Friday 15 March 2024

SS Ngapuhi

SS Ngapuhi berthing at wharf, Tauranga, c. 1920
Real photo postcard, photographed by Henry Winkelmann, published as ‘Tourist Series. 1000’
Collection of Tauranga City Libraries, Pae Korokī Ref. 04-517

The people of Tauranga were delighted to hear that the Northern Steamship Company’s steamer SS Ngapuhi would be replacing the Aupouri on the Tauranga-Auckland service. Even more pleasing was the fact that Captain Haultain would be in command. A letter to the Bay of Plenty Times on 1 July 1912 asked the Northern Steamship Company to accede to the travelling public’s wish that Captain Haultain be appointed. The letter goes on to say that he is a careful and experienced navigator and practically knows every inch of the ocean between Tauranga and Auckland. More importantly he is always considerate to the public, who have complete confidence in him.

Before starting her service, the Town Wharf needed to be extended by about 40 feet so she would be able to work both her hatches simultaneously, as only working one hatch would mean more expense and loss of time. Since a Harbour Board had not yet been formed the cost would be the Council’s responsibility.

SS Ngapuhi (left) and Faulkner’s ferry Ruru (right) at Tauranga Wharf, c. 1920s
Black-and-white print by unidentified photographer
Collection of Tauranga City Libraries, Pae Korokī Ref. 04-515

At 7:00 am on October 12 1912 the Ngapuhi arrived in Tauranga on her maiden trip for the Tauranga-Auckland run.

Her length is 190 feet, beam 30 feet, depth of hold 13 feet and her registered tonnage 691. She has excellent passenger accommodation with thirteen two berth and three four berth cabins. Extra berths can be made up in the saloon, social hall and smoking room. The ladies cabin is an airy, well situated apartment and has berths for fourteen so that all passengers can be accommodated in the first class. There are two bathrooms with hot and cold water. She generally travels at about 12 knots per hour but her 1200 h.p engines are capable of 16 knots if needed. The steerage has comfortable quarters for thirty passengers and there is a separate apartment for 10 ladies. Overall she has a deserved reputation for speed, comfort and sea going qualities, especially in bad weather.

During the morning notable members of the public visited the ship and she left that evening with about forty passengers aboard. Several hundred people assembled on the wharf to watch her departure and cheer her on her way.

SS Ngapuhi at Tauranga Wharf, c. 1910s
 Real photo postcard, unidentified photographer, published by Frank Duncan & Co. as ‘Tourist Series. 266’
Collection of Justine Neal

The Ngapuhi transported livestock as well as passengers and on 22 January 1916 the Close Brothers of Te Puna shipped twenty three light artillery and remount horses to Auckland. The horses had all been bred in the Bay of Plenty and had been purchased by the Defence Department.

From the Bay of Plenty Times 25 July 1917:

“The nearer to tragedy the greater the comedy” was exemplified on the Wharf last evening as the Ngapuhi was leaving. A young lady rushed on board as the gangway was being lowered, but her companion just missed. He hesitated to throw a “considerable” dress basket aboard, but the distress plainly to be seen on the young lady’s face was too much for a gallant who stood nearby. He pounced on the offending luggage and with a mighty heave landed it on the ship’s rail, where it was secured. The assembled and admiring crowd watched with breathless silence and as it saw the basket secured, turned its eyes on the “sport,” who b this time was balancing in mid-air. He had lost his balance and with arms waving plunged headlong into the harbour. A splash, a short silence, then a shout from the dark waters announced his reappearance. A rope and a little exertion landed him on the Wharf, where he was promptly offered a match, for he still held in his teeth the pipe he had been smoking before immersion.

In March 1929 the Ngapuhi’s timetable was, “Leave Tauranga Tuesday and Friday 7.00pm. Leave Auckland Monday and Thursday 6.30pm. Single fare 17/6   Return 32/6.”

The SS Ngapuhi served Tauranga faithfully for 17 years and on Wednesday 3 April 1929 she made her final trip in the Auckland-Tauranga service. A large crowd gathered on the wharf to bid the ship farewell. As the moorings were cast off at 7.00pm a cheer went up from the crowd which was returned by the crew and passengers. Several blasts of the ship’s whistle were blown as the Ngapuhi pulled away on her last trip much to the regret of the public.

References

Papers Past, Bay of Plenty Times

Tuesday 5 March 2024

Moana in the archives

From Tauranga City Library’s archives

A monthly blog about interesting items in our collections.

