Tunnelling under Albert Park

Looking east from Albert Park towards Princes Street, showing part of the gardens and the fountain (right); photographer Henry Winkelmann, 6 January 1921, ref. 1-W1710, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Council Libraries.

Looking at the mown lawns and laid-out gardens, with what statuary has survived the cruel indignities of vandalism over the decades, it is at times difficult to comprehend that beneath all that are the remains of one of Auckland's bits of wartime history.

Map of the WWII Albert Park tunnels. Click to enlarge. NZ Map 6508, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Council libraries

Come the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941, precautions were hastily arranged lest our city suffered air raids, or attack by sea. One of the ideas was to create a vast system of tunnels beneath Albert Park to Wellesley, Kitchener and Victoria Streets, under Bowen Avenue to another part of Kitchener Street and across Waterloo Quadrant and Symonds Street to Constitution Hill; an air raid shelter complex capable of hosting 20,000 Aucklanders working in the city centre.

DEEP SHELTERS AUCKLAND PROPOSAL TUNNELS UNDER ALBERT PARK (P.A.)
AUCKLAND, January 19.
A scheme to provide deep air-raid shelters for more than 20,000 people in tunnels under Albert Park and Constitution Hill is to be submitted to the Government through the Public Works Department by the Auckland City Council and the Auckland Central Committee of the Emergency Precautions Service. The Mayor and Chief Warden, Mr. Allum, said that various proposals were under discussion. Plans for a scheme prepared by the works technical group committee were nearing completion, and an early decision was expected. The scheme is complementary to one recently announced for making public shelters in 35 buildings in the central city area. If it is accepted by the Government the latter will provide 75 per cent, of the cost under the provisions of emergency shelter regulations. The proposed shelters consist .of three systems of timbered tunnels, two under Albert Park and one under Constitution Hill, with about a dozen entrances distributed so as to give easy access from various directions. The scheme provides for linking the two groups of tunnels under Albert Park with each other and by long connecting tunnels with the Constitution Hill group. This arrangement is meant to ensure that if some of the entrances were closed by bomb explosions a number of others would be available for egress, if necessary, at a distance. Mechanical ventilation, sanitation, and electric lighting are important features of the scheme. The steepness of the hillsides ensures ample head cover at a moderate distance inside each entrance …

Evening Post 20 January 1942 

BIG AUCKLAND SCHEME APPROVED (P.A.)
AUCKLAND, February 4.
The Albert Park and Constitution Hill tunnel shelter scheme for 20,000 people has been approved by the Government, according to advice received by the Mayor and chief warden, Mr. Allum. The practical effect of this is that the Government will find 75 per cent of the cost, which is estimated at £120,000, and the remainder will be provided by local bodies contributing to the upkeep of the Emergency Precautions Service in Auckland. The Mayor said that surveys on the site were still in progress, but he hoped it would be possible to start work very shortly. It was believed that if three shifts were employed it would be possible to complete the scheme in about, four months. The tunnels would begin to be usable as shelters at a fairly early stage, and accommodation would increase as the work went on. Plans prepared under the direction of the city engineer, Mr. Tyler, provide for groups of galleries arranged gridiron-fashion under Albert Park and the Bowen Avenue reserve. Each group will have cross-galleries at intervals so that there will be no dead ends. The shelter galleries are to be large enough in section to take a wooden bench on each side, with standing room between for use when all seating is occupied. Electric light and sanitation will be installed.

Evening Post 5 February 1942 

AUCKLAND SHELTERS SYSTEM OF TUNNELS (P.A.)
AUCKLAND, This Day. Work was begun today on the construction of a system of tunnels that will radiate under Albert Park, as one of the city's main raid precaution measures. An increasing number of workmen will be employed as the work progresses, including all available City Council staff and outside labourers, working day and night to finish the job in four months.

Evening Post 12 February 1942 

SHELTER TUNNELS
ALBERT PARK WORK
Men Busy 24 hours daily
Working 24 hours a day, large gangs of men are making progress with driving a system of tunnels under Albert Park, to provide shelter for 20,000 city workers in the event of an enemy attack from air or sea. Seven main and two subsidiary drives are being made from points around the perimeter of the park, and an extensive system of cross-tunnels is included in the scheme to avoid the possibility of people being trapped underground through any one of the entrances being blocked by a direct hit. Under the harsh glare of electric lamps, far removed from the friendly daylight, men are constantly working in what to a stranger seems an inferno of noise.

Overhead, the stout timbers that line and support the tunnels are dimly seen, and at the face of grey sandstone, earth or clay, men stand or crouch, chiselling away at the stone with pneumatic tools. Operators have their heavy picks against the face, and the tunnel is filled with a deafening roar that ceases when the air-pressure is turned off only long enough for them to change position and make a fresh attack. Other workmen shovel the spoil into trucks, and rails run back to the entrance, where the spoil is converted by a hoist into a hopper, and discharged into waiting motor trucks. For all the sense of unreality underground, with endless noise and dampness underfoot caused through seepage, there is a feeling of real security from any possible raid. The timbers that line the roof and sides of the tunnel are mounted in such a way that the immense pressure from above serves merely to set them more firmly to position, and ventilation is good, special shafts having been provided.

Ultimately the doors of the tunnels will be covered with scoria, seats will be provided, a more permanent system of electric lighting installed, and first-aid posts built. A special feature will be blast-chambers, with stout walls designed to prevent the blast of near misses from penetrating deep into the tunnels, and injuring occupants. Because only a limited number of men can work at any one face, work is being done on some tunnels from both ends, and also from the middle. This is made possible by sinking shafts down from the surface to tunnel level, and working from there to connect with the tunnels being pushed forward from the perimeter. An emergency water supply, for use for fire-fighting, should the main supply be interrupted, is contained in a reservoir built in Albert Park. It will hold 100,000 gallons. 

