Opening of New Lynn's Merchant Quarter

On 9 March, I took a bit of time off to go to the opening of New Lynn's new Merchant Quarter development, on McCrae Way.

McCrae Way is a new street, carved through former car park areas, with the Merchant Quarter taking up the site which used to be the New Lynn bus terminal (in yellow circle below. Both images from Auckland Council GIS, lower image from 2006).

All this architecture isn't the be-all and end-all for the development. Auckland Transport have sold the overhead rights to developers.

And they hope the above impression will be the result. It will be served by already-constructed cavernous carpark areas within the development.

With more to come. Carparks, mainly, to encourage folks to use public transport, and to have New Lynn be a "destination". The shop spaces in the Merchant Quarter, at the moment, are still empty and up for lease.

McCrae Way -- naming a new road after a chap who didn't own this piece of land (he owned the paddocks on which adjacent Lynnmall was built), and who committed suicide in the late 1960s, after a career running one of the most notorious bus companies in Auckland. Weird quirks like this is part of why I love my city.

A pity, though, that the newly-planted trees are dying in the 2012-2013 Auckland Drought.

Still, nice music on the day ...

... a talented fairy on stilts ...

... and bouncy castles and street games for the kids of all ages.

Time will tell what happens to this latest bit of New Lynn's story.

Lynfield, or Linfield?

Updated 30 December 2014.

Back in 1957, when a new college was about to open just off White Swan Road in Mt Roskill West, the parents and school board chose a name for the school to reflect its area. They chose “Lynfield”, saying that this was because of the name of a farm which occupied the site in earlier times. (Star, 2 October 1958) Peter McConnell in his book People and Progress (1983), elaborated that the school was named after “Lynfield Poultry Farm … owned by an Australian who named it after a town in his homeland.” Jade Reidy in Not Just Passing Through (2007), added more by recording that the college “had been named after Sir Alfred Bankhart’s poultry farm that had earlier overlooked the planned suburb [of Lynfield].”

Going back to the mid 1950s, before plans went ahead for the college, Andrew D Griffen’s series of recollections were reproduced by the Roskill Times, and among them, on 13 July 1955, this appeared:

“Another early resident of this area of Mount Roskill South, who led the way in home-building … was Mr (later Sir Alfred) Bankart. His property was further along White Swan Road, past Ridge Road, on the left hand side. It was a large block, in all just over 70 acres, extending along White Swan Road, past Ridge Road as far as the Mount Roskill boundary with Avondale. His back boundary was the Wairaki Stream, commonly known as Duck Creek.

“The land was all rough ti-tree when Mr Bankart took it over. He had it cleared, ploughed and put down in grass. This work was done under the supervision of Mr J Bollard, MP, known throughout the district as “Honest John”. When it came to building, Mr Bankart, whose chief interest was poultry-raising, did things in the grand manner.

"Mr Bankart", photo by Herman John Schmidt, 1909, ref 31-57798, Sir George Grey Special Collections,

 Auckland Library

“For himself he built a large modern home, and all the outbuildings necessary for the activities of a wealthy gentleman farmer. For his estate manager, Mr Irvine, there was a fine, seven-roomed house, while the assistant manager, Mr Cooper, was provided with a five-roomed dwelling. Another excellent building erected on the estate was a two-storey structure used to store grain for feeding the poultry, with an up-to-date cow-shed installed underneath.

“In addition to this were the first-class poultry and incubator houses, built with highest grade timber, and fitted with every labour-saving device available at the time. No expense was spared. Mr Irvine had been engaged as estate manager because he was then New Zealand’s outstanding authority regarding the white leghorn strain. At one period Mr Bankart’s stock of birds was little short of 10,000 …

“It is a sad thing to have to record that in later years fire destroyed Mr Bankart’s fine home [in 1929], and also the house he built for his estate manager.”

Bankart’s house was likely on the eastern side of the intersection of Gilletta and White Swan Road, while Irvine’s house was on the other.

So – what I’ve found out recently is this:

Alfred Seymour Bankart purchased Allotment 74, Parish of Titirangi, apparently from John Logan Campbell, in 1910. Griffen wrote of a brougham once belonging to Campbell stored in a granary on the farm – if so, this could mean that the farm was operational to some extent prior to Bankart’s ownership, probably as far back as 1852 when Campbell appears to have purchased it from his business partner William Brown. (Deeds Index A2 255) Bankart was at one time secretary of the brewery company Campbell & Ehrenfried. 

Bankart started to subdivide and sell the farm, called the Gilletta Estate, from 1919, and his ownership ceased in 1922. (NA 170/35)

Meanwhile in 1908, over on Pah Road near Epsom, one Albert William Irvine had grazing paddocks which he offered to rent out for 2/- per head per week for cattle and horses. (Star, 3 December 1908) By August 1909, however, his enterprise expanded in a different direction.

