Basque Park

Red outline of the extent of Basque Park today, overlaid on map of legal descriptions from LINZ website - crown copyright.

A reader named Philip Kirk emailed me back in early May, asking the question: why was Basque Park established?

Short answer: because, at the time, it was felt that there were too many dingy houses in the neighbourhood, and the rest of the neighbourhood (of less dingy houses) needed a kiddie’s playground.

But – here’s the long answer.

In April 1938, the City Treasurer informed the Council Town Clerk that there were three sections in Basque Road, owned by executors of George Holdship, Auckland timber dealer in the last half of the 19th century, where the rates had remained unpaid since 1932. These sections were in a gully between part of Basque Street (now closed and part of the park) and Newton Street (now Norwich Street). The executors were open to the idea that, in lieu of the overdue rates, the Council could have title to the land. The Council thought this was an opportunity to set up a children’s playground there, and the Parks Committee considered a report by the City Engineer in October 1938, which supported the proposal and urged that work proceed quickly “so that advantage may be taken of subsidised labour.”

“On account of the difficult topography, its awkward shape and smallness of size, this property could not within itself be developed as a children’s playground, but in conjunction with certain of the adjacent areas it presents reasonable opportunities for that purpose.

“The gully in which it is situated is at the head of a narrow valley which stretches from Exmouth Street to Newton Gully. It occupies the back yards of a number of narrow, elongated properties fronting Norwich Street and some low-lying vacant lots off the end of Rendall Place. A watercourse follows the floor of the gully, most of which is covered with deleterious growth, and in its present state, is a potential harbourage for vermin and rats, and cannot be put to any useful purpose.”

(City Engineer’s report, 27 September 1938)

For a while, though, there was a difference of opinion between the Parks committee, which felt that the Holdship land should be taken over, and the Financial committee, which wanted the overdue rates to simply be written off. The latter committee eventually resolved to approve takeover of the property in May 1939, while the City Engineer recommended in a memo to the Town Clerk that near £5,500 worth of surrounding land should be acquired.

[Council budgeted] £1000 for a proposed children's playground in Basque Road, Eden Terrace …

(Auckland Star 15 June 1939)

The full Council approved the playground scheme in October 1939.

Children's Playground.—On the recommendation of the parks committee it was decided to negotiate for the purchase of a small area of land in the Basque Road Gully, near the intersection of New North' Road and Symonds Street, for a children's playground. The city engineer, Mr. J. Tyler, said the area was situated in a gully, and it was possible to obtain about one acre in extent. There was no children's playground anywhere in the district.

(AS 27 October 1939)

1940 aerial (from Auckland Council website) with original George Holdship estate allotments approximately marked in yellow.

From April-May 1940, surrounding landowners were approached by Council with offers to buy their land to add to the reserve.

The finance committee brought down a proposal for meeting the cost, estimated at £12,200, for the development of a children's playground in Basque Road, Eden Terrace. It was stated that £3500 had been placed on the current year's estimates, and £3300 was available from the sale of lands account, and £3200 from compensation for land taken for the central police station. The £2000 balance could be carried by next year's budget, unless other arrangements were made in the meantime. The recommendation was approved.

(AS 8 November 1940)

DECADENT AREAS.

"BLIGHT ON THE CITY."

The opinion that certain quarters of old Auckland badly required cleaning up, as they were a blight on a beautiful city, was expressed by the Mayor Sir Ernest Davis in a report presented at a meeting of the Auckland City Council last evening. He said that the retention of such areas in their present form was a reflection on a city of such recent establishment as Auckland, and he had often asked himself what was the use of having lovely parks, and other pleasurable amenities, when, close at hand, there were areas out of harmony with the planning of a modern city …

Mr J L Coakley [Chairman of the Parks Committee] said that they had already made a start at Basque Road, where old houses had been removed and three acres secured as a playing ground.

(AS 29 November 1940) 

Auckland Star 31 August 1940

Congratulations to the man unknown to me who has interested himself in the youngsters of Eden Terrace and their games in the unfinished Basque Road reserve. What a difference in the conduct of these children when they are encouraged in the right way and what a pity there are not a few more men of his kind about. RESIDENT.

(AS 19 February 1942)

"I hope that this ceremony will inculcate a respect for trees," said the Mayor, Mr. Allum, when addressing the annual gathering for the observance of Arbor Day, held this morning in the new park and children's playground near Basque Road, between Eden Terrace and Newton Road.

Children from the Grafton, St. Benedict's and Newton Central Schools attended the gathering, and school representatives aided in planting about 40 shelter trees, comprising pohutukawas, puriris, rewarewas, poplars, planes and acmenas …

About 40 Auckland schools had applied for trees for planting this year, making a total of 18,906 trees distributed to schools during the past seven years, said Mr. Coakley, who also mentioned that the Basque Road reserve would be completed next year, and that it would be possible to provide a small area where a collection of native trees could be planted to be of some educational value to children.

(AS 2 August 1944)

NEW CITY PARK

OFF EDEN TERRACE

COMPLETION THIS YEAR

Work on the construction of a small park and children's playground in the gully between Eden Terrace and Newton Road is nearing completion. Although the work has been in progress for the past three or four years, there have been several interruptions due to the war. When completed the park will offer playing facilities to children living in a densely-populated area of the city.

It is expected that the whole of the drainage work, cleaning up of the two and three-quarter acres, laying of paths and erection of fences will be completed before Christmas. The sowing of grass will be left until next autumn. In the early stages of the project the relaying of several old sewers was necessary. Filling for the lower section of the park was taken from the sides of the gully. Also involved was the closing of portion of Basque Road extending below Exmouth Street and the acquisition of several cottage properties on either side of the road. There is a frontage of 320 feet to Exmouth Street.

The figure quoted on this year's City Council estimates for the present stage of the scheme was £3000. Further expenditure will be necessary next year when application is made for permission to erect several buildings, such as conveniences and shelter sheds. It is thought that shortage of building materials may hold up this work to some extent. Playing apparatus will also be provided.

It is the City's Council's intention to institute a system similar to that formerly pertaining at Victoria Park whereby the children's recreation will come under the jurisdiction of the Department of Internal Affairs.

(AS 28 November 1944)

BASQUE ROAD RESERVE

WORK IN FINAL STAGES

The final stage in the construction of the Basque Road reserve, in the gully between Eden Terrace and Newton Road, has been reached. At present a retaining wall is being built and concrete margins for footpaths and concrete steps are being formed. Regrading of the area is also proceeding. The work has been in progress, with interruptions, for the past three or four years. Primary function of the reserve will be to supply playing facilities for the many children living in the district. Work yet to be done includes the formation of paths and the fencing both of the retaining wall and of the boundaries of the park. The sowing of the 2¾ acres with grass will be done next autumn.

