It is the holiday season again, why not have some holiday humour. This was pasted into a hand written recipe book from L.L. Scopes. Part of the Waiuku Museum collection.
Santa’s Breakfast
Santa Claus’ dear old mother
Last Christmas got a fright,
Santa went out in the evening
And of course, stayed out all night!
She had his breakfast ready,
But it very soon got cold.
Said she: “I wish dear Santa
Would come in when he’s told.”
She had ham and eggs for breakfast
And marmalade and toast;
And sixteen roasted apples
(All the things he liked the most).
But just when day was breaking
He hurried through the door;
You may guess that he was hungry,
For he didn’t leave a core.
Moral: –
So hang your stocking early,
Don’t make poor Santa wait,
For when his breakfast is ready,
You mustn’t keep him late.
New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 21065, 26 December 1931, Page 6 (Supplement).
Ex Kohekohe school in 1946 Waiuku Museum Society Collection
The Kohekohe School was closed for the Christmas holidays on the evening of the 22nd December, when, at the request of the teachers and a few friends, the children assembled in the school paddock, and had a very pleasant evening’s amusement. The sports consisted of running, jumping, skipping, etc., for prizes presented by Mr. Murray, Mrs. Muir, Miss Clarke, and Mr. Ferguson. Miss Clarke was very energetic in looking after the programme, and deserves the thanks of the Kohekohe children. After the good things were all disposed of, three hearty cheers were given for the teachers (Mr. Murray and Miss Clarke), when the children wended their way home well pleased with their entertainment. This is the first time anything of the sort has been given here.— A Correspondent.
Mr. J. R. McElwain’s Champion Lincoln Ram Auckland Weekly News 18 November 1898 Auckland Libraries Heritage Collection AWNS-18981118-2-5
AUCKLAND AGRICULTURAL SHOW THE OPENING DAY SHEEP While sheep were not strong numerically as at last year’s show, there being but 115 entries, as against 161 in 1897, it was pleasing to note that the falling away in number was more than recompensed for in the quality all round; as fine and even a lot of sheep being penned as could well be seen in any part of the Colony. Commencing with Lincoln rams, under 18 months ……………. Another pen worthy of mention, though not among the prize-winners, is that shown by Mr. C. T. Barriball, the only failing being that they are slightly bad in tip.
In rams over 18 months, a strong class, Mr. J. R. McElwain claims first and champion, the animal, which was bred by Mr. C. T. Barriball, being good in frame and wool, the only thing to tell against him being the fact that he had been oiled, which is looked upon with considerable disfavour by the judges. ………………. In the pen of three ewes, suckling lambs, Mr. J. R. McElwain’s lot contains the first and champion ewe, bred by the exhibitor, a really fine sheep, …………… Great competition ensued in the class for pens of three ewes under 18 months, the rival exhibition being Mr. C. T. Barriball and Mr. Jas. Harris, …………… Mr. J. R. McElwain once more takes premier position in the pen of three ewe hoggets (shorn with lambs), both first and second prize-getters being strong in wool, a remark that may also be applied to this exhibi- tor’s pen of three ram hoggets, where, owing to lack of competition, only a second has been awarded. ……………
Exterior view of an old cottage with a picket fence out front, Pollok, November 1991. A punga tree shades part of the house. Old farm buildings can be glimpsed beyond the macrocarpa trees behind the house. Photograph published in the photo essay, ‘The Rural Scene: Natural Beauty on City’s Doorstep’, Counties Courier, 19 November 1991, pp. 4-5. https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/photos/id/41316
THE POLLOK SETTLEMENT.
