Mercer Morgue (Former), MERCER (List No

New Zealand Heritage List/Rārangi Kōrero – Report for a Historic Place Mercer Morgue (Former), MERCER (List No. 1560, Category 2)

Mercer Morgue (Former), looking southeast from Glass Road (Martin Jones, HNZPT, 18 March 2021)

Martin Jones Last amended 15 June 2021 Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga

TABLE OF CONTENTS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3

1. IDENTIFICATION 4 1.1. Name of Place 4 1.2. Location Information 4 1.3. Legal Description 5 1.4. Extent of List Entry 5 1.5. Eligibility 5 1.6. Existing Heritage Recognition 5

2. SUPPORTING INFORMATION 6 2.1. Historical Information 6 2.2. Physical Information 16 2.3. Chattels 26 2.4. Sources 26

3. SIGNIFICANCE ASSESSMENT 27 3.1. Section 66 (1) Assessment 27 3.2. Section 66 (3) Assessment 28

4. APPENDICES 31 4.1. Appendix 1: Visual Identification Aids 31 4.2. Appendix 2: Visual Aids to Historical Information 34 4.3. Appendix 3: Visual Aids to Physical Information 34 4.4. Appendix 4: Significance Assessment Information 34

Disclaimer

Please note that entry on the New Zealand Heritage List/Rārangi Kōrero identifies only the heritage values of the property concerned, and should not be construed as advice on the state of the property, or as a comment of its soundness or safety, including in regard to earthquake risk, safety in the event of fire, or insanitary conditions. Archaeological sites are protected by the Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Act 2014, regardless of whether they are entered on the New Zealand Heritage List/Rārangi Kōrero or not. Archaeological sites include ‘places associated with pre-1900 human activity, where there may be evidence relating to the history of New Zealand’. This List entry report should not be read as a statement on whether or not the archaeological provisions of the Act apply to the property (s) concerned. Please contact your local Heritage New Zealand office for archaeological advice.

Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No. 1560 2

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Purpose of this report The purpose of this report is to provide evidence to support the inclusion of Mercer Morgue (Former) in the New Zealand Heritage List/Rārangi Kōrero as a Category 2 historic place.

Summary Regarded as tapu, the Mercer Morgue (Former) lies within a landscape at Te Paina of high significance to Waikato Māori. The small concrete structure was built in 1936, and forms a relatively uncommon survival of an early to mid-twentieth century rural morgue. Situated within the Mercer cemetery reserve, the building reflects shifts from the employment of rudimentary hotel morgues to more sanitary structures erected by civic authorities. Construction occurred soon after its predecessor - an ‘airless’ structure forming part of the Mercer Hotel - had been exposed as unsuitable by an article published in the campaigning newspaper New Zealand Truth, demonstrating the power of national newspapers at this time. Believed to have been used until the early 1960s, the building accommodated individuals from both Pākehā and Māori communities. The structure is considered tapu for its associations with death and tūpāpaku, and was blessed in 2020.

The site lies within an important landscape at Te Paina occupied by Māori communities for many centuries, including those connected with Waikato-Tainui. In the early 1860s, it lay immediately to the south of the aukati or boundary established by the Kīngitanga movement to preserve Māori autonomy in the area. The adjacent landscape contains remnants linked with the defence of this land and subsequent invasion by Crown forces in 1863, after which the land was subject to raupatu or confiscation - creating long-term suffering for its Māori inhabitants. After Mercer’s emergence as a colonial township, Mercer cemetery was established in 1881. A strong Māori presence remained, particularly after Te Puea Hērangi created Te Paina kāinga in the 1910s.

In September 1936, a single-room morgue was erected within the cemetery reserve by local builder Frank Hitchcock. This occurred three months after the New Zealand Truth, a popular and controversial national newspaper, published an article decrying insanitary, hotel-based morgues in country communities and illustrating it with an image of the existing morgue in the Mercer Hotel. Morgues were specifically for holding bodies or tūpāpaku whose examination might be required for a coroner’s inquest - the latter events traditionally held in hotels during the colonial period, and later in more remote areas. Commissioned by the Mercer Town Board, the new morgue contained more up-to-date sanitary facilities, including ventilation, washable surfaces and a water supply from an adjoining concrete tank. The building interior was also painted and provided with window shuttering,

Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No. 1560 3 respectively for greater dignity and privacy. Three years after its completion, improved internal drainage was also supplied.

The bodies of individuals belonging to both the Pākehā and Māori communities were held at various times inside the building. Within a Māori context, structures such as morgues would have been foreign and uncomfortable, as at this time they were built according to European concepts that did not specifically accommodate tikanga being carried out. On one occasion, the morgue housed the tūpāpaku of a young man, Kōpū Puru, brought from Te Kauwhata, some 20 kilometres distant. On another, the remains of two railway employees who died in a train accident involving the Auckland- Wellington express near Mercer Station were simultaneously held in the building. A subsequent Board of Inquiry concluded that all trains should be fitted with speedometers, and that improved signage be added before bends to enable trains to slow down. This occurred in 1940, at the peak of passenger rail transport in New Zealand.

The morgue is believed to have been used until approximately 1962, when Mercer Town Board was disbanded. Remaining tapu, the building was blessed by representatives of the Māori Anglican Church in 2020, in a ceremony attended by other community members.

1. IDENTIFICATION1 1.1. Name of Place

Name Mercer Morgue (Former)

Other Names Morgue

1.2. Location Information

Address 24 Glass Road MERCER

Additional Location Information NZTM Easting: 1782338.0

1 This section is supplemented by visual aids in Appendix 1 of the report.

Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No. 1560 4

NZTM Northing: 5872455.02

Local Authority Waikato District Council

1.3. Legal Description

Lot 96A Parish of Koheroa (NZ Gazette 1881, p.1221) and Legal Road, North Auckland Land District.

1.4. Extent of List Entry

Extent includes part of the land described as Lot 96A Parish of Koheroa (NZ Gazette 1881, p.1221) and part of the land described as Legal Road, North Auckland Land District, and the building and structures known as Mercer Morgue (Former), thereon. (Refer to map in Appendix 1 of the List entry report for further information).

