Heritage et AL

Some political cartoons published by the 'New Zealand Graphic and Ladies Journal' dealt with women’s suffrage and temperance. Interestingly, for a ladies’ journal, sometimes the attitudes to women’s issues are portrayed from a wistfully cynical male viewpoint of female foibles. Perhaps this is explained by the fact that the Graphic’s principal cartoonist was one Mr Ashley John Barsby Hunter. Have a look at his view of ‘The Political Woman.’

Ref: New Zealand Graphic. The political woman. 2 July 1898.
Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, NZG-18980702-17-1

The next cartoon shows the Women’s Franchise Bill about to be committed before the Legislative Council after passing through the House of Representatives with half-hearted, devious Liberal support. Now a reluctant and scheming Seddon is about to commit the Bill to the Upper House. The clerks (other politicians) are laying odds that they will throw it out.

Ref: New Zealand Graphic. Committed. 26 August 1893.
Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, NZG-18930826-129-1

When, to general male political chagrin, the Women’s Franchise Bill was passed many different interest groups wanted to use the benefit of the women’s vote. See all the self-interested hands reaching out for her in the next cartoon.

Ref: New Zealand Graphic. Victory. 16 September 1893.
Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, NZG-18930916-201-1

Some of these interest groups were from both sides of Parliament. Both parties in Parliament had formed themselves into loose associations. The governing Liberals formed the Liberal Association while the opposition formed itself into the National Association (though not yet the National Party.) The next cartoon shows a young woman critically weighing-up which association she will give her vote, and perhaps thinking she doesn’t have much choice between calibre of her two alternatives.

Ref: New Zealand Graphic. "The two asses and the bundle of hay". 21 October 1893.
Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, NZG-18931021-321-1

More enlightened politicians and advocates hoped that rational women would be able to use their vote and influence as a force for good to give Parliament a good, moral, ‘spring clean’ to get rid of some of the immature and grubby aspects of competitive male politics. Here she is, scrubbing behind a dirty politician’s dirty ears...

Ref: New Zealand Graphic. Purification. 18 November 1893.
Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, NZG-18931118-417-1

...and the next cartoon shows the influence of rational women voters purging society of many antisocial activities and vices, most of whose perpetrators are men.

Ref: New Zealand Graphic. 'Disguise our bondage...' 30 September 1893.
Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, NZG-18930930-249-1

Another social issue for women voters was temperance (due to male intemperance and the evils it brought.) The next cartoon links both women’s suffrage and temperance. On the top right, Sir John Hall, ‘the carpet knight’ who supported votes for women (but not Chinese immigration), carpets the floor of the House with the Women’s Franchise petition, while the large cartoon at bottom left shows the opening of the prohibition campaign in Auckland with its women supporters. Prohibitionists are storming the barrels in the beer barons’ castle and being repelled with beer poured on them by the drunkards manning the barricades.

Ref: New Zealand Graphic. Recent events. 12 August 1893.
Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, NZG-18930812-84-1

One of the main advocates of both women’s suffrage and temperance was Sir Robert Stout. In the next cartoon, he is shown as ‘The Grand Old Mesmerist.’ Stout has already charmed employers to pay their workers higher wages and persuaded New Zealand to give women the vote (leaving men at home holding their babies.) For his next trick, he is about to make a hardened drunkard drink water instead of beer.

Ref: New Zealand Graphic. "Under the spell". 29 July 1893.
Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, NZG-18930729-36-1

The next cartoon shows the temperance debate in New Zealand between the temperance advocate Sir Robert Stout and the prevaricating Liberals (personified by Richard Seddon), who have realised their male supporters did not want prohibition.

Ref: New Zealand Graphic. Teetotal immersion. 22 July 1893.
Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, NZG-18930722-11-1

Seddon was an ex-publican, so was very aware of how draconian temperance measures would affect the popularity of the Liberal Government. His Alcoholic Liquors Sale Control Bill allowed optional licensing polls in electoral districts, but he realised Sir Robert Stout’s more restrictive Licensing Act Amendment Bill could really alienate his thirsty male supporters. The next cartoon shows Premier Seddon throwing Stout out of his pub and making him drink the mild waters of moderation, while fellow Liberal William Pember Reeves encourages the premier from the safety of the pub porch!

Ref: New Zealand Graphic. The gentle shepherd... 2 September 1893.
Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, NZG-18930902-153-1

Author: Christopher Paxton, Heritage Collections

Twenty years ago this summer, New Zealand sweltered in an El Nino weather pattern that produced some of the hottest temperatures on record. In the north, cities were hot and humid, and in the south, drought was declared. At Huntly, the power station hovered dangerously close to shutting down as hot weather warmed the Waikato River to 24 degrees. At 25, it was deemed too dangerous to discharge water back into the Waikato.

Eric Young. Huntly Power Station on the Waikato River, 1989. Sir George Grey Special Collections, 1021-545.

And in the Auckland CBD, in that scorching February of 1998, the power went out.

The Mercury Energy Crisis began on 22 January when the first of two cables feeding power from Penrose to the city, failed. Two weeks later, on 9 February, the second Penrose cable failed, and Aucklanders faced a reported three weeks of power rationing. Generation sources were investigated, businesses and residents urged to conserve electricity, and Mercury rushed to work on an emergency overhead cable. Mayor Les Mills called for power rationing amidst the soaring use of fans and air conditioners in the heatwave. Meanwhile, the two cables at the Mt Roskill substation supplied power, amidst fears that could be overloaded.

On 19 February, the unimaginable happened.

Auckland’s CBD was plunged into chaos as, over 24 hours, both Mt Roskill cables failed, leaving the city on the brink of a state of emergency. Power now came through a subsidiary cable from Kingsland. It was able to supply 30% of the power needed.

For eight weeks, the inner city area, a small block roughly bordered by Nelson Street, Quay Street, Symonds Street and K-Road, struggled along with some power, no power, or intermittent power, leaving the rest of Auckland and New Zealand to follow the unfolding disaster by news.
The owner of a High Street café donned a miner’s lamp and made coffee by candlelight. Elton John offered to fly in generators for the city, since he was bringing his own for his concert with Billy Joel.

In the Central City Library, partial service carried on with rationed electricity, and a generator to ensure the heritage collections were kept under their temperature-controlled conditions. The city’s emergency services feared a towering inferno scenario with candles and lamps burning in the new apartment blocks. Oil and diesel generators overheated, and fumes reeked in the hot air. Daily power reports were the norm.

At the end of March, hopes were dashed when the anticipated emergency cable was installed, and promptly failed. It would take until mid-April before full power was restored.

Accusations flew at Mercury Energy who just the year before had won a Service Excellence Award. Blame was attributed to staff cuts that had halved the workforce, to reforms in the electricity industry, to warnings a decade earlier that the cables were wearing out, and to the dry weather that had caused the ground around the cables to harden and crack. Significant overloading on the cables in the days prior to the failures was suggested as the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Yet, in spite of the weeks with minimal power, and the calls for Aucklanders to avoid the CBD, life did go on. Stores still in business promoted blackout sales, and there was a three day festival at Aotea Square, where the pop group, Aqua, performed.

In Metro magazine, one apartment dweller, choosing to remain in the city, wrote, “We haven’t had a whole day in the dark. We haven’t been robbed, raped or burned alive. The shower is warm.”

But then, he added, “So is everything in the fridge.”

For further reading on this, Auckland Libraries holds a fascinating resource, compiled by past librarians: the Mercury Energy Crisis scrapbook. It’s a comprehensive, two-volume, reference-only compilation of clippings chronicling the weeks and aftermath of the crisis. It’s freely available to browse in the Central City Library Research Centre on Level 2.

Author: Joanne Graves

This coming Saturday, 13 January 2018, come celebrate Scottish culture at Waitākere Central Library at our biannual event, Scots Wha Hae!

Robert Burns’ rousing song Scots Wha Hae, written in 1793, is a call for Scots to stand up for their nation. It is written in the form of a speech by the Scots’ King, Robert the Bruce, before leading his troops to victory against the English at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314.

Scottish people have embraced Burns (1759-1796) as their national poet, because his songs and poems represent enduring Scottish values: ones that are celebrated internationally.
An exhibition at New Zealand’s Te Papa Museum stated that enduring Scottish values are those of
“…education and equal opportunity for all, and a sense of personal and social responsibility”.

In the 19th century, Scots in New Zealand often celebrated Burn’s birthday on 25 January.

BURNS'S ANNIVERSARY., Auckland Star, Volume XXI, Issue 22, 27 January 1890.

The reasons for leaving Scotland have differed over time, with many initially leaving their home country in the century of the Highland Clearances (mid 18th to 19th century). See also, The Highland Clearances: People, Landlords and Rural Turmoil, by Eric Richards, 2016: ppxv-xvii.

At first, most went to the south in the Otago area. In the 19th century, the majority of Scots that settled in Waipu, north of Auckland, had first migrated to Nova Scotia in Canada. Many eventually left because the land couldn’t support a growing population. Some came to NZ. Between 1840 and 1950, it is estimated that 20% of immigrants to New Zealand were from Scotland.

