More old postcards

Somewhere along the line, I found these postcards and bought them. No idea where the photographs were taken -- but the colourisation is effective and does add to them, I feel.

 

 

A memorial under the Harbour Bridge

These are photos from and by my friend Bill Ellis.

There's a memorial at the Auckland Harbour Bridge, in memory of those workers who died in the course of the construction of the bridge.

TO THE MEMORY OF

THOSE MEN WHO LOST THEIR

LIVES ACCIDENTALLY DURING THE

CONSTRUCTION OF THE

AUCKLAND HARBOUR BRIDGE

JAMES NICHOL WILLIAMSON - AGED 48

CARPENTER 26.1.58

JAMES ALEX WESTERN - AGED 28

STEEL ERECTOR 7.2.59

JOHN JOSEPH PATRICK McCORMICK - AGED 46

CARPENTER 21.4.59

A small memorial, over which thousands unknowingly pass every single day of the year.

A Bethell headstone mystery

Back when I was last at Motat a few weeks ago, on the way out and walking past the side of the complex, at the rear of the old St Saviour's Church buiding which is part of the Victorian Village there, my friend and I spotted these.

One in particular caught my eye.

I thought, "Hang on ... wasn't Clara one of John Neale Bethell's wives?" This being the John Bethell buried at St Ninians in Avondale. The answer is yes.

The above headstone, for John Bethell  and both of his wives (one, Catherine, died in 1900; he later married Clara, who died in 1918), leaves off the second "e" in his middle name Neale. Was it installed later, after his own death in 1943?

I had wondered why the Bethell headstone was part of the same block as that of Jessie Ingram, the wife of an Avondale postmaster (1902-1906) Duncan Ingram.

 

A Miss Jessie Bethell was noted in 1895 as having found a message in a bottle in 1895 on the West Coast of the Waitakeres (perhaps close to Bethell's Beach? -- Brisbane Courier, 8 October 1895, p. 3), so at some stage she may have married Duncan Ingram -- and was buried in the Bethell family plot here in Avondale. A number of the Ingrams married Bethells, according to the Presbyterian Church marriage register.

But -- that still doesn't explain why and how Clara's headstone ended up all the way over in Western Springs, close to Chinaman's Hill. As soon as I find out more information, I'll post an update.

Update posted.

The Astley House

Image: AWHS Collection

At the St Jude’s “Avondale Then and Now” photo exhibition, a member of the local community approached me and asked why I had identified an image of the house at 160 New Windsor Road as the “Astley House”. She felt sure it was the “Dickey House”.

The answer, as I suspected, was that we were both correct, always a good thing in terms of local history.

The Astley family arrived in Auckland in 1880, Elijah Astley and his sons worked at the Ireland Brothers tannery in Panmure, before shifting to the Gittos Tannery at Avondale. After first living in Richardson Road, the family saved enough to purchase a 12-acre section along New Windsor Road in September 1882, and had their house built there in 1883 “The rooms were large, but some of them were left unfinished, though habitable, for a considerable time. To our eyes it seemed, and was, a fine family home and our own property, but it was sadly deficient in the amenities which are regarded as indispensable in a modern home today.” (John E. Astley, “The Astley Saga, A Post-Pioneer Auckland Family”, Journal of the Auckland Historical Society, [Part One] October 1966)

The two-storey English Colonial style building was the size it was, most likely, to accommodate the large Astley family (total of 10 children when they arrived from England). Elijah Astley founded the Astley Tannery in New Lynn, one of the district’s most enduring industries.

Eijah Astley died 10 December 1905. In 1907, his son John Edward Astley and Thomas Atherton transferred the property to Mr and Mrs. Lamey from Morrinsville, who in turn transferred to Robert Dickey of Penrose in 1918. The Dickey name remains in the name Dickey Street, close to the original land holding.

So yes: the house at 160 New Windsor Road is both the Astley House and the Dickey House. Call it what you will – but most use the first name.

