By Roselyn Fauth
Map of Fyfe's quarry and a photo of the stone being shifted out of the quarry.
I was on my way into the Timaru Botanic Gardens through the Gloucester Gates, heading for the Robbie Burns statue to photograph threads of our Scottish past, when I bumped into my friend Leanne Penderville. We first met as volunteers on the CPlay Caroline Bay Playground project, and now she works as a real estate agent with Raine & Horne. Leanne told me about a house that had just come on the market – a bluestone home dating back to the 1860s. She kindly emailed me through the details, and I was astonished to realise it was the Fyfe family’s house.
A few years earlier I had dug into the history of the Fyfes while researching Gleniti and Centennial Park. To discover that their family home is still standing today, and now looking for new owners, I was keen to revisit my research and add in the fantastic information collected by the real estate agents.
And that brings us to David Fyfe — a young Scot whose fascinating journey took him from a shipwreck in the icy seas off Newfoundland to the sweet waters of Otipua Creek, and the bluestone quarries that helped shape Timaru.
When I started digging into the history of Fyfe House, I realised the story of its first owner, David Fyfe, was even more dramatic than I’d thought. He was born in Dundee, Scotland, in 1838, and as a young man he travelled to Canada to try his luck. But on his way back to Scotland his ship, the Mail Steamer Canada, was wrecked in the Strait of Belle Isle off Newfoundland. Reading his obituary, I was struck by how close he came to not making it at all – survivors were rescued by a French fishing boat, but they were in such dire straits that each person was rationed one biscuit and half a glass of stale water a day. Somehow he pulled through, and he kept a leather-bound Bible gifted to him by the Bishop of Newfoundland in 1861 as a reminder of that time.
By 1862 David had set his sights further afield and came to New Zealand, landing in Christchurch. Like many others, he was lured south by the excitement of the gold rush at Gabriel’s Gully. He made it as far as Dunedin and then on to the Dunstan fields, but when he arrived the Molyneux River had flooded and the venture seemed hopeless. He gave up the diggings and began the journey back north. On the way, he camped at Otipua Creek near Timaru – drawn, as his obituary put it, by the “sweet water.” That simple stopover must have stuck with him, because four years later, in 1866, he returned and bought the land from the Government.
In 1868 David married, with Reverend George Barclay officiating what was one of his earliest South Canterbury ceremonies. Together they raised five children. Two daughters, Maggie (Mary) and Queenie, stayed at Gleniti with their mother, while their three brothers spread out across the country – J. A. Fyfe in Wellington, C. Fyfe in Gisborne, and W. Fyfe in Waimate. David built his life in Gleniti, advocating for the use of local bluestone and leaving his mark on community buildings like the Wai-iti School. He died at his home on 13 February 1922, having journeyed from Scotland, survived shipwreck and hunger, and found a place to put down roots.
For me, what makes this story so powerful is that it’s all there in the newspaper obituaries and cemetery records. David’s life reads like a series of near misses and bold chances, and yet here in Timaru he made a home that still stands today. It feels very special to connect those threads back to a house I can still walk past on Claremont Road.
Side view of the house. You can see a change in mortar which suggests that the original shape of this end of the house was symmetrical, and the building has been extended to the right. - Photo Roselyn Fauth
Fun Fact: A fife (sometimes spelled fyfe in older texts) is a small, high-pitched, transverse flute.
Fyfe 1860 Cottage, at 10 Claremont Road, Timaru. Built of bluestone, it has seen a few rennovations and extentions over the years. - Photo Roselyn Fauth
The old blue stone Gleniti School and Library - Photography By Roselyn Fauth
Old Gleniti School / Seventy-Fifth Jubilee To Be Celebrated By Gleniti School (1954?). Aoraki Heritage Collection, accessed 03/10/2025, https://aorakiheritage.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/1847 The article says this committee “urged the Education Board to build the school in stone, and through their foresight there was now an admirable stone building.” the first elected committee was B. I. Lane (chairman), T. W. Fyfe, D. Fyfe, A. Graham, G. Thompson, J. Philp, and J. Ogilvie - community leaders, quarrymen, farmers, and parents.
Gleniti School and the Fyfe Connection
The Fyfes pop up again and again in the history of Gleniti School. According to the above newspaper article, the school was first proposed in 1878, when a committee of local settlers pressed the case for a building near Wai-iti. Among them were two Fyfes– Thomas Webster Fyfe and David Fyfe – both listed as foundation committee members. They helped push the Education Board to build the new school in stone, a decision that has given Gleniti one of its most enduring historic landmarks.
The school officially opened on 28 July 1879 with 36 pupils. The roll call that first day reads like a who’s who of the district’s pioneer families – and among them were Thomas Fyfe, Margaret Fyfe, Jane J. Fyfe, Isabella Fyfe, James Fyfe, and Eva Fyfe. In fact, the Fyfe children made up a significant proportion of that inaugural class, showing just how established the family already was in the area.
The Fyfes’ influence wasn’t just through numbers. The stone building itself stood as a testament to David Fyfe’s advocacy for bluestone construction, echoing his work at the nearby quarries. He would have seen the stone as not only durable but symbolic – a permanent material for what was meant to be a permanent community. By the time of the Wai-iti School Committee’s first meeting in 1879, David was already arguing for stone as the material of choice, and he won the case.
Through the decades, the Fyfe name kept appearing in school records and commemorations. At the school’s 75th Jubilee in 1954, organisers looked back to those first committee members and pupils, and once again the Fyfes were at the heart of the story. Both Thomas Webster and David Fyfe had been present at the very beginning – as community leaders, quarrymen, farmers, and parents – helping lay the foundations for a school that would serve generations.
