Bennett, Quentin Mountfield Interview

Today is Tuesday November 5th 2023, [and] I am privileged to be speaking to Quentin Bennett. My name is Meghan Batey. Quentin, shall we begin by [you] telling us about your early life in Hawke’s Bay?

Right. I was born in Dannevirke. The reason for that was that my father was in the Medical Corps as an optometrist operating out of Linton [Military Camp]. My mother’s parents were retired Southern Hawke’s Bay farmers who lived in Dannevirke, so it made a lot of sense for Mum to be with them when I was born, and also it was easy for Dad to pop up from Linton. So I probably left there when I was just a few weeks old and we had returned to Napier where my home … Mum and Dad’s home … was. I lived there until I went overseas to study.

What age did you go overseas?

I was eighteen. So I went to Napier Central School – no, I didn’t – before that I went to a school called Mount Alloway, a private school in Onslow Road on the middle hill in Napier. Then I went to Napier Central School, probably from Primer 4, I think; then to Napier Intermediate, then Napier Boys’ High School. I left there half way through the seventh form year and went to England to study.

Now I had had a year in London as a thirteen year old when my father was doing some post-graduate work there. I didn’t go to school ‘cause we were here, there and everywhere, and I was just a little tot, it didn’t do me any harm at all, and my parents gave me immense freedom. I used to cart off down to Exhibition Road to see the museums, or out to Heathrow to see what was going on there, and I had the sort of life that you probably would never give children in a big city like London these days, but it did mean that when I arrived to study I knew London pretty well. So I went City University which is in Finsbury in Central London, and studied optometry there and also at the Institute of Optometry which is in southern London.

So when did you return to Hawke’s Bay?

From there I did post-graduate work, so I stayed on at City University; I ran contact lens clinics, and I was doing post-graduate exam [?six?] as well. Then I went and lived in Sweden for two years … worked in Sweden doing contact lens work because I was always determined that I wanted to go and work in a non-English speaking country – my paternal grandparents had lived in Florence, and my grandfather had worked there; they spoke fluent Italian and I was inspired by that. I wasn’t quite sure where I would go, at one stage it looked as though I might go to Norway, and then I met a Swedish girl in England and as a consequence I went and worked in Sweden.

One side thing while I was studying; I was very privileged in that I was very involved in my diving. I’d built myself an underwater housing for a camera I had, and I [was] already having photographs published when I was a student. My student job was running a diving school in the very south of England, in the south of Devon.

So what interest[ed] you into diving?

No idea. I got interested in that in – of all places – just outside Dannevirke in 1950 when I was staying with my grandparents. My parents were in England; Dad was doing some post-graduate work there, and I just got interested in snorkelling in a stream that ran through their property.

So tell me about your life growing up in Napier … did you live with your parents? Did you have anyone else live with you?

Yes, my poor parents put up with me. I was brought up in a street called George Street – we were just below McHardy Home, the maternity home in Napier, and you know, I was a typical Kiwi kid of that era; bare feet half the time, up and down the hill building huts, doing everything that young boys did in that era. I had a very happy childhood.

Did you have any siblings?

Yes, I had a sister who was two and a half years younger than me, and a brother who was … be about eight years younger than me.

So you were the oldest?

I was the oldest, yes. Of course, going off to England at eighteen my brother was still quite small then, so I didn’t see terribly … well, from then on I didn’t see either of them for quite some time.

What are your parents’ and your sister and brother’s names?

Right – so my father was Bromley; my mother was Mary.

And your sister is the second oldest?

My sister was Sonja, and my brother was Eardley.

What were your grandparents’ names – the ones that you stayed with outside of Dannevirke?

So – their surname was Ellingham, so he was James. He always referred to himself as Jas … Jas W Ellingham. And my grandmother was Ettie. Those are my maternal grandparents, my grandfather having been born in Southern Hawke’s Bay. My grandmother was born in York, came out as a teenager. Now my paternal grandparents – my grandfather was Harold and my grandmother was Leonie, but she was always known as Pearl.

So you met a Swedish woman in England?

In England … I met her in England; she was staying with mutual friends. I was working as a dive instructor at the time.

And what year was this?

Oh, to be quite honest I’m not sure – let’s say 1964 I guess. She was staying with friends in England and she of course went back to Sweden, and I continued working in London. I’m not sure what year it was I went to Sweden … probably 1965 it would’ve been I went to Sweden.

