America’s man in Auckland: John D’Arcy Connolly

Image from Cyclopedia of New Zealand (1902)

Researching for the post on the Leading Wind fire and aftermath, and reading the somewhat fiery letter to the NZ Herald editor by the then American consul, I started wondering just what lay behind Mr. Connolly of the U.S. Diplomatic Service. Quite a bit, as I’ve found out. He certainly sounds like one of our country’s forgotten friends.

John D’Arcy Connolly was born in 1854 in County Galway, Ireland. The Connolly family had to leave Ireland in 1867, on account of John’s father Daniel’s affiliation with the Fenian movement, and they journeyed to America. There, John Connolly found work in the coal mines of Pennsylvania, on steam boats and railroad-building in the middle west of the country. Travelling to California, he eventually took charge of the railroad section at Occidental, in California and married Georgina Gilman Blaney. The couple had three daughters.

Connolly’s career of public service began in 1884 with his appointment by the Californian Governor to a vacancy on the board of supervisors of Sonoma County. He served until January 1889 when President Grover Cleveland sent his name for appointment as the United States consul to New Zealand. On the promotion of J. T. Campbell to a post on China, Connolly succeeded him as the American consul based in Auckland from early 1889. (Evening Post, 7 February 1889) He arrived on the Mariposa at Auckland on 31 March 1889, and provisionally recognised by the Government as United States Consul for New Zealand at Auckland in April.

According to a history of Sonoma County, compiled in 1911 (which included a chapter on him):

“Mr. Connolly’s official career in the Antipodes is an honorable and successful one. Starting in on his new duties, he appreciated the responsibility of the position. All his life his days had been passed in a struggle with adversity. He did not have even a fair common school training, and, as he says, about all he knew was how to tackle a job of hard work. His knowledge of diplomacy and statecraft was exceedingly vague, and he was not asleep to the fact that the British Colonials are far advanced in the science of practical government … Here was a delicate situation for an untrained man, and a place where an injudicious act might place himself and his government in a false position.”

Still, Connolly didn’t do a bad job at all of keeping to the diplomatic middle-ground. While he was of Irish birth and descent (and with his father having had a background with the Fenians), Connolly maintained as much of a diplomatic line in the murky waters of the Home Rule question as possible.

“A committee meeting of the Irish Delegates Reception Committee] was held in the Catholic Institute last evening [May 22], and was numerously attended …

The following letter from the American Consul was read :— Auckland, N.Z. May 18th, 1889. Messrs M. J. Sheehan and Wm. Jennings, Hon. Secretaries, etc. Gentlemen, — Your kind note of the 16th inst. at hand, requesting permission to add my name to the Reception Committee, who are to receive the Irish delegates upon their arrival in Auckland. I wish you would express my sincere thanks to the members of the Committee for their kind consideration. Under ordinary circumstances, I certainly would esteem it an honour to have my name identified among the gentlemen who have been appointed to receive the illustrious "Irish Patriots," who are about to visit New Zealand. I regret exceedingly that l am compelled (for obvious reasons) to fore go the honour and pleasure the granting of such a simple request would undoubtedly afford me. I am here the humble representative of a people and a country who, I presume, it is unnecessary for me to state, has always taken a keen interest in the welfare of Ireland, and who has contributed materially toward whatever success may have attended the efforts of those who have been and are to-day doing battle in their country's cause. Rest assured that the sympathy shown by the American people in the past for the oppressed in Ireland will continue unabated. But while the Americans generally entertain the liveliest interest in your ultimate success, the settled policy of the Government is that of non-interference on the part of its representatives abroad with the social or political affairs of the countries to which they may be accredited. Therefore I deem it advisable and prudent (though I do so regretfully) to respectfully decline, lest acquiescence on my part might be misconstrued and thereby lead to unnecessary and unpleasant complications. Were l in the capacity of a private citizen I could gladly and cheerfully accept an invitation to honour and welcome Mr Dillon and his distinguished compatriots, or any man who has the cause of long-suffering Ireland at heart. These gentlemen are devoting their lives and their fortunes in laudable efforts to ameliorate the condition of their unhappy countrymen. Truly they are deserving of such a reception and kind treatment as only the generous and liberty loving people of Auckland can, and will I am sure, afford them. I trust that every man, not only in Auckland, but throughout New Zealand generally, who has the cause of human liberty in their breast, will not only lend their presence on such occasions as may be offered them to hear those distinguished gentlemen in other parts of the colony, but will also contribute of their means. And I sincerely hope the day may not be far distant when peace, happiness, and contentment will reign in Ireland where utter wretchedness, ill treatment, poverty and misrule has so long hold sway. — I have the honour to be, gentlemen, faithfully yours, Jno. D. Connolly, U.S. Consul.”

(Te Aroha News, 25 May 1889)

Still, Connolly’s actions and words in the British colonies attracted some doubts in his own homeland.

“Referring to the sympathy publicly shown by the United States Consul of Auckland to the Irish National League, the Republican Standard of New Bedford, Mass. Writes: “Evidently Mr Connolly is more of an Irishman than an American, and however much we may sympathise with the Irish in their endeavours to gain Home Rule for their country; we think that the representatives of the American nation should hold themselves aloof from anything tending to show a partiality in a matter concerning the politics of the country in which they hold office."

(Bruce Herald, 6 September 1889)

But in Auckland, in the main, he was well liked.

“With this issue we present our readers with an excellent portrait of Mr John D'Arcy Connolly, the United States Consul for Auckland. He arrived in the colony on the 30th March last, and in the interim has done good service for New Zealand by sending home most complimentary, reports on her vast resources, which should do much towards increasing the trade between this colony and the land of the Stars and Stripes. Mr Connolly hails from California, where his wife and family reside, but as his name implies, is of Irish parentage. He is a comparatively young man, being only 34 years of age, and is brimful of energy or "get " as our "Murkan " friends would term it. He is an ardent admirer of Home Rule for Ireland, and thinks the day is not far distant when such a result will come about. In American politics Mr Connolly is what is known as a Democrat, but this is his first appointment in the Consular .ervices, although he has ably filled other State positions. In manner he is one of the most unobtrusive of men, and should make heaps of friends in New Zealand.”

(Observer, 5 October 1889)

Part of his popularity may well have been derived from the several glowing reports to his bosses in Washington as to the state of the colony here. New Zealanders have always warmed to those who say nice things about us.

"Consul Connolly, in his report to the United States Government, says :— " I have no hesitancy in saying that I believe New Zealand will in a few years rank first among the colonies of Australasia owing to her wonderful natural resources and climate." So mote it be! "

(Observer, 16 November 1889)

“Mr J. D. Connolly, the American Consul at Auckland, reporting to the United States Government on the commerce and resources of this Colony, states in the chapter devoted to trade that "the advance is indicative of a healthier and more satisfactory condition of trade than has existed for several years past. For a man with a little capital desirous of taking up land, I know of no better country. There is a healthy and perceptible reaction setting in. Confidence and self-reliance are doing for the people of New Zealand now what the Government sought to do for them, and did to some extent — viz., the building up of a great and prosperous people in this the richest and fairest Colony of them all, and the development of her wonderful natural resources. All that is required is capital to develop these latent resources, and a healthy system of immigration to settle upon the lands, together with continued economy in the administration of governmental affairs. I have no hesitancy in saying that I believe New Zealand will in a few years rank first among the Colonies of Australasia, owing to her wonderful natural resources and climate." The report is supplemented by numerous statistical tables. It is apparent that Consul Connolly intends to follow in the footsteps of his predecessor.”

