Burke's Brickyard on the Whau

Image from Western Leader, 16 January 1998.

This is an update, in the light of additional information from the Auckland Star, found by both Murray Wright and myself.  It is linked to the previous post, Avondale’s riverside brickmakers  (January, 2009) and incorporates some of the text from that post.

Charles Burke, a farmer and later tailor, purchased most of the southern half of Allotment 12 over a number of years from the mid 1860s until 1871. In the mid 1870s, he was part-and-parcel of the local scene at the Whau, taking part in events such as the Whau Excelsior (Temperance) Lodge entertainment evening on 21 July 1875 (Southern Cross). 

In Simon Best’s report on the Burke Brickyard, his investigation included part of the background of a couple of brick makers named Thomas William Murray and William Sloan. The first, from around 1871 to 1875 had a leasehold property at the Whau on Allotment 11, while the latter lived on a leasehold site on Allotment 12. Simon Best used some of the oral traditions handed down to J. T. Diamond in his report on the remains of the Hoffman kiln at the Burke site in Avondale. One of these, from Sam Exler in 1977, has it that Murray & Sloan had a brickworks at Arch Hill and then made their second attempt at Burke’s. Another note claims that Murray & Sloan started on a brickyard at the foot of Rata Street (which has been claimed as a Redfern site in notes by Diamond), then worked at Burke’s, then Arch Hill. This appears to be negated by the directory and electoral roll information gathered by Best.

Murray Wright found the following article in Papers Past, and sent it through to me. It spurred me on to carry out an update on the slightly tangled story of Burke's Brickyard on the Whau. The story, though, is still somewhat of a dig through the clay to try to find enough pieces to fit together for the story.

THOMAS MURRAY V. NEIL CAMPEBLL AND OTHERS:

Claim, £31 17s.

Mr Rees for plaintiff, and Mr Joy for the defendants. Mr Rees having explained the case, called Thomas Murray, who stated that he knew the defendants, who were the proprietors of Burkes brickyard at the Whau. He saw the three defendants on the 28th of December last, and gave them a memorandum or tender of terms upon which he was to carry on certain works. That memorandum was never properly signed; but he had seen it since in the possession of two of the partners, Campbell and Burke. He offered to make, burn, and deliver bricks at 16s per thousand, which terms were accepted by defendants. A statement to this effect was drawn up for the purpose of being signed, but as Mr Connell, solicitor, had gone to Coromandel when they called at his office the matter was neglected. He took possession of the brickyard at the end of December last year, and commenced to work on the 3rd January.

Auckland Star 11 May 1874

The next day, the Star announced the verdict -- and added a wee verse. Possibly one of the very few verses about an Avondale brickworks?

In the case of Thomas Murray against Neil Campbell and others, heard before Judge Beckham in the District Court yesterday, judgment for £26 12s 3d, was given for plaintiff. It is not a little singular that the majority of defendants in this action were Auckland tailors, and we may state that they bore their defeat with a magnanimity of spirit which proved them to be regular bricks. The defendants, be it known, are owners of a brickyard at the Whau, and the claim was for making and delivering bricks, hence the significance of the lines:

These makers of breeks

Became makers of bricks,

And toiled day by day

Between broadcloth and clay,

Though the action they lost,

They were not passion-crossed,

But bore it like men—

With amen, and amen.

Auckland Star 12 May 1874

This was the reference I'd come across earlier: where Thomas Murray worked for Neil Campbell and three others, the “proprietors of a brick-yard”. (Southern Cross, 12 May 1874)

By 1877, Murray and Sloane were over at Arch Hill, making flower pots and winning prizes. We know Thomas Murray was at the Arch Hill brickyard by late 1876 (Southern Cross 24 November 1876,  reported a court case over illegal bowls played near his kiln.)

PRIZE AWARDS.

Sloan, Murray, and Co.'s collection flower pots bricks, lime, &c, 1st prize.

Auckland Star 9 November 1877

By 1879, however, it looks like Charles Burke had some bricks on his hands.

Auckland Star  19 July 1879

Nearly two years later, his house burns to the ground.

FIRE AT THE WHAU.

A four-roomed house at the Whau, owned by Mr Burke, the proprietor of the brickfields, was destroyed by fire last evening. The details which have reached us are, however, very meagre. The house was unoccupied at tho time of the occurrence. Mr Burke sends his boy and girl up there every afternoon to milk the cows, and a report was current to the effect that they had lighted a fire yesterday for cooking purposes and had forgotten to put it out when leaving. Whether there is any truth in this report, we are unable to say. We have also been unable to ascertain if the house was insured.

Auckland Star 15 March 1881

There is little indication that he remained at Avondale much after that.

Thomas Murray and William Sloan with their Arch hill brickworks continued.

Auckland Star 30 August 1881

WANTED, two Men accustomed to digging clay or falling it at per yard; none but good men need apply Thomas J. Murray, of Sloan and Murray, Arch Hill.

Auckland Star 14 December 1881

Then, in February 1882, their partnership dissolved.

Auckland Star 9 February 1882

Later that year, a very short-lived business enterprise at Burke's brickyard in Avondale.

Auckland Star 4 November 1882

Thomas Murray popped up again at Avondale in late 1882. From the Weekly News, 11 November 1882, in a description of William Hunt's brickworks at what later was called Glenburn, on St Georges Road:

"Mr. Hunt has been fortunate in in securing the services of Mr. T. J. Murray, who has been in the New Zealand brick trade about 17 years, and in partnership with Mr. Sloan for nearly 15 years, of which time the last nine years was as Sloan and Murray, of Arch Hill."

Which would explain this advertisement -- not for Burke's old works, but Hunt's.

Auckland Star 28 September 1883

The following may refer to Burke's brickworks.

BRICKYARD, to lease at the Whau, and 5 acres of Land; rent, £50 per annum. —Guy Trenchard, 83 Queen-street.

Auckland Star 6 February 1885

(Update 3 October 2013: Found in passing in the NZ Herald:

"... the Messrs Kane have commenced working the brick-fields of Mr Burke ..." (26 February 1887) Nothing further after that.)

J. Crum (via Diamond notes) recorded that Burke's site was leased to J. J. Craig “during a boom.” He was correct, it seems. The following report was well before J J Craig bought the Hunt Brickyard on St Georges Road from Bycrofts. The only other Avondale location may well have been Burke's by the Whau River.

An incipient fire was discovered at Craig's brickyard at Avondale yesterday, and was fortunately put out before any serious damage was done. The fire was first observed in the woodwork on top of the kiln by Mrs Schraft, a neighbour, who called her husband's attention to it. He extinguished the flames with considerable trouble, and not without some damage to his own clothing, and thus saved a roof and two wooden sheds from destruction.

Auckland Star 5 November 1888

The Assessment Court sat at Avondale this morning at 10 o'clock.

Mr R S Bush, S M, was judge. Mr John Bollard appeared on behalf of the Board. Mr. R. F. Bollard (valuer) was also present. Eleven objections had been lodged, but only two objectors appeared. Chas. Burke, part 12, parish of Titirangi, 16 acres, valued at £520. The appellant asked that the valuation be reduced by £200. After evidence was heard the valuation was sustained.

