Another NZ history blog for the list: Canterbury Heritage

Because I now visit Jayne's Our Great Southern Land blog daily, I came across a comment posted by the owner of another NZ history blog: Canterbury Heritage. I'll add it to the lengthening list to the left -- great finding something from that part of the country.

Glenbrook visit 2009: third post

Not about trains, this time, I promise ...!

At the paddock across the road from the trains, cars and models exhibitions, they staged ploughing competitions, horse-and-wagon rides ... and a military re-enactment. The uniforms used were those of the 65th regiment and the militia or colonial forces (later armed constabulary, and a foundation for today's NZ police force from the mid 1870s).

It's all in the gauge

Just to start: the word "gauge" is one of my spelling blind spots. For some reason, my brain keeps trying to spell it guage. I have no idea why. Maybe this post might cure that!

Jayne raised the question in a comment to my earllier Glenbrook posts as to whether Glenbrook Vintage Railway's gauge was 3' 6" or narrow gauge. Indeed it is, according to sources online. 3' 6" is the standard gauge for NZ rail, and has been ever since Julius Vogel and his 19th century Think Big policies. Why? According to this article from New Zealand Railway Magazine, it's all about cost, and making those pounds stirling he'd borrowed from London spin out just that wee bit more.

"Sir Julius Vogel, who was the father of our new railway policy, urged that we must have long lines of railway and at a relatively small expenditure of money. His policy was that we must have cheap railways, and, as population increased and money became more plentiful, we could increase the equipment of our lines. He Has often been blamed for his extravagance, but so far as his railway policy was concerned, he was careful and economical. As one who was not of his political party—Mr. Gisborne—said of him: “The grasp of his mind was comprehensive, and his foresight was great; and, wild as some of his conceptions seemed to many at first, not a few have proved themselves to contain much that is useful and statesman like.” Sir Julius Vogel did not think it necessary to follow the example of England, or of Australia, so far as railway gauges were concerned. (Even in England since 1870, some railway lines have had their gauges lessened, and in Queensland the 3ft. 6in. gauge has been adopted.)

Viewing what has happened during the past 58 years it will be granted that New Zealand was wise in adopting the moderate gauge it chose. We have improved, as our revenue has increased, the equipment of our railways, in carriages, engines, station buildings, workshops, and so forth. It is true that our recent line have been more elaborately and consequently, more expensively constructed. Had, however, the policy of 1870 not been followed, we would not to-day possess the mileage of lines we have."

The image above, from the NZETC link, is Sir Julius Vogel, K.C.M.G.

The gauge, plus our country's terrain, led to the development of the "Pacific class" of locomotive, as described here.

"The often steep grades and tight curves imposed by the formidable terrain required more power at all operating speeds than was usual. This led to the early development of the oversize firebox, wider than the 3'6" gauge, supported by a 2-wheel trailing truck thus creating the classic "Pacific" locomotive with a 4-6-2 wheel arrangement compared to the 4-6-0 "Ten-Wheeler". In turn, the available power led to a then-astonishing turn of sustained speed that prompted the adoption of the type all over the world."

Image from here.

Glenbrook visit 2009: second post

Okay, I'm back, after a brief rest to try to get some energy restored. Here are some of the rail-themed photos I took today (other, general ones to follow). Above, one of the old NZR advertisements on display at Glenbrook station.

According to the information tag attached to the building, this was an unmanned flag station building from Motumaoho, along the Hamilton to Morrinsville line, and is under restoration at Glenbrook. The original rail line was under construction in 1881, reaching Motumaoho by March that year (Waikato Times, 24 March 1881). Only thing I could find as to history of that part of the country online was this tale of a local farmer from the district and his artificial leg.

Above, a ceiling light of one of the carriages. Below, some of the locomotives at the workshops.

Ww480, originally built at Hillside workshops, 1910. Internal shot of the workshops here.

Wab 800. originally built 1927 by A & G Price Ltd, Thames (judging from the GVR rolling stock register).

