Memorial

This page is a place to remember friends and volunteers of the Hawke’s Bay Knowledge Bank who are no longer with us.

James Morgan

James was the founder and original driving force behind the Hawke’s Bay Knowledge Bank.
Read more

Frank was a volunteer from 2014 to 2019. During that time he interviewed 231 people. He often said he had the best job in the world. Always arriving to make the morning tea on the days that he came to the Knowledge Bank, Frank would often bring roses from his garden and biscuits or cake. The Knowledge Bank now has a teapot with Frank’s name engraved on it as a permanent memorial to him.

Barbara Haywood

Barbara Haywood was a volunteer from 2013 until 2020. She came in twice a week to do transcribing and BDM (Births, Deaths and Marriages) notices but she was also our in-house nurse and mother-figure. Because of her caring, down-to-earth nature, volunteers could talk to Barbara about anything at all. She also supplied us with lots of fresh fruit from her family orchard when it was in season.

Ian Webster

Ian Webster was a founding volunteer who, thanks to his analytical mind, was responsible for the file naming system that the Knowledge Bank uses. He also researched and provided instructions for photo editing and file renaming programs. Ill-health prevented him from continuing as a transcriber about 2018. His stories of his working life as an electrical engineer always entertained and informed.

Bel Sebley

Bel (Isobel) was a volunteer from 2017-2018. Bel came to Knowledge Bank whenever she was able and was our first volunteer fluent in Te Reo. She took on the task of all our Maori transcribing and proofreading of the Te Wananga newspaper ensuring its accuracy. She had a vision to include Maori youth in a community project based around Knowledge Bank and was working towards its fruition at the time of her passing.

Trudy Eldred

Trudy came to us from DRC (Disability Resource Centre) in 2018 working as a transcriber. She took on the role of transcribing all of the BDM (Birth, Deaths and Marriages) notices. She moved onto more challenging text and her attention to detail was exceptional. Trudy was a wordsmith and a published poet who cared about all of those around her. She had a wicked sense of humour which is sorely missed by us all.

Bevan Warren

Bevan was a volunteer in the early days of the Knowledge Bank, coming in every week to do scanning. He was a softly-spoken, gentle man who could never remember from week to week just what it was he had to do but once he was shown again, there was no stopping him and he scanned many documents in the time he was here.

Bob Cowan

Bob Cowan began volunteering in early 2014 and did his best to learn how to do transcribing and other tasks he was presented with. He generously donated the Knowledge Bank’s first book scanner, thereby increasing the output of work completed and improving the skill set of other volunteers. He regularly turned up in a “Monique” car once he was no longer able to drive himself.

Grace English

Grace came to the Knowledge Bank in 2017, starting off with transcribing and eventually handling our Facebook page. It was a pleasure to see Grace’s confidence improve over time, to the point where she grew the page to 4000 likes just before her untimely death. Her ready wit and affability was enjoyed particularly by the “Friday team”.

Jim Newbigin

Jim started at the Knowledge Bank in 2014 and was still an active volunteer in 2024. He interviewed hundreds of people, many of whom had school and business connections. Renowned for his old-world charm and fixed opinions, Jim entertained us with tales of the many groups he belonged to including the Knitting Club, the Coffin Dodgers’ Club and the Hastings Golf Club.