The shifting story of Auckland's memorial beacon

Updated 30 June 2021: ten years after I published this article, the memorial has shifted yet again! More at the end, with the re-creation of the metalwork on top in 2022.
Updated 22 June 2023. Added image of the miniature golf course, 1930.

While heading toward the Wynyard Quarter earlier this month, I stopped to take some photos of the waterfront between Albert Street and Te Wero. The Red Fence walk is an interesting heritage walk in the area, for a bit of a taste of the history of Auckland's Waitemata dockland.

I also photographed the Auckland Harbour Board's war memorial beacon. I knew already that this wasn't the original site. But I had a feeling there was more to the story behind the monument.

The story goes back to the 1870s. The Auckland Harbour Board, intent on progressively adding to the facilities of the docklands under their administration, settled on the idea of establishing a graving, or dry, dock for repairs to boats and ships visiting or based on the harbour.

Captain Casey has given notice at a meeting of the Harbour Board held yesterday that at next sitting of the Board he will move that the Clerk of Works be instructed to draw up a plan of a graving dock to be cut out of the solid rock near Smales' Point.

Auckland Star 9 July 1872

Smale's Point wasn't to be the site eventually chosen, however. The plan headed west, to what was then called College Point, on the other side of lower Albert Street, beside an area already reclaimed from the sea by the Board. They approached Edward Orpen Moriarty in 1873, then Engineer of Harbours and Rivers in New South Wales, to put together plans for the proposed dry dock.

The plans and estimates of the proposed graving dock, were laid upon the table, and the report of the Engineer was read. This stated that the cost of constructing the dock would be £78,000 ...

AS 23 September 1873

All well and good -- but the lowest tender received far out-stripped the Harbour Board's available budget. The Moriarty plan was set aside, and a local, William Errington, fresh from success with the design of the pumphouse at Western Springs, was brought in instead.

THE GRAVING DOCK : MORIARTY THROWN OVERBOARD.
We have received from the Works Committee of the Harbour Board the following resolutions adopted at a meeting held yesterday afternoon, which will come before the Board at the next meeting to be held on Tuesday next : — 1. That your committee recommend to the Board the necessity of providing for this port a graving dock of the following dimensions, not less that 300ft. long, or 12ft. on the sill at ordinary tides, and that a wing be added if deemed expedient. 2. In order that no time may be lost in completing this dock, it is desirable that it should be carried out as a special work. 3. That Mr. W. Errington, City Waterworks Engineer, be requested to furnish without delay, the necessary plans and particulars, to be submitted in draft form for the Works Committee's consideration. 4. That a sub-committee be appointed to see the foregoing resolutions ...

SC 8 December 1875

THE GRAVING DOCK. 

The report of Mr. Errington, in reference to the proposed dock at College Point, was read to the meeting. The report concluded with the following remarks : — 

1st. That deep water can be reached at a short; distance from the bluff. 

2nd. That the site is fairly sheltered. 

3rd. That the foundations are apparently good. 

4th. That ample earth for filling reclamations are at hand. 

5th. That there is little possibility of the entrance silting up, or a necessity for dredging. 

6th. That independent of other considerations outside purely professional ones, it is not my province to enter upon...

AS 6 January 1876

After all the fuss, the meetings, the agonising over budgets and last minute alterations -- Auckland's graving dock was opened for business in August 1878 without any fanfare at all, charging boat and ship owners from £1 to £3 per day for the use of the facility.

Opening of the Auckland Graving Dock.

THE lONA FLOATED IN,

The rumour that the Graving Dock would be opened this morning, and the s.s. Iona taken in, caused a large number of persons to assemble at the dock to witness the docking of the first vessel in Auckland. The owners of the steamer were successful in their endeavours to obtain the use of the dock, and therefore all due and necessary arrangements were made by the Harbour Board. The steamer was floated in at high tide by Captain Burgess, Dock-master, without any difficulty, and the dock was then pumped out, the machinery working smoothly. There was no ceremony of any kind on the occasion. The Iona is to undergo a thorough overhaul, and on completion of the same, several other vessels will be taken in rotation. Amongst these will probably be the Rotomahaua, the Wellington, and others.

AS 20 August 1878

"Auckland waterfront showing Customs Street West (foreground), Queen Street Wharf, Graving Dock and J Blaney's premises, Mount Victoria and Rangitoto (far right distance)." Reference 4-582, 1880s, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries.

"Graving docks showing the interior of dock with SS Young Bungaree on stocks and Customs Street West and Hobson Street Viaduct ( right background)", 1890. Reference 4-583, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries.

"Looking west over the Auckland waterfront showing Graving dock, part of Hobson Wharf and St Marys Bay with Ponsonby in the background", 1908. Reference 4-645, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries.

Swimming competitions were even held in the dock, a vast artificial pool formed there once filled. One of the last of these was in 1912.

CARNIVAL AT AUCKLAND. SWIMMING OF A HIGH STANDARD. RECORDS BEATEN

The final swimming carnival in connection with the Sydney team's visit to the Waitemata Club was held in the Auckland Graving Dock yesterday afternoon, before about 2500 spectators. The swimming was of a high standard, and several records were broken.

Evening Post 5 Dec 1912

But, times move on. The old dock wasn't all that big, and ships were getting bigger. As well, the Harbour Board had the Calliope Dock on the North Shore, and they wanted to extend their docklands in the vicinity of Hobson Street (ultimately creating Princes Wharf). Despite some grizzles in the press, and a bit of a protest from the NZ Shipowners' Federation, demolition of the old dock, retrieval of the valuable bluestone sides and base for sale by tender, and filling in of the remaining hole proceeded in 1915. It was all over by the end of September that year. The project was one of a number at the time under the direction of W H Hamer.

William Henry Hamer (1869-1940) was appointed engineer-in-chief at the Auckland Harbour Board's engineer in 1903. Born 5 September 1869 in Darwen, Lancashire, he worked as assistant to the chief engineer of the Hull docks and railways, also carrying out surveys and soundings for the Humber Conservancy from 1889-1894. He was appointed resident engineer at Tilbury Docks in 1895, then resident engineer at the Victoria and Albert Docks in London in 1898. His career in Auckland lasted from his appointment in 1903 until his retirement in 1925. Several Australian harbour authorities used him as a consultant, and during the First World War he served on a mission regarding bulk oil and coal supplies to Australasia from the United States and Canada. He died at Bridlington, 14 May 1940. (Obituary, Journal of the ICE - Institution of Civil Engineers - Vol. 15, Issue 1)

Aucklanders by 1914 were demanding more convenient access to launch landings on the city side of the harbour. Excursions around the Hauraki Gulf gained popularity from the 1870s, but their heyday was from the early 20th century. In response to public demand, the Harbour Board erected five launch landings off Quay Street by June 1915, and then added two shelter buildings, completed at the same time.

The eastern shelter is dwarfed today by the bulk of its neighbour, the Auckland Ferry Building.

The western shelter seems to be a favourite with the feathered crowd.

At the same time the Harbour Board decided that, instead of displaying a roll of honour in the public room of their offices, they would arrange to have a memorial erected, and place the names of those Harbour Board employees who went off to serve in the war on it for posterity. (NZ Herald, 15 September 1915)  Monumental mason John Bouskill prepared the beacon to Hamer's design, described thus by the Auckland Star, 18 December 1915:

Auckland Sailors Home, 1921, on the corner of Albert Street (left), and Sturdee Street (right), reference 1-W1770, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries; image of the memorial beacon pre-1969, taken from photo published in NZ Herald 24 April 1999.

"The beacon takes the form of an obelisk erected on a base of five tiers of steps of unpolished Coromandel granite. This is surmounted by a square solid block of granite, polished, and above is a shaft of the same material beautifully finished. Above this is an artistic twisted metal support, on top of which is a red globe, which at night time will show a light. Under the regulations of the Harbour Board, launches coming to the landings have to sight this beacon and get in line with a white diamond affixed to the front of the Sailors' Home before they turn to run in. At night time there will be a red light on the beacon, and a green one above the diamond. The object of this regulation is to ensure the launches being well clear of the course of the ferry boats as they come out from the jetties.

