Thames (NZ): The Walkabout continued!

This morning was the day for a circuit around Thames South School and St Francis School.

What a delight to spot this beautiful pavement art outside St Francis School's Baillie Street entrance. An example of what you miss in a car, and demonstrates that walking definitely has its positives! The painted mural is large and detailed, as you can tell from the small snip below.

Pavement mural, Baillie Street Thames

This area of Baillie Street and Mackay Street always reminds be of the early photographs taken in this block by the American Photographic Company. The Hape Creek meandered in a less ordered fashion than today, but a footbridge still goes from Baillie to Clarence Street.

Then & Now: c1868 & 2020, Looking towards the Mackay and Grey Street intersect.

Source for photo on left: View of the Hape Creek. From the album: Views of the Thames Gold Fields; American Photographic Company. Te Papa Tongarewa.

Turn around in Baillie Street and look north towards the Una / Karaka Hill and see past and present. The present day footbridge is in the right photo by the power pole.

 

Then & Now: c1868 & 2020, Looking towards the Una Hill from Baillie Street.

Source for photo on left: View of the Hape Creek & Ranges. From the album: Views of the Thames Gold Fields; American Photographic Company. Te Papa Tongarewa.

At last, Thames South School is reached! While school is out, this photo from photographer Daniel Manders allows us to view the scene in the 1880s. When no school yet existed on the site. The building on the right is the House of Hotunui at the corner of Bowen and Fenton Street.

 

Then & Now: 1880s & 2020, Looking towards the Thames South school site Grey Street.

Source: Left Photo: View from Shortland, looking towards Parawai. Beere, Daniel Manders, 1833-1909 :Negatives of New Zealand and Australia. Ref: 1/2-096137-G. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. http://natlib.govt.nz/records/23047558  Right: Google maps 5 5 2020.

The full colourised version of Daniel Beere's photograph courtesy of MyHeritage Colour.

Thames (NZ): Paintings by Barker & Hoyte

Its been a week of looking at art from Thames or by Thames artists.

1. Douglas Owen Barker (1923-1988)
Its always a surprise to see 'new' paintings done by my late father, he produced so many...its interesting to remember back and think "Yes I remember that one"!

On Trademe this past week one of Doug Barker's black and white paintings was put up for sale. Too rich for my means, lets hope its gone to a good home. Labelled "Nigh Shift" Auckland Scow "Thistle" Pahiki Island - painted in 1976.

  

Other examples of Doug's work:
A & G Price exhibition at Thames Museum; Rob Muldoon cartoon; Train painting and Price's cartoons.

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2. John Barr Clark Hoyte (1835-1913):

We have featured a few of Hoyte's paintings of the Thames area in earlier blog entries, this week on Trademe there was a reproduction for sale. Described as "Hunt's Shotover Claim". 

A beautiful painting showing a very serene and idyllic view of goldmining at the Thames. Not the normal image we have of early Thames and the chaos of mining! Maybe a touch of imagination on behalf of the artist, but very typical of his other works!

Other Hoyte painings of the Thames area include:

Source: Hoyte, John Barr Clark, 1835-1913. [Hoyte, John Barr Clark, 1835-1913] :[Gold mining near Kopu. ca 1868]. 

Ref: C-052-009. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. http://natlib.govt.nz/records/23111225

Source: Hoyte, John Barr Clark, 1835-1913. Hoyte, John Barr Clark, 1835-1913 :[Golden Crown Stamper Battery , Golden Crown Street, Thames. ca 1868]. 

Ref: C-174-003. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. /records/35140730

Other early paintings of The Thames:

Walter Boodle - Moanataiari Creek

Liardet - Early Parawai

Lindauer - Maori Collection

Henry Severn - Panorama of Thames Goldfield

Background Reading:

Christchurch Library have online: Nineteenth century New Zealand Artists by Una Platts.

Thames (NZ): Shortland Wharf 1891 Painting

Thames River with native canoe in foreground, wooden dwelling in background.Painting by: Cheeseman, Ellen Maud 1848-1928, artist
http://www.aucklandmuseum.com/collection/object/am_library-paintinganddrawings-2398

A magnificent view of Shortland Wharf, the painting by Ellen Maud Cheeseman, signed 1891.

