Exploring Heritage Matters

Auckland is into the second week of its Heritage Festival  now with plenty of events for enthusiasts of our built heritage. There is an overall theme of transportation in this year's festival but I noticed two events coming up of relevance to Bartley and Devonport researchers.

St Matthews in the City. Image Postcard Collection BFA

Peter Reed, architect, leads an exploration of St Matthews in the City next Saturday 14 October. Edward Bartley was supervising architect for this 1905 landmark as part of his role as architect to the Anglican Diocese of Auckland.
Tour details here
Information on the construction of St Matthews here

Torpedo Bay 1879 Image APLSGGSC4-2979

For those whose Auckland roots lie in Devonport there is an opportunity to tour the earliest sites of commercial activity. Details of the Maritime self guided tours on all week are here and information on the pioneer boatbuilders here
Edward Bartley's first home on the North Shore was on the foreshore at Devonport. He was a neighbour to William Holmes whose house and family feature in the promotional material for this event. Edward's eldest son Arthur married William's neice Polly Holmes

Holmes family home and boatyard about 1880. Image APL SSGSC

If you are going to Devonport by car please do visit O'Neill's Point cemetery and see Edward Bartley's grave restored. There are several other Bartley graves in the cemetery.

Judging by the response to our post Frank and Dorothy's project has inspired  other families to identify and care for family plots. Well there is good news. It has never been easier.

Bartley Archive holds some information on family graves, and a few photographs of plots. Do get in touch at the start if you have Bartley Channel Islands links. We may be able to help if other researcher's contributions included burial records.

The first step in fresh research is to obtain an 'address' for the plot. Many cemeteries now have an online database available to search. For example Auckland Council has access for burials and cremations in the region on this page

Image BFA 2014

Most of the larger public cemeteries have maps online or available at the office for the second step -which is locating the plot itself. On the basis of past experience I would recommend a party of two or more people, good walking shoes, good humour and an openess to synchronicity. Keep your ancestor in mind and your camera in hand-some of these places are very beautiful landscapes too.

Purewa Cemetery, St John's Auckland. Image BFA 2012

Edward Bartley's Grave Restored

It is a great pleasure to be writing this post. On behalf of Edward's descendants we give a great bouquet of thanks to Frank and Dorothy Bartley who have undertaken and carried out the restoration of the Bartley gravesite at O'Neill's Point Cemetery, Devonport in Auckland.

With the site cleared Dorothy discusses the state of the headstone. Image F&D Bartley 2017

As visitors to the cemetery will know the plot was in a sad condition. Time and some vandalism during the late 20th century left us little to be proud of. Fortunately Frank and Dorothy were on hand in Auckland to closely oversee the project from the outset. The work was carried out by Steven Webb, of Monumental Headstones and Plaques Ltd,  who was able to salvage the marble and some surviving iron fittings.

Marble reinstated, remaining ironwork cleaned and returned to original placement, with work proceeding on re-erction of the headstone. Image S Webb 2017

The completed reinstatement and restoration of the gravesite September 2017. Image F&D Bartley 2017

Edward's wife Elizabeth Hannken also lies in this plot, along with their sons Percy and Claude  (husband of Cassie Tooher). Edward's daughter Bertha Bartley, wife of Frank Mason, lies nearby in the Mason family grave.

Frank Bartley stands with the reinstated headstone. The buff pink marble obelisk behind his shoulder is the Mason family plot where Bertha Bartley is interred. Image F&D Bartley 2017

Edward Bartley and Family Image BFA

Once again thank you Frank and Dorothy.

Kensington Park Grandstand Whangarei- Design by Edward Bartley

Grandstand Interior. Image Prana Art Project for BFA 2017

In April 1902 the Whangarei Agricultural and Pastoral Association resolved to purchase Kensington Park ground as a permanent home 1. A government subsidy of  £500 was received in October 1902. Meanwhile the Association joined forces with the newly formed Whangarei Racing Club. Together they decided to develop the park with upgraded facilities-including a new grandstand. Edward Bartley was appointed as architect for that part of project 2.