Many settled in Auckland, and some of the most notable among them were entrepreneurial men who started businesses. Thomas Henderson, born in Dundee, Scotland in 1810, arrived in NZ in 1840. Henderson and fellow Scot John MacFarlane came to west Auckland in the 1840s. They set up a timber mill in the area now known as Henderson. Initially the saw mill was named the Dundee Mill, while the wider area was known as Henderson’s Mill.

Thomas Henderson, 1881. West Auckland Research Centre, J T Diamond Collection. JTD-18-00943.

The Scot John McLeod, born in Nova Scotia in 1825, became mill manager at the Dundee Saw Mill in 1854, soon after he arrived in New Zealand. In 1862 he set up his own timber mill in Te Awaroa in the Kaipara. He had a villa built there for his wife, Helen, in 1863. The area subsequently became named after Helen’s Villa – Helensville. John and Helen moved away from the Kaipara area after about 5 years. John’s brother, Isaac, and his family stayed on and made a significant contribution to the development of Helensville.

James D Richardson, 1863. Sir George Grey Special Collections, 4-1168.

From the early 20th Century to the 21st century, many people continued to immigrate to New Zealand from Scotland.

Auckland Weekly News, 1921, Sir George Grey Special Collections, AWNS-19211110-42-1.

Frederick George Radcliffe, c1921, Sir George Grey Special Collections, 35-R142.

In 1932, The St Andrews Society of New Lynn was established, and in 1962 the Henderson and Districts Scottish Society was formed. These societies have celebrated anniversaries, such as the New Year (Hogmanay) and the St Andrews day celebrations. These included some old Scottish rituals such as the piping in of the haggis at a Burns Supper.

The last Scots wha hae! event in January 2016 at Waitakere Central Library was enjoyed by many local people.

There was a piper, Andrew Wilkie from the Signals and Drums Band.

Creator: Auckland Council, 2016, screencap from video taken at Scots Wha Hae 2016, West Auckland Research Centre Auckland Libraries.

There were dancers from the Caledonia Dance School: Georgina Hegarty, Rose Tyler and Tessa Hiam.

Photographer: Auckland Council, 2016, West Auckland Research Centre Auckland Libraries.

Laura Robertson played the Celtic Harp on a 34 string lever harp.

Photographer Auckland Council, 2016, West Auckland Research Centre Auckland Libraries, SHC-D-2016-112.

And there were toasts, songs, talks and speeches. Trevor Pollard, Vice President Auckland Burns Association, spoke at Scots Wha Hae! 2016.

Photographer Auckland Council, 2016, West Auckland Research Centre Auckland Libraries, SHC-D-2016-112.

Join us this Saturday 13 January 2018, for Scots Wha Hae!

Author: Carolyn Skelton

The values expressed by the political cartoons in The New Zealand Graphic and Ladies Journal give us clues about the attitude of its publisher to the policies of the Liberal Government. The publisher’s attitude generally set expectations about the style and tone of both journalistic and cartoon content in their papers. The Graphic was published by Henry Brett, who also published the New Zealand Farmer and the Auckland Star. In those days both papers reflected conservative tendencies. So it is therefore not surprising that the Graphic’s cartoons reflect similar right-wing concerns about the socialist taint of the Liberal Government.

The first cartoon we’re looking at was published on 21 January 1893 and was captioned ‘When a Little Farm we keep.’ Liberal land policy was to break up large estates so that they could relocate the urban unemployed on small farms. Simple, huh? Like killing two birds with one stone? So in the cartoon’s background a Liberal cowboy lassoes a hapless member of the unemployed, while in the foreground the leaders of the Liberal Government are working one of the farms they prepared earlier. The cartoon’s implication is that John Ballance has been milking taxes from the New Zealand public milch cow to give Richard Seddon the funds to sow seed in his fields. Meanwhile William Pember Reeves, the architect of state socialism, ladles dollops from his bowl of socialism to New Zealand voting geese (who’ve already been ‘goosed’ by the Liberals.)

'When a little farm we keep'. From: The New Zealand Graphic, 21 January 1893.

Next month’s cartoon, published on 18 February 1893, alludes to Seddon’s imperial aspirations in the Pacific. Little New Zealand is urging his father, John Bull (Britain), to interfere as the United States annexes Hawai’i. John Bull is walking with British Prime Minister William Gladstone. The cartoon’s ironic implication is that Gladstone supported independent Home Rule and was not interested in acquiring more colonies.

'I say Dad don’t you think me and you ought to interfere?' From: The New Zealand Graphic, 18 February 1893.

During April 1893, Graphic cartoonist Ashley Hunter returned to his criticism of the state socialism growing because of Liberal support for workers and unions. The cartoon for 22 April shows a well-dressed union boss using a New Zealand worker as the fulcrum to move the world into anarchy using strikes as the lever, and the strike funds he has bled from the workers as his counterweight.

'The Modern Archimedes Upsetting The World'. From: The New Zealand Graphic, 22 April 1983.

The Liberal Government walked a tightrope and performed a fine balancing act placating its supporters. Next week’s cartoon, published on 29 April 1893, suggests that Ballance, Seddon and Reeves are selling soft soap, surprise packages and water crackers to confuse and pacify the workers and women who supported them.

'A Large Order'. From: The New Zealand Graphic, 29 April 1893.

The next cartoon, published on 17 June 1893, suggests that the Liberals had very little of substance in their election manifesto to offer the New Zealand voting public. The cartoon shows William Pember Reeves gingerly crossing the Liberal Ass(n)’s weak plank, representing the policies that the Liberals were advocating in the 1893 election. Behind him, Richard Seddon reveals to Joseph Ward that he knows how weak their plank is. The bemused public is represented by the donkey in the background.

'The Liberal Ass’s Bridge'. From The New Zealand Graphic, 17 June 1893.

On 9 September 1893, Hunter returned to his criticism of the new industrial relations environment William Pember Reeves had created in New Zealand. Reeves’s Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act established his ‘arbitrary’ Arbitration Court where all employers and unions had to go, and which ‘united Labour and Capital in the silken bonds of Industrial Conciliation.’ However the non-appealable Court Awards favour the workers, while arch-angel Reeves keeps the employer on his knees.

'Compulsory Conciliation'. From: The New Zealand Graphic, 9 September 1893.

Next month Hunter chose to focus on Seddon’s personal empire-building proclivities. During his career, the Premier aggrandised many ministries and departments unto himself, and in the cartoon for 7 October 1893 he is shown as the greedy little boy Alexander who always wants more …

'Alexander The Great sighing for new worlds to conquer'. From: The New Zealand Graphic, 7 October 1893.

Finally, the Liberals relied on popular support for their policy of helping the unemployed and other town dwellers onto the land to underpin their hold on power. The cartoon published on 4 November 1893 shows Seddon and Ward as two wheeling and dealing land agents whose business premises are now threatened by the conflagration of the General Election, with Seddon beginning to wonder if their usual electoral insurance policy will work this time…

'The Devouring Element'. From: The New Zealand Graphic, 4 November 1893.

Over 35,000 images from The New Zealand Graphic and Ladies' Journal are now available on Heritage Images.

Author: Chris Paxton, Heritage Collections

Following the news that the J. T. Diamond Collection has been inscribed onto the UNESCO Memory of the World documentary heritage register, we thought that a photographic blog series featuring some of the great images from the collection would be appropriate.

The J.T. Diamond Collection comprises John (Jack) Thomas Diamond’s meticulous research and documentation of West Auckland’s history compiled over 60 years. The collection documents many local industries and locations that have disappeared or altered significantly and includes detailed and unique archival records of the first two generations of colonial settlement in New Zealand.

The collection is made up of manuscript material, photographs, plans and site records including Diamond’s notebooks which detail his photographic record of the West. These photographs continue to be used in publications and are widely referenced by local and regional government authorities, historians and national heritage organisations.

The UNESCO recognition highlights the significance of this collection and the work that Auckland Libraries do to protect and preserve our local history.

Surfing at Piha, 1935. J. T. Diamond Collection. Auckland Libraries, JTD-04K-04133.

After the Duke of Gloucester’s visit to Piha on Christmas Day 1934, the beach became a very popular spot for day trippers and people trying out the new surfing craze. Here two women enjoy the water at the south end of Piha, surround by surfers. The view is south across the bay towards Kaiwhare Point. From the Weekly News, Christmas 1935.

Surf boat at Piha, 1936. J. T. Diamond Collection. Auckland Libraries, JTD-04K-01674.

From the Weekly News, Christmas 1936, here surf lifesaving club crew members are hauling in the wooden surf boat. The club was founded in January 1934 and is the oldest club on Auckland's West Coast. Piha Surf Life Saving Club pioneered the use of surf rescue boats in New Zealand, with the country's first surf boat, also called a long boat, launched in 1936.

Piha camping ground from road, 1934. J. T. Diamond Collection. Auckland Libraries, JTD-04N-04152.

From the Auckland Weekly News, Christmas 1934, this view, framed by an overhanging pohutukawa tree branch, down onto the flat at Piha, shows the camping ground, buildings, Piha Stream, lagoon and beach. There are a few tents and buildings on the hillside below the road which Jack Diamond described as the "old road".