IRVINE'S AMERICAN LEGHORNS.— Irvine's Original American Standard Line Bred White Leghorns. The record layers of to-day; bred to prolific laying; trap nested and Hogan tested; 226 to 272 egg teat. From over 12 pens of special matings we are offering Settings at 10/ per 18, £3 10/ per 100; pullets, 21/; cockerels, 21/; trios,£3. Also, Special Pen White Wyandottes, and Black Longshans, heavy winter layers, 203 to 246 Egg Test. Eggs or Birds shipped to any part of Australasia.—A. W. Irvine, Linfield Poultry Farm, Pah-road, Epsom, Auckland.

(Star 14 August 1909)

Note the spelling “Linfield”. Albert William Irvine’s wife was Lucia “Lucy” Olive Pickering, born 1882 to sawmill manager Frederick George Pickering, and his wife Phyllis Priscilla (nee Gawthorne). Albert married Lucy in 1908. A check for family notices on Trove shows that the Pickerings appear to have been central Sydney dwellers at the time of Lucy’s birth, at Bathurst Street, to be precise, near Darling Harbour. "18 September 1882, a daughter to Mrs F Pickering, at 54 Bathurst Street, Sydney (near Darling Harbour)."  In 1887 Frederick George Pickering lived at Marrickville. However, Frederick George Pickering died in 1898 (according to an Ancestry.com page, 11 April 1898, at his late residence Coffs Harbour), while his family were living at Lindfield, North Sydney later that year. This may be the source of the family tradition, slightly altered to Linfield by Irvine in 1909 (a year after he married Lucy). Indeed, there were places both called Linfield and Lynfield in Australia in the 19th century, but in Trove, the LIN spelling is more common in appearance that LYN by a ratio of around 7:1 So, it seems that Albert Irvine misspelled the place name when naming his farm, which was misspelled in turn by the good folks at Lynfield College and by Irvine’s own family in the mid 20th century.

POULTRYMEN— Now is the time to think about your breeding pens for nest season. If you have not first-class male birds secure them now, don't wait till the best is gone. 300 of "Irvine Strain" Cockerels for Sale now. The pick of 2,000 birds, every one a typical breeder. "Highest Quality in Australasia" are Irvine Strain. Proved in public tests and exhibitions. Order now. Write 40-page Catalogue ready. Guarantee every bird.—ALBERT W. IRVINE, Linfield Poultry Farm, Pah Road, Epsom, Onehunga.

(Star 28 January 1913)

Between January and March 1913, with at least one championship under his belt, he shifted to White Swan Road – and, it would seem judging by Griffen’s recollections, the Bankart property to become Bankart’s estate manager. The “Linfield” name came with him.

Yesterday the delegates to the New Zealand Poultrymen's Conference paid a visit to Mr. A. W. Irvine's poultry farm at Mount Roskill, and last evening the conference was brought to a close with the reading of a paper by Mr. Irvine on “The Housing and Caring of Poultry."

(Star 28 March 1913)

LOST, from Pah Rd, Epsom. Black Jersey Heifer, about 8 months old: white tipped tail. Reward. A. W. Irvine. White Swan Rd., Mt. Roskill.

(Star 29 March 1913)

YOUTH wanted for poultry farm; good home and wages. Apply Manager, Linfield Poultry Farm, Ltd., White Swan Rd., Mt. Roskill.

(Star 1 April 1913)

NEW-LAID EGGS are scarce. When you are tired of buying eggs, try a few "Irvine Strain" White Leghorns, and you'll get new laid eggs. We have Settings for sale from our tested breeding stock, also day-old Chicks every week from now up to November. Please order at once. Ready now. Laying pullets, cockerels, eggs for hatching, day-old chicks, and the famous meat meal for poultry. Write for catalogue, 40-page Linfield Poultry Farm Ltd., White Swan Rd., Mt. Roskill. Albert W. Irvine, Manager. Phone 3957 (two rings). Telegrams: -'Irvstan,' Auckland.

(Star 7 June 1913)

He took out a 21 year lease with the Harbour Board for 16 ½ acres of the endowment land, between today’s Caronia Crescent and Oriana Road, in December 1913 as well. Whether he intended starting another poultry farm there isn’t known. He transferred the lease to retired constable James Edward McLennan in October 1914.

Between June and August 1914, however, he had left Bankart’s estate, heading for Boundary (now Landscape) Road and taking the “Linfield Poultry Farm” name with him. So, quite possibly, he may have had Bankart as a financial partner of sorts, but the company was his.

POULTRY FOR SALE. IRVINE STRAIN World's Greatest Exhibition and Utility Strain. Winners everywhere. 1700 prize cups and trophies. Winners North Island Championship 1912, 1913, 1914, 3 years in succession. This proves my blood to be the supreme of all. Settings and DO. Chicks ready now. Record holders. 60-page Catalogue 3d. LINFIELD POULTRY FARM, Boundary Road, Mount Roskill. A. W. IRVINE, Prop.

(Star 29 August 1914)

According to his family “the young poultryman” travelled “throughout New Zealand, selling, exhibiting and later judging,”– but at a cost. He suffered a nervous breakdown, so his family said.