GVR No. 4, TTT 7, built 1912 by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO), USA, for the Taupo Totara Timber Company.

J 1234, originally built 1939 by North British Locomotive Company.

Below, waiting to head back to Glenbrook station from the workshops. An experiment where I took a photo out the open window of the carriage. Don't worry, I'm not daft enough to do this while the train is in motion!

Glenbrook visit 2009: first post

A couple of very good friends of mine offered me a seat in their car for a trip to Glenbrook, down in Franklin district, to see the Glenbrook Volunteer Railway open day. This even happened once ever two or three years. Last one was in 2007, and I had a great time then.

This time, I've come home really drained (had way too much fun with old trains, vehicles, military re-enactments and withstanding a truly sizzling hot day down there), so this is just Glenbrook Posts part 1.

These shots were taken at the end of the outing, at Morley Road crossing. Nothing fancy, I just use an ordinary digital camera, no tripod an' stuff -- but I got what I wanted which was a shot or two of an old-style train along with an old-style flag station building.

A video of the locomotive, GVR No. 2 Ww644, is available on YouTube here. Its sound in real life is incredible, coming up the inclines.

North Island closed and semi-closed rail

In a previous post, I put up some links about vanished railway lines in the South Island. Now, it's the North Island's turn.

The North Auckland Line has had a stop-start patchy history of operation. I've travelled on a special Railway Enthusiasts excursion to Whangarei and back, but passenger trains usually don't go any further than Helensville these days. Certainly Opua, the terminus from 1925 until the end of freight runs in 1985, is today unreachable by rail from Auckland for the average member of the public. However, the Bay of Islands Vintage Railway Trust has revived the Kawakawa-Opua section of the line. (Their website has a history section, and a gallery section with some lovely train whistling and chuffing sounds, by the way.)

Kumeu-Riverhead section (closed 1881, replaced by the North Auckland line.) Some info here via the Helensville Pioneer Museum.

Waiuku Branch (passenger services withdrawn 1948, closed 1968, but now being restored between Waiuku and Glenbrook by the GVR.)

Rotorua branch. This in particular strikes me as a great, great shame that it's closed (since 2001). It is a derelict line in places now -- parts of the line up in the Mamaku Ranges just outside Rotorua have, I understand, been uplifted by vandals. I would dearly love to travel to Rotorua from either Auckland or Hamilton by rail. Maybe if I live long enough ...

Waitangi Day

Image from Wikipedia.

Just pipping the post a day early -- I spotted this NZ Herald article on the history of the day. Quite a good summary, I thought.

They're quite right about full-on and formalised celebrations being of fairly recent vintage -- 1934. At the 25-year mark (1865), the central North Island was still on a war-footing between Imperial and Colonial forces and the Maori iwi, so anything to do with the Treaty of Waitangi was probably a touchy subject. At some place up North called Waitangi (possibly the same place, but it's not certain), each year on New Years the local Total Abstinence Society held their completely non-alcoholic party.

By January 1880, nearly 40 years after the treaty, facsimile copies of the 1835 Declaration of Independence, Captain Hobson's draft, and the treaty as signed by iwi in both main islands, compiled by H. Hanson Turton, were published by the Government Printing Office. (West Coast Times, 23 January 1880)

In 1890, regattas, jubilee celebrations, and even Maori war dances were features of a long series of events to mark the 50th anniversary of the treaty -- just not exactly 6 February. It was more end of January, tying in with the Auckland Provincial holiday.

More on the day here at NZ History Online.

Jayne in the comments brought up a very good point about the document itself -- the Treaty has had a hard time of it over the years. From the Archives New Zealand website:

"In 1841, only a year after the Treaty of Waitangi was drawn up and signed, the documents were saved from a fire at the government offices in Official Bay, Auckland. Poor storage between 1877 and 1908 led to the Treaty being damaged by both water and rodents. However, facsimiles of the Treaty had been created in 1877, before any damage occurred and all signatures have survived. After a series of different conservation treatments, and different homes, the Treaty was finally brought to National Archives in 1989, where the documents are now on permanent display in the secure, stable environment of the Constitution Room, Archives New Zealand."