So when did you decide to come back to New Zealand and Hawke’s Bay?

1966 we got married, and I decided to come back to Hawke’s Bay then.

What brought you back?

My father was an optometrist; and it was actually family pressure. I should’ve stayed another three years in Sweden I think, from Tina’s point of view.

So you took after your Dad?

I did. He took after his father.

So that’s three generations of optometrists …

Correct.

Did they have their own practice?

Yep.

And what was the name?

Well, my grandfather was H M Bennett; my father was Bromley M Bennett, and I was Quentin M Bennett.

You talked about the pressure of becoming an optometrist …

Yes.

How long were you an optometrist?

I’ll let you work that out … when did I retire? If I include my studies I probably did fifty years.

So you did the diving on the side?

Oh yes, absolutely.

So that became a hobby?

Yes. Well my thesis, you know, in my final year was related to underwater fishing, and then I continued doing research, etcetera etcetera, right through my life.

What do you remember about growing up in Hawke’s Bay that stands out?

Oh, I just love the outdoors – always thought I’d be a farmer actually; then I realised I could never afford to buy a farm. But yeah, that’s what I remember, and the lovely weather we have in Hawke’s Bay. I was always a very active kid, and you know even as a youngster I was just always interested in diving; we used to you know, ride our bikes and go off spear fishing off the coast, up and down.

Was there a particular incident that you have had while diving that made you think, ‘Shucks – my life’s in danger?’

Yes, I drowned once.

You’ve drowned … oh!

[Chuckles] Yeah. In January 1971 I was with three friends; and there’s a very big lesson to be learned from this. I was spear fishing off a reef called … beyond Pania … the Outer Reef, which we had actually discovered; it wasn’t on the charts at that stage.

Whereabouts is this?

Beyond Pania Reef.

Talk me through that day, what you can remember …

Oh, well we were spear fishing; and we were all very fit, the water depth was about sixty-five feet. I had had enough. In those days there were lots of fish – we had enough fish anyway, and one of my friends was cleaning out the boat which was full of blood and guts and rubbish. So I hopped back in the water again and said, “Give me a yell when you’ve finished”, and started diving – this is all snorkelling – I’d shot a fish and I was coming up and I flaked out. Now the normal convention is that divers should always dive with a buddy. I had two buddies who saw me flake out, and they yelled out to the fellow on the boat; who then put scuba on, hopped over and brought my unconscious body back.

As an underwater photographer I dive on my own a lot, but I never ever snorkel on my own. Again, I dive very conservatively anyway, these days. But it shows (a) – I felt that I’d had enough; I only got back in the water because I was in the way. So whatever I’m doing, whether it’s skiing, surfing, diving, if I feel I’ve had enough I stop immediately. So that’s one lesson. The other lesson is always have people that [who] can see you, whatever you’re doing, so that if something happens like that, they know.

So then they did artificial respiration on me, and a boat was coming past; and a fellow on that had just in the last week or two previous finished his St John’s Ambulance course on artificial respiration. And they did that, and … hey presto. But it was quite an interesting – they took me into the Sport Fishing Club and there was a doctor there. And I still remember … the fellow who held me up was a patient of mine; he was an enormous great fellow; Norwegian extraction. And he held me by both ankles upside down because I had salt water pouring out of me. I still remember trying to say “I’m all right, I’m all right!” Anyway, then the ambulance came and they pumped out more water, and I had three or four days in hospital under observation. The neurologist at the time, Charles Crawford, claimed I wasn’t brain damaged, but my friends might offer other things. [Chuckle] But I was always very fit; I’d had enough; in water, so you’re cold; so that sort of brings your survival chances up anyway.

Do you have a favourite fishing or diving spot here in Hawke’s Bay?

No. Hawke’s Bay’s terrible for diving.

And that was a joke …

[Laughter] But you got an answer. You know, that’s a realistic and true encounter, is the real answer.

I want to just … there’s some interesting things about my father and grandfather …

Yes.

