David Pennefather Thomas More (1906–2001) was a writer, illustrator, painter, newspaper editor, and journalist. He was the writer and illustrator of 'Around Auckland' and 'The Golden Road to Cape Reinga. He provided illustrations for 7 books written by E.M. Blaiklock ''('' who used the pseudonym ''Grammaticus),'' and edited the book 'The Best of Grammaticus'. While working as a reporter for the newspaper

The Westminster Gazette ''The Westminster Gazette'' was an influential Liberal newspaper based in London. It was known for publishing sketches and short stories, including early works by Raymond Chandler, Anthony Hope, D. H. Lawrence, Katherine Mansfield, and Saki, ...

he was often sent to locations as

Lobby Lud Lobby Lud is a fictional character created in August 1927 by the ''Westminster Gazette'', a British newspaper, now defunct. The character was used in readers' prize competitions during the summer period. Anonymous employees visited seaside resor ...

where people were challenged to recognise him for a prize ( "You are Lobby Lud and I claim my reward" ). In 1939 David joined the Surrey Yeomanry Regiment. He was sent to France with the British Expeditionary Force and was evacuated at the

Battle of Dunkirk The Battle of Dunkirk (french: Bataille de Dunkerque, link=no) was fought around the French port of Dunkirk (Dunkerque) during the Second World War, between the Allies and Nazi Germany. As the Allies were losing the Battle of France on t ...

. He was one of the 900 troops on board the Yewdale, a little tramp ship that normally carried a crew of 11. The Yewdale was badly damaged and limped back to England with many wounded. When they arrived along the coast of England they weren't sure where they were, but David recognised the coast of Ramsgate as he had been to boarding school there. The Yewdale finally anchored off Deal at 11 pm. At 6 am the next morning a lifeboat came out with a doctor and the wounded were taken off first. They landed finally on 31 May 1940 at 8 am. They were greeted by the Salvation Army with hot tea. David then served in the Middle East (Iraq) for the rest of the war running a paper called "Trunk Call". After the war, he became editor of the "Devizes and Wiltshire Gazette" (now

Gazette and Herald The ''Gazette and Herald'' is a local weekly paid-for newspaper, established in Wiltshire, England, in 1816 and published every Thursday. It serves the areas and communities of Devizes, Calne, Chippenham, Wootton Bassett, Swindon, Marlborough, ...

) from 1945 to 1949, and an editor of the

Swindon Advertiser The ''Swindon Advertiser'' is a daily tabloid newspaper, published in Swindon. The newspaper was founded in 1854, and had an audited average daily circulation at the end of 2017 of 8,828. It claims to have been the UK's first provincial 'penny ...

from 1949 to 1960. In 1960 he emigrated to New Zealand where he worked as editorial staff till 1990, reviewing books and providing illustrations and sketches for the

New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation of all newspapers ...

. He was also a painter in oils and watercolors. His oil paintings include "''Cornfield at Coate''''"'', "''The Shortest Day at Wroughton''''",'' ''"Dahouët, côtes du nord''''", "Suilven, Wester Ross''''", "A modern nativity", "Ben Mor Coigagh, Wester Ross''''", and "Taranaki, Mount Egmont from Waiiti".'' His most widely held book, according to

WorldCat WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the O ...

is ''Green shade'', found in 188 WorldCat libraries. His books, ''Land of the three rivers : a centennial history of Piako County'' and ''The golden road to Cape Reinga'', are each found in 39 WorldCat libraries

Works

Oil Paintings

* Cornfield at Coate * The Shortest Day at Wroughton * Dahouët, côtes du nord * Suilven, Wester Ross * A modern nativity * Ben Mor, Coigagh, Wester Ross * Taranaki, Mount Egmont from Waiiti * Whitfield, Auckland * Sand Dunes at Hokianga * View from 118 Victoria Avenue, Remuera, Auckland * Garden at Port Fitzroy * Early morning, Remuera, Auckland

Books

* Around Auckland ( Author and Illustrator ) * The Golden Road to Cape Reinga. ( Author and Illustrator ) * Hills of Home ( Illustrator ) * Ten Pounds an acre( Illustrator ) * Green Shade( Illustrator ) * The Best of Grammaticus ( Editor ) * Land of the three rivers: a centennial history of Piako County ( Co-Author and Illustrator ) * Between the river and the hills, Waikato County 1876 - 1976 ( Author and Illustrator ) * In The Sticks. ( Illustrator ). * Along The Road ( Illustrator ) * Walking Unseen( Author and Illustrator )

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:More, David Pennefather Thomas 1906 births 2001 deaths British newspaper editors New Zealand non-fiction writers New Zealand artists 20th-century British journalists British Army personnel of World War II Surrey Yeomanry officers