Rev Walter Lawry (detail from First High Street Church as drawn by Lawry portrait by William Gush 1840). INTRODUCTION Once there was a church in the heart of the town’s houses. The town grew and the houses moved away. Churches can only exist among people so the church closed, but lived on in other places where the people were. Twenty- five years later the story of High Street was included in the first major Methodist history for New Zealand. Twice since the story has been briefly retold with some fresh material. Books go out of print, the story is forgotten, life stories are tuckrd onto library shelves mid in reserve stacks. So let’s hear it again, with some new stories. And let us give thanks for the pioneers who built a church here, and were the church here. Preface to first Minute Book On my arrival at , March 171844, on a Sunday morning, I proceeded at once to the chapel, which was not finished, but had been some time occupied; the congregation consisted of fourteen adults, beside a few children. There were several names on the paper, but about five persons regularly met in class. Since then the chapel has completely filled, and the Society is now about sixty in number. The chapel has just been enlarged about a third and still we want room. The old debt is paid off and the enlargement which has cost about 180 pounds is also paid fo,r leaving no debt whatever. The Deed from the Crown conveyed the premises to five persons, and to their heirs, not in Trust, but in perpetuity; these persons I have induced to sign over the premises, on the Trusts named on the Model Deed. So that now the premises are the Bona fide property of the Wesleyan Church for ever.

WALTER LAWRY GENERAL SUPERINTENDANT NEW ZEALAND AUCKLAND 1846

Copy of Preface to first Minute Book, reduced; transcript above.

EARLY AUCKLAND AND THE WESLEYANS Auckland began as a settlement of officials sent by the Governor in Russell. The Anna Watson brought the group that was to complete the negotiations with the Maori owners and prepare the transfer from Russell. The founding ceremony was on 18 September 1840. Also present was the Platina with a few settlers from Wellington. and his partner, Brown, joined the settlement three months later. The first settler ships, the Jane Gtfford and the Duchess of Argyle did not arrive until October 1842. Meanwhile settlers moved in from Russell, Wellington, Australia and other places. The three missionary churches - Anglican, Wesleyan and Roman Catholic - had all moved to establish in the new capital, and to take on the additional role of settler churches. A raupo building was used as a church by Anglicans and Wesleyans. A Wesleyan sawpit, the Courthouse, and an auction room were also used. Bishop Selwyn opened St Paul’s on May 7, 1843, the Wesleyans opened their modest chapel on July 2, 1843, and St Patrick’s was opened on March 17, 1844; and the new Wesleyan Superintendent, arriving unexpectedly, found his new congregation depleted as a result. At the time of settlement people were neither of the age nor status to have a portrait painted. Photography came later: then they were long past their youth. The slow exposure required perfect stillness - with the resulting images often of rather sombre old people. But usually the settlers were young people raising their families. The three stalwarts of the Wesleyan group were young men in their mid-twenties scrambling to establish home, family and church. Prices were high at the first land sale in May 1841, but the pattern of development was established. More important than Queen Street were Shortland Street and Princes Street. The rise and the high ground were better than the muddy bottom of the valley, at least for houses. The officials had the high ground between Government House and Official Bay to the east of Britomart Point. Churches sought out the prime high ground. The Governor made grants for St Paul’s, St Patrick’s the Wesleyan Chapel. He recognised the importance of the churches for the community, and he had been dependent on them in preparing the Treaty. The Wesleyans shortly had two churches: the High Street Chapel and the Mission (Maori) Church overlooking Mechanics Bay, just north of Constitution Hill. The stages of settlement were clear. First only tents, followed by buildings for officials, and a prefabricated Government House. Settlers began with tents and raupo huts and everything was temporary until the land sales. The wooden buildings followed at a rapid pace. Young people building a first house would work from dawn until dark. Three of the foundation Wesleyans were involved in timber cutting, milling, building, joinery and cabinet making. Young and vigorous, they established homes, families and church. They were businessmen and chapelmen. The Governor died in September 1842. The Anglicans conducted the funeral and the Wesleyans provided the undertakers. They buried a friend and designed and constructed the vault. The first Wesleyan Chapel was a simple weatherboard building on a brick foundation. No builder is recorded, but with the three lay trustees being partners in the main building firm the work was almost certainly that of Stone, Langford and Gardiner “builders, cabinetmakers and undertakers”. WESLEYANS, CHAPEL AND CHURCH The first Wesleyans came before the first settler ships. They must have sought each other out and promoted their faith, first with one another and then with fellow settlers. The official history is that Rev. James Buller preached in Auckland a year and a day after the founding. He had gone from Tangiteroria on the Northern Wairoa to the Kaipara Heads to investigate the drowning at a contingent of Methodists on the Sophia Pate, wrecked there. He followed the captain and crew to Auckland to lay charges of theft of possessions of the deceased. For three Sundays he stayed in Auckland waiting. On the first, September 19, 1841, he preached first to the Maoris at gardens beyond the town, perhaps north of One Tree Hill. Then he preached to settlers at a covered sawpit at Mechanics Bay, and later at other sites. He formed a Class Meeting of five, though were more than five Wesleyans in three families! Perhaps only the men were recorded, or available. He also baptised the first white baby boy born in Auckland – the entry however was recorded at Tangiteroria! Did Buller preach the first Wesleyan sermon? Rev. Rugby Pratt claimed that his great uncle, Mr Florence Gardiner did, at the same sawpit. He was a local preacher in Australia, and Wesleyans would get on with preaching to their group and their fellow settlers, and preaching continued after Buller left. The local preacher was Wesley’s response to many Societies and few ministers. They established new Societies and then new churches. Gardiner was the key preacher, assisted by Mr Joseph Robinson, William Culpan and Thomas Russell. The sawpit at Mechanics Bay would have been Stone’s (Gardiner and Stone ware both partners and brothers-in-law). John A Langford, the other partner, had his house in Chancery Lane with a 12 foot square carpenter shop attached. That shop was a centre for Class Meetings and even for services. Buller was promised a site grant by the Governor and his choice was approved. The knoll once overtopped most of the surrounding land and buildings. It was in an open space between Vulcan Lane and Victoria Street. High Street itself was narrow and petered out at Durham Lane to a path. Planning was recorded by Buller: requests for a church, promises of money, negotiation with the Governor. Buller made a further visit. In May 1843 tenders were advertised for bricks, lime and sand for the foundations. On July 2 the chapel was officially opened by Rev. John Warren from Waima, 200 kilometres away on the Hokianga, and Buller 160 kilometres away on the Northern Wairoa. The opening was dependent on their successful arrival. They came, they saw, they opened. The chapel was a first step only, and was almost immediately paid for. The opening collections were about ten per cent of the cost - 10 pounds, 14 shillings and a penny ha’penny, which is as precise as you can get, give or take a farthing. By the time the building was up, a vestry was to be added at further cost; in 1846 it was enlarged by a third, again paid for at completion, and as the congregation grew, extensions and replacements followed. As Rev. Lawry put it “still we want room”.

