Avondale Historical Journal No. 50

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November—December 2009 Volume 9 Issue 50

Official Publication of the Avondale-Waterview Historical Society Incorporated

The

Avondale Historical

Journal

50th issue

The Queen greeted by Avondale locals during her February 1963 visit. George

Parish collection, courtesy Tim Parish.

Two little boys captured on film on Avondale’s Race- course, sometime in the 1910s, by Frederick G Radcliffe. Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auck-land City Libraries, photo ref: 35-R158.



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Volume 9 Issue 50

Posterity is left with two tantalising pieces of informationabout a Frenchman in the 1880s who came to settle inAuckland and chose a patch of ground on which to be awinegrower (vigneron), somewhere close to Mt Albert andpresent-day New Windsor.

Taking the left side of the road above Mr. Gallagher’s

farm, we came to the section lately purchased by Mr.

Stewart, of the Thames Hotel, 25 acres in extent, taken upa couple of years ago, and laid down in grass; adjoining

is that of Mr. Beaumont, 15 or 20 acres, just ploughed,and beyond that again the section of Mr. Longuet, where

clearing and fencing is going on, and then comes theextensive vineyard of M. Rayer, some 12 acres in extent,with as much more yet to bring under cultivation.

( NZ Herald , 24 June 1882)

THE MOUNT ALBERT VINEYARD

On several occasions we have drawn attention to the

efforts being made in the Mount Albert district to establish

vine growing for wine making on a scale which will go far to settle the question as to the suitability or otherwise of

this industry for the district around Auckland. The experi-

ment is being carried out by Mr. Rayer, a skilled French

vine grower.

The situation of the vineyard is not such that the majority

of Auckland settlers would have chosen for such an enter-

prise. The site chosen is on the slope of land at the back of Mount Albert, on the rolling land stretching onto the

blockhouse at the Whau. The surface soil is a clayey loam,

resting upon a not unkindly free yellow-brown clay. Thesituation the vineyard occupies exposes it to the sweep of

The Avondale Historical Journal

the south-western winds, as they come up from the Manukau, but Mr. Rayer says he has nothing to fear from

any winds which prevail in Auckland. Far stronger windsblow in France, but even there no injury is sustained by

the vines from this cause …

He is satisfied that the Auckland climate supplies …

[equable climate] conditions … On this account Mr.

Rayer is of opinion that the Auckland district will producewine in greater abundance acre for acre than either

France or Australia … These are certainly encouraging prospects and it is to be hoped that Mr. Rayer will be

enabled to carry his experiment to a successful termina-tion. He is at present unable to give an opinion as to the particular flavour (or bouquet as he called it) the Auck-

land-grown wines may develop, but he has no doubts as to

the ripening of the grapes, and the abundance of winewhich will be yielded.

The land purchased by Mr. Rayer is 22 acres in extent,

about 15 or 16 acres of which is a clayey loam, and the

balance rich volcanic flat, subject, however, to a super-abundance of water in the winter season. This, however,can easily be cured by blowing out a narrow ledge of rock which crosses the creek a short distance below the bound-

ary of his land. A few acres of this flat have been sown inoats for oaten hay this season, but the vines are as yet all planted on the clayey loam, nearer the road than this flat.

Fifty thousand vines are permanently planted out, at

varying distances of three to five feet apart, besides a littleover three thousand rooted plants, which will be planted

out at the proper season. The vines are of different ages,some being planted only last season. A few of the older

ones are bearing, and all are being trained in the bush form. They are all healthy looking though not yet makingthe rapid growth of wood which well rooted plants in-

variably do here…

Upon the whole Mr. Rayer is well satisfied with the pros-

pects before him. This year he expects to make twenty or thirty gallons of wine merely as a sample of what can be

done, but next year he anticipates to have a considerable

quantity. Beneath his dwelling-house he has excavated acellar where the wines will be made and matured. This

cellar is of sufficient size to enable him to carry on opera-tions for three years, by which time an opportunity will beafforded of testing the results of the enterprise.

