Person:Michael Batley (1)

Michael Batley.

Born May 1953.

Primary school, Moawhango Maori 1958-1964 Grandfather died (miss him) Secondary School, Wanganui Collegiate 1965-1970. A Bursary.

Massey University, 1970-1973. Bachelor of Agriculture.

Started drinking approx aged 15 yrs. Two drink driving at early age dealt with as young teenage behaviour Went to Massey at a young age compared to other students. No problems at 20 yrs old.

Left University and returned to farm. Lived with Mum and Dad for 2 to 3 yrs. Spent another approx. 1 yr living in Big Hill shearers quarters.

Dad died in July 1977.

Lived at home in Moawhango 1977-1979

Married Elizabeth Leersnyder Feb 1979. Nicholas born Nov 1979.

Early in marriage got depressed and advised by G.P. to seek psychiatric care in Ashburn Hall Dunedin.

Due to depression during marriage wife took me on two holidays overseas to Bali etc and New Calidonia.

Edward born in July 1983.

Marriage ended in 1986.My feeling is that heavy drinking by both of us was a major reason for split.

Lived on own in Taihape for about 6 months. Went down to South Island to Inspect muscle farm and pick up Tim’s car. Got involved in computing.

1987 met Hine Winiata and moved back into the Whake farm house with her. Hobbies duck shooting and deer shooting.

I was running a Romney Stud and doing asparagus, approx 16 acres.

At one stage Hine concerned with my depression and took me to see a Maori medicine person. I do not know the results.

About 1989 had blow up with my family about wanting to purchase a farm in King Country- Waikato. Probably in hind site I was a bit manic. As a result of this I left the Whake farm and bought a house with Hine in Taihape. I went casual farm working and was probably there till about 1993.Finances were fairly tight and there was not much drinking.

No drinking at home at all.

No mental health problems that  I recall during this period.

About 1993 asked by Trustees to return to Whake farm to manage it. Returned with Hine until May 1995.

Went off the rails, drinking heavily and probably had psychotic episodes.

Drunk in charge during time I was living with Hine on farm. Third time drunk In charge. Happened in Tauranga at night after having accident in morning.

Decided to go to Australia.

May 1995 left Hine and went to visit Penny Henley, North Star, N,S,W. Off booze

Within two months brought bus and went travelling fruit picking for 4 months ended up seeing advert for fencing contract in Harvey Bay

Rented house spent 3 to 6 months alone met Margaret.

Margarets brother and Mike worked together  for approx.   three  years
Fencing. Margaret spending a lot of money on pokies in clubs.

Moved over the road to a very modern two bedroom house. Was drinking ngn satSS more while fencing. Hot after work. More drinking. After about four years fencing work got less as economy slowed down. Started diving for sea cucumbers part time working for a Kiwi Ross Macleam. After about a year was working full time diving.Very irregular hours, so ended up supping wine any time of day or night. Had probably given up fencing completely by this stage.Fencing truck registration had run out and was going to cost approx. $1000.00 to renew. Motor was had it, and I was paying a friend of a friend to recondition it. Had a good six months diving and bought a boat. It was a fifteen foot cabin cruiser with a fifty H.P. Evinrude motor. We set the hooker up on this. This was a compressor with a aprox 30 and 60 metre hoses feeding air to breathing apparatuses.

Fished out sea cucumbers in Hervey Bay after about another year, and had to start looking further afield. Boss sent me up to Serina to do up another ex Trawler. Took up my bus and a little run about car of ours. Every two weeks had to travel to nearest dole office which was six hours north in Mackay. On not much income this was a very expensive exercise. Took bus each time to save accomodation cost.

After about three months the bus blue up, and that was the start of my serious problems.

Moved around Queensland in small runabout car. Hit a rock sitting in middle of road and wrecked front end of car. Put car car into manuka on side of road, which all stressed me out. Sat in car and started drinking cask of wine until police turned up. Result was I was charged with drunk in charge, subsequently went to court and jailed for having third time alcohol related driving offence.

prison drink driving 3 months for drink driving approx 

the first years in Australia where o k

but in the last year car issues drinking heavy traffic and drinking offences

feeling unwell returned to NZ 3rd May 2002

2002 August Ucol Computer course passed credits (39) spell introduction to computers

Unwell 1 bad spell Ward 21 08/08/02 Dr Nicklov Palmerston North (running around units naked)Midcentral Health.

