Art sparks memories of renowned child advocate
Amateur painter helped many children’s lives
Among the many artworks for sale at the Waikanae Anglican Church Fair were some by late Paraparaumu resident Lesley Webb. Webb was a keen amateur painter but her work in the child welfare sphere is what she is remembered for.
Wellington historian Mark Derby met Webb before she died a few years ago and was very impressed by her.
He met her because of his interest in the Spanish Civil War and the fact Webb’s father was Tom Wintringham — the commander of the British Battalion of the International Brigades in the war.
“This unassuming British-born woman had spent most of her working life with government social welfare agencies, protecting the interests of orphaned, adopted and fostered children.”
Webb was raised by foster parents but “this unconventional upbringing proved very hard on Lesley, who was neglected by both her parents, but she overcame it and became a senior, wellregarded and influential figure in New Zealand’s child welfare profession”.
“She told me she got into the child welfare field because of her own experience and her desire to ensure other children in her position had a better upbringing than what she received.”
Wintringham died suddenly in 1949 when Webb was aged 19.
Three years later, desperate to escape the dreariness of postwar Britain, she decided to emigrate to New Zealand.
Living in Wellington, she met her future husband, Vic Webb, in an amateur dramatic group — they were married for 57 years, and had a son, Chris.
In the 1970s they moved to Raumati and Webb served two terms on the Kāpiti Coast District Council, while her husband became the principal of a local primary school.
Webb’s career in the child welfare field is still remembered by many.
“She was largely responsible for training a whole generation of child welfare workers,” Derby said.
Webb, who passed away in February
She was largely responsible for training a whole generation of child welfare workers. Wellington historian Mark Derby
2019 aged 87, wrote an autobiography called Independent Baggage.
After her death, her family gifted her artworks to a local art society, with three of them for sale at the fair, for others to enjoy.
Wintringham was a well-known historical British military figure.
Using his experience in the Spanish Civil War, and with World War II looming, he set up a Home Guard training school aimed at creating an underground armed defence force in the event of a German invasion.
“It was an extremely dramatic training camp in Osterley Park [Hounslow, west London] in which ordinary Britons, from all walks of life, were trained to kill silently and all this sort of thing,” Derby said.
“He brought some of his fellow fighters [from the Spanish Civil War] over, from around the world, to train these people.
“The training was so effective, and highly thought of, that elite military units of the British Army used it too, even though it had been originally set up for civilians.”
In between both the Spanish Civil War and World War II, he was “Britain’s best-known commentator on military affairs”.
“He was regarded as a very authoritative expert voice on military preparedness because he had experience in Spain, which included aerial bombing of a very built-up urban area. This had never happened before in history. What he said to the British military was what could be expected in their country. They weren’t really anticipating that. They were planning for a naval war which they had experience of. He said ‘forget the ships, you guys are going to get bombed to hell, and you need to prepare for it’. No one had really anticipated that particularly until he emphasised it. He became wellknown to the public in Britain as this warning voice about the forthcoming World War.”
The Waikanae Anglican Church Fair was held in the Waikanae Memorial Hall on Saturday.