By Roselyn Fauth
I joined the Civic Trust’s Blue Plaque sub-committee in 2024 because I believe in the power of local storytelling. Each plaque is more than a label on a wall. It is a conversation starter. It says, “Pause here. Something happened.” And if we do pause, just for a moment, we might start to feel the echoes of footsteps, and imagine the lives lived behind those doors.
The volunteers behind this project have put in hours of care, research, discussion, and quiet persistence. I am especially grateful to people like Nigel Gilkinson and the Civic Trust team for their commitment to helping South Canterbury shine as part of a growing Blue Plaque trail across Aotearoa.
We began with the Landing Service Building in 2020. Since then, plaques have been added across Timaru and beyond to places like Waimate, Woodbury, Pleasant Point, Temuka, Geraldine and Cave. Churches, libraries, courthouses, railway stations and vicarages. Each one anchors us to place. Each one reminds us that history is not just something we learn in school. It is here, in the buildings we walk past, the names we say out loud, and the stories we choose to tell.
This year, I enrolled in a free online course from Harvard University called Tangible Things. It has made me think differently about the everyday objects around us. The course teaches you to stop, to notice, to ask bigger questions. What is this object? Who made it? Why is it here? What stories are being remembered, and what is being left out?
That shift in perspective has helped me see our Blue Plaques in a new light. They are not just historical markers. They are tangible things. Real objects that carry weight and meaning. They speak to the decisions we make about memory, identity and belonging.
Every plaque involves choices. What story to tell, who to name, how much to say. They reflect what we value now, and how we want to present the past to others. And they also invite us to go further. To listen more deeply, to ask what stories are missing, and to wonder who else was there.
One of my favourites is the plaque at the Sacred Heart Basilica in Timaru. Designed by Frank Petre and opened in 1911, it is a stunning building that still stands out in our skyline. The plaque helps us understand the architectural story, but it also opens the door to many others. Who raised the money? Who scrubbed the floors? Who sat in those pews for weddings, funerals and Sunday mass? Whose voices sang in that choir? Whose histories lived quietly in the background?
The plaque gives us a place to start. But the real work begins when we start asking more questions and finding more layers.
- Tangible prompts for reflection
The Tangible Things course encourages six ways to explore meaning in objects. These feel incredibly relevant to the Blue Plaque project too: - Look closely
Notice the details. What is it made from? What words were chosen? Where is it placed? What does that placement suggest? - Connect broadly
Ask how this place fits into wider themes like colonisation, migration, labour, identity, community and faith. - Question deeply
Who is remembered, and who is not? Why was this story preserved? What decisions were made, and by whom? - Rethink memory
Consider how public history is shaped. Plaques help build shared memory, but memory is never neutral. What else could be said? - Recover what was left out
Use the plaque as a doorway. Look for voices missing from official records. Women, Māori, workers, migrants. Who else made this place? - Reinterpret the past
Let what you discover change how you see history. Share fuller stories. Be bold about adding texture, depth and honesty.
More than just a circle of blue. What I love about the Blue Plaques is that they are both permanent and gentle. They are not imposing. They do not shout. But they catch your eye and invite you to think. They say: “You are standing somewhere that mattered.” And for those of us who want to keep learning, they are a brilliant reminder that history is always present. It is not behind us. It is all around us.
So next time you see a plaque, stop. Read it. Let it sit with you. Then ask yourself: what else might have happened here? Who else might have stood where I am standing? What stories might still be waiting to be told?
If you have a story you think deserves a plaque (especially one that has not yet been told) the Timaru Civic Trust would love to hear from you. Nominations are open now at www.blueplaques.nz, or you can contact the Civic Trust at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Let’s keep making space for everyone’s story.
Let’s keep hunting.