Pt Chevalier Times 21

8/3/2019 Pt Chevalier Times 21

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ewsletter for the Point Chevalier Historical Society

o. 21, ovember 2011 sites.google.com/site/pointchevalierhistory/

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ext issue due out January 2012

Contact Lisa Truttman (editor) :19 Methuen Road, Avondale, Auckland 0600,

phone (09) 828-8494or email [email protected]

Times

Changing scenes

in Pt Chevalier

In this issue, photographs taken by Lois Elliott’s father B R (Bertie Reginald) Elliott are included. Lois recently foundthese and had negatives developed. Prints have been donated to Sir George Grey Special Collections in AucklandCentral Library. The estimated time period for these photo-graphs is from the late 1960s through to the mid 1970s.Thank you so much, Lois, for sharing them! Calendar

Meetings—2011 (all at Horticultural Centre, 990

Great orth Road, Western Springs)ovember 24 10.30 am (Speaker: Colin Gallagher

on history of football in local area) Meetings—2012

February 23, April 26, June 28, August 23,

October 25, ovember 22

Top: the old Remuera Library build-ing, when it was the Post Office,before it was removed for the re-alignment of Pt Chevalier Road.

Right: The southern end of Pt Chevalier Road, showing the back of the library in the hall (left) .



Pt Chevalier Historical Society

Minutes of meeting Thursday 27th October 2011

Auckland Horticultural Council RoomsMeeting started at 10.30 am.Present: 31 peopleApologies: Pam Burrell, Graeme Perkins, Maurie Wallen, Neil Wallen, Laurie Mason, Shirley Phillips, Gwen An-nan

Correspondence received: Mt Roskill Historical Society (thanks for est wishes & small donation)President’s report :Mt Albert Historical Society – need support particularly with contributions to newsletter.Padmini Raj who was instrumental in setting up our society and producing the first edition of “Pt Chevalier

Memories” is transferring to Blockhouse Bay library. Her contribution to our society is much appreciated andwill be marked at a future event.Funding- society needs to apply for funds to help with venue hire, postage etc.Treasurer’s reportBank accounts (September)

00 -$976.18 01 – 2823.35ii) All copies “Pt Chevalier Memories” now soldGeneral business

Jean Jones displayed folder she has put together of various documents from purchase of land, section subdivisionsetc. Folder is of general interest as the purchase of sections involves a large number of people apart from her fam-ily.Blockhouse Bay historical society has produced a DVD – it is oral history with pictures. Auckland City Councilmay be open to support our society should we undertake a similar project.Joe Cleal marked the passing of his neighour (Jean Empson) who was a resident of Pt Chev for 74 years.Des Gates commented on article in NZ Herald (27th Oct) about the tannery in Meola Rd.

Guest Speaker: Dave Simmonds “A Maori perspective on the history of Pt Chev”Meeting concluded 12.05pm

named James Lowe was living in a house there by

1939 – he and his wife Lizzie bought the propertyoutright towards the end of 1946. Lizzie Lowe inher-ited the property in 1956, and Eric and James Loweinherited it in 1962. It was purchased by Eric Cam-eron Armishaw and George Gonda at the beginningof 1963. These two were probably Wellesley Indus-tries, the developers of the nine-shop Pt Chevalier Arcade (first section) which opened there off PtChevalier Road in 1964.

Until 1970, No. 11 was a section owned by theCrown for state housing purposes. In that year, it was

sold to a widow named Francis Irene Shrimpton, whoalmost immediately transferred the property to LeslieRoy Mills, company director, and solicitor JamesDenham Shale. By 1971, the property was owned bythe same insurance company who also (by then)owned the original arcade property.

No. 13 Pt Chevalier Road was purchased in 1921 byAmos James Mudgway, a builder. The property had anumber of owners and lease agreements on its record,including a lease to couple Frederick William andEllen Stonex – interesting, because in one of B R

Elliott’s photos included with this article, a shop be-side what became the Self Help supermarket frontageon Pt Chevalier Road has the words “Stonex Bros”on it. Cutting a long story short, this property, like

I’m still feeling my way around with this topic,readers, because a full in-depth period of researchwould take more than a bit of time in going throughCouncil records, and possibly locating and inter-viewing some of those involved. But, this is what Ihave at the moment. Comments and additional in-formation from anyone would be truly appreciated.

The arcade-supermarket-carpark complex in Point

Chevalier lies at the heart of the shopping centre weknow today. It includes 9-13 Pt Chevalier Road )oldalignment), 1197-1205 Great North Road, and 8-16Huia Road (now just known as 16 Huia Road, thecarpark, in Council records).Originally part of thenorthern section of the 19th century Sutherlandestate, it had been part of a night soil depot, then putup for sale from 1907 by a syndicate which included brothers from the Dignan family.

The Pt Chevalier Road frontage was three sections. No. 9 (then known as 11) was sold to Francis

Parkes, a Mental Hospital Attendant, in 1920. In1937 it was sold to Thomas Henry and ElizabethJane Emma Wilson, Thomas being the manager atthe time of the Portland Cement Works. A carpenter

An arcade, a supermarket,and a carpark



that of the other two beside it, was owned by theinsurance company (Dominion Life Assurance,later Commercial Union Assurance), then Gil In-vestments Limited from 1983.