2003 Dr Minnee (Eplim Allupolm) Court 2003

Moved 12th March 2004 house 33B Doncaster Drive

Words by Owen A Batley

On behalf of Mike, I thank you Ned, Monty, Ned, Johny and Editha for your kind words and memories. Well Mike I really didn’t expect to see you back in this chapel quite so quickly. I only hope that at rest you are as happy as you were then on your wedding day, just this October gone. The picture of happiness you all hold on the front of your hymn sheets is as I shall last remember Mike and this is due to Editha for which we thank you Editha and also extend to you our sympathies. Johny has told you of Mike’s love of hunting but I must just add one more quick story. Mike’s first blood was a big fat blackbird, with a bow and arrow, at which point, ‘scuse the pun, with Mike’s gentle nature, he all but gave hunting away there and then. Mike, I will always remember you for your enthusiasm and determination, even if only to keep up with your older brother. As Ned said, at the end of ’73, Mike was invited to do honours in Agriculture at Massey University. He chose rather to return home and plunge himself into farming. His first task was to change our traditional Romney breed/breeder to the modern NZ Romney Development Group stock. Under the guidance of Professor Al Rae, he then set about selecting for an elite flock from which he was soon producing sires for our own use. At this time it was I whom was running to catch up with my younger brother. We quickly learned about the fleece weighing of our ewe hoggets, bodyweight, ear tags, number crunching on the computer, the sire reference scheme and AI, pregnancy scanning, but not quite as we know it today, and ram ratios of zero point 3 %. This might sound old hat today but we are talking better than 30 years ago. Then there was rotational grazing, subdivision, electric fencing and expansion. Mike, you didn’t always see eye to eye with Dad but he would have been amazed and very proud of what you achieved. The next chapter in Mike’s life could probably at best be described as perhaps interesting, but Mike, you were always my brother and I was grateful knowing that you always knew that. Farewell younger brother and may you be at peace at rest.

Mike by Ned Studholme

Thirty seven years ago I was just starting at Massey University, and hardly knew a soul there. On one of the first evenings, lining up for a meal, I found myself standing next to a bloke dressed in what I was to come to know as his standard uniform; jeans, jandals, blue shirt, an open, friendly face, hair that was never quite in place, and a cheerful smile. We discovered we were doing the same course, and although in different hostels, became firm friends. He was left handed, and occasionally his hand writing looked like a spider had got loose, but he was a clear thinker and highly intelligent, and his assignments always received high marks. There were many times that I sought his help to explain something, and he always had endless patience for bods like me, who occasionally struggled with a concept. That of course was Mike, and I’m sure many here remember him just that way too.

Back then the hostel rules were reasonably strict: no guests and no noise after 10pm, definitely no grog in the hostels; and that was just the boys. I’m sure things were even stricter for the girls. Rules were there to be broken and one hot afternoon Mike wandered over to my hostel with a half dozen under his arm. Unfortunately the cardboard gave way just as he reached the concrete steps up to my room. The inevitable happened, and as luck would have it one of the Wardens was watching. Mike was banned from the campus hostels for a week, but just smiled as he always did, and took his sleeping bag to friends in another hostel.

At the end of that first year we joined up with three other great friends, Leo Keen, Mike Stott and Rob Haylock, and found ourselves a flat in Ruahine Street, which cost us the princely sum of $5 each per week for rent. Leo is here today, Mike Stott is in Australia and sends his sympathy to the Batley family, and Rob, sadly, is no longer with us.

As the country boys in the flat it was down to Mike and me to provide the occasional bit of fresh mutton. Mike’s was always 5 year old ewe, and we used to give him a hard time about the generous amount of fat that his roasts always arrived with. Not that that slowed us down much – the five of us regularly cleaned up a whole leg at a single sitting.

Mike was in the flat for two years, then on completion of his Bachelor of Agriculture left Massey to return home to the farm and work for his father. Mike had been one of the standout students in our year group, and Bob Barton at Massey did his best to persuade Mike to return and do Honours. I’ve always felt it was a terrible shame Mike was unable to continue at university as he was very much in his element there and could have gone on to do very well, but it was a measure of the man that he honoured his promise to his father and was only away from home for three years.

One of the traditions that we started while at Massey was to join Rob Haylock for the opening weekend of duck shooting. The tradition continued on after we finished with university and became a kind of annual reunion for us, with Mike joining us for as long as he was able to. Mike and I always shot in the same mai mai, and I remember at one stage he had a Springer spaniel called Patrick. Patrick’s breeding was impeccable but his behavior wasn’t. Occasionally there would be a ‘shut up Patrick’ from Mike, but Patrick had a piercing whine that tended to coincide with any flights of ducks that came our way.

My family had a tradition of spending a few days camping on the western shore of Lake Taupo, and Mike was able to join us there a couple of times. I remember one occasion the Batley clan arrived to drop Mike off with us. We were all sitting around for a cuppa. Mike’s father Robin reached round to his hip pocket, pulled out the makings, and rolled a cigarette. One by one, Owen, Mike, Tim and Pete reached round to their hip pockets too. Talk about a family resemblance!

As Mike’s illness took hold I have to admit I saw him less and less, but we kept in touch and had long phone calls – sometimes in the wee small hours of the night. There were times when he was struggling, and others when he sounded quite positive about life. I’m not sure that he found parenthood very easy, but he always talked about his boys, Nick and Ned, with great affection and pride.

I was rung last week to be told of Mike’s fatal heart attack, and the comment was made that perhaps I had done my grieving when Mike’s troubles took hold of him.

Well, perhaps we do grieve at the loss of a friendship, but we grieve much more at the loss of a friend.