(Christchurch Star, 25 November 1889)

The Leading Wind incident in 1891 and his reactions to it, however, did not enamour him in the eyes of some here in NZ.

“TERRIBLE OUTRAGE ON AMERICAN FEELING.
An international difficulty between Now Zealand and the United States, diplomatic relations strained, and the Stars and Stripes insulted ! This seems to be the result of the recent outbreak of fire on the American ship Leading Wind, in Auckland. A firm of "durned colonial Britishers" has dared to invoke the aid of the law to enforce security for a debt claimed from an American citizen, and to use legal process to prevent his giving leg bail. This outrageous proceeding has wounded the tender national susceptibilities of the American Consul, Mr. Connolly, and has led him to modify the opinions he had, he informs us, formed as to the friendly sentiments between the people of New Zealand and those of his great country. We feel deeply grieved at this. There is nothing that New Zealand values higher, we are sure, than Mr. Connolly's good opinion. Our future fate hangs upon it, and we can only hope that His Excellency the Governor will at once tender to Mr. Connolly his personal apologies, as well as those of the Sovereign he represents, and the colony be governs, for the outrage committed in allowing a Colonial Sheriff to lay sacreligious hands on the sacred person of a Yankee skipper.

Unfortunately, "it's a way we have in the colony" of letting the law take its ordinary course, irrespective of persons. We trust to writs and sheriffs, instead of to Judge Lynch. Perhaps it might have been more in accord with Mr. Consul Connolly's ideas of the fitness of things had the Christchurch merchants taken the law into their own hands to obtain payment or security from Captain Hinckley. But he was treated just as a British captain or a member of any other nationality would be treated under similar circumstances. This is the head and front of our offending, and this is what has wounded the national susceptibilities of Mr. Consul Connolly. The idea that the feelings of the respective peoples of New Zealand and the United States of America are involved or represented in this transaction is really too good. It is simply delicious. Captain Hinckley may be a smart man, although in this case the Britisher has succeeded in inflicting upon him the indignity of being held to bail; but Mr. Connolly has fairly written himself down— a Consul. Roman history, we believe, furnishes a very near precedent for the office being so filled. A certain Emperor made his horse a Consul. The United States has appointed Mr. Connolly."

(Evening Post, 27 April 1891)

Still, he was a part of NZ society, controversies or no. He attended meetings of the Auckland Rowing Club, gave addresses to members of the St. Patrick’s Literary Society, and was even, for a time, President and Steward of the Auckland Trotting Club. The Sonoma County history says that “twice the Liberal and Labor committees visited him at the consulate and wanted him to resign his position and stand for Parliament for the city of Auckland. He was given to understand that in the race he would be unopposed and would be offered a portfolio in the New Zealand Ministry within three months after his election. But the Irish-American citizen, though taking an intense unofficial interest in English-Colonial affairs, preferred Uncle Sam to Queen Victoria.”

Yet another report to the US (possibly a bit on the propoganda side):

“Mr Connolly, U.S. Consul at Auckland, contributes to his Government a report on "Organised Labour in New Zealand." He summarises the condition of labour, the legislation relating thereto, the position and influence of unions, and comes to the conclusion that the New Zealand labourer is, "perhaps as comfortable as any of his class in the world . . . He works less hours m the week and receives more pay in proportion to the number of hours than he would in most countries. He is well housed and clothed; in fact, he is well provided for in every respect. He is not degraded because he toils for a livelihood. His children are educated at the expense of the State."

(Timaru Herald, 28 May 1891)

Through Connolly, the American government were even apprised of details of Hannaford’s lighthouse design.

"In the American Exporter for October last, published at New York, there is a leading article on ' Electric Lighthouses,' which is entirely devoted to a consideration of the Hannaford Light.

From that article we learn that the U.S. Department of State had instructed Consul Connolly of Auckland to keep it posted on the progress of the invention, and we quote from a report made by Mr Connolly in June last: —

'”It appears that Mr Hannaford had not patented his invention at the time of his death, but would have done so had be been possessed of the means necessary to defray the expenses. It also appears that, owing to the death of the inventor, some minor details remain unperfected. . . His widow exhibited the working model, but there were none of the mechanical appliances attached except the bell and windmill ; the former sounds an alarm at each revolution of the windmill. Should the other portions of the mechanism prove as satisfactory as the windmill and bell, there can be little doubt as to its practicability. . . I may say in conclusion that 'the iron tower windmill and bell appeared to be feasible, cheap, and easily erected. Should the electrical feature prove satisfactory,' success is almost certain.”

As we always stood up for the merits of Mr Hannaford's invention, it gives us pleasure to find those merits recognised by the 'cute’ Americans. No doubt, a lighthouse on Hannaford's principle will soon be an accomplished fact."

(Observer, 1 January 1892)

Connolly’s comments on New Zealand’s land laws were contained in a private letter to a friend in America, published in the States, then republished here in 1895.

“NEW ZEALAND LAWS.
THE CONDITION OF AFFAIRS IN THIS COLONY.
The following interesting letter, written by Mr J. D. Connolly, United States Consul at Auckland, was sent as a private communication to America to a friend there, who had it published, however, m the columns of the American press : — "The land laws of this country are unique, having no parallel in the modern world, that I am aware of. Of the extension of the franchise to women I can only say that the experiment has proved eminently successful, even beyond the thoughts of the most enthusiastic advocates. Her first effort has raised the moral tone and purified to a large extent the moral atmosphere of politics. Woman has demonstrated here that she is disinterested, unselfish and worthy of the political confidence reposed in her.

As to the country having drifted into Socialism, as you seem to think, it is only fair to say that there is very little need, of apprehension m that respect, at least for the present. At the same time it cannot be denied that the tendency, of legislation appears to be pointing that way. If it be Socialism to relieve the poor, the working man, the artisan and the struggling small farmer and the mechanic from the burdens of taxation as much as possible, and compel the monopolist, the land-grabber, the purse-proud and the affluent members of society to bear the weight of the expense of government, then Socialism is certainly is full swing here.

If it be Socialism to shorten the hours of labour to eight per day, and give him a half holiday in every week, besides at least half-a-dozen full holidays m the year under full pay, thus affording him more time for rest, recreation, and intellectual development than is enjoyed by his fellow-workers m any part of the world, then, indeed, it is undeniable that Socialism is rampant in New Zealand. If it be Socialism to compel the admission of more pure air and genial sunshine into the workroom and factory, under Government supervision, to teach the labourers their rights and how to lawfully and peaceably obtain them, to force the, earth-grabber to either sell, subdivide or improve his land so it will produce what nature intended it should thereby administering to the wants of the people, or place the land within the reach of those who desire homes—if this be Socialism then indeed are the people of this country blessed beyond all other for all I have enumerated, and more, are they enjoying to the fullest extent today.

