Looking for land history and burials

In researching the history of properties, houses and people, I have found the relatively recent upsurge in available online maps and databases, of the searchable kind, to be an utter boon. Just thought I'd compile together a few I know about, add the link to this post to the sidebar, and use this as an update point and one-stop reference.

First -- there is a good database collection of links to online cemetery information already: Kiwi Celts NZ Cemetery Database. There are some broken links, but hey, these councils keep changing and amalgamating, so no surprises there.

There is a collective site for territorial authorities in NZ: Local Councils. Handy links, divided by region, lead you to your local council website, and what goodies they can provide to the nomadic researcher.

Here are some of the excellent map sites. where you can zero in on specific properties and get legal descriptions to further the research.

North Island

Far North Maps

Whangarei District Council GIS Maps
Auckland Council GIS Viewer

Environment Waikato Maps:
Go to Districts tab, select, and it will take you there.

Bay of Plenty Regional Council Maps

Gisborne District Council Map TV

Taranaki Regional Xplorer

Palmerston North Geo Guide

Wanganui District Council Exponare

Porirua City Council

Wellington City Council maps

Kapiti Coast District Council Map Images

South Island

Tasman District: Top of the South Maps

Marlborough District Council: Dekho Maps

Environment Canterbury (Canterbury Regional Council)

Dunedin City Council webmaps

Queenstown Lakes District Council maps

Invercargill City Council Xplorer

Chinese history messageboard

The URL for the message board is "NZ Chinese", so I've included it as that on the blog/messageboard list at the right. If the administrator of the messageboard has it under a different name -- just get in touch, and I'll change it on the list.

That said -- I'd delighted to have found it, and did so mainly because the Admin there has been reading Timespanner, and linking to posts made here on Auckland Chinese history (thanks!). Pop across and have a bit of a browse.

Addition: Just found Chinese Rootswiki, with a link to my post on the Sai Louie store in Onehunga. Cheers for the back-link, folks.

Maumahara mo Waiparuru

Just when I thought there wasn't much else left to photograph for Timespanner to do with the Grafton Bridge ...

... and the gully below -- I find this.

I was aware that Caroline Robinson had done work during the road realignment project in the gully this last decade, but I didn't know part of it could be viewed, with safety, from atop the bridge itself.

Peering through one of two holes cut through the protective shielding (said shields designed to stop suicides and other projectiles from off the bridge to the motorway below) ...

... something can be seen in the middle distance.

Ah. There you go. Caroline Robinson's "Mamahara mo Waiparuru", a monument in steel and basalt to the Waiparuru Stream which once flowed in open air through the bush-clad gully between the eastern slopes of Symonds Street cemetery and the houses of the well-to-do, and the western catchment from off the Domain and Outhwaite volcanoes.

The Waiparuru is overshadowed these days in popular imagination due to Richard Simpson's campaign to have Parnell's Waipapa Stream suitable recognised historically. Take care in reading the account by Simpson in that link -- he still hasn't corrected glaring errors, such as the fact that Low & Motion left Mechanics Bay not in the 1860s as he claims, but in the mid 1840s. See my timeline on the area.

The other thing is -- the Waiparuru was essentially a swampy outflow from the volcanic slopes. The map above, from the 1840s (Roll 61, LINZ records), shows the stream's marshy progress at the bottom of Grafton Gully, fed by streams from the Domain and then, further down at Mechanics Bay, fed by the Waipapa as well to create something like a marsh in the wet season. Before the construction of the Strand, Parnell Rise, and reclamations channelled the waters and tamed them, and before the motorways in the 1960s-1980s finally buried them.

From the interpretive plaque by Caroline Robinson, today much tagged and marked by those who pass on by up at the bridge:

These stone and steel markers in the gully below

trace a meandering pathway reminiscent of that travelled by the

Waiparuru Stream on its way through the Grafton Gully to the

Waitemata harbour.

This pathway is a passage of time and a journey of release.

Maumahara was a creative collaboration that will encourage us to

remember. It is a prayer for deepening our relationship with the land

and with each other, through honouring our past, present and future

natural and cultural heritages.

More information on this page.

Memorial to a time capsule

While visiting a friend in Auckland City Hospital today, I spotted something that looked like an elaborate small kennel, sitting on a sloping lawn behind all the new nine-storey wards.

I was surprised to see that wee structure contained a 112 year old plaque -- from a building which no longer exists: the Costley Wards at Auckland Hospital.

So, here it is. A small brick structure, built to commemorate the opening of a time capsule in a building which now no longer exists.

Update, 21 January 2011: The contents and fate of the time capsule.

Visit to a pocket volcano

I finally stopped long enough in the Park Road area of Grafton yesterday to pay a visit to Outhwaite Park.

The original Crown Grant holder, unnamed on the otherwise excellent interpretive panel, was apparently G D Lardner, according to one of my early maps (Roll 61, LINZ records).

Mr G D Lardner, D.A.C.G., quits this colony for England, via Sydney, in the course of a few days. This gentleman arrived at Auckland early in 1840, and came to Wellington in February, 1844, to take charge of the Commissariat Department in this place. Throughout a period of five years, Mr Lardner has had a very arduous and onerous duty to perform. During the disturbances of 1845, in the Hutt Valley and Porirua and Horokiwi districts, at a distance from a port from which supplies only could be obtained, his energies and talent were called into constant requisition, and though the troops had to be supplied in the very depth of a severe and lengthened winter, and provisions carried along most execrable roads, by the continued zeal and management of the head of the Commissariat, the British force and allies were as well and sufficiently rationed as though cantoned in town. It is in time of war that the benefit of a Commisariat Department is most materially felt, and for the services of Mr. Lardner in that period of trouble and danger, he received the warm eulogistic thanks of the Commanding Officer. Mr. Lardner's loss will be felt by a large circle of friends, who, however, sincerely wish, him all prosperity wherever fortune may conduct him, or in whatever place he may be stationed. Mr Wood, D.A.C.G., for some time past head of the Commissariat Department at Wanganui, succeeds Mr. Lardner, and Mr. Sutherland, D.A.C.G , takes charge at Wanganui.

