Theme 06

Themes Lives Changed

Dorothy's Engagement

On 4 January 1918, The New Zealand Free Lance announced the engagement of Miss Dorothy Broad of Greymouth to Captain Thomas Wyville Leonard Rutherfurd.

Wyville Rutherfurd (seated on right)

Canterbury Museum 1976.96.189

The New Zealand Free Lance, 4 January 1918. The newspaper incorrectly spelled his surname as Rutherford rather than Rutherfurd.

Broad engagement

Dorothy and Wyville, as he was known, had met before the War when he moved to Reefton on the West Coast to take up engineering work.

Wyville joined the Canterbury Infantry Battalion, fighting at Gallipoli and on the Western Front. Dorothy remained at home with her parents and sister in Greymouth. Like many women, she did her part for the war effort by participating in patriotic events and fundraising for Belgian relief.

A month before the War ended, Wyville contracted malaria and died in Persia. Dorothy never married.

1978.96.2 First draft Westport

Dorothy Broad's finance Wyville left Greymouth with the first draft of the West Coast contribution to the Main Expeditionary Force on 15 August 1914

Canterbury Museum 1976.96.2

WW374 180910

Dorothy's Nightgown

In anticipation of her marriage to Wyville, Dorothy made this nightgown.

After the War, she and her unmarried sister lived with their widowed mother in Greymouth. After their mother’s death in 1951, the sisters moved to Christchurch, where Dorothy died in 1976.

Canterbury Museum EC 176.96.6

From London to Leeston

On the Eve of War

01

01

On the Eve of War

At the turn of the twentieth century, Canterbury was one of the most prosperous provinces in New Zealand

02

02

Going to War

Britain’s declaration of war caused great excitement in Canterbury. Thousands enlisted in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force

03

03

The War Away

New Zealand soldiers and nurses endured the joys and sorrows of life at war and all had stories worth telling

The War at Home

04

04

The War at Home

In many respects the war at home was the women’s war

Illness, Injury and Death

05

05

Illness, Injury and Death

Up to 18.4 million people were killed and 23.7 million injured in World War One

06

06

Lives Changed

Everyone’s life was changed in some way by the War. Most New Zealanders knew someone who had died

07

07

Reflections

World War One prematurely ended the lives of millions and forever changed the world

08

08

Roll of Honour

Remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice by adding a poppy to the Roll of Honour

This online exhibition is representative of Canterbury and World War One: Lives Lost Lives Changed, a temporary exhibition which ran from 30 November 2017 to 11 November 2018 at Canterbury Museum.