Auckland Industrial and Mining Exhibition 1898-99

The opening of the Auckland Exhibition, Auckland Weekly News 9 Dec 1898

Welcome back everyone. We are starting the research year of 2018 with a look at a summer spectacular - open from December 1898.

This is a longer post than usual. The main reason is that there is little material available in an accessible form on this topic. Our connection is Edward Bartley's involvement but we also touch here on the early history of the 'University Precinct' of Auckland- Princes St, Symonds St in particular.

In 1898 Auckland put on a great extravaganza - the Industrial and Mining Exhibition - which was part of a worldwide phenomenon begun in Europe in 1851 and continuing until the Great War.

Any adult attending the Auckland Exhibition that year could be said to belong to the 'exhibition generation'. Certainly Edward Bartley was a good example of this. He was there with his family at the Great Exhibition in London during the summer of 1851 - aged 11.

This image published by the Guardian shows the Great Exhibition buildings, London, visited by 6 million people

Coming to New Zealand three years later he must have been struck by the contrast - from Paxton's great glass house filled with technology and international design to the single storey timber stores on Auckland's waterfront.
We know he was also struck by the exquisite natural beauty of this country-first seen at that Great Exhibition- beginning his lifelong engagement with New Zealander timber, stone and vegetation.

This trans-national inter-connecting effect of the 'Exhibition' was hugely influential in forming aspirational and international patterns of thinking and being in the world. This theme has recently been explored by New Zealand historians.The PhD research of  Ewan Johnston specifically concerns the representation of Pacific peoples at exhibitions up to 1940. For this and relevant recent research refer here.

The proposal to mount an exhibition in Auckland was presented in January 1898 by the Auckland Chamber of Commerce whose president Mr Bart. Kent chaired the Executive Exhibition Committee.

The many committees and sub-committees included influencers in every area of endeavour active in Auckland at that time. Five acres were made available for showgrounds at the former Government House grounds, entered via Princes St in the central city. 70,000 square feet of covered space was specified, a cycling track and associated detached structures.

Edward was elected to the Building and Lighting Committee and to the Arts and Decorating Committee. His involvement with the Society of Arts was valued on the latter. The Choral Hall in Symonds St was to be the venue for an art exhibition open to all art society members throughout Australia and New Zealand.

Architects appointed to the Building Committee all had a hand in designing the centre piece - the main exhibition hall. De Montalk, Skinner and Arnold presented concept drawings for discussion.
Final plans were presented to the Executive, drawn up by Robert de Montalk, and accepted in April 1898.1

Sketch of the Proposed Exhibition Buildings Auckland 1898 AWN 28 May 1898

NZH 2 May 1898

This image, taken just before the opening ceremony shows the main entrance and orientation of the exhibition buildings. AWN 9 Dec 1898

The cycle track designed for the event was of concrete construction, banked for racing 5 laps to the mile. A running track was provided in the centre

The cycle track under construction AWN14 Oct 1898

The Cycle Track viewing area during the first day of the exhibition AWN 9 Dec 1898

One main focus of the Exhibition was the mineral resources of the region.  Organisers clearly intended to improve on the successful exhibitions already held in more southern provinces. 

In the words of the NZ Herald the event was 'an incontrovertible assertion of our industrial progress and an undeniable advertisement of our mineral resources.'2

Auckland emphasised the diversity as much as the technology. Coal and kauri gum from Whangarei, Dargaville and further North was found in the Minerals Court, with the latest mining and processing technology from the  gold mining strongholds of Coromandel and Thames.

The Story of Gold, as told by the Hauraki Region AWN 25 Nov 1898

Security was necessarily tight for the duration of the exhibition. Here officers are on duty at the Northland stand. AWN 16 Dec 1898 

It is noticable in the accounts and images that the standard of presentation and the content of the displays was far higher in 1898 than a modern 'expo' goer would be likely to meet today. Visitors expected to be informed as well as entertained. Some exhibitors, such as the Thames School of Mines, for their part, expected to attract a new generation into the industry.

