The First Church of Otago

One of the places I had to visit while in Dunedin this month was First Church -- more properly First Church of Otago Presbyterian.

Its site on Bell Hill had been surveyed in 1844-1846 by Frederick Tucker as one of a number of reserves for public amenities in his town plan, completed before the settlers arrived in 1848 on the John Wickliffe and Phillip Laing. Captain William Cargill, as resident agent for the New Zealand Company confirmed the reserves, setting aside three for the use of the Presbyterian church: the Bell Hill site, a school reserve, and manse reserve. The first simple church and school, wooden construction, were ready on the school reserve by late 1848. Bell Hill, known then as Church Hill, remained a steep rocky impediment to linkages between north and south Dunedin, used for grazing, and a simple cottage belong to W H Monson, builder and son of the first gaoler in the city.

The Presbyterian Deacon's Court did call for tenders for building a church to Monson's design in 1857-1858, but this was carried out at that time. A new manse was built in 1862, and in that year the church put out an advertisement for architectural designs for the new place of worship.

Melbourne architect Robert Arthur Lawson responded, under the pseudonym "Presbyter", and came to New Zealand. Apart from the design for First Church as it stands today, he became known in Dunedin for a number of other long-lasting statements of architectural heritage in the city and surrounds.

Erection of the church was held up by the Otago Provincial Council's decision to demolish Bell Hill. An interim wooden building was provided in Dowling Street for the church while the long process of blasting and levelling proceeded. Finally, in 1867, the project could proceed. The foundation stone was laid 15 May 1868, and the completed building opened 13 November 1873.

Memorial to Rev. Thomas Burns, who campaigned to have First Church become reality, but died two years before completion.

There is a peaceful, welcoming feeling to this church.

Aside from that -- it is, quite simply, beautiful. I hope we don't lose this gem to our country's earthquakes.

The story of First Church and Dunedin, a tapestry woven by 19 women of the church, between 1983 and 1990.

Model of Rev. Burns in the church's heritage centre -- a brilliant place to visit for both general heritage and genealogy.

Burns Hall, just beside First Church on the grounds.

The second bell of Bell Hill ...

"Time is Short", is inscribed on the now broken bell, forever retired as a monument beside the First Church.

All Saints Anglican Church, Dunedin

The ceremony of laying the corner stone of the North Dunedin Episcopal Church was performed by the Bishop of Christchurch, on Saturday afternoon. The building which is from a design by Messrs Mason and Clayton, architects, Dunedin, is of Early English style, and is intended to be erected in coloured material; that is to say the walls will be of red pressed bricks, relieved with bands of black and white glazed bricks, and the arches above all the openings will be turned in black and white bricks alternately throughout the entire design, both inside and outside the building.

Otago Daily Times 13 February 1865

On the last full day of my stay in Dunedin earlier this month, I decided to take a walk to the northern part of the city. Spotting a wonderfully decorated brick building across on the other side of a sports ground at Cumberland Street, I knew I had to check it out.

All Saints was first built in 1865, and at the moment is Dunedin's oldest surviving Anglican church building. Their website with more history is here.

Asylum on control boxes

These photos from the corner of Carrington and Great North Roads in Pt Chevalier were taken by Leigh Kennaway (thanks very much for the permission to put them here, Leigh!)  Showing the main part of the old 1867 asylum building (now UNITEC's Building 1), plus some images of nurses taken, most likely, from Auckland Museum collection images -- I reckon this is great. Pt Chevalier isn't ashamed at all about its connections with the hospital, and this is showcasing heritage in a very public way. Well done!

Plaque for a pointsman

View of The Exchange, Dunedin, with city traffic. Shows cars, trams, and a motorcyclist. The Cargill monument is on the left. Photograph taken circa 10 October 1949. Photographer unidentified. Reference Number: PAColl-8163-60, Alexander Turnbull Library

The Exchange at the intersection of Princes and High Streets in Dunedin was a busy place in the 1940s. Anyone serving there day in, day out earned their quid. Today, set into the pavement of what is now Exchange Plaza, with the Cargill monument and the penguins (see previous post), is this plaque, in memory of one such man.

Constable Joseph Strachan Oswald (1884-1965) served from 1929-1945 at the intersection. "Guide, Mentor and Friend to all who passed through the Exchange," the plaque tells us. The plaque was installed by his descendants and friends in 1998. A lovely touch, and wonderful remembrance of those who help make our cities tick but are often taken for granted.

