Joseph Glenny, country schoolmaster

Joseph Glenny was one of the Whau School District's early teachers. His background isn't certain, but appears to be associated from the 1860s with the Komokoriki/Ahuroa district.

In November 1871, he was appointed as a teacher at Matakana (SC, 18 November 1871). He was to serve Matakana and Omaha as a teacher-cum-librarian until August 1876.

SOIREE AT MATAKANA AND PRESENTATION.

On the evening of Monday, the 26th of July last, the settlers of Matakana and its neighbourhood met together in the Upper Matakana School-room, to bid farewell to then esteemed teacher, Mr. Glenny, who is leaving here to take charge of the Whau School. It rained pretty heavily in the early part of the day, but it cleared up about 1 p m., and although still threatening, and the roads very muddy, there was a very good attendance, the school room being well filled.

A most plentiful supply of good things had been provided. The tea department was well conducted, and reflected great credit on those ladies who presided. After full justice had been done at the tea table, Mr. Alexander Cruickshank, sen., was elected chairman, and a most varied and excellent programme of songs and recitations, intermingled with anecdotes was gone through, and the evening passed swiftly and pleasantly away. Where nearly every one performed their part well, it would be invidious to particularise.

Shortly before the close of the entertainment, the subjorned address and reply were read. This part of the evening's entertainment was brought to a close by the whole of the company joining in singing with great enthusiasm " Auld Lang Syne," this terminating one of the most successful entertainments ever held here.

After the close, the lovers of the "Light fantastic” adjourned to the Messers. Cruickshank's barn, where Terpsichore "reigned supreme till daylight did appear."—

The following is the address referred to above: — "To Joseph Glenny, Esq : Dear Sir, --"We, the inhabitants of Matakana and Omaha, desire on the eve of your departure from amongst us, to express to you our deep feelings of regret at your leaving the district. We feel the Ioss our schools will suffer in losing a most efficient, diligent and painstaking teacher. We also feel the great loss the neighbourhood will suffer in losing a most agreeable neighbour, and kind friend. You have by your unvarying kindness, urbanity and willingness to oblige gained the goodwill of everyone in the district. The members of our library are under lasting obligations to you for the great interest you have taken in promoting its success, and, also without fee or reward under taking the main portion of its management, including the delivery of books to members whenever they found it convenient to come for them.

We wish the accompanying testimonial had been more worthy of its object, but one thing we can assure you of, it is the unanimous heartfelt expression of the goodwill and esteem of the district towards you. While sorry to lose your services we are glad to hear that your worldly prospects will be much improved in your new situation. In conclusion, we wish you and Mrs. Glenny all success and happiness in your new sphere of duty, and throughout your future lives —Signed for the inhabitants by Alexander Cruishank, J. P. "

Reply : "Matakana, 26th July 1875.— Dear Friends,— When I say that I thank you for the address which you have presented to me, I feel how poorly and inadequately such words express the gratitude with which l am stirred. I am not naturally skilled in giving expression to my feelings at any time, and you may readily believe me when I say that on this occasion the genuine warmth and kindness of your sentiments and the generosity of your conduct towards me and Mrs. Glenny have left me less so than ever. Be assured, however, that I shall bear away with me a deeply cherished and lasting recollection of your friendship, every expression of which I most heartily reciprocate. You are pleased to refer to me in favourable - much too favourable terms— both in my public and private capacity. I ever strove to act right, according to the best of my ability, and feeling that I must often have been mistaken, it is very cheering to receive such a hearty expression of your sympathy and approval. Whatever degree of success I may have achieved in the discharge of my duties as your teacher, I feel that I owe a great part of it to the moral support of the parents of those children who have been confided to my care, and to them I return my most sincere thanks, and hope that they and the people of Matakana and Omaha will give the same support and uniform kindness to my successor. I am glad that I have been able to promote the success of your excellent library, and it will always be glad news to me to hear of the success and prosperity of the Matakana library. You have, by the kind words of your address, amply recompensed me for any trouble I have had in its management. In conclusion, I may say that it is with deep regret that I leave this district, thus severing the friendships that I have formed dining my residence amongst you, but I do heartily rejoice that I bear away with me your unanimous goodwill and esteem. And now it only remains for me to thank you for the entertainment you have this evening given me, thus affording me an opportunity of meeting you all for the last time. For this crowning act of your cordiality I feel deeply grateful, and on behalf of Mrs. Glenny and myself I wish you all good bye. —I am, dear friends, yours gratefully and obliged Joseph Glenny.

Before leaving the district, the soiree committee presented Mr. Glenny with £5 10s., proceeds of soiree after paying expenses, to purchase for himself some testimonial most to his wish in remembrance of Matakana. [Own correspondent]

(SC, 6 August 1875)

At the Whau, Glenny was the schoolmaster, looking after the educational needs of what was then a vast and spread-out district. Right from the beginning, it seems, he was enormously successful.

WHAU SCHOOL.

The annual distribution of prizes, previous to breaking up for the Christmas holidays, took place on Monday in the Public Hall in presence of the School Committee, and a number of the pupils' friends. The committee on this occasion departed from their usual course of examining the pupils in the various branches of school study, deeming it unnecessary to do so, the Board of Education having instituted an annual test examination. A Spelling Bee was substituted in lieu thereof, the pupils to the number of 70, being divided into eight classes, two prizes being for each division. Mr. Gittos acted as propounder, and Mr. Glenny, teacher of the school, as umpire.

After a keen and animated contest in each division, the prizes, which were given by Mr. Gittos with his usual kindness and liberality, were awarded as in the subjoined list. Mr. Gittos briefly addressed the pupils on the advantages of education, urging upon them the necessity of perseverance and attention, illustrating his subject by instances of those who attained distinction and honour by having made up their minds to try to succeed. The prizes were then handed to the fortunate recipients by Mr. Bollard, chairman of the School Committee, who on behalf of the other members of committee, complimented the teachers, Mr. Glenny and Mrs. Burns on the improvement in the school since they took charge of it. The parents present having carefully examined the needlework done during the half year, expressed themselves highly pleased with the progress made, and congratulated Mrs. Burns on the results of her care and attention in that department.

The day's proceedings were brought to a close with a school feast, which was liberally provided by the School Committee, and to which ample justice was done by all present. If happy and cheerful faces are an index of enjoyment, we should say, judging by the looks of the young people, that they heartily appreciated the efforts of the committee to minister to their comfort and pleasure. Three hearty cheers for the committee and teachers brought a happy day to a conclusion.

The following is the prize list :— First division : 1st prize, Richard Bollard ; 2nd prize, Agnes Lawrence. Second division: 1st prize, Ellison McLeod ; 2nd prize, Margaret Bollard. Third division: 1st prize, James Archibald ; 2nd prize, Sarah J. Hazel. Fourth division : 1st prize, William Sansom ; 2nd prize, John Archibald. Fifth division : 1st prize, Eliza Partington ; 2nd prize, Eliza Tate. Sixth division : 1st prize, Francis McLeod ; 2nd prize, Mary Ann McCaul. Seventh division : 1st prize, Mary J. Forsyth 2nd prize, William Bollard. Eighth division : 1st prize, James Webb ; 2nd prize, Thomas Wilson.

(SC, 22 December 1875)

Glenny followed this with an appeal to the trustees of the Whau Public Hall to consent to him opening up a night school in the area.

Dear Sir

In compliance with the wishes of a number of the inhabitants of this district I propose opening an evening school on the 7th prox. Will your Committee have any objection to giving me permission to use the Hall for this purpose on four evenings of the week, viz. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. In the event of your granting my request, I will at all times be ready to give way to all public uses for which the hall itself may be required.

(Letter from Joseph Glenny, 31 January 1876, John Bollard papers, Auckland Museum library)

It all came to an end, however, in 1881. For some reason, the Education Board insisted that Joseph Glenny be replaced as schoolmaster by Samuel Frederick 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. What happened to Glenny is, at the moment, not known. It looks like the school committee were organising a tesimonial presentation to him, judging from a small strip of blue paper found in the papers left to the Auckland War Memorial Museum Library by the family of John Bollard. A total of £8- 2/6 was gathered from the following members of the community:

Rev. R. Sommerville, 10/-; Mr. P Gallagher, 2/-; John Bollard, 10/-; James Archibald, 10/-; James Leach, 5/-; George Thomas, 10/-; Robert Dakin, 10/-; William Forsyth, 5/-; John Buchanan, 10/-; H. J. Bell, 5/-; R. Bollard, 5/-; F Bollard, 2/-; F. Harvey, 2/6; James Archibald, 2/6; David Archibald, 5/-; John Archibald, 2/6; John Sinclair, 5/-; Roland Hill, 2/6; James Buchanan, 2/6; John Wallace, 2/6; R. Garrett, 10/-; Mr. Johnson, 2/6; and John Wilson, 2/6. (Source: John Bollard collection of papers, MS 31, Auckland Museum Library.)