NZ Herald 14 May 1942 

AIR-RAID TUNNEL.
Auckland. —Tunnellers this afternoon fired the shot which finally pierced a tunnel 2000 feet long under Albert Park, extending from Victoria Street to Constitution Hill. The Mayor (Mr. Allum) and the City Engineer (Mr. Tyler) shook hands through the final opening. The tunnel and side tunnels will provide air-raid accommodation for 20,000 people in the heart of the City. 

Evening Post 12 August 1942 

After all the hard work, the shelters were opened in October 1942.

The Mayor of Auckland, J A C Allum, photographed with a group of officials at the entrance to the Albert Park Tunnel. Photographed in October 1942 by the Weekly News. Ref. PAColl-0783-2-0064, Alexander Turnbull Library.

Auckland Shelters.
The air-raid shelters under Albert Park were inspected by the Governor-General, Sir Cyril Newall, yesterday, a Press Association message reports. His Excellency made a detailed inspection along the route, and at the plan board made careful inquiry into the practical aspects of dealing within a few minutes with a very large crowd. One point he made which should be given the widest publicity, the message says, is the tendency of people in the first rush to stop at the end of the access tunnels. This would soon block the entrances. The Mayor informed him that wardens would be posted to keep the stream moving rapidly inward. 

Evening Post 5 December 1942 

Two things, however. One: after all that, we weren't bombed from the skies or shot at from the Waitemata Harbour. Two: the tunnels cost money, quite a sum for maintenance, let alone all that electricity. The other councils in the area which contributed towards the tunnels both in their construction costs and ongoing maintenance, began to get edgy as the war wore on, and it became apparent how far back from the front our country turned out to be. The EPS was questioned, and the decision came to fill in the tunnels.

The Auckland central committee of the E.P.S. decided today that as soon as labour is available the public shelter trenches will be filled in and the Public Works Controller, who is the city engineer, has been given instructions, the Mayor said, to begin the work as soon as possible. There will be no objection to people filling in their backyard trenches. The tunnels are to be maintained in the meantime. 

Evening Post 11 August 1943 

But wait! some said in Auckland City. We have traffic problems (due to being a city designed for horse-and-cart, rather than the ever-increasing in numbers motor car). How about preserving the tunnels, and having traffic drive straight through?

A CITY OUTLET
AUCKLAND TUNNEL SCHEME
AUCKLAND, This Day. P.A.
Representatives of the Auckland local bodies in conference this morning viewed with favour a proposal that a traffic tunnel as a new outlet from the city should be constructed under Albert Park, where there is at present an extensive tunnel shelter. The Mayor, Mr. J. A. C. Allum, submitted a comprehensive report containing four recommendations, firstly that the City Council seek Government authority to construct a tunnel as proposed by the city engineer at. an estimated cost of £276,000, secondly that the council undertake to fill in the side tunnels at an estimated cost of £30,000 without subsidy from the Government or contribution from the local authorities, thirdly that the Government be requested to contribute £75,000 towards the cost of the works outlined, and fourthly that the Government and contributory local bodies be requested to allow the council to take over without payment all the existing plant and equipment, arid whatever portion of the existing tunnel work which may be of value in constructing the traffic tunnel. The delegates decided to recommend the scheme to their local bodies as a reasonable one. 

Evening Post 17 November 1943 

But -- this was thought about, and found to be an idea with nowhere to go.

The abandonment of the proposal to construct a traffic tunnel under Albert Park was agreed to by the City Council on Thursday on the recommendation of the .Mayor, Mr. J. A. C. Allum. The recommendation was made in a report in which he advised that the Government was prepared to contribute £45,000 on condition that the money was applied either to back-filling of the existing air-raid tunnels or towards the construction of a traffic tunnel. As the Government was responsible for 75 per cent of the cost of back-filling the tunnels, the Mayor said it would be seen that its estimated liability, namely, £43,500, nearly equalled the amount of the present offer, and conferred no material advantage on the council. Mr. Allum said the cost of maintaining the tunnels was now considerable owing to the natural deterioration of the timber. He recommended that the Auckland Metropolitan Emergency Precautions Organisation be requested to back-fill the tunnels as soon as possible. The recommendation was adopted. 

Evening Post 15 July 1944 

Auckland Air-raid Tunnels.
The filling of the air-raid tunnels under Albert Park, Auckland, has been started. After several months' preparation a certain amount of material was packed into position on Friday, and it is hoped to have operations fully under way this week. When a joint tender of £54,437 was accepted for the work last April a condition of the contract was that the fillings should be completed within a year. Until now the contractors have been engaged in opening a quarry, testing materials, and installing equipment in the tunnels to handle specially-made wet clay bricks, which will be used for filling. According to an estimate made some time ago, about 5,500,000 of these bricks will be required.

Adjustments to equipment in the tunnels have delayed the start of filling operations longer than anticipated, but it has been possible to place a number of the bricks in the main tunnel running from Victoria Street to the foot of Constitution Hill. The actual start was made at a point almost under Princes Street. Some of the bricks were taken by motor-lorry from Victoria Street and others were carried by trolleys from the Parnell end. Trolleys will be used for practically all the transport when the work is fully under way. It is anticipated that about 15 men will then be employed. 

Evening Post 20 August 1945

Many sources state that the unfired clay bricks came from New Lynn. Perhaps a fair amount did -- but much of the clay came from Pt Chevalier, near the old quarries alongside the Oakley Creek, from land purchased by Albert Crum and a consortium to quarry the clay and truck it out to the tunnels (see valuation field sheet files for Morrow Street, Auckland Council archives).

The story of the tunnels isn't yet over, what with reports of subsidence, entrepreneurs talking of creating a tourist attraction there -- and just general curiosity into one of Auckland's hidden engineering feats.