While the Shortland Wharf structure can be clearly seen in the distance, it also shows us how the area was more accessible than today. The landing itself being further east, and vessels such as waka could land well past the Shortland Wharf itself. There few mangroves in those days - or maybe they were cleared! The photo below by W A Price was taken a decade later, in the early 1900s.

PA-Group-00719. Price, William Archer, 1866-1948 :Collection of post card negatives. 1900 - 1930. [Collection]
Repository: Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand

Who was Ellen Maud CHEESEMAN?

"Ellen Cheeseman was the sister of Thomas Frederick Cheeseman, Curator of Auckland Institute and Museum from 1874-1923." There are several of her watercolours at the Auckland Museum.

Ellen was the daughter of Thomas Cheeseman and Eliza (Cawkwell) Cheeseman

Sister of Thomas Frederick Cheeseman, Emma Cheeseman, Clara Eyre Cheeseman and William Joseph Cheeseman. Source: Wiki tree.

AUCKLAND STAR, VOLUME LVIII, ISSUE 271, 16 NOVEMBER 1927

Thames (NZ): Opening of new exhibition at Thames Museum

Last August (2017), the Thames Museum opened a successful exhibition on Thames 150 Years a Goldfield, and today saw a new display featuring A & G Price.

"The official opening of the A. & G. PRICE STORY [was] held at 11.00am. In 1871 brothers Alfred and George Price opened a foundry and engineering workshop near the booming gold mining industry in Thames. They developed a thriving business manufacturing ore stampers, crushers & feeders, steam engines, boilers, timber jacks, and Pelton wheels. In the late 1880's they built a steam locomotive for the local industry, and a whole new industry was born supplying steam and diesel locomotives for NZ Rail." Source: Thames Heritage Festival.

The opening started with a short speech by Thames Museum President Morgan Lewis, who thanked all those who had contributed, including the Thames Community Board for a grant to cover the costs of setting up the exhibition. Anne - Laure Guillaumat (photo right), was responsible for the research and layout of the various displays.

The ribbon was officially cut by a descendant of the Price family, thereby officially opening the "A & G Price Story" Exhibition. 

 

Story boards and photos, along with old relics from the foundry fill the room. The visitor can wander around reading the history of the business and the people who worked there. The business closed last year, just missing the milestone of 150 years on the Thames Goldfield.

Scattered amongst the displays are cartoons by Doug Barker. Doug worked in later years around the 1970s early '80s at the foundry. A carpenter by trade, he became an odd jobs man at the foundry after his partnership of Cornes & Barker was disbanded.  A train enthusiast and part-time artist, Doug loved working at the foundry and being surrounded by the trains and their history. While his passion was for the trains, he also loved sketching, in particular doing cartoons on topical issues. Yes and by today's standards they were not 'pc' but should be taken in context of the time they were drawn!

Many of the old staff can be recognised in the drawings. One particular series, was on the history of Prices, or Rices as it came to be known and in the sketch below you will see that Doug has crossed out the P. One interesting aspect to these old drawings, is that it is only after Doug died that I found out that his Great Grandfather Richard Bach had one of the first foundry's on the corner of Burke and Owen Street. Bach moved back to Auckland just before the Price brother's arrived. So in actual fact Doug's ancestor was on the site of A & G Price first.

Doug drew many of the trains that were manufactured at Prices, and two of these is shown below.

Congratulations again to the Thames Museum, and may many visitors and Thamesites alike, take the time to visit the 'A & G Price Story' exhibition.

For more information: Thames Museum on facebook

Thames (NZ): The Lindauer Collection & the Thames connection

For decades, the fascination of the Lindauer Maori Portraits has never waned. The beautiful paintings provide a timeless view of well known and lesser known Maori figures. The Auckland Art Gallery has a wonderful collection that serves as the basis for a recently released book.

The new publication has been edited by Ngahiraka Mason and Zara Stanhope and is named "Gottfried Lindauer's New Zealand The Maori Portraits." Published by Auckland University Press the book provides a full guide to the collection, along with how the portraits ended up in the safe keeping of the Auckland Art Gallery.