(New Zealander, 19 May 1849)

The family who were likely the earliest ones to make a home here, though, were the Outhwaites. Thomas Outhwaite, another public servant like Lardner, made his mark on the colony's affairs.

Mr. Thomas Outhwaite, a native of Westmorland, England, left Paris, where he was practising his profession as a solicitor, to come to New Zealand in 1841, and arrived in the “Tyne” with Chief Justice Sir William Martin, and the Hon. William Swainson, Attorney-General. Mr. Outhwaite was the first Registrar of the Supreme Court of New Zealand, and took office on the 1st of January, 1842 ... In 1843 he, in company with Sir William Martin, and the late Hon. Henry St. Hill, M.L.C., returned to Auckland overland on foot from Wellington, whither they had journeyed in the Government brig “Victoria” (a three weeks' sea voyage), to hold a session of the court. The return trip overland occupied a period of six weeks.

During his long public career Mr. Outhwaite held the office of Registrar of the Supreme Court, Registrar of the Vice-Admiralty, Clerk of the Crown, Registrar of Deeds, Taxing Officer, Receiver of Intestate Estates, Acting Attorney-General and Registrar of Births, Deaths, and Marriages. Some of these offices were unremunerated, and in those days the public funds were sometimes at so low an ebb that many of the offices under Government were held by gentlemen, who sought not their own emolument, but the good of the country. Among those was Mr. Outhwaite, who, in addition, to fulfilling his official duties, took an active interest in the various social and public institutions of Auckland. He was one of the first movers in the establishment of the Mechanics' Institute, of which he was for some time vice-president. Ever an encourager of art and passionately devoted to music, he was the principal founder of the Auckland Philharmonic, the first musical society in Auckland, and gave all the time he could spare as voluntary instructor to its members, and also in training church choirs in their turn. Mr Outhwaite retired from office in June, 1869, and died on the 14th of July, 1879—a pioneer colonist, universally esteemed and lamented by his fellow-colonists.

What intrigued me most, though, was the fact that Outhwaite Park is part of a small "pocket" volcano, 50,000 years old. The eruption wasn't as mighty as others on the city's volcanic field, but it partially covered some of the Domain's older debris, and covered the Medical School and Auckland Hospital sites. I keep learning new things about this city's story all the time, that's why I love it.

The park was donated to Newmarket Borough Council by Thomas Outhwaite's daughter Isa Outhwaite in her will in 1925.

A tribute to the late Miss Isa Outhwaite, of Auckland, is given by Mr. F. Carr Bollett, who was among her oldest friends. He mentions her artistic talents, and is of opinion that some of her sketches, specially those of the Waikato in the old days, should have an historic value. Miss Outhwaite wrote some delightful stories for children, those of the Maoris being,particularly good. Apart from the musical and artistic talents, Miss Outhwaite was one who showed wonderful kindness to others, and through her encouragement and help many young painters, musicians, and writers have received just the impetus which was needed to lead them along to success. The prisoners of Mount Eden Gaol were among those who benefited from her social work, and many of the unfortunate ones of life have also cause to bless her name and memory. Mr. Bollett writes that it is a question if any more noble or capable woman could ever have been found in this country, and he feels that her loss is one to the city as well as to a host of individual friends.

(Evening Post 17 December 1925)

Bequests under the will of the late Miss Isa Outhwaite, who was born in Auckland 83 years ago, include £1500 for the Mater Miserecordiae Hospital, £500 for the benefit of discharged female prisoners, £300 for the Jubilee Institute for the Blind, and £500 for the poor of the city of Besancon, France, her mother's native city. Gifts of property include Hen Island, off the entrance of Whangarei Harbour, to the King, with a trust that it shall be used as a bird sanctuary; the testatrix's home, with over an acre of ground in Newmarket, to the borough as a public park; and a property of several acres adjacent to the Auckland Boys' Grammar School for a Roman Catholic College site. The residue of the estate, after gifts to various Catholic organisations, goes to the Roman Catholic Bishop for purposes of education.

(Evening Post 21 December 1925)

The park, therefore, is a fitting memorial on many levels.

Some swishes sorts the slander

From the Auckland Star, 21 January 1885.

Ever since the days of Lola Montez, and perhaps prior to the advent of that strongminded female on this mundane sphere, it has been the practice of women of a certain class, when maligned or otherwise injured by persons of the opposite sex, to wipe out the insult by an application of the lash to the back of the traducer. Mrs Fredericks, the wife a nigger minstrel well known in this city, disturbed the staid respectability that usually rules supreme at the Clarendon Hotel, Queen-street, on Monday night last by severely horsewhipping a young man named Edward Prentice, who, she believed, rightly or wrongly, had circulated scandalous reports concerning her, one of them being that she was about to establish a house of ill-fame. 

Mrs Fredericks has been residing at the Clarendon Hotel, having come to Auckland on a visit, and Prentice has been in the habit of dining at the same hostelry. The lady, hearing that these reports were being industriously circulated, and being informed that Prentice was one of her traducers, determined upon inflicting summary punishment on him, acting, we understand, on the advice of some theatrical friends who were staying in the same hotel, and who, at the time of the assault, were present to see the fun. On Monday evening, shortly after the doors of the Clarendon had been closed, the lady came into the passage leading to the private door, and observing Prentice seated on a table, observed to a bystander, "Do you see that thing sitting on the table? I am going to horsewhip him to-night." 