Auckland Star 1 May 1895

TO LET, at Avondale, Paddocks for Grazing. —Apply Chas. Burke. Avondale.

Auckland Star 24 November 1897

The text of a January 1902 lease between Burke and Walter W. Daw which made reference to a kiln and buildings (surrendered in February 1904 after Burke’s death, so the entire site could be sold to the Avondale Jockey Club.)

“The Lessee may use the said demised property in the production of bricks, pottery and other ware … shall and will keep proper accounts of bricks, pottery and other ware made … or whether any earth part is used … shall not nor will in digging for or excavating brick earth or sand do any needless damage to the said demised lands or premises … shall not nor will sell or remove from off the hereby demised premises any earth clay or sand in an unmanufactured state …”

Until 1904, Moss Davis (who held a lease over the eastern half of Burke’s farm for the Jockey Club) was bound to allow “right-of-way and passage at all times during the currency of this lease by day or by night on foot or on horseback and with or without horses, carts and carriages laden or unladen and other animals and vehicles through over and along the piece of land …” The access was via today’s Wingate Street.

Auckland Star 4 June 1903

And, in 1903, the Whau Canal tour stopped off at Mr. Keane’s brickworks – Keane or Cain being one of the names which keep cropping up in the Whau River bricks story, as perennial as the grass.

The 1903 party from the Waitemata-Manukau Canal Promotion Scheme, alighting from the steamer at Keane's Brickworks, during the 1903 inspection of the proposed canal route. From The New Zealand Graphic, 25 July 1903.

There is a much clearer version of this image at Local History Online (click on West Auckland images, then search for Burke's) but I'm not convinced that the library's caption identifying this site as Burke's landing, at the bottom of Wingate Street, is correct This is what I have put as a comment to that site tonight.

There is doubt as to whether this is "Burke's Landing" at all. The NZ Herald reporting this event referred to the steamer reaching "Keane's" as the tide was falling. (NZH 16 July 1903) The NZ Graphic of 25 July 1903 captioned this photo as "The party leaving the steamer at the head of the Avondale Creek" and described that the steamer dropped the party off half a mile from the Whau Bridge. Burke's brickyard (and any landing, if it existed) was too close, being at the end of Wingate Street. The brickyard at Burke's had no need for a landing at that stage -- bricks then were carted directly to Great North Road. The location of this photo, considering the curve of the river, may well have been from the end of Ash Street -- the site of today's Rata Street bridge.

Overlay on aerial photo of part of Avondale Racecourse (top right) and the Whau River, from Auckland Council website.  "A" is the site near the end of Ash Street, "B" is the Burke brickyard. Whau Bridge is at the bottom right.

At the other Ash Street site, there are reportedly still a lot of brick rubble on what was part of the racecourse property. This was formerly land owned by John Bollard, on Lot 12 -- which Sloan apparently had a lease for, in the early 1870s. It is also a likely site for the area identified by Diamond as "Black Bluff". I've yet to see the name Keane in association with Burke's brickworks in the contemporary newspapers. The original Bernard Keane, often suggested as being involved at Avondale, was instead associated with Hobsonville, Mahurangi and Whangarei, as well has having his own brick and lime works in the central city in the 1880s.

The Burke site is today all residential, now, all traces of the past gone. Even in 1998, Simon Best reported finding mainly what constituted a rubbish dump – old bottles, imported ceramics, animal bones. Not surprising – the Avondale Road Board had their rubbish dump at the end of Wingate Road.

I suspect that there's more information out there. Just a matter of waiting.

Update 21 August: as per the comments below, 10 August saw a bit of a clearing up as to where the landing was -- definitely  Site A, identified by Simon Best as part of the Burke's yards, as it was his section of Allotment 12. But, it doesn't explain one thing: why there is only that reference, a single article and caption, to a Mr Keane having a brickyard at Avondale. More on this in a further post.

Lytlleton's Timeball Station on Facebook

Further to this previous post.

This, from the latest newsletter by the NZ Historic Places Trust.

Work to dismantle the Timeball Station is progressing amid continuing aftershocks that are rendering the remainder of the building and some areas around the site increasingly unstable. Wherever possible dressed stone, stone blocks, whole bricks and timber are being salvaged, recorded and stored off site and it is hoped that some of this material can be included in any future building on the site.

The mechanism and timeball, which were badly damaged in the 13 June quake, are also being stored off site and a metal detector may be used to locate any pieces missing in the rubble. Once the building has been taken down, the site will be made tidy and damaged retaining walls repaired.

Their special Facebook page, with updates on the work in progress along with images, can be found here.

An artist between Cromwell and Q-ships: Henry Francis Worsley

1899 statue of Cromwell by Hamo Thornycroft outside the Palace of Westminster, London. Photo by Tagishsimon, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported, from Wikipedia.

Slightly edited 25 January 2016.

Yesterday, I woke up to find an email from Jayne, of the Our Great Southern Land blog. In her local cemetery, she'd noted reference to an Englishman named Henry Francis Worsley who had emigrated first to New Zealand, apparently after the glitter of gold, then headed trans-Tasman to, as Jayne puts it, turn up his toes in 1876. Her sleuthing had thrown up the fact that his grandson, Frank Worsley, was part of the early 20th century Shackleton expeditions.

As I do, I went looking to see if there was a blog post out of Mr Henry Francis Worsley.

First, why on earth have I got an image of Oliver Cromwell's statue up the top? Well, If you can go by family history sites like Rootsweb, it appears that Henry Francis was a descendant of Cromwell, the chap who became Lord Protector in England, Ireland, Wales and Scotland when Charles I's head was lopped off in 1649. Cromwell's daughter Francis married Sir John Russell, their daughter Elizabeth married Sir Thomas Frankland, Mary Frankland married Sir Thomas Worsley of Hovingham, their son was also Thomas, his son was Rev. George Worsley, Rector of Stonegrave and Scawton, and one of his sons was Henry Francis Worsley (1806-1876). This means, if you also go by The Plantagenet Roll of the Blood Royal by Melville Henry Massue Ruvigny et Raineval (marquis de), (1907, part online at Google Books), then not only was Henry Francis Worsley great-great-great-great-grandson to Oliver Cromwell, there was a bit of the Plantagenet blue blood (via the Franklands, apparently) in his veins. Then again, Victorian genealogies have a lot in common with pinches of salt.

What is known via newspapers is the following.

Married, Sept. 1, at Ryde, Henry Francis Worsley, esq. of Hovingham, Yorkshire, to Catherine Agnes, youngest daughter of the late Benj. Blackden, esq. of Bedlow House, Bucks.

Hampshire Advertiser (Southampton, England) 17 September 1831

By 1858 Worsley had come to live in Christchurch. (Lyttleton Times 10 February 1858) Researchers state earlier dates for his arrival (see comments below), which may be correct, but the available newspapers searchable online show him here at least by then.

