Misrepresented on 'Atalanga history [1]
Wednesday, November 24, 2010 - 10:30. Updated on Sunday, December 15, 2013 - 16:44.
Editor,
IT is not my custom to make public comments, but since I was misrepresented in the letter by Siosaia Fatani published in Matangi Tonga on 22 November, I believe I should reply. I referred to the purchase of 'Atalanga by the Government of Tonga several times in my book Queen Sālote of Tonga: the story of an era 1900-1965 (pages 235, 239, and especially 285-287). I do not know the details of the purchase of 'Atalanga in 1952, but there are related events on record.
Queen Sālote had been accustomed to rent accommodation during her visits to Auckland. And in July of 1952 the Government of Tonga agents, Speddings, were asked to find rental accommodation for the Queen and family for November 1952 until February 1953: either a six-bedroom house or two three-bedroom houses as she would be accompanied not only by her personal staff but also by her son the late Tu'ipelehake (Fatafehi) and his family. Margaret Hixon, author of Sālote: Queen of Paradise (p.140) and I (p.286) agree that the Crown Prince Tupouto'a-Tungï (later Tupou IV) inspected properties and arranged for the Government of Tonga to purchase the property (later known as 'Atalanga) for the use of the royal family. The property had enough space for hostels to be built for Tongan students. Hixon says (p.140) that the Tonga Government announced in September 1952 that it had purchased the property at 183 St Andrew's Road, Epsom for the royal family and also for members of cabinet when in Auckland.
Queen Sālote and her party left Nuku'alofa by ship on 6 November 1952. They arrived in Auckland on 19 November and moved into 'Atalanga. So Dennis Nathan (the previous owner) would have met Queen Sālote only after the sale was completed.
Then there is the question of who paid the purchase price of £15,000. The late Queen's salary from the Government was modest and unchanged for many years. Ian Campbell in Island Kingdom (second edition) records that the value of investments by the Government of Tonga of its surplus over decades had by 1951 reached £522, 320 and was made available for government expenditure (p.198). Incidentally, the Grimwood report on 'Improved Budget Systems' for 1997/78 includes a reference to 'Atalanga as 'Government Hostel.
My personal opinion is that in 1952 Prince Tupouto'a-Tungï (then Premier of Tonga) arranged for the purchase of the property by the Government of Tonga and that Queen Sālote agreed to the purchase because of her growing family and the likelihood of grandchildren later being educated in Auckland, as she had been and because of the promised hostels for Tongan students, in whose welfare she took a great interest.
Besi Wood-Ellem
fihu28 [at] optusnet [dot] com [dot] au