Christmas party at Perry family farm, New Lynn, c1920’s. J. T. Diamond Collection. Auckland Libraries, JTD-11K-05718.

Members of the Perry family had a Christmas picnic party at Joe and Maria Perry's pig and poultry farm on Golf Road in New Lynn. A warm summer Christmas, so different from England, meant relaxing outside and taking advantage of the cool shade of a tent.

Foote's houseboat at Laingholm, c1920’s. J. T. Diamond Collection. Auckland Libraries, JTD-09A-03243.

Standing on the bank of Laing Stream, Laingholm, just upstream from the culvert at the end of Sandy Parade, this weatherboard cottage had originally been built by the Foote family on a barge in the Hokianga and used for cruising around the harbour. It was known as "The Houseboat". Bill Foote, the owner, had it towed down to the Manukau Harbour in 1924 for use as a floating holiday home. It was finally put ashore in 1935 and for a time was the home of Sandy and Vera McAdam.

Camping at Piha, 1895, Joseph Hibbs. J. T. Diamond Collection. Auckland Libraries, JTD-04K-02084-1.

Mrs. J. C. Macky and friends at their campsite in a cleared area with tents pitched beneath several large trees. Despite the wildness of their surroundings they are properly dressed for the times in long skirts, blouses, collars and hats, about to start building a fire for the essential billy can, without which there would be no tea!

Piha camping ground and Lion Rock, c1930’s. J. T. Diamond Collection. Auckland Libraries, JTD-04K-01978.

Before it became one of Auckland’s most popular beaches, the camping ground at Piha in the 1930’s looks quite different, and yet so familiar. There are a few scattered buildings and tents on the flat, the slope of the sandhills bordered by the Piha Stream look barren, and Lion Rock looming behind the dunes appears far closer.

Little Huia Bay, c1910. J. T. Diamond Collection. Auckland Libraries, JTD-07E-05119.

When cars were rare and roads were rough, excursions by sea made shorelines and islands more accessible for day trippers and group outings. This photo, taken around 1910, shows three women wading along the shoreline at Little Huia with the cutter 'Comet' (owned by Tom Fletcher and Captain Alf Fletcher) moored in the bay, closer towards the wharf the excursion steamer S.S. Weka is berthed.

Author: Liz Bradley

On 27 February 2018 Papatoetoe will celebrate the centenary of one of its most iconic buildings, the Papatoetoe Town Hall. A centenary dinner will be held in the hall and stories and photographs from residents and community groups who have used the building over the years will be on display (contact jennya.clark@xtra.co.nz for details). This is the first part of a history of the hall we will be publishing before the centenary celebrations.

In 1916, when plans for the hall were formed, Papatoetoe was a growing and prosperous suburban community offering both the advantages of country living and a ready link to Auckland by the railway line. Its population had more than doubled from 386 to 785 people over the previous three years. Its leading residents decided it was time the town had the facilities to match its size, including a public hall.

View of Station Road East, Papatoetoe, ca 1925. The Papatoetoe Town Hall can be seen towards the middle right. Auckland Libraries Footprints 05416, courtesy of Papatoetoe Historical Society.

Building a public hall

The Papatoetoe Road Board accordingly bought two sections of land in Station Road East (later St George Street) for the site of a hall. On 7 October 1916 the town’s ratepayers voted overwhelmingly in favour of taking out a £2500 loan to erect a hall that would also house a reading room and the road board’s offices.

Mr John Routly of Auckland was selected as the architect and Messrs Hanon and Sons as the builders. The new building was officially opened on 27 February 1918. Mr Ernest Niccol, the Chairman of the Road Board presided, and Sir Frederick Lang, MP for Manukau, declared the hall open. The formalities were followed by a concert which included items by the Papatoetoe Boy Scouts’ Brass Band. The hall, designed to hold as many as 700 people, was almost full for the occasion.

A description of the building which appeared in the Franklin & Pukekohe Times some 18 months later has never been bettered: “The building is of brick, on reinforced concrete foundations, the façade being in red and buff pressed bricks with Portland cement dressings. Generally, the brickwork is of cavity construction, to give stiffness to the structure with the minimum of material, and to ensure a thoroughly dry interior. The façade is a free treatment of renaissance work … [with] slight use of the Doric and Ionic orders in working out a bold and effective sestina. The auditorium is approached by a roomy vestibule, flanked by large cloak and coat rooms … An ample stairway leads to suitable space for reading and waiting, and to the office of the Town Board. The auditorium is lofty, with plaster beamed ceiling, white plaster walls, with dado finished in dark oil paint for hard wear. The proscenium is flanked with composite pillars, capped with a moulded architrave in white plaster. The interior woodwork is flat varnished heart of rimu …”

The writer ended his article presciently: “It will for many years be the gathering place of the residents of Papatoetoe for purposes from grave to gay.”

G.W. Robertson, view of the Papatoetoe Town Hall, ca 1925. Auckland Libraries Footprints 01433, courtesy of Papatoetoe Historical Society.

Unfortunately, the same article revealed that the hall, however impressive it was on the outside, had not yet been finished on the inside. The original loan had proved insufficient, and although a total of £3000 had been spent, plans for a gallery at one end of the auditorium and a permanent stage with dressing rooms at the other, had been deferred. (The kitchen, which was located under the temporary stage, had previously been described as dark, damp and draughty). And, although it seems that the Road Board held its meetings at the hall, its offices had not been completed.

During its first two years the hall was usually referred to as the ‘Papatoetoe Public Hall’. After the formation of Papatoetoe Town District on 28 March 1919, it was more commonly referred to as the ‘Papatoetoe Town Hall’. Since the town district included only the central portion of the road district, and the remainder of the road district was incorporated in Manukau County, Manukau County Council became part-owner of the hall.

The hall in its early years

In July 1917 local garage proprietor J. Covine applied to lease the hall to show ‘cinematographic pictures’ (films). On 3 September 1917 the Road Board granted a three year lease for the purpose to Messrs Covine and Ernest. It is unclear whether films were shown there before the hall was officially opened, but it went on afterwards to serve as Papatoetoe’s de facto cinema until the purpose-built Central Theatre was opened on 12 September 1928. The town hall was last used as a cinema in August 1930.

One notable event held in the hall during its early years was the Manukau Queen coronation ceremony. The Manukau Queen Carnival was organized by the local Red Cross to raise money for the war effort. Several weeks of patriotic fundraising activities by committees in Alfriston, Clevedon, East Tamaki, Mangere, Manurewa, Otahuhu, Papakura, Papatoetoe and Westfield culminated with the crowning of Elsie Dow of Clevedon (whose committee had raised more than £3544) as Manukau Queen on 29 August 1918.

Other important events held in the hall in its early years included the newly-formed Papatoetoe Orchestral Society’s inaugural concert on 19 March 1919, and the Papatoetoe Spring Flower Show on 3 September 1919. These presaged many similar future events.

Manukau Queen coronation ceremony in the Papatoetoe Public Hall, 29 August 1918. Auckland Libraries Footprints 02345, courtesy of Papatoetoe Historical Society.

In 1929 the hall’s stage was enlarged. A quick trawl through newspapers for part of that year shows how richly the hall contributed to the town’s social and cultural life. Events held there included the civic Anzac Day service, Anglican and Methodist church fundraising concerts, a presentation of sports awards to boys of the Papatoetoe Primary School, an ‘At Home’ for the St Mary’s Homes’ Association, a dance school recital, a series of ‘old-time’ dances, a concert in aid of the Papatoetoe School Library Fund, and the seventh annual meeting of the Papatoetoe Town Board.

On 20 July 1933, the Town Board’s new boardroom and public offices were opened in the upstairs rooms of the Town Hall. The work on outfitting the offices had been undertaken by skilled craftsmen working as relief labourers under the No. 5 scheme. The town board chairman was quick to note that the board had paid award wages.

Members of the Papatoetoe Town Board pose on the front steps of the Papatoetoe Town Hall, 1934. Auckland Libraries Footprints 05012, courtesy of Papatoetoe Historical Society.

The Papatoetoe public library

It was originally planned to include a library or reading room within the town hall. However, when Papatoetoe’s first municipally-funded library was opened on 5 November 1945, it was not situated inside the hall, but in a small wooden builder’s hut that had been moved to a vacant section next door. Two years later a 12 by 30 feet ex-Army hut was added to double the library’s size.

The first Papatoetoe public library building, photographed in 1949. Auckland Libraries Footprints 01540, courtesy of Papatoetoe Historical Society.

Frederick William Jenks, stereoscopic photograph of citizens gathering outside the Papatoetoe Town Hall to hear the proclamation of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II to the throne, 11 February 1952. Auckland Libraries Footprints 02061, courtesy of Papatoetoe Historical Society.

Dominion Breweries staff attend a ‘smoko’ in the Papatoetoe Town Hall, ca 1950. Auckland Libraries Footprints 02568, courtesy of Papatoetoe Historical Society.

Frederick William Jenks, stereoscopic photograph of a happy pack of Brownies outside the Papatoetoe Town Hall, September 1950. Auckland Libraries Footprints 02062, courtesy of Papatoetoe Historical Society.

The rest of the history of the hall will be covered in part two.

