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(The four pages of illustrations appear in the centre of the book.)
The Ligar Canal.
Queen Street from Victoria Street.
Queen Street in 1893.
Queen Street Today.
This little book had its origin in an address which I recently gave before the Rotary Club on “Early Auckland”. Members were so interested and pleased that many pressed me very strongly to “Put it into writing”. Finally I agreed, and as I have proceeded the subject has expanded, and this present account of “Early Auckland” covers a much wider field than did my half–hour' address. I have found that there is already considerable literature on the subject (mostly out of print) with many facts disputed and many differing opinions expressed. These I have endeavoured to condense and classify to the best of my ability. I trust the result will be as successful with my readers as it was with my Rotary audience.
To give a proper perspective view of Auckland' origin it will be well very briefly to relate what was known of New Zealand by Europeans prior to its annexation to the British Empire and the founding of Auckland.
As near as we can tell it was in the early part of the tenth century that a Polynesian named Kupe, observing the enormous flights of kuaka (godwits), and knowing that they could not sit on the sea, formed the strong opinion that there must be a large land to the southward. Manning his great canoe he set out on a wonderfully great adventure and voyage of discovery. He circumnavigated Aotearoa —as he named his discovery — and returned home. It was two centuries before anyone else braved this journey of 2,000 miles to the strange new land. Then Toi–kairakau (“Toi the stick eater” — he was a vegetarian), in search for a loved grandson lost in Polynesia, decided to use Kupe' sailing directions and investigate Aotearoa. He did not find the lad, but decided to settle down among the tangata–whenua in the Bay of Plenty.
Then came the migration by big canoes about A.D. 1350. They made their way to New Zealand, and, sailing round the coast, each fixed on a resting place and settled dpwn among the residents. All Maoris claim descent from the crews of one or another of these seven canoes. “He got no canoe” means that the subject of this remark was a man of no breeding.
Between the voyages of Kupe and Toi–kairakau there must have been other arrivals in New Zealand of allied peoples from Polynesia, for Toi found a considerable population already established here, and settled down amongst them.
The first European known to have visited New, Zealand was
The first European to set foot on New Zealand was Captain James Cook, who landed in Poverty Bay and then circumnavigated both islands and produced a remarkable map. This happened in 1769. At Mercury Bay he took possession in the name of the King of England, but it was not until 1832 that the British Government appointed James Busby as British Resident.
I am one of those people always proud of being British and thankful that this splendid little country which we inhabit fell into the hands of our Nation, but yet I can enjoy the humour of the following analysis of the character of its component parts. The Welshman prays on his knees and on his neighbours; the Scotchman keeps the Sabbath day, and everything else he can lay his hands on; the Irishman does not know what he wants but he'll fight for it; the Englishman says he is a self–made man and, my oath, doesn't he praise his maker.
At first New Zealand was governed from New South Wales. In 1840 Captain Hobson was appointed Governor, and negotiated the Treaty of Waitangi, whereby the sovereignty of New Zealand was vested in the British Crown. In 1841 New Zealand was proclaimed independent of New South Wales. Ere long our first Governor sent our first surveyor–general, Felton Matthew, to the Waitemata to buy from the Maoris a site for the Capital. He acquired about 3,000 acres of waste land for a consideration which now looks ridiculous. We must remember, however, that this land was then worth just nothing, and the only thing that made it worth having was the coming of the British Government. Later on I explain this transaction a little more fully.
By 1842 the transfer of the Government from the Bay of Islands to Auckland had been completed, and the first Parliament of the Colony of New Zealand was held in Auckland in 1854. It must not be supposed that the choice of a site for the Capital was a simple matter. The principal rival to
Besides these competitors with Auckland for the site of the Capital it is well to make mention of its great rival as a city of any sort, capital or otherwise. I refer to Cornwallis on the Puponga peninsula in the Manukau Harbour. It was supposed by its promoters to have such a decided advantage by its proximity to Sydney as to enable it to become the chief centre of trade. The Manukau Land Association was formed in Glasgow, and the pioneers sailed in the ship Brilliant on 31st December 1840. A voyage certainly not of supersonic speed ended on the arrival of the expedition off the Puponga on 28th October 1841. A block of 25,000 acres was bought, but the Maoris afterwards disputed the sale, and the area was cut down to 2,500 acres by the Native Land Claims Court. The area was covered by heavy bush, and sawmilling was expected to be a great source of revenue. The plant for the mill arrived by the schooner Osprey in 1842, and was worked for some time, but without financial success. The settlers drifted away, the timber was disappearing, and after many years the bare land was sold for default in payment of rates, and bought by Mr. J. M. McLachlan, who was born on the Brilliant on the voyage out. The price paid was, if my memory serves me right, 9s. 6d. per acre. Mr. McLachlan was a well–known citizen, having an old–established drapery business in Queen Street At his death at the age of ninety–three he left this Manukau land to Auckland City for inclusion in Waitakere Park.
The importance of Auckland at various periods may best be estimated by the increase of population. Here are the figures:—
The Urban Area comprises roughly those districts from which people come to the City to their daily occupations or businesses. From 1858 to 1945 it included the North Shore boroughs. Later the boundaries were extended to the Tamaki and the Whau, and comprised 58,000 acres, and have now been stretched to Henderson and Long Bay on the north, the Hauraki Gulf on the east, Papakura and Howick on the south, and the Manukau Harbour on the west. In discussing the size of population at various dates it is very necessary to keep clearly in mind whether one is talking of Auckland City or Auckland Urban Area.
The Maori population at first was nil. The Waiohua tribe had been driven out by the Ngatiwhatua, who were later soundly defeated by the Ngapuhi and had retired into caves and hideouts, afraid to light a fire lest the smoke should betray their location to the Ngapuhi, who would kill and eat them. Yet by the Maori law of land titles the ownership remained with the Ngatiwhatua, because they had not been completely driven out and the Ngapuhi had not settled on the land and cultivated it. In this state we must recognize that the price paid by Hobson to
The considerations which influenced Governor Hobson in placing the capital on the shores of the Waitemata were its central location: the deep water, well sheltered harbour, and nearness to other smaller ports affording easy water communication, and the agricultural potential of the soil.
In 1851 Auckland was created a borough — the first in New Zealand. Mr.
The charter of the borough was by Acts of Parliament altered from time to time until in 1864 the seat of Government was (owing to the influence of the New Zealand Company) removed to Wellington — the Company' principal settlement. This dealt Auckland a deadly blow, but both town and province had become so firmly established on their own resources that they quickly recovered.
In 1871 Auckland was constituted a city with a Council consisting of nine members who elected their own Mayor. The boundaries of the city were Stanley Street, Symonds Street, Karangahape Road and Franklin Road. The area was 623 acres. To this have been added in 1882 Ponsonby, Karangahape and Graf ton; in 1913 Parnell and Arch Hill; in 1914 Grey Lynn; in 1915 Remuera and Eden Terrace; in 1917 Epsom; in 1921 Point Chevalier; in 1927 Avondale; and in 1928 Orakei and Tamaki, the total area now being 18,253 acres.
Important events in Auckland' history were:— In 1852 gold discovered at Coromandel by Messrs. Ring; in 1871 Albert Park handed over to the City; in 1887 the Public Library opened; in 1888 the Art Gallery opened; in 1910 the Grafton Bridge opened (its length is 973 feet — the widest ferro–concrete arch span in tne world at that time); in 1911 the Town Hall opened; in 1916 the Old Colonists' Museum opened; 1922 the Zoological Gardens opened; in 1928 the foundation stone of the War Memorial Museum was laid and the building opened in 1929. The first telegrams were sent in 1863, and the first railway train appeared in 1873. Horse trams started in 1884, and the electric trams in 1902. They were bought by the city in 1919 for £1,227,200. In the end Auckland came to be called “The Queen City”.
In 1843 my Grandfather,
In 1863 my father went to England, where he married, and in 1869 returned to Auckland with his wife, my eldest sister and me. At the start of the voyage I was only 3 months old (something of a record for one so young to travel 14,000 miles and I believe an absolute record in that I doubled my age on the voyage).
The very first thing that I can remember is my going out to Otahuhu with my father in one of the old four–wheelers (called “growlers”) to see Mr. Wm. Goodfellow about an extension of his lease of the southern corner of Queen and Wyndham Streets to justify his building in brick. While this was being seriously debated in the house I inspected the garden, and, noticing large numbers of flies entering and leaving a box I lifted it up to see what all the fuss in there was about, and was well and truly stung. I was rescued alive, and Mr. Goodfellow gave me a peacock and two hens to compensate me for my pains. When the cock died I had him skinned and mounted by Wendells, the taxidermists — and still have him. The two hens I gave to a curious little zoo that used to exist in the Domain, wherein a few monkeys and some other not very rare animals were kept. Tbis was my first gift for public purposes. My father, I may mention, got his lease extended, and imported eleven shiploads
Nemo me impune lacessit but because of its capacity (like its countrymen) to take possession. At the time of our arrival at Otahuhu Mr. Goodfellow was cutting them out with a hand hoe.
My first visit to the Waikato was in 1877, also with my father. The railway then had reached Frankton, and we took a gig to Hamilton, which then consisted of Mrs. Gwynne's hotel, the Bank of New Zealand, the Loan & Mercantile Agency Co., the Shipping Offices, and about a score of houses. Next day we drove round Te Awamutu (where quite a lot of wheat was grown), Ngaroto, Alexandria and Cambridge — then a larger town than Hamilton, being the head of navigation. I saw much of the land, which had been ploughed for the first time, and later was struck by the resemblance of the pumice soil to it.
