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Feeding family not easy 150 years ago

Getting food from the land on to the family table was a major preoccupation 150 years ago – so vastly different from today’s trip to the supermarket.

In the 1800s nearly 30 years of diaries were kept by Hawke’s Bay farmer David Paton Balfour, until his death by drowning on July 13, 1894, the day after his 53rd birthday.

Balfour and wife Elizabeth Roberts raised three children and tracking down food for the family was top of mind.

Massive history project fascinates MP Lee

Shining “nuggets” of history gleaned from hand-written diaries, oral histories and preserved newspaper clippings fascinated MP Melissa Lee when she visited Hawke’s Bay Knowledge Bank last week.

Ms Lee was in Hawke’s Bay for the Parekura Horomia Memorial Tournament; playing for the parliamentary netball team facing a Hawke’s Bay invitational side made up of friends and whanau of the late Hon Parekura Horomia. Despite her team suffering a loss against the locals, Ms Lee said the weekend was “wonderful”.