NZ's lost city in Egypt

Interesting article today from the NZ Herald on Maadi Camp near Cairo, constructed for Kiwi troops during the Second World War.

"All that remains of a city of 76,000 New Zealanders in the Egyptian desert are two small metal plaques.

Tents and huts which World War II soldiers called home have been swallowed by the megacity of Cairo. A larger monument to the men and women who lived and trained at Maadi Camp beside the River Nile was removed when Egypt seized control of the Suez Canal and rubbed out all signs of a colonial presence.

Two years ago, author Alex Hedley started his search for New Zealand's far-off staging post. He discovered the history of a town that no longer exists but which 60 years ago had bars, shops, pie and icecream factories, dining halls, cinemas, chapels, clinics, libraries and a swimming pool built by General Bernard "Tiny" Freyberg for soldiers under his command.

"You couldn't imagine a more different place to go," says Hedley. "We are talking about young New Zealand men who had never been overseas finding themselves in a culturally alien landscape. They were in an Arab world, an Islamic world - it was a long way from their home town."

More at the link.

Carrying history up Station Hill

Back on Thursday, 26 March, I received an email from the local library where they were looking after this for me. Redecorating was about to happen down there, and the aerial photo had to be relocated. I came to the conclusion that the best place for it was at my place. So, I headed to the library, uplifted it, and carried it up the top part of Rosebank Road to Blockhouse Bay Road, the old Station Hill route, and headed for base.

Now, the aerial is mine, bought from a local dealer. It is a shot from somewhere over New Lynn way, looking NNE (or so) out over the Avondale Racecourse (centre foreground), with Great North Road snaking its way on the right, and Ash Street and the top part of Rosebank Peninsula on the left. It's a White's Aviation photo (the original is at the Alexander Turnbull today) from December 1958 -- 50 years ago. It stands around 6 feet wide by around 3.5 feet -- odd but true, it's bigger than I am. It was interesting carrying it up the hill that day. I'd stop both for breathers (me? Fit? Nah ...) and also so passers-by could halt, gasp, and start pointing at landmarks they remembered. All races, all creeds, all ages. One bloke chatted about days gone by at the racecourse. Had a bit of sore right arm for a while afterward, but -- it was a very, very good morning for local heritage. Toots and thumbs up from passing truck drivers was a welcome thing as well.

The small image here does not do this thing justice. For anyone 40 years and older , and who grew up here or lived a long time in Avondale -- they stop, stare, and can't help starting to discuss the features, both sharp and those blurred by the distance from the lens. If I can, I'll try to organise a public display this year in Avondale of heritage images and other stuff, with this humungous beauty as a star for the occasion. All I have to do now is sort out the logistics of getting it back down Station Hill ...

Timespanner gets a mention on "Reading the Maps"

I've posted about the Reading the Maps blog before, and I still like it a lot. I follow it to get another point of view, in variance to the shrillness of mass media these days. Besides, when Maps gets into heritage, it is done beautifully.

To my surprise and, yes, delight, Timespanner was included in Maps' provisional Indie Kiwi Blog top 10. Means a lot, after coming home from a day peering at books and writing from decades ago, I tell you. Very cool.

Another early Avondale Railway Station photo?

Auckland City Libraries' Special Collections have very kindly given me permission to publish the above photograph (reference 7-A10056) from their heritage images collection. It shows Avondale Railway Station, sometime during the 1890s. Below is a detail from the photograph.

Now, I had made enquiries to Papakura Historical Society as to any records they have on one Amos Eyes (main previous post here.) To my pleasant surprise, they replied with an envelope full of photocopies of pages from the Papakura Town Board minutes of the 1890s (which had notations pointing to the fact that Amos Eyes wasn't keeping the frontages to his properties there trimmed back, and so eventually faced a charge levied by the Board who had to carry out the work themselves), along with photocopies of images related to Amos Eyes from their collection at the Papakura & Districts Museum. One image in particular caught my eye:

This is labelled "Amos Eyes." He seemed to have a permanent squint in his photos (either that, or the photographer kept insisting that the poor man stand with his face towards the sun on a bright day). Others in the series sent up feature him supposedly with his sons Charles and John (Amos John Thomas Eyes) -- unfortunately, althought both men in the other photos are in railway uniform, Charles Eyes wasn't in the railways during the time his father was station master first at Papakura from around 1879, and then at Avondale from 1889. Charles was a farmer, at Papakura then at Waima in Northland from 1896, according to electoral rolls. John Eyes was a farmer in Papakura in 1890, then I failed to locate his name in the upper North Island, until 1902, after his father had died, when he turned up at Avondale as a carpenter. I haven't been able to determine, at this stage, whether he worked on the railways or not.

What drew my attention to the above image of Amos Eyes was that it looked very similar, although at a different angle, to the corner detail from the Special Collections photo. We know, with certainty, that the library's image is that of Avondale station -- and if it is the 1890s, Amos Eyes is probably in that shot (I think there's a man with large whiskers down near the left foreground of the cropped image). The rail line at Papakura is dead straight (and unless there wasw a major realignment there, it probably always was) -- while Avondale does curve towards Crayford Street, as seen behind Amos' back. If that's Avondale, he's standing on the early rudimentary platform, and to the right is part of the weatherboard outer wall of the goods shed seen in the full image at top.

I'd appreciate knowing what readers of this post think: could this be an early Avondale image?

Other NZ executioners

An executioner in the 19th century tended to attempt to keep his identity a secret -- in what was then a lightly populated colony, and if the executioner was a prisoner with a good chance of being sent back to reside among his criminal peers, anonymity was key. Most reports of executions don't provide much detail as to who the mystery man who sent the condemned into eternity was, aside from descriptions of masking and such. But, some descriptions went further, and in some cases, the executioners were identified.

I've already posted about Henry Howard Heyman or Lewis, and (briefly) Frank (or William) St. Clair. Here are some others.

Unknown “black man”.
Executed: William Good (Wellington) 17 June 1850

"The prisoner then walked with a firm step to the front of the scaffold, and the executioner, (a black man who arrived in the colony about two years ago) having adjusted the rope round his neck the drop fell, and a few short struggles terminated the prisoner's existence."