Further to the art in Olympic Park

My thanks to Jayne from Our Great Southern Land and Liz from Mad Bush Farm for both your comments to the first Olympic Park Art post yesterday. Yup, whau pods look brown-and -hite or so, and that sculpture of the Whau Pod just doesn't resemble the natural.

The only hit on the web for "Whau Pod" just now -- is good ol' Timespanner's blog. Why? thinks I. Isn't Waitakere City proud of their artwork display here? Off I toodles to their website.

"Whau Pod" is the sixth photo down on the right. But -- it isn't named. I searched their site -- nothing. Ah, well, as Mad Bush says, it's art. It doesn't look bad, and it is a good landmark.

I reckon they should put more artworks in the park -- it's still rather bare, the cabbage trees trying to get a good foothold, but it could use some more stuff like this, I think. It was interesting walking around and discovering each item. Olympic Park as an outdoor art gallery just a short walking distance from where I hang my hat. I can live with that.

Art at Olympic Park

Olympic Park is off Wolverton Street, and is where the Avondale (Waituarangi) and the Whau creeks meet to form the Whau River. Above is a metal map, showing where the artworks in the park are in relation to the creeks and the railway line.

Some may recognise this from my profile photo, "The Centuries Meet". Last year, this didn't have a plaque telling me what it is -- actually, last year (February 6) I don't recall any of the other artworks in the park apart from Hinaki (a wire net sculpture, I suppose signifying how eels were caught in the creeks) and the Whau Pod (see below). Now, I know this one is "Te Kawerau A Maki Pou Whenua", by John Collins and Sunnah Thompson. Te Kawerau A Maki are the local West Auckland iwi in Waitakere City, while "te pou" is a pillar, or a meeting post.

This is "Homage to Crown Lynn" by Louise Purvis. The Crown Lynn Potteries in New Lynn were in operation during the 20th century. I still use Crown Lynn plates, although some go for a pretty penny in collectibles shops.

Now, this is weird. "Whau Pod", by Steve Woodward. It is supposed to represent an aspect of the Whau Tree, Entelea Arborescens, one of the origin theories to the name of the Whau River. Detail of the top of the artwork below.

The thing is, the pod of the Whau Tree looks like this, which doesn't resemble anything like that sculpture. I know it's an artwork, but -- red? Any suggestions as to what it does look like are welcome.

What's inside a railway crossing barrier arm

I blame the Meccano set I used to play with when I was a nipper for being fascinated by stuff like this. My late Uncle Tom, according to my Mum, loved pulling radios and other similar stuff apart to see how they worked, then (attempt) to put them back together again. That worked, at times.

Me, I think the Meccano set is the reason why I'm fascinated by mechanical stuff. So, today, while I decided to enjoy the sunshine of our Auckland Anniversary Day and take a long walk through the neighbourhood, I spotted the above (detail below) at Chalmers Street rail crossing. It was my good luck that Ontrack workers were testing the barriers -- they were about to close both boxes up as I got there.

Auckland's "Noah's Ark" on Morton Street

It's Auckland Anniversary Day today (the relocated anniversary, when really our city's "birthday" is in September, but that's a story in itself). 35 years after all the celebration on Point Britomart, young Auckland had the social problems it was supposed to have left behind in the Old Country, and one case gave rise to an article of descriptive social comment from the Evening Star.

Today, judging by what Google's street view shows (a wonderful tool for days like today when I'm watching the pennies but would still like to see the sights), Morton Street is more-or-less just a service lane off Cook Street in Auckland's CBD. It curves around, just a road leading from the back of buildings and carparks, a bit of grassy area left, some buses and trees on a grassy knoll sculpted by landscape designers, or possibly left when a carpark was carved out just behind it. It stops abruptly, where once it continued on and became Baker Street, which in turn emptied into Nelson Street -- today, Baker Street has vanished (gone in 1955), and buildings, row on row, are between the end of Morton Street and the Skytower.

In 1874, a woman named Elizabeth Macfarlane died. She apparently lived on Morton Street, then known as Moreton Street and Norton Street. Her last year wasn't pleasant. Having no visible means of support and with previous convictions "as an idle and disorderly person", she was sentenced to three months at Mt Eden gaol. She was fined 10s and costs in August for allowing the chimney of her house in Morton Street to catch fire (although how she could be a vagrant, yet have a house is mysterious). Then, in September:

A shocking case is given by the Auckland Star, in referring to a recent inquest on the body of one Elizabeth Macfarlane, was disclosed by the evidence of Eliza Rice, a companion of the dead woman. The wretched woman had led a life of immorality and sensual indulgence, and the termination of her existence was m keeping with her miserable career. The jury returned a verdict of death from exposure and excessive drinking.

(Marlborough Express, 26 September 1874)

The Star must have dispatched a reporter within days to investigate Morton Street and an old dilapidated and abandoned house there called "Noah's Ark". This is the resulting article, via the North Otago Times, 15 October 1874.

NOAH'S ARK.— AUCKLAND'S JACOBS ISLAND

When Charles Dickens described a rentable locality in the purlieus of Bermondsey, known only to a few as Jacob's Island, Sir Peter Laurie said that the place had no existence save in the author's imagination. And so persons might say of Noah's Ark, the dilapidated theatre of human degradation which has “a local habitation and a name" in the western part of the city of Auckland.

We have not been able to trace the origin of "Noah's Ark," which is evidently deserted by its comfortable proprietor and left to the storms of time and the rude hands of local mud-pudding manufacturers. This vestige of past days occupies a rustic site in Moreton-street, and commands pleasant views of Freeman's Bay, St. Mary's Orphanage, and the pretty respectable uphill thoroughfare known as Baker-street, celebrated for its white bead and quiet inhabitants. Occasionally a constable may be seen striding down Baker-street where his help is never wanted, and where his presence causes no surprise, as it is understood that he is on a visit to Noah's Ark. The old building is in a melancholy state, indicative of the moral condition of many of the moonlight sleepers who find cold, gratuitous rest on the odorous boards of the windy, unfurnished rooms. Moreton-street otherwise would be a pleasant retired place. The half-dozen cottages hare scanty slips of gardens, with here and there a creeper twining round a window or curling over a doorway. Along the green space at the back of the houses there runs a kind of rivulet near a hedge, where neither primroses nor cresses grow. A group of well fed cows are sometimes found grazing on the open green spaces in the immediate locality, but never without a mill-boy in attendance.

We understand that the city missionary rarely steps within Noah's Ark, or the very spot might be suggestive of a lay sermon on a passage in scripture history, and the story of Noah might be amplified and applied with advantage. Noah's Ark is empty through the day, and in the evening it is occupied by the sportive ragamuffins of the neighborhood, who make wild music on old bones and bottomless saucepans, and who occasionally display their histrionic abilities in an original version of "Jack Shepherd." About midnight, or in the early morning before daybreak, the shadowy forms of homeless women may be seen there stupefied with drink; women that once were fair and innocent, and whose welfare formed the burden of the prayers of pious parents, but who through misfortune and unhappy unions have cast off self-respect and abandoned themselves to vice and despair. Such individuals may be seen wending in uncertainty towards Noah's Ark for such shelter and repose as they may find in that almost hopeless home. A few rags may be noticed in the corners of rooms in lieu of beds. We saw a portion of "Saturday Night” lying on the floor, containing a Hendersonian essay on "Conversation lollies," in which some inmate had probably felt temporary interest, and then thrown it aside.

And so these daughters of night struggle on, between Noah's Ark, Mount Eden, and the intervening Police Court, until their sad career ends, it may be, like that of Elizabeth Macfarlane, in a pauper's grave, unhallowed and unblessed by the voice of the preacher.

The Three Macfarlanes

An enquiry from a friend and fellow researcher this afternoon gave me cause to stop, think a bit, and then decide to make this post, even if only to sort out any future muddles hopefully by the convenience of searching for this post.

It is to do with three Mr. Macfarlanes in Auckland's history. Two were definitely related, and the other has, in the past and on at least one website, become confused with another.

Enter John Macfarlane. He was Thomas Henderson's partner in establishing the Circular Saw Line and Henderson's Mill, amongst other enterprises. He died in September 1860.

We have never chronicled a death more regretfully than that which appears in our obituary of this day. Mr. John Macfarlane, of the firm of Henderson and Macfarlane, was one of our early settlers, having arrived in the year 1842, since when he arid his partner have been the greatest employers of labour in the Province. They have done more towards production of exports than any firm in the town; while the existence of our Auckland shipping fleet, which exceeds in tonnage that of all the rest of the colony put together, is mainly attributable to their exertions. Mr. Macfarlane was an especial favourite in the place — liberal in all private matters, universally respected, and personally liked in all Social relations. The funeral will take place this day, with masonic honours.

Southern Cross, 7 September 1860.

Enter Thomas Macfarlane. He arrived in 1860 to take the place of his dead brother John on the board of Henderson & MacFarlane, and went on to become closely intertwined with the commercial life of Auckland in general. He died after being struck by a railway engine in May 1885.

