Table of Contents
PROMINENT PEOPLE
Trustees / Committee Members
Thomas King 1875 – 79 Harris Ford 1875 – 1922 R. C. Hughes 1875 – 1935 Isaac Broad 1875 John Gilmour 1875 – 78 J. T. Davis 1875 – 91 R. J. Collins 1875 – 77 Thomas Colson 1876 – 80 Reginald Bayley 1877 – 80 R. H. Thompson 1879 – 80 James Davidson 1880 – 85 Doctor Gibbes 1881 – 88 T. K. Skinner 1881 – 1901 J. B. Roy 1881 – 94 F. P. Corkill 1885 – 1915 Richard Cock 1889 – 1920 C. W. Govett 1892 – 1914 W. L. Newman 1895 – 1917 S. Percy Smith 1902 – 18 W. A. Collis 1904 – 20 M. Fraser 1904 C. Carter 1904 E. H. Tribe 1904 – 12 C. H. Burgess 1905, 1915 – 19 D. Hutchen 1905 – 06 Edward Dockrill 1906 – 07 Fred Bellringer 1907 – 10 G. Tisch (Mayor) 1908 – 11 A. E. Watkins 1909 – 11 Hartnell 1911 W. Ambury 1911 – 15 H. Stocker 1912 G. W. Browne 1912 – 13, 1918 C. H. Drew 1912 – 16 F. Jackson 1912 J. E. Wilson 1914 – 15 W. F. Short 1915 – 50 C. E. Bellringer 1916 – 44 J. W. Hayden 1917 – 18 A. Grey 1917 – 18 Mrs C. H. Burgess 1918 – 21 A. S. Brooker 1919 – 21 Victor Griffiths 1919 – 23, 1927 – 33 | W. C. Weston 1919 – 26 P. E. Stainton (S/ T) 1919 – 68 Frank Wilson 1920 – 27 Hector Dempsey 1921 – 39 A. T. Moore 1921 – 29 James McLeod 1922 – 43 Frank Amoore 1923 – 46 G. M. Spence 1925 – 31 Fred Parker 1929 – 65 R. W. Tate 1929 – 33 Victor Davies 1932 – 34 E. J. Carr 1933 – 46 Eliot King 1933 – 58 Everard Gilmour 1933 – 53 E. Jackson 1934 – 45 N. Johnson 1934 – 35 F. S. Varnham 1934 – 44 L. Lovell 1941 – 47 H. V. McCready 1941 – 47 D. F. Saxton 1947 – 68 E. Lippiatt 1947 – 58 M. J. Neville 1948 – 60 K. Ward 1948 – 53 Mrs. J. Davie 1948 – 50 G. Huthnance 1948 – 51 A. C. R. Anderson 1951 – 66 M. G. Maxwell 1952 – 68 K. Waite 1953 – 59 W. Wood 1954 – 56 Wolfe 1956 – 62 Edward Hill 1953 – 58 A. Brodie 1958 – 68 Arthur Sandford 1958 – 67 E. P. Allen 1959 – 62 R. K. Birkitt 1959 – 62 Mrs. Audrey Gale 1962 – 68 F. P. Grundy 1962 – 65 F. N. Aplin 1962 – 65 N. H. Guscott. 1963 – 65 D. V. Sutherland 1965 – 68 W. J. Connor 1965 – 66 A. B. Scanlan 1965 – 68 T. C. Davies 1965 – 68 Miss L. M. Mischewski 1966 – 68 |
CURATORS
Charles Carnell
1876 – 1878
Charles Carnell was a native of Ottery St Mary, Devonshire, England and the first custodian of the Recreation Grounds. He came to New Plymouth due to his service with the 65th Regiment, which was involved with the Taranaki Wars, and must have decided to stay on after retiring or being discharged from the service.
At the meeting of the Recreation Grounds Board on Friday 17 November 1876, it was resolved: “That Mr. Charles Carnell (being a resident adjacent to the grounds), be placed in charge thereof, in consideration of his being employed to work thereon for two days a week, and have full power to impound all cattle found trespassing thereon, and exercise the usual duties of a custodian.” (Taranaki Herald, 22 November 1876)
In his “Pukekura Park, its Origin and Development. A brief History” (Taranaki Herald 4 August 1916), Robert Clinton Hughes had this to say of Carnell: “He had a happy and placid Sancho Panza appearance, but his age and stoutness were rather against him.” (Sancho Panza is Don Quixote’s short, potbellied squire in the novel Don Quixote.)
Mr Breidecker
1878 – 1880
At the September 1878 Board meeting the following was decided: “That a permanent gardener and custodian be engaged at 20s per week, a three-roomed cottage being found him, and half an acre of ground rent free.” Mr. Breidecker was appointed and became the second custodian of the Recreation Grounds. Breidecker was already set up in the grounds, having leased part of it since late 1875 to plant and cultivate a vineyard and strawberry garden. The vineyard was situated in the part of the Park now known as Stainton Dell and flowed up onto the Eastern Hillside behind the racecourse. Also, from the beginning of 1878 the board had employed either Mr Breidecker or his son to weed flower beds in the garden, so his appointment perhaps ended up being an obvious choice. Breidecker remained two or three years and then went to the Hokianga District, where he successfully cultivated grapes and made wine.
