James Pinkerton's story

James Henry Pinkerton was born 31 October 1940 at Edward Murphy Hospital. Gisborne, North Island New Zealand; with a double hair lip and a cleft palate which effected his speech and self-worth.

“As a result it caused me to become self-conscious and develop an inferiority complex. What caused the inferior complex was that my mother treated me as though the problem affected my brain and treated me as unable to think normally.

This certainly did not help and caused me to hate being in public, so I faced my head downward to avoid face-on contact.  This plagued my life right up into adulthood. Although I met girls who were friendly towards me this inferior complex caused me to feel I was a nuisance and so I avoided being too friendly. It was not until I met a girl at a camp at Mount Manganui who showed friendliness, but because she was a career girl who was a teacher but wanted to be a hostess on airplanes it went no further. So I slipped back into my inferiority until a girl at another camp in Auckland showed friendship and I went out with her for a while. She broke off with me as she was looking for someone who was like her father in appearance. I was disappointed and sad but we parted as good friends.  She did meet a man like her father and married him.

It did break the reluctance to meet girls, and the horrible mental abuse I suffered from my father.”

His mother once told his future wife, Beulah that he was more brawn than brains.

His father, Henry was abusive and cruel, taunting him due to his cleft pallet. 

“He told me I would never get married and that any girl I met would be a fat Maori girl.”

One day his father attempted to shove him around. Jim thrust him back and sent him flying across the room. This was the last day, his father ever laid a finger on him.

Jim realised he was bigger and stronger than his father. But he vowed never to be like him. 

Jim was a great singer and when he was younger he and his brothers used to sing together to entertain people.  

Jim, siblings and mother.

Robert, David, Rosa (Mum), Dennis (on lap), Jim, Maureen, Fay

“My life was filled with many changes. As Mum and Dad moved from job to job. They moved to Taupo where they were cooks for the forestry workers.  Then they went to milk cows at Rotorangi, then to a farm just out of Leamington, Cambridge and we went to Leamington School, then to Ardmore where we went to that school which was a training school for students; then to Te Hihi where we went to the school there, then to Pukekohe West where we went to Patamahoe school, then to Pukekohe where Mum and Dad had a State Advance House which they paid for. There Dad went on to War Pension and we went to Pukekohe Primary, then Pukekohe High School.”

Jim's scooter, which he was very protective of.
Ian Biddick's kids were not allowed to touch it.

One of the things James looked back in fondness on was his time as a young adult working in Pukekohe in the market gardens. There he worked for the Biddick family, who were to become lifelong friends.

“I ended up working on a Market Garden owned by Rodney Biddick for a few years. There, Mum and Dad had a house built on a section Rodney had given them  - I am not sure if this was the case; After Dad passed away there at 51 years of age we moved back into Pukekohe (Princess Street) as they were unable to sell.

I carried on working with Rodney’s cousin Ian Biddick. We were close friends as he was aware of my circumstances.

Then I worked at the Aluminium Factory Wiri. 

At a Christian camp he met his future wife Beulah Brough and they were married 3 December 1966 in Ellerslie Auckland.

“I was married to Beulah for 53 years which would have carried on but for the sad loss of losing her not long after we celebrated our wedding anniversary (December the 3rd). We had a good life together and had three wonderful children, Richard, Lee, and Meredith who have given us 14 grandchildren and one great grandson who Beulah held in her hands when we visited Lee. Trench Lee’s eldest son had Opie.”

Throughout the early 70s, Jim worked on farms.

“I decided to go on a farm at Karaka to milk on a town supply dairy farm. The owner of that farm sold it and the new owner wanted me to work with him on two farms which I decided was too much like a factory so went to a farm at Opuatia as a herd manager.”

He also did farming in Pukekawa and Onewhero. He gave farming up in the mid-70s to focus on a career in the Dairy company. He also completed a diploma in dairy technology, which proved he was more than just brawn.  However, things never really worked out as hoped. He went from one cheese factory to the next in an attempt to get better positions and better pay. He went from Aka Aka, to Komakarau (which eventually became Candy Land), to Okato, to Waitoa cheese factories, before finally, in the mid 80s, having had enough of the Diary company and packing it in.

He worked in Te Aroha as a caretaker/gardener in the late 80s, until back problems forced him out. For the next few years he tried office jobs, but it was never really for him as his skills were not in that area. He was a physical labourer. In the end he had to go on the invalid’s benefit, to which he remained until he reached retirement age.

Jim was a hard worker and committed Christian. He had a wealth of bible knowledge and leadership skills. However, he usually found himself in conflict with church leaders with his alternate views on End Times teachings. He would also refuse to accept the absurd teachings church leaders often came up with. Nevertheless, he was always loved wherever he went, with his sense of humour and kindness.

Jim enjoyed studying the bible and came up with many many documents, with his study notes in them. Some, he had printed out to give to people to read. He also enjoyed playing his guitar and would sit in his room singing hymns and choruses to God. 

Jim learnt many skills on his own, including building, home repairs and fixing motor vehicles. However, when doing these things he would often lose his temper and swear and curse at the things he was building/fixing. It meant that none of us kids wanted to be around to learn how to do those things ourselves.  You always new Jim was trying to repair or build something because you would hear the swearing and cursing in the distance. At least he swore at things, not people!

Jim had a real fondness for New Zealand and its natural beauty. It was always his desire to see more of New Zealand. Neither he nor Beulah had a huge desire to travel overseas. Beulah always said “It doesn’t matter. Heaven will be more amazing and beautiful than any place here on Earth”. Which is very sad when you think about it. If this life is all you’ve got, then you’ve missed out big time. But if it made her feel better about not being able to afford to travel, then that’s fine. 

They did get to do South Island trips. In 1982, they took the family to the South Island where we travelled around and stayed in cabins and motels. Nelson, Christchurch, Westport, Greymouth and other such places. The Ferry trip across the Cook Strait to Picton was horrendous!  

Jim and Beulah also got to do a further trip to the South Island and travelled to Brisbane too, to visit their daughter Lee and 10 grand children. On their final trip before they died, they got to meet their first Great Grand Child, Opie. 

He retired in Waitara and then moved to New Plymouth. At that point, wife, Beulah was admitted to a rest home. Jim made the decision to move back to Hamilton, where they had lived in the 90s. So Beulah was moved to a rest home there, while Dad lived in a retirement home where he was still able to be independent.

Isobel (Beulah's sister) recalled how loyal Jim was to her. The last time they stayed with her, Isobel remarked on how well Jim was looking after her. Beulah said, "Yes, he is a good man." 

Beulah died in January 2020. This meant a new start for Jim in many ways, as caring for her had become a real burden and she was not easy to deal with in her final years. However, once again, as was typical in Jim’s life, another setback occurred and he was diagnosed with chlorosis of the liver. He downplayed this, as he usually did, when it came to his health. Within a few months he had become very weak and had to be admitted to a rest home. A few weeks later he passed away. 

Nobody ever had a bad word to see about Jim. He was a caring, loving and forgiving man, who chose to forgive even his own father for the terrible way he was treated.

Jim always had a joke. Even if it was the same old joke! (I can’t count the number of times we travelled to Huntly to hunt Lee.)

Jim was a wonderful husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather. 

For Beulah's story see here.