Save the date : Mahurangi West Hall Sunday 6 October

author Cimino
published 20240515 | updated 20240912  

Save the Date – 6 October 2024 Mahurangi West Hall: The painting appertaining to this 2019 Mahurangi modello was commissioned by a group of Mahurangi West residents, headed by no less than London’s Bob Moxon Browne kc. Subjects of the modello are the first European settlement in MakaurauStrictly, Tāmaki Makaurau, but Makaurau—te reo Māori: desired by many—is Mahurangi Magazine’s longstanding suggestion as the name for the Auckland Council governance region—the first and only depiction of it—and hmss Buffalo. Mid or late Sunday afternoon on 6 October, medical scientist and historian Professor Felicity Goodyear-Smith will speak on the Admiralty interloper hmss Buffalo, the private enterprise spar station depicted here, and its founders Ranulph Dacre and Gordon Browne—the latter, the great-great-granduncle of the above-mentioned kinlowercase reflecting British custom of reserving uppercase for titles within the kingdom, and the Mahurangi Magazine’s contention that Aotearoa is a de facto republicg’s counsellowercase reflecting British custom of reserving uppercase for titles within the kingdom, and the Mahurangi Magazine’s contention that Aotearoa is a de facto republic and family historian, Bob Moxon Browne. marine artist Paul Deacon

Sunday 6 October may seem an excessively long way off for the Mahurangi Magazine to be posting a save-the-date notice, but there is  justification. It could be any date to be saved between now and October that utilised the community sign­board erected at the intersection of Mahurangi West and Pukapuka roads, ahead of April’s Mahu West Pest and Mahurangi West Community Response drop-in afternoon.

Following the success, in March, of the Sir Ron Young talk, and the marathonliterally about marathons and endurance running, and in no way referring to the length of the talk. one by Jon Nabbs, an intention has developed to make sporadic Sunday-late-ish-afternoon talks a more-frequent feature. Sunday 6 October, will hopefully therefore merely be a placeholder until the date for a more immediate Mahurangi West Hall talk is scheduled.

The 6 October speaker, Professor Felicity Goodyear-Smith, is a medical scientist and tyro historian who has just finished researching and writing a history of Dacre Cottage. Because the book may not be printed by October, the opportunity was taken to invite Felicity to speak on a closely related subject: the spar station established by Captain Ranulph Dacre and Gordon Browne in the Mahurangi Harbour, in 1832. The date is historic because the settlement Gordon Davis Browne created was the first European settlement in what, long since, became MakaurauStrictly, Tāmaki Makaurau, but Makaurau—te reo Māori meaning “desired by many”—is Mahurangi Magazine’s longstanding suggestion as the name for the Auckland Council governance region—New Zealand’s metropolis otherwise known as Auckland. Had the settlement not suffered one-too-many setbacks in its colourful six-year history, Spar Station Cove—but more probably by some more mundane name—would now be known to every Aucklander.

Just one aspect of the settlement’s short history is how, as an example of free enterprise, it’s viability was undermined by state direct-procurement practices, when the Admiralty storeship Buffalo arrived to help herself, directly extracting the resource the spar station had invested two years setting up to exploit. Brown also endured an armed raid by a European competitor.

Click image to download social-media-format flyer for sharing
flyer Mahurangi Magazine

At the Mahurangi West Hall, on 6 October, the magnificently detailed 1.8-metre-wide Paul Deacon depiction of hmss Buffalo will be on display. This, remarkably, is only pictorial representation of MakaurauStrictly, Tāmaki Makaurau, but Makaurau—te reo Māori meaning “desired by many”—is Mahurangi Magazine’s longstanding suggestion as the name for the Auckland Council governance region’s first European settlement. The story of its commissioning by Mahurangi West residents, and a king’s counsel friend of Rowan Atchinson—told by the right person—would make a Mahurangi West Hall talk in and of itself. The ongoing saga includes its Warkworth Town Hall banishment, and its too-big-for-the-largest-available-wall-space sojourn at the Warkworth and District Museum—the good news is that a slightly smaller reproduction will eventually preside over the museum’s new early-European settlement section. Mahurangi West might of course, one day, have its own museum or, alternatively, Scott Homestead could be rescued from its mooted ignominious book-a-bach fate.

 

Start the presses! Just two days after the this save-the-date was posted, the publisher of Dacre Cottage and the Weiti Block: Preserving our Heritage  launched an appeal for support to get the book printed. A donation of “more than $100” will not only help raise the $16 571. 25 needed, it will reward the donor with a free copy of the book and  have their name listed in  the book.

The publisher is the very worthy Dacre Cottage Management Committee.

 

Please, anything but historian Given Sunday the 6th’s speaker’s myriad qualifications, choosing the most appropriate title to include on the roadside sign and the fliers was challenging. Historian  , however, was a non-starter:

I’m not really a historian. I guess because I have researched and written [Dacre Cottage and the Weiti Block ] I am an amateur historian. Professionally you could call me an academic, a scholar, a professor, an author, a researcher, a writer—maybe take your pick if you want to include a role? I am also a GP, a teacher and an editor but not relevant to this project…

After the Dacre, Brown, Buffalo  talk, Felicity has indicated that she is willing to take questions. This talk was always going to be very interesting, but now…

 

Tortuous Jade River  connection That Bob Moxon Browne kc beat a path the Mahurangi Magazine ’s door was less of a surprise than it might have been, given the Jade River: A History of the Mahurangi  chapter published therein: Gordon Browne and his spar station. What was  a surprise—and delightful bonus—was to subsequently learn via internet search engine that Moxon Browne’s name had been used, up until the episode’s screening, by his irreverent friend Rowan Atkinson, in place of Bob Massingbird  in Plan b : Corporal Punishment, of Blackadder Goes Forth.

 

 

Fewest is Best: Use of the Mahurangi West and Pukapuka intersection signboard is free, but signs, to look tidy, need to be A0 format—841 mm wide by x 1189 mm tall. Fewest-words is best, in the interests of creating the least distraction for drivers. image Mahurangi Magazine

Using the local-notices signboard Organisers of local events are free to use the Mahurangi West and Pukapuka signboard—the more immediate event will generally be given priority. Signs, however, should be a0-dimensioned, that is: 841 mm wide by x 1189 mm tall.

To display a save-the-date date on the local-notices signboard, simply email or text the Mahurangi Action secretary—all 365/366 days of a year are provided for!

 Return to top of page  | End notes

Return to page being read…