"The new beacon, which is a really artistic piece of work, has the additional merit of being all of local manufacture. On the face of the column fronting Quay Street is a long copper plate, bearing the names of forty of the employees of the Board who have gone to the front. Beneath this, on the solid block of granite, is a copper shield on which is the following inscription:

Replica shield, installed 1999-2000. Original lost.

"This beacon was erected by the Auckland Harbour Board to record the services of those members of its staff whose names are inscribed above, who voluntarily gave their all in the cause of liberty and freedom at the call of the Mother Country in the Great World War of 1914."

"Underneath this is the quotation: "A country which defends its liberties in the face of tyranny, commands the respect of all; such a country does not perish." (King Albert of Belgium to his people).

"Around the top of the solid block of granite is inscribed the following: - "Qui moruit ferat palmam." (Let him bear the palm who has deserved it.)"

From between the two landing shelters, the beacon was first lit up on 17 December 1915, according to Hamer's annual report to the Harbour Board the following year. But there was no fanfare or official unveiling. Like the graving dock back in 1878 -- this was not just a piece of streetscape added for public memory and adulation. It was a working part of the port's regulatory operations.

The five-tiered steps at the base are now gone -- today's version of the memorial beacon seems to have a modern stone alternative as a simple base. The twisted metal support is also missing, disappearing sometime between 1969 and 2000 when the memorial was resurrected (see below). The 1915 article refers to 40 names on a single long copper plate facing Quay Street. There are three there today, the other two probably added during 1916-1918. Two of the plates have 40 names each, the third 36. Out of these 116 names, 15 have the additional notation "Killed", while one shows "Died".

Other bits were added, most likely c.1919 after the conclusion of the war. A similar bronze shield, listing the places New Zealand soldiers fought or were stationed during the war (this one is a replica, the original lost after 1969):

This shield (another 1999-2000 replica) must have been added after the end of the war: one of very few monuments in the country, if there are any others, noting the signing of the Treaty of Versailles of 28 June 1919. Except -- the date on the shield is wrong, reading 26th instead of 28th.

Beneath the ball installed in 1999-2000 to replace the lost metalwork, it looks like the numerals "1918" on the left face in the above cropped shot may have been removed. If they had existed (but there are four marks in the stone in line, so -- something may have been there).

Observer 5 February 1916

Back to 1916. Auckland City now realised that it had a potential treasure on its front doorstep, in the form of the old dock site. The Town Planning League held meetings, calling for the site to be transformed into a public reserve. Mayor C J Parr appeared to back them strongly -- you'll see him in the above cartoon from the Observer as a municipal Pied Piper, while figures representing the Star and the Herald newspapers harangue the hen-pecked "husband", the Auckland Harbour Board.

Nothing more was done at that point, but another idea came to mind at the end of the war. It involved the old dock site, a proposed peace memorial, and three captured German field guns.

A proposal is before the Auckland Harbour Board that the triangular site lately occupied by the Auckland dock should be offered to the city and suburban bodies at a cost of £20,000 for the purposes of a peace memorial, the board to receive some compensation for the loss of the property. A condition, in the event of the proposal being approved, would be that the site should be made a rest place for the public, with a stand of captured guns at the apex of each triangle, and an obelisk with the fountain in the centre, having inscribed thereon the history of the reservation of the site, and the rest of the plot to be generally beautified, supplied with seats, and made an inviting air-space for the city. 

 Ashburton Guardian 20 December 1918

The Observer was quite scathing of the idea.

A PEACE MEMORIAL.

A Scrap Iron Suggestion.

A section of Auckland officials hope to fritter away £20,000 by erecting a "peace memorial" on the site once occupied for a useful purpose—a dock. Just when the dock was most useful it was destroyed for reasons no one yet has been able to ascertain, and shipping of the type for which the dock was a boon has been inconvenienced ever since. It is now proposed to make this dock site a park for decayed German guns, which, according to custom, will be in the way for fifty years, and will fall to pieces bit by bit. There is nothing significant in the display of captured guns. All nations engaged in the war have shiploads of them, and they will clutter up parks and museums and open spaces for generations to come.

One of the quaintest suggestions about this proposed gun park and "breathing space"—there is a mile and a half of windswept breathing space alongside this proposed scrap heap—is, "the Harbour Board would certainly be entitled to some compensation for the cost of reclamation and the loss of the dock"— Just as if the Harbour Board had been cruelly robbed of a dock it earnestly desired to keep instead of, as was the case, deliberately destroying a highly useful convenience for no reason that has been since discovered. The only reasonable use for the dock site is a dock. If the Harbour Board is entitled to compensation for having its own dock, a citizen who burns his own house down deliberately is entitled to be paid for it out of public funds. The misuse of the dock site as a storing place for lethal ironmongery—which everybody wants to forget—will at least give the Harbour Board a new chance to get its roll of members carved on something else.

The Harbour Board already has a war memorial on which is immortalised under the word "merit" the names of a transitory Board, together with a perfectly incomplete and relatively valueless roll of soldiers—a secondary matter. The idea of destroying something useful in order that something perfectly useless shall occupy its place will only appeal to the official mind, and the casting of twenty thousand pounds into the hole in order to make an official holiday is an absurdity. The waste of twenty thousand pounds in a city shrieking out for real human improvement is a crime. Let us cure the slums by sticking some old German guns on the waterfront; let us eradicate crowded conditions in Freeman's Bay by planting a bit of grass a mile away from it; let us fight poverty and help soldiers, care for influenza orphans, and teach maimed men new trades by gazing on a destroyed dock. Let us make way for the increase of shipping by placarding a Hun gun with the name of the place it was captured at; let us, in fact, be as silly as possible because there is plenty of official precedents for being as silly as possible.

You can't eat doves of peace or breakfast off statuary or dine on German guns, or bind up the brokenhearted with a list of names. The real things you can do with twenty thousand pounds are the things that will reduce the sum of misery—and Heaven knows there is misery to spare in any town of any size throughout the world.

The city has innumerable air spaces, and none of them is adequately used. The assumption that a tiny piece of ground that never ought to have been made solid is a necessity as a breathing space is unsound. There is real human work for every kind of body, philanthropic or business, in the streets of the city and the homes of the people. On the whole the memorials that are usually daubed about cities are not artistically beautiful. Relief to sufferers by the war, the care of the fatherless and the widow, the helping hand to the afflicted and distressed, the fight against dirt and disease and domestic airlessness, are all more worthy peace monuments than dabbing a bunch of Krupp hardware on a trifle of ground to remind us of the most hideous period in the history of the world. 

We have 15,000 reminders buried in Egypt, in Palestine, in Gallipoli, and France. Thousands of families in New Zealand do not want to see rusty guns to remind them how they lost their sons, nor does any war widow wish to examine the mechanism that projected the missile that killed her husband. A park of guns for a Peace Memorial is as sensible as a park of doves for a war memorial. The authorities having achieved an absurdity in making a piece of level ground out of an expensively constructed dock, wish to perpetuate the absurdity by useless and expensive procedure. Should they achieve this further absurdity no doubt large and lustrous brass plates commemorating the names of the persons who used twenty thousand pounds of the people's cash, will be the chief exhibit, so that when the "Peace" guns have rotted on their carriages future generations may read with awe the names of people who celebrated peace, in such an extraordinary fashion.