In 2024, to capture the "beauty, variety and importance of the estuaries, beaches, harbours, and sea, that make up Tauranga Moana", curator Ellie Smith brought together artworks from local contemporary artists, as well as three public collections. These were:  the Tauranga Art Gallery Collection, Te Ao Mārama - Tauranga City Libraries (Archive), and the Civic Art Collections. The exhibition was/is held in the temporary exhibition space on Devonport Road between February 17 and June 3. It was/is titled "Tauranga Moana Waterscapes: 1800s - Present".

Here are the eight small works that Te Ao Mārama - Tauranga City Libraries contributed from our archives.

Two small watercolours from Emma Vogan. 

Emma moved to Tauranga aboard the Lady Jocelyn, in 1881 as a seventeen-year-old.  

View from Bon Repos garden (1884)

Tauranga City Libraries Art 21-014
On reverse, "Matapihi Welcome Bay, Kōpukairoa, Maungatapu. View from corner 5th Ave & Devonport Road lots 133 - 135. Lionel Adams remembers the gum tree - at high water mark. The Adams house, Taupororo was on opposite corner"

 

Beach at Waikareao estuary (1892)


Tauranga City Libraries Art 21-021

You can see more of Emma's work in the Emma Vogan Collection here


Four small watercolours from Ethel Louisa Macmillan.

Ethel's watercolours date from a later period than Emma Vogans, around 1920 to 1949. She was born in India, raised in England, and immigrated to Katikati in her late twenties. She later moved with her husband into Tauranga and they were both very active in the community. Her husband, the Hon. Charles Edward Macmillan later became Mayor and MP for Tauranga. Their daughter Ethel Urania Macmillan donated a large sum of money to the Tauranga Art Gallery. 

View from Macmillans farm, Pāpāmoa

Tauranga City Libraries Ams 80/11/14
Handwritten on rear "View from Papamoa farm (Macmillans) towards Mount Maunganui."


View from Macmillans farm


Tauranga City Libraries Ams 80/11/16
Handwritten on rear "View from G. E. Macmillan farm in Tauranga."


Moturiki and Motuotau, Mount Maunganui

Moturiki and Motuotau, Mount Maunganui
Tauranga City Libraries Ams 80/11/36
Handwritten on rear "Moturiki & Motuotau Mt Maunganui by Ethel Macmillan."


Looking over the Mission cemetery towards Mauao

Tauranga City Libraries Ams 80/11/36
Handwritten on rear "Looking over the Mission cemetery towards Mauao by Ethel Macmillan."

 

There are over 50 paintings in the Ethel Macmillan watercolours on Pae Korokī visible here

The last two works lent to the Art Gallery are from an unknown soldier during the colonial invasion. He was present at pivotal moments including the siege of Maketū, the battle of Pukehinahina and the massacre at Te Ranga in the 1860s.

 

Entrance to Tauranga harbour

Tauranga City Libraries Art 21-032
"The Mount - Tauranga Maunganui Heads." Original handwriting on rear "Entrance to Tauranga Harbour."

 

Te Papa, Tauranga

Te Papa, TaurangaTauranga City Libraries Art 21-033
"C.L. Greers house, Tauranga Hospital, H.M.S. ship Herrier, C.L. Harrington house." 


All fifteen of the works can be viewed on Pae Korokī here

As an archivist, it is lovely to see our humble pieces out from their safe acid-free boxes in the climate controlled archive, and for a short period of time, 'in the wild' so to speak.  "Tauranga Moana Waterscapes: 1800s - Present," curated by Ellie Smith, bridges past and present through art, showcasing the natural and historical beauty of our Moana. Emma Vogan's and Ethel Louisa Macmillan's watercolours as well as those of an unknown soldier sit humbly alongside larger (and more capable) pieces but they nevertheless add a little gravitas and highlight the importance of preserving our heritage.


Monday 4 March 2024

Forthcoming Talk, 4th April by Tim Walker - Horatio Robley, Tauranga and New Zealand

‘Maori War-Canoe at Tauranga, New Zealand’
Watercolour painting by Horatio Gordon Robley, c. 1865
Collection of MTG Hawke’s Bay Tai Ahuriri, Ref. 33528

Mark your calendars now. On 7th April Tim Walker will talk to the Society about Horatio Robley’s relationship with Tauranga and New Zealand, and our changing relationship with him.

Tim Walker is an Auckland-based arts & culture consultant. Previously he worked in art galleries and museums for three decades – at the Waikato Museum of Art and History, National Art Gallery and Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand, Dowse Art Museum and Tāmaki Paenga Hira Auckland Museum.

Tim is chair of Te Kura Toi Whakaari; NZ Drama School. He has a MA (Hons) in Art History from the University of Auckland and was awarded an Honorary Degree in Creative Technologies by the Wellington Institute of Technology for his work at The Dowse.

