McLean’s Trading Post

McLean's Trading Post, 27 December 1963
Colour 35mm slide, Photographed by Robert Gale
Courtesy of Tauranga Heritage Collection, Ref. 0005/20/1

Donald (Don) McLean was a well-known and hard-working Tauranga businessman born in Oropi in 1921. His father was the head teacher at the local school for several years and Don was the only son following five sisters.

Prior to serving in the Air Force in the Solomon Islands during the Second World War he worked for Gamman’s Sawmill at Mamaku. Following his return to New Zealand and starting a family Don, a master builder, in conjunction with two brothers-in-law, Charlie Merriman and ‘Poodle’ Ake, helped construct many homes in the Patton and Sylvester subdivisions (Hampton Terrace, Oxford Street and Baycroft Avenue). Don also built the first four shops in ‘Merivale’ (Parkvale) and the family lived in a flat above one of them. First there was a grocery/dairy, a hardware outlet was added, followed by the drapery and lastly, he built another grocery store.

On the opposite corner, across Kesteven Avenue was the McLean and Co. joinery workshop and local joiner/carpenter Claude Hewlett became part of the construction team, also helping to building the houses. The other half of this building was unused except for the storage of an old Chev motor vehicle and spare timber – it had no floor in that side of it. He had more building material stored around the building plus an old tractor. Don’s work vehicle was a 1928 faded blue Chevrolet. He also had a small Commer truck and in the 60s it was replaced by a “J” model Bedford truck.

Another building venture was McLean’s Trading Post on the east side of Cameron Rd between 9th and 10th Avenues. The concrete floor was laid in 1960 and the iconic horse and wagon installed on the roof of  this and all subsequent ‘Trading Posts’.

Don, employees and other helpers manhandle the horse and wagon on the roof of the 10th Avenue Trading Post
Image courtesy of the McLean family

The wagon was an old farm one rebuilt to look like a pioneer vehicle. The “horse” was drawn by local character and artist Michael Hodgkins and made by Claude Hewlett. In 1964 Hayman’s Hall opposite the Boys College was up for sale. It was purchased and for a short time second-hand goods were sold from there. Once the new McLean’s Trading Post was established on Grey Street in the centre of town, the Hall was once more used as a dance and meeting venue, and later a licensed restau-rant, until its demolition in the 1970s. Various members of the wider McLean and Merriman clans, including the Akes and the Rodgers, worked in the business especially on auction days.

Sales of local produce, fruit trees and flowers were held during the day every Friday, and the main auction was the same evening. There were large auctions of found and unclaimed stolen goods by the police, and the usual deceased estates. A former staff member recalls there being many free-standing wardrobes which were often dismantled on site by buyers who only wanted the mirrors —  the ‘robes’ being left on Don’s premises. There were also dozens of concrete laundry tubs as house-holders upgraded to stainless steel.

The Grey Street mart is where the writer first remembers seeing the horse and wagon on the roof when taken there by her grandfather. He was a regular customer, as were many others keen for a bargain.

McLean’s Trading Post as supermarket site
Bay of Plenty Times, 17 December 1963
Courtesy of Pae Korokī, Gifford-Cross Collection, Ref. Photo gcc-5513

Christies Furnishings bought the building and McLeans’ temporary premises were located in the former Ellis Motors Ltd on the corner of Devonport Road and First Avenue. The writer’s husband recalls going as a schoolboy to an auction there, hoping to buy a book on Gamman’s Mill but it was bought by Mrs McLean herself. He was disappointed as he had played the ‘wag’ from school especially.

In 1970 the last and largest premises was constructed on three levels at the intersection of Second Avenue and Cameron Road. In the mid-70s this became Simons Furnishings and is presently Greenslades.

Information for the compilation of this article has kindly been provided by members of the McLean family.

Sources

The Ngawaro Regional Historical Review (2005) by Jim Pendergrast

Oropi - The 100 years following the Confiscation of the Land (2019) by Robert Craig Scott

Oropi School Centenary and District Reunion (1899-1999) Edited by Annie Rae Te Ake Ake

Merivale Tauranga — Proud of it, Merivale-Tauranga Oral History Project (October 2000) Compiled by Belinda Leckie & Helen Unsworth, Merivale Community Inc.   