1.5. Eligibility

There is sufficient information included in this report to identify this place. This place is physically eligible for consideration as a historic place. It consists of land, and a building and structures that are fixed to land which lies within the territorial limits of New Zealand.

1.6. Existing Heritage Recognition

Local Authority and Regional Authority Plan Scheduling Not scheduled in Waikato District Plan, Operative 26 March 2013, or Waikato Regional Plan, Operative April 2012. Not included in the Proposed Waikato District Plan, 18 July 2018.

2 Approximate centre of the place.

Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No. 1560 5

2. SUPPORTING INFORMATION 2.1. Historical Information

Early history

Traditionally known as Te Paina, the area now occupied by Mercer township is strategically situated beside the Waikato River, to the south of the latter’s confluence with the Mangatāwhiri awa. Tangata whenua consider both waterways to be sacred, with the latter being tapu as the home of three taniwha: Karu Tahi, the one-eyed guardian; Waiwaia, the wanderer; and Te Ia Roa, the swift.3 Incorporating a mixture of riverine, swamp and cultivable land, Te Paina was rich in food and other resources necessary for human settlement.4 Sometimes contested, it contained a number of different settlement types, including fortified pā such as one a short distance to the northwest of the current Mercer cemetery.5 The area is associated with the whakapapa, tūpuna, kaitiaki and oral traditions of Waikato-Tainui including the hapū of Ngāti Amaru, Te Uri o Haupa, Ngāti Naho, Ngāti Mahuta, Ngāti Te Aho, Ngāti Haua, Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Pou, Ngāti Tamaoho, Te Ākitai Waiohua, Ngāti Te Ata, Ngāti Tipa, Ngāti Paoa, Ngā Muka Development Trust Marae and the descendants of those people for whom Te Pūaha o Waikato and Kei o Te Waka rohe was home.6

After the arrival of large-scale European settlement on the Tāmaki isthmus in the 1840s, Te Paina remained under Māori control. With rising tensions between Waikato iwi and the Crown in the 1850s and 1860s, the Mangatāwhiri River became the northern aukati or boundary of lands loyal to the Kīngitanga movement, which sought to retain Māori autonomy. In 1863, Crown troops crossed the Mangatāwhiri just north of Te Paina, marking the beginning of the British invasion of the Waikato. To slow down the British advance, Kīngitanga forces created defensive entrenchments on ridges to the north and south of the current Mercer cemetery. The Koheroa ridges to the north formed the site of the first encounters between the Crown and Kīngitangi forces in the Waikato War (1863-4), where both sides suffered casualties.7

3 Makere Rika-Heke, ‘Registration Report for a Wāhi Tapu, Te Aukati Ki Mangatawhiri, Pokeno (Register no. 9632)’, New Zealand Historic Places Trust Pouhere Taonga, 2013, p.5. 4 Rika-Heke, 2013, p.9. 5 New Zealand Archaeological Association Site Recording Scheme, Record No. S12/14. 6 Rika-Heke, 2013, p.7. 7 Vincent O’ Malley, The Great War for New Zealand: Waikato 1800-2000, Wellington, 2016. pp.232-3.

Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No. 1560 6

‘The Action on the Koheroa Ridges, 17th July 1863’, with approximate location of current Mercer cemetery circled (J. E. Alexander, Bush Fighting: Illustrated by Remarkable Actions and Incidents of the Maori War in New Zealand, London, 1873, p.40).8

Establishment of Mercer township and cemetery

As Government forces moved further south, Te Paina (subsequently referred to by the colonisers as Point Russell, and later Mercer) became a supply point on the Waikato River for the invading troops.9 The area was formally possessed by the Crown during subsequent raupatu or confiscation of Māori-held lands - an event that caused lasting suffering to affected iwi and hapū, adding further trauma to the immediate impacts of invasion.10 In 1866, the land around Mercer was subdivided into farming blocks.11 A railway line connecting Auckland with Mercer was completed by 1875, and soon extended further south to Ngāruawāhia.12 During the 1870s, the growing township contained a number of

8 http://www.enzb.auckland.ac.nz/document/?wid=3420&page=1&action=null [accessed 12 Mar 2021]. 9 Brenda Sewell, ‘State Highway 1 Mercer to Longswamp Realignment: Archaeological Investigations’, unpublished report for Transit New Zealand, 2001, p.3. 10 ‘Sketch Map of the North Island of New Zealand shewing native tribal boundaries, topographical features, confiscated lands, military and police stations etc.’, 1869, Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections NZ Map 471. In 1883, politician Hirini Rāwiri Taiwhanga was reported as saying that the Mangatāwhiri Block formed ‘the first native territory touched by the confiscation’: New Zealand Herald (NZH), 30 Oct 1883, p.6. Taiwhanga visited Mercer for a hui during his promotion of a petition that included ‘a request that the Native Land Court be replaced by committees of chiefs to investigate land ownership, and that the mana of foreshores and fisheries be returned to the Māori’: Claudia Orange, 'Taiwhanga, Hirini Rāwiri', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1993, Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/2t4/taiwhanga-hirini-rawiri [accessed 16 Mar 2021]. 11 Sewell, 2001, p.5. 12 ibid.

Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No. 1560 7

government buildings, commercial structures such as a store and two hotels, and infrastructure connected with the wharf and railway.13

View of Mercer in 1901, showing the Point Russell and Railway Hotels, with the cemetery situated out of view to the lower right of the image (Auckland Weekly News, 3 May 1901, p.4; Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections AWNS-19010503-4-2).

