During November 2012 two early Wellington historical framed photos were retrieved from the roof space at 52 Raroa Road, Kelburn, Wellington. They were discovered while family were clearing Phillip Alve's house in preparation for its sale following his death earlier that year. The one pictured here dates from 1886. The second photo dates from 1869 and was taken from Kelburn - perhaps from Troup hill where Phil's house is located - looking over the emerging city towards the harbour.
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52 Raroa Road sold after 50+ years Phillip Alve's home at 52 Raroa Road, Kelburn, Wellington was sold by his estate on 8th February, 2012. This sale ends a long association by the Alve family with this turn of the (20th) Century villa. This house had been home for Phil since the early 1950's. After living there as a boarder initially, Phil bought the house either in the late 1950's or early 1960's. He initially continued using the home as a boarding house. Later he lived there alone and spent most of his retirement there. It was an ideal repository for his very large collections of books, records, papers and other bric a brac. At some stage he also purchased the neighbouring property at 54 Raroa Road, which has been tenanted and remains so, owned by Phil's estate. This property is currently on the market also. Shortly after he turned 90 in December 2008 Phil moved to live at the family home in Longburn, Manawatu before spending his last days in the Aroha Rest Home in Palmerston North. He died on 20th July 2012 aged 93. 52 Raroa Road has been purchased by John Waterson of Kelburn and others who are already rennovating it. Phillip Alve 1918-2012 Margaret and I want to share with you our personal Christmas greetings and news for 2012. The year has ended with Margaret sitting on two new job offers and Terry employed on a five month contract with Statistics NZ helping to conduct the 2013 Census which will be held on 5 March. The two week break over Christmas - New Year will have us redecorating our downstairs back bedroom as we convert it into a counselling - mentoring space. Yes, both of us increasingly have clients coming to our home as we operate our respective businesses: counselling and professional supervision (Margaret) & spiritual direction and ministry supervision (Terry). Early in the new year Margaret developed her counselling businesses by taking a contract for ten hours weekly with the Wellington Cancer Society and launching her "Because U Matter" counselling business in March. During the year Terry has further developing his spiritual mentoring business (iCare Resources) by engaging a number of new clients and continuing to work with others. He continues to offer retreats with Spiritual Growth Ministries teams and he now manages the SGM Wellington-Kapiti website and email database. The year began with Terry turning 60. Margaret's gift was a couple of nights in central Auckland before travelling on the Overlander daylight train south to Tawa - an all day (12 hour) trip. An early web project for Terry was a feasibility study and a subsequent website development for NALAG - the National Association for Loss & Grief. The other biggie this year has been a redevelopment of the Shadz Hair Art website for friends Steve & Sovann Dowall. Talking about websites, the site you are on www.alve.org.nz has also been developed recently. More about that in a moment. On the family front there have also been significant developments. After a long gestation Jono & Jenn moved into their new Tawa home in March. Jono continues as southern North Island BDM with Dominion Breweries and Jen works with the Ministry for the Environment. David & Ingrid have settled into their Grenada Village home and David joined the permanent staff at Park Road Post in movie post production. He had the privilege of working on the "Hobbit" and so appears in the movie credits if you look closely. Ingrid has gained primary teacher registration. Caleb has a new friend - Emma - whom he lives with in Khandallah but they are soon to move to Johnsonville. He has joined the staff of Kiwibank after finishing with Countdown butchery management. Emma works with an employment recruiting company. Sarah and Simon now have three children with Olive being born on 30th June at Kenepuru Hospital. She joins Elijah (3) and Holly (just 2) in their new home in Lupin Terrace in Tawa's eastern hills. After some choosing between employment options, Simon has taken a permanent lectureship in Classics at Victoria University. Sarah is a busy mum who finds time to meaningfully contribute to the running the local Playcentre. Two other significant developments this year have been:
Well, that's more than enough for now. We notice that several Christmas messages have come in already from family and friends. We appreciate and value your correspondence with us and thank you for your Christmas and new year greetings. We want you to know that we prayerfully and lovingly extend to you our aroha trusting that 2013 will be a year full for you. Go well... Terry Alve on behalf of Margaret and the Whanau who yearly increase in number! POSTSCRIPT: Members of the Family at Titahi Bay Beach around 7:15pm Christmas Evening
Who are they? Several photographs of Tasmanian Wagner relatives have been posted in a page on this website. The photos were taken by Philip Alve during a visit to Tasmanian relatives in the late 1970's. They have been recovered by Terry Alve whilst clearing Phil's property in Kelburn Wellington following his death during July 2012. We are seeking help in identifying who the people are in these photos and the locations, etc. Phillip is a grandson of Philip Conrad Wagner who lived in Woodsdale, Tas. His mother is Christina Alve (nee Wagner) who came to NZ during WW1 and married Henry Alve, They lived and farmed at Rangitane south of Palmerston North into the 1960's. Christina died in1971. Phillip Alve RIP Phillip died 20th July 2012 aged 93 after spending a little over two years in the Aroha Rest Home, Palmerston North. Phil, a bachelor, is survived by his brother Ivan, sister-in-law Joyce and seven nieces and nephews. He is buried in the family plot at Kelvin Grove cemetry in Palmerston North. Phillip lived a full and active life having been born a month after the end of the Great War in 1918. He lived with his parents Henry and Theresa Alve on the family farm at Rangitane near Opiki. He was the eldest of four sons born to Henry & Theresa between 1918 and 1931. Phil was a first day pupil of Opiki primary school in 1928 after attending Rangiotu shcool and later attended Palmerston North Technical School. After school he worked with the Post Office as a junior mechanician.During this time he developed a life long interest in photograhpy. He developed his own black & white prints for several years. In May 1942 Phillip was conscripted into the Army Medical Corps in NZ where he served until January 1947. A significant involvement during this time was the Japanese prisoner of war uprising near Featherston. His unit attended to the injured Japanese soldiers following this event. Phil's study of the Opiki Suspension Bridge near where he lived as a child. After part time study, Phillip attended Victoria University full time in 1948 and combined teacher training with university studies in 1950-51. In 1952 he taught standard four at Te Aro School, Wellington while living at Firth House as a Master. From 1953-62 he taught at Lyall Bay School. During these years Phillip complete Victoria B.Sc. and B.A. degrees and gained a Diploma in Education. From 1963-77 he was a tutor with the Technical Correspondence Institute teaching physics mainly and assisting with chemistry and biology. Phillip had membership of various teaching, science and community organisations. He was an executive member of the Wellington Teachers Training College in 1951. He was a co-founder of the Wellington School Science Fairs in 1964, receiving a Royal Society (Marsden) medal in 1994 after thirty years of service to the Science Fair movement in New Zealand. He variously had membership and usually office with the NZ Association of Scientists, the Royal Society, the Association for the Study of Childhood, the Greater Kelburn and Wellington Progressive Associations and the Wellington Retired Persons' Association. In retirement he enjoyed travels in New Zealand, Europe, Canada and the USA, Australia and in the Pacific, often with his brother Ivan. Shortly after his 90th birthday in 2008, Phillip moved into the family home at Longburn in the Manawatu before entering rest home care at Aroha in Palmerston North during 2010. |
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