Tauranga's Historic Village on 17th (Avenue)

Image: Tauranga, New Zealand, 23 April 1864, by Col. Edward Arthur Williams (1824-1898).  

From interpretive panels, Faulkner House.

One thing that gets me about Tauranga's history -- it almost always seems that it has to be teased out to be discovered, like teasing out a piece of yarn.  That's probably the reason why I enjoyed my weekend down there this year so much and have good memories. Having history served up on a platter, ready cooked, pre-seasoned; all that's left is to either savour it, or pick it apart to find the fishbones of contention. Much of Auckland's history, well-documented, still argued over, is like that.

But for some reason, Tauranga's story seems to demand that you go look for it. A real case in point is the Historic Village there.

Image: Plan of Tauranga District, 4 May 1867, by James McKay, Civil Commissioner.  

From interpretive panels, Faulkner House.

When you come up to the admin office -- you'll get a map of the village. Very cool -- but there's nothing on it to tell you about the village, how it came to be, and even which buildings are real structures inherited from the past, and which ones are mock-ups built specially to remind you of the past. Frustrating ... but I did carry on, and eventually found out kind of how things came to be. At least in summary.

Tauranga in its early days had a Mechanics Institute, much like most towns up band down the country in the 19th century -- a place where the working man could read and learn in a culture which prized learning, knowledge, and education. Some of the Institutes, because a library was at their core, spawned the public library system we know today in various places. In Tauranga, it seems (according to the panels I found at Faulkner House -- more on that later) it led to a museum. The organisers gathered a collection -- which went up in smoke when the Mechanics Institute burned in 1881. Undaunted, they gathered subscriptions and erected a replacement building, and started gathering anew.

Fast forward to 1938, when all of sudden "a collection of rare and valuable exhibits" found temporary resident in the Tauranga Town Hall which, just out of interest, also served as a part-time movie theatre.

Come World War II, however, with no permanent home found, the collection was packed up in three cases and stored away, secured into a wall at the Town Hall. It remained there until 1954 when members of the Tauranga Historical Society found references to the collection in the records, and unblocked the wall. But, down to 1969, there was still no permanent home for the collection. It was even suggested that the quest be given up, and the items sent to Auckland War Memorial Museum.

But, in that year, the Tauranga District Museum was finally established, with a facility on Hamilton Street. 900 people attended the opening on 22 August 1970. The Hamilton Street museum ran until 1976.

From 1972, plans were prepared for a historic village, depicting Tauranga between 1880 and 1920 on the 14 acre Thomas Wrigley Reserve at the western end of 17th Avenue. It finally opened 11 December 1976. It once had a tug-boat named the Taioma, displayed high and dry on land. Later, she was scuttled. Today, the Taioma is now a featured wreck off the southern side of Motiti Island.  It once had a small railway, and L508, affectionately called "Gertie". It was purchased in 1974, and remained until the museum's demise 14 years later. Today, "Gertie" is at Shantytown in Greymouth.

What happened was a decline in visitor numbers from 1990. A decision was made in 1998 to close the historic village down, with the view to building a modern museum facility -- but that has yet to happen. Meanwhile, the collection was put in storage. The village itself remained, however, with a new life as the headquarters for a number of community groups and businesses.

So, here it is -- Tauranga's Historic Village on 17th.

This Town Board and Library building is one of my favourites ...

... because it's home to the Tauranga Gem & Mineral Club, with a wonderful display area, and samples on sale to suit any budget.

Charlie Haua's Smithy -- purchased for £500 by the Tauranga Historical Society in 1969-1970 for the Tauranga District Museum.

The base of the lamp features the plaque for a foundation stone laid at King Edward VII Esplanade on 9 August 1902 by Mayor Charles Jordan.

Even a mural for me to photograph ...

Sad to say, this picturesque little church is one of the fake buildings. But the doors came from the Catholic church at Maketu.

But this, Faulkner Cottage, is one of the real ones.

I saw on the map that there was a collection of gravestones -- but alas, I was too late. They'd been removed in late 2010.

The making of Memorial Park, Avondale

I had put up an earlier post on the Memorial Park, but as with the way things go, I've needed to update it. Previously, I'd gone by what the centennial booklet put out by St Ninian's Church in 1960 said: that the park was donated to Auckland City Council in 1951. Actually, Council Archives records (ACC 219/706q) point to the land being offered to the city by the church in 1948. So, I've adjusted the previous post -- but the story, so I found while looking at the file, didn't end there.

Council minutes from 12 February 1948 refer to the offer by the Sessions Managers of St Ninians Presbyterian Church to donate an area of land at the corner of St Georges and Great North Roads (see above 2008 image). Council accepted the offer in April that year, and the Parks Department began to plan the shape of the war memorial there -- to be not more than 2 feet in height. The triangular area was to be walled with rough-faced stone on two sides (facing the two roads), and the surface grassed.