Another journey I took as a boy was in company with a cousin of mine by marriage, City of Cork to Riverhead; thence by a short railway to Helensville; thence by s.s. Minnie Casey to all ports on Kaipara Harbour. By the way, the Post Office used to make the libellous error of calling Helensville “Hellensville”. When, some years later, I drew their attention to the matter, the postal authorities corrected their spelling.
One great aid to travel that used to have a wide circulation has, unfortunately, disappeared. I refer to the A.B.C. guide. This useful little publication had all places in the province of Auckland set out in alphabetical order; gave transport available, spots of departure and arrival; times of trips. It was published by Mr. Arthur Cleave, an enterprising citizen who also owned and drove one of the very first motor–cars in Auckland.
It is really remarkable how many people appear to imagine that New Zealand was handed over to us fully furnished with wharves and roads and waterways; and have no idea of the immense labour expended in providing these facilities. Even in these latter days I had a pretty good experience of it in bringing in “Broadlands”.
Perhaps the earliest and most courageous of the pioneers were the missionaries, and they have never been accorded the praise which is their due. Coming among a fierce race of cannibals to preach the gospel of a loving God needed inspiration and conviction as well as courage. The conversion of the Maoris to become a peaceful and amiable people was one of the greatest triumphs of the Christian faith, and proof of the power of the Gospel. Names such as Matthews, Selwyn, Williams, Marsden, Colenso, Brown, and many others come down to us as those of benevolent heroes taking their lives in their hands every moment, traversing immense distances on foot, wading through streams, swimming through rivers, plunging through undrained swamps up to (heir chests, clambering up and down precipices, pushing their way through primeval forest. It is also of great credit to the Maoris that attacks on missionaries were very unusual. There is the case at Matamata when the missionaries retired from a savage mob into the runanga house. The only defence they put up was the singing of hymns. The Maoris were so impressed by the courage of these men singing to their God, while in the face of instant death, that they concluded that the pakeha atua must be much more powerful than theirs, and they did not attack.
I feel that I should mention also the Y.M.C.A. The Auckland Y.M.C.A. was one of the earliest branches to originate outside of England, and the principal credit is due to the late Mr. R. B. Shalders, a leading member of the Baptist Churoh. Work was started among the young men in 1855, and the first location was in Chapel Street, whence the Association moved to Durham Street. Its building there was destroyed by fire, and new premises were erected at the corner of Wellesley and Albert Streets in 1879. There its activities were carried on with much success under the management of Mr. Brackenrig till larger premises became necessary, and the present building in Wellesley Street East was erected in 1913.
The Auckland branch is now in its Centennial Year and has just published its Ninety–ninth Annual Report, which is a really remarkable record of achievement in all departments of its activities — spiritual, physical and financial. With the help of
Next after the missionaries I rank the surveyors. They did a wonderful work in triangulation survey and in fixing the best routes and grades for roads to become the main means of transport. We must keep in mind the then conditions of the country with its dense bush, steep hills, and deep swamps.
In June 1814 Thos. Kendall and William Hall came to the Bay of Islands, and six months later Marsden arrived and preached the first Christian sermon in New Zealand on Christmas Day. His text was “Behold I bring you glad tidings of great joy”, and he founded the first mission station at Rangihoua, and in 1819 the second mission station at Keri Keri. In 1820 Kendall raised the Maori language to the stage of writing and a grammar. In 1822 the Wesleyans established a mission station at Whangaroa. In 1823 Marsden brought the
The first Government land sale took place in Auckland in April 1841, when town lots averaged £595 per acre, suburban sections £45 per acre, farm lands £3 per acre. An allotment in Lower Albert Street was raffled at £5 per foot frontage. St. Paul' Church was being built to accommodate 600 worshippers.
In 1843 the first Agricultural and Pastoral Show was held, and in the same year the Auckland Agricultural and Pastoral Society was established. In 1844 crops in Auckland were Wheat 562 acres, Oats 54, Barley 185, Maize 23, Potatoes 97. Live stock numbered 119 horses, 768 cattle, 1,100 sheep, and 175 goats. In 1848 a shipment from Sydney brought 345 cattle and 450 sheep.
In 1848, 300 Maoris were engaged in road–making. In 1849 there were 900 inhabited buildings in Auckland, of which 17 were buiit of stone, 28 of brick, 814 of timber, and 40 of raupo.
In 1849 the population of the “pensioner villages” was: One–hunga 260 people, Otahuhu 300, Howick 775, Panmure 334.
By 1850 there were 8,083 acres of cultivated land within 14 miles of Auckland City, and livestock had increased to 725 horses, 6,800 cattle and 3,280 sheep. Importation of livestock from Australia was very considerable. At this period fat bullocks made about £10 10s., cows £8 8s., yearlings £4, draft horses £45, saddle horses £44. Losses on the voyage from Australia were heavy. Crops were good, and pasture excellent — 100 acres in Tamaki had carried 100 cattle throughout the year. At this time (1850) native grown and native milled flour was selling at 13s. per 100 lb. or only Is. less than best Tasmanian. There was then a considerable business between New Zealand and Tasmania; indeed Hobart potatoes and Hobart palings (of split eucalyptus) dominated the Auckland markets.
Meanwhile exports had been increasing. In 1852 they consisted of flax £1,050, wool £1,880, kauri gum £825, wheat £1,370, flour £4,030, oats £548, posts £1,610, onions £1,270, potatoes £1,460, cheese £348, butter £110.
In 1859 The New Zealander advised its readers to go to Remuera to see the farms where only four years ago all was scrub and fern, and stated that it was not twenty years since folk lost their way in the bush close to St. Paul' Church, and it was a hard day' journey to Onehunga and Otahuhu, but within the last three or four years a commencement had been made to clear and cultivate the Papakura plains. By 1861 the livestock in Auckland had increased to 5,620 horses, 36,482 cattle, 67,800 sheep, 12,600 pigs, and 82,860 poultry.
In the earliest days of Pakeha settlement the South Island had two great advantages over Auckland — the Maori population was very much smaller and more peacefully disposed, and there was a good deal of native grass. In 1863 actual war broke out, and the progress of the North Island was thereby seriously hindered. However, the natural advantages of Auckland soon prevailed, so that now Auckland is preeminent in our Dominion. Let those who may challenge this statement read the leaflet I published in 1951 entitled The Extraordinary Advance of Auckland.
One of the greatest advantages bestowed upon Auckland by a bountiful Nature is, of course, its splendid harbour, with its safe approaches and mild breezes, enabling it to offer shipping facilities equal to any in the world.
There was an extraordinary abundance of fruit — especially peaches. “Peach Pork”, i.e. pork from pigs fattened on peaches, was a regular market commodity. Cows also were fond of this fruit, and had the advantage of being able to reach over a fence and help themselves from neighbouring trees. Having filled their tummies they sat down to chew the cud and brought up the stones. It was easy to tell where such cows had sat by the small pyramids of peach stones. At our first home in Karangahape Road we had three acres of garden, about one acre of which was in arum lilies. At Easter time the godly members of various churches used to come with their wicker clothes baskets and fill them with flowers and leaves for church decorations on the general
But besides the pests many very beneficial things — animal, vegetable, and mineral — have been brought here. At Auckland's beginning such useful fruits as bananas and tomatoes were unknown. I well remember the introduction of each. Bananas attained great popularity, and retained it. Tomatoes looked so pretty that at first they were rushed, but owing to folk eating them before they were properly ripe, and improving them with sugar instead of salt, they became disliked. At one period some growers would allow buyers into their gardens and permitted them to pick any quantity. The buyers took their pickings into the office and paid for them at a halfpenny per pound.
At first settlement straggled along the harbour front, and a few buildings of hand–sawn timber began to replace the raupo whares erected to shelter the earliest arrivals. My grandfather erected a good two–storey house of hand–sawn kauri at the top of Wellesley Street just across Hobson Street. The Maoris seriously warned him that so lofty a building would inevitably be blown down!
The first plan of Auckland placed the centre at the corner of Shortiand and Princes Streets, with circular streets round the hill at various levels; but this was soon abandoned.
In September 1840 the British flag was hoisted at Auckland, and the city officially founded. In 1910 the railway station was moved from its fine position to its present most inconvenient site. This cost only £1,000,000, and the railway thereby lost the valuable suburban, traffic it formerly enjoyed, and the poor old public was put to immense inconvenience. This folly was strongly opposed by many, including myself, though I was then quite a young man. As a further blow to Auckland the layout of the new station was designed.
And now to cap it all this frantic “green belt”, designed to rival a belt stretching from the citizen' knees to his neck, is by many advocated to prevent the city' spread! I think that the administration of this “green belt” should be centred at a place called in the early days the Whau.
Hobson Street was by many believed to have been designed as the main street of Auckland, but it ended in a 60–foot cliff and had no wharf. When at length the hill was cut down and a wharf burlt many speculators cut in, but they were disappointed. Queen Street also was long neglected. A stream crossed it about where the Town Hall now stands, and the ascent to Karanga–hape Road was very steep. At the harbour end there was a considerable flat extending to abouf Wyndham Street. The street roughly followed the Ligar Canal. Ordinary trading schooners could be taken up as far as the Bank of New Zealand, and rowing boats as far as Victoria Street, where there was a small waterfall. Unfortunately there was very deep slushy mud under the water, and if your section was on the west side of Queen Street you had to build your own bridge to get on to it. Hundreds of loads of stone from Mt. Eden were thrown in, but had no effect. Then manuka fascines were tried, and proved better, but on this flimsy foundation our main street is built. When the tramways were laid down they were built at first on longitudinal lines, and this broke up almost at once. Then sleepers were laid down, giving a greatly wider base and the two rails tied together. This lasted about two years. Then reinforced concrete piles were driven down to the solid — many over forty feet. Still the foundation is not too firm. When these works were being carried out many of the old fascines were thrown up, and appeared to be wonderfully sound.
