March Meeting - Flax Milling in the Te Puke District

On 5 April (Easter Sunday) at 2.p.m. Richard Hart will speak on:

Flax Milling in the Te Puke District

at the hall at the rear of the Brain Watkins House, 233 Cameron Road Tauranga. Visitors are welcome.

Maungawhare

Maungawhare, Otumoetai, c 1910s
Image courtesy of Tauranga City Library, Ref. 03-385

John Conroy built Maungawhare, one of the most attractive old houses in Tauranga, in 1878 for Henry Stainforth Brabant (1844-1926), the brother of Herbert William Brabant Resident Magistrate and Commissioner of Lands in early Tauranga. Brabant first named the house Woodhill and later used the same name when he moved to his second house, which is still known as Woodhill in Grange Road. Having arrived from England on the Cashmere in 1863 he took up farming and fruit growing in Tauranga after farming in the Waikato.

Tennis party at Maungawhare, Otumoetai, the residence of Mr & Mrs W.J. Baigent, circa 1910
Image courtesy of Tauranga City Library, Ref. 99-607

The house became too small when his family reached eleven, hence the move to a larger home. Brabant had married Margaret Graham the sister of Agnes Graham who married John Cuthbert Adams one time Mayor of Tauranga and linking the historic places Maungawhare, Woodhill, Taipororo (Adams home in 5th Avenue) and the Adams Cottage in Mount Maunganui.

Pony and trap at Maungawhare, Otumoetai, c 1910s
Image courtesy of Tauranga City Library, Ref. 03-435

Maungawhare is the work of Hamilton architect Isaac Richardson Vialou. It is an elegant two story timber house with steep gables mounted by finials and the delicate design of the verandah brackets give the house an appearance of lightness. Brackets on the bargeboards secured canvas screens to enable people to sleep on the verandah in the summer. There have been interior modifications to the house.

Henry Brabant chaired the Tauranga Horticultural Society and his interest in trees can be seen in the magnificent plantings in the garden. Some trees are mentioned in SW Burstall’s Great Trees of New Zealand and it is believed that the taller ones were used as navigation aids for ships entering the harbour. There have been several owners of Maungawhare with the present family owning the property since 1939.

Queen Elizabeth II Memorial Park

Tauranga Camping Ground

Children's Playground, Tauranga (Memorial Park)

Coastal Scene, Tauranga (Memorial Park)
Postcards publ. c.1950s by N.S. Seaward's Studio Broad Bay, Dunedin
Images courtesy of Justine Neal

Memorial Park makes up 11 hectares of land sitting next to the harbour between 11th and 7th Avenues. Generations of children have enjoyed the park’s playground which appears to have opened in the 1950’s.

The boating marina is a feature of the extensive children's playground in Memorial Park, 1970s postcard
Image courtesy of Justine Neal

The following excerpt from the Tauranga Winter Exhibition and Carnival 1929 booklet (Tauranga Heritage Collection) shows it wasn’t always known for that. The article is written as though a person is being taken on a guided tour round Tauranga.

Now here is the Eastern Beach almost landlocked at this far end, a paradise for campers with electric light and power available. Here are beautiful homes again, there beautifully planted slopes grading right to the beach. Beach cottages are available here (Honolulu Beach) and are seldom empty. This part is the safe harbourage of the small craft and the home of the rowing club. Dressing sheds and boat sheds dot the shore, large native and other trees shed a welcome shade for picnickers.

Honolulu Beach, Tauranga Winter Exhibition and Carnival 1929 booklet
Image courtesy of Tauranga Heritage Collection

A map showing the original Maori names for the area names the Memorial Park area as "Hawaiki," and local lore states this area was used for kumara gardens in the early decades of the twentieth century.  Perhaps this is an explanation for the use of the name "Honolulu Beach" in 1929.

Thanks to the generosity of local donors

The burial of two British soldiers on the battlefield, Postcard, c.1914-1918
Image courtesy of Tauranga Heritage Collection

With over 35,000 objects in the Tauranga Heritage Collection, artefacts range from World War One postcards and patent medicines to a surfboard built from a Popular Mechanics magazine at Mount Maunganui in 1952. These treasures and thousands of others reveal our cities past, thanks to the generosity of local donors over many years.

