F is for a Fisherman’s Priest

Fishing off the Town Wharf, Tauranga, 1960s. Tauranga Museum 0005/20/1194

Childhood memories of casting homemade handlines from local wharves, or from rocks on the harbour’s edge are shared by many. A national survey conducted in 2024 by MPI (Ministry of Primary Industries) reported that approximately half of all recreational fishing takes place along the northeastern coastline of the North Island. This will come as no surprise to Bay of Plenty residents. 

A home-made fishing handline. Tauranga Museum 0092/25

Less expected, perhaps, is the role recreational fishing, especially big game fishing, has played in promoting Tauranga to the world. In the 1920s and 1930s, the lure of catching swordfish, marlin and mako sharks off Tuhua (Mayor Island) attracted the rich and famous to Tauranga, including international bestselling author Zane Grey and Lady Yule, who was at one time the richest woman in Britain. 

 Zane Grey's yacht, the "Fisherman", alongside the railway wharf Tauranga. First visited in April 1927. Te Ao Mārama - Tauranga City Libraries Photo 04-576

Although big game fishing had already enticed international visitors to Tauranga, it was the arrival of the Lerner Expedition in January 1939 that firmly placed the region on the world stage. Led and sponsored by wealthy Americans Michael and Helen Lerner, the expedition's stated aim was to collect specimens of New Zealand marine life for the American Museum of Natural History. Yet the Lerners were also avid big game anglers, and fishing for recreation formed an important part of their visit. Later that year, Michael Lerner established the International Game Fish Association (IGFA), which helped shape modern sport fishing worldwide.

A souvenir of the Lerner Expedition. Tauranga Museum, 1101/06

This fish bat, used to stun or kill the expedition’s catch, is also known as a fishing priest – a name that alludes to its role in administering the 'last rites’. It is signed by all the members of the Lerner Expedition and was given to the donor’s father, Keith Gifford, who served as Secretary of the Big Game Club on Tuhua and accompanied the Lerners throughout their three-week visit. 

 Jack Costello and the Union Fish and Ice Company, Chapel Street Tauranga

Site for Costello Seafoods Ltd. Sulphur Point, Tauranga c 1968. Jack Costello holds first marker peg, while fisherman Don Shattock drives it in with an axe.
Description and image courtesy of Te Ao Mārama - Tauranga City Libraries Photo 11-152

 In 1930 a retired Union Steamship Company captain, Roslyn King Clark, and his sister set up a fish curing business on the shore of the Waikareao Estuary. The Union Fish and Ice Company made hundred-weight blocks of ice in a concrete tower* and these were let down through a trapdoor to waiting trucks. 

Page 28 of the Bay of Plenty Yearbook 1955, Astra Publicity, courtesy of John Green.

 In 1938 fish retailer W.J. ( Bill ) Costello of Rotorua was the owner of a trawler operating out of Tauranga.  This was a former steam vessel, Marina, converted to a motor vessel three years previously. It was not a success due to high maintenance costs. His next boat, the Katoa, was holed off Town Point at Maketu on VJ Day, 15 August 1945 and was a total loss. 

Aerial view of Chapel St reclamation. The Union Fish and Ice Company is at the top left, its small jetty just visible at the harbour’s edge.
Image from Bay of Plenty Yearbook 1955, Astra Publicity, courtesy of John Green.

 Bill’s son Jack had served his time as a boilermaker in Rotorua but began his fishing career when he and his parents bought the Union Fish and Ice Company and their processing plant on the corner of Marsh and Chapel Streets for £3,500 in 1947. Prior to the 1959 construction of the Chapel Street road bridge, Costello’s trawlers operated from the wharf next to the plant, sailing under the Waikareao rail bridge to access the main harbour and open sea beyond.  