Bartley worked over a wide geographical area - from Gisborne northwards. In the cities he was best known for his ASB banks, churches and commercial buildings. In rural areas it was mainly in his role as architect to the Auckland Charitable Aid Board that led to introductions. In Whangarei his donation of plans and supervision to the hospital, along with his Council work and commercial clients in Bank St, meant his bowler hat and dust coat were often seen. He also had strong links with both the racing fraternity and the A&P Association. Those links began in the early 1870's when the NZ Pedigree Stock Association and A&P and Farmer's Associations began to erect permanent buildings in the Auckland region.

The design which was settled on for Whangarei was a barrel roofed grandstand. It was very similar to, though smaller than, the design for Avondale Racing Club where Bartley had been engaged. That stand was opened in February 1902. No doubt members of the Whangarei Racing Club  inspected it at first hand during the 1902 racing season.

Avondale Racing Club Grandstand AWN 22 Sept 1904

There was plenty to be done before the new building could get underway. A new entrance and drive were constructed first. New cattle pens and other show facilities were a top priority. The re-siting of the race course took time to resolve and implement and the unsafe old stands were demolished.

So it was not until September 1903 that Edward Bartley advertised tenders for the Whangarei stand.

NZH 15 Sept 1903

Matters proceeded quickly once a figure was agreed on and the building was finished in a matter of months for £1200.

The side elevation closest to Kensington Park. The associated booths are original. Image BFA 2017

Edward Bartley designed a similar grandstand for the Ohinemuri Racing Club (later the Paeroa Racing Club) at Paeroa in 1904. That one no longer survives. It burned down in the 1980's after years of neglect.

 Kensington Park grandstand nearly met the same fate. Fortunately it was relocated and restored for  the Northland Hockey Association. A more recent renovation in 2009 brought the building up to modern fire safety standards - modifications Edward Bartley would certainly approve of. His many designs for public amenities and institutions were characterised by the latest advances in fire safety, a personal as well as professional interest of his.

AWN 19 Oct 1922

This is a comfortable grandstand for viewing, even by modern standards. The barrel roof acts as an early form of climate control. A careful calculation of the angle and depth for the overhanging verandah means that no one is ever looking directly into the sun. The worst of mid-summer glare is shielded from spectator's eyes. Kauri and steel posts are spaced well apart, considering their load. This allows for good visibility and flow of 'traffic' entering and leaving the stand.
These days one is more at risk from a flying hockey ball than a pressing crush of racegoers.
The grandstand is now situated on the Northland Hockey Association grounds, Park Ave Whangarei -on the outskirts of Kensington Park.

The building is listed Category 1 with the Historic Places Trust.3

1. AS19020424
2. AS19020920, NZ19020911
3. Refer http://www.heritage.org.nz/the-list/details/3829

Cookery Class with Isabella Ross, Food Advertising - and Gingerbread- of course

Image BFA 2014

I was hunting for an 'authentic' gingerbread recipe this morning. The first place to look was in our old cook books. The baking is no further ahead but I hope you enjoy these images from one of my favourites. 

In 1900  the Metropolitan Gas Company, Melbourne published 'Cookery Class Recipes'. Mrs Isabella Ross, their celebrity queen of gas powered cooking, wrote the recipes.

Distilled to an essence Mrs Ross' ethos sounds something like this:

Fresh is best. Produce travels from the garden to the chopping board. That's it.

 Work with the seasons - enjoy the bounty of summer and preserve the surplus. Her readers did not expect fresh courgettes or strawberries in winter.

Be prepared - planning ahead reduces waste.

Get creative- with 'left overs', with opportunities to experiment

Prepare your basics in bulk.

Of course you can - have a go. Trying just one new thing can be the basis for a whole new repertoire.

