Tauranga Moana
May 2023 No. 2
Heritage Newsletter of the Tauranga Historical Society Preservation - Interpretation - Promotion
Mustard coloured tin hat box. Brain-Watkins Collection (Object No. 2004/0341) via eHive.
TABLE OF CONTENTS President's Kōrero 3 Will of Elva Brain-Watkins 4 For your Diary 5 Your Committee 6 Highlights from the Committee 7 Edith Bessy Brain (1881-1957) 8-12 123 Years Ago 13
Tauranga Bowling Stones 14-15 Snippets from the Blog 16 From the Brain-Watkins House Collections 17 Journals from the Past 18-19 From the Heritage Garden 20 Books by Society Members 21 Friends of the Brain-Watkins House Museum 22
Editor: Debbie McCauley (sponsored by Mauao Publishing). ISSN 2816-0835. Please email us if you have notices or contributions: tauranga.historical@gmail.com The opinions of contributors to this newsletter are not necessarily those of the Tauranga Historical Society.
Tauranga Historical Society Inc. (Est. 1952) Annual subscription $40 per household (donations welcome) | Bank a/c: 03 1355 0660053 00 Brain-Watkins House Museum (Est. 1881) | Open House: Sundays 2-4pm, $5 entry, children free Listed Historic Place Category 2 | 07-578 1835 | tauranga.historical@gmail.com 233 Cameron Road, Tauranga, Aotearoa New Zealand, 3110 | PO Box 112, Tauranga 3144 Brain-Watkins Hall Hire: $30 half day | $50 full day | bwhallusers233@gmail.com Cover Image: Weldon's Home Milliner (No. 136), c. 1922. Brain-Watkins House Museum Collection (Object No. 2004/0087) via eHive.
PRESIDENT'S KŌRERO Dear Members & Supporters, The Tauranga Historical Society was formed on 7 July 1952 and has now been in existence for 71 years, quietly (and not so quietly!) working away behind the scenes for the Preservation, Interpretation and Promotion of the history of Tauranga Moana and the Brain-Watkins House Museum. It was interesting to research the will of Elva Brain-Watkins which is held at Archives New Zealand. Included in this newsletter is the codicil or addition to her 1965 will stating that she wishes the “dwelling house and land be retained intact as a memorial to my parents.” I have included a copy of the codicil on the next page of this newsletter. In another codicil she left the gold watch and chain that belonged to her mother Kate Brain to nephew Harry Joseph Teasey. It would be wonderful to track down a photograph of this item to add to our collection! Meanwhile, our work continues, there is much work to do to honour Elva's legacy, but with you all to support and champion us we will be able to do the work to the best of our abilities. Thank you. - Debbie McCauley
He taonga tuku iho Treasures passed down to us from the ancestors
Turban style velvet hat in the palest of pinks, with a cream satin bow on the side. The bow has a diamante broach pinned on its center. Brain-Watkins Collection (Object No. 2004/0038) via eHive.
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FOR YOUR DIARY Society Meetings & THS Talks are held on the first Sunday of each month from 2pm to 3.30pm in the Brain-Watkins Hall behind Brain-Watkins House Museum (koha appreciated). Parking is available during weekends at Kale Print. May 7: Brain-Watkins Heritage Garden by John Coster (12.45pm to 1.45pm) (Please note that this talk is for the Guides of Brain-Watkins House Museum & Committee members only). June 4: TBA July 2: Auckland-born archaeologist and Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Lower Northern area manager Ben Pick Ben is responsible for managing the Tauranga office, engaging with key stakeholders in the area, along with promoting heritage within the region. He says, “Just because a building was something in the past doesn’t mean it has to stay that way in the future. Without it being used, it’s lost. So you have to be open to new ideas.” August 6: Visit to Katikati Archives (1-2pm) & Western Bay Museum (2-3.30pm) Exhibition 'Treasures of Cultures'. $20 per person includes $5 petrol for car drivers, tours, cuppa tea & scones from the museum’s wood range with jam and cream. Carpool leaving from BrainWatkins Hall at 12.15pm. Please email tauranga.historical@gmail.com to book your place. September 3: The Battle of Te Ranga by Cliff Simons October 1: Tauranga Historic Village Exhibition by Joseph McAuley November 5: Brain-Watkins Garden Party December 3: Christmas Gathering
Other Events June 4-6: The Elms | Te Papa Tauranga Closed on these dates. June 21: Battle of Te Ranga 159th Commemoration At Te Ranga Historical Reserve on the corner of Joyce Road and Pyes Pā Road. Arrive at 7.15am for a 7.30am start. Parking on reserve. If you have heritage events to be added please email the details to tauranga.historical@gmail.com.