The first wharf in Auckland was the Wynyard Pier, built in 1851. When Queen Street was made a long wharf was built out from its end into the harbour, with numerous tees on both sides, one being used by the Devonport Steam Ferry Co. On the west
For several years Shortland and High Streets were the principal business thoroughfares, but in July 1858 a serious fire swept the block bounded by High, Chancery, O'Connell and Shortland Streets, and drove much business to Queen Street.
To the east Fort Street (really named Fore Street) ran along the foreshore and ended at Jacob' Ladder, by means of which folk could, if strong and sober, reach Fort Britomart and the military establishment; hence the street came to be called Fort Street. The harbour frontage was mostly cliffs 50 or 60 feet high, and these were cut down and the spoil used for making the reclamations which constitute almost the only flat land in our city. There used to be a small island off Freeman' Bay. This also was cut down for material for reclamation work.
The town hall and gaol occupied the south–west corner of Queen and Victoria Streets; and in Victoria Street West stood the gallows, and it seems strange that the citizens used to gather to witness the executions. In the Queen Street pavement were stocks wherein those condemned to such punishment were shackled. A friend once told me that when passing the stocks he noticed a man whom he knew by sight fettered there, and asked why he was there. The man told him, and my friend said “But they can't put you in the stocks for that”. However, the victim exclaimed “Well, here I am”.
Auckland, of course, outgrew the old town hall, and at the commencement of the twentieth century an agitation arose for more adequate premises. Many favoured a site in Wellesley Street; others the corner of Queen Street and Karangahape Road, but I and many more preferred the present site. I found
In 1939 I took a very active part in the movement for an Auckland Centennial Memorial advocating the adoption of Waitakere Park. I was president of the Citizens' Association, and we carried our advocacy of the Park against strong opposition. It was adopted as the Centennial Memorial, Lut the War coming on prevented anything being done to develop it, and those wonderful ranges remain almost unused.
The principal fear in early Auckland was that of an attack by the natives. This was before their conversion to Christianity. Althqugh an actual attack was never made, there were two very serious threats. The first was when a resident of Epsom was murdered by a Maori who was captured, tried and convicted. He was hanged on the gallows in Victoria Street. This proceeding was quite new to the Maoris, and they decided to take utu. Several hundred warriors were collected, principally from the islands in the Gulf.
The second serious threat was when several Northern tribes, alarmed at the great increase in Pakeha population, decided to have a great feast and terminate the town of Auckland in one hit. Again Sir George Grey proved his merits by assembling as many friendly natives as he could get and adding them to his pakeha forces. In the end there was no battle, but only a sham fight on the slopes between Mr. Eden and Mt. Hobson. The northern Maoris then went back to their own country. However, for a long time the Government maintained considerable forces on Barrack Hill, Point Britomart, and North Head.
There was a strange friendship between the Maoris and some regiments, mainly Irish. When the 65th came on to the battlefield the Maoris would shout “Kapai te hikatipifth” — good old sixty–fifth! This similarity and friendliness between the Irish and the Maoris persists in many districts; indeed I have heard the Maoris referred to as “Smoked Irishmen”.
In 1863 the Maori War broke out and dragged on for ten years. During that time several small men–of–war were stationed in the Waitemata and the Manukau harbours, and large bodies of troops were stationed in various parts of the province. So the armed forces completely dominated the civil population. Of this I will give three examples. On one occasion the local police summoned up their pluck and put some rowdy sailors in the lock–up. News got abroad, and a boatload of sailors came ashore armed with pieces of rope about six feet long. Picking up a kauri ricker lying on the beach they carried it up to the gaol; then one, two, three and the door was smashed to splinters, and the prisoners released. Another time the New Zealander newspaper had stated that our failure at the
In 1886 the terrible Tarawera eruption occurred about midnight. The noise could be heard plainly in Auckland, and there was much speculation as to the origin of it. That it was caused by a Russian man–of–war bombarding the Manukau was the popular idea. It was not until midday that correct news reached Auckland.
This incident illustrates the constant fear of Russia held in these days, and makes it difficult to understand why the British Government gave so much help to Russia in her recent struggle with Germany. Our plain policy, it seems to me, was masterly inactivity. If these two tiger nations had been left to fight it out like the Kilkenny cats, at the end the loser would have been helpless, and the victor so exhausted as to be harmless. By our help to Russia we have raised up a terrible enemy greatly worse than Germany.
When the Maori War was over some regiments were disbanded. All soldiers were awarded 50 acres of farm land and an acre township lot. Most of the men of the fighting forces proved not to be keen on farming, but to be very thirsty. So it came about that the 50 acres were commonly sold for £5, and the town lots for £1. These soldiers who did not wish to return to Britain were given one acre each in a series of military settlements undoubtedly intended for the protection of the infant town of Auckland. Onehunga, Otahuhu, Panmure were all good land, but Howick was then considered poorer. This was remedied by deliberately surveying the Howick sections to contain really 1 1/2 acres, but still called acres. Later on this caused much trouble. Besides these protective townships there were blockhouses built of stout hard timber. The best known was that at Blockhouse Bay, but there were others including one right in Freeman' Bay in what is now Sale Street.
The first three–storey building in Auckland was erected by the South British Insurance Co. at the corner of Queen and Shortland Streets, and on it was placed the first statue in Auckland — one of Britannia armed with her celebrated trident. The Mayor made a great speech at the opening of this huge structure, and at its conclusion whipped off the sheet shrouding the statue, thereby disclosing the fact that the ruler of the waves was crowned with an article borrowed from the bedroom but not usually worn by ladies as bonnets.
In those days anything might happen to folk in the streets. Judge Munro told me that on one occasion he was walking up Queen Street with a “new chum” when a tattooed Maori chief spoke to him. The new chum asked “What does this curious looking old savage want with us?” The Maori asked “What the Pakeha say, e hoa”? Judge Munro replied “He is admiring your tattoo”. The Maori responded by exposing his rump saying “my moko (facial tattoo) is nothing, let him see this”. Maori men were often so closely tattooed from the waist to the knees as to appear clad in knickerbockers.
A similar incident occurred at Rotorua at a reception to the Prince of Wales. There was an old tattooed chief present, and wicked people persuaded him that the Prince desired to see his tattoo. At length the old man consented. He stalked up in front of the royal stand, turned round, and bowed away from royalty, at the same time lifting his mat. He was promptly seized and rushed off the ground bursting with indignation at this treatment after he had condescended to show this treasure of Maori art. Rotorua friends have told me that “Teddy Wales” was really highly amused by this incident.
There has always been some humour in Auckland — even in advertisements. For instance, a leading land agent advertised a “submarine” residence for sale. I suppose he reflected that a suburban residence was one near a town, and that therefore a submarine residence was one near the sea. Anyhow, he was himself submerged with buyers, but he failed to deliver the goods.
Again, the first importer of Friesian cattle advertised a bull in full milk for sale, but in this case no buyer came forward. No–one seemed anxious to try his hand at milking the animal!
A very cunning advertisement read “Where is the Auckland Savings Bank? Why, it is right next to J. W. Shackelford, the leading hatter and mercer of Auckland”.
Some famous hoaxes have been perpetrated in Auckland. During one of the recurrent Russian scares the morning paper came out with a big black border and the announcement that during the night the city had been captured by a Russian man–o'–war named Kaskowiski, and laid under tribute. Most people fell in, and so did the gallant little Captain of a volunteer company. He summoned his men and decided to root the Russians out or perish in the attempt.
Another instance occurred when one of our dailies recorded a statement that Noah' Ark had been discovered on Mt. Ararat. This wonderful corroboration of Holy Writ was enthusiastically received by the godly, and an expedition fitted out; but it found no ark on the spot. Some thieves must have got away with it!
One parson of a well–known church found it necessary to sustain himself with spiritual refreshment during the service, and used to keep a glass of “distilled damnation” in the pulpit for the purpose. On one occasion he had come to the lectern, which was in the form of an eagle with outspread wings, to read the lesson when he “came all of a tremble” but supported himself by clutching the lectern, exclaiming aloud, “If it hadn't been for this damned duck I should have fallen”.
Auckland has had the unique distinction of having three “first” Mayors — >Mr.
In the beginning public services were far from perfect — take transport. Ships often came to the Manukau, as it was so much nearer to Sydney, then the centre of the trade of the Pacific.
