It’s not often that I write about the same person
twice for the Grahamstown Gazette, but John Grigg had such a varied and
interesting career that his story is worth revisiting. We first met him in the
Gazette’s Matariki edition a few years ago, where I wrote about his career as
an astronomer. From his Thames Observatory, he mapped the night sky, helped to
pioneer astrophotography, and discovered several new comets.
This wasn’t his only contribution to New Zealand’s history, however – he also composed
the song that became New Zealand’s unofficial national anthem.
If New Zealand had had an Official Top 40 in the
1870s, My Own New Zealand Home might have set the record for weeks in the
number one spot. Penned by John Grigg to commemorate the turning of the first
sod of the Thames Branch Railway, the song’s picturesque and patriotic lyrics
gained it popularity at civic events and concerts across the upper North Island. A generation of children grew up singing it
at school, including the nearly 2000 local children who sang it under Mr.
Grigg’s conductorship when the Thames Branch Railway finally opened in 1898. Schoolchildren
throughout the Auckland province received copies of the lyrics printed by the
Auckland Board of Education. The song even inspired a parody version, with the New
Zealand Times using the tune to mock some apparent dodgy dealing done by
Governor George Grey to get a railway line into his Thames electorate.
Mr. Grigg was a familiar face in Thames’ music scene, founding
the Thames Choral Society in 1874 and establishing one of our first music
shops. He was also a music teacher, giving lessons at Thames’ schools, and a
founding member of the Thames Baptist Church. He composed religious songs and
popular songs, although My Own New Zealand Home was his biggest hit.
The song’s lyrics strongly reflect New Zealand’s
idyllic natural beauty, referencing the forest-covered hills, ocean breezes and
graceful seabirds that differentiate New Zealand from the highly-industrialised
Great Britain many of the colonists had left behind. Painting a tranquil
picture of life in New Zealand as one of summer strolls through the trees near peaceful
but still satisfyingly British townships, it’s no wonder My Own New Zealand
Home was a hit with a people trying to carve out a unique national identity.
For a period of about thirty years, My Own New Zealand
Home vied for national anthem status with Thomas Bracken’s poem-turned-publicity-stunt-turned-song,
God Defend New Zealand. Eventually God Defend New Zealand and its te reo Māori
counterpart, Aotearoa, won out. The two versions were written in the 1870s, presented
to Queen Victoria in 1897, granted ‘national hymn’ status by the government in
time for the country’s 1940 centenary, and finally received equal status with
God Save the Queen as New Zealand’s national anthem in 1977. My Own New Zealand
Home, meanwhile, seems to have remained a favourite for school choirs and pioneer
clubs well into the 1930s, before falling slowly out of fashion. John Grigg is
a Thames local whose contributions to both astronomy and music made an
important mark on New Zealand’s national history.
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