Uploads from National Library of New Zealand

Old Balaena Bay

nobody@flickr.com (National Library of New Zealand) — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 15:43:38 -0700

National Library of New Zealand posted a photo:

Photographer: Sydney Charles Smith, Balaena Bay, Wellington, with James Bringin’s boatyard, ca 1920, Sydney Charles Smith photographs, Alexander Turnbull Library, Reference: 1/1-019613-G

Published in the Capital Times, 27 June 2012

Here is Balaena Bay, with Roseneath in the background, photographed just before the First World War. By then yachting had become a popular Wellington pastime, and the Bay was one of the few places around the harbour where boats could be hauled up for repairs and maintenance.

It was a boat building centre too. At the time of this photograph the boatbuilding business in the shed on the right was run by James Bringins. Other notable boat builders who worked there included Ted Bailey and Joe Jukes. Between them they built some of Wellington’s best-known yachts, launches and fishing boats.

Balaena Bay continued to be a hang-out for local boaties until the 1950s. By then, though, Roseneath residents wanted the beach for swimming. Sand was laid over the stones, and the boats were slowly moved away.

Most of the classic wooden boats from the time of this photograph have long gone. One of the best, though, will soon be sailing again. The 22-foot sloop “Lizzie” was built by Bailey at Balaena Bay in 1909. Several years ago she was a derelict wreck in Auckland. Now you can see her on the Clyde Quay slipway being lovingly restored by enthusiasts of the Wellington Classic Yacht Trust. She will be a fine sight on the harbour next summer.

Take a closer look

See more photos of early Balaena Bay

Our new book Wellingtonians: From the Turnbull Collections contains revised and expanded entries from this exhibition, and some new ones too. You can get it from good bookshops or straight from the publisher.

Permission of the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga O Aotearoa, must be obtained before any reuse of this image.

Reptiles in Wellington

nobody@flickr.com (National Library of New Zealand) — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 16:45:48 -0700

National Library of New Zealand posted a photo:

Dominion Post photographic negatives and prints, Alexander Turnbull Library, Reference: EP/1977/3399/20-F

Published in the Capital Times, 13 June 2012

Here are the Suburban Reptiles, pioneering punk band from Auckland, posing for an Evening Post photographer on an inner-city rubbish heap. It is August 1977, and they had come down to play at the University Arts Festival. Beforehand they did their best to play up their notoriety. The caption for this photograph declared “we will spit and vomit on the audience if the mood takes us.”

Unfortunately their promotional skills were not yet matched by much musical ability, even by punk band standards. That was not helped by an argument with the sound man, who walked off the job. In disgust Buster Stiggs (that’s him making a friendly gesture to the camera) drew his drum sticks into the audience, hitting someone in the eye. That led to an onstage fight.

According to the Reptiles the unfriendly reception was all Wellington’s fault. It was if “monsters from planet freak had arrived to steal your children” complained Simon Grigg, their manager at the time - “walking down the Cuba Street or Lambton Quay, it was like we had gone back decades.”

Punk did take longer to find a following in Wellington, compared to the other main cities. But eventually a thriving scene developed. Long-haired guitar soloists no longer seemed so cool. Local music was never quite the same again.

Take a closer look

www.nzhistory.net.nz/media/video/suburban-reptiles-kiwi-punk

www.simongrigg.info/index.htm

Our new book Wellingtonians: From the Turnbull Collections contains revised and expanded entries from this exhibition, and some new ones too. You can get it from good bookshops or straight from the publisher.

Permission of the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga O Aotearoa, must be obtained before any reuse of this image.

The last Empire Day

nobody@flickr.com (National Library of New Zealand) — Tue, 29 May 2012 17:32:20 -0700

National Library of New Zealand posted a photo:

24 May 1957, Evening Post collection, Alexander Turnbull Library, Reference: PAColl-7796-52

Published in the Capital Times, 30 May 2012

Here is Queen Victoria, artfully photographed between two unknown dignitaries on Empire Day, 1957.

