The Near West is a fascinating in-depth history of 3 adjoining suburbs, Grey Lynn, Arch Hill and Westmere, and the people that have lived there. Wide ranging, it covers the geological and Māori history, farming, industry, local government, education, religion, sports and the arts. At over 400 pages it is a long but very engaging read, and it is richly illustrated with over 250 photographs, maps, and artworks.
Tania Mace, the author, a freelance historian and researcher (mainly in the heritage area) is a local who has lived in Grey Lynn for over 30 years loves it and wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. Writing this book involved a massive amount of painstaking research. Her children were at primary school when she started writing it and are now at secondary school and university.
She tells how the earliest inhabitants were Māori. It was the eeling ground of mana whenua and they grew flax and kumara there before the colonial carve-up into farmland. When the area was subdivided, for residential use, there was a very gradual transition from farm to residential land through Victorian and Edwardian times and beyond.
Post-war, the houses, especially in Grey Lynn, became run down and became available as cheap rental accommodation for Māori from rural communities who came to Auckland in search of jobs and for Pacific Islanders who the government brought in to stem the labour shortage. They were working-class suburbs that voted Labour, and many locals became concerned about issues of social justice. It was in Arch Hill that the Polynesian Panthers were formed in 1971 to support Polynesian people fighting racial prejudice.
Many of New Zealand’s foremost creatives, visual artists, musicians, actors, playwrights, TV presenters and writers were also attracted by the cheap rents. From the 1980s and 1990s, creative types were everywhere. Budding and established musicians spent much time writing in bedrooms, lounges, sleepouts and sheds, which could also provide space for recording.
Potter Len Castle, and painters Colin McCahon, Toni Fomison and Gretchen Albrecht found it an affordable place to set up their studios.
But when, from the 1970’s on rising house prices and increased rentals made living there unaffordable many Pacific Island families left and a wealthier population took their place who bought and restored the rundown houses. The struggling artist vibe also disappeared. But in Tania Mace’s experience it is still a friendly community to live in -one with a creative vibe and a social conscience.
When I had finished reading The Near West, I felt moved to revisit the area. Despite gentrification the original cottage, villas and bungalows have remained largely unchanged and remain to tell the story of the suburban growth of the Near West. It is a charming and special historical area, and one can only hope it won’t be ruined by housing intensification.
I stopped off at a café for lunch and reflected on how fortunate today’s residents are and how much easier their lives are compared to those of the early settlers.
I thought of Elizabeth Brown, whose photograph is in the book, standing in her backyard on Richmond Av (now Richmond Rd), the outside dunny on one side and the well from which she needed to pump water on the other.
Families had to be much more self-sufficient in those days and grew their own vegetables. The first shop didn’t open until 1880, and other grocers, butchers, and bakers followed.
In those early days getting around was a hassle. The streets were muddy and before streetlights were installed: ‘It was best if those travelling through the district by night were familiar with the pattern of the potholes and other hazards that were enough of a threat to safety by day, let alone by the gloom at night.’
And as for sipping some wine in one of its little neighbourhood bars, as the locals in Grey Lynn and Westmere love to do, that was not possible for quite some time! Concerned about the social ills the demon drink caused, the Grey Lynn voted the area dry in1905 and it was not voted wet again until 1995, one of the last areas to do so.
It is the many photographs in this book that I keep on returning to. They have given me a fascinating glimpse into the lives of the locals over the years at school, at work and at play.
In the chapter on Sport and Recreation those whose ancestors lived in the Near West may well be able to spot one of them in the team photographs. Cricket was the first sport in the area, other winter sports soon followed. Rugby was played as early as 1883 at Surrey Hills.
But it was not seen as proper for women to participate. Even lawn bowls was initially a male only sport. The men played, the wives and daughters served the refreshments. It was not until 1910 that the facilities at the Grey Lynn Bowling Club were extended with additional bowling green and croquet lawns for ‘The Ladies’.
Girls did play sports at school although their sports attire was a considerable impediment. There is a fetching photograph of the Auckland Girls’ Grammar school hockey team in 1905 attired in long dresses and hats.
The Near West is an invaluable historical record. For me, it brought back many happy memories of teaching at Grey Lynn Primary School when there were still many Pacifica families living in the area.The building I taught in at Grey Lynn Primary school has been demolished to make way for a more modern building and the school has been renamed as Te Rae O Kawharu – Grey Lynn School. I found it fascinating to learn about its earlier history, before I had lived and worked there, as well as what has happened since then.
I think others who have lived or worked in the Near West or are current residents would also greatly enjoy reading it.
Reviewer: Lyn Potter
Massey University Press