Enter John Sangster Macfarlane.

We regret to learn from the Auckland papers of the death of Mr. John Sangster Macfarlane, which took place on the 2nd February, after a short but painful illness. The following particulars concerning his career we take from the Auckland Herald, and will be of interest to our readers, to many of whom his face and form were familiar : — He was born in Haddington, East Lothian, in 1818, his father being the minister of the Established Church in that place. In 1837 he came out to Sydney as an officer in the Commissariat Department. After some time he resigned that position, and set himself to the study of navigation. Having made himself proficient in that science, he purchased a schooner and commenced to trade between Sydney and Auckland, and also with the East Coast.

He married in Sydney, and subsequently left that city for Auckland, where, in 1844, he joined the late Captain Salmon in the business of general merchants. In 1849 he left for California in command of the Daniel Webster. On his return to New Zealand he traded for some time on the East Coast, in connection with the late Captain Reid, of Poverty Bay, and afterwards carried on business under the style of J. S. Macfarlane and Co., in Queen-street and finally in Fort-street. About four years ago he retired from active mercantile life, and devoted his attention to Colonial politics, serving in the General Assembly for two sessions as member for Waitemata. Mr. Macfarlane was thorough both in his likes and dislikes, and as a shrewd, intelligent, and observant Scotchman, inherited the best traits characteristic of his race.

He was a man of remarkable energy and force of character, and up to the last evinced a keen interest in all that transpired around him of public moment. He manifested great satisfaction when informed of the favourable result of his recent lawsuit at Wellington, and has now himself passed away to the final Court of Appeal at the age of 62. He leaves a widow, who is understood to be comfortably provided for, but no family, and a brother, surgeon in the Royal Navy, as well as a sister married at Perth.

Taranaki Herald, 6 February 1880

A telegram from Auckland informs us that Mr. J. S. Macfarlane, late member for Waitemata, who had been lying dangerously ill for several days, has at last succumbed. Mr. Macfarlane was exceedingly well known in Auckland, where he carried on business of an importer for many years. He has always taken an active part in public affairs, and has ever been remarkable for being very thorough in the advocacy of the side he took up.

As a strong partisan, he made many enemies as well as many friends. Mr. Macfarlane's name has been very much before the public of late years, owing to his being constantly involved in litigation. He was first heard of in connection with some actions in regard to timber rights, in which Mohi (a Maori) , Mr. Craig, and Mr. Machattie were concerned. Mr. W. L. Rees was engaged as the counsel on the other side, but latterly, instead of being merely the advocate, had got involved as one of the parties in suits with Mr. Macfarlane. At the present time we believe that more than one action between the two parties are down on the lists of the Supreme Court.

Mr. Macfarlane being strongly attacked at one time by the Auckland Star, started an opposition paper called the Echo. The latter did not prove a success, however, and he lost a good deal of money by the venture. Mr. Macfarlane lost his seat for Waitemata at the last general election, when he was defeated by Mr. Reader Wood. We believe that he was about 55 years of age at the time of his death.

Evening Post, 3 February 1880

I have previously included information on him in Part 1 of Terminus, as he was the main backer of John Thomas in the latter's ill-fated brickmaking enterprise in 1863. He was also included in this post about the 1874 Waitemata Election. I find him fascinating, actually. He's well worth a bit of a study, some time. He isn't the same John Macfarlane who died in 1860, though -- and whether they all had a capital F in their surnames or not is debateable.

Update: 29 May 2009. There were actually four Macfarlanes in total, so I've found out recently thanks to meeting up with Robin Grover from Silverdale & Districts Historical Society, author of wonderful books on the Wade. First there was Henry Macfarlane, with Thomas Henderson, but he left for Hawaii early (end of 1846, according to Anthony Flude), and nominated his brother John Macfarlane. He was the one who died in 1860. Phew! We're up to our necks in Macfarlanes, around here ...

Hoffman kilns -- the first 20 years in NZ

There's a wonderful website showing not only the exterior but interiors of a Hoffman kiln -- Robert Crompton Pottery, showing a Palmerston North kiln.

According to various websites, Friedrich Hoffman of Danzig (now Gdansk in Poland) patented his design for a brick kiln which used a continuous production process in 1858, but little is known about Hoffman himself. The designs landed here in New Zealand in the early 1870s, with the first kilns in the the South Island, before the North eventually caught on. The need for bricks in huge numbers and in an economical amount of time for the great Vogel projects such as the North Island Main Trunk railway probably helped popularise them here.

The following snippets are all from Papers Past.

Otago Witness, Issue 1145, 8 November 1873, Page 19

In the course of about two months, operations will be commenced towards the erection of an extensive brick manufactory in Dunedin. The site secured is a paddock close to Hillside, on the Kensington road, and here will be built a large kiln on the Hoffman principle of continuous burning, capable of turning out 70,000 bricks per week; and with a view to supply this quantity, machinery on the compressed plan has been sent for from England, and, it is expected, will arrive here so as to be ready for work by about the middle of February. Kilns of the above description are now generally in use all over Europe, and the proprietors of the patent right for New Zealand have had one in operation in Canterbury for the last two years.

Otago Witness, Issue 1163, 14 March 1874, Page 19

In reference to an article which appeared a few day's ago in this journal on the advantages of Hoffman's patent brick kilns, Mr. Alfred Lee Smith informs us that he is now erecting a kiln for burning bricks on the same principle at Hillside. "I may state," he adds, "that I bought of Messrs Hoffman the exclusive patent right for New Zealand, and have had a kiln in operation in Canterbury for the last two years.”

Otago Witness, Issue 1221, 24 April 1875, Page 17

A large brick manufactory has been started at Auckland. It is fitted with Hoffman's patent kiln, which is capable of turning out eighty thousand bricks per week.

Evening Post, Volume XXV, Issue 16, 19 January 1883, Page 2

Here [at the Central Prison, Wellington] are to be found another batch of convicts busily engaged in converting the clay into shapely bricks. The rough material is first passed through a pug-mill worked by an unfortunate horse, who plods his weary round with evident disgust. We were unable to learn for what offence the unhappy steed is doomed to this monotonous toil. Possibly he may be one of those incorrigible strays of which one so often reads and hears. However this may be, he seems to be well treated and a general pet.

When he has finished with the clay, it is taken in hand by the brick-makers, who handle it with remarkable smartness, and speedily turn it out as neat bricks. They average 1000 bricks daily per man, and one of them, we are told, has finished as many as 2400 in the day. Many thousands of bricks are to be seen stacked in those peculiar long open-sided sheds always associated with brick-works, drying in preparation for the kilns. Those latter stand a short distance off, and are kept pretty constantly supplied with food. They are of the old-fashioned wood-burning type, but are about to be replaced by a very imposing and scientific structure of the class known as the Hoffman Kiln. The massive foundations for this curious-looking erection have been laid, and the side walls are slowly rising. It is not strange that progress should be slow, for the immense thickness of the walls ---fully six feet at the surface of the ground—swallows up bricks by tens of thousands. The kiln, when finished, will be in the form of a dome, divided internally into several compartments, so that bricks can be always in successive stages of burning, and one compartment cleared when ready without disturbing the others. Another advantage possessed by the Hoffman kiln is that it burns coal, and is exceedingly economical as to fuel. The designs were prepared by Mr. Burrowes, of the Colonial Architect's Office. At present the conveyance by hand of the clay to the brick works, and the raw bricks to the kiln, and the burnt bricks to the place where they are to be utilised is a rather tedious process but a light tramway is about to be laid down, on which it will be very easy to carry the materials on hand trollies.

Evening Post, Volume XLV, Issue 106, 6 May 1893, Page 2

Fifty-thousand bricks a week seems a rather large order to turn out, yet this is what Mr. Enoch Tonks claims he will be able to do, if trade demands it, when his new kiln, now in course of erection at the Webb-street Brickyards, is completed, The kiln, which is known as a " Hoffman," has a holding capacity of over 90,000. and is the largest and the only one of its kind in Wellington. It is oval in shape, the circumference of the chambers (interior measurement) being 100 ft from point to point, endways, it measures 64ft, it is 38ft across, and the height from the floor to the top of the dome is 8ft. It contains 12 chambers, and when lighted the fires will be kept going constantly, as while bricks are being baked in one part of the kiln the marketable article can be withdrawn from another part, and the empty chambers refilled. The machinery connected with the works is receiving a thorough overhaul and various improvements have been necessarily made to keep pace with the new works and meet the exigencies of the trade. The improvements were wholly designed by Mr. E. Tonks, under whose supervision they are being carried out, and he is to be commended for his enterprise. The brickwork is being carefully done by Messrs. Oughton & Chote, the foundry work by Messrs. C. Luke & Sons, and the carpentering by Mr. Crump, builder. The furnaces are expected to be lit in about three weeks' time.

New Zealand Archaeological Association website

The New Zealand Archaeological Association's website has Sites to Visit (Cultural Tourist) section which is worth a browse through. Another link I'll add to the left.