In 1881, a large cemetery reserve to the east of the township was established.14 Prevailing European views about health and sanitation led to the cemetery being established some distance from the town centre. Although a five-acre reserve was created adjoining Cemetery (now Glass) Road, only a small part of this area actively functioned as a burial ground. It subsequently formed the final destination for many inhabitants of the area, with funeral corteges occurring from respective places of residence to the site of burial.15 From 1914, care of the cemetery formed the responsibility of the Mercer Town Board.16 Elected by ratepayers, the Board had oversight for a range of matters in the township which, apart from aspects of public health, also included regulation of street activity and maintenance, building construction and similar issues.17

13 SO 2131, North Auckland Land District. 14 New Zealand Gazette 1881, p.1221. Previously, settlers had often been taken to other settlements for burial: Daily Southern Cross (DSC), 5 Jan 1875, p.3; NZH, 14 Nov 1876, p.2; 6 Jan 1880, p.6; Auckland Star (AS), 8 Aug 1877, p.3. 15 AS, 3 Jul 1894, p.8; NZH, 19 Apr 1895, p.5; 29 Jun 1898, p.4; 11 Dec 1900, p.1; 25 Oct 1906, p.1. 16 The Mercer Town Board was established after the Mercer Road Board was merged into Franklin County and Mercer proclaimed a Town District: Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, 15 May 1914, p.2; 20 Oct 1914, p.3; 24 Nov 1914, p.2. 17 Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, 29 Dec 1915, p.3.

Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No. 1560 8

Town District of Mercer, 1922, showing the cemetery reserve, arrowed (Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections Map 3401).

During the early twentieth century, Mercer remained an important place of Māori settlement. After Kīngitanga supporters returned from the King Country to the northern Waikato in the 1880s, the Mercer area formed a focus for renewed activity.18 Brought up in the locality, the important Kīngitanga leader and woman of mana Te Puea Hērangi (1883- 1952) established a kāinga at Mangatāwhiri - named Te Paina after the earlier settlement - before establishing a new marae at Tūrangawaewae in Ngāruawāhia in the 1920s.19 At this time, Māori communities frequently maintained separate places of burial: in 1918, when the influenza epidemic struck Te Paina kāinga, those who died were interred at Taupiri urupā.20

18 Michael King, Te Puea: A Life, Auckland, 2003, p.50. 19 King, 2003, pp.52-3; Ann Parsonson, 'Hērangi, Te Kirihaehae Te Puea', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1996, Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/3h17/herangi-te-kirihaehae-te- puea [accessed 11 Mar 2021]. 20 King, 2003, p.101. An earlier urupā was situated on the Koheroa ridge: Rika-Heke, 2013, p.6.

Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No. 1560 9

Auckland Weekly News, 15 Dec 1910, p.7 (Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections AWNS-19101215-7-2).

Creation of Mercer Morgue (1936)

On occasion before burial, the bodies of deceased individuals - both Māori and Pākehā - were held in morgues. Under the Public Health Act 1900, morgues were defined as being ‘for the reception of the dead where a Coroner's inquest or post-mortem examination is contemplated or may be required’. 21 The bodies of people whose circumstances of death might require investigation were often prepared inside these buildings for examination by a policeman, doctor, coroner or other relevant individual. Sometimes, the inquest itself took place inside the morgue if it was sufficiently large.22

Morgues were relatively commonplace structures in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century New Zealand. In the colonial period, basic morgues were frequently located in the hotel premises of licensed publicans, who were legally required to hold bodies for coronial purposes.23 In part, this requirement was due to the central role of hotels in early colonial society as places of community gathering and decision-making, where inquests were frequently held. In the larger settlements, purpose-built morgues were increasingly constructed, including in harbourfront areas (due to the common occurrence of water-

21 The Public Health Act 1900, s.42(2). Mortuaries were separately defined as being ‘for the reception of the dead prior to burial, where a Coroner's inquest or post-mortem examination is not contemplated or required’: ibid. 22 See, for example: Press, 11 Mar 1905, p.4; New Zealand Times, 1 Mar 1909, p.6; Hastings Standard, 14 Mar 1911, p.8. In 1905, Auckland’s District Health Officer recommended that a ‘proper morgue…should consist of an anteroom or public waiting room, an inquest room, and a post-mortem room, with the proper outbuildings. The possibility of viewing the body by the coroner and jury from the inquest room without need of entering the post-mortem room was also a desirable feature’: AS, 1 Sep 1905, p.3. 23 The Coroners Act 1867, s.17.

Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No. 1560 10

related deaths or death during sea travel), and in hospitals and other related institutions such as sanitoria and asylums.24

Due to increasing public health concerns, the 1896 Morgues Act made it incumbent on cities or boroughs containing at least 1000 people to contain a public morgue, a situation extended to all boroughs and cities - with some exceptions - in 1904.25 The siting and design of all such morgues from 1900 were to be approved by the District Health Officer.26 Licensed publicans, however, continued to be required to take in bodies if more than three miles from the nearest public morgue.27 In country areas without close access to relevant facilities, such as at Mercer, hotels continued to retain structures used as morgues during the early decades of the twentieth century.

In June 1936, the undesirable nature of this arrangement was highlighted by a newspaper article published by the New Zealand Truth - one of the country’s most popular and controversial publications, with a large national circulation.28 The article illustrated its point by including an image of the pre-existing morgue at Mercer, almost certainly situated in the yard of the Mercer Hotel.29 Referred to as an ‘airless, dark horror’, this structure consisted of a small, rectangular shed-like structure with timber or corrugated iron cladding, to which a pigsty at the rear was conjoined. The article noted that:

‘Good roads and efficient ambulances have made the well-equipped city morgues available for a wide district…but New Zealand is just at that stage of transition where morgues within 50 or 60 miles of a city are still sometimes used…The Justice Department must face the alternatives. Either transport facilities must be such that the city and town morgues are available to every rural centre, or the shacks must be drastically overhauled in the interests of decency and health…the Justice Department should abolish them altogether within reasonable distance of a big hospital, or keep a