( Auckland Weekly News, 20 January 1883)

M. François Rayer (c.1831-1883) seemed at the time of

the Weekly News reporter’s visit to be a shining exampleof a great horticultural and commercial pioneer –establishing a fully-fledged wine-making industry inAuckland. Within weeks, however, Rayer was dead andburied in Symonds Street cemetery. That alone would

M. François Rayer: Avondale’s French Connection



The

Avondale Historical Journal Volume 9 Issue 50

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have made his story interesting: New Windsor may wellhave been covered by vineyards had he lived and theproject continued up until the last quarter of the 20thcentury, judging by the development patterns of theHenderson area where thriving vineyards were also(later) established.

But – Rayer was also a convicted Communard. A formerpolitical prisoner, a participant in the Paris Communeuprising of 1871, sentenced along with thousands of oth-ers to penal servitude at New Caledonia when the upris-ing was crushed. Rayer was present at a series of eventsin the French capital which were to have a major impacton the political history of Europe.

Much has been written about the 1871 Paris Commune,which took place immediately after France’s defeat inthe Franco-Prussian War. The Auckland press in 1880called those from the commune “communists”, but the

people themselves preferred to be known as“communialists”, to differ from the socialists and nihil-ists. The political prisoners on New Caledonia werepardoned from 1879, and received a generous offer: asdeportés, they had an option to either return to France orhead for anywhere in the Australasian colonies at theexpense of the French Government. Other prisoners,common criminals, were known as ticket-of-leave men.They were forever banished from France or any of hercolonies – and to get elsewhere, they had to pay theirown way.

A mixture of the two classes of former prisoners, 24 inall, sailed from Noumea in January 1880 to Onehunga inthe Griffen, on a voyage which should have lasted just 10days – instead, with bad weather, it took 30 days to reachNew Zealand. Almost as soon as they touchedOnehunga’s shore, the news spread of their arrival, andthe papers blared that it was “The French Invasion.” The Auckland Evening Star did differentiate between thepolitical prisoners and the ordinary criminals (the formernot nearly as bad as the latter in their opinion). Most of the fuss over the next days was over whether Franceintended to continue the use of New Zealand, or any

British colony for that matter, as a dumping ground fortheir “dregs”.

Of the deportés, the Star found that their language skillsin English were on the whole poor to non-existent.

A reporter from this office interviewed about a dozen of the Communists at Onehunga, while they were awaiting

the arrival of the 1 o’clock train from the wharf. Some of their number had gone to Auckland early in the morning,and had returned to report progress. They appeared very

anxious to ascertain the chances of employment, and made diligent inquiries with respect to the state of the

market. None of them could speak English, and theyseemed keenly sensible of the disadvantage at which this

fact placed them. One gentleman who acted as a spokes-

man for the rest unearthed from the inmost recesses of aleather satchel a well thumbed French and English

dictionary, and exhibited it with great satisfaction,although he sorrowfully explained that he had not a suf-

ficient knowledge of the grammatical structure of thelanguage to be enabled to derive much assistance from

the volume. ( Auckland Evening Star , 18 February 1880)

By the time another vessel, the Sovereign of the Seas,arrived with more ex-convicts from Noumea the follow-ing month, Aucklanders had more or less settled on ac-cepting that a new though small wave of immigrationwas taking place. After all, former Communards hadarrived years earlier, via London, but because they hadentered in dribs and drabs, none created the fuss whichoccurred in February 1880.

François Rayer when he arrived was described on a listof the deportés compiled at the Auckland Police Station,later submitted to Parliament, as being 50 years of age,5ft 4in in height, medium build, with a dark complexion

and grey eyes. His hair was dark, tinged with grey, hehad a full moustache, slight beard and whiskers. Hisgeneral appearance was described as smart. According torecords, he had worked as a contractor (possibly inNoumea), but in Paris he had been a wineseller. Almosteverything else known about Rayer is sketchy at best.

What he was doing in Auckland from 1880-1883 isuncertain. There is a possibility however that he was atthe New Windsor property as early as 1880, given thatthe Weekly News described the vines planted by January1883 as being of varying ages. Rayer never owned the

land he worked at New Windsor. Part of Allotment 66 of the Parish of Titirangi, it had been sold by Robert Green-wood to a solicitor, John Benjamin Russell, in May1882.

