An Unusual Life

- Blurb -

Peter was born in the United Kingdom and went to Witley Junior School and Rodborough Hill Temporary Secondary School, a wartime army camp conversion. He then entered a carpentry and joinery apprenticeship with a local firm for five years, winning a prize in the Southern Counties region for outstanding work coupled with City and Guilds of London exams in 1961 at Guildford Polytechnic. In 1966 Peter moved to New Zealand and worked in Invercargill for eighteen years before moving to Nelson in 1984. He was involved in over thirty organisations from Scouting and Air Training Cadets to the Woodworkers Guild putting in over ten thousand hours of community service. In 2000, with health problems, he was forced to give up work and volunteered at Founders Park. In 2005 after many attempts, Peter, at last, changed his gender to female and became Peta. She joined more clubs and worked for Nelson City Council Community Patrols, Citizens Advice Bureau, Arthritis New Zealand and several other organisations. She took up bowls winning several trophies and became a bowls umpire. Over the years, whilst still working at Founders, she continued to make model ships and wrote and published a book on all the square-rigged sailing ships that came to Nelson as well as building models commissioned by various organisations and members of the public. Now her health has deteriorated with heart failure and emphysema, she has decided to write this book to show others who suffer from Gender Dysphoria how hard it was to get help in the past and how lucky they are things have now changed, even though some people still despise transgender people. 'But it helps to be motivated and not give up easily. Most transgender people are very good at what they do. It helps when your other problems have come to a roadblock. It took me fifty years to get any help at all and there are still thousands in the same situation around the world.'