Author: Bruce Ringer, Auckland Libraries South Auckland Research Centre

Sources

The quote describing the town hall in its early years comes from the article ‘Papatoetoe Town Hall’, Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, 8 August 1919, p. 1. Other information comes from a range of newspaper articles which are referenced on Manukau’s Journey and for the most part accessible via Papers Past; also from the Papatoetoe Road Board and Town Board minute books, held by Auckland Archives. See also: Ivy F. Smytheman and Albert E. Tonson, Our First Hundred Years: An Historical Record of Papatoetoe, 1962, p. 59; Bernard Gadd, City of the Toetoe: A History of Papatoetoe, Palmerston North, 1987, pp. 52-3, 55, 65, 73, 80,86, 101-2.

Clifton Firth had a photographic studio in Queen Street, Auckland, from the end of the 1930s to the 1970s. His studio was a stamping ground for people interested in art, literature and politics and his portraits reflect this social group. Janis Fairburn notes, in her chapter on Clifton Firth in the book 'Fairburn and friends', that the heyday of Firth's studio was during the turbulent years of World War II when Auckland was "a small but lively intellectual melting pot."

Fairburn goes on to state "the studio was unique in doubling as an Auckland mecca of photography and a den of discussion for radical thinkers."

Over time Firth photographed many well-known New Zealand writers, artists, dancers, musicians, academics, historians, lawyers, politicians and architects.

Ref: Clifton Firth, Portrait of the writer Ngaio Marsh, 22 January 1947,
Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 34-304

Ref: Clifton Firth, Portrait of the writer A.R.D. Fairburn, about 1945,
Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 34-107

Ref: Clifton Firth, Portrait of the writer, R.A.K. Mason, 1947,
Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 34-308

Ref: Clifton Firth, Portrait of the dancer Rowena Jackson,
Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 34-239

Firth's portraits are recognisable for their dramatic use of light and shadow. Stylistically they are similar to Hollywood black-and-white still photography. There is an intensity, glamour and inventiveness to Firth's portraiture. Firth's advice to clients was: "Don't put on your best -- whether it's clothes or expression or pose. You may impress the photographer but you won't impress the lens. The camera has no mercy on affectation."

Ref: Clifton Firth, Portrait of the artist Eric Lee-Johnson, 19 April 1948,
Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 34-259

Ref: Clifton Firth, Portrait of official war artist Captain Peter McIntyre, 1944,
Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 34-282

There are a number of unidentified people in the Firth portraits. Our wish in highlighting these photographs is for the people in the images to be connected to family and friends. It is possible to share information about the people in these photographs from the Heritage Images link below each image or by sending an email to library_photos@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz.

Ref: Clifton Firth, Portrait of an unidentified woman, 1960s,
Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 34-644

Ref: Clifton Firth, Portrait of an unidentified woman,
Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 34-501

Ref: Clifton Firth, Portrait of an unidentified woman,
Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 34-556

Another place to browse reliable, digitised New Zealand cultural material is DigitalNZ. Digital collections from New Zealand libraries, museums, galleries, government departments, the media, community groups and others are gathered together on this website. The content is varied and includes interviews, videos, newspaper clippings, maps, photographs, audio and artworks.

One feature of DigitalNZ is the option of creating a 'story' -- a way to collect digital items you are interested in and to build a narrative around them. There is an Auckland Libraries' story on DigitalNZ including further examples of Clifton Firth's portraits.

When he retired, Firth gave a large collection of prints and negatives to Auckland Libraries. In 2001, the digitisation of a selection of his negatives, held in Sir George Grey Special Collections, was funded by the Auckland Library Heritage Trust. The Trust seeks financial and other support to assist Auckland Libraries and Auckland Council to preserve, care for, add to, and promote the Sir George Grey Special Collections for the benefit of the people of Auckland. Search for 'Clifton Firth' in the Heritage Images database to browse this collection.

Author: Zoë Colling, Heritage Collections

Papatoetoe Civic War Memorial

The section where the library stood was an obvious site for development, and Papatoetoe Borough Council decided to develop a war memorial building there. The makeshift library building was thus removed and, during an impressive open-air ceremony held on 8 October 1955, the Papatoetoe Civic War Memorial was opened in its place. This was a dignified two-storey building housing a new and much expanded public library downstairs, and a meeting room or ‘concert chamber’ and new Borough Council offices upstairs. A roll of honour listing the men of the Papatoetoe and East Tamaki districts who had given their lives during the First and Second World Wars was unveiled during the ceremony. The Papatoetoe RSA clubrooms were also part of the complex, but had their entrance at the rear of the building.

View of the Papatoetoe Town Hall with the new Civic War Memorial building alongside, 1957. Auckland Libraries Footprints 07036, courtesy of Papatoetoe Historical Society.

Two years later the Papatoetoe Town Hall was itself upgraded, with a new stage being installed and a supper room being added behind it. The building was formally reopened on 12 September 1957.

Aerial view of central Papatoetoe, 1957. The intersection of Rangitoto Road and St George Street is seen towards the upper right, with the Papatoetoe Town Hall some way along St George Street. Auckland Libraries Footprints 01453, courtesy of Papatoetoe Historical Society.

‘Louts and fighting gangs’

Almost since its opening the town hall had been a popular venue for dances. In or around 1960 local service clubs began organising regular Saturday night youth dances. These were a great success for some years, but in the 1960s reportedly began to attract a rough element (described in one newspaper as “louts and fighting gangs”). In December 1968, because of problems with violence and bad behaviour, Papatoetoe Borough Council forbade any more public dances at the hall (the ban was lifted five years later).

Otherwise the town hall continued to be used for a variety of purposes. On 1 October 1979 a public meeting was held there to protest against the Government’s proposals to wind down Auckland’s rail services. On 19 October 1986 the newly formed Papatoetoe Assembly of God held its first service in the town hall (the assembly used the town hall until 1989 when it moved to the former Christian Science temple in Carruth Road). On 30 September 1986 a function was held to farewell R.H. (Bob) Bob White, who was retiring from politics after 21 years as Mayor of Papatoetoe.

Trevor Penman, youths and a motorcycle outside the Papatoetoe Town Hall, ca 1965. Note: using this photograph does not imply these particular young people were involved in the bad behaviour mentioned in the text. Auckland Libraries Footprints 02565, reproduced here by courtesy of Mrs Gladys Penman.

Later developments

During the 1970s substantial changes were made to the civic centre complex. In March 1974 the RSA moved from its snug space at the back of the building to more substantial premises in Wallace Road. Less than five years later, the library also moved out, taking both the Papatoetoe and East Tamaki roll of honour and the civic centre’s memorial status with it. The new Papatoetoe War Memorial Library, also situated in Wallace Street, was formally opened on 26 February 1979.

The old town hall remained unchanged for several years. However, in 1980 its frontage was given a makeover when the brick sections were plastered over and painted. A major renovation in 1986 included the installation of a ramp to replace the steps at the front entrance.

Papatoetoe RSA clubrooms at the rear of the Papatoetoe Civic War Memorial building, ca 1973. Auckland Libraries Footprints 01503, courtesy of Papatoetoe Historical Society.

Scaffolding covers the front of the Papatoetoe Town Hall, 1980. Photograph originally published in the Central Courier, 8 July 1980, p. 15 reproduced here with acknowledgement to Fairfax Media. (Auckland Libraries Footprints 00327).

In 1989 Papatoetoe City amalgamated with Manukau City. The old Papatoetoe City Council chambers remained intact, being used for used for Papatoetoe Community Board meetings and other committee meetings. Offices that had been developed in the former library continued in use as a Manukau City Council ward office. The Town Hall itself continued to host a variety of shows, exhibitions and social events. Given that one of the first events ever held in the hall had been the inaugural concert of the Papatoetoe Orchestral Society, it seems fitting that on 17 April 1994, the newly formed Manukau Civic Orchestra (later renamed the Manukau City Symphony Orchestra) also held its inaugural public concert in the hall.

Papatoetoe has grown and changed vastly over the century since the Papatoetoe Town Hall was first opened. Nonetheless, the hall itself remains today what it has always been: a vital part of the local community’s social, cultural and recreational life.

Author: Bruce Ringer, Auckland Libraries South Auckland Research Centre

Sources

New Zealanders have the reputation of being great overseas travellers. However they are also very proud of their own country and have explored its farthest corners, despite the often difficult terrain. Now open on Level 2 of the Central Library is the latest exhibition from Heritage Collections, exploring the ways in which New Zealanders travelled and holidayed in the past century.

The exhibition features original photographs, diaries, maps, posters and oral histories from our collections. The title recalls the slogan of a Tourism department campaign from the 1980s: ‘Don’t leave town until you’ve seen the country’. The advertisement encouraged New Zealanders to explore their own back yard before heading off overseas on their OE. You can watch it online at Ngā Taonga Sound and Vision.

Ref: Hermitage Hospitality. 1950s. Ephemera Collection.

From travel to tourism

In the 19th century and earlier travel within New Zealand was most frequently for economic or strategic reasons. But with the advent of better public transport, especially the railways, more people were able to travel for leisure.

Better working conditions also allowed for holidays and domestic tourism expanded. The world’s first Government Tourism department was founded here in 1901.