It was Lot 10 on Plan No. 131. Rayer comes into thepicture, taking out a lease from Russell for Lot 10 in July1882 – then, two months later, transferring the lease toGraves Aickin (Auckland chemist, politician and nephewof Dr. Thomas Aickin), Henry Brett (proprietor of the Auckland Star ), and John Chambers (an Aucklandmerchant). So curiously, at the time of the Weekly Newsarticle, even the lease was no longer in his name.

The Weekly News and the Star both published concernsabout his failing health before he died.

“Many of our readers will regret to learn that M. F.

Rayer, the vigeron at Mount Albert, is at present very ill,

and his medical advisers give little hope of recovery. Mr. Rayer is not an old man, between fifty and sixty years of

age, but since he purchased the place at Mount Albert he

has worked hard, early and late, and lived soberly, and it is feared that the privations thus undergone are telling

upon him now. M. Rayer began without capital, and thusa great deal of heavy work fell to his lot, which would

have lightened had he been able to employ a sufficient

amount of capital in the undertaking. Many were lookinganxiously to the result of Mr. Rayer’s efforts to grow the

vine here for wine-making purposes, and should his pre-



sent illness terminate fatally, it will have the effect of retarding the development of this promising industry. We

learn that the patient is quite satisfied that his present illness is to end in death. A week or two ago he wasbrought into town to the residence of M. Garnier, where

he could receive better attention and more comforts than

at his place at Mount Albert.” (Weekly News 3 February1883)

A week later, the Weekly News published a translation of a letter written by Rayer to the Neo-Zelandais paper:

“Having often been asked my opinion upon sparklingwines, especially champagne, and whether I shall be

able to manufacture the same from grapes grown in my

vineyard, I should feel obliged if you will kindly insert the following answer in your paper, for the benefit of my

various interrogators, and the public generally. The con-sumption of sparkling wines by all nations shows a great

development, and according to the best authorities inviniculture, the grapes especially used in the preparationof this class of wines can be grown in any kind of soil at all suitable for vine-growing; therefore, the manufacture

of champagne can be generalised in any of these vine-growing countries.

“Of late years the progress in the manufacture of

sparkling wine has been most remarkable. France has,

up to the present time (thanks to her suitable soil,climate, taste, and the experience of her vignerons), had

the happy privilege to produce and furnish to the wholeworld this specialty of wine. Since, therefore, after the

above statement that sparkling wines can be prepared inall countries where the grapes can be grown, it is anincontestable fact that there is every chance of success

here. Not only are we in nearly the same latitude asFrance, but we have not nearly so much to fear from

hail, or the frosts of autumn and winter, which are so

prejudicial to the vines in many vine-growing districts inthat country. I can, therefore, without fear assure the

people of this beautiful land that my vines will grow, and that I shall be able doubtless to furnish them with spar-kling wines, made from the “grapes de Dinau”.

“As to the value of these wines, champagne is the gloryof the vigeron as also the most esteemed wine in the

highest ranks of society. The finest connoisseurs are sup- posed to be the English and Russians, the latter using it

in their soups. Taken in this way it is considered a great

help to digestion. It is always the favourite beverage of invalids and the fair sex. We can trace its delicate effects

(taken in moderation) in stimulating the functions of thebrain. It re-animates and predisposes the mind to gener-

ous and kindly thoughts of our fellow creatures. In theworks of the poets, in the prose of Voltaire, in the songsof Béranger, it pleads warmly the cause of “La Belle

France,” the country of its birth. Is it not also taken byall amateurs as the wine “par excellence” for dessert?

In short, there is no other wine which we drink with

more pleasure without feeling thirst, or which excites themind to perform any arduous task, without undue agita-

tion as champagne.

“In my vineyard at Mount Albert I shall be able to pro-duce wines where qualities will be excellent, and agree-

able to many; but to the true connoisseur there is nocomparison between champagne and other wines. It isthe wine of the refined and elegant of all civilised na-

tions. For the vigeron of to-day, the sparkle, “the bou-

quet,” of these wines are none the less precious becauseaided in the manufacture by apparatus which science

has perfected, with which, by experience and carefulhandling, he can produce an excellent article for the

benefit of the public; and also to show the kind of indus-try the climate of New Zealand is capable of encourag-

ing. I have no fear in saying that, as time advances, vini-

culture and sericulture will be extensive industries here. If they are not, it is due to no fault of the climate, but to

the want of knowledge on the part of the population. Thecolony is young yet, and there are many dormant re-

sources in her which will by and by be brought forward,

and enrich her revenue far more than any of us at pre-sent can imagine.”

