pt chevalier times 23

8/2/2019 Pt Chevalier Times 23

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/pt-chevalier-times-23 1/8

ewsletter for the Point Chevalier Historical Society

o. 23, March 2012 sites.google.com/site/pointchevalierhistory/

cÉ|Çà V{xätÄ|xÜ

ext issue due out May 2012

Contact Lisa Truttman (editor) :19 Methuen Road, Avondale, Auckland 0600,

phone (09) 828-8494or email [email protected]

Times

CalendarMeetings—2012

April 26, 10.30 am visit to Springleigh Ave,

Mt Albert, hosted by Sir Harold MarshallJune 28, 10.30 am at the Horticultural Centre

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETINGSpeaker, Gez Johns, NZTA Waterview Connection23 August, 10.30 am at the Horticultural Centre

Don Gallagher, on the Royal NZ Fencible Corps

27 October 10.30 am at the Horticultural CentreMargaret O’Connor, om NZ Walkways22 ovember 10.30 am at the Horticultural Centre

Clive Hill, from Pt Chevalier Tennis Club

These images were sent through by Juli Cook, grand-daughter of Mrs Alice Turnwald, whose memories Julihas kindly shared with us on page7 and 8 of this issue.Above — an envelope I’d love to have in my owncollection, and left: Coyle Park plinth, Amelia Turn-wald and Jason the Alastian dog, 1980



Pt Chevalier Historical Society

Minutes of meeting Thursday 23 February 2012

Auckland Horticultural Council RoomsMeeting started at 10.30 am. Present: 34 peopleApologies: G Annan, P Burrell, M Catlin, J Cleal, B Oliver, E Read, J WilliamsPresident’s report

Albert –Eden Community Board grant of $316 received. This will assist in keeping us in the “black” but some smallfund raising maybe needed later in the year.April meeting is at 2 Springleigh Ave. Please contact one of the committee if you need transport.Z (Shell) have been contacted re their sign (Point Chev Z). Discussion is ongoing.Committee is considering organising trips away- some possibilities are Riverhead, Clevedon River, KaiparaHarbour, Howick historical village. Let us know what you think of the idea.Albert-Eden is co-ordinating a “neighbours day” on March 24/25th. A small amount of funds are available for this.Treasurers Report

00 acc $1227.68 01 acc $2923.35General businessJean Jones tabled article from NZ Herald (18th Feb) about a couple who are living in the old picture theatre in thePoint.Alison Turner tabled article from NZ Herald (18th Feb) about the history of some place names in the Grey Lynn,Freeman’s Bay and central city areas.Guest Speaker

Des Gates: Auckland TramsMeeting Concluded: 12.05 pm Next meeting

26th April, at 2 Springleigh RoadSir Harold Marshall will show us his historic residence

Pt Chevalier Historical Society

April Meeting 2012

Sir Harold Marshall will reminisce about his early memories of the area and will show us his family

homestead which dates back to his grand parents’ day.

2 Springleigh Ave, Mt Albert

10.30 am, Thursday, 26th April

If you need transport from

Pt Chevalier please phone the

secretary (845 0311)



Woodward Road, the Springleigh

Estate … and the other Mr

Woodwardby Lisa J Truttman

The road predated its naming by at least 25 years.On a scrappy remnant of a survey plan dating fromthe late 1840s to early 1850s the end of the line of the road, where it juts off from what we know todayas Carrington Road, can be seen. It swung pastAllotment 60, described as “Excellent volcanic soilon scoria”, 84½ acres of prime farmland on the MtAlbert West aquifer leading towards the springswhich come up even today on the farm which usedto be where the lunatic asylum patients were(hopefully) made well, just to the north. But the first

major landowners there on Woodward Road to begin with were not named Woodward.

Perhaps the paper road had no documented name,only local ones now lost to time, in those first yearsafter the government survey. Anyway ... the firstowner of Allotment 60 was a woman who didn’tlive there.