She then invited the young man into a private room. He complied, quite unconscious of the treat that was in store for him, when she with considerable alacrity produced a silver mounted lady's horsewhip, which she had kept concealed in the folds of her dress, and proceeded to castigate him over the head and shoulders. Prentice offered no resistance, though with his hands he succeeded in warding off many of the blows aimed at his face. The flogging was continued for upwards of a minute, during which time Prentice strongly denied that he had circulated the scandal. 

Mrs Fredericks, somewhat out of breath, and perhaps mollified at the young man's passive demeanour, declared a truce, and the flogger and the flogged "had it out" verbally, the result of the convention being that the lady was half induced to believe that she had acted somewhat hastily. Prentice is considerably marked about the shoulders, and there are a few slight bruises on his face. The flogging was conducted so quietly that persons seated in an adjoining room, though they heard the "swish" of the whip, had no idea of the dramatic incident proceeding on the other side of the partition.

Another use for a wooden leg

From the Feilding Star, 13 July 1906

Christchurch, Thursday.

A shocking tragedy occurred at Lincoln this morning. A young man named Charles McCutcheon was to have been married in the Lincoln Presbyterian Church at 11.30 a.m., and all arrangements had been made. McCutcheon was at the church waiting for the bride, and there was no hint of anything in the nature of a tragedy, until at 11.15 Detectives Bishop and Ward arrested the man in the church on a charge of having forged a cheque for £158 at Wellington.

McCutcheon made no resistance when arrested. He remarked that he would be able to clear himself, and gave Detective Ward an account of his movements, with the object of showing that he had not been in Wellington on May 31st — the date on which he is alleged to have cashed a forged cheque for £158 on the name of his employer, Mr A W. Andrews, of Greenpark. McCutcheon seemed quite resigned to his position, and, in the words of one of the detectives, was " as cool as a cucumber."

A few minutes after his arrest McCutcheon asked that, he might be allowed to speak to the clergyman who was to have married him, the Rev W Spence. The request seemed reasonable, and the prisoner was allowed to go into a front room of the manse with Mr Spence. Detective Bishop had gone away a little distance, and Detective Ward remained on the steps at the front door, from where he could see the prisoner. In order to speak to his companion, however, Detective Ward lost sight of MucCutcheon for a few minutes, and the prisoner took advantage of the opportunity to secure Mr Spence's permission to retire to a lavatory at the back of the manse.

The detectives were at the door a few moments he had entered, but almost immediately a shot was heard. The door was opened, and McCutcheon was found lying on the floor with a smoking revolver in his hand and a large bullet wonnd in his forehead.

Dr Logan was soon on the spot, and found the man still breathing, but evidently very badly wounded. He did what was possible under the circumstances, and ordered that the wounded man should be removed to the Christchurch Hospital. A start was made accordingly in a waggonette, the detectives and the doctor accompanying the prisoner, but McCutcheon died on the way. The body was taken direct to the morgue, where it now lies.

How McCutcheon had managed to secrete the revolver was shown when an examination was made of the body. He had a wooden leg, and there was a large cavity in the side which would easily contain the weapon. The trouser leg had been pulled up to enable him to reach the hiding-place. The revolver is a large one, nearly new and contained two exploded shells. As only one shot was fired by McCutcheon after his arrest, it appears he had tried the weapon beforehand. He seemed to have prepared for what he felt might happen. 

A report published in the Weekly News at the time said that the inside of the hidden compartment in the leg had been specially lined with felt, to prevent the gun rattling around. While McCutcheon was speaking privately with Rev Spence, according to the Poverty Bay Herald, he was getting the reverend and the reverend's wife to witness his last will and testament, leaving all his worldly possessions to his fiancee.

From the Bush Advocate, 18 July 1906:

The formal charge preferred against McCutcheon, who shot himself at the Presbyterian manse at Lincoln last week, was that on May 31st, at Wellington, he forged and uttered a cheque on the Union Bank of Australia, Wellington, for the sum of £158 7s 3d, in the name of A W Andrew, of Tai Tapu, farmer. McCutcheon, it appears, had been working for Mr Andrew, of Tai Tapu, as a general farm hand for the past two years.

He left on May 17th last, and proceeded to Wellington, where he introduced himself to Messrs Harcourt and Co., land agents, as Mr A W Andrew, of Tai Tapu, Canterbury, farmer. He then entered into negotiations with them for the purchase of a 415-acre farm in the Wellington district, the price to be £9 5s per acre. He requested a member of the firm to introduce him to the manager of  the Wellington branch of the Union Bank, which was done, and he then asked the manager to telegraph to Christchurch to fiud out the state of his account. This also was done, and a reply received giving the amount standing to the credit of Mr Andrew. He thereupon asked for a cheque, and on the form beiug supplied to him, filled it up for £158 7s 3d, signed it, and handed it over as a deposit on the purchase. The fraud was discovered, and the matter placed in the hands ot the police.

McCutcheon was a man of from thirty to thirty-five years of age, and waa a general farm labourer by occupation. On June 28th, 1899, he was convicted at Christchurch of horae stealing, and was placed on probation for four years. On August 6th of the following year, however, he was convicted on three charges of forging and uttering, and was sentenced to three years' imprisonment. He served his term, and was liberated on November 21st, 1903. He has been living in the Ellesmere district for the past three years.

Memorial to a boxer

In October 2009, I did a post on the Greer Twiss sculpture at Pigeon Park, corner of Symonds Street and Karangahape Road -- and somehow completely overlooked this table with seats. I chose to sit there last week, while waiting for the crew to turn up for Thomas Henderson's birthday.

