A to Z of Tauranga Museum - A is for apron

Charlie Haua outside his blacksmith shop in Grey Street. Late 1960s.

Image: Tauranga Museum.

It feels fitting to begin our Tauranga Museum artifact alphabet with a blacksmith apron once worn by Charlie Haua. In 1969, Charlie’s tools and equipment were acquired by the Tauranga Historical Society, forming the foundation of the museum’s collection. Although the Rotorua Museum offered a higher price, Charlie accepted the Society’s offer of £500, as he wanted his blacksmith shop to remain part of our story. “I’ve been at it all my life ... this is a dying trade, and I could not sell out. There is a great deal of old stuff here – material that you would not find in many places.”

Charlie Haua’s apron.

Image: Tauranga Museum

Born in 1903, Charlie came from a well-known and respected Tauranga family. He was the grandson of Anaru Haua (son of Watene and Merepokowai), and the son of James Haua and Mary Hearling. Charlie attended Tauranga District High School until 1919 and was a gifted all-round sportsman. He competed in rowing, rugby, hockey, sailing, athletics, gymnastics, and was a key figure in the local sporting community. He was the first captain of the Cadet Old Boys Rugby Football Club and went on to represent the Bay of Plenty in 1929. Later, he was made a life member of the Tauranga Rugby Association, a reflection of his long-standing contribution to the sport in this region.

Tauranga Football Representatives, 1925. Charlie Haua is pictured at the far right of the front row in this team photograph, taken by local photographer Robert Rendell.

Image: Tauranga Museum

After finishing school, Charlie Haua became the town’s most well-known and longest-serving blacksmith, dedicating an impressive 49 years to the trade. Even in retirement, Charlie and his blacksmith shop remained at the heart of the community, becoming a star attraction at the museum in Durham Street and then at the Historic Village and District Museum, which opened on Seventeenth Avenue in 1975.

Charlie Haua making a horseshoe for the bride and groom. Early 1970s.

Image: Tauranga Museum.

Charlie generously volunteered countless hours, captivating visitors with his skill and bringing the museum to life. His handcrafted miniature horseshoes became popular souvenirs, with thousands sold to help fund the museum’s development. In recognition of his remarkable contribution to the community, Charlie was awarded the British Empire Medal in 1976. 

Nellie Haua (left) and Charlie Haua. The person on the right is currently unidentified.

Image: Te Ao Mārama - Tauranga City Libraries Photo 03-047

Source:

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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.

A Trip Down Memory Lane in the Tauranga CBD

Guest article by John Green.

Back in the 1960s I was a schoolboy with a bicycle and loved to explore downtown Tauranga. There were a large number of motor garages, service stations and wreckers, not to mention a blacksmith’s shop, in what we now think of as the CBD. These are the main ones that I remember. In those times all cars were either from the UK or USA. To buy a new car one had to have access to overseas money and there were long waiting lists for new cars.

Maxwell Motors Ltd, Shell Service
Detail of ‘Rose gardens in Strand weeded by Mr W. Jones’, publ. Bay of Plenty Times, 8 October 1964
Tauranga City Libraries, Pae Korokī Ref. gca-7522

·         Maxwell Motors, corner Harington Street and The Strand. Agents for Singer, Citroen and Jaguar cars.

·         C.F. Washer, corner of Hamilton Street and Willow Street. Agents for Chevrolet, Vauxhall and Bedford.

Teasey’s Buildings, Devonport Road, Tauranga, 1911
Unidentified photographer
Tauranga City Libraries, Pae Korokī Ref. 99-1142

·         Teaseys Garage, Lower Devonport Rd, Eastern side.  (Building still there but now shops)

George Mason Motors, cnr Elizabeth/Durham Streets, Tauranga, undated
Unidentified photographer
Tauranga City Libraries, Pae Korokī Ref. 02-299

·         George Mason Motors, originally in Grey Street then moved to Elizabeth Street/Durham Street corner. (building still there)

·         Dixie Dean’s Motorcycle shop, where Farmers Trading have just built Elizabeth Towers.

·         F.N. Christian’s Garage, firstly in Lower Devonport Rd, later Upper Devonport Rd , west side, Ford  cars, Fordson tractors.  Became Tappenden Motors in 1957.

 

Tauranga Motors, Grey Street, Tauranga, 1950
Unidentified photographer
Tauranga City Libraries, Pae Korokī Ref. 04-190

·         Acme Motors (later Tauranga Motors), Grey Street, Studebaker cars and Ferguson tractors.