On 3 March 1883, the following death notice appeared inthe NZ Herald :

RAYER – Décédé hier, l’Hôspital Provincial, François

Rayer, agé de 52 ans, natif de France. L’enterrement aura lieu aujourd’hui, 3 Mars, á 4 heures

après midi. Le cortège se réunira devant l’Hospital. Le

members de la Société Littéraire Française sont invités ávouloir lui render les deroiers honneurs.

“His death,” the Star stated, “at the present time is muchto be regretted, when the success of the experiment atvine growing for wine making purposes depended uponhis knowledge and skill.”

All the French residents in Auckland are said to haveattended the funeral in Symonds Street, along with mem-bers of the French Literary Society. “The Secretary of the Society“ the Weekly News reported, “placed on thecoffin a crown of flowers, ornamented with the Frenchnational colours, and the cortege proceeded to the bury-ing yard, where the Rev. Mr. Dudley read the burial ser-vice. M. A. Villeval [another former Communard], in the

name of the French residents and of the Literary Society,made a short speech, in which he referred to M. Rayer’shumble but useful career, and bade him adieu.”

Lisa J Truttman

Sources:Verna E. (Ching) Mossong, “The Communists are Com-ing!”, The New Zealand Genealogist , January-February,1980, pp. 504-505Christine Liava’a, “French Convicts in New Zealand”,The New Zealand Genealogist , September-October,2001, pp. 323-325Lucy Marshall, “Convicts and communists arrive inAuckland,” The New Zealand Genealogist , November-December, 2001, pp. 396-398Land Information New Zealand records Auckland Evening Star , Auckland Weekly News, NZ Herald , Papers Past.

The


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Both of these photographs are from the George Parish Collection, courtesy of Tim Parish. Above is the Avondale Baptist

Church, at the corner of Blockhouse Bay and New North Roads (today known as The Intersection Church), from the late 1950s.

Below, one of the photographs which featured in the recent “Then & Now” photographic exhibition, put on by St Jude’s Church

— a railcar loading passengers from our old railway station, in the 1950s (the station building is now at Swanson, as a café.)

The


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Queen Carnival

Jean Jones very kindly supplied theseundated photographs of what appears tohave been a Queen Carnival, possiblyheld on the Avondale Racecourse.

Carnivals had been held in New Zealandfrom the mid-19th century, mainly asway for communities to raise funds aswell as a source of entertainment. TheQueens came into the festivities around1897, possibly linked to celebrationsaround Queen Victoria’s diamond jubilee, and also imitating “Queen of the Carnival” events reported on fromAmerica. Nominations for a Queen of the Carnival were called for, as well asMaids of Honour. Local organisations

each put in their nomination, then raisedmoney so that it would be their Queen

chosen, based on the total of funds raisedfor the cause. This idea seems to havestarted in the South Island, and graduallytravelled north. It really hit its stridefrom early 1914, during World War I theQueen Carnival was an event used fundsfor causes such as relief for the Belgians,and patriotic funds (“Our Soldiers’Queen”, in Auckland, 1916).

Queen Carnivals continued down to atleast 1970. The Auckland Art Galleryhave a photograph taken at a QueenCarnival in Upper Hutt that year.

The


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A response to last issue’s story on the Avondale Bug

House:

On reading the last issue of the Journal, it brings back a few memories for me.

My brother and I used to walk from Waterview to theAvondale Theatre (the Bug House) just about everySaturday to go to the Matinée.

Mum used to give us sixpence each (from memory)and this would cover entry and something to spend

next door at Whales’ Dairy. Mrs. Whales had to bevery tolerant with the kids as they would push and yellto get what they wanted.

For me, I would always get cough drops because youwould get quite a lot for your money. Changing Ballswere another good buy as they would last a long timeas you sucked them and they changed colour. A pennyice-cream did not last long but it was a treat.

Even if it was raining we had to pressure Mum intoletting us go. The annoying part was that we wouldmiss seeing what happened in the serial. One of theserials we followed was “Tim Tyler’s Luck” but itchanged every so often and that kept bringing us back all the time.

We always made our own fun on the weekends andschool holidays but it was good to go back to the Flix.

