Auckland's railway -- the old and the new

I had cause to take a trip up to Glen Eden yesterday. No worries to me really that there was a bus stop-work meeting happening that day: there's rail as an alternative, and I always love that choice.

So, a bit of an opportunity for more railway shots. Above is the old station preserved at Glen Eden.

Going there, then coming back to head to the city for an afternoon appointment, I took some shots of part of the beginning of New Lynn's underground station, expected to be completed next year, or so.

Heading past the back of the old building which was the former Auckland Central Railway Station, I've often looked at these remnants of past days. The remains of the train platforms with some of their sweeping canopies. Now just another set of ruins in Auckland.

So, I dug out a set of photographs taken by a friend a long time ago of the central station when it was what it was, before it became student accommodation.

There is quite a bit about the old station on the web. These articles come from the New Zealand Railways Magazine:

The Development of Auckland's New Station (1 June 1927)

Auckland's New Railway Station - the Northern Portal of the N.Z.R. (1 October 1927)

Auckland's New Railway Station - A Masterpiece of Modern Building (1 July 1930)

Auckland's New Station - A Modern and Stately Railway Terminal (1 February 1931)

Sixty-seven years of Railway Progress - Brief History of Railway Development at Auckland
(1 May 1931)

Below, some more of my friend's photos.













It's a bit like seeing a part of a ghost town, these photos. Hardly a person to be seen.

Ah -- there's someone. Waiting patiently either for a train or a ride to elsewhere by car, I imagine.

Someone else waiting in the near distance.

At back, towards the harbour, the present-day rail line swings past part of the Strand rail area, with the Port of Auckland wharves and their cranes towering in the background. Amidst all this, I thought I spotted something, and took a shot.

Checking later, I realised I had spotted something -- a steam train powering along a painted set of lines, past Rangitoto. A solitary piece of railway art starting to be covered by the graffiti artists, whose handiwork is clearly visible all around it.

Limelight in Queen Street

The following, from the NZ Herald of 19 October 1882, reminded me of the Town Hall illuminations earlier this year.

"A somewhat dangerous practice has arisen in the city which, unless stopped in some way or other, will ultimately lead to a serious accident, or possibly loss of life. A Saturday night or two back limelight representations were exhibited from the roof of a place of business in Victoria-street East. Some of these were of a comical character, but the most of them were for trade advertising purposes.

"A crowd of some 2000 persons collected in the street in a few minutes. Fortunately the street is off the Saturday night traffic, and its other end closed through improvements going on, so that the traffic inconvenience in obstructing the thoroughfare was but slight, and the safety of pedestrians to nowise endangered.

"On last Saturday night, however, a bolder step was adopted. In the very centre of Queen-street (east side) a large white screen was erected between great poles, and limelight transparencies exhibited thereon of a similar character to those above referred to. As might be expected the street at that locality was blocked up in a few minutes by an immense crowd, to the suspension of traffic.

"The cabmen, as is their custom frequently, when a thoroughfare is blocked, only drive the harder up and down the street, and the result was that several children and three or four old men and ladies had a narrow escape of being being driven over in their vain attempts to get out of the road. The butcher boys galloped about more recklessly than ever, seeming rather to enjoy the narrow shaves some people had of being ridden down.

"The immense white sheet flapping in the night was well calculated to startle any spirited horse coming along, and in the crowded state of the Queen-street the consequences of a bolt would have been simply lamentable.

"It is said the idea of advertising in this way is quite novel, and it is doubtful whether any city by-law covers such acts and makes them punishable but if so legal steps should be taken to put a stop to such a dangerous practice."

At least Telecom didn't use a flapping white sheet!

The Mill at Mechanic's Bay

This comes from LINZ, reference SO 936 (Crown copyright). Not sure what the date is -- it includes the Auckland-to-Onehunga rail line, so that addition would be from the 1870s, but has the Domain Washing Ground which was only around from 1850-1855 at most. (More on that later once I get the Domain Stories 1850s done).

So, this may be showing the Mechanic's Bay Flour Mill post Low & Motion, but during the Ashby period (when Hugh Coolahan leased it from the Provincial Council, see the Mechanic's Bay timeline.) The map shows the entire mill race, from a mill pond up above the washing grounds, sweeping around the northern edge of the Domain to another alarger mill pond over by the railway line, then across to the mill (above), through Robertson's rope walk, and out under the Strand-Parnell Rose to the sea.

There is a lovely painting from c.1845 of Mechanic's Bay I have found, but can't reproduce here (at the moment) as the original is held by the Auckland War Memorial Museum Library. It shows Robertson's rope works, and the mill alongside, almost as the plan above shows. This will do for now, though.

Further note: Thanks to Phil for his comment: here's my best guess, based on the map, as to where the mill house was (red circle -- click on the image to enlarge) :

Good parental correction?

A guest bit from my friend Jack Dragicevich, who writes to say that the NZ Herald haven't published the following contribution from him, either in their letters column, or Sideswipe. Timespanner, however, will definitely publish heritage stuff.

While surfing the internet recently I came across a curious piece in an article entitled “Notabilia”, from the Observer, dated 26 March 1881, which seems to equate corporal punishment of children with the industrial process of making leather. It may have some bearing, albeit tongue in cheek, on the up coming anti-smacking referendum. It reads:

“Spare the rod and spoil the child.” A good old adage not believed in by the advocates for compulsory education. A good tanning does for a boy what good tanning does for leather, makes both good and durable. Look at the leather tanned by Messrs Garrett Bros, at their Tannery at Whau [the site of the old Star Flour Mill at the mouth of the Oakley Creek in Waterview, Auckland]. It is like a champion boxer, good durable, and cannot be beaten because well tanned.”

The Point Chevalier Hub

Have a look at the Point Chevalier Hub. The webmaster there has very kindly included links to the issues of the Pt Chevalier Times there (many thanks!), so -- I'll reciprocate by adding a link to the site from here. I'm glad to see sites like this springing up in Auckland. More local content can only be a good thing.

Jean Batten Building

Heading home last night, I ducked down Jean Batten Place, lifted the camera high, and took some shots of the remains of the Jean Batten Building.

History of the building here at the NZHPT site.


What the building used to look like.

This post inspired by Jayne's earlier one at the OGSL blog, about Lonsdale House in Melbourne. Pity about Lonsdale House -- they could at least keep the facade, as they've done with the Jean Batten Building.

Avondale Photo Exhibition

Click to enlarge.

This is a plug for the Avondale Photo Exhibition, to be held Saturday 19th September 9-5pm and Sunday 20th September noon to 5pm at St Jude's Church, Avondale. The Avondale-Waterview Historical Society are contributing by supplying photos from our collection, plus I'm taking folks around on a couple of walks through central Avondale, Saturday and Sunday, 1pm-3pm each day, starting and finishing at the church.

If there are no blog posts that weekend -- that'll be why!

The New Zealand Company in Auckland

Yet another trivia fact about Auckland: once, for a brief time, parts of our region were owned by the New Zealand Company, noted for their colonising practices in the southern North Island and the South Island.

In “Documents appended to the twelfth report of the directors, April 26, 1844”, known as “the fat book” (Appendix B), a copy available for viewing at Special Collections in the Auckland City Library, four letters are to be found which set up the New Zealand Company’s period of land ownership in Auckland.