At that point, his artistic side took over. He exhibits a “gallery of pictures” at a “conversazione” at the Mechanics Institute, Christchurch, in August 1859. (Lyttleton Times 23 July 1859) Later reports alluded to him exhibiting fairly frequently on this side of the Ditch, but I've yet to find anything from the period between that exhibition at the Mechanic's Institute, and when he popped up in Melbourne in 1868.

H F WORSLEY, artist, No. 6 Cardigan-street, Carlton, has a variety of OIL PICTURES on view, that have been highly valued, and is prepared to take any commission.

Melbourne Argus 2 September 1868

Mr H J. Worsley, an artist of very considerable merit, who has practised his arts for some years past in New Zealand, has recently arrived in this city (Melbourne). His studio has, during the last few days, formed a centre of attraction for the lovers of the fine arts amongst us. Mr Worsley's productions have been very much admired by those who have had the pleasure of inspecting them, and the public journals speak very highly of them, both individually and collectively.

Otago Daily Times 7 September 1868

The art reviewer for the Argus in Melbourne however, while obviously trying very hard not to say that Worsley's body of work was rubbish, still came quite close.

The Argus of Aug. 26 has the following: — We had the pleasure yesterday of examining some works from the easel of Mr H. J. Worsley, an artist who has resided for some years in New Zealand, and who has come to Melbourne to practise his art. Mr Worsley is an enthusiast in painting, and his works bear testimony to an intelligent and severe study of the great masters. The works which he has now collected in his studio, and some of which were painted many years ago, indicate a cultivated and disciplined taste, considerable skill in manipulation, some degree of imagination, and perhaps also some of those lofty if unfulfilled aspirations which are necessary to the true artist. There are two large cartoon pictures— the one, the Angel appearing to the Shepherds on the night of the Nativity; the other, Edward the Black Prince receiving the submission of the King of France after the battle of Poitiers. These are subjects which require the very highest kind of artistic genius to deal with satisfactorily; and although Mr Worsley's paintings have many meritorious points, they are wanting in power and imagination. The best of the two is the Angel appearing to the Shepherds. The figures are well grouped; both the drawing and the colouring display many excellences, and some of the countenances are not without considerable character and expression. The other picture, however, appears commonplace and insipid. The composition of the picture is feeble, and a more harmless-looking and characterless assembly of warriors was never brought together on canvas. It is, however, in his smaller pictures, and especially, we think, in his copies, that Mr Worsley 's qualities as an artist may be most favourably observed. His copy of the smaller of Rubens' pictures, "The Descent from the Cross," now in the Munich Gallery, is a very finished work, and reflects in a high degree the merits of the great original. In some of Mr Worsley's own less ambitious works his powers appear to considerable advantage. For instance, the King and the Queen of the Fairies, in the "Midsummer Night's Dream," is a light and graceful production. The picture of David returning across the brook with the head of Goliath is a work of fair merit, but most people, we think, will be of opinion that the countenance of the young Hebrew is too effeminate. A visit to Mr Worsley's studio will well repay the trouble.

Christchurch Star 10 September 1868

Perhaps there were those among the Christchurch Star's readers who nodded with wry smiles, knowing full well the extent of Worsley's talent. Still, in the face of doubt (everyone else's), Worsley kept right on believing that he had something to offer. He seems to have gone back to New Zealand for a time, then returned to Melbourne by 1872, raring to go with a vast collection of his art work. The Argus was still somewhat less than impressed.

Mr. H. F. Worsley, an artist who has been resident in the Australian colonies for many years and who returned recently from New Zealand, has opened an exhibition of his own paintings at 135 Latrobe-street east. The collection comprises about 100 pictures. The subjects are chiefly Scriptural, classical, and historical, with a few landscapes. Some of the paintings are admittedly unfinished. A few, Mr. Worsley says, are of European reputation, but various opinions will, no doubt, be expressed as to their merit.

Melbourne Argus 15 May 1872

A Melbourne journal states that in a very unassuming little wooden building, near the top of Latrobe-street east on the left hand side going up, there has just been opened to the public a collection of painting under the designation of the Melbourne Exhibition of Divine Art. This title is somewhat pretentious, as well as incorrect, but the collection is not without merit. It numbers about fifty pictures, all from the easel of the exhibitor, a hard-working New Zealand artist, Mr. H. F. Worsley, who has come over to Melbourne with the intention of opening a school of art. There are two copies of Reubens— one of the Crucifixion, the other of the Taking Down of Christ from the Cross; several historical pieces, landscapes, studies after great artists, and portraits. Amongst the portraits is a very good one of Mr. Fawkner. The collection is worth a visit, but the dingy appearance and bad lighting of the place are against it.

Evening Post 1 June 1872

Undeterred, he entered examples in the Melbourne International Exhibition of 1872.

OPENING OF THE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION.
The fourth Melbourne exhibition of natural products and works of art will be formally opened by His Excellency the Governor at noon to-day …

What induced Mr. H. F. Worsley, of 123 Latrobe-street east, to send such a painting as "The Temptation of Christ on the Mountain " it is hard to discover. Apollyon looks exactly like Mr. O Smith as the Elf of the Eddystone.

Melbourne Argus 6 November 1872

Jayne says that, at the time, there seemed to be a major swing in taste away from traditional art. Some of the criticism was aimed at his lack of imagination. Worsley was, possibly, simply a good copyist, but so-so artist. Still, there he stayed, perhaps painting almost to his last breath. He may have had an "unassuming" and "dingy" building in which to display his work in 1872, but he apparently wasn't exactly living life in an artist's garret. Jayne found the following description of his home, up for auction after his death, called Hovingham Lodge (named, doubtless, after the seat of his forefathers back home.)

That very convenient and substantially built villa residence, known as Hovingham-lodge, situated Waverley-road, Gardiner, near tho Racecourse Hotel, with stabling, harness room, necessary outoffices, and eight acres land attached.

Melbourne Argus 9 September 1876

He died 24 July 1876, with an estate probated at £1000, and a  "very large and valuable collection of OIL-PAINTINGS, etc, among which will be found some really first class subjects" waiting to be auctioned by his executor, son Charles.

 Frank Arthur Worsley, from Wikipedia

At least one of Henry Francis Worsley's sons, Henry Theophilus Worsley (who was a labourer), stayed over here in New Zealand, and had a son in turn at Akaroa who earned quite a name for himself. Frank Arthur Worsley (1872-1843) turned out to be a mariner and naval officer (active war service during WWI with the Royal Navy on Q-ships, hunting German U-boats), polar explorer (he was captain of the Endurance on Shackleton's 1914-1916 Antarctic expedition) and writer.

Henry Francis may not have been a sensation in the art world, but his bloodline did provide our country with a hero.

Update: Writer of the Purple Sage (Yardy Yardy Yardy blog) has just sent this link to an image of a derivative work from an H F Worsley painting (which, knowing Worsley, was probably derivative at least in part.) At least it's something. Cheers!