There is a general diffusion of wealth, no great poverty, and not a single millionaire so far as I know. Although legislation does not directly interfere with the laudable accumulation of thrift and industry, yet there is no denying that the general tendency is towards checking, if not absolutely preventing, the acquisition of vast estates in the hands of individuals or companies to the detriment of the people. This cannot in any sense be called Socialism. The men who have inaugurated these honest, Christian reforms are not animated by any spirit of Socialism, but by a sincere desire to promote the universal welfare, to resist the aggression of the strong and lend a helping hand to the weak and lowly. You may call these principles by that name if you choose, but the facts are as herein stated."

(Timaru Herald, 16 April 1895)

Connolly made a formal consular report on the “Land, Labor and Taxation Laws of New Zealand”, which, according to the Sonoma County history, “attracted world-wide attention.” It led to calls in the U.S. for Connolly’s removal as Consul, but his defenders in Washington fought back, singing his praises. He left New Zealand finally in 1897, lamented by many, including the Catholic NZ Tablet newspaper.

“[30 September] Mr. John D’arcy Connolly, United States Consul in Auckland, to-day relinquishes his office to his successor, Mr. Dillingham. For the last eight years he carried out his consular duties in Auckland. A profound feeling of sorrow and regret at the loss of Mr. Connolly has been manifested by the general public of all classes to whom he has endeared himself by his sterling manliness and unflinching' adherence at all times to his principles. To the old Faith he is inseparably bound, and to the land of his birth, dear old Ireland, he is equally attached. A democrat amongst democrats, he places implicit reliance upon the masses. He will be sadly missed in Auckland, where it will be a long time before an equal to him can be found. To Auckland, and the Colony generally, he has been of incalculable service by reason of his clear and intelligent consular reports in which Maoriland has been repeatedly and eloquently lauded. Though kind to us our climate has been cruel to him, because his health has suffered severely. Mr. Connolly stays with us until the end of the present year when he leaves for his home in Sonoma County, California.”

(New Zealand Tablet, 8 October 1897)

According to Connolly, he once overheard a NZ MHR, an absentee landlord at a time when Connolly was making his views on such things known in Wellington. The unnamed MHR is said to have said:

“This man Connolly is a blawsted hanerchist, and ‘as through ‘is writings and damned-fool speeches raised more ‘ell in New Zealand than all the others put together. ‘E ‘as the ear of this fool government and can get anything ‘e wants. The fellow ‘ad ought to be recalled and deported. ‘E is a menace and a disturbing element.”

The history (in .pdf) goes on: “After ten years’ service in Auckland Mr. Connolly was relieved during the McKinley administration by Frank Dillingham … When the experts of the Treasury Department had cast up his accounts for ten years it was found that eight cents were due him. This he received in a treasury draft, and his bondsmen … were discharged. That eight cents can be said to be Mr. Connolly’s net earnings from his official employment in the diplomatic service of the United States, but while he returned poorer, he returned wiser than when he went away; and he also returned with the love and friendship of thousands of people he met in the far Antipodes.” Poorer in some ways, perhaps, but while he was here, he took out 500 shares in at least one NZ goldmining company.

He ran for office under the Democrat ticket for the Californian assembly, but was defeated. He went on to become the host of the Altamont Hotel in Occidental, Sonoma County, and died in 1920. He lies buried at Druids Cemetery, Occidental.

(From the Observer, 17 August 1895)

The Missing Word

Click on image to enlarge.

On 11 March 1893, the Observer held this particular "missing word" competition -- on the topic of female suffrage.

"Our second Missing Word Competition is now open. Competition No. 1 was a much greater success than we anticipated it would be. But we fully expect our second competition to result in at least twice as many guesses coming to hand. Any purchaser of the Observer who can correctly supply the word missing from the paragraph on the subjoined coupon — which coupon is to be cut out and forwarded to the Observer, accompanied by one shilling-— will be paid the total amount received in response to this advertisement. Should there be more than one successful competitor, the total amount received will be divided amongst such successful competitors pro rata. The missing word is placed in a sealed envelope in the custody of the manager of the National Bank of New Zealand, Auckland, and the contents are known only to the Editor of this paper. When the prizes are awarded, the winning word and the names and addresses of the successful competitors will be published in the Observer. Should it happen that no one succeeds in naming the word, the whole of the money will be added to that of the succeeding competition, particulars of which will duly appear. The sum of one shilling may be forwarded by Post-office order, postal note, or stamps ; when the latter are sent, an additional penny to be added for exchange."

(18 March 1893)

The topic wasn't what caused a ruckus at the time (although, if held today, it would have) -- it was the nature of the competition itself. The newspaper ran into a spot of legal bother by early April as it was seen by the authorities as being a lottery and a form of illicit gambling. Both of which were frowned upon in an era of gambling crackdown.

"In reference to Mr. Justice Stirling's judgment the Daily Graphic says :— At last it has been judicially decided that " missing word" competitions are an infringement of the Statute against Lotteries. It is difficult to understand how anyone could have seriously maintained the contrary opinion. The competitors were desired to complete a sentence by the addition not of the most appropriate word, but of a word selected at random, and upon no intelligible system, by the stakeholder ; and, as a matter of fact, the winning word in the particular contest considered by the Court of Chancery was almost the least appropriate that could have been selected. Something or other was " most unaccountable;" but unaccountable is an adjective which does not admit of degree, and the particular phenomenon to which it was arbitrarily applied can be accounted for without any difficulty whatever. The competition, therefore, was a game of chance, if ever there was one ; and, as it was a kind of game that brought speculation within the reach of tho poorest and the youngest, and held out strong and peculiar temptations to petty larceny, most people will agree that the country is well rid of it."

(Evening Post, 18 April 1893)

"Readers will look in vain for our missing word coupon this week. The fact is that the head of the police department in Wellington has given us the choice of leaving it out of the paper or testing the legality of the missing word competition in a court of law. We are satisfied that the competition is not contrary to law, but at the same time we derive no benefit from it, and consequently don't feel disposed to go to the expense of fighting a case in Court. The test would cost us a great deal; it would cost the other side nothing. We shall keep faith with our readers in terms of Previous announcements. All the letters received up till Saturday night will be opened next week and the names of the winners in what must be our last competition announced in our next issue."

(8 April 1893)

And the answer?

"Our last missing word competition having closed, Mr A. E. Devore opened the sealed envelopes on Monday afternoon and found the word to be "odd". A total of 375 coupons were sent in, of which eight were correct. The dividend is therefore £2 6s 10 1/2 d. A. White, care of T. Bishop, Ponsonby, sent in no less than three correct coupons. The other winners were: H. W. Varley, Waierangahika, Grisborne ; F. G. Henry, Mount Eden ; R. Falcon, Grey-street, Auckland ; A. Harris, Wellington ; Miss E. Hetherington, Scarboro' Terrace, Parnell. No further competition will take place for reasons already stated."

(15 April 1893)

"Our last missing word competition was very interesting in so far as it tended to show the feelings of many of our subscribers concerning female suffrage. The preponderating weight of opinion was against woman's franchise, and quite a number of people risked their shillings to give expression to their belief that the result would probably be disastrous. Quite a number thought the result would be prohibition."

(15 April 1893)

It sounded all a bit like the old "Spot the Ball" competitions to me, really ...

Incivility at a Post Office in Huntly, 1891

If anyone thinks that customer service is at times somewhat lacking from today's government departments, spare a thought for the hierarchical attitude to service shown by some civil servants in late Victorian colonial New Zealand. This is a letter published by the NZ Herald, 31 March 1891.