Tim wrote his Art History Master’s thesis on Horatio Gordon Robley. He has maintained an interest in the subject since, including friendships with Robley’s descendants in the Bay of Plenty and Whanganui. He is currently writing a book centred on Robley’s extraordinary life.

Friday 1 March 2024

Godfrey Lindsay Mackersey 1929-2023

Godfrey and Scott

Godfrey was a farmer and family man, bush activist and conservationist who lived a life on the edge, over 70 years of it in the Tauranga region. He passed on late last year at the age of 94.

He was born the youngest of four to a Hastings family and his first brush with death was the 1931 Napier earthquake, where he was narrowly missed by a falling chimney. He remembered an idyllic childhood as he commented that he was too young to be aware of everyone's financial challenges, in particular their own, as his Dad was a generous hearted lawyer and often waived fees.

Two things which shaped his youth were picking peas for "Mr Wattie" and being trained as a dispatch cyclist in the event of a German invasion. He reached School Certificate level before heading out to work on farms; his eventual aim, owning one.

Massey College occupied 1949 and 1950. Following his studies, a technician's position became available at the Ruakura Research Station near Hamilton for which he was accepted. Keen to get back on the land, he did a couple of stints scrub-cutting for a distant relative at the back of Te Puke and later in the King Country. However, the farm dream was not getting any closer so he returned to Ruakura.

Godfrey and Margaret in a bush clearing

Enter Margaret Bell, of a Tauranga farming family, whose mother needed a sharemilker on the family farm (Townhead Farm) on Cambridge Road. A crash course on how to manage dairy cows for a town milk supply operation was undertaken. He enjoyed the company of Mrs Bell who was a prominent educationist and political character.

In the mid-1950s Godfrey and Margaret became engaged, then married and went on to have three daughters. The sheep farm dream persisted and by the mid-1960s the 'writing was on the wall' for Townhead Farm due to Tauranga city development.

Makereti

720 acres of 'cutover' bush and scrub became available in upper Whakamarama and for ten years they commuted between the two properties, clearing land to farm and constructing a new home. Makereti, as the farm became known, had the old Tauranga Harbour Board Office building to serve as a temporary woolshed for many seasons.

In 1978 the Mackersey family gifted a bush block on the farm to Otumoetai College, where their daughters had attended secondary school and Godfrey was on the Board of Governors. This is now the Oteora Outdoor Education Camp where students have the opportunity to explore the native wonders.

Godfrey with Jock

Godfrey was very active in his rural community, being the Dairy Representative for the Bay of Plenty Federated Farmers and setting up their Farm Cadet Scheme. He was also on the Waikato-Rotorua National Parks and Reserves Board, involved in the Kaimai Bush Campaign during the 1970s, a member of Rotary, Corrigal Trust, Avalon Trust and last, but not least, a very long standing member of the Tauranga Historical Society.

Friday 23 February 2024

Mary Humphreys, Photographer - Part 4

The Postcard Craze Arrives in Tauranga (1904-1907)
(continued from Part 3)

New Zealand’s first pictorial postcard, addressed to Mrs Maxwell, The Elms, postmarked 22 Dec 1904
Chromolithographic print, published in December 1897 by the NZ Post & Telegraph Department
Collection of The Elms Foundation, Ref. 2009.0418.12

Pictorial postcards started to appear in New Zealand from 1897, and the first cards that used photographic, as opposed to artist-drawn, images were probably produced from 1899.[i] Muir & Moodie of Dunedin joined the fray in 1901 – views from their extensive catalogue of Burton Brothers plates were printed in Germany at very modest cost using the collotype process, which facilitated the addition of multiple blocks of colour to produce striking chromolithographic images.[ii] Postcard collecting fever took off in New Zealand around 1902 to 1903: Tauranga stationer Thomas Duncanson’s Novelty Depot was selling New Zealand postcards in December 1902,[iii] including pictorial postcards a year later.[iv]

“Tauranga, N.Z.” (No. 41), taken c. 1904 by an unidentified photographer, postmarked 12 Nov 1904
Panoramic postcard published by Harding & Billing for T.S. Duncanson (Tauranga)
Collection of Tauranga City Library, Pae Korokī Ref. 99-796

In mid-December 1904 Duncanson introduced “a fine view of Tauranga on panoramic letter card,” a three panel, fold out half-tone reproduction view – this may have been the first “picture postcard” of Tauranga.[v] The scene is almost identical to that published by Mary Humphreys in the Weekly Press three years earlier,[vi] albeit the Post Office had burnt down in the interim, but T.E. Price had a similar view published in the Auckland Weekly News in April 1899 (AWNS-18990407-07-0), so this could conceivably have been taken by either of them, or indeed someone else altogether.

