2025 - A Good Year for Local Histories

 

A few of this year’s local histories

Two hundred or so contemporary tales of past and present, a selection of Tommy ‘Kapai’ Wilson’s newspaper columns written for the Bay of Plenty Times since 2004, and put into a handsome volume entitled Paperboy Writer, starts this review of the efforts of local writers to evoke the history of Tauranga Moana and its surrounds.  Paperboy Writer was published in November 2024, but this review stretches a couple of points, in time and space, in order to make a larger one:  the astonishing variety of history books concerning the Bay of Plenty – east and west - that came out in 2025.  All of those described here are in the Tauranga Library: ask at the Reference Room if you can’t find a borrowing copy.

‘Variety’, in this discussion, takes a number of forms.  There is not only a breadth of approach and tone, ranging from Tommy Wilson’s (mostly) cheerful nostalgia to the balanced formality of Trevor Bentley’s prose in Te Kaewa, The Wanderers [1] and the almost lyrical intertwining of te reo and English in Tame Iti’s compelling autobiography.  We are also offered some very fresh approaches to the way history can be written – Sarah Ell’s excursions into imagined thoughts of The Elms’ inhabitants, for instance; or the very practical, informative, and carefully ordered and illustrated lists that form the backbone of Hatu Hone – 120 years of St John’s in Tauranga.

There are hidden gems to be found as well.  Robert Craig Scott’s prodigious efforts to track and trace the changes in neighbourhoods that have now become Tauranga’s suburbs are hugely useful to those researching past lives in close and often unexpected detail.  Bob published the second edition of Mount Maunganui, A History of the Land and Early Settlers from 1864 in November of this year.  As if this was not enough, he also managed to produce the ninth volume of his series: Otumoetai, A History following confiscation in 1864.  Although my editorial eye regrets the lack of macrons in the text, I was well impressed that Bob had found a first-person account, an article from the Bay of Plenty Times of 8 June 1882 and quoted in full on p. 138, that illustrated the poignancies of settlement in transition:

… most of the other trees were planted by the natives.  Mr Matheson has erected a dairy under the willow trees.  On the side of the house is a very old titoki tree.  The natives left this Pa at the outbreak of the late Maori war and burnt all their whares before leaving.  Since then, the old Catholic Church has been left to go to ruin.

 The titoki tree can be identified in the photos Bob provides and – as visitors to the Otūmoetai Historic Reserve can see for themselves – still stands [2].  Bob has done for his beloved suburbs what I would love to see done for Te Puna: setting out the land use changes at a level of detail that makes present recognition easy and delightful.

Communities are another theme that gets varied treatment from our 2025 authors.  Raewyn Otto, née Phare, has significantly revised and augmented the photocopied booklet she produced to mark the 75^th anniversary of the establishment of her faith community.  Celebrating 100 years: The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Tauranga 1925-2025 is now a large-format hardcover volume, lavishly illustrated in full colour, assembling personal testimony, autobiographical accounts of the church’s families – the Ashtons, the Goldstones, the Maunders and more – their poetry, a short story, their performances of The Road to Bethlehem; and enough institutional history to help us understand how a modern-day church establishes itself in a society where the faith traditions that came with nineteenth-century settlers were already well in place.

Kathy Wills’ Tales of Old Katikati, third edition, is another reworking, based on original author Elsie G Lockington’s reminiscences and stories of people she clearly knew very well.  Its sixty pages have a conversational quality, often loaded with personal and place names; it is occasionally vague as to detail, although Elsie makes it clear what the impacts of dreadful events, such as the influenza epidemic of 1915, can be on a tight-knit town and country society.  The tone is invariably polite.  It is, however, worth reading to the very end where, at a safe distance, the third-generation editor lets us know that even Elsie had personal opinions.

Someone looking for a more comprehensive – I would go so far as to say definitive – history of Katikati will find it in Katikati, From First Peoples to the Present Day/Ngā Reanga Tangata ki Katikati, co-authored by Francis Young, Sandra Haigh, Pauline McCowan and Chris Bedford and produced in time for the 150^th anniversary of the arrival of the Ulster settlers in September 2025.  That well-worked aspect of Katikati’s history is, however, deliberately downplayed in favour of settlement patterns since 1300 CE and Katikati’s development since 1940.  “We had to make choices,” the authors say in their preface, “to keep the book manageable; not everyone may agree with those.”  This solid and readable book has the same self-confidence that is shown in the small rural settlement it describes.