Upper Rosebank Road Mural

I'm grateful to a very kind friend of mine who regularly gets up as early as the dawn chorus and so offered to take a couple iof snaps of the mural in Avondale which faces onto the Auckland City Council carpark beside the upper part of Rosebank Road (former Brown Street). I can't say who he is (but he and his good lady regularly view Timespanner) so -- hey there, you guys know who you are, so thanks!

The early 1950s scene looks from across on the western side of Rosebank Road, up "Station Hill" (Upper Rosebank) towards the railway goods shed at the top. Our post office building is on the left, and Unity Building on the right.

Usually, there are cars parked here all day, so it's hard to get a good shot of the wall. Luckily, as I said, I have an early riser friend.

 

Avondale Then & Now exhibition

A photo taken Friday, while the old 1907 Church Hall at the back of St Jude's Church was being set up. The committee members at St Jude's have done a huge amount of work setting the exhibition up -- and running a very successful and well-patronised first day yesterday.

The exhibition was a golden opportunity for the Avondale-Waterview Historical Society to display two of our treasures -- a c.1966 aerial of the Airest Factory on Rosebank Road, and our December 1957 aerial of Avondale (right).

 

City Councillor (and local community member) Noelene Raffills (left) did the honours in opening the exhibition at 9 o'clock yesterday morning.

 

Part (only a small part!) of the finished display. Excellent value for money in refreshments put on too, by the way -- in return for $5, the customer received a small cuppa, a sandwich, small meat pie, and a small cake. Plus, a chance to see a comprehensive slideshow of images from the past and present of the suburb, and chat with community membgers past and present, all of us pointing out where places were, familiar faces.

The AWHS supported the exhibition by providing images. A lot of those finally chosen came from us, which was cool to see. Some, originally colour, have been on view in their original form for the first time in public.

I've done one heritage walk in conjunction with the exhibition, starting and finishing at the church -- today is walk number 2. (I think I've recovered enough!) I'm fortunate that Auckland City Council loaned the use of an amplifier for it, otherwise last night I'd not only have been knackered, I'd have been hoarse as well!

All in all -- while I'm tired, it's been a great weekend for Avondale's local stories.

Happy birthday, Timespanner

This time last year, I was tinkering around in the Blogger site, after having had an odd dream about ordering a blog from a post office of all things (!), and Timespanner was born. Kicked off initially because I wanted a better online description of The Zoo War than was provided in library catalogues, it soon became an integral part of what I like and feel compelled to do, more often than not -- find out why things are the way they are, who people were, and generally explore through time.

Thank you to regular readers of this blog, and to those who've stumbled across it from out of the Internet wildernesses, found something here of help for their own nresearch, and were kind enough to add to the storehouse here as well.

And thanks especially to Liz, who assured me for months before 20 September 2008 that blogging was fun. As I'm not particularly into keeping diaries myself, and that's what blogs seemed to me to be, nor did I think I was a long-term spouter of opinion, I doubted I'd ever be doing this. I'm glad, very much so, that I was wrong.

Cheers, all.

Why I love St Matthews-in-the-City

A photo essay.

"Lost at the bottom of Swanson Street ..."

From the Auckland City Council's City Scene, 24 February 2008:

"A new public sculpture marks the site of the city's original foreshore on the corner of Swanson and Queen streets. The 7m tall artwork created by well-known New Zealand sculptor Fred Graham is entitled Te Waka Taumata o Ngati Paoa or resting canoe. Mr Graham used Corten and stainless steel in the design, which will develop a weathered, rust-like appearance over time.

"The sculpture provides a strong visual presence on our main street. It captures the historical and cultural significance of the area, and most importantly, it tells a story of our city," says Councillor Greg Moyle, chairperson of the council's Arts, Culture and Recreation Committee."

Brian Rusdman, NZ Herald, 19 March 2008:

"...Fred Graham's newly installed stylised waka sternpost, 7m high, is lost at the bottom of Swanson St."

It is certainly a visual surprise -- if you're doing what I was doing last night along Queen Street, looking at old building facades, thinking, "Hmm, would that look interesting on Timespanner, I wonder...?" So, my eyes caught sight of the birds, and then the anchor stone.

