By Roselyn Fauth
Airini Elizabeth Woodhouse (1896–1989), only child of Robert Heaton Rhodes and Jessie Bidwell of Blue Cliffs Station, was a Timaru farmer, community leader, historian, and author. Granddaughter of early settler George Rhodes, she contributed to numerous voluntary organisations and left a lasting legacy through her writings, copies of which are held in the Aoraki Heritage Collection.
Some people leave their mark in ways you only notice years later. For me, that’s how it was with Airini Woodhouse. Her name kept slipping into my research... a mention in a centennial programme, a credit in a local history book, a decision made in a committee decades ago. At first I didn’t think much of it. But after a chat with my former Art History teacher I realised there was more to Airini, and that I would enjoy learning about her.
The more I looked, the more I realised her life has touched almost every corner of South Canterbury... from the way we protect Māori rock art to the histories we read, the wool we class, and even the names on our maps. What started out as a hunt for her history to learn more about the women from our past has ended up as something closer to a fan-girl blog. I think she was phenomenal, and I suspect that if you didn’t know about her before, you will by the time you finish reading.
Airini Woodhouse was a trailblazing South Canterbury countrywoman whose life’s work spanned farming innovation, heritage preservation, and historical writing. The first woman in New Zealand to be registered as an owner-classer, a champion for Māori rock art protection, and the author of eight influential local histories, she combined leadership, service, and vision to shape the way we remember and value our region today.
Here is what I have learned about her...
Airini Elizabeth Rhodes was born in Dunedin on 8 November 1896, the only child of Robert Heaton Rhodes of Blue Cliffs Station in South Canterbury and his wife Jessy, daughter of Charles Robert Bidwill of Pihautea in the Wairarapa.
She grew up on Blue Cliffs Station. This was a place tied deeply to her family’s identity and wealth. It is where she learned mustering, stock work, and wool classing from her father. These were skills not often taught to young women of her time, and it speaks to the kind of environment she grew up in... one where competence was valued, but also one shaped by privilege and generational land ownership.
Her education was a mix of home tutoring by governesses and a year as a weekly boarder at Craighead Diocesan School in Timaru in 1913. She travelled with her parents on extended trips to England, experiences that must have broadened her perspective and given her a level of social and cultural access rare for most girls in South Canterbury at that time.
Meeting Randal
One of Airini’s childhood playmates was Ngita Woodhouse. Ngita’s older brother, Philip Randal (Randal) Woodhouse, was born in Dunedin in 1886, studied medicine at the University of Otago, and was acting superintendent at Wellington Hospital by 1913.
When the First World War broke out, Randal joined the Royal Army Medical Corps, serving in France. He was awarded the Military Cross in 1916, a bar to the MC in 1917, and the Distinguished Service Order in 1918. He served as acting major with No. 9 Field Ambulance of the Guards Division and stayed on with the British army of occupation in Germany after the war.
While their paths diverged, his in medicine and hers in rural South Canterbury, they kept in touch through wartime correspondence.
Marriage and a new direction
Airini’s father died unexpectedly in August 1918. She and her mother spent almost two years in England, returning in January 1921. Not long after, Randal visited Blue Cliffs and proposed. They married at Upper Otaio on 22 September 1921 and initially lived in Wellington.
Her father’s will gave her first option to take over Blue Cliffs, but the trustees insisted on appointing a manager. Randal, perhaps weary of the trauma of military surgery, suggested himself for the role. His resignation from Wellington Hospital caused a stir, but in January 1922 he began a trial year on the farm. I can't imagine what it was like, starting at the bottom with dag-sorting after crutching learning to work on the farm. By 1923 he was managing the station on a £200 salary, while Airini continued the tradition of classing the wool clip herself.
Blue Cliffs Station is in the Otaio district of South Canterbury, inland from St Andrews and about halfway between Timaru and Waimate.
First Timaru Show on Elizabeth Street 1866
1874 Map shows the location of the Agricultural Show. Jessie's photos now in Museum archives give us a wonderful insight into our people and place of the past.
Life and leadership at Blue Cliffs
The Woodhouses worked together to improve and modernise the station. Randal stopped the burning of tussock, fenced off remnants of native bush, began topdressing with lime, planted trees to control gorse, and introduced mechanisation. They purchasied the district’s first tractor in 1925 and a Morris truck in 1926.