Observer 21 December 1918

The Auckland Harbour Board, however, remained warm to the idea of the 1 acre site of the old dock becoming a peace memorial. In March 1919, the Board's secretary wrote to the Council's Town Clerk, formally offering the site, hoping that everything could be in place ready for the expected visit of the Prince of Wales in 1921, so that he could lay the foundation stone. (Letter from Council files, 13 March 1919)

Something of some interest to me is that, up until this point Auckland didn't have any clear ideas as to what to have as a war memorial for the whole city. Even in 1917, when Thomas Cheeseman wrote to the Council advising them that the museum's governing committee felt that a site on Observatory Hill in the Domain would be ideal for a permanent museum, there wasn't a mention of such a museum having the words "war memorial" tacked onto the title. (Letter, 12 December 1917) The war, of course, was still going at that point, but it was later in March 1919, after the Harbour Board proposal for a peace memorial, that Cheeseman wrote on behalf of the committee, affirming "suitability of a Modern Museum as the selected form of War Memorial for the Auckland District." (Letter to Town Clerk, 28 March 1919) I can't say whether or not the museum administrators felt that going with the war memorial idea while it was something fresh and new and brought into the public mind by the dock site proposal was a good move on their part towards realising the dream of an enlarged museum on the Domain. But -- timing, especially in terms of history, is everything.

The Harbour Board's proposal though wasn't simply just to shift the memorial beacon to the Peace Memorial reserve at all. 

A design has been submitted to the Mayor of a Corinthian column a hundred feet in height, surmounted by the figure of a lion rampant, and standing on a granite base twenty feet square containing bronze tablets bearing suitable inscriptions ... the remainder of the land surrounding it is to be laid out with gardens and seats, while war trophies are to be placed at the apex of each triangle. The idea of the board is that this column shall be a perpetual reminder to the growing generations of the greatest victory known to the world -- in other words a Peace memorial pure and simple.

Auckland Star, 11 March 1919

"A Suggested Peace Memorial: Monument on the Waterfront". Auckland Star 12 March 1919. Illustration prepared by Auckland Harbour Board's assistant-engineer, Drummond Holderness.

The newspaper editorials, with supporting letters from the likes of C J Parr, endorsed the joining together of both the old dock site Peace Memorial with a War Memorial Museum on the Domain, although the Star expressed reservations that the old dock site was suitably prominent enough for a proper memorial.

... the site is by no means the most suitable for a great war memorial. Auckland's two natural glories are the harbour and its hills, and we suggest that in looking for a site for our memorial we should keep these hills in mind.

Auckland Star, 20 March 1919

In April, the City Council set up a War Memorial Committee: Noel Bamford, H R MacKenzie, T W Leys, Mrs Jessie Gunson, Norman Wade, E Phelan and B Kent. By June, the combined plan to have both a Peace Memorial harbourside reserve and a War Memorial Museum was almost a done deal.

WAR MEMORIAL AT AUCKLAND

The erection of a museum on Observatory Hill, and a monument on a site offered by the Auckland Harbour Board was decided upon by the City Council tonight, as Auckland's memorial. It is proposed that the size of the museum should be 80,000 square feet, 50,000 square feet being for museum purposes, and 30,000 square feet for war exhibits. It is proposed to spend £80,000 on the museum and £20,000 on the monument.

Evening Post 27 June 1919

The reserve, at right of photo, c.1920, and the memorial beacon between the two Quay Street launch shelters (lower right corner) . Reference 4-652, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland City Libraries

But then in July 1919, the City Council wrote to every single territorial authority, both large and small, within the Auckland Province, seeking their help in funding such a project. The responses were neutral, but not really supportive. Avondale Road Board for example approved of the Domain idea, but not that of the dock: " ... the position of the site not being sufficiently prominent for any structure created thereon to be seen to advantage." (Letter, 24 July 1919) Others stated that they'd defer discussion, or advised that they already had their own war memorials in the planning stages.

Nothing further, until the Auckland Harbour Board asked the Council in February 1920 if they had come to a decision or not. (Letter to Town Clerk, 4 February 1920). The Council referred the matter to the War Memorial Committee -- and I couldn't find any further minutes from that committee at that time in the main records. I'd say that the old dock site Peace Memorial was simply an idea allowed to die a death and just fade away.

The memorial beacon (extreme right of photo) in December 1923, during work on straightening Quay Street. Reference            1-W614, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries

The Harbour Board's plans for improving their western port area continued. Quay Street was straightened during 1922-1923. The two launch landing shelters were shifted towards the north, and the memorial beacon, for a time, was sited in a fenced-in construction area which probably included the old dock site reserve. Princes Wharf was opened in 1924.

The old dock site, now including the memorial beacon and slightly enlarged due to the realigning of Quay Street, became like a number of other cleared empty spaces in and around Auckland's CBD, in that it became the site for a number of transitory amusement operators, such as circuses and, around 1930, a miniature golf course run by Pastimes Ltd.

The former graving dock site as a miniature golf course. 

From Auckland Weekly News 3 December 1930, AWNS-19301203-47-12, Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections

March 1933. The memorial beacon has shifted once again, now surrounded by a garden at the eastern apex of the reserve triangle (right of centre of photo), beside the service station. Reference 4-5327, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries.

A wooden service station at the Sturdee-Quay Street corner flourished from c.1929, first owned by W E Johns, then leased to C W Swales, according to Council's valuation records. The valuers described it as a building "in a prominent position at the entrance to the City from the Harbour." So, the site wasn't prominent enough for a memorial park, but it was for a service station ... By 1961, the building was a sales kiosk.

Detail from 1940 aerial, from Auckland Council website. The site of the memorial beacon at that time circled in yellow.

During World War II, the Public Works Department took over the majority of the old dock site reserve in 1943 and built large concrete warehouse there, to store supplies for the US forces and to house the United States Joint Purchasing Board staff stationed in Auckland. The Harbour Board purchased the buildings from the Crown after March 1946 for £4400. These appear to have remained right down to the Downtown Centre redevelopment in the late 1960s.

Detail from 1959-1960 aerial, from Auckland Council website. The site of the memorial beacon at that time circled in yellow.

Quay Street West, November 1968. The memorial beacon can only just be seen, still at the corner of Sturdee and Quay Streets (left of photo). Reference 7-A5240, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries.

Then, in 1969, the memorial beacon disappeared from public view.

In April 1999, following a tip-off, the NZ Herald tracked down the remains of the memorial in a secure Customs storage area in Shed 51 on Bledisloe Wharf.

The obelisk was lying on its side among piles of scrap metal, its large granite base sitting on an old packing crate. Four rolls of honour had broken off, but in the half-light of the shed the names of the soldiers could still be made out. An iron railing, which held in place an orb which burned bright red at night, was missing, as were bronze shields once attached to the base.

NZ Herald, 24 April 1999

An anonymous benefactor came forward in June 1999, concerned over the "sacrilege" of leaving the memorial beacon in pieces as it was in the storage shed, and offered to fund its restoration.

He said he was outraged when he read of the monument's fate, and was determined to see it returned to its full glory. The man said his mother had met a New Zealand soldier in 1918 while the New Zealand Division was occupying Cologne.He wrote his name in her autograph book. Seventeen years later, as Nazi persecution of German Jews intensified, his desperate mother wrote to the soldier in Auckland. The soldier arranged visas for the family to come to New Zealand. He was in the Home Guard during the Second World War and has since died.

The benefactor said he owed not just the soldier but the city of Auckland a debt of gratitude. "We certainly came to the right place -- it's a beautiful city." He said he was old fashioned and believed historical objects such as the Anzac monument should be preserved.

NZ Herald 20 April 2000

Detail from 2006 aerial, from Auckland Council website. The former site of the memorial beacon circled in yellow, 2011 site in red.

So, today a diminished version of the 1915 Auckland Harbour Board memorial beacon stands close to the entrance to the Maritime Museum. If the 1918-1919 proposal to have a Peace Memorial had succeeded, perhaps the beacon wouldn't have been so badly damaged. Perhaps we would have had an attractive civic park, right next to the Viaduct Harbour, and a short stroll away from the revamped Wynyard Quarter? Perhaps there would have been no need to shift the memorial at all, and it would still have been a beacon across the harbour?

Imagine: an intact memorial beacon, a civic resting spot among gardens and seats on the harbourside, and possibly something to mark the spot where there once was Auckland's first dry dock.

