Coromandel - Early Butter Days

Coromandel - Early Butter Days - graphics of cow, cow being milked and butter courtesy Graphic Stock. Photos Long Bay and Gorrie homestead courtesy CR Ball



Reading  newspapers about the opening of a  creamery dairy factory , felt it must have been an exciting occasion, for the residents of Coromandel township and area on the Coromandel Peninsula, back in October in 1911. One that marked a change from gold field  activities to farming activities. The Auckland Star reporting the event wrote that the Chairman of Directors , said in the opening speech that the Coromandel Co-operative  Dairy Company Limited:-

"  would be run on a thoroughly co-operative basis. Some people were of opinion that the factory was too large for Coromandel, but he considered that results would prove that such was not the case, and that the industry would increase in the course of a year or two. he hoped the present plant would need to be enlarged, and prove a boon to settlers". (Auckland Star   09 /10 /1911   P 2) 

 

Evidently the opening of the Coromandel Co- Operative Dairy Company culminated in  a " treat of all treats" - "Coromandel made butter  used in the afternoon tea prepared by Mrs  Gorrie and other ladies of the community. "( Mrs Gorrie being Barbara Gorrie, wife of Morton Gorrie - farmer and an active  member back then, of the  Coromandel Community).

 

The opening of this dairy factory was the culmination of a meeting held by the resident farmers in 1910. A committee made up of  Messrs. Gorrie, Troughcar, Hovell, Jeffcoat, R. A. Wight, S. James, jun., W. Turner, A. Otto, and M. Hawkeswood, was set up to progress the ideas based on a co-operative, rather than a proprietary business concern.



TURNING THE WORKED-OUT GOLDFIELDS TO GOOD ACCOUNT: THE OPENING OF A CREAMERY AT COROMANDEL, AUCKLAND, RECENTLY. Photo W. E. Carlyon Auckland Weekly News (26 OCTOBER 1911) courtesy  'Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, AWNS-19111026-10-4 '

 

Dairying and dairy factories processing farm produce was sweeping the country at the turn of the 20th century a follow on from  butter  made at the end of  1886 at a little factory at Pukekura near Cambridge. The end of the first decade of the 1900's , marked the opening of a a number of  small dairy factories across the Coromandel Peninsula and Hauraki as farming took the place of extensive  gold mining and bush felling activities -  Bagnall Brothers Creamery Turua about 1900; Paeroa Butter Factory 1901;  Netherton Creamery 1905; Mercury Bay Butter Factory  at Whitianga in 1911; Matatoki in 1912; Hikutaia Cheese Factory  1917; Tairua Butter Factory in 1922. Lemuel ( father in law of Mary Morton - sister of Morton Gorrie ) and of  Bagnall Bros and Co. was attributed with the first radiator dairy factory in New Zealand established at Turua near Thames in 1902

 showing the first radiator dairy factory in New Zealand, erected on Messrs Bagnall Bros Turua estate, Thames courtesy Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, AWNS-19021023-5-

https://digitalnz.org/records/29973764/the-first-radiator-dairy-factory-in-new-zealand-erected-on-messrs-bagnall-b



 Chairman of Directors of Coromandel Co-Operative Dairy Company, Morton Gorrie was eldest son of William Gorrie Jnr ( of Upton & Co - booksellers and stationers based  in  Auckland ). Morton Gorrie was not new to the farming industry.  With his brother Keith Gunion Gorrie ( who died in the Boer AKA South African War ) originally farmed near Maungatautari near Cambridge and Pukekura.  It is no doubt that he would have been influenced by the initiatives of Henry Reynolds in the processing of butter in 1886 at Pukekura. Also that of Joseph Banks , of the New Zealand Frozen Meat and Storage Company who was said " to have   great faith in the future of the butter industry" (Auckland Star, 07/05/ 1888, P 5) Susan Banks nee Buckland bought 'Gwynnelands' near Cambridge, in 1895, after the death of her husband Joseph. Their son Norman was to continue farming here and in establishing the Cambridge Dairy Co-Op.