What’s fascinating is that this link to Gleniti School also ties together the puzzle of the two Fyfe families. Even if we can’t yet untangle whether David and Thomas Webster were cousins or simply neighbours who shared a name, their joint presence at the founding of the school shows they worked together for the benefit of the community. Their children learned in the same classrooms, played in the same yards, and grew up in the shadow of the stone walls their fathers insisted upon.
So, the story of Gleniti School is also a story of the Fyfes – families who came from Scotland, settled at Wai-iti, and left their mark not only in stone quarries and cottages but also in education, shaping the future of the district through the children who walked through those school gates.
Miss Fyfe's Quarry 1941-1955-58 near the North end of the Otipua Creek - Photo's Roselyn Fauth A huge effort by volunteers and the City Council turned the former basalt quarry into one of our Districts premier parks. The bones of the extinct Moa bird baked beneath 14m of solidified lava, and were discovered here in 1889. Centennial Park is a popular recreation spot in Timaru, South Canterbury, New Zealand. It covers an area of nearly 65 hectares, situated along the south western boundary of the Timaru urban area and straddling the north branch of the Otipua Stream. Originally the park was the site of several quarries owned by the Timaru Harbour Board and private owners. Also known by many locals as the Scenic Reserve, Centennial Park was officially named in 1939 to commemorate the centennial of the Dominion of New Zealand. In 1940 the Bowker Gateway was built to acknowledge the gift of land linking Centennial Park to Otipua Road, opposite the end of Church Street.
Palliser and Jones Quarry/ Fyfe’s Quarry January 1888 to April 1890
The Timaru Harbour Board first started quarrying at this site in the 1880’s on a piece of land acquired from farmer, David Fyfe (1833-1922).
The firm of Palliser and Jones was contracted to remove the rock, and, in the days before motor vehicles, rail was used to move the boulders to the sea. A tramway was constructed which ran from the area we now know as Miro Street, along Wai-iti Road to the harbour. Workers started laying the track from both ends, eventually meeting in the middle to complete the link. It operated until 1890.
The seam of bluestone rock to be quarried sat between layers of clay soil. Extraction involved first removing the overburden, which was often dumped down the hill towards the creek below. Miners were employed to dig long T-shaped tunnels below the rock where explosives were laid and fired, dislodging the huge boulders. The South Canterbury Times of 1888 described the scene from an excursion train to one such blast - “then as if some monster beneath were heaving it up on his broad back, a huge mass of rock was, as it seemed slowly, lifted upwards and forwards with such a multitude of various motions within itself that it appeared to be fluid. An instant later, before the uplift was completed, there was an outrush of smoke as white as steam from beneath the rock, and then a dull roar from the explosion and the grinding of the rock reached the ears of the spectators.” About 30 men were employed in the quarry while two steam cranes were used to lift the rocks onto the flat-topped railway trucks to begin their journey.
At the sea end, the rocks were tipped into the water, initially disappearing until enough had accumulated to be visible above the waves.
Stone from Fyfe’s Quarry at Gleniti was hauled down to Timaru’s waterfront on a specially built tramline in the 1880s. A winding engine first lifted the heavy trucks of basalt up the hillside before a locomotive took over, rattling them down Wai-iti Road. The line crossed several streets on wooden bridges, including a 25-foot span over Hewling Street gully, before reaching Marine Parade. From there, the rock was tipped into the sea to form the rubble wall that became the foundation of Timaru’s harbour. Remnants of the tramway and its cuttings could still be seen well into the 20th century. - Timaru Herald, Volume CLVII, Issue 23117, 3 February 1945, Page 4
Fyfe Quarry Centennial Park - Timaru - South Canterbury Musuem 2000210118
In the 1880s, the demand for stone to extend Timaru’s harbour was insatiable, and the basalt outcrops around Gleniti and Otipua were some of the best sources. The Palliser and Jones quarry, situated close to David Fyfe’s residence, was one of several in the area feeding rock into the harbour works. By this stage, quarrying was highly organised: tramways ran from the quarries down to the bay, and steam cranes loaded the basalt blocks onto wagons for the trip to the mole.
The “giant blast” of the early 1880s was one of the largest ever attempted in South Canterbury. The tunnelling method described – cutting a long drive with cross-tunnels and packing them with powder – was standard practice, but the sheer scale of the operation was unusual. Over 15,000 tons of stone were released in one moment, enough to supply months of harbour construction. Engineers and onlookers remarked not only on the volume of stone but also the quality of it: dense, dark bluestone that fractured into huge, clean-edged blocks ideal for breakwater walls.
The quarry face measured between 30 and 37 feet high, and the shattered rock filled a rectangular area about 40 feet by 160 feet. Most of the stone fell neatly into the quarry floor without scattering dangerously across the tramline or into the gully. This precision was a credit to the contractors and to Mr Miller, the superintendent of operations, who lit the fuse. Reports at the time noted how astonished the small group of onlookers were at how little noise and vibration accompanied the blast.
This event highlights how close heavy industry was to everyday settler life. The quarry was just across from Fyfe’s homestead at Gleniti, and families living nearby would have witnessed both the roar of the blast and the weeks of labour hauling the rock down the tramways. It is one of the clearest examples of how Timaru’s basalt quarries directly shaped not just the harbour, but also the daily rhythms of the communities who lived beside them.
