WILLIS STREET

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 112, 17 November 1928, Page 17

WILLIS STREET

Blue water arid'Willjs street arc far away'from each other now, .but in the early days the sea lapped along the east side as far south as Old Customhouse street, as can be clearly'seen in the first pictures of Wellington. Opposite where the "Evening Post.'^ now stands;, they show a large triangular patch of grass, with a single tree that .looks like, a' titoki growing near. Along tiie sandy beach, which follows the line of Old Customhouse street, a man, waving both arms vigorously, is driving a number of ■ pigs. Close to, a'brown canoe, with carved sides and headpiece with, gleaming eyes, is drawn up on the shore, mat-clad Maoris in charge. The crack of the stockwhip was often heard as the slow-moving wagons, drawn by bullocks, whose heads swayed with . monotonous regularity from side ' to- side,- passed and repassed. A WHALEBONE PORTAL. Holies of-whaling days were long visible also, and for many years the Luxford's garden, nearly opposite -St. Peter's Church, had an arch of bleached white whalebones over the entrance gate. . on the west side began at Clay, Point, now Stewart Dawson's corner. Just above, on the cliff, was the Waterloo redoubt, where thveo howitzers were hurriedly installed at the time of the Wairau massacre in 1843. The need must have seemed urgent at the time, because the track was cut up the cliff, the guns were dragged up and put in position, and a 9ft trench was dug, all in a' day, by tho settlers. In theicarly) 'fifties a reclamation was begun, making solid ground on tho cast side up to King's Chambers, which stands at the .corner of Willeston street, which was originally named Harbour street. Very narrow this street is, like the,others of the; first reclamation when tho land, won from the sea, was small in area. A little' farther south comes

>a similar one, Chew's lane, named after Chew and Wagg, who wore timber merchants. '.A well known business man here remembers seeing a whale cut up off the end of Chew's lane. It was Sir. George Grey, in his days as Governor, who insisted on some of this reclaimed ground being "used as an endowment.for educational purposes. It' would be. hard.now.to recognise "College lane" in .the new magnificent width of Mercer street. Land hereabouts was not considered of great value or likely to becomo so. The corner of Lambton quay and Willis street only took eighty-fifth place in the preference list. A fair price was; £0 a foot. At the back of a quaint little oldfashioned shop with small-paned windows and a brick-paved yard, situated a littlo above the Albert Hotel, rises a steep flight of steps on to Flagstaff Hill. Below this, and just off Willis street, is a surprising piece of fairly wide level ground, running some distance back, with only a' few dilapidated shanties on it. A high perpendicular cliff shows where the ground was cut away for reclamation purposes. South of Old Customhouse street the sea was left behind, and Willis street, with land on both sides, ran steadily upwards in nearly a straight line till it reached the Waimapahi Stream coming from Polhill's Gully. Pern, scrub, and flax, with an occasional tree, bordered the road, and the littlo V-huts, with their weatherboard sides, had high board fences. ' ' WILD LIFE IN WILLIS STREET. At Hunter's corner three roads met, and in the old days of stock-driving there used to be wild s#cnes. One road went to the left, along Aro street to Polhill's Gully; another wound 'steeply uphill to Goathurst Farm, on the heights of Brooklyn; tho third branched' off by Webb street to Newtown. When mobs of sheep, cattle, horses, or pigs met here going different ways, it took much barking of. dogs,, galloping

THE OLD CLAY POINT FORT BULLOCKS, COACHES, AND FISHES (Written for "The Evening Post" by "1.A.E.")

of horses, cracking of whips, and lurid language from tlio bushy-bearded. Cri-mean-shirtcd drovers before the different mobs we're disentangled,-. and coulcf go their separate ways. ..■ It is a ..noisy-corner still, but. in- a different way) as: now one hears the clang of the tramway,gong, the clash of changing gears, the;' .deep harsh sound of motor horns, and the roar and rumble of r/jtor-ldrries instead of tho grunts and bellows of the beasts." When the pioneers landed, the local Maoris were friendly,, mainly because their fighting men' were away raiding at the Chathams aiid elsewhere. So the Ngati-awas brought their" kits of potatoes and their flax baskets, of crayfish to "sell to the residents of Willis street. But in '46 there was war with the Maoris at the Hutt, and nearly-a thousand regular soldiers were stationed in Wellington; so the!red-blanketed Maori disappeared before the red-coated soldier. Later came years of peace, and, when the war of the 'CO's was in full swing, the Maoris here were again friendly. By then tho barracks were built in Buckle street, and .Willis street often saw the 05th Regiment- marching past, sometimes to the rifle range nearby, or to various paddocks for drill. On Sundays the band played, and it was a ..proud girl (an old lady now) who could walk out with a bandsman in his uniform,'with a little red tuft on top of his smart shako! Willis' street had its share of the big earthquake of 1840,' too, for in Lieutenant-Governor Eyre's report he mentions "Crowther's brick shop was severely damaged; both back and front wire down, and the; side walls badly injured"; Wilkinson's clay cottage was "severely shattered." Before the days of railways," the usual method of travelling was. by- stage coach. "Cobb and Co." was oi.ly a name, for Mr. Andrew Young held the contract 'to take Her Majesty's mail from Wellington to New Poymouth for six years, for which the Government

