NZ History - Esther James
Esther Marion Pretoria JAMES
Her parents were Thomas Joseph JAMES and Eliza Jane WHITMORE, and she had nine siblings.
In 1924 she married Leslie Harrison HAYSOM, but they divorced in 1935. She then married Edward Scanlon JULIAN in 1937, but they would divorce in 1971. During that whole time she kept her maiden name.
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During this walk she only wore NZ-made clothing & shoes, and only ate NZ-produced food.
The Aucklander, a well-connected former model, had left Spirits Bay in the Far North on 3 December to walk the length of the country to promote New Zealand-made goods during the Depression. She had government patronage and support from the Manufacturers’ Federation. source
After six months training for this marathon event, she started her walk on the 3rd of December, 1931 from Spirits Bay, Northland, and 1600 miles (often reported as 1200 miles) later would complete it on the 18th of June 1932 in Bluff, Southland (although she did carry on to Stewart Island and walked over it as well). Thanks to a pedometer she carried, along with her watch, she knew she was walking at a pace of about 3 miles per hour.
She made many promotional stops in towns along the way, and was well-received wherever she went.
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From the Horowhenua Chronicle, 4 Aug 1932
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Following the link will bring up the whole article, if you're interested.
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A Buy Kiwi-made campaign advert, 2008 - if you want to read it, follow the link.
Once home, she was asked to attend many speaking engagements to recount her promotional adventure.
The following year James walked from Brisbane to Melbourne to promote New Zealand as a tourist destination. source
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I found a comment by one of her grandchildren remarking on both the book and Esther, which puts a very different light on the person she supposedly was.
It is the most ego-centric autobiography I have ever read in my life, her 2 husbands, children and their families are all but ignored so she could write about how great she was. And she wasn’t a particularly nice person to her family.And a fair bit of the book isn’t accurate. source
Notes:
Esther had one daughter from her first marriage, and one son and one daughter from her second marriage.
I couldn't track down any detailed information on what Esther had invented, and patented. If anyone finds out, please let me know.
While in Australia, Esther apparently had adventures such as crocodile-hunting and opal mining.
From accounts, Esther used her initiative to survive financially while husband no. 2 was away in the war (WWII) by collecting seashells and seaweed. She managed to buy a plot of land, and build a house on it, and all while managing to raise her first two children.
You might like to check with your library for a copy of her book, and if its not on the shelf it may be stored away in their stacks, so ask.
Bibliography:
https://www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/search
https://blog.greens.org.nz/2007/12/06/esther-james-walk-for-buy-kiwi-made/
"James, Esther Marion Pretoria (1900–1990)." Dictionary of Women Worldwide: 25,000 Women Through the Ages. . Encyclopedia.com. 15 Jun. 2018 http://www.encyclopedia.com.
https://nzhistory.govt.nz/page/long-distance-walker-esther-james-reaches-bluff
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers
https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/4j2/james-esther-marion-pretoria
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esther_James
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pahiatua
(extra tags: #life #education #minnowsupport)
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Story good
She would have to be self-centred to do what she did, at the time that she did it.
Attitudes were a lot different then compaired to now.
Very true. I imagine that in some ways it was so much more difficult, and yet in others so much easier.