Vee 13

On Primrose Hill (1927) by English illustrator, Margaret Tarrant.

@JosephMooneyMP @kominsens The Indian pop of NZ, as per the 1981 census, was 11,244. Today it is close to 300,000. That, in anyone's lingo, is an enormous demographic transformation. NZ is no better off, in productivity terms, for it and social cohesion has declined. You can't expect people not to notice.

Pretty odd antics on New Zealand X this week about a free trade deal with India, a country that is on track to be one of the worlds largest economies, is a democracy in a world where those are very rare and authoritarianism is growing rapidly, and provides a massive new market for our trading nation in an era of the greatest geopolitical uncertainty in the last 80 years. Rather than celebrating that; some have been trying to replicate some of the “great replacement” social media angst sweeping Europe - in some cases for what appear to be cynical political reasons, for others out of misunderstanding driven by what they’ve seen from those trying to scare them at a time when they already feel uncertain about the world. The reality is that New Zealand’s sovereignty over permanent immigration, residency pathways, and citizenship remains fully intact. The agreement is limited to temporary mobility, and does not create or lock in any permanent outcomes.

@BorisJohnson Hypocrisy at its finest.

Falling birth rates aren’t a disaster, they’re the best bit of global news in a long time mol.im/a/15782963

@Mickey_Mayhew Walked away and never said goodbye. That was Henry's pattern.

#HenryVIII walked out on his second wife - for good - #OTD in #Tudor times (1536), at the #MayDay jousts in #Greenwich; #AnneBoleyn was, for the most part, oblivious to the fact that a harem of alleged lovers were busily being rounded up and readied to take the fall with her... #History #London #Royals

The Unexpected Guest, by English painter Horatio Henry Couldery (1874). In private collection.

Marsh Marigold, Lady’s Smock, Butterbur Artists: Edith Hilder Rowland Hilder (Wild Flowers, 1957)

@NZNationalParty How sad for NZ.

Three years ago, Christopher Luxon said he’d deliver a Free Trade Agreement with India. He stood by his word. It’s done.

@shouldveknown11 The downward trajectory started with the end of the Empire after WW2. It just didn't catch up with NZ fully til the 1960s, both economically and socially. Managed decline since then. The quality of the managers has declined significantly also.

For the last 35 years, New Zealand has been on a downwards trajectory. All governments have been responsible for this.

An antique-style bird brooch.

To thatch or not to thatch? That is the question 🏡

Fashion plate from La Mode Illustree, 1865

Tomb effigies of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine

Children paddling in the Thames by the Royal Naval College at Greenwich in 1928.

On 21 February 1967, Charlie — widely regarded as the last working shunting horse on British Rail — retired from Newmarket station in Suffolk. After 18 years of moving railway wagons and horseboxes, his final job was almost poetic: he shunted the very wagon that would take him away to retirement. The end of an era on British rails.

@JosephMooneyMP It's true that many Indians fought at Gallipoli, and it's good to honour them, because they were there fighting for the British Empire. That's what Richard May, a son of the Empire who settled in different parts of it, was doing when he was killed. And yet no one ever says that.

I reflected today on the many from Southland and across New Zealand who have served our country over the years, some of whom paid the ultimate sacrifice. One was Southland’s own Richard May, born in Assam, India in 1892 who migrated to New Zealand and worked as a shepard in Dipton. He enlisted in August 1915, served in Gallipoli, then turned down a promotion in order to stay with his unit and go to France, where he was killed in action in 1916. He was one of 22 Anglo-Indians from New Zealand who saw active service in the First World War, two who died, four awarded the Military Medal, and one the Distinguished Conduct Medal. About 15,000 Indians served at Gallipoli, with close to 5,000 killed or wounded. Richard May’s story is on display at the Auckland War Memorial Musuem.

Remember when cottages were built with essence and spirit? 🏡

@secondzeit It's fine to honour others but the reality is that the ANZACs were overwhelmingly white men of British stock who went to Gallipoli to fight and die for the Empire. Most were proud of the Empire and loved both NZ and Britain as Home. Just facts, whatever people think of it now.

Lest we forget war is supposed to be about white men

One of Mary Queen of Scots’s ladies-in-waiting - beautifully painted by the French artist, Quesnel. One of my favourite portraits at ⁦@AlthorpHouse⁩

Beautiful everyday Ladybird things. First attempts at knitting Artist: Harry Wingfield Fourth Picture Book, 1972

Aquamarine and diamond tiara created for Queen Elizabeth II by Garrard & Co in 1957.