(New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, 19 June 1850)

Unknown prisoner at Mt Eden stockade (in 1863). Possibly James Stack.
Executed: Richard Harper (Auckland) 22 September 1863
Executed: Alexander McLean (Auckland) 21 October 1864

"The executioner in the present instance was a prisoner in the stockade, who was offered a sum of money and a reduction of his sentence, to perform the duties of Jack Ketch. He was completely disguised in person—having a soldiers' lone frieze coat on, his face and head covered with black crape, and a slouched hat drawn close over it. On retracing his steps from the scaffold after the execution, and crossing the yard for the purpose of entering the gaolers' room, to wash and divest himself of his disguise, he appears to have been recognised from some peculiarity in his gait, by his fellow prisoners, who had been watching the proceedings, as far as possible, through the gratings of their respective cells. His appearance was the signal for a perfect Babel of yells, hooting, curses, and the most terrible threats of vengeance. During the course of the day he was removed to another place of keeping, to be out of reach of injury from his fellow prisoners."

(Southern Cross, 23 September 1863)

Around late September 1865, a widow named Mary Finnigan and her three sons were murdered by James Stack, a discharged former private from the 65th Regiment. He was convicted of the murders and hanged at Mt Eden in March 1866. The Southern Cross (25 December 1865, p. 4) reported "It is said that Stack is the man who hanged Harper and McLean." Stack had been convicted of theft in June 1863, escaped from the Queen Street Gaol in July that year, but may have been recaptured, sent to the Stockade, served his time (possibly reduced due to the executions), then was discharged from the 65th regiment 14 September 1865.

John Thomas
Executed: Ruarangi (Auckland) 18 April 1864
Executed: Nikotema Okoroa (Auckland) 18 April 1864

Of course, anonymity wasn't on the top of the list for all the executioners. The braggart behaviour of Lewis was preceded by that of John Thomas, a mulatto who used his fee to fuel his own undoing.

"The hangman, whose head and shoulders were completely covered by a black veil, and who, judging from the appearance of his hands, was a coloured man, at length advanced to perform the duties of his office. He shook hands with the unfortunate men, and on the signal being given let down the drop."

(Southern Cross, 19 April 1864)

"The man who acted as hangman at the execution of Ruarangi and Okeroa is a man of color, who many persons may have frequently seen walking about the sheets of this town. He no doubt was well rewarded for undertaking the disagreeable task, but subsequent events have proved that he did not make a good use of his money, for at an early hour last evening he was so intoxicated that it was found necessary to put him in the lock-up."

(Southern Cross, 19 April 1864)

"The mulatto who officiated as hangman at the execution of the two Maoris on Monday last (whose name is John Thomas), has, we understand, been apprehended on a warrant taken out by Paul, the native chief, for using threatening language to him. It appears that on Monday last, after he came back to this town from the Mount Eden Stockade, he appeared ambitious to make himself known as the hangman, and very unprovokedly used language of a very insulting description to every Maori he met, and among others to Paul, the native chief. The latter very justly is desirous of obtaining satisfaction for the insult offered to him, and has accordingly taken out the warrant. It will be seen by our police report that the offender was brought before the magistrate yesterday morning, and released on the condition that he should leave the town. He has, however, been reprehended. On offering the insult to Paul to which we have alluded, some Europeans were by, and justly resented the outrage upon our friendly ally, who on all occasions conducts himself as a gentleman."

(Southern Cross, 20 April 1864)

"John Thomas, the man who officiated at the late execution, was brought up at the Police Court yesterday, before the Resident Magistrate, to answer to the charge brought against him by Paul, the native chief, and was bound over to keep the peace, but as he was unable to find the necessary sureties he was sent to gaol."

(Southern Cross, 21 April 1864)

Unknown prisoner, Mt Eden gaol
Executed: James Stack (Auckland) 7 April 1866

“The person who undertook the office of hangman was undergoing a short sentence of imprisonment, which, we believe, was within a few months of having expired, so that his object was not so much the liberty to be granted to him, as the £10 he was to receive. He is said to have had considerable practice in the horrid work in another part of the world.”

(Southern Cross, 9 April 1866)

A man of “very advanced age”
Executed: Robert Wilson (Nelson) 20 December 1867

“The man who performed the odious office of executioner was, we are informed by the gaol authorities, not a convict, but a man of very advanced age, who had volunteered his services, and who showed far greater signs of trepidation than the unfortunate prisoner himself.”

(Evening Post, 23 December 1867)

A Rangiora resident
Executed: Simon Cedeno (Lyttelton) 5 April 1871
Executed: John Robinson Mercer (Lyttelton) 7 May 1875

“The hangman was the same man who hung Cedeno, and who resides at Rangiora.”

(North Otago Times, 8 May 1875)

David Marshall
Executed: Hamiora Peri (Wellington) 16 November 1869
Executed: Tuhiata (Wellington) 29 December 1880

"Tuhi was placed in the centre of the drop and handed over to the executioner. This functionary—David Marshall by name— is the person who eleven years before had performed the same office upon the occasion of the execution of Hamiora Peri for murder. He is a little, spare man, with gray hair; long white beard; thin, wizen, and anything but pleasant features. He made no attempt to disguise himself in any way, and seemed quite at home in the performance of his hideous task."

(Evening Post, 29 December 1880)

More on Lewis the Hangman

Jayne has offered to keep an eye on any Aussie records which might pop up on our Mr. Henry Howard Heyman/Lewis (thanks again, Jayne!). I thought I'd see if I could wring any more info from Papers Past on him myself.

Seems that in June 1882 (after the James Walsh execution of 1879, the Ah Lee execution of 1880 of the Wiremu Hiroki execution of 8 June 1882), Lewis and another bloke named John Murphy were arrested around 26 June "for forging and uttering cheques in the name of Alfred Buckland", here in Auckland. (Wanganui Herald, 27 June 1882) Egad. Of all the people they could have chosen to forge the signature of, they had to choose Alfred Buckland? Up until the Long Depression, he was one of the most successful and influential merchants in Auckland. By early July, Lewis had been committed for trial, while the charges against Murpy were withdrawn. (Bay of Plenty Times, 5 July 1882) He was sentenced to three years in gaol a week later. (Bay of Plenty Times, 12 July 1882) It must have been frustrating, then, for Buckland to have seen the culprit have his sentence quashed, so he could continue his hangman's trade for the Winiata execution the following month.