I was thinking, "Hey, these are a couple of chequerboards," and thought how neat it was that this was a table inlaid for folks to have games. Then, I noticed the plaque.

And at that point, I knew that this would be a Timespanner post. Who was Don Armishaw?

Well, he was Donald James Armishaw, who died on 1 September 1954 at Rotorua Hospital, aged 47. At the time, according to the Waikumete Cemetery database, where he was cremated, he had been a commercial traveller by occupation. But according to his obituary (NZ Herald, 3 September 1954):

[Donald Armishaw was] a former director of Foodstuffs Ltd, and a member of the executive of the Auckland Master Grocers' Association. Mr Armishaw was known in the trade throughout the country. Always interested in the "private" grocer, he made many improvements in stores, and helped to introduce the self-service system. [He] was keenly interested in the Labour Party and for some time he was on the Auckland Labour Representation Committee. He was a candidate for Auckland City Council in 1950.

A talented boxer in his youth, Mr Armishaw maintained his interest in the sport and was a member of the Auckland Boxing Council. He was a brother of Mr E Armishaw, the referee.

It would appear Don Armishaw wasn't just "talented" as a boxer, he was a champion.

Mike Flynn writes from Auckland about his school: — "A little about my school. My bunch of pupils are showing some promise. My feather crack, Louie London, is going along finely and is matched with Don Armishaw, the Auckland featherweight champion.

(NZ Truth, 21 March 1925)

Slattery's footwork is immense; it suits his style ... His right, straight as a die, is a peach, and almost a sure winner when it connects. The fact that he missed quite a lot against Don Armishaw must be set down to the latter's skilful back moving ...

(Evening Post, 13 August 1927)

Has this table been there all this time? If so, I must say it has stood the test of time rather well.

Update 4 August 2011: A comment below by Kevin Ferguson gives us the date the table was erected:
"The table was erected as memorial to Don in 1956, two years after his death. Don was a legend in Foodstuffs."

Thanks, Kevin.

The short-lived Avondale Development Association

Four years out from the political traumas that came from Avondale's amalgamation with Auckland City in 1927, it probably seemed to the local movers and shakers in the community that nothing really seemed to be happening in terms of Avondale's hopes, aspirations, and the way ahead. The start of the feeling that we're out on the edge of things, and therefore left out of a considerable amount of due attention when it came to infrastructure and opportunities for development, stem from the years immediately after amalgamation. Frankly, that's never truly gone away since.

In May 1931, the community had a bit of a get together, and formed what they felt could be the answer to the malaise.

Residents of Avondale interested in the business welfare of the district and in education and recreation, met last evening, and the result was the formation of the Avondale Development Association.

The following officers were elected:- 

President, Mr P Richardson [a former member of the Avondale Borough Council]

Honorary secretary, Mr W G Webster

Honorary treasurer, Mr W H Bracey

Committee: Messers W Woodhead, W H Bracey, S Gibson [local baker], F W Webster, and A J Morrish [editor of The News in Avondale]

As rules had not been formed, the evening was spent in an informal discussion regarding the scope of the association's activities during the coming year. The need of propaganda to press the claims of Pollen's Island as a suitable site for a commercial airport; the advantage of the Whau River for aquatic and speedboat events; the development of Rosebank Park for receation purposes, and the need for a jetty at Blockhouse Bay, were some of the matters discussed. The association, it was stated, hoped to enlist the sympathy and co-operation of residents in all parts of Avondale, and did not aim to confine its activities to the development of any one part.

The committee will meet on Wednesday to draft rules and submit them for approval at the next meeting, which will be held the following week.

(Auckland Star, 22 May 1931)

Well, there were one or two regattas held on the Whau River, and Rosebank Park ended up as recreation from the 1960s as the go-kart course (but that wasn't really what the good folk of the Avondale Development Association had in mind). But the idea of Pollen Island becoming Auckland's commercial airport was pronounced dead within the next two years (a place by an aero club out at Mangere seemed a better option).

By the middle of the 1930s, the ADA seems to have run out of steam. In 1937, meetings began to form the Avondale Businessmen's Association; but Avondale wouldn't see a body involved with the development of the entirety of the old Avondale Borough area as a whole again until 1989-2010, the period of the Avondale Community Board.

The old Mt Eden direction table

I was at the Mt Eden War Memorial Hall on the afternoon of 1 December, and passed this: the direction table, which used to be on top of Mt Eden/Maungawhau. According to the management plan, it was made by Royal Doulton and donated by former Sir Ernest Davis in 1927.

Being made in 1927, it shows the Eastern/South-Eastern line of the railway still as a "deviation" (the Main Trunk was shifted to that line via Orakei and Glen Innes to Otahuhu in the earlyn 1930s). Major volcanes are there. There's no airport at Mangere.

I do remember seeing the table up on the mountain, peering at it, looking at all the directional notations. I thought it was cool.

But, in November 1983, it was vandalised and smashed.

Mt Eden Borough Council acted quickly, bringing in a professional ceramic conservator, Ms Sabine Weik, to put it back together again. But they weren't going to risk it being up there, on the mountain that had been its home for 56 years, any longer.

Now, its home is the foyer of the Mt Eden War Memorial Hall on Dominion Road at Balmoral. Ah, well. At least, it's safer than where it was. A pity, though. A replacement was installed on the mountain in 1986. Sometime I'll head up there to get a photo -- but as I vaguely recall, it isn't like this one.