She has been a Wellington landmark since 1905. At first she stood on Post Office Square, in front of the Chief Post Office, sternly gazing out over Queens’ Wharf. This was a time of some social discontent. Workers were becoming militant and the statue site became the equivalent of London’s Hyde Park corner. The crowds were often large and the heckling lively. She was probably not amused.

But within a few years she had to make way for the new tram lines. Her new home was among the flower beds between Kent and Cambridge Terraces, and she has been there ever since.
It was a quieter life but at least she still had the annual Empire Day celebrations to look forward to, every 24th May, her birthday. The Empire was fast disappearing, but that just strengthened the resolve of her hardy loyalists. It was a sad day for them when, in 1958, Empire Day was finally abandoned. We were “inadvertently falling into line with Soviet-inspired propaganda against the Crown” spluttered the head of the British Empire Union. Instead we got Commonwealth Day. Hardly anyone has ever bothered to celebrate that.

Take a closer look

See more photos of the statue

Our new book Wellingtonians: From the Turnbull Collections contains revised and expanded entries from this exhibition, and some new ones too. You can get it from good bookshops or straight from the publisher.

Permission of the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga O Aotearoa, must be obtained before any reuse of this image

Mt Victoria landmark, 1844

nobody@flickr.com (National Library of New Zealand) — Tue, 22 May 2012 20:25:06 -0700

National Library of New Zealand posted a photo:

Artist: Samuel Charles Brees, Simmonds' & Hoggard's flourmill, ca 1844, Watercolour, Alexander Turnbull Library, Reference: B-031-005

Published in the Capital Times, 16 May 2012

This Samuel Brees watercolour shows one of Wellington’s most distinctive early landmarks, the Hoggard and Simmonds wind-operated flourmill, at the foot of Mt Victoria, where the Embassy Theatre is now. It was painted just after the mill opened, in 1844. Brees is one of the best-known artists of early Wellington. Many of his scenes of Wellington (but not this one) were published in his popular 1847 book Pictorial Illustrations of New Zealand.

Everyone needed flour but the mill was not a success, and had disappeared by the early 1850s. One problem, reported the local New Zealand Gazette and Wellington Spectator, was the “inequality of wind. At certain seasons of the year the wind in this harbour alternates suddenly and every few minutes between great strength and almost calm”. Our battling northerlies and southerlies were often too much for it. Water-driven flour mills, at Kaiwharawhara and elsewhere, were much more successful.

On the Mt Cook in the right background the British troop barracks can be seen. The town is out of sight to the right, separated from Mt Victoria by wetland and swamp. We are not quite sure what the man in the foreground is up to. Probably he is sifting shells from the beach, to be burnt for lime in the kiln on the right. Lime for building was in short supply. If anyone has a better explanation please let me know.

Take a closer look

See more artwork by Samuel Brees

Our new book Wellingtonians: From the Turnbull Collections contains revised and expanded entries from this exhibition, and some new ones too. You can get it from good bookshops or straight from the publisher.

Permission of the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga O Aotearoa, must be obtained before any reuse of this image.

Whale stranding, 1884

nobody@flickr.com (National Library of New Zealand) — Thu, 03 May 2012 20:51:14 -0700

National Library of New Zealand posted a photo:

Photographer: William Williams, Stranded blackfish whales, ca 1884, Edgar Richard Williams collection, Alexander Turnbull Library, Reference: 1/1-025538-G

What would happen today if a pod of whales beached themselves in the harbour? Surely Wellingtonians would be in the water coaxing them back out to sea. In January 1884 it was rather different. The “exciting capture of three monsters” was featured in the Evening Post. The squeamish should not read on.

As soon as the whales were seen workers from the Te Aro gasworks rushed out with makeshift weapons. They

harpooned the fish in the blowholes and ‘sickened’ them by inflicting injuries of a more or less mortal character... By this time the news had spread throughout the city and hundreds of people flocked to the spot to witness the fun. At one time there must have been two or three thousand people looking on... For several acres in the vicinity the water was discoloured with blood and in their frenzied efforts to elude capture the whales displayed considerable strength, bending themselves almost double in their agony and throwing up sand and water to an extraordinary height.

