THE HISTORY OF THE ELIZA WHITE TRUST

Eliza’s Story

Eliza White was a remarkable woman of whom little is remembered today, but who deserves to be better known.

Eliza White was born in Chippenham, England, in 1841. The daughter of an English farmer, Eliza was one of six children. Orphaned at the age of eleven, she went to live with an older sister, before becoming self-supporting from the age of fourteen. Like so many girls of the time, she undertook domestic work.

At the age of 21, Eliza first heard of New Zealand, from a friend of John Robert Godley and his wife. A year after this, in 1863, she sailed for New Zealand on the ship ‘Zealandia’. She was a nursemaid with a well-off emigrating family. It seems she met her husband, Alfred White, on the ship. Alfred was a twenty-seven year old cabinet maker from Taunton, England, who was also emigrating to New Zealand. They arrived in Lyttelton in December 1863, and went on to marry early in 1864.

Although both Alfred and Eliza came from the lower end of the English social spectrum, they showed, as many other immigrants did, that in colonial society intelligence, honesty, reliability and hard work more than compensated for humble birth. A few months after their arrival, the Whites set up in business. Christchurch at that time was a comparatively small town, with a total population close to 6,000. Canterbury was growing fast. There are stories of Alfred White’s walking back regularly over the Bridle Path with a pack full of items to sell in Lyttelton. The business, A.J. White’s, prospered and became well known for selling fine furnishings. The business is now known as McKenzie and Willis.

Eliza and Alfred spent most of their lives in Christchurch. They had ten children – seven daughters and one son, and two children who were stillborn.

While Eliza came from a Protestant background, she was formally received into the Catholic church in 1866. She became a devout Catholic, and a very generous supporter of the efforts of the Catholic church in Christchurch. This support included travelling with Alfred to England for the consecration of Bishop Grimes, the first bishop of Christchurch. The Whites contributed substantially to the building of the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, and gifted the land and contributed to the building of Our Lady, Star of the Sea school and church in Sumner. She also contributed to the building of the Mount Magdala home for vulnerable women and children.

Her husband Alfred was a semi-invalid for the last few years of his life following an accident, and over this time Eliza came to take more of a role managing their business affairs. Alfred died aged 58 in 1895, and, after his death, Eliza took on the leadership of A.J. White’s. Through investments on her own account, Eliza became one of New Zealand’s wealthiest women.

Eliza also contributed to civic buildings in Christchurch, and acquired a portfolio of central city real estate. Eliza is described as intelligent, astute and an astute businesswoman. Her will established that some of her assets were to be left in a trust for the benefit of orphaned children in Christchurch.

Eliza died on 30^th December, 1909, aged 68, of bronchitis.

The Story of the Eliza White Trust

While Eliza’s initial bequest was made upon her death in 1909, the following 17 years saw funds left to accumulate to allow for the realization of Eliza’s vision to build an facility to care for neglected and orphaned children. When the trust had built up enough funds to purchase land, build, and maintain the orphanage, they formed the Eliza White Trust in 1936.

The trust’s first initiative was to purchase land in the area now known as Aidanfield, in Christchurch, upon which to build an orphanage. 11 acres of the Mount Magdala property were purchased. At this time, Mount Magdala had been a major diocesan project for 50 years, providing a home and employment for vulnerable women. The orphanage was known as Saint Joseph’s orphanage, and was run by the Good Shepherd Sisters, with oversight from the trust. It could accommodate 100 children. While it was originally a girl’s orphanage, it went on to become primarily a facility for boys. The orphanage opened in 1936.

Paradoxically, the orphanage opened in the first year of a Labour government, with the beginning of a welfare state, and less need for such institutions. Welfare of children became more of a priority. By the 1970s society had changed considerably, and the original purpose of the trust was out of date. The orphanage closed in 1979.

Over the years that followed the trust sold the land and facilities, and would annually gift the Catholic Bishop of Christchurch with its income over expenditure, until such time as a new vision for the trust became clear. In 1993 the trust deed was formally revised to reflect the trust’s focus as being on the welfare of disadvantaged children.

After years of deliberation, while managing a pool of real estate assets which were diminishing in value, the trust set about realizing a fresh expression of the trust’s purpose.

In 1997, the trust purchased a home in Saint Martins, to become ‘family home’ for children in need of care. The homes were staffed through Cholmondeley Children’s Home. The trust’s work also extended to the counselling and training in parenting skills for the children’s families. In 2001, a further home was added. However, while the original intention was for the homes to provide short term care for children, they became long term care facilities by virtue of the needs of the children who could not return to their families. These homes were operational until 2002.

From this time, the trust has made grants to charities working to make a difference in the lives of children who are disadvantaged and vulnerable.

The trust has been fortunate to have an unbroken family line of trustees. Her three daughters, Rose, Maud and Beatrice were original trustees. Over the years, it has been common for family members to serve on the trust for decades. In particular, Eliza’s daughter, Maud, served on the trust for 51 years. Today, the trust is chaired by Eliza’s great grandson, Chris Morkane, who joined the trust in 1988.

Over the years Eliza’s legacy has given a better life to a great many children, and continues to do so today.

We acknowledge the work of John Fletcher in presenting the history of Eliza White and the Eliza White Trust in the book “Faithful to Their Trust”, which this summary draws from.