Avondale’s riverside brickmakers

Very little is cut-and-dried about the story of the brickyards which appeared on the Avondale side of the Whau River from 1870 until 1900.

I’ve included a map (above) of most of the Rosebank Peninsula, taken from the map of the County of Eden in 1892 (Avondale-Waterview Historical Society records), with a numbered overlay of sites which all seem to play some part in the story of the Rosebank brickyards of the 19th century.

Site 1: Pollen Brickyard and Pottery – “Pollen’s Point”

We know that Daniel Pollen had a set-up involving brick and pottery kilns on his land near the tip of the Rosebank Peninsula from around 1860 if not slightly before that. Thankfully, there is documented evidence in the form of contemporary newspaper articles, as well as detailed archaeological research. Around 1860, John Malam was his brickyard manager, and from around 1863 it was John Ringrose. The last advertisement found for Pollen’s bricks is around 1871, but there may have been just a long dwindling off from that point.

John Malam, according to an obituary for Richard Thomas Malam from 16 March 1965, included in the J. T. Diamond collection at Waitakere City Library’s Local History Room, arrived in 1854, working as Nash’s brickyard before securing his position with Pollen. He died on 9 July 1899 aged 83.

We now enter a never-never world as far as the story of Avondale’s Whau River brickyards are concerned, made up of a patchwork of sources from oral histories (most related in the 20th century, to J. T. Diamond), some news articles, a very quickly done archaelogical study at the bottom of the racecourse land (due to development pressures), and some land records. Nothing, however, is conclusive at the present time.

We know that the Whau River area on both sides, between 1865 and 1880 and especially around 1872, had become the powerhouse district when it came to supply of bricks for any major project in the region. Boyd’s works in Newton was being eclipsed – he later invested in a Hoffman kiln, but is mainly known today for his pottery and ornamental work. The Mechanics Bay and Freemans Bay kilns were disappearing. The Whau brickmakers felt confident enough name their own price in 1872 to Brogden & Sons, then completing the Parnell Rail Tunnel – and were rather dismayed to hear Brogden refuse to use their bricks at such a price. This led to the brickmakers meeting at the Whau Hotel, refreshments provided by Mrs Poppleton, and an agreement to have a coal dealer in the city, William Kirby, as their agent. The brickmakers association does not seem to have lasted much beyond that year.

Site 2: Site owned by John Buchanan and Dr. Frederick William Wright, possibly operated as a brickyard by John Malam. Site 2A: Site owned by Dr. Frederick W. Wright, sold to Richard Ringrose.

Site 2 is in and around the Whau River end of Fremlin Place. All bar a small coastal strip is altered landscape under industrial use. Even the small reserve, with only a slender chance of having any remaining traces of mid-19th century land use.

In 1870, Charles Hazleham Rice purchased Allotment 8. Rice, who was also a father-in-law to Captain Robert David James (Mt Albert and New Windsor orchardist), saw another daughter Emma Eliza marry John Campbell Stratford, son of Dr. Samuel John Stratford. Rice’s farm (still to be located with certainty) was known as the Poplars. (SC, 3 May 1870) To arrange a marriage settlement for his son and new daughter-in-law, Dr. Stratford purchased around a third (23¼ acres) of Allotment 8 from Charles Rice for £291 in October that year, and in turn “assured and confirmed” to his partner (and son-in-law) Dr. Frederick William Wright and John Buchanan the land purchased from Rice. This was essentially held in trust for the newly-wed couple, with profits from the renting or leasing of the land to go to both the trustees and the couple. The property was eventually sold in 1887 by Wright and Buchanan to a Mr. Dawson.

The connections between this site and Whau River brick making are tenuous, but tantalising.

On 22 February 1870, John Buchanan placed this advertisement in the Southern Cross:

“WANTED BRICKMAKER, to make a KILN of BRICKS in the country.— Apply at Mr. John Buchanans, Queen- street, on Thursday, at 10 o'clock.”

In the 1875 list of ratepayers submitted by the Whau Highway Board, the names “Stratford and J. Malam” appear in connection with “part of Lot 8”. [File AP/2/27/543/75, Archives New Zealand) Malam was, as seen above, one of Pollen’s managers during the early period of his brick works, and in 1862 had purchased 10 acres across the river at Glendene.

In 1968, J. T. Diamond paid a visit by canoe to a site owned by “Daldy Engineering Co, Structural and General Engineers”, which was a tidal inlet, “second from the left upstream from the motor way bridge.” I still need to track down where Daldy Engineering was located 40 years ago, but the description sounds very like that of the inlet at Allotment 8, beside the Buchanan & Wright land. Diamond, however, thought that the area was connected with James Redfern, another Whau River brick maker, but one who mainly operated on the western side. According to the oral traditions Diamond followed, Redfern had found this site unsuitable, and so moved on to “Black Bluff” (which, it seems, was Lot 14 of Allotment 11. See below.) I haven’t yet found documented proof of Redfern’s connections with the eastern side of the river, however.

Diamond found, in 1968, rubbish and earth had been previously bulldozed onto the site, destroying any signs of brickworks. Buildings had been erected onto flattened part of the site. There were “broken, misshapen brick bats, mostly dark in colour,” nothing that attracted Diamond’s interest enough to collect as none had any significant features or marking.

Dr. S. J. Stratford (c.1802-1871) “was formerly an assistant-surgeon in the 72nd Highlanders, and emigrated to Canada in 1830, where he had the medical charge of the troops stationed at Bytown,” according to an obituary in the Southern Cross. He was a member of the Royal College of Surgeons (1826). He came to New Zealand in 1855, and set himself up as a “Surgeon, Occulist, and Aurist”, at first in the city, and later at Parnell. From the beginning, he was a promoter for the encouragement of Canadian immigrants to New Zealand – and his future son-in-law, Dr. Frederick Wright, was one of those who came here from there. Dr. Wright was assistant surgeon to the Prince Alfred Light Horse, the volunteer corps with a number of local Whau residents as members – and through which, Stratford and Wright may have had a connection with the Whau’s John Buchanan.

Site 2A is part of Allotment 5, fronting onto what is now the Motu Manawa marine reserve, and the only part of this north-eastern coastline which remained an exception to Robert Chisholm’s total landholding. In 1872, Dr. Daniel Pollen sold the 30 acre farm to Dr. Frederick William Wright (co-owner of Site 2) for £300. I have previously looked at this property for any association with Traherne Island and other shellbanks in the marine reserve, considering its relatively close proximity. Shell, of course, was readily burned in special kilns and in heaps for lime. Pollen was aware of this – hence, his ownership of the largest shellbank of all in the area, Pollen Island.

Dr. Wright in turn sold the property to Richard Ringrose. The Ringrose family had associations with Whau River brick making going back to John Ringrose working for Dr. Pollen in the early 1860s. Richard Ringrose died in 1879, and Dr. Wright called in the unpaid mortgage, selling the property again. Eventually, it became Enoch Althorpe’s farm.

Richard Ringrose may have used the land just as a farm – after all, he was surrounded by Chisholm’s farmland, used for grain crops and sheep. Hopefully, more information about the Ringrose family may come to light. It is very difficult obtaining information on the family from the J. T. Diamond collection in the Henderson branch of Waitakere City Libraries at the moment, as the digital index is not available for researchers to directly search through. Hopefully, that resource will become more accessible with time.

Site 3: Suggested Aickin brickyard – Aickin’s Point (J. T. Diamond) Site of Archibald Bros. Pottery from 1903.

J. T. Diamond asserted that Dr. Thomas Aickin had a brickyard on his property, but the descendants claimed no knowledge of it. It may have been that Dr. Aickin leased, without documentation, part of his land at Aickin’s Point to any of a number of brick makers who appear in records of the district (Thomas William Murray, William Sloan, or William Thane – the latter person around in the district from c.1875, from Southern Cross, 29 December, to 1881 when he appeared on the electoral rolls.) The earliest confirmed works at Aickin’s Point are those of the Archibald Brothers – but this is only from 1903.

Site 4 & 4A: Possibly sites for Murray & Sloan partnership, later James Redfern (Site 4 is “Black Bluff”)

On 3rd October 1863, a lease between William Innes Taylor and John Bollard gave the latter the right to start up a brickyard on the Whau River frontage of Bollard’s half of Allotment 12 (Site 4A). That is the first and last clear documentation that we have to date that anyone may have had an idea to start a brickyard in that part of the Whau River area. There’s no reason to think that Bollard didn’t consider this extra income, but I will be visiting the Auckland Museum library soon to peruse his financial and farming records to see if there might be some more clues left behind for us to see.

In Simon Best’s report on the “Burke” Brickyard (Site 5), his invesitgation included part of the background of a couple of brick makers named Thomas William Murray and William Sloan. The first, from around 1871 to 1875 had a leasehold property at the Whau on Allotment 11, while the latter lived on a leasehold site on Allotment 12. This information however, if the two worked together, places them not so much at the “Burke” Brickyard, as it does place them on or close to Bollard’s farm: the other half of Allotment 12 from Burke’s land, plus part of Allotment 11, also owned by William Innes Taylor and eventually purchased outright by Bollard in the early 1880s. More on Murray and Sloan below.