I like that recipe for outside the kitchen as well. The anachronistic part is that the book was peppered with advertisements for instant sauces and food supplements - sound familiar? It became a proven format used throughout the 20th century.

This publication carried an advertisement for Phosphatine and a special selection of recipes using the product at the end of the book. Produced by a Belgian company, Phosphatine contained calcium phosphate - and still does. It is a brand still popular in Europe today as a food supplement and iron rich tonic. It's reputation for offsetting the effects of poor diet made it a staple in many households during the Great War and the Depression years especially. 

Advertisement 1900 Cookery Class Recipes, Isabella Ross

These days the dangers of artificial phosphates to both humans and animals are well known.1 We do, however, have much in common with the Victorian generation. Not only are products like these 'fortified' foods still available today, but most processed and fast food contains at least one synthetic 

phosphate under the 'E' label code.

Failiere's Phosphatine was also supported by sophisticated four-colour print advertising at point of sale,  in posters and stamps published before the Great War. Featuring marionettes and other themes in collectable sets, they point to the sophisticated use of what we often consider 'modern' marketing techniques.

Faliere's Alphabet Advertising from about 1904 - image Wikimedia

On the subject of processed foods this advertisement found near the Savouries section of the book features a brand well known in Australasia. Hutton's products are now part of Heller's group

By the 1920's the brand had taken a different tone, reflecting the 'talkies' influence on popular culture.

Artwork by J Miller, Huttons Promotional Poster

The great expansion of Empire under Queen Victoria forms the background to much of the advertising of this turn of the century period. Here patriotism and loyalty to 'Home' is encouraged in the purchase of pantry staples.

Which brings us back to gingerbread - here is Mrs Ross's recipe

1. Phosphate in Food Published online 2012 Jan 27. doi:  10.3238/arztebl.2012.0049
PMCID: PMC3278747 Phosphate Additives in Food—a Health Risk
Eberhard Ritz, Prof. Dr. med.,*,1 Kai Hahn, Dr. med.,2 Markus Ketteler, Prof. Dr. med.,3 Martin K Kuhlmann, Prof. Dr. med.,4 and Johannes Mann, Prof. Dr. med.5

'One important step would be to inform physicians and the public thoroughly about the potential risks to cardiovascular and renal function arising from dietary phosphate consumption. Phosphate has long been known to elevate the cardiovascular risk in dialysis patients, but analogous effects have only recently been shown in persons with moderately impaired renal function (of whom the number is growing) and even in persons with normal renal function (6, 7, 23). The changing age structure of the population, with ever more elderly people, further deepens the implications of this problem for health policy, as does the high prevalence of “diseases of civilization,” such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and coronary heart disease, that damage the kidneys and accelerate the age-related decline of renal function. The link between phosphate and progressive renal failure was already suspected and investigated in the early 1980s (24, e10).'

Captain Matthew Slattery of Tipperary - Part Two

We talked about Matthew Slattery and his early career in the previous post. Here we take up his story after the war in Northland, New Zealand.

Map of Kawiti's Pah Ruapekapeka 1846 Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, NZ Map 4626

The 58th Regiment returned to Auckland after the final battle at Ruapekapeka on 11 January 1846, where they had met unexpectedly sophisticated trench warfare and significant casualties. The map gives only a sketch but the strong geographical position and layout give some indication of the defences they encountered that day.

In May 1846, Governor George Grey ordered a continent of the 58th to Wellington to act as deterrent in the wake of ongoing land disputes between new settlers and Ngāti Toa. They saw action in the Hutt Valley at Boulcott’s farm but Slattery was back in Auckland by the end of May. He married Mary Anne Pickford in June 1846. 2 It was a short window of opportunity – he was to be on board ship with his regiment at the end of the month, returning to Wellington.

