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.
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.
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.
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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.
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.
