Francis John Herbert (Bert) Fear 1885 - 1916

Bert was born on the 28th of November 1885, in the family home in Kilbirnie. His house was on the corner of Hamilton Road and Raupo Street. He could walk straight out of his house, across Raupo Street and he was at Kilbirnie School!

Bert was at Kilbirnie School from 1892 (age 7) through to 1900 (aged 15). This was late to stay at Primary School. In those days you had to pass a hard examination to get into secondary school and Bert finally managed this in 1901 when he attended Wellington College.

At the age of 21, he managed a dairy factory in North Wairarapa, where he won awards for his cheese.