A pity the Peace Memorial idea was shelved in 1920 -- because it would have been nice.

30 June 2021: A photo sent to me by Jan Ramp today shows the memorial has now shifted east to be near the eastern launch shelter closest to the Ferry Building. Probably part of the Te Ngau o Horotiu waterfront development this year. 

Update, 30 November 2022: An article from "Our Auckland."

Today (29 November) Auckland Council and Auckland Transport will oversee the return of the re-made ironwork spire and glass orb to their position at the top of the Beacon. “The opportunity to restore an important part of the city’s history, as part of Quay Street’s upgrade, has been an honour for the team,” says Eric van Essen who was Director of Auckland Council’s Downtown Programme and is now a Programme Director at Auckland Transport. Recreating the 500mm-diameter hand-blown red glass orb to scale and form, a team of craftspeople from Taupo deftly manoeuvred two colours of liquid glass, too hot to touch. And the spire was re-made using the craftsmanship of the era, supported by current 3D modelling technology. Brent Withers from DPA Architects oversaw the intricate bronze turning and casting process for the contractors commissioned by the council group. With steel artisans from Devonport, the team re-created the original spire. “First, we 3D-modelled the steelwork to scale, and then superimposed heritage photos, juxtaposing this beautiful historical element with today’s technology. We are in awe of what they could do a century ago. We’ve used all the technology available to us today. At times we were scratching our heads to achieve the same result,” he says. “To honour those who fought, those who were injured, and those who died, it’s really important it’s back in a prominent position very near to where it first stood. Auckland Council has secured the Beacon’s future by returning it to Quay Street, inclusive of the missing spire and orb,” says Withers.

https://ourauckland.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/news/2022/11/glorious-1915-orb-returns-to-quay-street-a-beacon-for-safe-journeys-home

Sources (other than those already referenced)

Auckland Council Archives: File ACC 275/19-200; valuation field sheet files for Sturdee Street (ACC 213/169a) and Quay Street (ACC 213/126h).

Auckland Harbour Board annual reports

Papers Past

3rd Level New Zealand blog

One of the regular commenters here, Phil from Titirangi, has sent through by email today a link to an aviation blog, 3rd Level New Zealand. Another to add to the list ... as an example, check out A Tale of Two Airfields.

And so the kiwifruit myth continues

I saw in Sunday's NZ Herald that Dame Christine Cole Catley has passed away, aged 88. In the obituary prepared and distributed by NZPA, however, a myth disproved late last year (and discussed by email with Dame Christine at the time) is still perpetuated. Why, I'm not sure. She had a wonderful career covering the real facts in her life, rather than this:

In 1961, while working as an advertising copywriter, she was tasked with renaming the Chinese Gooseberries to appease the American market, which was uncomfortable with the Communist overtones of the fruit's name. As a result, Dame Christine coined the name Kiwi berry, which later evolved to kiwifruit.

This myth sparked off Naming the Delicious Little Ray, which I published online in October last year. The following is from that article:

In March 1960, Grahame Turner had a telephone call from one of the Auckland opposition firms: the Fruitgrowers Federation.

“ … they asked me the position regarding the American market as this organisation is exporting on behalf of growers to Australia and to Great Britain. I told them in no uncertain terms that I considered there was definitely not room for more than one shipper. I don’t think they will ship this season but I am sure they will try and get in on the market should the quantities we send start assuming worthwhile proportions.”

Grahame Turner was right. Stan Conway and the Federation did remain determined to get into a market which, from the results of Turners & Growers’ efforts, seemed to be profitable for the Chinese gooseberry. But they certainly didn’t want their product mistaken for that of their opposition. Roly Earp in his book, wrote:

"Following correspondence, Stan visited the United States in 1961, and made a point of visiting the firm's headquarters taking several trays containing fruit conditioned for eating ... With the prospects of a large order for 1962 Stan was extremely disappointed when the tasting proved unfavourable ...This was a set back for Stan, for the growers, and for the Harry & David staff who had been very confident. In anticipation of a favourable response, the latter had already begun making arrangements for the following year, planning how they would handle the late change and make the necessary alteration to their promotional material at short notice. They had also taken steps to find a new name which it was intended would be exclusive to their own use."

Bolding mine. According to David Yerex and Westbrook Haines:

"Other exporters also tended to look on 'kiwifruit' as the Turners and Growers' name, and to think in terms of finding one for their own use. In 1962 the Fruitgrowers Federation put up a prize of 20 guineas to go to the advertising agency that could provide the best alternative name, and received over 60 suggestions. But in the event there appeared to be nothing that improved on the 'kiwi' label. The Federation did however plump for kiwi 'berry', instead of kiwifruit, and this was adopted for a time by both their UK agents and by Harry & David in the States ... "

Again, bolding mine.

Dame Christine Cole Catley, in an email to me in September this year, said that in the early 1960s she was a copywriter for the Wellington based office of the Catts-Patterson advertising firm. The firm was asked to come up with a list of alternatives to Chinese gooseberry, a name not wanted because of perceived “commie fruit” associations. She came up with “quite a few” possibilities, including kiwi berry. In a further email, she said that as far as she could remember none of the Catts-Patterson clients included those involving fruits, vegetables or any kind of plant. As well, neither before nor after the kiwi berry / kiwifruit naming instance was she asked by the Catts-Patterson firm to do anything for Turners & Growers.

The following may seem to the reader to be a rather long quote to include in this article. But, I do so because it is a chance to see Dame Christine’s own words on this subject. She provides background here as to how she came to be where she was employed in the early 1960s, when the other main instance of a name for the Chinese gooseberry arose.

“My family returned in May 1958 from years overseas. We'd decided to build a house so at once I sought a job as an advertising copywriter, beginning almost at once with Carlton Carruthers Du Chateau & King, in Molesworth St, Wellington. (Lew King was historian Michael King's father but I didn't know Michael until 1971 when he joined my journalism-teaching staff.) This work went well but a former employee (John Blennerhassett who happened to be an old friend of ours) was partly incapacitated and wanted to return from Australia to his old copywriting job with this same firm, so would I mind resigning in his favour? Of course, I said. I was given a handsome testimonial and within a week found another copywriting job, and at a higher salary.

“It's important to have some dates here but unhappily so far I haven't found any. Nor can I remember the name of my next agency employer, whose offices (long gone) were diagonally opposite Stewart Dawsons corner. I hadn't been there long at all when I was headhunted by Catts-Patterson Advertising Agency of Upper Cuba Street. This agency too has long gone.

“I find it really hard to believe that, within only 13 months of becoming a copywriter, and with my third employer, I became involved in thinking up another name for chinese gooseberries. That's why I've said all along that this must have occurred (for involved I most definitely was) in the early 1960s, probably 1961. It definitely happened at Catts-Pattersons, however.

“I am writing my autobiography, with three books planned. It's a kind of overview of social change in NZ over my lifetime. Book One will be published next year, taking me just past the Tangiwai disaster. Book Two will encompass our time working overseas, advertising copywriting, being TV critic etc for The Dominion etc, and teaching journalism at Wellington Polytechnic ... probably ending around the mid-1970s. So that's the book which will have the kiwifruit reference, and before long I'll be able to make a serious start on going through my huge accumulation of relevant but unsorted papers, clippings, diary and journal entries. There I hope I will find a date!

“Have I said clearly that the name of the Fruitgrowers' Federation was never mentioned to me? My two bosses -- and Lisa, I'd really appreciate your mentioning their names, George Lewis and Arthur King, in the hope that families/friends might have something to add, as surely this was just the kind of work-anecdote that would be passed around and some more detail might emerge -- never at any time said to me that Turners & Growers were clients. I don't know now whether I was told, "Turners & Growers want us to come up with possible names..." or "We've been asked to come up with possible names because Turners & Growers want to export...".