POULTRY FOR SALE. 2300 PRIZES. "IRVINE STRAIN." Owing to ill health, I am retiring from the Poultry. The Whole of My Stud is for Sale. The Largest Prize-winners In Australasia. See papers for date of sale. A. W. IRVINE, LINFIELD POULTRY FARM, BOUNDARY ROAD, MT. ROSKILL.

(Star 1 July 1916)

HANDSOME Shetland Pony and Gig and Harness, suit lady and children, quiet, sound, reliable: big prize-winner, 24 firsts, 4 championships, gold medal: owner leaving country, must sell immediately.— Apply Mr. A. W. Irvine, Boundary Rd., Mt. Eden.

(Star 19 September 1916)

He didn’t leave the country – rather, he and his wife headed for Pahiatua. Their stay there, though, was brief.

WANTED, Lady-help, one child not objected to: Marble Bar. A. W. Irvine, Pahiatua.

(Star 28 March 1917)

Mr A W Irvine was judge at the Napier poultry show last week. He is now resident at Pahiatua, having left Auckland and settled in Hawke’s Bay.

(Dominion, 31 March 1917)

PAHIATUA, This Day. A fire early this morning completely destroyed the Kosy confectionery and refreshment premises, occupied by A. W. Irvine. Irvine was absent at the time, and the family also. Two young women who were sleeping upstairs escaped in their nightdresses. An adjoining jewellery shop, occupied by F. Hedges, suffered considerably. The Kosy and Hedges' shops were insured for £1200, Hedges' stock for £1000, and the contents of the Kosy for £600. The buildings were owned by Mrs. David Crewe.

(Star 2 May 1918)

The family set up a home cookery in Hamilton, expanding to Morrinsville and Te Aroha. In 1923, Irvine was still into his hobby, winning first prize for his Leghorns at the Waikato Show. The Irvines eventually returned to Auckland, setting up a cake business at Onehunga just as the Great Depression hit. Irvine closed up at Onehunga, and started to bake and deliver bread from Remuera, eventually baking 5000 loaves a week, before shifting to Newmarket, on Broadway. At that time, 1939, the family dropped the bread business, and A W Irvine Ltd returned to cakes, becoming wholesale cake makers. They built a factory at Newmarket, then moved back to Onehunga during World War II. By 1949, they’d added frozen pastry to their products. At this point, Albert Irvine retired and handed the business over to his sons. Irvines Pastries merged with General Foods in 1961, and their Mt Wellington factory in the late 1960s made cakes, pies, pastry, milk bar syrup and cordials.

According to Garth Houltham of the Mt Roskill (Puketapapa) Historical Society, the Irvines died here in Auckland, after finally living in Remuera, Albert Irvine buried in the late 1960s at Purewa. Did he know about the “Lynfield” version of the real name of his poultry farms used by the school, and later the suburb in the early 1960s? Perhaps he had forgotten, or didn’t particularly mind.

Pleading for the future of the former Mt Roskill Borough Council Municipal Building

Some news of great concern came through via the latest Puketapapa Local Board meeting on 31 January that a proposal may be made soon to Auckland Council that the 1957 former Mt Roskill Municipal Building be demolished. It was closed December 2011-January 2012 due to black mould found in the later additions. The Mt Roskill (Puketapapa) Historical Society are seeking public support to back their call, in support of the stand by the Local Board, that the original part of the building be retained, not demolished. 

See this Scribd document for background info and contact details.

Nathan Homestead, Manurewa

September 21 2012 saw me visiting the Nathan Homestead on steep Hill Road, on the occasion of the launch of a heritage photo exhibition there.

According to Lawrence D Nathan, in his reminiscences published by the Manurewa Historical Society, his father David Lawrence Nathan purchased 100 acres on Hill Road in 1910, a year after he married Simone, from France. Lawrence himself was born in 1910, and recalled that once the first Nathan homestead, called "The Hill", was built, the family stayed there during summer, and moved back to Auckland for the winter. The original building was added onto in the early 1920s to accommodate the family more comfortably. By that time there were four children, and Manurewa between their winter home as well. Another 120 acres was purchased.

"In December 1923 at 5 o'clock in the morning," according to Mr Nathan, "the big wooden house caught on fire. There was no local fire brigade and water pressures were quite inadequate so in 30 minutes the whole building was destroyed. My mother's first care was to see that my sisters and my youngest brother who slept upstairs got out. My brother Dennis and I slept on a verandah downstairs so could readily escape but Dennis aged 10 did not realise that there was any hurry and when he was told to get up and get out of the house he went as usual to the bathroom and had his cold bath before getting dressed ...

"I will always remember that at about 8.30 in the morning when all the family, very distressed, were standing contemplating the still smouldering ruins, a man arrived and said to my father, 'I am the French Polisher and have come to polish the dining room table, where is it, please?' This was too much for my mother who burst into tears."