Who was Gottfried Lindauer?  
"Gottfried Lindauer was New Zealand's leading painter of Māori in the 19th century, in both portraits and in scenes of Māori life. He produced many hundreds of individual portraits, commissioned by both Māori and Pākehā. Because so many of the Māori men and women Lindauer portrayed were tribal leaders and well-known figures, they are central to the history of Aotearoa New Zealand. Many of the portraits that are now in public collections are gathered here. Each one includes information about the sitter which will grow as you share your comments and stories, increasing the storehouse of knowledge on them." 

Source Lindauer online

The first Thames connection is that many of these paintings were produced by Gottfried Lindauer from the cabinet cards that were taken by the Foy Bros photographers of Thames.

An example of a Foy Bros. cabinet card is on the right, it is of Pare Watena (Watene). The cards were a photo on a piece of card. They were popular to collect and send back to family overseas.

The second Thames connection is the number of portraits that are featured in the book that have a Thames - Ohinemuri connection. They include:

• Chief Haora Tipa Koinaki (Ngāti Pāoa) - Who assisted James Mackay with the opening of the district for goldmining.
• Heeni Hirini and child - Better known as Ana Rupene from Manaia. Described as a woman with mana from her Ngāti Maru whakapapa.
• Horeta Te Taniwha (Ngāti Whanaunga) - An eyewitness to Captain Cook's landing at Mercury Bay in 1769. He later boarded Cook's Endeavour and was given a spike nail which he wore around his neck.
• Hori Ngakapa Te Whanaunga (Ngāti Whanaunga) - An influential tribal leader, who had his land and assets seized after an 1871 land survey deal failed to eventuate.
• Chieftaness Mere Kuru Te Kati - A prominent figure and landowner at Ohinemuri, who protested against mining and land settlement. Known to have pulled out survey pegs and unmoored boats of 'unwelcome settlers'. The last owner to sign her land over in 1895.
• Pare Watena (Watene) -  From Manaia and lived at Tararu; the eldest of three sisters who gave land for Tararu Cemetery in the 1870s. Watena was famed for her beauty.
• Chief Tamati Waka Te Puhi (Ngāti Maru) - James Mackay negotiated to takeover Te Puhi's land by gentlemen's agreement; which in 1886 he protested, following the construction of a road over a tapu site north of the town.
• Taraia Ngakuti Te Tumuhia - An often feared leader who practised traditional warfare customs. Te Tumuhia refused to sign the Treaty of Waitangi, and continued to fight to retain the ownership of his estates. He died at Thames in March 1872.
• Chief Tukukino Te Ahiataewa (Ngāti Tamaterā) - Tukukino also protested against the opening of Maori land to allow mining at the Ohinemuri. He was eventually influenced by James Mackay to hand over the land for mining. 

The third Thames connection relates to how the Gottfried Lindauer Collection of Maori portraits came to be at the Auckland Art Gallery. Henry Edward Partridge from England, joined the merchant navy in 1861 and later worked on a merchant ship in 1866. Following the goldrushes in Australia, Hokitika (New Zealand) he then headed to The Thames about 1870. Partridge had a small crushing plant by the Moanataiari Creek, and he lived up the Valley with his family.

Daily Southern Cross,  25 August 1871

While at the Thames, Partridge became good friends with Warden James Mackay and often accompanied him on his visits to Maori villages. It was the start of a lifelong interest and fascination with the Maori race.

Henry Edward Partridge

In 1873 Partridge moved to Auckland and set up business as a tobacconist and sporting shop owner. Then in 1875, Henry met Gottfried Lindauer and commissioned him to paint Maori portraits. Initially these portraits were kept at the Partridge’s Auckland residence. In 1901 Partridge moved the collection into the 'Lindauer Art Gallery’ located above his shop in Queen Street, Auckland.