So the supermarket as we know it today(originally Self Help, but within a few years oper-ated by Albert Gubay as one of his 3 Guys stores) possibly dates from c.1971-1972.

Of the two sections fronting onto Great NorthRoad which form part of the arcade as it existstoday, one was purchased in 1920 by HerbertCharles Bridges in 1920, while next to him fell-monger Charles John Marks bought his section in1921. Marks sold his property to grocer Frederick Walter Sherer in 1928, but Sherer’s store appears inWises Directory there from at least 1925. It wasSherer’s store at 1201 Great North Road which endedup being operated as a Self Help store from about1944. A right-of-way that was part of the propertyserved as an access from the 1964 arcade through to

Great North Road; then, when the arcade was rede-veloped and expanded in the early 1970s, the Self Help store became the supermarket as part of thecomplex, but under separate land title.

The Huia Road properties which make up the carpark:

No. 8Purchased in 1915 by Kate Spiers Commons (later married to Te Puke bank manager John MacIntoshRoberts), the site likely didn’t have a house on it until

builder Albert Treweek bought it in October 1924,then sold Harbour Board employee Alfred Harveytwo months later. A couple, Paul Walter Starke(engineer) and his wife Emma May Dean Starke,

Above: Artist’s impression of the planned arcade off

Pt Chevalier Road. Mt Albert and Pt Chevalier News ,

29 July 1963

Above: The arcade under construction. Mt Albert and PtChevalier News , 9 March 1964

The completed arcade. MtAlbert and Pt Chevalier

News , 1964

Remainder of article on page 8



All photos on the following pages from the B R Elliottcollection.

Left: beginnings of the super-market, built during the c.1970-1971 reconstruction of the ar-cade and supermarket complex.

Right: The Pt Chevalier Roadfrontage taking shape

Left: The completed front-age



Right: Demise of the

home appliance store andshoe centre, Great NorthRoad, early 1970s, for the arcade extension

Left: Arcade extension space under construction. Rear view of No’s10 and 8 Huia Road.

Right: Continuing construction of thearcade extension.



Left: Continuing construction of thearcade extension.

Note from Lois Elliott:According to the photos, there werefive houses “sold for removal” betweenthe brick bungalow on the corner of Great North Road and Huia Road, and

No. 18. Presumably, they were num- bered 8, 10, 12, 14, 16. No. 18 (now the Point Chevalier Com-munity Centre) was built for the Paris(sp?) family. Their living quarters wereupstairs, and the ground floor was aDance Studio where their daughter,Bernice, taught ballet.

Right: You can just see the corner of No. 8 on the left of the photo, the whiteverandah of No 10, No’s 12, 14, 16

Left: No 12 Huia Road.



Right: No 12 & 14 Huia Road.

Left: No 16 cut in half prior toremoval

Right: Work proceedingon the now-cleared car-

park by Auckland CityCouncil



bought the property in 1928. The property remained inthe Starke family until 1968. In 1971, it was purchased by Auckland City Council.

No. 10William Charles Gillam of Pt Chevalier, storeman, purchased this property in 1922. The house which was

on this site may have dated from that time. There werea few further owners of the property after 1941, untilthe Council bought it in 1971.

No. 12Purchased in 1921 by Auckland milkman WilliamAugustus Phillips, the site was sold to carpenter Wil-liam Robert Bartle in 1923. The house could have datedfrom this period. In 1937, Bartle sold to Mrs LauraJames, who in turn sold, in 1940, to railway employee

Frederick Ralph Buckley and his wife Mavis. In 1971, itwas bought by Leslie Roy Mills (see above), and in 1975 purchased by Council.

No. 14This property was purchased in 1919 by baker and pastrycook Robert Stormont, but the house appears to have

dated from after 1939, according to the directories. TheStormont family sold the property to a butcher, KeithOscar Jansen, in 1940. He on-sold it five years later to thelikely first house owner, Miss Marie Roze Fielding. Her heir sold it to Council in 1971.

No. 16A site purchased in 1916 by John and Annie Stormont,the next owners James Noble Clark Somervell and hiswife Florence Jane (Somervell was a local range maker)from 1920 sold the property in 1938 to Reginald WilliamMorris. Morris could well have been the one for whomthe house was built. It was sold to Leslie Roy Mills in1971, and to Council in 1975.

The Huia Road carpark, after the five houses wereremoved, was possibly constructed from 1975. Firmer details would require a trip to Council Archives at somestage.

— Lisa Truttman

Membership of the Point ChevalierHistorical Society

Membership is open to all with an interest in our area’shistory, and costs only $10 per person. This entitles

you to vote at our meetings, and to receive mailedcopies of the

Point Chevalier Times.

Send cheques to:Pt Chevalier Historical SocietyC/- 119C Hutchinson Avenue New Lynn, Auckland 0600

Your membership fees mean that we can keeppublishing the Point Chevalier Times. Your support

would be appreciated.

The Point Chevalier Historical Society thanksZ Post (through Community Post) for their

continued support of this publication.

Pt Chevalier Times 21

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