Harry Cecil - Early Environmentalist & Dreamer
Harry Cecil was the last of the ten children born to Anna and John Wheeler at Titi Farm, Mauku, and was only two years old when his mother died of breast cancer. Harry was close to his brother Arthur - he is recorded as Arthur's next of kin when he went to the Western Front with the NZ Army in March 1918, and he also went farming in his early years, some of it on the Hauraki Plains with Arthur. He married Gwendoline Cecelia Alice Hill, who was also a Mauku girl, and they had six children (Vere, born 1913 in Helensville, Goldie, born 1914 in Ngaruawahia, Joyce, born 1916 at Raglan, Ernest, born 1917 at Pukekohe, Cecily born 1919 at Helensville, and Edward Maurice - Happy - born Muriwai, 1921)
Harry was extremely good looking, charming and sociable. He loved parties, politics, polo and good stimulating company. He perhaps "broke the mould" cast by his quiet and even stern older brothers, combining social charm with a wandering nature and romantic impulsiveness. He loved education, read Dickens to his children and grand children, and could make any story sound fascinating, according to his granddaughter Gillian Deane, (Joyce's daughter.)
He had a passion for the environment long before it was fashionable. He refused to cut the kauri trees on his Muriwai property although he badly needed money to pay off his debts. He required an undertaking from the buyer that he would protect the trees - a promise that lasted just as long as it took for him to take possession. Harry also lobbied to set limits on toheroa harvesting at Muriwai Beach after he became concerned at how quickly stocks were being depleted.
He always dreamed big dreams and often his ambitions over-reached his practical means to achieve them. He bought an beautiful large home at Muriwai with the idea of turning into it a boarding house/private hotel, without taking into account the state of the roads and how easy it was for potential customers get to Muriwai. He once returned from Auckland with a young Indian who wanted to desert ship and who became the boarding house cook. He borrowed heavily during the Depression and was forced to run his sheep off the cliffs because it cost more than they were worth to send them to the works. Eventually debt forced him to sell up, with nothing left to show for his work.
For all his faults he was a man of high ideals and passionate convictions but he left his family and essentially "went missing," pursuing vague political ambitions in Wellington like Don Quixote tilting at windmills. The family recalls that one of his 'missions' was to take the case for opening the Waingaro Springs near Ngaruawahia to the public - something which did occur many years later.
Gillian records that their grandfather's inability to settle and provide a stable foundation for his family left his children dubious about political life and even more deeply committed to the ideals of a secure and loving family life. In his later years Harry was "rescued" by his youngest son. Happy (Edward John Maurice) and his wife Elizabeth (Ibby, nee Bethell) who searched for him and finally discovered him living in very poor circumstances in a Wellington boarding house, suffering from pernicious anaemia. They brought him home to live with them in Masterton. Right to the end he was a gambling man who could persuade the nurses to place bets on the horses for him with his charm and smiles.
Harry's dates: 6 December, 1881, Mauku,
Died 15 Feb, 1954, Masterton.
Harry was extremely good looking, charming and sociable. He loved parties, politics, polo and good stimulating company. He perhaps "broke the mould" cast by his quiet and even stern older brothers, combining social charm with a wandering nature and romantic impulsiveness. He loved education, read Dickens to his children and grand children, and could make any story sound fascinating, according to his granddaughter Gillian Deane, (Joyce's daughter.)
He had a passion for the environment long before it was fashionable. He refused to cut the kauri trees on his Muriwai property although he badly needed money to pay off his debts. He required an undertaking from the buyer that he would protect the trees - a promise that lasted just as long as it took for him to take possession. Harry also lobbied to set limits on toheroa harvesting at Muriwai Beach after he became concerned at how quickly stocks were being depleted.
He always dreamed big dreams and often his ambitions over-reached his practical means to achieve them. He bought an beautiful large home at Muriwai with the idea of turning into it a boarding house/private hotel, without taking into account the state of the roads and how easy it was for potential customers get to Muriwai. He once returned from Auckland with a young Indian who wanted to desert ship and who became the boarding house cook. He borrowed heavily during the Depression and was forced to run his sheep off the cliffs because it cost more than they were worth to send them to the works. Eventually debt forced him to sell up, with nothing left to show for his work.
For all his faults he was a man of high ideals and passionate convictions but he left his family and essentially "went missing," pursuing vague political ambitions in Wellington like Don Quixote tilting at windmills. The family recalls that one of his 'missions' was to take the case for opening the Waingaro Springs near Ngaruawahia to the public - something which did occur many years later.
Gillian records that their grandfather's inability to settle and provide a stable foundation for his family left his children dubious about political life and even more deeply committed to the ideals of a secure and loving family life. In his later years Harry was "rescued" by his youngest son. Happy (Edward John Maurice) and his wife Elizabeth (Ibby, nee Bethell) who searched for him and finally discovered him living in very poor circumstances in a Wellington boarding house, suffering from pernicious anaemia. They brought him home to live with them in Masterton. Right to the end he was a gambling man who could persuade the nurses to place bets on the horses for him with his charm and smiles.
Harry's dates: 6 December, 1881, Mauku,
Died 15 Feb, 1954, Masterton.