Geoffrey Wayne Rice ONZM (born 1946) is a New Zealand historian. He is an emeritus professor[1] of history at the University of Canterbury, Christchurch. He joined the staff in 1973, and served as head of the School of History from 2006 to 2011, before retiring in 2012.

Geoffrey Rice
Rice in 2021
Born
Geoffrey Wayne Rice

1946 (age 77–78)
Taumarunui, New Zealand
Known forStudy of Christchurch history and the 1918 Influenza Pandemic
TitleEmeritus Professor
SpouseEdwina Palmer
Academic background
Alma materUniversity of Canterbury
ThesisAn aspect of European diplomacy in the mid-eighteenth century: the diplomatic career of the fourth Earl of Rochford at Turin, Madrid, and Paris, 1749–1768 (1973)
Academic work
DisciplineHistory
Sub-disciplineBiography and urban history
InstitutionsUniversity of Canterbury

Rice graduated MA in 1970 and was subsequently the first person to be awarded a history PhD by the University of Canterbury in 1974.[2] He served as the foundation secretary of the New Zealand Historical Association from 1978 to 1981, and was secretary of the Canterbury Historical Association from 1982 to 2007.[2] He has been secretary of the Canterbury History Foundation since 2012.[3] Rice has also been a member of the Royal Society of New Zealand, and is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society, London. He was general editor for the 2nd edition of the Oxford History of New Zealand.[4] Since 1986 he has organised and judged the J. M. Sherrard Award in New Zealand Local and Regional History.[5]

Rice is best known for his detailed studies of the 1918 influenza pandemic and its effect on New Zealand[6][7] and Japan.[8] His wife, Edwina Palmer, is a Japanologist and some of their work on Japan is published jointly.[9] Rice is known for his studies of the local history of Christchurch. His book Black November (1988; second edition 2005) was the first country-level study of the 1918 influenza pandemic based on individual death records. This book assisted the New Zealand Ministry of Health in preparing its current Influenza Pandemic Plan,[10] and Rice has been invited to give educational presentations on the flu to Ministry of Health staff.[11] Data from his research has been used in several recent epidemiological studies.[12][13] A condensed and updated version of Black November was published in 2017 as Black Flu 1918: the story of New Zealand’s worst public health disaster.[14]

Rice is also known for his books on Christchurch's history and that of its neighbouring port, Lyttelton. Rice has also written books and articles on the Fourth Earl of Rochford[15][16] and Heaton Rhodes, as well as some of the Christchurch heritage lost during the 2011 Christchurch earthquake and its aftershocks.[2][17] His precinct history of Victoria Square, a public space in Christchurch, was published in 2014.[18]

In November 2019 Rice unveiled the 1918 Influenza Pandemic Memorial Plaque at Pukeahu Park alongside the Prime Minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern.[19]

In the 2021 New Year Honours, Rice was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to historical research and tertiary education.[20]

Books

edit

Booklets

edit
  • Why did Wellington suffer nearly double the death-rate of Christchurch in the 1918 influenza pandemic? The 2018 Jim Gardner Memorial Lecture; (Christchurch, Canterbury History Foundation, 2018), 32 pp. ISSN 1176-0443.
  • Christchurch’s Sensational Styche Case of 1900: a notable New Zealand Appeals precedent (Christchurch, Hawthorne Press, 2020), 31 pp. ISBN 978-0-473-54544-4
  • Wellington’s Mysterious ‘Baron’ Mollwo: the Thalio-Histrionic Elocutionary Lecturer (Christchurch, Hawthorne Press, 2020), 33 pp. ISBN 978-0-473-54525-3
  • Surgery in Nineteenth Century Christchurch, New Zealand, 1850–1900 (Christchurch, Hawthorne Press & Cotter Medical History Trust, 2020), 38 pp. ISBN 978-0-473-54453-9
  • Chemists and Druggists in Early Christchurch and Lyttelton, 1850s to 1880s (Christchurch, Hawthorne Press & Cotter Medical History Trust, 2020), 22 pp. ISBN 978-0-473-54460-7
  • The Christchurch Trials and Tribulations of Dr Adam Mickle, 1890–91 (Christchurch, Hawthorne Press, 2020), 15 pp. ISBN 978-0-473-54646-5
  • Christchurch’s Curious Coccyx Case of 1899: Dr Arthur De Renzi’s surgery on Mrs Sarah Walmsley (Christchurch, Hawthorne Press, 2020), 25 pp. ISBN 978-0-473-55186-5
  • The Notorious Dr Russell of Tristram House: an American Creole abortionist in Christchurch, New Zealand, 1880–1915 (Christchurch, Hawthorne Press, 2020), 67 pp. ISBN 978-0-473-55046-2

