Geoffrey Rice
Geoffrey Wayne Rice is a New Zealand historian. He is an emeritus professor 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.
Rice graduated MA in 1970 and was subsequently the first person to be awarded a history PhD by the University of Canterbury in 1974. 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. He has been secretary of the Canterbury History Foundation since 2012. 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. Since 1986 he has organised and judged the J. M. Sherrard Award in New Zealand Local and Regional History.
Rice is best known for his detailed studies of the 1918 influenza pandemic and its effect on New Zealand and Japan. His wife, Edwina Palmer, is a Japanologist and some of their work on Japan is published jointly. Rice is known for his studies of the local history of Christchurch. His book Black November 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, and Rice has been invited to give educational presentations on the flu to Ministry of Health staff. Data from his research has been used in several recent epidemiological studies. 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.
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 and Heaton Rhodes, as well as some of the Christchurch heritage lost during the 2011 Christchurch earthquake and its aftershocks. His precinct history of Victoria Square, a public space in Christchurch, was published in 2014.
In November 2019 Rice unveiled the 1918 Influenza Pandemic Memorial Plaque at Pukeahu Park alongside the Prime Minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern.
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.
Books
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- Ambulances and First Aid: St John in Christchurch 1885–1987,
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- Christchurch Changing: An illustrated history,
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- Christchurch in the Nineties: A Chronology,
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- Rhodes on Cashmere: a history of the Rhodes Memorial Convalescent Home,
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- A Scientific Welsh Eye Surgeon: the short life of Llewellyn Powell MD, Christchurch’s First Public Health Medical Officer
- The Life of Leslie Averill MD: First into Le Quesnoy: Battles, Babies and Boardrooms with Colin Averill