8/3/2019 Pt Chevalier Times No. 20 http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/pt-chevalier-times-no-20 1/8 ewsletter for the Point Chevalier Historical Society o. 20, September 2011 sites.google.com/site/pointchevalierhistory/ cÉ|Çà V{xätÄ|xÜ ext issue due out ovember 2011 Contact Lisa Truttman (editor) : 19 Methuen Road, Avondale, Auckland 0600, phone (09) 828-8494 or email [email protected]Padmini Raj and her team at the Point Chevalier Library recently arranged to have the rescued “Hall Corner” sign mounted prominently on a wall near the entry to the library — close to the spot where it would have been originally, attached to the old library (top image). Well done to all concerned! From the interpretive sign beside it, also on the library’s wall: “The “Hall Corner” sign apparently was originally on the side of the Coronation Hall/Library building in the 1950s- 1960s. Due to vandalism, the sign was shifted just inside the front porch way. The Hall Corner got its name from the Coronation Hall, which was on the corner of Great North and Point Chevalier Roads … Mr Windsor who lived in Miller Street, Point Chevalier found the sign on top of a large pile of rubble when the Hall/Library was demolished. With the permission of the contractors, he took the sign home and when he sold his house in 2009, he gave the sign to Mr Ross Brader of Professionals Real Estate, Point Chevalier, who in turn presented the sign to the Library for poster- ity.”PCHS members have assisted with information for the sign. Times Hall Corner sign back at the library Calendar Meetings—2011 (all at Horticultural Centre, 990 Great orth Road, Western Springs) October 27 10.30 am (Speaker: Dave Simmons – Maori perspective of local history) ovember 24 10.30 am (Speaker: Colin Gallagher on history of football in local area)
Padmini Raj and her team at the Point Chevalier Library recently arranged to have the rescued “Hall Corner” signmounted prominently on a wall near the entry to the library — close to the spot where it would have been originally,attached to the old library (top image). Well done to all concerned!
From the interpretive sign beside it, also on the library’s wall:
“The “Hall Corner” sign apparently was originally on the side of the Coronation Hall/Library building in the 1950s-1960s. Due to vandalism, the sign was shifted just inside the front porch way. The Hall Corner got its name from theCoronation Hall, which was on the corner of Great North and Point Chevalier Roads … Mr Windsor who lived inMiller Street, Point Chevalier found the sign on top of a large pile of rubble when the Hall/Library was demolished.With the permission of the contractors, he took the sign home and when he sold his house in 2009, he gave the sign toMr Ross Brader of Professionals Real Estate, Point Chevalier, who in turn presented the sign to the Library for poster-ity.”
PCHS members have assisted with information for the sign.
Times
Hall Corner sign back
at the library
Calendar
Meetings—2011 (all at Horticultural Centre, 990
Great orth Road, Western Springs)
October 27 10.30 am (Speaker: Dave Simmons – Maori perspective of local history)ovember 24 10.30 am (Speaker: Colin Gallagher on history of football in local area)
Auckland Horticultural Council RoomsMeeting started at 10.30 am.Present: 32 peopleApologies: Pam Burrell, Neil Hogan, Maurice Wellan, Edna LovettCorrespondence: nil
President’s reportReminder about the Auckland Heritage festival (18/09/2011 to 2/10/2011).
i) www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nzii) Family history –lunchtime sessions being run at Auckland library http://www.aucklandcitylibraries.com/whatson/familyhistory/familyhistoryseries.iii) Pt Chevalier mural coming along nicelyiv) Going West celebration http://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/EN/OurAuckland/Events/Pages/goingwestbooksandwritersfestival.aspxv) Mt Roskill is in process of setting up its own historical society-see Lisa for more details.
Treasurer’s reporti) Audit of books now completeii) 00 account $1077.88 01 account $2755.85Motion –that the financial report be accepted (Jones/Read) –passed unanimously
Members’ forumMemories were shared by: Jean Jones (Pt Chev’s swimming pools), Des Gates (Bryce Hart), Ninette Skelley (thedisappearance of illicit grog), Terry Ryan (Rugby League), Jo Cleal (goings on at the local dance)
Next meeting:10.30 am Thursday 28th October Auckland Horticultural Council Rooms
Guest speaker: Dave Simmons on the history of Pt Chevalier from a Maori perspective.