There is much more gory detail.

The photo shows the aftermath. It was taken from the bottom of Taranaki Street and shows the dead whales tied to the trestle railway that had been built to carry fill for the Te Aro shoreline reclamation.

Take a closer look

Permission of the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga O Aotearoa, must be obtained before any reuse of this image.

Wellingtonians: From the Turnbull Collections contains revised and expanded entries, and some new ones too. This high-quality publication is available for just $29.99. You can pick it up from from good bookshops or get it straight from the publisher, Steele Roberts.

The limbies’ picnic

nobody@flickr.com (National Library of New Zealand) — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 18:48:14 -0700

National Library of New Zealand posted a photo:

Photographer unknown (Crown Studios), Picnic for limbless men, Worser Bay, ca 1930, Crown Studios negatives and prints, Alexander Turnbull Library, Reference: 1/2-204883-F

Published in the Capital Times, 18 April 2012

Here are former soldiers enjoying themselves at the annual Worser Bay picnic for limbless men. The date is uncertain but it was probably taken in the early 1930s. It seemed a suitable image for Anzac Day.

World War I left a grim aftermath. Memorials to the dead marked every community. Thousands of returned men still suffered from wounds, shell shock and tuberculosis. Amputees, or “limbies”, as they liked to be known, were a particularly visible reminder of what so many had been through. In the early 1930s there were 212 men in Wellington who had lost a leg, and 96 without an arm.

The limbless picnic was held nearly every year between the wars. The hosts were members of the Evans Bay Yacht and Motorboat Club who took the men and their families on a boat ride to Worser Bay. It was a day of good eating, leisurely boating and games, like this foot race. You can see more photographs of the day on the link below.

Take a closer look

See more photographs of the picnic

Permission of the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga O Aotearoa, must be obtained before any reuse of this image.

Wellingtonians: From the Turnbull Collections contains revised and expanded entries, and some new ones too. This high-quality publication is available for just $29.99. You can pick it up from from good bookshops or get it straight from the publisher, Steele Roberts.

The extraordinary Miss Mercedes Gleitze

nobody@flickr.com (National Library of New Zealand) — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 19:26:11 -0700

National Library of New Zealand posted a photo:

Photographer unknown (Crown Studios), Miss Mercedes Gleitze, December 1930, Crown Studios negatives and prints, Alexander Turnbull Library, Reference: 1/1-032967-F

Published in the Capital Times, 11 April 2012

Here is Miss Mercedes Gleitze, famous English endurance swimmer, photographed in December 1930, just after her arrival in Wellington. She was a popular visitor. Sportswomen like her were a very modern novelty.

On Christmas day she became the first woman to swim across Wellington harbour. Thousands watched her depart, and thousands more waited at Days Bay. Many of them had gone, though, by the time she arrived for it took her seven hours, swimming breast-stroke. “I never go in for speeding on any of my swims” she told the press “because it would affect the heart and shorten my career.”

A few days later she saw in the new year by beating her own “endurance swim” record. That entailed floating for 42½ hours in the Boys Institute pool in Tasman Street. A full music programme helped draw in the crowds. There were pianists and singers, a string band, and, “a quartet of Maori singers whose refrains and hakas Miss Gleitze found most inspiring”.

She had initially intended to swim Cook Strait, but could never find the right conditions for an attempt. Instead she went on to Sydney for another endurance competition, this time against the best of Australia and New Zealand in the Manly swimming pool. She out-lasted them all, increased her record to 43 hours, and won £500.

Take a closer look

See and read more about Mercedes Gleitze

Permission of the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga O Aotearoa, must be obtained before any reuse of this image.

Wellingtonians: From the Turnbull Collections contains revised and expanded entries, and some new ones too. This high-quality publication is available for just $29.99. You can pick it up from from good bookshops or get it straight from the publisher, Steele Roberts.

