The Domestic Services Block (The Cottage) at The Elms Te Papa

In colonial times, for safety reasons, settlers often constructed a kitchen separate from the main homestead.  This was certainly the case in the mid-1800s at the Church Missionary Society station (now known as The Elms) on Te Papa peninsula here in Tauranga Moana. The kitchen building and nearby bakehouse were just a few feet from the main house.  In 1877, however, a fire destroyed both, the cause thought to be a candle left burning in the maid’s room when she went over to the house for evening prayers. 

 Due to stupendous efforts of the townsfolk who heard the mission bell ringing urgently and came to assist, putting out the fire and draping wet blankets over the shingles of the house roof, the large wooden home was unscathed. The burnt-out buildings were rebuilt as soon as practical, slightly more distant from the main house.

The replacement bakehouse under construction. Image: John Kinder

There is no way of knowing if the floor plan of the new building was the same as the one it replaced.  Today the domestic services block, as it has sometimes been referred to, consists of four rooms in a row, each with their own exterior door, An internal door connects the first two rooms. One source** quotes the rooms being used as “kitchens, bedrooms and a storeroom.”

 On the death of the second Mrs Brown in 1887 the property passed to her sister Euphemia Maxwell, a widow, and her unmarried daughters Alice and Edith. At this time The Elms consisted of 17 acres of land and most of the dozen or so mission buildings the Browns had purchased from the Church Mission Society over the previous decade. Permanent structures had originally included two houses, two schools, the chapel, Archdeacon Brown’s free-standing library, a storehouse, boathouse, carpenters’ workshop, smithy, and the kitchen building and bakehouse. 

Alice outside the cottage, 14 February 1945.  Image: The Elms Collection

In 1913 subdividing the property created 47 sections.  These were sold over the next few years, reducing the land area around the main house to about 3 acres and providing much needed capital to reroof it and add a kitchenette and bathroom. This enabled Euphemia to live out her days at The Elms in greater convenience until her passing in 1919.  Daughter Edith’s death occurred in 1930. Her sister Alice advertised for live-in help and a couple named Turner came to occupy “the cottage” as the 1877 building had become known. 1945 brought another couple, George and Elsie Lambie, who lived there rent-free in exchange for domestic and gardening help, which included Elsie showing visitors around at times.

When my grandparents Duff and Gertrude Maxwell became life tenants after Alice’s death in July 1949, the Lambies stayed on for a while, but then followed a series of tenants and boarders in the 50s and early 60s. A woman and her 11-year-old son* rented the cottage around 1950 until it was possible to find a home at Mount Maunganui where she had a teaching position. One family did two different stints there a few years apart whilst awaiting the building of their new homes in Ōtūmoetai.

 Gertrude Maxwell’s sister Mildred Huggins was in residence for a few years in the early 60s. A bathroom was added for her in the space between the cottage and the old bakehouse (then in use as a laundry area). Mildred returned to England leaving the cottage free for my uncle, his wife and their first child who spent time there while saving up for their first home.  

Mildred Huggins at home.  Image: julie Green

Finally, in 1971, Auntie Mildred returned from England to ‘retire’.  For the next 20 years she lived in the cottage very happily, mending broken china people brought to her, making marmalade on the old stove set up in the corner of the washhouse and washing her very long white hair in her pink bathroom. Mercifully the place was not burnt down again - she had a habit of placing logs in the fire that were too long and gradually feeding them in as the end burnt away. Six years before her passing she moved into a rest home. Several members of the extended family then lived in the cottage at various times.

 By the early 1990s both the main house and cottage were no longer occupied.  The Elms Foundation, which took over the property, began to use the room nearest to the house as an office.  The infill addition, containing the extra bathroom, was demolished. Thus the two buildings (the first kitchen and the old bakehouse) were separated once more. 