Looking across Lake Karapiro towards Maungatautari - photo courtesy Chris Ball 2014

 

By 1909  Morton Gorrie and his wife Barbara had moved to Coromandel on the Coromandel Peninsula, continuing a farming life and contributing as  active members of the Coromandel Community.  A July meeting of the Coromandel Bowling Club saw Gorrie elected President of the committee . Elected at the meeting were : " Patrons, the Hon. James McGowan, M.L.C., and Mr. E. H. Taylor, M.P.; president, Mr M. Gorrie; vice-presidents, Messrs. G. H. Applegate, S. James, H. Rostgard, and C. Fraser; treasurer, Mr. G. F. Mellars; hon. secretary, Mr. G. G. Paul; committee, Messrs. Ben. B. Johnson, E H. Law, G. St. George, J. W. Barker, Rev. C. A. Vaughan, treasurer and secretary ex officio; auditor, Mr. A. Baker."  (Auckland Star ,  07/ 07/ 1909 P 7) 



Bowling club committee, Coromandel. Ref: 1/2-C-028340-F. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. /records/23111737



Before Christmas of 1909, The Coromandel Bowling Club opened their new bowling green, celebrating the occasion with a large number of visitors from elsewhere and a " roll up. "  For Morton Gorrie, the sport of bowling was popular with  family members , his father William Gorrie, one of the first members of the Auckland Bowling Club.

 

   New Zealand Herald   21 December 1909  Page 8

     courtesy Papers Past, National Library NZ

 

 From newspaper accounts a  February 1916 meeting  of Coromandel School of Mines, five years after the Coromandel Co- Op Dairy Company in 1911 , indicated mutual benefit to the mining and agricultural community of the mining school.

 

" The report showed that the equipment of the school had been kept thoroughly up to-date, and emphasised the value of the institution not only to the mining community, but also to all classes on the peninsula for technical, scientific, and agricultural purposes."

At the same meeting elections of  Coromandel School of Mines Office Bearers and Council took place:

 

" Office-bearers for the ensuing year were elected as follows President, Mr. T. W. Rhodes, M.P. vice presidents, Messrs. J. B. Rockliff and F P Burgess, secretary, Mr. A. G. Harvey, council. Messrs. L. Autridge, A King, W Hunter M. Gorrie, T. A. Norrie, J O'Hara, and E J Surflen."

Group portrait of the School of Mines council, Coromandel, New Zealand. Photographed by an unknown photographer 1915-1916. School of Mines council, Coromandel. Whites Aviation Ltd :Photographs. Ref: 1/2-023131-F. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. /records/22722894

Morton Gorrie was no stranger to mining in the Coromandel Peninsula for his father William Gorrie had been involved in the Chamber of Mines when it was formed in 1895 ,  Also a shareholder and director in the gold mining companies Coromandel Freehold Proprietary, Zealandia, Buffalo, Kennedy Bay, Miowera United, Pride of Tokatea, New Tokatea, Midas and Hauraki North.

 

The  Coromandel Co- Op Dairy Company continued to go from strength to strength. In June 1922 extensive alterations were announced. An outcome of increased tons produced at the factory as a result of increased butter fat supplies from the Coromandel area. However at an extraordinary meeting of the Coromandel Co-operative Dairy Company Ltd in 1926 it was resolved to dispose of  company's assets and liabilities to the New Zealand Co-operative Dairy Company ( what was to become a giant corporate company in NZ ) The decision was made  to voluntarily wind up the local creamery.

 

In the 1930's Morton Gorrie moved Northward, leaving behind the memories of a relevant part of the past of New Zealand history - what was the Coromandel Co-Operative Dairy Company or creamery.

Reference Sources:

• AJHR - sheep returns M Gorrie Coromandel
• Ohinemuri Regional History Journal 16, June 1972 Thames Valley Dairy Company by CHAS. TOWNSHEND
• Cambridge Museum http://www.cambridgemuseum.org.nz/index.htmbiographies - Gorrie , Pukekura Dairy Factory

•  Auckland Weekly News 23 October 1902 p005
•  New Zealand Herald   21 December 1909  Page 8
•  Taranaki Herald   6 September 1910   Page 4  
•  Auckland Star   9 October 1911   Page 2
•  SCHOOL OF MINES. New Zealand Herald, 26 February 1916, Page 5
•   Ohinemuri Gazette   3 December 1917  Page 2
•  New Zealand Herald  22 June 1922  Page 8 
• New Zealand Herald   6 September 1926   Page 16  
 

 

The Cutters Half Caste, Tararawa and Kataraina Borrowdale and a shipbuilder - Murray, near Tairua

Te Karo looking towards  headland which leads around to Otara Bay and Tapuaetahi Bay (Boat Harbour) where the cutters Half Caste and Tararawa were built by Murray  - all places near Tairua - photo courtesy Chris Ball 2015

The small 16 ton cutter Half Caste and larger 44 ton cutter Tararawa  ( AKA Rawawa ) are accredited with having being built by one John Alfred Murray AKA Alfred John Boradale ( AKA Borrowdale). Newspapers attribute John Murray with being the ship builder ( NZ Herald, 1888) Others attribute the building of the cutter Half Caste to a Captain Cotton Murray ( Riddle, 1998, p 114)  Official records including Watts Shipping Register, record Half Caste and Tararawa as being built by Alfred Murray. Watts Shipping Register also records a 19 tons register  cutter Katarina Borrowdale built in earlier years by Alfred Murray.  The names of these three cutters reflect the family links of their ship builder who settled in  New Zealand in those early pioneering days before the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. Initially in the Hokianga by 1837 and then near Kaitaia in the far north of New Zealand.