Easter service, 1939

nobody@flickr.com (National Library of New Zealand) — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 18:55:40 -0700

National Library of New Zealand posted a photo:

Photographer: Sydney Charles Smith, Easter Service, Mount Victoria, Wellington, 1939, Sydney Charles Smith photographs, Alexander Turnbull Library, Reference: 1/2-046298-G

Published in the Capital Times, 4 April 2012

By now the illuminated crosses will have been lit up on Mt Victoria. They stay on until Anzac Day, and are turned on again over Christmas. The Wellington Council of Churches maintain them, and they organise an early morning Easter Sunday service up there every year as well.

This photograph shows the first such celebration, in 1939. The idea of a cross and a dawn service had been borrowed from a similar Easter Sunday “dawn parade” in Los Angeles, and the event had been widely promoted on Aunt Daisy’s 2ZB radio show. Before daylight thousands of Wellingtonians got up to climb to the summit, or ride up on the special buses provided. We were a much more religious lot then.

It was a perfect Wellington morning, with no wind or cloud, and a spectacular sunrise. Sydney Charles Smith was one of Wellington’s best-known photographers in the early years of last century, and he has very effectively caught the first sun shafts touching the crowd, and lighting up south Wellington beyond.

Take a closer look

See more Sydney Charles Smith photos of 1930s Wellington

Permission of the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga O Aotearoa, must be obtained before any reuse of this image .

Wellingtonians: From the Turnbull Collections contains revised and expanded entries, and some new ones too. This high-quality publication is available for just $29.99. You can pick it up from from good bookshops or get it straight from the publisher, Steele Roberts.

Old Taranaki Street

nobody@flickr.com (National Library of New Zealand) — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 13:21:59 -0700

National Library of New Zealand posted a photo:

Courtenay Place, Wellington, ca 1920, Gordon Burt negatives, Alexander Turnbull Library, Reference: 1/2-037197

Published in the Capital Times, 28 March 2012

Here is a panorama of the Courtenay Place/Taranaki intersection, around about 1918. The photographer was about where Molly Malones is now. Manners and Dixon Streets stretch out to the right. Left of centre Taranaki Street disappears off into the distance.

Taranaki Street was much narrower then. All the buildings on the right hand side were demolished in the 1920s when the street was widened. Hardly any of the the other buildings in the photograph have survived either, although the Ford building on the left is still there, hidden behind a modern block.

As the Ford sign suggests the automobile age was coming. But it was not quite there yet. There were not many cars, no traffic lights, and still lots of horses. On the original print you can see the ever-present speckles of horse manure scattered all over the streets.

Take a closer look

See more photos of Taranaki Street last century

Permission of the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga O Aotearoa, must be obtained before any reuse of this image.

Wellingtonians: From the Turnbull Collections contains revised and expanded entries, and some new ones too. This high-quality publication is available for just $29.99. You can pick it up from from good bookshops or get it straight from the publisher, Steele Roberts.

BATS rebirth

nobody@flickr.com (National Library of New Zealand) — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 16:30:59 -0700

National Library of New Zealand posted a photo:

Artist: Tim Rowberry, Lewd and the Ludicrous poster, 1989, Alexander Turnbull Library, Reference: Eph-C-BATS-1989-01

Published in Capital Times, 21 March 2012

There is nothing quite like BATS. The building helps. Its tiny theatre, bar and cramped passageways ooze show business. It used to be a dance hall. In the 1960s the left-wing Unity Theatre was based there. The first incarnation of BATs began in 1980, and the current rebirth dates from 1989.

Ever since it has been a place for innovative theatre. Among others the first few shows in 1989 included the new Hen’s Teeth comedy collective, Vincent O’Sullivan’s “King Billy” and Dean Parker’s play about politics, “Feds,” (with an all-women cast).

Here is the poster from the BATS archives, for another of those first 1989 shows. “Lewd and the Ludicrous” was an experiment in late-night cabaret. Opening night featured a “cosy chat” with Phineas “Big Boy” O’Diddle (aka a young Danny Mulheron) and each Friday night was a different mix of comedy, music and more. “There was a real buzz there” remembers Mulheron, one of the regulars. “We were coming out of a pretty dire political era, and lot of us were desperate to do new stuff.”