One significant element stands out in reviewing the books mentioned in this article: the choice and quality of the images used.  Francis Young had a busy year.  He and Di Logan put together an astonishing book, Pictures from the Ulster Plantation: Katikati 1898-1900, of the very lovely photographs of Emily Surtees.  Her album records the homes and people of the Ulster families that George Vesey Stewart somehow persuaded and energetically led to live on the other side of the world. These evocative images have been carefully selected, even more carefully digitally enhanced, and are laid out in such a way that each monochrome page is beautiful in itself.

Quite another, just as compelling, approach is taken by Sally Pratt with her publication, Tauranga: Just scratching the surface.  As every successful publisher knows, you can judge a book by its cover: Sally’s lively account of interesting and exciting episodes of our town’s past is accessible, impressively researched, packed with Tauranga’s more unusual stories and a quantity of spectacular illustrations, almost all of them colourised using AI and up-to-the-minute digital publishing technology.  This is the perfect way to interest a younger reader – a highly pictorial presentation showing the layers of history in our place, with enough text to explain how streets and shorelines change, and who was involved in changing them.

No review of the histories published this year would be complete without acknowledging the two mainstream books shown above.

Sarah Ell gave a talk to Tauranga Historical earlier this year.  The Spirit of a Place celebrates the status of one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s significant heritage sites, and Sarah explained how she steered a careful course through her chapters.  She set herself to meet the demands of the expected readership of her book: serious scholars, heritage enthusiasts, and of course the tourists who flock to The Elms from the cruise ships and elsewhere, seeking something that will mark a memorable experience rather than - maybe as well as – explain the background to a distinguished building and the family that made it their home for so long.  Glossy, with sensitive photographs and even more sensitive side-stories, the book is a triumph by any standard, and the writing of a quality that shows even a well-trodden tale has fresh insights to uncover.

Tame Iti’s autobiography, Mana, is a quality publication of a very different kind. Beautifully designed, with lots of white space on its matt-paper pages, it has a congenial font that helps make the considerable amount of te reo, although not invariably translated, adequately understandable in context.  The overall tone of the book, as might be expected of its subject, is one of drama in both the narrative and the images.    It is also sober and reflective, the story of an examined life, one we are privileged to see too. 

What a vintage year 2025 has proved to be for us here in the Bay of Plenty.  Local history really does enrich our lives and the way we deal with our present day.  We must be grateful to all our local historians who take the time, and expend prodigious effort, to help us understand how things were and are now.  Tame Iti’s approach, in connection with the Waitangi Tribunal’s hearings of the Tūhoe claims, sums it up:

…we came up with a way to convey that history.  Instead of a lecture about colonization and confiscation, we would paint the picture of the experience of our tīpuna.  We reminded ourselves: Imagine being in that space.  What are we thinking? [3]

 [1] We published a description of Te Kaewa/The Wanderers on this blog on Tuesday 28 October

[2] I am indebted to Harley Couper of the Reference team at Tauranga Library for helping me to find this on the 3D Tauranga Web Viewer, https://www.tauranga.govt.nz/council/maps

[3] Tame Iti, Mana, p.201

Author and images: Beth Bowden

Tauranga and the Hot Lakes Photographic Company

The Pink Terraces of Rotomahana, oil painting by Kennett Watkins, 1877
Collection of Auckland War Memorial Museum, Ref. PD-1917-1-2

On 12 August 1876 the dramatically named Tauranga and Hot Lake Photographic Company made its debut in a studio in Wharf Street, Tauranga, with a series of twelve scenic views of thermal attractions at Rotomahana and Ohinemutu in the Rotorua Lake District.[1] The Auckland Star editor reviewed the photographs favourably:

“A day or two ago we alluded to the admirable cabinet photographic views of Lake scenery issued by the Tauranga and Hot Lake Photographic Company. We have since received from Mr Edgcumbe, proprietor of the Bay of Plenty Times, a complete series of twelve views, which more than bear out our previous remarks upon the admirable choice of subjects, and superior execution displayed in these pictures. In the views of the terraces, quite a remarkable shading has been obtained, the gleam of sunlight on the prominent points of the massive marble buttresses, being brought out with extraordinary distinctness. The steam rising from the boiling puias and furmaroles has also a very striking effect in a landscape, the general features of which are wild and sombre. The labours of the Company will, we believe, do a great deal towards attracting the attention of tourists to this wonderful district, and will thus materially promote the interests of Tauranga.” [2]

Unfortunately, the short-lived Tauranga and Hot Lake Photographic Company doesn’t appear to have signed their images, and no known photographs of the thermal attractions carry the signature of either the company or their principals, Charles Henry Kennett and Edward Reginald Watkins. However, the elder of the two brothers, Kennett, was a landscape artist of some skill, and several of his watercolour and oil paintings of the Pink and White Terraces from this early period exist in institutional collections.