In a letter dated 8 May 1843 from Joseph Somes to Lord Edward George Stanley, the proposal was made for the Company to purchase £50,000 worth of land in Auckland and the vicinity, made up of £10,000 in the town, £25,000 at least in the country, and £15,000 made up from a mix of town, suburban and country lots, provided that there weren’t more suburban lots than town lots. The town lots were to be purchased at auction, at the upset price of £100 per acre in parcels of 10 acres each. The Company stated that they intended the resale of all of their town lands thus bought “on the same day at any one time,” as part of their colonisation policy. The suburban lands were to be purchased in parcels of 100 acres or upwards, at £5 per acre, while the country lands purchases were to follow the rules of the Land Sales Act.

This was a measure for the Company to abandon their claim to 50,000 acres of land elsewhere in the colony, and “… it is also their wish to advertise and sell the lands here, according to their usual plan, without further delay, so as to be in time for the emigration season of the present year.”

In a letter dated 12 May 1843 to G. W. Hope, Lord Stanley assented to this proposal.

The Secretary of the Company John Ward wrote to the Commissioners of Colonial Land and Emigration on 7 July 1843:

“The Directors suppose that Lord Stanley may … be desirous of knowing what progress they have made into carrying into effect their intention to promote colonization in Auckland.”

Ward went on to outline some of the Company’s concerns with regard to the May 1843 agreement. There was a great difficulty as they were unable to give any description whatever of the lands or give assurance that the land offered will consist of the “most valuable portions.” They felt it was unwise to send labouring emigrants to Auckland until the capital in agricultural employment had increased in that area, or was even known. Before the Company’s name was inked in beside the land auction lots, they knew that a scheme of New Zealand Company settlement in Auckland might not work. So, they proposed a guarantee, in case the Company was left holding onto the unsold lands for a long time.

If after the expiration of three years from the date of the agreement the Company had no means to expend at least £40,000 on “objects of public utility in Auckland”, half at least to be on emigration, the remainder on public works (on their own lands), of a kind as agreed with Lord Stanley in June 1842, “then the Government shall be at liberty to resume the excess of land of Auckland beyond the quantity of which the value, less the discount (20%) has been so expended or pledged to be expended.” In return, the Company were to get back the claims for which they’d offered to swap for Auckland land in the first place. Lord Stanley agreed, and directed FitzRoy to carry out the exchange agreement, in a letter dated 26 June 1843.

The May 1843 purchase agreement with the Company was duly gazetted in New Zealand on 13 January 1844, just before the land sales in Auckland. The first auction took place on 30 January 1844, with the Company buying up:-

Town:
Sections 9 (Alten Road area)
Section 10 (west of Stanley Street)
Sections 32 to 36 (Wakefield, Rutland, Mount, Lyndock Street areas)

Suburbs:
Section 1 - 91 to 95 (Parnell area)
Section 2 - 9 to 12, 15 to 19, 21 and 22 (Parnell area)
Section 3 – 13 to 15, 17, 37 and 38 (Grafton area)
Section 4 – 1 to 3, 5 to 7, 9 to 16, 18 and 19, 21 to 23 (Parnell area)
Section 6 – 3 to 7, 15, and 24 (Epsom)

On 28 February 1844, they also purchased in the Parish of Takapuna:
Lots 1 to 20, 22
Lots 27 to 37
and Lots 39 to 70.

All up, a total value debited from their £50,000 account with the Government of £12,556 18s 8d. They may have made other purchases at other times to bring themselves up to the total – I haven’t had a chance to check out where else their name comes up, other than what is in the initial gazettes, and on the Roll 61 plan. The NZ Gazette & Wellington Spectator newspaper of 13 December 1843 reported (in turn, from the Auckland Times of 28 November), that the Company’s agent Francis Dillon Bell at that point had been visiting Papakura and Makatu districts, and that the Company were busily surveying and pegging out “streets and lines of frontages” at Mechanic’s Bay (which, in those days, also included much of today’s lower Parnell).

By early 1846, there had been little if any movement with regard to land sales to emigrants in Auckland by the New Zealand Company. Some of their misgivings expressed back in 1843 appeared to have come true – along with the depression of 1844-1845, and the bad publicity around the Northland War and evacuation of settlers from the Bay of Islands. The New Zealander was clear in its condemnation of the Company’s practices in Auckland. They called

“the attention of the local government, to the great injury inflicted on this district, by the retention by the company of so many town, suburban, and adjacent country allotments. It is well known, at least by those who understood the policy of the New Zealand Company, that when they selected land, at Auckland, and in its neighbourhood, to the value of £50,000, as part of the award of Mr. Pennington, it was solely with a view to mislead the government, with the idea that the company would send emigrants to Auckland; and it was also with an intent and hope, that by holding in their hands so much of the town and neighbourhood, the progress of Auckland would be retarded. It must be perfectly evident now, that Otago and the Wairarapa Valley will engross the whole attention of the company, and be the destination of all the emigrants that may come out under their auspices, for some years to come; therefore the Home government should revoke the sales of land to the company in this district, and order the local government to dispose of them immediately by public auction at the quarterly sales.“

(New Zealander, 17 January 1846)

Apparently, this came to pass, but a year later and for other reasons. The Company approached the Government for a loan and final claim, and one of the stipulations from the Government was “That the Company shall at once give up all claim to lands in the neighbourhood of Auckland, and take the whole amount awarded to it elsewhere.” (New Zealander, 6 October 1847) Essentially, this appears to have been just the final act of the 1843 guarantee agreement: the Company hadn’t sold the land, so the deal was off.

From 1848 through to 1850, the Crown then re-sold the allotments they had “sold” to the Company back in 1844, apart from any which appear to have been dealt with previously by either the Crown or the Company. A number of the endowment lands given over for the purposes of generating income for the hospital and grammar school in Auckland were part of this tidying up process. By 1858, the Company itself had finally ceased, and their brief impact on the history of Auckland became just a faded footnote.

All that’s left is the oddity of a map, Roll 61, showing Mechanic’s Bay as Some’s Bay (possibly in honour, on paper at least, of Joseph Somes of the Company), and the possibility today that Stanley Street was named not after Captain Owen Stanley who accompanied Felton Mathew – but perhaps after Lord Stanley, and so named by the Company who had so many dealings with him in the Colonial Office (and may have wanted to complement the man who had agreed to the Auckland deal in the first place). Stanley Street doesn’t appear to be named on any of Felton Mathew’s plans I’ve seen to date, and the earliest Paper’s Past reference I’ve found so far is 1849. That may be the last sign left of the New Zealand Company’s dabbling in our region’s history.

Sources:
The “fat book” of 12th report appendices (1844), Papers Past references, New Zealand Gazette, Roll 61 from LINZ records, Fatal Success by Patricia Burns (1989)

Avondale Historical Journal No. 49

Uploaded now to Scribd.

I can't believe that I'm just one issue away from the 50th. I can still remember looking at the newsletter for the committee of the Avondale History Society, the predecessors to the Avondale-Waterview Society, back in 2001. Thinking, "This might be a great idea to keep folks informed."

Nearly eight years later -- I'm just bringing out Issue 49 to over 200 on our mailing list. I have to think up something really good for that issue ... all suggestions welcome.