"Lewis, in for forgery, who "worked off" Hiroki, was selected to perform the same kind offices for Winiata." (Observer, 5 August 1882)

Back to the James Walsh execution, the Invercargill Southland Times described it:

"At a given signal from the Sheriff, the hangman, who had stationed himself at the rear of the gallows, drew out the bolt while yet the words of the priest sounded clearly in the solemn stillness of the scene. The next moment all was over. Walsh had paid the earthly penalty of his crime. Death must have been instantaneous, and unconsciousness quite so, as there was a drop of some seven feet, and the hangman took care that his work should be completed effectually by immediately adding his own weight to that of the suspended body. "

Shantytown

Shantytown on the West Coast of the South Island is on my "list of places I'd like to see". The website is touristy and most likely so are the attractions -- but tourism is one of the driving forces behind keeping heritage alive, so I don't knock it.

The site's West Coast Stories are worth checking out.

A milky mishap

From the Auckland Star, 13 September 1884:

"A happly-looking youth, in whom his master, a well-known milk purveyor of Mount Eden, has ever confidence, met with a mishap this morning, with more favourable results than the spectators anticipated.

"The curly-headed lad was in charge of a horse and cart, the latter containing several cans of milk for the supply of customers, but when turning the corner by the store of Messrs Gladding and Son, the horse stumbled and went on his knees. The lad, who was whistling a merry tune at the moment, with thoughts far away, was suddenly shot forward over the horse's head, followed by the glittering cans.

"The little fellow was immediately on his legs, and, strange to say, neither lad nor horse were injured, but the lacteal fluid had returned to mother earth.

"In the space of two minutes the lad was again in the cart shouting, "'Tis no use crying over spilt milk," and with a pop of his whip whisked round the corner, and was soon out of sight."

Who was Rodney?

The NZ Herald today, in their editorial, asked a very good question: "Who was Rodney?" You see, Auckland Region is on the possible verge of a shakeup, both in terms of governance and also even down to the names of the parts of the region with which we identify. A Royal Commission has, among its other recommendations, come out in favour of the transfer of European place names to Maori names for the new "local councils" under the Auckland Council super-city. Tamaki-Makau-rau for Auckland isthmus, Hunua for Franklin ...

"Many will wonder why Maori placenames have acquired such importance lately, and why they need to be so correct. Tamaki-makau-rau would be a mouthful for most residents, who should be forgiven if they shorten it to Tamaki. And Waitemata seems an inadequate name for area that extends far north of the harbour, as far as the Hibiscus Coast on the commission's plan.

But there is value in recognising Maori names of localities. They are a mark of respect for the pre-colonial heritage and a symbol of social inclusion, as well as having more local meaning in most cases. Who was Rodney?"

Rodney, up in the northern part of the region, is the exception. The Royal Commission copped out, really -- they couldn't come up with a Maori name, so just said Rodney would have to sort it out for themselves. I say copped out, because if the commission can just slap Hunua on Franklin, they had a wide range of Maori names of former wards within the old Rodney County Council area to have chosen from as well.

But -- who was Rodney?

Near as I can make out, the county from 1876 was so-named from the district, which came from an electorate in the 1870s. This in turn was probably inspired from Cape or Point Rodney, still a maritime landmark today. That name goes back to beyond 1840, and so we look to Captain Cook, landmark-namer extraordinaire. He named part of Alaska Cape Rodney as well, apparently, and both Capes Rodney were in honour, so it seems, for one man: George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney, and an admiral (pictured above. Image from Wiki.) He was a war hero to the English, and a prominent figure in the Royal Navy during Cook's time.

I've always wondered just who Rodney was. At least now, I have a good idea who he might have been.

Comparing the cost of then with now

Historic currency rate calculators can be a bit hard to find at times. A friend rang tonight, and asked me what £10, say Bishop Selwyn's subscription promise to the Avondale future parishioners in 1863, would be worth in today's money.

Thankfully, through a computer upgrade and a semi-crash, my bookmark for the Reserve Bank of New Zealand's CPI Inflation Calculator is still there where I left it. Now, a "CPI Inflation Calculator" sounds a bit mumbo jumbo, but if you click on "Go to calculator", and chose your historic amount and the year, it will give you the approximate value of goods and services in comparison with late 2008 or earlier. Unfortunately, the calculator starts at 1862. Anything earlier would still be an educated guess. But, £10 in 1863 comes out as $988.02. A sizeable sum for Bishop Selwyn in those days. Merchants often promised a fifth of that.

If anyone out there has other historic calculator sites they'd like to share -- let me know.

Signor Federli's sub-tropical dreams

Image from Wikipedia.

Another one of those history threads I picked up by having a recreational trawl through old newspaper files is the 1884 proposal by a Mr. Federli and Mr. Murphy to set up a special agricultural settlement at the Hokianga, in Northland.

“The scheme contemplates the production of grapes, raisins, figs, oranges, lemons, olives, silk, etc.”

(Auckland Star, 15 August 1884)

The first traces of Giovanni Battista Federli in Australasia come in the early 1870s, when he and Romeo Bragato “played a pivotal role in the development of the Australian wine industry and helped found viticultural colleges in Victoria and New South Wales. (“Italian migration 1850-1900”, Italian Historical Society)

By April 1876, Federli, with Carlo Turchi and an interpreter named Pietro Corrado), visited Hokitika by order of the Italian government, tasked to evaluate the area’s capacity for settlement. (Grey River Argus, 17 April 1876) The West Coast Italian settlement was likely to have been still-born, but Federli the talented agriculturalist put down his own roots in the colony, and thrived. He married Meta Theresa Willberg in Hokitika in 1880, and assured the NZ Government that year that, yes – New Zealand could indeed grow olives, vines and mulberry trees in abundance. Especially mulberries -- the food of the silk worm, which was the potential goldmine Federli was to spend the next decade promoting all over the country.

He found a good place for both mulberries and silk worms in Akaroa, and made that township and Christchurch his base of operations. (Evening Post, 14 May 1881) In response, the Government assisted by importing “a large consignment of silkworm eggs of green, orange, and white cocoon varieties, and for a quantity of white mulberry trees on which the worms feed. At the same time an order was sent to Sydney for 500 white mulberry tress two years old. The intention is to establish a silk culture m New Zealand. The idea was initiated by Mr Federli, of the Survey Department, who is stated to be an expert m that branch of industry.” (Timaru Herald, 26 May 1881)

By 1883, Federli had published a pamphlet on sericulture (Timaru Herald, 16 February 1883), and early the following year began a series of lectures around the country on the new industry. Meeting up with Josiah Clifton Firth gave him access to the Waikato districts, Firth only too enthusiastic with his support for the venture. (Waikato Times, 22 March 1884)

In April that year, Federli became acquainted with Northland, “greatly delighted with the country.” (Bay Of Plenty Times, 17 April 1884) The Hobson County Council were delighted to see him as well.