Panoramic Photographic Pictures, Tauranga & Vicinity
Booklet of half-tone photographic views, published by T.S. Duncanson, 1905
Collection of Tauranga City Library, Pae Korok
ī Ref. 05-039

“Public School”, Tauranga, 1905 (from Panoramic Photographic Pictures)
Unidentified photographer, published by Brett Publishing Co. (Graphic Series) & T.S. Duncanson
Collection of Tauranga City Library, Pae Korok
ī Ref. 05-075

By October 1905 Duncanson had published a far more elaborate “book of panoramic views” of Tauranga by an unidentified photographer – cover displayed above – which were half-tone prints, but not postcards.[vii] The images were marked “Graphic Series. Protected – C.B. & Co., Ltd. 1.9.05” which suggests that they were produced by the Brett Publishing Co. and marketed by Collins Bros. & Co., Ltd., but doesn’t provide any further clues as to who the photographer was.

Town Wharf and Strand, Tauranga, Postmarked Rotorua 29 November 1905
Half-tone postcard print on generic cardstock, by unidentified photographer and publisher
Collection of Justine Neal

By May 1905 Thomas Wayte’s Fancy Goods Depot on the Strand had postcard albums in stock[viii] and he was publishing his own postcard views within a matter of months, probably the half-tone black-and-white views of Tauranga’s harbour and waterfront by an unknown photographer that were being posted overseas from the Bay of Plenty in time for Christmas that year. These include “Town Wharf and Strand” and “Low Tide, Tauranga Harbour”.

“Low Tide, Tauranga Harbour”, Postmarked Tauranga 10 March 1906
Half-tone postcard print on generic cardstock, by unidentified photographer and publisher
Collection of Justine Neal

Advertisement, Bay of Plenty Times, 9 October 1905[ix]

By late 1905, with a shop on Wharf Street, Mary Humphreys had built up a substantial catalogue of views of Tauranga and this new format became an obvious outlet for her. The Bay of Plenty Times reported:

“Now that photographic post-cards are not only a fashionable, but very agreeable way of communicating with one's friends, in any part of the world, many will be glad to learn that Mrs M. Humphreys, of this town, is taking pictures of residences, grounds and similar subjects, for clients, for transference to postcards and is quoting the same at 6s per dozen cards. In view of the usual coming Christmas and New Year greetings to friends, especially across the sea, it will be well to place orders early.”[x]

Back of Empire Coralyte postcard stock (brown ink), collection of Brian Ducker

Packet for Empire Coralyte Bromide Postcards, Matt.
Collection of Powerhouse Museum, Ref.
97/92/14-33/4

It is possible that Humphreys had already been producing postcards on smaller scale prior to this date, although perhaps only for personal purposes, since very few early examples have been found. A postcard on Empire postcard stock printed with brown ink – not used postally – which was commercially available from the Empire Works Co. of Sydney as early as September 1902,[xi] is known depicting men on a bush excursion. Some of them are are wearing naval caps and uniforms and may be crew of the H.M.S. Lizard, which visited Tauranga in April 1903, and whom she is known to have photographed.[xii]

First Avenue, Tauranga, postmarked Tauranga 10 Apr 1907
Hand-coloured real photo postcard (Empire cardstock), photographed by Mary Humphreys, bef. 1907
Collection of Brian Ducker

The earliest real photo postcard produced by Humphreys that this author has seen which can be reliably ascribed a date of use (April 1907) is a hand-coloured view of First Avenue, Tauranga. The photographer placed her camera and tripod at the intersection with Cameron Road and pointed it east down the then tree-lined avenue towards Devonport Road; three young girls, one holding an umbrella, stand in the foreground. If the girls include Mary’s daughters, which seems likely, their apparent ages would suggest of roughly 1905 to 1906 for the photograph.

Back of Empire Coralyte postcard stock (green ink)
Collection of Tauranga City Library, Pae Korok
ī Ref. 99-687

View of Tauranga’s Strand and waterfront from the Redoubt, c. 1901-1902
Mounted half-plate print photographed by Mary Humphreys
Collection of Tauranga City Library, Pae Korok
ī Ref. 99-352

More commonly found are Mary’s real photo postcards on Empire cardstock printed with green ink; one of them includes a slightly cropped version of this view of Tauranga’s waterfront. It must have been taken prior to the replacement of the wooden seawall with a concrete one in 1902, and possibly on the same occasion as a street level view shown in a previous article (Ref. 99-1182).