Breidecker was succeeded sometime in the first half of 1880 by Darby Claffey. Breidecker, however, remained working his vineyard for another year until he surrendered his lease on it at the end of May 1881, before moving to Hokianga.
Darby Claffey
1880 – 1896
In his “Pukekura Park, its Origin and Development. A brief History” (Taranaki Herald 4 August 1916), Robert Clinton Hughes had this to say of Darby Claffey: “…. Mr. Darby Claffey, a young man fresh from County Cork. Darby, as he was generally called, knew little of botany or horticulture, but he was hardy and strong and not afraid of work. He was skilled in making sod banks, and most of his work of this kind stands well to this day. He was a good sample of an Irish peasant. His native wit and droll sayings amused visitors, and also brightened many an hour which the writer has spent working alongside of him. To him fell most of the heavy and rough work involved in turning a wilderness into a garden. He served the board for many years, but when the development of the grounds seemed to demand a better knowledge of trees and of horticulture and landscape gardening, Darby (to the regret of the writer) was superseded.”
During Darby Claffey’s employment a lot of his time would have been spent developing pathways around the grounds. In 1886 he increased the area of the Main Lake south of The Poet’s Bridge by more than one acre. Other projects he was probably involved with were: cutting the paths on Cannon Hill, installation of the cannons on its summit and the creation of Fountain Lake.
Claffey was well known for the donkey and cart that he owned. Like its owner, the donkey was apparently well-liked by visitors to the Park – especially children. The donkey and cart would have obviously played a useful part in many of the projects such as the creation of the Sports Ground, Fountain Lake and the new pathways around the two lakes. However as popular as the donkey was, there were times when it could also be a bit stubborn – as this item from the Taranaki Herald on 22 December 1894 shows: “There was plenty of fun provided in the Recreation Grounds on Friday afternoon by the antics of “Darby’s Ass,” who refused to be ridden. The Recreation Grounds pet dislodged several, including his owner, but at length three lads succeeded in keeping their seats and riding the animal around.”
Plant expertise was not necessarily Claffey’s strength, as indicated by this excerpt from Robert Clinton Hughes “Pukekura Park, its Origin and Development. A brief History” (Taranaki Herald August 4, 1916): “On one occasion a visitor, having heard there was a fine display of Native convolvulus in the grounds, asked Darby where it was to be seen. Darby, who made no pretence of botanical learning and yet had no desire to proclaim his deficiency, led the visitor to a lovely clump of furze (gorse) in full bloom.”
Claffey was let go at the beginning of 1896, following the drowning of George Duncan. He witnessed Duncan’s suicide. Claffey was on Cannon Hill cutting the grass when he saw Duncan jump off The Poet’s Bridge. Following the inquest, it was felt by some that he had shown a lack of action and had not done enough to try and save Mr Duncan. The Taranaki Herald on 17 December 1895 gave a report of the inquest and the jury’s verdict: “From the evidence the jury are of the opinion the deceased, George Edward Duncan, came to his death through drowning in the lake in the Recreation Grounds on December the 16th while temporarily insane. The jury regret that the custodian so far lost his presence of mind as not to utilise the appliances provided for these cases, and would urge upon the Recreation Grounds Board the necessity of instructing him to use the appliances immediately in future.” In January 1896 the board gave Claffey three months’ notice of his dismissal. Claffey died two years later at the age of 49.
Charles Edgecombe
1896 – 1905
Charles Edgecombe was born in New Plymouth in 1843 and was the son of William and Mary Edgecombe, who had arrived in New Plymouth aboard the William Bryan in 1841.
In his “Pukekura Park, its Origin and Development. A brief History” (Taranaki Herald 4 August 1916), Robert Clinton Hughes had this to say of Charles Edgecombe: “… Mr. Charles Edgecombe, a gardener had a good knowledge of native trees. He served the board for some years.”
Following Claffey’s dismissal the board advertised the vacant position of Custodian. The Taranaki Herald on 7 March 1896 reported: “There were fifteen applications for the position of custodian of the Recreation Grounds. The names of Messrs C. Edgecombe and H. Tiplady were selected from the list, and the former was finally given the appointment. The salary is £1 5s a week with cottage, ground and firewood.” Edgecombe commenced duties on April 4, 1896.
During Charles Edgecombe’s time as custodian some of the main works that he was involved with were the development/establishment and maintenance of plant nurseries in the Park, the creation and development of Manhattan Island in 1899, the formation of the Vogeltown Walk (Scanlan Walk) in 1901 and the establishment of fish ponds (Hatchery Lawn) by the Acclimatisation Society for raising trout in 1902 (the Acclimatisation Society paid Edgecome and assistant custodian Robert Mace to feed the fry).