The Domain's three Chinese gardens

Image: from the 1882 lease of land by Ah See and Chan Dar Chee. Most unusual to see anything other than European languages and symbols in 19th century Auckland land documents. D13.891, LINZ records, Crown Copyright.

In 2007, I read with interest the news that an archeological study was being undertaken at the former Carlaw Park, just to the north-east of Auckland's Domain. News that an 1882 mortgage had been located by the researchers, repeated in an article written by the Historic Places Trust for the Autumn 2008 issue of their magazine, interested me greatly. The name Ah Chee/Chan Dar Chee was, of course, of particular interest to me because of his land ownership of one of Avondale's early market gardens on Rosebank. However, when I enquired as to the chance of viewing the historic research report part of the study earlier this year, I was advised that it had not at that time been completed. I had no way of seeing just where the researchers got their information from with regard to Chan Dar Chee and the 1882 mortgage of the Carlaw Park land. I still haven't seen the archaeological report. I was told it might be completed later this year.

So, I embarked on some research of my own.

There were three Chinese market gardens in the immediate area of the Domain. A fourth was to the south, beside Khyber Pass in Newmarket, next to the Captain Cook Brewery from the 1870s at least (and connected with Chinese merchant James Ah Kew.)

Domain Gardens

One, on the Domain itself, close to the site of the kiosk and duck ponds today, started out as the fledgling Auckland Botanic Gardens in the 1850s, before it was superseded by the Acclimatisation Gardens from 1867, and from the early 1870s was leased to William Brighton, former curator for the Acclimatisation Society. From the early 1880s, it was leased to Chinese market gardeners. Ah Kong took out a lease of the "Domain Gardens" in 1884, provided the public had access across his ground in summer and winter according to set times.

Image: from SO 3933, LINZ records. A plan drawn by G. H. A. Purchas, for Auckland City Council, 1890.

In 1892, James Ah Kew & Co was renting the Upper Domain gardens (£70 10/- per annum, reduced to £50 pa for the balance of the lease). This probably disappeared shortly after the Domain was formally vested in the Auckland City Council.

Stanley Street Gardens

This ground may have been the one leased by Robert Baird, Victoria Street nurseryman and seedsman (see below), from the Domain Board in 1875 for five years (Auckland Star, 3 March 1875). However, he sold his business in 1878, so didn't see out all of his lease. (Update: 5 December 2013)

Between the Auckland Fibre Company along Stanley Street, and the Stanley Street entrance to the Domain, a patch of land now belonging to the Domain was leased out to Chinese market gardeners from 1879 to Ah Hung. He appears to have built a house on the site, and is the earliest known documented Chinese market gardener in Mechanics Bay. Others followed in the 1880s. (This section updated 15 September 2009).

"Thomas Rees and John James Searle were charged with stealing a quantity of carrots valued at 1s, the property of Wong Yank, on August 14. Searle pleaded guilty, and Rees admitted receiving the carrots. It seemed there had been frequent complaints of the lads employed at the Fibre Company's factory going into the vegetable gardens adjacent. The Chinese gardeners were absent in the afternoon, and raids were made upon the vegetables. The parents of the lads were in Court, and pleaded to have them dealt with leniently, as they had not been brought up before. Sergeant Pratt pointed out that the usual excuse of parents was that their boys were the best of lads till the police got hold of them. He suggested that a whipping with a birch rod would have some effect. The Bench cautioned the accused not to appear again, and dismissed the case on the parents paying the value of the vegetables."

(NZ Herald, 17 August 1886)

In July 1892, the Stanley Street gardens were leased by Hawk Yim Co, who asked for the fencing to be repaired by the Domain Board. Hawk Yim surrendered the lease in 1897. (NZ Herald, 22 October 1897, p. 3) Today, the ground is covered by commercial buildings.

Tanyard Gully Gardens

I call the third of the Domain area gardens after the name of the gully itself from the 1860s. Mainly because it wasn't known as Carlaw Park while Chan Dar Chee leased it, and in the future it is bound to have still another name.

The land use of that particular piece of land, which ended up sandwiched between bush-clad slopes of the Domain, the long thin Allotment 96 of the Rope Walk, and the Auckland to Drury railway line, is the most complex of the three.

Pre 1844 -- swampland. There is a possibility it was briefly owned, under agreement, by the New Zealand Company from 1844. By 1849, however, it had reverted to the Crown.

1844 Joseph Low and William Motion with their flour mill and mill race. The original mill building wasn't far from the line of the Strand and Parnell Rise. By the end of 1846, they had moved on, to Western Springs.

1850 the Crown finally declares title (as Hospital endowment), then

1851 leases the site to Hugh Coolahan the baker. (More on him in the Mechanics Bay timeline). After an attempt to have a former Low Motion employee extend and operate the flour mill, he leased the property to James Dawson and Roger Kay, two tanners. They officially sign lease documents in 1856, but chances are they were there before then.

1855 Briefly, Baron de Thierry operated a flax mill out of the old flour mill. (Section updated 5 December 2015)

1860 Dawson & Kay sell out first to a consortium of businessmen, and then (by August) to George and Barton Ireland. By October 1860, George Ireland was operating his tannery there, and it became known as Tanyard Gully.

1864 The Irelands begin their move to Panmure. They eventually complete the relocation in 1866.

1865 Railway construction

1866 Suggestion by a chap named Hunt to the Provincial Superintendent that he set up a wool scouring industry there. No record this was taken up.

1869 The Mason Brothers, at least William Mason, who had a nursery between Titoki Street and Parnell Road at the south-eastern corner of the Domain may also have been gardening in Mechanic's Bay at this time. In March 1869 Sections 98 and 99 were to be offered up for lease by public auction, for a term of 21 years. (Auckland Provincial Government Gazette, 22 March 1869, p. 204). The auction was to take place on 26 April that year. Then it was postponed to 6 May (NZ Herald 29 April 1869, p. 2[1]). Then, it was completely withdrawn. (Southern Cross, 10 May 1869, p.3).(Section updated 5 December 2015)

1870

By November 1870, the decision was made to offer a three-year lease of Tanyard Gully, and this went to William Mason. All primary documentation related to this transaction, the lease itself, the conditions, any correspondence related to it, are lost to history, due to the November 1872 fire which destroyed most of the Provincial Council's archives. However, in a later file dating from December 1873-July 1875 regarding a later lease of the site, a note exists which refers to this now missing agreement with Mason, and confirms the term length of the lease. (Hospital Endowment - Correspondence, AP2 34, ID 21118699, Archives New Zealand).(Section updated 5 December 2015)

Their lease expired towards the end of 1873. A number of interested parties contacted the Auckland Public Buildings Commission, a committee that was part of the Provincial Council, managing endowment properties and administering debentures offered, asking for leases of the property (and some just wanted the old cottage near the Domain). (Hospital Endowment - Correspondence, AP2 34, ID 21118699, Archives New Zealand). (Section updated 5 December 2015)

1874 Land transferred from Provincial Council to Crown.

In 1874 (Southern Cross, 18 August 1874) the new lease advertised was for 7 years. This was because the Board felt that brief leases to gardeners was preferable so that, later on, the land might be available for more lucrative development. "6 1/2 acres in Mechanic's Bay, rich alluvial soil, well watered, and late in occupation of Mason Bros., nurserymen, with large Dwelling House, beautifully situated, adjoining the Domain."   It was awarded to Robert Baird, a nurseryman and seedsman based in Victoria Street. (Hospital Endowment - Correspondence, AP2 34, ID 21118699, Archives New Zealand). He set up "Victoria Nurseries" there, and brought in Charles Walter Scott Purdie as a manager from c1876. In 1878, Baird sold his business to D Hay & Son, and they advertised briefly, until mid 1879, including the nursery. By 1880, the property was possibly vacant once again. (Section updated 5 December 2015)

1881 Lease begins in October with Chan Dar Chee and Ah See. Thomas Ah Quoi was the one who won the lease at auction for £95 per annum.

