Living Rough: Vagrancy in Ashburton

The photo below, which was taken in 1903, shows an elderly gentleman beside his dwelling on the banks of the Hakatere Ashburton River, who looks very dapper considering the dubious state of his accommodation. One can only imagine the precariousness of his existence, living at a time when lack of income or family support made...

“Night and Day Oliver”

Australian-born James Walter Oliver (1853 - 1943) arrived in the Whakatere Ashburton area about 1874, when his father Donald, a renowned sheep breeder, had become manager on the Westerfield Estate. James also proved to be a welcome addition at Westerfield, and is credited for laying some of the first water races in the area.  The...

Traumatic travel

For those intrepid early European pioneers who first traversed the inland country surrounding Whakatere Ashburton, the only efficient way to transport a load was with a bullock team and dray. Drays were wooden carts without springs, pulled by a team of hardy bullocks who were capable of ploughing through rough terrain and pulling heavy loads...

Ashburton cleans up the “pestilence”

“Bubonic plague has broken out To leave a trail of death no doubt, A vile, detestable complaint, O'er which few medicines have restraint.” (Ashburton Guardian, 15 June 1900) On 19 April 1900, a sickly rat was discovered crawling in full daylight along the floor of a wharf shed in Auckland. On examination, it was found...

Alan Charles Bray: Second to none

Note: This article is about content that featured in a past exhibition, which is since closed. Very few people who served in any air service during World War Two could have boasted a record of duty as impressive as that of Ashburton-born airman Alan Charles Bray. A general overview of Alan Bray’s story was featured...

Thyrza Margaret Whillans: Army Nurse

Note: This article is about content that featured in a past exhibition, which is since closed. Our 2025 ANZAC-period exhibition, Land, Sea & Air, received varied responses, mainly positive but also poignant; many of us have relatives who fought or otherwise served during the Second World War, and the exhibition drove that point home for...

The life behind a painting

Working with collections at the Ashburton Art Gallery & Museum, we often find that history and art cross paths; historical research is required to unravel the lives of artists from the past, and artworks often have or gain historical significance. Painting of Cameron Street, by Muriel Cole (1930). Ashburton Art Gallery Collection. A recent acquisition...

Mary Ann Tarbotton’s trousseau

Camisoles were all the rage in the Victorian era. They were lightweight and were designed to hide a woman’s corsets from public view, allowing a woman the opportunity to create a slender shape, without making it obvious that it was due to the aid of a corset. The garment also protected a woman’s outer clothing...

Fastidious facial fashion

This framed portraiture collage of members of the Tinwald Racing Club in 1898 provides an accurate observation of the eclectic combinations of male facial hair popular in the late Victorian and early Edwardian eras. Beardy boys By the late 1890s to early 1900s, the huge bushy beards which exemplified masculine virility in earlier years had...

Local pharmacists endured a “sensational occurrence”

When pharmacist Robert Totty established Totty's Pharmacy on Burnett Street in 1906, Ashburtonians would probably have never guessed that the business would continue to serve the town not only for their lifetimes, but also that of two further generations. At the time, patent medicines had to be imported and sold at low profit margins, so...