You'll find a lot about the tunnels online:

Wikipedia
Rootsweb
Exploration by the Intrepid Binary Brothers (my favourite link)

The sealed up tunnels, 1949. Ref. 7-A13963, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Council Libraries

Albert Park's box

My good friends Bill and Barbara Ellis have done me a great favour by sending through these shots of a traffic control box I keep meaning to photograph myself -- at the base of Albert Park in the city, just at the top of Victoria Street, and close to the (now) sealed off entrance to the WWII Albert Park tunnels. Thanks, folks!

A platform and and a pier at Official Bay

Detail from SO 4, crown copyright, LINZ records

I was looking for early things regarding Parnell recently, and a mis-cataloguing by Land Information New Zealand and their Landonline service led me to a Survey Office plan which wasn't about Parnell at all. Sometime in the very early 1860s, someone (perhaps Charles Heaphy) prepared what was to become SO 4, showing detail to a few bits of land in Freeman's Bay, and Official Bay.

This was what intrigued me: "Carr's Platform", just to the east adjoining the long T-shaped Wynyard Pier in Official Bay. A fenced-odd square (actually likely retaining wall, see comments below) on the beach, beside a sawpit, and possibly Carr's factory just below.

This plan also showed two more sets of similar structures, over at Freeman's Bay.

So, who was this man who owned a platform at Official Bay?

James William Carr, photo held at Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Council Libraries. Reproduced with permission.

According to Euan and Robert Carr, who wrote about their ancestor in the Auckland-Waikato Historical Journal, April 2000, James William Carr was born in London in 1827.  His father was a boat builder as was his grandfather. Their article says that Carr arrived with his bride here in Auckland in 1849, and started a boat building business here, before a brief interruption of travelling to San Francisco after word of the gold there, only to return in March 1851. He must have kept his head down, though -- or didn't actually have a business of his own in Auckland until later, in November 1853, where we see he had been employed by a Mr Beeson, and had only just taken over premises at Fort Street, to build his boats.

 

Southern Cross 29 November 1853

But, as seen later, Carr advertised that his business began in 1849. Whatever the true date was -- it appears he was usually quite successful, and good at his trade.

 

Southern Cross 5 September 1854

Southern Cross 15 August 1859

By late 1859, we find Carr on the move. This was the period when Commercial Bay was being filled in and reclaimed, and Customs Street formed in front of Fort Street, no longer the fore shore and haven for boat builders. He obviously decided to move east. He took out a lease on Lot 15, Section 8 of the City of Auckland in June 1859 (DI 1A.92, LINZ records), the site right next to Wynyard Pier. Obvious, then, why he so-named his boat-building factory there, near the end of Short Street.

Southern Cross 11 February 1862

 

Southern Cross 15 November 1862

He assigned his lease to a Mr Harris in August 1862, and by November that year the site where he'd been for less than three years was up for auction sale. He didn't reappear in the newspapers until March 1866, with his Red House boat building business, next to the Auckland Gas Company works in Brickfield Bay (the intersection of Wyndham and Nelson Streets today).

Southern Cross 5 March 1866

But where had he gone in the intervening four years? Apparently -- up north to Batley on the banks of the Otamatea River. James William Carr and his brother William Joshua Carr, according to Carr family history, had the first store there during the initial period of Albertlander settlement, a hut later taken over by Joseph Masefield, and later still becoming the site of the Batley wharf. Probably, like a few other cases during the Albertlander immigration period of the early 1860s, the brothers Carr weighed up the privations of life up in the Kaipara at the time, versus the rewards which (at that time) probably seemed very far off. William Joshua Carr left the colony, and James William Carr returned to Auckland.

The Welcome Dining Rooms opened on Customs Street West, opposite Gleeson's Hotel, bottom of Nelson Street, in 1883. Photo ref 4-RIC372, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Library.

By the 1880s, Carr's sons had joined the business. In 1883, Carr was elected to the Mt Roskill Road Board, becoming chairman two years later and remaining in that post for ten years. Carr Road in Mt Roskill is said to be named after him. He died in 1909 and was buried at Purewa Cemetery.

But as to why whoever drew up the survey plan called his patch on the beach a "platform" -- I still don't know. Any ideas from readers would be welcome.

Detail from SO 9, 1864, crown copyright, LINZ records

As for the Wynyard Pier itself, that originated from a subscription drive for funds in April 1851, and while it wasn't opened officially, the Southern Cross eagerly awaited its completion later that year.

During the progress of this Pier, we have frequently had occasion to allude to the beauty and solidity of the construction, as well as to the vast convenience it is calculated to afford to passengers landing, and embarking at all times of tide. The work is now approaching towards completion, and we may, we believe, safely assert, that a more substantial or more graceful structure could not easily be put together. The pier is indeed a feature of gratifying prominence in Official Bay. It is in the shape of the letter T and from its landward to its seaward extremities, is 480 feet in length, by 10 feet in breadth. Inside of either angle of the T there are staircases for the convenience of passengers and at intervals, further up the platform, there is also a staircase on either side. When we recollect that for the last ten or eleven years there existed in Auckland no landing place whatever, we cannot but feel grateful to Lieut-Colonel Wynyard for the anxiety he evinced in originating this pier, as well as for the unwearied assiduity with which he has at length conducted it to successful and substantial completion ... Under these circumstances, then, we venture to express a hope that when this pier shall be opened, as we understand it shortly will, it may receive the appropriate and well merited name of "The Wynyard Pier." And, to give eclat to that opening, occur when it may, we have heard that a miniature Regatta has been some time in contemplation. 

Southern Cross 28 November 1851

There was a bit of a fireworks display off the pier in August 1852, but as hardly anyone was told about it, hardly anyone attended.

One feature of Wynyard Pier was that this was where water was supplied, from a tank located just beside what was briefly Carr's boat building yards, supplied by a long piping system from the waters of the Waiariki spring, Waiariki being also the original name for Official Bay.