Public art in Dunedin

The first photo I took during the Dunedin trip earlier this month -- the Speights "Southern Man" sculpture at Dunedin airport (photographed from inside the shuttle bus, because I'd got in, strapped up ... and then realised there was a cool object to photograph. So I carefully leaned sideways ...), which is utterly cool and a fantastic work of art. Reportedly 1.2 tonnes, 3 metres high and cast in bronze, it dates from 2000 and is the work of artist Sam Mahon. It is apparently the largest equestrian sculpture in the country.  More images here.

On the break-of-day walk my first full day there, I spotted this wrapped around a lamp post. Very Dunedin-relevant, I thought. I have no idea why it was there, though ... some kind of a marker for a special event?

At the Octagon,  this tiled wall. I have a feeling that this is similar to tiled art we used to have in Queen Street here in Auckland, before the tiles were reported to have been removed and sent to Onehunga for resiting.

Also at the Octagon -- the Robert Burns statue.

Historian Donald Gordon in his book Robbie, the story of Dunedin's Burns Statue (2009) traced the story of the statue, from advocacy via one of Dunedin's stormy petrels James Gordon Stuart Grant, through to public meetings from 1881, commissioning Sir John Steele as sculptor, even the taking of "measurements from a plaster cast of the poet's skull made by phrenologists, people who believed a person's personality and talents could be deduced from the shape of the cranium," for the design.The statue was eventually unveiled in 1887.

In the Queen's Garden reserve, this statue in memorial to Queen Victoria, soon after her death.  The reserve, close to the Toitu Otago Settlers Museum, was originally just The Triangle. After the laying of the foundation stone of this statue by the Duke of York (also Prince of Wales) in 1901, the reserve was renamed Victoria Gardens in 1904. The statue was unveiled by Lord Plunket on 23 March 1905. The reserve eventually became known as Queen's Gardens. (Source: Otago Cavalcade 1901-1905, p.112, by Hardwicke Knight. The Otago Cavalcade books, seven in all, are among my favourites, and a great way of learning some general history of Dunedin and greater Otago. I found six of them at the Otago Daily Times office.)

Cargill's memorial, or what's left of it, in Exchange Plaza, Princes Street (formerly Exchange Square, and Customhouse Square). The monument to William Cargill, early leader of the Dunedin settlement, has been shifted at least once, from the Octagon where it had originated in the early 1860s, to Princes Street later in the 19th century. Compare how it looked in its heyday, 1880s, below at right (Photo ref 4-7301, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Library):

Some didn't think much of it when it was new ...

We suppose an architect, besides being an artist, should have some conception of the appearance his designs will wear when transposed from paper to reality. Many pretty pictures make very unsatisfactory structures. The Cargill Monument is a case in point. The design seemed very pretty, but now that it is erected, one shudders at its ill taste. Instead of the enduring lasting appearance which is appropriate to a monument, it is a flimsy, light, trifling structure, more fitted for a pleasure garden than anything else. In fact, it has somewhat of the appearance of a Chinese Pagoda, and a stranger who approaches it will think he is nearing the entrance to a Cremorne or Vauxhall Gardens. It is an insult to the memory of Captain Cargill that such a trumpery unsubstantial looking thing should be considered a fitting recognition of his services. It surely is paying him a poor compliment, to erect a memorial that as long as it lasts must be an eyesore to the people of Dunedin. Modern taste revolts at the expenditure of nineteen shillings on ornament to one shilling on substance. Dunedin is a sufficiently queer City without barley-sugar ornaments of this description. It is not yet too late to undo the work. Captain Cargill has well earned a public memorial, but an unambitious obelisk of marble—of marble from the Province his labors founded and settled —would not only be a more fitting recognition, but one which we are sure would be more pleasing to his family. In such a matter expense should be no consideration—anything is better than the ridicule which will be showered on the present Pagoda affair by the visitors from other parts of the Colony, who will throng to the Exhibition. Mr. Farley might be induced to purchase it for Vauxhall.

Otago Daily Times, 19 September 1864

Now, it's been decapitated while restoration work is underway, apparently for earthquake strengthening. There's a video of the dismantling process here.

I found it interesting that a plaque is attached to the monument to Cargill about the Salvation Army's commencing their work in New Zealand on 1 April 1883. They apparently assembled at Cargill's monument in the afternoon before a service at the Temperance Hall, "sang several hymns and spoke a few words to the considerable number of people which assembled," with Captain Pollard accompanying the singing with a concertina. (Otago Daily Times, 2 April 1883)

Today, what remains of Cargill's monument is guarded by three penguins (I caught sight of only two, unfortunately, while I was there). "We Are Not Alone", installed August 1999, are by artist Parry Jones, each modelled to reflect back on the nature of the businesses sponsoring them. Auckland needs stuff like this. Random bird sculptures throughout the CBD would be great ...