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YOUR COMMITTEE
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Debbie McCauley President
Buddy Mikaere Ngāi Tamarāwaho Representative
Meg Jones Vice-President
Diane Bain Treasurer
Erin Nicholson Secretary
Sophie McCauley Co-Secretary
Bruce Brown THS Life Member & Guide
Loretta Crawford Joseph McAuley Buddy Mikaere: Ngāi Tamarāwaho Representative Marketing Advisor Architectural Advisor
Beth Bowden Immediate Past-President
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE COMMITTEE Thank you for your kind words, mentoring and support moving forwards. Here are some notes from our meetings to keep you informed: The stunning geometric front pathway of handmade encaustic tiles laid by William Washington Smith, one of Joseph Brain’s employees, has been cleaned. Quotes have been obtained in consultation with Dr Tracy Wedge and Shirley Arabin for items that will allow us to safely pack and store fragile items from the Brain-Watkins House Museum collection and safely and gently clean upholstered furniture. We have applied for a funding grant for these so fingers crossed. The fire hose near the sunporch has been damaged by vandals (cut in several places), but has been fixed by Debbie’s husband Peter Turner. The mounds of garden debris that have accumulated over the past several years have been taken away by Diane’s husband Ian, who expertly manoeuvred his trailer backwards up the driveway on the first go both times! It was a big job, but lovely to remove this slimy, smelly stuff before winter sets in. Concrete replacements have been found for the missing Peter McTainsh (1924-2022) bird from the birdbath and another that was in front of the stalking cat - once they have been painted white, they’ll be installed in the garden and it noted they are not the originals. Bev Corbett and Debbie are continuing to develop a program for students to meet the needs of the Aotearoa New Zealand Histories Curriculum. Remedial Works: This has been ongoing for some years as relates to rising damp, drainage issues and earthquake damage. Craig Henderson at Jigsaw Architects has promised quotes will be in shortly as a fund opens in June that we can apply to. House Collection Brochure: This is in progress with Debbie listening to Shirley Arabin’s interviews, reading all our reports, and taking many notes.
Preservation - Interpretation - Promotion
Julie Green: Pastoral Care Liaison Please note that Julie Green has agreed to be our Pastoral Care Liaison. Should you need a ride organised to our monthly Society meetings, or if you just need a phone call, please contact Julie on 576 7150.
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EDITH BESSY BRAIN (1881-1957) Bessy Brain was born and educated in Tauranga, and would later work as a milliner in the town. She raced in the Tauranga Regatta, was a member of the Ladies’ Hockey Club, passed the St. John Ambulance Association nursing examination during World War I, was Hon. Secretary of the Methodist Trust for many years and was on the committee of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The BrainWatkins House Museum holds a collection of 46 hats, some that demonstrate Bessy’s millinery skills, along with her framed charcoal drawings. Story by Debbie McCauley. Edith Bessy Brain was born in Tauranga on 14 August 1881, likely at what is known today as Brain’s Cottage (Est. 1879), still standing at 30 Second Avenue. Her parents were Capt. Joseph Denham Brain (1841-1924) and Kate Ellen Brain (née Bishop) who married in Auckland on 25 October 1871. She was known as Bessy, sometimes spelt Bessie. During the year that Bessy was born, her father started work on their home on the corner of Elizabeth Street and Cameron Road (BrainWatkins House Museum), the ‘Lady Jocelyn’ arrived in Tauranga with settlers for Te Puke, the first Methodist service was held in the Good Templars Hall (Rev. Edward Barber), the Tauranga Regatta Club was formed, the Star Hotel opened, and a major fire in Tauranga saw the Mechanic’s Institute, the Bay of Plenty Times office and the entire block between Willow, Harington, The Strand and McLean Streets destroyed. As a child, Bessy attended the No. 2 Harington Street School (Est. 1886), which was situated where the Tauranga Courthouse is today. The first-head teacher was Lockhart Dobbie Easton (1854-1914) who was also head teacher at the Quarter Acres, followed from 1889 by Evan Richards Lillington (1842-1936), then from 1894 by Thomas Bird Tanner (c. 1857-1922) who “always kept an outstanding pair of riding horses” (Bay of Plenty Times, 15 November 1938, p. 6).
