Arthur Pickmere was a third generation New Zealander, his grandfather being Richard Matthews who voyaged with Darwin and Fitzroy on the Beagle to settle finally near his brother and fellow missionary, Joseph Matthews, in Kaitaia. In 1859 his farther, Ralph Pickmere, arrived from England aboard the Mermaid and journeyed north on a coastal steamer to Mangonui, thence on foot to Kaitaia where he too settled. In Ralph's numerous letters home he recorded vivid descriptions of the area of the north over the next 20 years before moving with his family to Remuera. Later, Arthur returned to the North and settled in Whangarei as a dentist. The Pickmere property in Whangarei was on the banks of the Hatea River with the boatshed at the bottom of the garden.
On the 26th. April 1921, Admiral Lord Jellico, who was the Governor General of New Zealand at the time, visited Whangarei on the Government ship Tutenekai . Arthur Pickmere organised a fleet of launches to welcome him. Later that year he helped to found the Whangarei Cruising Club and, as prime mover, he became it's first commodore and Jellico the patron. Although the owner of a launch at the time, he was a sailing man at heart and keen to promote sailing in the club, especially among the younger members. At the Onerahi Regatta, on New Years Day 1920, Arthur watched with interest Mr.Harry Highet sailing a 7 foot yacht to his own design called Mascot and asked Harry to build a similar yacht for his 14 year old son called Hereward.  In 1923 Arthur bought the launch Winsome, a 34 foot flushed-decked launch with a draft of 2 foot 7 inches built by Bailey and Lowe prior to 1911 and may have been built as early as 1906 but registered by Lloyds in 1918. His previous launch was Kiakoa.
Arthur Pickmere died on the 11th June 1942 well remembered by the Whangarei Cruising Club.

Hereward was the son of Arthur Pickmere and when the  family moved to Whangarei, they bought a home on the banks of the Hatea River. Hereward attended the Whangarei Primary and High Schools. He found, like Kenneth Graham's Water Rat that: " There is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats".
On the 8th.Novenber 1920, Hereward launched Halcyon which was built by Harry Highet at his father's request - "an unsinkable little yacht" and together with Mascot, and Cheerio which followed Halcyon, as the first prototypes  of the present day P Class fleet.
In 1923 Hereward started work as a survey cadet with R.S.Finch. He advanced from a seven to a fourteen-footer, the All Black. His first official hydrographic survey is recorded as S.O.29179 (Survey Official Plan) drawn fro data collected on an expedition to the Poor Knights Islands in 1925. Hereward qualified as a surveyor in October 1927 and joined the staff of the Fiji Government Survey Office in March 1928 where he worked for 8 years. In 1931 he returned to New Zealand, bought the 34 foot auxillary cutter Arethusa and sailed back to Fiji, a noteworthy feat in those days. He surveyed many of Fiji's outlying islands and his work around the Yasawa Islands has been published in a set of large scale charts of this area.
On returning to New Zealand he began practicing as a private surveyor and settled in Kerikeri. He was a foundation member of the Kerikeri Cruising Club and commodore for several years. At the time of his death he was patron of both the Kerkeri and Whangarei Cruising Clubs.
In 1939 his first chart was available at 2s 6d a copy - a plan of the Kerikeri River which can be viewed as chart 9 in "Pickmere Atlas". During the second World War Hereward was employed by the Lands & Survey Department to survey Northland's coastline for military mapping purposes and it was during these four years that much of his initial charting was done, from the Arethusa or from borrowed launches. From local residents he gained much local knowledge and from the Maori elders, many authentic names.
The Arethusa was sold in 1943 and the Winsome, on the death of his father in 1942, became the family launch. In 1947 Winsome, Hereward and family returned to live in Whangarei in the family home. His daughter, Janet Watkins, describes life on Winsome.
" - we mooched north, east or south amongst rocks, over sand banks, into caves, up mangrove creeks - like snapper on the prowl! Always, Dad made notes, overwriting maps, drawing sketches and substantial previous work. If the area was unknown to Dad he would nose up on the rising tide but always when the sun was high and the sea calm. We never anchored off ocean beaches or left Winsome without an anchor watch except in reliable anchorages. We were taught that squalls come quickly and although the crew may be nearby on shore it may not be easy to get aboard in a hurry. Although my father loved the sea and knew most of its moods he was always cautious. His great knowledge of things nautical gave him that healthy respect so necessary for the total enjoyment of the sea, the shore, the calms, the gales; to understand and respect and at all times treat with caution is to thrill to and not fear, the winds singing in the rigging, or dipping the lee rail or watching waves pluming up cliffs".
Captain C.B.Thompson, VRD, MRIN, MNI states in his Foreword to the "Pickmere Atlas" that 'Pick' was truly a remarkable character whose enthusiasm for cruising and exploring the coastline affected all who came in contact with him and his charts and the subsequent atlas is the outcome of this enthusiasm combined with his vast knowledge of surveying.
His  was a warm personality and a cheerful welcome awaited any yachtsman who discovered him in an anchorage aboard his launch Winsome from which he carried out much of his survey work. An equally warm welcome awaited the caller at his home where he spent many hours working on his charts at his study in his garden beside the banks of the Hatea River.
His first love was for the Northland Coast and 'Pick' was well aware that neither the survey ships of the Royal Navy, nor later those of the Royal New Zealand Navy, would be able to devote the time, or justify the expenditure of the taxpayers' money, in charting in great detail the many small harbours and inlets of this coastline for the benefit of yachtsmen. He therefore resolved to produce his own charts, which was indeed a formidable task as anyone familiar with hydrographic surveying will appreciate.
He gained valuable knowledge whilst working in association with Captain Wyatt (later to become Vice-Admiral Sir Guy Wyatt, KBE, CB - Hydrographer of the Royal Navy from 1945 to 1950) during the 1938-39 survey of the Bay of Islands in HMS Endeavour, and thereafter he continued to add to his vast knowledge of the coast which he recorded in charts both for his own subsequent use and that of his many friends who, like himself, owned small yachts and launches. The value of these charts to small boat owners soon became so clear that his friends persuaded him to consider making his work available to a wide circle and in 1966 the charts made their first public appearance when a small number were sold through the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron. Due to problems over copyright they were almost immediately withdrawn from sale but not before they had "whetted the public appetite" and it was a very proud 'Pick' who received a request from Sir Barnard Fergusson, then Governor General, for a copy of the Kerikeri Chart which was readily presented to him.
'Pick' continued to work on his charts, spending hundreds of hours checking and rechecking calculations, laboriously running lines of soundings and ensuring that his charts were as accurate as he could make them. They were indeed a "labour of love" as he had little thought of financial return for his efforts.
Hereward was also very interested in the natural history of the Northland Coast and was an Honorary Ranger for the Department of Lands & Survey and a keen conservationist. His reward and pride after many years of devotion to his profession were to be made Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Surveyors in 1971.