High Street Wesleyan Chapel 1848 The foundation stone of the brick building was laid in May 1848 and the building opened on October 22, 1848. The architect was Walter Robertson and the builder was Henry White, a member. The 70 foot by 50 foot building was extended to 86 feet in the late 50’s and galleries ware added. With a seating capacity of 1050 it was the largest in Auckland. An entrepreneur later offered to purchase it for a concert venue but the offer was declined. Buller reported the opening: “We think we shall ever look back with pleasurable feelings on the day which opened the first Wesleyan Chapel in any European settlement of New Zealand”. Rev. John Warren preached in the morning on Corinthians 3:11 (Other foundation can no man lay...); Rev. James Buller in the afternoon on Chronicles 7:1 (The glory of the Lord filled the house); and Warren again in the evening on Isaiah 53:5 (He was wounded for our transgressions ...). There is no record of the hymns. The ministers came, the ministers left. The local preachers carried on. The church wanted a minister and recommended John Warren, who was duly appointed by the Northern District but could not then be released. They asked the Southern District to help out and Rev. George Buttle was sent a few months after the opening. Auckland, the outpost of Tangiteroria, became the outpost of Raglan/Kawhia. Buttle awaited the new Superintendent, Rev. Walter Lawry. There had been almost a four-year gap at the head of the mission, with Rev. John Hobbs acting head. Rev. John Bumby had drowned at 31, north of Rakino Island, after the accidental capsize of a canoe, three months before Auckland was founded. Lawry, aged 50, found the physical strain of “violent and wasting travels” an ordeal. He had his headquarters at Official Bay, superintended all the mission stations, maintained contacts with the Pacific (he had been a pioneer missionary to Tonga) and fostered the settler churches, in particular High Street.