In the earliest times there were no vehicles except handcarts, wheelbarrows, and perambulators, but when horses appeared some people imported gigs and buggies. The first carriage to appear in Auckland was Major–General Wynyard'. The first vehicles for hire were hansoms, with two wheels and drawn by one horse, and with the driver seated in a “dickey” on the back; and “growlers” with four wheels and drawn by two horses. “Skipper” Bowden was a well–known character in those days with his hansom cab and wooden leg. The first means of public transport were buses, usually drawn by four horses (two in the pole and two in the lead), and the driver sounding a horn to let intending passengers know he was coming. The first routes were from the “Three Lamps” to Queen Street via Karangahape Road and Pitt and Grey Streets. The other route was from Remuera to Queen Street via Remuera and Parnell Roads. Onehunga buses started in 1851. Then came horse–drawn trams, and at the corner of Queen Street and Wellesley Street West leaders were kept ridden by boys to provide power for climbing the hill; and the fare was one penny from the wharf to the corner of Pitt Street and Karangahape Road. The next advance was the electric tramways. The opening day was a great event. Hundreds of folk got on the cars and wouldn't get off. They continued paying the fares wherever the car was going. They were experiencing the pleasurable excitement of being hurled along at twenty miles an hour when they had never previously experienced more than seven. It was, however, not so very long before motor–cars came on the roads, about doubling the speed of traffic, being driven by their owners, and greatly increasing the “flexibility” of traffic. I remember a motor driver being fined £5 for driving to the Avondale races at the furious speed of fifteen miles an hour thereby causing the uneducated horses to stand on their hind feet and wave their “pause” in the air.
The streets were worse than filthy. In wet weather they were inches deep in a slush composed principally of horse dung and grit. In dry weather this, borne on a strong breeze, formed a suffocating cloud and entered the houses and shops with marvellous powers of penetration. The first attempt to deal with the former condition was by rotary brushes — no relation to the Rotary Club; they long antedated the Club. These brushes pushed the greater part of the slush into the side gutters, to be thence carted away. Meanwhile the incautious citizen stepping off the pavement into this mixture got mud well over the tops of his boots. To mitigate the dust, water carts delivering a spray of sea water about eight feet wide, were employed.
There was neither drainage nor sanitary service, but a sanitary service was instituted in the late eighties, and it raised quite an outcry. Many enquired where they were to get manure for their gardens. At that time the service was conducted by special carts known as night–carts, which went round during the night collecting the contents of the earth–closets and drums; they delivered to barges on the waterside, and these were towed to the City Council' farm at Riverhead, where the contents were ploughed in. The first contractor in this service was Mr. Faulder, and the next Mr. Casey.
But if the streets were filthy, and there was no sanitary service, there were baths. Hilditch', just to the east of the Railway Wharf (now named King' Wharf), were the first. There was plenty of room for a good swim, and a lofty springboard from which to dive. Anyone coming a “belly–buster” from this height would suffer severely. Later the City Council established sea–water baths further to the westward, and later still fresh–water baths in other localities. In my earliest youth (after the baby stage) the only baths in private houses were “sitz” baths made of thin sheet metal and painted. This portable object was left in your bedroom overnight, and a servant came in in the morning and threw a bucketful of deadly cold water into it. You were expected to strip off and enjoy yourself, but few people bathed every day. The first improvement was a separate bathroom with a fixed bath of galvanized sheet metal with cold water laid on. Later came the modern enamelled fixed bath of much stouter metal with hot and cold water laid on, and the daily bath became usual.
There was no fresh water supply except from creeks and springs. The very earliest town supply was drawn from a small pond in the Domain, and served a few premises in Queen
I was recently given the job of switching on electric light and power to my old “earledom” of Broadlands and surroundings, whereby great benefits were conferred on that area. Indeed light is one of the few really essential necessaries for human existence. In Auckland at the very first the only illuminant was whale oil burned in a lamp resembling the old Roman pattern. Soon the mutton fat candle came in. Tin tubes were made about a foot long and an inch in diameter. In the centre was a wick. The housewife saved up all scraps of fat, melted them down and poured the hot liquid into the tube. When cold the candle was extracted. It gave a feeble flickering light, and required frequent use of the snuffers, but was an improvement on whale oil. When in Sydney my father saw the comparatively brilliant light of
Lights on moving vehicles were a problem. Your buggy lamp had a short candle inside; your bike had an oil lamp. The carbide lamp was an immense improvement, but has now given way to electricity.
The Post Office is dealt with separately in Chapter 20.
The Chamber of Commerce may be said to be the principal business organisation in Auckland. It has always had a great influence, not only because of a numerous membership, but because of the weight of its opinion. Its members are drawn from the leaders in all departments of the business world. Its inception was at a meeting of merchants held on 24th January 1856, and in 1865 the Journal of the House of Representatives records the activities of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce. However, a period ensued when members seemed to lose their punch, and in 1869 the Chamber was reorganised on a broader basis, with annual subscriptions varying from half–a–guinea for individual country members to three guineas for importing companies.
The Association of Chambers of Commerce of New Zealand was formed in 1915, and greatly increased the influence of the Commercial Community.
Between 1911 and 1922 the membership of the Auckland Chamber was between 350 and 400, but a little later it rose to 764.
In 1900 my father,
After occupying rented offices for many years the Chamber decided to build premises for itself. To this end the Chamber, during the first period of Mr. Bartholomew Kent' presidency, held the first Auckland exhibition in 1897, and realized a profit of £1,900, which, together with £1,400 borrowed at 4 1/2 per cent, was invested in the purchase of a freehold section, 40 by 60 feet, in Swanson Street, and the erection thereon of a two–storey office building. This was opened on 14th May 1903 by the Governor, Lord Ranfurly. The mortgage was paid off in 1913.
In 1926 Dr. E. P. Neale, D.Sc., M.A., M.Com., LL.B., was appointed the first full–time secretary, and he has been closely associated with the Chamber ever since. Even after relinquishing the secretaryship his services have been invaluable to the Chamber.
On 10th September 1943 the Chamber' offices were moved from Swanson Street to 2 Courthouse Lane.
As Auckland is by far the most important seaport in New Zealand (last year the trade of this single port exceeded that of all ports of the South Island put together by no less than 54 per cent), it is interesting to know that the first steamship built in New Zealand — the Governor Wynyard — was launched in Auckland, and that Auckland has always possessed the best facilities in New Zealand for building and repairing ships big and little.
The earliest of the banks still trading in Auckland was the Union Bank, and it stood in Princes Street near to Shortland Street, and next to the first Auckland Post Office. It was established on 1st January 1848. The first manager was Mr. A. Kennedy, and among the first customers was Mr.
The Auckland Savings Bank has been one of the most successful of our local institutions, not only in a financial way, but also as an educational influence leading the rising generations in the ways of thrift and honest dealing, and setting an example of fairness and helpfulness as well to its debtors as to its creditors. Its financial story is really a romance — a story of wonderful achievement from an insignificant beginning to fabulous wealth by careful, persevering, honest methods — not by any stroke of genius. It has never had any use for wizards of finance. The
By 1857 — ten years after the Bank' opening — Auckland was developing, and 700 vessels and 2,000 canoes entered the Waitemata, depositors in the Savings Bank numbered 254 with £6,750 to their credit.
In August 1858 the Government gave the Bank 20 feet 6 inches fronting Queen Street, and the Bank bought another 16 feet 9 inches adjoining at a shade under £22 10s. per foot, and to erect a building on this site at a cost of £1,700 the Bank borrowed £1,200 at 10 per cent. In 1863 a section at the back was bought for £300; and in 1920 another section on the north site fronting Queen Street 20 feet was acquired at the price of £20,000.
The Bank has enjoyed wonderful prosperity, and it has also weathered some financial storms.
At the beginning money was very scarce in Auckland, and far from sound. Government Departments, and also private traders, issued tokens and I.O.U.' which were usually accepted, but were not legal tender. There were no copper coins except tokens. The best known were issued by Hague Smith, an ironmonger, Samuel Coombes a clothier, and a Mr. Ashton. It used to be said that before there was any bank in Auckland business men would take a bucketful of this doubtful “money” around, and agree with each creditor what he would accept in satisfaction.
In the late 'eighties there was a terrible depression, thousands (chiefly young men) leaving Auckland, so that many streets had not a soul living in them. Again in the nineteen–thirties unemployment was very general and business really bad. I then gave 1,000 acres good grazing land considerably improved for the benefit of the unemployed.
On 1st September 1893 the ridiculous run on the Bank occurred. On that day £41,250 was withdrawn from the Bank and only £406 paid in. I went up to the Bank with a pocketful of
Contrast the foregoing facts and figures with the state of affairs at the present time. The Bank has twenty branches besides penny banks, school banks, and thrift clubs. The head office and its twenty branches have 248,634 depositors with a total sum of £24,221,000 at their credit, the average deposit per account being near enough to £100. The total funds of the Bank amount to £30,163,300. The total interest credited to depositors through the years has been £10,693,776; and donations to public purposes have amounted to the magnificent total of £237,000. These wonderful figures may well be styled a fascinating romance.
To the Bank' great story of success many capable and honest men have contributed, but one name stands out pre–eminent — that of
There were many well–known restaurants in early Auckland. Canning' “St. Mungo Cafe” was supreme among these. The head cook here was a well–known character named Cassels. His specialty was giving boys of promising ability a free education. One of Auckland' leading lawyers received his education in this way. Other leading eating houses were Dallen', Water' Coffee Palace, and an underground place which sported a French menu. One day I noticed fillets d'agneau au champignons. “What' this?” I said. “Dunno but I'll find out,” said the waitress. When she returned she reported “Sorry; it' off”. I enquired “Have you any lamb chops?” “Oh yes, plenty.” “Well, I'll have some and some mushrooms with them please.” So I had this choice diet after all. There were many very cheap little restaurants where one could get an edible snack for about ninepence. One in lower Queen Street was run by Misses Hitchcock & Clapcott. The Salvation Army had a place in upper Queen Street where one could get either a bed or a meal for fourpence. “The Army” has certainly done a great work among the poorest of the poor.