paid him £3000 a: year. The booking office was-in Willis street, so it was there the little orange-coloured paper, tickets were issued, which said Cobb and Co. in black letters. Pew people saw-'.the'coach start .'at 4.30 ■. a.m., • but about 6 p.m. people in Willis street used, to-look out for the big, dusty,' travelstained vehicle with its weary passengers and four tired horses, which would clatter along with a final spurt, for they were just at their journey's end. HORSE, STEAM, HORSE, ELECTRIC. Later Willis" street was very proud as tho .steam--trams .passed along, for there were then not many such . south oi the Lino. ' The story of the steam tramways and the reversion to horses has lately been told as part of the. tramways jubilee story. All types of buildings can be seen in Willis street-to-day—the low weatherboard cottage,- with . the sniall-paued windows, that dates from the 'fifties; tho tall narrow gabled dwellinghouse, with a good deal.of fancy trimming and. scollops in wood;'that was so much admired in the 'seventies; and the ferroconcrete structure of this period. ' It is long since Willis street had' a Post. Office, but from 1856 to 1863 a two-storied building, with two baywindows below and two square windows above, acted as.G.P.Q. for. Wellington. It stood on the west, side near War-' deli's, and was only a temporary affair, as the real G.P.O. in Parish street had just ..been burned ■ down, and tho _ new one, on its present site, was not built. . There has always been a literary.and journalistic flavour about the old street. The first newspaper, the "New Zealand Independent and Cook Strait Gazette," was issued from a building just below Clay Point. Iv 1865 Mr. Henry Bhiudell founded the "Evening Post," which has been published in various parts of Willis street, and its final and centrally situated site now carries one of tho architectural ornaments of that famous thoroughfare. • Even from the v;cry, lirst Willis street

seems to havo been a favourite locality for medical men, as the earliest list of the eight residents' in 1843 gives tho names of two; the number steadily grew until it came to be called the Harley street of .Wellington. ... !t could, of course, bo only a coincidence that tho same neighbourhood seemed to bu ;l popular oho for undertakers. Dentists also congregate thickly in parts of Willis street. Nowadays dentistry is a scientific and highly-trained profession, but it was different iii tho pailie... Then the only cure for an aching tooth was to pull it out, and when the "gum-digger" got, to work there is no doubt that roars of pain and yelps of anguish must have issued from the old-fashioned rooms of tho "dentist's parlour." EDUCATIONAL. ■ Tc Aro Scho.ol was . a magnificent building .when "it was opened in Willis streo't in the early 'eighties. The headmaster then was Mr. Clement Watson, 8.A., who, after a splendid record of long and excellent service, retired a few years. ago.- Now he lives at his residence, Clyde quay, still keenly interested in "iiis "old school ahd' an authority on its past history and pupils. An early schoolmaster at Te Aro School was Mr. Holmes. A well-known school for young ladies! —"a seminary "'was the correct word —was kept in mid-Victorian days by Mrs. and Miss Spinks at their place at the comer of Willis and Dixon streets. Thero tho \pupils Used to assemble in their "quaint clothes, tight little bodices, with prim .little - tuckers to the low necks, and short in the sleeve,' and full and rather long in the skirt. The throe R's were taught diligently. There was a globe with large empty spaces for the interior of Africa and Australia, and a specially useful bookwas "Mangnall's Questions," which supplied history, geography, _ a little botany, and general information. Reading aloud,. embroidery, stitches, and Berlin wool work were taught. The j pupils wore trained, to stand in the second position with their toes well 'turned out. A dunce's cap was a terrible disgrace, a'jid there was a certain corner that good littlo girls only saw from afar. , . / A special, twitter, ran, through tho school when the. Archdeacon was seen, approaching on his periodic visits. It was a long way for the Thorndon children to conic,, and they had to wait for the tide at the . corner of Willis street and Lambton quay, but come they did, for the best. education'was to bo got at Mjss Spinks's. : , • , St. John's Church1 now occupies most of the Spinks property, ' but: the old house still stands intact, hidden'behind f ' ■ ' ' ' '