The Nathan family decided that they didn't want to leave their lovely gardens and estate at The Hill, so a new building was designed by architect D B Paterson, this time from brick, and constructed by Otahuhu's Thomas Clements Ltd. The family moved into their new home, the one standing today, in 1925.

The present-day management at the cafe inside gave me permission to photograph these two well-dressed ladies.

Just up the stairs, a case containing "part of original Military Mile Post No. 16 from the corner of Great South and Myers Roads, Manurewa. Erected c.1861." It's part of the historical society's collection.

This, from a plaque just beside it on the wall:

"Wooden Mile Posts were erected on the fledgling Great South Road by the Royal Engineers in the early 1850s. The road was due for repair because of increased traffic, there was also an increase in Military traffic, which led up to the Land Wars of the 1860s. A constant stream of military supplies was directed by Deputy Commissary General Bailey, from the Penrose Depot to Mercer. Drivers of vehicles were expected to cover certain mileages each day; they frequently complained that they had no knowledge of these mileages.

"To overcome this ... Bailey arranged for Military Mile Posts to be erected from the depot at Penrose, the first being No. 8, signifying 8 miles from Auckland. The furthest south was at Drury ...

"The ... mile posts are of wood, mostly Totara, in the form of a right-angled triangle ... Appropriate numbers were carved in the short sides, which faced the road, showing distances from Auckland ... They were all installed on the eastern side of Great South Road. 

"The old Manurewa Borough had two mile posts, No. 15 ... at 88 Great South Road, and the second, No. 16, near the corner of Myers and Great South Roads. [This] rotted at ground level and was rescued by local resident Russell Craig as it lay on the ground. He gave it to the Manurewa Historical Society for safe keeping ..."

Upstairs, a wonderful collection of ceramic images, featuring Manurewa and general Manukau community and history.

This is (according to the info panel) a painted glass window from a church at Alkmaar in the Netherlands. The church was built in 1600, and demolished late in the 19th century. Lawrence Nathan's maternal grandfather bought two of the church's windows at auction before demolition, and gave one to Simone and the other to her brother Albert. Simone Nathan's window was installed in the second story of the first homestead -- and so was lost to the 1923 fire.

Albert gave his window to his sister for the new home. It is said to date from 1681, not as colourful as his sister's one, but shows an undetermined coat of arms. When the family left the homestead in the 1950s, the window was removed, but was reinstated 17 September 1986.

Just after the photo exhibition opening, I asked the historical society folks where the Nathan's water tower is, and was pointed in the general direction of an area of bush just beside some tennis courts. If you want a bit of a jungle Indiana Jones thrill, go look for the water tower. Brush aside fern and palm fronds, looking for heritage.

Again, according to Lawrence Nathan, "At the back of the house there was a useful but unattractive stand of 16 tanks for the artesian water pumped up by a clanking windmill. My father decided that the new water tank should be built to look more handsome and be more in keeping with the new house. He gave the architect a postcard with a picture on it of an old Norman Church and our new water tower was built to look like the church tower in the picture, but surely no church in Normandy has a Kiwi on the weather vane surmounting it."

Sorry, folks, I couldn't see the weather vane ...

Online exhibition of Auckland Zoo history

Well done to the team at Auckland Council Archives!

Auckland Zoo 90 Year anniversary

The fate of yesterday's guns (part 2)

A postcard from my collection, unknown date.

This follows on from Part 1, on guns in the Domain.

They face seaward, grim though antiquated, on their concrete foundations, near the flagstaff at Albert Park. Their touch-holes are rusted, their marks worn by the weather, their carriages rotting beneath them. These are the great 64-pounders, each gun weighing tons, which once stood ready for the defence of Auckland at old Fort Britomart. Muzzle-loaders, they never fired a shot in anger, though doubtless they often roared in amiable pretence when the gunners had rammed home the powder and ball for practice firing. Like age-worn, toothless hounds, blinded and inert, they lift their noses skyward, seeking to scent some associations from the dim past, sinister only in their appearance ...

There are two guns with a history now facing the Princes Street entrance to Albert Park, though their history is vague and there is no notice board to tell the public anything of it, as it was suggested there should be by this paper nearly seven years ago. All that is known of them is that they come from the Crimea, said to have been captured from the Russians at Sebastopol. You may weave a romance around them as you will ...

Stamped with the double-headed Russian eagle, whose feathers have since been soaked in the blood of wars and revolutions and of the Romanoffs, butchered to make a better Russia! -- they have sulked in Albert Park for 45 years.

There is also a French gun at the Park—a small bronze field piece, which, save for its greenish film, might have been cast only yesterday. This gun is said to have been captured at Waterloo, when the destiny of Europe and the whole world was changed by Wellington, with the late aid of Blutcher and his Prussians. It was presented to the city by Mr. Browning, of Epsom, who received it from the captain of a British ship trading here in the early days.