“The Hobson County Council has passed a resolution that the county, in connection with other counties north of Auckland, ask Government for 200 acres for a model farm, on which to place a small class of immigrants specially skilled in sericulture and the cultivation of sub-tropical products, for the purpose of imparting knowledge to the settlers as to the best mode of carrying on these industries; and that the Government be petitioned for Mr. Federli's removal to Auckland in order that his knowledge and advice may be available.”

(New Zealand Tablet, 13 June 1884)

The response was Federli and Murphy announcing in August 1884 that they had purchased 5,500 acres of land at Hokianga for “a special settlement for sub-tropical industries,” with plans to introduce fifty families into the area per year over the next three years. (Evening Post, 27 August 1884) The company, financed by a Christchurch-based consortium, the Hokianga Land Company, was to be called the Hokianga Sub-Tropical Company, or the Hokianga Fruit-Growing Company. The name seemed to change with each report.

By 1886, the company’s sections were selling well, and there was talk of another 4000 acres to be purchased – but the grand dreams seem to have turned out the same way the Hokitika settlement did in the 1870s. Federli’s own house in the settlement burned down during a severe bush fire in February 1890 – and from that point, his name, once all over the national press reports, vanished.

By March 1892, he was across the Tasman, living in Rutherglen, Victoria. There, he ended his days making a name for himself as a viticulturalist. Wine growing institutes remember him; there is a Federli Street in Rutherglen, perhaps named after him.

From 1895 until 1909, his wife gradually sold off their South Island real estate holdings. The previous century's Italian-Kiwi dream of New Zealand as the sericulture and sub-tropical produce capital of the South Pacific was over.

Lewis the Hangman

A chance find from August 1884 in the microfilm files of the Auckland Star at the City Library yesterday has now educated me in part of the ways of executing criminals in 19th century New Zealand. It led me on a hunt in Papers Past to try to learn more about a rather colorful criminal turned executioner-for-hire named Henry Howard Heyman or Lewis.

When he arrived here is unknown, but he was described, in an account of the earliest execution he is credited for (if “credited” is the word to use here) – that of James Walsh, 19 February 1879, in Invercargill.

“The execution of Walsh, who murdered his wife at Waikawa, the particulars of which will still be fresh in the memory of as the first execution of the kind, a good deal of morbid curiosity was manifested by the public, and about 300 persons gathered outside the walls of the gaol, from whence, however, nothing more than the upper part of the scaffolding was visible.

“The proceeding commenced shortly after seven o'clock; when the executioner, a German Jew of the type frequently to be met with in the low parts of large cities, with one or two assistants, made the final preparations at the scaffold.”

(Evening Post, 19 February 1879)

Lewis was apparently a forger, and was serving a three-year sentence when the offer of commutation in return for service as an executioner was made to him. The task was a paid position on top of the bonus of freedom – for Lewis, looked down upon by some sections of the community as a German-Jew in the days when character was increasingly measured against a person’s race and background, the notoriety of the position may also have appealed.

His next execution was that of Ah Lee, executed for a murder at the Kyeburn gold diggings, 5 November 1880.

“The last act in connection with the Kyeburn murder took place at eight o'clock this morning (says yesterday's Evening Star) when the execution of Ah Lee was effected …The executioner is a recent arrival from Southland, and at one time acted as assistant to Calcraft. He wore a white mask which completely covered his face, and a blue jacket.”

(North Otago Times, 6 November 1880)

William Calcraft was said to have been the most famous hangman in England in the 19th century. Whether any of the New Zealand executioners were assistants of his is unknown. It’s likely that Lewis wasn’t.

Wiremu Hiroki, 8 June 1882, was said to be another of his executions. Then came one which proved to be more infamous.

“Winiata was executed this morning …The executioner was a convict about 24 years of age, of short stature and stout build. He is said to have executed Hiroki, Walsh, and Ah Lee in this colony, and three murderers in New South Wales.”

“The accounts given of the final scene of Winiata's execution appear to show that it was badly bungled. When Winiata disappeared from view, the executioner, running nimbly down the steps, entered by a small door below the scaffold, and the novelty of this proceeding caused a number of the spectators to approach close to the foot of the scaffold. The sounds which met their ears were horrible. The drop had failed to cause instantaneous death, and the deep and stifled breathings of the half-strangled convict were distinctly audible. Through the crevices, the executioner could be plainly seen engaged in the horrible task of tugging at the hanging man's legs for the purpose of completing the strangulation, while Winiata writhed and twisted in a sickening manner.

“Gradually, the sounds of choking and stifled breathing died away, the violent vibrations of the rope ceased, and ten minutes after the rope was pulled the executioner came forth from his ghastly hole and slipped away. The whole proceedings were of a most barbarous and scandalous character. After hanging for an hour the body was cut down. It was then found that the noose, instead of being behind the ear, was immediately under the chin, and was not drawn tightly round the neck. It is evident, from the position of the rope, that the sufferings must have been prolonged and painful. The rope which was used was far too thick and coarse for the purpose, and, altogether, the execution of the unfortunate man was a shockingly bungled and mismanaged affair. The scene enacted below the scaffold was brutal and revolting. One of the medical men who witnessed the execration remarked to another spectator, after viewing the body, "Well, I don't think this any improvement on the last hangman."

(Evening Post, 5 August 1882)

In August 1884, Lewis found himself in legal strife. He was convicted of “having secreted certain newspapers, letters, tobacco and other articles” to the prisoners employed at the construction site of Mt. Cook prison in Wellington. It appears he had been tried and found guilty for another crime at some point between the Winiata execution and June 1884, when he was released to serve as a hangman again, this time for the executions of John Donohue, 11 June 1884, at Hokitika, and Rowland Herbert Edwards, 15 July 1884, at Napier. Lewis returned to Wellington, and spent time hanging around the Wellington prison site, however. He was found guilty and sentenced to a month’s hard labour. (Evening Post, 7 August 1884)

At this point comes the Auckland Star article on “The New Zealand Hangman” which drew my attention to Lewis and his gruesome sideline.

“It will be remembered that Lewis was liberated from prison, where he was serving a sentence, on condition that he should act as public executioner, and for the last few years he has acted in the unpopular capacity of hangman for New Zealand. When he was on the West Coast, after drawing the fatal bolt, he appeared in the streets dressed up as a great “swell”, and put up at a hotel kept by a well-known Jewish Boniface. He was asked if he would take coffee, but replied that he could only drink a particular mixture, and asked for cocoa. While this was being made, a journalist well-known in Wellington entered the room. The hangman at once ranged up alongside Mr. McCarthy, or “Mac” as he is generally called, and asked him to wine.