… they both studied in London. My paternal grandfather – he was a pharmacist, a married man; decided he’d do optometry and went to London and studied there at the … what we called the London Refraction Hospital then, known as the Institute of Optometry now. He was quite a character anyway, he was very clever; as was my father. My father could’ve been an academic very easily. So my father also studied there as well as at City University, as I did. But I was the first third generation student at the London Refraction Hospital. And the senior nurse when I was there remembered my grandfather, ‘cause he was such fun. So that’s quite interesting; so here’s this student from the farthest part of the world who’s also the student with the longest tradition of the institution. So that was interesting, I felt.

About your undersea photography, what type of camera do you use?

At the moment?

Talking about fifty years of photography here, so …

Oh, I’ve had many cameras over the years, [the] first one I constructed a housing round the camera, then that got flooded in the Mediterranean, and I bought a camera called a Calypso-Phot which is very special ‘cause it was designed by Jacques Cousteau; it was a French camera, and later on Nikon bought the rights to it and improved it and made a camera called the Nikonos, which went through quite a number of iterations. So I used that; then when I was living in Sweden I bought a Rollei Marine, or a Rolleiflex 3.5F housed in a Rollei main housing. It was designed by Hans Hass, and that was just the most beautiful camera to use, but compared to modern cameras had such limitations. And from there I went back to 35mm, the Rollei Marine or Rolleiflex was … two and a quarter square, it was called. You know, I’ve had several cameras over the days [years] so obviously these days I’m digital. I use quite a range of lenses, from what’s called a full frame fisheye which has a field of view of a hundred and eighty degrees diagonally, down to macro lenses that I can photograph little wee things up very close. You need strobe lights and focusing lights and all sorts; you know, when I get in the water I’ve got quite a bit of gear hanging round me.

So why undersea photography?

I do a little bit of ordinary photography as well, but the underwater because it’s been such a big part of my life and that’s where I had my success.

Tell me about your success … what’s your biggest achievement ..?

Well … I mean, while I was still a student I helped with the photography for one book, and did most or all of the photography for another book. I think I had forty years running where I [had] photographs in at least one book, and then I’ve done photography for magazines and adverts [advertisements] and all sorts over the years … so yes.

I was also very interested in technology – I’ve always been interested in technology – so I’d written an article for a New Zealand diving magazine and my friend Kelly Tarlton. And I wrote an article about a thing called a decompression meter, which was the precursor of the diving computer; I dived with the inventor in the Mediterranean. And so I arranged for one to be sent out; it had to go in the cockpit of a Comet … had to arrange that because if it wasn’t pressurised it would’ve been ruined. So that was the introduction of sort of dive computers to New Zealand.

Also, when I was in Sweden I had contacts in the diving industry, and after working in New Zealand I was going to Sweden to catch up with my in-laws, and I arranged to go and dive with the principals of a factory in Sweden that [who] were making an extremely advanced drysuit. It was quite a world-beater, and was something very special; and I evaluated and really liked that, and we got on very well. They suggested I might like to be the agent here, so I also introduced a thing that’s called the inflatable drysuit into New Zealand.

And what is the inflatable drysuit?

Well it means that the diver doesn’t get wet; so if I’m going diving – normally if I’m doing photography in New Zealand I’ll wear a drysuit. So I have seals on my wrists, a seal on my neck; it’s only my face and head … I have a hood on anyway, and I have gloves on my hands … but otherwise I’m dry, so I stay warm. So even a skinny runt like me can stay warm – I get out of the water just as warm as I was when I went in. And you know, I’ve dived under ice in a drysuit – well I have in a wet suit as well in Sweden – but you know, you come out just as warm as you go in, normally.

When was your last dive?

In May, I was in Fiji in May. A year ago now I was in the Solomons. There’s been something that’s … nothing to do with me, but I haven’t been able to dive this year since May … I would normally’ve been up in the Poor Knights and things, or perhaps in Fiordland in the meantime.

What did your family do for holidays?

Oh, we did all sorts! We went here, there and everywhere; we had a caravan at one stage; we had a bach in Waipatiki for forty-something years. Both girls ski … my older daughter still skis, I still ski.

You have daughters?

I have two daughters, yes.

Were they born in New Zealand?

Annika, the elder, was born in Napier, and Camilla, the younger, was born in Sweden.

Do you have grandchildren?

I have one called Barney who lives in London; he studies in London. I don’t think he’ll come back to New Zealand from what I can see; he’s only twenty-one now. Yes, I joke that I married a Swede to increase the gene pool in New Zealand; well I haven’t done much with one grandchild who probably won’t come back to New Zealand. [Chuckle]

Was he raised in Hawke’s Bay?