Nearby are relics of a later war—that of the Transvaal—in the form of two Boer field pieces. One of these is of German make, cast in 1892, and it is in a decidedly better state of preservation than its sister gun, which is of British manufacture. Other warlike exhibits here are two machine guns captured from the Germans by the New Zealanders at Flers, and a couple of trench mortars taken from the Turks on Gallipoli. They are small affairs, contrasted with the big cannon near them, but they are more significant of slaughter, for they bring vividly to mind a war which reckoned its dead by millions ...

Auckland Star 16 February 1927

Once the Albert barracks had been cleared away in the mid-1870s, the City Improvement Commissioners and the Auckland City Council looked to what could be done to create a beautiful park in the midst of the city. On a "kind of plateau" overlooking Coburg (later Kitchener) Street, Victoria Street East, and Bowen Avenue, a series of three flower-decorated terraces were proposed, crowned by a 75-feet high flagstaff, "set off with big guns" pointing toward the said streets. (Star, 5 March 1881) The first of the collection were Russian-made guns hailing from the Crimean War and the battle of Sebastopol.

The two Russian designed guns for the terraced battery are also to be placed there, one on each side of the flagstaff.

Auckland Star 24 August 1882

THE SALUTE.
The Committee are determined to have a salute fired on the opening day. It has been suggested that as the guns in the Albert Park belong to the City Council, permission might be obtained to fire them. Men can be found willing to undertake this task, which would perhaps be attended with danger, owing to the age of the guns, which, it will be remembered, are trophies from the fall of Sebastapol.

Auckland Star 13 January 1890 

In 1889, relatives of the late Mr S Browning presented the "historical brass cannon" linked with the battle of Waterloo to the Council. The gun came into Browning's possession from off the wreck of the Wanderer, sunk off the New South Wales coast. In turn, it had been presented to the Wanderer's master by the British War Office. (Star, 22 April 1889)

Henry Winkelmann photo, October 1898, showing the Albert Park guns. Ref 1-W1872, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Library

Two Boer War "pom-poms or other guns" were added to the Albert Park collection in 1902, at the instigation of MP Mr Napier, making the request to the Minister of Defence. (Star 17 July 1902)

In 1905, two of the "Russian scare" forts of the 1880s, Fort Cautley (Fort Takapuna) on the North Shore and one at Point Resolution, were dismantled, and Auckland City Council agreed to add three 64-pounders and one 7-inch RML gun from the forts to the collection around the Albert Park flagstaff. (Auckland Star 1 September 1905)

"The last memorial rites at Auckland: the crowd in Albert Park during the firing of the final salute by the guns of the "A" battery at sunset, May 20, 1910."AWNS-19100526-13-1, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Library.

The "old garrison artillery guns" at Albert Park, 1910. AWNS-19100811-3-1, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Library.

Weekly News, 11 January 1912, AWNS-19120111-6-4, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Library

The collection at Albert Park reached its height with the addition of the two trench guns and mortars brought back to New Zealand as war trophies from the First World War.

The Council seems to have had a surplus of war trophy armament at one point.

A collection of old German machine-guns, of the type on exhibition in Albert Park, has been lying in the-basement of the Town Hall, unwanted for a long time. A suggestion that they be disposed of was brought before the City Council last night. The town clerk reported that some time ago he had communicated with the Officer Commanding, North Auckland Military District, asking what suggestions he could offer for the disposal of the guns. A reply had been received to the effect that it might be possible to get some of the country local bodies to accept them. A recommendation that local bodies near Auckland be asked whether they desired any of the guns was adopted.

Auckland Star 21 February 1930

By the mid 1930s, the fashion for military decoration in our parks as we've seen had worn thin.

From Council files, I learned that on 23 April 1936, a Mr Oldridge, Superintendent of Parks wrote a letter to the Parks and Reserves Department, Auckland City Council. In it, he provided a list of the guns mounted at that point at the park:

Four "large guns which were previously mounted at Fort Britomart" (by this, he would have meant the Fort Cautley and Pt Resolution guns);

Three "field guns, probably used during the South African War of 1899/1902";

"An old bronze gun" and "two Russian guns that should be regarded as antiques rather than weapons of destruction"; 

Also "two glass cases containing mortars and maxim guns captured by the New Zealanders at Gallipoli in August 1915"; 

Plus "one gun (German field piece) situated near the band stand at the Domain which can be regarded as scrap metal."

He suggested that most of these should be displayed near the museum, not in parks.

In a letter dated 22 October 1937 from the acting-Director of the Auckland Institute and Museum to the Town Clerk, it was suggested instead that the artillery trophies should be gathered together at North Head near Devonport, possibly to form the nucleus of a collection. The Town Clerk took the idea onboard, and replied to the Museum the following day that a suggestion would be made to the Defence Department for the establishment of an Artillery Museum. The Minister of Defence, Frederick Jones (left, image from Wikipedia), responded saying essentially: no. He listed among his reasons for his decision that: there was significant expenditure expected in transferring, remounting and maintaining the guns and other artillery pieces; there was no general public access at North Head; even if there was access, there was a lack of suitable site there for a museum; the old coastal defence equipment from the 1880s forts was "of doubtful historical value"; the guns should instead be offered to the Auckland Institute and Museum, or the National War Memorial in Wellington. Transferred there at Council's expense, of course.