Pierce Building, now Symond Court

Every time, up to now, when I've gone past this building on the corner of Khyber Pass and Upper Symonds Street, I've wondered if it was ever a hotel. Well, no, it wasn't, but -- it had connections with one. To a point.

It seems that the corner site once belonged to a Mr Gilfillan, according to NZ Map 4207 in the Sir George Grey Special Collections. Likely this was John Anderson Gilfillan who is remembered among other things as the Gilfillan of Gilfillan's Store in Queen Street.

, 

 Auckland Star 18 January 1873

 Those readers out there who would like the challenge for further information: try rates records for Auckland City's Grafton Ward, Deeds Index 1A.615 and application file 34697C with Land Information New Zealand. Let me know what you find.

Then, sometime between 1873 and 1890, this appeared.

Edward Qualtrough's Orchard & Garden Store (left), and M J Coyle's smithy (right), 1890s. Ref. 7-A11354, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, by kind permission.

A wooden store, operated by Edward Qualtrough, appeared by around 1890 at the corner, next to Michael John Coyle's coachbuilding, smithy and contracting business (Coyle was later a chairman of the Pt Chevalier Road Board, a Mayor of Mt Albert, and headed the Auckland Charitable Aid Board for a time).

Looking down Khyber Pass from Symonds Street showing the Indian Contingent of the Imperial Troops wheeling into Khyber Pass with the Queens Hotel on left, Edward Qualtrough, grocer, on right, and Holy Sepulchre Church. Ref. 4-991, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, by kind permission.

In 1902, Qualtrough's business was taken over by J Valentine, down to sometime around 1910.

Valentine's store (centre), Upper Symonds Street, c.1908. Ref. 7-A1922, Sir George Grey Special Collections, 

Auckland Libraries, by kind permission.

I know that by 1912, when the Auckland Council valuation sheets (ACC 213/171d) began recording the properties for Upper Symonds Street, the wooden store had been replaced by brick shops tenanted by a number of businesses, known as the Pierce Buildings, named after the owner at the time, widow Eleanor Pierce, and the family. Her husband George Patrick Pierce was much lamented when he died in 1891.

The face and figure of the deceased gentleman will be sadly missed from our streets,his genial laugh from many circles where he was always welcomed, and not a few people in Auckland will say with heartfelt sorrow to-day "We have lost a truehearted friend." To the family thus suddenly bereaved, such consolation as may come from a universal public sympathy will be theirs in the painful and unexpected affliction which, in the course of God's providence, has befallen them.

Auckland Star 18 May 1891

Mr. George Patrick Pierce, for many years well known and greatly respected as the General Manager of the New Zealand Fire Insurance Company, was born at Plymouth, on the 21st of June, 1825, and died at Auckland on the 17th of May, 1891, deeply regretted by all classes of the community. He was a son of the late Captain Pierce, R.N. Mr. Pierce placed a memorial window in St. Sepulchre's Church in remembrance of his father and mother. While he was a lad his parents removed to Ireland, whither he accompanied them. Subsequently he was connected with the firm of Messrs Smith, Elder and Co., of London. About thirty-five years ago he arrived in Auckland and became a member of the firm of Messrs Bain, Pierce and Co., trading for a considerable period in Auckland. He retired from the connection, however, and became first local and then general manager of the New Zealand Insurance Company, and occupied both positions with conspicuous ability and success. From his first arrival in Auckland he identified himself with church work, and gained the respect and esteem of the Bishop of New Zealand. In 1865 he joined with four other gentlemen in building old St. Sepulchre's church, under the direction of Bishop Selwyn. From that date until his death he filled various church offices; as vestryman or churchwarden of St. Sepulchre's, Diocesan Nominator, Diocesan Trustee, and member of the Diocesan and of the General Synod. He was also one of the assessors of the Bishop's Court, and for many years secretary of the Orphan Home, Parnell, founded by Archdeacon Lloyd. Mr. Pierce was not only a veteran Freemason, but one of the most distinguished members of the craft in the Colony. ‘He was a member and subsequently worshipful master of the Ara Lodge, I.C., from the early days up to his death. On the retirement with the troops from New Zealand of Most Worshipful Brother De Burgh Adams, the first Provincial Grand Master of the Irish Constitution of Freemasonry, the choice fell upon Bro. Pierce, as his successor; and by his suavity and courtesy, combined with firmness, strict justice and impartiality, Mr. Pierce gained the love and esteem of every Mason belonging to the various constitutions. A Mason he lived and a Mason he died, and his funeral was attended by the members of the English, Scotch and New Zealand Constitutions, who paid their last tribute of respect to their deceased Brother at the Purewa Cemetery, and the occasion was marked by a most eloquent funeral oration delivered by the Grand Chaplain, the Rev. D. Kidd. Mr. Pierce was twice married, and his eldest surviving son by the first marriage, Mr. George Nelson Pierce, is the manager of the New Zealand Insurance Company at Auckland. He contracted his second marriage with Miss Eleanor Connell, who survives him. (NZETC, Cyclopedia of NZ)

Pierce's Building (left, with car parked outside), 10 January 1928, photographed by James D Richardson. Ref. 4-2185,       Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, by kind permission.

After Eleanor Pierce died in 1912, aged 67, the Pierce family retained ownership of the building under Pierce Properties Limited, through to 1944 when the family sold the building to Grace Bros. Ltd, and it became a furnishing store, complete with bulk store to the side and rear. (NA 767/197, LINZ records) Whether this was a branch or subsidiary of the Grace Bros. stores over in Australia, I'm not sure.

Part of Pierce's Building (right), 20 September 1929, photographed by James D Richardson. Ref. 4-1835, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, by kind permission.

Probably Grace Bros. renamed the store. Or, a later owner, refurbishing, decided that "Symond Court" sounded swish.

Oh, the hotel connection? The photo just above also shows the Queens Hotel on the left hand side. There was a bottle store, run by that hotel's proprietor, just across the road in the Pierce Building, according to the Council records.

Chan Dar Chee and his family business, revisited

The appearance online, via Papers Past, of the Auckland Star up to 1903 has been a boon for studies into personalities where, before, there were brick walls in research due to a lack of Auckland-based newspaper coverage by the service. One such personality is Chinese merchant in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Chan Dar Chee.

Additional information has been found in the records of the Epsom Road Board, held at Auckland Council Archives, and Waikumete Cemetery Burial Books.

This post incorporates, adds to and corrects these previous posts:

The Ah Chee family on Rosebank (October 2008)

Fires, fan-tan and opium: Auckland’s Wakefield Street (May 2009)

The Domain's three Chinese gardens (August 2009)

As more comes to light, I'll update this post.

31 May 2012: Update to 1926.

7 May 2013: Updated with NZ Herald references from 1883.
13 May 2015: Confirmation from naturalisation file as to the start of his residence in NZ.
31 December 2017: Information on Ah Chee's Arch Hill and Epsom market gardens, and more on the Mangere tobacco venture.