Airini bred and judged Red Poll cattle, becoming one of the first women in New Zealand to judge stock at a major agricultural show in 1932. She served on the council of the New Zealand Red Poll Cattle Breeders’ Association from its inception in 1921 and was listed as a judge and inspector from 1932.
In 1927, the first year women were permitted, she was elected to the Blue Cliffs parish vestry. She served for 34 years.
Ferry at Lake Pukaki from the Airini Woodhouse collection of photos held at the National Library ca 1880s - 1890s.
| Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand |
Service in wartime
During both world wars, Airini served with the Red Cross, leading the Blue Cliffs sub-centre and earning the Voluntary Aid Detachment medal for her work in 1939–45. In the Second World War, she also managed the station while Randal served as deputy director and then acting director of medical services for the Southern Military District.
This part of her story made me think about the many women who kept farms, businesses, and households going while their husbands were away. Their contribution to the war effort was often not given the same recognition as active military service, yet without them, the rural economy and food supply would have faltered.
Protecting history and heritage
In the late 1950s, Airini and Randal turned their attention to the Māori rock drawings in South Canterbury. Working with experts like H. D. Skinner and Roger Duff, they campaigned for their preservation — work that, in her time, was far from universally valued. This commitment feels particularly significant to me because it shows an awareness that history is not only colonial, and that Māori cultural heritage is central to our region’s identity.
Airini’s leadership in heritage preservation grew from there. She was a founding member of the South Canterbury Historical Society, chaired the South Canterbury Centennial History Committee from 1954–60, and led the South Canterbury Regional Committee of the New Zealand Historic Places Trust from 1959–75.
In 1965, a peak in the Hunter Hills was named Mount Airini in her honour. In 1969, she became the first woman in New Zealand registered as an owner-classer by the NZ Wool Handling Committee, giving her the right to brand her wool bales with the Kiwi mark.
First Motor Car at the Hermitage Hotel Mt Cook 1906. Note on back of backing card reads: "From left - J S Rutherford, Opawe; R H Rhodes, Blue Cliffs. Back seat - R L Wigley." Photographer unidentified. Part of Woodhouse, Airini Elizabeth, 1896-1989: Photographs of Timaru (A library client has questioned the date of this photograph, 23-August-2007. According to him the first cars to Mount Cook were a pair of De Dion 2 seaters. He suggests that this vehicle may well be one of the first service cars to make the the trip in 1907.) Many of her photo collections have been saved into national museum archives, which are critical to helping us learn about the past and reflect with our own lens of today.
The historian’s pen
- Alongside her practical and leadership work, Airini wrote prolifically:
- Bidwill of Pihautea (1927, with W. E. Bidwill)
- The History of the Parish of Otaio and Blue Cliffs (1930, with J. Hay)
- George Rhodes of the Levels and His Brothers (1937)
- Guthrie-Smith of Tutira (1959)
- Blue Cliffs School and District Activities 1910–1960 (1960)
- New Zealand Farm and Station Verse 1850–1950 (1967)
- Blue Cliffs (1982)
- Tales of Pioneer Women (1988)
These works not only preserved local stories but shaped how future generations would understand South Canterbury’s past. Reading them today means reading through the lens of her time — recognising what is included and what is left out — but they remain valuable for the care and detail she brought to her research.
c1890 Crowd on the beach at Caroline Bay, Timaru - Photograph taken by William Ferrier. 1890 Alexander Turnbull Library - Wellington, New Zealand - Collection PAColl-4746 Woodhouse, Airini Elizabeth 1896-1989 Photographs of Timaru
Who we choose to remember
Airini is not in the Timaru Hall of Fame. That makes me take a moment and wonder about who we choose to remember, whose stories we retell, and how much our collective memory depends on the decisions of a few.
The way we reflect on the lives of others is shaped by our own lived experience. Airini and I are, in many ways, very different people. I am a town girl who would struggle to open a farm gate with any speed, let alone ride a horse. I imagine our levels of discretionary income or generational wealth would be worlds apart.
And yet, I feel a connection with her. She wanted to protect and recognise Māori art. She believed in sharing stories. She worked to strengthen South Canterbury’s identity and acknowledge the women who contributed to it. Those values overlap with my own, even if our lives and circumstances are very different.