McLean’s Trading Post (1978) by Jessie A. Parry, Journal of the Tau-ranga Historical Society, No. 62, December 1978

Mary Humphreys, Photographer: Part 1 - 1899

“A peep of Tauranga Harbour, N.Z.” attributed to Mary Humphreys, c. 1900-1906
Polychrome collotype printed postcard, published by T.S. Duncanson, March 1907 (A.G. Series 103C)
Collection of Justine Neal

Mention the name Mary Humphreys to a collector of Bay of Plenty postcards and their eyes will light up. Her output in the roughly two and a half decades that she was in business was nothing like that of ubiquitous nationwide publishers such as Frederick Radcliffe, Henry Winkelmann and Frank Duncan, but a fair number of printed, real photo and hand-coloured cards have survived in private and institutional collections. It is arguably for her postcards that she is best known, but what has hitherto perhaps not been sufficiently researched is her photographic activity prior to joining the postcard frenzy around 1905.

Potential reasons for this relative obscurity emerge when one tries to research these early images. The publication of an article – Mary Humphreys: Aspects of her interesting life – in a November 2015 edition of the Historical Review,[i] a page on the now defunct Tauranga Memories Kete and an online article including an extensive timeline,[ii] provide details of her eventful life. Despite her name appearing intermittently in newspaper reports, her photographs published in newspapers were sometimes left uncredited, many of her photographs were produced under the imprints of other publishers, she rarely advertised, never had card mounts printed with her name – as was the norm of that time – only purchased a handstamp (Mary Humphreys, Photo.) around 1905 and often failed to use it. This creates some significant difficulties in the attribution of her work. Many prints have no such identifying marks, and need correlation with contemporary reports of events from newspapers or other contextual information. It is a painstaking process, but working through extant images in several private and institutional collections has been revealing.

Visit of Lord Ranfurly to Tauranga, 25 March 1899
Print mounted on album page, attributed to Mary Humphreys
Collection of Tauranga City Library, Pae Korokī Ref. 99-354

What may be the first known public record of Mary Humphreys taking photographs was during the welcome ceremony for governor Lord Ranfurly when he visited Tauranga on 25 March 1899. The Bay of Plenty Times reported:

“We have had the pleasure of seeing a number of photographs, taken by Mrs T. M. Humphreys, of the Governor's reception at Tauranga and the gathering on the Tennis Club's lawn in the afternoon. They are on sale at Mr Duncanson's and form a pleasant memento of the memorable event, being well taken and nicely finished.” [iii]

The photograph shown above is a print mounted in an album owned by Mary Humphreys, and was therefore almost certainly taken by her. A week later on 1 April Mary travelled to Auckland on board the steamer Waiotahi, and then on 8 April the New Zealand Graphic published four uncredited photographs of the Governor’s reception at Tauranga. Although none of these images appear elsewhere credited to Mary Humphreys, it is conceivable they were amongst those she took on that day. There was another photographer active during Lord Ranfurly’s visit. Thomas Price had two of his images published in the Auckland Weekly News Supplement on 7 April, and he is naturally another potential candidate for authorship of the NZ Graphic images.

Wāhine from Whareroa marae wearing korowai presented to them by visitors from Otaki
Print mounted in album, photographed by Mary Humphreys, c. September 1899
Collection of Tauranga City Libraries, Pae Korokī Ref. 04-481

It has been assumed that the death of her solicitor husband Thomas Mace Humphreys in May 1898, prompted her to take up photography to provide an income for her young family. On the face of it, this seems a reasonable deduction. In the six years since she had arrived in Tauranga with her husband and infant son, Mary had given birth to two daughters and became an active community member, participating in fund raising and other activities on the social calendar. Apart from working as a solicitor, her husband lent money “on good security at current rates of interest” and was a mining investor.[iv] Although she is listed with “domestic duties” in the 1896 electoral roll, during the Te Puke gold prospecting “boom” that year two mining claims were registered in her name, suggesting a more than passing familiarity with business matters.[v] Her widowed mother Mrs Adair was living with them so would presumably have been on hand to assist, and her husband’s intermittent illness for the last year of his life may have required her to assume more of the business administration. This, however, is speculative – in the manner of the day, women’s roles and contributions in such partnerships rarely received explicit acknowledgement. Within six months of becoming a widow Mary Humphreys announced that she had been appointed local agent for the Citizen Life Insurance Company, another intrepid step into the world of commerce.[vi]

Advertisement, Bay of Plenty Times, 18 October 1899

In November 1899 Mary took the bold step of opening a “studio” on the Strand to sell her photographs. It was situated next to the Tauranga Hotel and would no doubt have received brisk foot traffic in the run up to Christmas.