A talk of interest to members10.30 am Thursday 28th September, Pt Chevalier Library.Lisa Truttman to speak on “Rifles and Targets: The origins of Pt Chevalier”
Meeting concluded 11.15am
were stabled at what is now the Rugby League club-rooms, as were the buses that followed about 3 yearslater. The buses operated an hourly timetable from
the beach to Surrey Crescent where they made a con-nection with an hourly tram service to Pitt Street.
The former Armstrong’s Hall was also used as aschool from June 1922 until May 1924. The originalPt Chevalier school became Gladstone School in1925 with the Te Ra Road school becomingPt Chevalier School rather than the Pt Chevalier No 2school as it was known.
At the Pt Chevalier Rugby League Club’s AGM onWednesday the 11th March 1936, the club’s balancestood at £374.44 Then on the 29th June 1936 the clubdetermined to offer Mr Armstrong £800 for his hallalong with a deposit of £200. Mr Armstrong acceptedthe club’s offer later that same year.
(Text of Terry’s talk given at the August Society
meeting — reproduced here by kind permission.)
At a Society meeting last year Cyril asked for somehistory on the Pt Chevalier Rugby League Club’sHall at 217-219 Pt Chevalier Road.
Our research shows that about 1908 the present roadto Surrey Crescent was formed by Lovett Bros., and
the first transport service from Surrey Crescent tothe beach was inaugurated about 1913 byMr A Anderson with horse-drawn buses. The horses
While Armstrong’s Hall, which was at right angles tothe current clubrooms, running down the section notacross as the current one does, served the memberswell, a fire that destroyed the back of the buildingincluding the toilet block and storage areas demon-strated however the inadequacies of this ancientstructure.
In 1962 the club commissioned Ray Kingston whowas working for the Auckland City Council to deter-mine the limitations of building bylaws and compli-ance to boundary laws etc. Then used this draft tohave plans for a new hall drawn up.
The old Armstrong’s Hall was demolished by clubvolunteers in 1964 with construction starting immedi-ately afterwards to have the present hall ready thefollowing year at a cost of $24,000.
The official opening of the clubrooms was held onSaturday the 15th May 1965 by Auckland’s Mayor
Mr D M Robinson. The ceremony included BertHumphries, club founder, President, long-termadministrator and a player in the club’s first team,turning the key before a large gathering that includedRitchie McDonald, the Member of Parliament for thearea.
In the 70s a mezzanine floor for meetings and storagewas added; otherwise the club rooms remain muchthe same as they have for the last 36 years, a testa-ment to the foresight of the 1936 committee that 75years ago.
References:AH Walker Centennial Book, Rangi-Mata-Rau, 1961Pt Chevalier Rugby League Club MinutesPCRLFC Jubilee booklets
ew Zealand in 1882 in the ship Robert Small. His family settled on land at Komokoriki under the system of land grants then made by the Government to newly-arrived colonists, but Mr Walter Armstrong entered the law officeof Messrs. Jackson and Merriman, with whom he served articles, and who later became the firm of Messrs.
Jackson and Russell. Contemporary with him in the officewere Mr. John Sheehan, who was Minister of ative
Affairs and Minister of Justice in Sir George Grey'sMinistry of 1887-89 and Mr Edwin Hesketh, afterwardsof the firm of Messrs. Hesketh and Richmond, one of the
most eminent barristers of ew Zealand in his day. Onbeing admitted to practice, Mr. Armstrong was joined in
partnership by Mr. Sheehan and Mr. Peter Dignan, forming the firm of. Messrs. Sheehan, Dignan, and
Armstrong, which is now Messrs. Dignan, Armstrong, Jordan, and Jordan. Mr. Armstrong continued a member of the firm until about four years ago; when he retired.
For the Waikato War, which broke out soon after hisarrival in the colony, Mr. Armstrong enrolled in the
Auckland Volunteers, and took part in their famousmarch to Drury. His brother, Mr G W Armstrong, ismanager of the local branch of the Imperial InsuranceCo., Ltd., and the oldest insurance manager in Auckland.
