Story of Victoria Hall, Rosebank

Above, a gathering of the Victoria Hall community at "Meliora", the Jackson home in Avondale Road.

I've just uploaded to Scribd the Story of Victoria Hall in Rosebank. This was founded by Quakers Thomas and Elizabeth Jackson, but was right from the beginning a community-based, cross-denominational place of worship. Now known as the Rosebank Peninsula Church and part of the Avondale Union Parish of Presbyterians and Methodists.

Story of Victoria Hall

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Footprints of Manukau

Looking up information for my Papatoetoe photos post, I found the Footprints of Manukau, a collection of old photos of the Manukau area. Worth a look at the way things were in a formerly rural part of Auckland.

Papatoetoe scenery

Last year, I went with a friend to Papatoetoe to the South Auckland Rock Club show at the Papatoetoe Town Hall. This year (today) we went back, but this time I decided to take the camera.

Top is a mosaic near the local Citizens Advice Bureau office -- strong graphics and a cool heritage balance (train, Town Hall, and a toi toi for Papatoetoe.

Middle, the old Papatoetoe Railway Station, now serving a new purpose, thanks to the Papatoetoe Railway Station Preservation Trust.


Bottom, the Town Hall itself, now a hall for hire by Manukau City Council. In the days before the 1989 local authority amalgamations, this was a focus for public meetings, like this one for the Red Cross in 1962.

The Whau Canal proposal, early 1883

(From Weekly News, 17 February 1883)

Of late the project of cutting the Whau Canal, and thus giving water communication between the Manukau and the Waitemata harbours has come into prominence through the correspondence columns of the Press. Could ready access between the two harbours be thus given to the coastal, intercolonial, and foreign shipping, it would be a matter of the highest importance. The tramway of canal reserve, as marked on the plan of the Whau district for many years past, starts from the western side of Green or Fisherman’s Bay on the Manukau Shore, where there is five fathoms of water, skirts the foot of the Titirangi ranges, and thence down the Whau valley, passing to the eastward of Whau North township, and thence to the head of the Whau Creek. Capt. Drury, of H.M.S. Pandora, twenty-five years ago, estimated the cost of the work at a million sterling. That involved a cutting of a third of a mile through the hill, where the Manukau blockhouse is situate, and which rises over 800 feet above the sea level. This is the only serious engineering difficulty on the route; but this line necessitates following the course of the Whau creek (the detour of which lengthens the line by two miles), or cutting a fresh channel across the bends.

Settlers in the Whau district who are thoroughly conversant with the proposed canal line have recently pointed out that there existed another route, which might prove cheaper, and has at least the merit of being much shorter and direct, the distance from deep water on the Manukau side, at Green Bay, to deep water on the Waitemata side, at a point opposite Kauri Point, being only four miles. In the new line also it is proposed to cut the hill on which the Manukau block-house stands, and which seems to be composed of soft sandstone, but instead of skirting the Titirangi range, to go straight down the Whau valley, passing eastward of the Whau North township, and through the Rosebank estate to the sea, where a channel would have to be dredged out for a mile from the present foreshore, when the deep water channel which passes Kauri Point would be reached. On the Manukau side the excavations would enable Green Bay to be reclaimed very easily, giving to the Whau South township a considerable area of flat land conveniently situated to the deep water frontage; and on the Waitemata side similar reclamations could be made of several hundred acres of the shallow reaches on either side of the proposed dredged out channel. We understand that the Whau (Avondale) Highway Board are so impressed with the future importance of the Waitemata foreshore of their district that they are desirous of having it conveyed to them as an endowment.

It is stated that no difficulty would arise in getting the necessary concession of land from the owners of the various properties through which the proposed new canal line would go, as the work, when executed, would increase the value of property adjacent. Some people are of opinion that the scheme is premature, but at least there can be no harm in discussing it from every point of view. What was the dream of yesterday is not infrequently in this go-ahead age the fact of to-day and history to-morrow. When the Panama Canal has been completed, and its effect upon New Zealand and Australian commerce fully ascertained, no doubt the leading engineers will look round to see in what other direction the route between England and Australasia can be shortened, and then the saving to vessels of the 500 miles caused by the detour round the North Cape will become a matter for serious consideration.

There is one matter to which the attention of the Government has been directed, and it is one which it will have to face sooner or later – the opening up of the Whau (Avondale) Manukau-road connecting the former township with the Government township laid out at South Whau. There are two works on the route laid out which are quite beyond the limited means of the District Highway Board – a bridge over the gully at the south-east corner of Mr. John Buchanan’s property, and the other a bridge over Stoney Creek. The cost of these works is estimated at £400, and it is stated by resident settlers well qualified to pronounce an opinion on the subject, the Government would be duly recouped the expenditure by the increased value given to the sections in the South Whau township, and to Government land adjacent. These works done, the Board feels itself able to undertake the duty of forming the rest of the road, and making it available for wheeled traffic. Owing to the gully being unbridged, a detour of about a mile and a half has to be made with vehicles, which could and ought to be avoided, as the surveyed line is a straight and direct one.

Several attempts have been made to get the Government to take the matter in hand, on the very lowest ground, that of self-interest, but the stereotyped reply, “That there are no funds available for the purpose,” has hitherto prevented any practical steps being taken. Were these South Whau township lands, 574 acres in area, and those of North Whau township, 72 acres in extent, in private hands, the matter would not require five minutes consideration, as the landowner would be well aware that these proposed improvements, while of necessity benefiting the district, would at the same time double the value of his property. The South Whau township is admirably situated, in having deep water frontage to the Manukau harbour, the importance of which will be appreciated more and more as our commerce with the South increases, and the importance of saving a tide becomes a matter of consideration with the interprovincial steamers. Already the Highway District Board, seeing the possibilities of the future, have applied to the Government to set aside a portion of the township as a pleasure and recreation reserve, and the Government have recognised the propriety of such a request. In the days to come it will assuredly be a centre of population from its excellent geographical position, and it is well to take time by the forelock.

At present South Whau looks, as many of our now thriving townships have done, an expanse of fern. The blockhouse, a relic of the Waikato war of 1863, stands in ruins on the crest of the hill (with its loop-holed embrasures and half filled trenches), dominating the country for miles round, and at the time of our visit the other day, only the haunt of nomadic gumdiggers, who prowl over the adjacent Crown lands for gum. Nothing of a warlike character now remains to remind one of the dark days of civil war, but the bottles (empty) of “Three Dagger” and “Battle axe” strewn in the trenches. Down on the margin of the pretty little bay at the foot of the cliff (Green or Fisherman’s Bay), coming into vogue now as a popular resort of picnic parties, lives the “oldest inhabitant” of the locality, a Belge, rejoicing in the cosmopolitan name of Smith. Formerly he had a mate, who died somewhat suddenly of some complaint, but Smith still clings in solitary loneliness to the old Robinson Crusoe life, in the little cove, two formidable mastiffs who have “a deal of openness when they smile,” doing duty for the man Friday. Here, fishing and gumdigging, the old man wiles away his remaining years. If his assets are few, his wants are fewer. The bursting up of a bank has no terrors for him, as it never upsets his balance. Some day civilisation and progress will get into the charming little bay, and Smith, the representative of Arcadian simplicity, will be requested to “move on.”

The Canal That Was Never Dug

(Left) Sketch drawn in 1907 for the "Waitemata-Manukau Canal Promotion Company", showing a coastal steamer passing through the biggest cut, 130 feet deep, between Karaka Bay and the Whau estuary. From NZ Herald, 24 January 1956.

(Updated 20 December 2018. A book The Canal Promoter is due to be published in 2019.)

For the better part of 60 years, from the mid 19th century to the dawn of the 20th, Auckland men of influence seriously considered the benefits and practicality of a canal linking the Waitemata and Manukau Harbours. As the New Zealand Herald in 1956, more than a century after the first musings on the scheme put it, this was “The Canal That Was Never Dug.”