James Redfern, according to Diamond, on finding the clays insufficient at the first site he tried on the Rosebank Peninsula side of the Whau River (Site 2), then moved to “Black Bluff, about ¼ mile above Best’s”. By Best’s, I take it he meant the Best’s Varnish Works, which we know was where Te Wiata Place is today. Just above that is the part of Allotment 11 adjoining Bollard’s farm at Allotment 12. Diamond also notes that Black Bluff was “Haslam’s”. John James Haslam lived on Wharf Road (Ash Street), but owned Lot 14 of Allotment 11 from 1883 until he died in 1911. He was the holder of a number of patents for horse-powered earth-elevators, inventions for conveying silt, sand and gravel, and self-discharging pontoons. Little wonder, then, that this part of the river was called Black Bluff. Haslam’s work there would also have completely wiped any record of a brickyard, even a small wood-fired one, as ever having existed there. The land was later owned by the Segedin family. Tony Segedin Drive now wends its way along the curve of the Whau River Coast there.

Site 5: The “Burke” brickyard, operated by B. Keane/Cain c.1903 (documented). Other operators undocumented.



Image from Western Leader, 16 January 1998.

Update 1 August 2011 -- I've revamped, updated and corrected the text for this part of the post at a new one: Burke's Brickyard on the Whau.

Even more on George Hemus

The above photo of the headstone for George Hemus and his second wife Margaret comes from David Hemus, a great-grandnephew of George Hemus, temperance worker here in Auckland in the late 1860s to early 1880s. Previous posts on George Hemus are here and here. David sent the image and information on George Hemus this morning, and has very kindly given me permission to publish both here. Thanks very much, David, for your info!

Hi,

My name is David Hemus and I live in San Diego, California. I recently came across your web site with the story of George Hemus. George was my great grand-uncle (I had to look that up), more simply, my great grandfather was Benjamin, George’s brother. I was asked by Fran Kell of Waikanae (who has done extensive research on the Hemus family) to see if I could find out more about George and his life after leaving New Zealand.

By way of background, my great grandfather Benjamin, left Birmingham before the rest of the family emigrated to NZ (aboard the Ironsides). He ended up in the US in Michigan as a farmer, married in 1871 and had several children.

George never settled in San Francisco; he went to Los Angeles. I’m sure not coincidentally my great grandfather packed up his family and went to Los Angeles in 1885. They settled within a few miles of each other in LA. George’s then wife Frances and their four children went on to Topeka, Kansas. George married Margaret Hampson on December 29, 1885 in Vernon California (just outside downtown Los Angeles) They worked at spreading the word but I haven’t been able to find a particular church where they preached. He became a naturalized American citizen in 1888. George died March 8, 1917 and was buried at Rosedale Cemetery just outside downtown LA. Margaret died October 24, 1925 and is buried alongside her husband. I’ve included a picture of their headstone (very impressive, approx 5’ high).

George’s four children were all quite successful. His oldest was his daughter Frances. She married and was widowed early. She remarried and ended up settling back in Los Angeles. In later years her mother also returned to LA and lived with her daughter and son in law. Her only child is Frank Butterworth who I believe was a Methodist Bishop in Hawaii (carrying on the family tradition) . George’s son George Harwood Hemus settled in Colorado Springs, Colorado and spent his entire career teaching at the Deaf and Blind School there. He also was an artist and illustrator. Their third child, Ernest became a lawyer and worked for the AT&SF Railroad. Their youngest son was Percy. He was an accomplished baritone and gave several concerts at Carnegie Hall in New York. He made many records and went into the theatre. When radio came along he stayed very busy, appearing in smaller parts in many programs. His biggest role in radio was on the Tom Mix Show, he played Tom’s sidekick “The Old Wrangler”.

This gives you a thumbnail of George’s life in the US. I have some questions that perhaps someone will be able to answer: Why Topeka, Kansas? Why did Frances settle with her kids in Topeka? You have to guess that she had some relatives there, but I’m not sure who that might be. I’m not totally convinced that George and Frances were ever officially divorced. His remarriage seemed awfully quick (it was official, I have a copy of the marriage certificate). And how were George and Margaret supporting themselves? As time went on they moved to a nice area of Los Angeles and stayed there till the end.

If you have any questions or clarifications please feel free to email me at mdhemus@cox.net

David Hemus

Percy Hemus, born in Auckland in 1878, appears to have a stub entry on the Internet Movie Database. There's an article from 1913 describing one of his recitals from the New York Times archive. A list of some of his recordings, and a photo, is on the Victor Discography site.


Further to this, here is something from the Weekly News of 6 January 1883 which I found recently -- a presentation made to George Hemus by his fellow temperance workers in Auckland when he was about to embark for England (apparently not in the best of health at the time).

PRESENTATION TO MR. G. HEMUS

At the meeting of the Band of Hope Union on Monday, in the Choral Hall, an address and a gold watch and chain (value £40) were presented to Mr. Hemus “upon the eve” of his departure for England, and in recognition of his valuable services in the temperance cause. The Rev. Alex. Reid occupied the chair, having on his right Mr. T. Spurgeon, having on his left Mr. J. Brame. There was a large assemblage present.

Mr. Brame, in making the presentation, said that a committee, composed of the whole of the temperance representatives of Auckland had been hastily called together for the purpose of enabling the friends to express their sense the services of Mr. Hemus. The draft of an address was prepared, and a token of remembrance was purchased for the occasion. He (Mr. Brame) felt it a privilege to be proud that he was deputed to represent the United Temperance Societies of Auckland in bearing testimony to the great value of the services rendered by the esteemed and honoured president of the Band of Hope Union. Those services were recognised not only in every part of the provincial district, but throughout the colony, and even beyond the colonies. He would take leave to read the address without further comment.

“To Mr. George Hemus: Dear Sir – The realization of the fact of your departure from Auckland and its consequences to our work as temperance reformers did not dawn upon us in time to arrange for anything like a public expression of the esteem in which you are held by all sections of the community, but a few of your co-workers and friends could not allow you to depart from our midst, even for a short time, without some slight acknowledgement of appreciation of your valuable service. No words of tongue or pen can adequately express our gratitude to you for the manner in which you have fulfilled your duties as a public and private citizen, and especially as a worker and brother in religious and temperance organizations of almost every description in this city. Indeed, sir, all who have the honour of acquaintance with you and your labours, fully endorse the sentiment expressed in one of the letters of regret at your departure, that you are “a workman needing not to be ashamed, and a brother beloved.” There is not in Auckland, a truly Christian movement that has not benefited by your labours, while the Sunday schools and Band of Hope have had your special attention. Your punctuality and faithful fulfillment of all engagements has been the theme of much praise on every hand, while the example thus set has been necessarily beneficial in very many ways. Knowing that you will not judge the depth of our gratitude, nor the extent of our appreciation of our worth by the value of any present that might be made, we do most respectfully request your acceptance of the accompanying small token of remembrance from temperance friends in Auckland. Earnestly trusting that your future may be as profitable to the cause of temperance as the past (that your tour may be one of pleasure, combined with success in the work you have undertaken), and sincerely hoping to see you soon amongst us again in renewed health, and with an extended knowledge of successful work in our various movements. We are, dear Sir, on behalf of your temperance friends in Auckland.”

Mr. Brame next presented Mr. Hemus with the gold watch and chain, amidst loud applause. The watch bore the inscription on the inner case, “Presented to Mr. George Hemus by the Friends of Temperance in Auckland, 1883.”

Mr. Hemus, in reply, said: “I was at a camp meeting the other day, when a man stood up in our “testimony meeting”, and looking about him said, “I think some other man must have got into this suit of clothes.” (Laughter). I am something like that man. I cannot think I understand this matter quite. If you are talking about “simple George Hemus”, I am afraid I have got into a fog. I do not know that there was anything in my work which needed any remark about me more than was due to my fellow-labourers. Although you have given me an address and a watch, I think that in weighing me you have made some mistake. You have put me into the wrong scale. In measuring me you have given me too much tape by half. But I do thank God it has been my privilege to have worked for temperance in Auckland for the last eighteen years. Yet I have done only what a humble worker could do. Looking back on the eighteen years I have worked here I feel there is much left undone that should not have been left undone. So far as my labours are concerned I fear that you have been looking at them through a magnifying glass; you have estimated my efforts at too high a price. We have had three great aids to the temperance cause. (1) The children, and where the children are, the parents will be, (2) the recognised voice of our labours by the general public, (3) prayer, for I believe our great success has been an answer to prayer. And if there is anything personal in this matter, and you want to know who has worked hardest and deserved best, you must not point to George Hemus, but to Brother McDermott, our secretary. (Cheers). If you had given this watch to him instead of me, it would have been in the right place. (Cheers.) I now say, God Bless the Temperance Cause.” (Cheers.)