Entrance to Hokianga Harbour, Far North, New Zealand - photo courtesy Chris Ball February 2014

Katarina Borrowdale was recorded as a  46.3 ft vessel built at Ahipara, Northland in 1868. Ship builder Alfred Murray's son David Murray and also William King were recorded as masters of the 19 ton cutter in this year.

 

Ahipara Bay. Northwood brothers :Photographs of Northland. Ref: 1/1-011241-G. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. http://natlib.govt.nz/records/22502877   PLEASE DO NOT COPY PHOTO

Photo shows Ahipara where it is said the cutter Kataraina Borrowdale was built by Murray.

From official accounts it appears the owner of Katarina Borrowdale, was James Watt , an Auckland merchant , recorded in the Register of Australian and New Zealand Shipping 1874 and  in the Mercantile Navy List 1875 of British Registered sailing vessels. Other vessels owned by James Watt were Mary Ira, Wave ,  Miranda, Augusta, Southern Cross, Falcon and Iona. In 1874 John Francis was listed as master of Katarina Borrowdale. July 1874 saw Katarina Borrowdale, laden with ship's timbers wrecked at Motu, Katikati, running on to the rocks while making a tack. ( New Zealand Herald 23/07/1874) Fortunately crew and passengers were rescued by Captain Kaspar and the steamer Lady Bowen.


Looking toward Katikati from ANZAC Bay Southern end Waihi Beach - Motu  Katikati being where the cutter Kataraina Borrowdale laden with ship's timber was wrecked. Photo 2012 courtesy Chris Ball

Built at the time of the early years of the Thames Goldfields opening, newspaper shipping reports, record voyages of Katarina Borrowdale  to Thames, Waiheke, Taupo ( Northland coast) Wangapoa, Waiheke, Mercury Bay, Wairoa. Typical of  the coastal cutters of that day, cargoes recorded were timber from Mercury Bay and Wairoa and firewood from Waiheke to sustain the needs of a growing Auckland. 

 

Built at Boat Harbour near Tairua in 1881  by Alfred Murray , the cutter Half Caste  fast gained a reputation for the carrier of  cargo of illicit spirits and with the reputation  she was said to be a very fast boat. Her life was shortlived when  wrecked on September 22nd, 1883 ironically near where she was built - Boat Harbour. Fortunately no lives were lost , including that of the Captain - Cotton Ngatote Murray son of  Alfred  John Murray / Boradale. According to the Marine Report in the AJHR's, " the vessel went ashore in attempting to beat out of  Tairua Harbour, the jib having carried away and subsequently the anchor chain" ( AJHR 1884) Newspaper reports indicated that the crew had been able to rescue the sails and their clothes.

 

Boat Harbour, Eastern Seaboard Coromandel Peninsula

 

 Built also  at Boat Harbour by Murray in 1885, was the cutter Tararawa AKA Te Rarawa. Initially Cotton Ngatote Murray, son of John Alfred and Kataraina was recorded as master of this larger cutter 1885 - 1887, John AKA Alfred and sons Cotton, David and Joseph the owners.

A much larger cutter than Half Caste, Tararawa was said to be then owned by J.Smith and Company Limited of Auckland and in 1890 was converted to a ketch rig. Tararawa was raced in the Auckland Regatta of 1913.
 

Showing the ketch 'Tararawa', built at Tairua in 1885 by Alfred Murray as a cutter and converted to a ketch rig in 1890, shown during the Auckland Anniversary Regatta in 1913 on Waitemata Harbour'  

courtesy  'Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 4-5540'

Both Tararawa and Katarina Borrowdale appeared in newspaper reports of   Auckland Anniversary Regatta results for the Trading Vessels section: Katarina Borrowdale in 1869  and 1871 ( DSC 30/01/1869 p3 ; NZ Herald 31/01/1871 p2) Tararawa in 1907 ( NZ Herald  30'01/ 1907 p 5 ; New Zealand Herald   30 January 1920   p 6. 

