An Architour of some of Tauranga’s older homes

 Recently, and in conjunction with Gerry Hodgson, a retired local architect, Tauranga Historical took a group of fifteen people on a most interesting trip around the northern end of Te Papa peninsula. We viewed houses from the roadside and learnt about the differing styles of home building in New Zealand from earliest European settlement to modern times.

The Elms Te Papa.  Image: Julie Green

Our first stop was of course the Georgian/Regency/Colonial example in Mission Street.  The Elms Te Papa was built predominantly by hand with local materials. Gerry pointed out its symmetrical design with a well-lit central foyer, matching twin dormer windows and the absence of a verandah —unusual for this style of house, so it may have been the personal preference of its first occupants, the Brown family. It was completed in 1847 by missionary carpenters, with doors and windows made on site, and hand- polished glass imported from Moravia for the many small window panes. The roof originally had kauri shakes but early in the 20th century they were covered with corrugated iron.

Gerry Hodgson on the front veranda at Brain Watkins House.  Image: Julie Green

Next we arrived at the front of Brain Watkins House at 233 Cameron Road — a Victorian Square Villa. This is still somewhat symmetrical in style with a central corridor and a wide verandah trimmed with ornate fretwork. Probably built to a standard plan from a sale catalogue, it was constructed by local shipwright and civic contractor Joseph Brain in 1881 for his wife and four daughters. The kauri used in its construction was transported here from Coromandel in one of his small scows.  The house was extended around 1900 as Joseph’s family had grown: a fifth girl was born in 1891. 

Edwardian house, Arundel Street.  Image: Julie Green

Gerry confessed to knowing little about the history of the next home we visited, in Arundel Street.  He called it an Edwardian house: the earlier fashion for symmetry having lessened in favour of a bay window on one side and a verandah extending around two sides or more. It was interesting, however, to note that the fretwork decorating the facade is almost identical to the 1880s Brain Watkins House, even though this one dates to 1910. It also features finials on the gable ends and little overlapping tiles above the bay window. 

“The Old White House” in Second Avenue. Image: Julie Green

Very close by in Second Avenue is the location of a Californian Bungalow or Ranch home, built in 1906 using large posts and beams. It has almost a Japanese flavour, and Gerry pointed out the presence of great ventilation features in the ceiling spaces included in the design. The present owners have chosen to replace the corrugated iron with textured malthoid tiles when reroofing.

The two aspects of 186 Devonport Road.  Images: Julie Green

A short walk around the corner and down a hedge-lined drive brought us to this 1932 English Revival stucco home off Devonport Road. The front and back facades are quite different.  The street side of the house features large Tudor-style beams. On the other side, facing the harbour and a large front lawn, a vestibular verandah is constructed within the main frame.

The street entrance, 186 Devonport Road.  Image: Julie Green

After a short break for a snack next to the WWII memorial at Memorial Park, we had to retreat to our vehicles due to heavy rain. Driving to the other end of the reserve, we parked next to the QEII sports pavilion and looked across to the rise where Fraser Street and Eleventh Avenue meet. There, in 1972, a Gerry Hodgson-designed-home, featuring a cantilevered verandah, was built with cedar and brick. It is presently owned by another architect who invited its designer over for a cup of tea not long after purchasing this truly NZ-style home.

Exterior and interior, 40 Fraser Street.  Images: Gerry Hodgson

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. 

Mrs Ruth Mander (1915–2015)

 

Left to right: Ruth Mander, Ina Bathe, Mary Parker, and Nancy Snodgrass admiring the rose "Remember Me" at the Tauranga Rose Gardens, Robbins Park, 1991

Image: Te Ao Mārama - Tauranga City Libraries Ams 382/4/5

After several years working with the Tauranga Museum collection, I pondered on a number of donations made by Mrs Ruth Mander (née Prescott). Curious to learn more about them, I visited Ruth at her home on Ōtūmoetai Road in June 2011, where she shared memories of her life and the transformation of Ōtūmoetai from a rural district into a suburb of Tauranga. [1]

Ruth’s path to Tauranga began in the late 1930s after her mother became seriously ill with a goitre.[2] As the eldest daughter, she left her job in Hamilton to care for her younger siblings while her mother spent an extended period in hospital.[3] In 1937, seeking a healthier climate, her father, a First World War veteran, sold their Waikato farm and moved the family to a citrus orchard in Ōtūmoetai. 

