Lyn Johnston

From the 1860s, punts were the workhorses of the Kaipara. Their flat bottom design was ideal for negotiating the harbour’s shallow, muddy inlets. Every family...

Early on September 23, 1866, Captain Alexander Unthank’s cutter Bonneta crossed the Manukau Bar heading north to the Kaipara settlements. She carried a full cargo...

Henry and William Marsh emigrated to New Zealand aboard the Ida Zeigler in 1863.  Although not part of an organised group, they still qualified under...

American servicemen stationed in Warkworth during WWII were a long way from home, training for the Pacific theatre and an uncertain future. Initially, the men...

The first Wharehine settlers were cut off from direct access to Port Albert by the large Paraheke Maori Reserve, next to Wharehine Creek, and indeed...

Building a house 150 years ago was simple. Settlers chose the best site on their property and either erected their own dwelling or hired an...

In March 1924, Ted Widdup travelled from Te Kopuru to Wharehine with his sister Alice, her husband Will Wordsworth, and their family to visit friends....

Recent news of the latest royal baby brought to mind an interesting second-generation Albertlander. Archibald Edwin Brookes was born in 1878 in Taranaki, where his...

A current project for the Albertland Museum involves transcribing unpublished manuscripts from our Edwin Stanley Brookes (Jnr) collection.  The following is an edited excerpt from...

In the early 1900s, Albertland’s roads were practically non-existent so settlers relied on waterborne transport. Shepherd’s Store, in Port Albert, made a regular monthly run...