The Auckland Star was to report in 1937 :

"From 1900 'until 1914 the sailing events were well patronised. Among the fastest during those years were the schooner Greyhound, ketches, Will Watch, Tararawa, Endeavour, Albatross and Edna, and the scows, Vesper, Vindex and Vixen. In' 1907 the Vesper and Vixen sailed a dead-heat, but the ketch Moonah was placed first on time allowance. The course was sailed round Tiritiri in a strong easterly with a big sea running. The traders made a splendid picture, and on the race back all kites were carried a low and aloft, the competitors being driven to the last ounce. Conditions the following year were quite the contrary and the "race" developed into a drifting match. The craft were 1 out all day and night, the Vesper being first home the day after the regatta. Throughout calms and flukey winds were encountered. A hard sou-'wester made the race of 1911 a most exciting fixture. Cracking on canvas was the order of the day and kites were not taken in until, in some cases, they were blown right out of their bolt ropes. In that race the Vindex lost her fore topmast for the. second year in succession."  ( Auckland Star  17 August 1937   Page 11 (Supplement)

 In 1920 the, by now ketch, Tararawa, was registered at Port of Auckland, E. A Steinbeck her master. 1921 saw Tararawa registered at Port of Suva, Fiji.  In  1928 the register closed with the vessel sunk in the harbour at Vavau, Tonga.
 

'Wrecks' off the coasts of Tonga - photo August 2015 courtesy Chris Ball

Born in Moffat, Scotland in Dumfrieshire County in 1813, John Boradale AKA Alfred Murray  ,  was one of seven siblings. John's father, Joseph is said to have been a shipbuilder from Cumberland. 

Alfred AKA John Boradale AKA Murray and
Kataraina Te Koni Boradale Murray

By 1837 Boradale had arrived in Hokianga on the Western Coast of Northland. An area newly settled by European with a mission station, shipbuilding and timber felling. Where, from 1826, Sydney Shipbuilders Raine, Ramsay and Gordon Browne ( later of Mercury Bay Whitianga) established a ship building operation, with more than fifty people involved in spars, planks and flax and in first vessels from the Horeke Shipyards.  By 1828 Raine had gone bankrupt and by 1840 - the year HMS Buffalo was visiting Mercury Bay Gordon Browne and William Stewart were there also. 

After landing in Hokianga Alfred John Boradale changed his name to John AKA Alfred  Murray.  Boradale AKA Murray was to marry Kataraina Te Koni who was of Te Rarawa descent and moved to Kaitaia where it is said he was involved in shipbuilding there. There Murray stayed until about 1870 when there was a move to Mercury Bay. It was also in 1870 that William White another ship builder moved to Mercury Bay.  By then, there were saw mills established at  Mercury Bay ( Whitianga) and Tairua supplying sawn timber,  along with plentiful kauri in the area,  suitable for ship building. 


ca1865. View of mills & portion township, Tairua / Webb & Webb    

http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/129299 courtesy State Library of Victoria, Australia

 

By 1881, when the cutter Half Caste was built, Murray was living at Boat Harbour further down the Eastern Seaboard near Tairua and Te Karo, along with his family members. They were also involved in occupational activities - Cotton Ngotote Murray was master of Half Caste  which plied the  coast with cargo. David Rawawe Murray, the eldest son, was attributed with  gold discovery and gold mining at Te Karo ( Sailor's Grave) nearby.

Map showing Boat Harbour, Neaves Bay, Te Karo and Tairua on the Eastern Seaboard of the Coromandel Peninsula
Map in Bell, James Mackintosh, and Fraser, Colin New Zealand Geological Survey Branch. 1912. The geology of the Waihi - Tairua subdivision, Hauraki division. Wellington, New Zealand: John Mackay, Government Printer.

Another son, Joseph Hepa, also worked on the Eastern Seaboard settling finally at Matakana, near Tauranga. Ani Ngawhini AKA Annie daughter of Alfred and Kataraina married another Far North settler Samuel Yates.Their grandaughter, Annie married Thomas Stewart Bowman, son of Henry and Iris Bowman ( nee Berghan). Thus typical the interlinkedness of those early North families in both occupation and family " kith and kin" moving up and down the early Auckland Province for work in the timber and ship building industries.

A reporter visiting the Boat Harbour / Te Karo area  on a trip  wrote on December 9: 

" Unfortunately, there has been a deal of sickness in Mr Murray's family of late. Dave, one of the original prospectors, has been seriously ill for tho last month, and since the death of his eldest daughter, about two months ago, on or more of his children have been ailing. His father, an old man of 78 years, is, I fear, rapidly sinking, and " Jimmy," a native of New Caledonia, who had been working with the Murrays, is also ill.(Te Aroha News  19 /12/1888 p 5 )

By the time the Te Aroha News  was published on the 19th, both Alfred AKA John  Murray and his eldest son David Raawe had died, Alfred on 13th December 1888 and David the following day on the 14th.  Thus ended the life of a pioneer shipbuilder on the Eastern Seaboard near the township of Tairua - who built fine vessels ,exhibited in Tararawa, which continued to trade for many a year and race with creditable results, in the trading vessel section of the Auckland Regatta. 