High Street Wesleyan Chapel, final phase. His house was at about the present junction of Anzac Avenue and Parliament Street (and he had the best garden in Auckland). At the water’s edge (now Beach Road) was a stone store for mission supplies. Between house and store, and near Constitution Hill, was a large Maori Church and schoolroom, built a little later than the chapel and surviving until a fire in 1896. Buller had stressed the need of an experienced missionary fluent in Maori. The white group was small, the Maori group (Wesleyans) large. Maoris from various tribes were open to bad influences in the new settlement. Buller had preached to the Maoris first at the gardens of the Wesleyan Chief, Jabez Bunting (Epiha Putini) a couple of miles from the town. Putinis pa was on the Waiuku Peninsula at Pehiakura and his garden supplies would be an important trade item for the settlers. On his second Auckland visit Buller had preached to 200 in a long house at the gardens, given communion and conducted baptisms. The church’s mission now was to both Maori and settler. High Street numbers were initially small. The pews were of a box kind, and uncomfortable. There was an offer of an organ, declined at first for an unnamed reason, and then accepted. The Chapel is recorded in drawings and appears to be the building photographed later at the rear of the brick church. The brick church itself is photographed in early and late periods, but there is no record of the interior, apart from its having galleries. Pews were rented, and there were stone tablets to commemorate Rev. John Bumby and Rev. John Skevington who died suddenly in his pew during an evening service, at 30. High Street was the mother church. Wherever they were the Wesleyans worked at their Class Meetings, their worship and their evangelism. Parnell, Grafton, Hobson Street, Union Street, Pitt Street, East Street, Ponsonby, Kingsland, Mt Albert, Epsom, Onehunga, The Wade, Mahurangi. Class Meetings often developed into churches. There were Wesleyans among the soldiers on Barrack Hill. They attended at High Street. Their red uniforms gave colour. There was a Class Meeting for soldiers only, and the Barrack Master, Mr Graham, was a respected member.

View of Auckland harbor from Barrack Hill, rear of Chapel, about 1864 Land at the centre was dear, land not very far away was only a fraction of the cost. Housing moved out, and the centre became increasingly commercial. New churches met the need at distant Grafton, Parnell, Hobson Street, Newton, and Ponsonby. Churches grow where people live. Pitt Street took on the role that had been that of High Street, which was closed in 1874. The congregation of High Street and all the Sunday School went up to the Pitt Street Church. High Street was sold to the Auckland Commissioners. Pitt Street, with its new group of experienced Wesleyans, became in its turn a mother of churches. High Street became the Magistrates Court, and the Land and Deeds Office, for over a hundred years. Dominant to begin with, the building was in turn dwarfed. It was demolished in 1979. PEOPLE LIKE US It is easier to get information about events than about the people, but even events begin to build a picture of the person. The sources are few: Church histories, newspapers and family histories. Captain James Stone attended the first Wesleyan service - in his own sawpit. “Captain” is confusing as it is a given name. He emigrated at 17 with his family to Hobart, in 1834, and on to Melbourne in 1839. He was a solicitor’s clerk but found it more profitable to learn building. He had missed his chance in Melbourne, so with a young wife he headed for Wellington with a prefabricated house in May 1840. The New Zealand Company was unwelcoming. After a short time at the Hutt with John A Langford he dismantled his house and went to Auckland. His brother-in-law joined him there in the firm of Stone, Langford and Gardiner.