Update, 22 December 2010: Some additional information, from the reference file 151, held at the Auckland Research Centre, Auckland Central Library:

On 25 March 1924, Ernest Davis wrote from where he stayed at the Hotel Cecil in London to the Mayor of Mt Eden at the time, Ernest Herbert Potter (a son, by the way, of Albert Potter). He had approached the previous Mayor, John Wisdom Shackelford, sometime between 1920 and 1923, with the suggestion of an observation table atop the mountain, but Shackelford expressed reservations regarding the risk of vandalism. Davis' revised proposal called for the table to be embedded in concrete, to make it impossible to dislodge. The Council accepted his offer. On 17 February 1926, Davis and Potter visited the proposed site for the table.  "Mr Davis proposes to give a Direction Table to be erected on the top of the Mount, to show the direction first in which the Cities on the shores of the Pacific lie. Secondly  the direction in which the chief centres of New Zealand lie, and thirdly the objects of interest in thed immediate vicinity of the Mountain. Such a table will be of great interest to visitors from Overseas and from other parts of the Dominion ... The Council will require to provide a concrete plinth to support the Direction Table which, when finished, will be a very great acquisition to the Mount." (Minutes 15 March 1926) It appears to have been installed around June 1927, a bit too late for the expected visit by the Duke and Duchess of York in February that year -- the Borough Councillors resolved to send up a plan of the Direction Table to the mountain when they visited.  (Minutes 31 January 1927) I can just imagine that -- "Sorry, Your Royal Highnesses, we haven't quite got things in place, so here's a sketch instead ...

Whoops -- there was an error, discovered after the table was installed. "Mr Davis wishes it to be known that the error in the position of Cape Town on the Table arose from confusion between the Magneric North and the True North. He is taking steps to have this corrected." (Minutes, 23 January 1928) But the error wasn't fixed. In 1934, the Mayor of Auckland George Hutchinson wrote to the Chairman of the Mt Eden Domain Board:

"Sometime ago His Excellency the Governor-General forwarded to me a letter from Sir Phillp Game, in which Sir Philip questioned the accuracy of the direction of Capetown on the Direction Finder at the top of Mount Eden. I enquired into the matter, and find that Capetown should lie some 2 degrees west of the Dunedin direction, that is, in the south-western quadrant, and 87 degrees from its position as shown. I have no doubt that this error is already known to the Board, and possibly the difficulty of altering the Tablet is the reason it is left uncorrected."

The devastation in 1984 was appalling.

 (From the Auckland Scrapbook, Auckland Research Centre. Original newspaper source not known.)

Sabine Weik was assisted by the original blueprints of the table in putting the pieces together, but it was still an estimated 100 hours job, with some of the fragments measuring only centimetres. Building filler was used in the cracks. Its replacement, made of bronze, is now up on the mountain (but, of course, there are copper and bronze thieves about these days as well ...)

A vote on the Auckland Zoo, 1922

View of the London Zoo, 1835, from Wikipedia.

This comes from the NZ Herald, 14 July 1922.

In view of the fact that a poll of the city ratepayers will be taken on July 26 on the proposal to borrow £10,000 for the establishment of zoological gardens, the Mayor, Mr J H Gunson, at last evening's meeting of the City Council, said that the scheme involved:

[1] The acquisition of animals from the Boyd zoo for £800;

[2] the preparation and laying-out of an adequate area of land at the Western Springs, Grey Lynn, for the purpose of recreation grounds and zoological gardens.

If the poll were carried, said the Mayor, the work would be put in hand at once and the nucleus of the zoo would be established at an early date. The amount of £10,000 would cover the cost of the animals referred to, but would be principally expended in making the area suitable for the purpose, which would mean that the grounds would be attractive as well as prepared to accomodate the animals. It was chiefly labour, so would afford valuable further employment.

It was estimated that the sum of £10,000 would enable the council to establish the zoo in a manner that would be creditable to the city and acceptable to the citizens. Thereafter the revenue from the undertaking should not only maintain it, but cover interest and charges on the loan, in which case the provision of £10,000 would be made without any cost to the ratepayers. Further, the extra attractions should ensure patronage to produce revenue to enable the purchase of additional animals from time to time.

The property could be reached both from the Old Mill Road, near the Grey Lynn teram terminus, within half a mile of the present car line (and if warranted a tram extension could readily be made) and also was readily accessible within half a mile of the Great North Road, Point Chevalier (at the "Old Stone Jug"). With the growth of Auckland no doubt in years to come this area would be served by tram connection. Notwithstanding its easy accessibility it had the advantage of being in a secluded locality and in its contour was well adapted for the purpose.

Several members spoke in support of the scheme, especially emphasising the suitability of the site and the value of the proposed recreation grounds at the zoo. Mr G Baildon suggested that an effort should be made to arouse the public to carry the loss, advocating the use of propaganda in the effort.

During the discussion it was proposed that the lions might be paraded through the streets on polling day, whereupon Miss E Melville remarked that the council might go further and have a lion at each polling place.

Mr G R Hutchinson said that certain prominent citizens were already inquiring as to the price of animals for the proposed zoo.

The Mayor's report was adopted.

From the Evening Post, 29 July 1922.

A sensation was caused at the community "sing-song" held at the Auckland Town Hall on Wednesday, when the chairman, the Rev Jasper Calder, announced that he wished to introduce a visitor who was strongly in favour of the retention of the zoo, whose influence might persuade some of the ratepayers to record their votes in the same direction. Amid a breathless and expectant hush, the speaker dived under the table, produced a hamper, and drew from it a tiny cub which he held triumphantly in his arm. "I appeal to you to save this from the butcher's knife," he cried dramatically, "and to give it a nice, comfortable home." Thunderous applause and laughter greeted the little lion's appearance (states the New Zealand Herald), and when the chairman, in response to a suggestion that it be christened, inquired, "What shall we call it?" 4000 voices sounded as one in the instant cry of "Jasper!" A motion that this be done was carried by acclamation and renewed applause, the ceremony being formally carried out with the assistance of the glass of water on the chairman's table.

