The Story of the Camp Commandant

Born in 1882 in Nelson, Noel went to Cambridge University, married an Englishwoman, and returned to NZ in 1910, becoming a solicitor at Adams & Harley of Nelson. Adams became a territorial artillery officer. Soon after war started he was posted as adjutant at the new Trentham Camp. Majors Adams and Macdonald looked at possible camp sites in the Wairarapa in June 1915, recommending the future site of Featherston Camp.

He was briefly in command of the 8th Reinforcement at Awapuni (Palmerston North) before appointment as camp commandant at Tauherenikau Camp. From there he became Featherston Military Training Camp’s commandant with the rank of lieutenant-colonel, a position he held until influenza in November 1918 forced him to relinquish command. He was appointed CMG (Companion to the Order of St Michael and St George) in 1917. In 1919 he and wife Eileen Adams moved to Auckland and in the 1920s bought Wharekawa Station near Clevedon, Auckland. The couple had several extended visits to England and Noel was prominent in farming and political circles. He died in 1954.