Pioneers 1867 - 1885

Fire - a good servant but a poor master.

The early pioneers on Auckland's North Shore used fire, indeed it was the only tool they had for heating their homes and cooking their meals. They also used it extensively for clearing the land to make it fit for European habitation. They were busy, within 40 years they had put an thoroughly northern hemisphere stamp on the land, carving out roads, building homes and establishing a society that endures.

The men who were notable on the early Road Boards, Councils - District and Borough, left their mark on the suburb of Devonport, Duder, Alison, McKay and Nicol to name a few of the earlier ones.

Reading through the early records from 1867 onwards it becomes clear that these were men concerned with establishing roads, links to other points on the Shore, and also with the control of livestock, sanitation, water supply and night soil. At each weekly meeting in the early years there were obviously lively discussions regarding the impounding of cattle and the farmers need to rescue the animals from the pound keeper.
The doctors reports were also given weekly on communicable diseases in the community. Typhoid, diphtheria, and scarlet fever being the most common.

However there were a surprising number of entertainments as noted in the Daily Southern Cross
Papers Past, Daily Southern Cross, Volum XXIV, Issue 3560, 14 December 1868, Page 4
Sales. Meetings, Amusements, &c.,This Day.
Sale of Cargo of Schooner ‘Kauri’ by Messrs. S. Cochrane and Son, at their mart, at 11 o’clock,
Sale of English Hams, by Messrs. Turell and Tonks, at their mart, at 12 o’clock.
Sale of Mr. F. A. Philip’s Stock, by Mr. H Joseph, on the premises, at 10.30 o’clock.
Sale of Cattle, Sheep &c. by Messrs. W. Hunter and Co, at the Newmarket Yards at 1 o
Sale of Shamrock Hotel, Shortland, by Mr. O’Keeffe, at 12 o’clock
Meeting of Ratepayers of Flagstaff Highway District, at the Devonport Hall, North Shore, at 7.30 p.m.
Meeting of persons interested in the formation of a Fire Brigade, at Newton Hall, at 8 o’clock
Meeting at Flagstaff Hotel, North Shore. of persons interested in the Takapuna Annual Races, at 7.30 o’clock.
Meeting of Provincial Grand Lodge, at 7 p.m. Princes of Wales Theatre.

Fires are startling events in any community in which they occur. They also frequently occur in some unaccountable manner. Sometimes the cause is known ; sometimes they are partly the result of accident from known causes ; at other times they are wilful and caused on purpose : but there are a great many fires of which the cause is never satisfactorily explained, even by those best acquainted with the facts connected with the occurrence. It is well known that fires not infrequently occur spontaneously under certain conditions, and we are inclined to believe that many of those mysterious fires -which now and again startle the community may be attributed to this cause. It has long been known that cotton waste besmeared. with grease and iron filings frequently gets on fire, the ignition sometimes taking place even in the engineer's pockets. A considerable number of experiments have lately been made by scientific ' gentlemen in America to learn something respecting these spontaneous fires, and the requisite conditions for their production. One of the experiments alluded to was with a piece of cotton cloth which had formerly been part of a sheet, but had been worn threadbare. It was smeared with boiled linseed oil, rolled up, and placed in an old chest in a lumber room between two plates of zinc. The chest was filled with paper and rags, and at the end of eight days the contents of the box were on fire. Another experiment was made by a pair of overalls used by a painter. They were covered all over with oil and daubs of paint. They were rolled up and placed in a box amidst some wood shavings. The box containing these articles was placed in a garret during moderately warm spring weather. The experiment was not a week old when the box and contents were in a blaze. Another experiment was made, by rolling up a couple of friction matches in a handful of cotton rags which were not smeared with oil or any other substance. These lags and matches were placed in a tin box, and hung in a loft where the afternoon summer sun shone fully upon it for a couple of hours each afternoon. Towards the fourth day the box was opened, and as the lid was taken off nothing else met the gaze of the experimenter but a puff of black cinders, which flew all over him. Other experiments were made, and all tended to show that great danger arose from stowing away greasy rags into odd corners, a practice not infrequent in many households.


Otago Witness, Issue 1405, 26 October 1878, Page 8
PROVINCIAL AND GENERAL
[BY TELEGRAPH]
Auckland October 17th
A. Beetham’s ten roomed house at Devonport was burnt down after midnight. It had been empty for months, and the fire is believed to be the work of an incendiary. The house was insured in the South British for L300, and is said to have cost L700.

Perhaps this is what prompted Mr Phillips to write to the Board on the 4th of November 1878 to suggest that a fire alarm bell and a small portable fire extinguisher should be provided for the district. The council resolved the subject be deferred.

1880 - Council passed protective fire ordinances requiring brick walls after a particularly devestating fire
P 35 Hundred Years of Devonport.

In 1882 we find the council resolving to drain the swamp, Devonport being referred to as the island by its inhabitants, the swamp being drained would allow further access to the North Shore, Takapuna in particular.