(AS 30 January 1945)

Between 1945 and 1956, however, the land use around the park changed from predominantly residential to industrial. The late 1930s ideal of providing a place for the workers’ kids to play hadn’t kept up with the times. Paths were formed, stone retaining walls built and a children’s shelter built, but that was just about it.

“Concerning the use and the future use of the reserve, it is a fact that owing to the gradual industrial development the reserve has never been used as envisaged. This does not mean, of course, that the area should be disposed of, but rather that the use of same should be changed from children to adults. It is essential in all cities, particularly in heavily built-up areas, to provide a breathing space for workers, and such reserves as we have which are likely to become surrounded by industry should be retained for this purpose …

“Basque Road could, therefore, be changed as stated from a children’s playground into a recreation centre for adults …”

(Memo from Director of Parks and Reserves to Town Clerk, 22 August 1956)

1959 aerial, Auckland Council website.

More land was added in 1973, and the unformed lower part of Basque Road closed and also added to the park in 1974. In the same year, the Council agreed to provide play equipment for the park (does this mean it took 35 years to provide an actual playground?)

From the late 1950s, Council policy was to try to encourage residential development around the park, especially when adjacent land later became available as a result of the development of the link between Dominion Road and Upper Queen Street. But that same road development apparently stalled development in the area while the road designations were in place. More land between Macauley and Norwich Streets was added to the park during the decade. A housing development proposal with Housing Corporation was defeated by public protest from private land owners in the area. So, in 1986 and 1987, bulk filling (20,000-40,000 cubic metres) was undertaken using fill from the Aotea Centre building site, raising levels and attempting to reduce the grade.

In 1989, Council put forward a smaller residential development proposal, but one which would have involved the building of four blocks for 53 Housing Corporation flats on the park. Debate raged over this development clear through to the mid 1990s. Meanwhile, community gardens had been set up on the park in 1993 by a justice, peace and development group from St Benedict’s parish, and supported by the local community board.

“Back in 1993, the community board had enthusiastically encouraged the small justice, peace and development group from St Benedicts parish who wanted to start an urban farm in Basque Reserve. The group had support and small donations from about 250 people. These people dreamed of improving the inner-city concrete jungle while helping local people, especially the jobless, to learn how to grow their own food and enjoy the fruit of shared labour.

“And this happened. They began with a wasteland of solid clay, kikuyu and dockweeds but were soon composting richer and deeper soil. They had no water supply but a local factory owner gave them the run-off from his roof. Soon, many species of vegetables, fruit and flowers were flourishing and insects and birds came to join in the party.

“The "farm" - later called St Benedicts Community Gardens - grew with minimal funds but lots of goodwill. The community board granted money. There were community days when adults gathered with food and music. The children - guided by a local artist - painted the water tank. The garden became a delightful spot where passers-by sought refuge during lunch hours. There was no fence and anyone could stroll through. Many shared the vegetables and fruit.”

(NZ Herald 27 July 2000)

2008 aerial, Auckland Council website.

But, the community gardens were cleared out. More trees have been planted in the park, a reserve made of a patchwork quilt of land titles, changed over time at the whim of changing development patterns, political ideas, and its topography.

Eden Vine on the hill

As I grew up and passed this building going back and forth in buses, indeed from when I was knee-high to the proverbial grasshopper, this was where funeral directors W H Tongue & Son were. Right on the ground floor, corner doorway, leading to a tasteful showroom, until fairly recently.

But this site goes back further than that, of course.

To the left is Mt Eden Road, and to the right is New North Road, the road in the 19th century to the Cabbage Tree swamp, so folks knew the first building here, the Eden Vine Hotel, as being at the Mt Eden - Cabbage Tree Swamp Road corner. 

That original Eden Vine Hotel was a 13-room more-or-less square wooden building, built for William Galbraith in April 1866. He finally obtained his license for the premises in June that year. The Eden Vine was Mt Eden's only pub, and also the largest building for meetings of the ratepayers who formed a highway district within the walls there, argued about the nearby toll-gate, and in general forged together the start of one of Auckland's central suburbs (and later, in the 1870s, the Eden Terrace District). Galbraith suffered an injury in 1873 -- and nothing really to do with the demon drink.

Mr W. Galbraith, of the Eden Vine Hotel, is suffering severely from the effects of a blow inflicted by the cork of a lemonade bottle upon his eye. Both eyes are so much swollen that the sufferer is at present almost blind.

Auckland Star, 4 January 1873

A later article said the culprit had been ginger beer.

By April 1874, the licensee was James Poppleton, who went trout fishing one day later that year.

A very fine trout fish has been drawn up in a bucket from the well of Mr Popplcton, of the Eden Vine Hotel, measuring fifteen inches in length This species of river fish is rare in this part of tho province, and Mr Poppleton thinks that, as his well is very deep, the fish must have come into the well from some stream far below the surface of the water.

Waikato Times 20 October 1874

The infant son of Poppleton died there aged only 3 days in January 1875.

Samuel Evinson was proprietor from 1879, and advertised his new billiard saloon opened on the premises in September that year.

Mr Samuel Evinson, proprietor of the Eden Vine Hotel, opens his new billiard room at seven o'clock this evening. He has succeeded in securing a splendid billiard table from the best maker. This proves a great attraction to his customers.

Auckland Star 22 September 1879

Auckland Star 24 March 1880

By 1883, the hotel's proprietor was James Taylor, who transferred to John Morrison in December (Auckland Star, 3 December 1883).  By March 1885 Morrison had headed off to the Rising Sun Hotel, and John Jessie Olum applied for the license in May. By June, though, the licensee was W W Warnock.

Mr Tole presented a petition from W. W. Warnock, licensee of the Eden Vine Hotel, Auckland, against which the Licensing Bench of Arch Hill district admitted they had nothing to say. Nevertheless, in granting a license for this year, the Commissioners announced from the Bench that they wished to give notice that next year, if elected, they would grant no license, but would close every house in the district. The petitioner therefore was left to the mercy of a small number of people on the ratepayers' roll, and asks redress by the granting of power to all residents to vote at the election.

 Auckland Star 18 June 1885

The Eden Vine soon found itself to be another jurisdiction entirely, though.

It will be seen by the last Gazette that the Eden Terrace Highway District has been separated from the Arch Hill Highway District, and formed into a licensing district within itself. This will give the ratepayers of Eden Terrace complete control of the Eden Vine Hotel. 