"Sir, -

The incivility and abruptness of Government officials reaches an absurd point at times. To-day I went with a friend to the post office. After waiting ten minutes the head and chief, who is also station master, came forward to see what we wanted. My friend asked for a postal note, putting down the rerquired amount. He was informed that he could not get it as there was too much to do.

My friend then explained that he wanted to catch the mail leaving here at a quarter past two p.m., and it would put him to great inconvenience if he missed it.

"It cannot be helped," said the official; "I have too much to do."

We then asked for any letters and papers for ourselves, which we got. The head official left us, and a junior coming up to the counter, we asked him to attend to us. He coolly said, "Mr. Duncan has gone out, and you will have to wait until a quarter past two o'clock, and then he will attend to you." This was at half-past one p.m.

Fancy anyone being put off for an hour (for it was twenty minutes past one when we first arrived at the post office) to obtain a postal note and then miss the mail into the bargain. Mr friend immediately wrote to the Chief Postmaster at Auckland about the matter. It appears it is not the first time people have been put to inconvenience and trouble through the inattention of the post officials here.

I am, &c., L., Huntly, March 28th, 1891."

A singular fire: horse tram blaze, Epsom, 1891

This from the NZ Herald, 6 April 1891.

A singular fire took place shortly after midnight on Friday at the Potter's Paddock tramway depot [today's Alexandra Park raceway] of the Auckland Tramway Company.

It appears that the late car was run in in a siding at fifty-five minutes past eleven, and the lamp left turned down so as to show as a danger signal if any trap or person came near. The night stableman (John Sayers) went on with his duty of washing down the cars, and the night watchman (Mills) was also engaged inside the depot.

While they were busy one of Ambury and English's milkmen came past and informed the men that the car outside the shed was on fire and blazing away.

They rushed out to see what steps could be taken to suppress the fire, but they were unable to do anything as the car was blazing furiously and the water supply at a distance. It is believed that, owing to the very gusty weather that night, the flame was driven down the lamp, causing it to explode, and as the carriage was of American make, of white pine, it at once went like matchwood. Little is left save the flooring.

Fortunately, the car is covered by insurance in the New Zealand Insurance Company's office. A new one will be at once built. The moral of the incident is -- insure, for it is the unexpected that happens."

Blogs about Auckland's buses and trains

Having a bit of a nosey at the Eye on Auckland blog just now, I found a link to the Auckland Trains blog (with a history page on our region's patchy rail story), and from there I've found a blog about stories by an Auckland bus user, Auckland Bus Stories.

Both worth a look.

Fire on the "Leading Wind", 1891

Image from Barnstable and Yarmouth, sea captains and ship owners (1913), by Frank William Sprague & Leavitt Sprague.

Fire, flax, scuttling, and a (nearly) international diplomatic incident – this is the story of the Leading Wind in Auckland in 1891.

At around 11.30 on the night of 22 January that year, a fire was first noticed amongst the gum and flax bales in the cargo hold of an American-owned full-rigged 1,128 ton ship, launched 1874 in Maine, named the Leading Wind. At the time, the Leading Wind was still in the process, since earlier that month, of being loaded at the No. 2 Jetty at Queen Street Wharf. Captain Francis M Hinckley from New York, one of the ship’s owners, had retired to his berth half an hour before, but finding he wasn’t sleepy, got up again and, as luck would have it, was just heading back to the cabin when a member of the crew gave the alarm. Smoke was seen “rising up from the fore-hold, oozing through the hatchway.” Customs, Auckland Harbour Board officials and fire brigade members were soon on the scene. The usual crowd of onlookers was evident at the wharf, but a fire in the small hours of early morning meant the numbers weren’t as high as they might have been.

With 3,500 bales of flax and about 700 cases of kauri gum on board, all the firemen could do was remove the fore-hatch and pour as much water down into the hold as possible – so much so that the ship began to list about 25 degrees away from the wharf. Still the fire raged down below, no amount of pumped water able to get to the seat of the flames. After a couple of hours, a hurried consultation between Captain Hinckley, Mr. C. V. Houghton of the NZ Shipping Company (the local agents for the Leading Wind), and the harbourmaster Captain Burgess that the best action to take would be to scuttle the ship. Superintendent Hughes of the fire brigade was alone in the opinion that the ship should be scuttled where she was at the wharf, in 26 feet of water, but Captain Burgess was concerned in case the fire should spread to Harbour Board property at the wharf. The Calliope Dock at Devonport was one suggested site for the scuttling, but time was against that option.

At 5 o’clock in the morning, nearly six hours after the fire was first reported, the Leading Wind was hauled out from the wharf into the stream by the P.S. Victoria, the tug Rotoiti and the S.S. Despatch, past the end of Hobson Street wharf, and out to the entrance of Freeman’s Bay. The P. S. Brittania joined the scene, and there, once the tugs were clear of the ship, the ship’s carpenter and others from shore began to cut holes in the hull. After another couple of hours, “a great hole four feet long by three or four inches wide on the starboard side aft had been cut, and this was the first to admit the water, which began to pour into the hold steadily and in considerable volume. With all speed four other holes were cut, two on her port and two on her starboard side, of considerable size, and the ship began slowly but surely to settle down. Being of wood it took only a comparatively short time to scuttle her.”

By ten o’clock the Leading Wind reached the harbour’s bottom, with most of the fire extinguished – except for part forward of the fore-hatch, which still smouldered through the afternoon, until the high tide finished it off. At five pm, tenders were called for the refloating and salvage work. The Leading Wind was successfully refloated three days later. By the beginning of April, she had been sold to a Captain Savory for £2150, and set sail again two weeks later.

A coronial inquiry into the cause of the fire on board the Leading Wind was supposed to have been held sometime towards the end of January or early February. Inexplicably, the official inquiry didn’t take place until 20 April, after the ship had been raised, repaired, sold, and Captain Hinckley had sorted out all but one of the local interests in the ship and its damaged cargo. Even then, the only verdict was an open one, possibly spontaneous combustion of improperly treated flax, but even that option was ruled out later by government analysts. All bills of lading for the cargo, except one, were by April deposited in New York, awaiting final accounting with regard to insurances.

The one exception was Wood, Shand & Co of Christchurch, who had arranged shipment of 1,298 bales of flax on the Leading Wind in January, valued at £3,100. They demanded not only the proceeds of the sale of their damaged stock, but also a further £1,200 from the general insurance average upon the ship. On 25 April, they applied in the Auckland Supreme Court for a writ of arrest against Captain Hinckley to prevent him from leaving the colony until he had provided security of payment.