They were born in India but, after their army officer father died in 1854, the brothers travelled with their mother to Sussex, England, their widowed maternal grandmother being a proprietor of iron ore mines.[3] Kennett was educated at Wellington College, Berkshire,[4] and later studied under a celebrated landscape painter in France and Switzerland, while Reginald spent time in France and Germany, probably studying the classics.[5]

The White Terraces at Rotomahana, watercolour painting by Kennett Watkins, 1873
Collection of Tairawhiti Museum, Ref. 1963.2250.4

Kennett reached New Zealand from London in 1873, and probably made his first visit to Rotomahana in August that year, as suggested by a passenger record[6] and several watercolour landscapes held by Tairawhiti Museum (see above). By July 1874 he had a studio in Russell, exhibiting and selling his paintings through Auckland stationer and bookseller Edward Wayte [7] and by art union.[8] He was also reputed to have “made tinplates of many of the old Maoris of the north“. In March 1875 he moved to Auckland and “commenced business as artist and photographer, in the premises in Shortland-street, lately occupied by Mr. [George] Redfern.”[9]

Government Buildings, Tauranga, c. 1870s-1880s
Possible attribution to Tauranga and Hot Lakes Photographic Coy. (Watkins Bros.)
Collection of Te Papa Tongarewa, Ref. O.009469

His younger brother Reginald arrived in New Zealand in September 1875[10] and by April 1876 both were in Tauranga preparing for a new adventure:

“Photography. Watkins Bros. beg to inform the public of Tauranga that they will be prepared to take portraits at their studio, The Strand (next door to Mr Gardiner’s) for three weeks, prior to their leaving for the Lake district. Views taken to order within reasonable distance of town on moderate terms.”[11]

The thermal attractions of the Rotorua District had been well known for some years – Hochstetter’s map of the area was being sold in Auckland to prospective visitors by June 1865[12] - but recent celebrity visits by Prince Alfred in December 1870[13] and the Governor in April 1874[14] had further publicised it as a worthwhile destination. The usual means of reaching Rotorua from Auckland was via coastal steamer to Tauranga, and then by coach to Rotorua. Cobb & Co were advertising “Ohinemutu (the inlet for Rotorua, Te Ngae, Rotomahana …)” as a stop on their Tauranga to Napier route from early July 1873.[15]

The Watkins had purchased their camera set-up in early June from Messrs E.B. Pierson and C.L. Philippi.[16] Pierson and Philippi had been in New Zealand as part of the American expedition to observe the transit of Venus, subsequently touring the South Island to photograph the scenery,[17] and departed from Auckland on 12 June.[18] The Watkins Brothers studio was next door to the shop of George Gardiner, ironmonger, hardware and seed merchant, situated at the southern end of The Strand, also known as Beach Road.

View of The Strand Tauranga from Taumatakahawai (Monmouth Redoubt), c. 1870s
Copy print, possible attribution to Tauranga and Hot Lakes Photographic Coy. (Watkins Bros.)
Collection of Te Ao Mārama – Tauranga City Libraries, Pae Korokī Ref. Photo 03-401

Due to inclement weather, their stay in Tauranga was prolonged for several weeks, and they continued to advertise their services as portrait and scenic photographers until early June.[19] The Bay of Plenty Times reported:

“To those persons resident in Tauranga who are desirous of letting their friends at home know what sort of a place they are living in in the colony, we would recommend a visit to the studio of Messrs Watkins Brothers, where some excellent photographic views of Tauranga and its lions can be purchased at an extremely reasonable rate. The township, taken from the Monmouth Redoubt ; the Government Buildings ; and the graveyard, with the monuments of our soldiers and sailors who fell at the various engagements in the vicinity of Tauranga form the interesting subjects of some of these views, which are executed in an able manner, and give a true idea of the scenes which they are intended to represent.”[20]

Two panoramic views of the Tauranga waterfront, taken from the wharf, c. 1876-1880
Glass plate negatives, poss. attribution to Tauranga and Hot Lakes Photographic Coy. (Watkins Bros.)
Collection of Alexander Turnbull Library, Ref. 1-2-094379-F

The views are likely to have included the two panoramas of The Strand waterfront shown above, taken from the end of the Town Wharf. Although unattributed, they can be dated to between October 1876, when refurbishments to Ellis’ Commercial Hotel were completed,[21] and July 1880, by which time James Bodell had moved his “Strand Auction Room” to new premises on Cameron Road.[22] The Watkin Brothers are the only photographers known to have operated in Tauranga during this period, and are therefore the most likely candidates.