 Auckland Star 1 February 1886

Along with a new owner -- Louis Ehrenfried, a Hamburg-born wine and spirit merchant who was by that time well-known in Auckland as one of the four main hoteliers and alcohol merchants (the others were Hancock & Co, John Logan Campbell, and Richard Seccombe.)

Mr Ehrenfried intends removing tho building at present known as the Eden Vine Hotel, and replacing it by a handsome brick structure, at a cost of between two and three thousand pounds. The present licensee, Mr Warnock, will be in possession of the new hotel when completed.

But, the Eden Vine was in the cross hairs of the prohibition movement. The shift in the boundaries placing the hotel with the Eden Terrace voters meant that three gentlemen of both that area and the "dry" brigade pledged that, once elected, they'd shut the hotel down.

Auckland Star 25 February 1886

The opponents at that stage didn't get their way. The brief architectural partnership of Robert Mackay Fripp and Carrick Paul, which lasted only from 1885 until 1887, advertised tenders for the removal of Galbraith's wooden hotel, and the building of Ehrenfried's new brick replacement in late 1886. (Auckland Star, 17 December 1886) The actual construction of the building, though, was not without its drama.

A man named Watkins, a plasterer, dropped dead while working on the Eden Vine Hotel. He fell a year ago from the top storey of Freeman's Bay Hotel, and has been ailing since.

 Christchurch Star 12 March 1887

Eden Vine Hotel, c.1890s, unknown photographer. 

Ref 7-A4507, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Council Libraries.

And within weeks of completion, the billiard tables were in use. The Eden Vine's new publican, Louis Ballin, was busy and had rebranded it as Ye Eden Vine Hotel. Like Galbraith, he was to become closely associated with the hotel at the top of the hill through his longevity with the building.

Public Notices- BILLIARDS.— The sum of £1 will be given for the highest break made in a hundred up by an amateur on the Eden Vine Hotel Table within a month of this date, July 4, 1887.—LOUIS BALLIN.

Auckland Star 4 July 1887

The Eden Vine Hotel, Auckland, occupies (a) position which specially suits the convenience of travellers, visitors, &c. Standing on a prominent corner, close to tram and rail, it is on the confines of two Prohibition districts, commanding two main thoroughfares, and while removed from the city's din and bustle, it is so near as to make it virtually in the city. Under Mr L. Ballin's management this hotel has advanced very rapidly.

 Observer 28 September 1889

Mr L Ballin, proprietor of the Eden Vine Hotel, will be glad to see any of his old friends. The hotel has every convenience, and Whitson's best ale is always kept on draught, so that visitors to the top of Mt. Eden can get a refresher en route.

Observer 1 January 1890

Observer 12 September 1891

Strong winds today often grace our headlines when destruction is involved. When part of a landmark hotel was damaged in the 1890s, especially the Eden Vine, that was definitely noted.

The strong wind blowing last night proved disastrous to the lamp at the Eden Vine Hotel. The licensee, Mr Louis Ballin had just put out the light at ten o'clock, when all the fixings were blown away and the lamp smashed down on the pavement. Fortunately, Mr Ballin was not struck, though he had only just moved out of the way.

Auckland Star 11 July 1892

And then, in 1897, Louis Ballin died.

We have to record the death of another old colonist in the person of Mr Louis Ballin, licensee of Ye Eden Vine Hotel, who died early this morning. Mr Ballin had been suffering for the past two years from an acute attack of dropsy, and succumbed peacefully at ten minutes to one this morning in the presence of his family. The deceased gentleman came out to New Zealand in 1862 in the ship Victoria, and after trying his luck for a time on the gold fields at Hokitika, he went to the Thames, where in conjunction with his two brothers he ran a lemonade factory. Later Mr Ballin went to Coromandel and started a brewery, but for the last twelve years he has been hotel-keeping. Mr Ballin was a prominent member of the United Order of' Druids and also of the Masonic fraternity. He leaves a wife, three sons and three daughters. The funeral takes place at Waikomiti next Sunday, leaving his late residence at 2.30 p.m.

Auckland Star 26 November 1897

The remains of the late Mr Louis Ballin, licensee of the Eden Vine Hotel, were interred at Waikomiti on November 28th. The coffin was carried from the residence to the hearse by members of the Lodge Auckland of Freemasons, while the Lodge itself, tbe Victoria Hall, was opened and closed in accordance with Masonic custom. A number of the Druids headed the funeral cortege, while members of Masonic lodges also marched in front of the hearse. About 70 carriages followed the remains to the burial ground, the chief mourners being the deceased's three sons, the committee of the Synagogue and the Jewish Burial Committee. The burial service was conducted by the Rabbi (Rev. Mr Goldstein), and a Masonic hymn was also sung at the grave.

 Auckland Star 23 December 1897

This was the start of the last years of the Eden Vine. Ballin's widow, Maria, held the licence and applied to keep it early the following year in what was now the Parnell Licensing District (she succeeded). Around the same time, Louis Ehrenfried, the hotel's owner, had predeceased Louis Ballin, dying in February 1897. His business was inherited by his nephew Arthur Myers (who went on to be one of Auckland's mayors, and closely associated with Myers Park and the kindergarten there) and in December 1897 amalgamated with John Logan Campbell's brewing enterprise to form Campbell & Ehrenfried.

But, in the local option (prohibition/continuance) poll during the 1905 election, the Eden Vine's luck had finally run out. By then, it was in the Grey Lynn licensing area -- and the electors had chosen no license. So, the sole hotel in the Grey Lynn area, the Eden Vine, shut its doors as a hotel in June 1906.

The No-license poll in Auckland showed an increase all round, but in actual results the hotels will suffer very little. Grey Lynn is the only No-license district, and in it there is only one hotel, a fact which no doubt accounted for tho apathy of the trade in the district. The one hotel which will lose its license is on the boundary of the district, where it joins City East, and within a stone's throw of it there are two licensed houses which come under the city vote. The trade, therefore, had little to lose, and probably they regarded the hotel (the Eden Vine) as not worth the expense of an election.

Marlborough Express 12 December 1905

And, that was it. End of the hotel, and the start of the building's new life as a retail block.

Eden Vine Hotel, 10 January 1928, photographer James D Richardson. 

Ref 4-2188, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Council Libraries.

At some point, probably from the 1930s, the exterior was modernised. Darryl Godfrey (see comment below, 7 July 2011) advises "The exterior of the building had its ornamentation removed and window boxes added between 1956 and 1961." Fripp & Paul's pediments were removed, and only the old chimneys left to show the block had a past life as an old hotel on the hill.