I headed further along Princes Street, and caught sight of a particularly colourful bus shelter.

Okay, this isn't art, but I feel it's an example of the quirkiness of Dunedin -- the bus destination signs on their fleet. Passing by the depot on Princes Street, I photographed this particular bus with its version of the "Sorry not in service" sign ...

... but I also spotted while I was there those few days buses passing by with special graphics on their destination signs reflecting where they were headed to. We're so damn boring up here in Auckland with our buses!

Boer War memorial at the Oval Reserve, unveiled 29 November 1906.

At this point, I nearly got myself lost in a strange city. Fortunately, Dunedin's I-Site folks have a great little street map with attractions and such which every tourist in Dunedin should have. I had mine with me, and was able to navigate (eventually, after a wee period of worry) back towards the wharf area. However, my misguided route took me past lovely murals painted on the pillars of a rail overbridge on Anderson's Bay Road.

As well as the "Harbour Mouth Teeth" at Kitchener Street Park, by Regan Gentry (2009).

I love these. They sum up Dunedin city's quirky sense of humour.

Please, no "fallen women" here, thank you

In 1899, a retired publican, hotel-owner and land investor named Michael Corcoran bought pieces of land in the Royal Oak-Epsom part of Mt Roskill, and settled down on the resulting farm called "Milton", fronting onto Pah Road, down to Mt Albert Road. Milton Road, later put through his farm, is today Rewi Road in Royal Oak.

He'd led an active life, had Mr Corcoran. Born c.1828, he left his home in Roscommon, Ireland, in 1855, a miller journeying to become a gold digger in Melbourne's fields of promise, having considerable success by 1860. Then, when news came of the finds at Gabriels Gully, he came across to Dunedin, added to his wealth at the Otago diggings, before giving up the digger's life in 1863 to travel to Auckland. In 1868, he obtained the Greyhound Hotel, and was proprietor there until 1876. He had a few run-ins with the law, mainly over his Sunday trading habit. He purchased the Clarendon Hotel in Napier in 1877, then returned to Auckland, trying unsuccessfully for the license for the Thames Hotel in 1878. The police were not in favour of his application. A little later that year, he took over the Metropolitan Hotel. By 1882 he was running the Star & Garter Hotel in Coromandel. He retained ownership of this hotel into the 1890s. 1885, he took over the Flagstaff Hotel on the North Shore. After more accusations of a Sunday trading breach, he left the Flagstaff and took over the Hikutaia Hotel in 1888, then the Northern Wairoa Hotel in Dargaville, 1889. From 1899, he retired from all but his land holdings, some of which was valuable Queen Street property, to his 17 acre dairy farm in Royal Oak.

In October 1901, through a city land agent, Corcoran sold six acres of his land holding to a man named G Rainger. It seemed like any other transaction. Except that the following month, on 1 November 1901, the land was transferred again, this time to the General Trust Board of the Anglican Church. It was intended to serve as the new site for Women's Home started in Parnell in 1884 by Mrs Eliza Jane Cowie, wife of the then-Bishop of Auckland.

Eliza Cowie became well known for her social and welfare work among the less fortunate in Auckland at a time when social services for women were almost non-existent. In 1884 she founded and was superintendent of 'a retired and peaceful' women's home in Parnell set up 'to receive young women desirous to return to virtuous living.' The home provided shelter and the opportunity for single mothers (some as young as 15) to be reinstated into society 'without the ineradicable brand affixed'. They were expected to remain for six months, the intention being to change their living habits and to teach skills of sewing, laundry and household work.

From Dictionary of New Zealand Biography.

The Women's Home, Parnell, which was begun by Mrs Cowie in 1884, continues its good work, under the wise management of Miss Birch. The Synod will be glad to know that a large bequest, of which £3500 has already been received by the Trustees, has come to the Home by the will of the late Mr Arrowsmith, of Waiuku. As the present site of the Home is too limited for the purposes of the institution, and is in other respects defective, a larger and more suitable site has recently been purchased, and it is hoped that commodious buildings will soon be erected thereon.

Auckland Star 22 October 1901

The total bequest was some £10,000, to be used only towards the Women's Home.

A resident named Frank Hull, at some point before the middle of November, acquired a "private note" about the transactions, and the Anglican committee's intentions with regard to setting up the new home in what was then Mt Roskill's prime area, during a period of subdivision between 1890 and 1920 which would see it lead the way in the near future in terms of water and gas reticulation, as well as public transport via Manukau Road in the way of the advent of electric trams. The six acres were relatively close to two schools: the public one at Three Kings, and a boy's school at the Pah Homestead run by Anglican minister Rev. Percy Smallfield. To have a "home for fallen women" right there seemed unconscionable. An informal meeting of residents was called by circular in the district, and was held 18 November 1901.