“Mac scowled at him, and the hangman said, “You don’t appear to remember me.”

“Oh,” said Mac, “don’t I; who hung the man?”

“By this time a crowd gathered round, and in the meantime the hangman beat a retreat. Several publicans hunted for him, and at last found him sitting on an empty dray smoking a havannah. One publican, more enterprising than the rest, offered him £1 if he would stand behind his bar for an hour to draw custom, but the offer was declined with thanks.

“The next thing he did was to wait on the sheriff, and hinted to that gentleman that it was his custom to receive £5 as a professional fee. The sheriff being new to the job, handed out five £1 notes, and has since applied to the Government for a refund of the sum, but has been told that the £5 has already been paid.

“The hangman then struck out across country, and at last landed in Nelson. The first person he met there was Mr. Inspector Atcheson. “How do?” said the disciple of Calcraft.

“Halloa,” said Atcheson, “what brings you here?”

“Oh,” cried Lewis, “I’ve just run off O’Donaghue on the Coast.”

“How did he take it?” said the Inspector.

“Well, “rejoined Lewis, “while standing up on the scaffold he said ‘God, bless Ireland,’ and I said, ‘God d---n Ireland,’ and pulled the drop.”

(Auckland Star, 16 August 1884)

Having served his time of hard labour, one would have thought Lewis would have kept himself out of trouble – but no. In December, he was before the courts again, on two charges: breaking into the offices of the Brunner Coal Company in Wellington, and inciting another (a fellow crim named Pekaru Apurone) to break in and murder Chinese jeweller James Campbell. The cases ran from 5 December to the 19th of that month – eventually, Lewis was cleared of all charges. (Evening Post)

The next two executions were part of a double event in Auckland, 21 February 1887, when John Caffrey and Henry Albert Penn were hanged for an infamous murder on Great Barrier Island. Once again, Lewis was on the job.

“As the visitors entered this yard the first object that met their gaze was the executioner, who stood immediately behind the tarpaulins and midway between the gallows and the rear wall. Some of the party immediately recognised him as the man who had been employed in a similar capacity on the occasion of Winiata's execution. He is a young man of middle height and of powerful build. He stood, bareheaded, with his coat off, his hands thrust deep into his trousers pockets, and a bandage of black crepe tied round his face, but not so thickly as to altogether hide his features. His preparations were evidently complete, and he was standing at his ease, exhibiting no sign of impatience or of nervousness.”

(Te Aroha News, 26 February 1887)

Soon after the double hanging, and once he was paid £40 for his time, Lewis left Auckland bound for Sydney. (Evening Post, 25 February 1887)

Now, the authorities needed to find another hangman to do an unpopular job.

“Here was a pretty state of things! — an execution fixed to take place at 8 o'clock next morning and no hangman to carry out the law. The police instituted enquiries as to where a suitable man could be found, and were successful in their efforts. A man was procured, and, for an amateur, ho carried out the execution remarkably well. He was of course disguised, and the spectators were in the dark as to his identity. The whole affair went off without a hitch, and all concerned were not sorry when Haira [Te Piri] paid the penalty of his crime. The executioner was incarcerated in the Napier gaol some time ago for an offence which was fully reported at the time. He was released after the execution, and also received a certain amount of money. "

(Evening Post, 15 May 1889)

This executioner was, according to the Poverty Bay Herald in June that year, one Frank (or William) St. Clair, “an acrobat, who was sent to gaol from Wairoa for wife desertion and cruelty, and who is known in Gisborne. On being released from custody after the execution he joined a lady who walks the tight rope, living in Woodville, but will be brought to court by his unfortunate wife.”

And so, the story continued …

Update on Lewis here.

The Aussie (?) Mokau Mine

A friend sent a clipping to me, dated earlier this year, on the Taranaki Mokau Mine. Since World War II, the now brightly painted mine has had pride of place as a memorial in Mokau, a town with 400 people, so Wikipedia tells us.

93-year-old Stan Warren says the mine wasn't German in manufacture, but rather hailed orginally from Australia. The local Tainui Museum agrees, adding that they possess a letter from Australia, written by the son of one of the mine's explosive disposal team:

"... his dad had always known the mine to be one of thousands built at the Ford Motor Company car factory at Geelong in Australia during World War II.

"Close to 1400 of them were laid by New Zealand defence forces as "friendly" mines, and it is known that a large number of them broke loose and either washed ashore or were never seen again.

"There were also thousands more of the mines laid off Australia, and many of them also broke loose and floated off in the general direction of New Zealand."

(Taranaki Daily News, 27 January 2009)

But, there are doubters. Murray Dear from Hamilton wrote in response to the Waikato Times passing on the story:

"It is highly improbable that the mine displayed at Mokau is of Australian origin as has recently been claimed ...

"It is simply not credible that a defensive mine laid off Australia could break from its moorings then drift thousands of kilometres and end up at Mokau by December 2, 1942.

"It is much more probable that the Mokau mine is one of 230 Y type mines laid by the German raider Pinguin and the minelayer Passat off the southeast coast of Australia in late October/early November 1940."

The KMS Pinguin was sunk in 1941, but not before carrying out much of its intended mission.

"Krüder and his navigator, Lieutenant Wilhelm Michaelsen, had meticulously worked out a plan to mine six Australian and Tasmanian channels with the fewest mines in the least time possible. Pinguin and the new auxiliary minelayer Passat, ex-Storstad, carried out the plan which the Seekriegsleitung (naval operational staff) deemed 'outstanding in its planning, preparation and execution'."

So, the question remains -- is the Mokau mine a genuine souvenir from Germany's attempts to cripple British imperial trade down under, or is it really just an Aussie local from across the Ditch?

Feedback from NZ on Screen

I do like receiving feedback on stuff published here at Timespanner. This afternoon, I had the following email from Brenda Leeuwenberg, NZ On Screen's Project Director:

Hi there

Thanks for your recent posts on timespanner linking to NZ On Screen. It's great to see the site being picked up and people finding things of relevance there!

Here is a list I put together recently of Auckland-related items, not sure if it's quite what you're interested in. If it's more history or specific places, then the Search or Explore tool on the site should serve your purposes just as well.

Thanks again, and please do continue to use the site and see what's new!

Check out some of the following titles for a bit of nostalgia, a few laughs, and some celebratory wow-ness of Auckland and Aucklanders.