The bathroom addition in 1999.  Image: Julie Green

Currently the building is used by the management of The Elms Foundation as offices, a reception area and a base for the visitor guides. There is a very educational laundry display in the “Mangle room” and the Dairy is complete with original shelving for the display of milk pans  and butter making equipment. These two rooms are unlined, showing their interesting construction details, including the old wooden shakes, which remain under the corrugated iron roof.

 Acknowledgements

*This informal record was inspired by meeting the widow and daughter of the 11 year old lad. They visited The Elms recently to ascertain if the story they had heard from him was true.  We were able to confirm that it was.

**I referred to Sarah Ell’s book, ‘The Spirit of a Place’ to confirm some details to add to my recollections.

The Bickers Family (Fencible) Cottage — Third Avenue Tauranga

Front of the Bickers cottage with some younger family members, c. 1890s

Henry Bickers and Maria (née Proud) came to New Zealand from the goldfields of Victoria, Australia in response to a call for more troops in the 1860s. He was a corporal at the Battle of Pukehinahina and was afterwards allotted 60 acres of land and a town section of one acre. However, it took about seven years for that to come into their possession and they had Henry John (always known as “Our Henry”) in 1866 whilst still housed in the Panmure Barracks, Auckland. By 1869 they had moved to a whare on the corner of Elizabeth and Grey streets in Tauranga, and their first daughter (also Maria) was born there in 1869. One evening Maria (senior) was told to go to the blockhouse at the Monmouth Redoubt for their safety but she refused. Hearing movements outside, after dark, she spent an uncomfortable night in the ditch with little ones. In the light of morning, it was discovered they had been hiding from the family goat.

In 1871 their long-awaited cottage arrived by boat from Onehunga in four parts and was assembled in Third Avenue, close to where the Inland Revenue building is now. The kitchen was a rectangular room at the back and a bedroom led off this. The two front rooms, a sitting room and a bedroom for the parents, were separated by an entrance hallway. A verandah across the front completed their new home, but as the family grew extra accommodation was built at the back. In 1872 Elizabeth (Lizzie) arrived, Emma in 1874, then William in 1877, and lastly Alice on a cool winter’s day in 1879.

Henry had been a plumber but by now had taken up painting and paperhanging. He was ill for three years before his death in 1885, when their youngest child was only six years of age. Maria continued living in the cottage and managing to make ends meet, providing for her family of six, by using her many domestic skills to earn an income.

Rear view of the home, probably in the mid-20th century

“Our Henry” married an Auckland girl and they settled on part of the land. Maria junior became an apprentice dressmaker and later stitched garments for my great-great-grandmother Euphemia Maxwell and her daughters Alice and Edith at The Elms. Elizabeth and Emma became governesses and William a journalist with the Bay of Plenty Times. Eventually granddaughter Una Pennell (Emma’s girl) inherited the cottage and it was occupied by their family until 1960 after which it was sold to the Intellectually Handicapped Children Society as a ‘sheltered workshop’.

Finally in 1970 the site was to be redeveloped as a medical centre and arrangements were made by Les Dickson with my grandfather Duff Maxwell for it to be relocated to The Elms. As a 12-year-old I remember it arriving there on a large transporter. The veranda had been removed but was not reinstated and sometime later members of the Elms Trust built a very small kitchenette onto the back. It continues to be a valuable resource and is currently used for Devonshire teas, and other occasions and meetings involving the serving of food. This lovely old building was repainted a few years ago in what is hoped to be closer to its original colours.

Present day cottage at The Elms (Te Papa)
Photographed by Bob Tulloch

My sincere thanks to Alison Howarth, a Bickers descendant and Tauranga Historical Society member, for this story. She lent me copies of a series of articles written by a cousin Colleen Sullivan for the BOP Times in 1977 and also the old images of the Bickers-Pennell Family homestead.

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.

Mary Humphreys, Photographer: Part 2 – 1901

In Part 1 of this series we learnt that in 1899, her first year working as a professional photographer, Mary Humphreys opened a photographic studio on Tauranga’s Strand to sell local views, “Maori scenes” and photographic Christmas cards. She demonstrated considerable skill in both technical and artistic aspects of the craft, developed working relationships with three newspaper publishers in Auckland and Christchurch, and cultivated connections within the community to take photos of events, views and cultural themes.