Yes – oh, well no. He was born in London and was in London until he was … oh, I don’t know, eight or nine … came out here, went to school in Haumoana and then to Lindisfarne, and like me he left halfway through the seventh form year to go to London and study.

So tell me about your life as an adult, now married with children.

Are you from ‘Truth’? [Quiet chuckles] I’ve had a lovely life, I think … it was very balanced. My wife was highly intelligent, spoke five or six languages. Her first job as a Swede … arrived in Hawke’s Bay and was teaching English at Colenso High School which was the best high school in Hawke’s Bay in those days.

What year was this?

That would’ve been 1967.

And how long was she teaching English?

Well she taught other subjects at other schools as well, and then did all sorts of other things. As well as studying in Stockholm University, languages and English, she also studied at the [?] Institute of International Business Management. So she did other jobs as well.

Were you still an optometrist while raising the children?

Oh yes – yes, yes.

Was your practice in Napier?

It was indeed.

What street ..?

It was in Hastings Street, upstairs; number 63 Hastings Street as it was then, before they changed the numbers. And then later on after my father had retired I combined with another practitioner and went down to ground floor, but moved down to the other end of town towards Clive Square.

How many staff did you have working for you?

Ooh! Whilst my father and I were alone we had a technician and two half [part] time receptionists, so they coincided – one started at eight [am], finished at one [pm], and the other started at twelve and finished at five, so we had double cover at lunchtime.

What’s one achievement that you’re proud of that’s been given to you whilst you’ve been in Hawke’s Bay?

I don’t know; probably … I was awarded the Fellowship of the American Academy of Optometry, and that was for some research I did for the US Air Force School of Aerospace Medicines, related to vision in space. I went over and I answered some questions that they had … they didn’t know about some things. And also I got membership of the New Zealand Order of Merit, and I suppose I should be proud of that.

Yes, definitely …

That actually surprised and staggered me.

That’s a big achievement.

I still don’t know why, but still … [Chuckles]

So what about life after retirement?

Oh, I’ve been so privileged, because I’m lucky, I’m still fit and so I did a lot of diving. I was very lucky with my diving all along; I’ve dived with some of the world’s best and most famous divers, whether they be British, Italian, French …

Do you remember their names?

… probably not … Swedish, American, and Kiwis of course; Kiwis … obviously with Wade Doak and Kelly Tarlton, people like that. Americans … one of them, Brad Gilliam’s just died in the last couple of months – he is the deepest man on air, holds the world record;  that’ll never be beaten. The Italians … gee, it’s a long time ago; a Brit, Rich Ballantine. There’re so many, but I have been privileged. So that’s also meant that I’ve been invited to go to interesting areas … perhaps go off and explore areas where no one’s dived before. I remember … well, one we went off exploring in new areas of Indonesia, which now is probably regarded as the best diving in the world. And one particular incident I remember diving with Bill McDonald who was a very well known Hollywood producer/director/film maker; we were diving at a volcano, and Bill and I found this cave and went in there and it was absolutely full of sea snakes – hundreds of them. It was quite creepy. Bill of course filmed this, and one of the other expedition members was a magazine editor and he wrote about it, and from then on it was the place to go if you needed sea snake footage … BBC, anyone like that … if they wanted sea snake footage they’d go to this place. It was quite fun; and Bill had made the Cousteau programmes for the last nine years.

Do you know the deepest that you’ve dived?

Yes, but I’m not going to tell anyone.

And why is that?

It’s totally irresponsible. [Quiet chuckle]

Fair enough. What equipment do you recommend to everyone?

These days I always dive with what we call open circuit ordinary scuba. I’ve dived with free breathers as well, and with some research for the Royal Navy. I’ve even dived with a copper helmet. I think that open circuit is the safest and the easiest.

So what has made you stay in Hawke’s Bay?

Well I look outside … the weather. [Chuckle] No, there’re all sorts of things. I live in a small town, Napier; you can get to the country easily. I used to walk to work, I enjoy wine, I enjoy skiing, the sea’s not far away, and we’ve got a very equitable climate. You know, I’ve done a lot of diving with Americans and you find that they live in some way that’s nice and warm in the summers; then you ask them about their winters. “Oh yes. Oh yes, it goes below freezing for so long.” And it’s interesting, the place where I lived in Sweden, we’d have one frost that would last for six months of the year – I was driving on ice for six months of the year. Sure, the middle of summer was gorgeous, but you know, I think that Hawke’s Bay is very equitable. The winters are not that cold, summers are not too hot.