NZ 27 June 1846

The 58th then returned to Paramatta, Sydney where the birth of Slattery’s first child Robert was registered on 17 April 1847. When the Regiment was again called to New Zealand the family returned to Auckland  on HMS Dido, arriving 1 July 1847.3  A second child named Matthew was born. Although his birth entry has not yet been found in NSW or Auckland, his death in 1848 records the age of 12 months. Robert also died later that year, recorded as just under 2 years, at 22 months.  Ann Eliza, the next child, was baptised in Auckland on 6 August 1848.4 (We shall take a closer look at the life and members of this growing family in a later post.)

Matthew was promoted to Corporal on 1 December 1847 and to Colour Sergeant in 1848. He remained with the 58th at Auckland for the next ten years. He was a property owner by 1853 and therefore able to vote in the contentious election of his commanding officer, Col Wynyard, to the position of Civil Superintendent.5 He enjoyed music, being accomplished on the clarinet. In addition to performances with the army band Matthew was active with the Choral Society and other groups. He gave time generously to the Mechanics' Institute as well, taking part in a series of lectures and concerts of British folk music.6

During these years the 58th took part in many public building works, particularly roading projects. Part of the Quartermaster's duties were the management of supplies, stores, ammunition, and property. 1858 was a busy time for Slattery, as regimental affairs were tidied up in preparation for their departure from New Zealand.

NZH 11 June 1858

Several hundred men took discharge in New Zealand at the time the Regiment left for England, but Matthew was only 34 and continued with his career, being promoted to Quarter Master in July 1858

NZH 10 Nov 1858

 His growing family travelled with him to Parkhurst on the Isle of Wight, where he served until 1862 as Quartermaster 5th Depot.

Embarkation list NZH 20 Nov 1858

Matthew’s Indian service began in June 1862 with the 38th Regiment, the 1st Staffordshire. He served with them as Quartermaster stationed in Sealkote, Benares (Varanasi) from 1863. This Northern cultural centre on the Ganges is often referred to as the ‘Athens of India’. It is considered the holiest of the seven sacred cities by Hindu, while holding special significance for all faiths in India. This city was the scene of an atrocious battle between British and Indian forces in the First Indian Rebellion – or War of Independence of 1857- 1858.

Samuel Bourne's image of Benares from across the Ganges c 1870

The outcome of the uprising was an end to the rule of the East India Company, as the British Crown took control. The British Raj was established in 1858 encompassing approximately 3/5th of the continent. Independent states such as Varanasi remained so, as allies of the Crown.

Harts Army List 1868 p 297 detailing Slattery's rank and background. (image NA)

 Pashwur, Bengal is known today as Peshawar, Pakistan. This North West region was Slattery’s posting to the garrison there in 1870. This was an area of long standing conflict between indigenous clans and invadors, not far from the famed Khyber Pass.

Khyber Pass Region map by wikimedia

The 38th returned to England for a spell during 1871 but contingents sailed again at the end of the year, arriving in Bombay by HMS Euphrates on 8 December.7 His family are not recorded as passengers. In the census of 1871 Mary Anne, Fanny (Frances) and Maude are listed attending a ladies college in Lambeth, London. This arrangement was traditional for families of servicemen in India.

 The regiment went back to England again in 1872  but Matthew returned to India in 1873 as Quartermaster with the 7th Royal Fusiliers 2nd Battalion, stationed with them in Poona (now known as Pune), Bombay 8.
Barracks were a little east of the city, in a large European compound. Matthew was accompanied this time by Mary Anne, 3 sons and 3 daughters. They were seasoned travellers by now and were returning to a busy Anglo-Indian centre of both military and administrative personnel. During monsoon season Poona was the centre of Bombay government administration.

In 1876 the Royals moved to Belgaum, Bombay where he remained until he retired on half pay as Honorary Captain on 25 May 1878.

Matthew Slattery is recorded as leaving India for Melbourne, Australia on 24 May 1878, embarking with his family on the P&O steamer SS Assam.9 He returned to New Zealand to live at Northcote, on Auckland's North Shore.
On 1 July 1881 he was listed as retired on full pay and was last mentioned in Hart’s Army List in 1904 as retired. He continued to take an active part in local affairs until his death in September 1904 at the age of 80.