The City Council then offered them to the National War Memorial at the Dominion Museum on 17 February 1938, and received the not surprising reply on 30 May 1938: No.

Nothing further seemed to have happened until 17 October 1940, when the Parks Committee determined that apart from what they called "the ancient gun", the rest as "obsolete weapons" were to be removed forthwith from Albert Park, with the City Engineer to report later on their disposal. The "ancient gun" was to be offered to the Museum. On 25 October, a further note on the files from the Committee dealing with Parks states that four "old 64lb muzzle loading guns" (the old fort guns) "are no adornment as no tradition is apparently associated with them." They were to be offered to the Ministry of Defence for "military scrap purposes in England." This offer was accepted by the Minister, Jones, on 12 November 1940, but a month and a half later came a further letter (23 December) from his office. "The large guns are steel or iron," he wrote, "the small gun is bronze. The bronze gun could be made use of locally ..." He referred the matter to the Auckland Board of the National Council for the Reclamation of Waste Material to decide whether the guns were of value as scrap.

On 15 January 1941, the Parks Committee advised the Mayor that no market was available locally for the iron and steel parts. However, they said, the bronze gun, two Lewis machine guns and two trench mortars "are of value" and "can be used by the Army in Auckland for training purposes."

Now, exactly where the guns went to after this point isn't all that clear at the moment. After I published Part 1, fellow heritage blogger Sandy (thanks, Sandy) who works at Auckland War Memorial Museum contacted me saying she'd had an email from Rose Young the curator there saying that the Waterloo gun "is the cannon at the top of the stairs near the doodlebug on level 2." So, the "ancient gun" as the Parks Committee in 1940 referred to it, is secure. There were news reports in late December 1941 that "Old guns in Albert Park dismantled as precaution against air attack" (Star, 31 December 1941) and ...

… the collection of artillery, Maori War, South African War and World War 1 ... which was previously grouped on the plot of ground in Albert Park below the flagstaff … All these are still buried under ten or fifteen feet of earth on the sites where they were once the outstanding features. They are likely to remain there until the manpower situation eases to the stage when time and labour spent in their removal would not be regarded as a waste of war effort. … the guns [buried] at the ruling of the reserves committee of the Auckland City Council. 

 Auckland Star 1 August 1944

But, in early 1977,only "two fortress guns" were reported in the news as being dug up at the park. So, if the guns at the park today are two of the four fortress guns (and there is a similarity, judging by the photo in the link, with the Newmarket gun), then where are the other two fortress guns, and the South African and Crimean artillery? 

(Update: 2 June 2023) Well, the two Crimean War guns were removed by Auckland City Council in October 1951, according to Peter Cooke and Ian Maxwell in Great Guns, The Artillery Heritage of New Zealand. The guns were given to the Royal Akarana Yacht Club, but eventually it was found that the sea air was corroding them. So, after sandblasting at Devonport in 1980, they went to Papakura Camp for a time, before one was returned to the Yacht Club, and the other sent to the Army Memorial Museum in Waiouru.

Unfortunately, in early June 2023, the one at the Yacht Club went missing, believed stolen.

As an end-thought, the Council responded on 14 April 1949 to a letter from a Te Kauwhata resident, who had asked if "the old bronze gun" could be obtained as garden ornament. (Similar to intentions for the Teutenburg heads in the 1960s). The enquirer was advised no, it was in "safe custody".

Council Archives file ACC 275 38-168.

The elusive Harry Phydora

Update 27 August 2019.

I purchased the postcard above because the image intrigued me -- promoting the pantomime Aladdin here in New Zealand at the beginning of the 20th Century. I did wonder about Harry Phydora, an actor with an uncommon name, but who was a huge hit during his time with Australasian audiences. Apart from his stage career from the 1880s through to the eve of World War I, however, not a lot seems to be known about him.

According to census returns available on Ancestry's site, he was born c.1868. His earliest theatrical appearances were with family: Joseph, Charles and Harry Phydora were in Follies of the Day in London in 1886, when he'd be around 22 years old (The Era, 15 May 1886) At the Theatre Royal, Stratford, Harry Phydora played “Augustus” in a four act drama, Stolen from Home in 1888 (The Era, 25 August 1888, and at a Christmas Panto at the Stratford, Harry Phydora played Captain O’Scuttle in Sinbad the Sailor.

“Mr Harry Phydora as Captain O’Scuttle was another personage to excite the risibility of the public, and he sang a song of a decidedly vulgar type, “She had to go without it after all”, in a manner far superior to its merits. It would be well if this gentleman substituted another comic song which is not vulgar, and there are plenty of them, instead of this suggestive production … In the Palace scene, Mr Harry Phydora gave his “leg mania” evolutions; and, assisted by Mr Bolton, he performed several feats of the contortionistic kind, which greatly pleased the assembly.”

