Dates

• Existence: 1913-10-23 - 2018-08-27

Biography

Evelyn Bovett, born on 23 October 1913 in Arrowtown, took photos all around New Zealand as she travelled extensively. Evelyn was the eldest of ten children who were brought up on a farm at Mt Barker, located on the Crown Range Road out from Wanaka, then called Pembroke. in During World War II Evelyn served in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force. She was stationed at the base in Harewood (Christchurch) where she drove trucks with 60 Air Force personnel on board. She also served at Taieri (Dunedin).

Evelyn learnt singing in Dunedin from Ernest Drake and during the war years especially she was known as New Zealand’s Gracie Fields.

Evelyn met Thomas Duncan Hutchins, who was also in the New Zealand Air Force, and they married on 6 November 1948. The family lived on the base at Laucala Bay, Suva and other bases including Weedons (south west of Christchurch) and Ohakea. They had three children, born in Auckland 1950, Fiji 1951 and Christchurch 1953.

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