Protecting Paradise In Paihia – The Story Of Williams House And Gardens
Built by the Anglican missionary Henry Williams' grandson on former mission station land, Williams House has a chequered history. This comprehensive work traces the saga of the property's rise, fall and rise again, from post colonial bungalow to a vandalised eye-sore and latterly, elegant public library. It includes anecdotes and little known facts about the property, its occupants and its early history pre the Treaty of Waitangi.
Commissioned by the Friends of Williams House and Paihia Library with the assistance of grants from The Lion Foundation and the Southern Trust.
"My father, William Bedggood, was permitted to use the church glebe. He ploughed it up and had a wonderful garden there. Potatoes, kumara, maize – for fowl food – marrows and pumpkins flourished. So did many kinds of horrid weeds: fennel awful smelling stuff, brought – it is said – by the French as a flavouring ingredient. One simply could not imagine English people using it."
– Minna Bedggood