Are glad to observe that the Rev. James M. Smith, in company with friends to the number of thirty four, arrived on the 12th instant per the ’Ganges,’ after a very pleasant and, on the whole, speedy voyage. The reverend gentleman, we believe, on account of severe indisposition, was urges by his medical advisers to demit his charge, and proceed to New Zealand, as a means of recovery. When the announcement of his intention to leave for a foreign land was made, there was one feeling in the congregation – that of deep and heartfelt sympathy with him in his affliction. After a connection of nearly twenty years, during which the onerous and responsible duties of the gospel ministry were most efficiently and faithfully discharged by Mr. Smith. So ardently attached were some, that they could not bear the idea of separation. Accordingly, a number of the congregation at once resolved to emigrated to New Zealand along with him. So far as we know, such a manifestation of attachment to a pastor is seldom one never met with. It is a most substantial proof of the high esteem in which he was held by his congregation. We may also mention that many more of his devoted flock intend to follow him and join him in this land, as soon as circumstances permit. Having been informed of the expected arrival of these emigrants, the Rev. Mr. Bruce, of this city, about two months ago, kindly interested himself on their behalf, intimating to the Provincial government they they were desirous of establishing themselves in this province, with the means of taking up their land together, and possessing the advantages of mutual co-operation. The government, without the least hesitation, set apart for this special settlement the Ramaroa and Opoia blocks, situated on the Manukau harbour, and containing about six thousand acres. Whilst possessing much good soil, these blocks have also a fair proportion of forest land, and being situated at no great distance from Auckland, and accessible both by sea and land, a better position for a settlement could not be desired. We cannot, therefore, but congratulate Mr. Smith and his party on their acquisition of a site so advantageous. They, of course, cannot take into their possession the whole of this extensive tract of land, but the government has kindly consented to reserve a portion for the occupancy of their expected friends. Whilst henceforth the settlement will be known by the designation of “Pollok Settlement,” the settlers, as a religious community, will be distinguished by the name “Scotch Presbyterians.” We need scarcely add that we earnestly with Mr. Smith and the Rev. Andrew Anderson, who accompanies him, all success in their efforts to extend the knowledge of Christ’s gospel in the part of the world; nor do we doubt but by Divine aid they will prove to be efficient instruments in the promotion of the Lord’s work. — Communicated.
Photographer: Douglas Allan Oldfield. Waiuku Museum Society CollectionPhotographer: Douglas Allan Oldfield. Waiuku Museum Society CollectionPhotographer: Douglas Allan Oldfield. Waiuku Museum Society CollectionHartmann House arriving at the King Street Reserve (later renamed the Tamakae Reserve), Waiuku, April 1979. The Waiuku Museum Society had acquired the house to move to the reserve as the nucleus of a planned historical precinct. Built for Anton and Pauline Hartmann in 1886, it was believed to be Waiuku’s oldest surviving house. https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/photos/id/38657Waiuku Museum Postcard (photograph taken about 2015).
TENNIS SENSATION: Miss B. Potter, of Waiuku, who beat Miss Margaret Beverley, holder of the Auckland women’s singles title since 1937. https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19410201.2.135.3. New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23879, 1 February 1941, Page 12
CHAMPION BEATEN
LAWN TENNIS SENSATION
MISS B. POTTER’S ACHIEVEMENT
THEN FAILS IN THE FINAL
Although Miss Betty Potter did not win the Auckland Lawn Tennis Association’s women’s~singles championship as appeared possible after her defeat of Miss Margaret Beverley on Friday, she did what no New Zealand lady has been style to do for the last four or live seasons. She gave the spectators the greatest thrill of the whole tournament and incidentally broke the anticipated repetition of last year’s clean sweep of all 1 the major championships by Waikato players. Miss Potter has had little first-class practice this season but evidently the large number of matches she played during the week brought her well on to her lop form and she played at times almost inspired tennis against Miss Beverley who was obviously disconcerted towards the finish when her game went to pieces. Unfortunately on Saturday Miss Potter had too much play and her form against Miss Pam Cook in the first set was very pool. In the second she led five —two and had two set points which she was unable to clinch and eventually Miss Cook, who was playing well, got on top.
It was rather an anti-climax tor Miss Potter to he beaten by Miss Rosemary Hodges in the final of the intermediate girls’ singles championship soon afterwards, but no doubt the prolonged struggle she had with Miss Marion Hodges in the morning had taken its toll.
It seems somewhat of a refection on the management of the Auckland tournament that after a week of tennis a young and promising player should find it necessary on the last day to take part in three hard singles matches, besides a combined intermediate doubles in which Miss Potter had to default. However, she is to be congratulated on her performance and tennis enthusiasts hope to see her still climbing the ladder towards national honours next season.
A BROADCASTER’S MISTAKE
In a broadcast commentary on the results of the tournament on Friday evening Air A. C. Johns, in congratulating Miss Betty Potter of Waiuku, on her wonderful win over Miss Margaret Beverley, mentioned that be believed Miss Potter started her career by winning the Franklin championship at the early age of twelve years. Mr Johns was a bit astray. It was the schools’ champion of champions tourney that Betty won at twelve years and lie won the Franklin senior champion of champions at fourteen. Actually the Franklin championship eluded her until the Easter tournament of 1939 when she was seventeen. She won it again last. Easter and is the present holder of the title.