Wynyard pier (mid distance) as seen from eastern Mechanics Bay, 1850s. Ref 4-5182, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Council Libraries.

Same view, 1860s. Ref 4-834, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Council Libraries.

Wynyard Pier was where troops arrived by ship, disembarking for the march up to Albert Barracks in the 1850s. Foley's Menagerie, the first of its kind in the country in 1855, entertained Aucklanders alongside the pier on the beach amongst the trees -- possibly pohutukawas. In 1857, H Webster informed ladies via advertisement in the newspapers "that he has one of his Bathing Machines now ready, and at their service," from 7am to 1pm, and from 2 pm until evening, at the "Bathing Office, Wynyard Pier". His wife, a milliner, also sold tickets.

Henry Dangar's Steam four mill, preceding the pier by a matter if months in 1851, remained on the western side of the pier until around 1862, the period when Carr was shifting out and commencing his brief period up north.

By 1862, though, the pier seemed to have passed its heyday.

Sir, 

The pier in Official Bay seems gradually falling to pieces. Pray, who is to blame? I presume the provincial government have charge of it. It is a great pity for want of a stitch in time, that so useful a structure should be allowed to fall to pieces but I suppose no political partisans have land close to it. Yours, R. 

Southern Cross 24 November 1862

But -- not quite so.

Sir,

Could you, or any of your correspondents, inform me if Wynyard Pier is to be used for foot passengers alone, or to be a landing place for sheep, cattle, &c. As  I am informed, some hundred sheep were landed yesterday and to-day, causing a loss to me, and a breach of contract, if not protected, as I paid an advance of £600 and upwards on last year's rent, on the faith of no other wharf being allowed for traffic. I have always understood that Wynyard Pier was devoted to the personal convenience of the public and I presume the police, or someone having authority, will see who are the aggressors, and protect my traffic in future.

I am, &c, 

Jno. Russell, 

Lessee Queen-street Wharf. Auckland, January 13, 1864

Southern Cross 14 January 1864

Wynyard Pier was the point where Governors arrived, and from which Royals (such as Prince Alfred in 1869) left the city for other ports.

The stub of the pier in the 1870s. Beach Road is already being formed, and causeway formed across adjoining Mechanics Bay. Official Bay now virtually a memory. Ref. 4-540, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Council Libraries.

But as the 1870s proceeded, the pier began to fade.

We are sorry to find that the Wynyard Pier is fast failing into a state of dilapidation, and is melting away. The timbers are perfectly rotten, and in many places the planks have disappeared bodily. This jetty has always been a favorite place for promenading on summer evenings, and even for that reason ought to be kept in such repair as would prevent people from breaking their legs. 

 Auckland Star 14 December 1871 

The disgraceful state of Wynyard Pier, to which we have repeatedly called attention, has at length caused an accident, as we predicted. Captain Gilfillan, of the schooner Nukulau, while going down the pier on Saturday night to where his boat was moored, slipped through one of the dangerous apertures which have wantonly been allowed to remain. He fortunately saved himself from dropping in the sea, but two of his ribs were fractured in the fall, and he is now under medical treatment. Public safety demands that the pier be either repaired forthwith or closed, and unless something is done after the repeated attention called to it by the press, should any fatal accident occur there is no hesitation in saying that the authorities, who have charge of this pier will have been as much guilty of manslaughter as any reckless driver who runs over and kills a fellow creature. 

 Auckland Star 11 March 1872

Railway works were commencing around this time, finally connecting Auckland with Onehunga -- and the beach where Carr built his boats became the line along which the trains would pass. In combination with that, Beach Road was initiated, linking downtown Auckland directly with Mechanics Bay and on to Parnell. The Auckland Harbour Board in January 1873 considered the old Wynyard Pier, now broken in two places by the railway contractor was "almost beyond repairing" and should probably be replaced by a wharf elsewhere. By July, the pier was largely demolished, the remainder just a jetty poking out from the other side of the railway embankment.

The pier's traffic now mainly redirected to Queen's Wharf, those east of the city felt aggrieved enough as to the inconvenience of losing their ready access thanks to railway construction as to take it through to Parliament in 1875, where proposals for re-erection of the pier were mooted. The wrangle over the lost access to the pier continued on as far as 1879.

Detail from "Standard Survey, City of Auckland", 1879. Ref NZ Map 116, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Council Libraries.

The Auckland railyards, looking towards Parnell, 1880s. Wynyard Pier's remnant left of centre. Ref 4-1027, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Council Libraries.

Petitioners asked the Harbour Board in 1879 to lengthen the stub of the pier into deep water -- but the Board turned down the request. Ladies, though, still strolled there, little boys fished, and the occasional shark was caught, and made the headlines. The public, with no direct access, simply crossed the railyards anyway, despite the dangers. The authorities seemed to relent in 1885 by promising a special road access to the old wharf -- but there was still discussion about a bridge access over the rail lines into 1889.

The extended Wynyard Pier, c1900. Ref 4-939, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Council Libraries

Then, in 1899, the Harbour Board agreed to extend Wynyard Pier, by then popular with yachtsman as well as nearby boat builders. For the first three decades of last century, the pier remained -- but finally, development of both Tamaki Drive from 1928 and the Auckland Railway Station in the early 1930s on Beach Road finished it off. Carr's Platform would possibly now be deep under the vicinity of 73 Beach Road.

More on US Civil War vets at Waikumete

CSS Alabama, from Wikipedia.

Cemetery historian Matthew Gray in his latest column to appear in the Western Leader today, appears to have fallen foul of, primarily, newspaper space requirements for most of the anomalies in his piece on Juan (John) Ocho and Andrew Andrews St John.

Firstly, regarding John Ocho, who was according to Gray, "captured ... when his own ship was sunk during a battle outside Verbourg in 1864."