Messrs Palliser and Jones’ Quarry.South Canterbury Times, Issue 4727, 18 June 1888, Page 3
The End of the Fyfe Quarry Tramlines
By the 1930s, the Timaru Harbour Board was winding down its reliance on the Gleniti quarries that had supplied so much stone for the harbour walls. For nearly fifty years, the Otipua Creek valley had echoed with blasting, cranes, and tram wagons hauling thousands of tons of basalt down to the sea.
At the Board’s monthly meeting in early 1932, the engineer, Mr F. W. Clarke, gave a detailed report that effectively marked the closure of quarrying on land leased from the Fyfe family. The tramline that once connected Bone’s, W. A. Fyfe’s, and D. J. Fyfe’s quarries had been completely lifted. All rails and sleepers were dismantled and taken down to the foreshore near the weighbridge for storage. The leases themselves ended quietly — rent was paid to William A. Fyfe and David J. Fyfe in January 1932, after which the agreements automatically terminated.
The Harbour Board’s plant was tidied up and mothballed. The great 20-ton crane, which for decades had swung huge blocks of volcanic rock onto railway wagons, was given a new galvanised roof to protect it from the elements. This small note in the engineer’s report marked the end of a chapter that had begun with the first blasts of the 1880s.
For context, those early blasts were spectacular. In one case, Messrs Palliser and Jones packed a ton and a half of blasting powder into drives shaped like a giant T beneath the quarry face near David Fyfe’s property. When the fuse was lit, some 15,000 tons of rock came down in one tremendous roar — though, as the reporter noted at the time, “all Timaru might have looked on at a few yards’ distance without incurring the slightest personal risk.”
From those massive blasts to the steady work of cranes and tram wagons, the basalt from Fyfe’s and neighbouring quarries built Timaru’s North Mole, its breakwaters, its rubble seawalls, and many of its bluestone buildings. By 1932, the Board’s attention was shifting: dredging at Oamaru, repairing wharves, reclaiming land between Hayes and Fraser Streets, and planning for future sections to lease. The removal of the quarry tramlines signalled that the age of large-scale harbour quarrying at Gleniti had passed.
Today, what was once an industrial landscape has been transformed into Centennial Park, with lakes, trees, and walking tracks. Yet if you know where to look, you can still trace the ghost lines of the old tramways that once carried Fyfe stone to the sea.
Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVI, Issue 19096, 30 January 1932, Page 4
In the 1930s, the Timaru Harbour Board was pushing ahead with a £242,000 harbour improvement scheme, which included removing part of the north mole and extending the breakwaters. To help members understand the scale of the work, the Board organised an inspection tour by launch, dredge, and quarry visit. The party travelled along the new channel, inspected the eastern extension light, and watched the dredge at work, before touring the blacksmith’s shop where tools and fittings were made for the harbour works.
At Fyfe’s Quarry, the Board members saw bulldozers clearing clay to expose fresh basalt and cranes lifting massive blocks of stone onto wagons for transport to the waterfront. The report emphasised both the technical skill and the surprising gentleness with which the machinery handled the stone. The trip ended with afternoon tea at the Harbour Board offices, where chairman W. T. Ritchie noted that seeing the quarry and mole work firsthand would give members a clearer sense of the challenges ahead.
Timaru Herald, Volume CXLVIII, Issue 21585, 22 February 1940, Page 6
From Fyfe’s Quarry to the Harbour – The Tramway System
In the 1880s, when Timaru Harbour was being built, the stone that formed the rubble wall and moles came from Fyfe’s Quarry at Gleniti, also called Sweetwater Gully. The system for moving the rock was an impressive piece of engineering for its time.
After blasting at the quarry face, the stone was loaded into small trucks. A winding engine hauled the heavy wagons up the steep hillside to the summit above the quarry. From there, a small locomotive took charge, pulling the trucks down tramlines that ran along the right-hand side of Wai-iti Road.
The route of the tramway was striking. It left Wai-iti Road at Albert Street, crossed Hewling Street by means of a wooden bridge about 25 feet above the gully, and then joined Stafford Street near Shewan’s corner. A little farther on, the line crossed Stafford Street again and ran over the railway lines below what later became the overhead bridge, near the pine trees that still stood in Vance’s day. From there, a track was cut out of the clay cliffs to carry the wagons down to the sea wall.
At Caroline Bay, the tramway reached the rubble wall – later known as Marine Parade – where stone was tipped straight into the sea to form the foundations of the harbour defences. The quarry locomotives were housed in a shed at the corner of the Bay and Marine Parade, opposite what in the 1940s was an ice-cream stall.
When Vance was writing, remnants of the system could still be seen. The path leading from Marine Parade to the Bay railway platform followed the old tramtrack, and traces of the Stafford Street crossing were still visible. For many, these remains recalled the time when Timaru echoed with the sound of blasting, tram wagons, and engines hauling the bluestone that helped shape the harbour.
Timaru Herald, Volume CLVII, Issue 23117, 3 February 1945, Page 4
Many areas were quarried over the years as the harbour developed. This valley was the source of thousands of tons of rock between 1888 and the early 1960’s. There were several quarries within the park, owned by both the Timaru Harbour Board and private individuals and excavated at different times to meet demand. A number are now hard to recognise with extensive planting masking their presence. Others are signposted and provide a glimpse of the industry and skill needed to dislodge the bluestone boulders and transport them to the port.