Updated: 16 July 2011

Suiter's Hotel in Newmarket

"Looking up Khyber Pass Road from Broadway showing the Carlton Club Hotel, left, and the premises of George Kent and Sons and the Royal Cord Service Station in the Premier Buildings," ref 4-1886, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Council Libraries.

The building on the left of the image above, taken 19 September 1929, was then known as the Carlton Club Hotel. It had been known as that from 1888, and would so remain until 1992. But it had an earlier name, that of the Jubilee Hotel -- and several names after. 

The hotel started out under construction in 1887, with good foundations for success: a well-known architect (Edward Mahoney), a local builder of some note and reputation, William Edgerley; and a brewer to bankroll the whole project, one William J Suiter, who was at the time the first mayor of Newmarket Borough. The project, though proved to be a stormy one.

William Suiter arrived in Auckland in 1865, and by 1873 had set up the Eden Brewery along New North Road as W J Suiter & Co.

The new establishment, called the Eden Brewery, commenced business yesterday on the New North Road, but the event was less effective on the intellect of the people than was the opening of the new Market. On the day of the opening of the Market fifteen drunken persons were taken to the lock-up, while on the launch of the first barrel of Eden brewed of paradisaical flavour, only one drunkard was found in the streets. 

Auckland Star, 3 July 1873

The wooden buildings at the brewery caught fire on 16 March 1878, but were replaced by a brick version by July that year.

The new Eden brewery of Suiter and Company in the new North Road is so far complete as to enable the proprietors to recommence brewing on a more extensive scale than heretofore. The old building, as our readers will remember, was destroyed by fire which reduced it to ashes. The new brewery, erected nearly on the same site, is built of brick and stone, and consequently of a much more durable character, on a plan designed by Mr Suitor, in which every precaution has been taken to prevent a similar recurrence. 

 Auckland Star 23 July 1878

The thing that intrigues me about Suiter is that at this time he was an ardent member of the Newton Presbyterian Church, as well as being a brewer -- something which, I would have thought, would surely have caused more than a stir in the local kirk. He was also a steward at the Henderson's Mill Turf Club. Apparently involvement in the Sport of Kings did not preclude him from his faithful duties either. He was Chairman of the Eden Terrace Highway District in 1878 -- apparently always a busy man. He was nominated (successfully) for a seat on the Eden County Council that same year ... but in 1879 was declared bankrupt.

He bounced back from this, selling his Eden Brewery lock stock and barrel, clearing his debts, and setting up a new brewery on Khyber Pass called the Park Brewery with Duncan McNab in 1881-1882. He took over completely by late 1883. By December that year, he was taking on Hancock & Co in something of a price war, making sure his beer per gallon cut 3 shillings off the Hancock rate. An intriguing state of affairs, as the Park Brewery was set up on an acre of land leased on a 40 year term from Thomas Hancock (the Hancock & Co. brewery being adjacent). Part of the mortgage agreement for the brewery site was that McNab & Co could deal only with Hancock and partner C Sutton for supplies of malt. Sutton & Co. had already threatened to wind up McNab & Co in May 1883. (Auckland Star 10 July 1888)

During the next three years, the business was profitable, with the brewery buildings on Khyber Pass extended. It may have been during this period that rumours started as to the building of another hotel in Newmarket. In May 1886 Suiter sold 1/3 of the Park Brewery business to Frederick L Protheroe and used the proceeds to pay advances to several hotels.

Meanwhile, Newmarket Road Board had decided not to amalgamate with neighbouring Auckland City, and voted to become a borough in its own right. William Suiter, successful brewer and businessman in the area, became the first mayor of the borough from 1885-1887. In his term of office, he instigated the first local fire brigade. (Considering his fire at the Eden Brewery back in 1878, hardly surprising).

Apparently at this point -- he decided upon building a hotel in Newmarket.


Newmarket in the mid 1880s had three pre-existing hotels: the Royal George, newly rebuilt after a fire in 1884, just across the Manukau Road from the site Suiter had in mind for his new edifice; the Captain Cook, owned by Hancock & Co on Khyber Pass Road; and the Junction Hotel further along Manukau Road, where it forks away to the south. Newmarket was also well-known for brewing interests in the area, such as Hancock's, and John Logan Campbell and his Domain Brewery.

There were also those among his constituents on the side of temperance. The temperance movement in the area was a rising tide, manifested during the annual licensing committee elections in a sharp demarcation between two parties: the moderates in favour of continuance, and the total abstinence party. In 1886, both parties agreed on 10 o’clock closing, no extra hotels or bars in the district, and no Sunday trading. However, Newmarket Borough councillor William Edgerley was on the committee from at least 1886 – and it is ironic (and controversial at the time) that he was later, the next year, to be the builder of Newmarket’s new hotel. At the 1887 poll for local option, only 16 voted: 9 in favour of an increase in licenses, 7 against. A narrow win for the wets.

The hotel’s story began in earnest with a May 1887 meeting of the Newmarket Borough Council, during which the Mayor “gave notice of motion proposing that the Council should erect a £300 statue of the Queen on the top of the front corner of the proposed Jubilee Hotel, at Newmarket, with a suitable inscription underneath.” (NZ Herald, 27 May 1887) Well, the statue idea was eventually altered to that of erecting a town clock -- but the proposed hotel retained its Jubilee name, in honour of the Queen's 50th anniversary.

The Jubilee Hotel is unusual in that it had its first license granted when, really, it didn’t exist except as a muddy hole in the ground with foundations. Following their own interpretation of a sub-section of the Licensing Act of the time, the Committee granted a provisional licence to Frederick L Protheroe (on behalf of Suiter & Co) on seeing the plans for the building at the application approval meeting in June 1887. (Star, 8 June 1887)  Despite the low turnout at the local option poll, 125 signed a petition against granting a license for what was later described as “a large pit at the corner, which had been excavated a few days previously, and which contained about three feet of water … it was playfully remarked at the time that the only accommodation it could afford would be to bury the people in the neighbourhood.” (NZ Herald 6 June 1888) The licensee of the Royal George Hotel also appeared in opposition to the granting of the license for the Jubilee Hotel (NZ Herald 8 June 1887) (Suiter had tried to buy that hotel from Mr. Warnock prior to purchasing the corner site across the road, but was declined - Star 10 March 1888) but it was raised at the meeting that Warnock had been warned that his license would be revoked the previous year if he didn’t raise the standards of his establishment. It would appear that the Committee viewed the grandly-styled Jubilee Hotel as a good replacement for the Royal George (the latter, however, did keep its license anyway). Of course, the awarding of the building tender by architect Edward Mahoney to William Edgerley caused a stir -- seeing as Edgerley was one of those who had granted Suiter his hole-in-the-ground license.