The family’s actual surname is Chan – Ah Chee who emerged as a successful merchant and market garden owner was known as Chan Dar Chee (1851-1931) in his native village of Tarp Gwong. He arrived in New Zealand sometime during 1876-1877 -- on his memorial application for naturalisation in July 1882 (lodged today at the Wellington office of Archives New Zealand), he stated that he had resided in the colony for 5 years.

It seems that Ah Chee's involvement with market garden enterprises began quite soon after his arrival in the country. Ah Chee, Ah Check (Ah Sec), Ah Sing and Kew Hing (the contents of the lease explained to them by Sam Ah Him, one of James Ah Kew's partners) took out a lease on 1 October 1880 for just over 6.25 acres at Arch Hill, south and nearly at the western end of "Arch Hill Road", what is known today as Turangi Road (DI 1A.550).

Just over a year later, on 24 October 1881, the Crown, in the form of the Public Buildings Commissioner of the City of Auckland, entered into a lease agreement with Chan Dar Chee and Ah Sec, described as two market gardeners of Auckland. The lease was formalised on 28 August 1882. This was for 7-1-20 acres, just over 7 1/4 acres, "with all buildings thereon erected", for a term of 21 years, at an annual rental of £95, in advance, payable on the 24th of October and April each year. The lessees were not to carry on any noxious or offensive trade or business on the said premises (ironic, seeing as there had been a tannery there two decades before), and "in the event of the lessees cultivating the said premises or any part thereof they shall do so in a proper and husbandmanlike manner and so as not to unduly impoverish the soil."

The lease was signed by Sir John Prendergast, Wellington, for the government, and by "the said Ah See and Ah Chee after the same had been fully explained to them by the undersigned Thomas Quoi, in the presence of Thomas Quoi, Chinese interpreter."(D13.891, LINZ records)

Ah Chee became a naturalised citizen in 1882, and by 1883 was described as a Queen Street merchant. (NZH 10 May 1883)

Ah Chee was attacked in the garden in 1885. At this stage, Thomas Ah Quoi, as with the Tanyard Gully lease, served as interpreter.

ASSAULTING Ah Chee.—Malcolm Mackenzie was charged with striking Ah Chee, a Celestial, in the face and knocking him down, also with destroying 10s worth of cabbages and cucumbers on the 5th inst. Prisoner pleaded not guilty…

Ah Chee, who had two black eyes and had evidently received brutal treatment, took the English oath, being a believer in the Bible, deposed that he was lessee of the gardens, Mechanics' Bay. On Thursday last, he saw defendant in his garden. He was passing through and loitering about. Prisoner then commenced pulling up various vegetables. He told him to desist and clear out. Prisoner immediately struck him a violent blow between the eyes. Knocked him down, and held him there. As soon as he regained his liberty, he sent his man for the police.

The judge found McKenzie guilty, and ordered him to pay 40s and costs, and to find security for his good conduct for three months, himself in £10, and one surety to the same amount. 

Auckland Star 7 February 1885

Two of the workers at the garden with Ah Chee that day were named in the press as "Ah Quoi" and "Young Chee". (NZH 9 February 1885)

This wasn’t the only time Ah Chee had been attacked. In July 1890, Frederick Frowein tried to garrote him on the way from the city to the Tanyard Gully gardens at Mechanic’s Bay. (Auckland Star, 11 July 1890)

"The Tanyard Gully gardens, a detail from George Treacy Steven's 1886 bird's eye view of Auckland, NZ Map 374, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries"

On 21 January 1886, Ah Chee married Rain See at the Auckland Registry Office.

A CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.

On Thursday morning (says the Bell) a marriage took place at the Registry Office, Auckland, of Ah Chee, gardener, Mechanic's Bay, to Rain See, of Canton. The bride and bridegroom were accompanied by a party of friends. The ceremony took place at the Registrar's office. The bride, who presented an extremely interesting and pretty appearance, was dressed in Chinese costume, and manifested considerable shyness during the ordeal. She had a clear complexion, and looked about eighteen or nineteen years old; had a delicate round face, with a pair of dark eyes, which she kept fixed on the floor most of the time. Her hair was gathered on the top of her head in Chinese style, and fastened with artificial Chinese flowers. She was dressed in a dark blue underskirt, richly embroidered, cut just short enough not to encumber her in walking; a light blue jacket of some delicate material trimmed with light green silk. The jacket hung loose and had wide sleeves. Rich, and apparently gold, bracelets were on her wrists, and her fingers were encircled by two or three gold rings. She also wore gold earrings. On her feet she wore white silk Chinese shoes with flowers embroidered on and around them.

Taranaki Herald, 26 January 1886 

The marriage of Mr and Mrs Chee on Thursday last, by Mr Lord, Registrar, has afforded a subject for conversation at tea tables, it being, we understand, the first real Chinese wedding that has occurred in Auckland. Ah Chee and the lady of his love having been solemnly joined together in holy matrimony, the thoughtful couple conceived the happy idea of the celestial bride-cake, a piece of which we have duly received with compliments, nicely tied, and surmounted by a white rose, emblematic of purity and conjugal affection. We wish the happy pair long life and domestic peace.

Auckland Star 23 January 1886

As Mrs Ling See Ah Chee, Rain See became a naturalised citizen in 1900. (The Ah Chee naturalisation file).

Ah Chee the businessman

From this point, Ah Chee’s dealings took on a pattern of diversification within the late 19th century commercial environment in Auckland. From October 1886, he took over a restaurant business formerly carried on by Lum Yut & Co, the Scandinavian Dining Rooms, Customs Street East, in his first trading foray in the central city. (Auckland Star, 4 October 1886) But two months later, he was charged with leaving stagnant water in the basement of the premises, and fined 10s and costs. (Auckland Star, 2 December 1886)

By March 1887, Ah Chee & Co as his business was now known operated a grocers and fruiterers on Wakefield Street, in the vicinity of Lyndock Street, probably a short distance downhill from the Fitzroy Hotel. (Advertisement, Auckland Star, 23 March 1887) The firm’s first fruit store ran in legal trouble at the end of June that year when it was raided by the police who seized “12 cases of Chinese brandy and other varieties of spirituous liquid dear to the Celestial palate.” 

Ah Chee's shop has for a long time been a rendezvous for his compatriots, and it has been an open secret that opium smoking and fan-tan were amongst the amusements provided by Ah Chee for his almond-eyed patrons. When the proprietor had recovered from the surprise caused by the descent of the police, he explained that the liquor was Chinese wine, and was made from the decoction of a root. He stated that he had received it from Sydney, that it had passed through the Customs in the ordinary manner, and that he had paid 5s per gallon duty on it. In a back room Detective Hughes found an opium den—beds, pipes and all the other requisites complete, while down stairs was an apartment apparently used as a gaming room, as there were a number of fan-tan counters, etc., lying about. The bottles are valued at 4s 2d each. 