“Also please note that whoever it was who approached my firm came back later to them a SECOND time with the news, passed on to me, that "Mrs Turner liked kiwiberry but when a botanist was consulted he'd said it was a fruit, not a berry." TWO contacts! We were all pleased and that was that, except that I told the story stressing my carelessness in not thinking to get a botanist involved. "A cautionary tale," I told students. "Always check such things."

“I must take up the matter in my Book Two because many people have heard that I was the one who came up with "kiwi". I will do my best to convey everyone's views, and will be happy to let interested people have a preview, and get back to me. Similarly, Lisa, I'd love to see your finished piece. It's just occurred to me that Carlton Carruthers may still have staff records and could tell me when I left them, so I'll ask them. But I think it's only a faint possibility that I was working for three agencies within a space of 13 months ... A mystery indeed, but to me the questions are WHO asked Catts-Patterson for help, when, and why.”

After she wrote this, Dame Christine contacted me on 14 October and said that The Kiwifruit Story’s description of the 1962 “20 guineas” competition does closely match her recollections – although there is still the matter of no mention made at the time, as she remembers, regarding the Fruitgrowers Federation, or the prize itself.

Turners & Growers had come up with, and decided on the "kiwifruit" name in mid-1959, the process clearly documented at the time. But, in the light of the obituary this month, so it seems, the Cole Catley myth concerning her part in creating the famous trade name appears likely to continue.

The Whau entanglement with Barney Keane

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.

But, to what extent and when did anyone named Keane have brickmaking associations with the Avondale side of the Whau River? He's still in the "obscure" part of my files, unfortunately. Hopefully, as more early newspapers are uploaded online for us to peruse, the murk at the bottom of the river's waters might get a bit clearer regarding this.

The main presumption at this stage is that the Keane link comes from Barnard (Barney) Keane. He appears in Auckland reports from the end of 1862, with the occupation of brickmaker, living in Albert Street in the city. His house was broken into. (Southern Cross, 7 November 1862) However, later reports push back his involvement with the brickmaking trade to c.1858. By 1866, he lived at Hobson Street (SC 8 May 1866) and by October that year was advertising for the purchase of a cutter.

 Southern Cross 1 October 1866

It looks like he diversified into trade with the Thames goldfields. By 1867, he had the cutter Catherine regularly plying the Auckland-Thames route. The main cargo from the Coromandel area, it seems, was lime. By January 1868, he had a office on Customs Street -- there, he lost his cool with a man named John Thomas Brown, striking him on the face and calling him "a rogue", and was later fined 5s by the courts. (SC 7 January 1868) From March that year, the Catherine began to carry sawn timber up from the Coromandel to Auckland, along with bricks going the other way. Cattle were conveyed to Auckland in the cutter as well, from Great Barrier Island. By September 1868, he also ran the cutters Rosina and Wahapu. His son Bernard attended the Auckland Western Academy and did well in grammar and geography. (SC 22 December 1868)

By the end of 1869, he had at his disposal a sizeable fleet of cutters conveying goods between Auckland and the Coromandel area -- Janet Grey, Catherine, Diamond, Sydney, Wahapu, Hope and Rosina. His gamble, taking advantage of the opportunity of the goldrush, had paid off. A launch, dubbed the Janet Grey, was launched for him in the middle of that year.

It appears he operated a brickyard somewhere close to the Auckland docks. Perhaps, even, at Brickyard Bay, part of what is now the Freemans Bay reclamation. He leased land from the Auckland Harbour Board. In the main, however, he was first and foremost a trading agent in construction material -- as such, he became involved, briefly, in the Whau Brickmakers affair of 1872, where the brickyard owners in West Auckland wanted a fairer deal for their wares with Brogden and the contracts for bricks that were on offer at the time during the Vogel push to build railways linking Auckland with the Waikato hinterlands.

A meeting of the Whau brickmakers was held on Thursday night last in the Whau Hotel at 7 o'clock. Mr. Kirby, of Auckland, bad been specially requested to attend, the object of the meeting being to appoint him as the sole agent for the sale of the brickmakers' goods. A little discussion took place whether it would be better to appoint Mr. Keane or Mr. Kirby. Most of the brickmakers were in favour of the latter gentleman, on the ground that Mr Keane is making bricks and buying at the same time, so that he was in opposition to a certain extent to other brickmakers. The question of appointing an agent was not finally settled by the meeting on Thursday, but a vote of confidence was passed in favour of Mr. Kirby.

Southern Cross 21 May 1872

Bolding mine. This article has been misinterpreted in the past by those looking for signs of early West Auckland brickmakers to mean that Keane was one of them. At this stage, considering the context of his business activities before the meeting, I think that is unlikely. He was trying to act as agent for the Whau yards, while actually competing with them to a certain extent from his own yard in the city. No wonder they went with Kirby to be their man at the negotiating tables.

But, hey -- Keane by name and keen by nature, he had another go at a piece of a lucrative part of the market. He knew, full well, that from the early 1870s onward, West Auckland looked set to dominate the brick making trade.

MEETING OF BRICKMAKERS.

A meeting of the above tradesmen took place on Monday evening, at the Whau Hotel, according to advertisement. At the hour appointed all persons interested in the business were present, and I noticed Mr. Kirby and Mr. Keane. After partaking of an excellent supper, provided by Mrs. Poppleton, the cloth was removed and the business of the evening commenced. Mr. John Malam, being called to the chair, in opening the meeting, said that the object of the meeting was to take into consideration the high price given for coal and the scarcity of that commodity, and to decide whether it would be advisable for that meeting to raise the price of bricks. It was unanimously agreed to raise the price 5s per thousand, on account of having to use the Newcastle coal, which costs 10s. per ton more than Bay of Islands coal. After the business of the meeting was concluded, some hot discussion took place between Mr. Keane and Mr. Kirby. The former gentleman said that Mr. Kirby would never make any money in the business he has undertaken, but would lose. Mr. Kirby said if it was a business of that sort Mr. Keane ought to draw out of it, as he must have been losing money the last fourteen years in the business, and he thought it was time some one would step in and relieve Mr. Keane from his losses. On the whole all parties present seemed to enjoy themselves, and the meeting broke up at 12 o'clock. — [Whau Correspondent.]

Southern Cross 6 June 1872

He was certainly "exporting" via schooner (his stock part of others' in the hold) medium quantities of bricks, between 400 to 2000, along with pipes and lime, to places such as Poverty Bay, along with his old Thames trade via the Catherine.

He was doing something "in the bush" in September 1872, advertising for labourers. Exactly which bush, I don't know. Considering his trade links, it could have been anywhere. (Auckland Star 7 September 1872) He applied for six men to dig clay in January 1873. (AS, 15 January 1873). By February 1874, he seems to have been dealing with "Clark's flanged pipes" (I wonder whether this was anything to do with the Hobsonville Clarks? -- AS 20 February 1874) and applying to "two good carpenters for Tauranga" in April 1874.

He had a new cutter, The Evening Star in September 1874.

A cutter was launched this morning from the yard of Messrs Henderson and Spraggon. She has been built for the builders and Mr B Keane. Her dimensions are as follow :— Length of keel, 42 feet; overall, 47 feet; breadth of beam, 14 feet; depth of hold, 4 feet 4 inches. Tonnage: 18 tons register. She is intended for the brick and sand trade, and will be captained by Mr Hutley. The new cutter has been named after this journal, "The Evening Star," and in return for the compliment we can only wish her a similar share of prosperity to that which has attended our own career. The vessel was launched complete in every particular, with her sails bent and her crew on board. She went off beautifully, and sail was made within a minute of her settling on the water. Under canvass she appeared to great advantage, and she is undoubtedly a useful little boat.

AS 14 September 1874

Reclamations by early 1875 caused him to move his business to allotments next to Holdship & Co the timber merchants at Custom Street east, but 10,000 bricks still went down to Thames on the Catherine later that year. 