“Many who like to remind their friends at Christmas of their whereabouts in the world will be glad to bear that Mrs T.M. Humphreys intends opening a studio on the Strand to supply photographic Christmas cards and photos of local scenery, Maori life, etc., and will be prepared with all sorts and sizes in time for the November English mail. Having seen a great number of this artist's photos we are able to say, with confidence, that they are really excellent and have secured her commissions from several leading illustrated papers.”[vii]

“Maoris preparing a feast [at Whareroa] near Tauranga”, c. September 1899
Photographed by Mary Humphreys, published in Auckland Weekly News Supplement, 22 Dec 1899
Image courtesy of Auckland City Libraries Ref.  AWNS-18991222-03-03

In October Humphreys had asked the A. & P. Society for, and was granted, “permission to erect a small tent on the Show Ground for the purpose of taking photos for certain illustrated papers.” [viii] This confirms that by then she had already developed a relationship with newspaper publishers, and indeed two of her Māori-themed images were published in the Auckland Weekly News Supplement in late December.

Maori pataka belonging to James King, curio dealer
Photographed by Mary Humphreys, 9 Nov 1899
Tauranga Heritage Collection, Captain Mee Album Ref. 0032/12/11

Wide interest in the images of tangata whenua possibly prompted another photo session in November, when she photographed an ornately carved pataka (storehouse) belonging to Tauranga curio dealer James King:

“On Thursday morning last Mrs Humphreys secured a photograph of the carved front of an ancient Maori pataka, or food store house, the property of Mr James King, curio dealer. The carvings are still clear and distinct though executed a number of years ago, in the days before metal tools of any sort were known here, and are fine examples of the old style of Maori workmanship. Mr King temporarily re-erected the front of the building for the purpose of having it photographed; the picture taken was very successful and would be very valuable to any student of Native art, the carved designs being very clearly defined.”[ix]

The extant views from this early period demonstrate that Mary had already mastered technical aspects of photography (operating what was probably a half-plate view camera), framing and composition of views, and developing and printing of exposed plates. She had quickly gained an eye for what constituted a good photograph, and it was clearly not something that she had taken up for the occasion. Perhaps she had already been exposed to the “mysterious art” of photography for some years. It is likely that the camera she used initially had originally been purchased by her husband, who is recorded as having taken photographs at a sporting event soon after their arrival in Tauranga in March 1894:

“During the polo match yesterday, Mr T.M. Humphreys took a photo of the two teams drawn up in a line with the band and spectators grouped round.”[x]

Photographic prints in an album created and owned by Mary Humphreys in the Tauranga Library Archives collection suggest that she may have been taking photographs as early as 1896.[xi]

By the end of 1899, she had set herself up as a photographer in a town which already had the well-established studio of Thomas E. Price and, although Price was investigating opportunities further afield and may have taken his eye off the ball, it would have been a fair question to ask whether the population of the town could support another. Photographers in the latter part of the 19^th century generally fell into two camps: those who operated from a permanent, well-appointed portrait studio, usually close to the centre of a community that was large enough to provide an ongoing supply of customers and commissioned “out work”, and itinerants who travelled between smaller communities, often quite widely, seeking out trade where they could. Mary Humphreys is unlikely to have had sufficient capital to either purchase a studio or build a new one and, with a young family to support, could not contemplate being away from home for lengthy periods. However, she was determined to explore options that may not even have been envisaged just a few years earlier, such as the rapidly burgeoning demand for images by newspaper publishers, who were by then able to reproduce them cheaply using the halftone process.

In Part 2 of what is intended as a series of articles on Mrs Humphreys, we will follow her emerging career path into the 20^th century.

References

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[i] Justine Neal, Shirley Arabin, and Geoff Willacy, “Mary Humphreys: Aspects of Her Interesting Life,” Historical Review: Bay of Plenty Journal of History Vol 63, no. 2 (November 2015): pp42-47.

[ii] Debbie Joy McCauley, “Mary Humphreys (Née Henderson) (1865-1946),” Blog, Debbie McCauley, Author (blog), 2021, https://debbiemccauleyauthor.wordpress.com/biographies/mary-humphreys-nee-henderson-1865-1946/.

[iii] “Untitled [Mrs T.M. Humphreys, Photographs of Governor’s Reception],” Bay of Plenty Times, May 1, 1899, Volume 24 Issue 3841 edition.

[iv] Thomas James Mace Humphreys, “Money to Lend. Advertisement [T.M. Humphreys],” Bay of Plenty Times, January 25, 1897, Volume 24 Issue 3503 edition.