There were two main routes through the isthmus in contention from the 1850s -- the Tamaki option, via a canal reserve dedicated as such in 1850 out of the Fairburn Claim, and the Whau option, first surveyed in 1857 along a route from New Lynn just north of the Whau Bridge to Blockhouse Bay (Endeavour Street). Most of this failed to be properly dedicated, and so much of the route was sold to private owners and vanished from the maps.

In 1901, a new route was proposed to link the Whau River with the Manukau Harbout, via straightening and channelising of the Avondale Stream, with an outlet now at Green Bay. The distance between the tides of the Waitemata and Manukau Harbours by this route was estimated (in 1903) as being only a mile and a half, making the steaming distance from Green Bay to Queen St only 12 miles, while from Manukau Heads it was 25 miles.

“If the canal were made it would be a most pleasant ending to the sea journey to Auckland, via the West Coast, for the Whau River is very pretty in parts, and when it is utilised as a canal there would probably arise a demand for residential sites.” (NZ Herald, 1903).

By the early 20th century, whereas businessmen wanted to cut down the cost of carting grain and agricultural products from the Waikato in the previous century, it was now a need for the raw products of industrialisation that drove interested financiers and businessmen to form their committees and seek the easiest route from the south to Auckland. By 1903, they wanted better transport for King Coal, both from the Waikato (Huntly fields alongside the Waikato River) and from the West Coast.

 The “only serious engineering difficulty on the route” involved “a cutting of a third of a mile through the hill, where Manukau blockhouse is situated, and which rises over 400 feet above sea level.” (NZ Herald, 17/2/1883). In 1869, Auckland businessmen were still pressing for the scheme, trying to persuade shipping companies to bring ships direct to Onehunga from Melbourne.

In 1883 the Auckland Weekly News reported a suggestion that instead of following the Whau, the route could be moved east to go through the Avondale flats, perhaps joining the Waitemata near the end of Eastdale Road. Another Weekly News article can be found here. In the 1890s, John Edward Taylor from Mangere began his own campaign, in support of the Tamaki option.

In his presidential address to the Chamber of Commerce in 1900, Samuel Vaile “deplored the Government’s apathy about the canal. ‘It is difficult to understand why this important work has been so long neglected,’ he said. ‘Certain it is that if it were made it would bring in a large increase of trade to our port and city.” (NZ Herald 24/1/1956, on the centenary of the Chamber of Commerce)

The New Zealand Herald of 16/7/1903 reported that “The committee and subscribers to the Waitemata-Manukau Canal scheme, together with a large number of gentlemen interested, made a visit of inspection yesterday along the route of the proposed canal, which is intended to link the Manukau and Waitemata harbours, and materially shorten the sea distance between Auckland and the West Coast ports.

"The party were taken by the launch Ruru to the mouth of the Whau River and beyond to Archibald’s brickworks, where Mr Archibald came on board, kindly piloting the steamer to Keane’s brickworks. Here a landing was effected. It had been arranged to get up as far as the Whau River bridge, but the tide was falling when the steamer reached Keane’s. Brakes were in waiting at the bridge, and the party were driven as far as Astley’s tannery, where most of them alighted, proceeding on foot over the selected route to the highest point along it. Here Mr Atkinson, who was in charge of the party, pointed out the principal engineering difficulties and the cutting which would have to be made.

"The party then descended through Mr W. H. Smith’s property at Karaka Bay, where it is proposed to make the Manukau entrance to the canal. After a brief inspection of the geological features of the bay and some further explanations by Mr Atkinson, and also be Mr Hamer, who appeared to be thoroughly convinced of the practicability of the scheme, the party rejoined the brakes and returned to town.” This was one of a number of visits made by supporters of the Waitemata and Manukau Canal Promotion Company's scheme to survey, plan, and eventually construct a canal on the Whau route. In the next few years three shafts and a large number of exploratory bores were sunk in the New Lynn-Avondale district, but nothing more was done, primarily because the company had no finance to construct the canal itself. The company wound up in 1907. That year Auckland Harbour Board engineer W H Hamer produced a set of plans for the Promotion Company and estimated the cost of the work at £788,000.

In 1912 David B Russell proposed a canal scheme that included a number of locks and pumping stations together with some deepening of the river and its approaches. He suggested that dredgings could be used to create an artificial island on which could be built playing fields and a multi-storeyed hotel. The total cost of the project was eventually estimated at over £2,000,000. The Russell scheme failed as well; the Tamaki option was preferred by a Royal Commission in the early 1920s, Russell's promises of American finance for the project never eventuated, and he was unsuccessful in obtaining a concession from either the Harbour Board or the Government which would have included taking private land under the Public Works Act and allowing his company to have a 50 year monopoly.

When the Main Trunk Railway was opened in 1908, and when roads improved in the roads improved in the 1920s and the 1930s the canal proposal lost its previous status as a high priority public works project. The last known suggestion to build canals in the Auckland Region, including at the Whau, was in 1982, when Auckland City Council’s resources and organisation committee agreed to reopen discussion “on the construction of five canals linking the Waitemata, Manukau and Kaipara harbours, and the Waikato River.” (NZ Herald, 10/12/1982)

Then, it was suggested, the renewed canals proposal would provide an alternative to a roading-based transport system (long since the successor to rail, and the cause of many headaches for local politicians in the region). This idea was probably sparked off by the “Think Big” development projects of the Sir Robert Muldoon government era of the 1970s to early 1980s. A Mr L J Johnstone even went so far as to prepare a 23-page report on the scheme, which did not come to pass.

The 1908 Auckland and Manukau Canal Act, last regulatory vestige of Auckland's canal dreams which gave the Auckland Harbour Board the power to take land under the Public Works Act for canal construction, was repealed in 2010.

The 1903 party from the Waitemata-Manukau Canal Promotion Scheme, alighting from the steamer at Keane's Brickworks, during the 1903 inspection of the proposed canal route. From the New Zealand Graphic, 25 July 1903.

The Rosebank Bakehouse

R & M Kirkpatrick's bread cart, c.1903-1905. Photo courtesy of the Kirkpatrick family.

At what is now 69 Rosebank Road a Mr Grubb became the first baker on the Rosebank Rd/Great North Rd (northwest) corner. His shop included an area for the stabling of horses, which is now the present-day site of the former Masonic Hall. Before this, the area, part of the larger Chisholm Estate, was just farmland.

The father of Mr Grubb who started the Rosebank Bakehouse came to New Zealand in the 1860s, and set up a bakery in Karangahape Road. Unfortunately, during the Depression of the 1880s -1890s, he went bankrupt.

His son was a baker in the Northern Ireland Constabulary when he emigrated with his sister to New Zealand, following their father. Later, in Avondale, once he had married, he started the bakery.

Mr Keith Grubb, his grandson, told me how his grandfather would drink quite a bit, and would frequent the Avondale Hotel all too often and for far too long as far as his wife was concerned. Once, when losing her patience with her husband, she took a stock whip and went into the Hotel, clearing everyone out in her anger. However, Mr Grubb had seen her coming from across the fields, and was well out of the way. The licensee at the time, possibly Mr J R Stych, banned Mrs Grubb from ever coming in and clearing out his hotel again.

John Bollard, during his time as the local MP for Eden, would often come into the bakehouse to talk to Mr Grubb – and would just as often walk out onto the street with flour all over his back from being heartily patted across the shoulders by Mr Grubb.

By 1 April 1903, Mr Robert Samuel Kirkpatrick had bought Grubb’s land and bakery on the north-western corner of Rosebank/Great North Road, and ran Kirkpatrick’s Bakery there until early 1905.

Robert Samuel Kirkpatrick (1866-1948) was the son of Duncan Kirkpatrick (arrived 1860 from County Antrim, Ireland) and Jane McCaughan, whom he married in Napier. “Sam” Kirkpatrick married Magdalene Webster Grubb of the Avondale baker’s family in 1890, so in 1903 he was essentially carrying on the family business. (The Kirkpatricks and the Grubbs had been cousin families before this).