The Hall and the land
The corner of Pt Chevalier Road and Oliver Street wasoriginally part of Patrick Dignan’s estate. From 1907,Hakllyburton Johnstone had title to nearly 18 acres,stretching right back to the landing at the end of Oliver Street. This, he subdivided from 1912.
In 1917, Thomas Dignan purchased the just over aquarter-acre section at the very corner. Two years before,Dignan, with Andrew Wright Anderson (Surrey Crescent bus proprietor) and others had set up the Pt Chevalier Motor Bus Company, which legally took over the landfrom 1918. Initially, the firm may well have utilisedAnderson’s own facilities — taking up the offer of landfrom Hallyburton Johnstone later to create a base close tothe Pt Chevalier Beach turning place (which, according tothe Road Board minutes, dated from May 1916).
In 1920, the company went into liquidation. Thomas
Dignan lost heavily. At the end of that year, Walter Henry Armstrong, purchased the site in his wifeCatherine’s name. Catherine remained owner until her death in 1932.
Auckland City Council’s records from when amalgama-tion took place in 1921 tell us that the wooden hall wasused for Sunday schools, day school and “occasional en-tertainments.”
At this time, the districts residents had been campaigningfor three years for a new school to accommodate the in-creasing number of children in the area.
“When the matter was first opened by residents their pleawas given a sympathetic ear by the Auckland Education
Board, and in 1918 the erection of the school was recom-mended by the late Mr Mulgan, then the senior inspector,
When Terry very kindly passed over his notes for meto include in this issue, he asked, “Who was Mr Armstrong?” This is what I’ve been able to find out.
Walter Henry Armstrong was born in Cambridge,England in 1844. He arrived in New Zealand in 1862,articled to Samuel Jackson, of the law firm of Jackson & Russell. Admitted to the bar in 1873, helater joined the firm of Sheehan and Dignan as a part-ner. When John Sheehan retired, the firm becameDignan and Armstrong, Armstrong in partnershipwith Peter Dignan, son of Patrick Dignan the publi-can and local politician (and Pt Chevalier land-owner). In June 1870, Walter Armstrong marriedCatherine Sutherland.
His obituary ( Evening Post , 31 May 1927) said:
Mr. Walter H. Armstrong, one of the oldest law prac-titioners in Auckland, died last week, aged 84 years. Born in Cambridge, England, Mr. Armstrong came to
“The number of children that would attend a side school established in the hall would beapproximately:-
Primers: 41
Std. 1: 22Std 2: 16
Probable number not attending at present: 25Total: 104This would mean relieving the Main School of about 80 pupils.
“I recommend that application be made to the Department for authority to establish a Side School in Armstrong’s Hall.”
The Education Board approved the suggestion inMarch, but advised the school committee that thingsmight not go through, as the Senior Inspector feltthat “the matter is not urgent”. Still, the EducationDepartment saw the need anyway, and on 10 March1922 authorised the establishment of the side school.The Board’s architect John Farrell reported, 6 June1922:
“The … building will require some improvements tomake it suitable for school purposes. There is no
ceiling in the building and the iron of the roof isexposed to the room. A temporary ceiling of calico
and application was made to the Department, with theresult that a site of 3½ acres was acquired at a cost of
£1130. The matter was held up by the financial strin- gency …” ( Herald , 4 November 1922)
In February 1922, an advisory inspector for the Boardof Education took at look at the hall, with the view toits suitability as a temporary side-school for PointChevalier School (in Gladstone Road, now GladstoneSchool). Although the authorities by then had securedthe Te Ra Road site from Thomas Dignan for the pre-sent day Pt Chevalier School, back then they still had-n’t be able to obtain the necessary funding grants for buildings, and the Te Ra Road site was leased out for grazing instead. With the school roll rising from 514in 1920 to 629 by February 1922 — and expected torise further as Pt Chevalier developed into a residen-tial suburb — the need for space was great. The fol-lowing comes from an Archives New Zealand file onthe school site:
“A hall (Mr Armstrong’s) situated about 1 1/2 milesnorth of the present school is available. The main part of the hall is about 50' x 25'. It is neither lined nor ceiled. Water [is] laid on to the building but there is
no tap outside. There are … outbuildings. It would benecessary to provide more outbuildings [plus] a tapoutside.