In the post-war years, the growth in private car ownership opened up the country. This was the period of the classic New Zealand holiday - camping or staying in a bach at the beach, going home to the marae or tramping the hills and staying in huts.

Ref: Ian Mason. Waihi Beach. From: New Zealand Herald
Glass Plate Collection. 1951. Photo ref: 1370-653-12.

Railways

In the late 19th and early 20th century railways were the best way for New Zealanders to see their country. Ferries and steamers could access parts of the coast, but railways provided the first reliable overland means of transport.

Ref: New Zealand railway tours. N.Z General Survey office, 1889. NZ Map 6573.

The 1920s and 1930s are considered the golden age of New Zealand’s railways. The Railways Studio was set up in 1920 and developed the iconic posters and brochures we associate with the era. The New Zealand Railways Magazine was published between 1926 and 1940 and promoted domestic tourism through its stories, articles and advertisements. The entire run is available online from the New Zealand Electronic Text Centre.

Ref: New Zealand Railways Magazine. Wellington: Railways Department, 1936.

Day excursions

Before private car ownership became common, most people’s experience of travelling was a special day outing with a church or work group. Here members of the Onehunga Congregational Church are waiting on the Onehunga wharf to go to Whatipu, at the head of the Manukau Harbour.

Ref: Albert Haig Jones. Waiting on wharf at Onehunga. 1910s. Photo ref: 743-9346.

Company picnics allowed staff to socialise and enjoy a treat paid for by the boss. This photograph album records a picnic provided by the Auckland department store John Courts on 18th February 1922. The staff enjoyed a day at Cowes Bay on Waiheke Island.

Ref: Album showing staff of John Courts on a picnic
at Waiheke Island. 1922. Photographs Collection. 822-Album-133.

Visiting the gulf islands has always been popular. This photograph shows Aucklanders travelling by ferry to Motuihe Island in the Hauraki Gulf to enjoy a day out in 1964.

Ref: Auckland City Council. People arriving off the ferries …
on the wharf at Motuihe Island. 1964. Photo ref: 580-9789.

Beaches, camping and caravans

From the 1920s private motor vehicles and improved roads allowed town-dwellers to holiday in places that could not be reached by train. People made the most of a holiday with families congregating at informal campsites, usually public land by a beach, in tents for their summer break.

Ref: Paul Champion. Open-Topped Berkeley at Matauri Bay. 1960s. Photo ref: 1055-136.

This montage from the 1936 Auckland Weekly News features a group camping at Goose Bay, Kaikoura. Classic beach activities also can be seen in this summertime newspaper issue: sunbathing, children playing in the shallow water and people swimming in the surf.

The Auckland Weekly News. 8 January 1936.
Auckland: Wilson and Horton. Photo ref: AWNS-19360108-47-1.

In the early 1930s, caravan rentals became popular in New Zealand. The development of caravans that could be towed by cars made it possible for free-wheeling holidaymakers to move from place to place.

W.B. Beattie. South Island camping. From: New Zealand
Herald Glass Plate Collection. 1947. Photo ref: 1370-469-01.

Motor camps could also be found in most centres. In 1925 Tui Glen Motor picnic and camping park in Henderson was New Zealand’s first registered camping ground, developed by Mr Claude Brookes, an Auckland engineer. The West Auckland Research Centre holds oral history recordings about Tui Glen: here Murray Becroft recollects the Tui Glen canoes. There are also oral history recordings of Claude Brookes - visit any Research Centre to listen to these.

Ref: Isabel Hooker, Canoe landing at Tui Glen. From: J.T. Diamond Collection,
West Auckland Research Centre, JTD-14K-03233

Domestic air travel

‘A Shower of Spray and We’re Away’ was the catch phrase of Captain Fred Ladd’s amphibious air service Tourist Air Travel. The base at Mechanics Bay in downtown Auckland covered operations to the Waitemata and Manukau Harbours, the Hauraki Gulf, and Northland.

Ron Clark. Fred Ladd’s Tourist Air Travel plane on the
beach at Paihia. 1960s. Photo ref: 1207-1412.

The extrovert character of Captain Ladd saw him become a household name in the 1950s and 1960s. On his last day with the company he illegally flew his Widgeon amphibian craft under the Auckland Harbour Bridge (for which he was discharged without conviction).

Fred Ladd towing a Tourist Air Travel Widgeon along Quay Street, Auckland.
From: New Zealand Herald Glass Plate Collection. 1960. Photo ref: 1370-7-16-2.

Sea Bee Air began operation in 1976, taking over where the services of Tourist Air Travel and Mount Cook Airlines amphibian flights had operated before. By 1982 the Waiheke Island service alone was carrying some 22,000 people per annum. The introduction of a regular, dependable fast ferry service to Waiheke in 1988 had an immediate impact on Sea Bee Air. Their last scheduled service was flown in 1989.

Pictorial Publications Limited. Sea Bee Air, Paihia. 1970s. Photo ref: 589-54.

In 1937 the New Zealand, Australian and British governments established the company, Tasman Empire Airways Ltd (TEAL), to provide the trans-Tasman link. From 1947 the national airline was NAC (National Airways Corporation), later merging with TEAL to become Air New Zealand. By the late 1940s people could fly to most New Zealand centres.

As flying became more common, the aviation scene grew increasingly diverse. Private firms, individuals and aero clubs introduced fixed-wing aircraft and versatile helicopters.

As the state employed fewer and larger aircraft, there was more opportunity for private companies to enter the provincial routes, using smaller aircraft. Flying had rapidly progressed from novel to normal.

Ref: Henry Edwards. Everyone flies these days!
From: NAC Airline Review. 1960s. Ephemera Collection.

Mount Cook Airlines was established in 1920 by Rodolph Lysaght Wigley, who in 1906 had driven the first motor car to The Hermitage. It was Rodolph’s son Sir Henry who solved the problem of landing in the glaciers by attaching retractable skis to the planes. The Ski Plane operation opened up new possibilities for non-hikers (often just in their street shoes), to experience being at the top of a glacier and back in time for lunch.

Eric Young. Mount Cook Airline plane on the Tasman Glacier. 1970s. Photo ref: 1021-1683.

This is just a taster of what you can see and hear in this diverse and engaging exhibition. We’ll be publishing more blogs on the exhibition themes over the next few weeks, and of course - don’t leave town before you’ve seen the exhibition itself.

Author: Renee Orr and the exhibition curatorial team

Ref: Photographer unknown. Whatipu beach, 1921.
West Auckland Research Centre, Auckland Libraries, JTD-06K-02899

Jack Diamond sourced this photograph from the booklet 'A Guide to Muriwai' (1922). It shows two men and a young girl digging for toheroas on Muriwai Beach. This beautifully illustrated book is a tourist guide to the huge black sand beach where one could not only picnic and swim, but also watch or participate in car races. Copies of the original 1922 publication are held at the West Auckland Research Centre and the Auckland Central Research Centre.

Ref: Photographer unknown. Digging for toheroa on Muriwai Beach, 1922.
West Auckland Research Centre, Auckland Libraries, JTD-01K-02094

Can you imagine the summer fun and mischief these five barefooted boys, pictured below, would have been up to? In the days of “Go and play outside!” you can imagine those clothes wouldn’t have stayed clean for very long! And joy of joys for historians, the boys in the photograph have been identified. From left: Reg Buscomb, Albert Morris, Billy Buscomb, Dartrey Allely, Phil Buscomb.

Ref: Frank Morris. Five local Henderson boys, 1930s.
West Auckland Research Centre, Auckland Libraries, FMO-037-00055-G

Have you noticed the little white shelly bank by the side of the north-western motorway causeway? It is part of Pollen Island, named after Dr Pollen who bought it in 1855 as part of his brickworks. Jack Diamond and one of his children kayaked out there to have a look around in the summer of 1963. Part of a marine reserve in the Waitematā Harbour, it still has the remains of a construction possibly used for processing shells for lime and traces of a little tramway used for transporting shell from Pollen Island to Rosebank Peninsula.

Ref: J. T. Diamond. Shell beach, Pollen Island, January 1963.
West Auckland Research Centre, Auckland Libraries, JTD-11K-00789

Messing about in boats… Below we can see two children paddling about on a private lake in the bush at the Leman property in Henderson Valley. From 1940, the Leman family operated a guest house from their 22 acre property, part of the original Dreamlands Estate which was first offered for sale in 1922. A. A. Leman bought the block on Dreamlands Road, renamed Opanuku Road, at the first of the auctions.

Ref: J.T. Diamond. Leman's Lake, Henderson Valley, January 1963.
West Auckland Research Centre, Auckland Libraries, JTD-14A-01908

Very definitely a thing of the past, a beach without donkeys was unimaginable for visitors in the 1930s. These two donkeys and children are by Waiti Stream, at Te Henga. The little girl on the donkey is Lavinia Perry. The Perry family of New Lynn would rent a bach from local Maori for holidays at the beautiful beach.

Ref: Photographer unknown. Donkeys and children at Te Henga, 1930s.
West Auckland Research Centre, Auckland Libraries, JTD-02K-05651-2

We all know what it’s like doing housework on a hot summer’s day. But can you imagine doing it without a vacuum cleaner? In a long skirt and a corset!? Beating rugs, sweeping and scrubbing floors on your hands and knees? This holidaying woman is very sensibly and coolly dressed in her “unmentionables”. Today it just looks like a fashionable playsuit!

