The White House in Ōtūmoetai

 

The 75-year old home today.  Image: Julie Green

Last year I was privileged to meet the occupants of this wonderful home, constructed in 1950 and sited a little back from the road, near Ōtūmoetai Primary School. They had a diesel-powered central heating system which no longer functioned well.  After considering their options they offered their vintage technology to the Tauranga Heritage Collection. This was not a suitable home for such an item so help was instead sought from Tauranga’s Vintage Farm Machinery Club. Through the kind efforts of one of their members the problems with the heater were overcome and it fired up once again.

 The family was very grateful to be able to use the heater last winter and is preparing to light it again as the cold weather closes in this year. I have enjoyed several visits to their lovely home and have permission to share with you this recent picture and a few older images in their possession.

William Barnard’s home and orchard in 1954. Photographer unknown

The home was built for Labour MP for Napier William( Bill ) Barnard after he retired from politics and moved to Tauranga to join his son-in-law in legal practice in 1948. He was Mayor here from 1950-52 and very involved in community affairs. One of the rooms upstairs was designated as a library and even though the shelving is long gone there are obvious lines on the walls where the shelves were attached.  Bill and his family had less than a decade of living there before he passed away in Auckland in 1958 at the age of 72.

The framed photograph below hangs on the wall of the upstairs landing.  It gives us a great idea of the topography in Ōtūmoetai prior to the development of the whole Bellevue area. You can make out the entrance of the Wairoa River, the curve of the railway line around the perimeter of  Bethlehem and the Matua Saltmarsh, and the farms which became the college in 1965 and, in 1967, the intermediate school.

Bellevue and Bethlehem in their agricultural days. Photographer unknown

The primary school is nestled in behind the row of dark trees to the left of centre. The area across the road, that now includes a fuel station, housing and the telephone exchange, appears to have been just a rough field when this photograph was taken. 

There has been a succession of owners over the home’s 75-year history. Not much is presently known about them but there have been several extensions at the back and side, dormer windows have been added to the attic space and the kitchen/dining area has been refurbished. There is now another home built in what was the front yard and of course the old orchard has become covered in dwellings also. But the old homestead stands tall and proud and is much loved by its present owners.

Very recently a former occupant arrived on their doorstep with an unframed painting and asked if they would like it. Of course the present owners agreed - it was very welcome. They intend to frame and hang it as part of the growing record of the story of their home.

“THE WHITE HOUSE,  Otumoetai”. Artist unknown

All images in this post were taken by Julie Green, courtesy of the owners.

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

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

---

[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].”