Boat Harbour continues today to be reached mainly by sea.Nearby Te Karo still harbours the grave of William Samson, looked after by many like the Murray family  who worked and lived in the vicinity over the last 175 years - an important Part of the Past of New Zealand history.

Te Karo near Boat Harbour and where grave of William Samson is - photo 2015 courtesy of Chris Ball

 

Reference Source:

• Bennett, Francis, Tairua, Arrow Printing Limited, Morrinsville, reprint 2004
• Riddle, Janet, Saltspray and Sawdust, Gumtown Publishers Limited, 1996
• On the New Zealand Coast http://www.koekejunction.hnpl.net/Ships/index.html
• Watt, M N.Index to the NZ Section of the Register of all British Ships. New Zealand Ship and Marine Society: Wellington.
•  Mercantile Navy List, 1875 pp 0310_0435  Page 310 http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/ref/collection/mha_mercant/id/6732
• The Register of Australian and New Zealand Shipping 1874
•  AJHR - Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives, 1884 Session II, H-06
•  Papers Past National Library NZ https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers
•  NZBDM  https://www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
•  New Zealand Maritime Index, New Maritime Museum http://www.nzmaritimeindex.org.nz/index.htm
• Family papers

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ring - three generations in Auckland Province

Looking out to sea from Bastion Point, Auckland toward Coromandel Peninsula Ranges Eastward and Northward. Much of what the Ring generations would have viewed. Photo courtesy Chris Ball 2014

William Charles Ring was  born in  Cambridge, New Zealand 20 February 1882. William Charles  was the eldest son of William Charles Ring and Mary Ring ( nee Gerrans)  William Charles Ring's grandfather, Charles Ring, came from Guernsey, Channel Islands.



Three Generations of Ring family - the eldest
From Left to Right Charles Ring D 1906; William Charles Ring 1857-1932; William Charles Ring 1882- 1950

James Busby - Photo in :

Buick, Thomas Lindsay. 1914. The treaty of Waitangi,

or How New Zealand  became a British colony.

Wellington, NZ: S. & W. Mackay. Also

https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001873313

Charles Ring  arrived in New Zealand  about  1841  from Tasmania , Australia, setting up farms  running sheep, near Onehunga Auckland.( Hayrs and Pa),  The 500 sheep, Charles was said to have purchased from Mr. Busby of Waitangi.  He headed  across Tasmanian Sea waters again to New South Wales, Australia ,to add cattle to his livestock.  During these years Charles was joined by his brother Frederick Ring. The two full cargoes  of cattle were sold as pastoral land was not easily available at this time. Worldwide,  gold discovery was resulting in  " gold rushes" to  San Francisco . The Ring brothers obtained passage aboard the brig Fanny  and voyaged  to the Californian Goldfields.  With goldmining and shipwreck over the next several years these two known as '49ers experienced several  adventures which have been well documented in newspapers of the nineteenth century.

On return to New Zealand in 1852 they headed for the hills of the Coromandel Ranges, searching for that elusive gold. Charles Ring has been attributed with the finding of the first gold by a European Settler at Driving Creek, Kapanga, Coromandel, New Zealand .Various accounts of this  have been recorded during past years of our  NZ history.

Plains around Matamata and looking toward the Mamaku and Kaimai Ranges - photo courtesy Chris Ball 2009

William Charles Ring, father of William Charles Ring, eldest son, was to settle at Hinuera near Matamata in the 1880's.   A reporter visiting the Patetere Country  in 1883, wrote about Ring's 1000 acres :-

" The land appeared to be of a somewhat similar character to that higher up the valley, though possibly not quite so light, but there was no reason to doubt that what has been accomplished on the Auckland Agricultural Company's estates there, at Messrs. Ring's and Walker's farms, and at Mangawhero, can, with the exercise of similar industry, skill and capital, be repeated in scores of cases, throughout the Thames Valley and the Patetere country." ( NZ Herald 10/10/1883)

This area in those early 1800's was being bought in. By December 1880 a suitable dray track of approximately 20 miles had been constructed. Surveyors followed and by April 1881 a bridle track was completed to Rotorua. Construction on the Rotorua Railway - the first section - was begun in 1882 - Morrinsville to Lichfield.

