Four generations of WGC alumnae celebrated Florence's 90th birthday in Wellington. Sadly, Florence passed away on 24 September 2018.

Here are a few anecdotes from Pauline Castle of Florence's teaching days at Wellington Girls' College.

We thought our teacher Miss Davies was very posh. She was to be our teacher for 3 years learning Home Economics and Clothing at Wellington Girls' College. Our first 45 minute spell with her was to learn a number of rhymes, one being 'waste not, want not and may I live to say, I wish I ate that crust that once I threw away'!  And the one that has stuck with me for all my life 'the happiest time I ever had was when I made another glad!'

We all went flatting early (aged 13) and learnt all things to make us the perfect hosts in our model 'flat' designed and built for this purpose on the top floor of the newly opened Brook Building in the early 70's at Wellington Girls' College.  This was designed by Miss Davies with a purpose built kitchenette where we would cook and serve our guests. This was a kind of Masterchef kitchen of today where we learnt how to prepare, baste, roast, bake, sautée, cream and season to taste all manner of vegetables and meat products.  The fish was always an expensive treat which Miss Davies purchased from the local fish shop and always boiled up the fish heads for soup as not to waste one piece!  This led to many other staff members complaining that the windows had to be opened before we went home from college. Her flummeries were superb and we whipped up, on a seasonal basis, many delights to tantalise the staff members.  They attended four course luncheons, six at a time - we swooped in and out of the kitchenette eyeing our guests to ensure we knew when to serve the next course!  It was a coup if we could have Betty Fraser or Olga Harding at one sitting!  This was the start for many students of an avid interest in food and its presentation as much as the fun for young woman working as a team or in pairs.  We were frequently summoned to make hundreds of Anzac biscuits and marmalade jam to sell with the proceeds going to SPCA or other caring charities.  Some of us to this day can step up to cater a substantial banquet when needed.

At the close of the luncheon it was customary to give a little prayer that they all turned up to teach the next day and proceeded to complete the experience by laundering all the cloths, napkins, aprons.  We were marked overnight and the outcome revealed the next day, we hoped everything had been digested too!  The lectures daily were about etiquette, food technology, diet and nutrition. The exams and testing were vigorous and if you were lucky, received a prize at the end of the year.

The vast room adjacent to Miss Davies office and industrial kitchen was orderly and this was our creative room!  This room was for sewing and as your abilities improved you were able to design!  We learnt to pattern make, cut, sew, applique, embroider all with the help revealed in ‘Materially Yours’ a guide by Miss Davies and Mrs Hathertons produced into book form.  We all enjoyed our abilities after a couple of years as we were able to sew at a fast pace and I could whip up a creation on Friday afternoon to wear over the weekend. This room had the best technical machinery that Miss Davies procured and ‘fix’ if need be.  She taught us all the basics of engineering to keep the wheels turning on the machines and the button holer that would bring to the point of despair at the finale of a garment.  She joined in with every task and would tell us to “unpick and do that again”, she kept us busy and in line!  Her office door was always open and I recall Mitta Matta's picture sat atop her desk (her beloved cat that lived with her in her little flat, Book House in Boulcott Street).  Little puffs of cigarette smoke would float from her doorway and she worked late into the night constantly to prepare for the next day of teaching.

For some of us who had no guidance or support, she showed us the way at the beginning and we stayed not far apart till the end.  The most valuable product of our early education learnt from her was to be independent thinkers and to speak freely showing respect for others, but growing our own confidence to take on challenges.

Miss Davies was fun, had a great sense of humour and personal style.  After school she would drive us around, crammed in the back of her little MG, dropping us off to collect the shopping OR at our cleaning jobs so we had the benefit of earning our own money to pay for the continuous metres of material we purchased to make our own designs.  The Molesworth Street shops in Thorndon, Guppies Fruit and Vegetable Market did well from the vast shopping lists each week.  The antique dealer, Travis would laugh loudly as Miss Davies told him about the finest silvers and hallmarks and makers that would ultimately end up in her drawers if she could get it for a good price.  Her father was a silversmith and travelled up and down the island selling wares for James Dixon.  Thomson's Silk Shop on Willis Street was a frequent trip to buy silk, cotton, linen and wool - all these organic products are still celebrated today for their great qualities, but we still embraced the polyester era when it came to town!

These shopping expeditions never ended over her lifetime. Miss Davies showed us the world of business and thrift.  Some of us are administrators, writers, teachers, designers, journalists, celebrity cooks, business owners and our respect for her will remain immense.

Lumen accipe et imperti (receive the light and pass it on).  Florence certainly has gone over the limit on this mantra to the benefit of thousands of young women she taught in 47 years of teaching in Wellington.