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Arthur Guildford Westbury 

ARTHUR GUILDFORD WESTBURY was son of Arthur and Annie Westbury (b: 1 Apr 1898 in Otautau; School Records 1903  School Invercargill Middle; 1907 School Waihoaka; 1909 School  Waihoaka; he d: aged 74Y on 26 Aug 1972 in Christchurch.  

When he left school, Arthur's first job was on the Milford Track and also Duck Creek scheme (4 dams were constructed to create a man-made stream from the water from Duck creek for the Chelsea refinery use. 

Military Service: WESTBURY, Arthur Guildford - WW1 86153, Army 1918; 45TH REINFORCEMENTS; DEPARTURE FOR CAMP.  Guildford along with men from invercargill and Gore, was farewelled by the mayor, and marched from the Invercargill Drill Hall to the station headed by the band of the 8th Regiment left by special express train for camp to undergo soldier training, in the charge of Quartermaster Sergeant M. Hemsleigh,

22 MAY 1918 SOUTHLAND TIMES; WOODLANDS COURSING CLUB. A MEETING of the above Club will be held on WEDNESDAY, 22nd inst., at Mr John McKerchar’s Farm, FLEMINGTON, commencing at 10 a.m. Refreshments provided by the Woodlands Red Cross. A. G. WESTBURY,

He became a ganger in Invercargill working on the railway. OTAGO DAILY TIMES, 21 NOV 1919: A narrow escape from a fatal accident occurred on Saturday night. A railway porter named Arthur Westbury, while attempting, to board the engine of an incoming train, missed his hold and was violently thrown on the track alongside the rails. The driver's prompt action in applying the brakes brought the train to a standstill before the carriages reached him. The young man was conveyed to Riverton.

In 1926 Arthur  mar: (1) FLORENCE VINCENT HUNTER in Invercargill (b: 1905 in Tapanui, daughter of JAMES HUNTER and CONSTANCE BURRELL; she d: 18 Aug 1936 in Kew Hospital, Invercargill. Bur: Aug 19, 1936 Eastern Cem., Invercargill.)

In the 1930s, New Zealand was hit by the Great Depression and Arthur found a job working during the day as a bricklayer labourer for Alf Jackson and at night, worked as a builders labourer for Huey Patterson in Invercargill. He next worked at the Gas works and went to the Ocean Beach Freezing Works in the 1940s where his sons Arthur and Jack were working and found he had to take orders them having been in the job longer!

Children of Florence and Arthur Westbury:

i SBC Westbury d: 19 Dec 1924 Invercargill

ii. ARTHUR JAMES WESTBURY (b: 19 Sep 1927 in Invercargill; d: 16 Mar 2011 aged 83Y)

iii JOHN WILFRED WESTBURY(b. 01 Aug 1929, Invercargill; d: 20 Feb 2016 Christchurch age 86Y)

iv. CONSTANCE (CONNIE) FLORENCE WESTBURY (b: 27 Aug 1930 in Invercargill; 9 Jun 2005 Tauranga )

Arthur became proprieter of the unlicenced Criterion Hotel in Invercargill. Here in 1948  he was fined £50 for sly grog selling Records showed he had purchased 63 dozen bottles of beer and seven bottles of whiskey in three months  and  ample evidence proved a liquor trade had been carried on fairly extensively at weekends.

Arthur Guildford Westbury mar: 1941 to  Mavis Doreen Williamson nee Murray (b: 25 Jul 1906; d: 26 Aug 1985 in Invercargill) her first marriage was to Albert Edward Williamson (they Div 1940) Arthur and Mavis went for a period to Auckland before returing to Invercargill where Arthur worked on the wharf at Bluff before retiring to Christchurch.

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