Maria Proud Bickers and Henry Bickers with their children, 1875-1876
Copy prints from carte de visite portraits, poss. attribution to Watkins Bros., Tauranga
Collection of Te Ao Mārama – Tauranga City Libraries, Pae Korokī Refs. 12-205 and 12-206

Since they do not appear to have used printed card mounts, it has proved very difficult to identify the Watkins Brothers’ photographs with any certainty, particularly portraits, which often exist in institutional collections only as copy prints. The two carte de visite portraits of the Bickers family (above) are a typical example of such copy prints. Henry Bickers was a painter and paper hanger with premises on Beach Road (The Strand), almost adjacent to the Watkins Brothers studio, from July 1873 until his death in March 1885. From the ages of the children – Henry was born in 1865 - we can deduce an approximate date range of c. 1875-1876. The plain backdrop and rudimentary studio setting suggest they were likely taken in a temporary studio, such as that which the Watkins used.

Detail from panorama of The Strand from the Town Wharf (above), showing James Bodell’s premises

The next sighting we have of Kennett and Reginald is from 8 July 1876. Particular mention was made of the quality of their views, enabled by superior camera equipment:

“The brothers Watkins, photographers, have returned from the Ohinemutu Lake district, where they have been taking views, with a well filled portfolio of the scenery of that wonderful district … a very truthful representation of the beauties of the Lake scenery … The great power of the instrument used by Messrs Watkins Brothers has enabled them to produce a nearly perfect copy of the peculiar character of the various natural wonders of these scenes …”

This time they set up gallery and studio on Wharf Street,[23] most likely in the premises that James Bodell had built behind his shop on the Strand when he operated a studio briefly in 1872 and 1873.[24]

Wairoa, Lake Tarawera, oil painting by Kennett Watkins, c. 1876
Collection of Auckland War Memorial Museum, Ref. PD-1917-1-1

Kennett Watkins left Tauranga in late August, first for Auckland, where he organized an exhibition of his painting of Lake Tarawera,[25] then for Kerikeri, where he was married. He and his wife settled in Auckland, where he became a teacher of landscape painting and drawing.[26]

Reginald Watkins remained in Tauranga after his brother’s departure, printing orders of the Hot Lakes series, making additions to the studio and offering “to take cartes de visite and portraits of all descriptions.”

“The erection of a studio now enables the Company to resume taking portraits, and under the able management of Mr E.R. Watkins we feel confident that the studio will gain as great a reputation for portraits as it has for landscape photography.” [27]

In late February 1877 he was visiting Opotiki when he fell from his horse, fracturing his nose and chin,[28] but had recovered sufficiently to return to Tauranga by 17 March.[29] A few days later, he inserted a notice in the Bay of Plenty Times to the effect that he had appointed George Gardiner as agent for the sale of his “Views of Hot Lake Scenery”[30] and presumably left for Auckland shortly after.

Reginald Watkins married Edith Mary Kemp at Kerikeri (of the "Stone Store" family) in April 1878 and they settled in Grafton Road, Parnell, Auckland. He taught French and German, first privately[31] and, after he had passed the Teacher and Civil Service Examinations, at the Grammar School.[32] He does not appear to have practiced as a photographer again.

Edward Reginald Watkins died at Grafton, Auckland on 19 April 1896, aged 43. Charles Henry Kennett Watkins died at Whitianga, Mercury Bay on 31 July 1933, aged 86.

Acknowledgements

The initial impetus for this article was provided by research notes kindly shared with me by Keith Giles, Auckland Library, biographer of so many New Zealand photographers, to whom I am perennially grateful.

References

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[1] Charles Henry Kennet Watkins and Edward Reginald Watkins, “Photographic Views of the Lake District, Rotomahana, and Rotorua. Advertisement,” Bay of Plenty Times, August 12, 1876, Volume 4 Issue 409 edition.

[2] “Untitled [Photographic Views of Lake Scenery],” Auckland Star, August 14, 1876, Volume 7 Issue 2032 edition.

[3] “1861 Census: 59 Marine Parade, Brighton, Sussex, England” (Census Record, Brighton, Sussex, England, April 7, 1851).

[4] Una Platts, Nineteenth Century New Zealand Artists. A Guide and Handbook (Christchurch, New Zealand: Avon Fine Prints, 1980).

[5] Edward Reginald Watkins, “Mr. E.R. Watkins, Private Tuition in French and German. Advertisement,” Auckland Star, August 2, 1881, Volume 12 Issue 3431 edition.

[6] “Shipping. Passenger List. Inwards. Per Ss Southern Cross from Tauranga,” New Zealand Herald, August 25, 1873, Volume 10, Issue 3678 edition.