Edward Henry Pearse (1857–1930s) was one of South Canterbury’s early settlers, remembered for his long connection with farming and the development of the Timaru district. Born at Penzance, Cornwall, he lost his father young and worked in the tin mines before emigrating to New Zealand in 1877 with his sister and brother-in-law, the Quirks. He arrived in early 1878 and soon found employment with Edward P. Sealey on Wai-iti Road, helping to bring land under the plough in what later became Sealey Street. He recalled a near-tragedy during harvest when he stopped a reaping machine just in time to save Sealey’s young son.
Pearse later joined the newly formed Volunteers, trained by George Rhodes of Claremont, and went on to farm his own land on Claremont Road for more than four decades. He became known as both a capable farmer and a skilled horseman, breeding fine horses and running three teams carting basalt from Fyfe’s Quarry at Gleniti into Timaru for harbour and road works. His herd of over thirty dairy cows supplied milk to Timaru households for many years, and he was reputed never to have taken a holiday from his work.
Beyond farming, Pearse was an admirer of the Salvation Army, attending its first meeting in Timaru, and a long-standing member of the Ancient Order of Foresters Lodge. He was survived by his widow, one son, and two daughters, leaving a legacy tied closely to the growth of Gleniti and Timaru.
Timaru Herald, Volume CXLVIII, Issue 21828, 4 December 1940, Page 3
Abandoned Explosives Store
This small stone building is a remnant of the quarrying era at Gleniti, when thousands of tons of basalt were blasted out for Timaru’s harbour works. In the 1880s, quarrymen used huge quantities of gunpowder to break up the solid rock. For one “giant blast” in 1888, more than a ton and a half of powder was packed into tunnels cut beneath the quarry face. The explosion dislodged an estimated 15,000 tons of stone in one moment – enough to keep the harbour works supplied for months.
Explosives stores like this were built at a safe distance from the quarry face to keep the powder dry and secure. They were usually thick-walled, with narrow doors and small or no windows, to reduce the chance of sparks and to contain any accidental ignition. While silent now, this store is a reminder of the dangerous, noisy, and highly skilled work that once shook the Sweetwater Gully and helped build Timaru’s breakwaters and seawalls.
Ammunition Store for Centennial Parks Blue Stone Quarrys - Photo Roselyn Fauth
Prowse and O’Connor’s Quarries
These quarries, visible from the walkway along the original tramline, are two of many that were opened up on the southern side of Otipua Creek in the early 1900’s. The first was named for Israel Prowse, a Timaru Harbour Board Chief Quarryman who died in May 1901, and the latter probably for Mr O’Connor, the head of line formation at the time.
The rail line expanded rapidly through the valley. It allowed for the reworking of Middle Quarry, a site which predated the Timaru Harbour Board works and was the source of stone for Timaru’ s first reservoir. Also worked were Upper Quarry and New Quarry, with one of the 20 ton steam cranes toppling over while being transferred between these sites in 1903. By 1905 the line was nearly all the way through to Claremont Road reaching J C King’s Quarry. This site was mined several times over the years, last operating as late as 1963.
Up to four steam cranes could be heard clattering and hissing as they worked simultaneously at the quarries, sorting and lifting the enormous boulders onto rail trucks. Blasting techniques had refined from earlier years. Miners used shorter tunnels to lay explosives resulting in rocks that were more thoroughly shaken apart.
The rail line was extended across Otipua Creek at the Claremont end of the park around the time of WWI. This allowed the reworking of David Fyfe’s quarry and was extended later to give access to Bone’s Quarry, Miss Fyfe’s Quarry and others which were worked at various times up to the 1950’s. Track was lifted and re-laid over the years to meet demand with remnants still visible on parts of the walking track today.
Cabbage Trees, Robbie Burns, and Mayoral connections... How the Fyfe's link into Timaru's stories...
Right, well that is the guts of my blog... but it wouldn't be a true history hunt to find a WuHoo without some side quests... I have put them here in case you have been fuelled by caffeine and are interested too...
Let’s start at the cemetery. When I first came across the name Fyfe, I had that niggling feeling I’d seen it somewhere before. A quick look at the council’s cemetery search confirmed why! Off I went to visit the Fyfe family graves. It was fascinating to see who was buried where, and who they were buried with.
Now, you might not find this quite as exciting as I did, but because I’ve been deep in research about the whaling history of Timaru, I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw that the Fyfe plots are neighbours with none other than Samuel “Yankee Sam” Williams — one of our earliest whalers. I know this patch of the cemetery really well, because I’ve spent a lot of time trying to trace Sam’s wife, Ann Mahoney. She died in 1860, and despite some serious hunting I haven’t been able to locate her grave. I’m now working on a memorial for her at Sam’s plot so she isn’t forgotten. In that same part of the cemetery you’ll also find the Rhodes family graves, as well as Arthur Perry — so the Fyfes are in some pretty interesting company.
So, back to the Fyfes. Standing there among the headstones, I started piecing together who was where, and how their stories fit. It was a reminder that history isn’t just about big public events or grand statues — it’s also about neighbours, community, and the surprising ways in which lives intersect. The Fyfes were right in the mix of it all, their story woven together with whalers, early pastoralists, and even later with civic leaders and cultural figures.
Standing there among the headstones, I realised just how tangled the Fyfe story is. I wanted to learn more about them, but honestly – it’s not straightforward. Their surname pops up in several corners of Timaru’s early history, and it’s hard to know if we’re looking at branches of the same family or just a coincidence of names. The cemetery gave me some clues, but it also raised more questions.