Auckland Star 30 June 1887

Ah Chee was charged with a breach of the Licensing Act by being the occupier of unlicensed premises situated in Wakefield-street Auckland, in which intoxicating liquor, to wit, mykuito, was sold. Mr Cotter, who appeared for the defendant, pleaded guilty, but urged that the liquor was essentially a Chinese drink, and sold only to Chinamen. He was certain that no hotelkeeper in Auckland kept it, but, like the persons in the King Country who were prosecuted for selling hop-beer, Ah Chee was liable under the Act owing to the intoxicating nature of mykuito. He mentioned that the defendant had already suffered considerable loss through the forfeiture of the liquor, and urged the infliction of a small penalty.

Sergeant Pratt put in a document showing the result of Mr Pond's analysis, which, he said, showed it was stronger than case brandy.

The Bench inflicted a penalty of £5 and costs. Another charge for selling, and a charge against Chee Chang of also being an occupier of the house in Wakefield-street, were withdrawn.

 Auckland Star 9 July 1887

But at the Wakefield Street shop, the company also began trading in fungus, a business which was to prove to be a mainstay for Ah Chee & Co. (Advertisement, Auckland Star, 12 August 1887)

He soon branched out further, purchasing the Temperance Boarding House on the corner of Wyndham and Albert Streets in January 1888. (Auckland Star, 18 January 1888) This business appears to have started around 1883, under G. Johnston. In 1888, Charles Ling appeared to be in charge, described as a partner of Ah Chee's. (NZH 15 September 1888) By August 1889, however, the Temperance Boarding Hotel was up for let “as a shop, store, etc.” (Advertisement, Auckland Star, 20 August 1889)

In October 1888, Ah Chee purchased the Auckland Coffee Tavern on Queen Street Wharf from Thomas Henry Brister. (Auckland Star 3 October 1888) Ah Chee may have had prior dealings with Brister at the Temperance Boarding Hotel, where the latter had one of his Coffee Palaces (another was at Cook Street in the mid 1880s.) Ah Chee re-opened the Queen Street Wharf business as a restaurant, going back to his prior experience with the Scandinavian Dining Rooms in Customs Street, but also offering board and rooms for 6d to 13d per week. By December, it had become the hub of his enterprise.

Auckland Star 24 December 1888

In May 1889, Ah Chee purchased another restaurant, this one at 201 Queen Street, just down from the intersection with Victoria Street (now all part of the ANZ Bank building). 

CITY DINING ROOMS, Next Union Bank, Queen-street.

AH CHEE Begs to inform his friends and patrons that he has purchased the above Restaurant, and on completion of alterations will re-open the same on MONDAY, 27th inst. Meals, 6d each. Board and Residence, 13s to 15s per week. Beds, 9d to 1s. The whole of the Establishment being Refurnished, visitors will find the Comforts of a Home.

Auckland Star 15 May 1889

Mr Ah Chee has now taken ever the restaurant adjoining Cochrane's mart, known as Cox's. The new proprietor has made extensive alterations at a cost of £250, and everything has been done in order to make this a really good restaurant. In the kitchen a first-class heating apparatus and washing stove has been admirably fitted up by Mr J. Broady, of Durham-street. A hot plate has been fitted on the stove by means of pipes. A large boiler of hot water is kept in operation over a sink where all the washing up is done, when the plates are placed in a drying rack just overhead. The whole of the arrangements are well carried out. 

Auckland Star 29 May 1889

In late 1889, one could buy turtle soup and steak, advertised as being “on table at noon”. (Auckland Star, 17 October 1889)

For the 1890 jubilee celebrations, he and other Chinese businessmen contributed two barrow-loads of Chinese crackers for the occasion, and also took part in a race on the Domain “for Chinamen, which will take place in the afternoon. It is a half-mile race got up chiefly by Messrs J. Ah Kew and Ah Chee. We shall leave the public to pick the winner.” 

Auckland Star 29 January 1890

Extending the market garden business

From around 1888, Ah Chee & Co were involved with a tobacco growing operation on George Roome McCrae’s Farm in Mangere. The exact location is, at this stage, still uncertain, but appears likely to have been on part of McCrae's "Fairlie" farm, nearly 18 acres today bounded on three sides by Greenwood, Ascot and Kirkbride Roads.

"About 20 acres of tobacco have been grown this season on the farm of Mr G R McCrae, Mangere. Three varieties have been cultivated, namely Virginia, a broad leaf, and a third variety, a short round leaf, suitable for cigars. The great proportion of the crop (19 acres) has been raised by Ah Chee, a Chinaman, the other by Mr McCrae, for experimental purposes. Ah Chee and his party are erecting a shed 200 feet long by 50 broad, and 16 feet for drying purposes, and also fitting up a quick drying shed, 20 feet square, with steam pipes throughout. The Tobacco Company have guaranteed to purchase all the tobacco grown on this block. The crop is a splendid one, and both Ah Chee and Mr McCrae are saving seed for future operations." 

(NZ Herald 26 February 1889)

In July 1891, the Mangere tobacco farm had brief prominence in the local newspapers, when a Chinese man named Ah Pi or Ah Py deserted from the HMS Cordelia and found his way to Mangere. While on board the Cordelia, he had served as a fireman. The authorities duly rounded him up, and shipped him back to the Cordelia’s base at Sydney the following month. Ah Chee's tobacco plantation lapses back out of any documentation at that point. Which company Ah Chee and McCrae were dealing with is not certain. One, the Atlas Tobacco Company based in Fort Street, went into liquidation just before the Ah Pi incident.

Despite that possible setback, Ah Chee’s market garden enterprise was extended three years later. The City Councils Finance Committee are reported as recommending a lease of land at Arch Hill in June 1894 to Ah Chee at £3 per acre for six acres (Auckland Star, 22 June 1894) which may have been on part of their Western Springs waterworks reserve in the area (the earlier Arch Hill market garden in 1880 was private land). In the same month, Ah Chee, Ming Sung, Ah Chong and Ah Hing took out a lease from George Potter for just over 16 acres of his land to the south of Green Lane West (just opposite Potters Paddock, the future site of Alexandra Park, and beside the Costley Home) (DI 3A.2065). James Ah Kew provided translation services.

Ah Sec reassigned his share for the Tanyard Gully garden in Mechanics Bay to Ah Chee in 1897. The agreement was signed in the presence of W Ah Chang, Book keeper, Auckland, and by Chan Dar Chee in the presence of Joseph Sykes, solicitor, Auckland.