Ref: Photographer unknown. House cleaning on holiday, 1915. West Auckland Research Centre, Auckland Libraries, JTD-02K-05037

Author: Liz Bradley

At a recent talk here at Auckland Libraries, many of us came away buzzing over ideas on preserving 'our' story. What can we do right now, to get those interesting things about ourselves organised for posterity?

Our speaker, Jan Gow, discussed a computer programme called Treepad, that has a free edition, but also a paid edition with useful add-ons such as the ability to save images.

But as she said, there are other options, too.

For the paper-addicted among us, the stationery sections at book stores are our happy place, from basic binders to the joy of the beautifully-covered journal. One could purchase a different journal for each decade (perhaps colour-coded?), and add to it over time.

If spread-sheets are so your thing, you could come up with something practical there.

And you could always make up an eBook, which I’ll address in a later post. Publishing an e-book can cost you virtually nothing, and you can easily get print copies for little cost, as well.

The message is that there are plenty of ways that suit you of getting your story down for that life-long work-in-progress.

A number of practical ideas came out of this.

Take copies of your photos and find out the story behind the image

Write down what you remember about it. Many of our parents, or even us, have slides (remember those?) One could project slides and simply photograph them from the big screen, but there are devices to copy slides you could look in to. It could be something worthwhile for a family history group to invest in for members to borrow.

Identify significant occasions

Some ideas are transportation (your car-owning history over the decades is a great one!), games, pets, holidays, schools, careers, special events, and of course food. You could scan recipes from Grandma’s old recipe book to add to your collection. That gorgeous prize-winning shortbread...! You could organise your story according to these categories, or by the decades.

Remember to catalogue precious items

What is the story behind that china teacup, or painting, or your grandmother’s ornament? Photograph the item, and add the image to your work in progress with details of the story behind it. Scanning letters, cards and newspaper clippings is a good idea, too. This could be a great thing to do to get the kids (and let's face it, adults!) off social media for a spell, too.

One thing that appealed to me was to make a day of combining oral history with cataloguing. A family member recently suffered a stroke, which brings home abruptly how sad the loss of one's memory can be. When I visit next, I plan to spend time going through those tea cups, ornaments, paper items, and inherited furniture that none of the family really knows anything about, photographing them and jotting down the story behind them. Recording the conversations on my phone will help. Not only will it, I hope, be a form of therapy for them, but also fun, and for our family, a record of our own family history.

For more ideas, search the Auckland Libraries catalogue with the reference 1 GEN DOC.

There is inspiration aplenty, such as the books Keeping family treasures and Keeping chronicles: preserving history through memorabilia.

Author: Joanne, Research Central

A little Anglican church in the Manawatu recently celebrated its 140th year and quite coincidentally I happened to be down that way for the weekend.

Even more interesting, from a family history point of view, is that the builders of St Thomas's (Main Road, Sanson) were ancestors of mine – the Ellerm brothers, Fred and Bert.

I had been inside St Thomas's only once before, at a family funeral when I was fifteen years old, and since then had only ever driven past the church on the way to Palmy, admired its cuteness and thought, "one day, I must make the effort and have a good look around."

One day turned out to be this particular weekend because it happened to be the weekend to celebrate "The 140th anniversary of the consecration of St Thomas’s church, Sanson, by the Right Reverend Octavius Hadfield, Bishop of Wellington."

On the Saturday was an open day with photographs and the chance to really inspect the building. On the Sunday was a special 10am service, followed by lunch and a birthday cake. The pews were packed.

St Thomas’s was built in 1877, and designed by architect Charles Tringer. As Don Donovan in the lovely book Country Churches of New Zealand wrote, work was due to begin April 1877, but the contractor, whose lowest bid of £588 had been accepted, failed to show up. It was Fred and Bert, the Ellerm Brothers, who had the job done in time for Bishop Hadfield to consecrate the church in November.

While the church with its mid-Victorian gothic style exterior is wonderfully charming, inside is even more so. Built of totara, the Ellerm lads used pegs and dowels in place of nails, and etched their names in a totara beam near the back. The church boasts a pipe organ and at the front, stained glass windows of Christ and the four gospel writers, donated in the 1960s.

In another coincidence that particular weekend, the old Ellerm farm was for sale, and we went to check out the open home. The last time I’d been in this house I’d have been five-years-old, back when I'd go out to stay for the weekend, ride on the tractor with Poppa, (the farm was a Border Leicester stud farm), and play Canasta with whoever was up for a game. Inside, it took a while to figure out where everything had been, due to renovations, additions and, naturally, the house being much smaller than I remembered.

All round it was a pretty good - and quite unexpected - weekend.

For more on New Zealand's wonderful old country churches, do check out Don Donovan's book, Country churches of New Zealand, a collection.

Author: Joanne, Research Central

New Zealand Family Stories are treasured assets in our Family History collection.

These published family histories, are books written by family history researchers, and are frequently self-published. Often they are donated to the library, although we do also have a budget that allows us to purchase them too.

They contain stories about individuals and families, and most have genealogical tables, photos, and documents. Ideally they also have a name index in the back.

Since our lovely refurbishment, we’ve been able to get them out into the spotlight to display and make them more accessible.

They are a reference-only collection which means that they are always here for researchers to consult - and this also helps with their preservation.

They represent years, sometimes decades of research, and its always a delight for me when someone brings one of these treasures up to the desk to tell me that they've found their family in one of these books.

Happy hunting

Seonaid

We are proud to say that we have a diverse range of talks again this year, in our HeritageTalks programme. Our programme begins again on 7 February, and we've published the events right up until the end of July.

Usually held fortnightly during a Wednesday lunchtime (sometimes more frequent), HeritageTalks take place in Whare Wānanga, Level 2, Central City Library, unless otherwise stated. Booking is recommended.

Ideal if you are interested in history - family, social and local history, New Zealand or world history. These talks are delivered by experts in their specialised fields and provide insight into our histories.

Booking is optional, but recommended. The Whare holds up 80 people comfortably, but some talks have been known to overfill the room!

You can find talks in our HeritageTalks programme by searching our website using the keyword HeritageTalks - or by clicking the direct link here.

Or if you want todownload a PDF of our programme from February to July, you can do this here!

Hope to see you all soon!

Happy hunting
Seonaid

Our four Research Centres all have New Zealand family history resources, and staff on hand who are able to assist with most of your family history enquiries.

At Research Central, we have an international family history collection and I am based there.

Last year, we piloted a new initiative called Brick Wall Tuesday, where I got to do 'Book a Librarian' sessions at the other research centres. Each Tuesday, I am at a different research centre.

It was very successful, so we decided to continue this initiative again starting from 13 February at Research West at Waitākere Library.

Research North, Takapuna Library - First Tuesday of every month.
Phone 09 890 4924 or email Research North to book.
Research West, Waitākere Library - Second Tuesday of every month.
Phone 09 892 4966 or email Research West to book.
The West Auckland Historical and Genealogy Society hold their branch meeting in this research centre on the same day 10am to 12noon, and everyone is welcome.
Research South, Manukau Library - Third Tuesday of every month.
Phone 09 261 8637 or email Research South to book.
Research Central, Central City Library - Fourth Tuesday of every month.
The Auckland City branch of the New Zealand Society of Genealogists hold their branch meeting in this research centre on the same day, 10am to 12noon and everyone is welcome.
Seonaid can also be available by appointment on other days at Central City Library.
Phone 09 890 2412 or email Research Central to book.

The Book a Research Librarian service is offered to those customers who:

need assistance to begin their family history research
need help to use the family and local history databases and subscription websites
have a family history research ‘brick wall’ that they need assistance with

It is a "how to" training service to enable customers to be able to carry out their own research. It is not really a research service i.e.- we are not doing the research for the customer, although we may do so during the tutorial session.

To get the best out of this session, we ask the customer to fill in a form telling us some brief background details and a pedigree chart of the branch of the family the query is about.

Think about what you need:

What is your question?
Provide names, dates and country of people (or places) you are needing information for
Where have you looked already?
What proof do you already have about that person (people)?
Most importantly - have you already got hold of any birth, marriage or death certificates that may answer your question? Review them again with fresh eyes.

Hope to see some of you soon

Happy hunting
Seonaid

Many maps and plans of Central Auckland have been drawn and published since the 1840s. The first and most well-known was drawn by Surveyor-General, Felton Mathew, for Governor Hobson and published in 1841. Mathew’s design was best known as ‘the cobweb plan’ because it envisaged a circular Trafalgar Circus (where the university is today) with radiating quadrants and a crescent connecting with Upper Queen Street. Mathew’s plan was thought impractical by many influential settlers so was eventually shelved. The only echo of Mathew’s plan that survives today is Waterloo Quadrant (originally to have been named London Quadrant – but now not even actually a quadrant) and which runs between Old Government House and the High Court.

Felton Mathew. Original Plan of Auckland. 1841. Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, NZ Map 2664.