Take David Fyfe, the quarryman who built Fyfe House and helped shape Gleniti through stone and community building. Then there’s Thomas Webster Fyfe, another well-known figure in the same area. His family line produced some famous names, including Thomas Camperdown Fyfe, the mountaineer who led the first successful ascent of Aoraki/Mt Cook. David’s life, by contrast, was tied more closely to farming, quarrying, and the push for building with local bluestone. Both men were Scots, both made their homes in South Canterbury, and both had children with ties to Gleniti School. Whether they were cousins, brothers, or simply two families who shared a name and ended up in the same neighbourhood, I can’t yet say.
What is clear, though, is that the Fyfe name is in the foundations of Gleniti’s early records. David successfully argued for the Wai-iti (later Gleniti) School to be built in stone back in 1879. Meanwhile, Thomas Webster’s descendants show up again and again in the stories of Gleniti’s school and community life. To me, that link to education, as well as their overlapping presence in the Gleniti landscape, makes it hard to imagine that the two families didn’t at least know each other — even if the exact family connection still waits to be uncovered.
David Fyfe died 85th year - 15 February 1922 - Timaru Herald
David Fyfe died 85th year - 15 February 1922 - Timaru Herald David Fyfe died 85th year - 15 February 1922 - Timaru Herald
MR DAVID FYFE
The late Mr David Fyfe, who died at his home, Glen-iti, on the 13th inst., was a native of Dundee, where he was born in 1838. As a young man he went to Canada and spent some years there. On the way back to Scotland he was one of the survivors of the wreck of the Malsteam (Canada), in the Strait of Belle Isle. The survivors were picked up by a French fishing smack which landed them at a fishing post. Provisions were short, and the refugees were rationed one biscuit and half a glass of stale water per day. Eventually they were landed in Newfoundland. Mr Fyfe still retained a leather-bound Bible that was given him by the Bishop of Newfoundland in 1861.
In 1862 he came to New Zealand, landing at Christchurch. Just then the Dunstan rush excited both old and new colonists and he went to Dunedin by boat on the way to Dunstan. In the meantime the Molyneux River had risen so that it was useless to stay there. A party of disappointed men tramped back through Gabriel’s Gully and Dunedin to Christchurch. One of their camping places — they had gone up Otipua Creek to get sweet water — was a piece of land that appealed to Mr Fyfe, and four years later he came down from Christchurch and bought it from the Government, and on this property he made good as a farmer and built up a family. He married in 1863, the wedding being one of the earliest celebrated by Rev. George Barclay.
Mr Fyfe is survived by his widow, two daughters and three sons. The Misses M. D. and J. Fyfe live with their mother at Glen-iti. The sons are Mr D. J. Fyfe, Wellington; C. Fyfe, Christchurch; and W. Fyfe, Wairarapa.
So here is a brain dump of my research so far, in an attempt to piece it together... maybe you can help, and join the history hunt too.
Fyfe Family Cemetery graves Timaru, Row 8, Plot 12. As you can see, the councils survey plots don't always over lay nicely with the photo... but there is a random spot of concrete which I assumed was from an old path. now I wonder if it is a marker of a grave. https://timaru.maps.arcgis.com/apps/instant/sidebar/index.html?appid=4b5deaa8efd24ad0961aec61ecccb750&Plot_ID=19974
Fyfe's who rest at the Timaru Cemetery. Left Row 8, plot 12. Center Row 7 Plot 450. Right
(Left grave)
Fyfe, Andrew Gibson 25 Feb 1880 Row 8 Plot 14
Fyfe, David 84 Years 13 Feb 1922 Row 8 Plot 12 (Born 1838 Dundee, Scotland, married Elizabeth Spiers Kirkwood Fyfe
Fyfe, Elizabeth Spiers 76 Years 20 Feb 1922 Row 8 Plot 12 Birth 29 Aug 1845 East Lothian, Scotland Death 20 Feb 1922 (aged 76) Gleniti. With David, they had children; Children Mary Jane "Queenie" Fyfe 1886–1951, Harry Ladbrooke Fyfe1887–1887, David James Fyfeunknown–1943
Fyfe, Harry Ladbrooke 7 Aug 1887 Row 8 Plot 14 (Died less than 1 year old)
Fyfe, Thomas Webster 89 Years 10 Jun 1926 Row 7 450C
Mary Jane Queenie Fyfe born 1886 Timaru, and died 1951 in Wellington and cremated.
I found another record for David James Fyfe whose birth is unknown and died 1943 cremated in Karori Cemetery. Married to Lillian Ellen Brown Fyfe, lists siblings as Mary and Harry, David 1838-1922 and Elizabeth 1845-1922 as his parents. He with Lillian had two children Nancy Elliot Fyfe Checkley (1925-2021) and Elizabeth Frances York Fyfe Fletcher 1928-2002.
Thomas Webster Fyfe was born in 23 November 1836 in Frofar, Angus, Scotland. Died 10 June 1926. He had two spouses. Margaret Craigie Fyfe who he married in 1860 and Jean “Jane” Craigie Fyfe who he married a year after his first wifes death, in 1864.
I found it really interesting to see the Cragie name on the graves headstone. So here is my deep dive in trying to work out the connection...