The Chairman of the Mt Roskill Road Board, Charles Bagley, referred during the meeting to "a transaction so discreditable to the persons concerned and the more so as in this case they were clerical gentlemen." He was particularly concerned as to the "vile diseases" from such an institution, in a district which at that point had no drainage. Corcoran informed the meeting that Rainger "got the land from me by misrepresentation, he appeared to have been an intermediary in its purchase, the real purchaser unknown. I had no idea the land was to be used as a home for fallen women, I am satisfied it will be detrimental to the district, and am prepared to refund the purchase money, and to cooperate cordially in any action that may be taken." Lawyers were to be consulted, and the Anglican authorities asked not to put their women's home in that particular district. By the time of the Road Board's formal meeting in 27 November, it all seemed to be sorted out. With the Board's lawyer Samuel Hesketh, Bagley, Hull and Rev. Smallfield met the Bishop, "who without giving any guarantee led us to expect another site would be selected and was to reply early."

The Observer was not impressed.

The letters that Mr Frank Hull is pouring into the papers against the proposed Women's Home at Epsom are surely a waste of ink. Apart from the fact that Mr Hull lives a mile, or nearly so, from the sight of the Home, and therefore is away from the influences he trembles to think about, it is worthy of remark that the neighbours in close vicinity are making no complaint at all … Besides, the population in the neighbourhood is not very close, and the Home will have six acres all to itself, which will give it about the same exclusiveness as the wilds of Waitakerei … Mr Jesse King is another gentleman who is drawing his virtuous skirts close to his virtuous ankles lest they should, figuratively speaking, be soiled by contract with vice. Both these gentlemen have our sympathy. It is very sad indeed that they should he condemned to breathe the same air as these indiscreet young things whom it is proposed to reform. They have sought retirement in the virtuous and aristocratic seclusion of Epsom, where vice is unknown, and illicit amours were never heard of. Therefore, it is undesirable that the pure atmosphere by which they have surrounded themselves should be tainted by the presence of young women who have tasted the delights of love unsanctified by the rites of the church.

At the same time, the reformation of these women is a matter of more consequence than the Pharasiacal self-complacency of Mr Frank Hall or Mr Jesse King. Their reformation can best be accomplished in a pure and virtuous atmosphere such as that of Epsom, where the men are moral and high-minded, and where the repentant sinners will not be tempted to stray from the paths of rectitude. Therefore, it is very desirable to establish the reformatory at Epsom, notwithstanding the hostility of Mr Frank Hull and Mr Jesse King. Wherever it is placed, there will be protest from some smug, self-sufficient Christian who will object to the presence of erring womankind in his neighbourhood, no matter how anxious those erring women maybe to retrieve the past and regain a footing of respectability. The reformation of the women is the paramount consideration. The objections of irreproachable virtue are of lesser consequence.

Observer, 14 December 1901

The following year showed that things were far from sorted for the opponents of the Home.

It seems by July 1902 that there were definite signs that the Anglicans would go ahead with building the new facility at Mt Roskill, despite all the protests and letters. The Road Board called for a public indignation meeting on 26th July at the Board's offices. Bagley informed the meeting, "When first the scheme was heard of by the Board in November last, the Board protested to the trustees of the new home, and Archdeacon Calder replied that the institution to be erected would be called a "laundry," and that it was not proposed to import an army of prostitutes in the district, but that they proposed to help those who, for the time being, were unable to help themselves. The Archdeacon, continuing, said that the Trust Board had managed a laundry in Parnell for many years, and had not found that the morals of the borough suffered in consequence, nor did he anticipate that the Epsom district would suffer from the advent of the home." 

Canon MacMurray couldn't really understand what all the fuss was about. The Board apparently interviewed him on the matter, and came away with the impression that the Home was going to go ahead anyway, Rev. Smallfield, at the protest meeting, assured those there that "it was not the Church that was responsible for this, but a committee" (this despite the fact that the committee reported to the Synod).

The Road Board, however, declared on 12 August 1902 that the matter was (again) all sorted, satisfactory arrangements made, and "the proposed building was abandoned." This was cause for much congratulation, and motions of thank-you letter writing, including to Mrs Worrall who had canvassed the area with a petition.

Then, on 21 August 1902, Michael Corcoran died. His executors weren't at all interested in handing back the money paid by the Church for the land, so things were back in limbo.