The battle was the battle of Cherbourg.

Gray: "It [the CSS Alabama] was caught there by the armour-clad USS Kearsage ..."

I contacted Terry Foenander, an experienced researcher into the naval history of the US Civil War. He advises "the USS KEARSARGE was most definitely not armour-clad, as indicated, but had chains hanging down the side, during the battle, to deflect the cannon shots.   Armour clad, as the true definition of the term will show, means that the entire vessel was clad in a sheeting of metal."

Terry confirms that Juan Ocho was born in Balboa, Spain, around 1843.

Then Gray writes: "An article published in the Observer newspaper shortly after his death suggests his life [in Auckland] began to unravel after he fell in love with a Hindu woman who he showered with gifts ..."

No, the woman wasn't Hindu. I hunted up the Observer article, which reads:

LOVE AND LUNACY.

Ocho-nerie. John Ocho, a Spaniard, died at the Lunatic Asylum the other day, and the cause of death was certified to be acute mania. The newspaper accounts added that he was a Spaniard, and had no relatives in the colony and that was all. Yet I believe that John Ocho was no ordinary individual. He could have told a thrilling life story. He was a seafaring man, and, besides having been one of the crew of the celebrated American cruiser Alabama, had seen many adventures in many lands. His Auckland experiences as handcart man, etc., were uneventful; but there is a world of pathos in the incidents which brought on his acute mania and death. John Ocho's troubles, like most other men's, can be traced to a woman. His life was happy until he encountered a woman who, though she had a husband of her own race, appeared to have a fondness for foreigners. She had been engaged in a love intrigue with a Hindoo, and had been separated from her husband, when John Ocho met her and fell in love with her. She was not unattractive, and as she represented herself to be single, the trusting Spaniard lavished presents upon her. After some months of courtship, a friend brought him the cruel tidings (which he soon verified for himself) that his charmer was a grass widow, and a designing one at that. The shock of this disillusion was too much for John his mind became deranged he was consigned to the Lunatic Asylum, and he now fills a. nameless grave, all because of a false woman's deceit. Moral: Beware of grass widows who have a fondness for foreigners.

Observer 1 June 1889

There's also this small obituary-of-sorts in the Auckland Star.

A Spaniard named John Ocho,aged 45 years, died in the Lunatic Asylum yesterday. An inquest was held before Dr. Philson later in the day, when evidence was adduced showing that the deceased was committed to the Asylum last April, when he was suffering from acute mania and had to be put into a straight waistcoat. He gradually sank, and died yesterday. Deceased was not known to have any friends or relatives in the colony. A verdict was returned that death resulted from acute mania. 

Auckland Star 17 May 1889

Matthew Gray also refers to the Auckland Lunatic Asylum as "Avondale Lunatic Asylum." Now, I don't really worry about folks trying to give us in Avondale the asylum, a historic place of national note -- but as it was actually in Pt Chevalier, it's more accurate (and correct) to call it as Auckland rather than Avondale.

The only bit about the Andrew Andrews St John story Gray briefly touched on, was where he termed him "American Consul to Indonesia." Seeing as Indonesia didn't exist by that name until the latter half of the 20th century, this is a bit of a howler. Correctly, he was consul to the Dutch East Indies, at Batavia, the colonial name for what is now Jakarta. But -- that error, I blame on the need to conserve space in those newspaper columns.

Suiter's Hotel in Newmarket

"Looking up Khyber Pass Road from Broadway showing the Carlton Club Hotel, left, and the premises of George Kent and Sons and the Royal Cord Service Station in the Premier Buildings," ref 4-1886, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Council Libraries.

The building on the left of the image above, taken 19 September 1929, was then known as the Carlton Club Hotel. It had been known as that from 1888, and would so remain until 1992. But it had an earlier name, that of the Jubilee Hotel -- and several names after. 

The hotel started out under construction in 1887, with good foundations for success: a well-known architect (Edward Mahoney), a local builder of some note and reputation, William Edgerley; and a brewer to bankroll the whole project, one William J Suiter, who was at the time the first mayor of Newmarket Borough. The project, though proved to be a stormy one.

William Suiter arrived in Auckland in 1865, and by 1873 had set up the Eden Brewery along New North Road as W J Suiter & Co.

The new establishment, called the Eden Brewery, commenced business yesterday on the New North Road, but the event was less effective on the intellect of the people than was the opening of the new Market. On the day of the opening of the Market fifteen drunken persons were taken to the lock-up, while on the launch of the first barrel of Eden brewed of paradisaical flavour, only one drunkard was found in the streets. 

Auckland Star, 3 July 1873

The wooden buildings at the brewery caught fire on 16 March 1878, but were replaced by a brick version by July that year.

The new Eden brewery of Suiter and Company in the new North Road is so far complete as to enable the proprietors to recommence brewing on a more extensive scale than heretofore. The old building, as our readers will remember, was destroyed by fire which reduced it to ashes. The new brewery, erected nearly on the same site, is built of brick and stone, and consequently of a much more durable character, on a plan designed by Mr Suitor, in which every precaution has been taken to prevent a similar recurrence. 

 Auckland Star 23 July 1878

The thing that intrigues me about Suiter is that at this time he was an ardent member of the Newton Presbyterian Church, as well as being a brewer -- something which, I would have thought, would surely have caused more than a stir in the local kirk. He was also a steward at the Henderson's Mill Turf Club. Apparently involvement in the Sport of Kings did not preclude him from his faithful duties either. He was Chairman of the Eden Terrace Highway District in 1878 -- apparently always a busy man. He was nominated (successfully) for a seat on the Eden County Council that same year ... but in 1879 was declared bankrupt.