the big church, whose caretaker now lives in the house. Other old-time schools.in Willis street wore kept at various periods by Mrs. Wilson and by Mrs. Roberts, in the sixties, the Misses Calcott,. and Mrs. Edwards, and Mrs. Otter.'As St. Peter's Had a.Vicar.as early as 1813—ho'was-tho'Rev. Robert Cole —there must have ben a church of somo sort then. He stayed until 1853, when the Be v. Mr. Poole came for three years. Archdeacon Stock, who wa's also military chaplain, was. in charge of St. Peter's from. 1856 to ISSB. . Other incumbents, as they used to bo called, were the Key. Mr. Waters, the Rev. G. P. Davy, and Archdeacon Harper. , When .the old church was done1 away with part of it was moved on a lorry to Webb street,! where ..it became tho place of worship for the Catholic Apostolic sect. Only lately it was pulled down to make room .for a new brick ■church. ..•'•' ',■ ■ , '• Old St. Peter's dock, which has a black face and "brass hands' and figures, is now set in the wall of St. Matthew's, Brooklyn.. ... .-"'.)' A GREAT FIRE. ' '„ \ ' " •'.'.' '■ St. John's Presbyterian Church is the.third of the same name on the same site. Its immediate predecessor was burned down in 1884, in a spectacular lire that drew all Wellington to watch. There was an especially exciting moment when the tall spire fell with a terrific crash,-and a groat mass of flames glowing sparks, and black smoke leapt high in the air. • • Much might be written about the Willis street -hotels.; 'Quite the earliest must have been the Aurora Tavern, named after one of the very first ships. The Melbourne and the. Oriental followed in just*about the same situation. Across the road, and a lit-

tie farther up was the Southern Cross Hotel, whore tho first Freemasons' meot^ ing was held in the early 'forties. Tho present Empire Hotel stands on the same ground as it's predecessor, but the old place was very different. Two green lawns'with shrubs separated that from the roadway, and balconies and verandahs wore prominent. From the front balcony one could watch the busy life of what used to be called, facetiously, the "Empire City." /The Lack, balcony was really more exciting, as it was quite possible to fish from it! The sea came up close to it, and alongside were the watermen's skids ,and boats. Next. door came the first Criterion Hotel, which changed its name iv ISOOJ to the "Duke of Edinburgh" in honour^ of our earliest Itoj'fl.l visitor. . At that time, too, the Brunswick Hotel in Upper Willis street first opened its doors, for it was .founded iv 18(59. For many years the adjacent ground was a large paddock; giant blucgums bordered'it, and it was surrounded by a high paling fence. An old landmark soon to be destroyed is the Albert Hotel, which was originally "The Old Identities." Built by Mr. John Plimmer—who was one himself —at the S.W. corner of Willis and Boulcott streets, it has over each window of the more modern part a sculptured wooden countenance of a wellknown citizen of an earlier period. Some of them are members of the Hall Ministry; others commemorate promoters of the Wellington-Manawatu Railway. It is difficult now to identify them; even their nearest relations are doubtful. Apparently the artist made one stern handsome 'set of features, and then arranged the whiskers differently for each. Hair was hair in those days, too! STATUE OP WAKEFIELD. Hut thu. pride of the building is the life-size statue of 'Edward Gibbon Wukclield, which surmounts the highest point. Clad in a coat with a high roll collar, large buttons, and of a cut to show a. wonderful waistcoat and immaculately fitting small clothes, with a dangling fob, ho stands there, thrccquarte'r length, gazing east. In one hand h.e holds a folded document, presumably the charter of the New Zealand Company. Though Wellington's first-theatre began existence in Manners street, it was soon moved to Willis street, to the site of the Aurora Tavern, which was on the west side, near whore the Carlton now stands. Here it is said was made the first gas in the southern hemisphere, the year being. 1845! A guide book to Wellington written in tho 'eighties assures-us it was "equal in quality and brilliance to that of the present day." Then it candidly admits that is not saying much! Messrs. Marriott and Minifie wero. the pioneer entrepreneurs. A busy place in tho old days was Sutcliffe's shoeing forge, where, in busy times, the clang of iron on iron was heard from dawn till dusk. In the gloom of the interior the glowing fire and the bright sparks made a picturesque scene, with the figures of busy men, the horses waiting. • (To be continued.)