Image: from D13.891, LINZ records

On 24 October 1881, the Crown, in the form of the Public Buildings Commissioner of the City of Auckland, entered into a lease agreement with Chan Dar Chee and Ah Sec two market gardeners of Auckland. The lease was formalised on 28 August 1882. This was for 7-1-20 acres, just over 7 1/4 acres, "with all buildings thereon erected", for a term of 21 years, at the annual rental of £95, in advance, payable on the 24th of October and April each year. The lessees were not to carry on any noxious or offensive trade or business on the said premises (ironic, seeing as there had been a tannery there two decades before), and "in the event of the lessees cultivating the said premises or any part thereof they shall do so in a proper and husbandmanlike manner and so as not to unduly impoverish the soil."

The lease was signed by Sir John Prendergast, Wellington, for the government, and by "the said Ah Sec and Ah Chee after the same had been fully explained to them by the undersigned Thomas Quoi, in the presence of Thomas Quoi, Chinese interpreter."

“On a recent Monday afternoon Lady Glasgow sent a note to her greengrocer (Ah Chee) that she and her daughters would pay him a visit at his home at Mechanics' Bay Gardens on the following day. At the time appointed the ladies duly arrived, and were entertained by Mrs Ah Chee. The Ladies Boyle played and sang, partook of afternoon tea, fruit, etc., and the whole party (yellow and white) had a good time. Lady Glasgow requested a photo of the Chee family group for her album, and the delighted Chee immediately ordered a splendid enlarged photo. Ah Chee forwarded Lord Glasgow a present of half-a-dozen silk handkerchiefs from the Flowery Land. Aren't the opposition greengrocers just mad !”

(Observer, 31 March 1894)

1897 Ah See reassigns his share to Can Dar Chee. The latter's bank – National Bank of New Zealand – seeks the lease as collateral for repayment of his existing and expected business debts. By this time, he was already operating a fruiterer business in Queen Street.

On 29 April 1897, Ah See assigned his share of the lease over to Chan Dar Chee. That agreement was signed by Ah See in the presence of W. Ah Chang, Book keeper, Auckland, and by Chan Dar Chee in the presence of Joseph Sykes, solicitor, Auckland.

The following month, 18 May, Chan Dar Chee had to provide security to the National Bank of New Zealand. The document found during the Geometria research wasn't a mortgage so much as it was a promise of collateral, as Chan Dar Chee was "already indebted and may become further indebted." Also, the mortgage was dated 1897, not the 1882 date as had been stated by the Historic Places Trust. The amount he owed isn't recorded on the deed, but it was "for advances and business accommodation". Whatever it was, he had fully paid it off by 25 March 1901, and the lease was cleared.

1903 Second and last market garden lease begins

4 September 1903, Chan Dar Chee renewed his lease for a term of 14 years with the Public Trustee (the office now handling the Crown lease), again for £95 per annum. This would have brought him down to 1917, which was when the area was starting to be handed over to the Rugby League. This time, he only had just over 6 acres -- which meant he was paying more for the lease per acre than before. A year later, he began his Avondale purchases -- hardly surprising, as the news of the day was full of public debate over the hospital wanting more Domain land, and the possibility that Chan Dar Chee's Mechanic's Bay gardens might be swapped by the hospital board for that land.

Image from R91.481, LINZ records.

1916-1917 During this period, the lease ends, and construction on the grandstand begins for Carlaw Park.

I'm still looking forward to reading the Geometria report, if I get the chance, to see what further information had been found with regard to this, the longest lasting of the three Domain Chinese market gardens.

Sources:
DI 1A.733, LINZ records, NZ Herald, Auckland City Archives, Papers Past, subdivision plans via LINZ.

Mechanic's Bay timeline

The Timespanner blog is, first and foremost, a research lab of mine for history bits and pieces. The following is an example of that -- a not all-inclusive timeline of development at Mechanic's Bay from the 1840s. Pulled together mainly because I'm trying to get to grips with the wider heritage picture for the area including the Domain at the present time, and I'll be adding to it as things are discovered and corrections made.

The suburb known today as Parnell was, from Parnell Road to the deep gully and the railway line today, then north towards the point between St George's Bay and Mechanic's Bay, St Barnabas' Point -- called Mechanic's Bay. The name "Parnell" seems to have gained most usage from 1846, but up to the end of the 1850s, hotels such as the Windsor Castle were still said to have been in "Mechanics Bay" rather than in "Parnell".

Mechanic's Bay today has no relation to the original 19th century Mechanic's Bay. Today's is just a reclamation policy version of the original, far out to the north east of the original shoreline.

1841 September

In a letter to W Wakefield, Governor William Hobson seeks to clarify the issue of the New Zealand Company’s rights under the Crown’s policies regarding pre-emption of land in the colony. A schedule of lands in the southern North Island is listed for which the Company will receive title. (NZ Gazette & Wellington Spectator, 11 September 1841)

1842

At some point, a stone government building was erected at the bay – but by 1843, its use was unknown, and the building was crumbling. (Southern Cross, 30 September 1843) It was still standing in May 1844, but in need of major repair. (Southern Cross, 4 May 1844)

1843 May

James Robertson advertises completion of his rope walk at Mechanic’s Bay.

“AUCKLAND ROPE WALK. The Undersigned having now completed the erection of his extensive Rope Walk, in which the most powerful and the most approved modern machinery is used, begs leave to most respectfully to inform Shippers, Ship-owners, Masters of Vessels, and the Public in general, that he has commenced Rope Making in all its branches, and will be able to supply Cordage superior to any hitherto made in New Zealand or the other Colonies. Cables, Hawsers, Running and Standing Rigging, Fishing Lines, Net Twine, and Nets made to order. New Zealand Flax purchased.
JAMES ROBERTSON.
Mechanics' Bay, Auckland,
May 11, 1843.”

(Southern Cross, 13 May 1843)

Official crown grant to Robertson is only formalised in February 1847. (DI 1A.733, LINZ records) Before then, he may have had a lease.

1843 September

Announcement from the Colonial Secretary’s office of land exchange programme for claimants of areas around Auckland. (Southern Cross, 30 September 1843)

1843 November

Surveyors are reported in the Auckland Times as being busy pegging out streets and lines of frontages in Mechanic’s Bay, land purchased by the NZ Company “in that quarter.” Dillon Bell as Company agent was also inspecting Papakura and Maketu – all this as part of looking into part of the lands to make up their promised 50,000 acres from the Crown. (NZ Gazette & Wellington Spectator, 13 December 1843)

1843 December

Report of new immigrants seeking shelter in native huts at the bay, many falling sick and dying. (Southern Cross, 16 December 1843)

1844 January

The New Zealand Company, under agreement with the Crown, “purchase” sections in Parnell, Epsom, Grafton and North Shore. (NZ Gazettes) This agreement does not seem to have concluded with either formal Crown grants or other documentation. The NZ Company were accused of not living up to their end of the deal by newspapers commentators, in that they didn’t direct immigration to Auckland. The agreement appears to have been withdrawn by the Crown, and the land “bought” by the NZ Company reverted to the Crown.