Perhaps the real measure of legacy is not whether someone’s name is in a Hall of Fame, but whether their life still inspires people to carry the work forward.
Learning about Airini has reminded me that leadership does not always look like headlines or big speeches. Sometimes it is behind-the-scenes work that changes the shape of a place over decades. She used her position and skills to record, preserve, and protect what she valued. While her story is rooted in her time, it opens the door for us to keep broadening the conversation... to tell more stories, include more voices, and build on what she began.
What started as a passing curiosity has ended with respect and a sense of kinship. I didn’t expect to find a role model in a countrywoman born nearly 130 years ago, but here we are. I think she was phenomenal. And now, if you didn't already, you know a little bit better too.
Why she is one of my heroines
- First woman in New Zealand registered as an owner-classer (1969), able to brand wool bales with the Kiwi mark
- One of the first women to judge cattle at a major agricultural show (1932)
- Helped modernise Blue Cliffs Station with sustainable farming practices such as ending tussock burning, preserving native bush, and introducing mechanisation
- Served as President of the Blue Cliffs Red Cross sub-centre during both world wars; awarded the Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) medal for service in 1939–45
- Ran Blue Cliffs Station during the Second World War while her husband served in the military
- Served for 34 years on the Blue Cliffs parish vestry (elected in 1927, the first year women were permitted)
- Campaigner for Māori rock art preservation, working with experts like H. D. Skinner and Roger Duff in the 1950s–60s
- Founding member of the South Canterbury Historical Society
- Chair of the South Canterbury Centennial History Committee (1954–1960)
- Chair of the South Canterbury Regional Committee of the NZ Historic Places Trust (1959–1975)
- Historian and author of eight books, including George Rhodes of the Levels and His Brothers (1937), Blue Cliffs (1982), and Tales of Pioneer Women (1988)
- A peak in the Hunter Hills was named Mount Airini in her honour (1965)
- Awarded the Queen’s Service Medal (QSM) in the 1981 New Year Honours for community service
Airini Woodhouse QSM
Born Airini Elizabeth Rhodes in 8 November 1896, Dunedin, New Zealand
Died 13 April 1989 (aged 92) Timaru, New Zealand
Occupation Author
Spouse Randal Woodhouse
Relatives
- George Rhodes (grandfather)
- Arthur Rhodes (uncle)
- Heaton Rhodes (cousin)
- John Carne Bidwill (great-uncle)
- Robert Heaton Rhodes (great-uncle)
- William Barnard Rhodes (great-uncle)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airini_Woodhouse
https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/4w26/woodhouse-airini-elizabeth
https://canterburyphotography.blogspot.com/2013/12/woodhouse.html
https://natlib.govt.nz/records/22356929
Side quest: What was the red cross
The Red Cross that Airini Woodhouse helped was the New Zealand Red Cross, part of the wider International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. In her time, it was primarily a volunteer humanitarian service focused on supporting soldiers, civilians, and communities during wartime and in emergencies.
For Airini, this meant:
- World War I: As a young woman, she joined local Red Cross fundraising and relief efforts. This often involved making bandages and hospital supplies, knitting garments for soldiers, organising fundraising events, and packing parcels to send overseas.
- World War II: She was president of the Blue Cliffs sub-centre of the Red Cross, leading local volunteers. They supported the war effort by producing medical supplies, raising funds, and helping families affected by the war. She also managed Blue Cliffs Station while Randal was in military service.
Her leadership was recognised when she was awarded the Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) medal for her work from 1939–45. VAD members were trained volunteers who provided nursing and logistical support, sometimes in hospitals and convalescent homes, sometimes in more administrative or supply roles.
In rural districts like Blue Cliffs, Red Cross branches were a lifeline. They connected isolated communities to the war effort and to humanitarian needs both at home and abroad. Airini’s role wasn’t just ceremonial; she was actively organising, motivating, and keeping that branch running through two global conflicts.
When I think about Airini’s work with the Red Cross, I realise how vital it was. As well as supporting the soldiers and hospitals that received the supplies, it was important to the rural community she helped to rally together. Leading the Blue Cliffs sub-centre through two world wars meant she was organising people, resources, and hope in a time when the official systems couldn’t do it all. It was practical help, but it was also about connection, linking an isolated district to the wider world and giving people a sense that they could make a difference. In many ways, it mirrors the kind of community work I value today, where the impact is often steady, behind the scenes, and quietly transformative.