Town and Around: Auckland Highlights

http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/town-and-around-auckland-highlights-1969
Presenter Keith Bracey picks out the highlights for 1969 from the northern edition of magazine show Town and Around. This end of year special features two lconic turns by Barry Crump, plus a parting interview with English TV presenter (and future Pavlova Paradise author) Austin Mitchell, criticising the state of New Zealand’s media. Overall the concentration is more on comedy, with probing coverage of garden gnomes and a man who uses a carrot as a musical instrument.


Pasifika 2005
http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/pasifika-2005-2005

Presented by Samoan hip hop artist King Kapisi and transgender rock queen Ramon Te Wake, Pasifika 2005 documents the biggest Polynesian festival in the world. Held in Auckland every year since 1992, the Pasifika Festival is a free one-day event that celebrates Pacific Island culture, music, dance, food, arts and crafts and film. Held at Western Springs Park, and supported by Auckland City Council, Pasifika (as it's popularly known) attracts more than 140,000 people.

ASB Polyfest 2008
http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/asb-polyfest-2008-2008

ASB Polyfest 2008 is an action-packed showcase of Māori and Pacific youth competing in the annual schools' cultural festival in South Auckland. Māori, Tonga, Samoa, Niue and Cook Islands performances, 100,000 people and trophies to be won make this competitive event one of the most important dates for youth in Auckland. Behind the scenes footage, colourful costumes, trials and tribulations and "the Pacific way" are captured. Made by the Tagata Pasifika team, with directors including Naked Samoans Shimpal Lelisi and Mario Gaoa.

Sione's Wedding
http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/siones-wedding-2005

A feel-good comedy about four 30-something guys who must each find a girlfriend before their best friend Sione's wedding - or be left out in the cold. Through the efforts of these bumbling blokes to get the girl(s) Sione's Wedding brings to life the colour and humour of New Zealand's urban Samoan community in Auckland, the largest Polynesian city in the world.

The Road to Jerusalem
http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/the-road-to-jerusalem-1997

Readings from the poems of James K Baxter trace the poet's life through its various New Zealand locations, and provide a biographical voice in this film by Bruce Morrsion (co-written with Dr. Paul Millar). Baxter's family and friends discuss the man and his work, and the readings and beautifully shot landscapes fill in the gaps. The film won Best Documentary at the 1998 Film and TV Awards. The opening montage, describing "the chugging noise of masturbation from the bedrooms of the bourgeois" of Auckland, is seminal Baxter.

Lew Pryme - Welcome to My World
http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/lew-pryme---welcome-to-my-world-1990

Lew Pryme’s life was a wild ride that took in everything from rock and roll to rugby before it was cut short by AIDS in 1990. He was discovered in the small Taranaki town of Waitara in the sixties and became one of the most popular hip-swinging music stars of the time. He later became the first executive director of Auckland Rugby Union.

Walkshort
http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/walkshort-1987

A slice of life amongst the pedestrians of Auckland's Karangahape Road shot in an increasingly hilarious baton relay-style narrative. Directed by Bill Toepfer this classic New Zealand short film features both halves of musical comedy team, The Front Lawn (Harry Sinclair and Don McGlashan) playing all the roles in a range of disguises.

Clare
http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/clare-2000

Clare is based on the autobiographical book Fate Cries Enough by Clare Matheson. It describes the experiences of the author, who, for 15 years, was one of the women unwittingly part of a disastrous gynaecological study at Auckland's National Women's Hospital that would become known as ‘The Unfortunate Experiment'.

Telethon
http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/telethon-1975

A 24-hour live television spectacular aimed at securing donations from viewers for a specific charitable causes. The first, in 1975 (for St John Ambulance) was Auckland only, but subsequent Telethons were broadcast nationwide. Beneficiaries included The Child Health Foundation, the Mental Health Foundation and the Arthritis & Rheumatism Foundation. Celebrities included Basil Brush and Leeza Gibbons, as well as local identities and the perennial host, Peter Sinclair.

Hero Parade
http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/hero-parade-1998

Marching girls and boys, Camp Mother and Camp Leader, even synchronised lawnmowers, dance down Auckland’s Ponsonby Road in this celebration of gay pride. The theme was Age of Aquarius, fitting given the heavy rain, and the parade went ahead despite controversy that almost saw it cancelled. The parade was saved by sponsorship from Metro Magazine after the City Promotions Committee declined the request for funding. The parade had 70 floats, and up to 300,000 spectators.

The Magical World of Misery
http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/the-magical-world-of-misery-2006

Innovative director Mark Albiston (Sticky Pictures) takes viewers on a magical tour of the work of artist Tanya Thompson, aka Misery. The film explores Misery's early years as a prominent but self-conscious graffiti artist on the streets of Auckland and looks at the rise of her successful art, fashion and toy empire, culminating in a visit to the Taipei Toy Festival to showcase her collectable 3D characters.

The Mighty Civic
http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/the-mighty-civic-1988

The Mighty Civic is a delirious and colourful celebration of Auckland's grandest old movie palace, made at a time when the building's future was under threat. The film uses a mixture of stylised sequences, archive footage and poetic narration together with interviews with "old timers" to evoke the spirit of the theatre in its heyday. Director Peter Wells' film galvanised public support, and ultimately the building was saved and refurbished to remain the crown jewel of Queen Street's cinema district.

City Life
http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/city-life-1996

City Life follows a group of apartment-dwelling Twenty-somethings (lawyers, bar-tenders, drug-dealers, art dealers, et al) on the emotional merry-go-round of urban living. The tight-knit group of friends are thrown into conflict when one of their own decides to marry outside the circle. The television series was a conscious effort to create popular drama relevant to contemporary Auckland ‘city life' and to appeal to a Gen X demographic - to inject Melrose Place into Mt Eden.

Talkback
http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/talkback-1987

A talkback radio operator is forced to stand in for the regular host when he walks out because of a personal crisis. In between trying to answer calls, organize a replacement and discuss odd topics with a succession of callers, the flustered operator makes a surprising connection with another lost soul. Auckland's urban soul is captured with distinctive assurance in this neglected television short film from writer (with Geoff Chapple) and director Alison McLean.

Pictorial Parade No.185
http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/pictorial-parade-no185-1966

Pictorial Parade was a long-running series produced by the National Film Unit. This duo from 1966 includes, ‘Championship Golf,’ a jaunty commentary narrates the final game of a four-match series played on Auckland’s Middlemore golf course between Arnold Palmer and Bob Charles; and ‘Sounds of Progress,’ an instructional film from the Department of Health, which draws attention to the dangers of industrial noise and offers advice on how to avoid it.