[7] “Untitled [Paintings by C.H. Watkins Exhibited at Mr Wayte’s],” New Zealand Herald, July 28, 1874, Volume 11 Issue 3965 edition.

[8] Charles Henry Kennet Watkins, “Art Union for Five Water Colour Drawings, Advertisement,” Daily Southern Cross, August 11, 1874, Volume 30 Issue 5293 edition.

[9] “Untitled [C.H. Watkins Commenced Business as Artist and Photographer, Shortland Street],” Daily Southern Cross, March 17, 1875, Volume 31 Issue 5480 edition.

[10] “Untitled [Mr C.H. Watkins, Artist],” Auckland Star, July 27, 1875, Volume 6 Issue 1697 edition.

[11] Charles Henry Kennet Watkins and Edward Reginald Watkins, “Photography. Advertisement,” Bay of Plenty Times, April 19, 1876, Volume 4 Issue 376 edition.

[12] H. Delattre, “Price Ten Shillings. Hochstetter’s Topographical and Geological Atlas of New Zealand. Advertisement,” New Zealand Herald, June 6, 1865, Volume 2 Issue 488 edition.

[13] “Untitled. [RH Bartlett to Accompany Duke of Edinburgh to Rotomahana],” Daily Southern Cross, December 14, 1870, Volume 26 Issue 4161 edition.

[14] “The Governor at Rotomahana,” Bay of Plenty Times, April 1, 1874, Volume 2 Issue 164 edition.

[15] Michael Hannon, “Tauranga to Napier. Cobb & Co’s Royal Mail Line of Coaches. Advertisement,” Bay of Plenty Times, July 9, 1873, Volume 1 Issue 89 edition.

[16] “Untitled [Messrs Watkins Brothers to Open Studio],” Bay of Plenty Times, April 15, 1876, Volume 4 Issue 375 edition.

[17] “Untitled [Philippi and Pearson Arrived by Steamer from the South],” Nelson Evening Mail, June 5, 1875, Volume 10 Issue 134 edition.

[18] “Shipping. Port of Auckland. Passenger List: Outwards, Mcgregor, Mail Steamer, for San Francisco,” New Zealand Herald, June 12, 1875, Volume 12 Issue 4237 edition.

[19] Charles Henry Kennet Watkins and Edward Reginald Watkins, “Photography. Watkins Brothers. Advertisement,” Bay of Plenty Times, June 3, 1876, Volume 4 Issue 389 edition.

[20] “Untitled [Studio of Messrs Watkins Brothers],” Bay of Plenty Times, May 3, 1876, Volume 4 Issue 380 edition.

[21] “Tauranga, This Day [Ellis’s New Commercial Hotel Opened],” Auckland Star, October 4, 1876, Volume 7 Issue 2074 edition.

[22] “Building Improvements in Tauranga,” Bay of Plenty Times, July 29, 1880, Volume 9 Issue 917 edition.

[23] Watkins and Watkins, “Photographic Views of the Lake District, Rotomahana, and Rotorua. Advertisement.”

[24] Brett Payne, “Tauranga Photographers: James Bodell,” Tauranga Historical Society (blog), August 14, 2015, http://taurangahistorical.blogspot.com/2015/08/tauranga-photographers-james-bodell.html.

[25] “Untitled [Kennett Watkins Exhibits Painting of Lake Tarawera],” Auckland Star, August 24, 1876, Volume 7 Issue 2041 edition.

[26] “Untitled [Kennett Watkins Commences Painting and Drawing Lessons],” New Zealand Herald, October 9, 1876, Volume 13 Issue 4650 edition.

[27] “Untitled [Tauranga and Hot Lake Photographic Company Complete Addition to Premises],” Bay of Plenty Times, December 13, 1876, Volume 5 Issue 444 edition.

[28] “Untitled [ER Watkins’ Accident at Opotiki],” Bay of Plenty Times, March 3, 1877, Volume 5 Issue 466 edition.

[29] “Shipping. Port of Tauranga, Arrivals. 17 Mar - Ss Staffa from Opotiki,” Bay of Plenty Times, March 21, 1877, Volume 5 Issue 471 edition.

[30] Edward Reginald Watkins, “Notice. Mr Gardiner as Agent for Views of Hot Lake Scenery. Advertisement,” Bay of Plenty Times, March 21, 1877, Volume 5 Issue 471 edition.

[31] Watkins, “Mr. E.R. Watkins, Private Tuition in French and German. Advertisement.”

[32] “The Departure of Professor Cailliau. Farewell Complimentary Concert,” Auckland Star, March 25, 1884, Volume 24 Issue 4324 edition.