In fiery response, the American Consul in Auckland at the time, John D. Connolly, wrote the following letter to the NZ Herald:

“Sir, --

“During my brief stay in Auckland I have endeavoured to the utmost of my ability, to promote the most friendly commercial relations between this colony and the country I have the honour to represent. I have upon all occasions when could honourably and consistently do so, written and spoken in the most favourable terms of New Zealand. I have done this from a sense of duty, believing as I do, that every effort should be made by the people of both hemispheres to encourage those sentiments of friendship and mutual esteem which should ever characterise the actions of those through whose veins courses the blood of a common ancestry.I regret to say that recent events compel me to modify my opinions as to the existence here of those friendly sentiments I have just mentioned …

“I have refrained as far as possible from unnecessarily obtruding in the adjustment of this most unfortunate affair, believing the honour and keen sense of justice of those concerned would aid them in determining the proper and most honourable course for them to pursue. In this I am exceedingly sorry to say I was mistaken; nor is it to the credit of those through whose practice I am forced to this conclusion. In most civilised countries, when such misfortune befalls a vessel belonging to a friendly people, every facility and kindness is afforded the master or owner to get him out of his difficulty as pleasantly and agreeably as possible. In this case, however, it is positively painful to observe the treatment Captain Hinckley has received at the hands of the Auckland Underwriters Association, and I may as well include the New Zealand Shipping Company who, by the way, were acting as agents for the Leading Wind …

“Instead of that sympathetic and courteous assistance which an American naturally expects from a British community under such trying circumstances, Captain Hinckley was harrassed, obstructed, and annoyed at every conceivable point, and finally to cap the climax, a summons has been issued from the Supreme Court, praying for his arrest and imprisonment unless he performs certain acts which at this late date are entirely beyond his power … This is friendship with a vengeance! I hope this is not a true Briton’s idea of justice. If it is, I confess it is wholly at variance with the high opinion I have heretofore entertained of his sense of fairplay.”

A day after Connolly wrote his lengthy plea for British fairplay in Auckland, Captain Hinckley was arrested and detained on Saturday 25 April 1891, with Connolly being a vociferous and protesting witness to the whole affair. Captain Hinckley was boarding the mail steamer Alameda at the time, to return to America with his wife.

The Observer described the whole saga as a farce.

“I was a stranger and ye run me in !' Such may be the exclamation of Capt. Hinckley of the ship Leading Wind, as he summarises the treatment he has received in Auckland. He has been violently arrested when about to leave the colony, because a civil claim for damages was laid against him, three months after the fire on board his ship in Auckland Harbour ; and in addition to the bad impression which a stranger thus obtains of Colonial manners and customs, there will in all likelihood be an international difficulty created, which will lead to considerable trouble and expense to all concerned.

“From the time of the fire down to the present moment, all connected with the Leading Wind has been a comedy of errors. The holding of an inquest three months after the fire was in itself a farce, made of the ' screaming ' order by the fact of a medical coroner and a jury of grocers, tailors, &c., inquiring into an occurrence that required all the acumen of nautical experts to unravel. Some of the men connected with the ship lost good situations by being detained to give evidence, and of course the jury could only find that the fire took place by the visitation of God, or something of that sort.

“I really wonder that the intelligent jury did not fall back on the ‘incendiary rat ' theory, which has often proved so useful at inquests on Auckland fires. They got the straight tip, but obstinately refused to smell a rat. Robert Moore, a lumper employed loading the vessel, stated that on the 22nd January, about ten o'clock in the morning, he saw a rat come out from the lower hold. The animal seemed quite stupid, so much so that one of the men picked it up. The hair was all turned the wrong way, and it was quite wet as from sweat apparently. Mr. Moore's evidence ended with the statement that the fire broke out that very night.

“Now, I have no doubt that, had he been cross-examined with a small modicum of acuteness, he would have added that the rat had a prophetic air about it — that it strove to speak, but could only articulate ' Ugg, ugg, ugg,’ or words to that effect, that it then turned pale, gazed vacantly into space, and wrapping itself in the Stars and Stripes gave up the ghost. That rat was a loyal American rat, and it wanted to save Captain Hinckley and his men from all the annoyance that has come upon them through a fire caused by a band of low colonial rats. I am a New Zealander, but in this case my sympathies are with the American citizens who have been so harshly dealt with. “

(2 May 1891)

Eventually, a security was lodged, and Captain and Mrs. Hinckley finally left Auckland on 23 May.

Some interesting link found while gathering info for this post:

Ships on Fire (from Rootsweb)

Barnstable and Yarmouth, sea captains and ship owners (1913), Frank William Sprague & Leavitt Sprague.

Captain Hinckley came from a long line of sea captains from Barnstable, Maine, and surrounding areas. At the time of the Leading Wind saga, he already had at least three decades of experience under his belt as a ship’s master.

“Captain Francis M. Hinckley, of Barnstable, was Master of ships Winged Hunter, Ocean Queen, Leading Wind, Star of Peace, and Arabia. While crossing the Indian Ocean on a voyage to Singapore, in the latter, the cargo of coal with which the ship was loaded, caught fire by spontaneous combustion. He succeeded in safely bringing his ship to Singapore. For this the China Marine Insurance Company presented Captain Hinckley with a gold watch and chain. The inscription on the watch is as follows:

‘Captain Francis M. Hinckley, for his brave and skillful conduct in subduing a fire in the cargo of coals on board ship Arabia, on voyage to Singapore, A.D. 1869.’ …

Captain Hinckley was in command of the ship Star of Peace when she was burned by the [Confederate commerce raider] Florida, March 6 1863.”

(Sprague & Sprague, p. 30)

“Francis Hinckley was told by the owners of the Arabia to use thinner paper when he wrote from New Zealand to save money.”(Images of America: Barnstable Village, West Barnstable, and Sandy Neck, Edward O. Handy Jr., p. 60)

Other sources used included Papers Past, Auckland Star and NZ Herald.

Eye on Auckland blog

Sydney from the Eye on Auckland blog stopped by and left a comment to my post on the Dawn Persson boardwalk -- so, I thought I'd head on over to his blog to check it out. Well, the result was another link added to the growing list at the left. Sydney's blog is excellent -- it gives you a feel of Auckland's present and what may come, along with a bit of Auckland's past, such as the post there on the Deloitte Centre and Tower. This is a new building on the old site of the Victoria Arcade (one of Auckland's late lamented 19th century gems) and the Jean Batten State Building.

Sydney asked if his timeline for the landuse of the site is correct: looks like it is. The former Chief Post Office in Auckland between Shortland and Fort Streets from 1867 was indeed on the site of the original Government Store in Auckland, itself built on the muddy beach. By the 1930s, it had been replaced by the grander Chief Post Office at Britomart, and during that last decade part of the site was further cut into by the establishment of Jean Batten Place by the Auckland City Council (laid out in an effort to alleviate traffic problems on Queen Street). The new Departmental State Building which replaced the old post office (built from 1937-1941) was later named not directly in honour of Jean Batten as many believe, but from the name of the new street along its eastern facade.

I remember, in 2001, heading into the BNZ building which replaced the Victoria Arcade. I was after information from the bank's archives on the history of the BNZ in Avondale. It was a spooky experience; I had to wait in a hallway with locked doors all around, while first one person appeared through one door to ask what I wanted, then back back behind a locked door, and then another door opened and I was handed a small photocopy of an index card listing Avondale's BNZ agencies and banks. It was handy information -- but definitely one of the oddest ways I've ever collected data.

Dawn Persson Boadwalk, Whau River

This is the Dawn Persson Boardwalk, at the end of Ash Street and just beside the Ash-Rata bridge across the Whau River. It was dedicated to Dawn Persson, a community stalwart, serving 10 years on the Community Board, as well as a raft of other community positions in Avondale. She died in October 1999, just two months after this was named in her honour.