 

William Charles Ring as well as being a farmer ( sheep and horses) was also a keen athlete and sportsperson. Ring was very keen on Football ( now called Rugby ) playing for Cambridge and Waikato. Football was fast becoming a popular game amongst those in rural areas of Auckland Province.  1883  saw Ring selected for the Auckland Representative  Football team which played against Christchurch at Christchurch.

 



                       Courtesy Papers Past National Library NZ - FOOTBALL Gossip New Zealand Herald  7 August 1883  Page 6 

The reporter writing in the Observer wrote:-

"W. Ring (Waikato) : A grand runner, and ex- champion of the Province. Plays half-back, where he picks up very clean and is going full  speed in the first five yards. Has developed into a dangerous fender, and knows tho game. Must  not play too much for himself, but remember to back up "Whiteside and pass to him in turn. Will get behind almost certainly, as he can run round any man he is ever likely to meet."( Observer 11/08/1883)

A search of the web found an article and photo of this team  on the NZ History Website -  Auckland rugby team, 1883

 

This William Charles Ring continued  farming until his death in 1932,also being involved in the community he lived in. A school was opened at Hinuera in 1892 and the children of William Charles and Mary Ring attended, being some of the first pupils.

Hinuera School from Eventafind - In 2017 this school will celebrate 125th Jubilee.

Ring's  residence, not far from the Hinuera Railway Station,  housed the Hinuera Post Office and in 1902, daughter Ethel was postmistress.  He was a councillor on the Piako County Council , Patetere Riding, and in 1921 appointed a Justice of the Peace.

William Charles Ring born in 1882, the year the first section of the Rotorua Railway was begun, saw  formation years spent on his father's farm  at Hinuera.  One of nine siblings, there was one younger brother and seven sisters. This generation of the Ring family were to see   changes  from horse transport to motorised transport - a relevant change for William Charles who was to become a veterinarian. The other impacting upon the Ring and many other New Zealand families was what is now known as the First World War.  A newly qualified veterinarian, William Charles joined the NZ Veterinary Corps.

 Photo In New Zealand Veterinary Corps  Reakes ,C.J. , The War Effort of New Zealand Whitcombe and Tombs Limited, 1923, Auckland courtesy and creative commons NZ Electronic Text Centre

The first school Ring attended was Oxford ( Oxford now known as Tirau). In July 1992 it was a move to Hinuera School, the year this school  opened. Secondary Schooling was completed at  Auckland College and Grammar School. Seeking a career in veterinary medicine, Ring attended  the University of Pennsylvania gaining V.M.D. in 1911.

                                                                In  General Alumni Catalogue of the University of Pennsylvania, 1922, Pennsylvania

The New Zealand Herald reported Ring's arrival home:-

" Dr. William Charles Ring (Auckland) will sail on August 7 by the North German-Lloyd steamer, Scharnhorst, for Sydney, on his way home. He is returning to New Zealand from, the University of Pennsylvania, from which institution he recently graduated, Since arriving here he has been staying with Colonel Blenkinsop. of the NZ Royal Military College: of Surgeons. He should reach the Waikato at the beginning of October."  ( New Zealand Herald  28 /08/ 1911) 

Ring was to return to University of Pennsylvania in 1929, attending a post graduate course and was impressed with United States advances made in  treatment of sterility in cows.

War was looming in Europe. Marrying Ruby Monica Sellars at St Marks Church, Remuera Auckland in March 1913, Ring enlisted for the New Zealand Veterinary Corps, with the  rank of Captain and sailing on the  Troopship  Ulimaroa  July 1917. Dr. Reakes on the  New Zealand Veterinary Corps wrote:-

" The active service personnel of the veterinary corps comprised the following twenty-four officers:—Lieut.-Colonel A. R. Young. A.D.V.S.; Lieut.-Colonel H. A. Reid; Major Stafford ; Major P. M. Edgar; Major C.R. Reakes ; Captains T. A. Blake, E. C. Howard, R. H. Meade, W. C. Ring, E. L. Siddall, C. S. Simpson, A. Taylor, W. C. Barry, W. P. Begg, F. Crossley, E. E. Elphick, A. A. Johnson, T. G. Lillico, D. H. Rait, W. G. Taylor, J. Danskin, D. H. McHattie, J. H. Primer, and G. N. Waugh." ( Reakes, 1923)

Captain  Ring returned from service in France July 1919 and was also to serve in the NZ Veterinary Corps 1941 - 1944 in the Second World War gaining the rank of Major and retired in June 1944.