Over the years some paintings were loaned, then in 1912 it was decided that the gallery should close. Old Thames boy James Parr (Mayor of Auckland, he had attended Waiokaraka School) was instrumental in getting Partridge to loan his collection to the Auckland Art Gallery. In 1915 the Partridge Collection of Lindauer paintings, was formally given to Auckland and handed to the Auckland Art Gallery. (This was possible following a donation to the Auckland Belgian Relief Fund, which was part of Partridge’s conditions for the gifting of the paintings)

Thanks to ex-Thames resident, Henry Edward Partridge a collection of Lindauer's Maori Portraits was produced, and ultimately stayed intact and are still on display for the people of New Zealand at the Auckland Art Gallery.

Thames (NZ): Special Visits - Rob & Thea Muldoon

SPECIAL VISITS: In 1978 Prime Minister Robert and Mrs Thea Muldoon were in Thames, as guest of honours for the March Thames Hospital Nurses' Graduation. On 24 February 2015, Dame Thea Muldoon died. More information at: http://goo.gl/UBm8Fg

Right Honourable Robert Muldoon and Thea Muldoon at Thames for the nurses' graduation March 1978. The photograph is taken in the Nurses' Dining Room where the graduations were normally held.
Source: Thames Hospital Pictorial CD, by Waikato Health Board. 

 

Cartoon drawings by Doug Barker of Thames in 1975 - of Rob Muldoon and Bill Rowlings. They appeared on the front page of the Sunday News Newspaper in 1975. (exact date not recorded)
 Source: A Barker Collection 

Thames (NZ): LANDMARK - TABLE MOUNTAIN (Te Kohatu-whakairi-a-Ngatoroirangi)

When you return to Thames, do you ever look to spy Table Mountain up the Kauaeranga? Appearing majestic, but speak to anyone who has been there, and they often describe the nightmare of tramping in the swampy area. It has remained a fascinating subject for photographers throughout the decades.

Description: TABLE MOUNTAIN, A WELL- KNOWN PICTURESQUE LANDSCAPE BETWEEN THAMES AND MERCURY BAY, AUCKLAND.
Taken from the supplement to the Auckland Weekly News 28 SEPTEMBER 1905 p014
Source:  ' Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, AWNS-19050928-14-3 '

BACKGROUND:

Table Mountain – Te Kohatu-whakairi-a-Ngatoroirangi; ‘up-raise rock of Ngatoroirangi’. Ngatoroirangi was the priestly navigator on the Te Arawa waka, said to have raised a rock in the ranges to signal his arrival. English name deriving from its flat-top physical shape.
Source: TCDC Places of the Coromandel

In "Te Takoto O Te Whenua O Hauraki, Hauraki Landmarks" by Taimoana Turoa (Edited by Te Ahukaramu Charles Royal), further information on the mountain is given. The Tribal area is Ngati Maru, Ngatei Hei. It is 846m high. "Maori stories report the presence of eels, kokopu (freshwater fish) and koura (freshwater crayfish) in the swamps."

There are reports of kauri logging and collection of Kauri gum in the area, along with some limited mining. During 1918-1928, 0.3 million feet  of kauri was collected from the Table Mountain area. Jim O'Neill "had a hauler 600m in up the southern slopes of Table Mountain feeding a second hauler at loading skids beside Kauaeranga tramline." (Kauaeranga Kauri by B W Hayward) There were also larger amounts of kauri gathered in the surrounding area.

In the 1900s, there is a store that gives its address as Table Mountain. Magill's Store, Table Mountain. There is a John Magill at Gumtown, so this could be a different location.

Description: Looking northeast along the Kauaeranga Valley, near Thames, showing Table Mountain (left distance, partially obscured), and the Maori Chief formation (centre), with the Kauaeranga River visible in the foreground

Source: 'Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 4-RIC249'

It was not just photographers that were fascinated by Table Mountain and the Kauaeranga River, many artists over the years have painted the scene.  The one below was done by D Barker of Thames, c1970

Further information on Table Mountain:
-> YouTube video of tramp across Table Mountain
-> Geology and eruptive history of Table Mountain area, Coromandel Peninsula
-> TABLE MOUNTAIN (2,745’) is a flat topped mountain with extremely steep sides. There is a very impressive backdrop to the Kauaeranga Valley.
-> Toss Hammond Oral history - trip to Table Mountain 1888 at The Treasury
-> Map of the Kauaeranga Valley and Table Mountain.