About Face: Danny and Raewyn
http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/about-face-danny-and-raewyn-1985

Gritty, award-winning drama, set in Auckland suburbia. Danny and Raewyn's relationship is skating close to the edge. And so are their finances. Though the physical attraction between them remains, Raewyn is growing tired of encouraging Danny to make more effort. Then one night alcohol and memory collide with an order of black-market meat, and everything turns on its head. One of the most acclaimed episodes of the About Face series, Danny and Raewyn won funding after another episode fell through.

About Face: Universal Drive
http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/about-face-universal-drive-1985

Sean's prize possession is a 1958 red and white Ford Fairlane. His sister Annie works in an auto paint shop. But Annie is sick of playing shotgun, while her brother drives. What she wants is Sean's trust, and the chance to use her spraypainting talents to give the Fairlane a new look. After the Fairlane is stolen, the pair find themselves caught up in an adventure which tests their relationship. Writer Debra Daley based the script partly on growing up in the ‘car culture' of West Auckland.

Anzac Day Dawn Service
http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/anzac-day-dawn-service-2008

A live broadcast of the Anzac Day dawn service at Waikumete Cemetery in Auckland. This is New Zealand's largest war cemetery and a service is held here each year. This service commemorates all service personnel who have served overseas for New Zealand. Waitakere Mayor Bob Harvey speaks, Returned Services Association members, politicians and the public lay tributes. Miriama Kamo provides a commentary. This programme marked the beginning of TV ONE's Anzac Day coverage, which ran on air all day.

Gladiator: The Norm Hewitt Story
http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/gladiator-2004

Gladiator: the Norm Hewitt story is the story of former All Black hooker Norm Hewitt's battle with alcoholism and his journey to redemption. After disgracing himself, a tearful public apology became a personal "defining moment" for Hewitt: he reinvented himself as a youth worker and ambassador for Outward Bound. Directed by Michael Bennet, shot by Rewa Harre and based on the best-selling biography by Michael Laws the doco takes him to meet legendary youth worker Mama Teri on the streets of South Auckland, and chronicles Hewitt's life change.

Aotearoa Hip Hop Summit
http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/aotearoa-hip-hop-summit-2001

The Aotearoa Hip Hop Summit held in Auckland 2001, was the biggest hip hop event ever staged in New Zealand. This documentary showcases the hottest names in the 4 elements of NZ hip hop: break dancers, graf artists, MCs and DJs. Featuring international acts from Germany and Australia, with Ken Swift representing old skool break dancing from New York and Tha Liks from Los Angeles. Local acts include Che Fu, Te Kupu, King Kapisi, P Money and DJ Sirvere. Presenters are Hayden Hare and Trent Helmeright.

Nesian Mystik - For The People
http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/nesian-mystik---for-the-people-2008

This documentary charts the extraordinary success of Auckland hip hop band Nesian Mystik, from their beginnings as an inner-city school band to gold albums and international acclaim. Filmed in New Zealand, London and Tonga the documentary explores the multi-cultural roots of the band members and the inspiration for their poetic lyrics. Director Makerita Urale uses the Nesian Mystik story as a micro lens to reflect the wider picture of Māori, Pacific Island and Pakeha society in New Zealand.

bro'Town
http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/brotown-2004

This animated TV comedy series is a modern day fairytale following the adventures of five kids growing up in one of Auckland’s grungier suburbs. With a fearless and un-PC wit, it also cheekily manages to be primetime and family-friendly. This popular show is made by the production house Firehorse Films, developed from the comedy of the theatre group Naked Samoans.

Otara Markets
http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/otara-markets-2001

Otara Markets documents the biggest outdoor market in New Zealand, held every Saturday in the heart of South Auckland. Presented by Samoan writer and comedian Oscar Kightley (bro'Town, Naked Samoans, Sione's Wedding) and directed by Lisa Taouma (Senior Director Tagata Pasifika), this colourful and entertaining documentary tells the stories of the multi-cultural Polynesian, Asian, Indian and Pakeha Kiwi stall-holders and market-goers at one of the country's best known community institutions.

Regards

Brenda

Thanks, Brenda. Don't hesitate to contact me with anything new regarding Auckland or general NZ heritage in the future which you would like to promote.

College Hill, Ponsonby c.1909

Jan Tully from Melbourne has sent through another wonderful picture postcard sent by Herbert Smith to his friend Elizabeth, this one with a message on the back dated 9 October 1909.

The postcard refers to the road as "College Road", its old name. All the of the buildings visible in the photo are gone -- today, this bend (around 95 College Hill) has either late 20th century offices or bungalows. Some villas (possibly hidden by the tall trees at the left in the photo) may be the only remnants of the scene.



College Hill is a bit of a gut-buster to climb on foot, and even today's Link buses take it slow. The poor horse in the photo will be glad of a drink at the troughs on the top of the hill, I'd say. There's a blur in the background of someone crossing the road just downhill, after another horse and cart have just passed by heading down.


Of course, with my deep liking for trams, this part of Jan's photo is magical. Cross-bar trampoles all the way down the hill, and in the hazy distance the sea of buildings on the city-side of Freeman's Bay. Today, that view is dominated by the Skytower and other highrises.

Kopu Bridge, Coromandel Heritage Trust and the Treasury

I was looking around this morning for information of the Kopu Bridge (a favourite of mine and also of my dear friend Mad Bush). To quote the Wiki article:

"The Kopu Bridge is a single lane swing bridge that spans the Waihou River, near its emergence into the Firth of Thames in the Thames-Coromandel District of New Zealand's North Island. The bridge was completed in 1928 and is part of State Highway 25. The swinging span in the middle of the bridge is 43 metres long and with an overall length of 463 metres, the bridge is the longest and oldest single lane bridge within the state highway network. It is also the only surviving road bridge of the swing span type in the country and the New Zealand Historic Places Trust lists the bridge as a category 1 historic place. It is the first available crossing of the Waihou River and the main link between the Hauraki Plains and Coromandel Peninsula. Due to a gradual increase in the traffic between Auckland and the Coromandel Peninsula, by the early 1990s the bridge became the most heavily used single lane bridge in the country with, traffic volumes exceeding 4,000 vehicles per day. Traffic flow over the bridge is controlled by traffic lights and the bridge is notorious for queues which form during peak times such as holiday weekends."