One of their sons, Robert Webster Kirkpatrick, (1890-1937) went on to co-found, with the Stevens family, Kirkpatrick & Stevens of Newmarket, and one of his sons in turn, Robert Noel Kirkpatrick, was a Newmarket Borough Councillor in the early 1970s. His daughter is Noeline Raffills, current Auckland City Councillor for Avondale-Roskill Ward.

Mr Grubb senior continued to work for his son-in-law until his death on the railway line, crushed between two carriages he was passing between without realising they were being shunted. According to Mr Keith Grubb, his grandson, his grandfather’s dog (to which he gave a double whiskey and milk each morning) ran yelping from the scene and fetched Mrs Grubb. He died "after a long illness", according to his death notice in the Auckland Star, in 1916, and is buried in Waikumete Cemetery.

By 1910, Daniel Robertson had a general store on the bakery site, running his combined bakery-groceries-coal business until around the end of World War I, when the Thode Brothers took over. Ernest Bright ran a bakery business close by, until a fire in the early 1920s burned the entire block out.

Fearon's Building stand there today.

13/3/2009: Post updated and corrected here.

Avondale Salvation Army Corps

The Salvation Army Hall on Great North Road, just beside the primary school, was opened on 27 February 1928. This was just a few weeks after the first officers were appointed to Avondale (12/1/28). The property ledger of the time records that the section in Great North Road was bought as early as 15 September 1915. The erection of the building in late 1927 was delayed “owing to the difficulty of securing building contract by reason of this suburb having recently been taken over by the City Council, and existing by laws being at some variance [Salvation Army Property Board minutes].

“The block of land was purchased in 1915 with the idea that Avondale would be a likely place for a corps opening within the next 10 years. The land is excellently situated – right in the centre of what is considered to be a fine suburb.” The Corps decided in 1924 to start preparations to build the hall – the architects were Gray, Young & Norton, built by the Property Department of the Salvation Army. [Property Records, Salvation Army Archives].

The completed building cost £1,483 , 5d. On 3 April 1966, a new frontage on the hall was opened. The hall was sold and officially closed on 11 December 1976, when the corps was transferred to Delta Ave, New Lynn. [Above from e-mail to author, written by Major Alan Robb, Territorial Archivist, The Salvation Army, Wellington, 2/4/01]

The old building was torn down, and a Tingeys store put in its place. Avondale lost yet another place for community gathering. These days, it's a Civic Video outlet.

History of the Avondale Salvation Army Corps

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Publish Post

Avondale Primary School in the 20th century

In 1914, the Avondale Infant School was completed, known in my day as the Primers Block. According to local people I've spoken to, the builder was a local man by the name of Mr Vibert, who the Roads Board the next year asked if he would put in a proposal for the new board offices (he declined).

In 1922, the school achieved its greatest expansion with the opening of the Manual Training School, which were two buildings close to the Great North Road, where woodwork, cooking and sewing were taught for Standards 5 and 6. The Avondale Manual Training School was opened on the Primary School grounds fronting Great North road on 27 April. A tender from Mt T Wilson for erecting the school of £3585 was accepted by the Supervisor Mr Kalaugher in early 1921. [Avondale Roads Board minutes, 1921, 1922]

In so many remembrances and oral histories from past and present residents of Avondale, the name of Mr Burgess comes up time and again. He was the woodwork teacher at the Manual Training School (which also had cooking classes). Mr Bob Browne recalls Mr Burgess clearly saying, almost as a catchphrase: “Put the tools down, you sawny yob!”

(From unpublished memoirs by Mr H. H. Harrison, courtesy of Mr Ernie Croft, concerning school
in the 1920s, and escpecially the Proficiency Exam): "... a government set exam that if passed gave us entrance to a secondary school. With a class of over forty pupils we set off with that in mind and a teacher who was determined that everyone should achieve a pass. A pupile teacher, Miss McFarlane, helped with the marking of our work for part of the time.

"Each day we were tested in ten words, I think, set to be learned at home. Anyone with two or more mistakes was caned. That was often my fate to be caned, not because I hadn't tried to learn the words at home, my mother saw to it that I did, but I always have difficulty with spelling. Every day we had ten mental arithmetic sums -- pencils up, pencils down -- limited time to answer. Writing sample was always on the board each morning written there before school -- (Mr Slevin) arrived at eight -- as was the weekly arithmetic test each Friday morning.

"Reading daily out of the Government supplied School Journal. Everyone watched the page and had to be ready to go on at any moment, while one stood and read. So the day went on. Most of us accepted all this as normal, cane and all, and bore our teacher no grudge even if we did not particularly enjoy it. We had a realization that it was necessary if we were to get the exam. After school you could go home if all your work was up to date, that is to say if every spelling error was written out three times; every badly formed sentence in the weekly essay rewritten in better form, with spelling mistakes also written out three times and taken to teacher for his approval and signature. All work was kept on a file at our desk. At 4 p.m. we went home.

"During the last term those weak in English grammar were invited to come at 8 a.m. and receive extra tuition and we, the weaker ones, did attend. As a result of this effort the supervising inspector at the exam in our schoolroom was able to announce that everyone except one passed and the one received a competancy certificate."

When the Avondale Intermediate opened in 1945, Avondale Primary lost the training school, and “decapitated”, becoming a Contributing School, which it is today. [Ron Oates, Avondale Primary School, 1870-1990, 1990]

The front building of the Training School (there were two, one behind the other, on the left-hand side of the Great North Road frontage) became the Assembly Hall in 1963, after being strengthened to satisfy concerns over building safety. Unfortunately, it was declared an earthquake risk in 1979 by the Education Board, and demolished in 1981.

A sign in 1969 that read “Assembley Hall” [sic] was corrected by the then Headmaster. [Ron Oates, Avondale Primary School, 1870-1990, 1990]

I have my own memories of that old Assembly Hall. When I went to Avondale Primary from 1968 to 1974, the old Hall was used as a place for school performances (a stage, with changing rooms below, was at the western end), and to show films. I still remember the clatter of the old-style film reels going through the projector, and especially when they ran the films backwards to rewind them! There were few things funnier then, it seemed, than people and cartoon animations running backwards, jumping back onto diving boards, and all the rest.

Beside, as a separate side room, was the lunch kitchen, where parents (including my mother) volunteered on roster to come in, make up sandwiches, and fill out the lunch orders which would come in every morning from the classes on little forms of white paper – whether you wanted marmite sandwiches, or a meat pie (my favourite was apple pies).

Then, in the early 1970s, the old school was demolished. All that remained for a time were, as mentioned, the assembly hall, and also the dental clinic and reading therapy rooms at the top -- but even they are gone now.

But, the school remains. Where the greatest achievement for my generation would have been learning the times tables and keeping our clothes clean by home time, these days Avondale Primary School teaches the children all about computers and the world of the future.

Learning in the Whau

For years, there has been uncertainty as to exactly when the first school in the Whau district (now Avondale and surrounding districts, including Henderson) opened and operated. Unfortunately, Presbyterian records for our area lodged with Presbyterian Archives in Dunedin don’t go back further than the 1880s, as with Avondale school committee records. The school also had no uninterrupted financial support from the provincial government, later the Crown, until 1864. At the moment, I’m compiling a study of the early Whau schools, from what records are at hand and available, but our earliest school did start 148 years ago.

The Whau Presbyterian Church, completed in time for Easter services in April 1860, was always intended to serve both as a church and as a school. Under education regulations at the time, the community were entitled to apply for Provincial Council funding to run a day school, if a certain number of teaching hours were given to secular education, by a certified teacher. This, apparently, the local community succeeded in achieving, as they are noted as applying for Government aid that year. According to later reports, the school had only 10 children — and that may have been the reason it ceased being funded by the Council for a period, until 1864, and indeed shut completely until sometime after June 1861. In those days, the subsidy paid only part of the teacher’s salary. The rest had to come from school fees, often a shilling a day per pupil. If children didn’t attend, or families couldn't afford the shilling, the school had no money.