By October the City Engineer, Arthur James Dickson (from 1944), was able to advise the Town Clerk that it was expected to take £500 to develop the park. The war memorial was to consist of a spacious memorial seat or permanent construction, with plant boxes and a small terrace of pre-cast paving slabs of crushed brick. The cost of the main feature, the memorial itself, was to be borne by the RSA to an estimated sum of £100-£115. In the end, it cost them £107. All these plans and intentions were authorised by Council on 24 February 1949, but -- in July there was a sudden hitch.

This being still within the postwar era, construction projects of any size in the country had to be approved by the wartime-created Building Advisory Committee in Wellington. That committee advised that it was unable to issue a permit for the work of constructing the stone walls, seat, terracing and memorial, due to a critical material supply situation. Council had to wait until November 1949 for the concrete and steel work to finally be approved.

A quote was received in February 1950 from W G Archer, building contractors, to do the work for £1392 and 15 shillings, just over $93,000 in today's values. Work began that month, but on 20 February vandals knocked over 15 feet of the stone wall. According to the newspaper report of the time, the "wall is of fairly substantial construction and it appears that the mischief was caused by several adults."

Still, work proceeded and all was ready for April 1951. "This Memorial," the church's centennial booklet tells us, "was unveiled by Sir John Allum, then Mayor of Auckland, assisted at the ceremony by ministers of several denominations."

Viewing the vanished: Kilbryde

Sir John Logan Campbell's home "Kilbryde" is, today, long gone. It was demolished in 1924 by Auckland City Council, who felt that restoring it would be too expensive, as they could see no use for it.

One thing I think is marvellous -- the use of today's technologies to bring the past back to life so we can appreciate what once was. The subject of this post is a case in point.

Image from Cyclopedia of New Zealand.

Earlier this month, architectural designer David Hirtzell contacted me out of the blue to show me a project he has been working on -- to create a digital 3-d image of the lost Kilbryde within Google Sketch-up and Google Earth. Here are some screen shots of his work.

Kilbryde's location:

David is keen to hear from anyone who has information as to the interior and layout of the house, and any colour scheme it may have had.

Thanks, David, for sharing your wonderful work. Apologies for the delay in putting this online.

26 April: An update from David.

Anyone interested in Kilbryde must visit the fully restored Monte Cecila Pah Homestead in Hillsborough. It was designed by the same architect (Mahoney) a couple of years before Kilbryde and  is very similar in style inside and out.

Furore over Anzac Day radio appeal, 1945

Evening Post, 21 April 1945

In 1945, during the last months of World War II, the National Patriotic Fund Board had an idea.

TELEPHONE APPEAL
DOMINION ARRANGEMENTS

"Tomorrow evening, Anzac Day, a combined radio and telephone appeal for patriotic funds, possibly the last such appeal that may have to be made, will be held on a Dominion-wide basis," says a statement issued by the National Patriotic Fund Board.

"When it is borne in mind that 8000 New Zealand prisoners of war are still awaiting release, their need for comforts and recreational facilities on repatriation should be obvious. It is worth remembering, too, that the expenditure of patriotic funds will be extremely heavy immediately following the cessation of hostilities with our men needing additional amenities during periods of inactivity. To cope with the expected rush, the whole of the Dominion's radio and telephone resources is being utilised, as well as the services of a large number of volunteers from post and telegraphic and radio station staffs.

“In all, 348 telephone exchanges will have a part to play in the appeal, and where attendance is not normally continuous staffs are giving up their own time to assist in maintaining a full coverage. In some of the larger centres it has been necessary to augment the departmental staff, and again there has been no lack of response, patriotic-spirited workers having come forward willing to do this work.

"Similarly, full use is being made of the broadcasting network. The Dominion has been split up into 17 zones for the purpose of acknowledging donations. Each of the broadcasting centres will report total district or zone contributions every hour to the Dominion headquarters in Wellington, and from there at intervals of approximately an hour the Dominion totals will be broadcast.

"Where there are manual exchanges subscribers will ring the exchange and ask for 'Patriotic,' which will be represented in the person of the postmaster and a special staff. In the areas where there are automatic exchanges the subscriber will dial the special number allocated to that area. Recorders will notify the subscriber from which radio station his contribution will be acknowledged.”

Evening Post 24 April 1945

And immediately, the Auckland RSA were up in arms.