People flow around the sculpture in rush hour, as waves flow around the prow of a waka, but -- I agree with Brian Rudman. The sculpture is somewhat lost beside the glare of Burger King, at the foot of Swanson Street. Back in the 1860s, the Royal Oak Hotel was on one side, the Victoria Hotel on the other (check out photo 4-414, Heritage Images online.) Today, it's just part of Queen Street's consumer landscape.

Measuring the fish

St Matthews-in-the-City, on Hobson-Wellesley-Federal Streets, is one of my favourite all-time buildings. I'll post more images a little later, but ... I couldn't resist showing you this sign:

As usual, click to enlarge.

Wingate Street mural

The local Avondale Community Board have completed a number of heritage mural projects in the area -- this is one of them. The images are of the Five Roads Intersection (Wingate-Great North Road (X2), St Georges and St Judes) ...

... and the Rahiri, said to be the last or one of the last scows on the Whau.

Revived website for the Avondale-Waterview Historical Society

The original website being on Geocities, which is closing down its free website now, I've shifted the Avondale-Waterview Historical Society's website over to Google Sites, at this address. It looks bare, I know, but -- it's a web presence, and that's the main thing at the moment. As soon as I can, I'll tinker with it, add stuff, that kind of thing. Hopefully!

Domain Stories – 1870s

The Domain’s fourth decade as a park began with water concerns. The Province’s District Engineer, Henry Allwright (1827-1906), expressed his concerns as to the ability of the water supply from the Domain to provide the growing city with enough water to fight its fires, as well as supply water to public buildings and private owners alike. After a fire, the water supply was a mere trickle, and Allwright detailed in a report to the council that major work on the pipes leading to the city and supplying the side streets would be required. But – this was supposed to be a temporary supply, wasn’t it? Was it really worth it to expend more and more money on “this imperfect supply of a very inferior quality of water”? (Southern Cross, 5 February 1870)

Allwright, by the way, was the architect (working by then for the Auckland Board of Education) of Avondale’s first purpose-built school in 1882. He worked right up to five years before his death.

In the same month as Allwright made his 1870 report on the water situation, the Domain Board offered 26 residential sites for lease along Grafton Road “above the Bowling Green” (Southern Cross, 2 June 1870) in a bid to get more income for maintaining the Domain. This need by the Domain Board to try to get more income led to a confusing series of reports about the Domain water supply. The 1870s was the decade the Auckland City Council came into existence, in 1871. In 1873, the first Mayor, Philip Philips learned that the Domain Board had made an offer to the Provincial Council for the latter to buy the Domain waterworks outright – and put in a counter offer for the new City Council to buy the water-works instead. The issue then became as muddy as the bottom of the Domain lagoon.

There was mention of a grant from the Crown to the Provincial Council concerning the water-works, possibly from the 1860s, but this had been lost, and Dr. Daniel Pollen was tasked to look into it. The Board asked the Provincial Council’s Superintendent to prove their claim. (Southern Cross, 22 May 1873) There then began a state of dithering as the City Council tried to decide whether to have a pumping system to supply the city with water, or a cheaper gravitation system. Come September that year, and the Provincial Council stepped in, agreeing to lease the water-works from the Domain Board. They must have given up proving that they owned the water-works as of right. (Southern Cross, 4 September 1873)

The whole question of ownership of the Domain water supply was approaching an end, however. Auckland City Council commissioned a report on water supply options in October 1873. By May 1874, engineer William Errington was drawing up plans in line with the report, which favoured Western Springs. Negotiations with William Motion for his land at Western Springs were already underway from 1872. The foundation stone for the Western Springs pumphouse was laid on 29 March 1875. (Southern Cross, 30 March 1875) So, by the time the Provincial Council was abolished at the end of 1876 and the water system at the Domain became the property of the City Council, the Council was well on the way to a better water reticulation system. The complex at Western Springs opened on 9 July 1877. (NZ Herald, 10 July 1877) From then, the Council began to uplift the pipes across the Domain, leading from Seccombe’s Well at Khyber Pass. (Domain Board minutes, Auckland City Archives)