Enter John Bollard, newly-married in May 1861 and settling in Avondale with his wife by July that year on land he leased from William Innes Taylor. He may have chatted with his neighbour in the Rosebank area Dr. Thomas Aickin about the fact that the school had shut down. Together, they made efforts to resurrect the school, and probably formed their own informal school committee — perhaps just two members — by July 1861. (Bollard was later awarded in 1911 for serving 50 straight years on the district’s school committee, hence how we know when the committee began.) By 1863, they may have been joined by merchant John Buchanan. They were definitely joined by Rev. Andrew Anderson by early 1864, who went on to be the first Presbyterian minister based at Avondale from 1865. The school committee sent in applications for funding to the Provincial Council in 1864, and by the following year had a fully funded school once again, based at the Presbyterian Church. By now, the district was developing rapidly, with settlement and farms increasing further west, talk of a proposed canal, the Pollen brickyard on Rosebank from around 1860 and the Gittos tannery from 1864. It all looked quite promising as far as progress for settlers in the Whau was concerned.

In 1867 another committee set-to and fundraised for the construction of a public hall. The hall, built just across the road from the Presbyterian Church and opened on 14 November 1867, came with a trust deed which expressly stated that it was intended for literary, scientific and educational purposes. The school moved there in 1868. The School Committee were not charged any rent for use of the hall, and the school was the major user, but whenever important community meetings or elections cropped up, the school from 1868-1882 would have to shut down for days — and find, on returning, their equipment and furniture damaged in some instances. The hall, the school committee complained to the Education Board, was cold and draughty, with both children and teachers often falling ill. Yet, the Hall Committee claimed they hadn’t enough funds to repair the hall, and said that grants offered by the Education Board weren’t enough.

With the Common Schools Act in 1868, the new Whau Educational District from 1869 became one of the first in the Auckland Province, and first on the Isthmus, to strike a separate special rate for educational purposes. The school committee may have utilised the now-departed Rev. Anderson’s house built at the corner of Layard and Cracroft (Crayford) Streets as a residence for the school’s head teacher from 1869. The education board purchased his land after a mortgage default in 1875, which was much of what is now the present site of Avondale Primary School. Henry Hasall’s land alongside was purchased in January 1882. Education Board architect Henry Allright designed the first purpose-built schoolhouse for the district erected there, which opened in May 1882.

Along the way, there have been some interesting characters associated with those early days of the first Whau schools. Archibald H Spicer (1830-1883) was born in Vizagapatama, India, his father a captain of the 12th Regiment, Madras Native Infantry, of the East India Company. He arrived in New Zealand in 1851, and finally settled for a time in the Whau district in the early-to-mid 1860s. His estate here, close to the corner of New North and Blockhouse Bay Roads, was apparently the home of wandering peacocks. Spicer is listed as a teacher of the Whau School in Provincial Council records, after a man named Knox who had a dispute with Rev. Anderson over pay, but Spicer may well have helped Bollard and Aickin earlier than that date.

Another was Samuel Frederick Mayhew. For some reason, the Education Board insisted in 1881 that the teacher Joseph Glenny be replaced by Mayhew. The Whau School Committee were outraged, but were told that what the Education Board said, went. So, it was Mayhew who was the first teacher of the new school in May 1882. Later that year, however, he left Auckland in the wake of scandal and bad debts owed to Queen Street merchants. He popped up in Blenheim, 1886, charged with embezzling funds from the Spring Creek Rifles (he got off the charge, on appeal and a technicality). His wife Alice sued for divorce in 1897, on the grounds that she hadn’t heard from her husband since 1882, he’d committed adultery with women unknown to her, and had been living with another woman as his wife in Sydney.

The Whau School Committee’s misgivings, after all, proved correct.

Archibald Hitchins Spicer: peacocks and school slates

I can't add much more to the story of A. H. Spicer from what has already been published online (unfortunately, the website no longer exists - update April 2018). He was also an early uncertified teacher at the Whau School in the Presbyterian Church before the school regained Provincial Council funding after 1865, and most of his property at Avondale was purchased by Benjamin Gittos under equity of redemption when Spicer nearly defaulted on mortgages.

From the site linked above:

"He purchased a property of about ten acres which he named "Glenlaveroch". It was situated near the corner of Blockhouse Bay and New North Road, which was then dangerously far from any centre of settlement. The house was a fine one for the times, with a hipped roof of corrugated iron. No lead was used on the roof as it was feared (being the time of the Waikato Wars) that the Maori would strip the lead for making bullets.

The property was laid out in gardens, with flower beds, and peacocks walking about. There were household servants. Archie employed a groom to drive him into the office in the "dog-cart". The house was still standing in the 1930's.

Unfortunately Archie's circumstances changed. He lost his position at the Customs Office and became ill. The family returned to live in Auckland. Archie spent his final sixteen years working as a clerk in the Deeds Office. His fine writing can be found in the old ledgers."

NZHPT registration submissions for North Island Main Trunk Line landmarks

I've just had an email from the New Zealand Historic Places Trust, pointing toward a page on their site regarding public submissions regarding items they propose to register. Apart from the chance to comment on whether or not they should register the Ohakune Station, Makatote Viaduct and Mangaturuturu Viaduct, for a limited time, until 13 November, you have a chance to view the .pdfs of their registration reports for these structures online. Some wonderful heritage photos and images in their reports.

Avondale Railway Station: Crayford Street work

For now, until they've completed sorting out stormwater and sewage lines at Crayford Street rail crossing, it's a case of tip-toe gingerly over the temporary tarseal and ballast rocks. Work at Crayford Street is underway, though, you have to admit that. Even the pine trees, probably around 20-30 years old (although they have have been younger, and I just didn't notice) are gone (see Scribd document for after and before shots).

For those of you out there unfamiliar with my favourite suburb, in the distance of the photo to the right is Avondale's racecourse, a favourite recreation spot for over 100 years. Beyond that, the Waitakere Ranges. Hopefully, we still get to keep that view (well, I don't know what's the future of the racecourse, unfortunately) once all the work for the new station is finished.

Amateur Minstrel Performance at the Whau -- 1867

From the Southern Cross, 18 March 1867, written by "A Correspondent".

On Friday last there was some excitement in our usually very quiet village. A number of young men, who have formed a music class here, provided an evening's entertainment for the settlers, for which invitations were issued to the residents generally. A tent was erected near the church, and decorated externally with the national flag. Within the tent, evergreens, peculiar to the colony, were very tastefully arranged, and varied with dahlias and other flowers. The Union Jack formed the background of the platform, while a little in front the neat banner of the Whau Amateur Minstrels was displayed. The tent was brilliantly lighted by three chandeliers.

There were about three hundred ladies and gentlemen assembled, and, amongst them, we observed some of the good citizens of Auckland. Exactly at half-pa«t 7, the amateur minstrels appeared on the platform, in character, and opened with "Negro selections" by the company. The opening chorus, "Happy are we," was well rendered by Mr. Barraclough; "The Old Folks are gone," by Mr. Bell. "Ring, ring the Banjo," was sustained with admirable spirit by Mr. Cooke. "Away to Dixey" was given by Mr. Gittos, whose voice wanted strength and compass for the solo. "Carry me 'long" was given, with very considerable taste, by Mr. Barraclough. "The Whau" was sung by Mr. Holloway; "Ladies, won't you marry?" by Mr. Bell; "The Little Log Hut,"- by Mr. Cooke; and "Negro Quadrilles," by the company, closed the first part.

An interval of ten minutes here ensued, after which the second part was opened with the country dance "Triumph". The song, "Nelly was a Lady" was sung with great pathos by Mr. Barraolough; "Ellen Bayne," by Mr. Bell; "Bob Bidley," by Mr. Bacon. The humorous song of "The Hat and Feather," was well rendered by Mr. Cooke; "Gone are the days," by Mr. Barraclough; " Massa's in the cold ground", Mr. Gittos; "Cornelia Cob," Mr. Holloway. "Not to be sneezed at," was very effectively rendered by Mr. Bell; and " The Hen Convention," by Mr. Barraclough.

