Philip Robert Presants 1867-1942
Philip Presants was an artist. He was born in Norwich, England and trained at the Fine Arts College. In 1897 he emigrated to New Zealand with his wife and two young children on the 'Rimutaka'. He became one of the first chromolithographers in New Zealand and imported fine-grained stone for his work. He worked for the Christchurch Weekly Press from about 1900-1908. Some of his work is kept at the Alexander Turnbull Library and some front cover pages of his are reproduced here. Unfortunately he is reported to have somewhat abandoned his family once they had moved to Belmont in the Hutt Valley; he travelled frequently to the UK by sea, leaving his wife to raise the children and run the Belmont farm as best she could. Eliza opened part of their land as The Belmont Picnic Grounds in 1920.
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