If the public in early Auckland had a wide choice of houses in which to eat, they had a much wider choice of places in which to drink. The public houses in the city were too numerous to mention, but some suburban and country houses were
The dentistry business in Auckland was started by a Mr. Plumley in Hobson Street. He had one operation — extraction. Mr. Kemp introduced drilling and gold filling and crowning. Dr. Hugh Owen had a degree in dentistry gained in the United States. He used anaesthetics, and had a large practice. Then there were Mr. Windsor and Mr. Alexander Young, later Sir Alexander, Minister of Health for twelve years, besides many others.
The professions in Auckland were well represented in the old times. The official doctor was Dr. Philson, who rode around on a white charger (though he was, I expect, a pretty good charger himself) and became humorously known as “Death on the white horse”.
In the legal profession the most capable with whom I ever did business was Sir Theophilus Cooper. Other leading practitioners were Edwin Hesketh and Thomas Cotter (a real “Sergeant Buzfuz”); and there were some specializing in branches of the profession, as Malcolm Macgregor in Marine Law, and
One old–time business has completely disappeared. I refer to the horse sales that used to be held on Fridays in Durham Street West. The sales were by auction, and the auctioneers had riders to mount every horse. Some of us boys from the Grammar School used to go down in the lunch hour to see the fun. Usually there was at least one “Outlaw” which would play up and provide free entertainment for us boys.
This reminds me of the essential usefulness of horses in the days prior to the invention of the internal combustion engine. There were great stables containing scores of horses of all classes (with or without hansoms or growlers attached) for hire. I may mention Pullan & Armitage in Albert Street and Martin in Parnell.
Then there were great citizens, such as
Other great citizens were, for instance, Dr. Campbell, afterwards Sir John, who gave Cornwall Park to the city, and
Time and space forbid the mention of many worthy of notice, but no account of early Auckland would be at all complete without giving information about two humble but important classes — the remittance men and the gumdiggers. The remittance men were mostly not creditable sons of good families. Such lads were shipped out here so as not to disgrace the family at home. They were given anything between £1 and £4 a week as long as they kept quiet, and for the rest had to “shift for themselves”. The gumdiggers were in the mass the lowest stratum of society, but were not paupers. Their rewards were, on the average, small; but there was a speculative element. A man — especially if experienced — might strike a rich patch and make £100 in quite a little time. These men wandered about over all the country from Waikato to the North Cape digging where they liked, paying no rent or tribute of any kind. After a while a new lot of men appeared on the scene. They were called Austrians, but were really Dalmatians, and were real hard workers. Their plan was to interview the landowner, arrange a term and what proportion of the gum dug was to go to the landowner. They would, in likely country, dig as deep as five feet and put the top soil back on top. Even after land had been dug over for years — not by Dalmatians — ploughing would turn up enough gum to pay for the work. I once let the gumdigging of a small vacant area on Anglesea Street in the near part of Ponsonby.
The most important of all our industries was, of course, Agricultural and Pastoral, and we must acknowledge the deep indebtedness of this country to such men as
Although the population of Auckland is not by any means predominantly Scotch, three Grahams were prominent citizens of
Another trio embraced “the three Sandies” — Sandy Marshall, Sandy Dingwall and Sandy Black, the well–known very early carpenters and builders. They bought a flat rock at the then end of Queen Street for convenience in landing their timber, and cut the 66–foot width into three. Finally the Dingwall interest bought the others out, and erected the present Dingwall building.
These were not very plentiful or varied in the beginning of Auckland. Being an important seaport, it was natural for its sports to be mainly aquatic. The regatta held each year on the anniversary of the foundation of the city was the great event. Auckland' yachts with their white wings were famous prizewinners. Builders such as Logan and Baileys were known far and wide. Famous yachts, such as “Matangi” (the Breeze) built by
Swimming sports were held in nearly every bay, and it came to be said that Auckland boys were born web–footed. Fishing, including spearing flatfish, was very popular. In the evenings there were magic lantern shows, the circus, concerts, dances, etc. In the summer strawberry gardens were a favourite resort. Visitors brought their own boxes and did their own picking. Weighing was done and payment made at the office. In one garden you had the privilege of picking as many as you could eat — the only charge was 1s. for entrance. These gardens were mostly at Devonport. Football and cricket and horse–racing also had numerous followers.
No city in New Zealand has benefited by private donations to anything like the extent that Auckland has. This, I think, is due to the natural beauty and pleasant climate of the place, leading its citizens to love and worship it. And they were not alone. When Kipling came to New Zealand he changed his practice of describing the official capital of each colony, and said of Auckland, our natural capital,
“Last, loneliest, loveliest, exquisite, apart”, and he was not far wrong!
Among our cultural institutions the Institute & Museum is the greatest. This was started in 1852 in a small building on the north side of Grafton Road near the Symonds Street end. In 1867 the Auckland Philosophical Society was formed, and, after some intermediate changes, the present name was adopted. In November 1869 the Government presented the site of the old post office in Princes Street, near to Shortland Street, and on it a building was erected by public subscription at a cost of £3,400. This was opened in May 1876. In 1884 an adjoining property, on which stood the Provincial Hotel, was bought, and in 1892 a building erected thereon wherein was lodged the great Maori war canoe. In November 1929 the present War Memorial Museum, nearly the whole cost of which, together with furnishings and exhibits, had been raised by public subscription from time to time, was opened by the Governor–General, Sir Charles Fergusson.
The Society of Arts is not so old as the Museum but has attained quite a respectable age, having originated in 1870, only a year after my advent. It holds an annual exhibition of several hundred pictures, besides some smaller shows. Sculpture and the ceramic art are also within its scope. It has had many skilful and widely–known members — for instance
In 1901 the well–known solicitor, Mr.
The Choral Society was a strong influence in the early days, holding their regular concerts in the building which it erected at the corner of Symonds and Alfred Streets, and now used by the University College. The Duke of Edinburgh (not the present Duke) once played the violin at one of its concerts, and Judge Fenton lent his Strad for the great occasion. According to popular report the ownership of that Strad was afterwards in permanent dispute. In providing music for dances a Mr. Sam. Adams used to have a large business; and in the higher branches Mr. Martin Swallow was a well–known teacher. No mention of the Choral Society would be complete without reference to the great
The Public Library was opened by the Mayor, Mr. A. E. T. Devore, on the 26th January 1887, with a stock of 6,000 volumes, mostly derived from the Provincial Council Library. By the time of the opening of the new building the number of volumes had increased to 15,000, due chiefly to gifts by
The Art Gallery was opened on 17th February 1888, and contains one of the best collections of New Zealand Art, besides many good examples of British and Continental Art. It claims to be the premier collection of works of art in New Zealand, largely due to the benefactions of Mr. Mackelvie.
Though the Old Colonists' Museum was not established till 1916, because of its special functions it is deserving of mention here. It was opened by the Mayor, Sir James Gunson, and is full of exhibits interesting to those studying the past of Auckland City and North Auckland.
Perhaps I may be excused for lapsing into Latin — Tempora mutantur nos et mutamur in illis. There is nothing the same now as it was in my boyhood days. Some facilities, then necessary, have disappeared, and others taken their place. One necessary business operation that has changed perhaps more completely than anything else is the orderly and effective recording of outgoing correspondence. When I sat for the Civil Service examinations in 1885 precis writing was still a subject. There was then no practicable means of retaining an exact copy of one's letter, so a precis clerk was employed to condense long letters into a few lines, but still retaining the meaning and effect of the original. The press–copy machine and the letter book quickly ended the precis writing; and now the duplicating typewriter has ended the usefulness of the press copy process.
In old Auckland water–troughs were in every street considering itself important. There the equine tractors satisfied their thirst. And there were hitching posts outside the hotels and larger shops where your steed could be tethered while you made your purchases.
Another departed helper is the old water stand–pipe about three or four feet high with a metal cup tied on to it so that all could refresh themselves with water straight from the Western Springs. Many, however, were not sufficiently refreshed to give them strength to turn the water off when they had finished, and there was considerable waste.
One of the smaller changes that affected me personally was the blacking of boots. As the eldest boy in the family, one of my loathed jobs was cleaning the family boots on Sundays. Most of the pavements were just yellow clay, though a few were coated with fine scoria ash. This clay clung “closer than a brother”, and had to be carefully scraped — and sometimes washed — off. Then Day & Martin' blacking was applied. This usually had to be held to the fire before it would yield a polish; but, if held a fraction too long, its shine was lost and one had to apply another coating. What has become of the old–time bootblack who used to sit on the edge of popular pavements with his gear and polish his “client'” boots for a few pence?
Other features of street business have disappeared, e.g. at Easter “One a penny, two a penny, hot cross buns”; and “Fish oh! All alive oh”.
Before the days of modern roasting ovens meat was cooked on a roasting jack. The joint was suspended on this contraption and hung up before the fire with a dish underneath to catch the gravy, and it was wound up so as to revolve very slowly. This gave all sides of the joint a fair share of the fire.
Within my lifetime the following fundamentally great and epoch–making inventions have been made — the bicycle, the telephone, electric light and power, internal combustion engines, aeroplanes, the cinema, wireless telegraphy, etc., and in the realm of psychology and religion the Y.M.C.A., the Boy Scouts, the Salvation Army, and many others — mostly originated in England.