Camp of the Third Auckland Mounted Rifles: Events in the Sports Tournament at Waiuku. 1. the camp on the racecourse reserve. 3. Wrestling on horse back. 5. The leading race 2. Bandsmen’s race in progress. 4. Competition on the Lloyd Lindsay event. Auckland Weekly News 21 April 1927 (Auckland Libraries Heritage Collection AWNS-19270421-37-3)
“FIGHT” AT WAIUKU
MOUNTED RIFLES IN ACTION
TACTICAL OPERATIONS.
Some 250 officers, non-commissioned officers and men of the 3rd Auckland Mounted Rifles Regiment, encamped at Waiuku last week, headed by the Commanding Officer (Lieutenant-Colonel M. Aldred), marched from the camp through the main street on Friday morning, the regimental band playing the march. A large crowd of interested spectators had assembled at various vantage points to witness the march, and they were loud in their praises of both men and horses. The troops then proceeded to Colonel Aldred’s farm, situated at Whiri Whiri, where the General Officer Commanding the New Zealand Military Forces (Major-General R. Young, C. B., C.M.G., D.S.O.), the Officer Commanding the Northern Command (Colonel-Commandant H. R. Potter, C.M.G., D.S.O.), and the Brigade Commander of the 1st Mounted Rifle Brigade (Colonel J. N. McCarroll, D.S.O.), had taken up a position on a hill to view the tactical operations.
The enemy troops, who were represented by a number of Waiuku Senior Cadets, had taken up a defensive position on the hill, and as the advance guard and the main, guard moved up various approaches covering the advance of the main body, they were fired upon. A dismounted action was brought about by the protecting bodies, and the enemy, upon being pressed, retired. The advance and flank guards combined fire and movement, and finally routed the enemy in the sandhills near the west coast. The troops then retired to a spot where an improvised field kitchen, supplied them with lunch, and arrived back in camp during the afternoon.
In conversation with a “Times” reporter, General. Young remarked that the camp site at Waiuku was an ideal one for mounteds, and the country where the operations had been carried out was excellent for tactics. The G. O. C. expressed his pleasure at the general appearance of the horses, which he stated had greatly improved since he had viewed them at Epsom last year. Continuing, General Young said he had inspected the regiment in a dismounted action at Mr. .T. Muir’s property on Thursday, and he was pleased with the work, the riding of the men being especially good. The men evinced the real mounted rifle spirit, namely, they “went for it.” Commenting upon the welfare of the regiment, the General stated that the unit was very fortunate in having so many experienced officers, the majority of whom had seen active service. He was pleased with the local arrangements for the commissariat, and passed the remark that they were exceptionally fortunate in having such patriotic farmers as Mr. ,T. Muir, who even went, to the trouble of removing his stock to allow of tactical operations being carried out.
After viewing the action on Thursday, the General took the salute at the regimental march past. General Young left for Wellington. Friday.evening by the. Limited express.
