A FRIENDLIER TIME AND PLACE 

In the 1920s when Miriam Chapman was growing up in a house in Rankeilor Street, 
South Dunedin was a suburb bustling with young families and the shopkeepers were 
friends who knew the children by name and often gave them little treats.
  
Mrs Chapman’s maiden name was Palmer and she came from a family of 10 children.

She went to Kensington School – a school which has been closed for some years now. 

Mrs Chapman says her schooldays were ‘ordinary’ but her older brother Alec made 
more of an impact with the teachers.

“He was a bit of a tearaway. He got angry with a teacher one time. The teacher called 
him “cocky Palmer” – he was a wee skinny little fellow – and my brother took to him 
and had him on the floor.”

Mrs Chapman says that same teacher treated her quite differently: “I was allowed to 
sit in front of the class. I don’t know why. Perhaps it was because I had a broken bone 
in my elbow in Standard Three and I wasn’t allowed to stay away from school. At the 
front of the class he could watch what I could do with my left hand. I was a bit of a 
teacher’s pet in those days.”

The children of South Dunedin loved shopping with their mothers because of the 
attention they got from the shopkeepers.

“They all knew my mother’s first name and they knew us kiddies. A lot were good 
friends,” Miriam Chapman reflects.

Her mother bought meat from Botting's Butchery which was opposite the Mayfair 
Theatre. The butcher was a favourite with the children who were given a saveloy if 
they behaved themselves in his shop.

Wolfenden and Russell’s store sold not only clothing but also groceries.

“Mr Wolfenden and Mr Russell used to greet the children and the staff were really 
good. They’d give us little rides on the back of the truck,” says Miriam Chapman. 

However, one ride turned to tragedy.

“My brother Frank went for a ride on the back of the truck on his fourth birthday.
The staff had a signal for us to get out when they stopped in what is now Hillside 
Road.

“Unfortunately, they stopped unexpectedly this day because of a car coming around 
the corner. My brother went to get out, they didn’t know and he got run over and 
killed.” 

After leaving school Miriam Chapman went to work in Helnkis Bakery, greasing trays 
and cleaning up. Then she did a bit of housekeeping before going to Hudson’s biscuit 
factory.

At Hudson’s she initially operated the machine that chocolate-coated the sweets and 
later became responsible for orders from the different departments.

Hudson’s was a major employer in Dunedin and Mrs Chapman says the factory had a 
very good work environment, thanks to the good management style of the bosses, 
Ambrose and Richard Hudson. 

“They were friendly with all of us. Ambrose had a lovely house out at Warrington and 
we used to go out there for picnics.”

Mrs Chapman left Hudson’s after eight years to marry her husband, Irvin and raise a 
family.

As a child Mrs Chapman had gone to St Peter’s Church where she was baptised and 
confirmed by the minister who later became Dean Button.

“The ministers used to come to our homes to visit and he knew me by my first name.

“When I got married I naturally wanted to have my wedding at St Peter’s Church but I 
wanted Dean Button to take the service. He had gone up to Roslyn by then and told 
me that if I wanted him to marry us we would have to go out to his church, St John’s.

“We went up to see him and when we got up there he asked me how the parishioners 
of St Peters were getting on. I said: ‘I don’t know.’ He asked me why and I said: ‘I 
haven’t been since you left.’ He replied: ‘Oh Miriam, you should be ashamed of 
yourself – I left six years ago!’”

Miriam Chapman’s husband died 36 years ago. She is a life member of the Octagon 
Club, Dunedin.  
This item from the Otago Age Concern Publication  Memories are Made of This
is used with permission
Page 1