This part of the Whau sees ducks ...

... as well as a hawk (flies over on the New Lynn/Kelston side, I saw it on Friday when I took these shots) and lots of pigeons (hawk food, I'd say).

This is the only place where anyone can see what the boardwalk's name is, or a mention of Dawn Persson. Bit of a shame.

Pollution still seeping into the Whau after all these years -- possibly from an old rubbish tip, judging by the rusty, oily water. This spill is close to where the plaque is.

A City Council sign left lying in the mud and mangroves, after giving up the fight to be seen through the coating of tags.

This is where the main interpretive sign for the walk is supposed to be. Lost to vandals and grafitti, some time past.

A view of the river looking towards the Waitemata Harbour ...

... underneath the Ash-Rata bridge ...

... and the other side, looking upriver towards the older Great North Road bridge.

Update, 31 July 2009: See Phil Hanson's comment below. He took this shot of the state of the rubbish along the boardwalk.

Update on the Medico-Dental building

I've added an update to the original post, namely, this photo which I managed to take a few days ago. I reckon this building is one of my favourites in central Auckland. The colouring of the architectural details is probably why (makes it look like a cool 3-D architectural plan).

Brick & Pipe Makers mural, New Lynn

This time when I went past this control box in New Lynn yesterday, although it was raining, I had my trusty camera with me. Corner Hugh Brown Drive and Great North Road.

Brick and pipe manufacture being so much a part of the heritage of both Avondale and New Lynn -- I had to capture the image.

Black November

The statement in the new book West that Waikumete Cemetery is "home to a mass grave filled with most of the 1128 Aucklanders who died in the influenza epidemic of 1918” still had me going this past week. Such a statement is contradicted not only by Geoffrey W. Rice in his extremely good reference on the 1918 influenza pandemic in New Zealand, Black November, 1988, reprinted 2005 (with a specific chapter on the effect in Auckland) – but even in the conservation plan for Waikumete Cemetery produced for the Waitakere City Council itself (the local body that backed the West book):

“In 1918-1919 following the end of the First World War, there was a catastrophic outbreak of Spanish pneumonic influenza that caused a large number of burials in a short period of time. In the autumn of 1918 the disease spread quickly from country to country, resulting in a heavy death toll … The railway line to Waikumete station played an important role in transporting the dead, particularly when the number of deaths reached its peak in the third and fourth weeks of November 1918. Auckland recorded the nation’s highest death toll of 1,680. From 1-26 November there were 469 interments at Waikumete.”

Even that history isn’t completely correct. The figure of 469 interments was taken from the report by Auckland’s City Engineer to the Mayor of Auckland on 27 November 1918. Rice amends that to 444 burials at Waikumete related to the influenza outbreak (as there were, of course, burials resulting from other causes during that period), and puts the total Auckland influenza toll at 1128, agreeing with Matthew Gray. Still, 444 burials out of 1128 deaths still doesn’t mean that Waikumete Cemetery is where “most” of those who died were buried. Just over a third, yes.

Auckland’s public mortuary was the first stop for the increasing numbers of the dead caused by the virus. When that filled to overflowing, Victoria Park’s grandstand and grounds were used as a temporary measure as an open-air morgue (according to Rice, this move led to other influenza legends of bodies laid out not only there, but also at the Domain and Albert Park; as well as bodies being incinerated at the nearby Council Destructor, or buried at sea).

I located in the Auckland City Council archives a wonderful treasure, a file of newspaper cuttings pasted on brown paper (it seemed hardly looked at, with pages almost sticking together) from the pandemic period in Auckland (ACC 219/18-289). That, along with the City Engineer’s report (ACC 398/18d), provided a brief summary of just what had happened in Auckland City as the death toll mounted and something needed to be done with the bodies.

In 1918, Dr. Joseph P. Frengley (1873-1926) was acting Chief Health Officer in Wellington when a milder epidemic of influenza raged through that city. As things started to look particularly bad in Auckland towards the end of October, the Mayor of Auckland, James Henry Gunson (1877-1963) urged Dr. Frengley to visit Auckland. He arrived 3 November.

Victoria Park had been chosen by the City Engineer after an inspection of a number of sites on 9 November to relieve the overburdened mortuary, and a large room at the pavilion was opened to receive the bodies. The following day arrangements were made to transport extra gravediggers to and from Waikumete Cemetery, and “also for the pegging out of extra grave spaces.” (CE report)

The NZ Herald reported on 12 November that Dr. Frengley had, the previous day, acting under powers contained in Section 50 of the Public Health Act 1908 “ordered all bodies of those who had died of influenza to be buried forthwith.” Relatives and friends of the deceased had to immediately organise burial of the dead, rather than leaving them at Victoria Park. Ministers of religion were actively encouraged to keep in touch with the required burials “so that deceased persons are interred on portions allotted to the respective denominations.” That day, twelve more gravediggers were sent out to Waikumete Cemetery.

Two special trains ran from November 13 to convey coffins out to Waikumete from Auckland. The Herald reported that undertakers and relatives had to make their own arrangements with the railway authorities for receiving the caskets and conveying them to the cemetery. The trains did, however, stop at Mt Eden to pick up more caskets and mourners. (NZH, 13 November) William Wallace of the Auckland Hospital Board, authorised “several large woodworking factories to construct caskets” in order that the burials be carried out as quickly as possible. (NZH, 14 November)

Six more gravediggers were sent to Waikumete on the 14th, followed by another six the following day, and three more ten days later. In all, the City Engineer reported that 1 surveyor and 35 men were employed at Waikumete during the outbreak, while there were an additional four caretakers at Victoria Park.

The Herald reported on 16 November that there had been 289 interments at Waikumete since November 1, compared with the (non-outbreak) average of 50 per month. It was announced on 20 November that the special trains were to be discontinued, but to free up hearses still servicing Purewa Cemetery, the railway authorities undertook to continue carrying caskets to Waikumete by the 9.29 am train each day. Anglican clergy, during the crisis, attended the burials in relays, along with those from Auckland’s other denominations. From the Herald on 22 November:

“In some cases a number of bodies have been interred at a time when the relatives or friends have been incapacitated by illness, but care has been taken to number all the graves, so that they may be easily located. A complete record has been kept, and by applying to the Town Hall, relatives and friends will be advised of the exact location of graves.”

From the City Engineer’s report:

“In connection with the Waikumete Cemetery, 469 interments took place from the 1st to the evening of 26 November and this large number of interments necessitated the pegging out of graves in the area recently cleared and ploughed on the Western Boundary, the number of new graves utilised to date in such ground being 131.”

So, not “mass grave” or “mass graves”, but rather, this was a case of a procedure of mass burials, each burial individually dug and sanctified where possible, over the course of just over two weeks. The City Engineer’s description appears to indicate that there were two distinct areas for the mass burials of the influenza victims at Waikumete, with 131 (at least) graves in the second area “on the Western Boundary”. The conservation plan identifies the main area for the graves as “Gumtree Gully” with “more unmarked graves in Pauper’s Gully” (appendices maps), which is somewhere between (according to the cemetery map) Anglican H, Anglican F, Anglican G and Anglican M&N (Rice had in a caption in his book that Plot MN was the site used. This is possibly not quite correct.) With the cemetery at that time mainly occupying the far eastern corner of the whole site, such a location would have been a relatively short distance from the train station, assisting with the unloading of so many caskets in so short a time.

