Oamaru, Otago One Place Study

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: Oamaru, Otago, New Zealand
Surnames/tags: One_Place_Studies New_Zealand

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Contents 1 Oamaru, Otago One Place Study 1.1 Name 1.2 Geography 1.3 History 2 Iconic Buildings and who lived there 2.1 Oamaru Oldest Wood House, 1861 2.2 Pen'y'brn, 1889 2.3 Brookfield Park, 1880 2.4 Janet Frame House, 1910 3 Mayors 4 Population 4.1 Notables 5 Sources

Oamaru, Otago One Place Study

• Wikidata: Item Q4782, en:Wikipedia
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Name

Oamaru (/ˌɒməˈruː/ (listen); Māori: Te Oha-a-Maru) is the largest town in North Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand, it is the main town in the Waitaki District.

Geography

Continent: Oceania

Country: New Zealand

Region: Otago

Territorial Authority: Waitaki District

GPS Coordinates: -45.098, 170.971

Elevation: 2m / 7 ft

History

1850s Oamaru

In the 1850s, European settlers made their way to the Oamaru area. In 1853, Hugh Robison arrived and constructed a sod hut near Oamaru Creek to establish his sheep run. Later, in 1859, John Turnbull Thomson (1821-1884) surveyed the area and designated it as a town. The Otago Provincial government declared "hundreds" in the region on November 30, 1860. Oamaru quickly became a bustling service centre, catering to the agricultural and pastoral hinterland between the Kakanui Mountains and the Waitaki River. It also emerged as a prominent port.

The town's growth was aided by various public works projects, including the development of the harbour. From the 1860s onwards, a thriving export trade in wool and grain further boosted Oamaru's prosperity. This growth was partially driven by the construction of a breakwater designed by engineer John McGregor, which commenced in 1871. The construction of this breakwater also played a significant role in the evolution of new crane designs.

Located beneath Cape Wanbrow at Friendly Bay, Oamaru featured a commercial and fishing harbour for many years. The town thrived with the rise of pastoralism and the frozen-meat industry, which had roots just south of Oamaru at Totara. As the town flourished, notable institutions such as the Athenaeum, Chief Post Office, and Waitaki Boys' and Waitaki Girls' High Schools were established. The abundance of limestone, known as Oamaru stone, in the area, made it an ideal material for carving, attracting skilled designers and craftsmen such as John Lemon (abt.1828-1890), Thomas Forrester (1838-1907), and his son John Meggett Forrester (1865-1965).

By the 1880s, Oamaru boasted an impressive collection of buildings and had earned the reputation of being the "best built and most mortgaged town in Australasia," despite facing the challenges of the economic depression during that period.

Thomas Nightingale. Oamaru Fire Brigade

James & Margaret Cooney of Oamaru, 1920s

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Iconic Buildings and who lived there

Oamaru Oldest Wood House, 1861

House is a Category 2 Historic Place, listed with the address 54 Tyne Street, Oamaru.

This storey-and-a-half timber house overlooking Oamaru Harbour is an early residence from the first decade of settlement in Oamaru and has architectural and historical significance. The land on which this house is built was first granted to Fairfax Fenwick in June 1861, but the first title was issued to hotelkeeper Thomas Procter in 1877. The application for the Crown grant indicates that Fenwick sold the land to Matthew Holmes, Holmes to George Hodgkinson in 1866 and Hodgkinson to Procter in 1877. Matthew Holmes held the Awamoa run near Oamaru, and Castle Rock in Southland. A descendant records that the house was erected by builder and architect Michael Grenfell as his residence in the 1860s. Grenfell arrived in Oamaru around September 1860. George Grenfell recalls that ‘in the year 1860, two pioneers Messrs M Grenfell and J Thompson are busy erecting their new homes. Thomas Proctor sold the property to William Dukes Steward in 1878. Financial difficulties forced Steward to sell the property in the 1880s and it was transferred to Francis Fulton in 1880. Fulton transferred to property to Mary Ann Hastings in 1891 (she was the mortgagee who forced the sale). Hastings subdivided the property in 1896. Lot A was transferred to master mariner James Dick. The subdivision plan shows two residences. Later advertisements provide more information. In 1880, the mortgagee offered for auction Section 4 Block I ‘together with 7-roomed house thereon, now occupied by Mr McAuslin.’ In 1902, after the land was subdivided, ‘Part Section 4, Block 1, Tyne street, on which is erected a good 7-roomed house, new Shacklock Ranges, and 2 Register Grates; good Washhouse, with 18-gallon boiler built in; good Fruit Garden.’ In 1916, E.W. Grenfell was granted a permit for additions to the dwelling on this section. In the twentieth century the house has had a succession of owners and in 2015, remains a private residence.

Pen'y'brn, 1889

Pen'y'brn is a Category 1 Historic Place, listed with the address 41 Towey Street, Oamaru.

Pen'y'brn, which means "top of the hill" when translated from the Welsh, was designed for John Bulleid (1851-1910) by the Oamaru-based architectural partnership of Forrester and Lemon (Co-owned by Architech John M. Forrester (1865-1965)) and built by local contractors Rosie and Tait. Bulleid was a local merchant who had previously commissioned Forrester and Lemon to design his business premises in Thames Street.