Margaret Adam came to New Zealand in 1841 onthe barque Brilliant , her and her husband James oneof those couples convinced by the New Zealand

Manukau and Waitemata Company that a wonderfulcity named Cornwallis was ready and waiting for energetic young immigrants from Scotland, likethemselves. The project is now infamous for its lack of forethought, and many of the settlers traded intheir largely worthless “titles” for land elsewhere onthe Auckland isthmus. But before that could happenfor James and Margaret, James was drowned in anaccident, which also claimed the life of CaptainWilliam Cornwallis Symonds and a Mr McAlpine.Widowed, Margaret was still offered two pieces of land at Mt Albert by Governor FitzRoy in Septem-

ber 1845: Allotment 60, and Allotment 54, thewestern slopes below the extinct Mt Albert volcano.In her will after her death, she requested that her brother-in-law, John Shedden Adam (alsoAvondale’s earliest settler), administer the two properties for the estate.

J S Adam was, by this time, a draughtsman andarchitect living in Australia, never to return, sothere’s no real telling who lived there on the farmfronting the side road from the 1840s right throughto the early 1870s. Mt Albert Road Board records,

starting from 1867, show J S Adam as both owner and occupier until Mark Woodward purchased thesite in 1874.

The belief by some descendants that Mark Woodward obtained the property from John LoganCampbell (as published by the Mt Albert HistoricalSociety in their newsletter dated Oct/Nov 2008)cannot be proved by documentation, but may be possible. In June 1873, auctioneers SamuelCochrane & Co were instructed to sell the two

Adam Estate farms, Lot 54 and Lot 60. These soldon 9 June, Lot 60 to Mark Woodward for approx£718 (84.5 acres, at £8 10s per acre). Lot 54 went toHenry Lees – but his title shows the previous owner as John Logan Campbell: from June 1874, a year after the auction. It sounds like the auction camefirst, perhaps after Campbell had offered J S Adam’sagents in New Zealand a price for both farms – thenarrangements were made for a retroactive title later.Campbell did, however, briefly hold title toMargaret Adam’s other major Mt Albert property atAllotment 54 – for a month, also in 1874.

But Mark Woodward was not the first of that familyname to be in the area.

James Woodward's story

In March 1860 the Lord Burleigh arrived, withJames and Sarah A Woodward on open steerage. ByOctober 1864, James Woodward had a paddock atMt Albert. In December that year, Lewis Sayers broke into the Woodward residence at Mt Albertand stole: “three white petticoats, three night-

dresses, one chemise, three shirts, two tweed coats,one serge coat and vest, one pair cord trousers, andone mat.” (Southern Cross 3 December) The MtAlbert rates books start only at 1868 for Woodwardsin the area, and show someone by that name livingin a house on part of Allotment 55, Parish of Titirangi.

This is slightly odd, as Allotment 55 was the legaldescription for the mountain and quarries leased out by the Provincial Government from 1862. This wasdivided into smaller allotments at the time of the

leases though, one of which was Allotment 99,leased to William Bray in 1862, and definitelylinked to Mark Woodward from 1871. January 1870is when we see the first reference found to Mark Woodward at Mt Albert, when he reports finding alost steer in his paddock. (Southern Cross, 27 Janu-ary) So, if Mark Woodward had his paddocks on thenorthern side of Mt Albert, where was Jameslocated? At this point, it is anyone’s guess. Could ithave been that he was leasing use of the farm atWoodward Road?

October 1865 – James Woodward apparently had been given nominal ownership for a 40 acre grant atWaitakerei East, worth £3 in rates. He argued incourt against the rates demand, saying he had no



title to the land; he had never been on it; he hadnever even seen it.” The case against him wasdismissed. In January 1866 – he appears as a groomfor the mare Sally Brass at “Edgcumbe’s farm,Mount Albert”. June 1866 – James Woodward isaccused of assaulting George Bray.