An update: this from the Friends of Waikumete Cemetery Facebook page, 27 August 2014.

"Waikumete Cemetery Monument to the victims of the 1918 Influenza Epidemic. Anglican Division E, Row 6. The green area behind the monument holds individual graves up to 1915. Many of these people died in hospitals. There are no victims of the Influenza epidemic in this row. People who died from the flu were buried in individual graves in the area of their religious denominations often in family graves. Louisa Mary McFlinn died on the 15th November 1918 from influenza and is buried in her family grave. You will see many graves through out the cemetery with dates around November 1918 which indicate that they may have been a victim of the influenza epidemic ... Row 6 was opened in November 1907 and has burials up to 1915. These were mainly hospital patients and so didn't have headstones. It does have some headstones down the far end. Row 7 was opened in May 1918, Row 8 was opened in July 1918, Row 9 which is the 2nd row in from the gums was opened in November 1918, and Row 10 in April 1919. These rows do have headstones. There is a myth that the grassed area behind the monument is a mass grave or pit where flu victims were buried together. This is untrue."

Postal Humour

From the Auckland Star, 14 May 1932.

POSTAL HUMOUR


QUAINT MAIL ADDRESSES


PUZZLES FOR SORTERS


EXAMPLES IN NEW ZEALAND

Not long ago there was posted in Wellington a letter which as an address bore several bars of music and the word Dunedin -- nothing else. Within a day or two it was duly delivered at the office of the "Evening Star" Company. Wagner's Tannhauser excerpt, "O Star of Eve," was what the bars of music represented, so delivery was but a small puzzle to the postal sleuths, one of whom at least must have had a good knowledge of music. With regard to the delivery of this letter, the postmaster at Dunedin wrote: "The letter was posted at Courtenay Place on the 24th, was received on the morning of the 27th, and was delivered within a few minutes of receipt. The exhibit may possibly be of some interest, and certainly indicates the intelligence of postal officers."

Cryptic addresses, humorous and otherwise, form the subject of an interesting article in the Evening Post, Wellington. A self-styled humorist tried to flummox the post office by addressing a letter as follows:

"Mrs. ABCDEFGHIJKMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ,
Spud St.,
Windy."

It was duly delivered to Mrs. Noel (no "L"), Murphy Street, Wellington, for whom it was intended.

For jokes of that kind postal officials have no great appreciation, but when it comes to deciphering addresses obviously not intended to perplex them purposely they leave no stone unturned to decipher the sender's intentions. For instance, "Ogairie King, c/o Er. B., Ltd.," presented few difficulties, and the letter thus addressed went to Ellis and Burnand, Ltd., Ongarue, King Country.

A letter addressed to "Kaupi Kanine, Wellington," ultimately got to the place it was intended for, namely, Kaupokonui, Taranaki.

"Jugesche Street, Manganiri," was rightly translated to be Ingestre Street, Wanganui.

A foreigner's attempt to address a letter to Shakespeare Road, Napier, resulted in "Sha Kesneera Road, Napfea" but the letter found the addressee.

The somewhat vague "Wa H. On, K. 78, N.Z." was on a letter which arrived recently from China. It was duly delivered to Wah On, a compatriot of the sender, who lives at that number in Molesworth Street.

A letter to the Cafe De Luxe in Willis Street was addressed "Coile De Waxe, Wes St., Niceineton, New Leacemp," and it got there!

Few would guess rightly to what address a letter with "Orient, St. Olla Bei, Newa Zelando," on it should be delivered. The Wellington postal officials took it to Trent Street, Island Bay, and they were right.

Hundreds of instances might be quoted of wrongly spelt place names on letters. The following few will suffice:
"3 A. E. Koa" for Paeroa;
"P. Line, Merton," for Plimmerton;
"Emclohsina" for Eketahuna;"
"Molincka," for Motieka;
"Gildrie" for Geraldine;
"Camary", for Oamaru;
"Lake Raw", for Takarahi.

On one letter "Wolliglesoan Geoft" was deciphered as being an attempt at Wellesley Street (Auckland), and on another "Thinane, Theodscia," was rightly interpreted to be Theodocia Street, Timaru. Who can accuse postal officials of lack of intelligence after that?

A George Hemus compendium

I've received emails this morning from Meg Smith, great great-granddaughter of George Hemus, who has featured or been included in a number of past Timespanner posts. Here's the list:

Bell & Gemmell Tannery update (George Hemus was involved with the Riversdale Manufacturing Company as a shareholder and Auckland bootmaker).

The George Hemus Scandal, 1884.

A further update on George Hemus.

Even more on George Hemus (includes headstone image from America).

The list of Riversdale Manufacturing Company shareholders.

Here's Meg's email:

"According to family lore...

George and Frances had 8 children (4 did not survive childhood).
The eight children were named Ernest Howard Hemus (1874-1951 Topeka, KS),
Janet Mary Hemus (1870 - ? died as a baby),
Frances Hemus (1871-? married Arthur Blake and had 1 child Frank Butterworth),
George Harwood Hemus (1873 - died 1944 Colorado Springs, CO, married to Blanch Herman), Leonard Gray Hemus (1877 died the same year),
Percy Turner Hemus (3/7/1878 - 12/22/1943),
Harold Hemus (1878-1879),
Ethel Maude Hemus (1880-1881).

While in New Zealand, Frances Harwood Keane Hemus was abandoned by her husband who left for America. She told people in New Zealand he was setting things up and she was to follow with the children. She tracked him down in San Francisco where her husband gave her some money and put her and their four surviving children on a train to Kansas. Her son Ernest became the bread winner at the age of 9 when he started working for the Santa Fe railroad to support Frances and his siblings. He was a very bright man who worked for the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railroad throughout his life. He married Lucy Riggs and had two daughters Marjorie Riggs Hemus (later Marjorie Hemus Crane) Feb 2, 1902 - Aug 25, 2000 and Bernice "Babe" Hemus. Marjorie was my grandmother and a wonderful strong woman. She married Alfred Harry Crane and had two daughters Marjorie and Judith Ann Crane. Marjorie had two sons with Donald Schnacke (Gregory and Timothy). Judith had two daughters with Robert Harold Elliott, Jr.; Kathryn Crane Elliott and Margaret Harwood Elliott Smith.

George's son Percy Turner Hemus had success as a singer and actor. He cut the first gold record for RCA and was an actor on the radio for the show "Tom Mix" as the character The Wrangler in the 1930s.

George's son George Harwood Hemus settled in Colorado Springs, CO and taught in the State School for the Blind. In 1937 he and his sister Frances Butterworth visited Auckland.

I don't know what happened to George after he abandoned Frances. Needless to say we don't think highly of him ;0)

Hope that helps.

Meg Smith"

My thanks to everyone who has emailed me on the subject of George Hemus. I now know much more about him than when I first started out, and all your contributions has meant that the information provided can now help others. Cheers!

The riches of the Whau River

Audrey from West Auckland, a fellow history researcher, emailed this wee gem to me this morning, from the Bay of Plenty Times, 18 May 1880.