Trawler “Vanguard” discharging catch onto Costello’s Bedford truck at Fisherman’s Wharf, 1950s
Image courtesy of Te Ao Mārama - Tauranga City Libraries Photo 11-164

 Within two years they had expanded their fleet to three  —  Vanguard, Golden Gate and Sea Ranger. Jack bought his parents out so as to have full control of the operation. The catches brought in on their three vessels had outstripped local demand so he designed and built a blast freezer and sent the frozen fillets to Australia. By 1955 he had amalgamated with fishing giant Sanfords Ltd on reclaimed land in Cross Road, Sulphur Point with the proviso that he manage it for 10 years. In 1967, once his term was over, he negotiated with the Tauranga Harbour Board for a new site. His modern fish processing plant was erected nearby and named Costello’s Seafoods.

 

70-foot purse seiner “Valkyrie”, complete with pipe band on board, at her commissioning ceremony.  Built for Costello’s Union Fish and Ice Company in 1964.
Image courtesy of Te Ao Mārama - Tauranga City Libraries Photo 11-162

By 1971, Sanfords planned to build their own modern plant next door but the depressed fish export market at the time resulted in Costellos’ selling their assets to Sanfords and once again appointing Jack as managing director there until 1975, and then as an advisor for a further three years.

 

Costello’s Seafoods, Sulphur Point 1969.  

Image courtesy of Te Ao Mārama - Tauranga City Libraries Photo 11-157

Following this he moved to Auckland where he set up several more businesses, including two coolstores —  later sold to Sanfords. Jack then moved back to Tauranga and got into property development before leaving for the Gold Coast, Australia in 1981. He passed away over there in 1998, well respected and remembered for his efforts to establish a competitive and successful fishing industry in Tauranga area.

 * The tower was finally removed when the Marsh Street flyover was constructed in 2008

Robert P. Moore in the Bay of Plenty

 
Robert P. Moore (seated, left) with Philomena Lantz (centre), John Mowlem (seated, right) and fellow members of the Tauranga Big Game Fishing Club, at Mowlem’s bach, Opo (South-west) Bay, Tūhua (Mayor Island), c. late 1920s-1930s
Silver gelatin print mounted in album, by unidentified photographer
Collection of Te Ao Mārama - Tauranga City Libraries, Photo 05-317

The following report appeared in the Personal column of the Bay of Plenty Times on Monday 3 March 1930:

‘A deep-sea fishing party comprising Messrs L. McKelvie, D. J. Gibbs C. S. Brice and R. Moore of Wellington arrived by car, via Matamata to-day, and leave for Mayor Island immediately in the launch Naomi. The party expect to be out about ten days or a fortnight.’ [1]

The party returned to Tauranga on Sunday 16 March 1930:

‘Five Swordfish Captured Off Mayor Island. Many game fish seen. A party, consisting of Messrs McKelvie, C. S. Brice, D. J. Gibbs and Moore returned from Mayor Island on Sunday. They had some fine sport and captured five swordfish and report a large number of big fish on the grounds ... They are pleased with the outing and are looking forward to another holiday next year. Mr J. MowIem kindly placed the launch Virginia at the party’s disposal.’ [2]

John Mowlem was a prominent Tauranga resident who owned the oil-fired launches Naomi and Virginia; his story has previously been told by Max Avery on this blog.[3] Robert Moore, on the other hand, was a Wellington-based photographer whose niche in large panoramic views taken with a specialised Cirkut camera, together with a passion for hunting and fishing, took him all over New Zealand.[4]

Hauling swordfish onto the beach at Opo (South-west) Bay, Tūhua (Mayor Island), c. late 1920s-1930s
Hand-coloured silver gelatin panoramic print in wooden frame, by Robert P. Moore
Collection of Te Ao Mārama - Tauranga City Libraries Photo 21-1295

Robert Percy Moore was born in Christchurch, grew up in Wellington and trained as a photographer in Feilding[5] before moving to Queensland around the time of his marriage in 1914.[6] He enlisted with the 12^th London Regiment and served with the Expeditionary Force briefly in France before a gunshot wound in his thigh sent him home, eventually discharged in November 1915.[7] He set up the Kitchener Studio in Brisbane and for the remainder of the war photographed soldiers, their families and training camps. By July 1919, when he captured the Peace celebrations in Sydney’s McQuarrie Street,[8] he had started using a large format Cirkut rotating panoramic camera that produced very long negatives (and prints) with a single exposure.[9]