The entertainment was terminated by the singing of the National Anthem, in which the audience joined. The choruses were rendered with excellent effect. The following were the instrumentalists:— Violin and conductor, Mr. Barralough; concertinas, Messers Holloway and Walker; banjo, Mr. Bell; tambourine, Mr. Gittos; Broder Bones, Mr. Cooke; triangle, Mr. Bacon. Mr. Henderson supplied the refreshments.

On the whole the entertainment reflected great credit on the taste, liberality, and public spirit of the Whau amateur minstrels, and, at the conclusion, Dr. Aickin called for three cheers for these gentlemen, which was responded to until the welkin rang again.

It was announced, before the departure of the audience, that another entertainment would shortly be given, for admission, to which a charge would be made, for the purpose of contributing toward the erection of a public hall which is much wanted in the district.

Photos of early New Lynn & Green Bay

A few years ago, Mr. H. Batley of New Lynn gave me a disc of images scanned from an old photo book on New Lynn and surrounds. They date from the 1920s or so, judging by the cars, the swimming costumes, and the state of the roads.

More here.

The building of the Avondale Railway Bridge

The image above, taken 5 October this year, is of the present (second) bridge. The original wooden and concrete one was a great place to stop, and watch the trains arrive underneath your feet as they came in from Mt Albert, usually with their exhausts pumping up heaps of dark smoke and heat. They replaced the bridge in 1990.

Notes from the minutes Books of Avondale Road Board, 1911 to 1913 (held at Auckland City Archives).

16 August 1911
Railway Bridge at Avondale Station
The clerk was instructed to write to Mr. Jn Bollard MP referring to previous applications & ask him to see into the matter and advise the Board what steps to take to further obtaining the bridge over the railway.

20 September 1911
Bollard advises work on railway bridge under consideration when finance was available.

1 November 1911
Minister promises to get plans & specs prepared for reinforced concrete bridge at Avondale station.

11 June 1913
The Government to be urged to proceed with work on building the railway bridge.

18 June 1913
District engineer NZ Govt. Railways: department about to proceed with erection of Overhead Bridge at Station & asks for cross section of proposed approaches to be provided by the Board. Increase in width from 30 to 40 feet meant large increase in cost, asked if Board would pay additional sum required.

Resolved that department be informed that as Board provided approaches, could not pay for extra width. Bridge largely for use and convenience of rail passengers. Letter to Bollard asking for help on increased width.

16 July 1913
Work on Railway Bridge (30ft wide) to be started in 3 weeks.

5 November 1913
North pier of overhead Railway Bridge completed, Board’s work on approaches to commence.

22 April 1914
Railway Dept notifies that level crossing rendered unnecessary by Overhead Bridge now fenced across.

Wairaka's Waters

I have a soft spot still for Wairaka's Waters. I was very surprised to see how many people asked for copies -- like A Doctor in the Whau and The Zoo War, Wairaka's Waters is part of my hobby stuff. I seek out the information, find answers to my questions, write it up, then publish.

Wairaka's Waters was my first departure from Avondale-Waterview themed stuff, yet it really was just about what was happening next door, on the Auckland Asylum farm bordering Waterview, just across the Oakley Creek. Like A Doctor in the Whau, Wairaka's Waters sprang from the same overall "umbrella" research -- into the story of the mouth of the Oakley Creek which, hopefully, I'll get tidied up soon, and publish straight to Scribd. That one, for the first time, will be digital primarily, hardcopy only for certain libraries and archives. May be a lot cheaper for me as well, in these uncertain times!

Anyway, here's Wairaka's Waters. I still have a few hardcopies left, if anyone wants one, by the way.

Wairakas Waters - Upload a Document to Scribd

"A Doctor in the Whau" - Thomas Aickin (1814-1897)

A biography I did early last year on Dr. Thomas Aickin, first medical practitioner in Avondale, second superintendent of the Auckland Asylum, agricultural experimenter, inventor, poet.

A Doctor in the Whau - Upload a Document to Scribd

Using the horse plough in Avondale, 1933

A member of the Avondale-Waterview Historical Society, Tricia Norton, very kindly sent this photo this year, and it was published in the Avondale historical Journal. I thought I'd share it here -- Tricia wrote that it was taken in May 1933, somewhere near the corner of Avondale and Rosebank Roads, an area leased by her family (the Shersons) where they grew vegetables.

Avondale Letters 3

The 1912 Avondale Roads Debacle, continued.

AVONDALE ROADS

(To the Editor, Auckland Star. Published 13 August 1912)

Sir, -- It was indeed refreshing to read in your issue of Friday night's "Star" a thrilling and true account of "A Visitor's" experience of trying to get through the district of Avondale without the assistance of a flying machine. And as roads are a favourite topic, it may be interesting to briefly describe how the Avondale Road Board make their roads ...

Blockhouse Bay is 2½ miles south of Avondale station, and at this point operations were commenced by taking up the old metal, and removing it to (perhaps the Board knows where?). Ploughs and scoops were got to work; hills and gullies were left to match other roads in the district. Scoria boulders were deposited along the route, and men with axes were splitting these as thin as possible and laying them flat in order to cover a greater surface. What a foundation! Then mud and metal scattered over thinly, and made to go as far as possible. And, would you and your readers really believe it! -- the Board commanded 6 inches of sticky clay to be put over the metal to cover up all defects, and make it that neither horses, vehicles, nor pedestrians could pass over their new roads without walking on stilts of clay and metal mixture.

A cutting at Burton's Hill has produced half-a-mile of mud, through which tradesmen's vehicles, residents, and school children were expected to travel. Strong protests have at last resulted in half-a-mile of 9in. x 3in. planks being placed on top of this huge treacherous bog. On these the public are expected to walk, and in the dark this is a feat requiring great skill.

For eleven months the people of Avondale South have struggled knee-deep in mud, and have patiently endured all kinds of discomfort, such as deep ditches, loads of metal and scoria, pipes etc., and yet never a light to shine on these dangers (which is contrary to law). This is the present condition of Manukau Road, the main outlet to Blockhouse Bay.

So the Board decided to open another outlet, namely Taylor Street (the residents foolishly finding half the money). This was ploughed up and graded. Not one ounce of metal or scoria was put on, and the result is that now it is disgustingly filthy and impassable.

Now we come to the last and worst of the outlets of this marine suburb, namely White Swan Road. [Note: in 1912, this included present-day Donovan St. It is the latter where the debacle occurred.] The condition of this bog was so ably described by "A Visitor" ...

During the past month two horses had to be shot, having broken their legs on these roads, another pony has been crippled, vehicles and harness smashed, and wagons, carts, motor cars, etc., are constantly being buried in these "bogs". The contractor and men working on these roads are not to blame, as they have been acting under instructions received from a Board. I am, etc.,

WM. PENDLEBURY,
Blockhouse Bay.

There ensued a series of sniping letters between Pendlebury and D. Campbell in the press for much of the rest of the month. The debacle eventually fizzled out when everyone got tired of talking about muddy roads for a while.

Avondale Letters 2

The 1912 Avondale (specifically, Blockhouse Bay) Roads Debacle. 50 ratepayers signed a petition, presented to the Avondale Road Board in August 1912 by Mr. William Pendlebury (a draper by trade who lived in Blockhouse Bay and who would later, in 1927, support the last borough mayor Herbert Tiarks) "drawing attention to what was termed the disgraceful condition of every road in the district, and hinting at incompetency on the part of those responsible for the management of the affairs of the district ... THe Chairman of the Board replied at length to the criticism levelled at the Board, and said that the loan money authorised was not nearly sufficient to carry out the work satisfactorily. The state of the weather had been a considerable factor in preventing the completion of the work in the time specified in the contract. Until the weather modified he did not see how the work on the roads could be expedited. The chairman's remarks were interrupted by frequent interjections." (NZ Herald, 9 August 1912)

THE PLEASURES OF MOTORING

(To the Editor, Auckland Star,published 9 August 1912)

Sir, -- With grim satisfaction I read in last night's "Star" the report of the meeting of Avondale ratepayers. I not only endorse Messrs. Pendlebury and Gittos' opinion, but think they were far too polite, and if I had been at the meeting as a ratepayer, after the experience I had yesterday afternoon on one of these famous roads, I fear my language would have been even more sulphurious than that used by the two gentlemen mentioned. Just allow me space to relate the story, and I leave it to you to judge if I have not good reason to be on the side of Messrs. Gittos and Pendlebury.