The Era, 29 December 1888 

He married Lily in 1891.

Dominion, 3 September 1910

He started appearing in New Zealand from around 1906.

The comedian Mr J C Williamson has engaged to play the dame in his pantomime is Harry Phydora, a player of all-round excellence, dancer, singer, and humourist.

Evening Post 22 September 1906

The Pantomime Company, which is to produce "Mother Goose "in Sydney, is now rapidly filling the ranks of its principals. Miss Olive Morrell, Queen and Le Brun, and Harry Phydora will be the chief representatives of the London stage …

Auckland Star 8 December 1906

For "Aladdin" at Christmas, Williamson has engaged Harry Phydora, of earlier pantomime popularity, as Widow Twankey, and [James] Campbell for a comedy character.

Auckland Star 18 September 1909

In Australia during 1910, Phydora provided quite a bit of information about himself in an interview. Probably with a fair bit of dramatic licence ...

“WIDOW TWANKEY”
MR. PHYDORA INTERVIEWED
Mr H Phydora, “Widow Twankey” of Aladdin, to open for a short season at the Theatre Royal to-night, was found at his hotel last night in characteristically good humour.

"My birthplace?” he said. "Well, I was born at Camden Town, London, historical for severa1 reasons, including of course my birth, and I have been in the theatrical business ever since I reached double figures. No, I am not going to say now long ago that was. Before I was well in my teens musical comedy attracted me, and my chance for the better class of work came in 1897 as One Eye of 'The Geisha' at Daly's. I was understudying Huntley Wright, who originated the part; and at the same time I was also understudying Edmund Payne at the Gaiety. Huntley Wright was off, and I had to go on at painfully short notice, but I came through successfully. The management were satisfied, and I have had a good time ever since. In 1897 we played the principal towns in South Africa, returned home, and then I toured as Li in "San Toy” again with George Edwards for 18 months. We were back in South Africa in 1902, and after a few months at Johannesburg played a 'vacation' season in all the towns, even as far as Bulawayo. Altogether we had a most interesting time, notwithstanding that the country had been in the grip of war for a couple of years.”

You have made a speciality of dame parts of recent years?

"Yes, I have. When one gets into that business it’s awfully hard to get out of it. I have every reason to feel satisfied with the reception in Australia of 'Mother Goose,' and my Martha is Humpty Dumpty. Now I am playing the old woman for the third time in Australia. You'll excuse my blushes when I say I scored a success with dear old “Mother Goose” and again with Humpty Dumpty though, by the way, Adelaide audiences did not see me in the latter pantomime as I left for London after the Sydney season. In the old country I played in pantomime for a few months and then had a stroll round Europe and America after information and hints. Do you know I was made a member of the Lambs Club of New York? Well, that was because I distinguished myself there - lost a £40 diamond ring and a wallet with another £40. It was a one act comedy, principal unknown. I was back in London when the offer of an Australian season came again, and after my former experiences I had no hesitation in accepting the engagement. I felt that on the former occasion I had touched the pulse of the people as a dame; and thought a third engagement offered many difficulties. I feel that they have been overcome. This petticoat business is not so easy as it looks, I can tell you, and just you tell audiences to remember that.”

Adelaide Advertiser 16 July 1910 

The last record of Harry Phydora appears to have been a 1938 electoral roll for Clapham, Pudney and Streatham, back in England. He may not have survived World War II. [Update: he appears to have died in 1939. Alfred Denville of Denville Hall reported in August 1940 that Phydora was one of a number of actors that had passed on the year before -- The Stage, 29 August 1940, p. 5]

 So far, I haven't been able to find out any more about him, but I did see an article from 1952, in which he was not quite yet forgotten.

New Zealand Free Lance, 27 August 1910

Bert Gilbeil as the wicked uncle taking tea with Harry Phydora, the dame, would gossip, on fruity bits of scandal. Bert every few minutes exclaiming. "I will have another cup of tea!" The comic effect came from Bert's manner of varying the inflection of his voice' each time he besought Harry to ply the teapot.

This simple homely gossip was irresistibly funny, as convulsed, audiences affirmed. They likewise rolled in their seats when Bert Gilbert shouted, "How dare you, you blackguard!" at anyone, however harmless, who offended his dignity.

Wherever the dame was transported she never got away from her housekeeping worries. Up in a balloon, Harry Phydora and Harry Shine looked alternately through a telescope at the sights of Sydney. Suddenly the dame (Phydora) paused as she gazed. "There's our 'ouse," she cried excitedly. Then, wiping both ends of the telescope she looked again to remark, "And there's our lodger. I can see his references!"

Sunday Herald (Sydney) 21 December 1952

Auckland's waterfront from the air, 1920s

I'll stick my neck out and estimate that this photo is from around 1922-1924, the period John Barr was putting together his history of the city of Auckland, which featured a similar shot, but one taken by plane passing in front of the wharves areas. It's one of the earliest aerial photographs of the city, pre-dating White's Aviation by a decade.