Edgecombe went on a number of plant collecting trips on behalf of the Recreation Grounds Board. He spent a couple of days at Ratanui for the collection of native trees and shrubs. He collected 300 native plants which he set in a nursery bed – 200 from the Meeting of the Waters and the balance from Brooklands. He visited Tarata, where he collected ferns and shrubs. He also went to Raglan a couple of times collecting: mangeao, tānekaha, wharangi, native heath, umbrella fern, together with a quantity of kōwhai and mānuka seed.
Robert Mace
1905 – 1908
Robert Hyde Mace was born in Funchal, Madeira, Portugal on 10 November 1851, the son of Francis Thomas Mace and Isabella Broughton. The Mace family arrived in New Plymouth on 2 December 1852, on the sailing ship St Michael, and settled at Omata.
In his “Pukekura Park, its Origin and Development. A brief History” (Taranaki Herald 4 August 1916), Robert Clinton Hughes had this to say of Robert Mace: “…. Robert Mace, a gardener who also had a good knowledge of native trees. He resigned due to deafness.”
Robert Mace first became an employee of the Recreation Grounds Board as assistant custodian in March 1897. He was employed because the committee that had overseen the development of the original sportsground had been dissolved in February 1897 and the ground had come back under the control of the Recreation Grounds Board, which obviously would have meant an increased workload for the custodian.
Robert Mace subsequently became custodian in 1905, after the resignation of Edgecombe.
Mace was involved with significant planting programmes in both 1906 and 1907, which added to the range of plants in the Park. Details of these plantings can be found in the Planting History section of the book. Robert Mace resigned towards the end of 1907.
William Walter Smith
1908 – 1920
William Walter Smith was appointed curator in 1908 and held the position until 1920. His influence on the Park was noticeable and still is to this day. He was instrumental in replacing a lot of the original pine trees in favour of natives. As well as being a renowned plantsman he was also well respected in the fields of ornithology, entomology and meteorology. He is famous for being the first person to breed kiwi in captivity, which he did in the early 1910s in the Park. Later in the decade he also successfully bred weka. At the time, his kiwi breeding was not well recognised. Where he bred the kiwi is debateable. It is the writer’s belief that Smith made a purpose-built building near the curator’s house on Victoria Road. (What is certain, he did not breed kiwi on the island that used to be in Fountain Lake).
He grew up in Hawick Roxburghshire (Scotland). From an early age he had an absorbing interest in the plant and animal worlds. On leaving high school he become apprenticed to the Forestry Department, after which he worked in big private gardens in England for three years. He then spent about eight months in France, where he learned the language and later, attracted largely by the novelty of its plant life, came to a decision to take his passage to New Zealand.
His first position in New Zealand was on the estate (Mount Peel Station) of the late Hon. J. B. Acland, on the Rangitata River, in Canterbury. While he was there, he devoted much time to the study of moa remains, many of which were to be found in the Albury district. He also studied the life history and habits of the kea. His next move was to Windsor Park, Oamaru, after which he became curator of the botanical gardens at Ashburton, a position he held for 10 years. During this time anxiety at the wholesale destruction of native bush led him to advocate vigorously for the preservation of the country’s scenic wealth. As a result of this work he was approached by Prime Minister Richard Seddon, at whose request he became secretary of the newly set up Scenery Preservation Commission, which travelled for three years in both islands. Its business was to select areas for preservation including all classes of scenery, also ancient Māori pas. As the result of the commission’s recommendations to the government many scenic and historic places in Taranaki were proclaimed as reserves.
He is recognised as being the last person to sight a huia when he came across it in the bush at the back of the Tararua Range in 1907.
Smith left the Park under a cloud of controversy. When Smith started in 1908 his salary was subsidised by the council. For this it was expected that he would spend time outside the Park advising other entities such as the Hospital Board. At the end of the 1910s the Park Board had a number of changes. Some of the new members weren’t happy with the amount of time Smith was away from the Park. The secretary Percy Stainton had a run-in with Smith, prompting Smith to resign. It got to a point where Smith was threatening to sue Stainton.
Smith was responsible for introducing many new native plants into the grounds. He developed Smith Walk, Palm Lawn, Sunken Dell, A fernery on Manhattan Island, planting around the Serpentine and Tōtara Hillside, plus many more areas.
Charles Revell
1922
In June 1922 at the suggestion of the Sports Ground Committee Charles Revell was appointed custodian at a salary of £4 5s per week. The agreement was that Revell worked two days a week on the Sports Ground and for this the Sports Ground Committee paid the board £75 per annum in quarterly payments. Unfortunately, Mr. Revell died of pneumonia in December 1922 at the age of 43.
George Tunnecliffe
1923 – 1924
Following the death of Charles Revell George Tunnecliffe took over the role of curator. He was already employed by the board. He kept the position until May of 1924 at which time he retired due to ill health.
Thomas Horton
1924 – 1949
Thomas Horton was born on the 18th of October 1867, in Tysoe, Warwickshire, England. He came to New Zealand with his family in 1874 aboard the sailing ship, Crusader. During the voyage he celebrated his seventh Birthday. The family settled in Rangiora.
He married his first wife, Sarah in November 1888 and they had nine children, six boys and three girls. Unfortunately, Sarah died in 1917. He married his second wife May, in New Plymouth in 1931. They had one son. Horton by then was in his mid-sixties.