View of Auckland harbor from Barrack Hill, rear of Chapel, about 1864 He re-erected his house at the time of the time of the first land sales (in Shortland Street) and claimed to have built the first wooden house. His first child, Charles Burrell, was born there on March 27, 1841. John Logan Campbell attended, and later gave an affidavit, as the birth preceded the setting up of a register of births. Charles was the first white boy, and probably the first white child, born in Auckland. He was to become the President of the Auckland Savings Bank in 1901. Captain was partner in many early Auckland firms, and obviously a key person among the pioneers. Although he was benevolent, he was against unnecessary expense on ornamentation in churches. High Street’s austere lines must have pleased him. Mr Florence Gardiner was Stone’s brother-in-law: they married sisters. His unusual given name marks his father’s business with the Italian city. Born in Sydney, he went to Hobart at the age of three, in 1818. He was the very first Sunday School pupil to be enrolled in the first Wesleyan Sunday School in Australasia, in 1820. He became a local preacher and a Sunday School teacher, in Hobart. Gardiner was the close friend of John Batman and John Fawkner, the founders of Melbourne, and in New Zealand regarded Hobson as a friend. In Melbourne he was twice attacked by Aborigines with boomerangs in the area that is now the City of St Kilda. Gardiner was the preacher founding the Auckland churches, preaching the first sermon and sustaining the congregation between visits from minister. He acquired considerable fluency in Maori, preaching in both the settler church and Maori meetings. John A Langford had emigrated to Adelaide but left the early difficulties with some disappointment, for better opportunities in Wellington. A cabinetmaker, he teamed up with Stone, building, milling, and even repairing Stone’s boat. He built in Chancery Lane, with a carpenter shop attached to his house. That was to become a home and a church for the early group. He was in partnership with the other two. All three above, with another partner, built the first paddle steamer for Auckland, the Governor Wynyard, in 1851. The ship was sold off and taken to Melbourne in 1852. Gardiner and Langford stayed in Australia, but Stone returned to New Zealand after a few years. Langford became one of the father figures of Australasian Methodism. Those three were the lay trustees elected at a public meeting as required by the Governor. The other two trustees were the missionaries Hobbs and Buller. Rev. James Buller is famous for his journeys. He set out from Tangiteroria to travel overland to Wellington to help the Maon teacher established there by Bumby. He arrived the day before the first settler ships. He went aboard to preach the first sermon (the Presbyterians held their service when they were ashore). Thus he was a pioneer of both Auckland and Wellington. Later he was to be the first minister at Pitt Street. Father William Culpan, a Yorkshire whitesmith and local preacher, emigrated at the age of 60 in 1842, preaching in the Jane Gifford on the voyage. His style must have been rather attractive and lively. He installed the first organ and was known for his unusual talents. His “memorial” in the lay preacher minutes refers in a rather forced phrase to a “sweet singer in Israel”. At 60 he was a generation or more older than the usual, so the term used to distinguish him from his son has an aptness. William Thorne was a later trustee. On arrival in New Zealand he went to join James Busby in Russell. Some Maoris came to use the grindstone to sharpen an axe. Only later did he find that it was then used to cut down the flagpole. Drafted during the Land Wars for guard duty at the Barracks, he nearly shot a fellow militia man. He did not hear the password and realised his loss of hearing was a danger to others. At least he was regraded and got his discharge. Prominent laymen were William Chisholm Wilson who was a partner in the newspaper “The New Zealander”, and later a co-founder of the “New Zealand Herald” in 1863. John Williamson too was a printer and editor. He was an early town councillor and rose to be Superintendent of the Auckland Province. Rev. Walter Lawry was a sociable man with a keen mind, but his quick tongue gave some offence. Perhaps he was not sombre enough for some. He inherited some wealth from his first wife and brought it on to New Zealand to help church purposes. Some found him too commercial and he had to make a special trip to England to clear his name. He was cleared and some others had to eat humble pie, but somehow he managed to restore relations with those who might have been perceived as having sought to harm him. His Tongan Mission had caused him great expense, and he calculated that six years overseas (Australia and Tonga) had left him 1343 pounds out of pocket. During the Northern War Lawry returned to his Official Bay house to find redcoats stacking his furniture outside ready to burn it. They were sore about a gibe going round about “Scarlet Runners” after a reported skirmish defeat. Lawry was the suspect. He denied it and calm was restored. But his quick mind and tongue were such as to invite the suspicion. At this distance thatwo uld invite some respect. It is stories of such people that help us to see our forebears as people, human yet serious about their faith. We see them as a church community serious about worship, prayer, Bible study, hymn singing, Class Meetings and Methodist discipline. They were much involved as the makers of Auckland: sellers of goods, providers of jobs, benevolent and charitable. Many married within their church community. L P Hartley began a novel with a famous line “The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there”. Yet even foreigners are still people. You can look back here and recognise people like us.

Auckland from the wharves (after the Hogan lithograph of 1852). Early view of Wesleyan Chapel (1848) upper left; three-storeyed Wesleyan College at right, middle distance.

Looking west towards Ponsonby, 1857 – Wesleyan Chapel is the large dark shape left of centre.