However the good men of the council did see fit to resolve to open a Public Library on the 10th of July 1878, the library was in for some shaky times ahead with being unable at times to support the librarian, almost closing in 1880, but due to a small charge per book it was able to remain open, and develop into the institution still standing today.

Then as now the 4th of November would have been part of the Guy Fawkes fireworks celebrations and fire is an ever present risk on these occasions. Possibly even more so then as firework sales would not have been as restrictive and everyone would have had access to fire lighters, even small children would have been entrusted with lighting fires for the family grate.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XXXI, Issue 4250, 26 January 1883, Page 2
FIRE AT DEVONPORT.
Mr. CHARNOCK'S HOUSE TOTALLY DESTROYED. At about a quarter to three o'clock this morning a fire broke out in the house of Mr. Charnock, railway porter, at Devonport, under singular circumstances. Mr. and Mrs. Charnock. were the only occupants of the house, and they had been out in the early part of the evening, but returned home at about 9.30 p.m., when they shortly afterwards retired to bed. The fire in the kitchen was put out at about 5 p.m., as Mr. and Mrs. Charnock were going out to tea and when they returned they did not relight the fire, and there was no appearance of fire on the hearth. Mrs. Charnock states that early in the morning — about 2.30 o'clock — she awoke with a feeling of suffocation, and immediately called her husband, who discovered that the house was on fire. They were sleeping upstairs, and the fire originated downstairs. It had gained such a firm hold of the building that they found it impossible to descend by the staircase. They called out loudly for help, and soon roused one or two of the neighbors. Escape was impossible, except out of the windows. Mr. Charnock let his wife out of the window, by means of a blanket, on to the roof of the verandah. In the meantime. Mr. R. Hooker had arrived, and went at once to the rescue, taking Mrs. Charnock safely off the roof of the verandah, and also rendering what other assistance he could to Mr. Charnock. The occupants escaped in their night-clothes, not having had time to throw any garment over them. The fire appeared to have originated in the front part of the house, as that was blazing furiously before the rear of the building caught fire. From the first it was hopeless to attempt to extinguish the flames and, as there were no buildings adjoining likely to be endangered by the fire, it was allowed to burn itself out. Two boxes containing wearing apparel, the property of Mr. Fookes, who had been lodging in the house previously, were the only articles saved. The house was insured in the South British office for £250, and the furniture for £100, but that amount will not cover Mr. Charnock's loss, on account of the furniture being all consumed. The neighbours showed every kindness to Mr. and Mrs. Charnock, whose case was one to call forth sympathy.
Not sure if this is Devonport, Auckland or elsewhere

In 1884 the first steps were taken to form the District into a Borough council and this step took up much of the councils time for the next couple of years.

On 13th of July 1885 a letter was read from Messrs. Merryweather and Sons offering for sale steam operated Fire Engines.

The calling of the public meeting was probably as a direct result of the following fire reported in

Papers Past - Grey River Argus, Volume XXXI, Issue 5299, 21 September 1885, Page 2
also in Evening Post, Volume XXX, Issue 70, 19th September 1885, Page 2
and in the Timaru Herald, Violume XLII, Issue 3426, 21 September 1885, Page 3
FIRE
A fire occurred at Devonport at 4.30 this morning, and destroyed two cottages, one belonging to Mr Patterson and the other to Mr Melville. A family named Donovan, who occupied the latter house narrowly escaped with their lives, being sound asleep while the fire was raging. The other buildings adjoining were saved with difficulty. The insurances on the buildings destroyed were £350 in the New Zealand office There is also £500 on Patterson’s furniture in the same office. The cause of the fire is unknown. There is no fire brigade in this populous town.

It is recorded that on the 21st of September 1885 "the Chairman stated that he had received a requisition asking him to convene a public meeting to consider the advisability of forming a fire brigade. Resolved."

We can see the residents of Devonport, then as now, being extremely vocal in their demands, the innocuous comment in the councils minutes probably covers a multitude of emotions.

A resident constable was sought on the 9th October of 1885 and on the 16th of November 1885 "Messrs Lilewael, TJ Duder and J White wrote to the board to ask the board to erect three fire bells in the district as a "Hook and Ladder Fire Brigade" was in the course of formation and some means of alarm in case of fire was necessary. Moved and seconded and to report at the next meeting as to the cost of Fire Bells and frames for same."

Papers Past, Tuapeka Times, Volume XVIII, Issue 1205, 12 December 1885, Page 3
LATEST TELEGRAMS.
(From our own Correspondent.)
Dunedin, December 11th.

An Auckland telegram states that the New Zealand Timber Company's branch mill at Devonport was discovered to be on fire at nine o'clock last night. There was no water supply in the district, and the whole establishment and the stock it contained were destroyed. Tho loss exceeds L2,000. The place was insured for L7OO in the Norwich Union office.


On the 14th of December 1885 the bells were "Resolved to be purchased for £30 as soon as the Hook and Ladder Brigade was formed."

Mr Geo Strude, formerly of a London brigade was appointed Captain of the brigade.
In April of 1886 a circular re fire engines and escapes was received from Messrs Shand Mason & Co of London. Nothing seems to been done about this, its purely on the record has having been received.