Birchfield: Industrial Hub of Buller, 1880s–1930s

Ray Griffiths was born in Westport in 1945 and in his early childhood years was surrounded by family across the Buller region. This included grandparents and great-grandparents. His father worked for NZ Railways and, when Ray was nine, the family moved to Central Hawkes Bay – the first of many moves. After completing secondary education at Central Hawkes Bay College, Ray did his teacher training at Ardmore Teachers College. His career in education spanned fifty years, the first half in classroom teaching followed by 25 years in Dunedin as District Adviser in Reading for Otago – first with the Department of Education, then the Dunedin College of Education and finally with the University of Otago. His last few years were as South Island Team Leader for national literacy contracts in school professional development with Learning Media Ltd, Wellington.