He produced lime there as well, but by March 1877 he had finished a new lime works at Whangarei, producing "Whangarei Stone Lime in any quantity", and "Mahurangi Hydraulic Stone Lime ... adapted for Concrete Work. Will set hard under water, as foundations belonging to Messrs Combes & Daldy, Fort Street, will amply testify ..." (AS 2 March 1877) Keane was certainly on a roll, and looked to be on a roll with his business.

Then, difficulties.

The Reclamation Nuisance.—A letter was received from the Auckland Oil Company, denying that their mill was the cause of the nuisance complained of by the residents of Graham and Hardinge streets, and suggesting that it was produced by the "suffocating fumes " from Mr Keane's limekiln, and the volumes of smoke emitted from the respective sawmills of Messrs Holdship and Co., and Messrs Jagger and Parker.—Mr Keane also wrote, promising to abate the lime-kiln nuisance.

AS 10 December 1880

William Carder and Bernard Keane were involved with bankruptcy in 1883. Again, I wonder if this was anything to do with a Hobsonville connection. (AS 25 May 1883)

PETITIONS.—Cr Garrett presented a petition from the residents of Clarence-street, Ponsonby, praying that Mr Barney Keane should be ordered to either remove or abate the nuisance caused by his brick kiln...

AS 24 August 1883

A lad named Bowden, resident in Ponsonby, and employed at Mr B. Keane's lime-kiln in that district, met with a painful accident this morning, which may involve the loss of one or more fingers. He was busied about some of the machinery when his right hand was caught in one of the cog-wheels and the fingers terribly lacerated and torn before he could be released. Dr. Knight having been sent for, dressed the wounded member, affixed a compress upon it, and had the young sufferer removed to the Hospital, where it was found necessary to amputate the injured hand, the operation being performed by Drs. Haines and Bond. His father works at Vickery's foundry.

AS 8 July 1884

His son Barnard, now married, lived on St Mary's Road in Ponsonby by December 1885.

Then, the one clear connection between Barnard Keane senior and the making of bricks in the Whau district.

BRICKMAKERS.—Tenders are invited for Making Bricks at the Whau. Tenders returnable by noon of 10th September. Lowest or any tender not necessarily accepted. For full particulars apply to B. KEANE, Customs-street.

AS 6 September 1886

But ... where exactly? By now, Avondale had been so-named. It could have been anywhere, even up as far as Hobsonville at a stretch. Without more information, there's little to link Barnard Keane senior with an Avondale brickyard enterprise.

And then, two months later, he died.

The remains of the late Mr Bernard Keane were conveyed to their last resting place,the Symonds-street cemetery, yesterday afternoon. The cortege left the residence, Hobson-street, and the body was first conveyed to the United Methodist Free Church, at the junction of Pitt and Vincent-streets, where a short service was conducted by the Rev. Mr Worboys, and the Rev. Mr Macfarlane delivered a feeling address, in the course of which he made reference to Mr Keane's sterling merits as a man and a Christian.

AS 1 December 1886

Included in the selling-up of his estate was: "Brick-yard and machinery, at Avondale, lease of 16 years to run, with 100,000 green bricks set in kiln ready for burning." (NZ Herald, 20 March 1888) Elsewhere at his death he had a brickyard and machinery at Ponsonby, with a lease of 35 years to run; lime kilns at Whangarei Heads 19 acres freehold; 2 years lease on 177 acres at Sandspit; an office on the corner of Little Queen Street and Customs Street in the city, 56 years left on the lease; and a 12 year lease on allotment and buildings corner Hobson and Custom Streets.

His business kept going for a while, probably as executors sorted out debtors and creditors. Then his widow's residence at Hobson Street was sold, and that was that.

What of Barney junior, the man who, as a lad, was a good grammar and geography scholar. It might have been him who ended up with the Auburn Dairy on Hobson Street by April 1895. (AS 19 April 1895) Then, maybe, as a carter from May 1899. No sign found, as yet, that he was connected with Avondale. But who knows what might be around the corner?

Meanwhile -- that caption in the NZ Graphic. I have a bit of a wild hypothesis, here. Perhaps the NZ Graphic had a mix-up of names, and instead of hearing "Keane's", they heard "Cairn's". Seeing lots of bricks littering the landing, and signs nearby of former brickyard workings, they may have presumed it was a brickyard owned by Mr Keane in 1903, but -- what if the yard had not been in use for some time prior to 1903 (which is likely), and it was "Cairn's landing". An Edwin James Cairn had a market garden and orchard along Riversdale Road, a fair distance away further down river, but -- he also had an interest in a yacht, the Poneke.

FOR SALE, Yacht Poneke. 30ft, all gear new this season, well found, dingy, etc. —E. J. Cairn, Avondale.

AS 2 March 1903

There are references in the papers later in 1903 to Messrs Best and Cairns in connection with the Poneke, and the Best family in Avondale did have links with boats and boating on the Whau River further in the 20th century ...

Just speculation on my part, and it can't be taken seriously as a solution just yet. I'm chasing info on Edwin Cairns as well, as an early Avondale gardener ... which is probably why I'm unlikely to be bored with local history research any time soon.

But is there a connection between the Barnard Keane family and Avondale? At this point -- not substantiated.

Update 2 June 2013 -- I've added the list of properties Keane had at his death, included in his estate as at 1884, and a kiln full of "green bricks" at Avondale is mentioned. He could well have had use of Burke's yard - the 16 years left on the lease would tie in with c.1904. We have got a record of a fire at "Craig's brickyard" in November 1888, which I have hypothesised could have been at Burke's. So, Keane may well have operated at Burke's for two years only in the late 1880s. Why would the NZ Graphic  and the NZ Herald make reference, then, to "Keane's brickyard" near the Whau bridge in 1903, 15 years after it had ceased being Keane's?

Words on Lorne Street

I must say that Lorne Street, between the Central Library and the back of the old cinema complex, is looking very swish now. All credit to Auckland Council (and the legacy Auckland City Council) for a project that has certainly improved the looks of the entry to one of my favourite haunts.

I noticed that the council, as is the fashion these days, has installed some heritage inscriptions in the pavement/road, and also these words, etched into the stairway.

KAWE/REO VOICES CARRY

Voice carries us from the foot of Rangipuke / Sky Hill / Albert Park to the Wai Horotiu stream chuckling down Queen Street

Carrying a hii-haa-hii story -- from prams and seats with names and rhymes, words from books and kitchen tables.

Now we laugh again in the St James stalls, in the bookstores, Seddon Tech, Paterson's Stables, Odd Fellow's Hall, art galleries

And our great library gifted by our people who saved the words of our ancestors for one and all ...

Robert Sullivan

I think the author is mainly referencing historical memories of Lorne Street and surrounds with this. St James Theatre is still closed (as at date of this post), Seddon Tech is now AUT just up the road ... but I found it odd that Paterson's stables was mentioned, and not those of William Crowther, which were once right on this very spot.

Looking from Albert Park to Crowther's Stables (centre), corner Lorne & Wellesley East Streets, 1870s. Photo reference 4-776, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries.

Mr Crowther has been elected Mayor of the city of Auckland unopposed. Mr Crowther was born in Lancashire in 1834, and was apprenticed to Messrs Hibbert, Platt and Sons, ironworkers, of Oldham. At the time of the Crimean War Mr Crowther and several other apprentices were told off by the firm to go to Russia to fit some machinery. They were, Mr Crowther very candidly admits, afraid to undertake the duty imposed upon them, and determined to run away. Distant fields looked "green," and they were attracted thitherwards by the Victorian gold rush, landing at Melbourne about the end of 1853. In Melbourne Mr Crowther pursued various occupations ranging from digger to contractor, and in 1862 he proceeded to Dunstan (Otago), being attracted thither by goldmining prospects. He came to Auckland with shipments of horses from Otago on two occasions, and disposed of them at Penrose, and eventually made up his mind to start business in Auckland in the livery stable line. In 1864 Mr Crowther succeeded in setting up a good business, and it was carried on ably under his personal supervision until March last, when he sold out and retired. 

 Auckland Star 3 December 1891

DEATH OF MR W. CROWTHER.