He bounced back from this, selling his Eden Brewery lock stock and barrel, clearing his debts, and setting up a new brewery on Khyber Pass called the Park Brewery with Duncan McNab in 1881-1882. He took over completely by late 1883. By December that year, he was taking on Hancock & Co in something of a price war, making sure his beer per gallon cut 3 shillings off the Hancock rate. An intriguing state of affairs, as the Park Brewery was set up on an acre of land leased on a 40 year term from Thomas Hancock (the Hancock & Co. brewery being adjacent). Part of the mortgage agreement for the brewery site was that McNab & Co could deal only with Hancock and partner C Sutton for supplies of malt. Sutton & Co. had already threatened to wind up McNab & Co in May 1883. (Auckland Star 10 July 1888)

During the next three years, the business was profitable, with the brewery buildings on Khyber Pass extended. It may have been during this period that rumours started as to the building of another hotel in Newmarket. In May 1886 Suiter sold 1/3 of the Park Brewery business to Frederick L Protheroe and used the proceeds to pay advances to several hotels.

Meanwhile, Newmarket Road Board had decided not to amalgamate with neighbouring Auckland City, and voted to become a borough in its own right. William Suiter, successful brewer and businessman in the area, became the first mayor of the borough from 1885-1887. In his term of office, he instigated the first local fire brigade. (Considering his fire at the Eden Brewery back in 1878, hardly surprising).

Apparently at this point -- he decided upon building a hotel in Newmarket.


Newmarket in the mid 1880s had three pre-existing hotels: the Royal George, newly rebuilt after a fire in 1884, just across the Manukau Road from the site Suiter had in mind for his new edifice; the Captain Cook, owned by Hancock & Co on Khyber Pass Road; and the Junction Hotel further along Manukau Road, where it forks away to the south. Newmarket was also well-known for brewing interests in the area, such as Hancock's, and John Logan Campbell and his Domain Brewery.

There were also those among his constituents on the side of temperance. The temperance movement in the area was a rising tide, manifested during the annual licensing committee elections in a sharp demarcation between two parties: the moderates in favour of continuance, and the total abstinence party. In 1886, both parties agreed on 10 o’clock closing, no extra hotels or bars in the district, and no Sunday trading. However, Newmarket Borough councillor William Edgerley was on the committee from at least 1886 – and it is ironic (and controversial at the time) that he was later, the next year, to be the builder of Newmarket’s new hotel. At the 1887 poll for local option, only 16 voted: 9 in favour of an increase in licenses, 7 against. A narrow win for the wets.

The hotel’s story began in earnest with a May 1887 meeting of the Newmarket Borough Council, during which the Mayor “gave notice of motion proposing that the Council should erect a £300 statue of the Queen on the top of the front corner of the proposed Jubilee Hotel, at Newmarket, with a suitable inscription underneath.” (NZ Herald, 27 May 1887) Well, the statue idea was eventually altered to that of erecting a town clock -- but the proposed hotel retained its Jubilee name, in honour of the Queen's 50th anniversary.

The Jubilee Hotel is unusual in that it had its first license granted when, really, it didn’t exist except as a muddy hole in the ground with foundations. Following their own interpretation of a sub-section of the Licensing Act of the time, the Committee granted a provisional licence to Frederick L Protheroe (on behalf of Suiter & Co) on seeing the plans for the building at the application approval meeting in June 1887. (Star, 8 June 1887)  Despite the low turnout at the local option poll, 125 signed a petition against granting a license for what was later described as “a large pit at the corner, which had been excavated a few days previously, and which contained about three feet of water … it was playfully remarked at the time that the only accommodation it could afford would be to bury the people in the neighbourhood.” (NZ Herald 6 June 1888) The licensee of the Royal George Hotel also appeared in opposition to the granting of the license for the Jubilee Hotel (NZ Herald 8 June 1887) (Suiter had tried to buy that hotel from Mr. Warnock prior to purchasing the corner site across the road, but was declined - Star 10 March 1888) but it was raised at the meeting that Warnock had been warned that his license would be revoked the previous year if he didn’t raise the standards of his establishment. It would appear that the Committee viewed the grandly-styled Jubilee Hotel as a good replacement for the Royal George (the latter, however, did keep its license anyway). Of course, the awarding of the building tender by architect Edward Mahoney to William Edgerley caused a stir -- seeing as Edgerley was one of those who had granted Suiter his hole-in-the-ground license.

The building was described as being “half up” in late August when a ratepayers’ petition was presented to the Supreme Court to ask that the licensing committee’s decision be overturned. (Star, 10 March 1888) This indeed did happen, because it was found that the committee’s interpretation of the Act was incorrect. (Star 31 August 1887) William Edgerley denied any impropriety on his part in a letter to the Auckland Star published the day after the decision.

Sir,—His Honor Judge Ward, in his decision yesterday re the Jubilee Hotel case, made a sweeping accusation with regard to myself that I am sure he will very much regret when he hears the real facts of the case stated before him. The facts are these:

I am one of the Licensing Commissioners of Newmarket, and in that capacity adjudicated upon license for the proposed Jubilee Hotel. As a builder and contractor I was subsequently the successful tenderer for the hotel against 14 others in Mr Mahoney's office, being £45 below the next lowest tenderer. The time that elapsed from the granting of the license until tenders were opened would be about three weeks. The work, on foundations referred to by Judge Ward, was done by Messrs Suiter and Protheroe previous to the granting of the license and was done with a view of ascertaining the depth the rock lay from the surface, etc. so as to give some data for contractors to tender on. For Judge Ward to even hint that there was the slightest attempt at collusion is unjust both to myself and Messrs Suiter and Protheroe, as neither they nor anyone on their behalf ever held out any inducement to me to tender for the job or, in fact, tampered with me in any shape or form.

I wish I could say as much for the parties who are working behind the scenes, in opposition to the Jubilee Hotel.—l am, etc., William Edgerley, Builder. 

