Winstone Trust gifts $4.5 million for Universitys new Marine Science Centre
Saturday 21 June 2008, 4:41PM
By South Pacific Centre for Marine Science
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The Edith Winstone Blackwell Trust has gifted $4.5 million for the development of a public outreach facility at the Leigh Marine Laboratory as part of The University of Auckland’s new South Pacific Centre for Marine Science (SPCMS).
The SPCMS will be based at the Leigh Marine Laboratory and will coordinate interdisciplinary marine science-related activities across the University.
The $4.5 million donation will be used to develop a proposed public Interpretive Centre at Leigh, for primary and secondary school outreach programmes, including local and Maori educational programmes. The facility will also provide a point of interest for the 350,000 people who visit the marine reserve each year.
The facility will be named the Edith Winstone Blackwell Marine Interpretive Centre. It will include material on pre-European history of the area, marine conservation and associated science. The Interpretive Centre will be part of a broader upgrade proposed for the Leigh Marine Laboratory, the plans for which are currently going through a resource consent process.
“The Edith Winstone Blackwell Trust is pleased to make this significant contribution to the future development and education of New Zealand’s young people in the area of marine science,” says Keith Winstone, Chair of the Trust.
“The University of Auckland is very grateful for this generous gift, which will go a long way to providing a quality public interpretive centre,” says Vice-Chancellor Professor Stuart McCutcheon.
Background information on the Trust
The Edith Winstone Blackwell Trust was established in 1950 by Edith Mary Winstone Blackwell, the only daughter of George (Senior) and Mary Winstone.
Edith was born in 1877 and attended the Beresford Street Public School before becoming one of the first girls to attend Auckland Grammar School in Symonds Street. Edith married Joseph Henry Blackwell in 1932. Following a time in Kaiapoi, they returned to Auckland, building Marewa a fine home on the north-eastern slopes of Mount Eden with gardens spreading down the hillside.
In 1954, Edith was awarded an MBE by Her Majesty the Queen, presented at Government House in Auckland on 25 February 1955 by the Governor General Sir Willoughby Norrie. Edith died on 15 September 1956.