1844 August

Low and Motion’s mill at Mechanic’s Bay in the process of being built. (Southern Cross, 17 August 1844) At that point, they may well have leased the property from the New Zealand Company, if this was part of the “reserved land” at the bay. Low & Motion were there until 1846, when their “New Mills” at Western Springs were built. (New Zealander, 19 September 1846)

1846 February

Allotments to the east of the bay, known as “Parnell”, being sold. (New Zealander, 28 February 1846)

1846 March

Reference made to lands at Mechanic’s Bay, reserved for the New Zealand Company. (New Zealander, 14 March 1846)

1846 April

Advertisement for George Darroch, shipwright, at Mechanic's Bay. (New Zealander, 25 April 1846). He was at Mechanic's Bay for a couple of years at least -- later shifted to Mahurangi by the mid 1850s. (Southern Cross, 28 November 1854)

1846 July

Sail and Tent Maker William Boyd commences work at the bay, at Robertson’s Rope Walk. (New Zealander, 4 July 1846)

1846 August

Archibald Sharp & Henry Niccol operating shipyard at Mechanic’s Bay. (New Zealander, 8 August 1846)

1847 October

A house on a hill overlooking Mechanic’s Bay is set aside by the government as a residence for Te Rauparaha, who greets local Maori there. (NZ Spectator and Cook’s Strait Guardian, 9 October 1847) Whether this was Te Wherowhero’s (also government sponsored) cottage at the Domain is unclear.

Reference to government stables at Mechanic’s Bay. (Advertisement, New Zealander, 27 October 1847)

1849 January

Building lots, fronting The Strand and Stanley Street (an early mention of the latter) up for auction. (Southern Cross, 20 January 1849)

1849 February

Archibald Sharp dies at the bay, aged 48 (Southern Cross, 3 February 1849). Henry Niccol continues the business. (New Zealander, 17 March 1849)

Government sale of lands east of Mechanic’s Bay, in what is now Parnell. Reference to a suggestion for the line of road from beside Presbyterian Church across Mechanic’s Bay to extend to the Epsom Road – Parnell Rise? “The line of road in question is a continuation of the present road nearly in a straight line from the Presbyterian church across the flat to the opposite bank immediately below the mill and to come on to the Epsom road at the termination of the Government lands advertised for sale.” (Letter by Thomas Cleghorn, New Zealander, 21 March 1849)

1849-1850 is when most of the lands "purchased" by the NZ Company in 1844 were put back up for sale by the Crown or converted to endowment reserve status, according Auckland City Library's database for central city crown grants, and LINZ records for the endowments (10D.57)

1849 May

The rope walk building laid out as a banqueting hall for 500 Maori in celebration of Queen Victoria’s birthday. (Southern Cross, 26 May 1849)

1849 August

Tenders open for building of “Native Hostelry” at Mechanic’s Bay. (New Zealander, 21 August 1849). It opened February 1850 (New Zealander, 27 February 1850)

1850 January

[An update, 4 August 2009] Found by Carolyn Cameron, a member of Parnell Heritage: On only two days (18 & 22, Southern Cross) did some intrepid gardener advertise his wares, grown in a market garden in Mechanic's Bay, "adjoining the Rope Walk". Even given the looseness with which the word "adjoining" was applied in those days (it didn't always mean "right next to", I'd say there is every chance that this was indeed next to the Rope Walk. Exactly where is a good question. Anywhere on the empty allotments around Number 96. Thanks, Carolyn.

1850 13 March

Auckland and New Ulster Agricultural and Horticultural Society hold their show at Robertson’s rope works at Mechanic’s Bay. (Southern Cross, 1 March 1850) Included a performance of the band of the 58th regiment. (New Zealander, 13 March).

1850 May

Annual dinner for Queen Victoria’s Birthday to be held at the rope walk. (Southern Cross, 24 May 1850)

1850 September

Declaration of hospital and grammar school endowment lands.

Section 31 of the Town of Auckland, Lot 1, a shipwright’s yard at Mechanic’s Bay (2 roods, 16 perches), for hospital reserve. (New Zealander, 7 September 1850)

1851 April

Hugh Coolahan, baker, takes lease on part of the hospital endowment land at Mechanic’s Bay, part of Carlaw Park site (DI 1A.733, LINZ records). He had dealings in the past with Low & Motion at their Western Springs mill, and seems to set up the Mechanic’s Bay mill again to run in opposition to them. George Ashby, an employee of Low & Motion, is employed by Coolahan to work the mill at Mechanic’s Bay. (Court case report, Southern Cross, 15 June 1852)

1852 April

Charles (George?) Ashby takes over the “Mechanic’s Bay Mills” (New Zealander, 14 April 1852). This probably in response to Coolahan obtaining contract to supply bread to the Commissariat Department that month, but the bread he supplied from Low & Motion’s flour being condemned for having too much adulteration with the flour. (court case report, Southern Cross, 15 June 1852)

1852 May

Ashby calls for tenders for building a dwelling house and water wheel at the mill. (New Zealander 12 May 1852)

“A CHALLENGE !
I, CHARLES ASHBY, late of the Parish of Yaxly, in the County of Huntingdon, England but now Shortland-street and Mechanic's Bay of Auckland: — Do hereby challenge any man in Australia, Van Diemen's Land, or New Zealand, to dress a Single or Pair of French Burr Millstones to time and neatness, for ONE HUNDRED GUINEAS. Umpires to be chosen on deposit of the Stakes. August 10th, 1852.”

(Southern Cross, 10 August 1852)

It is uncertain whether this second mill continued much beyond the end of 1852.

Description of Mechanic’s Bay:

“Mechanics' bay is as yet but little built upon; a large rope-walk, a shipbuilder's yard, a native hostelry, and a few small shops are the only buildings. This Bay is the principal place of encampment for the natives visiting Auckland in their canoes; here they land their native produce, in fine weather bivouacing in the open air, or under their sail-made tents ; and, in bad weather, seeking shelter in the neighbouring hostelry.” (New Zealander, 12 May 1852)

1853 June

Grammar School endowment land at top of Parnell Rise offered for lease. (Southern Cross 14 June 1853)

1854 September

Robertson leases his rope walk to John Hornby, Patent Rope Manufacturer. (DI 1A.733, LINZ records) It may have been him who enlarged Robertson’s original works. He sold all his household furniture and effects there in June 1857. (Southern Cross, 29 May 1857) The rope walk seems to have continued for a time under Lang & McCaul. (Southern Cross, 16 June 1857)

1855 January

Stanley Street building allotment sale at Mechanic’s Bay. (Southern Cross, 30 January 1855)

1855 August

Baron Charles de Thierry operated a flax mill at Mechanic's Bay from around this time. (Advertisement, Southern Cross, 21 August 1855) According to James Robertson, this didn't last long -- de Thierry next trying the enterprise at Freeman's Bay. (Southern Cross, 4 July 1867)

1856 April

Auckland Steam Saw Mills appears at Mechanic’s Bay. (Southern Cross, 4 April 1856) These may have become the Mechanic’s Bay Saw-Mills, under John Booth & Hodkinson, by 1859. (Southern Cross, 21 June 1859)

George Leech and his Shipwright’s Arms appears at Mechanic’s Bay. (Southern Cross, 4 April 1856) Later known as “Victory at Sebastopol”, the Swan, and the Strand Hotel.