Yesterday, being a fine day, I ventured to invite my wife, a friend of mine, and his wife, to a motor trip round the suburbs, and as I am a stranger in Auckland, I asked my friend to take the lead. We started at 2 o'clock, and we spun merrily along, and my friend suggested to go over Avondale to Onehunga, and from there to One-tree Hill for tea, and from there I do not remember where to, but it was a fine programme, and the beginning was exceedingly pleasant.

We went through Avondale, passed the brickworks, and then intended to strike off for the Manukau Harbour. The road was not too inviting, but did not look treacherous, and as there were no danger signals, we ventured along. All of a sudden our car stopped and would not budge.

The ton and a-half steel and wood had buried itself in mud of such a tenacious, sticky nature, that extrication -- notwithstanding the heroic efforts of the mechanism -- seemed hopeless. Every trial got us deeper into the mire. The chauffeur and myself went to the nearest house, which happened to be Mr. Gittos' house, to ask for assistance. Mr. Gittos gave us boards and sacks, a spade, a rope and other paraphernalia, which under such circumstances are useful. We denuded the surrounding country of its ti-tree and put the branches in front of the wheels, to give them -- as our chauffeur said -- a "grip", but the car did not budge. One of the wheels went round like the fly-wheel of an engine, throwing up a tone of Avondale mud, and embedding itself deeper and deeper.

Then comes a man with a cart full of sacks of shells. "What is the market price of shells?" "A shilling a sack." I bought the load. The car was jacked up first on one side, and shells put under the wheel, then the other side. The car was then raised a little more, and a sack of shells was placed under each wheel. A few hundred-weights of ti-tree branches, gathered meanwhile by the ladies and some of the rising generation of South Avondale, were spread in front of the wheels. A rope was fastened to the car, and about half the population of South Avondale pulled as if life depended on it. The engine snorted and heaved, and -- Oh, delight! moved -- a yard, and then sank helplessly into some more Avondale mud.

The experiment was repeated, and though the rope broke and most of the pullers made a still closer acquaintance with the mire, the car was at last pulled on to high land. We had strenuously worked for fully two and a half-hours. The sun was setting when we returned from our excursion.

The only pleasant moment we experienced during our trials was when Mrs. Gittos brought us a welcome cup of tea and bread and butter.

This was the end of an outing which, but for the callousness of the Avondale Road Board, could have been most delightful.

My advice to motorists is: Shun the Avondale district until the Road Board has "mended its ways." In the meantime I would suggest to the Road Board to put up danger signals on the bogs which are called roads. -- I am, etc.,

A VISITOR.

The debacle continues here.

Avondale Letters 1

In 1909, the Avondale Hotel lost its licence when a vote for the Eden electorate to go dry was passed by a majority. (Before 1870 by the way, our electorate was called Raglan, for reasons I've yet to fathom). On 30 June 1910, at 10 o'clock in the evening, the doors were closed by the publican on the drinkers of the district. Negotiations ensued between the building's owners and the Post Office, and after nearly 32 years Avondale's post and telegraph office shifted from the railway station to the former hotel. Apparently, according to this letter writer, without much hoop-la at all. At the time (1912) a number of new post offices were being built around New Zealand, and all were opened by politicians and leaders of the community. Sir Joseph Ward was at a number of them in the Auckland district. But not, apparently, at Avondale.

THE PROGRESS OF AVONDALE

(To the Editor, Auckland Star. Published 19 February 1912)

Sir, -- No fuss, no gathering of the leading lights of the neighbourhood to meet and greet a Minister of the Crown and rhapsodise on the benefits to accrue to our district from the opening of our new post office! Where and oh, where, were those choice spirits, or chosen spirits, who look after the welfare of Avondale? What a splendid opportunity lost of bringing the advancement and progress of the district before the people of the Dominion, and thereby attract population to its vacant allotments! Other districts manage things better, get hold of a Minister, or, at least, an M.P., and make capital out of such an important event: for, Mr. Editor, it is an important one, and although not announced with a flourish of trumpets, or, shall I say, a number of laboured speeches? proves that the district is advancing rapidly in importance.

Do you think, Mr. Editor, that the reason was that the memories of other days, and of the merry meetings of choice spirits held in the building, when it was known far and wide as the Avondale Hotel, had anything to do with the failure of the good people of Avondale to inaugurate the opening of the post office with a gathering of the residents? Would it, do you suppose, have had a too saddening effect on their sensitive spirits, the memories of those other spirits in the merry days of old? -- I am, etc,

A DISAPPOINTED ONE.

The Sad Death of Maggie Jane Cowen

On the 9th of February 1880, 8-year-old Maggie Cowen died by drowning in the Oakley Creek, somewhere close to the line of the current railway. These reports came from the NZ Herald of 12 February 1880.

CHILD DROWNED AT THE WHAU

One of the most lamentable accidents which has taken place in the Whau district for some time past, occurred on Monday evening last, at the Whau Tannery, (Messrs. B. Gittos and Sons), by which a fine little girl, newly eight years of age, named Maggie Jane Cowen, the daughter of Mr. Francis Cowen, a workman at the tannery, lost her life by drowning, in the dam which supplies the factory with water. The circumstances under which the distressing event took place are as follows:-

On the day in question Mrs Cowen, who resides in one of the cottages erected on the estate for the accommodation of the workmen, went to town on business, leaving the eldest girl, of 9 years of age, in charge of the house. A little before 5 o’clock in the evening the girl sent Maggie Jane (the deceased) down to the tannery, about 100 yards distant across the creek, with a “billy” to her father according to her usage, for a workman named David Carr, who supplied the family with milk by return of “billy” every morning. On giving the vessel to her father he told her to get off home as soon as possible, and she left the tanyard to return across the creek the way she had come.

It was close on 5 o’clock; and was the last time at which she was seen alive. The men at the tannery left work at 5.30, and Mr Cowen proceeded homewards. On reaching home he could see no sign of his daughter, but, as she sometimes went into the house of their neighbour, he concluded that she was there;. Meanwhile Mrs Cowen had arrived from town by Quick’s 5.30 ‘bus, and as the child was invariably accustomed to meet her at the ‘bus and welcome her home, she at once noticed her absence, but accounted for the matter in the same way as her husband. After a few minutes’ delay, inquiry was made at Mrs. Brett’s, but the child had not been there, and the anxious mother at once started off to Mr. Carr’s house, in the hope that, as he had on the Sunday asked the little girl to go down to his place, she might be there. On arrival, Mrs Cowen found, to her distress, that her daughter had not been there, and a presentiment at once took possession of her mind that the child had met an untimely fate.

Returning home, she acquainted her husband with the facts. Up to this time he had not entertained any uneasiness, as one of his children a short time before had, tired out with play, fallen asleep in the paddock, and been found after some trouble and search. Mr. Cowen was now thoroughly aroused and alarmed, and at once started for the tannery, where he had parted with deceased. Information was sent to Mr. James Gittos, and he and one of his men, Mr. Chiswell, who resided near at hand, turned out and assisted in the search. They examined the scrub on the banks of the creek, the tanpits, wool-vats, and every possible nook and corner which could be thought of. It was now getting dark, and as a last resort, it was determined to drag the dam. Poles and hooks were obtained from the works, and Mr. Gittos commenced operations on the north bank, and Mr. Arthur Brett, one of the men at the tannery, on the south, while the father of the deceased held lights to enable the search to be carried on.