24 The Public Health Act 1876, s.40, enabled local authorities to ‘provide and maintain a proper place (otherwise than at a mortuary) for the reception of dead bodies during the time required to conduct any post-mortem examination ordered by a Coroner or other constituted authority’ and could ‘make regulations with respect to the management of such place’. Twelve years later, The Coroners Act Amendment Act 1888, s.4, removed the requirement on the holders of publican’s licenses to take in bodies if their premises lay within one mile of a public morgue. 25 The Public Morgues Act 1896, s.2; The Public Health Act Amendment Act, 1904, s.6-s.9. 26 The Public Health Act, 1900, s.43(1). 27 The Public Health Act Amendment Act, 1904, s.10. 28 New Zealand Truth (NZ Truth), 10 Jun 1936, ‘Morgues – Mercer, 1936’, ADBZ 16163 Box 1304 132/30, Archives New Zealand, Wellington; ‘NZ Truth, Background’, Papers Past | Newspapers | Explore | NZ Truth (natlib.govt.nz) [accessed 7 Mar 2021]. By 1930, the newspaper’s weekly circulation was 100,000s of copies: ibid. 29 NZ Truth, 10 Jun 1936, ‘Morgues – Mercer, 1936’, ADBZ 16163 Box 1304 132/30, Archives New Zealand, Wellington. The Mercer Hotel morgue is referred to in a 1925 inquest on schoolteacher George Kenneth Glass: Franklin Times (FT), 4 Mar 1925, p.5.

Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No. 1560 11

close check on them to see that they are not a menace to the residents near by, and an offence to bereaved relatives.’30

New Zealand Truth, 10 Jun 1936 (‘Morgues – Mercer, 1936’, ADBZ 16163 Box 1304 132/30, Archives New Zealand, Wellington).

During the 1930s, newspapers were in their heyday as the dominant means of mass communication in New Zealand.31 As a result of the outcry, Mercer Town Board immediately commissioned a new, purpose-built morgue to serve its community, to be established inside the cemetery reserve. The morgue was to be of concrete construction, representing - together with its new location - a more sanitary approach.32 The building’s creation within the reserve also clearly advertised it as a civic responsibility, with its association next to a place of burial representing a more dignified place of temporary repose. Nevertheless, the placement of morgues within cemeteries was a relatively unusual occurrence.33

Erected in September 1936, the new morgue consisted of a small rectangular building facing Glass Road, a short distance to the west of the main burial area.34 Symmetrical in appearance, it had rendered concrete walls, a corrugated iron roof of gabled design and a centrally positioned door in its front elevation. The interior contained a single room, with concrete walls and floor to facilitate cleaning. Concrete construction was regarded as a sanitary solution for buildings where hygiene was a priority, and also created a cool, vermin-

30 NZ Truth, 10 Jun 1936, ‘Morgues – Mercer, 1936’, ADBZ 16163 Box 1304 132/30, Archives New Zealand, Wellington. 31 Mark Derby, 'Newspapers - The heyday of newspapers, 1900–1939', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, 22 Oct 2014, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/newspapers/page-3 [accessed 21 Mar 2021]. 32 Mercer Town Board Minutes, 6 Jul 1936, ‘Mercer Town Board – Minute Book, 1929-1944’, f.140, YBBN 24285 A322 Box 35 143, Archives New Zealand, Auckland; FT, 15 Jul 1936, p.5. 33 Stephen Deed, Unearthly Landscapes: New Zealand’s Early Cemeteries, Churchyards and Urupā, Dunedin, 2015, p.186. 34 FT, 11 Sep 1936, p.5; 2 Oct 1936, p.5. Payment was made to the builder in early October 1936: Mercer Town Board Minutes, 5 Oct 1936, ‘Mercer Town Board – Minute Book, 1929-1944’, f.145, YBBN 24285 A322 Box 35 143, Archives New Zealand, Auckland.

Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No. 1560 12

proof environment.35 In contrast to the ‘airless’ nature of the earlier morgue, air flow was facilitated by a large vent in the centre of the close-boarded ceiling which led to a cross- ventilated roof space above, with additional ventilation possible via a wide window opening in the rear wall. The latter was internally shuttered for privacy.

The building was constructed by Frank Hitchcock (1887-1965), a local builder who undertook other work in Mercer including a sports pavilion in the Domain (1936) and a new sawmill for the Roose Shipping Company (1938).36 Hitchcock was also involved in the community as vice-president of the Mercer Cricket Club and captain of the Mercer rowing team.37 He additionally assisted with organising the Mercer Regatta - a major annual event on the Waikato River whose main attractions included Māori waka races.38

In ensuing years, the morgue was used by government authorities such as the police and district coroner. In July 1938, the local police constable F. T. Wakelin, took the remains of a young man found beside the railway line north of Whangamarino Railway Station, to the building. After a police examination at the morgue, an inquest at Pukekohe determined that the individual was James Milne of Kohimarama, who had accidentally died by falling from a train.39 Early the following year, the body of an elderly Māori man, Ngawihi Paora, was similarly taken to the morgue by Constable Wakelin, after being found at his whare near Whangamarino where he had resided alone. On this occasion, after visiting the morgue the district coroner determined that death was due to natural causes.40

Although used similarly for members of Māori and Pākehā communities, the morgue did not hold the same meaning for both. Māori have specific cultural beliefs around death and dying. In general, anything to do with death or a dead body is considered tapu. In Māori culture, the corpse or dead body is referred to as the tūpāpaku. There are particular tikanga or protocol in relation to tūpāpaku. Within a Māori context, buildings such as morgues would have been foreign and uncomfortable, as at this time they were built according to European concepts that did not specifically accommodate tikanga being carried out. Examples of tikanga include allowing whānau of the deceased to be with the tūpāpaku until

35 In the 1930s, concrete farm buildings were promoted for their washability, and the cool, vermin-proof nature of concrete structures had also been promoted as desirable attributes. See for example FT, 12 Sep 1930, p.5; Northern Advocate, 8 Aug 1932, p.8; Hawera and Normanby Star, 16 Jun 1921, p.7. 36 FT, 11 Sep 1936, p.5; Letter, F. Hitchcock, Mercer, to W. Hall-Jones, Hamilton, 7 Jul 1937, ‘Police - Mercer’, AATE 5113 A934 Box 491 q 34/7, Archives New Zealand, Auckland. 37 FT, 17 Apr 1935, p.5; 18 Dec 1935, p.5; 16 Oct 1936, p.4; 6 Nov 1936, p.5. 38 FT, 26 Apr 1935, p.5. 39 FT, 29 Jul 1938, p.4. 40 FT, 1 Mar 1939, p.4.

Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No. 1560 13

burial, allowing whānau to wash and dress the tūpāpaku if they choose, and providing water to whakanoa (the act of removing tapu).41

Subsequent changes and use (1939 onwards)

In the late 1930s, representations from W. H. Taylor, a Pukekohe undertaker, for ‘urgent improvements’ led to further work by another local contractor P. R. J. Graham, who owned the Tuakau Joinery and Cabinet Works.42 The nature of this work, carried out in May-June 1939, evidently included the creation of improved drainage inside the building, and followed the receipt of correspondence from the government’s Medical Officer of Health and the recently-established Funeral Directors’ Association.43 The road in front of the morgue was simultaneously formed by a contractor, the Roose Shipping Company, presumably for improved access.44 In 1942, further improvements to access included laying drainage pipes and metal on the water table immediately in front of the morgue building.45 A fence fronting the road may have been created or replaced at this time.46 Throughout this period, cemetery reserve land at the rear of the building was leased to a local farmer for grazing.47

41 Courtney Leone Taumata Sullivan, ‘Te Okiokinga Mutunga Kore – The Eternal Rest Investigating Māori Attitudes towards Death’, https://ourarchive.otago.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10523/4056/SullivanCourtneyLT2013MA.pdf?sequence=1&isAll owed=y [accessed 12 Mar 2021]; Rawinia Higgins, 'Tangihanga – death customs - Understanding tangihanga', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, 5 May 2011, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/tangihanga-death-customs/page-1 [accessed 12 Mar 2021]. 42 Mercer Town Board Minutes, 7 Mar 1938 and 1 May 1939, ‘Mercer Town Board – Minute Book, 1929-1944’, f.170 and 190, YBBN 24285 A322 Box 35 143, Archives New Zealand, Auckland; FT, 5 Oct 1936, p.4. In late 1939, W. H. Taylor and Son expanded their business to Hamilton: Waikato Times, 16 Dec 1939, p.9. 43 Mercer Town Board Minutes, 1 May 1939, ‘Mercer Town Board – Minute Book, 1929-1944’, f.190, YBBN 24285 A322 Box 35 143, Archives New Zealand, Auckland. Graham was paid £19 8s: ibid., 3 Jul 1939, f.193. The second annual conference of the Funeral Directors Association had recently been held in Christchurch: NZH, 9 Feb 1939, p.18. 44 Mercer Town Board Minutes, 6 Mar 1939, ‘Mercer Town Board – Minute Book, 1929-1944’, f.189, YBBN 24285 A322 Box 35 143, Archives New Zealand, Auckland. 45 Mercer Town Board Minutes, 5 Oct 1942, ‘Mercer Town Board – Minute Book, 1929-1944’, f.246, YBBN 24285 A322 Box 35 143, Archives New Zealand, Auckland. 46 SO 41307, surveyed Apr 1958 (LINZ). This notes that the fence was, in 1958, ‘over 15 years old’. 47 The farmer was R. J. Smyth: Mercer Town Board Minutes, 7 Sep 1936 and 1 Dec 1941, ‘Mercer Town Board – Minute Book, 1929-1944’, f.143 and 232, YBBN 24285 A322 Box 35 143, Archives New Zealand, Auckland.

Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No. 1560 14

Detail from aerial image, showing morgue, arrowed in red, in relation to main cemetery, arrowed in yellow, 1949 (Retrolens, SN 192 282 100, 29 Mar 1949).48

Ongoing funds provided for the morgue by the Mercer Town Board included finance to the local constable for towels, soap, disinfectant and a sheet in 1950.49 In 1956, the Board resolved to repair the morgue door, window and spouting.50

Individuals brought to the morgue included some from well outside the Mercer area. In 1940, they included the tūpāpaku of Kōpū Puru, who had died in Te Kauwhata, some 20 kilometres distant.51 In the same year, a train accident involving the Auckland-Wellington express near Mercer Station caused the deaths of an engine driver and fireman, J. McCubbin of Frankton and C. J. Ritchie of Hamilton, who were taken to the morgue.52 A subsequent Board of Inquiry concluded that all trains should be fitted with speedometers, and that improved signage be added before bends to enable trains to slow down. Due to the Second

48https://retrolens.co.nz/map/#/1782242.5276644688/5872276.176012343/1782620.2340736531/5872521.610532777/219 3/14 [accessed 16 Mar 2021]. 49 Mercer Town Board Minutes, 3 Apr 1950, ‘Mercer Town Board – Minute Book, 1944-1962’, f.113, YBBN 24285 A322 Box 36 144, Archives New Zealand, Auckland. 50 Mercer Town Board Minutes, 2 Jul 1956, ‘Mercer Town Board – Minute Book, 1944-1962’, f.213, YBBN 24285 A322 Box 36 144, Archives New Zealand, Auckland. 51 FT, 16 Aug 1940, p.3. 52 AS, 28 Oct 1940, p.8; Evening Star, 28 Oct 1940, p.4; Ashburton Guardian, 29 Oct 1940, p.7. Their funeral was later held in Hamilton: AS, 31 Oct 1940, p.9.

Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No. 1560 15

World War, then in progress, it had not been possible to obtain French speedometers, and the Inquiry suggested that suitable models should instead be locally designed.53 This event occurred during the peak period of rail transport in New Zealand, with maximum annual passenger trips of 38.6 million achieved in 1943-4.54

The morgue may have gone out of use for its designated purpose in or around December 1962, when the affairs of Mercer Town Board were taken over by Franklin County Council. Local memory indicates that the last individual to be held in the building was a young farm worker who died in a tractor accident at about that time.55

In March 2020, a blessing of the morgue was performed by Reverend Joanna Katipa, a grand niece of Te Puea, and Father Cruz Karauiti-Fox from the Māori Anglican Church, in response to a request from local whānau. Members of the Mercer Residents and Ratepayers Committee attended in support.56 Due to its strong connections with the past care of bodies, the place is regarded within the local Māori community as tapu. The adjacent cemetery is currently a place of burial for members of both the local Māori and Pākehā communities.