1931 saw Ring Propriety Company Limited -  a company manufacturing and selling veterinary medicines and preparations - the shareholders being William Charles Ring, Monica Ring and Alan Rutherford Gorrie ( brother-in-law of William Charles Ring)

 

William Charles Ring, third generation living in the Auckland Province, died 10 August 1950 in Auckland . His occupational life of veterinarian was certainly one involved with horses throughout from the time qualified as a V.M.D.

Bronze Eagle  Dr. W.C. Ring's horse - in New Zealand Herald 4 May 1932, p 8
Courtesy Papers Past National Library NZ

Reference Source:

• Buick, Thomas Lindsay. 1914. The treaty of Waitangi, or How New Zealand became a British colony. Wellington,NZ: S. & W. Mackay. Also https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001873313

• Cyclopedia Company Limited  The Cyclopedia of New Zealand (Auckland Provincial District)  The Cyclopedia Company, Limited, 1902, Christchurch
• New Zealand Veterinary Corps  Reakes , Dr. C.J. , The War Effort of New Zealand  Whitcombe and Tombs Limited, 1923, Auckland   Also NZETC http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-WH1-Effo-t1-body-d9.html
• Swainson, William, Auckland, the capital of New Zealand, and the country adjacent; including some account of the gold discovery in New Zealand. 1853
• NZ Gazette 1921
• General Alumni Catalogue of the University of Pennsylvania, 1922, Pennsylvania
• Archway Archives NZ https://www.archway.archives.govt.nz/  25/11/2016
• New Zealand Births, Deaths and Marriages ( bdm's) https://www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/Home/
• NZ History Website -  Auckland rugby team, 1883 accessed 25/11/2016
• NEW ZEALAND MOUNTED RIFLES ASSOCIATION http://www.nzmr.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=635  accessed 25/11/2016
• Waikato Times   5 September 1882   Page 2  
• FOOTBALL Gossip New Zealand Herald  7 August 1883  Page 6 
• THE REPRESENTATIVE FOOTBALL TEAM. Observer  11 August 1883   Page 16
• A TRIP TO THE PATETERE COUNTRY New Zealand Herald   10 October 1883   Page 6  
• Launceston Examiner 27 Sep 1895  Page 5 
• DEATH OF A NONAGENARIAN.  The Mercury  5 Apr 1906    Page 5 
• New Zealand Herald   28 August 1911   Page 5
• Otago Daily Times   2 January 1929   Page 12  
• VETERAN SPORTAMAN DIES Auckland Star  22 October 1932   Page 7  

Beach Road Reserve Playground Whangamata - A Sequel



Beach Road Reserve Playground Whangamata - a new era - photo ASB  22 October 2016



Further on the Beach Road Playground at Whangamata - a sequel to the other two blogs. The playground that was demolished quickly rose up out of the relics of ground and soil , said to have had input from local schoolchildren and play centre children into its design. The playground evidently was officially opened on 21 October last week - just before what is known in New Zealand, as Labour Weekend - the school children invited to take part and the traditional sausage sizzle. Unfortunately due to a hospital operation was unable to attend this fun occasion. 

 

Now there is a new wooden boat vessel - looks grand -  no doubt there will be future stories passed down of imaginary adventures across the sea and perhaps pirates or imaginary visitors to these shores. There is also a grand swing, a sort of metal contrivance and some rather gorgeous palm frond type umbrellas - similar to what we see at some Pacific Island resort.

 

A new era for this beach reserve area at Whangamata and one that no doubt we will continue to visit with our children, grandchildren and other family to enjoy the beach and all it has to offer. Including a seat where one can " while the time and watch the boats come in."    Yes can see there will be future stories of this playground and maybe the school children who helped design the new additions - and in the future it will still be a part of the past NZ History with memories and stories. For playgrounds are an integral part of the past history -  the very fabric of who we are and the things that make our history and culture.

 

Beach Road Reserve Playground Whangamata looking at the boat vessel - photo ASB 22 October 2016

 

 

Beach Road Reserve Playground Whangamata - Why true facts

Went to a wonderful  genealogy and family history seminar on Saturday at Waihi. Felt very inspired by the message that it is important to record family history to write it down. For though it may be buildings and artifacts in the ground it is people that make the history. It is their stories that have influence. The reasons for the location and  a style of house being built,  the " rubbish pits" that show the type of utensils, crockery, clothing used for daily living.

On the way home we stopped at a place which for many, many years has been a favorite - the Beach Road Reserve playground at Whangamata. WELL!!! After nearly three years ALL  has been removed - the swings, slides, concrete boats, the popular tyre playground equipment.