He made his entrance into the nursery business at the age of 11 when he started a 7-year apprenticeship with W.E. Ivory (Currently Riverside Horticulture) nurseryman Rangiora. During his apprenticeship he attended night school conducted by Mr. Elderton an eminent English scholar, receiving his principal botanical and general education. As a young man he played the cornet in the salvation Army brass band and was band master for a while.
When he was 21, for health reasons he accepted the position of foreman at John Goddard’s nursery Havelock North and at the age of 27 accepted a job as manager of Fernleigh Nurseries at Mangatainoka, near Pahīatua where his job was to establish an orchard on newly felled bush. He needed to clear stumps, level the land and plant. Though hard work it was satisfying. But after three years he was given notice to cease operations, with the company still owing him several hundred pounds. Horton with a family of three children was struggling to make ends meet so did odd jobs, gardening and pruning etc.
Then he had some good luck, a friend offered to sell him 2 acres of newly felled bush, on easy terms, in the 40-mile bush at Pahīatua close to where a railway station was going to be built. Also close by was a railway yard full of thousands of Tōtara sleepers which had to be adzed and bored. Horton put in a price for doing this and spent many months working 8 hours a day doing this and then four hours each evening stumping his land. When his land was ready, he planted vegetables which he sold to the many railway workers. After two years he had paid for his land and bought a further five acres.
A chance encounter with Prime Minister, Richard Seddon while Horton was on his land stumping proved very fortuitous. Seddon, seeing how industrious he was offered to help him in any way he could. Before embarking on a trip to Australia, Seddon gave Horton a letter of introduction which opened up many doors. Seddon insisted he see the premiers of the states he visited which proved very fruitful for Horton.
In 1898 he set up “Premier Nurseries” Pahīatua. The nursery grew large quantities of hedge and shelter trees, advertising as many as 75,000 plants. However, he needed to expand to keep up with demand. By 1902 he was advertising 600,000 plants. Horton was a prolific advertiser, and in the six years from opening Premier Nurseries, he posted more than 3000 substantial newspaper advertisements.
By 1905 he had 24 acres, and employed 28 men. In the same year he purchased 20 acres of the famous Frimley Estate near Hastings where he established Horton’s Frimley Nurseries whilst also maintaining his business at Pahīatua. By 1907 he had 85 acres, not only was his business and staff growing rapidly but also his global reputation. By 1910 he employed a permanent staff of 97 men, he had seven travellers and had established agencies in various parts of New Zealand and abroad.
At Frimley his principal study was the growing and cultivation of pedigree fruit trees and he sent millions of these to fruit growing districts in not only New Zealand but also Australia, the Argentine and South Africa. Horton did a lot of pioneering work and catalogued no fewer than 700 varieties of apples alone. Every year from 1899 to 1917 he visited Australia, exploring all the commercial orchards and fruit tree nurseries searching for new outstanding varieties.
In 1910 he accepted an invitation from the government of Paraguay to give advice on fruit culture and also travelled extensively in Argentina. He saw the trade possibilities that existed in South America and established a Buenos Aires agency through which he distributed hundreds of thousands of fruit trees. He revisited South America in 1914, and at Buenos Aires staged a comprehensive show of his various kinds of fruit. As a result, he got many substantial orders for trees. Unfortunately, before the orders could be filled war broke out, and New Zealand ships that had previously called regularly into Buenos Aires and Montevideo were being diverted to other routes. To keep faith with his numerous South American clients he chartered a ship. The ship left Napier in 1915 flying Horton’s own house flag bearing the slogan “Horton’s Trees Grow”. However, the cost made it impossible to continue trading with South America and eventually trade was abandoned.
Horton also developed a 90 acres orchard at Nelson, concentrating on varieties of apples suitable for the export trade. In 1902 he was a foundation member of the Horticultural Trade Association of New Zealand.
In 1903 during the early days of the export apple industry Thomas Horton was appointed to the pomologist board to give advice on the best varieties of apple to plant in various parts of the country. The board decided to confine the number of varieties to twelve. Three years later he went to England and earned a Diploma at the Royal Horticultural Society. While there he won the championship of Great Britain, judged by the Government Pomologist to be the best collection comprising 200 dishes of fresh fruit.
Besides his trips to England, South America and Australia he also made three world tours collecting new and rare plants he thought might be useful in New Zealand.
Although Horton had been extremely successful, because of circumstances beyond his control he found himself in financial difficulties and in August 1922 he begrudgingly handed over his affairs to the Official Assignee declaring himself bankrupt.
After a short spell of travelling, he found himself in New Plymouth starting at Pukekura Park in August 1924. His intention was to stay at the Park only one year but ended up remaining twenty-five years during which time he made his mark.
One of his first notable actions was the planting of kauri, tōtara and rimu up the pathway now named “Horton walk”. Between 1926 and 1928 he faced the challenge of creating the Fernery. Due to the massive amounts of earth dug out of the banks of the hillside to form the Fernery he had the foresight to simultaneously create Stainton Dell and Fred Parker lawn.