[v] “Application for Special Claim. Advertisement [Mary Humphreys],” Bay of Plenty Times, September 14, 1896, Volume 22 Issue 3449 edition.

[vi] “Untitled [Mrs T.M. Humphreys, Local Agent for Citizen Life],” Bay of Plenty Times, December 9, 1898, Volume 24 Issue 3785 edition.

[vii] “Untitled [Mrs T.M. Humphreys to Open Studio on Strand],” Bay of Plenty Times, October 18, 1899, Volume 24 Issue 3913 edition.

[viii] “A. & P. Society. Inward Correspondence [Mrs T.M. Humphreys],” Bay of Plenty Times, October 23, 1899, Volume 24 Issue 3915 edition.

[ix] “Untitled [Mrs Humphreys Photographs Pataka],” Bay of Plenty Times, November 13, 1899, Volume 24 Issue 3924 edition.

[x] “Untitled. [Mr T.M. Humphreys Photographs Polo Teams],” Bay of Plenty Times, March 2, 1894, Volume 22 Issue 3087 edition.

[xi] Mary Humphreys, Mary Humphreys Photo Album, n.d., n.d., Photo Album Box 4, Tauranga City Libraries Archive, accessed December 19, 2023.

Tauranga Heritage Collection web site

Landing page of the Tauranga Heritage Collection browser, where you can search the collection in a variety of ways. Image courtesy of Tauranga Museum

Tauranga Museum team are working hard to make the Tauranga Heritage Collection accessible to as many people as possible. The digitisation of the collection is an important part of this goal. The project started a few years ago and we now have close to 16,000 objects available to view online at https://view.taurangaheritagecollection.co.nz/explore

Objects are uploaded nearly every day and we encourage visitors to keep checking in to see what is new. Our photographer, Michal Pinkerton, takes photographs of the highest quality which ensures that the objects are represented as accurately as possible and can be viewed from all angles. Here is a selection of objects which have been added to the website in the last few weeks.

Tobacco cutter 4450/84. Image courtesy of Tauranga Museum

Used for cutting plugs for pipe smokers, this McMillan’s Rotary Tobacco Cutter had more chopping power than was needed for domestic purposes and is likely to have been owned by a grocer or tobacco shop. By the 1920s this instrument was largely obsolete as cigarette sales dominated the market.

Marine Compass, MV Rena 0188/16. Image courtesy of Tauranga Museum

On October 5, 2011, the MV Rena, a container vessel, carrying a mixed cargo from Napier to Tauranga ran aground on Ōtāiti (Astrolabe Reef), 12 nautical miles off the Bay of Plenty coast. What ensued was New Zealand’s worst maritime environmental disaster. This compass was salvaged from the wreck. An investigation found that it was not used by the crew when they took the Rena off course, and this was a contributing factor in the disaster.

Beer advertisement 0585/86. Image courtesy of Tauranga Museum

Founded by W. Joseph Coutts and his three sons, The Waitemata Brewery Co. (later known as Dominion Breweries) began production in Otahuhu in 1929, which is still in operation today. It was the following year that the revolutionary Waitemata Sparkling Ale was produced and only quite recently, in 1999, was it discontinued. Marketing for the beer often made grand claims that it was “a tonic” and “good for you” with one series of advertising promoting the ale as a drink that could prolong one’s life!

December activities and communications

From Tauranga City Library’s archives
A monthly blog about interesting items in our collection

As Aotearoa heads towards Christmas holidays, December can be a month of parties...

Bethlehem School Christmas party - Photo gcc-5596

picnics...

Christmas day 1937 - Photo 01-259

 and parades...

Christmas procession, Katikati - Photo gca-2812

In the 1960s December was an especially busy time for the Post Office - look at all the Christmas mail in these Bay of Plenty Times photographs - do you think one of the workers will be heading for the rugby field after work?

Post Office Christmas rush - Photo gcc-5553

Christmas mail, Tauranga Post Office - Photo gca-2784

The Ethel Macmillan watercolours in Tauranga City Libraries Archives includes a Christmas card she painted of Mauao.

Mauao - Christmas card - Ms 80/11/2

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These archival items have been digitised and added to Pae Korokī. For more information about other items in our collection, visit Pae Korokī or email the Heritage & Research Team: research@tauranga.govt.nz

Written by Kate Charteris, Heritage Specialist at Tauranga City Library.

Whitty Whitmore - A Lifetime of Achievements

By guest author Lucy Mullinger

Whitty as a child

Alaric (Whitty) Whitmore only has two more years before he hits the big 100 and, unsurprisingly, has a lot of great stories to tell. When asked how he made it past 95 - still fit and healthy - witty in nature and name, he replies nonchalantly, “I live longer than most.”