“The owner is prepared to let the building at £80 per annum. This is somewhat high but the Secretaryinterviewed the owner who refuses to let it at a lower
price.
Opening Day of the side-school at Armstrong Hall. Thesetwo images are courtesy Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries. Top image has reference7-A11121. On the facing page, reference 589-148.
will be rrequired to improve the lighting and a drainwill be necessary to take the water away from the
present lavatory basins.
“The total cost of the work will be approx. £30 and the Owner of the building, Mr Armstrong, is willing
to pay half cost. I recommend therefore that I be
authorised to have the above matters effected at acost to the Board of £15.”
The Armstrong’s Hall, no matter how much theEducation Board put into transforming it from aformer bus garage into a temporary school for thedistrict, still failed to impress the teachers. Onreceiving word of a complaint via an MP, ultimatelyfrom a brother of one of the teachers, Christopher James (CJ) Parr, then Minister of Education, sentthis letter to Farrell on 7 September 1922:
“There is some grumbling, so I am informed, at Point Chevalier, on the part of some of the parents. I do not know whether it is a small matter or whether it is general, but the idea is that they have
been neglected in having such a miserable, tumble-
down hall given them with no conveniences for teaching, etc. This is the story that comes to me indi-rectly.
“I remember that you said when we were out therethat the Board intended to make things more ship-
shape and comfortable. Will you kindly tell me if
this has been done, and oblige.”
The side school eventually opened officially onSaturday, 4 November 1922, accommodating 82children from the infants section of the main school.Mr. Parr, speaking to the crowd who attended theopening, described the four-year campaign to thatdate for a new school in the district, but advised thatthere were a lot of other districts also in need of ad-ditional space for the children. The Herald reportedthat “he realised that an adequate school building was needed to meet the growing needs of Point
Chevalier, and considered it would be very difficult to refuse their claim. It would certainly receive hisearnest consideration.”
“Standing on platform at left corner of building, Mr M J Coyle (formerly Chairman Auckland Hospital Board and City
Councillor), next to him Mr. Singleton.
“Sitting on platform 4th from left, Lady Parr, next Sir Christopher James Parr, next Mr W D M Glaister, Chairman of School Committee.
“Standing from left: Mrs Singleton, Mr J W Scott, Mr Crookbain, Mr F G Rose, Mr Courtney and others.”
Back in issue No. 18, in an article called “Rifle and
Targets”, I wrote:
In late October 1858, Ensign G R Chevalier (not alieutenant at that stage) arrived in Auckland fromWellington on the Emily Alison. In January 1859, we
see the first documented use of the name “Point Chevalier”, in a tender advertisement for cartage toand from the camp. This left very little time during which Ensign Chevalier could have challenged Lieu-tenant Toker (who was the musketry instructor for thearea, and a fellow member of the 65th regiment) tothat notable target competition. So many memories
associated Ensign Chevalier, who definitely was acrack marksman in his own right, with the suburb’sname; it is difficult to prise him away from that asso-
ciation. There is simply, at the moment, neither docu-mentation proving the story, nor anything disproving
it.
The 65th regiment, under Toker, may have gone out toWestern Springs and the government reserve there in
ovember or December 1858, set up a trial set of targets, and Chevalier won on the day, this giving theapproved site a name it didn’t have before then.
There’s one problem with all that, and with the recol-lections which have formed the basis for the Toker-Chevalier rifle-firing competition story, and thenaming of Pt Chevalier: Lt. Arthur Branthways Toker wasn’t in the country at the time Pt Chevalier wasgiven the name (some time before late January 1859),nor did he meet up with Ensign Chevalier until July1859, down in Taranaki. I realised this on closer inspection of the online copies newspapers of theday .