Auckland Star 1 September 1887

William Suiter thus had a grand establishment he was bound by contract to complete and to pay both the architect and the builder, and an extra rates bill on top of that – but was not allowed to sell a drop of beer therein. His business venture was proving to be a disastrously expensive one. It was felt by some that Suiter had faced during the whole affair “a combination of brewers [Samuel Jagger, of Hancock & Co], the hotelkeepers, and the Good Templars against another brewer.” (Star 10 March 1888) Having faced a total cost of £4,700 for both the land and the construction of the hotel, now without any real chance of having an association, excellent for trade, with the Queen’s Jubilee, Suiter fought back via local politics by backing a list of candidates for the licensing committee of 1888 that were in favour of increasing the district’s licenses, and would look favourably at granting one for his hotel. He published a circular detailing the issues of the previous year, where he stood, and how he felt hard-done by in terms of the legal debacle over the hotel. (Star 10 March 1888) On the 13 March 1888, there was a return of a majority of those in favour of Suiter and his hotel to the licensing committee (with J C Seccombe of the Great Northern Brewery entertaining Suiter, several Committee members and Suiter’s supporters at one of his hotels to celebrate.) (Star 14 March 1888) On the 5 June that year, the new committee granted a license to the now re-named Carlton Club Hotel. (Herald 6 June 1888)

By then Suiter had already sold the hotel to a Mr. Griffiths in April 1888 at a loss, and soon after was yet again declared bankrupt. 

But, of course, William Suiter had got his way in the end, despite that set-back -- a hotel erected where once there had been just a licensed hole in the ground, and in the face of seething local temperance supporters.

 He settled up his debts, sold the Park Brewery -- and moved to Melbourne.

Friends of Mr W. J. Suiter, formerly Mayor of Newmarket and well known in town, will be pleased to hear that he is doing remarkably well over in Melbourne. Through the influence of Mr Jesse King, of this city, he was given the position of second brewer in one of the largest breweries in the Victorian capital—the West End brewery in Flinders-street. There are between 70 and 80 hands employed by the company, and the weekly output goes over 840 hogsheads a week, besides a large quantity of bottled ale and stout. Shortly after he received the appointment Mr Suiter was raised to the position of first brewer, a position he now holds, and has every probability of continuing to hold for some time. He has two of his sons over with him, and has now sent for the rest of his family. 

 Auckland Star 23 January 1889

Hancock & Co eventually obtained the hotel in 1935, then transferred to Lion Nathan in 1989. As I said before, it kept the name of the Carlton Club Hotel until 1992 -- then was renamed the Carlton Tavern and Brasserie, with an exterior paint job of yellow and blue. When I first came upon it in 2005, it was known as the Penny Black. Which might have pleased Suiter -- finally, for a while, Queen Victoria's head was on his hotel, in the form of the Penny Black stamp.

Auckland City Council scheduled the building as category B -- but today, after around 120 years, it is no longer a hotel. 489 Khyber Pass now a Nood store in pristine gleaming white livery -- a name (although quite respectable and innocent in reality) that would have raised more than a few eyebrows among the Newmarket temperance party.

I think Suiter might still get a chuckle out of that.

An anthem of a mural

It's already been featured on a local real estate agent's blog, and pressures of commitments at the moment meant I didn't post this back on 16 November when I took the shots. But here it is, better late than never: the St Michaels Ave, Pt Chevalier, telly mural: God Defend New Zealand. A media mural used as a backdrop for a TV3 production which screened in October here, regarding the story behind our national anthem.

These media murals are forming a sub-species all their own, I think. See also the Federal Street work of art.

 Featuring John Joseph Woods (music) ...

... and Thomas Bracken (lyrics).

'God defend New Zealand' is rather a dreary dirge for a national song however, it will be ready if the Russians come.

Nelson Evening Mail 10 November 1877

We have received from Mr J. J. Woods a copy of the music and words of the National Anthem, "God Defend New Zealand." The words are by Mr Thomas Bracken, of Dunedin, and the music by Mr J. J. Woods, of Lawrence and the piece has been published by Messrs Hopwood and Crew, of Bond street, London. The anthem is so well known to most of our readers that it is not necessary for us to say a word in its praise. The title page of the copy before us has been beautifully illuminated, and in the centre is a good portrait of Mr T. Bracken. 

 Otago Witness 15 June 1878

There was a rival ...

A very successful rehearsal of the children who are to assist in singing Zealandia and God Defend New Zealand" was held yesterday afternoon. It is intended to request the audience to join in the ohorue of these anthems. 

Christchurch Star 11 October 1895 

Might have been "All Hail Zealandia!" as seen in this post on the Hocken blog. Here's another ...

Dear Percy Flage,—

Looking through an old music book just now I came across "New Zealand's National Song." I've never seen it before. The music has no composer and is an unknown melody to me. The words are as follows, and I wonder whether any of your readers can identify either words or music, and state how it came to be called the National Song, when "God Defend New Zealand" has that honour:— 

God girt her about with the surges

And winds of the masterless deep, 

Whose tumult uprouses and urges 

Quick billows to sparkle and leap: 

He fill'd from the life of their motion 

Her nostrils with breath of the sea, 

And gave her afar in the ocean, 

A citadel free! 

G.H. 

Evening Post 18 April 1945 

Another MOTAT mural

Spotted this last Friday at MOTAT, just opposite the Pioneer Victorian Village.

After Ravensbourn in Upper Symonds Street

Image ref 4-2235, Sir George Grey Special Collections.

Almost like something caught out the corner of an eye, a reader named Lilli spotted where she lived in an image from one of the City Library photos I use on the blog, from the post on the Edinburgh Castle:

Hi Lisa,

I have just discovered your blog and I am really enjoying reading all the posts you have made on the upper Symonds Street area. In fact my residence actually features in the top photo as "the cabin" which backs onto the historic Stable Lane. If you were up for it I would love to know more about the history of my building and also the lane and how it has been used over the years as it has always intrigued me. Hope you can help, Cheers Lilli

Actually, when I did some photographs of the Upper Symonds Street area back in June this year, I almost missed the building in one of my shots, because (yes, I admit this) it seemed much drabber than its neighbours, with less architectural detail. It's the mauve one, and quite utilitarian.