Thomas Fyfe married Margaret Craigie Fyfe in 1860. Margaret was born 20 Jan 1835 Coupar Angus, Perth and Kinross, Scotland. Died 1 Oct 1863 (aged 28). Her parents were James Craigie (1812-1904) and Agnes Macfarlane Craigie. She had four siblings; John Anderson Craigie 1843–1899. Jean "Jane" Craigie Fyfe 1845–1921. Susan Craigie Selbie 1849–1932. and James Craigie 1852–1935 (This is the James Cragie who became mayor of Timaru and was married to Catherine Orr Craigie. Catherine unlike her husband James Craigie was not born in Scotland, but in born Nov 1852 County Donegal, Ireland, and died 7 Dec 1944 (aged 92), her address was Kingsdown, Timaru District, Canterbury, New Zealand. James and Catherine Cragies's Children: James Alexander Craigie 1877–1878, Alexander Orr Craigie 1879–1962, Letitia Lindsay Craigie Coulson 1880–1958, Agnes Macfarlane Craigie Fildes 1885–1973, Alison Robena Craigie Hume 1887–1972, Florence Frances Craigie Kennedy 1890–1979, Ruby Violet Craigie Bartholomew 1894–1974, and Annie Craigie Glassunknown–1946
Thomas is in the Timaru District Councils Hall of Fame: Date of birth 23 June 1870 at Timaru. Died 1947 at Hastings. Parents Thomas and Jane Fyfe. Married Mary Peake 1896. Children Two sons and two daughters. Education Wai-iti School (Timaru). Military service France 1916. Careers Started climbing while working on a new wing at the Hermitage Mt Cook. Made first ascents of the Footstool, Mt de La Beche, Mt Darwin, Mt Haidinger and Malte Brun. On Christmas Day 1894 with two others made the first ascent of Mt Cook. Became a guide and is credited with the founding of alpine guiding in New Zealand. Pioneered numerous alpine crossings of the Southern Alps, including Fyfe Pass.
https://www.timaru.govt.nz/community/our-district/hall-of-fame/category-three/thomas-fyfe
"Thomas Webster Fyfe 1836-1926 was a painter living at 9 Heaton Street. He later moved to live in what is now Barnes Street area. He was married to Jean Craigie and they had 12 children. One son Thomas Camperdown Fyfe 1870-1947 who, for a time was a guide at the Hermitage, made the first ascent of Mt Cook in 1894 in the company of George Graham and Jack Clarke. A celery pine tree that they brough back with them from a mountain valley grows in the Temuka Gardens. The Timaru Harbour Board quarried some stone from Fyfe's Quarry between 1888-1890 and transported it via the Wai-iti Road tramway to rebuild and repair the North East breakwater." - Timaru Cemetery - Notable Nineteenth Century Characters.
Both of Thomas Fyfe’s wives, were sisters from the Cragie family.
The Craigies originated from Coupar Angus, Perthshire, a strongly Presbyterian (Church of Scotland) area. James Craigie (1852–1935), the brother of Margaret and Jean, who became Mayor of Timaru for ten years from 1902 to 1913. He was involved in the Presbyterian Church in Timaru. He was a supporter of temperance, civic service. He was Member of Parliament for the Timaru electorate in the South Island of New Zealand and a member of the New Zealand Legislative Council. He was also Chairman of the South Canterbury Health Board, Chairman of the Timaru Harbour Board, a Timaru Borough Councillor and Mayor of Timaru. Catherine Orr (James' wife) was noted in St Mary’s Anglican Cemetery records.
Interstingly, Wkipedia notes that James came to New Zealand in 1867 with his parents, James and Agnes Craigie (née McFarlane). Craigie and his family landed in Dunedin, where he remained for several years after completing an apprenticeship as a painter and decorator. Craigie moved to Timaru in 1873 where he started a glass and house decoration business. He also opened a large home decoration shop in Cains Terrace, Timaru. He subsequently merged his business with a Dunedin firm and it became known as Smith & Craigie. The merged business would ultimately become part of Smith & Smith, a company which continues to operate throughout New Zealand.
As his business success grew, Craigie purchased a large farm in Kingsdown, about 5 km south of Timaru, where he built a substantial house, Craigielea. Craigielea was subsequently destroyed by fire.
Craigie married Catherine Orr from County Donegal, Ireland and they had six daughters and one son.
Early in Timaru’s settlement, there were two cemetery reserves: one set aside for the Anglicans (connected to St Mary’s) where the present cemetery is, and another for non-Anglican denominations close to where the Aigantighe is today. Over time, the southern Timaru Cemetery became undenominational and the “northern cemetery reserve” on the corner of Wai-iti Road and Selwyn Street although set aside for a cemetery, was not used for burials.
On a side note - as this blog is now on some wild tangents - sorry about that... I have been interested to piece together the Scott's and their legacy in Timaru. I had noticed the Robbie Burns statue at the Botantic Gardens. (There are a few around the world, including Balarat, Australia, where Samuel Williams and Ann Mahoney had their child Rebecca before they moved to Timaru and became parents of Timarus first recorded birth of a European child William Williams.)
According to Wikipedia, Craigie was an enthusiastic admirer of Robert Burns and was at one-time regarded as New Zealand's leading authority on Burns. Craigie was an Overseas Vice President of the Robert Burns World Federation. In 1931, Craigie delivered a lecture to the Wellington Burns Club entitled "The Humanity of Robert Burns". Craigie provided funds for the erection in the Timaru Botanic Gardens of a statute of Robert Burns. The statue was unveiled by Craigie before a huge crowd on 28 May 1913.
Robbie Burns in Ballaarat Australia Corner Sturt and Lyiard Street - From Ballaarat Facebook page
It seems that Margaret died after they became parents to their first child. Her death notice in the Lyttelton Times, Volume XX, Issue 1140, 8 October 1863, Page 4 lists her as the wife of Mr. Thomas Fyfe, painter, aged 28 years. According to the South Canterbury Museum's website, she died 10 months after arriving in New Zealand with a little daughter. Because the Timaru Herald didn’t start publishing until 1864, coverage of her death only appeared in the Lyttelton Times.