By 1868, at least, I suspect that James and Sarah

Ann Woodward lived somewhere close to WilliamEdgcumbe’s Great Northern Hotel, at WesternSprings. In July 1868, a scuffle between James andSarah Woodward, and an old woman named MaryCameron at Edgecumbe’s Great Northern Hotelended up in the courts. The case was dropped, butthe judge warned all parties against such behaviour in future. In October 1871, he was appointed ranger for the Mt Albert district. He appeared to be living“in the neighbourhood of Edgcumbe’s Hotel”,described as “at the Whau”. He doesn’t appear,however, on a list of Whau ratepayers for 1875.

November 1876: Mr J. Woodward, of the Whau, was driving a spring cart this afternoon, and as he backed towards Ar-

thur's auction mart he came violently against thelarge cast-iron verandah post, smashing it in sev-eral pieces. It fortunately fell on the pathway or it may have done serious injury to a lady who was inthe van at the time; she narrowly escaped. The post

may cost several pounds to replace, but it is all for the good of trade, and the distribution of cash, al-

though Mr Woodward has to pay the piper.

Auckland Star 10 November 1876

Wherever he lived, he and his wife had some extramoney for investments, such as Sarah’s 250 sharesin the Karaka Goldmining Company and his own 15shares in the Coromandel Excelsior GoldminingCompany. In April 1883, James Woodward wasappointed to the Newton Licensing Committee(including Pt Chevalier, Western Springs and GreyLynn), along with Thomas Faulder, Robert Garrett,James Crawford and Charles Frederick Partington.But soon after this, things turned sour.

Around 1880, James Woodward was apparentlykicked in the head by a horse, along with suffering a bad cold and coming down with "rheumatics". Hewas never quite right after that, accused by hiswife’s lodger George Elton later of “eating, sleep-ing, drinking, and riding his horse about the coun-try,” “hardly ever sober”. (This would have madehim an intriguing choice to be sitting on a LicensingCommittee at the same time, I would have thought).On 12 August 1884, Sarah Ann Woodward obtaineda protection order against her husband, and in July-

August 1885, Woodward was admitted thendischarged from the Auckland Lunatic Asylum, andthen was admitted to the Old Men’s Refuge.

Why, after such a seemingly successful farming ca-reer, topped by investments and land ownership, hadthis happened? Well, according to Woodward him-self, “Sarah Ann Woodward was his wife, and for anumber of years he carried on the business of cattle, poultry, and pig-dealer, and accumulated from £500to £600. He always gave his earnings to his wife,and she, with his knowledge, placed the money in

the Savings Bank in her own name. He was the real owner of all the furniture and effects, which were purchased with his earnings … He was not awarethat his wife had obtained a protection order. Hewent on one occasion to see his wife, when she told him he must not come there or he would be mur-dered. His wife's first cousin, a Mr Elton, was living in the house as a lodger. He believed he paid for hisboard and lodging … He made his will in accor-dance with his wife's wish, and made over all his

property to her. He thought if anything happened tohim his brother in Sydney might come over and takeit. He was surprised to hear that his wife had pur-chased property in her own name, as the deedswould show, and that she afterwards conveyed it to

Elton. He demurred, but she altogether ignored him,and said she would never live with him again. He

had always supported her when he was able to do so, but for the last five or six years he had been inill-health. Mrs Woodward must have made a falsedeclaration in stating that there was no cause for hisneglecting to support her.” ( Auckland Star 18 De-cember 1885)

“At times Mrs Woodward had been compelled to provide him drink under threats. He had never seen

Mr Woodward do any work, although he appeared quite able. Mrs Woodward seemed to maintain thehouse. Her husband continually abused her for not getting him drink. He had seen Mr Woodward at-tempt to strike his wife many a hundred times.” ( Auckland Star 19 December 1885)

The judge refused to lift the protection order, butcryptically stated “…that had the same evidencebeen adduced when the application for the order was made, it might not have been granted.” ( Auckland Star 19 December) The situa-tion between James and Sarah Ann meant that hewas destitute, while she was the one with moneyand assets, something unusual for those times.