Associated List Entries N/a

2.2. Physical Information

Current Description

Context

The Mercer Morgue (Former) lies within Mercer cemetery reserve, which is surrounded by rural land to the east of Mercer township. Mercer is a relatively small settlement beside the Waikato River, bisected by both State Highway 1 and the North Island Main Trunk railway line. The main residential part of the township currently lies between the main arterial routes and cemetery, along Koheroa Road. The settlement retains a number of significant

53 AS, 24 Dec 1940, p.10. 54 Neill Atkinson, 'Railways - Passenger travel', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, revised 11 Mar 2016, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/railways/page-7 [accessed 21 Mar 2021]. 55 Information from Bill McGrath, quoted in email from Kerryn Walker to Martin Jones, Senior Heritage Assessment Advisor, HNZPT, 26 Feb 2021. 56 Information from Joanna Katipa, quoted in email from Kerryn Walker to Martin Jones, Senior Heritage Assessment Advisor, HNZPT, 15 Mar 2021.

Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No. 1560 16

places linked with the area’s Māori, colonial and later history. These include Te Paina pā and cultivation area beside the Waikato River; the ‘Pioneer’ Gun Turret and War Memorial (List No. 7647, Category 1 historic place); St Jude’s Church (Anglican) and the former Mercer Post & Telegraph Office.57

The township is situated within a broader landscape of importance to local iwi and hapū, which includes the spiritually important Waikato and Mangatāwhiri awa; several pā sites to the north of Mercer cemetery - including one containing terraces, pits and midden on a knoll immediately to the northwest of the Morgue - as well as formally recognised wāhi tapu.58 The latter include Te Aukati Ki Mangatāwhiri (List No. 9632), where colonial troops first crossed the Mangatāwhiri Stream into Māori-held land - the opening engagement of the Waikato War (1863-4). Colonial military earthworks relating to this event and its aftermath also survive, notably the 1863 Eglinton Redoubt approximately 1 kilometre to the north of the cemetery.

View of Mercer Morgue from west end of main cemetery, looking northwest (Martin Jones, HNZPT, 6 Oct 2020).

Although located with the cemetery reserve, the former Morgue is situated within a separately fenced paddock from that part of the cemetery formally utilised for burial. The

57 Te Paina pā and the ‘Pioneer’ Gun Turret and War Memorial are scheduled in the Waikato District Plan, Operative 26 March 2013. They, together with St Jude’s Anglican Church and the former Mercer Post & Telegraph Office, are included as ID S12/273 Schedule 30.3 and IDs 25-27 Schedule 30.1 in the Proposed Waikato District Plan, Notified 18 Jul 2018. 58 The pā to the northwest of the Mercer Morgue (Former) is NZAA recorded and identified on the Proposed Waikato District Plan, Schedule 30.3, as S12/14. Other pā sites in the immediate vicinity of the cemetery, which are also on the same Schedule include R12/15 at 24 Glass Road to the east of the cemetery; S12/17 and S12/18 on Koheroa Road. The latter may be three or more sites, including a redoubt or stockade.

Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No. 1560 17 latter is approximately rectangular in plan, and extends along the south side of Glass Road, which connects with Koheroa Road close to the Morgue. On the north side of Glass Road is Mercer School, in whose grounds is a late nineteenth-century lock-up, relocated from elsewhere in Mercer.

The Site The site consists of a small rectangular area in the northern part of Mercer cemetery reserve. It occupies low ground in a separately fenced paddock a short distance to the west of the main cemetery. Directly adjoining Glass Road, the site contains a single-storey morgue building, an associated water tank and parts of a fenced field boundary. It also encompasses a flat area of land extending three metres to the west, south and east of the morgue building and one metre within the road reserve. Outside the site, the land rises gradually eastwards and southwards within the cemetery reserve. It rises more sharply within the road reserve, towards the metalled surface of Glass Road at the top of a causewayed embankment.

Morgue building, with water tank and boundary fence, looking southeast from Glass Road (Martin Jones, HNZPT, 18 Mar 2021).

Morgue building The morgue is a small, relatively well-preserved concrete building with a gabled, corrugated iron-clad roof. The structure is rectangular in plan, measuring approximately 3.2 x 2.6 m (10’ 6” x 8’), and orientated with its main axis east-west, parallel to Glass Road. The building contains a single room, which preserves a number of features linked with its functions for hygienically and securely safeguarding bodies for coronial purposes. These include a smooth

Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No. 1560 18 concrete floor and whitewashed walls, a hinged upper window with evidence of internal shuttering, and a ceiling vent which leads to cross-flow ventilation in the attic space. Features linked with the provision and drainage of water also remain in evidence.

The building exterior is rendered with stucco. It incorporates a stepped foundation at its base. A smoother rectangular area immediately above the foundation of the west wall at its north end contains the inscription ‘F. Hitchcock, Builder, Sept/36’. The gabled roof has wide eaves and is clad with corrugated iron sheets of ‘Titan Best’ type.

Stepped foundation and inscription at base of west wall (Martin Jones, HNZPT, 18 Mar 2021).

The symmetrical north elevation incorporates a wide and centrally positioned entrance. This contains timber double doors, which open outwards. Both doors are of board and ledged type. They could evidently be temporarily kept closed from the interior, as well as being more permanently locked from the outside. Brackets for a metal gutter survive at the base of the overlying roof, although the gutter itself has decayed. At least one gutter fragment survives on the ground at the base of the wall.

Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No. 1560 19

Side and rear walls of the morgue building, showing window and gable ventilation, looking northwest from cemetery reserve (Martin Jones, HNZPT, 18 Mar 2021).