1856 December

Hugh Coolahan leases the mill site to James Dawson (DI 1A.733, LINZ records) In partnership with Roger Kay, Dawson operates a tannery on the site. The partners assign the lease to a consortium in 1860: John Roberton, Alfred Buckland and William Hunter (Southern Cross, 21 August 1860). It would appear that George Ireland was operating the Ireland Brothers tannery business there by late August. (advertisement, Southern Cross, 24 August 1860). Coolahan formally leased the ground to George Ireland in May 1863. (DI 1A.733, LINZ records) It is known that Roger Kay went to work for the Ireland Brothers. The Ireland Brothers remained at Mechanics Bay until their new tannery at Penmure (from 1864) was fully set up. They had left by 1866.

1858 March

William Kinloch & Henry Allwright start the Mechanic’s Bay Foundry. (Southern Cross ad, 16 March 1858). The partnership ended on 28 June 1859. (Southern Cross, 1 July 1859) Another partnership, Kinloch and James Hill, dissolved in November that year. (Southern Cross, 28 November 1859). Kinloch appears on the 1860 Jury list as a founder in Parnell, so he may have kept the business going. In 1861, Kinloch was in partnership with Peter Birley (Southern Cross, 3 December 1861) and that dissolved as well, in April 1862. Birley then joined John Pettit and John Booth at the Mechanic's Bay timber yard. (Southern Cross, 25 April 1862)

1862 May

Fraser & Davidson's foundry at Mechanic's Bay -- possibly taking over from William Kinloch. (advertisement, Southern Cross, 30 May 1862) George Fraser entered into partnership with Theodore F. S. Tinne on 1 February 1865, to form Fraser & Tinne. (Southern Cross, 22 February 1865)

1863 February

Announcement of the proposed line of railway going through Mechanic’s Bay.

“The proposed Auckland terminus is outside Fort Britomart, where the line commences, skirting that point and winding round the bay, keeping about a chain outside Mrs. Shepherd's property. The line crosses the road between the Swan Inn and Mr. Niccol's yard, in Mechanics' Bay, and passing close by the corner of Mr. Boyd's sail loft, it strikes into the high ground beside the Parnell brick works, cuts the willows at the end of the tannery, and enters the demesne.” (Southern Cross, 28 February 1863)

1864 April

Henry Niccol considers shifting to the North Shore, purchasing 400 acres there. (Southern Cross, 11 April 1864)

1865 July

It appears the Mechanic's Bay Sawmills was taken over by the Union Door & Sash Company by this time. (advertisement, Southern Cross, 15 July 1865)

1866 March

Compensation claims for the Auckland-Drury railway:

"Union Steam Sash Moulding and Door Company (Limited), Strand, Mechanics' Bay, freehold, with right of water-way, 124 ft. 11 in. frontage by 112 ft 133 ft 4in. in rear. Price asked, £2,750 ; valuators award, £1,940; arbitrators' award, £2,600; fees, £4 4s. ; paid, £2,604 4s.

"William Boyd, Strand, Mechanics' Bay, leasehold of sail-loft. Price asked, £100 ; valuators' award, £97108.; paid, £97 10s.

"Fraser and Tinne, Strand, Mechanics' Bay, leasehold, Iron Foundry. Price asked, £4,000; valuators award, £1,740; paid, £1,740.

"James Robertson, Strand, Mechanics' Bay, freehold, with buildings thereon (except Kays), 137 links by 410. Price asked, £3,000; valuators award, £2,250 ; paid, £2,250.

"A. and K. Kay, Strand, Mechanics' Bay, small wooden building. Price asked, £12; valuators award, £12.

"K. Ridings, Tan-work Road, Parnell, freehold, 33ft. by 71ft. 6in. ; unimproved. Price asked, £100; valuators' award, £88; paid, £88.

"David Jackson, Tan-work Road, Parnell, 33ft. by 72ft.; unimproved. Price asked, £132; valuators' award, £88 ; paid, £88.

"Henry Berry, Tan-work Road, Parnell, freehold, 33ft. by 73ft., corner lot, unimproved. Price asked, £130 ; valuators' award, £110; paid, £110. "(Southern Cross, 2 March 1866)

Tan-work Road may have been today's Carlaw Park Road, or close to it.

1866 September

Another description:

" MECHANICS' BAY.

Few casual passers-by know the importance of this little district, in a manufacturing point of view. It now numbers, amongst its industrial commercial enterprises, a brewery ; iron foundry, perhaps as complete as need be met with, for all general machinery; saw mills and general sash and door manufactory, rope walk, brick yard, tannery, bone-crushing mill; besides sundry firewood and coal emporiums. Thus, it forms, on a small scale, quite a busy manufacturing district ; but we should yet be glad to see added to its useful works of enterprise and profit a paper manufactory, pottery works, bottle and glass works — it being, in so many respects, thoroughly well situated for such undertakings. — [Communicated.] " (Southern Cross, 4 September 1866)

1869

(Update, 25 August 2009): Reappearance of the Mechanic's Bay gardens -- a flood in 1869 damaged the gardens alongside the Ireland Brothers tanyard (Southern Cross, 12 February 1869).

(Update 26 August 2009): Mason Brothers advertised an acre of maize at Mechanic's Bay in 1866. (Southern Cross 15 February 1866) There may have been a connection with their later lease of the Tanyard Gully site 1870-1873, but at this point in time I'm not sure of the details.
(Update: 5 December 2015)
The Mason Brothers, at least William Mason, who had a nursery between Titoki Street and Parnell Road at the south-eastern corner of the Domain may also have been gardening in Mechanic's Bay at this time. In March 1869 Sections 98 and 99 were to be offered up for lease by public auction, for a term of 21 years. (Auckland Provincial Government Gazette, 22 March 1869, p. 204). The auction was to take place on 26 April that year. Then it was postponed to 6 May (NZ Herald 29 April 1869, p. 2[1]). Then, it was completely withdrawn. (Southern Cross, 10 May 1869, p.3).

1870 February

A woollen mill proprietor, Mr. Hunt, suggested to the Provincial Superintendent that Ireland's old tannery building at the bay would make a fine woollen mill. (Southern Cross, 28 February 1870) Nothing further seems to have come of it.

1870 November

(Update: 5 December 2015)

By November 1870, the decision was made to offer a three-year lease of Tanyard Gully, and this went to William Mason. All primary documentation related to this transaction, the lease itself, the conditions, any correspondence related to it, are lost to history, due to the November 1872 fire which destroyed most of the Provincial Council's archives. However, in a later file dating from December 1873-July 1875 regarding a later lease of the site, a note exists which refers to this now missing agreement with Mason, and confirms the term length of the lease. (Hospital Endowment - Correspondence, AP2 34, ID 21118699, Archives New Zealand).