The above link shows images of the treaty documents as they are today.

Vanished NZ rail lines

There are lots of rail lines that used to go places in this country, but don't anymore. This subject came to mind from reading posts on Jayne's blog at Our Great Southern Land. Jayne put me onto Lost and Found, with details of some of the Aussie faded lines.

Here's some NZ ones.

The Fairlie Branch, 1864-1968. A small part of the line is preserved at Pleasant Point, and used by the local rail society there each summer. I've had the pleasure of riding on that stretch in a Ford railcar. The second link has photos of what remains of the line today.

The Nelson Railway. The removal in 1955 sparked a sit-in protest by local women, one of whom, Sonja Davies, rose to prominence as a trade union activist.

Central Otago. The line cut through for the rails is now a cycleway. Historic photos here. More modern images on this blog post.

Riders of Hobby Horses: the North Island Main Trunk Railway Line

Last year, the NZ Federation of Historical Societies' magazine NZ Legacy had a special railway theme issue. As it was also the centenary year for the completion of the NIMT, I cobbled together an essay based mainly on the excellent book by R. S. Fletcher, Single Track: The Construction of the Main Trunk Railway (1978). I've now loaded the resulting article on Scribd, here.

West-Of-Eden

Last year, the West Auckland Historical Society (of which, I'm honoured to say, I'm a member) published West-Of-Eden, their flagship journal of local history. This month, the second issue has been published. They're free to WAHS members, and $10 per issue to non-members. You'll see the contact details for the society at the NZ Federation of Historical Societies membership list page here.

Contents of Number 1 include:
The Road to Whatipu
The Auckland Regiment
Duck Brothers' Quarry
Remembering Passchendaele
Burton Brothers visit West Auckland
The Riverhead Paper Mill

Contents of Number 2 include:
The Tree Tomato Saga at Landsendt
Accident at Muriwai
Fleeting Peninsula (about Te Atatu)
The Accomodation Houses of Muriwai
Whatipu Tragedy (the demise of Rev. Hamilton, by "Grammaticus")

NZ Blue Books online at Archives NZ

1840-1855 to be found here.

The download size for each volume is huge (I've just taken a look at the 1855 one, which is well over 250MB). But -- these are colour scans, and show some of the statistics of the workings and functions of our early colonial government. Worth a look if you're on broadband.

Riversdale Manufacturing Company shareholder's list August 1883

Further to the Riversdale Manufacturing Company posts ...

Here is the list of shareholders in the Riversdale Manufacturing Company (who owned the Bell & Gemmell tannery beside the upper Whau River between today's Olympic Park and the Great North Road bridge:

Henry James Bell, tanner,1000 shares
George Hemus, bootmaker, 1000 shares
W S Hampson, tanner, Auckland, 10 shares
Joseph Potter, Auckland, merchant, 1125 shares
John Batger, Auckland, accountant, 1125 shares
James McCosh Clark, warehouseman, 1000 shares
Edward Ernest Harker, clerk, 1000 shares
John Potter Hooton, Auckland, 250 shares
John Buchanan, merchant, 1000 shares
Henry Charles Choyce, draper, 50 shares
John Twileigh Hunt, draper. Otahuhu, 20 shares
Harvey Potter, Auckland accountant, 100 shares
Helen Watson Webster, Pukekohe, 100 shares
William Hootan, Auckland accountant, 250 shares
Peter Matzen, wool stapler, Auckland, 100 shares
John Slyfield, Auckland salesman, 20 shares
John Roberton, Auckland, gentleman, 300 shares
James Wiseman, saddler, 50 shares
Robert Somerville, Avondale, clergyman, 200 shares
Matthias Whitehead, Thames bootmaker, 25 shares
Thomas Thompson, Auckland grocer, 200 shares
John Buchanan, insurance agent, Auckland, 100 shares
Walter Binsted, Auckland butcher, 50 shares
Frederick Davies, Auckland bootmaker, 40 shares
Thomas Russell, London, gentleman, 1000 shares

(Source: Archives NZ file, "Riversdale Manufacturing Company Ltd, 1881-1884, BADZ 5181/36/227188/24)

Gifts from an American friend

Slightly off the NZ heritage theme to this blog ...