The proceedings concluded with the Doxology and the Benediction, pronounced by the chairman.

By the way, as at 17 August 1883, George Hemus held 1000 shares in the Riversdale Manufacturing Company started up by John Buchanan at the Whau. I'll post up the list of shareholders and their shares a little later.

The Whau Bridges again

An update from here. The Western Leader published my wee letter.


I'll go back to my hole and quit being a pedantic old history buff, for now ...

No. 153 Blockhouse Bay Road

The house is nearing completion with restoration and renovation work underway by the new owners. It's almost always intrigued me, and I have wondered about its history all my life. I have to say, however, that its story remains inconclusive.

I had wondered whether this was associated with the McLiver clan, going by the name E. E. McLiver which I had on subdivision plans including this site dating back to the early 1920s. It took a while, especially as the Land Information volumes holding the deeds index pages for this part of Avondale are missing, long presumed lost -- however, the staff at the Auckland office of Land Information NZ were tremendously helpful, did one last special search for a set of application papers covering details about the site, and they struck gold.

Going back to Michael Wood's sale of land he had in turn purchased from Thomas Russell during the first "Greytown" sale here in Avondale. He sold much of it to David Nathan (who effectively bailed him out of financial trouble at the time.) By 1869, Nathan had sold this part (as well as the St Judes Street lots) to James Palmer.

In 1874, the government survey for the Kaipara line came through. Palmer's steep farmland was now not only cut up by the new line of road we now have as upper St Judes Street, but a railway line ran through it too. Palmer organised a resurvey of his land, called it "Greytown" as well (I look on it as more "Greytown II"), and sold the odd triangular and steepest part of the property between St Judes Street and Blockhouse Bay Road to Joseph Craig in 1879.

Now, that name may sound familiar to some readers of this post. It should -- Joseph Craig was the father of Joseph James Craig, the quarry owner, ship owner, and (from the 1890s) owner of the Hunt Brickworks, later Glenburn. His father was a forwarding agent, wholesale and retail, as well as a coal and firewood merchant, in Fort Street in the city. He lived at Symonds Street, however, and had a lot of land scattered all over Auckland at the time of his death. If the house at 153 Blockhouse Bay Road existed before 1885, it may simply have been built by a tenant of his. Chances are high that it wasn't there.

His sons Joseph James and Thomas John inherited his estate. After a flurry of bank transactions, a Mr. Malcolm sold the property in 1898 to Edmund Fitzgerald Moriarty.

Mr. Moriarty is a man of mystery (then again, a lot of the personalities in Avondale's past are exactly that -- mysterious. Part of the charm.) This was not the first of his purchases of pieces of the Palmer estate. In 1884, he bought a set of adjoining sections at the northern corner of the railway line and Crayford Street East -- and it is likely that he is the Mr. Moriarty who lost his six-roomed home to fire in September 1886. That Mr. Moriarty was described in the papers at the time as a warder at the Asylum.

How long he stuck around in Avondale after that is unknown, but he certainly still kept those corner sections, house or not. In 1897, he pops up again, this time as the publican of the Pahi Hotel. Both he and his wife Mary Agatha Moriarty appear on the electoral roll for Marsden (Pahi's electorate at the time). In September that year, the hotel burned down. When he died in 1911, he was described still as a hotelkeeper "late of Frankton Junction". It isn't very likely that he and his family lived in Avondale.

He had three daughters: Mary Agatha, Kathleen and Eileen Elizabeth. The family had a connection with a long-term settler in Avondale, Thomas O'Sullivan (who owned the south side of Crayford Street East, and land stretching back to Layard Street.) When O'Sullivan died in Ponsonby in 1910 (probably at the then-home of the Moriarty clan on Shelly Beach Road), Edmund and his wife inherited O'Sullivan's estate.

Although the Moriartys probably didn't live in Avondale after that 1886 fire -- they did give land to the Roman Catholic diocese in order that the first Catholic church in the district could be built, at Church Street (now Chalmers Street). See Jack Dragicevich's history. Staunch Roman Catholics, Edmund is buried beside his wife in the RC section at Waikumete Cemetery, with Thomas O'Sullivan just across the gap in the rows from them. Their daughter Mary was taught at St Mary's Convent in Ponsonby; Eileen Elizabeth went to St Benedict's school.

When Edmund died, his wife Mary inherited Edmund's by then substantial Avondale landholdings. When Mary died, Kathleen inherited, only to die the following year. The last heir was Eileen Elizabeth McLiver, married to solicitor Finlay Donald McLiver (his father was Finlay McLiver, Captain John McLiver's brother, and the one who narrowly avoided prosecution on charges of kidnapping and blackbirding on the South Seas in the early 1870s.) In 1931, Finlay Donald McLiver committed suicide by poisoning himself. Like a few others in his family line from Lachlan McLiver back in the 1860s, he suffered from a weak heart, and two weeks before his death had come down with a bout of influenza. Apart from that, he had no financial worries, so witnesses at the inquest were mystified as to why he took his own life. He and his father are buried at Waikaraka Cemetery.


The picture above shows part of the Blockhouse Bay Road property owned by Eileen Elizabeth McLiver as at 1927. It is possible that after her survey and subdivision, she possibly rented out the sites, while still retaining ownership. She finally sold the Avondale properties she inherited in 1933.

As for the house at No. 153 -- its age remains unknown, as do its original associations. It may have even been a dwelling shifted here from elsewhere. Whatever its true story may turn out to be, it is certainly an intriguing part of our local heritage.

False mail arrival reports in Auckland town

We have next to no comprehension in these days of household letterboxes and business post boxes, where mail is delivered for your convenience, just what it meant to get mail and the latest news from Home in the mid-Victorian era here in the colonies. It was a Big Thing, and of utmost importance for folk to be to be right there at the wharves when the mail ship came in, or joining the patient queues at the post office as the mail was doled out.

Little wonder some became a tad narky over the instances in the article below. This from the NZ Herald, 16 April 1875:

"An announcement appeared yesterday that the Naval Brigade would hold a garrison gun drill at the albert Barracks this evening. It would appear by the report of artillery last evening that the practice took place prematurely. This is not the first time that the Volunteers have played a trick upon the Auckland public in deceiving them regarding the arrival of the mail steamer. On the last occasion of a "garrison gun drill" the time was chosen when the mail steamer was due, and consequently on the report of the first gun everybody was under the impression that she had arrived in harbour.

"Cabs deserted the ranks for the wharf, and citizens wended their way thitherwards also, while the newspaper offices were shortly after beseiged for the latest news," until the repeated discharge of artillery convinced people that they had been hoaxed.

"The same thing occurred last evening, the Cyphrenes being due. The guns on the Albert Barrack reserve were fired at long intervals, giving persons the impression that she had arrived. Numbers vacated the theatres in consequence, and many whose business called them left their homes for the wharf in consequence of this false report. If the Volunteers have not the sense or good judgement to fire off these useless old guns on more appropriate occasions, the authorities should step in and prevent them in a very practical manner, namely, by refusing to serve out the Government ammunition, which is so uselessly and mischievously expended."

The Great Oakleigh Park Poultry Farm

For a while, in the first decade of the 20th century, the air close to the mouth of Oakley Creek (near the motorway) was probably full of feathers, the pungent stench of bird dung, and the sound of 15,000 birds at full voice.

A subdivision plan for Oakleigh Park in Waterview, DP 8380 from 3 February 1913, shows William Newell as the owner of Allotment 18 (30.2.5 acres) with H. D. Dyke as the occupier. This plan is associated with certificate of title NA 211/236, when Newell obtained formal title of Allotment 18 under application 5536. Eight years earlier in April 1905, he appears on the title for Allotment 17 (NA 61/124, around 51 acres), then held by Sophia Hoffman, although formal transfer of title didn’t take place until September 1907. It can be assumed therefore that Newell had associations with both allotments from c.1905 – which is when Dyke’s poultry farm makes its appearance. It is likely that Dyke was Newell’s tenant.

In November 1905, the chief Government poultry expert Mr. D. D. Hyde paid a visit to the Momohaki State Farm near Patea, and mentioned in the course of conversation with a reporter from the Hawera & Normanby Star [28 November 1905, p. 2] that “poultry farming on a large scale had recently been commenced at Oakleigh Park, near Auckland … The plant is in charge of a practical man, and while predicting success for the enterprise, Mr. Hyde says it gives an idea of the progress of the poultry industry.”

Mr. Hyde seemed quite taken with Dyke’s poultry farm. He had spoken about it to a reporter for the Otago Witness in Dunedin earlier that month [8 November 1905, p. 31]. “By the end of February,” Mr. Hyde said, “Mr. Dyke expects to rear 15,000 young birds.”