Horton was a keen bowler and soon after the Fernery opened, he left on a lengthy bowling tour and holiday which took him around Australia, Sri Lanka, Europe, the UK, North America and Canada. He made effective use of this trip visiting many Botanical gardens and nurseries and arranging to have many new plant species sent to the Park.
Between 1935 and 1939 he was responsible for the planting of the “Fillis Street Native Botanical Reserve” which was some four acres planted with approximately 1200 trees of over 200 varieties. Controversially many Pinus radiata were felled during the development stage of this area between 1931 and 1935. During the period 1936 to 1938, not long after the addition of Brooklands to the Park, he promoted and successfully completed the planting of the Kauri Grove. This work transformed 10 acres of land in Brooklands that had been left to gorse etc. He planted some 3815 trees of 25 different varieties including 500 kauri. He was also responsible in 1942 for the planting of the Kaimata Street shelter belt.
In 1938 Horton was made an Honorary Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Horticulture.
During WWII work in the Park slowed down significantly with men having gone off to war, and Horton by this time was in his seventies. Thomas Horton finally retired in 1949 at the age of 81 and died in New Plymouth on May 1, 1958.
Alois Sconbachler
1949
Alois Sconbachler was born in Switzerland. He came to New Zealand in 1912 and worked on the land before starting work in the Park in December 1928 as a gardener. He worked in the Park for 25 years until June 1954. He was acting curator during the period between Thomas Horton retiring and Jack Goodwin starting. For the last sixteen years of his time at the Park he was the caretaker of the Sportsground and well respected for the way the pitch was presented.
Every morning for twenty years he fed the Park ducks breadcrumbs at 8.00 am and admitted that “After twenty years I still can’t tell one from another”.
Jack Goodwin
1949 – 1966
He was born in Waimate, south Canterbury, 1912. His interest in gardening started at a very young age. He was growing hyacinths when he was 4 years old and sweet peas as a 5-year-old. At school his studies included, dairy science, agricultural science and general principals of botany.
During the depression of the 1930s he travelled around taking any job on offer and even tried his hand at gold prospecting in Otago. He worked in tobacco, hops and orchards in the Nelson district and seasonally he would go down south and do wool classing, a skill he had studied for as a teenager. In the mid 1930s he spent 3 years as a head gardener at a sheep station in the Nelson district, during which time he took a correspondence course in horticulture through Otago University. He then went to Christchurch getting a position as a nursery salesman during which time he also studied dendrology. He was at the nursery about 3 years. In 1940 he was appointed Senior Gardener and Nursery Foreman for the Christchurch City Council, where he became involved with street beautification, then spent two years in the army as a quartermaster. From 1944-1949 he was responsible for laying out the grounds, practical training of horticultural students and further rehabilitation of service personnel at the emerging Massey College (now Univ.) Palmerston Nth.
In 1949 he successfully applied for the role as Curator of Pukekura Park. His brief was to bring back the visitors to the Park. He had his work cut out as the Park had been neglected in the 1940s because of the war. Many areas like the Fillis Street reserve had become severely overgrown with weeds such as convolvulus and also a lot of sycamore and strawberry tree seedlings.
There were many changes made in the Park during his tenure, includung: a new curator’s office, children’s playground, Queen Elizabeth II fountain, Bowl of Brooklands and a large plant nursery at Brooklands.
He transformed both sides of the main lake in the 1960s when over thirty huge pines were removed from the western hillside and over twenty from the eastern hillside. These were replaced by mainly native trees.
George Fuller
1966 – 1990
George MacMurray Fuller was born at Henderson on 9th January 1929. His parents had a family orchard. One of their neighbours was an orchid breeder who encouraged him to go to New Plymouth to learn more about plant nurseries.
He left school at the age of fifteen to work in Palmer’s first nursery in Glen Eden, and then spent time at Duncan and Davies Nursery in New Plymouth. While he was in New Plymouth, he met Fred Parker who had a garden full of plants and was an orchid enthusiast. He worked weekends in Fred’s garden.
In 1947 he went to England. He began work at Sanders Nursery in St Albans north of London and spent four years there. He then spent two years as a student at Kew Gardens. His next appointment was in Sweden working for an orchid grower to grow plants hydroponically under glass. After six years in Sweden, he met an English man who was starting up a big propagation nursery in Malta and invited George to pioneer the development of that nursery. Four years later the nursery was producing one million chrysanthemum cuttings a week.
After sixteen years in Europe, he decided to return home. Here he obtained a job assembling Volkswagens in Otahuhu and declined another job offer as a gardener in the Auckland City Council Parks division.
Thinking he would obtain a job in Palmerston North he travelled there and on coming back through New Plymouth he called on Fred Parker who was planning to donate his extensive orchid collection to Pukekura Park but required assurances that they had a competent person to look after it.
So, it came about that George moved into Pukekura Park in early 1965 to induct Fred’s orchids into the Fernery. He was made Curator of the Park the following year and lived on site in the Curator’s house on Victoria Road with his family.