Take a closer look

See more early BATS posters

Permission of the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga O Aotearoa, must be obtained before any reuse of this image.

Wellingtonians: From the Turnbull Collections contains revised and expanded entries, and some new ones too. This high-quality publication is available for just $29.99. You can pick it up from from good bookshops or get it straight from the publisher, Steele Roberts.

Post-depression building boom

nobody@flickr.com (National Library of New Zealand) — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 16:25:51 -0700

National Library of New Zealand posted a photo:

Photographer: Gordon Burt, Alexander Turnbull Library, Reference: 1/2-036769-G

Published in the Capital Times, 14 March 2012

Here is the brand new MLC building at the corner of Lambton Quay and Hunter Street, photographed in 1940. It is from the negatives and prints of Gordon Burt, one of Wellington’s best-known commercial photographers. He was determined to show the building in all its art deco glory. In the real world overhead wires and cables criss-crossed in front of the camera, but on this print Burt has painstakingly retouched them out of existence.

There was a lot of new building going on. New Zealand was coming out of economic depression and capitalists were confident again. Other private enterprise showpieces of the time included the Waterloo Hotel (now a somewhat shabby backpackers) and the Prudential Assurance and South British Insurance buildings on Lambton Quay.

Much of the inner-city building boom, though, was driven by the new Labour Government. Major pieces of late 1930s public architecture included the Central Fire Station, the Stout Street Departmental Building, the City Library and the Railway Station.

Take a closer look

See more of Gordon Burt's photographs of Wellington Buildings

Permission of the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga O Aotearoa, must be obtained before any reuse of this image.

Wellingtonians: From the Turnbull Collections contains revised and expanded entries, and some new ones too. This high-quality publication is available for just $29.99. You can pick it up from from good bookshops or get it straight from the publisher, Steele Roberts.

A Courtenay Place landmark

nobody@flickr.com (National Library of New Zealand) — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 15:39:48 -0700

National Library of New Zealand posted a photo:

1/2-202743-F, Crown Studios Ltd negatives and prints, Alexander Turnbull Library, Reference: Photographer unknown (Crown Studios)

Published in the Capital Times, 7 March 2012

The old underground men’s toilet at the Courtenay Place/Taranaki Street corner has just been demolished. It was the state-of-the-art when it was built in 1910, so perhaps the disappearance is worth noting, even if it has been closed since the 1990s.

Courtenay Place has always been a centre of Wellington drinking and a urinal was certainly required. A file at the City archives includes a 1910 complaint from the publican of the nearby Terminus Hotel that men were using his walls, “making a general convenience of my premises for their personal comfort.” After the introduction of six o’clock closing in 1917, the Council received complaints about “undesirables” congregating there to continue their drinking after the pubs had shut. No doubt there are other disreputable stories to tell, amidst its many years of worthy public service.

This photograph shows it about 1930, modestly draped in foliage. The main photographic interest, though, is in the Black and White Express Company vans buzzing in all directions. The Company was the main taxi and delivery firm in Wellington at the time. Presumably this was a photo opportunity to show off the firm’s brand new fleet.

Take a closer look

Permission of the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga O Aotearoa, must be obtained before any reuse of this image.

Wellingtonians: From the Turnbull Collections contains revised and expanded entries, and some new ones too. This high-quality publication is available for just $29.99. You can pick it up from from good bookshops or get it straight from the publisher, Steele Roberts.

Mr Greenhalgh’s entertainers

nobody@flickr.com (National Library of New Zealand) — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 17:59:37 -0800

National Library of New Zealand posted a photo:

Mexican Rose Centennial Exhibition poster, 1939, Alexander Turnbull Library, Reference: Eph-C-Cabot-Exhibition-1940-01

Published in the Capital Times, 29 February 2012

The most popular part of the grand 1939-1940 centennial exhibition out at Lyall Bay was the Playland amusement park. The roller coasters, dodgems, ghost train, crazy house and the scoota boats were just some of the state-of-the-art attractions.