The Grey River Argus from Westland [5 April 1906, p. 2] waxed lyrical about Mr. H. V. Dyke, now of the firm Walker & Dyke, and his immense poultry farm, the largest in New Zealand, at 108 acres (I’m still wondering whether 20 acres dropped into the sea, or if the inflated acreage was just enthusiastic exaggeration.) Mr. Hyde, after promoting Dyke’s farm to the West Coasters, once again told those in Dunedin all about Oakleigh Park, the 11,700 birds raised, 6 500-egg capacity machines, and an expected output of no less that 20,000 chicks in the coming season. [25 April 1906, p. 31]

In June 1906, Government grader George Pounsford “stated that he had secured from Messrs Walker and Dyke of Oakleigh Park a pair of ducks similar to those exported by that firm, and which brought top prices on the London market.” [Hawera & Normanby Star, 26 June 1906] Mr. Hyde, once again, promoted Dyke & Walker’s operation in December 1906, stating that out of “no fewer that 16,700 head of fowls and ducks on their farm at Avondale,” 10,000 were purchased by an Auckland butchers firm. [Evening Post, 15 December 1906]

Eggs placed in cold storage in August 1905 for “Messrs Dyke Brothers” by the Department in Auckland, were reported in June 1908 as being “almost as fresh as when they were first put into cold store [Taranaki Herald, 1 June 1908]. In June-July 1908, F. E. A. Gordon of Petone and H .V. Dyke of Avondale took out patent no. 24388 for a poultry house. [Progress, 1 August 1908, p. 352]

Soon after this Hyde, Dyke’s greatest promoter, lost his job in a bureaucratic reshuffle. By World War I, the Waterview poultry farm appears to have faded away.

Day-by-day history blog

Our Great Southern Land is, by definition of the title alone, an Aussie blog and primarily concerning bits of Australian history. But, there are sprinkles of Kiwi stuff in there too as the author uses a "What happened today in history" theme. Highly entertaining and a fun read, as well!

My thanks and appreciation to my friend Marita who pointed this one out to me today.

Beginnings of the Northern Omnibus Company

An update to earlier post. It began in February 1883, with ...

"A public meeting was held on Thursday evening at the Mount Albert Public Hall to consider the advisability of establishing a locally-owned line of omnibuses on the road between Auckland and Avondale. There was an influential attendance, Mr. A. K. Taylor occupying the chair. The following rersolutions were carried: -- 1. That it is desirable to establish a locally-owned line of omnibuses on the road. 2. That the following be appointed a committee to co-operate with the gentlemen who may be appointed for Avondale district in establishing (if possible) a locally-owned line of omnibuses on the road -- viz, Messrs S. Stuart, R. Wayte, J. M. Alexander, W. G. Mitchell, J. H. Daubeny, and J. R. Randerson, and that it be be an instruction to the committee that until it be ascertained that an Omnibus Company will probably prove a remunerative concern, no further steps be taken in the registration of the said company, and that a further meeting of the public be called to lay the said information before them. A vote of thanks to the Chairman concluded the proceedings."

(Weekly News, 24 February 1883.)

The company's prospectus was advertised in March that year, and two months later, the Northern Omnibus Company was inaugurated.

"The objects for which the Company is established are: the establishment and maintenance of omnibuses and other vehicles for carriage of passengers and merchandize between Auckland and New Lynn and between Auckland and such other Districts within a radius of ten miles from Auckland as may from time to time be determined by the Ditrectors and the doing of all such things as are incidental or conclusive to the attainment of the above objects."

Initial capital was set at £4000 in 4000 shares of £1 each. The initial shareholders were: Neilson Gordon Lennox, stationer, Auckland (50) Francis Quick, omnibus proprietor, Auckland (50) William LeGrande Mitchell, gentleman, Auckland (50) Thomas Faulder, gentleman, Auckland (20) Robert Garrett, tanner (50) John Bollard, farmer (50) Samuel Stuart, gentleman (25) (Thomas Faulder, by the way, was listed in the 1881 Newton Electoral Roll as a farmer living in the Arch Hill district, his farm named "West House Farm" at Richmond.) Initial directors were: James Macky Alexander, solicitor W L Mitchell J. Bollard W G Lennox Robert Charles Greenwood Charles Hesketh Charles Arthur Couch, builder

[Source: Archives New Zealand file, Northern Omnibus Company, BADZ/5181/43/273/1883/11]

The first annual meeting was held in December 1883 (Weekly News, 15 December 1883). Chairman of Directors was W. L. Mitchell.

"The directors have much pleasure in meeting the shareholders since the formation and working of the company, and in presenting their balance sheet, profit and loss account, etc., they beg to report that, although the accounts present a loss, it must be remembered that the company commenced operations during the worst period of the year, and have continued until the present time under adverse circumstances. The half-year now commenced will, especially during the next three or four months, produce larger receipts, and the directors anticipate that much of the loss will be recouped thereby. No allowance has been taken in the accounts for the value of their leasehold stables in town, which, if deducted from the balance of profit and loss, will leave that account showing an actual loss on the half-year of £103 7s 7d. "The directors have pleasure to report that the receipts have increased from £21 12s per week to £37 14s 9d, thus showing that the traffic is capable of expansion, and that the number of travellers is steadily on the increase, and although fares have been reduced, and the inducement of tickets per dozen offered, yet those concessions have not injuriously affected the earnings of the company, and the directors believe that, with still further encouragement to our travellers, the benefits of a well-established line of omnibuses will yet be more fully realised, and that within a reasonable time the company will have entered into a remunerative and profitable trade. "The traffic on the Great North Road has been of sufficient encouragement to warrant your directors in continuing it, its capacity has been tested, and the result is a satisfactory one. Economy in the management, and thorough efficiency in the service, are two essential points aimed at by your directors, and with these objects in view certain changes are being made, which the directors believe will effect a saving in our working account, and whilst introducing a new time table for the New North Road, and giving an increased service to the people, the extra running will be effected without any additional cost to the company. The directors think it as well to mention to shareholders that they have resolved upon abolishing Potter's stables at New Lynn, and retaining those at Mr. Lennox's property. This has been done with the object of centralising our plant, and of reducing expenditure. "Before closing this report, the directors desire to acknowledge the valuable services which Mr. Bollard has rendered as manager and principal organiser of the company, and the directors feel sure that his exertions in the interests of the company from the outset will be fully recognised by shareholders. The whole of the directors retire from office at this meeting, but are eligible for re-election. The auditor, Mr. John Milne, also retires, and is also eligible for re-election. Dated at Auckland, this 10th December, 1883. -- W. L. Mitchell, Chairman."

The retiring directors were: W. L. Mitchell, J. Buchanan, G. T. Hogg, R. Garrett, T. Faulder, F. Quick and S. Stuart. These were all re-elected, and Charles Hesketh elected as auditor without fee. Future annual meetings were set up for March, although the following year it all turned to custard (see previous post). Archives New Zealand's file extends down to 1904, interestingly enough. This is because the last document on the file is from the Government, asking the Northern Omnibus Company in 1904 whether they were still a company or not, as no reports had been filed for 20 years. The response, of course, was silence, and so the file was officially closed.

The prophet of sparkling wine in New Zealand

François Rayer, New Windsor’s viticulturalist, died in 1883 – tragically before his project’s goal could be realised. As the Weekly News put it (3 February 1883):

“Many of our readers will regret to learn that M. F. Rayer, the vigeron at Mount Albert, is at present very ill, and his medical advisers give little hope of recovery. Mr. Rayer is not an old man, between fifty and sixty years of age, but since he purchased the place at Mount Albert he has worked hard, early and late, and lived soberly, and it is feared that the privations thus undergone are telling upon him now. M. Rayer began without capital, and thus a great deal of heavy work fell to his lot, which would have lightened had he been able to employ a sufficient amount of capital in the undertaking. Many were looking anxiously to the result of Mr. Rayer’s efforts to grow the vine here for wine-making purposes, and should his present illness terminate fatally, it will have the effect of retarding the development of this promising industry. We learn that the patient is quite satisfied that his present illness is to end in death. A week or two ago he was brought into town to the residence of M. Garnier, where he could receive better attention and more comforts than at his place at Mount Albert.”

A week later, the Weekly News published a translation of a letter written by Rayer to the Neo-Zelandais paper:

“Having often been asked my opinion upon sparkling wines, especially champagne, and whether I shall be able to manufacture the same from grapes grown in my vineyard, I should feel obliged if you will kindly insert the following answer in your paper, for the benefit of my various interrogators, and the public generally. The consumption of sparkling wines by all nations shows a great development, and according to the best authorities in viniculture, the grapes especially used in the preparation of this class of wines can be grown in any kind of soil at all suitable for vine-growing; therefore, the manufacture of champagne can be generalised in any of these vine-growing countries.