A comment below mentions another artist who painted around Thames. Here is some background on artist William Henry Longmuir Smith:

Thames (NZ): Early Painting by Liardet

A beautiful early painting of the Parawai to Te Aroha landscape. Originally painted by Wilbraham Frederick Evelyn Liardet, (1799-1878) and later copied by  Nora Anderson 1901. Liardet was the first European settler at Port Melbourne (Sandhurst), Australia in 1839.

Source: Ref: C-126-006. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. http://natlib.govt.nz/records/22333282

Description: View from Mt Pukekawa of the embuchure and meandering of the River Thames to Mt Aroha (or M[oun]t of Love) with Te Karapoti Pahus Kainga in the foreground. Parawai on the Kawaeranga River.

Further details supplied:
Extensive view framed by tree ferns and flax in the foreground, looking down unto a small river winding through cultivated fields and scattered houses, with the kainga mentioned in the title presumably the cluster of buildings to the right. There is a ridge of low hills beyond the near river valley then the extensive plain of the Waihou River, formerly called the Thames, with mountains in the distance.

The Thames River, named by Captain Cook, is now known by its original Maori name as the Waihou River. The "Kawaeranga" River is the Kauaerangi. Mt Pukekawa does not appear to be a name used in the area depicted any longer - the closest Pukekawa is some 50 kilometres to the west on the far side of the Waikato River.
On the verso is a pencil and faint watercolour drawing of a pair of pink dancing shoes and a fan.

Owned by Warren Sisarich, 1960s. Sold at Dunbar Sloanes, Wellington, to Dr Neville Hogg of Dargarville. Purchase by the Library from Dr Hogg at Webb's Auction, Auckland, August 1993.
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Obituary for W F E LIARDET:

Source: Colonist, Volume XX, Issue 2368, 30 March 1878, Page 6

Wikipedia Entry for W F E LIARDET
Liardet Family tree

Thames (NZ): Train painting - WAB 796

Apart from being a photographers favourite, artists have always loved to paint/draw the trains of Thames. One such artist was Doug Barker. Below is one that is labelled as WAB 796 BUILT 1926.

On the back is written the following description:
"Drawing shows Wab 796 - Price's first WAB Class leaving works. On special occasions such as first of a class leaving outshop, out came the flags for the photographer.  Total of eight WAB and Class were built - the only difference in class Wab and WS was rear bogie."

Further information:
Information on A & G Price and their trains at The Treasury, Thames.

Thames (NZ): The reality behind Mining paintings

Only the residents of Shortland and Grahamstown (Thames), could really comprehend the reality of life on a goldfield. The uniqueness of having mines literally on one's residential doorstep. The noise...the pollution...long work hours, all must have been a challenge.  It is interesting to consider this in context with the idealistic photographs and paintings that appeared and circulated around the world.

 The painting above, is by Walter Boodle of the Moanatai[a]ri Creek c1880. Labelled on the back of the painting held at the Auckland Art Gallery: March 3rd 1880. "Moanatairi Creek on the Thames Goldfield, New Zealand.

The view suggests that miners meander to their diggings along a fairly decent track. The reality below, can be seen in the view up the Moanataiari Valley. The land cleared to allow for the prolific mining that was taking place on any vacant land. Many of you, will have ancestors that lived in these conditions. Not just single men, but families who raised children amongst the mining activities.

Moanataiari Creek
Source: 'Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 7-A16668'

 

When the mining settlers arrived on the Thames goldfields, they certainly must have been in awe of the beautiful landscape - but many of these areas were quickly attacked in the search for the illusive GOLD. The painting below is by John Hoyte (1835-1913). It is of the Kopu area south of Thames. The description reads: 1868...Shows the tunnel entrances to a gold mine on the left, with three miners outside, one carrying a shovel. Tree ferns and the smoke from a fire, then a goldminers' tent with two men and a small fire, centre foreground. Hills and a plain with the Waihou and Piako rivers in the distance.