The chap on the door was Don Heron who lived inArran Street in Avondale. Unfortunately he had polioand had a calliper on his leg. He was always obligingand good natured and very tolerant to the noisy kidsand they always respected him.

I have been a Westie most of my life and have seenquite a few changes (since 1936). I was born in Whan-garei and the family moved to Ponsonby when I wasaged 1 year old, and we shifted to different housesaround Ponsonby.

I attended the Victoria Street Kindergarten and theBeresford Street Primary School (now demolished) upto Primer 2 before shifting to a small farmlet in NewLynn (2 cows and poultry).

The house was to be demolished so then we shifted to

Avondale. The New Lynn farmlet is still there to thisday.

The strange story for me is that when married we hada house in Mayville Ave and this land was a part of

the farm. Our cows used to go ton the bottom of thefarm in a bog area as kids we would put our gumboots on to bring the cows up for milking. I was toldthat there was a lot of old car parts and steel rubbishput in to fix the bog.

Editor’s NoteTim Tyler's Luck (1937) is a Universal movie serialbased on the comic strip Tim Tyler's Luck. The plotwas: Tim Tyler stows away on a ship bound for Africato find his father, Professor James Tyler. He meets,and is joined by, Lora Lacey, who is chasing thecriminal "Spider" Webb, the man responsible forframing her brother.

The cast were:Frankie Thomas as Tim TylerFrances Robinson as Lora Lacey, posing as Lora

GrahamJack Mulhall as Sargeant GatesAl Shean as Professor James Tyler, Tim's fatherNorman Willis as "Spider" WebbAnthony Warde as Garry DrakeEarl Douglas as Jules LazarreWilliam 'Billy' Benedict as SpudFrank Mayo as Jim ConwayAlan Gregg as Brent, one of Spider's henchmanStanley Blystone as Captain Clark Everett Brown as Mogu, Spider's native henchmanSkippy as Ju Ju, the Chimp (Source: Wikipedia)

More Memories of the “Bug House”

by Joe Robinson

Response to photoof Archibald Brothers’ truck

The picture of the truck load of pipes reminded methat Jack Tannerhil had a cartage business at the endof Wingate Street for many years. He did all the cart-age of Bricks for Amalgamated Brick & Pipe. I think from memory, he was a friend of Tom Clark. I usedto admire the way the drivers would unload bricks byrunning them down a plank on a trolley. If anythinghad happened at the bottom he would end up flyingover the top. A really dangerous process, long beforeOSH of course!!

Tony Goodwin

The


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The


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Copies of Avondale Historical Journal and AWHSNewsletter produced for us by

Words Incorporated, 557 Blockhouse Bay Road,

Blockhouse Bay.

The Society and AHJ editorial staff thank

Avondale

Business Associationfor their continued support and sponsorship of thispublication.

The Avondale Historical Journal

Published by:the Avondale-Waterview Historical Society Inc.Editor: Lisa J. TruttmanSociety contact:19 Methuen Road, Avondale, Auckland 0600Phone: (09) 828-8494, 027 4040 804email: [email protected] information:

Website: http://sites.google.com/site/avondalehistory/ Subscriptions: $10 individual$15 couple/family$30 corporate

Next meeting of the

Avondale-Waterview Historical Society:

Saturday, 12 December 2009, 2.30 pm

(second Saturday in the month)

Lion’s Hall,

corner Blockhouse Bay Road and Great North

Road

Having a hangi

at Bethell’s Beach,

1920s

The chair is similar to one “Pa” Bethel had at hisAvondale home; only, at Avondale, there were bigwhalebones over the top, and a whale’s backbone

alongside. Mrs. Longley still remembers “Pa” Bethellfondly, and recalls his Avondale home on Great NorthRoad well.

I met up with Mrs. LaviniaLongley recently. Mrs. Longleyvery kindly shared some of herfamily photographs — includingthese taken during the 1920swhen her family, the Perrys, vis-ited Bethell’s Beach and John N.“Pa” Bethell.

The photo at left shows a hangibeing prepared. Below sits “Pa”Bethell himself, in his kauri logchair at the beach (down by thecottage, Mrs. Longley tells me),with Mrs Maria Perry, Mrs.Longley's mother.

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Avondale Historical Journal No. 50