Just as popular was the “odditorium” sideshow of unusual people (1/- entry, 6d for children). Mexican Rose was the first act. She had been working as a fat lady in America, and had already appeared in a Charlie Chaplin film. Later, Wellingtonians could gawp at “the world’s biggest boy”, and Bush Bluey, the “African pygmy man.”

The impresario in charge was Arthur Greenhalgh, who had some idea by now of what interested Wellingtonians. The previous year his acts had headlined at the popular Evans Bay Carnival, with Betty, the tattooed girl (“on her sylph like body are 465 designs”), Anna John Budd (“half man, half woman”) and Chang, “the famous pinhead Chinese.” Sensibilities were different back then.

Take a closer look

See other posters of Mr Greenhalgh's featured acts

Read about Mr Greenhalgh in the Evening Post

Permission of the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga O Aotearoa, must be obtained before any reuse of this image.

Wellingtonians: From the Turnbull Collections contains revised and expanded entries, and some new ones too. This high-quality publication is available for just $29.99. You can pick it up from from good bookshops or get it straight from the publisher, Steele Roberts.

At the Centennial Exhibition

nobody@flickr.com (National Library of New Zealand) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 17:27:46 -0800

National Library of New Zealand posted a photo:

Photographer: Eileen Deste or Neville d’Eresby Aickin, The Centennial Exhibition at night, 1939, Eileen Deste prints and negatives, Alexander Turnbull Library, Reference: 1/2-004305-F

Published in the Capital Times, 22 February 2012

In late 1939 the Centennial Exhibition opened at the northern end of Lyall Bay. This photograph shows the centennial tower, lit up with coloured lights, the centre-piece of Edmund Anscombe’s impressive art deco design. You could climb to the lookout on top for 6d.

Stretching out in front there was a promenade with statues, light towers, reflecting pools, performance spaces and sound shells. Off to the sides were huge exhibition halls and the very popular Playland amusement park (more about that next week). The whole wondrous complex covered 55 acres.

It was only open for five months and the start of the second world war meant it was not quite as successful as hoped, although there were still 2.6 million visits.

Only one remnant remains. The central promenade featured a William Trethewey sculpture of Kupe, the legendary discoverer of New Zealand. Originally it was made of plaster, painted to look like bronze. For many years it sat at the Railway Station. Now, recast in real metal, Kupe stands on the waterfront, beside the rowing boat shed, gazing out towards Hutt valley.

Take a closer look

More images from the Centennial Exhibition

Permission of the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga O Aotearoa, must be obtained before any reuse of this image.

Wellingtonians: From the Turnbull Collections contains revised and expanded entries, and some new ones too. This high-quality publication is available for just $29.99. You can pick it up from from good bookshops or get it straight from the publisher, Steele Roberts.

Rule Britannia

nobody@flickr.com (National Library of New Zealand) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 19:39:42 -0800

National Library of New Zealand posted a photo:

Photographer: Leslie Hinge, History pageant, Newtown Park, 1927, Alexander Turnbull Library, Reference: 1/4-016930-G

Published in the Capital Times, 15 February 2012

This photograph was taken at Newtown Park during the royal tour of 1927. Tens of thousands of loyal Wellingtonians were there, waiting for the arrival of the Duke and Duchess of York (the future George VI, and the present Queen’s mother).

While they waited they watched an historical pageant of British history. This is part of it, showing Britannia and her attendants. The pageant had been a hit at the 1924 Empire Exhibition in London and it was now being re-enacted throughout New Zealand to coincide with the visit. There had already been several evening performances in Wellington, accompanied by military parades, searchlights and fireworks. This was a special daytime performance.

But the pageant was only part of the entertainment. The main event was the “living flag”. As the royal couple arrived 4000 school children moved into position, donned red, white or blue hoods, and formed a giant union jack. Then they shrilled the national anthem. Wild cheering followed. It was, gushed the Evening Post, “The most memorable of many memorable events connected with the royal visit”.

