woodford House came off lightly compared to some other schools. They were able to get enough repairs done that the school reopened quickly while others, such as Iona, were closed for much longer. One story that came out of the quake was that they couldn’t initially find Margaret – eventually she was located sleeping in her pram under a tree – totally unfazed by all the fuss. ~~~ Write something about the repairs etc ~~~
Both Mary and Erica were great travellers both overseas and around New Zealand. In June 1932 Mary headed off overseas for a visit to China with another teacher from Woodford House, Miss E J Wilkins, returning in October of that same year. (56 years later her adopted daughter, Margaret, would spend a year living on Lamma Island in Hong Kong harbour – the closest she’d get to the Chinese mainland was visiting Hong Kong island for work as the mainland was restricted to foreigners. 29 years later Mary’s great-granddaughter, Emma lived and worked in Shanghai for several years. During this time she managed a trip to visit Lamma Island where Margaret had lived.) Mary visited Fiji in 1936, while Erica headed back to the UK for 6 months to do some further music studies. In late 1937 Mary was back travelling overseas – this time to the UK and Europe. (Although the passenger lists Initially appear to include Margaret Joyce, further research doesn’t support this.) She left NZ at the end of May and arrived in California on June 14th. This is the same year that Margaret Joyce had polio and was sent, with the connivance of the local doctor (Dr Sandy Whyte), to Rotorua to recuperate. We’re not sure who accompanied her during this time, but possibly it was Edith Pendlebury. Mary’s trip abroad lasted around 6 months and it is during this time that a number of key events occurred. Mary met a group of Quakers in Germany who were operating a kind of underground to help dissidents and Jewish people escape from Germany. She also attended one of Hitler’s rallies (possibly in Nuremberg) and was horrified at the experience. We think this spurred on her desire to help as many German/Jewish people escape from what was almost certain death. Lucy Hogg who was to become the fourth headmistress, and who was teaching at Woodford House at the time, reports that the 1937 trip was when Mary returned to Woodford House with several German teachers, and a German nurse for Margaret. This trip also saw the arrival of St Francis plaques bought in California, and the nativity crib and figurines from Oberammergau.
In the mid-late 1930s a number of significant people arrived at Woodford House. Gerda Eichbaum (later Bell) arrived in 1936 to teach languages. Gerda was to later give Margaret one on one lessons in German – Margaret, having grown up speaking German in the home, was the most advanced student at the school in German. The Petersen sisters were employed – Ingeborg to be John’s nanny, and Jenny to be the Woodford House nurse in 1939 – they were from Schleswig-Holstein, a disputed part of Germany that bordered Denmark. Erika Schorss arrived in June 1939 and was employed as a violin teacher – she was Margaret’s first violin teacher – and after leaving Woodford House she moved to Wellington and became a foundation member of the National Orchestra (now NZSO) playing first violin in 1947. Arriving on the same ship were two teenage sisters from Breslau – Trudi and Ursula Wolf – who were employed at Woodford House as domestic help. They left in 1940 when most of the German staff at Woodford House were forced to leave – there had been grumblings from some parents after WW2 was declared in 1939 and, against Mary Holland’s wishes, the Woodford House board decided they must go. Ingeborg stayed as she was personally employed by Mary Holland, and her sister Jenny managed to stay as well. It’s worth noting that there were many parents who supported the retention of the German staff but this support didn’t help the cause.
Trudi and Ursula were 18 and 17 when they arrived in June 1939.They left behind their mother, older sister, and 3 brothers in Breslau (their father having died in 1938). They were employed as domestic help through a refugee scheme in Berlin, facilitated by an Englishwoman, Miss Livingstone, who appears to have known Miss Holland as she was directly contacted to sponsor the girls.
(A lot is known about Miss Laura Livingstone. Her brother-in-law was George Bell the Bishop of Chichester, and in 1937 he dispatched her to Berlin and Hamburg as his envoy to help the refugee cause. “…In Germany she was the frail, lone symbol of international Christian concern…” A remarkable person, she worked alongside a number of people and organisations who were actively working to save Jewish and other non-Aryan refugees – Wilfrid Israel, Heinrich Spiro, Heinrich Gruber, and the wider Quaker organisation in Berlin.)
The three brothers (Gerhardt, Rudolf, Wolfgang) were all killed in April 1944 when a bomb landed on their apartment. They had managed to have themselves classified as Aryan so weren’t taken off to one of the camps. Their mother, Regina, was interned in the Theresienstadt ghetto and was there when the boys were killed. Their older sister Hildegard was in Palestine in 1934 where she married and doesn’t appear to have gone back to Germany.