The last mention of the washing grounds came in this decade. In November 1870, when a Mr. Baird asked the City Board of Commissioners if he could lease the old washing grounds as a nursery and “place for testing seeds”, the Board felt that they weren’t certain they had the power to grant a 7-year lease, although they did hold Crown title. They voted to send a surveyor out to determine the exact boundaries. (Southern Cross, 1 November 1870)

There was a smallpox scare in Auckland in the winter of 1872, when Henry Thompson died from the disease at the hospital. (Southern Cross, 25 June 1872) Then Thomas Seymour, staying at the Thames Dining Rooms near the Queen Street wharf came down with smallpox as well. As the dining rooms was where Henry Thompson had been staying, it was suggested that the government might decide to set up an emergency isolation house in one of the Domain blockhouses, while converting the other into lodgings for the family who ran the dining rooms, the Gardiners. (Southern Cross, 12 July 1872) Whether that happened or not isn’t known, but the dining rooms were certainly closed for business until the beginning of August.

The Domain at this time, despite the bare beginnings of a cricket ground the previous decade, was still primarily a mix of farm and a place for passive recreation.

“To the Editor: Sir, - Can you tell me if persons are liable to be fined if they play games, such as football, cricket &c., in the grassy Domain? If you would enlighten me on this subject, you would oblige – Yours, etc., W.A.R. [Permission would require to be obtained from the lessee before games could be played in the Domain – Ed.]” (Southern Cross, 6 August 1872)

An unknown child’s body was found in the Domain in 1873, in tragic and horrifying circumstances.

“As a man named Robert Cliffe was engaged yesterday morning in cleaning out the dam which is used to back up the water in one of the Domain creeks, that it may be conveyed by means of piping into the boxes in the Acclimatisation Society's fish-house, he was horrified by suddenly striking his spade into the skull of an infant corpse. Upon exanimation it proved to be the body of an apparently new-born child; but it was in such a state of decomposition that its sex could not be ascertained. The body was wrapt up in an old piece of cloth, which was not large enough to cover it altogether, and there was what appeared to be some human hair also inside the cloth. The discovery was made at about 11 o'clock in the morning, and the police were at once communicated with. Sergeant-Major Pardy proceeded to the spot, and had the body, which is little more than a mass of pulp, conveyed to the dead house at the Provincial Hospital, to await examination by Dr. Philson, who will send in his report to-day.

“Upon a reporter from the office of this journal visiting the spot, which will now be made somewhat famous as having been the scene of a frightful and unnatural crime, he found that the dam is situated in the creek at a point where it runs within a few feet of the Lover's Walk. The creek winds its way over its rocky bed at a level a few feet below the path, and is completely hidden from view in many places by the trees and shrubs which grow upon its banks. The spot where the body was found is of easy access from the walk by descending a few rough-hewn steps cut in the earth. The dam had not been cleared out for about two years; but, as it had become full of leaves and other rubbish, the work which led to the present discovery was undertaken when it was noticed that some of the stones had been removed from their original position.

“The body of the child is supposed to have been lying in the water for a considerable period, probably a month or more, to reach such a state of decomposition, and had been buried— as it was doubtless supposed by its guilty parent, for ever— under some rubbish with a large stone on top of it. The spot, from its quiet and secluded position, is one well suited for the commission of such diabolical work. Late last night we ascertained that Dr. Philson, Provincial Surgeon, has made an examination of the body of the child, but he has been unable to ascertain its sex. Dr. Philson states that it is the body of a white child, and it is his opinion that it may have lain in the spot where it was found for several months, or even years, as it is a fact well known to medical men, that when a human body is kept under water or buried in a damp place, and the air wholly excluded, as in this case, it undergoes a peculiar change and becomes a fatty mass that will retain much of its original form for a very lengthened period. It is not likely that an inquest will be held.”