Meanwhile in the manufacturing hall crowds of spectators gathered around the working looms of the Onehunga Woollen Mills. These recently imported machines were demonstrated by trained operators who invited close questioning by their audience.3

Luxury manufacturing in the province was also strong feature of the event. Then as now Auckland looked to American and Australian trends as much as British or local ones.

The Luxurious stand of Iredale's Ladies Wear - note the high standard of joinery and fittings on this temporary display.

A sophisticated refreshment stand - the Nathan's kiosk sold teas and iced teas throughout the event. AWN 10 Feb 1899

Arts, cultural  and sporting prowess in Auckland was equally celebrated at this exhibition. In addition to the modern sport of cycling, demonstrations of rhythmic gymnastics for youth of both genders looked forward to the health movements of the coming 20th century.
A particular highlight was the Exhibition Choir, of 600 voices, with orchestra and invited soloists performing Arthur Sullivan's 'The Golden Legend'. Music recitals and concert performances, both at exhibitor stands and other venues, occurred throughout months of the exhibition.

In our next post we consider the closing of the Exhibition and how it affected the region.

1. ref NZH 29 April 1989
2. ref NZH 28 May 1898
3. ref NZH 14 Dec 1898

Supreme Court Building, Auckland

One of my favourite Auckland structures is the Supreme Court Building. It is redolent with reference and symbolism belonging to another time and place. It amuses me too. The story behind its construction is page after page of misunderstandings, acrimony, dispute, botch-up and patch up. Yet it still stands intact on the original site. Married to a 20th century sibling it still provides a venue for the legal system which, like the building, was planted here.

These images are part of a photo essay completed for BFA by D Crozier 2003

The designer was Edward Rumsey. He chose English Gothic design for this public building, intended for the high point of Barrack Hill. Government House was nearby, as was the army barracks and commissariat. Visually he was calling up a romanticised heritage of might and magisterial power, of the glorious past associated with medieval english social structures - crown, church and state.

I include the full news coverage of the plans here. Enjoy this optimistic exploration of the design:

NZH 28 Feb 1865

Rumsey's design still 'stands forth bravely' as a beautiful addition to our city, but the road to completion and healthy usefulness was a long one. 

Amos and Taylor began work on the building under the Clerk of Works Angus Mckay. The foundation stone was laid on 5 November 1865. By January 1867 the roof trusses were being put in place.  Business relationships were deteriorating between government staff and McKay, as well as between government staff and the contractors. Accusations of dishonesty, overt or implied, soured working conditions even further. There were issues around payments, materials and supply. The architect was involved in some acrimonious exchanges as well.

Fresh tenders were called at this stage of the project. McKay's resignation was accepted.

NZH 23 Feb 1867

Matthews & Bartley Builders took over the construction from April 1867 to January 1868. Edmund Matthews had the experience and skill for these large, public projects. Young Edward Bartley had the energy and enthusiasm to see the construction finished. 

Completion took some time to achieve.

Here is the report made early in 1871

NZH 11 April 1871

The engraver Anton Teutenberg was responsible for the vibrant sculptural detail of the Supreme Court. He arrived in 1866 and began work almost immediately. He was a gifted and versatile artist who is highly revered in numismatic circles for his beautiful commemorative medals of the early 1880s

Plasterers were still working on the site in the winter of 1875. (Daily Southern Cross 2 July 1865) The acoustics and the leaks continued to be worked on for many years.

We have on file a letter describing a first hand experience of approaching this building in 1876. 

'...The Supreme Court Building was a prominent feature of the high ground to the seaward side of the Barracks. The tower of the building could be seen some distance away and the contrast of white plaster detailing against red brick marked it as an unusually substantive structure in a town of predominantly weatherboard and single storey dwellings. In closer proximity realistically wrought heads of both worthies and demons peered down from the crenellated roof line....The dim entrance made a forbidding contrast after the bright February sun and heat outside .' BFA LL A.S

Yes. This listed building is one of our architectural treasures. It may be anachronistic. It may have a chequered history, but the sculptures Anton Teutenberg created, the window tracery the plasterers laboured over and the features Rumsey held as ideals in his mind are there for us all to enjoy.