Helen Graham is a gentle, polite, and softly-spoken woman, not at all like her great-grandfather Reverend Canon Charles Jordan.

The first vicar of Tauranga's Holy Trinity Anglican Church, and nine-time City Mayor, the ‘feisty and strong-willed' Charles was seen as a controversial figure in Tauranga.

Even the statue erected in his memory on 1915 at Wharepai Domain shapes his stern face in stone. 'He was at war with just about everybody,” admits Helen.

What's possibly an old character reference tells us the Canon also behaved soberly, piously, and with ability and conformably in the doctrine and discipline of the Church of Ireland. That's why the Canon's 86-year-old great granddaughter is visiting the Sun Media offices.

She came to us after reading The Weekend Sun's article about the finding of a 143-year-old testimonial, dated the July 18, 1872, at The Elms in October 2015.

The Elms collections convenors, Dr Willie Turner and Kevin Hamm, found the copperplate written recommendation at The Elms' Hunter House, hiding among old books, photos, love letters, recipes, and early prints of the original house that Reverend Alfred Nesbit Brown lived in.

The Canon was born in County Kerry, Ireland, and served as a pastor before being appointed to the new parish of Tauranga, to serve the developing settlement.

Willie says Charles had applied for a job here, so the testament was possibly his ticket out of Ireland.

'It was important that he had this glowing testament to come here.”

A praising testament to his name, Canon Jordan got the job. But he and Brown soon butted heads.

'Clearly a different character to Brown, he was feisty and strong-willed,” says Willie. 'A fighter, but a survivor. Everywhere he went there were arguments.”

Willie says Canon Jordan had what can only be described as a ‘stormy career'.

'He showed exceptional leadership qualities for the young community by being mayor on nine occasions, chairman of the school committee, and borough councillor, most of the time in disputes with some of the congregation and citizens.

'He was accused of spending too much time on civic duties at the expense of spiritual ones.

'Despite being a controversial figure, he clearly had much support in the community throughout his life as a pastor and civic leader,” says Willie.

He was also a family man, says Helen. She's brought with her a folder full of newspaper clippings, family photographs, and letters, including one Charles wrote to his eldest daughter. 'He was writing to his little girls and hoping they're well.”

Helen flicks through her collection of memoirs again.

The newspaper articles read about the fire at Holy Trinity Anglican Parish Church in 1999 when the original building was destroyed by an arson attack.

Built in 1875, The Holy Trinity Church is Tauranga's first church and one of the city's oldest buildings.

'The fire that burnt Holy Trinity was set by burning a solvent soaked cushion under the vestry steps,” says Helen.

This is where Helen tears up. 'When the church burned down it really, truly, was like losing part of great granddad,” says Helen. 'It was just terrible. This was the really awful part for our family and it still hurts to think of it.”

But she still says a cheerful ‘good morning' to the monument that stands in the Canon's memory at Tauranga's Wharepai Domain each time she walks past.

'As children we were always taken there,” says Helen. 'My mother told us that when she was little her sister and two brothers had to take turns to go down and scrub grandfather, scrub the green moss of him,” she explains with a giggle.

Helen's memories of Canon Jordan are extracts from stories told by her late great grandmother, the Canon's wife, Eleanor Ann Armstrong. Charles died before Helen was born, but his wife lived to age 99.

Visiting great grandmother's house in the holidays is a favourite memory of Helen's.

'The thing I remember most about it is the big long veranda that went up the back to the kitchen and there were little rooms off that, the bathroom and the maid's room which was called Annie's room.

'The kitchen had a polished dirt floor. That was the hub of the house as far as we were concerned because that's where we played.”

Then nestled on Eighth Ave, the Canon and Eleanor's home looked over the land that is now Memorial Park.

A painting of Memorial Park pre-playground and water fountain hangs in Helen's home. 'That was grandfather's cow patch,” explains Helen. 'The section went right down to Devonport Rd.”

Helen never met her great-grandfather, nor is she particularly religious like he was.

But as she sits at the foot of his statue, Helen feels closer to her grandfather than ever before. Through the monuments and photographs at Borough Council Office on Willow St and Holy Trinity Church on Devonport Rd, Helen feels a connection.

While admiring a portrait of Canon Jordan at the Borough Council Office, Helen says a newspaper photographer walked past and commented, ‘He's a handsome chap isn't he?'

She replied, 'Well he should be, he's my great-grandfather.”