One hundred years later a town planning model was created of the Auckland CBD, probably from an aerial photograph taken in 1939. Possibly this was done as part of New Zealand’s centennial celebrations in 1940. Lisa Truttman of Timespanner has suggested the model might have been made in 1971 which was Auckland City Council’s centenary; but if so why choose to use a photo taken in 1939?

Currently this model is able to be viewed on Level 24 of Auckland Council’s Auckland House in Albert Street, where The Spinoff found it recently and took some stunning photographs.

At the top left of the model is the intersection of Wakefield Street and Queen Street, with upper Hobson Street and St Matthew’s Church at top right. The left boundary of the model is Prince’s Street and the large green area is Albert Park. On the right-hand side the model’s boundary is Nelson Street, which joins Fanshawe Street and Sturdee Street at bottom right. In those days the Central Auckland Library was still on the opposite side of Wellesley Street sharing space with the art gallery. Downtown, the wharves are from left: Marsden Wharf, Captain Cook Wharf, Queen's Wharf, the ferry wharf, Prince's Wharf and Hobson Wharf.

From various maps and plans drawn between 1840 and 1950 we are able to see how central Auckland changed over that time. One of the first panoramas of central Auckland is an 1876 print by W.C. Wilson which shows Old St Paul’s Church and Fort Britomart on Point Britomart. Excavation work has already started to remove the fort and the point.

W.C. Wilson. A bird's eye map of the Waitemata Harbour showing Point Britomart and St Paul's Church. 1876. Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 4-8489.

Another part of Wilson’s 1876 panorama shows another harbour view looking towards Auckland Central. It features the waterfront with numerous boats in the foreground. Queen's Wharf is shown at bottom right with Queen Street running up through the centre of the picture.

W.C. Wilson. The Waitemata Harbour showing Queen's Wharf and Queen Street. 1876. Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 4-8488.

An early mid-town map of central Auckland in the 1870s was produced by the Auckland Improvement Commission in 1873 showing their plan of proposed alterations to the city. This shows changes to be made to central Auckland with the disestablishment of the Albert Barracks, and the addition proposed new streets and more sections for sale on Symonds Street.

Auckland Improvement Commission. Plan of proposed alterations in the City of Auckland. 1873. Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, NZ Map 3532.

In 1886 George Treacy Stevens produced a different perspective of Auckland, when he drew a birds’ eye panorama of central Auckland from a balloon floating one thousand feet above and one hundred feet to the rear (most exact – his balloon was probably attached to a balloonists’ wagon!) of Auckland Hospital. Albert Park is the large green square in the centre of the picture.

George Treacy Stevens. Birds-eye view of Auckland City. 1886. Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 7-C1880.

Wilson’s 1876 waterfront panorama is our earliest harbour view showing some of Auckland’s first wharves and jetties. There are numerous boats in the harbour. Mechanics Bay is on the left, then Official Bay and Point Britomart. Queen's Wharf is in the centre and Freemans Bay in the right midground. Auckland City is in the background with Mount Eden on the horizon line of the picture.

W.C. Wilson. Bird's eye view map of the Waitemata Harbour looking towards Auckland Central. 1876. Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 4-8484.

The next map, which dates from about 1910, is an Auckland Harbour Board plan of wharves, berths and sheds on the Queen Street Wharf, Railway Wharf, Hobson Street Wharf and Quay Street jetties.

Auckland Harbour Board. Wharves, Berths and Sheds. Around 1910. Sir George Grey Special Collections, 4-179B.

However in 1913 the Auckland Harbour Board planned to make improvements to their water frontage. Over the next several years more wharves were built and their layout was redesigned to cope with larger modern cargo ships.

Auckland Harbour Board. Improvements to water frontage. 1913. Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 4-178.

Our last map is from about 1948 and shows central Auckland and the wharves. It is part of a large cadastral map series of Auckland City published between 1947 and 1953. The map also has streets and public buildings such as schools, churches, hospitals etc. This sheet shows part of the central city, the waterfront, Parnell and the Domain.

Auckland City Council. Sheet 5A of a large cadastral map of Auckland City. 1947-53. Sir George Grey Special Collections, NZ Map 3508.

Many of the maps featured here were digitised with the aid of the Auckland Library Heritage Trust.

Author: Christopher Paxton, Heritage

Applications for the Auckland Library Heritage Trust research scholarship are now open!

Ref: Dan Liu. Dr Majid Daneshagar in the Sir George Grey Special Collections
reading room. 4 August 2017.

Now in its sixth year, this scholarship is offered by the Auckland Library Heritage Trust to assist with research and the promotion of material held in the Sir George Grey Special Collections at the Central City Library and the distributed heritage collections across Auckland Libraries. Heritage collections are found at the north, south and west research centres at Takapuna, Manukau and Waitākere libraries.

Covers of three Japanese illustrated woodblock books forming a triptych

The breadth of the collections has seen research topics range from Japanese woodblock books from the nineteenth century to the Jazz age in Auckland in the twentieth century. Last year’s scholar was Dr Majid Daneshagar from the University of Otago. Dr Daneshgar prepared a catalogue of Middle Eastern manuscripts looking at Arabic, Persian and Ottoman Turkish works in Sir George Grey Special Collections.

As well as rare and historic books Auckland Libraries’ Heritage Collections feature maps, manuscripts, archives, photographs, drawings, oral histories, musical recordings and ephemera. In 2017 two collections from Auckland Libraries, the John A. Lee archive held in Sir George Grey Special Collections and the J.T. Diamond collection at the Waitākere Central Library, were added to the NZ Register of the Memory of the World.

Ref: J. T. Diamond. Children and tame gull on Cornwallis Beach, 1957.
West Auckland Research Centre, Auckland Libraries, JTD-08K-01652-1.

In 2018, the year commemorating the 125^th anniversary of women’s suffrage in New Zealand you may like to explore our collections relating to pioneering women across the centuries. We hold the archive of the Broadsheet Collective, 1971-1999, Florence Nightingale’s correspondence with Sir George Grey and important social justice organisations' collections based in Auckland. In addition, we have extensive photograph collections and other documentary heritage formats featuring women in Auckland.

Ref: Cover of Broadsheet magazine, April 1975, issue 28.
Cover illustration by Vanya Lowry.

The scholarship is open to New Zealanders and overseas visitors to New Zealand. To apply you need to identify a research proposal based on material held in Auckland Libraries rich Heritage Collections. The winner of the scholarship will receive a grant of $1000. We would love to assist you with your research.

Applications for 2018/2019 close on 31 May 2018.

Please email your application, including a contact phone number, outlining your proposal to:

specialcollections@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz With the subject line: 2018 Scholar application

We look forward to hearing from you!

After a world war, and an absence of twelve years, the sports fans of the British Empire once again welcomed back the British Empire Games. The year was 1950; the host country, New Zealand.

The idea for New Zealand to even consider bidding for the right to host the games came from Mr Alwyn Moon of the NZ Amateur Athletic Association. Mr Moon had observed just how well the 1947 national athletics competition had run in Auckland, and especially how well Eden Park had coped with the intense level of competition at that standard. Moon subsequently called a meeting with like-minded officials to discuss the rather bold proposal: was Auckland in a position to host the 1950 British Empire Games?

Ref: New Zealand Herald. Empire Games: Athletics 3rd Day, Eden Park. From: New Zealand Herald Glass Plate Collection. 1950. Sir George Grey Special Collections, 1370-589-24.

Representatives from sporting codes across the city believed it was possible and began to explore the venture, while Mayor John Allum offered his backing, adamant Aucklanders would get behind the games. It soon transpired Christchurch was also keen to host, and so the New Zealand Olympic Association was able to offer two strong contenders as host city in their bid. The next step was application to the British Empire Games Federation, due to meet in London in August 1948, ahead of the Olympic Games. New Zealand won the hosting rights by a vote of 12 to 2.

In the following weeks, planning moved swiftly. New Zealand had to decide on the host city: Auckland, Christchurch, or the late submission from Wellington. Wellington’s application was soon dismissed, Auckland was successful, Christchurch then lodged an appeal, but Auckland survived and the date was set. February 4th to 11th 1950. It left only fourteen months to organise the event.

Ref: Empire Games Play Map. 1950. Sir George Grey Special Collections, NZ Map 6959.

Papakura Military Camp was proposed for the competitors’ village, although it needed modifications to bring it up to international standard. Soon, though, even the most basic, most essential alterations were proving to be prohibitive, but a solution was found a few miles down the road - Ardmore Teachers Training College. Formerly an RNZAF base, Ardmore had been renovated a few years earlier by the Auckland Education Board, and it proved an ideal place for the games village. Student summer holiday times were even extended to give the sports teams full and unencumbered use of the college, and teacher trainees were encouraged to be part of the pool of volunteers needed.

Sporting venues were located across Auckland, from the Town Hall for weightlifting and Newmarket’s Carlton Green Bowling Club (sold in 2001 to developers) for the lawn bowls. The area around Orakei was selected for the road race, and down in the Waikato, the newly created Lake Karapiro was the perfect venue for the rowing.

Ref: New Zealand Herald. Empire Games Rowing: 1st Day Karapiro Lake. From: New Zealand Herald Glass Plate Collection. 1950. Sir George Grey Special Collections, 1370-603-19.