Advertisement from NZ Post Office Telephone Directory, Bay of Plenty & Rotorua Distructs, p25
Collection of John Green

·        Phil Prime had a workshop and car rental business in Grey Street and it went right through to Durham Street.

·       Cameron Motors, Grey Street, specialised in used cars

·       Sam Snowden’s Service Station, cnr Spring Street/Durham Streets, also sold International trucks and tractors

·       Smith’s Scooter House, Durham Street.

There were at least two car wrecking yards, one in Grey Street and the other on Cameron Road opposite St Peters Church. Later the Austin agents Bay Motors was built there.

In the course of this trip down memory lane I have discovered many older images of some of these businesses, and these will form part of a future blog.

Jones & Company

From Tauranga City Library’s archives

A monthly blog about interesting items in our collection

More often than not at the library, we receive research enquiries that pique our interest and we end up making discoveries and connections within the library that we would not otherwise have known about.  This is exactly what happened in this instance, where a member of the Jones' family sent us an email enquiring about a particular building at 107 Grey Street, Tauranga.  This led to much ‘ferreting about’ in the archives, and hence, an interesting story evolved.

At 143 Thirteenth Avenue, Tauranga is Hillsdene Chapel, a faithful replica of early colonial architecture, housing Jones & Company, funeral directors.  It was named Hillsdene in recognition of the history of the former estate on which it stands.

Jones & Company - Image capture: Feb 2010 Copyright 2023 Google

Hard to believe the business was established back in 1909, although it was not entirely recognisable then as the same business it is today. Somewhere along the way the name of the business changed, as did the owners and even its founding trade as furniture manufacturers.

In 1909 the Jones family set up business on the Strand as “Furniture Makers & Upholsters”.  The business soon moved to premises in Hamilton Street and in 1910 formed the company ‘Tauranga Furnishing and Manufacturing Company’.  A newspaper article in the Bay of Plenty Times states: “Amongst the most attractive premises in town are those occupied by the Tauranga Furnishing and Manufacturing Company in Hamilton Street.”

Advertisement - Bay of Plenty Times 11 October 1911

Mr Hugh L. Jones was the company director in those days and he employed over five staff, as he had expanded his casket making to a funeral business.  The  funeral directors wore top hats and tail coats and the horses that pulled the hearse were hired from a local stable in Spring Street, where the old Post Office building is.

By 1913 the Jones family had moved to a much larger and grander building at 21 Devonport Road, which these days is where the temporary library, He Puna Manawa is located.

21 Devonport Road - Tauranga City Libraries 993.42 SETT (Sladden Collection)

The premises had a large workshop which enabled the Tauranga Furnishing and Manufacturing Company to produce a large range of furniture – as well as wooden caskets.  The furniture making side of the business remained in Devonport Road until 1945 when it was taken over by Babington Bros.

Babington's Furnishings - Photo pn-3149

Mr H. E. (Bill) Jones, Hugh’s son, took over as manager of the funeral side of the business and another son, Frank, entered the business about 1946.  In 1938, Jones and Company, as it was then known, built the distinctive Spanish styled building at 107 Grey Street and the funeral parlour moved there.  It was situated just in front of Charlie Haua’s blacksmith business and there were very few shops surrounding it in those days.

107 Grey Street c. 1950s - Photo 02-156

The Grey Street building, with its attractive facade, became quite a landmark in Tauranga and for many years its location was ideal for the funeral business.  The business remained in the Jones family until March 1980, when it was purchased by brothers, Dave and Jim McMahon, however they retained the Jones and Company name.

Jones & Co. Chapel c. 1940 - Photo 03-354

By 1983 Jones and Company had outgrown the building on Grey Street and they moved to ‘Hillsdene’ in 13th Avenue. The Grey Street building was sold to new owners and it still stands today as an iconic reminder of Tauranga’s past, although it currently has a “For Lease” sign in the window giving it a rather forlorn appearance.  People may recognise it most recently as the Versaille Restaurant, which operated on Grey Street for a number of years.

