William Thomas "Pat" Nidd

Pat Nidd and great-granddaughter Claire Myer

Feilding, 1996

My grandfather, William Thomas "Pat" Nidd was born 17 February 1914 to parents William Michael Nidd and Mary Nidd nee Latto.  

Pat wrote an account of his background prior to his death:

I was born on 17 February 1914 at ... My father,  William Michael, was the licensee of the Te Aro Hotel on the corner of  Willis Street and Dixon Street, Wellington.  My mother was Mary (nee Latto) born in Christchurch and lived in Wellington.

Father was a widower.  His first wife Mary nee Griffin, having died in 1907 leaving him with a daughter, Cecilia Florence.  Prior to having the Te Aro Hotel he was the licensee of the Wellington Hotel, Molesworth Street, Wellington.  

In the 1960s I used to drink in the Te Aro and I met several old drinkers who remembered my father in the Te Aro Hotel.  My mother worked in the Te Aro previous to my father taking it over. 

Father and mother went to Christchurch in 1915 where my father was the licensee of the Star Hotel, Lincoln Road in Addington.  I can recall the Star Hotel from about 1919.  Behind the hotel was a large paddock with a stable, which backed onto the railway line by the Addington Railway Station. I used to spend a lot of time watching the trains - Addington was a very busy Railway Station in those days."

Unfortunately a lot of what Pat wrote is difficult to transcribe at first glance.