Take a closer look

See more photos from Newtown Park in 1927

Permission of the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga O Aotearoa, must be obtained before any reuse of this image.

Wellingtonians: From the Turnbull Collections contains revised and expanded entries, and some new ones too. This high-quality publication is available for just $29.99. You can pick it up from from good bookshops or get it straight from the publisher, Steele Roberts.

Stinks on Lambton Quay

nobody@flickr.com (National Library of New Zealand) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 19:50:42 -0800

National Library of New Zealand posted a photo:

Artist: William Holmes, Wellington from the corner of Government House, 1863, Reference: B-159-003

Published in the Capital Times, 8 February 2012

Local school teacher William Holmes painted this watercolour in 1863. It shows the corner of Lambton Quay and Molesworth Street, looking along the Quay at low tide. Just out of frame to the right was old Government House (where the Beehive is now), soon to be replaced by a grand new Governor’s residence when Parliament and central Government moved to Wellington.

It is a charming scene, a suitable vista for a Governor. But it was not always quite so pleasant. Wellington, an editorial in the Evening Post declared about this time, “is rapidly approaching that state when it will be able to vie with any city in the world for stinks”. Open sewers and drains were the problem. It was worst on a warm, still day but the wind did not always help. Sometimes a good northerly just blew the refuse back on shore.

Nothing much was done, although reclamations moved some of the problem away from the Quay. Then in 1889 a typhoid outbreak almost killed the Governor’s young son. That finally brought some municipal action. The long-delayed sewerage system was completed and the city became a more fragrant place.

Take a closer look

Permission of the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga O Aotearoa, must be obtained before any reuse of this image.

Wellingtonians: From the Turnbull Collections contains revised and expanded entries, and some new ones too. This high-quality publication is available for just $29.99. You can pick it up from from good bookshops or get it straight from the publisher, Steele Roberts.

The Town Gaol

nobody@flickr.com (National Library of New Zealand) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 19:50:19 -0800

National Library of New Zealand posted a photo:

Photographer: Louis John Daroux, The Terrace Gaol, ca. 1900, Reference: 1/1-039356-G

Published in the Capital Times, 1 February 2012

The Terrace used to be prime residential real estate. Nineteenth-century city merchants built big houses there (some still remain). But not everyone on the Terrace wanted to be there. Along at the southern end, where Te Aro School is now, was the city gaol, with a very different sort of resident. Here is a photograph of it in 1900.

At various times there were some famous occupants among the various murderers, fraudsters, burglars and other interesting types. The Taranaki resistance leaders Te Whiti-o-Rongomai was there in 1886 - the prison governor thought him one of the best behaved prisoners he had ever had. In 1916 fiery socialist Peter Fraser spent Christmas in the cells. After telling a public meeting the ruling classes were spreading “woe, want and murder” he was convicted of sedition. He had mellowed a little by the time he became Prime Minister 23 years later.

You can find out more in a new book, The Terrace Gaol, by Peter Methven. It’s a good read.

Take a closer look

See more photos of the Gaol

Permission of the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga O Aotearoa, must be obtained before any reuse of this image.

Wellingtonians: From the Turnbull Collections contains revised and expanded entries, and some new ones too. This high-quality publication is available for just $29.99. You can pick it up from from good bookshops or get it straight from the publisher, Steele Roberts.

Parliament bonfire

nobody@flickr.com (National Library of New Zealand) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 12:44:20 -0800

National Library of New Zealand posted a photo:

Photographer unidentified, 1907 fire at Parliament buildings, 11 December 1907, Alexander Turnbull Library, Reference: 1/2-008517-F

Published in the Capital Times, 18 January 2012

In the very early morning of 11 December 1907, faulty wiring started a fire in Parliament buildings. They were mostly made of wood and the fire quickly spread. This slightly unfocused photograph captures the chaos. It was early dawn and the walls on the left were just about to disappear into the flames. Soon nothing was left but chimney stacks. Luckily a fire wall helped save the new General Assembly Library wing on the right.