Versaille Restaurant at 107 Grey Street 2015 - Tauranga City Libraries Photo 15-331

Sources: 

• The Bay Sun, 11 June 1983, p17-20
• Bay of Plenty Times 16 November 1910, page p2 Papers Past National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa.
• Bay of Plenty Times 23 December 1910, page p2 Papers Past National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa.
• Bay of Plenty Times 11 October 1911 Papers Past National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa.
• Tauranga City Libraries - Pae Korokī
• Bradbury, E. (1919). The settlement and development of the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand : early history, industries and resources, scenic attractions / edited by E. Bradbury. (2nd ed.). E. Bradbury. (Tauranga City Libraries - 993.42 SETT Sladden Collection)
• Image capture: Feb 2010 Copyright 2023 Google
  
  

Goddards Centre to He Puna Manawa

From Tauranga City Library’s archives
A monthly blog about interesting items in our collection

This past month at Tauranga Library has been a hive of activity as it was relocated from 91 Willow Street to an interim site at He Puna Manawa (formerly the Goddards Centre), located at 21 Devonport Road. 

He Puna Manawa – Tauranga City Libraries 2022

Since 1930 there has been a library on Willow Street, firstly as a combined facility with the Tauranga Municipal Electricity Department and Council, and then as a purpose-built Council and Library civic centre in 1988.

Tauranga Library from 1930-1988 - Tauranga City Libraries Photo 99-1205

The plan is to continue to house the Tauranga Library and Community Hub at 91 Willow Street, although construction of a new civic precinct is expected to take another 3-4 years.  In the meantime, the former Goddards Centre arcade between Devonport and Grey Streets will be a temporary home. 

So what is the history of this building known as Goddards Centre and why was it given this name?  After a little digging into Pae Korokī, Tauranga library’s online archives, it turns out there are some excellent resources that help tell the story(s).  The arcade is named after Ray Goddard who once owned a book store on the site at 21 Devonport Road.  By all accounts it was an excellent book shop and even had an upstairs gift shop (The Attic) which sold pottery and assorted handicrafts.  The building was demolished to make way for the arcade in 1991  and the new owner kept the name, supposedly to pay tribute to Ray’s time there.    

Ray Goddard and customers at his book shop on Devonport Road, Tauranga 1969

Tauranga City Libraries, Logan Publishing, Tauranga and Bay of Plenty Photo News Collection Photo pn-3381 and Photo pn-3318.

There are also two excellent town maps on Pae Korokī from 1934 by G. Duncan, that provide a snapshot of the trade and industry around Devonport Street at that time.

Tauranga properties in the city centre – sheet 2 - Tauranga City Libraries map 21-002

Cross-checking with other Council maps and directories, this places Ray Goddard’s bookstore on this map where Tauranga Furnishing Company’s show room is, with a gap and then Mann Hardware Ltd.  At this time there was no development on the Grey Street side.  Various sources over the years note Babington’s Furnishings (Tauranga Furnishing Company) and Goddards bookstore as being at the address 21 Devonport Road.  This would equate to the northern side of the current He Puna Manawa, being the main parts of the library. 

Changing face: from upstairs of Babington’s Furnishings – Tauranga City Libraries, Logan Publishing, Tauranga and Bay of Plenty Photo News Collection Photo pn-3147

As the arcade covers 23 Devonport Road as well, it is likely Mann Hardware Ltd used to be where the southern side of He Puna Manawa is, including the Customer Service Centre and Rialto Cinema above.  There is also an excellent oral history recording on Pae Korokī of Dave Cambie, a previous owner of Mann Hardware.  He tells of how he worked his way up from a 15 year-old shop boy to the owner of the store, who then branched out and bought the shops either side of his, encompassing the Tauranga Furnishing Company building and land in between.  

Mann Hardware – Tauranga City Libraries Photo 02-118

A few years after Dave Cambie retired, he sold his properties to a Mr Tom Roper and the businesses were run as Goddard's Bookshop and Mitre 10.  In 1991, Mitre 10 and Goddard’s Bookshop/Babington’s Furnishings were then demolished to make way for Goddards Arcade.

Devonport Road shopfront number about 26 - Tauranga City Libraries Photo 15-254

Sources: 

• Bellamy, A.C. (1982), Tauranga 1882-1982
• New Zealand Post Office (Wises) Directory (1961)
• Pae Korokī (https://paekoroki.tauranga.govt.nz). Logan Publishing Tauranga and Bay of Plenty Photo News Collection. Rodney Giddens Tauranga CBD and Mount Maunganui Collection. Interview with Dave Cambie (1992) Oral History Unit Project - Tauranga District Museum Oral History Unit.
• Paperspast (https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers) 
• Mapi - Tauranga City Council
• All other photographs taken by author.