Avondale Avondale Avondale Avondale- -- -Waterview Waterview Waterview Waterview Historical Society Incorporated Historical Society Incorporated Historical Society Incorporated Historical Society Incorporated
Newsletter Newsletter
No. 43January—February 2010
Prepared by Lisa Truttman, President and Editor
This was a frustrating episode. The old Connell prop-erty, site of the last market gardens on Rosebank Peninsula, was sold by the family to a developmentcompany, Jomac Construction Ltd, trading as ConnellPlace Limited. Part of the commercial subdivision of the site includes a new road. The company couldn’tname it after the Connells, as a Connell name existsalready in Blockhouse Bay. So, they decided to go forJomac Place.
I found out only days before the Avondale CommunityBoard meeting in October, but still offered four otheroptions to the Chairman, Duncan Macdonald. Thesewere:
Motu Manawa PlaceThis reflects the property's boundary to the north-eastwith the Motu Manawa Reserve. Motu Manawa is alsothe Maori name for Pollen Island. There are few Maoristreet names on the Rosebank Peninsula, and whatthere are do not reflect the area's history or geography;the name Motu Manawa would also provide a link toearly European settlers on the peninsula who used theMotu Manawa Reserve as an access to the WaitemataHarbour and as a source of lime from the shellbanks.
Hayward Wright PlaceHayward Wright lived in Avondale, off Avondale
Next meeting:Saturday 6 February 2010, 2.30 pmLions Hall, cnr. Blockhouse Bay Roadand Great North Road.
Jomac Place?Fire at Great North Road,3 December 2009
This was at 2055-2065 (approx.) Great North Road, siteof the old Transport Bus Services depot from 1933—1954, and Broadbent’s Hardware after that.
On behalf of the Society I did a quick summary of thesite’s history, which goes back to the NorthernOmnibus Company and Patterson & Co horse buses inthe 1880s, and submitted the information with researchsources to the Northern Region office of NZ HistoricPlaces Trust, as a possible archaeological site.
Space permitting, I’ll put a full history of the site at alater date in the
Journal.
Road, from 1902 until 1943 when he retired to Tau-ranga. He is acclaimed as the father of the commercialkiwifruit cultivar named "Hayward", developed at hisAvondale nursery. He also worked with citrus fruitvarieties, was one of the first nurserymen to propogateand distribute feijoas in this country, and donatedvarieties of roses to the Parnell Rose Gardens set up inthe 1930s. There are no known placenames inAvondale honouring him or his work.Daniel Connell PlaceDaniel Ronaldson Connell purchased the farm in 1921,and developed it as a market garden. He died 1948. Theproperty remained in Connell family ownership until2008.Robert Chisholm PlaceRobert Chisholm was one of Avondale's early land-owners. The sale of his Rosebank Estate after his deathin 1875 is the earliest known documented instance of the placename being associated with the peninsula. Heowned almost all of the north-eastern side of the penin-sula, including Heron Park, from the 1860s until hisdeath. He was one of the trustees of the Whau HighwayBoard in 1868. The former Connell property is part of his sheep farm.But, it was decided by a majority vote on the night thatthe Board endorsed Jomac Place. Why is this frustrat-ing? Give it ten years from now at least, and no onewill know what Jomac is. There’s certainly no relation-ship with our area’s heritage or the district itself.
Avondale South Domain toGittos Domain
On the plus side, the latest campaign to have theAvondale South Domain in Blockhouse Bay renamedlooks like it has worked, with approvals from the Com-munity Board and relevant Council committee in Octo-
ber and November. Back in 2004, I suggested to theBlockhouse Bay History Group (they incorporated in2005) that Gittos Domain could be an option — onethat our Society could consider supporting as FrancisGittos made considerable contributions to our earlycommunity in the 19th century, until he went to live atthe Bay from 1890. As it turned out, only our supportletter was received by the Community Board at thetime, (one each was intended from us and BlockhouseBay) but it did spark off the process which led topublic submissions recently, and the decision now.A photo of Francis Gittos and his wife (from copiesdonated by our Society to Blockhouse Bay Society)are displayed at Armanasco House.Francis Gittos, by the way, started up a wool-scouringoperation at the domain in Blockhouse Bay in 1890.He may have converted the operation to a smalltannery, near the end of Lewis Street, later on.