That small changes may affect us personally more than some great ones is well illustrated by the bicycle. In my young days the “penny–farthing” was the only pattern. Mr. Harold Nicholson was the first to bring the new “safety” design with pneumatic tyres to Auckland about August 1893. When he lined up at the
But it is not only material things that have changed. The very appearance of people is completely altered. When I first took notice women wore crinolines vastly enlarging their apparent circumference near the ground, and with their skirts sweeping the pavement. Then they assumed the bustle, lending the appearance of fabulous flesh in the rear just below the waist. I hope that I have expressed myself with decency. Then came the abbreviated skirt reaching only to the knee. I was taught when young that the only time a gentleman should precede a lady was going upstairs, because, if he followed, he might get a glimpse of her ankles. This raises another question — have the Queen of Spain and other women got legs?
There was then no such thing as mixed bathing, and men and boys wore no clothing whatever, even in the public baths. Women wore a garment like an elongated nightgown. This sometimes got filled with air, and looked rather ridiculous.
The men usually wore full beards, partly because they knew that the more their faces were covered up the better they looked!; but after a while fashion decreed the practice of shaving, “whereby they imagined the handiwork of God to be not a little amended”.
Manners and customs have changed. Family prayers, and saying of Grace have gone off the programme of events, and attendance at divine worship is greatly reduced. Sunday dinner is no longer the best meal of the week, and “Sunday–go–to–meetings” no longer denotes one' best clothes. “The inspired comma” is no longer trusted.
I notice a lamented change for the worse in the attitude of businessmen to their customers. In times long past the tradesman tried to gain business by producing better and cheaper goods than those offered by his competitors. Nowadays he raises the
One thing that has not changed is the manner of bad boys. I remember that the humble Chinese with his yoke, having a pannier suspended from each end full of vegetables for sale — one of which might contain “Callots; yong so yong” — was welcomed with “Ching Chong Chinaman, washed his face in the frying–pan, combed his hair with the leg of a chair, Ching Chong Chinaman”, or a Maori would be called “Mangu, mangu taipo”, or a young Jewish friend would be told “I took a bit of pork and stuck it on a fork, and gave it to the Jew boy Jew”, to which he would reply “I took a bit of beef, and put it on a leaf, and gave it to the Christian thief”. The milkman was called “chalky” on the theory that he thickened and whitened his milk with powdered chalk and collected his cream from the bottom of the can instead of the top.
Some expressions formerly quite common seem to have been dropped — for instance “Where did you get that 'at?”; “Get your 'air cut”; “Hold your hair on”; “Teach your grandmother how to suck eggs”; ‘How’ your poor feet”; “From the creation of cats”; “As sure as God made little apples”; “Half a loaf is better than no bread, but it' not better than a Government job”; “Just a little bit off the top for me” — suitable either for the barber or the dining table; “Not for all the tea in China”, which reminds me that within my own memory all tea came from China, and the price was a pound a pound. This precious stuff was kept in a small ornamental box called a tea caddy, the key or” which was worn by the lady of the house on her belt, and the making of a cup of tea was a greater ceremony than uncorking a bottle of wine. When tea came to be grown in India the price crashed back to about four shillings per pound, and merchants having large stocks on hand were at their wits' end to get rid of it. It became common to advertise “To be given away with a pound of tea” some article worth say 5s. or even 10s. In Ceylon I learned that the plant from which tea is derived is a camellia.
And finally, coming down to my little self, I am completely changed. When I was young I was never tired and always hungry. Now I am always tired and never hungry.
As we are mainly concerned with Auckland City it may be well to record here that the first Municipal election in Auckland City was held on 22nd February 1854. It excited little interest, but seven members were returned. Two of these resigned, and my grandfather,
Later on the general elections became much livelier than they are now. My first experience was when Mr. J. Aitken Connell, a cousin by marriage, stood for Eden against Mr. Mitchelson. His first meeting was in St. Sepulchre' Hall. I attended, I must confess, out of a sense of tribal duty. Mr. Connell started by proposing for chairman a well–known citizen who was supposed to have declared that “Five bob a day was enough for any working man”. There was marked opposition. Mr. Connell said “If you don't like my chairman choose your own”. There was no response. Mr. Connell then said “Well, I appoint John Douglas (then my father' business partner). Douglas sat in the chair, but hadn't any idea of what to do. He had a big bald head of a ruddy colour, a red face and a red beard. He beamed and smiled upon the audience until a voice exclaimed “Hullo old full–moon, wake up”. This caused hearty laughter, and things got started. Mr. Connell gave a good speech for an hour or so, and then got off the track. Among other foolish remarks he spoke of the old lady he loved, and said, “You may think me a fool but a few days ago I wanted a ride on the North Shore and took my faithful old mare to the ferry steamer. Do you think the hands could ship her? Not they; but I gave her a slap on the off rump and she went straight aboard.” This caused a deal of uproar, and Mr. Connell advanced to the front of the platform, shook his fist at the audience, and yelled “You can all go to hell, damn you”. The next day in the Herald, right over the leader, was a six–inch advertisement apologising for this awful language and announcing that he would address the electors in the Opera House on the following Monday. The house was crowded. Mr. Connell had got the complete speech he had intended to deliver at St.
sauve qui pent. The electors failed to return Mr. Connell to Parliament.
Then in the time when “King Dick” (Mr. Seddon) and “The Wizard of Finance” (Sir Joseph Ward, Bart.) ruled the roost, the latter held a meeting in the Choral Hall. About three rows from the front sat
To retrieve this disaster Mr. Seddon himself came up and used the drill hall for the first time for political purposes. The place was well picketed with police and plain–clothes men, but Billy rushed the steps and had his foot on the platform when
On a subsequent occasion, when the poll for prohibition or continuation of the liquor traffic was taken at the same time as that for M.H.R.' (now called M.P.'), a leading society lady was canvassing against prohibition when a washer–lady approached to record her vote. Society tackled the washerwoman, who said, “Why should I vote for the trade?” Society answered “Why, its our bread and butter you know”. The washer then, with her arms akimbo, fronted Society and demanded, “Wot' the matter with yer takin in washin?” This hideous suggestion knocked Society speechless for quite a while.
In the days of its youth Auckland was not by any means rich in ecclesiastical architecture. Some small churches designed by Bishop Selwyn were quite good, but were not large enough to be impressive. About the same period attempts were made by the Church of England, and by the Baptists to remedy this state of affairs. St. Matthew' vestry hit on the idea of starting a trust fund to provide a stone church for the parish by charging the current expenses account with the salaries for such offices as verger, whereas the services were really rendered gratuitously, and the nominal salaries paid into the stone church building fund. Cash subscriptions also were received. Interest was then high. Eight per cent was easily obtainable, and at that rate money doubles itself in only nine years. So the present substantial and handsome building was erected at a cost of over £25,000, and without leaving a load of debt on the parish.
The Baptist Tabernacle was erected by funds subscribed privately, and gained by enterprises including a great bazaar. The Rev. Thos. Spurgeon (son of the great preacher) was then pastor, and he collected some contributions in England.
Educational facilities in Auckland' early days were not by any means first–class. There were district primary schools free to all. The only secondary school of real importance was the Auckland College and Grammar School. There was no University College, but at first the Grammar School pretended to almost University standing, and the first lady to gain a University Degree in any part of the British Empire was educated there. The school was started in 1869 by the purchase of Dr. Kidd' Academy in Howe Street. There were no free places till about 1880, when about four scholarship boys, and a like number of free placers, were sent up from the primary schools. The examinations for the granting of these privileges attracted much attention.
The school ran a first–class cadet corps, and it reached the top of its form when it volunteered for active service against
Honourable mention should be made of those essential servants of great schools — the janitors. At the Auckland Grammar School Sergeant Birley for many years filled this office with great credit. He was followed by Mr. Tooley. To show their intimate knowledge of Latin some of the boys used to conjugate him as part of the verb fero, and call him “Latum”.
The only other secondary school of any importance was the Church of England Grammar School, which was started in Karangahape Road, but moved to Parnell. The headmaster of this school was Mr. Pycroft — of course called by the boys “piecrust”. The fees for pupils were very moderate.
St. John' College at St. Heliers Bay was a useful institution established by the Church of England for preparing candidates for taking Holy Orders. It was at first intended to locate it at Waimate North, and a beginning was made towards the end of 1842, but as early as 1844 the advantage of having the college close to Auckland was recognised, and a site of several hundred acres at West Tamaki (as that area was then called) was purchased with funds derived from the legacy of the Rev. Mr. Whytehead. Gradually buildings were added at a total cost of £5,000, and the cost of removal from Waimate was £600.
Then there were two small private secondary schools, one conducted by Mr. Peter Mason in Upper Pitt Street, and the other by Mr. Josiah Martin in the Choral Hall, Symonds Street.
There was no University College (until May 1883, when it was opened with a staff of four professors) and the only means of improving one' education after leaving school were Mutual Improvement Societies conducted by the churches. About 1890 these collaborated to form the Union Parliament. Each Society could elect a number of representatives in proportion to its financial membership. The Speaker was not elected from the members, but we were fortunate in securing the services of Mr. Button, an old member of Parliament, and afterwards a Judge of the Supreme Court. Its meetings were held once a month in the premises of the Y.M.C.A. at the corner of Wellesley and Albert Streets, and the proceedings were conducted in strict parliamentary form.