Their lease expired towards the end of 1873. A number of interested parties contacted the Auckland Public Buildings Commission, a committee that was part of the Provincial Council, managing endowment properties and administering debentures offered, asking for leases of the property (and some just wanted the old cottage near the Domain). (Hospital Endowment - Correspondence, AP2 34, ID 21118699, Archives New Zealand).

August 1874
(Update: 5 December 2015)
In 1874 (Southern Cross, 18 August 1874) the new lease advertised was for 7 years. "6 1/2 acres in Mechanic's Bay, rich alluvial soil, well watered, and late in occupation of Mason Bros., nurserymen, with large Dwelling House, beautifully situated, adjoining the Domain."   It was awarded to Robert Baird, a nurseryman and seedsman based in Victoria Street. (Hospital Endowment - Correspondence, AP2 34, ID 21118699, Archives New Zealand). He set up "Victoria Nurseries" there, and brought in Charles Walter Scott Purdie as a manager from c1876. In 1878, Baird sold his business to D Hay & Son, and they advertised briefly, until mid 1879, including the nursery. By 1880, the property was possibly vacant once again.

1881
(Update: 5 December 2015)
On 24 October 1881, the site's lease was put up for auction yet again -- and Thomas Ah Quoi purchased it for £95 per annum. (NZ Herald 25 October 1881 p. 4). Quoi was likely acting as front man for Chan Dar Chee and Ah Sec, seeing as he acted as their interpreter when they signed the deed in 1882, and set up their garden in the area.

Domain Stories - 1840s

Hopefully, this is the start of a series of bits and pieces of history of Auckland's Domain, decade by decade, at least to the time of the Auckland Exhibition in 1913-1914. Maybe further if time permits.

The boundaries of the Domain in Auckland, one of our region’s treasures today, were not formally gazetted until 1860. Yet, the Domain existed almost right from the time when the Crown purchased. In the beginning of European use of the area, however, it was primarily swampy, boggy ground, with higher areas where the hospital and museum stand today, but the rest bush-clad, steep gullies through which spring-fed waters ran. All around, choice allotments were marked out and sold in Grafton, Newmarket and Parnell – but the Domain remained, an area of Government waste land, seemingly fit only as pasture.

Click on image for enlargement. Detail Roll 61, early 1840s, LINZ records, crown copyright.

An old and unusual map, Roll 61, possibly dating from sometime before 1845, is the earliest I’ve found which shows the Domain as nearly what it once was in expanse and character. I say the map is unusual, because it shows Mechanics Bay as “Some’s Bay”, likely in honour of Joseph Somes of the New Zealand Company, three lots of land in the Grafton, Parnell and Epsom areas with their named on it, in brief tenure, and a cemetery reserve at Hobson Bay.

By late 1841, the Domain began to appear on the accounts of the early government’s expenditure: the Government Domain Superintendent earned 7/6d per day (this office may have included the site of Government House, up on Albert Park and the present-day University grounds). The office of Ranger, however, at 4/6d per day, may well have been connected directly with affairs of the Domain. (NZ Gazette & Wellington Spectator, 27 October 1841)

The encroachment and alienation of the original Domain ground has long been a matter for debate in Auckland. This source contention stemmed back further than many people think – to the early 1840s, when the Domain was still just barely formed. As at November 1842, Mechanics Bay was still wholly Crown land, unsold and not partitioned. (NZ Gazette and Wellington Spectator, 30 November 1842) By May 1843, this began to change. The reach of the Domain via the swampy confluence to the harbour ended as the Crown began the development of the bay with the establishment of James Robertson’s famed Rope Walk on a strip of land there (advertisement, Southern Cross, 20 may 1843). It took until February 1847 for Robertson to finally obtain Crown Title – before this, he may have leased the site. (DI 1A.730, LINZ records) From that point, the Domain’s expanse began to be nibbled away.

“(To the Editor of the Southern Cross.) Sir, — It has often struck me that there has been great want of regard to the nature of the ground in laying down roads and other bound-tries, particularly tint piece of ground for the Government Domain; certainly a more beautiful patch of ground is not to be found, possessing so many natural advantages ; commanding most delightful views; a fine situation for a Government House, Botanical Gardens, and beautiful walks not to be surpassed; the boundary of this Domain is denned by nature in a very distinct manner by little brooks or streams of water on both sides from the high ground, and terminates in a swamp or low ground at the boundary of the town land ; the distant boundary by high ground, or ridge sloping both ways; the whole forming the shape of a pear, the small end laying nearest the town.

"Can it be conceived that this piece of ground, which ought to have been held sacred, and which would have become the pride of the town, and the boast of the country (New Zealand) if properly planned and laid out? Is it possible to imagine that it has been broken in upon, and the work of destruction fairly commenced by running a fence, I was going to say, in a straight line ending in nearly the centre of it; but it is not a straight line, but one of those lines or characteristic crooks, for which the place is so notorious and famed, as if to shew by mathematical genius, how much of natural beauty at fell sweep he could destroy ?

“It is to be hoped the Governor will arrive soon, so as to put a stop to the work of destruction upon the beauties of nature; it is a saying that idle hands will find time for doing mischief; the question very naturally occurs, what is to be done with this piece of ground so cut out of the Government Domain by the Surveyor General and Superintendent of it?— Shall it be sold, so that it shall fall into the hands of the present officer administering the Government for services performed ?
I am, &c,
A FARMER. December 16, 1843.”

A piece which appeared in the Southern Cross of 2 December 1843 is intriguing. Written in the style of a commentary of a dream (and some satire), it has some details which are worth noting when trying to find out just what the early Domain looked like:

“Having crossed the swamp and entering in the Domain, I now ascended the steep on the opposite side, half way up which there stands a neat verandahed cottage, and still a little higher, a raupo hut lies nestling in the wooded bank, — close by confined within the stock yard, there lowed some cattle impatient with distended udder — a gallant cock called loud on his attendant harem to share some new-found spoil, and the proud turkey, big with self-conceit, majestic sailed along with stiffened neck and ruffled plumage, as he sung his hurble burble song. Delightful spot! how often have I wished that you were mine, then would I wander through your leafy shades and listening to the noisy stream that rushes through your mimic glen, my sad heart would gladden with the melody of Nature's sweetest music. But whose the neat white cottage? and whose the pleasure to enjoy this rapturous spot? Ye Gods forbid it! but 'tis true — before the City's streets could safe be walked along— before the settler with his team could reach his dear-bought farm, these monstrous follies all were reared with public money — for what ? for whom ? An easy sinecure was wanted for some favorite hireling, and the linen of Her Gracious Majesty's Representative must need be pure and white as driven snow; and this Laundry then was built!!! Oh! let us trust such days are now gone by ; and that no longer public weal shall yield to base private ends.

“Continuing my route through the Domain, I struck along the ridge leading to the right, leaving below me on the left the Government Garden; an object generally entertained to be more useful (to the culinary departments of certain favoured individuals) than ornamental to the colony, and soon arrived at a certain suburban allotment which has recently been cut off from the Domain, and surveyed for sale; to suit the grasping views of one man, whose absence to the colony would truly be good company. Having heard some whisperings of the beauty of this allotment, I came for the purpose of inspecting it previous to the day of sale, and found my early walk more than repaid by the pleasure I derived in sauntering over it. It is indeed an enchanting spot; ever-green shrubs luxuriate on its sheltered and beautiful exposure— a noble view to seaward — the whole harbour and adjacent isles — the distant city and its suburbs all lie before it. But enough— the spot I covet as well as he who hopes to get it, (I wish, he may?) but others will oppose, although his fawning sycophants dare not snatch the prize from out his greedy hands.”