St Ninians 150th
The Society endorsed a proposed application to theAvondale Community Board for a sign to be installedoutside St Ninians to commemorate the 150th anniver-sary of its completion. I’ll get a suggested design andwording to Board Member Catherine Farmer beforethe end of the year.A new mural added to the Avondale Mainstreet area inOctober features the 1890s version of the AvondaleTrain station — the early simple Vogel-type design.I’ve let two of the Community Board members knowthat, as at the time of this newsletter being compiled,the mural still isn’t completed — lettering on the muralsays just “& TELEGRAPH” instead of “
POST
&TELEGRAPH”. Not a bad effort, though.A request by Don Currey has been received by Auck-land City to consider renaming the New Windsor Re-serve after Mr. Currey’s father Arthur A. Currey, well-known 20th century horticulturalist. The Society votedto support this proposal, with the additional proposalof an interpretive sign for the site’s history. See moreon Arthur Currey inn the
Journal.
New Windsor Reserverenaming proposalSt Judes Church, and their tree
The application for resource consent to remove thePort Jackson fig from in front of the church has beenwithdrawn. Earlier this year, the Society supported thechurch’s application to have the tree removed.
Donation of Avondale Borough CouncilBy-Laws
Neville Exler, one of our members who has been awonderful help to the Society, donated a copy of theBorough’s by-laws to us in September. The booklet isspecial on two counts: as an original record of the oldBorough (operating from 1922-1927) and as a publica-tion produced by Arthur Morrish at his Avondaleprinting works. Anything published by him is nowrare.
The booklet in turn was donated to Neville Exler byArthur Beaumont.
Stories of a river
Gilbert Brakey, our guest speaker for December andconvenor of the environmental group Friends of theWhau, mentioned during discussion that FOTW maybe thinking of putting together a publication to cele-brate their 10th anniversary.In line with that, if anyone from our readers has anyold stories of the Whau River to share, let me know.The Society have gathered some bits and pieces overthe years already, but I’m always keen to hear abouthow people interacted with the river — in play, thepollution from the industries, anything about thewooden bridge that came bore the Depression-era con-crete one, etc.
West Auckland Historical Society hostingthe 2010 NZ Federation of Historical Societies Annual Conference,19 - 21 March 2010
All members of Avondale-Waterview Historical Society welcome to attend.
Programme
Friday 19
th
March (Icebreaker)
5 pm
Welcome and registrations at Mill Cottage, Sel Peacock Drive, Henderson. This willinclude a get together, tour of the features of the cottage and annex, and the waterwheel. Nibbles, wine, coffee and tea to hand.
Saturday 20th March9.30 am
Corbans Estate, Henderson - see map (with registration papers). More registrationswith a morning cup of tea, cake etc.
10.00 am
board the bus for Huia. Commentary by Bruce Harvey and Trevor Pollard fromCorbans Estate to Huia - then head Ranger John Walsh to Whatipu.
Register early as bus holds 65 - first come first served a seat - come dressed for fourseasons.
We are compiling an itinerary booklet for you with all points of interest along theway.
11 am:
Federation A.G.M at the Huia Hall
12 noon:
A look at the adjacent Huia Museum, and lunch.
1 pm sharp:
Back aboard the bus for Whatipu. A Whatipu walk and afternoon tea.Toilet stop back at Huia, then arrive back at Corbans Estate.
7pm:
Titirangi RSA for Conference Buffet Dinner
Sunday 21
st
March
BBQ breakfast outside St. Michaels Church, Corban Estate.
10.30 am
: Inside church to be entertained by a Corban descendant singing. Walk around theEstate conducted by Trevor Pollard.
12.30 pm:
Boxed lunch, and farewells.
RegistrationOptional activities:Conference Dinner and entertainmentSaturday lunchHuia Museum admissionSaturday afternoon teaSunday morning BBQSunday lunch
Please make cheque payable to West Auckland Historical Society Inc., and post to West Auckland His-torical Society, P O Box 21416, Henderson, Waitakere City 0650.Cancellations must be notified to Fay Pollard, West Auckland Historical Society. No refunds will begiven for cancellations received after 10 March 2010, including “no shows” at the conference, unlessthere are exceptional circumstances (at the discretion of the organising committee). Substitute attendeeswill be accepted at any time.
$40.00 pp$7.50 pp$2.00No Charge$10.00 pp$8.00 pp
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Avondale-Waterview Historical Society Newsletter 43
Newsletter of the Avondale-Waterview Historical Society, Auckland, New Zealand
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