| Description Summary | Watson Kitt, born 1923 in Manaia, Taranaki, never travelled to China. As an adult, Watson was a dedicated scholar of things Chinese.
Watson lists the shops, and names the shop keepers of Main Street Manaia in the 1930-40s. He speaks about his brother Jackson buying the family fruit shop back from the Public Trust and mentions local identities and cheese factories.
Watson talks about his father Lewis Ting Kit who came from Bak Sek village in Guangdong to Wellington in 1887, who died in July 1931, when Watson was eight. The youngest of six, Watson was cared for by elder siblings. Their mother was taken to Porirua Hospital in 1931, and died there seventeen years later.
As a young man, studying in Wellington, he delivered fruit and vegie orders on his bike. He tells of life in a boarding house with British immigrants and fellow scientists from the DSIR.
Watson describes work at the DSIR in the Chemistry Division. He married Lily Young and they brought up two girls in Lower Hutt. He describes how they met and married, family life, Lily’s death, helping with his grandson, his health, and managing to live alone. |