The Women's Home.—Thanks to the bequest of the late Mr Arrowsmith, the committee of the Women's Home have been in a position to prepare for a great enlargement of this important branch of the Church's work. The committee have met with difficulties as to the site of the future home, which as yet have not been overcome. It is earnestly to be hoped that the new home will be completed before the next session of the Synod.

 Auckland Star 17 November 1902

WOMEN'S HOME. The Standing Committee reported re the Women's Home, that a site of six acres at Epsom was acquired for the erection of the home. Owing to the protests of many persons living in the neighbourhood it was agreed to re-convey the land on repayment of the purchase money and expenses. The question was asked as to whether any site had yet been secured? Canon Mac Murray said that the Women's Home Committee found difficulty in securing a suitable site. Opposition having been raised to the site secured at Epsom, they agreed to go elsewhere, provided the sale was cancelled. That was really settled, but a death since had altered the position of affairs. The executor refused to take back the land, so the sale had not been cancelled. The Trust Board had given fair notice to the persons who objected, and if they did not move to get the sale cancelled, then the committee must reconsider the position. He hoped they would have the Women's Home erected before next Synod. (Applause.)

Auckland Star, 21 November 1902

Some time ago it was decided to erect a Women's Home at Epsom, and a site was purchased from the late Mr M. Corcoran for that purpose. Residents in the district, however, raised much opposition that the General Trusts Board decided to allow them to re-purchase the site plus the expenses already incurred. This offer has been accepted, and no doubt the re-purchase will be completed shortly.

Auckland Star, 23 December 1902

 On 11 September 1903, finally, the General Trust Board were able to sell the property to John Peet (who would go on to serve in the district on both the School Committee, as Road Board Chairman, and die in office in 1922. Peet Avenue, now through the site, was named after him.) The Trust Board had purchased 7 acres at Otahuhu, which became the site for the well-known St Mary's Home, still in existence and a fondly admired part of the Otahuhu district.

Update, 28 April 2013: In a bit of a twist of history, Rev. Percy Scott Smallfield later became known, after the closure of his boy's school at the Pah on amalgamation with  King's College from 1912, as chairman of a committee leading the way towards fundraising for the St Mary's Home established at Otahuhu. He can't have seen anything wrong with it then, as long as it wasn't in his neighbourhood.

Sources:
Deeds indexes, Auckland Star, Observer, various Papers Past references for Michael Corcoran's career, including his obituary (Star, 22 August 1902), John Peet's obituary (Star, 15 November 1922), DP 19029 (LINZ records), Mt Roskill Road Board minutes, MRB 100, Auckland Council Archives.

A Tiger Tea bus

1900 advertisement, Toitu Otago Settlers Museum, Dunedin

There's no other tea like the Tiger,
It's no matter what they say,
And if you want a real good sort
Then have the Blendid [sic] Tiger Tea.

Then there's no tea like the Tiger,
Not withstanding all their puff,
They try to imitate its qualities
But they haven't got the stuff.

Then drink no Blend but the Tiger,
For its merits are supreme,
The other comparisons are just similar,

As skim milk is to cream.

Ashburton Guardian, 6 April 1894

Tiger Tea turned up in this country as an imported blend around 1888, and became the brand produced by Rattray & Sons, Dunedin. By the 1890s, the brand was well-established in the South Island.

Tuapeka Times, 31 January 1903

Otago Daily Times, 29 February 1912

Evening Post, 4 December 1945

At the Toitu Otago Setters Museum in Dunedin, they have a wonderful Tiger Tea livery electric trolley bus.

Gorgeous, this. Not only with the extremely cool Tiger Tea branding all over it ...

... but also a chance to sit inside the bus, on the original hard seats (oh, how it put me back to being a kiddy catching buses like this here in Auckland with my mum!) where you can watch a video screen placed up front, showing what it was like to catch that bus in the mid 1970s along one of the Dunedin bus routes, along with conversations based on a single newspaper of the day. A highlight of an excellent museum.

Neon over George Street, Dunedin

Exploring George Street in Dunedin on the morning of 4 April, I spotted this:

A glorious neon sign up on top of what I now find out is the Meridian Mall, constructed 1995-1997 on the site of the Arthur Barnett Building. The sign apparently belongs to the existing Arthur Barnett store in the mall, dubbed "Can't Stop". As a poster on this messageboard says:  "... it features a small man trying to control a large horse, possibly a Clydesdale."

Other views available here and here.

According to Wikipedia, the artist who designed the sign in 1924 for the firm was "Heber Thompson". Readers of this blog might be able to confirm or not whether this was Ernest Heber Thompson, a Dunedin-born artist known for his WWI artworks.