Function at The Elms

Function at The Elms, Collection of The Elms Foundation

This approximately 10 x 12 inch photograph was found a few years back in a box of loose images and documents at The Elms (Te Papa) in Tauranga, while things were being gathered from various storage areas in preparation for transfer to the Tauranga Heritage Collection storage facility. It is not named or attributed to a particular photographer but the location is immediately recognizable to me — the north lawn at The Elms. There is nothing particularly precious about the item but it has fascinated me for several years and various questions arise in my mind.

Exactly what was the occasion, when was it held and why? Who were these people - almost certainly exclusively women? What were they looking at or buying?

We may never know all these things for certain but I would like to put to you a scenario based on a few facts that I know regarding the residents of the property around that period. Please remember this is my supposition only.

I believe it may have been a garden fete held by my great-great-grandmother Euphemia Ballingal Maxwell and her spinster daughters Edith and Alice. They had lived at the Elms since 1887 and were reportedly keen on using the gardens for such events to raise money for charity. Written and photographic evidence shows that they helped support Dr Barnardo’s homes for orphans back in Great Britain, so it would seem reasonable to suggest that this may have been one of those charity fundraising events.

By the style of the hats seen it would seem to be around 1900-1910, and I would hazard a guess that they are items of hand- and machine-made sewing. I have heard that many and frequent sewing bees were held by the women of the Maxwell family as they were keen and skilled needlewomen.

This raises more questions in my mind today as I write. How were the women attending known to my relatives, was it through the church they attended? Or was it advertised in the Bay of Plenty Times? Was the kind person who erected the tent-like structure for shade a paid gardener, or the husband of one to the “committee”?

The possibilities are endless. I even imagine I can identify my great-great-grandmother sitting under the tree to the left of the crowd, chatting to one of her peers.