Ōtūmoetai and Hinewa Roads, looking over Cherrywood and Bureta towards Mauao and Motuotau Island, c1950. 

Image: Te Ao Mārama - Tauranga City Libraries Photo 12-575

At that time, the area was still largely rural. Work on the orchard, along with caring for poultry and a house cow, formed part of everyday life. Social life centred on visiting neighbours, swimming in the harbour below Ōtūmoetai Pā, and attending local dances. It was through these connections that Ruth met the Mander girls, Betty, Dot, and Nola. They would often bike together to attend films in town, taking the long way around as Ngatai Road had not yet been formed. These friendships would ultimately change the course of her life. 

Ray Mander, the older brother, had returned home for a holiday but stayed after meeting Ruth, and the two quickly became engaged. They purchased five acres on the Ōtūmoetai ridge and were among the first in the district to plant Chinese gooseberries, later known as kiwifruit. In a practical move to secure a government loan, they married quietly at the newly opened Tauranga Post Office in December 1938 - the first couple to do so - marking the beginning of their life together. Ruth recalled that afterwards they went to Rendell’s Photography and had a wedding photo taken and then to the only restaurant in town for a meal. 

Te Puke Times, Volume 26, Issue 52, 2 July 1937, Page 3. Papers Past.

With the help of a State Advances loan, they built a Beazley bungalow on their land, designed by Ruth herself. Construction was slow, and they did not move in until September 1939, but the house would remain their home for the rest of their lives. Over the following eight years, they had four children, bringing both busyness and energy to their lives, and it was clear that Ruth took great pride in them. While the orchard developed, Ray took on various jobs, later running a hardware shop in Ōtūmoetai and keeping bees on the property. Ruth managed the household, sewed much of the family’s clothing, and maintained strong connections within many communities.

A wicker pram purchased in the 1940s by the Manders from The Mart in Willow Street.

Image: Tauranga Museum 2005/84

Ruth became involved in numerous organisations, serving for decades as treasurer of both Forest and Bird and Rural Women, and participating in local garden clubs from the 1950s onward. Over time, the landscape around them changed. Ruth recalled that after the Second World War, orchards and farms across Ōtūmoetai were subdivided into residential sections. Roads such as Lemon Grove replaced rows of trees, and the rural district she had first known gradually became the suburb it is today.

 When I met Ruth, she was living alone, Ray having died in 1995. Despite being nearly blind, she was fiercely independent, able to stay in the home she had lived in for more than seventy years with the support of her family and her deep familiarity with every corner of it. She was particularly keen for me to identify some of the objects she had donated to the museum, and I was pleased to do so while hearing the stories connected to them - her memory remaining very sharp.

A 1930s ‘Airzone’ wooden mantle radio purchased for the Mander’s new home.

Image: Tauranga Museum 0038/95

References

 

[1]       At the time of our meeting, it felt only right to address her as Mrs Mander, so I hope she would forgive me for referring to her here as Ruth.

[2]       A goitre is an abnormal enlargement of the thyroid gland in the neck, often visible as a swelling at the base of the throat.

[3]       Ruth initially worked as a technician for Glaxo Laboratories and later took a position in the office at the New Zealand Dairy Company while waiting for an opportunity to move into their laboratory.

A to Z of Tauranga Museum: B is for Bathing Suits

 

Image courtesy of Tauranga Museum, Robert Gale Collection, 0005/20/539

As the Bay of Plenty summer continues to be hot and locals and visitors alike flock to the coast, it’s hard to miss how deeply beach culture is woven into our identity. From sun-soaked days on Mount Maunganui beaches to the salty breeze off Te Awanui, these experiences have shaped our city’s character for generations. The Tauranga Museum holds a treasure trove of artifacts that tell this story.

Gifted by Tauranga Historical Society, Tauranga Museum, 0230/11

Its collection captures the essence of seaside leisure: beach umbrellas for shade, surf boards for thrill-seekers, picnic baskets for family outings, and even a bottle of Q-tol – the once-popular lotion that soothed sunburn long before we understood the importance of sunscreen.

                                1930s swimsuit, made in England.               Early 1980s Expozay, made in Tauranga.
                                       Tauranga Museum, 0151/16                           Tauranga Museum, 0032/14

But the real stars of the collection might be the bathing suits. With 83 suits spanning more than a century, this collection charts the evolution of beachwear - from modest woollen costumes to sleek Lycra designs. Many of the suits reflect not only innovation in materials and design but also changing attitudes toward fashion and freedom of expression.