Side quest: How much of what Airini achieved came from her parents’ legacy?
1. Practical station skills
From her father, Robert Heaton Rhodes, she learned how to muster stock, class wool, and understand the workings of a large sheep station. These weren’t decorative skills — they meant she could speak the language of farming, make informed decisions, and hold her own in male-dominated agricultural spaces. This competence was rare for women of her generation and gave her credibility in the farming world.
2. A strong social and family network
Both her parents came from influential colonial runholding families — the Rhodes in Canterbury, the Bidwills in Wairarapa. This gave her a ready-made network of political, business, and social contacts across New Zealand. These relationships would have made it easier for her to step into leadership roles on committees, boards, and in organisations like the Historic Places Trust.
3. Wealth and property
Her inheritance — notably the first option to take over Blue Cliffs Station — gave her financial security and a base of operations. The resources from a working sheep station enabled her to devote time to writing, heritage work, and voluntary service without having to earn a wage elsewhere.
4. Education and cultural exposure
She was educated by governesses, attended Craighead Diocesan School, and travelled overseas with her parents on extended trips to England. That travel broadened her worldview, exposed her to museums, art, and history, and likely influenced her appreciation for preserving cultural heritage.
5. A sense of duty
Her parents were part of a class that saw public service and community leadership as both a privilege and an obligation. From an early age, she would have been expected to contribute to the social and cultural life of her community, which carried over into her lifelong voluntary service.
When I look at Airini’s life, I can’t help but ask how much of what she achieved was made possible by what she inherited from her parents. She was born into two powerful runholding families (the Rhodes in Canterbury and the Bidwills in Wairarapa) and that came with land, wealth, connections, and expectations. From her father she learned the practical skills of running a sheep station, from mustering to wool classing, and from both parents she absorbed the idea that community service was simply part of life. Their social position gave her access to people and opportunities that most women of her time would never have had, and the financial security to pursue history, heritage work, and leadership roles without worrying about a wage.
I think it is important to acknowledge that this privilege existed within a colonial context — one where land ownership and wealth came at the expense of Māori land and resources. Holding that truth alongside her achievements doesn’t diminish them, but it does remind me that legacies are complicated. Airini used hers to preserve stories, protect Māori rock art, and strengthen South Canterbury’s identity. Without the platform her parents gave her, I wonder how much of that she would have been able to do.
Side Quest: Who were the Bidwills
The Bidwills were an influential colonial family in 19th- and early 20th-century New Zealand, best known for their role as early runholders in the Wairarapa.
Charles Robert Bidwill (1815–1867), arrived in New Zealand in the 1840s after spending time in Australia. He was part of the first wave of European settlers to establish large-scale sheep farming in the country. In the Wairarapa, he founded Pihautea Station, one of the earliest and largest sheep runs in the district. Like many runholders of his time, his success relied on colonial land acquisition policies that opened vast tracts of Māori land for European settlement, a process that often came at the expense of local iwi.
The Bidwills became deeply connected to the emerging pastoral economy of New Zealand. Through marriage alliances and business relationships, they linked with other influential settler families, extending their reach well beyond the Wairarapa. These connections gave them political influence, social prominence, and economic stability for generations.
Airini’s mother, Jessy Bidwill, was the youngest daughter of Charles Robert Bidwill. This meant that Airini’s upbringing was shaped not only by the Rhodes family’s legacy in Canterbury, but also by the Bidwills’ status and resources in the Wairarapa. From both sides, she inherited access to land, education, travel, and social networks that would later support her work in farming, heritage preservation, and historical writing. The Bidwill name carried weight, and it was part of the foundation that allowed Airini to step into leadership roles and to use her voice in ways not available to most women of her time.
Side quest: What does “QSM” mean and why did she get it?
If you’ve seen Airini’s name written formally, you might notice the letters QSM after it. This stands for Queen’s Service Medal, a New Zealand honour established in 1975 to recognise voluntary service to the community or meritorious public service.