It is with sincere regret we announce the death of Mr W. Crowther, M.H.R. for Auckland City, who passed away at his residence at the corner of Eemuera Road and the Ladies' Mile yesterday afternoon about 3 o'clock, at the age of 66 years. Deceased had been unwell for the past two months, and for the last four weeks he had been confined to his bed. His complaint was an internal one, but it appears that he had a bad attack of influenza at the close of the last session of Parliament, and that aggravated the disease. Dr. Mackellar diagnosed the complaint from which diseased suffered, and therefore his death did not come as a surprise ...

In Melbourne [1853] Mr Crowther pursued various occupations, ranging from digger to contractor, and in 1863 he proceeded to Dunstan (Otago), being attracted thither by gold mining prospects. In Otago he engaged in carrying stores to the goldfields. He came to Auckland with shipments of horses from Otago on two occasions, and disposed of them at Penrose, and eventually made up his mind to start business in Auckland in the livery stable line. In 1864, with this object in view, Mr Crowther went to Melbourne and got a number of vehicles built suitable for the Auckland roads, which at that time were "heavy." Some of the vehicles were so ponderous that the authorities were afraid to permit them to be landed on the wharf, and they had to be returned. Eventually he brought across two "Albert" cars, which will be well remembered by old identities, and one of these he drove from Parnell to town. He also started  an Auckland-Remuera bus service. At Parnell deceased had his first livery stable, and it was in that district he married his wife (Miss Georgina Stafford). Subsequently he removed to Albert Street, and afterwards to Wellesley Street East, where he built up-to-date stables, and carried on a large and extensive business under his personal supervision with success. In March, 1891, Mr Crowther sold out and retired. He then took up his residence at Remuera, and built a house of 14 rooms.

Mr Crowther always evinced a keen interest in public affairs, and for some years he was a member of the City Schools Committee and the Hospital and Charitable Aid Board. He was elected Chairman of the Auckland Harbour Board in 1893. For 17 or 18 years he was a member of the Auckland City Council, and was elected Mayor on the 16th November 1891 unopposed. Mr Crowther won every contest in which he took part, and his elevation to the Mayoral Chair unopposed was an evidence of the esteem in which he was held by his fellow councillors and citizens. Under Mr Crowther's two years' presidency as Mayor much was done towards maintaining the beauty of the public parks and recreation grounds. Deceased also served on the University College Council, Auckland College and Grammar School Board, and the Sailors' Home committee. His last good public work was in helping to organise the local horse fund for the South African war. 

Deceased was elected three times a member of the House of .Representatives, and he was one of the most energetic of members. Altogether Mr Crowther was one who made his mark in Auckland, and it can honestly be said of him that his word was his bond, and his honesty of purpose could not be questioned. He had great energy, dogged perseverance, and manliness, and his many employees bear testimony to the fair manner in which he always treated them. Deceased leaves a widow and grown-up family well provided for. 

At a special meeting of the City Council, held last evening, the Mayor (Mr D. Goldie) announced the death of their "old friend Mr Crowther, longtime Mayor of the city and also a City Councillor," and the Council passed a vote of sympathy with his widow and children in their bereavement. The remains of deceased will be interred to-morrow afternoon, the funeral leaving his late residence at 3.30 p.m.

Auckland Star16 March 1900

I'm not too sure where Patterson had his stables, during the early 1880s or so, but they may have been further up on the other side of Rutland Street. They just weren't on the site of those steps with the words.

"Looking south along the east side of Lorne Street from Wellesley Street East. Showing the Salvation Army Metropole (dining rooms and board and residence) on corner of Lorne Street and Wellesley Street East (left), with Spraggs Auckland Garage (centre, middle distance)", 
9 October 1925. Reference 4-2077, Sir George Grey Special Collection, Auckland Libraries.

The site has changed since Mr Crowther passed on from this mortal coil. The Salvation Army Metropole dominated the corner in the 1920s ...

"Looking south from Wellesley Street East (foreground) showing the intersection of Lorne and Wellesley Streets showing (from the far left) Turnbull and Jones, Auckland Slide Company, the Cottage Shoppe, the Domestic Vacuum Cleaning Company, McLeod and Rogerson, F D Woodroffe and Company Limited", 1935. Reference 4-1387, Sir George Grey Special Collection, Auckland Libraries.

... followed by an art goods retailer and a vacuum company in the early 1930s. Then the Art Deco design beauty the Embassy Cinema from 1936, until that, too, was demolished in 1979, for the present-day library-archive complex.

I'm being too picky again, aren't I? I should just enjoy the words, and appreciate the spirit of the message. 

(But yes, I do still hope someone recognises Crowther's Stables some day soon, anyway).

Update 15 September 2011: Claire at A Latitude of Libraries has posted about these steps.  I've said over there that it's a pity Crowther's stables wasn't mentioned -- and I now also notice even "Odd Fellows" isn't right (should be oddfellows, one word.) So -- these words are, sadly, more poetry than history in those areas.

Death at St Judes crossing

One of the most tragic level crossing accidents in Auckland of recent years occurred on the St. Jude's Street crossing, Avondale, at 9.35 yesterday morning. Mr William Bramley was killed instantaneously when his truck was struck by a Swanson-bound passenger train and carried a distance of fifty yards along the line, ending as is shown in this striking picture. The engine of the train was disabled and had to be dragged away by a relief engine.

Evening Post 1 December 1937

Weekly News, 8 December 1937. Reference AWNS-19371208-57-2, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries.

FATAL CROSSING SMASH

AUCKLAND TRAGEDY,

TRAIN HITS LORRY;

VETERAN DRIVER KILLED

(By Telegraph—Press Association.)

AUCKLAND, This Day.

One of the worst crossing smashes in the recent history of Auckland occurred at 9.30 a.m. today, when W. Bramley, aged 55, a married man with a grown-up family, was killed outright. He was driving one of Winstone Ltd.'s lorries on the New North Road when, at the St. Jude's Street crossing, he was struck by a northbound passenger train. His body was thrown from the truck about twenty yards down the line, the lorry being carried a further distance of thirty yards.

Eye-witnesses said that Bramley, who was driving slowly, apparently heard and saw the train approaching, for he put up his hand, to advise following cars that he was stopping, but his truck continued on and was struck by the engine. It is thought that the lorry brakes failed. Bramley was the oldest driver in the employ of Winstone's and was regarded as one of the most careful on the road. The train had proceeded a few hundred yards from the Avondale Station when the fireman on the engine, D. Waller, saw the truck and other cars approaching the crossing, which is on a slope, and shrilled his whistle. 

HAD TIME TO STOP. 

Neither the truck nor the train was travelling at more than 20 miles per hour, according to eye-witnesses. The truck had time to stop but did not. The engine-driver, G. R. Harris, applied the brakes instantly and the train stopped in its own length. The truck was caught under the cowcatcher and was dragged along the line. The warning-light standard was carried away, also part of a post, and the wire fence and cattle stops, were broken and scarred. Bramley suffered severe head injuries and was dead when he was picked up. The engine and cab of the lorry were damaged beyond repair. The train engine was so damaged that it had to be dragged away by a relief engine. Mr. Arthur Stych, who, with his brother, was driving a truck behind Bramley, said that when they approached the crossing the warning light was showing. They heard and saw the train. The lorry in front of them had just got on to the line when the train struck it.

Another eye-witness, Mr. G. R. Hampshire, the driver of a small, car on the other side of the crossing, said that Bramley's lorry ran on to the crossing at about three or four miles per hour. Apparently its brakes had failed.

The line was not cleared for over an hour after the accident.

Evening Post 30 November 1937

Rationalist House

Rationalist House at 64 Symond Street is another of those landmarks along a bus journey into the city which I've often wondered about.