Crater Lake at Whakaari (White Island), 9 March 1901
Quarter-plate silver gelatin print mounted on album page, photographed by Mary Humphreys
Collection of Tauranga City Library, Pae Korokī Ref. Album Box 4

On the morning of Wednesday 6 March 1901 Mary Humphreys boarded the steamship Waiotahi at Tauranga’s wharf,[i] taking advantage of an organised excursion to the Opotiki Show, Races and White Island which had been advertised in the Bay of Plenty Times a few days earlier.[ii] A number of racehorses were also loaded, joining a party who had travelled overnight from Auckland, which included an unnamed journalist from the New Zealand Graphic.[iii]

“Opotiki Summer Race Meeting” [iv] and “Opotiki Agricultural and Pastoral Show” [v], 7-8 March 1901
Photographs published by New Zealand Graphic, 23 March 1901, possibly attrib. to Mary Humphreys
Courtesy of Papers Past

She photographed the Opotiki Races  on Thursday, the A & P Show  on Friday, and on Saturday reboarded the Waiotahi which then proceeded to Whakaari (White Island) for a visit which lasted four hours. Mary returned to Tauranga on Sunday and developed the numerous plates which she had exposed over the previous five days.

“Some capital photographic souvenirs of the recent excursion to Opotiki for the Show, Races, and White Island trip, were secured by Mrs M. Humphreys in the shape of pictures of all descriptions; among the most interesting are those of the volcanic island, one of the finest being a whole-plate, looking along the floor of the crater, across the great hot lake of diluted hydrochloric, at the great fumaroles from which issue the vast clouds of steam which have given the island its name.”

“A Burning Island – White Island, Bay of Plenty”, 9 March 1901
Photographs published by New Zealand Graphic, 23 March 1901, possibly attrib. to Mary Humphreys
Courtesy of Papers Past (p541 & p542)

A series of images of all three events were published in the New Zealand Graphic on 23 March, accompanied by an account of the trip written by an Auckland-based journalist.[vi]

“… the Graphic this week … published a series of views of thermal activity in another quarter of the colony. Under the title A Burning Island appears an interesting account, profusely illustrated, of a visit of exploration to White Island … other fine pictures, including scenes … of the Opotiki Show and Races ...” [vii]

She told one of her boarders in later years that “such was the corroding atmosphere on the island, the sleeves of her blouse disintegrated.” [viii]

“The Landing of the Visitors on White Island”, 9 March 1901
Print (120 x 163 mm, full plate) mounted in album, possible attribution to Mary Humphreys
Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, Album 62, Ref. 3-ALB62-13

While none of the photographs published are credited to Mary Humphreys, they correspond well with those she is described as having taken, one of which was from on board the Waiotahi on its arrival in Opotiki. Auckland Library has a mounted print of one of the images, titled “the landing of the visitors on White Island” in the original article, although they appear to be departing.

Excursionists on White Island, 9 March 1901 (detail at right)
Print (120 x 163 mm, full plate) mounted in album, possible attribution to Mary Humphreys
Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, Album 62, Ref. 3-ALB62-14

We should be aware, however, that there may have been other photographers on the excursion. A similarly mounted print shows a group negotiating a rocky shoreline, one with a rectangular camera case slung over his shoulder. It is worth noting here that by this time Mary Humphries was using a full-plate camera, although the three known prints from photographs taken by her on this trip were half- and quarter-plate size, probably cropped from the full-plate size. It is possible that the larger format photographs were preferred by editors of the NZ Graphic and Auckland Weekly News.

