Mahurangi heritage
J Barry Ferguson – ebullient friend of the Mahurangi
J Barry Ferguson (1931–2023) became a friend of the MahurangiFriends of the Mahurangi was name of Mahurangi Action Incorporated when established, in 1974 even before he left Long Island. For his two, too-brief decades here, Barry lived in the Mahurangi, not in his illustrious New York past, as proud and as grateful as he was to have been unambiguously…
Octavius Browne second brother to visit Gordon
William Browne’s son Octavius Browne was born on 2 November 1809. Charles Browne says “the place of his birth and the date of his baptism is not known, but we have been told that just before he left Courtlands on the journey to Scotland in the course of which he died, he…
Octavius’s brother Gordon Davis Browne
Gordon Davis Browne was born in early 1805, and baptised at St Mary’s Lambeth on 22 March that year. The explanation for his given name of Gordon is not known. Charles Gordon Browne (who was born in January 1845, and whose own second name was obviously a…
Bay where no ships has been 60 years with no name
It was almost certainly a good thing, that 60 years ago the name of the Auckland region’s first European settlement slid unnoticed into the next bay north. Had the bay been known by a descriptive name, such as Spar Station Cove, or by any name…
hmss Buffalo arrives at Mr Browne’s establishment
His putative youngest brother was Charles Dickens’ friend and illustrator, Hablot Knight Browne, aka Phiz. Putative, because Hablot was in fact the nephew of the founder of the Auckland region’s first European settlement, Gordon Davis Browne…
Warkworth watermills millraces and weirs
A more apposite topic for the next town-hall talk could scarcely be conceived. The fact that such a topic has already been conceived, is another story, hopefully for the following Warkworth Town Hall Talk. On Wednesday 13 March, the historian…
Mahurangi Regatta 1865 comparable with Cowes
Dr Ronald H Locker writes in Jade River : A History of the Mahurangi, the first Mahurangi Regatta is not remembered, but Joseph Gard noted in his diary that he saw the event in progress on New Year’s Day, 1858, while passing up-river on his…
Ōpahi and its bright stars
Read by Jackie Liggins at the funeral of John Timmins, 1950–2012 I would like to share something of John Timmins’ beloved Ōpahi. At the entrance to Mahurangi Harbour, only a conversation away from Auckland, Ōpahi is a small bay of about 30 houses. Like a natural...
Harmony prevailed visitors receiving every attention
In regattas past, Scott Homestead would sit locked and mostly unused. The kitchen was pressed into service, preparing salads for the evening’s venison burgers, but otherwise visitors were unable to to see inside. Last regatta, Paul Deacon held an…
Mahurangi Regatta and the revival of a tradition
Frustratingly, the first is not recorded. The first possibly dates from the establishment of Gordon Browne’s spar station in the harbour, in 1832. More probably, Mahurangi’s first occurred when hms Buffalo called in 1834—spoiling…
Arthur Dunn 1939–2008, a modest obituary
I was not relishing the phone call; I was acutely aware that all I had to offer was my newfound enthusiasm for an alternative method of raising indigenous plants, whereas Arthur Dunn was the singular local…
Support for dance ensures survival of the revival
An email from the Weiti Boating Club nicely summarised the sea change: Weiti Boating Club is racing to Mahurangi tonight and we plan to have our club barbecue and prize-giving ashore on Saturday evening at Scotts Landing, as we have done…
Christmas rush averted with reprieve for Mont’s trees
Before any decision is made regarding the trees marked for removal, near the boat ramp at Ōpahi, a plan will be prepared and discussed by the community. Rodney District Council’s Parks and Coastal operations manager, Chris Burgess, has advised Friends of the Mahurangi...
Ōpahi four for the chop, or the battle for Mont’s trees
Some twelve years ago, when he was enjoying much better health, Professor Sir Graham (Mont) Liggins motivated local residents to plant pōhutukawa and tōtara near the beach at the end of Ōpahi Bay Road, on the road reserve. The area, with its now well established...
By kayak back to the crystal clear waters of home
The first light of pre-dawn appears, but we’ve been up for a while; sleep elusive. Whether its excitement, adrenaline or ‘pre-journey’ nerves, who knows. Maybe it’s the realisation that my dream to kayak from my old home, Auckland, to the home now of my father and...
Mahurangi punt – one of two icons
Punts are an absolutely integral, and unique, element of the settler history of Mahurangi. The centrality of these craft is graphically captured in the 1903 photograph of Willie Hamilton rowing a fully laden Mahurangi punt past the cement works established…
Publisher’s tribute to Mont of the Mahurangi
Professor Sir Graham (Mont) Liggins 1926–2010 First published in print in 2007, in the Mahurangi Magazine Sometimes the Mahurangi is blessed by the contribution made by part-time residents. One such couple has been Professor Sir Graham “Mont” Liggins and Lady...
Notice Tree and the road to Pūhoi
Whichever way you go to Pūhoi, you want to take care that at the outset your heart is young and your appetite becoming keen; for Pūhoi lies over yonder on the edge of the world where still the gods breathe low amid the dusk. If you go by coach, you have a long tumble…
Mahurangi Heads regatta a successful affair
Favoured by beautiful weather, and a steady breeze came up from the south at midday. The Mahurangi Regatta Committee and its energetic secretary—Mr W J Wilson—are to be highly congratulated upon the satisfactory results. The ‘Heads’ is one of the…
Editor’s forebear
as a foreigner
Salvatore Cimino’s letter-to-editor has nothing whatsoever to do with the Mahurangi Regatta. The editor’s excuse for publishing it here is that it was written by his great-great-grandfather, and, at the time, was not otherwise returned by an internet search for “Salvatore Cimino”…