View of the ancient pa site at Pehiakura, near Kohekohe, 1964. The Waiuku arm of the Manukau Harbour is visible in the distance. The photograph was taken near the site of the ‘lost’ Maori village of Pehiakura. Pehiakura had flourished under the leadership of the well-known Ngati Tamaoho chief Epiha Putini (aka Jabez Bunting) during the 1840s, but had later been abandoned because of endemic territorial disputes with the neighbouring Ngati Te Ata iwi. At its peak, the village had been a notable centre of Methodist missionary activity. https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/photos/id/39580The writer Elsie Locke and the Methodist minister the Rev. C.T.J. Luxton photographed by Brian Muir on the site of the ‘lost’ Maori village of Pehiakura, near Kohekohe, August 1964. The writer Elsie Locke and the Methodist minister the Rev. C.T.J. Luxton photographed by Brian Muir on the site of the ‘lost’ Maori village of Pehiakura, near Kohekohe, August 1964. Pehiakura had flourished under the leadership of the well-known Ngati Tamaoho chief Epiha Putini (aka Jabez Bunting) during the 1840s, but had later been abandoned because of endemic territorial disputes with the neighbouring Ngati Te Ata iwi. At its peak, the village had been a notable centre of Methodist missionary activity. The Reverend Luxton, while serving as the minister of Wesley Methodist Church in Waiuku during the late 1950s, had attempted to locate the site of the historic village, but without success; as had the young Waiuku historian Brian Muir. However, one wet day in August 1964, Brian Muir, accompanied by the visiting writer Elsie Locke (who had grown up in Waiuku) finally rediscovered the site. This photograph records a visit the pair made soon afterwards with the Reverend Luxton. In 1965 Elsie Locke wrote a radio documentary about the rediscovery of Pehiakura; in 1968 she also published an historical novel for children set in Waiuku, ‘The End of the Harbour’. https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/photos/id/41916View taken in the vicinity of the site of the ‘lost’ Maori village of Pehiakura, near Lakes Pehiakura and Pokorua, Kohekohe, September 1964. Pehiakura had flourished under the leadership of the well-known Ngati Tamaoho chief Epiha Putini (aka Jabez Bunting) during the early to mid-19th century, but was later abandoned, in part because of endemic territorial disputes with the neighbouring Ngati Te Ata iwi. At its peak, the village was a notable centre of Methodism, and its buildings included a substantial raupo church. The exact site of the village was later almost lost to memory, but in August 1964 the young Waiuku historian Brian Muir, accompanied by the visiting writer Elsie Locke (who had grown up in Waiuku), finally rediscovered it. https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/photos/id/42126Part of the former site of the 19th-century Maori settlement of Pehiakura, near Kohekohe, photographed in January 1964. https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/photos/id/37645
Kentish Hotel, Waiuku, 1877. View of the Kentish Hotel, Waiuku, 1877. The earliest portion of the hotel, built for Edward Constable in 1852, can be glimpsed at the far left. This was a two-storey building with a single-storey verandah at the front. The extension at the northen end, seen here, boasted not only a balustraded wrap-around verandah on the lower storey, but also an upper-storey balcony, was added by a new proprietor, Mr Sedgwick, in 1877. The building was further extended and embellished in 1897. https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/photos/id/42185
THE KENTISH HOTEL.
On landing from the steamer, the first important building is Mr Sedgwick’s Kentish Hotel. Mr Sedgwick has of late considerably improved the appearance of the building and its surroundings. A contract for large additions to the hotel, was taken some weeks ago by Messrs Henessy and Hammond, who enjoy a good local reputation as builders. The work is nearly completed, the verandah and balcony only requiring the finishing touches. The balustrades have been turned out at Mr Hockin’s Waiuku Manufactory, and are of totara. A walk through the new suites of rooms shew that travellers, visitors, and the general public have every desirable convenience. New furniture is observable in every department. Newly married couples desirous of spending the honeymoon in a quiet country spot might do worse than go to Waiuku. The hotel has 20 rooms in addition to the large hall where the Waiuku and Waipipi Highway Boards hold their meetings. There is also a large kitchen, scullery, and other outbuildings, a large stable, kitchen garden and paddocks within a hundred yards. Horses and vehicles may be had on hire at the hotel.
Pioneers entertained during last week’s Jubilee celebrations of the St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, Waiuku, Auckland District. Oldfolks, relatives and friends who attended the reunion held to mark the 50th anniversary of the building of the church. The present minister, the Rev. E. Mowbray-Finnis is the centre of the second row. Auckland Weekly News 10 June 1931 Auckland Libraries Heritage Collection AWNS-19310610-49-1
JUBILEE OF CHURCH.
WAIUKU PRESBYTERIANS.
A thanksgiving service will he held at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, Waiuku, to-morrow morning, as part of the celebrations to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the construction of the church. The Rev. W. J. Comrie will lead the service. On Monday afternoon, a reunion social will be held, at which early members of the church will attend. This will be followed in the evening by a public meeting of commemoration and thanksgiving in the Waiuku Hall. The Rev. E. Mowbray Finnis will be chairman and the speakers will include the Rev. J. H. Roseveare, the Rev. J. Puttison and the Rev. T. E Riddle. Musical items will be given by Miss Moya Cooper-Smith and Miss Minnie West. The celebrations will end with the holding of a communion service on the morning of Sunday, June 7.
Waiuku Museum 