Tauranga Maoris Preparing Christmas Dinner (A.G. Series No 107 C),
Photographed by Mary Humphreys, colour collotype print published by T.S. Duncanson
Collection of Justine Neal

In January 1907 T.E. Wayte advertised “colour postcards of N.Z. scenery.”[xiii] A couple months of later, not to be outdone, T.S. Duncanson announced that he was “issuing a new series of postcards of Tauranga and district … comprising views of the Wairoa Rapids; First Avenue, Tauranga; Wairoa Bridge; Post Office; and a group showing Tauranga Maoris preparing Christmas dinner. A further series in colours will shortly be issued.” These came out as the A.G. Series, printed by the collotype process in Germany, with scenes numbered from 103 to 108 - coloured versions had a “C” suffix – and, although she wasn’t acknowledged, they were all produced from photographs taken by Mary Humphreys.

The inclusion of a view of the new Post Office, only completed in March-April 1906, implies that Duncanson’s order could not have been placed before then, although it included at least one view which had previously been published by Humphreys as early as October 1901 (#104 Wairoa or Ruahihi Rapids). Although many extant A.G. Series postcards are postally unused, postmarks on those that were sent through the post indicate their use between May 1907 and September 1909. Alan Jackson, in his introduction to early New Zealand postcard history, believes that minimum printing orders would have been about 500 cards of a single image, and that there was a turnaround of some three months between placement of the order and delivery.[xiv] The story behind the “A.G. Series” is unknown, but it seems likely that orders from multiple clients were combined. A.G. Series 101 was a view of T. Johnstone's pharmacy on the corner of Manners & Willis streets in Wellington,[xv] but no others are known.

Back of A.G. Series postcard stock, chromo printed in Berlin (Collection of Justine Neal)

Judging from the number that have survived, this series of postcards was very popular. The next article in this series (Part 5) will look at further series of Mary Humphreys’ images that were published by Wayte and Duncanson, and how she partially met the growing demand by issuing her own real photo postcards using newly taken views.

References

[i] William Main and Alan Jackson, “Wish You Were Here”: The Story of New Zealand Postcards (New Zealand Postcard Society, 2005).

[ii] Alan Jackson, “Early History of the Picture Postcard in New Zealand,” in Post Marks: The Way We Were - Early New Zealand Postcards, 1897-1922 (Auckland, New Zealand: Kowhai Media Ltd, 2015), pp15-21.

[iii] Thomas Sanderson Duncanson, “Christmas and New Year Trade. Advertisement,” Bay of Plenty Times, December 5, 1902, Volume 29 Issue 4383 edition.

[iv] Thomas Sanderson Duncanson, “At the Novelty Depot. Advertisement,” Bay of Plenty Times, December 4, 1903, Volume 31 Issue 4533 edition.

[v] Thomas Sanderson Duncanson, “Novelty Depot. ’Xmas, 1904. Advertisement,” Bay of Plenty Times, December 14, 1904, Volume 31 Issue 4688 edition.

[vi] Ward, “Tauranga: The Capital of the Bay of Plenty.”

[vii] Thomas Sanderson Duncanson, “Tauranga Going Ahead. Advertisement,” Bay of Plenty Times, October 13, 1905, Volume 31 Issue 4812 edition.

[viii] Thomas Edward Wayte, “Wayte’s ‘Fancy Goods’ Depot. Advertisement,” Bay of Plenty Times, May 22, 1905, Volume 31 Issue 4751 edition.

[ix] Mary Humphreys, “Photographic Post-Cards. Advertisement,” Bay of Plenty Times, October 9, 1905, Volume 31 Issue 4810 edition.

[x] “Untitled [Mrs Humphreys Making Postcards],” Bay of Plenty Times, October 6, 1905, Volume 31 Issue 4809 edition.

[xi] “Intercolonial News,” The Australasian Photographic Review 9, no. 9 (September 21, 1902): 269–70.

[xii] “Untitled [H.M.S. Lizard Arrives in Port].”

[xiii] Thomas Edward Wayte, “Untitled Advertisement [Coloured  Post-Cards of N.Z. Scenery],” Bay of Plenty Times, January 11, 1907, Volume 35 Issue 5000 edition.

[xiv] Jackson, “Early History of the Picture Postcard in New Zealand.”

[xv] T Johnstone’s Pharmacy, Corner Manners & Willis Streets Wellington NZ, c 1907, Lithographic postcard, Postcard, c 1907, Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand, https://natlib.govt.nz/records/22899967.