Good news is, that while the national transport authorities will be building a new bridge,(due to start this year), they won't be wrecking the old one. Not just yet.

Anyway -- I found The Treasury while looking for old photos of the bridge. The Coromandel Heritage Trust are a new entry onto the history field, and I think their website's worth a bit of a browse through. Yes, it's also another link I'll add to the ol' left hand column.

Blockhouse Bay heritage walks brochure

Received this in the mail this week from the Blockhouse Bay Historical Society -- and thought I'd give it a bit of a plug (that, and my name was included on the inside front cover).

The latest in what Auckland City Council term their "family of brochures", this is packed with early photos of the Bay from the Society's collection, along with facts and anecdotes about places along the walks.

Should be available free from libraries within Auckland City. I'm sure if you asked Blockhouse Bay Historical Society nicely (link on the list at the left), they'd help out any out-of-towners interested.

Oh, and I'll add a plug for my Society's own brochure, brought out in 2006. That's also free, and available from the usual places, along with the Avondale Business Association and the Avondale-Waterview Historical Society.

Matamata 5: Agricultural miscellany

These are items on display at the Firth Tower Museum, Matamata.

Double furrow straight mouldboard plough. A mouldboard plough in use today.



Hay Bale Loader. How to build one.


Reid and Grey (Dunedin) Cultivator. "Used to work up the soil after ploughing, tractor drawn," according to the name tag.


Grader, used in road making. Originally horse-drawn, later adapted to be pulled by tractor.

Massey-Harris hay mower. From the tag: "Horse drawn. The cutter bar was lowered and the triangular knives moved back and forth cutting the grass and laying it in a line or 'swath' so that it could dry in the sun. Later a turner would be used to help dry the hay evenly before being put on the stack. Sharpening the mower blades was a frequent task for the farmer."

Light cultivator. "Originally horse drawn, but modified to be pulled by a tractor. Used in market gardening or for deep rooted row crops such as potatoes."


Tine harrows. "Used after ploughing instead of discs to work up the soil. The spikes (tines) break up lumps in the soil. The sections fold up for easy storage and transport. Tractor drawn."


Cultivator. "Used on rough ground for deep cultivation for planting potatoes or other deep rooted crops. The springs allow the tines to ride over obstacles such as rocks or stumps. This machine was tractor drawn. "


McEwen deep well beam water pump. "Used to pump water from a well."


Hay stacker. Here's a similar one from America, 1940s.

Whenuapai Liberator crashes, c.1943

Image from Wiki.

Jayne posted this comment to the Kaimai Crash post:

"There was another tv show called Secrets of NZ which documented a shocking plane crash of civilians classed as enemy aliens in WW2.
It was covered up for a long time (haven't been able to find anything online so far) apparently the plane crashed shortly after take off in NZ and all on board were killed, pilots, civilians, the whole lot.
From memory it was an American plane and the bodies were just taken away and buried. They spoke to a couple of witnesses who were still upset at the fate of the children."

I responded:

"The closest I can come to this is apparently the crash of a US Liberator at Whenuapai where some Japanese interned in NZ from Tonga were on board. A book was apparently written about it: here."

I called a friend and fellow researcher tonight who knows a fair bit about Whenuapai's history, and asked for more info.

Apparently, there were two Liberator crashes at Whenuapai airport c.1943 (which, during World War II, was Auckland's only main airport). One remains classified -- but the bombs on board when it crashed are said to have been heard all over Auckland. The other involved the civilian casualties.

According to the researcher, those on board included Japanese and Taiwanese, brought in from all over the Pacific, and apparently they were involved in a planned exchange for allied troops. The bodies after the crash were cremated secretly at night, then the ashes were stored, and returned to their respective countries only after the war.

All around, a sad incident.

Update, September 2010: Further post on the Whenuapai wartime accidents, here.

J. C. Firth's Matamata Tower

The tower is the centrepiece of the Firth Tower Museum at Matamata, and quite rightly so.

"Some day, as likely as not, there will be a story of adventurous New Zealand written around a certain relic of pioneering days at Matamata, the tall square tower built by the first white settler of the district, Mr. J. C. Firth. It stands in the old homestead grounds at Matamata, between the modern busy little town and the Waihou River. It is nowadays a true “ivy-mantled tower,” and I can well imagine that its thick and tangled garment of foliage harbours a moping owl that “doth to the moon complain.” It looks a place for moreporks. On the day I visited it the leafage that densely covered the concrete hold was humming with bees, busy about its sweet sticky flowerets. So luxuriously have the creepers grown that it is not easy from a distance to make out the square of the tower; it resembles a close grown grove of trees.

“Firth's Tower,” standing alongside the old station homestead, is of comparatively modern construction; it was intended as a kind of baronial keep, perhaps, by J. C. Firth when it was built in the early Eighties, for there was then no danger of attack by hostile Maoris. It replaced a timber tower built in the ‘Sixties, when there was real fear of the Hauhaus; this building was burned down. It could stand a little siege to-day. This loopholed concrete tower with walls eighteen inches thick would be safe against fire as well as firearms.

"The square tower is nearly fifty feet high and is sixteen feet square. There are two floors above the ground floor and on top there was a small watch-tower. The upper parts are pierced for rifle fire. These firing apertures are about fifteen inches long by four inches wide on the outside; they slant inward to larger dimensions, in order to give play to the defenders' rifles, after the usual design in the old military blockhouses. A stairway, now removed, gave access to the upper storeys.

"Firth's Tower seems to have been modelled somewhat after the plan of the old stone keeps and peels on the Scottish border, such towers as those to which the merry raiders retired after harrying their neighbours, and within which they were safe as long as food and water held out. Some day it may figure as a rallying place and refuge for the local farming community—in a romantic New Zealand cinema thriller."

"Firth's Tower at Matamata", The New Zealand Railways Magazine, 1 June 1935.

A view looking up at the topmost level, accessible by ladder, which I did not go up, being a scaredy-cat history buff and genuinely concerned about the effect of gravity.

They told me (those among the brave clan) that the views up there are magic, though.


Then again, the views from the level just below weren't all that bad.



Above are the steps I carefully, and not all that elegantly, made my way down. Lucky my mental block is about slopes, not heights.

And here is the standard shot of the tower, built c.1881. Almost immediately after it was finished, by 1885 Firth was selling honey from his estate's beehives bearing the "Tower" brand. I reckon that makes the Matamata Tower one of New Zealand's most enduring advertising features. One of the biggest, as well.