The school was later moved to the site in the Quarter Acres on the corner of Tenth Avenue and St. John Street. The process saw the building placed on wheels and moved by winches and a team of bullocks. In 1904 it was moved again, ending up at today’s Tauranga Primary School on the corner of Cameron Road and Fifth Avenue. Sadly, during this move, 19year-old carpenter Joseph Edwin Dalton (18851904) was killed. He was working beneath the building when a violent squall resulted in the building supports collapsing. In 1889 Bessy was in the Primer class when she received a special prize for sewing, presented by Evan Lillington’s wife, Hester Lillington (née Dodds) (1844-1924). Bessy passed Standard I in 1891 with an article writer commenting that “the percentage of passes in the Harington Street School is highly creditable considering the frequent change of assistant-teachers, and the fact that the school was one teacher short for about five months” (Bay of Plenty Times, 2 March 1891, p. 2). The following year, Bessy was in Standard III and again a sewing prize winner. She learnt to play the organ at a young age and in July 1894 played at a Sunday School concert at the Wesleyan Church. At a Tauranga Regatta held in March 1895, Bessy rowed ‘Twinkling Star’ in the Girls Race and won by 50 yards.
Image: Blue brimless hat covered with ruched taffeta, with artificial flowers on top of the crown and around the lower edge. A short veil of blue netting extends from the edge of the flowers on top of the crown and falls to the lower edge. Lined with white synthetic fabric, it has a length of black elastic running from one side to the other. Brain-Watkins House Museum Collection (Object No. 2004/0021) via eHive.
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These were not all Bessy’s talents though, she was also an accomplished artist and worked in charcoal. The following artworks by Bessy still hang in the Brain-Watkins House Museum today: 1. Brain, Bessy (n.d.). Woman carrying sheaf of wheat [BWH19, 2005/0168]. 2. Brain, Bessy (n.d.). Ventnor, Isle of Wight. Home of Joseph Denham Brain and his parents. Reproduced from a postcard [BWH3, 2005/0486]. 3. Brain, Bessy (n.d.). Landscape with sheep [BWH25, 2004/0970]. 4. Brain, Bessy (n.d.). Don’t Talk (also known as conspirators). From 1892 original by Arthur John Elsley (1860-1952), an English artist known for late-Victorian and Edwardian childhood scenes [BWH23, 2004/0969]. 5. Brain, Bessy (n.d.). Landscape with deer [BWH24, 2004/0965]. Bessy was described as having a small build. When her older sister Ada married William Teasey at the Brain family home in November 1899, Bessy was bridesmaid. She was also bridesmaid for her sister Alice when she married David McNaughton at the Brain family home in February 1910.
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In August 1905 Bessy attended the Masonic Installation Ball in the Theatre Royal wearing an amber silk tucked skirt with a silk insertion. Later that month it was reported in the Bay of Plenty Times that Bessy was one of 27 who had passed the St. John Ambulance Association examination for first aid conducted by Dr. Joseph Livingstone Frazer-Hurst, who during World War I would be one of the survivors of the ‘Marquette’ when it was torpedoed by a German submarine. Also that month, Bessy, who was a member of the local Ladies’ Hockey Club, took part in an outside match in Waihi playing the position of forward. The team were said to have been practicing hard each evening leading up to the match. The following month, in September 1905, the team played against Ōpōtiki. At the ball in August 1907, Bessy wore pink silk. Bessy was 33-years-old on the outbreak of World War I in 1914. The Tauranga Hospital opened in March of that year, and in April a Ladies’ Guild was formed to raise funds for the hospital.