A very dear friend of mine, Bill from Where To, Bud?, has sent me a wonderful package from the States. Bill, when you read this, you dear soul -- the T-shirt (above) is gorgeous, and I'll be wearing it tomorrow when I give a talk at the Auckland Central Library on "The Value of Local History." I've been quite worried and strung out the past few weeks about the speech. (Will I be eloquent enough? Will I freeze? What on earth do I say??) But you, via your lovely gift, has probably come along just in the nick of time. That shirt is special -- and I'll wear it tomorrow with pride and a lot of love and regard, Bill. It will lend me nerve.

Bill's box has lots of other really cool stuff (I'm so utterly spoiled, thank you!) -- including this knight.

I love stuff about heraldry, chivalry, knights in armour, and medieval themes. I just adore this figurine (heavy wee begger it is, too! Feels old fashioned to lift and touch -- my kind of ornament!)

Thank you, Bill. You are indeed a very special person, and thanks for being part of my world.

Puhoi Historical Society website

Their site can be found here.

From the site:

"The Puhoi Historical Society records the early history of Puhoi, a settlement created by Bohemian (now Czech Republic) immigrants to New Zealand from the 1860's.

It maintains a Bohemian museum, and has the genealogical records of those immigrants, the development of the Puhoi area and many photographs of the times"

"Falls the Shadow," a still, and an elephant

Between the idea
And the reality
Between the motion
And the act
Falls the Shadow

For thine is the Kingdom

Between the conception
And the creation
Between the emotion
And the response
Falls the Shadow
Life is very long

Between the desire
And the spasm
Between the potency
And the existence
Between the essence
And the descent
Falls the Shadow
For Thine is the Kingdom
For Thine is
Life is
For Thine is the kingdom

This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but with a whimper.

Helen Pollock created the "Falls the Shadow" installation of clay arms and hands reaching up from the floor, against a background of ragged, bare trees, to represent the fallen at the World War I battle of Passchendaele of October 1917. At the moment, this is on display at the Auckland War Memorial Museum. From the commentary boards with the exhibition:

"To honour the dead, all these years later 40kg of clay was recently uplifted from the battlefield where the Canterbury and Otago troops were stationed the night before the attack. This black clay, with all that it contains and signifies, was then fired with unprocessed clay from New Zealand's Coromandel to become this "forest" of clay arms rising upwards from still waters, representing the futility of war and the indestructibility of the human spirit." The title comes from the poem "The Hollow Men" by T. S. Eliot.

I took a wander through the Museum's Centennial Street exhibition as well. This has long been part of the museum's interior landscape, originally created by Milne & Choyce department store in 1966. I still remember school trips where we were trundled through the narrow "streets" of the exhibit (I wish I knew then what I know now about some of the names to the buildings -- I'd have appreciated it much more!) Centennial Street is probably partially to blame for my intense interest in Auckland's story today, though.

The above photograph is of an object which is no longer labelled, but I realised what it was by looking at an old (1966) booklet on the exhibit which I had the good sense to buy secondhand recently. This is a copper retort or still (a picture of another one here) once owned by noted analytical chemist and homeopathic pharmacist, James Alexander Pond. Pond was the chap that was called in to check out the quality of Auckland's water during the 1870s-1880s. I have an article in my collection from that period where he was interviewed by a journalist, and tied a white handkerchief to a tap overnight by way of demonstration. In the morning, the white cloth was grey, and Pond then showed, by microscope, all the little organisms floating around in the city's non-alcoholic drink of necessity.