George was curator of the Park for twenty-five years from 1966 to 1990 and left his mark. He was not only a plantsman, but an ecologist and engineer – he understood the factors affecting the Park. His environmental awareness came to the fore as he became ever more involved with the land. Much of his concern within the Park lay with the passage of water through the area and the deterioration in the condition of the pathways.
With Ian McDowell, George planned and built the waterfall, a project of which he was immensely proud.
The next major project was the Waterwheel. This was erected in 1976. The wheel itself had been sourced from the Omata dairy factory where his son, Chris had a holiday job at the time. Once again George teamed up with Ian McDowell to complete another successful project.
He loved all trees which became even more evident when he worked with Cory Smith to compile a book about the trees they regarded as significant, both within the Park and beyond it.
He was awarded the MBE in 1990 for his services to the community. In 2009 he wore this medal proudly during his successful campaign to save the trees on the Bowl Road when the New Plymouth District Council decided to form a new road connecting the Racecourse with the Brooklands Bowl. In 2010 The Taranaki Daily News voted him Person of the Year.
Anthony Joines
1990 – 1994
Anthony Joines grew up in Wellington. He completed a degree in horticulture at Massey University in 1986, then worked at Duncan and Davies for four years. His specialty interest was New Zealand ferns.
Joines had the luxury of working under George Fuller for just over a year, before taking over the role as curator in November 1990. His title was Pukekura Park Officer. The change of title was due to structural changes within the NPDC.
When he started his primary goal was to introduce forward work and labour planning. The planning programme was divided into weekly, monthly, six-monthly and yearly plans of maintenance. Including: pruning, spraying, planting projects and routine maintenance.
Labour planning involved regular staff meetings with the aim of making workers more invested in the Park’s development. Staff were split into small units which were rotated between different areas of the Park. When Joines took over the focus changed from mostly recreation to mostly horticulture, introducing more colour and interest to the garden.
Probably the biggest impact made by Joines in his short stint at the Park was the development of stage 1 of the Japanese Hillside made possible when a grove of century old pines were removed.
Government legislation was introduced requiring all Parks to have their own management plans. The first Pukekura Park Management Plan was drafted in 1993 and Anthony Joines was a major contributor to the plan.
Anthony left in April 1994 due to another restructuring of the NPDC’s Parks division. He became senior assets officer of the asset unit that owned and managed the Council’s parks. His successor Ian McDowell worked for the Park’s business unit (Parkscape Services) which was contracted to the asset unit to do the work in the Park.
Ian McDowell
1994 – 1999
Ian was raised in Essex on the edge of Epping Forest. He developed a passion for trees and shrubs. He did a gardening apprenticeship at Bournemouth, before working at the John Innes Horticultural Institute. After that he got a student’s place at the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew. He was offered two jobs in New Zealand, one in New Plymouth and the other in Timaru. Some of his colleagues at Kew were Kiwis and they recommended New Plymouth, and he took their advice. He came to New Zealand with his new bride Ann on a £10 assisted passage.
His first job was with the Parks and Reserves Department in 1963 as a technical assistant. He had several different jobs in the department rising to being Deputy Director of Parks. But for the last five years of his career, he stepped back into a hands-on horticultural role as curator of Pukekura Park.
As well as being a knowledgeable plantsman he was also a talented artist. He designed the illuminated waterfall at the north-west corner of the main lake. He also drew the first tourist map of the Park. Another passion of Ian’s was as a botanical artist. Some of his sketches are on this website.
Bryan Gould
1999 – 2006
Bryan Gould was born in Plymouth England. He started his career as a tree surgeon in London working for a local authority before moving to a private company, Southern Tree Surgeons. He then spent six years managing the prestigious Winkworth Arboretum in Guilford, near London He moved to Melbourne in 1988 to become Parks manager for Melbourne City before shifting to Auckland in 1994 where he held the position of chief arborist with Auckland City Council. His professional qualifications included a professional diploma in arboriculture and a graduate diploma in horticulture.
He started at Pukekura Park in November 1999. Plans were already in place for major changes to the zoo and the Fernery, so he arrived at a busy time.
Following more reorganisation in 2002, Gould was made manager of Premier Parks, a position he held until 2006.
Chris Connolly
2007 – 2019
In 2006 there was another reorganisation in the council’s Parks department. The Park finally got a dedicated curator. Chris Connolly was Parkscape manager until the position was disestablished in 2006. Chris had been working for the council for 12 years in charge of maintaining the districts reserves, sportsgrounds and cemeteries.
During his time as curator, he oversaw the upgrading of the Queen Elizabeth II fountain, a new lookout platform overlooking the main lake, a new playground, a pest management programme and upgrading of the Fernery and display houses.
Under his leadership the Park also won the international Green Flag award for six years running, a measure of the world’s top parks and green spaces.
Before coming to New Plymouth Chris worked as a teacher in Auckland, parks worker at Gore Borough Council and parks supervisor at Manukau City Council.
Kristian Davies
2018 – 2022
In 1996 Kristian Studied Horticulture Science at Unitec in Auckland.
From 1997 he then spent six years at Auckland Botanical Gardens. The first three years as a trainee developing his horticulture knowledge working all around the gardens. The next three years he spent as the camellia and magnolia collection curator.