References

edit
  1. ^ "University of Canterbury Professores Emeriti" (PDF) (Press release). Christchurch, New Zealand: University of Canterbury. 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 November 2018. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  2. ^ a b c "School of Humanities Staff Profile – Geoffrey Rice – University of Canterbury". Archived from the original on 1 February 2014. Retrieved 30 January 2013.
  3. ^ "CHF – About – 2016–2017 Executive". Canterbury History Foundation. 8 May 2018. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  4. ^ Rice, G., (1993). The Oxford History of New Zealand. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-558257-4
  5. ^ "The J. M. Sherrard Awards in New Zealand Regional and Local History" (PDF). University of Canterbury. Canterbury Historical Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 February 2018. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  6. ^ Rice, G. (2005). Black November: The 1918 influenza pandemic in New Zealand Archived 3 February 2013 at the Wayback Machine, Canterbury University Press. ISBN 1-877257-35-4
  7. ^ "1918 flu centenary: How to survive a pandemic". Archived from the original on 9 July 2019. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  8. ^ Rice, G. W., Palmer, E. (1993) Pandemic Influenza in Japan, 1918–19: Mortality, Patterns and Official Responses, Journal of Japanese Studies, v. 19, n. 2, pp 389–420
  9. ^ "Asian Futures, Asian Traditions". Amazon. Retrieved 2 September 2024. Her work together with husband Geoffrey Rice on the history of the 1918 influenza pandemic in Japan is appraised as the most thorough in the subject to date.
  10. ^ Ministry of Health (2017). New Zealand Influenza Pandemic Plan: a framework for action (2nd ed.). Wellington. ISBN 978-1-98-850285-4. Retrieved 25 April 2018.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  11. ^ Geoffrey Rice (7 May 2018). 1918 Influenza Presentation (Videotape). Wellington, New Zealand: Ministry of Health (New Zealand). Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  12. ^ Nishiura, H.; Wilson, N. (2009). "Transmission dynamics of the 1918 influenza pandemic in New Zealand: analyses of national and city data" (PDF). NZ Medical Journal. 122 (1296): 81–85. ISSN 1175-8716. PMID 19652687. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  13. ^ Wilson, Nick; Oliver, Jane; Rice, Geoff; Summers, Jennifer A.; Baker, Michael G.; Waller, Michael; Shanks, G. Dennis (15 September 2014). "Age-Specific Mortality During the 1918–19 Influenza Pandemic and Possible Relationship to the 1889–92 Influenza Pandemic". Journal of Infectious Diseases. 210 (6): 993–995. doi:10.1093/infdis/jiu191. PMID 24676203. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  14. ^ Rice, G. W. (2017). Black Flu 1918: the story of New Zealand's worst public health disaster. Canterbury University Press. ISBN 978-1-927145-95-1. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  15. ^ Rice, Geoffrey W. (23 September 2004). "Nassau van Zuylestein, William Henry van, fourth earl of Rochford (1717–1781), diplomatist and politician". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/30312. ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. Retrieved 27 April 2018. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  16. ^ Rice, Geoffrey W. (2010). Life of the Fourth Earl of Rochford (1717-1781): Eighteenth-Century Anglo-Dutch Courtier, Diplomat and Statesman. Lewiston, New York. ISBN 978-0-7734-1300-9. Retrieved 25 April 2018.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  17. ^ Rice, G., (2011). All Fall Down Archived 3 February 2013 at the Wayback Machine. Canterbury University Press. ISBN 978-1-927145-10-4
  18. ^ Crean, Mike (29 November 2014). "Victoria Square once a Wild West scene". The Press. p. C10. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
  19. ^ "Pukeahu National War Memorial Park: 1918 Influenza Pandemic Memorial Plaque" (Press release). Government of New Zealand. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. 6 November 2019. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  20. ^ "New Year honours list 2021". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 31 December 2020. Retrieved 31 December 2020.