Originally part of a crown grant to Thomas Outhwaite, by 1871 it had become part of three allotments totalling just over 11 acres owned by 19th century business tycoon Thomas Russell. The area of his property included Whittaker and Cintra Place. Russell subdivided, and sold some sections, but most was purchased by Sir Frederick Whittaker in late 1885. In 1888 Whittaker took out a mortgage on the property with the Bank of New Zealand, and sold a bit more of the property, rather like nibbling at a piece of cheese. Perhaps buyer reluctance came not only from the Long Depression at the time, but also the steep nature of the ground, falling into the Grafton Gully. The mortgage still unpaid by 1891, the bank transferred the mortgage to its estates company, and Whittaker transferred title to them that year.

The estates company sold a few sections, then by 1897, the Assets Realisation Board, tasked by the BNZ directors to liquidate land assets such as this one, had begun an active campaign to sell the remainder. In 1898 widow Esther Keesing purchased a quarter acre made up of four sections. Two were purchased by Oliver Nicholson and Dr. George Toussaint Girdler in 1909, and sold by 1912, to Dr James Hardie Neil. This became 64 Symonds Street.

Dr Hardie Neil commissioned architects Wade and Wade to design a splendid 16-room Edwardian townhouse, two stories high at the Symond Street frontage, and three at the rear. The value of the building permit was £3200, and Dr Hardie Neil named his house "Pahi". (Possible on a humerous note, an unknown Council valuer in his notes in the 1920s suggested the name might also be "Pay High"). Much of the original exterior can still be seen. 

The doctor was born in Dunedin 27 February 1875, graduated as Bachelor of Surgery in 1898, served as surgeon-captain with the 4th NZ Mounted Rifles during the 2nd Boer War 1900-1901, and became a member of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1902. Returning to New Zealand, he was appointed ear, nose and throat surgeon to Auckland Hospital in 1903, and remained in service there for 45 years, until he was appointed consultant surgeon in 1948. During World War II, he served as lieut-colonel in the NZ Medical Corps, and commanded No. 3 Field Ambulance with the New Zealand Rifle Brigade 1915-1918. Dr Hardie Neil served in Egypt, Gallipoli and France. He was awarded the DSO and the Belgian Croix de Guerre.

A German medical officer, identified as Lt Schnelling of the 14th Bavarian Regiment, watching the removal of a wounded soldier at a New Zealand Field Ambulance near Bapaume in World War I. Colonel J Hardie Neil stands beside Schnelling. Ambulances wait in the background. Photograph taken 27 August 1918 by Henry Armytage Sanders.  
From Alexander Turnbull Library.

His medical career here included research on the anatomy of the tonsil in 1908, first president of the Auckland Clinical Society in 1921, and presidency of the NZ League for the Hard of Hearing. During World War II, he worked with the Emergency Precautions Service. His obituaries say that he was even once almost an All Black -- but was unable to go overseas to play with the team in 1905. He died  in 1955.

The house was purchased by the NZ Rationalist Association in 1960, and underwent a change of name. For a time from the late 1960s, number 62 Symonds Street next door (once a private hotel called "Avonhyrst") came to be occupied by the Baptist Youth Hostel, causing one of the Auckland papers to suggest that the answer to what is the dividing line between belief and disbelief was -- not much.

Today, though, Rationalist House is the only survivor in this part of Symond Street's landscape.

Sources:
Valuation field sheet, ACC 213/171c, Auckland Council Archives
Plan No. 3765, 21 May 1912, Auckland Council Archives
Obituaries: NZ Herald 29 January 1955; British Medical Journal 12 February 1955, p. 420

A sheep and kiwifruit beside Rosebank's cemetery

This mural on the power box on Orchard Street, just outside the George Maxwell Memorial Cemetery,  is new this year, and looks wonderful.

The main theme it features is that of kiwifruit -- with Hayward Wright's former land close by on Avondale Road, the choice doesn't surprise me -- but I wonder if the sheep is connected with the ovine legend in the cemetery?

Once, so the stories go, last century the Cemetery Trust Board kept sheep in the cemetery, as living lawn mowers. When one died, it was buried in the cemetery. So they say.

Legends aside -- this is certainly an attractive addition to Avondale's landscape. Well done Vector for allowing this!

Mt Roskill's war memorial cairn

I visited the Mt Roskill War Memorial Park at the May Road end on 31 July, attending the first meeting of the Mt Roskill Historical Society . While there, I took photos of the war memorial -- then went looking for information on it in the usual places. Couldn't find a skerrit on the memorial I photographed -- just the hall.

On 29 October 1955, Mt Roskill mayor Keith Hay formally opened the War Memorial Hall (that's the building in the background), designed by architect Stephen G Wright. This transformed the park's identity from just the May Road reserve to War Memorial Park.

In his opening remarks the Mayor said that in the early stages when we thought back to the trials and worries, it was very pleasing to know that the Memorial was at last finished. He said that they had endeavoured to retain the dignity of a war memorial outside and enjoyment of all inside ...He thanked the willing band of workers who had worked so hard to raise the money and he thanked the citizens for their donations, and said that it was their memorial hall, which was second to none in the Dominion and "what was most important, the hall is opened free of debt" ...

The Town Clerk, Mt R P Pitcaithly, ... announced that the Mayor had donated his honorarium for 1955 and 1956 not [to] assemble here to mourn those we have lost, but to pay so that the hall could open free of debt. Mr Pitcaithly said that his Worship did not want this announced, but in fairness to him and Mrs Hay, as well as to the citizens and all who had contributed to the Memorial, it was only justice that such a fine gesture should be broadcast throughout the length and breadth of the Dominion, and he finished by saying that "This will go down in history for the future posterity of Mt Roskill" ...

The inspection of the building was ... made. It is a modern structure with a main hall 40ft by 80ft, a cloakroom, a stage and a shop -- a real, living memorial."

Manukau Progress, 11 November 1955, p.1

So, I dug a bit deeper, and sank into one of my usual hunting grounds for information on our city, the Auckland Council Archives in the city.

It wasn't until June 1958 that plans for adding the actual war memorial monument were made, for the site just beside the earlier hall. The architect was, once again, Stephen G Wright.

Determined that Mt Roskill shall have a memorial feature incorporated in the surroundings of the memorial hall of which it can be justly proud, the War Memorial Committee has decided that a cairn in Coromandel granite shall be erected and established in an attractive setting of flowers and trees alongside the hall. So confident is the committee that the people of the borough will respond to its appeal for the extra money needed to build the cairn, that it has decided to proceed with the work immediately ...

It was decided ... to use Coromandel granite for the stone, which will be mounted on a concrete base and connected to the entrance to the hall by a 10ft. wide concrete path. On the west side of the memorial the existing flagstaff will be re-erected, and this in turn will be flanked by a semi-circular flower box 3ft. wide with seats facing the memorial and the flagstaff ... 

...the memorial ... will have a suitably inscribed bronze plaque on the north and south sides, surmounted by a bronze wreath, while an inset cross will be carved on the east and west sides ... The committee is determined to have the whole project completed in readiness for the service on Anzac Day 1959 ...

Roskill News, 26 June 1958

Plan of the proposed war memorial, from Roskill News, 26 June 1958, file MRB 111/93/3/2/2, Auckland Council Archives

It's possible that the memorial may have been finished in time for Anzac Day 1959, but they were still sorting out tenders for the paving around the memorial in August that year. (MRB 111/113/3/4/8, Auckland Council Archives)

South side.

THESE PLAYING FIELDS

AND THE HALL THEREON

ARE DEDICATED

TO THE MEMORY OF THOSE

OF THIS DISTRICT

WHO GAVE

THEIR LIVES

THAT WE WHO REMAIN

MAY REST

IN PEACE

North side.

TO YOU

FROM FAILING HANDS

WE THROW THE TORCH

BE YOURS

TO HOLD IT HIGH

IF YE

BREAK FAITH WITH US

WHO DIE

WE SHALL NOT

SLEEP

The quiet sunny Sunday afternoon I was there, a father was helping his child on a small bike, riding around and around the memorial cairn to get balance and confidence. A nice use for such a community-supported installation as this.