In 2004 Kristian went to London and in 2005 he started Koru Gardens Ltd. This involved landscape design, installation and maintenance.
He returned to New Zealand in 2018 to take up the position of curator at Pukekura Park. The major projects during his tenure were the Fountain Lake dam spillway upgrade and the desilting project using the Swedish Truxor amphibious dredge. The other notable event during his time at the Park was the outbreak of COVID.
Kristian left the Park in 2022 to take a position as Head Gardener at Pukeiti.
Sheryl Clyma
2022 – present
Sheryl was born in New Plymouth and attended Spotswood College. While in the 6th form in 1981 she worked one day a week at the Fernery in Pukekura Park for work experience.
In 1982 she started a four-year Apprenticeship for NPDC Parks Department, this involved working in Pukekura Park and around the district’s gardens. She then became a tradesperson working in the around town teams before leaving in 1988 to start a family.
Between 1988 and 1998 she continued to work in Horticulture, working part time at Bell Block Garden Centre and maintaining private gardens.
In 1998 she started work for the Department of Corrections as a Horticultural Instructor/Prison Officer based at New Plymouth Prison. Here she trained prisoners in horticulture unit standards, maintained the prison grounds, and ran a large riparian nursery, supplying plants to the Taranaki Regional Council Riparian scheme.
In 2012, Sheryl went back to NPDC as the Assistant Curator at Pukekura Park. She continued in that role until September 2022 when she successfully applied for the position of Curator following the departure of Kristian Davies.
OTHER PROMINENT PEOPLE
Newton King
Born at Mangorei, New Plymouth, on July 21, 1855, Newton King was the second son of Mr. Thomas King, one of the first settlers to arrive here from England. After leaving school at about 15 years old he worked in the office of Messrs. Webster Bros for about nine years gaining his early commercial training. He joined
Mr. R. G. Bauchope who was a land and commission agent and accountant, at the end of 1879, commencing a new partnership, Bauchope and King on January 1, 1880. The firm’s first sale was held on February 21, 1880, when Newton King commenced his career as an auctioneer. In 1881 the partnership dissolved, Mr. King continuing the auctioneering business himself. He bought the good-will of cattle saleyards at Glenavon, Waitara, Inglewood, Stratford, Oakura and Stony River. Other yards were added later.
He also had land and commission agencies, shipping and insurance agencies, produce and seed merchants, agricultural implements, wholesale merchandise, and car sales. He established branches in Stratford, Inglewood, and in other centres, eventually converting the whole into a company, of which he was chairman and managing director up to the time of his death. He was one of the founders of the Crown Dairy Company. He also had an interest in a butter tinning factory exporting to Eastern countries. For over 30 years he was chairman of the New Plymouth Sash and Door Company and a director of the Taranaki Building Society for many years.
Newton King also held several public positions. He was one of the founders of the Taranaki Chamber of Commerce and was its first president in 1889. In that year he was elected to the New Plymouth Harbour Board, of which he was chairman from 1917 to 1922. He was president of theTaranaki agricultural Society in 1903. He was a trustee of the New Plymouth Savings Bank for some years. Mr. King was president of the Taranaki Jockey Club and also of two or three other provincial racing clubs. In his youth he played football and represented Taranaki against Auckland in the first encounter between the two provinces.
His great hobby, however, was his garden His home at Brooklands was surrounded by beautiful gardens and native bush, of which he was intensely proud.
Thomas Kelly
Thomas Kelly was possibly the most influential New Plymouth politician of the 19th century. He was a member of the Provincial Council from 1863 to 1869. Then he represented New Plymouth in the House of Representatives from 1869 to 1884, and later a member of the Legislative Council from 1892 to 1913. He was prominent in the setting up and financing the harbour and a driving force behind the railway coming to New Plymouth.
His foresight secured the land to form the Recreation Ground, and he authored the Botanical Garden and Public Recreation Grounds Ordinance, 1875.
Thomas Kingswell Skinner
Skinner was born in New Plymouth. He trained as a surveyor under Octavius Carrington. One of his jobs was surveying the New Plymouth to Hawera railway in 1882.
In the Recreation Ground he was responsible for most of the surveying in the first 25 years of the Park’s development. From laying-out paths to supervising the sport ground reclamation. In 1899 he supervised the formation of Manhattan Island. He was responsible for the cutting back of Cannon Hill and laying out the foundations of the Band Rotunda. He was also a board member from 1881 to 1902. He was a lover of flowers, and possessed a good knowledge of native trees. Over the years he donated thousands of plants to the Recreation Ground.
Robert Clinton Hughes
A lawyer by profession and a staunch advocate for a recreation ground. Hughes was an original Board member and stayed on it until his death in 1935.
He was a strong swimmer, and it is said that on occasions when the sea was too rough for ships to land the mail he would swim out and bring it back to shore. He often featured in the accounts of swimming galas. His most successful event was the long dive.
Hughes was a leading member of the Temperance Movement in the region, a member of the Temperance Alliance and the Band of Hope.
Amongst other talents he spoke several languages and played the violin.