Thomas's second wife was Jean “Jane” Craigie Fyfe. (She was Margaret's older sister) She was born 28 Oct 1845 at Coupar Angus, Perth and Kinross, Scotland. Dies 6 Dec 1921 (aged 76) Timaru District, Canterbury, New Zealand. Her father was James Cragie (the father of mayor James Craigie), making Jane's brother the James Cragie who was mayor of Timaru. Thomas married Jane in 1864.
Acording to a record at the Canterbury Musuem Thomas Weberton Fyfe, who was a painter in Timaru, sold to Knight Bros in July 1865, then entered into partnership with Wm. Nelson (dissolved October 1866).
Thomas children with second wife Jean “Jane” Craigie Fyfe were:
Margaret Craigie Fyfe Lewis 1865–1938,
Jane Pareora Fyfe 1867–1945,
Isabella Fyfe Corbet 1868–1912, Signed the Sufrage petition. (The suffrage record says that: Isabella Fyfe was born in 1868 in New Zealand – the daughter of Thomas Webster Fyfe, a painter, and Jane Craigie. When Isabella signed the suffrage petition, she was living at Gleniti near Timaru. She married, draper, William Corbet in 1906 and they lived in Westport. Isabella died at her parents' home on 11 August 1912 – she is buried with her sister in the Timaru Cemetery. William re-married the following year – he died in 1955 and his ashes were interred in the Canterbury Memorial Gardens.) - https://nzhistory.govt.nz/suffragist/isabell-fyfe
Private Thomas Camperdorn "Tom" Fyfe 1870–1947, (Tom - rock climber, In March 1894 became first to make a complete ascent of the 3000 metre peak of Mont Malte Brun. War - World War I, 1914-1918. Service number - WWI 14094. Rank - Rifleman. Military Service Unit - 5th Reinforcements, 3rd Battalion, G Company, New Zealand Rifle Brigade. Occupation - Plumber). - findagrave.com/memorial/208029732/thomas_camperdorn-fyfe
Thomas Camperdown Fyfe , known as Tom, was born on 22 June 1870 at Timaru, the oldest son of Scottish parents, Thomas Webster Fyfe and his second wife, Jane (Jean, née Craigie) Fyfe. Thomas’ first wife, Margaret née Craigie, died not ten months after she, Thomas and their little daughter arrived in New Zealand. She was buried at Timaru, Jane and Thomas and some of their family in the same plot. Tom was educated at Gleniti (Wai-iti), where he made his mark in athletic events. Tom Fyfe was a remarkable climber in New Zealand’s mountains. He was working at the Hermitage, Mount Cook, when he started climbing. He went on to make several first ascents, the most notable being that of Mount Cook on Christmas Day 1894, with a Waimate man and fellow Hermitage guide, Jack Clarke of Temuka. ‘We yesterday received the following gratifying telegram from Mr T. C. Fyfe, of Timaru: — “Messrs Graham, Clarke, and Fyfe topped Mount Cook from Hooker side on Christmas Day.” In a telegram to Mr Malcolm Ross (kindly placed at oar disposal by Mrs Ross) Mr Fyfe states that the ascent was made via Green’s Saddle, the time from the Hermitage being 15 days. We congratulate Mr Fyfe and his party on their success, after their long-continued efforts and despite many failures. It was on the 5th of November last that Messrs Dixon and Malcolm and Kenneth Ross met at the Fairiie Creak Junction, and were joined by Mr Fyfe, and eventually by Mr Matheson.’ [Otago Daily Times, 31 December 1894. Refer also South Canterbury Times, 21 March 1894; Press, 4 April 1894, 15 March 1906; Otago Witnesss, 16 May 1895, 1 February 1900.] He became a much respected guide, making numerous alpine crossings of the Southern Alps. Thomas C. Fyfe married Mary Ann (Annie) Peake on 3 May 1896 at St John’s Church, Wellington. They had four children – Aorangi Lilly Fyfe (Lila) born in 1897, Constance Clyde Fyfe (Clyde) born in 1900, Kenneth Camperdown Fyfe born in 1903 and Thomas Malcolm Fyfe (Malcolm) born in 1906. The children were educated at Wellington and Timaru Schools (Waimataitai, Timaru Main, Timaru South, High School). Clyde died in Auckland at the age of 19. Thomas was a plumber for the Public Works Department and resding in Auckland when he enlisted. His nominated next-of-kin, his wife, was initially living in Timaru, but was later at a Wellington address. T. C. Fyfe returned to New Zealand in September 1917. Thomas Camperdown Fyfe died on 3 August 1947 at Hastings and was buried in the local cemetery, a services plaque marking his grave. His brother, Charles Marshall Fyfe, served with the Australian Forces, and two other brothers, Alfred James Fyfe and Christopher Hume Fyfe, enlisted with the New Zealand Forces. - https://museum.timaru.govt.nz/explore/scroll/profile?id=6441
T. C. Fyfe, first official guide at the Hermitage, and leader of the party, (T.C. Fyfe, Geo Graham, J M Clarke) which made the first ascent of Mt Cook, 1894. - South Canterbury Record of Settlement - Oliver Gillespie 1958
12,349 ft. December 24 1894, Fyfe route from Bivouac on Hooker Galcier, below Harpers Saddle, up couloir to Green's Saddle and main N.W. arete to summit - South Canterbury Jubalee History 1916 p673
Freda Du Faur was the first woman to reach the top of Mount Cook with guides Alex and Peter Graham 1910.