The building was described as being “half up” in late August when a ratepayers’ petition was presented to the Supreme Court to ask that the licensing committee’s decision be overturned. (Star, 10 March 1888) This indeed did happen, because it was found that the committee’s interpretation of the Act was incorrect. (Star 31 August 1887) William Edgerley denied any impropriety on his part in a letter to the Auckland Star published the day after the decision.

Sir,—His Honor Judge Ward, in his decision yesterday re the Jubilee Hotel case, made a sweeping accusation with regard to myself that I am sure he will very much regret when he hears the real facts of the case stated before him. The facts are these:

I am one of the Licensing Commissioners of Newmarket, and in that capacity adjudicated upon license for the proposed Jubilee Hotel. As a builder and contractor I was subsequently the successful tenderer for the hotel against 14 others in Mr Mahoney's office, being £45 below the next lowest tenderer. The time that elapsed from the granting of the license until tenders were opened would be about three weeks. The work, on foundations referred to by Judge Ward, was done by Messrs Suiter and Protheroe previous to the granting of the license and was done with a view of ascertaining the depth the rock lay from the surface, etc. so as to give some data for contractors to tender on. For Judge Ward to even hint that there was the slightest attempt at collusion is unjust both to myself and Messrs Suiter and Protheroe, as neither they nor anyone on their behalf ever held out any inducement to me to tender for the job or, in fact, tampered with me in any shape or form.

I wish I could say as much for the parties who are working behind the scenes, in opposition to the Jubilee Hotel.—l am, etc., William Edgerley, Builder. 

Auckland Star 1 September 1887

William Suiter thus had a grand establishment he was bound by contract to complete and to pay both the architect and the builder, and an extra rates bill on top of that – but was not allowed to sell a drop of beer therein. His business venture was proving to be a disastrously expensive one. It was felt by some that Suiter had faced during the whole affair “a combination of brewers [Samuel Jagger, of Hancock & Co], the hotelkeepers, and the Good Templars against another brewer.” (Star 10 March 1888) Having faced a total cost of £4,700 for both the land and the construction of the hotel, now without any real chance of having an association, excellent for trade, with the Queen’s Jubilee, Suiter fought back via local politics by backing a list of candidates for the licensing committee of 1888 that were in favour of increasing the district’s licenses, and would look favourably at granting one for his hotel. He published a circular detailing the issues of the previous year, where he stood, and how he felt hard-done by in terms of the legal debacle over the hotel. (Star 10 March 1888) On the 13 March 1888, there was a return of a majority of those in favour of Suiter and his hotel to the licensing committee (with J C Seccombe of the Great Northern Brewery entertaining Suiter, several Committee members and Suiter’s supporters at one of his hotels to celebrate.) (Star 14 March 1888) On the 5 June that year, the new committee granted a license to the now re-named Carlton Club Hotel. (Herald 6 June 1888)

By then Suiter had already sold the hotel to a Mr. Griffiths in April 1888 at a loss, and soon after was yet again declared bankrupt. 

But, of course, William Suiter had got his way in the end, despite that set-back -- a hotel erected where once there had been just a licensed hole in the ground, and in the face of seething local temperance supporters.

 He settled up his debts, sold the Park Brewery -- and moved to Melbourne.

Friends of Mr W. J. Suiter, formerly Mayor of Newmarket and well known in town, will be pleased to hear that he is doing remarkably well over in Melbourne. Through the influence of Mr Jesse King, of this city, he was given the position of second brewer in one of the largest breweries in the Victorian capital—the West End brewery in Flinders-street. There are between 70 and 80 hands employed by the company, and the weekly output goes over 840 hogsheads a week, besides a large quantity of bottled ale and stout. Shortly after he received the appointment Mr Suiter was raised to the position of first brewer, a position he now holds, and has every probability of continuing to hold for some time. He has two of his sons over with him, and has now sent for the rest of his family. 

 Auckland Star 23 January 1889

Hancock & Co eventually obtained the hotel in 1935, then transferred to Lion Nathan in 1989. As I said before, it kept the name of the Carlton Club Hotel until 1992 -- then was renamed the Carlton Tavern and Brasserie, with an exterior paint job of yellow and blue. When I first came upon it in 2005, it was known as the Penny Black. Which might have pleased Suiter -- finally, for a while, Queen Victoria's head was on his hotel, in the form of the Penny Black stamp.

Auckland City Council scheduled the building as category B -- but today, after around 120 years, it is no longer a hotel. 489 Khyber Pass now a Nood store in pristine gleaming white livery -- a name (although quite respectable and innocent in reality) that would have raised more than a few eyebrows among the Newmarket temperance party.

I think Suiter might still get a chuckle out of that.

Beside Te Wai Ariki: from the Mason's Hotel to the Hotel Cargen

Rev John Kinder drawing of Eden Crescent looking west. Old St Pauls on the horizon, part of the Royal Hotel complex centre-right. 4-1208, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries

On spotting some early photos of Eden Crescent via the Te Papa Museum collection recently, I felt the urge to look into the story of the second Royal Hotel. Said story turned out to be somewhat more involved than I imagined.

28 September 1925, 4-1975, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries

The landscape remains almost the same, even if the buildings have changed, as seen in these first three images.

 Eden Crescent, looking east towards former Hotel Cargen. Photo: L Truttman, 14 September 2014

 On to the story.

 Detail from Plan of the Town of Auckland, Charles Heaphy, 1851 (NZ Map 816, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries)

The original name for Official Bay, once a line of beach separated from Commercial Bay to the west by Point Britomart, and just along from Mechanics Bay to the east, was Waiariki. Te Keene, of Ngati Kahu and Ngati Poataniwha, testified at the Native Land Court in December 1866 that local iwi had plantations there, no doubt supplied by the almost never-failing Te Waiariki spring from the Waterloo Quadrant ridge and Albert Park. The spring still runs beneath the site of the Royal Hotel/Cargen.

Initial land sales at Official Bay were quite early. That for Lot 6 of Section 8, City of Auckland occurred in 1842, when Dudley Sinclair bought this and other sections around the city. He didn't live long, with an ignominious end in 1844.

"Lachlan McLachlan, who had come to Auckland in connection with the Manukau Land Company's enterprise, was called an adventurer by Dudley Sinclair, eldest son of Sir George Sinclair. McLachlan challenged him and, failing to receive an answer, called on Sinclair and whipped him with his own horse whip. Sinclair wished to challenge McLachlan but Conroy, Sinclair's second, advised against it. Sinclair committed suicide soon after, on 22 October, the inquest returning a verdict of temporary insanity."