In September 1915 Bessy was one of 25 women who passed the nursing examination of the St. John Ambulance Association. “I have received the result of the examination of the Nursing Class, and have much pleasure in informing you that all your members passed, fourteen of the twenty-five in the first class. You should now form a Nursing Division of the St. John Ambulance Brigade, so that, if is is necessary to have a Convalescent Hospital at Tauranga, your members may be competent to assist in staffing it” (Bay of Plenty Times, 13 September 1915, p. 2). In 1927 a Christmas Fair and Concert was organised by the Methodist Ladies’ Guild and Sunday School. Bessy looked after the ‘Fancy Stall’ along with Eva Simpson, Vera Ford and Margaret Bambery. In 1936 Bessy attended the Diamond Jubilee of Tauranga District High School from which she graduated in 1900.
Unveiling of the Tauranga 1st Waikato Militia New Zealand Wars memorial at Mission Cemetery | Ōtamataha Pā on 11 July 1909. Bessy Brain is in the back row, second from the left. Image: Tauranga City Libraries Photo 16-165.
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Bessy had been the Hon. Secretary of the Methodist Trust since around 1924, and in August 1939 was writing to the Borough Council on behalf of the Methodist Church Trustees asking for a pedestrian crossing across Devonport Road on the south side of First Avenue, due to it being dangerous for the Sunday School children to cross there. Her years of service were much appreciated by the Methodist Church who wrote; “We would also like to mention specially Miss B. Brain, who has been carrying out the duties of trust secretary for the past 16 years, in a most efficient manner” (Bay of Plenty Times, 8 November 1940, p. 4). Bessy was also involved with other local groups. She was elected as an officer in charge of literature at the annual meeting of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union held in Wesley Hall on 2 November 1943. At the annual general meeting of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in August 1945, Bessy was elected to the committee. The society’s registered office was at No. 34 Ninth Avenue, and it was reported that a census of animals and birds in the borough had been taken. It was also noted that “owing to the war the public have not been approached for donations for subscriptions, but now that conditions are returning to normal it is felt that the usual membership subscriptions should be obtained” (Bay of Plenty Times, 23 August 1945, p. 5). Bessy’s father Joseph had died in 1924 and left everything to his wife Kate who remained living in what is now the Brain-Watkins House Museum with Bessy and Elva. She transferred some of the land to her two unmarried daughters, Elva in 1928 and Bessy in 1929. When Kate died in 1933, she left the house and contents in trust for her unmarried daughters. Should one of them marry or die then the other would inherit the property. She also left them each an annuity so long as they remained spinsters.
Alfred Byron was born at Hindley in Lancashire, England on 18 November 1883. He married Hannah Maria Davis in Lancashire on 18 September 1909. The couple had two children and the family emigrated to New Zealand after 1911. They divorced in Auckland in 1933, and in 1935 Alfred appeared on the Electoral Roll as a foreman joiner living in Durham Street, Tauranga. He later opened a joinery factory in Burrows Street and lived in Roberts Street (now Fourteenth Avenue). Bessy and Alfred formed a relationship, and it is thought by some that it may have been due to the conditions of her mother’s will that they never married. Bessy would have been 54 years old in 1935 when Alfred moved to Tauranga. 1957 was a busy year in Tauranga. It was when the Greerton Swimming Pool opened, the Merivale, Greenpark and Pillans Point schools opened, Memorial Park hall opened, the Cameron Road Fire Station opened, and the first shipment of logs were sent to Japan from the Port of Tauranga. On the night of 1 March 1957, local farmer John Alfred Bidois (1923-2001) was driving home in his 1947 Hillman motorcar after a day’s fishing. He was travelling northwards along Cameron Road towards Tauranga at about 20 miles per hour. The weather was fine but dark, and at 8.30pm he passed a blue light on the corner of Elizabeth Street and entered the shadows of Cameron Road. John didn’t see anyone, but hit Bessy and Alfred with the front of his car. It is though that they must have been crossing the road in front of the Brain family home. The couple went ‘flying’ and John pulled up and went back to check on them. Both received terrible injuries. Police Constable James Alfred Rosborough and Constable Floyd were soon on the scene, as was Dr. Frank Finlay Sligo. An ambulance took Bessy and Alfred to Tauranga Hospital where they were admitted at 9pm.