(Southern Cross, 21 August 1873)

The Domain Board, at the end of 1873, asked the Government for legislation giving them control over the old mill race at the bottom of the Domain, also known by that time as “Coolahan’s mill goit” (after Hugh Coolahan, first lease-holder of the Hospital Trust land which was to become Carlaw Park in the following century – see Mechanic’s Bay Timeline.) In 1874, the mill goit was transferred back to the Domain.

The Domain Gardens from the 1850s, which by the end of the 1860s had become a market garden, took on a new, brief role from the end of 1873 as the gardens leased by William Brighton, the former curator at the Acclimatisation Society’s garden close by. He offered a range of delights to attract the summer visitors to the Domain -- “prepared to Supply all Private Parties, Family Parties, or Visitors with Hot Water, Glass, Crockery, &c., &c., as may be required. He has now always on Hand Gingerbeer, Lemonade and other Cordials. If Refreshments are required a short notice will be necessary. Strawberries and Cream always on hand. Charges moderate.” (Advertisement, Southern Cross, 30 December 1873)

Business did not go so well for Brighton, however. In 1875, he was found not to have paid his advertising debts to the Southern Cross:

“Daily Southern Cross v. Brighton.— Claim £1 17s. 6d. for advertising. —Mr. Bennett for the plaintiff, and Mr. Rees for the defendant. — The defendant is the lessee of the Domain Gardens, and the charge was for several insertions in the Daily Southern Cross of an advertisement headed "Strawberries and Cream." The defence was that no instructions were given to insert. — Charles Macindoe deposed that he had charge of the advertising department of the paper. Mr. Brighton, while paying for one insertion of the advertisement on the 2nd. December, gave instructions that it should be continued every Friday until countermanded. Witness at the time pasted the advertisement on a slip of paper, and wrote underneath "T.C.," which meant "till countermanded." The advertisement continued to be inserted until after the strawberry season, when witness, thinking that the defendant had forgotten all about it, discontinued it on his own responsibility.—U. G. Hurrell, clerk in the office, said he was present and heard the defendant give instructions for the advertisement to be inserted until he stopped it. — The defendant in his evidence denied that he ordered the advertisement to be inserted as stated. On the occasion in question he only ordered one insertion which he paid for. — By Mr. Bennett: He was told that the advertisement was appearing in the paper, but he did not stop it because he thought it would render him liable. There was a similar dispute in the Herald. Witness had not instructed the Herald to continue the advertisement during the season. This was all the evidence. — The learned counsel having addressed the Court, his Worship gave judgment for the plaintiffs.”

(Southern Cross, 12 July 1875)

In 1873, the beginnings of a brief dispute over the Bowling Green began with an observation made by Domain Board members.

“Mr. Mitford drew attention to the bowling-green, which he said did not look unlike a market-garden. He thought that as the party at present in possession had incurred some expense, he should receive some notice to the effect that the Board would shortly require the green.— This suggestion was adopted, and the secretary was instructed to prepare the necessary notice.” 

(Southern Cross, 7 August 1873)

By December, members of the Board had duly inspected the grounds, and decided that it should be up for lease, for a term of 33 years. (Southern Cross, 4 December 1873) Perhaps, this meant the Domain Board considered that the bowling green would make a wonderful market garden to be leased out and earning income. Naturally, this upset the Bowling Club. Thomas Macfarlane wrote a letter to the Board, promising that the club would “resist to the death” any attempts to take the ground away from them. The Board responded by instructing their solicitor to take legal steps to recover the ground from the club. (Southern Cross, 8 January 1874)

In March, the Board’s solicitor delivered bad news: the bowling green wasn’t part of the Domain, and never had been. It came under the 1858 Auckland Reserves Act, not the 1860 Public Domains Act, so the Governor retained the right to handle the land as he pleased. However, there was a silver lining: the club’s title was as a “tenancy at will”, and the Board could appeal to the Commissioner of Crown Lands to sell the land from underneath the bowling club. (Southern Cross, 5 March 1874) In August, the Domain Board remained adamant: they were to get the land back, no matter what the bowling club said.