Two names stand out prominently in the history of Education in Auckland — that of Sir Maurice O'Rorke, for so long Chairman of the University College Council and Grammar School Board of Governors, and that of
Mention should also be made of the Mechanics' Institute, established in 1842 for the artisan and labouring classes, but also used largely for public meetings and high–class lectures by men of such standing as the
Postals facilities in Auckland' earliest days were poor, and the charges high and various. Each place had a separate rate, which was payable by the recipient. In July 1855 adhesive stamps were introduced, and postage became payable by the sender. In the earliest days mails were carried by Maoris as far as Wellington. The pace averaged 17 miles a day.
On 18th September 1840 the Post Office was opened in a long native hut which was then the only public building in Auckland. Mr. E. M. Williams was appointed Postmaster. In August 1843 the New Zealand post offices came under the control of the British Postmaster–General. In 1853 the Provincial Governments were established, and took over the postal service. In 1859 the General Government assumed control of the postal business and instituted a universal flat rate of twopence on inland letters. In 1855 a post office was erected in High Street, but only three years afterwards a new building was placed in Princes Street, where the Museum afterwards stood. This site proved inconvenient for the public, and the Post Office was moved to the foot of Shortland Street in 1865, but was destroyed in 1872. A new building was then erected on the same site, and completed in December 1874. The foundation stone of the present building at the foot of Queen Street was laid by Sir Joseph Ward in 1910, and the Post Office was opened by the Right Hon.
Universal penny postage came in on 1st January 1901. The Post Office Savings Bank was established in 1867. The postal note business was introduced in 1886, and parcel post in 1887,
In 1863 there were less than 40 miles of telegraph lines in New Zealand, and half of that was between Auckland and the military camp at Drury.
Cable communication with Australia was established in 1876.
In the sailing ship days the European mails would take up to six months. The advent of auxiliary steamers in the late 'ixties cut this down to three months. Then came the 'Frisco mail once a month. By this route fast steamers sailed from Auckland to San Francisco. Special fast trains carried the mails to Halifax, and then the speediest boats carried them to Liverpool. This journey took about thirty days, and was so vast an improvement that all European correspondence was saved up for it. The advent of universal penny postage was a great and very beneficial event. Though the rates of postage were cut down so drastically, the Post Office paid its way. Now–a–days by air mail the time is cut down to between five and six days and the postage made 1s. 6d. per half oz, or 3d. per oz for surface mails, taking about thirty days in transit.
The first girls employed at the public counter in the Post Office were subjected to some badinage. On one occasion a man came in with a bag said to contain 240 pennies, and demanded a pound' worth of penny stamps. The girl refused to take the bag, saying she was not bound to accept more than twenty–four pennies. “All right” said the man producing one penny. “Penny stamp please Miss”, and the game went on till a crowd of waiting customers got annoyed, and the girl gave in. On another occasion a girl had kept a customer waiting for some time. When she produced his stamp he said with an American drawl “Would you mind licking it, Miss?” She did not oblige him.
I have not said much about the suburbs of Auckland in the olden days. They are now mostly incorporated in the City, and
The greater part, if not the whole of this area, was owned by two men — the Hon. Jas. Williamson, who lived at “The Pa”, near Onehunga, and a Maori named Crummer, after whom Williamson Avenue and Crummer Road are named. This reminds me of the most curious insurance I ever effected. A lady came into my office at the head of about a dozen youngsters, and informed me that her husband had just died and left her the family to bring up and a considerable property in Grey Lynn to support them. She wanted all the money she could get on mortgage. I inspected the property, and made the loan. The lawyer, however, discovered that her husband had made a provision that, if she married again, she lost the property. This, of course, spoilt our security. When I told her of the trouble she exclaimed “Marry! Me many a man! !” Looking at her young tribe I remarked “Well, what else would you marry? Anyhow, you seem to have been fairly fond of your first”. It was suggested that she be insured against the risk of marriage. I saw the manager of a big accident insurance company. After discussion and deliberation he said “Yes, I'll do it at £1 per centum per annum”. I said “Come and have a look at the lady. You'll do it at half–a–crown”. To this he replied “I'm not going to marry her, but God knows what some other fool may do. £1 per cent or nothing”. Going back to my office I was terrified by the probable fury of a female insured against marriage; but a brain–wave struck me, so I said “This is a very difficult business, but if you will pay 6 per cent instead of 5 per cent as agreed, I will still grant the loan”. She jumped at this, and I was regarded as a benefactor instead of a malefactor.
The Arch Hill side of the Great North Road was occupied by one or two good houses, a few cottages, some brick and pottery works, and big Chinese market gardens — but Epsom and Tamaki were the principal areas for Chinamen' gardens. From the top of Mt. Eden looking south and west one saw suburban farms averaging about twenty–five acres, each with its little homestead. I have been informed that a suburban farm of ten acres, now part of the Borough of Newmarket, was offered to my grandfather and to Mr. Dingwall and doubtless to others, for £3 the lot, but not bought because it was a raupo swamp and
The suburbs on the North Shore have not made the progress which is the due of their merits, and cannot ever do so until proper access is provided by a toll–free bridge. Trans–harbour facilities have passed through many stages, from pulling boats and sailers to steamers, and the service from three trips each way per day to four trips each way per hour. Many people have joined in the effort, and the names of Alison and Holmes are prominent from very early times. The first service I can personally remember was run by people named Quick, and the Devon–port Steam Ferry Co. The wharf and business area were first located just inside the North Head; but after a while the Victoria Wharf and Flagstaff hotel area supplanted it.
At this time there were many toll bars on roads leading into the City, and they proved to be an infernal nuisance. We must be careful not to repeat this mistake on the Bridge.
In my opinion the investors who paid just on £600 per acre for town lots at the first Government land sale in 1841 must have had courage as well as money.
At a sale in 1853 the lease for 21 years of ten acres “on the Epsom Road 1 1/2 miles from town” made £12 10s. per annum, and 53 acres at Tamaki with water frontage brought £51 yearly. Cash sales at this time were made at 50s. per acre in both cases for 77 acres at the Whau portage and 41 acres at Shoal Bay.
As to housing: how does the following extract from the leading article of the New Zealander of 20th July 1859 compare with present ideas and values? “We have been assured on competent authority that frame houses easily put together could be made as follows: Single house 12 £ 8 feet; walls 7 feet high; one door and two windows and a stove plate inserted, from £12 to £14. Such a house would be sufficient for a party of four single men. A couple of small cabins could be added at from £6 to £10.”
In my own time we had considerable areas in Epsom let to Chinese market gardeners at £3 per acre per annum. Now, good building sites of a quarter of an acre will fetch up to £2,500 each, or £10,000 an acre.
In more modern times, when the New Zealand Insurance Co. decided to erect their great office building the sharebrokers and others who occupied the box–like offices under the old town clock had, of course, to be turned out, and the Sharebrokers' Association was offered the property known as Firth' old mill at £75 per foot frontage to Queen Street. This was considered excessive, but one member of the Association was more enterprising than the others, and he bought the property and made a fortune out of it. Another case I remember is that of a friend who had made a profit of £16,000 on a land deal. I did my utmost to make him put his money into Karangahape Road at £20 per foot with shops thereon, but he would not!
Another sale I remember was of a property in Queen Street, the price working out at £1,200 per foot. I had been instructed that the width was thirty feet, but a survey fixed the frontage at 29 feet 11 inches. The buyer claimed £100. The vendor gasped £100 an inch!” But it was paid.
The greatest increase in property values that I have ever heard of occurred in London, and came under my notice when I was there in 1927. About two hundred years ago a house producing £30 per annum was left to the Blue Coat School. By 1927 the rent had increased to £3,000 a year.
When my firm moved into Queen Street we rented a three–storey building then bringing in £1 14s. 9d. per week. By giving £5 per week with rises every five years, I secured a 21 years' term, and subsequently negotiated an extension for ten years — making 31 years in all. By the end of our lease the rental — and selling — value of the property had increased fabulously.
In the 'teen ages of the present century the well–known old firm of Samuel Cochrane & Son used to hold a land auction every week. One of their principal lines was rate sales — land being sold by local bodies for default in payment of rates. Thousands of acres were sold — mostly in small areas — as low as one shilling per acre. I often indulged in a little flutter at these sales, and did very well; but the biggest buyer was Mr. Gresham, not the originator of “Gresham' law”, but then the Auckland coroner.
It must not be assumed from the cases I have quoted that fortunes can always be made by speculating in land. Money can thereby be lost just as easily.
It must not be supposed that Auckland has had a fair weather passage all along. There have been many depressions — the worst between 1887 and 1893. Things were very bad at the time, and the discovery of the great alluvial goldfields at Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie in Western Australia greatly intensified the depression. The fact was that thousands left the dullness of New Zealand to pick up lumps of gold in Australia. The result was that many streets in Auckland became entirely deserted, not a soul remaining in them. Hundreds of houses were let rent free to keep the insurance alive. The best of houses would not make more than £2 per week. Hundreds of four– and five–roomed houses with freehold sections 33 by 99 feet were on the market at £50 each. Ultimate cheapness was reached when a five–roomed cottage with freehold section 44 by 100 feet, in a good part of Second Avenue, Kingsland, was sold by public auction for £10. The buyer sold the house for removal for £10, and had the land for nothing; but had he pursued a policy of masterly inactivity he could have got £250 to £300 for it about a couple of years later. Ships were leaving Auckland crowded with young men. Many of the emigrants had only enough money to pay their passage to Perth, and tried to walk to the goldfields. On this little stroll of about 300 miles many perished from heat and hunger.
A house in Richmond Road, only about 200 yards from Pon–sonby Road, absolutely disappeared. First the fences were pulled up to keep the home fires burning. Then the verandah was pulled down; then the jack studs were taken, and the whole building collapsed and every stick was removed. Finally the thieves retired and the Government came forward and stole the land under the “Unclaimed Lands Act”.