Image: Red hat made from rows of Petersham sewn together to form a hat with a soft fabric crown and a wide brim which is stiffened with wire. The hat is handsewn and is lined in the crown with a red cotton fabric. Brain-Watkins House Museum Collection (Object No. 2004/0027) via eHive.
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Bessy was 75 years old. She died in Tauranga Hospital at 11.15pm on 1 March 1957. Coroner James William Yexley Miles found that she died from shock and haemorrhage following a fractured skull, along with multiple fractures and irreversible shock. Her body was identified by Methodist Minister Joseph Henry Woolford. Alfred was 73 years old. He died in Tauranga Hospital at 12.30am on 2 March 1957. Coroner James William Yexley Miles found that he died from irreversible shock and haemorrhage following the rupture of the spleen and diaphragm and multiple fractures of the ribs. His body was identified by Solicitor Lionel Deacon Lees. Bessy and Alfred were buried next to each other in the Tauranga Methodist Cemetery, Bessy in Section 36, Row 2, Plot 28 and Alfred in Section 36, Row 2, Plot 27. John Bidois was convicted of negligently driving a motor car causing death. In her will, dated 1947, Bessy had requested that she be buried in or near her parents’ grave should she die in the Tauranga District, and that no more than £30 be spent erecting her tombstone. She also left: Her sections of land in Elizabeth Street to the surviving of her four sisters, Ada, Alice, Eleanor and Elva in equal shares. However, Ada and Eleanor had both died in 1950, so the sections went to Alice and Elva. Alice was married to David William McNaughton, and this may be why she transferred her interest to Elva in 1958. Alfred all her shares in the New Zealand Insurance Company. Her nephew Edwin Lever her shares in the Kauri Timber Company and Southern Cross Assurance Company. Her friend Frederick Blomquist her jewellery. Her sister Elva all plated goods, linen, china, glass, books, pictures, prints, furniture and other household goods, along with the sum of £500. Image: Cloche-styled hat made of synthetic raffia with embroidered flowers over the top of the crown and a cream velvet ribbon around crown with a bow to one side. Brain-Watkins House Museum Collection (Object No. 2004/0039) via eHive.
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£500 to the New Zealand Methodist Foreign Mission Fund for missionary purposes in the Solomon Islands and Pacific Ocean. £250 to the Methodist Orphanage in Auckland. £250 to the Methodist Orphanage in Epsom. £500 to the Methodist Central Mission in Dunedin for their Old People’s Home. £200 to Frederick Blomquist. The residue to the Methodist Church in Tauranga. Alfred’s ex-wife Hannah died in Nottinghamshire on 7 March 1957. He must have been estranged from her and his children Sidney and Eva, as his 1952 will left to his friend Bessy his entire estate in trust with a yearly income of not less than £260, adjustable in respect of time. Upon her death the residual amount was left to the Doctor Barnardo’s Homes National Incorporated Association for their charitable purposes. Bessy’s legacy is her creative work in textiles, millinery and charcoals, which can today be found on display at the Brain-Watkins House Museum. Sources 1. Arabin, Shirley (personal communication). 2. Bay of Plenty Times. (1886). Opening of Harington Street School (p. 2). 3. Bay of Plenty Times. (1889, December 23). Harington Street School (p. 2). 4. Bay of Plenty Times. (1891, March 2). Annual School Examination (p. 2). 5. Bay of Plenty Times. (1892, December 19). School Inspection (p. 5). 6. Bay of Plenty Times. (1894, July 20). Miss Brain presided at the organ (p. 4). 7. Bay of Plenty Times. (1895, March 20). Regatta (p. 2). 8. Bay of Plenty Times. (1899, November 6). Wedding (p. 2). 9. Bay of Plenty Times. (1904, August 22). Sudden Fatal Accident (p. 2). 