The Three Carboys Vaporizing Liquid, for the relief of whooping cough
Image courtesy of Tauranga Heritage Collection, Ref. 0734/06

Indeed the early collection registers read like a Who’s Who of Tauranga in the 1960s and 70s, as long time residents responded to the call for artefacts from the Tauranga Historical Society. In 1969 the Society’s aim to establish a Museum was realized when the Tauranga City Council provided premises in Hamilton Street to display the collected items. 

There are many familiar names amongst the hundreds of donors listed in just the first collection register. These include Elva Brain (Brain Watkins House Museum), Frances Goodyear, George Walsh MP, William Cross (Bay of Plenty Times), Eric Faulkner (Mayor of Tauranga 1977-1980), Hugh Lever, Joan Mirrielees and Charlie Haua.

January 2015 Newsletter

January 2015 Newsletter

Annual General Meeting

The Annual General Meeting of the Tauranga Historical Society will be held will be held at the Brain Watkins hall at 2.p.m. on Sunday 1 February 2015. The agenda will include annual reports and election of officers.

We have had two members volunteer to accept nomination for the committee and more would be welcome. One has volunteered to accept nomination for the treasurer’s position so it is safe for you to come to the meeting as there will be no pressure on members to take that office.

Subscriptions remain the same as last year and your generous donations can attract a tax deduction as the Society is a registered charity.

HALL BOOKINGS – Phone Meri Low 544 4048

Monthly Meetings

5th April meeting   Speaker – Richard Hart – Flax Mills in the Te Puke area – As well as other sources, Richard has drawn upon the research of the late Alister Matheson who used to attend our meetings and was well known to many of the members.

Jazz in the Garden


Jazz in the Garden from 2.p.m. Sunday 1 March. This is the year for fans of swing music as we have the “Silvertones” playing.  There will be the usual house tours, afternoon tea, cake, plant and book stalls as part of our annual fundraising event.
Donations requested from members of cakes for teas and cake stall, items for the raffle baskets, plants, and books (no magazines). Pickup of goods can be arranged.

WW100

Fiona Kean reports on the Tauranga WW100 committee activities undertaken in 2014.

The committee and a small public group gathered on 4 August to mark the outbreak of WW1 at the Tauranga Memorial Domain Gates.

Lecture Series, Sons of Empire - Organised by the Tauranga Historical Society, Shirley & Stephanie, in conjunction with Waikato University, Nyree Sherlock. Each week presentations focused on delivering a unique New Zealand perspective of WWI: the voices of our soldiers, from the battles and the trenches to their legacy of literature; the diaries, the images and the poetry that remain. The series was so popular and well attended that a move to a larger venue was necessary.

Fields of Remembrance - The sight of so many crosses gathered together has prompted many people to stop and study the names of the fallen. The crosses will continue to be erected in different locations throughout the city during the centenary commemorations. Thanks to PlaceMakers for donating the wood and to Tauranga’s Mens Shed for constructing the crosses and to Paul for his organisation, Tauranga RSA, Tauranga Heritage Collection.

Children of WW1 Veterans Gathering  - Children born to Great War veterans were invited to be part of a gathering at the Mount Maunganui R.S.A in July of 2014. The event was organised by Tauranga WW100 and the Mount R.S.A who provided amazing hospitality, in particular the Women’s Division for the catering.

Cemetery Project - Thanks to the generosity of the community, and the organisation by Heather McLean, three veterans’ graves have been restored. Just over $1170 was raised with the majority of this being spent on the headstones, which were purchased through Veteran’s Affairs.

From Tauranga to the Trenches - mobile exhibition - The exhibition has travelled to public spaces in the city, several schools, and RSA venues. Many visitors have shared their personal family connections to the First World War, while teachers and students have welcomed the opportunity to discover how the war affected their local community. Thank you to Toni and the Hauraki Regimental Association, and WW100 Tauranga for their support of this Tauranga Heritage Collection project.

Web Presence, Kete and Facebook - Establishment of a facebook page  https://www.facebook.com/WW100Tauranga and presence on the Libraries Remembering War Kete http://tauranga.kete.net.nz/en/remembering_war Fascinating updates are made daily and an incredible resource is being created. Thanks to Debbie McCauley and Harley Couper from the Tauranga City Library.

ANZAC Day 2015 -  Planning is underway for the centennial ceremony to be held at the Tauranga Domain. Three committee members have already given considerable time to this and are working closely with the Tauranga City Council.