Warkworth & District Museum

with Judy Waters

Warkworth & District Museum

2012

Colonist makes his mark - May

The clipper ship Flying Foam on her maiden voyage from London to Auckland in 1864 brought back the Maori chiefs and their wives who had journeyed to England to offer their allegiance to Queen Victoria. Also aboard were a number of immigrant families including Henry and Eliza Palmer and their children.

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Seafaring family - April

It was Captain Charles Ludwig Kaspar who brought the steamboat Lady Bowen up the river to Warkworth in the 1870s.

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Popular picnics - February

Organised picnics have long been enjoyed at this time of the year and though the mode of conveyance to such events has changed over the years, the formula of ample food and drink, sunshine and good cheer in a congenial location is tried and true. Many picnics became a part of the social calendar, eagerly awaited each year.

2011

Travelling 1880s style - December
For each generation, remarkable changes take place, making travel faster and easier. We must all have remarked at some time on the travel time between home and Auckland, compared to years ago.

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Time marches on - November
The 93rd anniversary of the signing of the Armistice between Germany and the Allied Forces, heralding the end of hostilities in World War I, will be marked on November 11.

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Early road building - September
A hundred years ago there was hot debate about the use of catamaran sledges.

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Early schooling - August
A recent request for information about Dome Valley School uncovered some interesting history.

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Enterprising operator - July
Bridgehouse, located on the central riverside site first occupied by Warkworth’s founder John Anderson Brown, has long been one of the town’s recognisable heritage buildings.

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Patriotism reigns supreme - June
News of the upcoming Matakana Heritage Day on Sunday, June 19, at the Matakana Hall, has been welcomed by the Warkworth & Districts Museum.

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And the band played on - April
The Warkworth Brass Band has played the National Anthem through the reign of five monarchs and a display of band memorabilia can be viewed at the Warkworth and Districts Museum.

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Early property investment - March
Early photographs of Warkworth show a large house standing alone on the hill overlooking the river. This was ‘High Holme’, the residence Henry Pulham had built in the 1860s for his growing family.

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Learning no easy task - February
As a new school year begins, it is timely to reflect on the beginnings of education in this area.

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Precise book-keeping  -  January
A piece of Warkworth’s history is enclosed in the covers of a day book dated April 1860 to October 1862 belonging to John Baxter, first storekeeper in the town.

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2010

Warkworth benefactor - December
The stately residence of Dr John Valentine Shoesmith once stood in the centre of the present domain; it’s sweeping driveway bordered by camellias.

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In the line of duty - November
Warkworth’s first policeman Constable Neil McLeod is believed to have been the first officer in New Zealand to lose his life in this way.

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Hospital service - October
The history of the Warkworth Cottage Hospital chronicles a changing approach to maternity care through the decades.

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Fortunes won and lost - September
Ranulph Dacre (1797-1884) was a master mariner and merchant trader who entered the Navy aged 13 years and saw service in the blockade of American ports.

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Determined settlers - August
In 1854 the Ahuroa/Kourawhero land purchase was made by the Crown from Te-Kawerau who were Ngati Whatua and Te Kiri of Ngati Wai.

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Artistic beginnings - July
On the 25 May 1867, The Daily Southern Cross reported that the first vehicle to cross a new bridge over the Mahurangi River, at Warkworth, was a dray laden with paintings owned by artist/settler Mr Horsley.

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The Age of Timber - June
As Auckland City spreads north, and demands are made on the rural landscape, areas of native bush become more valued for the glimpse they give of the splendour of the forest in pre-European times.

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Gold diggers have mixed fortunes - May
The gold fever that gripped many places in New Zealand in the late 1860s also affected the Mahurangi district.

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Bulford kiwi remembered - April
It is now more than 90 years since 100,000 young men of the New Zealand Expeditionary Forces journeyed to distant lands to take part in the First World War. Included were many sons and grandsons of pioneer families from this district.

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Tennis served on grass courts – March