10. Bay of Plenty Times. (1904, August 24). Inquest (p. 2). 11. Bay of Plenty Times. (1905. August 11). Masonic Installation Ball (p. 2). 12. Bay of Plenty Times. (1905, August 21). St. John Ambulance Association (p. 2). 13. Bay of Plenty Times. (1905, August 23). Ladies’ Hockey Club (p. 2). 14. Bay of Plenty Times. (1905, September 15). Opotiki (p. 2) 15. Bay of Plenty Times. (1907, August 23). The Ball (p. 2). 16. Bay of Plenty Times. (1910, February 23). Personal Notes (p. 2). 17. Bay of Plenty Times. (1915, September 13). Local and General (p. 2). 18. Bay of Plenty Times. (1927, December 24). Christmas Fair and Concert (p. 2). 19. Bay of Plenty Times. (1929, September 25). Enjoyable Entertainment in Wesley Hall (p. 2). 20. Bay of Plenty Times. (1936, August 20). Diamond Jubilee of Tauranga School (p. 3). 21. Bay of Plenty Times. (1936, August 22). Diamond Jubilee of Tauranga School (p. 3). 22. Bay of Plenty Times. (1938, November 15). Tauranga’s Century of Education (p. 6). 23. Bay of Plenty Times. (1938, November 22). Late Mr. C. H. Hine (p. 4). 24. Bay of Plenty Times. (1939, August 28). Pedestrian Crossing (p. 4). 25. Bay of Plenty Times. (1940, November 8). The Methodist Church in Tauranga (p. 4). 26. Bay of Plenty Times. (1941, October 24). Methodist Church (p. 8). 27. Bay of Plenty Times. (1943, November 5). Temperance Union (p. 8). 28. Bay of Plenty Times. (1943, November 16). Methodist Church (p. 6). 29. Bay of Plenty Times. (1945, August 23). Care of Animals (p. 5). 30. Bay of Plenty Times. (1957, March 2). 31. Birth Registration. (reg. 1881/6224). Edith Bessy Brain. 32. Coroners Inquest: Bessy Edith Brain & Alfred Byron 33. Death Registration. (reg. 1957/26681). Bessy Edith Brain. 34. Find A Grave: Alfred Byron [ID 236219571]. 35. Find A Grave: Edith Bessy Brain [ID 223299353]. 36. Geni Profile: Alfred Byron. 37. Geni Profile: Edith Bessy Brain. 38. New Zealand Electoral Roll (1931). 39. New Zealand Electoral Roll (1935). 40. New Zealand Electoral Roll (1941). 41. New Zealand Electoral Roll (1943). 42. New Zealand Electoral Roll (1949). 43. New Zealand Electoral Roll (1954). 44. Will: Alfred Byron 45. Will: Bessy Edith Brain
123 YEARS AGO "MILLINERY AND DRESSMAKING executed on the premises by an experienced Milliner and Dressmaker from Auckland. Customers own material made up at moderate prices, combined with latest style and first class workmanship." Source: Bay of Plenty Times (19 October 1900, p. 3).
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TAURANGA BOWLING STONES Source: Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand, 1912, p. 385.
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SNIPPETS FROM THE BLOG This article on Needlework from the textile collection of the Brain-Watkins House Museum was written by Society member Lois Hembrow and posted to the blog in 2013. The Society welcomes further contributions from members in the form of short articles and copyright-free images http://taurangahistorical.blogspot.com.
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FROM THE BRAIN-WATKINS HOUSE MUSEUM COLLECTIONS
Hatpins I'm sure readers will have noticed by now that there is a slight emphasis on millinery in this edition of our newsletter! On this page we feature hatpins from the collection of the Brain-Watkins House Museum. Handmade hatpins were originally created to hold wimples and veils in place during the 15th century but became extremely popular during the 1880s and into the early 20th century. They could also be used as a self-defence weapon, with reports of women staving off attackers with them. Hatpins were made from a variety of materials over the years and have been describe as the ‘earrings’ of the lateVictorian period. They matched outfits and different occasions.
Image: Brain-Watkins House Museum Collection (Object No. 2004/0560/2) via eHive.