Source: Hoyte, John Barr Clark, 1835-1913. [Hoyte, John Barr Clark, 1835-1913] :[Gold mining near Kopu. ca 1868]. Ref: C-052-009. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. http://natlib.govt.nz/records/23111225

Thames (NZ): Goldie painting of H POKAI

A copy of a Goldie painting on an auction site is the background for this article.



The accompanying information with the sale of the print includes:
"A magnificent reproduction of Charles GOLDIES 'A Summer's Day Hori Pokai (also known as Sleep 'tis a Gentle Thing).  The original was completed in 1933 and most recently sold at Auction for a record $454,000."

Who was Hori POKAI?

"Hori Pokai lived beside the Kauaeranga Stream in the Thames district. His father, Tauri Netana, escaped from Hongi Hika’s attack on Te Totara Pa in 1821. He was later captured by a Ngapuhi raiding party and taken to the Bay of Islands, where Pokai was born, instead of his native Arawa.

Although Hori Pokai’s tattoo was incomplete, he was considered to be the last tattooed Maori in the Thames district. When Mr W. Hammond came to photograph the chief, he painted Pokai’s tattoo with Indian ink to ensure that the finer lines would show up more clearly. Pokai was so pleased with Hammond’s artwork that he paraded daily down the main street of Thames until the ink finally wore off.

 Pokai was an avid story teller and would relate how on several occasions his love affairs brought him close to death. He told of the time he paid too much attention to another man’s wife and the aggrieved husband challenged him to a dual. The whole tribe assembled to watch Pokai’s punishment. Pokai, as the offender, had to rest on one knee, with a sharp stick in his hand, and defend himself against his opponent, who was armed with a long spear. The offended husband was allowed to make two thrusts at Pokai, in an attempt to impale him. Pokai parried the first attack and deftly brushed aside the second. He fought this uneven dual twice and survived both times. He was a man of great pride, with a keen sense of humour. His great physical strength is clearly mirrored in his face, particularly the set of his jaw. He was an able warrior and leader, but few stories of his battles have survived.

Goldie first painted Hori in 1905, after a visit to Thames. He took a series of photographs at the time, and these were used for portraits in 1917 and 1919 and for several in the 1930’s. The 1936 portrait Pokai Perturbed or Suspicion was submitted to the Royal Academy, and the 1937 study A Midsummer’s Day, Maoriland was exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1938. Goldie also had access to the photographs of Hori taken by Hammond."

Source: C FGoldie His Life & Painting, Alister Taylor & Jan Glen, 1977

The New Zealand Herald 1 February 1935, has details of the painting by Charles Goldie. Pokai is said to have died in February 1920, whereas another newspaper reports the death date as 1930.

Thames (NZ): Hikutaia Cartoon & photo

A sad tale today of how Maori names were often changed to english versions...often because 'Europeans' found it easier. It makes one wonder about the acceptance and use of Maori placenames by the new settlers. The cartoon below makes reference to the Hikutaia railway station. The caption reads:

NOT MAORI LINGUISTS. Tourist (from the South, on an Upper Thames trip) : By Jove I there's a swell name on that station. "Eyeeoosher" eh! Sounds quite Eastern.

Above: Observer, Volume XXVII, Issue 28, 30 March 1907, Page 16

Below: Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, AWNS-19070801-2-3

A few months later in July 1907, there was a flood at Hikutaia. Severe flooding of paddocks and the railway line - which temporarily disrupted train services.

Thames (NZ): Cartoons from Price's Foundry

Back in the 1980's, Doug Barker of Thames was prolific in producing cartoons of Thames events and in particular, he focused on his fellow workers at A & G Prices of Thames. Thanks to a worker who saved them being destroyed, they still exist today. They need a clean and will be scanned, indexed and copied at The Treasury in the near future.

One of the cartoons is below; a common theme was taking an event happening in a given year and  drawing it in context 100 years before. Price's being known as Rices. Note in this one the Wakatere paddle steamer ambling along the gulf.

The moral is, please don't discard of any documents and photos related to Thames - check with places like The Treasury, so these treasures can be saved.