In front of the building you can just see some of the furniture, books and documents rescued during the night. Historical records were lost, though, including nearly all the Government’s nineteenth century correspondence with Maori – one of the great tragedies of New Zealand archives keeping.

Big plans were made for a suitable replacement. Unfortunately the design chosen proved too ambitious and the building was never quite completed. That means that our Parliament buildings now comprise the Library wing of the old Parliament, in Gothic revival style, a neo-classical centrepiece with the southern wing missing, and an upturned flowerpot. Few other countries can boast such an eclectic mix.

Take a closer look

See more images of the fire

Permission of the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga O Aotearoa, must be obtained before any reuse of this image.

Wellingtonians: From the Turnbull Collections contains revised and expanded entries, and some new ones too. This high-quality publication is available for just $29.99. You can pick it up from from good bookshops or get it straight from the publisher, Steele Roberts.

At the beach, 1912

nobody@flickr.com (National Library of New Zealand) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 12:41:48 -0800

National Library of New Zealand posted a photo:

Photographer: Sydney Charles Smith, Crowds on the beach at Lyall Bay, ca 1912, Alexander Turnbull Library, Reference: 1/2-045886-G

Published in the Capital Times, 25 January 2012

16 December 1910 was an important day for Lyall Bay. It was the official opening of the new tramline extension from Kilbirnie. For the rest of that summer and for many afterwards the beach became a favourite weekend destination for Wellingtonians. On a fine day thousands would take the tram to promenade on the sand.

Not many went to swim. Despite the new bathing sheds many still thought public swimming a very immodest activity. A minority of keen swimmers disagreed. That produced some controversy. It is a “disgusting state of affairs,” said one Evening Post correspondent, with swimmers “freely parading in their bathing attire after having their dip... apparently blind to all shame and sense of decorum”.

Gradually modern beach culture became the norm. Lyall bay photographs from the 1920s already show a much higher proportion of young men and women lying around bare-limbed in the sun. By then, though, the Bay was no longer so popular. It is, after all, a very windswept place. Motorcar ownership meant other picnic destinations were now much easier to get to.

Take a closer look

See more photos of busy Lyall Bay beach

Permission of the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga O Aotearoa, must be obtained before any reuse of this image.

Wellingtonians: From the Turnbull Collections contains revised and expanded entries, and some new ones too. This high-quality publication is available for just $29.99. You can pick it up from from good bookshops or get it straight from the publisher, Steele Roberts.

A Christmas cow

nobody@flickr.com (National Library of New Zealand) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 12:50:57 -0800

National Library of New Zealand posted a photo:

Alexander Turnbull Library, Reference: PAColl-3332-05-05

Published in the Capital Times 21 December 2011

Here is a clown and his cow getting set for a James Smith Department Store Christmas street parade, some time in the early 1960s. Hopefully he did not try to bareback the whole way. It would have been a bumpy ride.

They are at the Basin Reserve, where the parade used to begin. In the grandstand, waiting for Father Christmas, were senior citizens from the Darby and Joan club, and excited children from hospitals, orphanages and other institutions. Then the clowns, marching girls, exotic floats and brass bands would set off to a mayoral welcome at the Town Hall.

The Wellington street parade did not begin until 1958, long after Auckland and Christchurch. Back before World War I George & Kersley’s Economic Store used to advertise Father Christmas’s arrival by train or ferry, and then drive him through town to their Lambton Quay shop. But it was not really a parade.

Nowadays it is run by a trust rather than a department store. But an underlying purpose remains – to get us prepared for some frenzied Christmas shopping.

Take a closer look

See more pictures of early Santa parades

Permission of the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga O Aotearoa, must be obtained before any reuse of this image.

Wellingtonians: From the Turnbull Collections contains revised and expanded entries, and some new ones too. This high-quality publication is available for just $29.99. You can pick it up from from good bookshops or get it straight from the publisher, Steele Roberts.