Whitty was born on December 24, 1925 and began his life at the railway stationmaster’s house on Marsh Street, where he reminisces watching his mother bartering with Māori women for kumara.

The family would go on to live in Taumarunui for some time, before moving back to a cold reception in Mount Maunganui near his grandparents - who didn't approve of his parents’ marriage (his mother was Catholic and his dad was Anglican). Despite family tensions, Whitty remembers an idyllic childhood, where he caught food for the family, including rabbits, fish and seafood. He recalls the price of food at the local bakers - three pence for a sultana loaf!

One of his earliest memories includes watching famed aviator Charles Kingsford Smith land his famous plane, the Southern Cross, on the beach near Takitimu Drive (where the big roundabout and flag is now). For just 10 shillings he was given the opportunity to sit in between his dad’s legs and fly to White Island (Whakaari), Mayor Island (Tuhua) and Tauranga in the plane.

Another interesting memory that Whitty laughs at now, was meeting the Duke of Edinburgh. Whitty was hanging from a chain fence outside Elizabeth Park, when Prince Philip and his entourage walked past. The Prince, who was known to suffer from foot in mouth, said, “Look at those monkeys hanging from the wire” to which Whitty replies, “I suppose it depends on the side of the fence you’re on''.

By the time he was 13, Whitty was informed his dad had died: “I went to the funeral in the morning and afterwards got ready for school. Mum said, ‘No, you have to work.’” He went on to deliver meat for Dunlop’s Butchery on Cameron Road and deliver 100 papers for the Bay of Plenty Times.

A few years later, Whitty decided to join up with the army. He asked for his mother’s consent but she said no, until he reminded her that she had brothers younger than him in the navy. He was only 16, but like many other boys at the time, he raised his age to 18 and went to camp in Burnham - where he would go on to serve in the 27th Machine Gun Battalion 2nd NZEF. The hardy Kiwi went on to make it for the last day of the battle of monte cassino and sustained a bullet through his stomach later on in the war, which would exit the same hole that had been sewed up many years before thanks to a burst appendix.

Paperwork from the war trials in Japan

Whitty saw a lot during the war that he doesn’t want to talk about but when it ended, he was told he was in the advanced guard to set up the J Force in Japan. Hiroshima had recently been bombed and there was nothing left standing. “I think there was the framework of only two buildings left”. In September 1946, he was a guard on duty at the war crimes trials of Japanese Generals. For the Whitmore family, it seems the war might be in the blood. His father’s cousin, George Stoddart Whitmore served in the Crimean War and would go on to set sail for New Zealand in 1861 as military secretary for General Duncan Cameron. By the time he arrived in the country, a truce had been declared, so he turned his hands to establishing a sheep run in Napier but by 1866, he led the colonial forces including several attacks on Te Kooti and Titokowaru’s forces. He became known as someone who was fiercely disliked, in part, possibly due to his military ability.

A recent photo of Whitty holding a picture of him during the war

Whitty would go on to spend a lot of his time along the beach side where his fearsome ancestor was said to spend some time. He would catch the ferry from the foot of the Mount, to Tauranga District High school and has fond memories of donkeys which were hired out for rides along the beach by the harbour look out at the time - Taffy Davies.

Whitty also used to climb up the Whitmore steps, which were put in by his ancestor to assist the troops during the Gate Pa wars. They can be found just past the surf club, on the left.

From the moment he left school, to recent times, Whitty has always been a hard worker, which he partly attributes to his long life. As the years progressed he got more experience working hard on the land and went on to run a farm which was the largest supplier to the Bay of Plenty Dairy Company as well as the largest producer of tamarillos in the southern hemisphere.

Whitty continued to play a big part in the farming industry, right up to as recently as 2014, when he was project manager for the Ellip dairy farm conversion in Te Puke, an off-grid project that took 36 working days from issue of permits to milking cows. “I like to get things done,” he says simply.

With four children (three of whom are currently getting a pension) and more grandchildren than he can count, Whitty enjoyed three parties for his ninetieth. With only two years to plan his centenarian, it's anyone’s guess how many parties he will enjoy next time.

Whitty's Story: The Life and Times of Alaric Davenport Whitmore

If you would like to read more about Whitty’s life, send him an email at whittymg27@gmail.com to secure his recently published book Whitty’s Story - The Life and Times of Alaric Davenport Whitmore.