"Pseudo Duels", An Encyclopedia of New Zealand, 1966.

Suicide in a truly brutal fashion -- Sinclair cut his own throat.

Probate of Sinclair's will was granted in December 1844 to William Smellie Grahame as executor, but it wasn't until April 1846 that Sinclair's personal effects were put up for auction. His selection of real estate around the town was sold soon after. The title to section 9 of 6, the corner site of Short Street and Eden Crescent, was transferred to a purchaser named Martin in November 1847.

In January 1849, an advertisement appeared in the New Zealander for the sale of a commodious house just two sections away from the corner of Short Street and Eden Crescent. Connell & Ridings advised prospective buyers, "It could readily be thrown into one concern and would be very suitable for a grocery store or Public House, much wanted in that neighbourhood. There is a constant run of Fresh water on the Premises." Less than three months later, we see Alfred C Joy appear, applying in April for a publican's licence for his new hotel in Official Bay, the Mason's Hotel. It is as if Joy answered the neighbourhood's much wanted need, as per the January advertisement.

Joy's new hotel was the original wooden building at the corner of Short Street and Eden Crescent, seen below in a detail from an image by George Pulman, photographed probably in the early 1860s. It was in a perfect position to take advantage of traffic to and from Wynyard Pier at the end of Short Street from 1851-1852.

 

In April 1852, the licence for the Mason's Home/Hotel was transferred to James Palmer. Previously, he'd tried for a licence for the Oddfellows Home in Mechanics Bay the year before. Palmer is someone familiar to me due to his later connections with the Whau Hotels and Banwell. Palmer (1819-1893) left Plymouth bound for New Zealand on 4 December 1842 on the Westminster, arriving 31 March 1843.He may have been the James Palmer applying for a licence for the "Crispin Arms" somewhere on Eden Crescent in 1847, but that was likely just a very brief attempt at a hotel in the area before the Masons Home.

Palmer obtained title to section 7 right alongside the Mason’s Home in May 1853, and may have offered this for sale in March 1854 (an advertisement matches the description – SC 14 March). But, it turns out he hung onto the site instead, and expanded the hotel with a grand brick addition.

c1860s. "Looking east from Short Street, showing the north side of Eden Crescent with the Royal Hotel and the Auckland Club, hitching posts at hotel entrance," 4-28, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries

The Royal Hotel.— This fine building, which has been in course of erection for the past eighteen months, is now completed, and forms without exception the finest and most substantially constructed edifice in this city. Indeed, it is considerably in advance of the place and will, we are inclined to think, stand forth for some years to come as a favourable specimen of our srreet architecture. The front of the building, which is of Matakana stone, is chaste and simple in its design, and altogether free from those heavy attempts at architectural display which too often only tend to disfigure a building, and to exhibit the ignorance of the architect. From the street one can scarcely form an idea of the real size of the building, but from the water "it looms large," and has a very striking effect. The rooms are spacious and lofty, and fitted up with every regard to comfort. On the second floor, the long room, if not the largest, is certainly the best proportioned and most elegantly furnished in Auckland, and fully capable of accommodating a dinner party of forty. As a ball or concert room it is well adapted, and we should think would suit the Auckland Club, should they find it necessary to seek temporary accommodation, pending their obtaining premises of their own. A fine verandah, extending the whole width of the building, commands an extensive view seaward. The bedrooms are spacious, well ventilated, and remarkable for the neatness of their fittings and the cleanliness of their furniture. Indeed, the Royal Hotel is in every respect amply provided for the accommodation and comfort of its frequenters. At present, it lacks but one desideratum, a billiard table but this want will be soon supplied, a first class table having been ordered by Mr. Palmer from one of the best makers. The opening day was marked by a housewarming dinner, which came off last week, and which we are informed afforded unqualified satisfaction to a very numerous and respectable company.

Southern Cross 23 October 1857 p. 3

The Auckland Club shifted into the new building by 1858, and made it their permanent meeting space.

The following year, the license for the Royal Hotel as both buildings were now known went to Charles Joslin.

Southern Cross 1 October 1858

But, Joslin declared bankruptcy in September 1859, and Palmer once again tried selling his asset.

Southern Cross, 15 July 1859

Come October 1864, however, we see that Palmer not only retained title for the brick addition and its land, but obtains title for the original wooden hotel as well. Palmer's land dealings in this part of Eden Crescent are quite involved, taking in property on the other side of the road as well, part of the future drinks factory site for Grey & Menzies. Things came personally unstuck for him and his family when two of his sons drowned in April 1865, the bodies recovered and brought back to the hotel. In February 1868, a meeting of Palmer's creditors was held -- then, as later in the Whau, he had mortgaged himself to the hilt. One of his creditors was Henry Chamberlin, who was granted title to the brick addition and its land by the courts in March 1868 (DI 5A.892). In March 1869 came a notice in the newspapers of a sale by auction of the remainder Palmer's real estate, and this time it really did happen: Palmer left the Royal Hotel in 1870. In September that year, John Jacob Fernandez offered "hot luncheon, with English Ale and Porter, during sittings of the Supreme Court," the Royal being the nearest accommodation house to the courts up on the hill.

c.1869, "Looking east from Eden Crescent showing Short St (left), St Andrews Church (right), Royal Hotel (centre left) and the Supreme Court (right background)," Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries

In May 1871, Palmer conveyed the wooden hotel to Henry Beedle and Donald N Watson. Henry Beedell from August 1866 was in business as an ale and porter brewer on New North Road. With Watson and William McGlashan, Beedle was in various partnership setups until September 1866. From early 1872, they ran a bottling store in Wyndham Street, and as at 1873 owned a former hotel at Stokes Point on the North Shore. They sold the last of their interest in Lot 6 (6 and 8, at the rear of the later Cargen extension) with small cottages thereon in January 1876, as well as their brewery near New North and Mt Eden Roads, Lots 7-11 and 3 of section 3 of 2A and 2B of Section 10, Suburbs of Auckland (between Flower, Nikau and Karori Streets, Eden Terrace).

In February 1873, they sold their interest in the wooden hotel site to Chamberlin.

Chamberlin was an entrepreneur, landowner, and politician. The wooden and brick hotel at Eden Crescent was an investment to him and his family. He applied to have the licence put under his name in 1871; in August that year transferred to Richard Nicholson; then transferred the licence to Petert Boylan in 1873. By 1876, the brick Royal Hotel was back on the market, and in 1877 both buildings were. In November 1882, Chamberlin successfully sold the property to John Chadwick. The complex reopened as the "Old Club" the following month.