I'm not surprised Gittos may have found pearls -- in much more recent times, if I recall correctly, a hunk of serpentine was discovered by those engaged on a Friends of the Whau organised clean-up of the river's banks. Lots of stuff ends up in the Whau River, which is tidal for much of its length. But the clipping doesn't say it's the Whau River, or even that it's the Oakley. It could have even been a creek somewhere in the city, where their warehouse was based.

When I can, I'll see if more comes to light.

Kintalk: a family history resources blog

I've seen this off and on for a while, but decided last night (while talking to Karen, the Auckland City Library's family history librarian who runs the blog) that I should include Kintalk on the list of links here. It's aimed at genealogists and family historians -- but some of the information on Kintalk about new databases and other info becoming available might prove useful to general historians as well.

West: a new history of West Auckland

I attended the launch of the book West: The History of Waitakere tonight, held at the Waitakere City Council chambers. I have been looking forward both to the launch, and to obtaining the book (it retails for $79.99, but they took $10 off tonight as a launch special. According to the Western Leader, the book cost about $280,000 to produce, receiving $180,000 from Waitakere City Council, $35,000 from the ASB Charitable Trust and $39,500 from the Portage and Waitakere Licensing Trusts.

My thoughts:

It is a beautiful book, and it has fulfulled one monumental aim, to try to compile together as much of the essense of "westie-ness" as possible within constraints of funding, page numbers, etc. Reading the book, you definitely get a feel for the story, both past and present, and it has turned out to be great timing in terms of the publication. With Auckland's Super City just around the corner, this volume will fit in nicely with other "swansong" municipal publications prepared in years past by other authorities lost in amalgamation. I also think that the book is a good starting point in terms of research into West Auckland, for those who make the effort to do so.

I liked the geological summary at the beginning by Bruce Hayward, the underpinning of the entire area. This will prove a great resource. The chapters on the history of Te Kawerau a Maki and Ngati Whatua in terms of West Auckland (the former claim mana over the whole of West Auckland, and surrounding districts, the latter claim the Auckland isthmus and that they are tangata whenua in Waitakere City) provide information on the complex history of Maori settlement and resource use in the area.

Some parts of the work stand out as areas where a little more research would have assisted with accuracy.

In David Luxton's chapter "Struggle Country", "Long" John McLeod is referred to, the difference between Thomas Henderson's possible early mill and the one sighted by J. C. Loch in 1861 "all down to one man, "Long John McLeod, a lumberjack ..." McLeod wasn't just "one man" -- his partner until the late 1850s was Cyrus Haskell, who was a lumberjack, while McLeod was more an engineer.

In "Read All About It" by Rene Bridges, mention is made of a local paper owned by Noel Roseman called the Avondale Dispatch. This is (excuse the pun) news to me. I've heard of The News operated by Avondale's Arthur Morrish, but not mentioned in the chapter (although it extended in coverage out to Swanson), and I've heard of the Avondale Advance (which the chapter does mention.) Not the Dispatch, though. I'll leave that one open for now -- if Waitakere City Library has copies of this, I'd love to see them. It isn't in their catalogue, however. Or anywhere else. [Edited to add, 12 November 2018: A reference to the Avondale Dispatch has been found. A single issue, either complete or in part, in Council Archives from the late 1940s. Looking forward to sighting this.]

In "Fire in The West" by Robyn Mason, the date of 1852 crops up again with reference to Daniel Pollen. I imagine it will take a long, long time for this ill-founded belief that Pollen's brickyard and pottery works started at that time to finally fade away. It is ill-founded: Pollen purchased his property on Rosebank in 1855, a son was born there in 1856, but by 1860 he was over at Eden Crescent, having left the management of his brick works at least in the hands of John Malam. In 1852, Pollen was on Kawau Island during the first part of the year, moving to Auckland later on. The not-totally-accurate Goodall map of West Auckland brick and pottery yards is reproduced without correction. Also, mention is made of "the Craig family's Glenburn Fireclay & Pottery Co (Avondale)" in 1929. In that year, while the Craig family were finalising purchase of the Glenburn site with John Melville and James Fletcher, it was already (and had been since 1920) run by these two men. In 1923, the business became known as Glenburn Fireclay & Pottery Co.

Tara Jahn-Werner in "The Children of Hauauru" writes of Avondale having movies screened in the area "as early as 1920" (actually, movies were shown much earlier, at least 1910). The Avondale Public Hall is described as "a tiny corrugated tin hall" (the hall is wooden, with a corrugated tin side closest to the Hollywood Cinema, and has never been "tiny") and the cinema is described as a neo-classical building constructed when the hall was moved over (no dates are given, but the neo-classical part of today's Hollywood -- the facade -- was built in 1915, and served as the grand front for that same "tiny" hall until 1924). Jan Grefstad's history of the Hollywood Cinema has the details.

In "City of the Dead" by Matthew Gray, reference is made to Waikumete Cemetery being "home to a mass grave filled with most of the 1128 Aucklanders who died in the influenza epidemic of 1918." I know that local West Auckland historian Audrey Lange has disputed this. I was on a bus trip with West Auckland Historical Society a couple of years ago, when Audrey took us around on a brief visit to the cemetery, and showed us where an area of land beside a memorial to those who had died during the pandemic wasn't a mass grave, but actually a series of individual graves, very few marked with a stone. The "mass grave" story crops up in other places, such as Waikaraka (no mass grave there), and to do with the removal of remains from Symonds Street cemetery when the motorway was put through later on last century. I'd always been told, and believed, that the remains were in a mass grave in Waikumete -- until I saw that the remains had actually been cremated, and returned to special deposit memorials in Symonds Street.

The book includes a summary of early development of the area's schools -- but there's only four references to churches in the area, and most of those references are just side references. I realise that the editors were constrained by space restrictions, but even a two-page list of the area's churches and the dates they started would have been a useful tool for researchers. The West Auckland Historical Society is similarly treated -- two references, one to published works used as reference by the authors, the other a mention of Mill Cottage.

All in all, though, it can't be said that West is a white elephant. The team took on a big task, and achieved a book which, hopefully, will provide a historical research resource as well as several glimpses into what Waitakere City in 2009 is all about.

A stroll along Grafton Bridge

I was out in the wonderful breather of fine weather yesterday, doing some work at the Domain before heading back to the city, and decided to walk across Grafton Bridge. (The photos here are in reverse order of shooting).

Above is the view from Symonds Street. For some time now, it has been closed to vehicular traffic while strengthening goes on underneath. For a while, it's a pedestrian/cyclists' open route.

Along the way, the contractors and Auckland City Council have put up signage summarising the project and a bit of the bridge's nearly 100 year history. Below is a close up of the old photo showing the opening day and the stream of people flooding across.

The bridge from Grafton Road.

This is the motorway built half a century after the bridge. Grafton bridge used to span a verdant, bush-clad gully. Today, it spans a motorway interchange. I took this shot on one knee, poking the camera lens through one of the lower arches in the cement side. Couldn't take a shot above, due to the anti-suicide shield.

123 Grafton Road. When the bridge was first being constructed, this was where the city engineer lived, but the house is likely to be around three decades older than the bridge. Usually, you can't see the house for vegetation. Right now, someone is repiling the house (at least, I think they are, judging from the advertising signage on the site). The trees, bar one, have been removed, and once again the Victorian architecture is shown to the world. This is one of the last of its kind in the Grafton area.