The south or rear elevation contains a wide, three-light window. This is situated near the top of the wall for maximum privacy. Of awning window design, it is hinged at the top. As on the front elevation, brackets for metal guttering survive at the base of the overlying roof. The two side elevations are identical to each other apart from the builder’s inscription noted above. They contain distinctive, latticework vents at the apex of each gable, which allow cross-ventilation through the roof interior. Each gable end incorporates wide eaves and simple bargeboards.

Detail of gable ventilation in east wall (Martin Jones, HNZPT, 18 Mar 2021).

The single-room building interior contains a smooth, cement floor, whitewashed concrete walls and a matchlined timber ceiling of tongued, grooved and v-jointed (‘tg and v’) board type. The latter contains a centrally placed vent of diamond-shape outline, which retains

Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No. 1560 20 evidence of original latticework (since removed). The ceiling paint scheme, of yellow ochre ceiling boards and greyish blue vent frame, survives in a well-preserved form. The three-light window frame in the rear (south) wall similarly retains traces of greyish blue paint. Its exposed internal casing is painted the same contrasting yellow colour as the ceiling. The window also retains evidence of internal timber shuttering, horizontally hinged at the top of the casing.

Morgue ceiling with central vent, looking east (top) and internal timber shutter remnant, hinged from upper part of window casing (bottom) (Martin Jones, HNZPT, 18 Mar 2021).

All four internal walls are whitewashed. They retain the underlying outlines of horizontal plank and vertical corner-stud formwork used in construction. Towards the north end of the west wall is a small, circular hole for a pipe inlet, with three wooden plugs immediately below. These represent evidence for the piped provision of water from an external tank,

Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No. 1560 21

probably into a wall basin via a tap (since removed).59 Immediately below this intake is a hollow in the floor, leading to a circular outflow from which water could drain. At least two separate phases of floor survive. The lowermost can be linked with initial construction in 1936, and the uppermost, modifications undertaken in 1939. The latter evidently represents improved drainage, including through the provision of narrow slots or gullies along the base of the north, south and west walls.

General view of internal west wall (above), and detail of pipe inlet hole, plugs and drain in the northwest corner of the single room (lower left), and drainage slot or gully at base of the south wall (lower right) (Martin Jones, HNZPT, 18 Mar 2021).

59 Basins for handwashing may have been a requirement for maintaining hygiene. In 1938, the morgue in Masterton Cemetery was regarded as inadequate for not containing a hand wash basin: Wairarapa Daily Times, 25 Jan 1938, p.4.

Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No. 1560 22

Water tank

A circular, concrete water tank is situated near the external, northwest corner of the building. It measures some 1 m (3’ 3”) in diameter and is approximately 900 mm (3’) deep. A small, circular hole at the base on one side is of the same diameter as that inside the main building, indicating the outlet for a connecting pipe.60 It is likely that the tank previously stood at a significantly higher level to take rainwater from the front guttering, and was supported by underlying framework. At least one surviving stump and other timbers beneath the tank may represent remnants of this frame.

Concrete water tank, looking east (Martin Jones, HNZPT, 18 Mar 2021).

Fence

The current post and wire boundary fence incorporates a variety of posts, including two immediately flanking the main building of old, split timber type.

Comparisons

Morgues were uncommonly built in association with cemeteries in New Zealand, and few in this context appear to survive.61 A brick building of Tudor inspired design in the Southern Cemetery, Dunedin (List No. 7657, Category 1 historic place) dates to 1903, and has been described as being of ‘exceptional significance as a rare example of an early twentieth

60 A short length of metal piping currently (2021) survives as a loose artefact in the bottom of the tank, and may represent part or all of the pipe connecting the tank with the morgue interior. 61 Deed, 2015, p.186.

Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No. 1560 23

century morgue’.62 Another brick morgue erected in 1930 survives at Heads Road Cemetery in Whanganui (List No. 7700, Category 1 historic place). The Mercer Morgue differs in its concrete construction and other aspects.

Other identified morgues survive in association with asylums, hospitals and sanitoria. A possible pre-1900 morgue at the Seacliff Lunatic Asylum Site, Dunedin (List No. 9050, Category 1 historic place) contains two rooms, timber matchlining and gable-end ventilation.63 An early twentieth-century timber morgue forming part of Hanmer Sanatorium was relocated to St Mary’s Hospital, Christchurch sometime after 1950, but returned to the site in circa 2018. A relatively small weatherboard structure designed by the Public Works Department under Government Architect John Campbell, this building has a comparatively ornate architectural appearance and features a double-door entrance in its gable end.64 Other buildings noted as morgues include a small wooden structure with a gabled, iron roof forming part of Dunedin’s Pelichet Bay Infectious Diseases Hospital (List No. 9575, Category 1 historic place), built in circa 1909; and an example at Riverton Hospital, possibly built in circa 1939.65

A very early mortuary or ‘dead house’, completed in 1848 and later converted into a washhouse, survives in association with the Colonial Hospital in New Plymouth (List No. 29, Category 1 historic place). Designed by Frederick Thatcher, this is a relatively small timber structure with a gabled roof.

Recently designed facilities in New Zealand have consciously endeavoured to facilitate the observance of tikanga Māori in relation to the care of tūpāpaku, for example through the inclusion of anterooms where whānau can maintain a vigil and provision of water specifically for whakanoa purposes.66

62 ibid., p.187. 63 Additions were made to this building in circa 1908, and it was renovated in 1936: Appendices to the Journals of the House of Representatives (AJHR), 1908, I, H-7, p.9; 1937, I, H-7, p.10. 64 Oliver Lewis, ‘Historical Hanmer Springs morgue on the move’, Stuff, 5 Apr 2018, Historical Hanmer Springs morgue on the move | Stuff.co.nz [accessed 20 Mar 2021]; Robyn Burgess, ‘Queen Mary Hospital Heritage Assessment, Appendix 2’, unpublished report by Opus International Consultants, Oct 2004, p.6. 65 The Pelichet Bay hospital was built in 1908, and the morgue described as erected before March 1910: AJHR 1910, I, H-22, p.19. A morgue was reported as under consideration for construction in 1939: AJHR 1939, I, H-31, p.51. 66 Email, Tharron Bloomfield, Pouārahi - Māori Heritage Advisor, HNZPT, to Martin Jones, Senior Heritage Assessment Advisor, HNZPT, 15 Mar 2021.

Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No. 1560 24

Construction Professionals

Frank Hitchcock – builder (1936, original construction)

P. R. J. Graham – builder (1939, alterations)

Frank Hitchcock (1887-1965)

Frank Hitchcock was born in Nelson in 1887.67 Possibly initially apprenticed as a carpenter to his elder brother Harold Hitchcock (1882-1955), he was working at this trade in the Bay of Plenty by the early 1910s.68 Before being conscripted for the New Zealand Expeditionary Force in the First World War in 1917, he had moved to Takanini, being employed by E.W. Dalton who owned a joinery factory on Great South Road, Manurewa.69 Following his military discharge, Hitchcock continued to work as a carpenter and builder in the Takanini area for another decade, moving to Whangamarino in north Waikato by 1930.70

During the economic depression of the early 1930s, Hitchcock serviced the local farming community by selling reinforced concrete posts, water troughs and hardwood gates.71 He subsequently gained a number of small building and repair contracts in the area, notably at Mercer. Buildings that he erected in the township included a sports pavilion (1936), the concrete Mercer morgue (1936) and a new sawmill for the Roose Shipping Company (1937).72

In the early 1940s, Hitchcock moved to Browns Bay, north of Auckland, where he continued to operate as a builder.73 After retiring in the mid-1950s, he returned to live in the Waikato and South Auckland.74 Apart from his work as a carpenter and builder, Hitchcock was active

67 Frank Hitchcock, Attestation for General Service, New Zealand Expeditionary Force, 16 Jul 1917. 68 New Zealand Electoral Rolls, Bay of Plenty Supplementary Roll, 1911, p.11; Bay of Plenty Roll, 1914, p.55. 69 Frank Hitchcock, Attestation for General Service, New Zealand Expeditionary Force, 16 Jul 1917; AS, 24 Jul 1917, p.6. Dalton owned the Manurewa factory between 1911 and 1920, occasionally advertising for carpenters: New Zealand Herald (NZH), 21 Aug 1911; 30 Jul 1912, p.1; 14 Nov 1916, p.1; Pukekohe and Waiuku Times, 11 Jun 1920, p.2. 70 New Zealand Electoral Rolls, Franklin General Roll, 1919, p.60; Wise’s New Zealand Post Office Directory, 1926, p.823; Franklin Times (FT), 10 Oct 1930, p.1. 71 NZH, 18 Feb 1931, p.2. 72 FT, 12 Aug 1936, p.5; 11 Sep 1936, p.5; 2 Oct 1936, p.5; 5 Nov 1937, p.5; Mercer Town Board Minutes, 5 Oct 1936, ‘Mercer Town Board – Minute Book, 1929-1944’, f.145, YBBN 24285 A322 Box 35 143, Archives New Zealand, Auckland; Letter, F. Hitchcock, Mercer, to W. Hall-Jones, Hamilton, 7 Jul 1937, ‘Police - Mercer’, AATE 5113 A934 Box 491 q 34/7, Archives New Zealand, Auckland. Repair and maintenance work included repainting St Jude’s Anglican Church in 1936 and repairing seats in Mercer Town Hall: Mercer Town Board Minutes, 6 Jul 1936, ‘Mercer Town Board – Minute Book, 1929- 1944’, f.140, YBBN 24285 A322 Box 35 143, Archives New Zealand, Auckland; FT, 11 Dec 1935, p.5. 73 New Zealand Electoral Rolls, Rodney General Roll, 1946, p.103; Waitemata General Roll, 1954, p.127. 74 New Zealand Electoral Rolls, Raglan Main Roll, 1957, p.110; Franklin Main Roll, 1963, p.116. Hitchcock initially moved to

Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No. 1560 25

as a sportsman during his younger years, including as a captain of the Mercer Rowing Club, and a vice-president of the Mercer Cricket Club in the 1930s.75

Frank Hitchcock died in 1965 and was buried at Rangiriri.76

Construction Materials Morgue: Concrete, with a timber-frame roof clad by corrugated iron Water tank: Concrete

Key Physical Dates 1936 Original Construction: Morgue 1939 Modification: Resurfacing of internal floor to improve drainage 1956 Modification: Repairs to window, door and spouting

Uses Health - Morgue/mortuary/dead house (Former)

2.3. Chattels

There are no chattels included in this List entry.

2.4. Sources

Sources Available and Accessed

Relevant documentary material available and accessed during the preparation of this report included gazette notices, general plans and newspaper articles. Mercer Town Board minutes and other information relating to the morgue and associated cemetery was accessed at Archives New Zealand in Auckland and Wellington. Other information relating to the place was provided by the nominator.

Secondary sources available and accessed included a Heritage New Zealand List report for Te Aukati Ki Mangatāwhiri, which provided valuable context about Māori settlement in the area. General histories of the lower Waikato area were also consulted. Historical legislation

Port Waikato, then Pukekohe East. 75 FT, 17 Apr 1935, p.5; 18 Dec 1935, p.5; 16 Oct 1936, p.4; 6 Nov 1936, p.5. In the 1930s, Hitchcock was also a member of the Mercer Regatta Committee: FT, 26 Apr 1935, p.5. 76 Births, Marriages and Deaths online, Deaths, Registration Number 1965/42000; Frank Hitchcock (1887-1965) | WikiTree FREE Family Tree [accessed 27 Feb 2021].

Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No. 1560 26

connected with the development of morgues during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries was accessed at the Parliamentary Counsel Office’s New Zealand Legislation website https://www.legislation.govt.nz/.

The physical fabric of the site, including the building interior, was accessed in March 2021. Tikanga Māori was observed throughout this visit.