“Of late years the progress in the manufacture of sparkling wine has been most remarkable. France has, up to the present time (thanks to her suitable soil, climate, taste, and the experience of her vignerons), had the happy privilege to produce and furnish to the whole world this specialty of wine. Since, therefore, after the above statement that sparkling wines can be prepared in all countries where the grapes can be grown, it is an incontestable fact that there is every chance of success here. Not only are we in nearly the same latitude as France, but we have not nearly so much to fear from hail, or the frosts of autumn and winter, which are so prejudicial to the vines in many vine-growing districts in that country. I can, therefore, without fear assure the people of this beautiful land that my vines will grow, and that I shall be able doubtless to furnish them with sparkling wines, made from the “grapes de Dinau”.

“As to the value of these wines, champagne is the glory of the vigeron as also the most esteemed wine in the highest ranks of society. The finest connoisseurs are supposed to be the English and Russians, the latter using it in their soups. Taken in this way it is considered a great help to digestion. It is always the favourite beverage of invalids and the fair sex. We can trace its delicate effects (taken in moderation) in stimulating the functions of the brain. It re-animates and predisposes the mind to generous and kindly thoughts of our fellow creatures. In the works of the poets, in the prose of Voltaire, in the songs of Béranger, it pleads warmly the cause of “La Belle France,” the country of its birth. Is it not also taken by all amateurs as the wine “par excellence” for dessert? In short, there is no other wine which we drink with more pleasure without feeling thirst, or which excites the mind to perform any arduous task, without undue agitation as champagne.

“In my vineyard at Mount Albert I shall be able to produce wines where qualities will be excellent, and agreeable to many; but to the true connoisseur there is no comparison between champagne and other wines. It is the wine of the refined and elegant of all civilised nations. For the vigeron of to-day, the sparkle, “the bouquet,” of these wines are none the less precious because aided in the manufacture by apparatus which science has perfected, with which, by experience and careful handling, he can produce an excellent article for the benefit of the public; and also to show the kind of industry the climate of New Zealand is capable of encouraging. I have no fear in saying that, as time advances, viniculture and sericulture will be extensive industries here. If they are not, it is due to no fault of the climate, but to the want of knowledge on the part of the population. The colony is young yet, and there are many dormant resources in her which will by and by be brought forward, and enrich her revenue far more than any of us at present can imagine.”

Hataitai, Wellington -- local history

You may wonder why I'm delighted to have found this site, Heritage Help, on the web just now. Well, I like finding NZ local history websites, and this one is of interest to me immediately for two reasons: it contains a bit of information on James Watkin Kinniburgh, Avondale's first Borough Mayor, and includes J. J. Boyd, building contractor, zoo entrepreneur and subject of my publication The Zoo War (wherein I do mention Hataitai, tram tunnel disputes, and how Boyd was backed up by Kinniburgh in a court case).

Another site I'll add to the lengthening list at the left.

Oddfellows Lodge: a false start in Avondale

This is from Heart of the Whau (2003):

Oddfellows Lodge: On 30 September 1903, the Avondale Oddfellows Lodge opened and started meeting in the Avondale Public Hall. This was to continue until 19 December 1927, when their new purpose-built hall was opened further along St Georges Road (now demolished). They only had to shift out once, in 1923 (moved back 20/7/1923) when the Public Hall was being shifted to its current site to make room for the new Town Hall. [Conversation with Mr W E Timmins, Secretary of Oddfellows Lodge, 4 May 2001]

Twenty years before 1903, however, they made an attempt to set up the Lodge in 1883. I found the following in the Weekly News, 26 May 1883:

"A public meeting was held in the Avondale Hall on Monday night (Mr. Bollard in the chair) for the purpose of starting a branch of the National Independent Order of Oddfellows in the Avondale district. After a few appropriate remarks from the Chairman, Mr. J. Moore, D. S. of the Pioneer Lodge, in a very clear manner, gave a short history of the order as it now exists in Auckland. This showed that it was in a very flourishing state. He requested the audience present to enrol their names so as to start a branch in the district. He was ably supported by Mr. Moulden, D.H. of Loyal United Brethren. There was a good attendance, and at the close about a dozen put down their names, so that a lodge will now be started in Avondale, and no doubt it will a great boon to the rapidly rising township. We wish it success."

A Whau River bridge predicted

On the subject of Whau Bridges and their number ... I've just found again a clipping from the Star of April 1887. I find it remarkable for two reasons -- the earliest printed appearance of the Rosebank Road in reference other than the Chisholm Estate sale, and that the writer more-or-less described the Ash Street extension which formed the Ash Street-Rata Street cross of the Whau River. Only that was built in the late 1970s, 90 years later.

Note how the river is called "Avondale River" instead of Whau -- at the time, the district had changed its name, but the river hadn't (and still hasn't). It gave cause for some confusion, however (I'll talk more about that when I post a bit later about the Auckland Brick and Tile Company). The proposed cemetery endangering Auckland's water supply might be that at St Luke's Anglican church in Mt Albert. There were issues at the time about the gunk seeping into the ground from the coffins contaminating the watershed leading to Western Springs. They grizzled about pig and poultry farmers, night soil depots and Chinese market gardeners up on Chinamen's Hill as well, for the same reason.

"Sir -- There seems to be an inclination to make a cemetery for every sect and so spread them close around Auckland to the utter disregard of sanitation and health. The commendable action of the Mayor in trying to stop the water supply of Auckland from being poisoned by a proposed cemetery in its very source, ought to meet with the warm approval of everyone. It may not be generally known the route to the Auckland Cemetery (Waikomiti) can be shortened by a superior road not less than three miles -- turning off the Great North Road at a point in Avondale named Victoria Road, crossing Rosebank Road, thence along Wharf Road to the Avondale River. By a bridge being erected here, which should not be very long or costly, you are at the cemetery in a straight line, and the grades are much easier. In fact, the greater portion of this new diversion is level road. This route would shorten the road equally to Waitakerei Falls and the North. By the New North Road from Auckland it would shorten about two and a half miles of distance. This result must cheapen the cost of burials, and thus make the new cemetery popular. -- Yours, etc.,

HEALTH."

New Windsor pines at Waikumete Cemetery, 1886

Captain Robert James of Mt Albert and New Windsor (see "Fruit from the Scoria") donated 60 pinus insignis (Monterey Pine, now pinus radiata) to Auckland City Council for the Waikumete Cemetery as shelter trees in 1886. This, from the Auckland Weekly News, 9 October:

"Endeavours are being made to improve the surroundings at the Waikomiti Cemetery. Captain James, of Mount Albert, has presented some five dozen pinus insignis to the Waikomiti Cemetery, which have been planted as shelter trees. The sextons are employed in their spare time planting and improving the ground, as also in keeping the trees in orderwhich are already planted there."

This isn't even mentioned in the history of the cemetery included with the cemetery's management plan, available online, where only a reference to West Auckland nurseryman William Levy is made (1885, contracted to plant "406 pines, macrocarpa, willows, bamboos, red gums and pampas grass in the gullies.") Captain James sold his Mt. Albert property had moved to New Windsor (well, the Avondale part of New Windsor) in 1881, so -- this is an interesting piece of Avondale arboricultural contribution to the setting up of our largest cemetery.

The pines aren't there anymore, unfortunately. If they weren't cut down over the course of the years, they may have been burnt up in fires.

The Archibald Bros. of Aickin's Point

Image from DP 192, Land Information of New Zealand records

J. T. Diamond in Once the Wilderness termed this part of the Whau River area "Aickin's Point". He also noted some oral history, unconfirmed by descendants of Dr. Thomas Aickin, that the doctor was also a brickmaker here.

What is known is that the point was sold by Dr. Aickin when he subdivided his farm, comprised of Allotment 9 and 10 of the Parish of Titirangi, on Rosebank Peninsula. Lot 17 of that sale went to Thomas Melville in December 1882, a Mt Albert gentleman. He kept the title for a considerable time, but finally sold it in December 1903 to the Archibald family: David, John, Ernest Alexander and Frank Herbert. Archibald Bros' pottery works was one of the first businesses to have a telephone connection in 1913. They were to remain the owners there, running the yard at the end of Avondale Road, until bought out by the Amalgamated Brick and Tile Company.

James Archibald took part in the search for Rev. David Hamilton in July 1873 and was involved with Whau/Avondale affairs. An A. Archibald was involved with the Northern Omnibus Company in the early 1880s. J. Archibald took part in Avondale sports in 1887. The brickworks was one of the stopping places of the Whau Canal investigation cruise in May 1903.

According to Diamond (p. 94, 2nd edition):

"James Archibald was another brickmaker who after a brief period of production in 1862 [there's record of a partnership between one Frank Jagger and a James Archibald which dissolved in 1866], started a yard in 1870 where bricks continued to be produced until 1926.

His yard was on a site bordering the Beaubank Reserve on the road of this name which turns off near the foot of Archibald Road. In 1909 his sons opened a pipe works on a promontory known as Dr. Aitken's [sic] on the opposite side of the Whau and downstream from their father's brickyard. Here, until it closed down in 1929, all sizes of glazed pipes were produced. One of the first motor vehicles in the district was that used by the Archibald Bros. to transport their products to Avondale Station."