Railway, Transport Gold Passes & Awards

Lot 1863    Day 2    Railway, Transport Gold Passes & Awards

Estimate $1,500
Bid at live.noble.com.au

N.Z. CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION, 1939-40, pass in gold (9ct, 17.4g, 32x30mm) and blue enamel, no maker, ring top suspension, reverse 'To/W.McLay Esq/From/T.C.A.Hislop C.M.G./Chairman/Charles Todd Esq/Deputy Chairman' (M.-); Bryant & May Limited, 25 Years Service medal, struck in bronze (drop 45x30mm), no maker (The Goldsmiths & Silversmiths Company Ltd, London), ring top with bar and pin-back suspension, reverse inscribed 'Walter McLay'. Extremely fine and extremely rare. (2)

The first unlisted in Morel, the second in a fitted case of The Goldsmiths & Silversmiths Company Ltd, 112 Regent Street, London W1.^^Together with two booklets 'Lions and Lambs of Wellington, 1932' (well known citizens in caricature) by Alan Reeve and 'The Match Makers, Bryant & May N.Z. Ltd' by Whitcombe & Toombs (1971), both featuring Mr C.W.McLay; also, a letter from the Byrd Antarctic Expedition, dated 3rd April 1930, addressed to Bryant & May, Bell & Co Ltd, thanking them 'for the donation of the case of Wax Matches in Oval Tins' and signed R.E.Byrd.^^Mr Walter McLay arrived in Wellington with Mr C.R.E.Bell in 1894. He originally worked for a London match manufacturer, the Fuzee Vesta Company, which was taken over by the Bell Company. It was decided to send Mr McLay to New Zealand when the latter Company completed plans to set up factories in New Zealand and Australia.^^In 1923 Mr McLay was responsible for the erection of the Bryant & May, Bell & Co factory in Tory Street, Wellington. He was appointed to the Board in 1916, made Managing Director in 1931 and Chairman in 1947. He retired in 1952 and died in March 1968, at the age of 98. During the Centennial celebrations of 1940, Mr McLay served as a Director of the New Zealand Exhibition Company Limited.^^The New Zealand Centennial Exhibition ran from 8 November 1939 to 4 May 1940. During this time 2,641,043 people went through the main gates with a daily average attendance of 17,149. The exhibition covered 55 acres (22.2 hectares) of land just to the west of Wellington's airport. After the exhibition closed the buildings were used as extra accommodation by the Air Force. Following the war they were used to store wool. The buildings burned down in September 1946.^^New Zealand's commemoration of the 1940 Centennial was a major event. The centrepiece was the Centennial Exhibition or fair at Rongotai in Wellington. There was also a large ceremony at Petone on Wellington's anniversary and another at Waitangi on 6 February. Communities throughout the country held pageants as hundreds dressed up in colonial costume, and paraded through the streets. Christchurch's procession on 6 April was two miles long.^^The directors, all from the greater Wellington area were:^^Thomas Hislop, Mayor of Wellington^Douglas McGowan Chairman, Wellington Harbour Board^Charles Turrell General Manager, New Zealand Shipping Co^Charles Todd, Chairman, Todd Motors^Sir Charles Norwood, Chairman, Dominion Motors Ltd^Charles Westwood Earle, Managing Director, Wellington Publishing Co^William Appleton, Director, New Zealand Guarantee Corp Ltd^Walter McLay, Managing Director, Bryant & May, Bell & Co^John Thomas Martin, Director, Wright, Stephenson & Co^Sir Alexander Roberts, Managing Director, Murray Roberts & Co^Frank Campbell, General Manager, the Scoullar Co Ltd^R.H.Nimmo, General Manager, Hamilton, Nimmo & Sons ^J.W.Heenan, Under-Secretary, Dept of Internal Affairs^F.Johnston, Assistant Secretary, Dept of Industries & Comm.^G.J.Read, Trades & Labour Council.