Wesley Historical Rev. Leslie R. Gilmore by Methodist Church of NZ Archives

Gilmore-Smith Legacy Continues

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The Wesley Historical Society administers the Gilmore-Smith Memorial Scholarship Fund, established some time ago to honour two long-standing members of the society, Rev L.R.M. Gilmore and Frank W. Smith. Rev Gilmore was secretary of the society from 1948 to 1982, and Frank Smith was an active and enthusiastic member of the society, with a lifelong interest in Samuel Ironside. In their memory the fund seeks to encourage post-graduate research in the field of Methodist history in Aotearoa New Zealand and the South Pacific.

The fund may make a grant of $1500 annually to a postgraduate student of an accredited tertiary institution in New Zealand. The criteria governing the award stipulate that awardees are required to agree to deposit their completed research project in the Methodist archives, and to the publication (in some form) of this completed project by the society.

The current awardee Josh Reid is a PhD candidate in history at Massey University. The awardee’s submitted brief indicates that the focus of his proposed thesis is the development of the flax industry in the Manawatu between 1840 and 1940. While at first glance this focus would appear to have few links to New Zealand Methodism, the links are strongly there.

Included in the research will be an investigation into the influence of Methodism in the Christian Pacifist movement, which had a significant constituency amongst flax workers. Flax Union members comprised more military defaulters in the First World War than came from any other industry. Pacifism was an integral principle of the Flax Union, perhaps reflecting the influence of the Māori peace movement and the Christian pacifist tradition, and of several Methodist clergy and thinkers. These Methodists included Percy Paris, editor of The New Zealand Methodist Times and later President of the New Zealand Methodist Church; Ormond Burton, a notable pacifist, minister and educator; and Moses Ayrton, minister, activist, and trade unionist. This research may shed light on a hitherto overlooked element of Methodist influence on the formation of a powerful trade union and the wider labour movement.

The Wesley Historical Society looks forward to the completion of this research and reading the published outcome. It is an example of the interest that the society has in gathering the stories of our Methodist history and experience in Aotearoa New Zealand, and hopes that knowing this will encourage further scholarly investigation.

Applications are to be made in writing by email to the President, by mid-September each year, supported by a clear brief of the research to be undertaken, along with supporting statements that will confirm that the fund’s criteria would be met. The society’s executive will consider any applications at a meeting in October; and advise a decision promptly following the meeting.

Further information about the terms and conditions of the scholarship is available from 

Further information about the terms and conditions of the scholarship is available from the writer and President of the Wesley Historical Society (NZ), Rev Ian Faulkner. ian.faulkner2017@gmail.com