Queen Street's train station is visible here, tucked in behind the Central Post Office. The station was demolished in 1930, and became Britomart bus station by 1937 -- now, where you see the canopies here of the original station, all is now underground as part of the Britomart Train Station complex.

Queen Street wharf, with its cargo shed. Shed 10 is the sole survivor. Above is the ferry wharf, still in operation.

Further west, the triangle of land once meant to be a war memorial,  the site of today's Maritime Museum still unreclaimed, no ritzy cafes in what was to become the Viaduct Harbour later in the century, no Te Wero crossing, and the Wynyard Quarter/tank farm beyond still in the process of reclamation and development as a light-to-heavy industrial area and storage space.

From a postcard in my collection.

A baby's life

For $2, I bought this photo from a seller at the Blockhouse Bay Antiques & Collectibles market yesterday. On the back was the reason I bought it on a whim: handwritten in old ink -- Clement Leslie Billing, age 6 months.

I wondered how much I could find out about Clement Billing's life from public records.

When was he born? It turns out he was born 14 December 1899, but the birth was registered in early 1900 (so the latter year shows up on the BDM online database). The photo therefore comes from mid 1900. His father was William Henry Billing, a bootmaker who worked in Kingsland on New North Road (No. 131), and later had a house at 14 Haultain Street, Eden Terrace. His mother's maiden name was Emily Turner. Clement was the first of at least five children in the family. Those of his siblings I found were:

Alma Agnes Maud, born 1902 (she married Lionel Richard Maynard 18 March 1922 at St Paul's Church in Auckland)

Frederick Walter, born 1905

Ruby Claretta, born 1909 (she died, aged just 4 months on 28 January 1910, and was buried in the Wesleyan division of Waikumete Cemetery)

Lillian Evelyn Ruby, born 1912

Clement attended Seddon Memorial College, where in 1916 in the Plumbing and Sanitary Engineering department exams, he passed first grade second class in English Composition and Literature, and Practical Mathematics, second class in General Elementary Science and Trade Drawing.(Auckland Star, 22 December 1916)

Electoral rolls show he was in the Eden electorate 1928-1935. In 1928 and 1931, he lived with his parents at their Haultain Street house. During this time, he had a dreadful accident in 1932.

Four people were injured in the city and suburbs yesterday. The most serious accident occurred to a motor cyclist, Mr Clement Leslie Billing, aged 32, of the Birdwood Estate, Swanson, when he was riding his motor cycle along New North Road, Mount Albert, shortly after 5 p.m. yesterday. He collided with a horse and cart and was thrown on to the roadway, receiving severe spinal and internal injuries through being trampled upon by the frightened horse. He was taken to the Auckland Hospital by the St. John Ambulance, and his condition to-day is stated to be very serious. 

 Auckland Star 30 May 1932

Clement was obviously a survivor. He pulled through, and just three months later married Edna Eileen McKinnon on 20 August 1932. The couple were living at 4 Haultain Street at the time of the 1935 election.

By 1938, the couple were living in Pt Chevalier, where Clement won £5 in an Art Union lottery draw. (Auckland Star 4 October 1938) In the 1946 Wises Directory, he's listed living at 168 Pt Chevalier Road, with the occupation of gasfitter. That year, the electoral roll shows he was back at Haultain Street, this time no. 6. By this time, his mother Emily was a widow, living at 4 Haultain Street. The family may have had a large land holding.

From 1949-1963 he was voting in the Eden electorate, and from 1969-1981 he was in the one for New Lynn, now retired and living at 75 Kay Drive, Blockhouse Bay. His Edna died in 1972, aged 76, but Clement kept on going until his own death on 27 December 1983, having remarried at some point.His second wife outlived him, possibly for four years. Just as when he was born, Clement's death was registered later, in the new year. His ashes were buried at Waikumete Cemetery on 30 December 1983.

"Such a wonderful man," said one death notice, "was the greatest of any. A great guy. So very sadly missed and always remembered."

Today, there's nothing left of the Haultain Street residences of the Billing family, all now commercial offices and light industrial facilities. The world of 1900 which the baby in the photo saw is vastly different from today. But -- the baby certainly lived his life.

The photographer, by the way, was  Frederick William Edwards, who operated from the corner of Queen and Victoria Streets from c.1898-c.1903, fitting Clement's time period well. Source: Auckland Library's Photographers Database.

Just a wee drop on Rutland Street

A sure sign that my mind was in a whirl from early October 'till late December last year -- is that in not paying attention to my surroundings as I go hither and yon, I completely missed this mural until today. It's been up since early October last year, on the corner of Rutland and Lorne Streets.

"Just a wee drop" by Elliott Frances Stewart is a commissioned work for last year's Art Week.

A bloke parking his car just beside it says he watched the artist at work -- over a total of just 3 days.