A History of the Old Tauranga Post Office

 From Tauranga City Library’s archives

A monthly blog about interesting items in our collection

That old-timey feel the ‘Old Post Office’ carries has a name, Edwardian Baroque, a style designed to declare "empire" with all its permanence. Government Architect John Campbell gave it form in 1905–06 with stone walls and a clock tower meant to outlast us all. By 1987 however, it was empty, nearly felled by that decade’s scythe to all things unprofitable. Yet here it remains, long after many others have gone, a survivor with stories to tell. 

What follows is a brief history of the ‘Old Post Office’ building.

The corner of Willow and Wharf Streets was in the 1830s, part of the Church Missionary Society reserve, where Rev. Alfred Brown established a mission school. During the New Zealand Wars the building was pressed into service as a mission hospital, caring for both Māori and Pākehā. Later it passed into Crown control and became part of Tauranga’s government reserve, already a focus of administration and defence.

In 1874 the Crown erected a vast timber Government Buildings block on the site, an Italianate design by Bennett and Kaye of Auckland that was, at the time, the second-largest wooden building in New Zealand. For nearly 30 years it housed Tauranga’s administration, post and telegraph, and the Resident Magistrate’s Court. Despite its size, maybe because of it, it was not universally admired. Then in November 1902 it was destroyed by fire, along with decades of official records, forcing departments into scattered temporary lodgings.

It was on this layered site that Government Architect John Campbell designed Tauranga’s new Government Buildings in 1904, built over 1905–06. Conceived to house multiple state departments under one roof, the structure placed the Post and Telegraph Department on the ground floor, with the court, Lands and Survey, and other offices upstairs. Its Edwardian Baroque style gave Tauranga a sense of permanence and civic pride, expressed through a prominent clock tower, ornamented façades, and its commanding position overlooking the harbour. Inside, the walls carried the government’s standard scheme: light green upper wall, a darker lower section.

The building was completed in April 1906, with government departments moving in that June. Despite years of public campaigning for such a facility, its opening passed quietly, without ceremony.

Post Office, Tauranga, with staff in front, c. 1906, Te Ao Mārama - Tauranga City Libraries Photo 02-348

In 1907 the town clock was installed after a subscription fund raised by the Bay of Plenty Times, with the mechanism manufactured by Dent & Co. of London. By 1916 the building had already been extended to accommodate Tauranga’s growing administrative needs. Local rimu was used for the interiors, and with the arrival of electricity from the Ōmanawa Falls power scheme in 1915, electric lighting soon replaced the original gas fittings.

For decades the building remained Tauranga’s civic centre, housing postal services, the courts, and a range of government departments.

By the mid-20th century, Tauranga’s growth and rising expectations for modern facilities led departments to move elsewhere. The Post Office relocated to Grey Street in 1938, and a new courthouse opened in 1965. When the last government tenants, the Ministry of Works, vacated in 1987, the Old Post Office stood empty and earthquake-prone. Its future looked bleak. The Tauranga Community Arts Council convened a public meeting that revealed strong community will to save the landmark. A steering committee was formed under chair Grant Aislabie, drawing in architects, engineers, historians, and iwi representatives.

Government Property Services initially set an asking price of $1.2 million, later reduced to $530,000, but insisted on cash purchase. With professional fundraisers warning that public appeals could only follow ownership, the project fell into a catch-22. Structural reports confirmed the risks, but also pointed to possible solutions such as base isolation techniques.

Ideas for new uses reflected both community and tangata whenua aspirations. Proposals included a community resource centre, a bi-cultural gallery for local and touring exhibitions, and space for the Ngāti Ranginui Iwi Authority. Discussions were shaped by the concurrent Ngāi Tamarāwaho claim (WAI 42) over the land, which added weight to the iwi’s call for cultural facilities.

The Historic Places Trust recognised the building’s significance, upgrading its classification from Category C to Category B. Even so, by 1990 the Arts Council concluded that only a community-based solution was realistic, since commercial development was unlikely to succeed. Without the resources to purchase, the campaign faltered. But the effort ensured that the building’s value was now firmly stamped on the public consciousness.

In 1998 Grasshopper Properties acquired the property from Tauranga District Council for $200,000 and undertook a $1.5 million restoration. Historic Places Trust guidelines required the 1905 exterior to be precisely replicated, while the interior was adapted to modern use. New foundations, steel-mesh linings, and a ductile frame system provided earthquake strength, and original features such as the staircase and courtroom fittings were retained.

The restored building reopened in 1999 as modern office space, with Grasshopper Properties among its tenants. A History Room, gardens, and the restored clock reaffirmed its civic role. Mayor Noel Pope praised the project as a “marvellous” legacy for Tauranga.

Opening of the refurbished building 1999, Te Ao Mārama - Tauranga City Libraries Photo 04-670

In 2001 the Smythe Family Trust purchased the building and used it for office space, including leases to iwi organisations. By 2018, new seismic requirements and commercial pressures prompted another transformation. Tauranga City Council approved a $4.9 million conversion into a boutique hotel and restaurant, with careful strengthening and refurbishment. Later that year the building reopened as Clarence Hotel, offering ten suites upstairs and hospitality venues below.

Today the old stone heavyweight that once stamped empire onto this landscape is dwarfed by modern buildings that seem largely agnostic to the history of our city, while down the hill two new structures emerge that, one hopes, will tell a better story.

Sources:

Newspaper Articles in a 1999 Special Edition

• BOP Times. (1999, October 27). “Tricky task, but it was worth it.”
• BOP Times. (1999, October 27). “Clear guidelines helped restoration project.”
• BOP Times. (1999, October 27). “If these walls could speak, they’d say...thank you.”
• BOP Times. (1999, October 27). “First Government architect.”
• BOP Times. (1999, October 27). “Original building much more than a post office.”
• BOP Times. (1999, October 27). “Proud to be part of a project.”
• BOP Times. (1999, October 27). “Top example of baroque style.”
• BOP Times. (1999, October 27). “Marvellous says mayor.”
• BOP Times. (1999, October 27). “Final postmaster started job in 1942.”
• BOP Times. (1999, October 27). “Outside looks deceptive.”
• BOP Times. (1999, October 27). “Last gasp of the Empire.”
• BOP Times. (1999, October 27). “A passion for old buildings.”
• BOP Times. (1999, October 27). “Newspaper fund helped pay for new town clock.”
• BOP Times. (1999, October 27). “Building extended after just 10 years.”

Other Sources

• Rorke, J. (1988). Draft and notes to article in the Historical Review – Bay of Plenty Journal of History, 36(2), 104–110.
• Tauranga Community Arts Council. (1990). Report.

Written by Harley Couper, Heritage Specialist at Te Ao Mārama - Tauranga City Libraries

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.