Souvenir album presented to the Duchess of Cornwall, June 1901
Mounted print, photographed by Mary Humphreys
Collection of The Elms Foundation, Ref. 2006.0274

In April 1901 a group of local residents formed a committee to organise an appropriate souvenir to be presented to Princess Alexandra, Duchess of Cornwall and York (the future Queen), then on a tour of the Empire with her husband, funded by subscription. Headed by Sarah Seddon, wife of Tauranga auctioneer, and Euphemia Maxwell, they had the idea of “an album containing a number of views of the town and neighbourhood, the book to be bound in a cover formed of New Zealand woods and bearing a silver shield engraved with a suitable inscription … subscribers only to have a right, on a small extra fee, to a photograph of the book.”[ix] At least 75 people subscribed in full, with a similar number of 1s contributions, the photography for which had been entrusted to Mary Humphreys, for which she charged £4 10s 9d. The book contained:

“… 24 photographs of Tauranga and neighbourhood and these have been prepared, in full-plate size by Mrs M. Humphreys, and embrace views of the principal buildings in the town, spots of historic interest, (such as the Redoubt, Military Cemetery, interior of Gate Pah Church), and numerous pretty bits of scenery in the neighbourhood, (such as the Wairoa River near the bridge, bush scenery at Oropi, etc). The cover of the book is to be of inlaid New Zealand woods, silver mounted …” [x]

It was eventually presented to the Princess by Lady Ranfurly in Auckland in June,[xi] and Mrs Maxwell received an acknowledgement of the gift by telegram.[xii] Enquiries have been made with the Royal Collection, but further details of the contents of this album and its present location are unknown (F. Kean, pers comm).

Tauranga: The Capital of the Bay of Plenty, by G. Arnold Ward. Illustrated from photographs by Mrs Humphreys, The Weekly Press, Vol 58 Issue 11091 (Supplement), 9 October 1901
Image from microfilm courtesy of Christchurch City Libraries

On 9 October 1901 the Weekly Press of Christchurch published “a special Tauranga supplement, containing nearly forty views in and around the town, taken by Mary Humphreys, and a short descriptive article by Mr G. Arnold Ward.” These photographs included “general views of the town, the harbour, the Mount, Wairoa river … the various churches, Government buildings, wharves, Halfway house, Gate Pa Monument … [Te Puke’s] pretty little church [and] one of the Te Puke division of the T.M.R. on parade.” [xiii],[xiv]

1.     1.    The Strand, looking north
2.       Early morning, Tauranga harbour
3.       Looking up Wharf street, from the wharf
4.       The Strand, looking south
5.       Panorama of Tauranga from the Redoubt
6.       Boys’ School
7.       Girls’ School
8.       Ruahihi Rapids (see 99-337 and 03-245)
9.       Half-way House between Rotorua and Tauranga (see 99-348)
10.   Monuments [Mission Cemetery]
11.   English Church (see 99-360)
12.   Wairoa Bridge (see 99-339 and 02-046)
13.   Unloading firewood on the beach
14.   Mauao and the Old Sulphur Works
15.   Maori Women on the Strand
16.   Armstrong gun in the Redoubt
17.   Ammunition limbers and cannon in the Redoubt
18.   Wesleyan Church
19.   Wairoa River (see 99-338)
20.   Old Mission Church (see 99-358)
21.   Soldiers’ and sailors’ graves
22.   Roman Catholic Church
23.   Presbyterian Church (see 99-359)
24.   Te Puke Church
25.   Gate Pa monument (see 99-346)
26.   Maoris on the Strand
27.   Maoris returning home
28.   Post Office (see 99-340)
29.   The Mount
30.   Te Puke Mounted Rifles on Parade

A number of these views are immediately recognisable as having been published later by Mary Humphreys as postcards, such as the views of the Ruahihi rapids (Wairoa rapids), English church and Wairoa bridge. Others have survived as previously unattributed prints in the Tauranga Library collection, such as images of the Holy Trinity Church, Mission Church (Elms Chapel), old Post Office and Halfway House, Ngawaro  – which featured in my October article about Halfway House as a possible attribution to her, now gratifyingly confirmed. I have provided links to where those images may be seen.