The following month, 18 May, Chan Dar Chee had to provide security to the National Bank of New Zealand. The document found during the recent Geometria research into the Ah Chee market garden site wasn't a mortgage so much as it was a promise of collateral, as Chan Dar Chee was "already indebted and may become further indebted." Also, the mortgage was dated 1897, not the 1882 date as had been stated by the Historic Places Trust. The amount he owed isn't recorded on the deed, but it was "for advances and business accommodation". Whatever it was, he had fully paid it off by 25 March 1901, and the lease was cleared. (LINZ records)

On 15 December 1897, Ah Chee took out a lease on land at Epsom, comprised of four separate but adjoining lots, for four years at £30 per year in total. The gardens were bounded by The Drive, Onslow Avenue, and Manukau Road. (Lease document 1576, LINZ records)

Lot 1 & 2 -- From the estate of William Henry Haslett, per Lizzie Haslett of Epsom

Lot 3 -- From Peter Collie, engineer, of Epsom

Lot 4 - From Louis Wilfred Hollis Hill, a railway guard from Parnell

"Looking south west from Manukau Road showing Onslow Avenue, (left to right), and Chinese market gardens", reference 4-1478, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries

"Looking north west from the south side of Onslow Avenue (No 16) showing market gardens and Mount Eden in the background," reference 4-1479, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries

At the end of the lease in 1903, he concentrated his operations to Mechanics Bay and Avondale. On September 1903, Ah Chee renewed his lease for a term of 14 years with the Public Trustee (the office now handling the Crown lease), again for £95 per annum. This would have brought him down to 1917, which was when the area was starting to be handed over to the Rugby League. This time, he only had just over 6 acres -- which meant he was paying more for the lease per acre than before. A year later, he began his Avondale purchases on Rosebank Peninsula -- hardly surprising, as the news of the day was full of public debate over the hospital wanting more Domain land, and the possibility that Chan Dar Chee's Mechanic's Bay gardens might be swapped by the hospital board for that land. (DI 1A.733, LINZ records)

The Marine Store, and other court appearances

Earlier, from the beginning of 1891, Ah Chee had begun a new business venture – a marine store at Mechanic’s Bay. Marine stores bought and sold various metal items related to shops and boats, second-hand. 

TO SHIPWRIGHTS, SETTLERS, and Bushmen, Etc.—Old Copper, Brass, Zinc. Tea Lead, Fungus, Beeswax, Shark Fins, and Horseshoes Bought, and the Best Price given by Ah Chee, Queen-street and Mechanics' Bay, Auckland. 

Auckland Star 6 January 1891

From September 1892, this business landed Ah Chee in a lot of legal troubles, when an employee of his purchased stolen goods from some children. On top of that, his employee in charge of the store was found, on inspection, to have not been as scrupulous as he should have been when it came to recording the stock moving in and out. The police probably thought that they had Ah Chee dead to rights.

But then, on the last day in the Supreme Court, in December 1892, Ah Chee brought to the court to testify as to his good character, some of Auckland’s brightest and most respected in the city's business world.

Subsequent to our going to press on Saturday, several witnesses were examined for the defence in the case of Ah Chee, who was charged with having received certain stolen property belonging to William Oliver. Messrs Charles Ransom (manager of the Northern S.S. Company), L. D. Nathan, Henry Johnstone (Carr, Johnstone and Co.), Richard Hellaby, A. H. Nathan, J. J. Odlum, Charles Hesketh, Alexander Aitken, J. M. Geddes (Brown, Barrett and Co.), and Shirley Hill, gave evidence as to the previous good character of the accused. 

Counsel then addressed the jury, and the Court adjourned from six until seven o'clock at night. His Honor summed up the evidence at great length. Referring to the evidence as to character, His Honor said that according to the evidence Ah Chee's character was of the highest. They had had ten of the leading citizens of Auckland giving evidence as to the accused's character, several of whom went beyond their own personal knowledge, and spoke of his general reputation for honesty and honourable conduct. His Honor said he should leave it with the jury thus: If they thought the evidence of guilt doubtful, evidence of character should weigh strongly; but if the evidence of guilt was clear, they should not allow evidence of character to interfere with their verdict. The jury returned into court with a verdict of not guilty at ten minutes to nine o'clock. His Honor said he quite concurred with the verdict of the jury but advised Ah Chee to caution those in his employ not to buy goods from little boys. The accused was then discharged. This closed the December criminal sittings. 

Auckland Star, 5 December 1892

The police had their eye on Ah Chee, from that point on. But they hardly ever seemed able to prove he had any part in dodgy deals or wrongdoing.

In July 1893, Ah Chee’s services were called for in court, as an interpreter when the usual interpreter, Thomas Ah Quoi, was seen to have had a conflict of interest in a particular case. The result gave the Auckland Star journalist an opportunity for some light comedy.

Mr Ah Chee, by request, assumed the duties of interpreter, pledging himself to "truly and faithfully interpret the evidence according to the best of his skill and ability." To make this the more binding upon him he blew out a lighted match, signifying thereby that if he should prove false so might his spark of existence be also snuffed out. 

Ah Chee then endeavoured to administer the oath to complainant, but had to stop somewhere near the middle to inform the Court that he could not really make the man understand, as he was from a different part of the Empire Celestial. Ah Chee went at it again, however, and after a mighty struggle, in which Ah Chee gesticulated like a windmill, and Chum Loy made a whistling noise like a bird, the oath was successfully administered. Said Ah Chee, again addressing the Court, "I do-ee not know-ee about dis case." 

"That’s the very reason we got you," replied the Bench, with a smile.

"Ah, me see, me see I" answered the apt pupil in British justice. "Me see, me see!" 

Dr. Laishley then proceeded to put the question to Ah Chee, who transmitted the same to Chum Loy. 

Witness deposed that he was a market gardener at Arch Hill. On Saturday evening last about half-past eight he was on his way to town. When passing the Arch Hill Hotel he noticed two young men sitting under the verandah of a shop opposite. He identified the two accused as the young men. At this stage Dr. Laishley put the question: "Had the young men anything with them ?" The answer came back, "Yes, a whip or a stick." At this reply Dr. Laishley, who had by his side Mr Thos. Quoi, informed the Bench that he had been advised that the question had not been properly put. This was a point which even the Magistrate with his legal knowledge and experience could not decide, and he admitted as much. 

Ah Chee smiled blandly, and tried again. If he had stuck a pin in the witness, the effect could not have been more startling. Mr Chum Loy started his windmill operations again, chanting the while what appeared to be one of the most obtuse selections of Browning, read backwards, with whistling bars between the verses. "He replies," said the interpreter when it was all over, “that they had a stick. He says the word that means ‘stick ' to me. I call that a gas-pipe," said Chee in illustration, "he might-ee say-ee something else." Dr. Laishley again laid a charge against Chee's rendition. The Bench was puzzled. 

Mr O'Meagher challenged the learned doctor's knowledge of Chinese and said that Mr Quoi had no standing in the Court. 

The Bench ruled that in a case of this kind, Dr. Laishley had a right to a private interpreter as a check upon the other. The difficulty was great, for when Chinee meets Chinee, then comes the tug of war, and when Chinese differ, who is to decide ? These were the two grave maxims that came to the minds of all. Ah Chee finally came to the rescue, and admitted he could hardly make the man understand. 

The difficulty was solved, and after a protest from Mr O'Meagher, Mr Thomas Quoi was sworn in as interpreter instead of Ah Chee. Mr Quoi, as a Christian, disdained the match, and kissed the Bible with a smack that would have done credit to a Bush Baptist. From this point the evidence flowed smoothly …

More court comedy in October 1984, when Ah Chee was charged with keeping his employee, Wah Ching, at work in his Queen Street Wharf shop after 1pm on Saturday, in breach of the early closing laws.