This is 207-209 Symonds Street, according to the Council website. It is part of Allotment 3, Section 7, Auckland Suburbs, a farm purchased by Crown Grant in December 1844 by one who is referred to as the first Jewish businessman in the colony, Joel Samuel Polack. He subdivided the purchase in two the following year, and sells both parts, so that's the extent of his presence in this story.

Over the course of the period from 1848-1850, a man named Fairburn reunited the subdivided area. This may have been Rev. William Thomas Fairburn, of the Christian Mission Society, and his name certainly comes up on the sales ad for the property in 1885:

NZ Map 4497-10, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries

The size of the building at 207-209 Symonds Street was determined by the size of the lot, Number 9, from this sale.

Before then, though, it was called Ravensbourne apparently, and looked quite different from off Symonds Street.

The trees on the right are on the Fairburn land, then there's Newton Road, and the Edinburgh Castle hotel. Date: 1880. Ref 4-1537, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries

The Fairburns lived there from the 1850s.

BIRTH.

At Ravensbourne Cottage, near Mount Eden, on the 7th inst Mrs. W. T. Fairburn of a son.

Southern Cross 13 February 1855

William T Fairburn died in 1859, and in March part of his property adjoining his residence on Section 7 was sold off. But, it appears his widow remained at Ravensbourne, at least for another 18 years.

WANTED, a General Servant; good references required-—Apply, between 10 and 3.—Mrs. Fairburn, Ravensbourne, Symonds street.

Auckland Star 10 December 1877

Then, the property, through a series of mortgages, came to be owned by one Mr Ami Bennett.

LARGE PADDOCK to be Let for Pasturing at top of Symonds-street, known as Fairburn's Estate. Applications made to Ami Bennett, 44 Insurance Buildings.

Auckland Star 15 April 1878

WANTED, a General Servant; good wages given.—Mrs Bennet, Ravensbourne. Symonds-street.

Auckland Star 31 May 1879

£1 10s REWARD for information leading to Conviction of the person who broke down fence and took some timber off Fairburn's Paddock in Symonds-street., H. E. Brabason, builder, on the ground. July 23, 1883.

Auckland Star 23 July 1883

But Jane Fairburn seems to have still been living there.

FAIRBURN.—On June 8, at her residence, Ravensbourne, Upper Symonds-street, Jane, relict of the late W. T. Fairburn; aged 70.— Warwick papers please copy.

Auckland Star 21 June 1884

After her death, the remainder of the Fairburn estate went up for sale in March 1885, with the remainder from that sale (Symonds Street and Newton Road) advertised again in December that year. This is when the Bennetts were leaving for England.

Auckland Star 1 December 1885

This is just about the last reference I've found so far to Ravensbourne in Upper Symonds Street:

LOST. Liver and White Setter. Reward will be given hy A. G. Howard, Ravensbourne, Symonds-strcet.

Auckland Star 24 August 1896

 After this, the name was used for a boarding house on Hobson Street.

In November 1894, Thomas Elijah Webb purchased lot 9, the site of the mauve building. He was a painter by trade, born on the island of Jersey in 1851 according to this family history site. A son of his, also named Thomas Elijah, also became a painter. Not much else is known about him, but he appears to have had a 2-storey building on the site. It was there when the 1908 City of Auckland Plan was prepared by Auckland City Council, and in both 1905 and 1915, Wises Directory tells us Thomas E Webb, painter, was there.

Then, by 1919, Webb started to alter the building. That year, when the 1908 plan was updated, a 2-storey brick addition was noted.  He died in 1920, and his son and widow leased the building in 1922 to Collinson & Williams Ltd.  In the mid 1920s, a Mrs Clare Odds ran tearooms from there, while by 1930 the business was run by a Miss Delia Carr. Collinson & Williamson transferred the lease to Haymarket Stores Ltd in 1929 (they were next door, at 203 Symonds street), while in 1946 the Webbs sold the freehold to boot and shoe repairer Jack Leslie Murt. A number of owners followed from 1948 until today.

Now, why is there Stable Lane at the rear? In April 1882, the Winstone Brothers purchased land immediately to the north of Ravensbourne, and set up their stables and yard there. The main access was off Symonds Street but by the time Thomas Webb senior purchased his section, a right of way had also been put in place across the back of the Symonds Street sections on the old Fairburn estate, possibly as rear access to the sites as shops. Winstones used the stables until 1932.  

According to the Auckland Library's streets database, Stable Lane is a:

 ...service lane dedicated 16/12/1954, part abandoned land. Private road. The land is owned by the Auckland City Council. It is technically 144 Newton Road.

It led towards what was stables, so I suppose the name came up, and it stuck.

A mural at the wrong speedway?

This might be a case where, whoever the artist was who did this mural, didn't do enough research.

I came upon it in its formative stages some weeks back, and then spotted that it had been completed, so took a photograph last Friday. This is situated on Great North Road, close to the Housing Corp flats at Tuarangi Road corner, and is quite near to Stadium Road, the access to Western Springs Speedway. You'd think, therefore (I would, for example) that this relates to that particular attraction.

Because I know nothing about speedway at all, but my friends Bill and Barbara Ellis do, I sent the images to them. Their comment?

What was the artist thinking?  These are stockcars or production saloons that  race at Waikaraka Park Onehunga not at Western Springs. Western Springs has midgets, sprintcars, TQ s etc.

Fair enough comment, I think, when you compare images from Western Spring's Speedway's website to those from Waikaraka.