About 9 o’clock Mr. Brett was successful in hooking the clothes of the unfortunate child, and the body was speedily brought to the bank, and identified. An examination of the ground showed pretty conclusively how she had met her untimely fate. On leaving the tannery she had crossed the roadway at the bottom end of the dam. It is a dray road, about fourteen feet wide, and perfectly safe, the bank to the dam being formed of puddled clay, at an angle of rest. The child had evidently left the roadway on her return home, and gone down the slope to look at the fish and eels which swarm there, and are clearly visible on the yellow clay bottom near the sluice – a practice which, it transpired at the inquest, other children had been accustomed against repeated warnings to indulge in. To the left of the sluice there is a knoll about fourteen inches above the water, and it is conjectured that in looking over at the fish she over-balanced herself, and fell in head-foremost at a spot where the water is three to four feet deep. One of the men was working in the dyeing shop (the open dor of which abutted on the creek), some 60 feet distant from where she fell in, but never heard a single cry; and her father and some other men who were working in an open shed only 70 feet distant, did not hear anything either.

From the position in which the body was found, it is presumed that she never rose to the surface, but got stuck in the mud, as had she given the slightest alarm, it would have been heard by the men working adjacent, who were within easy reach, and would have been in time to save her. It was remembered afterwards by the tannery workmen, in the light of the sad event, that at a quarter past five o’clock, the tannery watchdog, posted about 100 feet up that cliff on the south side of the creek, jumped upon his kennel, and straining on the collar, commenced to bark furiously. As it was his custom to do so whenever anyone not connected with the works passed by, the circumstances did not attract any special notice, but there is little reason now to doubt that the dog (a Newfoundland) saw the child fall in, and was endeavouring to get off the chain to rescue her. Mr. and Mrs. Cowen lost a child four months old about a fortnight ago by sickness, and a very general sympathy is felt by the residents of the Whau district for them in their fresh affliction and bereavement.

THE INQUEST

The inquest was held yesterday, at Mr. Palmer’s hotel, Whau, before Dr. Philson, Coroner, and a respectable jury, of which Mr. James Owen was chosen foreman, to inquire into the circumstances attendant upon the drowning of the deceased Maggie Jane Cowen. Mounted Constable Bullen conducted the proceedings for the police. The evidence of Messrs. Arthur Brett, Francis Cowen, and James Gittos was taken. The Coroner, in his address to the jury, said, as it had been deposed to in evidence that the dam and approaches were on private property, and perfectly safe for the workmen employed thereof, and that a standing order had been issued by the proprietors of the tannery, prohibiting children from entering upon the works, no blame could attach to the Messrs. Gittos. The jury then returned a verdict of “Accidentally drowned.”

NZ Herald, Thursday 12 February 1880, p. 5, col. 3

A curious incident came out at the inquest held at the Whau yesterday, which goes far to show that the old exploded idea, that no one may touch or remove a dead body before the arrival of the police, has not wholly died out. The messenger sent from the Whau on Monday night to acquaint the police with the intelligence of the drowning of the child at the Whau tannery dam returned with a message that the child was not to be removed or touched until the arrival of the police. It is probable that the man misunderstood the instructions given to him, as it is scarcely possible that any intelligent police officer could have issued such instructions. Anyway, the body of the child was kept on a piece of bagging on the margin of the creek until the return of the messenger from Auckland, but the common sense of the father revolted against the new injunction, and, in accordance with his instincts as a parent, he removed the body of his child to his home. The Coroner, Dr. Philson. Pointed out to the jury yesterday, that the idea that a dead body may not be touched or removed before the arrival of the police or jury was a complete fallacy, and had no foundation in law. The probability was that the false impression created arose purely out of a misunderstanding.

It will be remembered that some time ago a constable in a rural district, who was made acquainted with the fact that a woman had committed suicide, by hanging, in the settlement, would not cut her down or permit anyone else to do so, pending an inquest, and was promptly dismissed the service for his simplicity. At Wellington a worse case occurred a year or two back. A child had fallen into the sea, and was drowning. It did not appear to be dead, as some convulsive motion was apparent, and a man went into the water to bring the body out, when a yell arose from the crowd, warning him not to touch it till the arrival of the police. The man hesitated and retired. It seems scarcely credible that such slavish superstition could exist in the nineteenth century, in an Anglo-Saxon community. In the face of these things, it is not to be wondered at that some ill-informed persons should permit themselves to be deterred from acting as their judgement and common sense would alike dictate. It cannot be to widely known that any one is at perfect liberty to use means to restore those apparently dead, or t0o remove the body to the nearest suitable dwelling. It is scarcely fair to the police to slavishly leave every responsibility on their shoulders, instead of cultivating habits of self-reliance. Some one, referring to this trait in an English community, wittily remarks, “that if the average Englishman met the devil, the first thing he would do would be to write a letter to the Times about it, and the next to send for a policeman!”
NZ Herald, Thursday 12 February 1880, p. 4, col. 5

Long and winding Methuen Road

I've lived all my life on Methuen Road, so I still refer to the two parts as the "old" (the western straight part laid down in 1901-1903 as the Methuen Hamlet subdivision, Allotment 65), and the "new" (that which winds its way through Allotment 66, starting at the bottom of the hill beyond Bollard Avenue.) This differentiation comes from my mother, who listened to theories in the early 1960s that the extension was formed in such a way as an old cattle track. Mum, while she was pregnant with me, would exercise walking the length of the "new" Methuen Road in 1963, watching the new housing and subdivisions go up.

I'm not sure about the "cattle track" theory, only because it would be hard determining exactly where it would have led to in the days before New North Road had been fully formed, pre-1863. However, we do have this, anonymous, written memory:

"In the sixties [1860s] there was no road from Harbutts Corner (Mt. Albert) to Avondale. To get to Avondale from Mt. Albert one had to go past the mountain and Stewarts thence across Oakley Creek and from there through the scrub to New Windsor Road, or go to the Great North Road running past the Auckland Mental Hospital."

("Events in the Early History of Avondale", c.1925, author unknown, from Auckland City Library collection)

So, perhaps there may have been something to the theory.

Also, the meandering line of the road almost matches the line of the Oakley Creek -- but this could have simply come about from the subdivisions and the way the sections were surveyed.

Methuen Road, from Blockhouse Bay to Batkin Road, was formed from 1901 until c.1962, and done so in bits and pieces. The two oldest parts are the Methuen Hamlet portion (1901-1903) at the western end, and what was once called Nicholson Road just off Batkin Road from the 1950s at least. From around 1959, the subdivisions my mother recalled were taking place, and somehow, even though the snaking line of the road went through properties with different owners, it all matched up. Early town planning on the Council's part, possibly.

A tale of two Stewarts

I always tell myself "Never assume" when it comes to local historical research. Assumption is a mistake often made and has been made in the past by quite reputable researchers and historians. I class myself as still learning, though, and I learn best by experience, even in the heritage field. This has been one of those learning experiences.

From c.1880 to c.1887, just across the Oakley Creek from each other lived two families named Stewart.

John Stewart lived on Allotment 52 and part of 53, from his father-in-law Thomas Bray's landholdings. The part of Richardson Road immediately off New North Road was once called Stewart's Road in his honour, but the name was changed probably to match the rest of the road heading south. (The street names database on the Auckland City Libraries website has it that one possibility for the Richardson name is a "Brigadier General G.S. Richardson, Commandant of the New Zealand forces in the First World War.") This Stewart was born in Greenock, Scotland c.1833 and arrived in Auckland 1860 on the ship Avon. According to his obituary (NZ Herald, 24 June 1895):

"He was a practical farmer, and began work at Henderson, where he resided eight years. Coming into the town he carried on for some time a coal and firewood business in Victoria-street, near the Albert Park. For the past 20 years he has lived on his farm at Mount Albert, and only three days ago came to town, to be nearer medical assistance. Despite all that could be done, Mr. Stewart succumbed to an attack of inflammation of the lungs. He leaves a widow, three sons and three daughters, to mourn his departure. He was 62 years of age, and highly esteemed by all who knew him."