Also, from the biographical article linked above:

"A notable patent was granted to Pond in 1885 for the manufacture of enamel-lined butter boxes, which were constructed in his own factory at Freemans Bay. The novelty of the patent lay in the application of an alcoholic solution of shellac under pressure to the kahikatea box. The butter box set the standard for subsequent models, although its use appears to have died out about 1889, partly because of the cost.

After his retirement in 1911 Pond continued his scientific work in his well-equipped home laboratory in Remuera. He patented a new process for the manufacture of superphosphate in 1927, and was particularly concerned to find a poison for ragwort. In this miniature agricultural research station he developed a large-leafed variety of imported clover and a variety of white-skinned onion, and cultivated tung oil trees."

In September 1930, the town clerk of Hobart wrote to our Auckland City Council offering an elephant, describing him as "a great source of attraction for children and other." Rajah the elephant was 13 years old, 8 foot 3 inches at the shoulder and 9 feet 4 inches in total height. Hobart emphasised that he was tame, that they only wanted to part with him as the novelty of elephant rides had worn off for their citizenry and their zoo needed to cut costs. Auckland purchased him for £125, and Rajah arrived via Sydney in November that year. The shipping company at the time demanded special insurance before they'd take Rajah on board.

Rajah was intended as a companion for Auckland Zoo's existing elephant, Jamuna. However, by May, Rajah was becoming well known for bad-temper and had "already caused difficulty by its behaviour toward its keeper." Rajah was never trusted for the remaining six years of his time at the zoo. Visitors complained that he spat at them. Councillors complained that he wasn't earning his keep. When his keeper was finally unable to control him, he was shot, on 9 March 1936. An obituary appeared in the papers of the time:

"Rajah's stall is empty, and there is no longer any need to keep his copper name-plate bright and shining, but he will not be forgotten. His skin and skeleton have been turned over to the taxidermist, and the people will be able to gaze upon his mighty bulk at the Auckland War Memorial Museum for many years to come."

(Source: Tiger by the Tail, by Derek Wood)

Kaitiaki -- the guardian

I had a long day travelling, yesterday. It seemed that I was just following history's flow, and letting it take me where it willed. It was a long day, though, and I'm slightly knackered at the moment. Started at 9.30 catching the train from Avondale to Newmarket West, then a climb up to the Domain Hill near the museum, where I found "Kaitiaki" again.

A kaitiaki is a guardian, as Wikipedia explains. The Domain has a number of artworks on display (I'm rather fond of open-air art museums, as readers will probably have guessed by now). This, from that last link, is about "Kaitiaki."

"This sculpture belongs to the tradition of abstract Modernist constructions which invite spectators to engage with the aesthetics of sculpture in its own right – its form, material, weight and scale. But of course it also represents a hawk. Fred Graham observes that birds were the original Tangata Whenua of Aotearoa, and the hawk has figured prominently in the oral traditions of Ngati Whatua and Tainui. The enormous swooping steel bird, dark against the sky, may seem threatening, but conveys the strength that makes the hawk a powerful guardian of the land."

Interesting that my day began yesterday with photographing "Kaitiaki", a sky guardian, and ended (after I'd been to Waiheke Island to a friend's birthday celebration) with looking up at the sky over the Waitemata Harbour on the ferry home. It was nighttime, and the sky between Waiheke and the start of Auckland's light pollution was first cloudy, then cleared to give a view of the constellation Orion and a mass of stars behind, part of our galaxy. For the first time ever (I've lived in Auckland all my life, in amongst light pollution at nighttime) I was able to pick out orbitting satelites, I'm certain. Their light vanished with the increasing light from Auckland as we neared the North Shore and central city. Still, for the brief time when it was possible to see the blanket of stars and those tantalising swiftly travelling lights in the sky, it was a wonderful experience.

Robert Burns Anniversary at the Domain

Yesterday, the local Robert Burns Society put on a celebration at the Domain in honour of the 250th anniversary of the birth of the Scots Bard. It's a week late, but the Domain is where a statue of Robert Burns exists, so as good a place as any to do Scottish things for a prestigious birthday.

This is where the haggis is piped in.