By the time, the Games rolled around, Aucklanders were truly in the spirit. When the first team of competitors from Canada arrived aboard the Aorangi, a crowd of 5000 were at the waterfront to greet them. The New Zealand Airforce Band playing O Canada, and decorated buses drove the team to Ardmore.

Ref: New Zealand Herald. Empire Games: Athletics 3rd Day, Eden Park. From: New Zealand Herald Glass Plate Collection. 1950. Sir George Grey Special Collections, 1370-589-16.

There were of course the odd issues. According to the book Canada’s Part in the 1950 British Empire Games, there was a shortage of qualified officials for one of the new sports in the competition, the fencing. Some officiating had to be carried out by the competitors themselves. And coaches and managers were concerned about the food at the games village. It was so good, the athletes began to gain weight. The caterers were subsequently directed to serve smaller portions.

There were memorable triumphs such as the young Australian, Marjorie Jackson aka The Lithgow Flash who was first in the 100 yards, 220 yards, and as part of the Australian relay team, took gold in both the 440 yard and the 660 yards relay. And for Kiwis, it was the games where Yvette Williams took silver in the Javelin and gold in the broad jump.

Ref: New Zealand Herald. Majorie Jackson at Eden Park. From: New Zealand Herald Glass Plate Collection. 1950. Sir George Grey Special Collections, 1370-593-08.

Ref: New Zealand Herald. Yvette Williams signing autographs at Eden Park. From: New Zealand Herald Glass Plate Collection. 1950. Sir George Grey Special Collections, 1370-595-12.

And then there was the Auckland weather, a challenge for both spectators and competitors. The first days of the track and field events at Eden Park were played out in glorious sunshine but on the last day, the park was drenched from the downpours.

Ref: New Zealand Herald. Empire Games: 4th, The Final Day, Athletics Eden Park. From: New Zealand Herald Glass Plate Collection. 1950. Sir George Grey Special Collections, 1370-594-08.

For the marathon runners, the day was especially tough. It began in hot sunshine, was followed by severe rain and ended in sweltering humidity. The shoes of England’s Jack Holden were so ruined by the conditions; he finished the last miles barefooted. Despite his bleeding and cut feet, Holden won by over four minutes.

Ref: New Zealand Herald. Marathon runners on Mangere Bridge during the Empire Games. From: New Zealand Herald Glass Plate Collection. 1950. Sir George Grey Special Collections, 1370-594-02.

A week after the Games opened at Eden Park, the closing ceremony was held at Western Springs, the venue for the cycling. The Canadians were to host the games four years later, having initially been awarded the (cancelled) 1942 games. In 1954 in Vancouver, famous for Roger Bannister’s Miracle Mile, the games were now run under a new name: The British Empire and Commonwealth Games.

Ref: New Zealand Herald. Empire Games: 4th, The Final Day, Athletics Eden Park. From: New Zealand Herald Glass Plate Collection. 1950. Sir George Grey Special Collections, 1370-593-02.

Auckland Libraries holds many resources for the sports buff, from heritage images to event programmes. An excellent read from the New Zealand perspective is The Story of the British Empire Games. And from the perspective of a participating country, Canada’s part in the 1950 British Empire Games includes photographs, statistics, and analysis of the completion, including the planning in sending the team to New Zealand.

Author: Joanne Graves, Central Research Centre

Family historians spend a lot of time researching and collecting their facts and stories. Many have been spurred on to share their research with other family members or even the wider general public.

Often the stories are shared in blogs, but some have been keen enough to share in books. We call these "published family histories."

In New Zealand, a couple of copies are sent to the National Library in Wellington to be preserved as part of the nation's memory. Sometimes, Auckland Libraries is also also sent a copy or two as well. Often we purchase them for our family history collection. - You should come in and have a look if you haven't already!

We don't just collect New Zealand family histories, we also collect published family histories from all over the world - particularly if they relate to the historic areas that many of us emigrated from.

One such book caught my eye today. Written by a New Zealander about her English grandfather's family.

My Mountain, My River, My People - The story of Lewis S Medcalf by Valerie Jabir

The book was in the England section of the Family History Collection, and reminded me of the Māori spirit of belonging to the land.

And sure enough, when I read the introduction, the author talks about wanting to teach her multicultural grandchildren about their English side of their family.

She recites her grandfather's pepeha:

Tihe mauri ora! . . . . Let there be life!

My canoe is the Thames barge

My mountains are the North Downs of Kent

My river is the River Medway

My tribe is Metcalfe, originally from Yorkshire

My sub-tribe is Medcalf from Rochester, Kent, England

I am Lewis Spencer Medcalf

An awesome way of introducing her grandfather to her younger New Zealand family members in a way that they can relate.

Happy hunting

Seonaid
#familyhistoryfriday

“Plans were laid and one sunny morning we set off to walk to the top. It is quite a climb to the summit and we were puffed and glad to sit down for a bit and have a look round at the view. From our school down below, the mount doesn’t look very exciting but from here the city lay spread out on every side making a patchwork of coloured roofs, and the waters of the Waitemata Habour to the north really do sparkle… Standing here with Auckland at our feet we felt like kings of the castle.”

This excerpt was written by a primary school student at Wesley Primary School, in Mt Roskill, Auckland. It is taken from a school project report titled 'Life on an extinct volcano' created in 1966. J.F. Hopkins, a former teacher at Wesley Primary School, compiled these school project reports. Filled with photographs, they are a delight.

Three natural science projects form the Wesley Primary School Projects Collection, NZMS 2165, now held in Sir George Grey Special Collections. This manuscript was originally housed at Mount Albert library and was donated by the teacher, J.F. Hopkins. The manuscript was transferred to Sir George Grey Special Collections after an assessment of collections held at Mt Albert library.

Ref: Children looking at a compass which has been drawn on the ground

The nature study 'Life on an extinct volcano' provides the background research information for the final project report 'Owairaka Domain: An area study'. The main aim of this project was to carry out an area study involving four classes from Standards 3 and 4, under the supervision of teachers Mr Hopkins (Natural Science), Mr Glynn (Social Studies), Mr Lynch (Language), and Mrs MacLeod (Arithmetic).

Mt Roskill Primary School was established in 1951, within an area of newly built state housing in the suburb. Nestled in the foothills of Mount Albert and the Owairaka Domain, the school was within reasonable distance of the mountain, perfect for school trips.

From their scientific investigations, the pupils were charged with providing the content for the reports.

Ref: Sketch of Owairaka, neatly drawn in coloured pencil and washed with watercolour paint.

Once on the mountain, children recorded weather observations using a compass, anemometer, thermometer and wind indicator...

Took bark rubbings from tree trunks...

... and clambered over rocks to peer at lichen.

The children examined small plants...

...and found weta, skinks, ants, spiders, slater and snails during the insect hunt.

Back in the classroom a terrarium was set up to house the insects collected for observation...

...and clay models of volcanoes were made.

“In the centre we made a deep crater and formed tiny tunnels from the centre out to the side. These were to be the fissures. Our teacher provided chemical which we placed in the hole in the centre, and a strip of magnesium ribbon acted as a fuse.”

The first attempt at an eruption met with mixed results...

The next attempt was different...

“Tyrone has added some more chemical powder. The volcano erupts again, and this time a fissure in the side glows and material is pushed out by the force of the burning chemicals inside."

The results of the study were formally presented to the mayor of Mt Albert, Mr Turner (seated at far right) in the school hall and a display of the work was set up for inspection.

The students presenting the information included Judy McAnulty, Robyn Lane, Kevin Chatfield, Letitia Milliken, Grant Feasy, Robyn Amoretti, Glen Ford, Yvonne Drage, Desmond West, Richard Salter, Chris Boggs, Tyrone Petterd, Alistair McRitchie, Lynne O’Toole, Christine McLeod, Glenda Vine, Mark McNeil, Ann Gabolinscy, Janice Larsen, Fiona Tindal, Steven Wynn and Lynette Earley.

Near the end of the 'Owairaka Domain: An area study report' it is noted that “The children’s enjoyment could be summed up by one child’s remark as she set out on a lichen hunt up the mountain. “What a lovely way to spend a birthday!”

All photographs in this blog post are from the Wesley Primary School Projects Collection, 1966. Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries,NZMS 2165.

Author: Sharon Smith, Senior Librarian, Archives and Manuscripts

Author: Joanne Graves

Further reading

Author: Carolyn Skelton

Author: Chris Paxton, Heritage Collections

Author: Liz Bradley

Building a public hall

The hall in its early years

The Papatoetoe public library

Author: Bruce Ringer, Auckland Libraries South Auckland Research Centre

Sources

Papatoetoe Civic War Memorial

‘Louts and fighting gangs’

Later developments

Author: Bruce Ringer, Auckland Libraries South Auckland Research Centre

Sources

From travel to tourism

Railways

Day excursions

Beaches, camping and caravans

Domestic air travel

Author: Renee Orr and the exhibition curatorial team

Take copies of your photos and find out the story behind the image

Identify significant occasions

Remember to catalogue precious items

Author: Christopher Paxton, Heritage

Author: Joanne Graves, Central Research Centre