Ah Chee was charged with having on the 22nd of September, kept Wah Chong at work in his shop after 1 p.m. on Saturday, the employee not having previously had a holiday in that week. He pleaded not guilty.

Mr McAlistair: these Chinese cases were very difficult to deal with, for he never knew how the evidence would turn out. Hubert Ferguson, Inspector under the Act, deposed to finding Wah Chong working in defendant's shop at 2.30 o'clock on the Saturday. He asked the lad if he had a half-holiday that week, and got the reply that he had not. Wah Chong admitted that he was paid wages when asked by witness. Mr Ferguson said further that he had frequently tried to get these Chinamen but failed. Europeans complained that they were allowed to do what they liked. William Ah Chong (being sworn on the Bible) deposed he was employed as shopman for Ah Chee. When he made the statement to Mr Ferguson that he had no half-holiday, he did not know what it meant. Some times he did get away on a Saturday afternoon. He did tell Mr Ferguson that he had not had a half holiday. 

Mr McAlister: What time did you get away on the Monday of that week? 

Witness: I did not get away. I stayed in until about ten every night. 

Mr McAlister: What time did you get away on the Tuesday ?

Witness, with a sweet smile, answered: I got away after one o'clock on the Tuesday. 

Mr McAlister: Why did you tell Mr Ferguson you had no holiday that week ? 

I do not get a half-holiday each week. Some day, I go away for couple of days, see? That counts for another week. I no know what half-holiday means. 

What did Ah Chee say to you about this matter? 

Oh, he did not tell me any thing to say. 

I suppose you did not speak a word to him about it. 

Oh, no. 

I suppose he did not know what you were going to say when you came to Court ?

No. 

Oh certainly not, and you can go for a couple of days when you like. 

Yes.

How long have you been in New Zealand?

Oh, I suppose ten years.

You speak English very well. 

Well, a few words I speak. 

Yet you don't know what holiday means.

Well, not exactly.

Thank you. 

Mr Bush: Do you get wages? 

Yes, paid by week. 

Are you paid for the days you go away? 

Oh yes, I get paid just the same.

Did you have a holiday the week the Inspector called? 

Yes; the Tuesday after and the week before.

Did you get one that week ? 

No, but I did before. 

Ah Chee: You manage that shop and do what you like ?

Witness: Yes; I can get a holiday any time I like. 

Mr McAlister: l thought he did not know what holiday meant. Now he seems to know all about if. 

Mr Bush: You have just taught him. 

Ah Chee with a sweet smile declined to say anything. Mr Bush then said the witnesses admitted he had no holiday that particular week. I did not matter if he had three days the .week before, the law said a half day each week. He would fine the defendant 10s and costs.

Auckland Star, 2 October 1894

In February 1901, though, the police were successful in prosecuting Ah Chee for keeping his shop open contrary to the Shops Act. He was fined 40/ and costs. In that same month, he and Thomas Ah Quoi placed a funeral floral arrangement at Queen Victoria's statue in Albert Park. (NZH 4 February 1901).

Site of Ah Chee shop in Queen Street, 1919 (right of image). By kind permission, David Wong. Detail from 1-W1675, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries.

As at April 1908, Ah Chee was a vice president of  "the local Chinese Association". (NZH, 1 April 1908) By 1910 at least, and no doubt before that date, Ah Chee’s son William took over control of the Queen Street business (in March 1910, it was announced that Mr & Mrs Ah Chee were leaving for China via Sydney, to stay in their homeland "for a year or two" -- NZH 24 March 1910), and along with his brother Clement, they ran the wider enterprise of market gardens and import/export of produce and fruit. By 1913, according to the Evening Post who interviewed William Ah Chee, Auckland had 250 Chinese market gardeners, many working for the Ah Chee family, including overseers. (Evening Post 21 May 1913)

The lease for the Tanyard Gardens, Ah Chee’s first and oldest enterprise in Auckland, ended over the period of 1916-1917, and construction on the grandstand began for Carlaw Park as a future rugby league park. Ah Chee's sons William and Clement purchased another 10 acres or so on the other side of Eastdale Road in 1917, possibly in response to the loss of the Mechanic’s Bay land. Ah Chee himself left New Zealand, never to return, in 1920.

Chan Dar Chee with his grandchildren. By kind permission, David Wong.

The Harvey Tree at Martha's Corner

This year marks the tenth anniversary of a piece of whimsy in the heart of Auckland.

George Farrant, Auckland Council's heritage advisor, pointed out to me yesterday an interesting item in Auckland's CBD at an interesting site, dubbed "Martha's Corner" (Victoria and Albert Streets) after a noted madam during the years of last century's Great Depression, so the story goes, who spent profits from running a brothel in the upstairs rooms to fund a soup kitchen below for the destitute.

Just along from the corner, though, stands a tree, an oriental plane.

According to George, and to Brian Rudman, in his article for the NZ Herald, 30 May 2001, the following story was related by the former owner of Martha's Corner by the 1960s, Les Harvey, more famously remembered as the developer of Parnell Village.

"A few years before his death, Mr Harvey and George Farrant, Auckland City heritage manager, were walking past the tree in question when the developer turned to the bureaucrat and said: "I planted that bastard." 

"He continued the story in a nearby cafe: how in his youth he'd lived on the edges of the Paris Bohemian set, Jean Paul Sartre, Henry Miller, the lot. Great days.

"Much later in the 1960s, he said, one of his old Parisian friends, now a New Zealand diplomat back in Paris, sent him a memento via diplomatic bag.

"Delicately wrapped in moist tissue was a tree cutting and a note telling Mr Harvey he would well remember the parent tree. It was one he queued alongside so many times in former days. Mr Harvey said the note told him to plant it in a spot he loved and to give it a little bit of what it was used to."

So, sometime during the late 1960s or early 1970s, Harvey took tools down to a spot on the Albert Street footpath outside his building, and chopped through the seal to plant his Parisian sapling. All without permits, resource consents, environmental impact reports ... George Farrant recalled how he would see there an "insane-looking, ball-shaped tree clipped into a perfect sphere with a trunk hanging out the bottom" during the 1970s or 1980s. Harvey's contractors would keep the tree regularly pruned. Apparently, no one spotted Harvey also carrying out nightly watering.

Les Harvey died in 1994. Between that time and 2001, the tree survived but was in need of TLC. Then George Farrant, proponent of recognising our city's heritage and memories in the form of ceramic plaques at various places, chose to mark one of the quirky stories which give Auckland it's colour, between all the facts, figures and dates.

THE HARVEY TREE

This Oriental Plane tree, propagated from one beside a Montmartre pissoir, was planted by the adjacent landowner Les Harvey. Appropriate sustenance for the young tree was provided by Mr Harvey and his family from time to time.

The plaque was unveiled on 29 May 2001. The footpath was opened up, the tree properly fed, and it still stands there today -- not on any heritage schedule, but definitely part of our story.