The Address to a Haggis, by Robert Burns.

The beastie itself.

Perfect sense

Auckland Evening Star, 28 September 1874.

A facetious hair-dresser up town (we shall not mention names) sold a bottle of scent to a young lady in the neighbourhood of Ponsonby who was of a sentimental and rather fastidious turn of mind, and sent it back to her home. The young lady took it back to the perfumer, and said, "I don't think you forwarded the scent I meant; it is so different to what I expected."

The barber replied, "Miss, I am sure what you meant, I sent, the scent I sent was the scent you meant, consequently we are both of one sentiment."

The lady rejoined, "Whatever your intent, and however well meant, I will never consent to keep this scent," and she left the bottle on the counter and the hair-dresser speechless.

Scrumping, and the dangers there from

From the Auckland Evening Star, 25 January 1875, advertisements and public notices ...

"I HEREBY give notice to the Six respectably-dressed Lads who, during Divine Service last evening, visited my garden in Upper Queen-street for the purpose of stealing fruit, but had to skedaddle before accomplishing much of their purpose (a person being on the premises), that in future my BIG DOG WILL BE LOOSE, and they must take the consequences, only I advise them to take final leave of their mammas before entering my gate opposite the College."

And ...

"An advertiser in another column advertises his BIG DOG to those casting covetous eyes on his fruit trees in Upper Queen-street. The weakness for illicit fruit is not confined to Upper Queen-street. We know a place in Parnell where, in lieu of a dog, there is a gun charged with coarse salt, and a watch kept, and the resolution is determined to lodge the salt in the seat of honor of the first person found among the fruit trees. There will be scratching there we guess. It will afford us pleasure to know and tell our readers whether the big dog in Upper Queen-street or the salt in Parnell first produces screams."

The agile hairdresser

From the Auckland Evening Star, 13 February 1875. I reckon these guys blew any marathons we ever have here in Auckland completely out of contention ...

"A most exciting scene took place yesterday which taxed the physical powers of two of our most active officers of the police. The hair-dresser, Takaberry, who was committed this morning for six months, slipped £4 into his pocket belonging to Mr. Corcoran. Thakaberry was just in trim for running, having neither coat, vest, shirt, shoes nor stockings to burden his exceedingly spectral body.

"Information was at once given to the police, and Sergeant O'Connor made his noble appearance at Corcoran's. Thackaberry, known as the barber of Eden, or the close-cropper, observed the sergeant at a respectable distance, and immediately bolted up Wakefield-street, having a fair start, with the sergeant about fifty yards behind.

"The fox bolted on and on, and occasionally dodged the serjeant among the tombs in the cemetery, and then among gorse. Sometimes the sargeant lost scent for a time, then he would discover the fox out again as he did in the Khyber Pass Road. The chase into Newmarket was marvellous, and though unequal in point of physical dimensions, Sergeant O'Connor hotly pursued the fugitive.

"A glass of refreshing water at the Royal George Hotel revived the spirit of the officer. The barber, however, by this time had got out of sight, but presently was seen peeping from behind a cluster of ti-tree. Off he ran towards the Harp of Erin, and after him ran the sergeant, and near the garden of the Harp, O'Connor felt sure of his prey. The fox, however, barked him; it was a near shave, and he turned towards Auckland.

"The runaway tried hard to baffle his pursuer in the locality of Mt Eden, but failed in endeavoring to scale the wall. He leaped over the stones with wonderful agility, and wound round by the Eden Vine Hotel; and when turning into Grey-street was fairly exhausted, Thakaberry ran into the open arms of Constable Mulville quite beaten, when Sergeant O'Connor came up panting and secured the prisoner. he chase commenced at one o'clock and closed at ten minutes past five, and is worthy of being recorded in the future annals of New Zealand to the credit of the police."

For those who don't know Auckland's layout -- that initial run up Wakefield Street would have been an absolute gut-buster, let alone a chase down Manukau Road and then back through Mt Eden. Well done to Sergeant O'Connor!