Is there anything you would like to add to the conversation that we haven’t discussed yet?

I think that’s covered everything … I don’t know.

Would you like to talk more about your grandparents and your parents and migrating [emigrating] to Hawke’s Bay?

Well my … funny [funnily] enough, both my paternal grandparents’ families had come from Sussex, although my maternal grandmother’s family had originally been Huguenots, but gone through Holland to England. Their surname was Schroder; my grandmother’s father had been a sea captain who sunk his ship – now … oh, I think it might’ve been Cape Campbell – they called it Schroder’s mistake; I think it was Cape Campbell – so she was brought up in Nelson.

My paternal grandfather was brought up in Masterton and his father – in other words, my father’s grandfather – was a remittance man. My father used to talk about the fact that he’d never seen his grandfather work, ‘cause he married below what the family expected and was booted out to the colonies, and presumably got a stipend every month.

Then my maternal grandfather was brought up in Ashley Clinton, on a farm in Ashley Clinton in southern Hawke’s Bay. My maternal grandmother had been in York and came out to New Zealand as a teenager and was brought up at Whetukura [near Norsewood] in southern Hawke’s Bay.

Did your siblings stay in Hawke’s Bay or did they leave?

No, my sister lives in Manurewa and my brother lives in Napier.

And did your brother follow in the footsteps of the family doing optometry?

No. No, no, he did electrical stuff with NZED [New Zealand Electricity Department] and then as a retailer.

What about your daughters … oh, one’s in England …

No, no – they’re both in Hawke’s Bay.

Oh, that was your grandson.

So the elder one was born in Napier … what did she do? She did political science and resource geography I think, at Victoria. [University] And she’d hardly finished that and went straight overseas, you know, came back twenty-something years later. I never thought she’d come back ‘cause she was a [an] extremely successful international photo contract agent in London. Came back to New Zealand which thrilled me no end – initially lived in Auckland then came down here.

The younger daughter started doing an arts degree, she was very gifted language-wise, but then changed and did science and a psychology degree. Neither of them have jobs that have anything to do with their degrees. Annika actually went on a Rotary Exchange to Minnesota, and Camilla was born in Sweden; won a scholarship to Uppsala University to do Summer School, and was in Sweden for … I’m not sure how long, a year or so … then had some time in England. Her sister was in London then … they both were in London for a while together, and then Camilla came back and married, and was in Auckland for a few years and then Wellington, and then came back to Hawke’s Bay.

[External machinery starts up]

Are they divers also?

No. Annika’s a skier or snowboarder; Camilla isn’t … she’s a bit more of an intellectual, or techie type.

And your grandson, a diver?

No, he’s a surfer and a very good skier.

Little bit of a pattern going …

Yes.

Yeah. Is there anything else you’d like to add before we finish the interview?

No – I’ll probably think of all sorts of things tomorrow, won’t I?

Yes, and you’re most welcome to contact and have another session.

Yes. I’m just trying to think whether there’re any historical points. I might make some comments about … When I was a little boy in Napier there was a Twenty Thousand Club. [Napier Thirty Thousand Club, founded 1912-13] Napier had less than twenty [thirty] thousand inhabitants then, and you know, the authorities thought the next milestone would be to have twenty [thirty] thousand people, at which stage in New Zealand you became a city … which is laughable when you think of overseas. That’s just an interesting little point, it was a big thing in Napier.

How did you travel to school when you were a young boy?

Well Central School I walked; Intermediate I cycled, Napier Boys’ High I cycled.

The other interesting thing is that I’ve been to England and back twice by sea, ‘cause when I was young and when I went to London to study, both times I went by sea, came back by sea.

And where did you part [depart] from?

What port? Both times I left Wellington and came back to Wellington

How long was the journey?

‘Bout six weeks. It was interesting – when I went over to study I was the youngest on the boat on my own by about five years, I think.

Well that wraps up today’s interview … thank you very much, Quentin, for coming in and talking with us.

Good … oh, that’s no problem. If you have any further questions you don’t need to be shy either, just give me a ring.

Yes, I will do that.