"We feel that the sanctity of the commemoration, which is the very core of Anzac Day, and which the legislation of the country framed specifically to protect, will be grossly violated by the high pressure salesmanship involved in the proposed radio telephone appeal for patriotic funds which is planned for Wednesday evening," said Mr. A P Postlewaite, president of the Auckland RSA, this morning. The proposal, he said, was a wilful breach of the spirit of the Act, and the emotions of the community would be cruelly offended. Telegrams protesting against the proposed appeal were dispatched this morning to the Governor-General, the Acting Prime Minister, Minister of Broadcasting, and the Dominion headquarters of the RSA.

Evening Post 24 April 1945

NZRSA ATTITUDE

The protest by the Auckland RSA against the holding of the radio-telephone appeal for patriotic funds on the evening of Anzac Day was commented upon today by the N.Z.R.S.A. Dominion vice-president, Mr. C O Bell, who stated that the National Patriotic Fund Board had approached the NZRSA Dominion executive committee last March regarding holding an appeal oh Anzac Night, and the NZRSA had informed the board that as far as it was concerned it had no objection, but that it could not speak for its affiliated branches.

A similar appeal had been made on Anzac Night, 1941, and no branch had protested. "If the appeal offends the susceptibilities of any branch," added Mr. Bell, “the question can be discussed at the annual NZRSA Dominion conference in June, but the most important duty at the present time is to get behind the appeal and so ensure that the funds required for comforts for our service men and women are obtained " Mr. Bell concluded by appealing to all branches of the NZRSA to lend full co-operation to the appeal.

"THE BETTER THE DAY . . .”

During a discussion at the Wellington Metropolitan Committee's meeting yesterday afternoon on the propriety of holding the radio appeal on Anzac Night, the Mayor (Mr. Appleton), who is chairman of the committee, said that while there had been some criticism in Auckland of the proposal, as far as he was aware there had been none in Wellington. The Mayor of Lower Hutt (Mr. Andrews) said that as the appeal was to raise money for servicemen, he could see no objection to it on Anzac Night; indeed, he did not think that such an appeal, even on a Sunday night, would be out of place.

Although not satisfied that Anzac night is a suitable occasion for the radio telephone appeal for patriotic funds, the executive of the Dunedin RSA has learned that the appeal was approved by the Dominion executive, and is anxious that nothing should be done to prejudice the appeal, states a Press Association message. The president, Mr. Forsyth, commenting on the Auckland protest, said that the Dunedin branch executive, on hearing of the proposal, felt much as the Auckland branch did, but learning that the Dominion executive had given the appeal its support, had confined itself to a remit to the Dominion conference of the R.S.A. with a view to the prevention of such an appeal on Anzac night in future.

Evening Post 24 April 1945

The appeal ultimately netted £66,169 ($5,134,000 in today’s values, better than most of the later Telethons of the 1970s-1980s). But still the Auckland RSA were not happy with this use of the sacred day.

Strong views were expressed by many delegates to the New Zealand Returned Services' Association conference this morning on the question of Anzac Day observance before the conference adopted a remit from Auckland "that it be the established policy of the association that Anzac Day must not be used for any special monetary radio appeals."

Mr. A P Postlewaite (Auckland) said he did not think the expressed desire of the president, Mr. B J Jacobs, not to hold "inquests" on what had happened in the past, should be used as a cloak to protect the Dominion Executive Committee for sponsoring a radio appeal on Anzac night.

When the appeal was made in Auckland he had never heard "such rot” come over the air, said Mr. Postlewaite. The Auckland public had supported the local Returned Services Association's stand against the radio appeal and it was "a flop."

Mr. T G Taylor (Wellington) said the Wellington radio appeal had been supported by soldiers of this war on a battalion basis. Patriotic funds had benefited. Several delegates emphasised the need to retain the sacred nature of Anzac Day. Others considered it a suitable occasion to hold functions to benefit servicemen. An amendment by Mr. C L Podmore (Otahuhu), that no function for profit motive or monetary gain be held on Anzac Day, was lost. Mr. W D Young (Wanganui) said the amendment would go too far. Anzac night concerts in Wanganui were the best patronised function of the year, to the benefit of the Returned Services' Association.

Evening Post 21 June 1945

It seems an odd incident. The RSA sells man-made poppies before Anzac Day to raise funds for their own welfare purposes -- yet this appeal was for funds to aid soldiers and prisoners-of-war overseas, and it was at night, long after the parades, the memorial wreath-laying, etc. Surely it shouldn't have seemed so jarring to the RSA members at the time. 

Whether or not another such appeal was ever to be organised, following all the very vocal misgivings from the Auckland RSA, is of course moot – the war ended later that year. Today, of course, Anzac Day is effectively only 13 hours long, with businesses allowed to reopen from 1pm, and horse racing events and other entertainment staged. 

Probably today a similar appeal wouldn’t be seen as anything too untoward. But then again, it probably would be.