The Stewart farm was known as Green Lees or Greenlee. His widow Mary died in September 1914 at Greenlee, and both are buried at Waikumete Cemetery. Part of John Stewart's farm is now Murray Halberg Park, a bit of Alan Wood Reserve, and the site of Owairaka District School and Kindergarten.

On the other side of the water, a couple named James and Margaret Stewart purchased a fan-shaped wedge of land c.1884 from an auctioneer named Robert Charles Greenwood, 22 acres between New Windsor Road and the Oakley Creek. They were there until 1887 when their mortgage holders forced a sale.

"Taking the left side of the road above Mr. Gallagher’s farm, we came to the section lately purchased by Mr. Stewart, of the Thames Hotel, 25 acres in extent, taken up a couple of years ago, and laid down in grass ..."

(NZ Herald, 1882)

"Away to the south-east of the district, we noticed that settlement was progressing favourable. Mr. Stewart, of the Thames Hotel, has effected some extensive improvements on his block."

(NZ Herald, 1884)

I got confused between the two Stewarts, thinking they were one and the same -- until I noticed they had different wives, and different occupations. James Stewart was indeed, in the early 1880s, proprietor of the Thames Hotel in the city -- although the Southern Cross wasn't a great help in referring to him as "John" Stewart.

The New Windsor farm once owned by James Stewart the hotelier is now cut through by two roads: the start (western end) of the "new" Methuen Road from the late 1950s, and Bryden Place off New Windsor Road.

From Stoneleigh to Methuen Hamlet

(Image from NA 1/103, LINZ records)

Updated 5 December 2016

I live on part of what was once a farm known as Stoneleigh. It lies between Blockhouse Bay Road, New Windsor Road, a line to the Oakley Creek, the creek itself, and finally the last part of New North Road. In the earliest days of European settlement, it was just part of the Parish of Titirangi (Allotment 65), then became associated with Mt Albert district, and gained the name Stoneleigh, and along with the rest of the Whau formed part of the Mt Albert Highway District Board in 1867. Only to split away and be part of the Whau District from 1868 before, from 1901, it became known as the Methuen Hamlet.

George Gimbell had the original crown grant in November 1845. Back then, New North Road didn’t exist. He hasn’t got much of a part in this story at all: a month later, he sold the property to Frederick Hannken, who probably used the section to graze cattle. In 1852, Clement Partridge bought Allotment 65, and sold bits of the farm to others further along New Windsor Road. In June 1858, Partridge sold the remainder to Josiah Buttress.

Not a lot is known about Buttress. He was in Auckland in 1854, living in Durham Street and working as a clerk, but keen to join other settlers in the city at the time, such as Benjamin Gittos, in opposing a licence for an inn named “Bunch of Grapes” which would have set up near the Albert Barracks. In May 1859, he had a rather violent difference of opinion over caps with one George McCaul.

“MONDAY, MAY 16.

Josiah Buttress was charged with assaulting George McCaul, at the Registrar of Deeds office, by taking his cap off and shaking him by the head.

George McCaul, articled clerk to Mr. Marston, solicitor, said: Last Friday I went to the Registration office. I had transacted some business with Capt. Kelly, and was leaving that officer’s room when defendant laid hold of me by the head and shook me violently, and pitched my cap across the room, and said, take off your cap in this office. I said to him, what do you mean, and came away. I was in the middle of the room walking out when this took place. I had my cap off when in Captain Kelly’s room, and when I came out I put it on again.

Cross examined: The defendant had his hat on. He did not tell me on this occasion to take my hat off. He told me once before Friday last to take my cap off; but on that day he seized me violently by the head and shook it, and did not ask me to take off my cap until he caught hold of it and threw it across the room.”

The case was eventually withdrawn and costs divided. (Southern Cross, 24 May 1859)

In September 1864, the Avondale end of New North Road was dedicated, and cut through Buttress’ property. At this time, Benjamin Gittos was setting up his tannery, and it is likely that along with the land split away from Buttress’ property by the new road, Gittos took out at least a lease on the southeast corner (site of today’s Avondale Baptist Church and fire station.) The agreement was formalized as a sale to Gittos later in the decade, c.1868, around the same time as Josiah Buttress married Marian March on 6 May 1868.

While Buttress was one of those, along with Gittos, to sign a petition in 1866 to the Provincial Superintendent for a Mt Albert Highway District, in 1868 he apparently signed a memorial for the Whau District to break away, even though his property at Stoneleigh was vacant at that stage. A daughter was born to the Butresses in March 1869 at Stoneleigh; in August 1869, he put his farm up for sale, “fenced and under cultivation, with a good Dwellinghouse and suitable Outbuildings thereon erected.” The buyer was apparently Buttress’ mortgagee – but it was back on the sales lists in December that year.

Josiah Buttress and his family moved to Nelson, where, perhaps, he died in September 1898 and lies buried in Motueka Cemetery without a headstone. This is the only burial record found for anyone by that name.

The New North Road corner was transferred by Benjamin Gittos to his son Francis in November 1881.

“At the eastern angle of the junction of the two roads, and opposite the Whau tannery, Mr. F. Gittos has fenced in, cleared, and laid afresh in grass a ten-acre section which under other ownership had lain desolate for a quarter of a century. On this he has built a six-roomed residence for himself, and another dwelling for letting. It was regarded by many practical farmers utter folly to expend money on such soil – the “cold clay soil of the Whau”, as the phrase goes – but the result was not only satisfactory to himself, but proved a stimulus to others to take up the back sections on the same line of road southward of his neighbour, Mr. Gallagher, the owner of one of the finest estates in the district.”

(NZ Herald, 24 June 1882)

In May 1893, Francis Gittos sold his Avondale property and moved to a house in what is now Blockhouse Bay, where he operated a small tannery for a time on the Avondale South Domain.

Meanwhile, the main farm of Stoneleigh came to be owned by Henry Lees, who kept the farm’s name, from 1871 until 1878. In June 1874 Lees, along with John Bollard and J. Owen, were appointed the first Anglican church committee for the Whau district, as regular services were inaugurated and fundraising began for the building of St Jude’s Church.

Then, in 1878, Lees sold the farm to Patrick Gallagher. Gallagher by 1884 had grand schemes for his property:

“It is stated that Mr. P Gallagher contemplates starting another Brick and Tile Works in the district on his fine estate, and running a railway siding down to the Avondale railway station. There are some fine clay seams on the property, but it seems something approaching vandalism to commence the manufacture of bricks on one of the prettiest properties in the district, and on aesthetic grounds, the project should be eschewed. It may be, however, that Mr. Gallagher, like his property, is but clay when a fat dividend is looming in the distance.”

(NZ Herald, 2 February 1884)

Neither the brickyard, nor the rail siding came to pass.

In June 1888, John Bollard, as Gallagher's land agent, offered the farm to the Hospital and Charitable Aid Board as a "new refuge": a site to replace the old men's and women's refuges on the Domain.

"Mr. John Bollard wrote, stating that he had seen in the public press that a site for the new Refuge had not yet been selected, and as agent for Mr. P. Gallagher offered the following site, viz., part of allotment 65, parish of Titirangi. This property contains 80 acres, and is situated close to the Avondale railway station. The aspect is good, and it lies on the sunny side of a gentle slope, and is well sheltered from the cold winds by extensively laid out ornamental plantations. The facility of drainage is very good, and the property is bounded on one side by a fresh water stream. There is a dwelling-house and outbuildings, valued at £1250. The price is £5000." The offer was declined."

NZ Herald 5 June 1888

Gallagher died in April 1901; his land was transferred to John Bollard as estate administrator, and he duly transferred the property to the Crown for use as a workmen’s settlement known as Methuen Hamlet. Gallagher’s homestead (possibly the original Stoneleigh) may have survived well into the 20th century, used by the Bollard Girl’s Home until replaced by a modern building. The site is now that of Odyssey House.

Update on the Avondale Railway Station

Updated from here.

The goods platform bit the dust yesterday, and today the demolition continued. Despite a very strong wind, I managed to get some shots from the overhead bridge without losing camera, hat, bag, or me.

Two photos uploaded to Scribd.