In October, the beleaguered bowling club wrote to the Board, offering to relinquish the ground if the Board refunded them for their expenses incurred in draining the boggy ground, planting trees, and generally landscaping the area. The Board’s response? That the club send them a letter, proving that they had an agreement with the Crown entitling them to be there. (Southern Cross, 8 October 1874) By November, however, there was a change of heart. The Board resolved to declare that they had no objection to the bowling club remaining on the ground, provided they used it as intended when granted. (Southern Cross, 5 November 1874)

The failure to obtain the bowling green as a potential money-making market garden was compensated somewhat by Mr. R. Baird coming back into the picture, offering to lease what appears to have been the site of what was to become the market garden alongside Stanley Street. At one point a little earlier, the Domain Board considered using it as the site for an ornamental fountain. (Southern Cross 2 July 1874) The lease was cheap for the 6 acres - £17 per annum, but the term was restricted to five years. (Southern Cross, 4 March 1875) The lease was taken over in 1879 by Ah Hung, for the same rental, with the proviso that he had to submit plans for a house to be erected there to the Board. (Minutes, 3 February 1879) Ah Hung seems to have been the first documented Chinese market gardener in Mechanics Bay. Two months later, residents of Stanley Street petitioned the Board not to let Ah Hung have “the free use of the water near the allotments.” The Board complied. (Minutes, 7 April 1879)

Brighton’s lease of the Domain Gardens site, meanwhile, was transferred to a Mr. Gundry in 1877, with Gundry saddled with Brighton’s rent debt to the Board. (Board minutes, 12 February 1877) Gundry wasn’t there long, however; the Board took back possession of the grounds from 5 June 1878, then tried leasing it to John Hamilton (who had been looking after the cricket ground) the following month. (Minutes, 1 July 1878) More on this in the next decade’s post.

Blandford Park

1940

While looking at the Auckland Regional Council's collection of online aerials the other day, I spotted this shape in the old Grafton Gully, 1940. It was right alongside Grafton Road, so I checked the trusty old directory for the period -- and found that this was Blandford Park. I went looking for some of the park's background.

The original owner appears to have been Morgan Blandford, who in 1913 negotiated with Auckland City Council over the formation and dedication of a roadway just to the north of the site. The land was held in the name of the Agnes Blandford Trust by the middle of the century, anyway, the trustees being New Zealand Insurance.


On 1 June 1923, Morgan Blandford came to an agreement with the Auckland Football Association for the latter to lease the property for 30 years. At that point, according to the Auckland Star, "it was a marshy, willow-covered area terminating in a dump for road spoil and old tins at the point where the gully under Grafton Bridge opens onto Grafton Road, almost at the junction of that road with Stanley Street." (18 April 1925) Today, the site is almost directly down from the line of St Paul's Anglican church on Symonds Street, past Whitaker Place.


Within 18 months, the Association had worked to transform the old swampy dump. "To-day Blandford Park is a beautiful level area in the centre, banked on three sides, and obviously capable of development into  an ideal sports ground. It has been thoroughly drained, and the playing area is already under grass, which has taken well. On the bank opposite the entrance from Grafton Bridge accommodation has been made for several thousand people by convenient terraces, while on the entrance side is a gentle slope which will provide natural vantage spots for spectators, and there is also in course of construction here a small grandstand which will seat several hundred people, and under which will be dressing rooms for the players." The Association had an agreement in their lease that after the expiry they had an option to buy the park outright.


The park's easy access to tramlines was put forward by the Star as a real bonus -- a couple of minutes from Symonds Street, a few more from Parnell and Stanley Street.


It was officially opened on 9 May 1925 by the Governor-General, along with an unfurling of the Association's banner and musical presentations by the Auckland Artillery Band. The first game was a Brown Shield match, Auckland v. Waikato.