Both girls moved to Wellington when they left Woodford House and got jobs there in the millinery industry. They eventually both married – Ursula in 1941, Trudi in 1946 – Ursula divorced in 1947 and sometime in the late 40s/early 50s moved to Australia where she remarried. She had several children (not 100% sure of how many – at least one boy and one girl – both living). She died in Tumbi Umbi, NSW, Australia in 2016. Trudi’s real name is Waldtraut and later in life was called Val. She also married and lived in both Auckland and Wellington. She had a daughter and died in 1986 in Auckland. Both girls stayed in contact with each other and even further contact happened when both Hildegard and Regina later came to Australia/New Zealand. Regina died in 1956 in NZ and Hildegard died in Australia in 1997. Sadly it appears that both girls/women denied they were Jewish all their lives.
In June, when the German staff were asked to leave, there were eight staff members. Gerda Eichbaum – who received a term’s salary and later went on to teach at Victoria University; four maids – Trudi, Ursula and 2 others – who had two weeks’ notice to leave; Erika Schorrs – who was taken in by Erica Hoby when she had to leave; and the Petersen sisters who were able to stay on at Woodford House.
Ingeborg’s sister in law recalls that Jenny was the first of the sisters to arrive in New Zealand. There is no record of how she travelled to New Zealand – but records show that Inge arrived in New Zealand on the Maunganui on October 4th 1938. She initially worked for Mrs Browning in Maraekakaho before being employed by Mary Holland to look after Margaret and later on John. When the German staff were forced to leave both the Petersens were able to stay – Jenny because nursing staff were hard to find, and Inge because she was personally employed by Mary Holland. She had a break from employment at Woodford when Miss Holland retired, but went back later as a cook.
Inge had a long time beau – Peter Heine – and they married in March 1939 and went to live in Christchurch. Inge had met Peter through the Browning family in Maraekakaho. Peter’s mother was working for the Brownings. After Mrs Browning left (with another man) she was responsible for the running of the household as well as bringing up the Browning children as well as her younger ones (Volker and Viola). I had an opportunity to visit Viola in July 2022 at her home in Waikanae. She recalled spending several summer holidays at Woodford House as a guest of Ingeborg. Inge had permission to invite the family to stay and they enjoyed the respite from the farm life, as well as access to things like the swimming pool and amazing meals.
I think this was the tipping point for Mary Holland – she must have been utterly devastated at the board’s decision to fire the German staff – I think it would have been morally devastating as well. The police files for Trudi and Ursula state that “Miss Holland signed the deed of covenant guaranteeing that these two aliens would not become a charge upon the State within five years from the date of their arrival…” and here she was in a situation where she had to terminate their employment without them having a job to go to. In May 1941, Mary announced her intention to retire and at the end of the year moved to live in Devonport, Auckland.
—WIP: write something about her farewell speech here—
In Auckland Mary kept herself busy relief teaching at Milford Primary School for the next few years. In 1945 she was the relieving principal of Craighead Diocesan School in Timaru, and then in 1951 she was back at Woodford House as acting principal while Miss Hogg was overseas.
Mary moved to the South Island for a while, spending some time in Franz Joseph with John, who had been very ill with bronchiectasis caused by chickenpox, and then to Christchurch as the warm damp climate in Auckland was not suitable for John after his illness. She eventually moved back to Hastings. Margaret and Douglas sold up in Christchurch and moved to Hastings to be nearer to her.
In the latter years of her life Mary became quite ill. She spent some time in Waiapu House where an old girl, Dr Dorothy Potter (nee Usher) visited her in her role as a house surgeon at Napier Hospital. Dorothy recalls Mary recognising her and seeing her reading books in German. Unfortunately Mary developed a habit of wandering and was eventually admitted to a private hospital (Royston) in Hastings. The last few months of her life were spent not recognising people around her. She died on May 25 1963 aged 78.
According to the Woodford House Oral History records, Mary Holland, the woman, believed that there was something ‘brilliant and noble’ about every girl who passed through her hands. She set, and exemplified, high standards for each and every one. What an inspiration also for her daughter – Margaret; her granddaughters – Josephine, Linda, Barbara, Susan, and Nikki; her great-granddaughters – Emma, Eleena, Courtney; and her great-great-granddaughter – Cienna. She would be cheering us on to be brilliant and noble in all aspects of our lives. Mary Holland, the educator, has also left a legacy in people who are educators: her daughter – Margaret; her grand-daughter – Josephine; her great-grand daughters – Eleena (Australia) and Emma (New Zealand).
another kiwi in paradise? 