Silverdale & Districts Historical Society

with Ruth Olsen

Silverdale and Districts Historical Society
randnolsen@maxnet.co.nz

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2012

Holidays before the harbour bridge - May

Norma Baird and her friend Dorothy Taylor, now living on the Whangaparaoa Peninsula, both grew up in Auckland and remember the days when they and their families came to the Hibiscus Coast for holidays in the 1950s long before the Harbour Bridge was built.

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Accident at Wainui - April

Life in the NZ bush was incredibly dangerous for the early loggers. They cut down mighty trees and either loaded huge logs on to drays pulled by bullocks  or sawed them into planks at sawpits in the forest. Hazards abounded. Men were crushed by falling logs, legs or arms became caught under the moving logs and were torn off. To saw the logs it was necessary to make a stand where one man would work above and one below.

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A Shakespearian tale - February

The charming young Robert Henry Anson Shakespear, son of Captain William Ross Shakespear arrived in Auckland in the mid 1870s. In 1878 he eloped with his 18-year-old sweetheart Blanche and settled in Takapuna. Robert began looking for land to buy (with financial assistance from his grandfather, Sir Robert Hamilton) and found a block “with an abundance of fish and wild pigs and splendid flats of alluvial soil”.

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2011

The Whitneys of Wenderholm - December

Couldrey House in Wenderholm Regional Park was originally built by Robert Graham in 1857. It had a succession of owners – including the Couldreys from whom the Auckland Regional Council acquired the house in 1973. One of the more colourful owners was Major John Whitney who bought the property in 1896, later buying a further 48 acres of foreshore.

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The Bond store - November

On March 5, 1866 the sailing ship The Liverpool arrived  in Auckland harbour having left London the previous November. The voyage was not without incident. After leaving London the ship was diverted to Plymouth to pick up 40 passengers from The Cossipore which was leaking and had been forced to return to land. 

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The man from nowhere - October

He appeared on a ridge above the settlement at Puhoi, riding a chestnut horse wearing a cowboy hat, a dark blue shirt and trousers tied at the knee and ankle – clothing quite different from that worn by the newly arrived settlers. He spoke to them in a language they did not understand  and then, evidently frustrated, he rode away. Who was he and what did he want? The Bohemian settlers had no idea and named the man later identified as Terrence Kennedy, ‘The man from nowhere’.

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Captain with a cause - August

On March 22, 1860, Captain Martin Krippner arrived in Auckland on the ship Lord Burleigh with his wife, four children, his brother and the brother’s future wife, Elizabeth Turnwald and two other couples. He settled in Orewa where he was postmaster from 1861-1863. His house was almost opposite Orewa House facing the Nukumea stream and he acquired land that is now Eaves Bush, right down to the headland.

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Historic cottage a tight squeeze - July

Silverdale recently celebrated 100 years since its change of name from ‘Wade’. Various suggestions have been put forward as to why the name ‘Silverdale’ was chosen. One suggestion relates to rows of silver poplars in a local valley, but it seems that this is unlikely as the existence of any such trees is doubtful. 

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Memories of Silverdale - June

Growing up in Silverdale in the 1940s, Elaine Butler Stoney remembers a very different township from today’s mix of retail shops and industrial area. The little school she attended, built in the 1870s (and now a Playcentre) had two teachers and she remembers cold winters when a pot belly stove supplied heat to the wooden building. Climbing the huge macrocarpa trees (some of whose stumps remain) was a favourite pastime for the children.

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New life for Upper Waiwera school - May

On a lonely spot on the Upper Waiwera Road is the Waiwera War memorial commemorating  those who served in the two World Wars. It’s largely abandoned now, but for many years this was a lively place in front of the Upper Waiwera School; many names on the memorial are those of boys who once studied at the school and played in the grounds.

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Perils of the sea - April

In the early days of European settlement in the Hibiscus Coast area, transport by land to and from Auckland was very difficult. It was easier to go by water and there were many small commercial and private boats sailing around the coast. Safety was not a huge priority and there were many accidents and drownings.

2010

Christmases past at Orewa Beach - December

The camping ground at the southern end of Orewa Beach has long been a favourite for summer holidays. Long time resident Robin Grover recalls Christmas holidays there in the 1940s when the camping ground was much smaller, there was a pine plantation between the camp ground and the surf club and masses of yellow lupins (planted in the hope of stabilising the sand) on the foreshore.

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All aboard the Jura - November

On January 15, 1860 the 792 ton Jura sailed into Auckland Harbour having left London on October 3, 1859. On board were 87 passengers including several children and assorted cargo. Among the passengers were John Moffat, John Blake, William Galbraith and Frederick William Sidwell with his wife and six children. All four families acquired land in the Wainui/Silverdale area and many of their descendants still live on the Hibiscus Coast.

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The bullocks that voted

Vote rigging is nothing new, but we have come a long way since 1852 when the British Parliament passed an Act to Grant a Representative Constitution to the Colony of New Zealand. This Act set up six provinces, each with its own elected council and a general assembly – the forerunner of today’s parliament.

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Tunneling in - September

In the 1920s, shortly after the end of WW1, it was suggested that the eastern end of the Whangaparaoa Peninsula would be an excellent site for coastal defence batteries to defend the approaches to Auckland Harbour. The intention was, in time of war, to lay a minefield to close the gap between Tiri Tiri Matangi Island and the Noises.

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The marvellous Meldrums - July

In 1926 Noel and Lily Meldrum decided to open a hotel on the corner of Puriri Avenue and the main road in Orewa. Being close to the beach, tt was an ideal location for summer holidays and eventually the hotel had accommodation for 40 guests. Later the Meldums built a recreation hall with piano, table tennis and dance floor.

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Grave concerns - June

A controversial chief - April

The first boatload of settlers from Bohemia who landed at the Puhoi river mouth would not have survived without the help of chief Te Hemara Tauhia. He and his warriors took them by canoe to the harsh uninhabited land where they hoped to make a living. Later he sent up canoes laden with fruit and vegetables from his village at Te Muri north of the Puhoi River.

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Memories of rural schools - March

The Dairy Flat School on State Highway 17 has a flourishing roll of 180 pupils, but from 1873 to April 1890 it was a “halftime school” sharing its schoolmaster with Lucas Creek (now Albany) and from May 1890–1899 it was half time with Horseshoe Bush (later closed).