Interior view of the Government Tourist Court at the New Zealand and South Seas Exhibition, 1925-1926
Black-and-white silver gelatin print (248 x 1097mm), photographed by Robert P. Moore
Collection of Alexander Turnbull Library, Ref. Pan-0468-F

In 1923 Moore was commissioned by New Zealand’s Publicity Department to take photographs for display at the British Empire Exhibition in London, and spent several months touring the central North Island with an assistant named Gurney.[10] In early 1924 he set up a studio at 88 Manners Street, Wellington, and employed a canvasser to scout for private business[11] while he toured the South Island on government contracts.[12] Wellington was his base for the next decade but, with his family still living in New South Wales, he travelled frequently back and forth across the Tasman.

Opo (South-west) Bay, Tūhua (Mayor Island), c. late 1920s-1930s
Hand-coloured silver gelatin panoramic print in wooden frame, attributed to Robert P. Moore
Collection of Tauranga Museum, Ref. 0144/13

Entrepreneurial in approach, Moore appears to have used official commissions and engagements to build up a network of acquaintances, which often resulted in further private work. He took advantage of the extensive travelling involved in his Government work to offer services to local businesses, councils, townscapes, farms and property owners[13] and, judging by the frequency of debt recovery reports in Wellington’s press, it thrived, even if some of clients were not paying their bills.[14] Many of his panoramas were hung on the walls of the Government Tourist Court at the New Zealand and South Seas Exhibition in 1925 and 1926.

Opo (South-west) Bay, Tūhua (Mayor Island), c. late 1920s-1930s
Hand-coloured silver gelatin panoramic print, by Robert P. Moore
Collection of Peter Alsop

In February 1927 Moore photographed receptions all over New Zealand for the Royal Visit, as well as the fishing camp of the Duke and Duchess of York on the Tongariro River and their unveiling of the Te Arawa Memorial in Rotorua’s Government Gardens.

The Camp, Te Puia o Whakaari (White Island), 30 February 1928
Silver gelatin panoramic print, by Robert P. Moore
Collection of Te Ao Mārama - Tauranga City Libraries Photo 21-1890

He was in Tauranga at least as early as 1928 when he executed several panoramas of Tauranga landscapes and several homestead commissions, including Bureta Farm (Commander David M. Fell) and Mount View (Mrs Emma C. Bell) in Otumoetai, Trallwyn (William S. Harris) and Woodhill (Samuel Kingsbury). He also visited Whakatane and made a trip to Whakaari (White Island). In February 1933 he accompanied a cinematographer from Fox Film Corporation on a visit to ‘Mayor Island for the purpose of taking a complete sound picture of swordfishing’. [15]

Mauao and Mount Maunganui, Bay of Plenty, 1928
Panoramic silver gelatin print by Moore and Thompson, Rotorua
Collection of Tauranga Museum, Ref. 0132/13

Alongside the interest of their elongated form, an important selling point of Moore’s panoramas was the option of hand-colouring, skillfully carried out by his sister Evelyn Moore in Wellington – and perhaps other colourists.[16]

‘Treated by a special process of colouring, these are not ordinary photographs; they are works of art, worthy of attention, and, indeed, compelling interest from everyone who sees them’.[17]

‘Trallwyn’ homestead (William Sumpter Harris), Fifth Avenue, Tauranga, 1928
Hand-coloured silver gelatin panoramic print in wooden frame, by Robert P. Moore
Collection of Tauranga Museum, Ref. 1047/13

Colouring was often assisted by notes recorded by Moore. For example, notes attached to the film negative of ‘Trallwyn’ homestead (see framed print above), commissioned by Tauranga retiree William S. Harris in 1928, stated:

‘Trallwyn. 1928. 1 B&W. 3 oils. Dark red roofs. Dark brown facings. Various colour roses in front of house. Put in other flowers if possible. Tree on left of Norfolk Pine has pink flowers.’[18]

Evelyn Moore lived in Wellington for her adult life and may have played a more important role in the running of her brother’s studio than the (often occupation-less listings for women) electoral roll might suggest.[19]

Model Village, Whakarewarewa, Rotorua, c. late 1920s
Hand-coloured silver gelatin panoramic print, by Robert P. Moore, Wellington
Collection of J. Paul Getty Museum, Ref. 84.XM.679.2

Between 1935 and 1941 Moore lived in Rotorua, operating the Panora Studio[20] with his former assistant James Thompson,[21] after which he returned permanently to Australia.[22] Later versions of his prints generally carry the ‘Moore & Thompson, Photo. Rotorua’ inscription.

Living room of John Mowlem’s house in Devonport Road, Tauranga, c. 1950
Silver gelatin print by an unidentified photographer
Te Ao Mārama - Tauranga City Libraries Photo 02-338

Finally, we return to the living room in John Mowlem’s house on Devonport Road, complete with two framed prints of his friend Robert Moore’s photographs on the wall. The panorama hanging above his writing desk looks to be a view across Opo (South-west) Bay, the scene of many of their shared moments.

Robert Moore continued working as a photographer in Strathfield, Sydney, where he died in 1951. He left an enormous archive of 2,455 panoramic cellulose nitrate film negatives, taken between 1923 and 1928 during his time working for the New Zealand Tourist and Publicity Department, of tourist scenes all over New Zealand, from Auckland to Cape Kidnappers to Milford Sound. These are held at the Alexander Turnbull Library, where they have been conserved and digitized over many years, and were the subject of a touring exhibition. There are also many prints, both framed and unframed, hand-coloured and black-and-white, in other institutions and private collections around the country and abroad.

References

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[1] “Personal [A Deep-Sea Fishing Party].”

[2] “Deap-Sea Fishing. Five Swordfish Captured Off Mayor Island.”

[3] Avery, “John Mowlem - Tauranga’s Own Big Game Hunter-Fisherman.”

[4] Marshall et al., “The Long View.”

[5] “New Zealand, Electoral Rolls, 1853-2010.”

[6] Newton, “Out of Sight. R. Vere Scott and R.P. Moore: Forgotten Federation-Era Panoramic Photographers.”

[7] “British Army World War I Pension Records, 1914-1920.”

[8] Moore, Peace Celebrations, Sydney, Scene In McQuarrie Street.

[9] “Cirkut (Camera).”

[10] “Untitled [Photographs Taken in the Thermal Region by Messrs Moore and Gurney].”

[11] Moore, “Wanted. Lady Canvasser of Smart Appearance. Advertisement.”

[12] “Otago Expansion League.”

[13] Moore, Robert Percy, 1881-1948 :Panoramic Photographs of New Zealand.

[14] “Civil Court. Unpaid Debt Claims. Heard Yesterday.”

[15] “Deep-Sea Sport. Complete Sound Picture to Be Taken by Fox Film Corporation.”

[16] Moore, “Colour Artist. Miss Evelyn Moore. R.P. Moore’s Studios. Advertisement.”

[17] “Untitled. [Mr Robert P. Moore at Present Visiting Greymouth].”

[18] Moore, “Trallwyn”, Farm and House in Tauranga.

[19] “New Zealand, Electoral Rolls, 1853-2010.”

[20] Panora Studio, “Situations Vacant. Photography. Smart Girl for Dark-Room. Advertisement.”

[21] Newton, “Out of Sight. R. Vere Scott and R.P. Moore: Forgotten Federation-Era Panoramic Photographers.”

[22] “Tasman Air Service. Tasman Empire Airways Flying-Boat Aotearoa Left Auckland [R.P. Moore].”