Things at Blandford Park weren't exactly as cut-and-dried as all that, however. It appears that the AFA came to an arrangement with a group called the Stadium Company to sub-lease Blandford for 28 years for the months of October to March -- football's off-season -- in order for the Stadium Company to be the ones engaging in the levelling, grandstand building, etc. This group ran cycling competitions on the ground. By 1927, with subsidence at the embankments  bordering surrounding properties causing court litigation, the AFA tried to regain total control, but failed. (NZ Truth, 27 October 1927)

In November 1927, it was announced that the Auckland Motor-racing Club had taken out a six month lease of the park, and planned to lay down a fast cinder track. Their meetings were to begin in December that year. (Sun [Auckland] 24 November 1927.) In September 1929, Blandford Park Stadium Ltd announced they would be converting the park into a dirt racing course, (Star, 2 September 1929) with an opening night of 18 December. Advertising for meetings at Blandford Park ceased from April 1930, but with a resurgence in 1945.

Still, by the 1940s, the AFA were the main body using the park. This was when Auckland City began to keep a file on the park, kicked off by NZI in 1948 offering to sell the park to the City Council once the AFA's lease had expired. The right of purchase offer in the lease was £13,200, a lot of money to suddenly find from the funds.


The Council officers examined the situation. They found that the park had been formed in a low-lying basin, the surrounding hillside unstable, and the ground becoming very heavy in winter. It wasn't big enough to serve as an athletics stadium, or a site for band contests involving marchers. The accommodation and seating was inadequate, and it was badly oriented, so tennis matches on the provincial level were out. To cap it all off, in an era when trams were waning before the popularity of the motor car, there was no off-street parking at Blandford Park.

No, that's not quite what capped it all off. That same motor car popularity meant, the planners advised, that there was a strong possibility that the area of Grafton Gully would be "involved in major road proposals." In other words -- a motorway.


The motorway was some time off, though. so the Council resolved in 1949 to acquire the leasehold of the site, sub-let it to the AFA for 21 years, and do the place up a bit. There ensued a period of legal wrangling between the estate's trustees and the Council, which ended in 1952 with the Council advising they would take over the park for recreation purposes, changing in 1953 to "street purposes". The park was proclaimed Council property in October 1953. The park was still maintained as a base for the AFA up until the early 1960s.

c. 1960

Then, with motorway plans now imminent, the Association moved out of Blandford Park and relocated to Newmarket Park in May 1964. By March 1966, Blandford Park had reverted to its older use -- as a dumping ground for spoil from the Grafton Road cutting. This spoil was later levelled, burying the park beneath 30 feet of ground, over which the motorway system passes today.

2001

The man who named a terrace

Between March and June of 1903, a new road was formed in the heart of Avondale. It was marked out, formed, gravelled and surface drained, and in July the firm of Brown Barrett & Co applied to the Avondale Roads Board to take over the road, which they did. When it came to naming it, the owners dubbed it Geddes Terrace, after one of the two partners in the land deal: Herman Brown, and John McKail Geddes.

Geddes was born in Malta on 10 October 1843, the son of Captain Alexander Geddes of the 42nd Black Watch. Educated in Perth, Scotland, he started work in a solicitor's office at the age of 17, but that lasted only two years. He set sail for Dunedin, and joined the southern firm of Gregg and Co, then trading as coffee and spice merchants.

In 1870, he came to Auckland, joining the firm of Brown Barrett & Co. By 1892, he was sole partner, and controlled the business until ill-health caused his retirement two years before he died in 1910. During this time, he came to be in possession of the block bounded by Great North Road, St Judes St, Layard Street and Crayford Street West. When Arthur Page wanted to build a shopping block in 1903, he purchased the site from J. McKail Geddes.

His death was tragic: around 1906, three years after he had subdivided his central Avondale property, he was diagnosed with diabetes. In those days before the development of insulin, there was little hope for those with diabetes, only suffering and certain death. His weight fell from nearly 16 stone to 7 stone 10lb at the time of his death.

He was a hero: in July 1874, he was presented with the bronze medal of the Royal Humane Society for the November 1872 rescue of a Mrs Edgar from drowning, at Tararu Wharf, near Thames. He was also a philanthropist, a successful businessman, a husband, a father of six, and served for over 20 years as captain of the volunteer A battery. At least in part of central Avondale, he is commemorated.