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JOURNALS FROM THE PAST Journal of the Tauranga Historical Society, No. 64 (August 1980). These articles are by Rebecca Violet Simons (née Crabbe) (1900-2001), otherwise known as Vi or Violet Simons. She was a nurse and midwife in Tauranga and an active member of the Tauranga Historical Society. Her parents owned the Crabbe Store on the corner of Sixth Avenue and Cameron Road which is now located at Tauranga Boys’ College. THE BRAIN-WATKIN'S HOME Much pleasure was expressed by the members of the Society at their monthly meeting on 20th August 1979 when the President, Mr Tony Eagle, announced that the Society now has a permanent home. The Public Trust had notified him that in her Will, the late Mrs Elva Phoebe Brain-Watkins, had bequeathed her lovely Victorian home, its contents, and the adjoining property, extending back to Selwyn Street, to the Society. Originally the property had been one acre. It is to be kept as a memorial to her parents, the late Captain Joseph Denham, and his wife Kate, who had lived in it for fifty-six years. Two of their five daughters, Elva (Mrs Brain-Watkins) and Miss Bessie were born there [Note: Bessy born elsewhere in Tauranga - Ed.]. This home, on the corner of Elizabeth Street and Cameron Road, was built of Kauri by Captain Brain in 1887 and is in perfectly sound condition still. The Kauri furniture is of superb craftmanship and there are some original oil paintings by Miss Bessie who was a milliner in Tauranga.
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My memories of the home and family go back to childhood days. Of the Brain sisters, Alice was a pupil teacher at Ōpōtiki, then headmistress at Greerton for thirty years. She was the first person to own and ride a bicycle in Tauranga.
Esther taught at Te Puke when Mr Bishoprick was headmaster and then was headmistress at Te Matai and would ride there side-saddle on horse-back there and back for weekends. She later taught at Waihi under Mr Binge before she married and went to live in Papatoetoe. Bessie went to the Harington Street District School when Mr Tanner was the headmaster. This school was on the site of the present Courthouse, before being moved to corner of Tenth Avenue and St. John Street. This area was then known as the Quarter Acres because of its subdivision. The School was later moved to the present position of the Primary School on Cameron Road. Miss Elva was sent to the Primary School at the Good Templer's Hall in Wharf Street for a few days. She was not happy there, because the mistress, Miss Hardy, rapped her over the fingers for talking. So, she was permitted to attend the private school, Queens College, conducted in the two-storied building on Cameron Road and Sixth Avenue. This was previously the licensed hotel, “The Yorkshire Gray”. The headmaster was Mr Jeremis Murphy who had the misfortune to fall from the balcony and was killed. He was replaced by Mr A.M. Coles, M.A., and his wife, Madame. They had arrived from England to take charge of the school.
The fee was three guineas a quarter. French, Drawing, Book-Keeping, Sewing, an extra guinea per quarter. Soon after I left school, Mr Coles was drowned while saving a lad, Arthur Padlie from drowning in the Waikareao Estuary. When my brother and l walked to St. Peter’s Sunday School we would pause and peer through the wooden gate at the pretty, colourful tiled entrance path to the house - so superior to the shell or gravel entrances to most other homes. Recently, Mrs E. Morel (nee Smith) who visited the home with me, told me that her father, Mr E.E. Smith, who worked for Mr Brain for many years, had laid those tiles. They are still in perfect condition. A tribute to good workmanship. Mrs Brain, tall, and dressed in a long dark dress, would usually be taking her Sunday walk in the garden. She would pause to enquire about our parents and baby brother, then tell us to “hurry along or you will be late, and that would never do.” Sunday School commenced at 2.30 p.m. She seemed a very stern person. But Miss Bessie and Miss Elva were friendly to us two “peeping kids” and would give us pink camellias - “the white ones fade too quickly” - or some of the small cream banksia roses from the bushes still there. I remember the long pretty frocks the girls wore, and the lovely flowery picture hats Miss Elva wore, no doubt made by Miss Bessie. Miss Elva was a keen sportswoman. She swam well, played hockey and she won a silver tea set at a Rifle Shooting Championship during the First World War. She married William George Watkins, a local businessman and returned soldier. He, like her father, was interested in building and timber and he made some of the furniture in the home. Miss Elva drove a car but in later years rode a bicycle until a short time before her death on 18th October 1979 in her eighty-eighth year. Mrs Elva BrainWatkins was a woman of vision and kept the family history neatly written up in the family bible. I am sure the home will be kept and used as requested. We shall use her hand embroidered tray-cloths and her dainty China to entertain our members and members of visiting historical societies.