The weekly meeting of the Executive of the Hospi-tals and Charitable Aid Board was opened at 4o'clock yesterday afternoon, in the office, VictoriaArcade … A letter was received from the RelievingOfficer applying for the necessary legal aid to com- pel Mrs Jane Woodward (Mount Albert), Mr RobertHoulden (Gisborne), and the brothers Brindle(Howick), to contribute to the maintenance of their destitute relatives, viz., a husband in Mrs Wood-ward's case and mothers in the other two instances.



In November 1894 – Sarah Ann Woodward adver-tised the sale of her property fronting St Marys Laneand Counsel Terrace (today 15 St Marys Lane and11 Counsel Terrace – Auckland Star 9 November 1894) This had been purchased by her in March1887. By December 1888, she was letting the houseand grounds out to other, and selling her effects.

It would appear, though, that her mortgagor Monaghan took over the property in December 1894.

It is possible that the James Woodward who died 30January 1892, aged just 58, and who was buried twodays later at the Anglican section of WaikumeteCemetery, could be the same man. If so, with pov-erty, abandoned by his wife in whom he entrusted somuch, and with the effects of his head injury, theend was probably a blessing.

As for Mark Woodward …

In March, Mark Woodward with his wife (alsonamed Sarah) arrived on board the Liverpool . LikeJames Woodward, Mark Woodward is associatedwith a 40 acre land grant in West Auckland, some-where behind Anawhata. “As their savings had beenexpended on the trip out, Mark Woodward and his

sons went to work for the Gribble family at CabbageTree Swamp (Sandringham) milking cows, until they

were able to buy their own cows and lease Mt Albert (the mountain).” (Auckland War Memorial Museum

Library catalogue info online) Mark Woodward’sname doesn’t come up on the deeds index for Allot-ment 99 however; – he may have sub-leased it fromWilliam Bray and a Mr Webster.

After purchasing his farm at Mt Albert in 1874, hegot a £30 per annum contract to deliver mail be-tween Auckland and Henderson’s Mill. Then inMay 1878, now a dairy farmer, he led two of hisneighbours in a campaign against the Gittos tanneryfor polluting the Oakley Creek. Accusations flew,including that a bottle of water taken to the Mt

Albert Road Board as proof smelled, according toMr McElwain, of “cow dung”, indicating pollution possibly upstream of the tannery, just as much asfrom the chemicals poured into the stream below.However, independent tests made upstream dis- proved this. At the same time, however, accusationswere made that Mark Woodward was depositingnight soil on his farm. Woodward finally took theGittos family to court for an injunction in 1883,which forced the tannery to relocate.

This didn’t make him a popular man. In May 1885

he ran for a seat on the Mt Albert Road Board – andfinished second to last out of seven candidates.)

There is a reference to Woodward’s Road,Waitakerei East, ( Auckland Star 27 February 1886 )

and Woodward’s Creek (near Henderson Valley) byOctober that year. ( Auckland Star 9 October). Bythe following year, Woodward’s Road known asPiha Road. ( Auckland Star 8 October)

November 1887.: Mark Woodward was charged at the Police Court to-day with attempting to drive a horse and trap

over a railway crossing at Mount Albert when theengine was approaching and within a quarter of amile. Mr Theo. Cooper appeared tor the prosecu-tion, and Mr Button for the defence. It appeared that the defendant's cart collided with the railway train,and his horse narrowly escaped serious injury. Thedefence was that the act was not done knowingly or

wilfully. Evidence was given by the guard and engine-driver that the whistle was blown shortly

before the crossing was reached, and by four other witnesses, who stated that it was impossible to seethe train approaching until it was right on the cross-

ing. His Worship found the offence proved. Thedefendant had shown a certain amount of negli- gence, and the small fine of £1 and costs, £5 4s, wasinflicted.