For example, the museum holds two Jantzen swimsuits that were manufactured in Wellington by A.J. Coleman Ltd under licence from the American brand.  They were the height of style in their respective decades. During the 1930s and 40s, new fabrics emerged, sleeves vanished, and bold colours became the norm – as seen in a striking bright blue swimsuit:

1930s-1940s Jantzen swimsuit. Tauranga Museum, 0019/00

 Moving forward to the 1970s, and designers were embracing Lycra, a revolutionary fabric that allowed for greater flexibility and comfort. This floral swimsuit illustrates the shift toward vibrant patterns and figure-hugging styles that defined the decade:

1970s Jantzen swimsuit. Tauranga Museum, 0266/11

When I first heard of Papamoa

 Papamoa farmland - typical flat land that the Baylys farmed in the 1920s.

Te Ao Mārama - Tauranga City Libraries Photo gca-20628

I can remember my parents talking about Elsie Walker when I was a child.  In fact, it might even have been part of a ‘stranger danger’ conversation with them.  The year before I was born, my father had heard on the radio that Bill Bayly had been hanged.  What does this have to do with Papamoa, my current home, you may well ask?

Elsie Walker, Auckland Weekly News, 28 February 1929, p.50 

Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections AWNS-19290228-50-05

Elsie, an Opotiki girl, lived with her aunt and uncle, the Baylys, on their farm in Papamoa in 1928 when she disappeared.  Coincidentally, so did their car.  Some days later, her body was found in Auckland at Panmure, and the car was discovered with an empty petrol tank at Papatoetoe. Elsie did not drive.  The sandshoes she was wearing were worn out as though she had walked the seven miles from Papatoetoe to Panmure. The police and coroner could not establish her cause of death, with opinions varying from exposure to accidental. A witness claimed to have seen the car being driven to Auckland by a man with a woman sitting in the back seat, already dead, but the accuracy of this information was not conclusive. Some suspicion arose about Bill Bayly, Elsie's cousin, but he claimed to have been in Auckland all along, and the police believed him.

Mr F K Hunt, a Stipendiary Magistrate, spoke at the inquest stating that the public were entitled to a better service from the Police than they received in that case.  He referred to mistakes and described the enquiries as inefficient. No person ever faced trial for the murder of Elsie Walker.

William Alfred (Bill) Bayly, NZ Truth, Issue 1246, 17 October 1929, Page 7
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZTR19291017.2.33.1.2

Five years later William Alfred Bayly, a married man with two children by then, was farming at Ruawaro near Huntly.  Bill Bayly lived on an adjacent farm to Christobel and Samuel Lakey. Other neighbours noticed one day in October 1934 that the Lakey’s cows had not been milked that morning and set about doing so. The Lakey’s 110-acre farm carried 51 dairy cows. The neighbours were concerned to find no sign of the Lakeys in their house and it was not long before they found the body of Christobel Lakey dead with her face in the duckpond.  As soon as this news spread around the district people assumed Samuel Lakey had murdered his wife.  

The search for Samuel Lakey, Auckland Weekly News, 8 November 1933, p.46 

Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections AWNS-19331108-46-02

Police searched for his body, with the help of local people, expecting that it might be a murder/suicide.  Lakey’s shotgun was found in a creek on Bill Bayly’s farm and blood was found on items at his place.  The two farmers had fallen out and argued over a fencing issue when Bayly’s bull got into the paddock with Lakey’s cows, and they did not get on generally.  Mrs Lakey has said she believed he had killed Elsie Walker and could well kill them. Police used chemical tests that revealed that there were charred bone fragments on his shovel, for he had tried to burn Samuel Lakey’s body in a drum.  On 10 January 1934, Bayly was charged with Samuel Lakey's murder and he hanged for it in the following July. Gossip spread around the country and the version that I heard a decade later was that he fed the body to his pigs.  The guilty verdict reinforced the suspicion that he had murdered his cousin in Papamoa.

Burial of Samuel Lakey with his wife
Photo: KELLY HODEL / Waikato Times by kind permission

Christobel was buried in an unmarked grave in Huntly while Samuel's remains became part of the police's investigative and forensic training exhibits collection.  It was not until 2015 that the Police released the remains for burial and arranged to have a name plaque placed on the joint grave. The Lakeys were English and had no family in New Zealand.

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].”