Auckland Star 19 December 1882

In September 1883, Chadwick transferred title to surveyor Charles Alma Baker, who had dealings in 1886-1887 with a solicitor named Alfred Edgar Whitaker, and an agent Henry Ernest Whitaker. The title transferred to them for a time, then back to Baker, then finally defaulted through unpaid mortgage to widow Elizabeth Chamberlin in 1888 (that year, her husband Henry drowned in a pond at Drury). The widow's interest was shared with her agent Edmund Augustus McKechnie, and he transferred interest to Charles Chamberlin by 1890 (rates books, Auckland Council Archives).

At some point around 1900-1902, the old wooden ex-hotel at the corner was demolished. A survey plan from 1902 shows a clear site, and the rates records from that time on refer only to the brick building.

DP 3070, LINZ records, crown copyright

Eden Crescent, c.1900. Only bare ground where the old 1849 wooden hotel on the corner once stood. The "shadow" of the building can be seen on the brick wall of the 1850s extension Palmer built. Te Papa museum collection, C.011096.

The last time the 1850s brick part of the hotel was referred to as "Old Club" was in 1905. In 1904, it  was up for sale, but the two sites (vacant corner and brick hotel) weren't sold until 1907. A "Glendowie House" appears in the papers in 1905, lately run by W J Ford ("Old Club") but from then run by Mrs Robertson. Basically, the brick hotel was a boarding house, known by more than one name. Until in 1907 when it became known as "Cargen", run by Mr and Mrs Edward Francis Black.

Then in 1908, a building permit was filed with Auckland City Council for a new wooden accommodation house on the corner site.

Detail from permit plan 353, AKC 339, Auckland Council Archives

The new building cost £1800, and was organised by Gregory Benmore Osmond, holder of the land title from August that year. The development was for the Blacks as Cargen Hotel Proprietary, and culminated in a 7-storey extension to the combined Cargen Hotel in 1912-1913, designed by R W de Montalk. This extension today is all that is left of the Cargen Hotel complex of three buildings. Cargen Proprietary remained as owner until 1939.

13 September 1927, showing the three buildings in the Hotel Cargen complex. 1-W841, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries

The Blacks left the Cargen in 1920, and sold the chattels in a much-reported event, opening up to the public the finery in the private hotel.

Auckland Star 11 June 1920

Auckland Star 2 July 1920

Bertha Braik was the next manager, from 1921 to around 1925, followed by Robert Chesny, a hotel manager with Hancock & Co, the brewery company already having a controlling interest in the business which culminated in their name on the title from 1939.

Looking east along Eden Crescent, the Cargen complex in the centre. 4-1973, 1925, Sir George Grey Special Collections.

Cargen complex at left. 28 December 1931, 4-4246, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries.

1925. From Anzac Ave, looking at the rear of the complex, left. Short Street at right. 4-1903, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries

Governors-General presided over Empire Day dinners and balls at the Hotel Cargen, Auckland each year on May 24 both between the wars, and after World War 2 (when the hotel was renamed Transtasman); Governor-General Lord Freyberg “used the day to deliver some of his hardest-hitting speeches,” according to nzhistory.net. The co-founder and foundation member of the NZ Chefs Association Inc., Sid Young, started his traineeship at the Cargen as a cook in 1935. In 1940, in the atmosphere of a number of corporates making donations to aid the war effort, Hancock & Co gave the hotel to the Auckland Hospital Board for use as a home for nurses. This gift meant a lot to the Board at the time, as they faced an accommodation bill of £11,000 a year for their staff. However, the original 1912 design of the eastern extension, and alterations done in 1924, was criticised in a report from consultants employed by the Board in 1942, with a number of defects, mainly concerning roof leaks but also involving rotted floors and balcony posts, showing up which brought the Board concern. 

The Hospital Board kept possession of the hotel, however, throughout the rest of the war years, and conveyed it back to Hancock & Co in 1946. Around 1947, the hotel was renamed Transtasman, and reopened to accommodate around 60 guests. However, the four main brewery companies (New Zealand Breweries, Dominion Breweries, Hancock and Company and Campbell and Ehrenfried) put a plan to the government to be permitted to demolish the original hotel and wooden building beside and erect a new 300 room hotel on the site. In 1955, Hancock & Co transferred ownership to Hotel Transtasman Ltd, and at some point after this, but before the United Empire Box Company (UEB) purchased the hotel in 1963, the 1908 and 1850s buildings were demolished, to create a carpark. By 1971, the remaining part of the hotel was a series of commercial offices, which it remains to this day. 

Detail from 1966 topo map, showing the cleared space beside the 1912-1913 extension to the Cargen. NZ Map 2049, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries

Detail from 1968 aerial, NZ Map 3249, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries

Eden Crescent, looking east from just opposite Short Street, 14 September 2014.

The remains of the Hotel Cargen -- the surviving 1913-1913 extension.

An update: photos by Laurie Knight of the Hotel Cargen, May 2017, The building has just been sold by tender, and work is underway inside at the time this images were taken.

Of Eureka, Anchors, Henry Reynolds and Wesley Spragg

Image from NZETC.

I came back to Wesley Spragg (previous post) because of a sheaf of papers loaned to me by a Mr. T. J. Muir of the Matamata Historical Society over the weekend (which he gave me very kind permission to photocopy). They were notes of a speech he has given in the past on the history of the small town of Eureka, which is on the way between Hamilton and Morrinsville. This, I thought, was really cool, as I’d come through there on the bus to Matamata, and had wondered how Eureka had come by its name (a reconnaissance party looking for a site to use as a headquarters for roading and drainage operations to the Piako River “followed the high ground and arrived on the hill where Masters Road is today, famously announcing, ‘Eureka I have found it’, “according to Mr. Muir.)

Well, what really drew my attention as I read the notes in my motel room that night, brain half-dead after the day’s session at the NZ Federation of Historical Societies conference and AGM, was this bit:

“The company formed was named the New Zealand Land Company and later the Waikato Land Association. £600,000 Capital was raised in London … The Manager, Henry Reynolds, age 25 … lived at Eureka Headquarters with stables and accomodation for staff. In 1881 Reynolds as Manager of the Land Company organized the erection of the Tauwhare Cheese Factory. He resigned in 1886 to establish Reynolds and Co., the Pukekura Butter Factory and the ANCHOR brand used by the NZDCOOP Dairy CO.”