[1] Times 7 Mar 1859 page 10

[2] St Patricks Cathedral Catholic Registers - Marriage: 30 June 1846, Auckland, Matthew Slattery, 58th Regiment, soldier, son of Robert Slattery and Eliza Champion, to Marianne Pykford, from Sommersetshire, England, daughter of Samuelis Picford and Anna Dexter

[3] ref New Zealander 3 July 1847

[4] St Patricks Cathedral Catholic Registers – Baptism: Ann Eliza, daughter of Matthew Slattery, Sergt, 58th Regiment, and Mary Ann Picford, baptised 6 August 1848. Date of birth not given.
[5] DSC 7 July 1853
[6] NZer 8 & 15 August 1857

[7] Times of India 8 Dec 1871 per fibis transcript
[8] Times of India 3 Nov 1873 per fibis transcript Portsmouth to Bombay arrived HMS Serapis 1 Nov      1873
[9] Times of India 25 May 1878 ibid

Captain Matthew Slattery of Golden, Tipperary

Today we continue with our Irish theme by introducing the Slattery connection.

Matthew Slattery and his wife Mary Anne Pickford with child. Undated Image BFA, from the collection of Keith Slattery

Matthew Slattery was born in 1824 in the village of Golden, about eight miles east of Tipperary Town on the River Suir and about 4 miles from Cashel in the other direction. His parents were Eliza Champion and Robert Slattery. 

When Matthew was 14 Ireland experienced a tremendous storm which is still known today as the Night of the Big Wind. The heavy snow which fell on that night of the 5th January completely melted in freakishly warm conditions the following day. Those spared the loss of their homes in the hurricane strength winds still faced the sodden soil and loss of livestock, setting up lean times for the year ahead. Across Ireland there were 300 casualties on the night of the storm with many thousands left homeless. 

A month later Matthew was in Cashel enlisting with the British Army. His family received the bounty of £2-1 allocated to his regimental number 1049. The salary for a boy at this period was 11 pence, £1-1 for a man. He was recruited in to the 58th Regiment of Foot, the Rutlandshire, also known as the Black Cuffs because of their distinctive uniform. 

After a short spell in Britain the 58th was sent to New South Wales, Australia. Their route south went via Tasmania and Norfolk Island accompanying convicts being transported to the penal colonies there. Matthew was in one of the 19 detachments under Lieutenant Colonel Wynyard which departed between 1842 and 1843. They remained stationed in New South Wales on garrison duty until unrest in northern New Zealand saw them transferred to Auckland in 1845.

Matthew was 21 years of age, a solid stocky young man about 5’ in height (a slight increase on his 4’10” at enlistment) when he arrived on the North Star on 22 March 1845. It was straight into action from there. His military records list him as present as Pomare’s Pah on April 30, 1845. Battles followed at Heki’s Pah, Waikiri and Kawiti’s Pah before the capture of Ruapekapeka on 11 January 1846.

The 58th Regiment on parade, about 1849, at the newly constructed Albert Barracks in Auckland (AWN July 15 1909)

Once the immediate danger of battle passed, attention turned to domestic matters. A young lady by the name of Mary Anne Pickford also travelled to Auckland on the North Star in 1845. Originally from the village of Shepton Mallet in Somerset she was a daughter of Anne Dexter and Samuel Pickford. Mary Anne married Matthew at St Patrick’s in Auckland on 3 June 1846

A promotion to Corporal on 1 December 1847 was followed by the new rank of Colour Sergeant in 1848. Matthew remained with the 58th on garrison duty at Auckland until their departure for England in 1858. 

New Zealander 20 November 1858

Several hundred men took discharge in New Zealand at that time but Matthew was only 34 and newly promoted to Quarter Master in July 1858. 