 

Relics of Beach Road Reserve Playground, Whangamata  17 September 2016

I say almost three years for it is that  time span when first read in the local newspaper, that the playground was to be upgraded - safety considerations  amongst the reasons. Then, in December 2014, resigned to the fact that physical structures were going to disappear, I wrote the history of how the Beach Road Playground Reserve came about back in the 1970's. This  in a blog http://partofpastnzhistory.blogspot.co.nz/2014/01/beach-road-reserve-playground-whangamata.html  

 

Beach Road Reserve Playground Whangamata December 2014

 

 The blog was an addition to the story in the book " This and That"  written in 2001. It is thanks to the Whangamata Garden Club, a number of organisations and a large number of volunteers who saw this beach resort's first  children's playground come to fruition.  At a funeral last year children shared the joy of visiting this playground with their grandmother who wrote the very first letter in 1970 asking for the Reserve to be designated and for a playground.

In further research over the last two days, I could not believe what I was reading, written by  TCDC ( our council ). In their Whangamata Community Board Plan 2014-2015 And indicative Direction for 2015-2025 in relation to the said playground on page 16 the following :-

 

“Beach Road Reserve Development ($99,327) The Board prioritises this project as the Whangamata Beach Road Reserve playground is approximately 25 years old and is no longer fit for purpose due to component deterioration, rust and share use.  "

Historic facts prove that this written statement ( highlighted in red ) in their plan is not entirely accurate. It is the very reason that reinforces the need for recording the story or the history facts.

As a writer, local historian and family history researcher I believe , as we also learned in the Waihi Seminar, that it is very important to get down those family stories and history correctly.

 

It is an account of " the way things were " and a record for future generations. It is a record for Archaeologists in the future who may be identifying the evidence of settlement beneath the ground.

 

It can provide for the historian the " way things were." In the instance of the Beach Road Reserve Playground,  a story that reflects the community and pioneers of this town who worked extremely hard at the time, to establish what we all benefit from today – parks, reserves, clubs and organisations - in a different era when the town was small and facilities did not exist. ( not even a Marina back then and very few recreation boats in the harbour). Those early community people and pioneers had a vision for the future.

We have travelled overseas and in New Zealand a lot - visiting what interests us - a botannical gardens at Ballarat, Australia , begun over 150 years ago and still there with the wonderful stories of how it began. The Botannic gardens at Christchurch, NZ with stories of how those early European Settlers, had a vision and started planting and designing. Along with in the garden, children's playgrounds.

 

plaque remembering curator George Longley, Ballarat Botannic Gardens, Australia  2012 - photo CR Ball

Botannic Gardens, Christchurch NZ - photo CR Ball 2016

 

Very old buildings, art galleries  and museums abound in England and Europe. ( Structures that a very lucrative tourism industry has built on). Even an ancestor's house built in the seventeenth century - admittedly has another use as a hotel now - but still there standing firmly.

Sometimes we have met other people in our journeys around the world,  who have been to that place called Whangamata and have their stories of camping near the Beach Road Reserve Playground, stories of their children playing on the tyre playground equipment.

 

It seems to me that there has crept in to New Zealand that anything older than say thirty years needs to be pulled down - whether it be buildings, playgrounds or other structures. A modern attitude that is quick to write them off as being old. This seems to have been strengthened by a changed Historic Places Act, the recording of detail in Archaeological Diggings before a building, a subdivision , a development, a motorway takes place. That it is okay to remove all trace of what was there before and even the stories and written historical fact. 

 

I think not, for that is removing the very fabric of who we are and the things that make our history and culture. I am pleased I recorded the story of the Beach Road Reserve Playground in the  book, " This and That"  in 2001 and in a blog in 2014.  I  shall continue to record in writing stories and history facts  for future generations. 

 

 Yes I look with interest to see what rises up out  of the ashes of the relic remains of dirt and soil from the old playground. I accept that physical structures such as swings, slides and tyre playground equipment have a life span and do need replacing. I hope to see other stories and historic facts recorded for the new playground into future years. If others write that story or history down, then in another fifty years will be more on the essence of what the Beach Road Reserve Playground represents to many of us in the fabric of our history and culture.

 

Beach Road Reserve Playground , Whangamata - waiting for a new lease of life and new stories in the future - photo CR Ball 2016

 

Reference Source :

 

Whangamata Community Board Plan 2014-2015 And indicative Direction for 2015-2025  accessed 18/09/2016

This and That 2001   by E A Ball ( nee Stewart )  accessed 19/09/2016
 

 http://partofpastnzhistory.blogspot.co.nz/2014/01/beach-road-reserve-playground-whangamata.html  accessed 19/09/2016