The timeline, based on newspaper accounts so far, is:
1858
11 September—Toker gazetted as Instructor of Mus-ketry for 65th Regiment, while still in England.October — Chevalier arrived in Auckland24 December—Toker arrived in Melbourne
1859
21 January—first instance in print of the name “PointChevalier”19 February—Toker arrived in Wellington
July—Chevalier leaves Auckland for Taranaki29 July — Toker arrived in Taranaki
I still can’t disprove the Chevalier shooting match
story which has been going around since November 1872, from obituaries then published for Chevalier.But — as all the stories have focussed around himeither as an instructor for musketry (which he wasn’t)or that the match took place between him and Toker (which it didn’t) — things look shaky for the legend.
If it did happen — who did Chevalier competeagainst? Why was he out here anyway, as an ensign(a low-level officer) who was truly based at AlbertBarracks for the 8-9 months he was here? What washappening at Camp Point Chevalier before 1861,when Toker finally reached Auckland, and the rifleranges were set up?
Why was Point Chevalier named after GeorgeChevalier?
The boys from the Mt Albert Probation
HomeThis was found in the minutes of the Pt Chevalier
Road Board, 22 September 1919 (Auckland Council Archives):
A Deputation from the Point Chevalier School Com-mittee, consisting of Messrs J T Owens and G Jenks,waited on the Board and asked the support of thisBoard in getting boys from the Probation Home inMount Albert stopped from attending the School.
Mr Jenks spoke, pointing at the evil effects that were
liable to take place, and Mr J T Owens spoke in sup- port of what Mr Jenks had said, and stated that the boys were not left at the school long enough to deriveany benefit therefrom and that the practice was prac-tically turning the school into a Reformity (sic) andsuggested that the boys be tutored at the Home.
Child's arrow Escape
To escape unhurt after a fall of 20ft over a bank in a baker's delivery van which crashed through a fence atthe foot of a blind street, Walmer Road, PointChevalier, was the experience of a five-year-old boy
who tried to drive the vehicle on Tuesday afternoon,states the ew Zealand Herald . Climbing into thedriving seat when the van was standing on a steepslope near the foot of Walmer Road, the boy releasedthe handbrake and pulled the gear lever out of re-verse, where it had been left as an additional safe-guard. Gathering speed rapidly, the van smashedthrough a stout fence at the foot of the street andlanded on its wheels in swampy ground a few feetfrom a creek, the front of the vehicle being damaged.The child did not realise the narrowness of his escape
and coolly asked witnesses of the accident who hadgone to his help to push the van back to the road. Thevehicle was later removed by a breakdown wagon.
PCHS member Graham Perkins recently celebrated his 90th birthday — congratulations, Graham!
The passing of “Point Chevians” …
John Webster (a reader of the Point Chevalier Times)drewmy attention to including the following names of thoselinked with Point Chevalier who have recently died. Our sympathies to the friends and families. I’ve quoted from hisemail to me.
Geoff Sinclair “of the famously large Sinclair family - ex- broadcaster,etc.”Joyce Valda Roseman, “aka Val - in her 88th year - daugh-ter of Bill & May Roseman of Te Ra Road, Point Chev.
Graham (Perkins) said his parents knew hers - and I think she obviously had lived at the old address until recently -another notice recalls happy times at Te Ra Road.”
In September, the mural
artwork along both sidesof the wall between theCountdown car park andPoint Chevalier Com-munity Centre on HuiaRoad was formally un-veiled. Artist Zoë Nashdescribed the creation of the work in the blogTimespanner: “...the
work was all created in Photoshop and made predomi-
nantly from images of people's artwork and historic photosthat I had taken on my own camera. Approximately 90 hourswere spent staring at my computer screen putting theimages together. Lots of layers, blending modes, layer masks and opacities were used. They were professionally printed onto vinyl which was then wrapped around alumin-ium boards, and then a graffiti-guard film added. Reallyhappy with how they turned out.”
On the first board you’ll see Point Chevalier HistoricalSociety mentioned in the long list of acknowledgements tothose who have assisted with the project. Well done, all!
Membership of the Point ChevalierHistorical Society
Membership is open to all with an interest in our area’shistory, and costs only $10 per person. This entitles
you to vote at our meetings, and to receive mailedcopies of the