Details of Henry Reynold’s career can be found at the Cambridge Museum website, as well as the DNBZ. The published story behind Reynolds choosing the brand Anchor has two versions – either he had an anchor tattoo or an employee of his did. However, it may have been that Reynolds was following a trend of the period. There was an Anchor Shipping line then, and I also found reference to an “Anchor Preserving Company” in Nelson (1885) which made jams. (Wanganui Herald, 28 August 1885) “Anchor” brand cheese was being sold in the Waikato region in 1888 (Te Aroha News, 11 July 1888) and “Anchor” butter began to make itself known in the newspapers from around the same time.

In 1896, however, changing financial circumstances brought about his sale of his creameries and the Anchor brand to the NZ Dairy Association, managed by Wesley Spragg. So, I did a bit of digging, just out of interest, into Spragg’s background.

The Spragg family arrived on the Ullcoats at Auckland, 22 January 1864. The family at that time were: Charles and Mary Spragg and their children Elijah, Emma, Martha, Zante, Silas, Charles, and Wesley (Southern Cross 23 January 1864). 16 year old Zante died at the family home in Eden Terrace 3 August 1866. Charles Spragg junior attended the Auckland Western Academy that year. (Southern Cross, 22 December 1866)

A “Mr. Spragg” (quite likely Charles senior) occupied the chair at a meeting of the Newton Total Abstinence Society, February 1867 (Southern Cross, 8 February 1867), the start of the family’s long association with the temperance movement.

Mary Spragg died 2 May 1874, at their house in Eden Terrace, aged 61. (Southern Cross, 9 May 1874) Charles Spragg survived her until 22 August 1890, dying at Mt Eden, aged 71. (Otago Witness, 28 August 1890)

The Southern Cross of 5 May 1875 reported on a meeting of the Onehunga Band of Hope. President was John Bycroft of biscuit-making fame, one of the vice presidents was Robert Neal, and Wesley Spragg was treasurer. The names become important as Wesley Spragg’s story proceeds. Taranaki papers indicate that a Wesley Spragg ran a grocery story in New Plymouth, selling imported teas as well as other products during the 1870s. On 28 January, he married Henrietta Neal, and became closely associated in business with his new father-in-law, Robert Neal. By 1880, his business in Auckland, W. Spragg & Co, had been taken over by Robert Neal (ad, Waikato Times, 1 July 1880). Robert Neal’s prominent business was on the corner of Queen and Victoria Streets, the Theatre Royal building (today, the site of the National Bank building in Auckland, and once the site of Auckland’s first courthouse, gaol and execution spot). Neal began his business as a producer of “New Zealand’s Sauces and Pickles”. (Taranaki Herald ad, 19 August 1876)

“The commanding new corner shop between Queen and Victoria streets, and situate under the Theatre Royal, has been let to Messrs. Spragg (jun) and Neal, who intend opening it in the grocery business. Mr Spragg has been for some years located at Onehunga in a grocery store, and Mr. Neal is well known as the manufacturer of Neal's sauces.” (Southern Cross, 23 November 1876)

Fortunes for the rest of the Spraggs appears to have been mixed. Wesley’s brother Silas, originally working on staff of one of Auckland’s shortlived newspapers in the 1860s, went south to Otago and made him name as a highly skilled journalist, before joining the Hansard staff in Wellington. Meanwhile, a fire took place at Maungaturoto, Northland, in late March 1878, and completely destroyed the residence of Mr Charles Spragg (whether this was father or son is unknown). “Nothing was saved from the dwelling, and the inmates escaped with difficulty.”
(North Otago Times, 1 April 1878)

Meanwhile, the New Zealand Frozen Meat Company was inaugurated in Invercargill, on 8 June 1881, with a meeting of the promoters adopting a prospectus and declaring capital of £10,000, with the aim being to engage in the export frozen meat industry. (Waikato Times, 9 June 1881) By 1885, the Company had a butter department, and Wesley Spragg was in charge.

“Mr. Spragg, the manager appointed by the New Zealand Frozen Meat Company for the butter department, has been in Waitara the last few days, to look at a site for the erection of buildings for receiving butter. The plans are now in the hands of the architect, and may be expected here in a few days … one great advantage to settlers will be that cash will be paid as soon as brought in to the store, and the great facilities offered here, by being able to at once put it in the cooling chambers, should place the company in a position to defy competition, and show handsome profits on this much wanted industry.”

(Hawera & Normanby Star, 8 September 1885)

Things didn’t work out all that well for the Frozen Meat Company.

“At the beginning of last season (says the Auckland Star) the New Zealand Frozen Meat Company started the manufacture of butter themselves, contracting with farmers throughout the country for a regular supply of milk. Branch establishments were started in various places for receiving the milk and forwarding it to the chief depot. Everything gave promise of a continued success. It turns out, however, that these favourable anticipations have not been realised, and the company have given up the business. Fortunately for Auckland, an enterprise of so much promise is not to be abandoned— a private company, which is neither connected as a body or individually with the Frozen Meat Company, having taken the business up.”

This private company in 1886 had the financial backing of John Bycroft (Wesley Spragg’s associate from the Onehunga Band of Hope days) and called itself the NZ Dairy Association, producing “Association” brand butter. Wesley Spragg was the manager for the new firm.

“He has obtained offers of assistance from outside amounting to a capital of several thousands of pounds to carry on the work. His new principals are substantial merchants. Mr Spragg will continue to manage the new business, which will be called the New Zealand Dairy Association, and will have no connection whatever with the New Zealand Frozen Meat Company. It will, however, be carried on in the same building, and with the same appliances that the former department used. As far as possible, the proposed engagements of the Frozen Meat Company will be taken up, all the arrangements being carried on at the point where the company leave off. "

(Otago Witness, 17 August 1888)

The new venture proved successful.

“The New Zealand Dairy Association, Auckland, have during the past year made about 150 tons of butter, most of which has been sent out of the colony. They intend to pay 3d per gallon for milk next year. In an interview with a Herald reporter, the manager (Mr. Wesley Spragg) recently said: l am not wise enough to be able to say how it will be best to dispose of the butter to be made four months hence; but as it has been ascertained that the food products existing at any one time in the world never exceed six months' supplies, we hope to be able to get a market somewhere for the butter we may manufacture."

(Otago Witness, 11 July 1889)

From c.1883, Wesley Spragg was living in Mt Albert, and ran for election to the Mt Albert Road Board in 1895, losing by 9 votes. (Observer, 11 May 1895) His business venture however proved more successful. In 1896 His New Zealand Dairy Association bought out Reynolds and his creameries network, and gradually exchanged their “Association” brand for that of “Anchor”. The rest, as the cliché goes, is history.