New Zealander 10 November 1858

His growing family travelled with him to Parkhurst on the Isle of Wight, where he served until 1862 as Quartermaster 5th Depot

About 1858-Quarter Master Slattery stands at extreme left with other officers of the 58th. Image BFA from the collection of Keith Slattery.

In the next post we follow Matthew to India and back to New Zealand.

Some Irish Lines - Tobin of Cork, Eire

I had a request recently for more images of some of the Irish connections of the Bartley families. Today we focus on Patrick Tobin who settled in Wellington, New Zealand.

Patrick Tobin abt 1919, taken before his journey to NZ

Patrick was the third of eight children born to Maurice Tobin and Bridget O'Donnell of Michelston, Cork, Eire. The Tobin farm at Curaghavoe is still held in the family, despite the history of conflict and famine in the region during the nineteenth century. The imposed laws of inheritance, along with economic distress, led to an ongoing dispersal of Irish people around the world. Within that framework, the Tobin's tenure and connection to their place of origin remained resilient. Many of Patrick's wider family group did not fare so well.

His paternal grandparents were Maurice Tobin and Ellen McGrath. His mother's parents were Patrick O'Donnell and Ellen Connell. The O'Donnell's were farmers from Lyreen, Cork. His O'Donnell uncles immigrated to New Zealand in the 1880's and facilitated their nephew's settlement later on.
Their only sister, Bridget married Maurice Tobin at Kilworth, Fermoy on 5 February 1893. She was 22 years old. This photo of Bridget with her mother Ellen Connell was most likely taken to mark that occasion.

Patrick's eldest sibling, Nellie, was born in 1894, followed by Maurice in 1899 and Patrick himself in 1901. John was born in 1902, May in 1903, Bridget 1905, Catherine in 1906 and Margaret in 1911.

Maurice Tobin, who also came to New Zealand

John Tobin, who took over the farm from his father 

Mother Bridget nee O'Donnell in the centre with daughters Bridget Tobin on the right, Catherine Tobin on the left

Peg (Margaret) on the left with May on the right

May Tobin, second left at front, completing her schooling just as the Great War began





After the Great War came the escalation of civil disorder in Ireland. Patrick left for New Zealand as soon as domestic travel was resumed for immigrants in 1919. Maurice came later in 1923. The family story was that Maurice had originally planned to succeed to the farm, as eldest son, but it was not safe for him to remain in Cork any longer. Certainly the brothers were at opposite sides of the political spectrum, a situation common to many families at this time. The assassination of a relative in January 1923, was reported here in the NZ Herald (08 Jan 1923). Maurice, also a government employee, left almost immediately afterwards.

Maurice settled in Auckland, New Zealand and married late in life. He died there in 1967 and was interred at Mangere cemetery with his wife Della.

John meanwhile had joined cousins in New York, a culture which he relished. He returned to Cork in 1926, when their father Maurice died aged 60.

John enjoying an American St Patrick's Day in the early 1920s

Catherine, also known as Kate or Kathleen, also went to the United States.

Kathleen on a trip home to Ireland in 1941 to attend her mother's funeral

Patrick, after his journey to Wellington, joined his O'Donnell cousins at their market gardens north of the city. Trained as a radio operator he found clerical work in Wellington more in demand. During the 1930's he worked in the head office of J R McKenzie's department stores.

Here Patrick, front row far left, in the support role for the 1934 McKenzie's rugby team

 Patrick met Annie Coyne from Makahu, Taranaki and married in Wellington on 25 June 1927. Patrick and Annie had four daughters - Eileen, who joined the Sisters of St Joseph; Patricia, who married Harold Bartley and settled in Auckland; Margaret, who died young; and Kathleen, who married Murray Elliott and settled in Darwin, Australia.

Patrick and Annie on their wedding day

Eldest daughter Eileen Tobin (1928-2003)

Patrick and Annie with their youngest daughter Kathleen

Second daughter Patricia (1929-2012) on her wedding day