Auckland Star 2 November 1887

In July 1888, he advertised for a builder to constructseven chains of stone wall at Mt Albert, and later that year took his neighbour W J Hill to court over the dumping of night soil on Hill’s farm. ( Auckland

Star 13 November)

On 8 November 1894, Mark Woodward died, aged60, at his Mt Albert home.

His property was inherited by his sons HenryWilliam, Frederick, Andrew and Frank. HenryWilliam died 22 December 1895, but the remainingsons held on to the property until 1922 when theysold it, apart from three lots they set aside for them-selves, to builder Albert Beazley of Auckland(1870-1944) and Raetihi sawmiller John FrancisPunch (1865-1940).

Beazley & Punch are also known for being thedirectors of Ambassador Picture Theatre Ltd, the builders of Pt Chevalier’s Ambassador Theatre(1929), and a block of shops from 895-899 New North Road, Mt Albert, also in the 1920s.

The land from 2 to 6 Springleigh was owned byFrank Woodward from 1926. On 19 December 1928, architect Arthur Cecil Marshall marriedFlossie May Woodward, and the property was trans-ferred to him in 1951. He subdivided and sold partsof the property from 1952. The Marshall’s son

Arthur Harold Marshall (now Sir Harold Marshall)obtained title to their current home at 2 SpringleighAve in 1973. Born in 1931, Sir Harold Marshall isan architect, engineer and physicist, specialising inacoustics design for concert halls.



As for the streets in the Springleigh estate:

Woodward Road – not really part of the estate, butthe main road frontage. I don’t think there is muchdoubt that the road had come, by the time of Mark Woodward’s death, to be identified with him.

Mark Road – Appears on DP 17190, part of the

Beazley-Punch subdivision, November 1923. Alarge building which appears on an earlier plan (DP16277), possibly a house, perhaps even the farm-house used by Mark Woodward, seems to have beenobliterated by the line of Mark Road.

Rhodes Avenue (DP 17576, 1923) – as the mayor of Mt Albert Borough at the time was Leonard ERhodes, who signed approval of this part of the sub-division on behalf of the council, I think it’s a goodguess that this was an “impress the Mayor” thing byBeazley & Punch. There’s a similar development in

Avondale, where William John Tait was so immor-talised, also while both alive, and a serving mayor inoffice.

Raetihi Crescent (DP 17576, 1923) – As JohnPunch lived in Raetihi, I think that goes towardsexplaining that street name.

Phyllis Street (DP 17631, 1924) – could be namedafter a relative of either Beazley or Punch. One thingabout the Phyllis Street Reserve was that it was theMt Albert Quarry, then the local municipal rubbish

tip, before being reclaimed as the park it now is. Allthis, on the land formerly owned by the man whodisliked pollution from a tannery and night soil de- positing.

Laurel Street (DP 20883, 1927) – again, could benamed for a member of either the Beazley or Punchfamilies. Or, just a tree name.

Renton Road (DP 21670, 1927) – a place name, perhaps? Hopefully, more information may come tohand in the future.

The Springleigh Farm of Mark Woodward, just before subdivision. LINZ records



Francis and Sacred Heart and to Teachers’ TrainingCollege. My Uncle, Thomas Francis went to StFrancis and Sacred Heart and to Teacher’s TrainingCollege.

Granny would calm down Mrs Hansen of The OldHomestead after she had psychotic episode. Mrs

Hansen owned all one side of Alberta St and wouldhave séances with Mr Matherson after which shewould run rampaging through the orchard screamingthat the spirits were after her. The property isalways spooky to me.

Dad belonging to the old Sailing Club and sailed his‘Z’ class yacht from Pt Chevalier to Bayswater for adance.