The result of the poll was 2454 in favour of the loan, with 1013 against, with a turnout of eligible ratepayers of only just over 20%.  Worse than most local elections these days ...

Letters from South Africa

 Boer casualties at Spion Kop, 1900. From Wikipedia.

By chance recently, I happened across two letters published in the NZ Herald in November 1901, written by New Zealand servicemen in South Africa fighting the Second Anglo-Boer War. The name of this conflict has been altered lately to the "South African War" but there had been an earlier Anglo-Boer War, 1880-1881

This letter came from William Harrison, published 20 November 1901. His parents, to whom he wrote, lived in Auckland.

Some time ago, Kitchener's Fighting Scouts, 200 men and no big guns, went out on a patrol with Colonel Wilson. We left Warm Baths at four o'clock one afternoon and we marched till three o'clock in the morning. We then turned in till five o'clock, and at five o'clock we saddled up and went about four miles away from our camp, and there we met 500 Boers with 8000 head of cattle and about 50 waggons. 

The colonel gave the order to our captain to split his squadron into twenty-fives and send each troop out in different directions. As soon as we spread out the firing started, and I don't want to be in any more fights like that. When the 25 I was in reached the rise we were sent to, the Boers saw us, and inside 20 minutes there were only seven of us left to keep the fire up. One by one you would see some poor fellow get a bullet through his head or stomach or something. There was one New Zealander lying beside me. He sang out, "I've got one, all right."

I said, "Where are you shot?" 

He replied, "Through the chest," and as soon as he got the words out of his mouth, he got another one through the brain.

Out of the 25 there were five killed and 13 wounded. We were lying there for eight hours, when we could see some of the other fellows go into the laager. We went down to the laager and brought back some waggons, and got our dead and wounded. We captured 70 Boers, and killed 47 of them. Our casualties altogether were eight killed and 25 wounded. We gathered up the cattle and waggons as fast as we could and trekked back into Warm Baths. Out of the 8000 head of cattle each man that was in the fight got three head apiece.

"The Relief of Ladysmith", 1900, by John Henry Frederick Bacon. Also from Wikipedia.

The other letter appeared the day before in the Herald, which reported: "Sergeant Arthur Te Wawata  (Waata) Gannon, an ex-Auckland college boy, participating in South Africa since March of the year before last, writes from Bank's Station, Klerksdorp railway, under date August 30 last. Sergeant Gannon, who is now divisional sergeant under Colonel Porter, was recently captured by the Boers."

Our daily routine commences at one a.m. and continues up to six or seven p.m.. So you will see we have long and tedious hours, watching every moving object within the radius of miles. Our eyes are so trained that we can easily distinguish a horseman eight or nine miles distant, though cattle may be grazing about the same spot. In New Zealand one's eyesight is baffled at four miles. I have proved that when surveying on the East Coast.

The monotony of campaigning is tiresome. Much depends upon the distance we have to trek and the opposition we meet from many kopjes when en route. If our rearguard is attacked it means delay. A bad sprint to cross or soft ground for our convoy all impede our movements. Often we have to fight in the open, each man holding his own horse. It is undoubtedly a good target for the enemy, but where there are a hundred odd men in extended order facing the foe, the horse and man target frustrate them. They do not know who to draw the bead on. When our convoy has moved a considerable distance we retire, with a heavy rifle fire we cover one another in small detachments. The Boers usually take every advantage that offers and pepper us properly while on the move.

We are well mounted. I am riding a New Zealand horse of the Fourth Contingent -- a splendid beast. I have a nigger boy looking after him. He grooms and feeds my horse, and while we are trekking the boy will go to a farmhouse and comandeer mealies and green oats. The boy is named "Sausage". He washes my clothes, makes my bed and gets everything I want. I would like to take him to New Zealand when I return. I regret to say the military authorities will not allow it. To give you an idea of what a good boy he is, duty often keeps me out till late at night. I have known the lad to sit up by the fire until my return, no matter how late, and have cocoa or coffee ready for me. In this country I first prize my horse, the rifle next and then the lad who attends so well to both my horse and myself.

In the field I tell you it is marvellous to witness the brotherly feeling existing among men -- not only with our own men, but with the Boers. I have seen kind actions. I shall never forget and be ever free to narrate that when they captured me they treated me kindly. I expected them to say every moment, "Well, we are going to shoot you." There are cases, however, contrary to my experience as a captive in the hands of the Boers. 

For instance, the squadron I am in was detailed for a night march to surprise a Boer laager near Lowberg Kopje. We moved off about midnight, and at dawn sighted our field for operations. In extended order, spread out like a fan, we advanced at a fast canter towards the rugged position. When within good rifle range the Boers thought they were going to bump us off the position by opening a brisk rifle fire. We were not going to be bluffed with a few pellets. Our squadron commander, Captain Simpson, a smart, cool soldier, with an eye like an eagle, despatched men to the right and left with the order 'gallop'. The remainder advanced to the spot where the fire issued from. The cunning Boers quickly grasped the movement and made for their horses. Naturally we pursued, following them over ditches and ridges, firing from our horses, bullets cutting up the dust in all directions. We continued the pursuit of the enemy for over seven miles and captured the convoy, seven waggons, eight prisoners, horses, cattle and sheep. 

In this chase Sergeant-Major Lockett, of our squadron, was wounded. We were galloping through some underscrub and had just headed the convoy. Lockett, a particular comrade of mine, was riding a fast horse and leading. A trooper with a bit too much dash galloped right into the enemy and, let me tell you, the Boers were not slow in relieving him of all his Government property. Poor Lockett: he thought they were his own men. He halted for a second, the enemy waved him over; when he got within about 10 yards they fired -- missed him. Lockett, a game fellow from Wanganui, grasped his rifle, presented it, but the bolt would not act. The cunning Boers noticed the handicap and fired again. The explosive bullet entered poor Lockett's right arm. I miss him; we messed together.

