History – Tipping their hat to the teetotallers

When the Matilda Wattenbach and Hanover sailed into Auckland in September 1862, the Albertland settlers were eager to begin their new lives. A ballot for land had already been held on board the ship, and by the following spring, homes were beginning to dot the Oruawharo Block. More than 80 families (around 220 people) were busy fencing paddocks, sowing grass, grazing cattle, and tending vegetable gardens.

At Whakapirau, a small riverside community took shape, mainly made up of families from the Hanover. Port Albert became their hub, with the Oruawharo River as their lifeline. Yet the settlers were never fond of the name Whakapirau, which translated to “rotten canoe”. Determined to rebrand their district, they devised the name Wellsford by combining the initials of their surnames – Worker, Watson, White, Edger, Levet, Lester, Simpson, Scott, Stark, Stewart, Foster, Oldfield, Rushbrook, Ramsbottom, Rishworth and Dibble.

Each family contributed something unique: the Dibbles made cheese, the Edgers ran a co-op farm, and the Levets, somewhat controversially, turned to winemaking, despite earlier proposals for a Temperance Lodge to keep alcohol out of the settlement.

Charles and Keziah Levet, from Ely in Cambridgeshire, arrived on the Hanover with their five children. Charles, a coppersmith by trade, had been inspired by reading about viticulture. He bought 180 acres beside the Whakapirau River and, with the help of his sons, cleared the bush and planted seven acres of vines. Using pit-sawn timber, they built a wine house and press, while also earning their living by floating kauri logs downstream, working in sawmills and splitting shingles for Auckland homes.

Viticulture became Charles’ great passion. He grew several varieties and produced both port and sherry.

Aside from a little sugar and water added to the juice, his wine was free from adulteration and often considered superior to imported bottles. He identified three great challenges to grape growing: insects, which discoloured the fruit; climate, which prevented grapes from developing enough sugar; and small birds, which, he complained, destroyed the crops “in a most frightful manner.” He even experimented with drying grapes for raisins, but lamented that the flavour was nothing like the real thing.

When the wine was ready, barrels were rowed down the tidal creek to Port Albert, then shipped to Onehunga before reaching Israel Wendel’s wine bar in Karangahape Road – the first licensed wine shop in New Zealand. By 1881, new laws allowed winemakers to sell their product in two-gallon lots, and the Levets gained some distinguished customers. Governor Sir William Jervois was a regular patron, and his successor, the Earl of Glasgow, went a step further by granting the family permission to name their property Lord Glasgow Vineyards.

The vineyards thrived for more than 40 years, but after the death of Charles’ son William in 1905, and Charles himself in 1907 at the age of 85, the enterprise came to an end. With no one left to carry it on, and phylloxera spreading among the vines, the land reverted to pasture. The winepress found a second life in cheese-making, while the casks were sold to Henderson winemaker Assid Corban.

Today, the legacy of this pioneering vineyard endures. At the Albertland Heritage Museum, visitors can still see the Levets’ massive wine press screw and their well-thumbed 1872 viticulture textbook – a reminder of the family who dared to plant vines in a land of teetotallers.