Me, having sailing theory on the balcony of the oldsailing club in preparation for the 1970s SecondarySchool Sailing Champs.

My St Francis Youth Group having a disco at theold sailing club and trying to remain up right eventhough the floor sloped and we hadn’t been drink-ing.

My Granny’s Memories

Sent in by Juli Cook (granddaughter)

Beach shop and hot water from café/tearoom on the

road.

The ice creams bought at the shop on the beach.

Siren from Oakley Hospital sounding when patientsescaped or when there was a fire. Police chasingmental patients down at Walker Beach (EricArmishaw Park).

The ‘Night Cart’ man coming round to empty theloo cans and to dump the sewerage on the Chinesegardens in Walker Road.

The rifle range at the bottom on Target Road.

The trams that trundled down Pt Chevalier Road.

Trolley buses that turned round at Coyle Park.

The Transit Camp, Motion’s Road and the scrawnykids who lived there in fibrolite houses.

Canned peaches dumped by the Ameri-can Forces on Meola Reef and the house-wives of the area scrambling to rescuecans to take home and re-bottle.

Helping the firemen, who were paid bythe callout, by lighting the scrub downHuia Road. Scrub gone and firemen paid.

Staggering across the rickety bridge at the bottom of Meola Road between GarnetRoad and Meola Road.

Dances at Dixieland at the end of PtChevalier Rd and travelling from there toLopdell House in Titirangi on the con-

crete road.

The fire at Dixieland at the end of PtChevalier Rd.

Granny making money by typing advertis-ing slogans onto film gels for the picturetheatre.

Granny was school secretary for PtChevalier Primary School (Mrs AliceTurnwald). Granny used to have to countall the money for the school.

My father, John Turnwald went to St

Fountain Menu from the Dixieland.

Supplied by Juli Cook..



Families pushing back the school desks and rearrangingthe church for Sunday Mass at St Francis school’s Hallso it could become the church.

The ancient St Francis School Hall with its floor thatsloped down and to the right which made indoor bowlschallenging.

St Francis School Hall with its wall panels being rattled by an icy blast of wind.

The old Hall was a cast-off from the American Forcesdonated to the school for a hall. It took years of fund-raising and Housie nights to buy a new Hall which wasthen sited behind the school.

Watching some of the last movies at Pt Chevalier picture theatre; Cannonball Run, Convoy and Goodbye Pork Pie.

Taking photos of the Civil Defence Parade through PtChevalier.

Taking part in the MOTAT parade and in full costume,riding a truck along the motorway while dropping glitter made from old milk bottle stampings.

Volunteering at Girl Guides and organising my guide unit

to collect bottles for the annual bottle drive fundraiser for the Scout Den.

Watching the local kids throw their hula-hoops into theOld Homestead’s magnolia trees then climbing up toretrieve them.

Being part the Battle of Britain Parade from Hall Corner to the Aircraft at Meola Road.

Membership of the Point ChevalierHistorical Society

Membership is open to all with an interest in our area’shistory, and costs only $10 per person. This entitles

you to vote at our meetings, and to receive mailedcopies of the

Point Chevalier Times.

Send cheques to:

Pt Chevalier Historical SocietyC/- 119C Hutchinson Avenue New Lynn, Auckland 0600

Your membership fees mean that we can keeppublishing the Point Chevalier Times. Your support

would be appreciated.

The Western Springs Motor Camp / US Army

rest base / Transit Camp: 1933-1978

I’m compiling information on this site at the moment,gathering images, articles, file references from CouncilArchives etc. The motor camp operated from 1933-1942,the US camp from 1942-1944, and the transit camp intwo phases, 1944-1961, and up to 1978.

Any recollections, memorabilia, photos etc would be greatly appreciated. I do have quite a story to tell so far,and more information on what it was like staying thereor living nearby would be wonderful.

— Lisa Truttman

pt chevalier times 23

Documents