Captain James Davidson
Probably born in Kelso, Scotland. Davidson arrived in New Plymouth in the early 1870’s. In 1874 he married Jane Ryan, and the couple had six children. They lived in Fleetwood Cottage on Carrington Street. He quickly became a prominent figure in New Plymouth, serving on the Harbour Board, the Hospital Board and was the third Mayor of New Plymouth, serving two terms. Davidson was on the Recreation Ground Board for 5 years, four as chairman. He was also a Captain in the local militia and was involved in the arrest of Te Whiti at Parihaka.
Davidson has a fascinating history. He lived in South Africa where he was a Quarter master Sergeant of the Cape Mounted Rifles. He was a wheeler- dealer and with creditors hot on his heels he left South Africa in 1864. Soon after he landed in America where he enlisted as a second lieutenant in the 19th Maine Infantry Volunteers. In 1867 he joined the regular army as a private rising to the rank of first sergeant; after passing exams he was appointed second lieutenant. In 1869 his unit was transferred to Texas and Davidson assumed the duty of military commissioner of Red River County, where he quickly made a name for himself. Soon after the Governor nominated Davidson adjutant general of Texas with the rank of colonel. His role put him in charge of the state police. He also headed the state militia and in 1871 and gained the rank of major general. In 1872 he unsuccessfully ran for state senator. Following a dispute over finances Davidson decided to leave the United States and come to New Zealand.
Thomas Furlong, aka, Professor Furlong
Thomas Furlong was born in Tipperary, Ireland, where, aged 18, he joined the 57th Regiment and served in the Crimea, Malta and India. In 1861 the 57th was posted to New Zealand and he was involved with the regiment at a number of actions. Reputedly a fine horseman, Furlong served as orderly to Colonel H J Warre and was discharged from the army after 12 years’ service in November 1863. He then joined the Taranaki Mounted Volunteers, set up a livery and bait stables, and, as a general carrier, ran New Plymouth’s first public taxi service. He was also involved with competitive shooting for several years as a member of the Taranaki Rifle Association. In 1868 Furlong established a successful hairdressing saloon and tobacconist’s business in Devon Street. He often advertised the fact that he had the latest hairdressing equipment from America. His shop was also a tobacconist and at the back of the shop he had a shooting gallery.
His gifts to the Recreation Ground included:
An impressive fountain that stood in the hatchery Lawn.
Two Graces that stood on plinths in the main lake.
A round mirror on a flagpole that was installed where the Band Rotunda is located.
The first of the Dicky Barrett’s Cannons.
James Thomas Davis
James Davis was a Trustee of the Recreation Ground from its inception until his unfortunate death in 1891. Davis owned an ironmonger’s business on Devon Street. He was an active member of society. He served on the Town Board, the Borough Council, prominent member of the Ancient Order of Foresters, Fire Inspector, member of the Horticultural Society, steward of the Jockey Club and various other committees.
Stevenson Percy Smith
Percy Smith arrived in New Zealand with his family in 1849 as a nine-year-old. His mother’s brother was Charles Hursthouse who had persuaded the family to emigrate. He was an adventurous young man and in 1857 with five friends including Arthur Standish and Wilson Hursthouse climbed Mount Egmont, taking them five days. In 1858, again with Standish and Hursthouse a party of five friends embarked on a two-month trek of over 500 miles via Mokau to Taupo region and back via Wanganui. They used canoes and horses, but the majority was on foot.
His career as a surveyor started in 1855 as a cadet with Octavius Carrington. In 1866 while on a field trip with Carrington they were ambushed and fired upon. Fortunately, they all managed to escape unharmed.
During his illustrious career Smith had many notable achievements around the country but locally he was responsible for developing the road from Opunake to Kaupokonui. By 1889 he worked his way up to Surveyor General of New Zealand. On his retirement in 1900 he returned to New Plymouth.
He was also an amateur ethnologist and wrote several important books on Maori history including Hawaiki. He co-founded the Polynesian Society and when he returned to New Plymouth after his retirement the headquarters of the society moved with him.
When the Taranaki Museum was opened in 1902 Smith was a major contributor and gave the opening address. Smith also headed a Scenery Preservation Commission set up by the government in 1904. The commission identified scenic and historic sites to be made into reserves. They identified 416 sites 61 of which were gazetted by 1906 when the commission was disbanded. Some notable reserves created were: Otari–Wilton’s Bush, Kennedy’s Bush, Motukaraka Island, Te Kawau pa, and Ship Cove in the Marlborough Sounds. They also established reserves in Taranaki including: Turuturu Mokai Reserve, Hawera and Ratapihipihi Reserve, Cowling Road, New Plymouth.
In 1920 Percy Smith was awarded the prestigious Hector Memorial Medal.
Two of his most notable pieces of work during his time at the Recreation Ground were the development of the Serpentine which extended the main lake down to the southern boundary of the Park and building the wisteria pergola next to the Tea House.
Percy Smith also came up with the name of Pukekura Park in 1907. He felt strongly that the name should have Maori roots. He was a trustee of the Park from 1901 to 1918.