In the early 'thirties there was another severe depression. The population did not depart, but there was widespread and intense unemployment. It was then that I gave 1,000 acres of good grazing country for the relief of the unemployed, but the Government contended I had given the land to them and charged, and are still charging, the settlers a ground rent for, the land I gave “Free, gracious and for nothing”! !
It is always well to have some knowledge of the antecedents and character of the author of any article one is studying, and I think a chapter about my own career might be useful. Anyhow, those who object to autobiographies can easily skip this section of my story.
Well then: My father, who arrived in Auckland in 1843 in the same ship as the second Governor Captain Fitzroy, went to England in 1863, got married, and I am creditably informed that I was born at a house called “Rose Mount” in Flask Walk, Hamp–stead, London, on 3rd March 1869; but, though I must have been personally present, I can't remember a thing about it. My father is said to have remarked when he first beheld me “What an ugly little beggar!” and I hope he was careful about the pronunciation of the last word. Though I have good reason to believe it was correct (my father not being given to the use of the Australian dialect), my mother, who was firmly convinced that she had produced the finest baby boy ever, was so hurt that she could not go to sleep. A doctor was called in, but he did no good, so father took down a volume of super–sanctimonious sermons and read these to mother in an appropriately sanctimonious voice. In twenty minutes she was fast asleep.
When only three months old I started on my first world tour. This journey was taken in the City of Somerset — one of the first of the auxiliary steamers, as far as Melbourne, and thence to Auckland in a 250–ton schooner.
My early education was most properly conducted by my mother until on the 5th of February 1878 I was handed over to the Auckland Grammar School, then located — like the County of Cromarty — all over the map. This was the year after the celebrated siege. The two lowest classes were housed in a wooden Sunday school behind St. Andrew' Church in Symonds Street. My first day was not a complete success. Mother had brushed my hair into a beautiful curl, dressed me in a velveteen suit with large mother–of–pearl buttons, and put kid gloves on my hands! When the young heatihen of those days beheld this darling young angel, they actually seized his sacred person and rolled him in a pool of muddy water. When school assembled
After a year in the service of the South British Insurance Co. my father took me into his business, and I made the dreadful discovery that his partner was an unmitigated rogue, and had robbed him of all he was worth. Business was worse than bad, and I was 31 before I had put our finances on a sound footing.
At the end of 1908 I handed over the business, then highly prosperous, to my brother, and retired into the “never–never” to develop the estate of 53,300 acres between Rotorua and Taupo which I had recently bought and named “Broadlands”. Public opinion was divided into three classes, as follows: (1) Those who thought the Official Assignee would soon wind me up; (2) Those who thought that a couple of doctors would certify that my mental health was such as to entitle me to free board and lodging at the public expense for the rest of my life; (3) a party of one consisting of Mr. Frederick Carr Rollett, Agricultural Editor of the “Weekly News” who was a man of vision “whose eye made estates”. He alone applauded my action. On “Broadlands” I spent 28 years of the best of my life proving the productive capacity of the largest area of cultivable and habitable country in New Zealand.
Twice I had been round the world visiting most civilised countries, and had started on a third journey when my brother' untimely death called me back to Auckland. I was strongly pressed to take charge of the business of
I certainly can claim to have proved the productivity of a larger area of land, condemned as worthless, than any other pioneer in the history of New Zealand.
Much praise has recently been given to the Government for breaking in the pumice country. The facts of the case are that I bought “Broadlands” in 1907, abandoned a very prosperous business and went to live there at the end of 1908. Without receiving a shillingsworth of help from the Government or anyone else I quickly proved the merits of the “worthless” pumice soil by taking leading prizes at the principal agricultural shows from Whangarei to Wellington and frequently the chief prizes at the best shows such as Manawatu and Waikato. Here follows a list of the awards to exhibits grown by me on the pumice country, and I can honestly say that none of these exhibits had any special treatment. All were picked out of the ordinary crops. Most had two hundredweight of a mixture of two parts of super and one part of blood and bone to the acre, and some three hundredweight.
1910 Manawatu: Second, soft turnips. Waikato: First, heaviest swedes. first, Aberdeen turnips; third, best swedes. Auckland: Second, best swedes. Rotorua: First, best swedes.
1911 Waikato: First and second, heaviest turnips; second, heaviest swedes; second, best white fleshed turnips. Auckland: First, yellow fleshed turnips. Matamata: First, oat sheaf; Rotorua: First, turnips; second, oat sheaf.
1912 Waikato: First, best yellow fleshed turnips; second, heaviest swedes. Rotorua: First, oat sheaf.
1913 Waikato: Second, heavy swedes.
1914 Manawatu: V.H.C., green top turnips and carrots.
1915 Manawatu: First, yellow fleshed turnips. Waikato: First, green top turnips; another first, record of class lost.
1916 Waikato: First, heaviest turnips. Rotorua: First, swedes; first, turnips; first, oat sheaf.
1917 Waikato: First and second, best swedes; first and second, best yellow fleshed turnips. Rotorua: First, oat sheaf; first, swedes.
1918 Manawatu: First, swedes of best feeding value; first, meadow hay (with special commendation from judges); special, for yellow fleshed turnips; first, swedes another class; second, clover hay. This year I tied for most points prize—and should have won it outright but that my case of yellow turnips was used as a leg for the committee table. Waikato: Second, best swedes (out of a bench of thirty–one
1919 Manawatu: First, carrots. Rotorua: First, carrots; third, soft turnips (nothing sent to Hamilton).
1920 Manawatu: First, yellow fleshed turnips; third, carrots. Rotorua: First, oat sheaf; third, carrots. Waikato: Twenty–five guinea cup, for best turnips; two firsts for carrots, first and second for yellow fleshed turnips.
1921 Rotorua: First, oat sheaf; first, cocksfoot seed.
1922 Auckland: First, sugar beet; first, clover hay; first, pie melon; second, carrots; second, potatoes; second, parsnips. Rotorua: First, oat sheaf; first, clover hay; first, cocksfoot seed; first, parsnips.
1923 Auckland: First, clover hay; first, yellow fleshed turnips; first, parsnips; second, cocksfoot seed; second, long red beet. Rotorua: First, vegetable marrow; second, oat sheaf; second, cocksfoot seed.
1924 Auckland: Special, vegetable marrow; second, cocksfoot seed. Rotorua: First and third, cocksfoot seed; first, carrots; first, dessert apples; second, clover seed; second, swedes; second, oat sheaf; third, parsnips; second, fat lambs; third, rhubarb; V.H.C., parsnips.
1925 Rotorua: Second, cooking apples; H.C., carrots.
1927 Rotorua: First, meadow hay; second, yellow fleshed turnips.
1930 Rotorua: First, chaff; first, oat sheaf; first, parsnips.
1931 Rotorua: First, oat sheaf; first, pie melon; second, onions; second, parsnips; second, brussels sprouts; third, carrots.
1935 Auckland: First, sugar beet; third, onions; third, parsnips.
Besides the above I have the following undated prize tickets: Five firsts, four seconds, one third, three very highly commendeds, and from some shows I failed to rescue the prize tickets I had won.
I may add that in the district court competitions at the Auckland Winter Shows, the Rotorua Court (containing among others a great number of exhibits from “Broadlands”) took first prize in 1924 against Raglan, Whangarei, Onehunga, Northern Wairoa, and Kaipara. In 1923 it had taken second prize against the same competitors.
Other notable achievements have been: “Broadlands” wool topping the Auckland sale in March 1915; and again very nearly reaching top in February 1924, with wool at twenty–three pence three–farthings per pound. On 1st September 1920 a fat cow
As early as 1912 I started the agitation for a railway to Taupo, presenting a petition to Parliament supported by evidence and exhibits. High officials of government departments gave evidence in approval. Among them,
In 1917 the directors of the Bank of New Zealand asked to be shown around the country which was attracting so much attention, and when they had seen the results of the work already done by me, they expressed themselves favourable to making loans for further improvements.
All this was done while the Government made no move itself to spend a single shilling on improvements, but depended upon my work which had proved the value of pumice land forty years before they followed on in 1949, taking no personal risk and having command of the public funds, whereas my work was purely experimental, done at the sole risk of myself and strictly limited by the extent of my private finances.
I am now in my 87th year, and many people kindly seek to cheer me up by remarking “How well you look”, to which I make answer, “I can't help that. I was born that way”. But the fact is, of course, that the moment we are born we are condemned to death. And I am bound to recognise other facts — that as I get older and older time goes faster and faster, while I get slower and slower — a bad combination.
My principal benefactions have been to the Auckland Museum, my endowments consisting of an office building in the best part of Queen Street, and two corner blocks of shops on the New North Road, Eden Terrace. I placed no value upon these properties but the Museum Finance Committee valued them at £40,000. I can, however, certify that the nett rentals amounted to £1,750 per annum which would seem to justify their valuation. My idea in presenting freehold property was that, given reasonable control, it will yield a recurring and increasing revenue. Thus in the first year after my gift the Museum authorities could use £1,750 for their purposes and still have the properties intact. The next year they
In conclusion perhaps I should now confess that I cannot relate some of the facts recorded here from my own experience; indeed I cannot really remember anything that occurred before I was born or shortly after, though many seem to think that I can. But I state nothing in this book except what I thoroughly believe to be true from personal knowledge, public records and general acceptance at the time.