Exactly what that verandahed cottage was for at the early stage of 1843 is, at the moment, unknown. It may just have been a writer’s figment. It does seem to correspond in description with another cottage which shows up in photographs of Mechanics Bay from the 1860s, on the site of the old Carlaw Park grandstand. At this point, all I have is conjecture, however.

One mystery which stems from this first decade of the Domain’s existence as a government reserve is that of Te Wherowhero’s house, the first building of significance on the Domain (barring any cottages which may have housed the Domain’s keepers and rangers).

George M. Fowlds in 1959 (“Te Wherowhero and Te Rauparaha: Confusion re sites of house [or houses] in the Auckland Domain”) wrote: “For some time it had been thought that the site of this cottage was where the present tea kiosk now stands, but that would be doubtful as from 1869 the springs were used as the city’s first water supply.” He mentions that Schofield’s National Biography 1940 refers to the cottage being at Pukekawa, the name applied to Domain Hill/Observatory Hill, the site of the Auckland War Memorial Museum, but contends that Schofield may have meant Puke-karoa, “a famous pa site” behind the site of the Fernery. Fowlds himself felt that the cottage “stood in a small clearing in the Domain, half way up on the left hand side from Stanley Street to the Domain pools.” In 1936/1937, Fowlds claimed to have found part of the brick base of a chimney there, and donated a couple of the bricks to the old Colonist’s Museum.

Image detail from SO 13, c.1860, LINZ records, crown copyright.

I think Fowlds, of all the theorists, was the most correct. Trouble is, the site itself is now out of the reach of any archaeological research – as near as I can determine by comparing the 1860s map with today’s layout, the former site of Te Wherowhero’s house lies today somewhere beneath the foundations for buildings on the Auckland Hospital site, namely the Te Whetu Tawera Acute Mental Health unit (building 35) and the Sexual Health Unit building (building 16). This was one of the last parts of the Domain transferred over to hospital purposes, in 1947 (SO 34617, LINZ records), alongside the site of the hospital T.B. shelters, and the former City Morgue. It’s likely that the house had been removed from the Domain at some point during the 1860s, however. Little trace, if any, may have remained when the hospital authorities increased their grounds.

Te Wherowhero’s house was built by the Crown in 1845. (Nelson Examiner, 8 August 1845) Immediately, it sparked criticism from settlers and newspaper editors. When Te Rauparaha had been seized by British troops at Porirua in 1846 and brought to Auckland in September 1847, the local Maori tribes gathered at Te Wherowhero’s lodge on the Domain to listen to Te Rauparaha recount his deeds. (Encyclopedia of NZ, 1966; New Zealander 15 September 1847). The last written reference I’ve found to the house was from 1850, when Te Kate, Te Wherowhero’s brother, died there (New Zealander, 28 August 1850). Then, aside from the 1860 plan of the Domain and its bounds, the house disappears into history – possibly soon after Te Wherowhero’s death that year.

Regarding early Domain staff: we know that there were “superintendents” for the Government Domain right back to 1841, but James Lochead is the earliest documented name found, so far, and therefore the earliest named member of staff. He features in the Domain’s story in public notices he inserted as Domain Keeper in 1845, his job mainly to keep the herds of stock under control – as well as their owners. He wasn’t the keeper for long, however. By 1850, he was in charge as publican of the Union Hotel, and by 1852 he had died.

The second building of note on the Domain was the first Auckland Hospital. Initially, the intentions of Government were to erect a Maori hospital (perhaps tied in with Te Wherowhero’s residence, and taking into account the nearby Orakei settlement). Then, the Government enlarged the project, aiming to supply healthcare for poor and destitute Europeans, and free healthcare to Maori, combined in one institution. (This comes from David Scott’s The Story of Auckland Hospital, 1847-1977.) Tenders were called in October 1846, once the Governor gave a hospital reserve from out of the Domain to the cause, and the building was finished in 1847.

The story of the Auckland Hospitals on that site is large enough to warrant its own study. Suffice to say that from 1846 when the original reservation of land was made, right through to 1947 which is the latest gazette notice of land reservation for hospital purposes I have to hand at the moment, the hospital complex appears to have been the greatest cause of Domain land alienation from the original layout of the park. It was also, by the 1890s onward, one of the most controversial in terms of debate as to that alienation. More later on that.

Back on 12 January 1844, Andrew Sinclair, the Colonial Secretary, gazetted that “His Excellency the Governor directs it to be Notified, that the Ground hitherto known as the Domain, will be called Auckland Park, and will be opened to the Public, who are requested to assist in preserving the Wood thereupon, and preventing injury to such Public Works as may from time to time be effected there.”

The eastern Government Domain (as opposed to the western one where Government House was situated, today’s Auckland University grounds and Albert Park) was officially known, therefore, as Auckland Park from 1844. The name would linger on until at least 1860 (the plan from that time is headed up “Auckland Park”) but then, the name “the Domain”, “Government Domain” or “Auckland Domain” reasserted itself in official documents. To the Auckland residents, perhaps, they’d always known the park as Domain, anyway.

As the 1840s drew to a close, hopes were high that the Governor would actually use the Domain for what it was supposed had been its original purpose – the site of Government House, perhaps on Domain Hill, the highest point in the whole park, with stunning views of Auckland and the Waitemata Harbour.

More on Surafend, December 1918

A longer NZ Herald article today with more detail on what took place at the massacre in Surafend, Palestine in 1918.

End of the Baroona (1904-2009)

Image from Waihekepedia.

One of Auckland's landmarks, both on water and on land, is now no more. They demolished the last remnant of the old ship, the Baroona, late in July. She had quite a career, in her many guises.

According to author Jim Hansen in his booklet The Saga of the Baroona (2006), the Baroona was built in Newcastle, NSW in 1904 from hardwood with kauri topsides. Her name was an Aboriginal word meaning "place far away". Work on the Sydney fish trade ended with her sale in December 1905 to the Wairoa Shipping Company of the Kaipara, and she provided a service from Dargaville to Helensville from early 1906. Her new owners were wound up in 1907 and the assets, including the Baroona were transferred to the Kaipara Steamship Company where she remained until 1912.

1915 saw her conversion to a trawler by Sandfords, now working in the Hauraki Gulf. She was laid up in 1928, then sold to George Niccol in 1933. Niccol transformed her into a two-deck ferry, and she entered the service to Motuihe Island and Ostend and Surfdale on Waiheke Island in 1934.

In 1965, after some more changes in ownership, she was sold to North Shore Ferries. Laid up at Devonport and altered at various times, the Baroona re-entered service in 1982. Her retirement loomed, however, and in 1989, she was sold to the Baroona Co-operative Trust. After this, she was leased out to Jolly Roger Restaurant Limited, which intended converting her to being a floating pirate-themed restaurant. However, after being moored in different places around the harbour, she sank in December 1994.

The Baroona ended her long career at the site on Great South Road where, in 2005, the restaurant opened on the altered ship. The restaurant closed by 2007, however, and everyone's dreams have now come to an end.

Update 24 August 2009: Images of the Baroona here, courtesy Bill & Barbara Ellis.