Mrs E.B. Maxwell and the Mission Church, bef Oct 1901
Photographed by Mary Humphreys
Collection of Tauranga City Library, Pae Korokī Ref. Album Box 1 (99-358)

A PDF version of the full Weekly News supplement, supplied by kind courtesy of the Christchurch Library, is downloadable here. The images reproduced are unfortunately poor quality, understandably having been scanned from a microfilm, so if readers can identify any further versions of them existing in private or institutional collections, I would be keen to hear from you (Email).

Mary Humphreys had undertaken three large photographic projects in 1901, resulting in the publishing of several collections in the newspapers, and significant publicity around the album of views presented during the Royal Visit. Tauranga’s other photographer Thomas E. Price closed his studio and moved to Auckland where he had purchased the Newton branch of J.W. Hemus’ Sarony Studio in September 1901.[xv] Price did return for brief visits in April and October 1902, and then more permanently in 1903, when he appears to have reopened the studio, and it was still operating as late as February 1906.[xvi] However, the absence of a significant number of extant portraits by Humphreys suggests she did not see herself in the role of a studio photographer. She had by this time built up a substantial catalogue of views, and continued to avail herself of opportunities as they presented themselves, as we shall see in Part3.

References

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[i] “Shipping Departures. March 6. SS Waiotahi,” Bay of Plenty Times, March 6, 1901, Volume 29 Issue 1120 edition.

[ii] W.M. Commons, “Excursion to Opotiki Show, Races, White Island. Advertisement,” Bay of Plenty Times, March 1, 1901, Volume 29 Issue 4118 edition.

[iii] “Untitled [Excursionists on the SS Waiotahi],” Bay of Plenty Times, March 6, 1901, Volume 29 Issue 1120 edition.

[iv] “Opotiki Summer Race Meeting,” New Zealand Graphic, March 23, 1901, Volume 26 Issue 12 edition.

[v] “Opotiki Agricultural and Pastoral Show,” New Zealand Graphic, March 23, 1901, Volume 26 Issue 12 edition.

[vi] “A Burning Island - A Trip to White Island, Bay of Plenty,” New Zealand Graphic, March 23, 1901, Volume 26 Issue 12 edition.

[vii] “Untitled. [NZ Graphic Article, A Burning Island],” Auckland Star, March 19, 1901, Volume 32 Issue 66 edition.

[viii] Robert Thomson Goulding and Margaret (nee Wallis) Goulding, An interview with Mr and Mrs R.T. Goulding, interview by Mrs van Ooorde, December 11, 1975, Tauranga City Libraries Archive, https://paekoroki.tauranga.govt.nz/nodes/view/19542.

[ix] “Untitled. [Souvenir for Duchess of York],” Bay of Plenty Times, April 5, 1901, Volume 29 Issue 4132 edition.

[x] “Tauranga’s Present to the Duchess of Cornwall,” Bay of Plenty Times, May 29, 1901, Volume 29 Issue 4154 edition.

[xi] “Tauranga’s Present to the Duchess of York,” Bay of Plenty Times, June 24, 1901, Volume 29 Issue 4164 edition.

[xii] “Tauranga Ladies’ Gift to the Duchess of York,” New Zealand Graphic, July 20, 1901, Volume 27 Issue 3 edition.

[xiii] “Untitled. [Photographs by Mary Humphreys Published in Christchurch Press],” Bay of Plenty Times, October 9, 1901, Volume XXIX Issue 4210 edition.

[xiv] Gerald Arnold Ward, “Tauranga: The Capital of the Bay of Plenty,” The Weekly Press, October 9, 1901, Volume 58 Issue 11091 (Supplement) edition, Christchurch City Libraries.

[xv] Thomas Edward Price, “T.E. Price, of the Sarony Studio, Newton, Auckland. Advertisement,” Bay of Plenty Times, September 2, 1901, Volume XXIX Issue 4194 edition.

[xvi] “Borough Council [Meeting],” Bay of Plenty Times, February 7, 1906, Volume 31 Issue 4859 edition.