After his death, Pen'y'brn remained in the Bulleid family until 1920 when it was sold by auction along with most of its contents. James McDiarmid (1871-1943), who owned the local footwear manufacturing business, bought the house and most of its surrounding land at that auction. Pen'y'bryn remained in the ownership of the McDiarmid family, James Ewart McDiarmid (1898-1967) inherited the home in 1943, and his son Kenneth Boyd McDiarmid (1928-2002) inherited it from him. Kenneth sold the home in 1993 for NZD$503k to new, private owners, it was then sold again in 1997 for NZD$660k. In Jan 2010, American partners, James Glucksman and James Boussy purchased the historic mansion for NZD$1.05m and turned it into a high-end boutique lodge

Brookfield Park, 1880

Brookfield Park is a Category 2 Historic Place, listed with the address 62 Weston Road, Oamaru.

Brookfield Park was designed by local architectural firm Forrester and Lemon (Co-Owned by architect Thomas Forrester (1838-1907)) for John Campbell Gilchrist (1831-1906), he was the 1st Mayor of Oamaru. After John passed away, his Son Neil Campbell Gilchrist (1867-1951), and daughter Jessie Agnes Gilchrist (1863-1942) inherited the home they were born in. 1942, Jessie died in the house after living 79 years here.

It was sold in 2001 and then again in 2003 to the current owner Jennifer (JJ) Rendell who bought the property for NZD$700k with the intention of returning Brookfield to its former glory as a family home and estate. (See Website)

Janet Frame House, 1910

Janet Frame House is a Category 3 Historic Place, listed with the address 56 Eden Street, Oamaru.

This is the childhood home of Janet Paterson (Frame) Clutha ONZ CBE (1924-2004), On 13 November 2003, then-Prime Minister Helen Clark cut one of Janet's typewriter ribbons to officially open the house as a museum. Since then, the Janet Frame Eden Street Trust hosted thousands of Frame fans from around the world, who come here to see how this little cottage in Oamaru shaped Janet's life and work.

Mayors

Key

🟩Connected

🟥 Unconnected

📷Photo

Oamaru Borough Council

1. 🟩📷John Campbell Gilchrist JP 1866 - 1867
2. 🟩Samuel Gibbs 1867 - 1870
3. 🟥James Udall JP 1870 - 1872
4. 🟩📷Dr John Stubbs Wait 1872 - 1874
5. 🟩📷Samuel Edward Shrimski 1874 - 1875
6. 🟩📷George Sumpter JP 1875 - 1876
7. 🟩📷William Jukes Steward 1876 - 1879
8. 🟩Samuel Gibbs 1879 -1881
9. 🟩Thomas Procter 1881 - 1884
10. 🟩📷John Falconer 1884 - 1886* Died in Office, John Sinclair was acting Mayor
11. 🟩📷William Christie Nov 1886 - May 1888
12. 🟩📷David Dunn 1888 - 1893
13. 🟩William Waddell 1893–1896
14. 🟩📷Henry Aitken 1896 - 1898
15. 🟩📷John Marshall Brown JP 1898 - 1901
16. 🟩📷Allan Hedley (1842-1918) 1901 - 1903
17. 🟩📷John Marshall Brown JP 1903 - 1904
18. 🟩📷Robert Milligan JP 1905 -1911
19. 🟩📷Kenneth McAdam 1911 - 1913
20. 🟩📷William Henry Frith 1914 - 1917
21. 🟩📷Robert Milligan JP 1917 - 1919)
22. 🟩📷James McDiarmid Esq. 1919 - 1928
23. 🟩📷Frank Crawshaw 1928 - 1931
24. 🟩📷John Meggett Forrester 1931 - 1933
25. 🟩📷Michael Francis Edward Cooney 1933 - 1937
26. 🟩📷Louis John Kemnitz Familton 1938 -1941
27. 🟩John Craigie Kirkness 1941 - 1947
28. 🟩📷Michael Francis Edward Cooney 1947 - 1956
29. 🟩📷William Ross Laney 1956 - 1974
30. 🟩📷Rex Douglas Allen QSO 1974 - 1977
31. 🟥📷Reginald James Denny 1977 - 1992 (1989 Merger Waitaki District Council)
32. 🟥Duncan Taylor 1992 - 2001
33. 🟥Alan John McLay 2001 - 2007
34. 🟥Alex Familton 2007 - 2013
35. 🟥Gary Kircher 2013 - Now

Population

Notables

Also, See People from Oamaru on Wikipedia

• John Christian (Tanck) Watson (1867-1941), Third Prime Minister of Australia
• William Edward Hay-MacKenzie (1874-1946), All Black Player
• Janet Paterson (Frame) Clutha ONZ CBE (1924-2004), author
• John McLean (1818-1902) (New Zealand politician)
• Jessie Bicknell ARRC (1871-1956) WWI Nurse
• Isabella Clark (1885-1915) WWI Nurse
• Thomas Lindsay Buick C.M.G. (1865-1938) politician, Journalist and a historian

Sources

• Oamaru on Wikipedia