JOSEPH BRAIN FROM MRS BRAIN-WATKIN’S NOTES My Grandfather ... ... Bishop, resided at Compton Castle in Devon. When his eldest son, William, left for New Zealand, Grandmother decided to pack and bring the remainder of the family - grandfather, three boys and three girls also to New Zealand. The family sailed in the “Countess of Kintor”. My father, Joseph Denham Brain, had become a sea captain but started work as a boatbuilder in Auckland. He met up with William Bishop and they worked together for some time, and so my mother and father became acquainted and married in Auckland in 1880. Father traded to and from the Pacific Islands and also to Tauranga during the Māori Wars. He was a pilot on a gunboat which patrolled the Waikato River during the wars. With the boats he built and sailed in the Auckland Regattas he won many prizes. Later he won prizes in Tauranga Regattas. Several years later, he and mother moved to Tauranga where he established a boatbuilding business on the beach below the Redoubt. Many of the Northern Steamship Company’s small steamers - the “Katikati”, “Kaituna” and “Result” were repaired by him there. Father’s own three scows, the “Dream”, “Victus” and “Ventnor” were built there and were used for carting metal, timber, machinery up and down the various rivers, for Joseph Brain built most of the wooden bridges in the Tauranga County. They sailed up the Waimapu River and brought down flour from Mr Blundell’s mill for transhipment by steamers – “Waiotahi”, “Waitangi” or “Clansman” to Auckland. He built two whaleboats, “Esther” and “Tarawera”, very popular with Methodist Sunday School children, and people wishing to go by boat to the New Year’s Day Picnic at Yatton Park. The concrete retaining wall along the Strand Foreshore was built by father before the reclamation was made for the railway. Then the boat-slip became a thing of the past. In 1921 father erected the Memorial Gates at the Tauranga Domain. He died in 1924 and was greatly mourned by the community.
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FROM THE HERITAGE GARDEN There has been a touch of pruning in the garden and with the branches in unwieldy piles it was looking a tad untidy - however help appeared when Diane’s husband Ian called in with his trusty trailer on Tuesday 2nd May to take away the several years worth of accumulated debris. The compost bin has also been recently moved to reveal a lovely mound of compost which has been spread onto our garden beds, and our worms in the worm farm have proven to be still with us and have been receiving some lovely scraps to work away on. Anzac Day saw red poppies planted in the garden - the plants are small so hopefully they’ll grow before the snails have a go at them. There are also some bulbs popping their heads up so it will be interesting to see what they turn out to be. Many of the dead fronds off the stand of ponga have been removed which has made the area look much more open and attractive. For some reason a bee decided to sting me during this - luckily I'm not allergic! Myrtle Rust will be an ongoing problem - the spores are microscopic and travel large distances by wind, insects, birds, people, and machinery. Our pōhutukawa are affected, and it also seems to be affecting another garden plant which may have to be removed. Aeration is quite important when we are on the threshold of winter - if anyone has a 3-prong long-handled garden rake they would like to donate towards the cause that would be much appreciated as mine has sadly gone missing. I also seem to have misplaced my hedge clippers, so if you have any spare these would be good also. In the gardens next to the front verandah steps the soil has worked its way backwards and is now up against the weatherboards of the house. A couple of plants might need moving so we can drag the soil away and avoid rotting the weatherboards. On the work to do list which seems to be ever growing! - Debbie McCauley
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BOOKS BY SOCIETY MEMBERS
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FRIENDS OF THE BRAIN-WATKINS HOUSE MUSEUM Thank you to these organisations that support the Brain-Watkins House Museum. Let us know if your business is keen to be featured here!
Pukehinahina Charitable Trust
markfrancis.co.nz | 027 554 6653 Image: Lily of the Valley (Convallaria majalis) is a low-growing perennial, bearing arching stems of bell-shaped, white flowers with a wonderful perfume. They used to grow beneath a hedge on the south side of Brain-Watkins House Museum, but this was removed, and now they grow beneath the pink Dunny Rose (Souvenir de Madame Leonie Viennot, 1897). In 1964 Elva Brain chose to use these in her wedding bouquet and on the top tier of her wedding cake.
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