Airini received the Queen’s Service Medal in the 1981 New Year Honours for her community service. By then she had:
- Served with the Red Cross in both world wars
- Led the Blue Cliffs sub-centre for decades
- Chaired the South Canterbury Centennial History Committee
- Advocated for the preservation of South Canterbury’s Māori rock art
- Chaired the South Canterbury Regional Committee of the Historic Places Trust for 16 years
- Written and published historical works that documented the people, places, and identity of South Canterbury
The QSM recognised this lifetime of commitment to public and community life... not just in one field, but across heritage, culture, farming, and voluntary service. Recognition like this is worth pausing over. It is an official stamp of value on someone’s work, but it also reflects the values of the time. In 1981, New Zealand was still very much in a colonial framework of heritage and public service. The award acknowledged her significant contribution to preserving South Canterbury’s history and identity, but it also reminds me to ask: whose work in similar fields did not receive such recognition? Which stories and services weren’t seen or valued at the time? It doesn’t diminish her achievement... if anything, it adds depth to it... but it encourages me to keep looking for those who worked just as hard, and whose names have not been given letters after them.
Side Quest: Could Airini Woodhouse be a contender for the Timaru Hall of Fame?
I think yes — and not just as a token nod to a local woman from the past, but because her life’s work meets and even exceeds what we expect of people recognised there.
Her contribution to South Canterbury wasn’t a single achievement. It was decades of service, leadership, and influence across farming, heritage, community, and historical writing. She lived here, worked here, and the results of her work are still visible today.
She was recognised nationally with the Queen’s Service Medal in 1981, which in itself tells me her impact went well beyond the district. She was a pioneer — the first woman in New Zealand to be registered as an owner-classer, one of the first to judge cattle at a major agricultural show, and one of the first women elected to a parish vestry in South Canterbury. She campaigned to protect Māori rock art, chaired the South Canterbury Regional Committee of the Historic Places Trust for 16 years, and published eight books that shaped how we record and remember our region’s story.
For me, what makes her stand out as a Hall of Fame contender is not just the list of achievements, but the type of leadership she modelled. It wasn’t about headlines or high office — it was steady, consistent, and often behind the scenes. She used her position to protect and share South Canterbury’s identity at a time when women’s contributions were often overlooked.
If the Hall of Fame is meant to represent the breadth of achievement from this district, Airini’s name belongs there. She’s part of the reason we know and value parts of our history today, and recognising her would send a powerful message that preserving culture, heritage, and women’s stories is as worthy of celebration as any other field.
QSM
Date of birth
8 November 1896, Dunedin
Died
13 April 1989, Timaru
Married
Philip Randal Woodhouse, 22 September 1921
Children
Elizabeth, Carne, and Heaton
Education
Educated by governesses at Blue Cliffs Station
Craighead Diocesan School, Timaru (1913)
Honours
Queen’s Service Medal for Community Service – 1981 New Year Honours
Positions held
President, Blue Cliffs sub-centre of the Red Cross (World War I and II)
Member, Blue Cliffs parish vestry (1927–1961)
Council member, New Zealand Red Poll Cattle Breeders’ Association (from 1921)
Judge and inspector, New Zealand Red Poll Cattle Breeders’ Association (from 1932)
Committee member, South Canterbury Historical Society (founding member)
Chair, South Canterbury Centennial History Committee (1954–1960)
Chair, South Canterbury Regional Committee, New Zealand Historic Places Trust (1959–1975)
First woman in New Zealand registered as an owner-classer by the NZ Wool Handling Committee (1969)
Publications
Bidwill of Pihautea (1927)
The History of the Parish of Otaio and Blue Cliffs (1930)
George Rhodes of the Levels and His Brothers (1937)
Guthrie-Smith of Tutira (1959)
Blue Cliffs School and District Activities 1910–1960 (1960)
New Zealand Farm and Station Verse 1850–1950 (1967)
Blue Cliffs (1982)
Tales of Pioneer Women (1988)
P H S, South Canterbury Homes: Blue Cliffs Homestead A Treasure House of District's History (14 May 1966). Aoraki Heritage Collection, accessed 26/08/2025, https://aorakiheritage.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/5124
Blue Cliffs Homestead: Historical Society Visits Blue Cliffs (Oct 1954). Aoraki Heritage Collection, accessed 26/08/2025, https://aorakiheritage.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/5123