(According to the Cenotaph database, Sergeant-Major Ernest Barnett Lockett (c.1863-1943) embarked for South Africa as a private in 1899, and was wounded in the right arm at Losburg, 23 August 1901. His right arm was amputated "when against tremendous odds he alone rushed the Boers and with great gallantry rescued a prisoner from them." For that action he received the Distinguised Conduct Medal and was invalided back to New Zealand in December 1901. After the war, he worked for the Public Works Department in Tauranga.)

You can see that on this occasion no brotherly feeling existed. The Boers -- that is, the middle-aged men -- are not cowards. The young Boers -- those about 17 or 18 -- are murderers. I generally make them sit up. I could state hundreds of cases where men having studied the position quickly have just escaped. When the enemy is about you have to be on the alert, lest they should get a sniping shot -- a thing they are prone to do. The ecstacy of the whole thing is guerilla warfare. I will admit that it is great fun, but one does not like galloping into action of a cold morning. To be warmed up a bit is like a meal to us. We will then tackle anything. A peculiarity I have noticed is that under fire one gets very thirsty. I daresay the excitement causes this. If a man is wounded or dying he will ask for water.

All Boers that we capture give us credit that we can ride and fight, and when that admission is made by a Dutchman it means a lot. To see us catch and ride a buck-jumper takes the wind out of their sails, and when we tell them that our best riders have remained at home in New Zealand, it fairly surprises them. The Boers are very ignorant. They seem to think we are wild men. Whether we be wild or tame, I am satisfied the New Zealanders are better than the Dutchmen, and can surprise them, though it must be understood they are hard to take by surprise. On several occasions we have done it before they have been able to grasp a rifle or show fight. On other occasions we have captured them at dinner, and having done so we have made them stand up, and we sat down in their places and indulged in a splendid repast.

There is not much ceremony now in dealing with the Boers. At first I was too ladylike. If I want information from a Boer or Kaffir I threaten to shoot him. It is all in the game, and so long as they persist to fight in a hopeless cause Maorilanders will shake them up.

At present we are operating around the Vaal River, near Vreeniging Station, whilst parties of the newly-formed Armed Constabulary are building blockhouses on the high, commanding kopjes. Only to-day (August 30) I was watching the heliograph from the summit of Losberg kopje, about 30 miles distant. It is undoubtedly a wonderful instrument, and though I am not a general I really approve of these heights being held by our men, because I have often had the risky mission of scouting such ground. Blockhouses are now being built all over the country, with about a hundred odd men in reach, well provisioned. There are formidable wire entanglements surrounding the stronghold. The flashlight being used by night and the heliograph by day, a chain of communication is continually kept up. Columns therefore operating in the various districts are quickly notified of the movements of the marauding Boers. It is cheerful, too, to think that in these blockhouses a small British party has always a stronghold to retire to.

To-day (August 30) we are going out from camp to fight a few snipers that are annoying the outpost. We will destroy the farms. The women will be taken and handed over to the women's laager, on the line of communication, as we expect to strike the line again near Vreeniging for supplies. It is rumoured that we will trek in the direction of Heidelberg. This month we have done good work, our small mobile column capturing 60 odd prisoners of war, also rifles, bandoliers, ammunition, waggons, cattle, sheep etc. Last month this small column of Colonel Garrett's was second on the list for captures. The Cape papers praise the New Zealanders. One paper states that the New Zealanders will fight the Boers in the open and then mount and give them chase.

We are glad that we have Colonel Porter with us. He is very popular, doing all he can for his men, and as an officer in the field, or in any other capacity, he is greatly appreciated. I think he has arranged for those of the Fourth and Fifth New Zealand Regiments that they need only serve with the Seventh Contingent for six months, instead of 12, as formerly arranged. If this be correct, then all old contingents will be delighted. We understood when we left our respective regiments to join the Seventh Contingent that the time would be only six months. As one cannot get his discharge in this country, I intend to leave about the end of December.

It appears that Arthur Te Waata Gannon may have been the same person as "Wata Gannon", born c.1878, described in March 1900 when he signed up as a private for the Gisborne section of the fourth contingent as a "native of the East Coast." He was a surveyor's assistant, giving his home address at the time as Ponsonby, and seems to have been a son of Michael Joseph Gannon, a Maori interpreter and later mining agent, and Kate Wylie of Ngati Kaipoho, Poverty Bay. Later in 1900, he was promoted to lance-corporal. Another of Arthur's letters home is here.  After the war, he worked as a clerk in Wellington, and filed for bankruptcy in October 1905. In the Maori Pioneer Battalion during World War I, he joined as part of the 13th reinforcements, and was appointed 2nd Lieutenant in December 1916. When he returned from that war, he took up in business as a carrier in Wellington, but went bankrupt again in 1919. After that, I have no idea what happened to him.

A feathered detainee

From the Auckland Star 1 October 1931.

It falls to the lot of the Auckland police to perform some queer tasks and make some strange arrests. Sometimes it is difficult to know just precisely what charge to lay at the door of a visitor. Last night the Newmarket police were in such a quandry. They were forced to "detain" a kiwi.

The family of Mr W H Tongue, of 11 Remuera Road, had just finished dinner when they heard a noise coming from the outbuildings at the rear of the house. "Burglars!" was the common thought, and the son rushed out to the back and Mr Tongue to the front garden to prevent escape that way. Their dog barked excitedly and the rest of the family thought its bark must confirm their suspicions. Mr Tongue, jun., searched all around the back, but could find nothing, and then finally traced some scufflings to the garage, led there by the dog.

There he beheld a frightened kiwi, peering with its head on one side from where it had crouched in one corner. The dog showed an immense personal pride in its find. By that time all the family were on the scene, and it fell to the portion of the head of the house to make the capture. His prey offered small resistence.

The problem was what to do with the bird. Mr Tongue had no idea whither it had come. The Newmarket police station is almost opposite, and he took it there.

Though used to all sorts of callers, the police were puzzled. Apparently the bird had an unblemished career,. and it seemed quite at home. No charge was entered against it for, as Sergeant Finch observed, there is no charge that can be laid against kiwis which evince a tendency to wander. Its "lock-up" for the night was a warm box in the house.

Mr Finch said that there used to be kiwis down in the gully near where the Newmarket station is now, and there were still several wooded spots where the birds yet might linger. It was, however, a most unusual place to find one

The kiwi has been released "on probation" in the Zoo.

Happy 200th Birthday, Mr Henderson

On a rainy and slightly chilly December morn, members of West Auckland Historical Society and I marked the bicentennary today of the birth of Thomas Maxwell Henderson, of Henderson's Mill and Circular Saw Line fame, out at Symonds Street Cemetery. I provided the image of younger Mr Henderson in his prime, and the gorgeous hibiscus blooms came from the garden of Trevor and Fay Pollard.

I read out bits from the obituary of 28 June 1886 (next year marks 125 years since he died, so that's important too). Now, I need to get A into G and get Timber's Fortune finished over this quiet season. Crossing fingers ...

The crew braving the elements (from left): Jean Blaiklock, Fay Pollard, Margaret Black, Jim Black, Peter Blaiklock, Bruce Harvey, and Trevor Pollard. You're all a top crew, folks. Many thanks for coming along.

Photo journey through Alberton

This link to an audio slideshow of images of Alberton, the Kerr-Taylor former family home in Mt Albert, is available online only for a few weeks. Check it out, and make sure your sound is on for some wonderful history.

Convoluted versions of history from Dargaville

I have the permission from my friend Liz to post this here, in mirror to her own post over at the Mad Bush Farm blog (where there's a better res version), and do so in support of her and the rest of the concerned historians and history buffs who dare to speak up about the trend toward alternative "histories". There's more at Reading the Maps. I had my say about the editor of "Dargaville Online" who, it would appear, likes to accuse critics of anonymity, while using a pseudonym himself. 

Great work, Liz. Keep it up!

[Update: 18 December 2010] Unfortunately, and mysteriously my opinion and comment, revealing what I had found out about McDonald's post and that it had originally appeared as an editorial in his "Dargaville Online" newsletter on 13 November 2010, seems to have been deleted from the Reading the Maps blog. Six days after publishing the newsletter issue, "Dargaville Online" repeated the editorial on the Dargaville site here. Sadly, it's created some unfair confusion between John McDonald's "Dargaville Online" and the community newspaper the Dargaville & District News, who are not involved in this latest dust-up.

A memorial brickyard gatepost in New Lynn

New Lynn has another memorial to its brickmaking and ceramics heritage. I was invited  oday by Trevor Pollard, President of West Auckland Historical Society, to head on down to the corner of Rankin and Clark Streets for a bit of an event.

Around 2006, Trevor spotted an old post sticking out of the ground at the corner of the site which was once NZ Brick, Tile & Pottery Ltd (Albert Crum, manager), then Amalgamated Brick & Pipe and later Crown Lynn potteries. He rescued it from construction oblivion early last year, and started to campaign for Waitakere City Council to resite the post with an appropriate interpretive sign.

Well, he won. This is him, sweeping the newly-laid concrete square around the post clear of soil for the occasion.

Trevor chatting to Whau Local Board Chairman Derek Battersby about the post.

Today, Trevor was only able to affix a temporary version of the sign to the plinth. The concrete still needs to cure, then a permanent version will be fastened on. The capping, by the way, is Trevor's own voluntary work, in his other role in life as a master plumber.

Auckland Councillor Sandra Coney joined Board Chairman Battersby and Trevor for the photographs.

A bit of the story of the site, as far as I've been able to piece together.

In the 1880s, this was a farm occupied by a chap named Foley. At some point, before August 1905, it came to be owned by a new firm called NZ Brick, Tile & Pottery Co. It would appear that this was a partnership between two Ashburton businessmen -- Hugh Friedlander, formerly owner of the Kolmar Brickworks in Ashburton down to 1895 (named after the Friedlander's home town in Prussia, now part of Poland), and Welsh-born Albert Crum (1863-1951) who, with his father John, took over the Kolmar works, and named it Ashburton Brickworks. Both Friedlander and Crum served on the territorial authorities down that way, and they also served as co-directors on the boards of such enterprises as the Ake Ake Chainless Bicycle Company.

In 1905, having just the year before succeeded at a local election, Albert Crum announced to Ashburton that he was leaving for Auckland, and a job managing a brickworks at New Lynn for an influential company, of which, we now know, he was managing director. Friendlander remained behind, the silent partner perhaps, reaping the benefits of the investment while running the family stores. Even the contract for the New Lynn works boilersb went to an Ashburton firm.

Come World War I, things became tougher. Friendlander suffered through the wave of anti-German feeling, which probably contributed to the liquidation of his Ashburton business in 1919. The war also hampered brick production -- only Gardners, across Rankin Ave from the Crum works, was still producing bricks diring the period.

In 1925 the original NZ Brick, Tile & Pottery Company, registered in Christchurch, liquidated, in favour of a company of the same name registered at Auckland -- and this, in 1929, became Amalgamated Brick & Pipe. Albert Crum was a director right the way through the transition.