T. W Fyfe was at the first meeting of the Council as a committee member, which was held at the Royal Hotel, when S Hewlings was elected as Chairman. At the time June 1864 there were 150 houses in the town with a population around 1000. A Municiple council was formed. Timaru was constituted a borough on 13th July 1868. S Hewlings was elected the first mayor.
Jessie Fyfe 1872–1945,
Evelyn Fyfe 1875–1946,
William Mcfarlane Fyfe 1877–1924
Alfred James Fyfe 1881–1932.
Alfred James Fyfe was born on 23 May 1881 at Timaru, the third son of Scottish parents, Thomas Webster Fyfe and his second wife, Jane (Jean, née Craigie) Fyfe. Thomas’ first wife, Margaret née Craigie, died not ten months after she, Thomas and their little daughter arrived in New Zealand. She was buried at Timaru, Jane and Thomas and some of their family in the same plot. Alfred was educated at Gleniti (Wai-iti) and Waimataitai schools. Mr A. J. Fyfe, of Timaru, was engaged in 1916 but did not marry. Both Alfred and his brother Christopher were listed on the 1st Division Reserve Rolls in 1916, Alfred at Timaru and Christopher at Wellington. In 1917 Alfred voluntarily attested. He had served with the Timaru Rifles. A bookseller, residing at home in Timaru, he nominated his mother as next-of-kin. Alfred James Fyfe married Clarice Grace Johnson (Grace) in 1928. He died on 2 September 1932 at New Plymouth and was buried in TeHenui Cemetery. His eldest brother, Thomas Camperdown Fyfe, served with the New Zealand Forces, while a younger brother, Charles Marshall Fyfe, served with the Australian Forces, and his youngest brother, Christopher Hume Fyfe, also enlisted with the New Zealand Forces. - https://museum.timaru.govt.nz/explore/scroll/profile?id=6439
The South Canterbury Museum Scroll project also lists Alfred as having a younger brother, Charles Marshall Fyfe (1883 - 1945) served with the Australian Forces and was a Pharmaceutical chemist.
Charles Marshall Fyfe was born on 17 November 1883 at Timaru, the son of Thomas Webster and Jane (Jean, née Craigie) Fyfe. Charles was educated Gleniti (Wai-iti) and Waimataitai schools. He married Alice Cairns Montgomery, of Timaru, in 1909. Charles and Alice had a daughter, and a son was born to Alice a few years later. But Charles had problems. A chemist, he was charged in April 1913 with two counts of theft. Charles Marshall Fyfe enlisted with the Australian Imperial Force on 16 November 1914 at Castlemaine, Victoria. He was 30 years old, a pharmaceutical chemist, having served a five-year apprenticeship with J. C. Oddie, Chemist, Timaru. He recorded his status as single and named his mother as next-of-kin – Mrs Jane Fyfe, 78 Wilson Street, Timaru. He had served 2 years as Volunteer with City Rifles Timaru, until he left the country. He served with the Field Ambulance from 16 September 1914 till 15 January 1915. Charles re-enlisted on 24 February 1915 at Maryborough. From Military Camp at Enoggera, Queensland, on 16 March 1915, he applied for his discharge, “being undesirous under the prevailing circumstances, of staying in the expeditionary forces”. He was discharged on 22 March 1915, medically unfit. On 23 August 1916, Charles Marshall Fyfe was admitted to the Lara Asylum at Geelong, Victoria. It appears that Charles Fyfe returned to New Zealand. He was listed on the New Zealand Division 2 Reserve Roll, as a cook at Te Wairoa, Rotorua, with two children. His name was recorded on the 1919 electoral roll at Onehunga with his brother William and sister-in-law. His name also appeared in the Police Gazette again in October 1919- for escaping from Rotorua Inebriates’ Home on 22 October, labourer and chemist, native of New Zealand, . . . He had been committed to the institution for one year on 10 October at Auckland. He was sentenced to eight months’ imprisonment in October 1923 for being idle and disorderly (insufficient means). In November 1926 he was again charged with escaping from an inebriates’ institution and was returned to the institutuion. He faced another charge of escaping in May 1927. Some time after he returned to Australia where he died in May 1945 at Ryde, New South Wales. He was buried in the Field of Mars Cemetery, Ryde, New South Wales, and is remembered on his parents’ headstone in the Timaru Cemetery. - https://museum.timaru.govt.nz/explore/scroll/profile?id=6161
Christopher Hume Fyfe, (1888 - 1964) enlisted with the New Zealand Forces.
Christopher Hume Fyfe , known as Christie, was born on 20 June 1888 at Timaru, the youngest son of Scottish parents, Thomas Webster Fyfe and his second wife, Jane (Jean, née Craigie) Fyfe. Thomas’ first wife, Margaret née Craigie, died not ten months after she, Thomas and their little daughter arrived in New Zealand. She was buried at Timaru, Jane and Thomas and some of their family in the same plot. Christie was educated at Gleniti (Wai-iti) and Waimataitai schools. Both Christopher and his brother Alfred were listed on the 1st Division Reserve Rolls in 1916, Christopher at Wellington and Alfred at Timaru. They then enlisted on the same date, 23 January 1917, at Wellington and Timaru respectively. He had served with the Timaru High School Cadets until he left school. Christopher Fyfe had been medically examined for service in May 1916 at Waimate, but rejected as unfit on account of his vision. He was now volunteering for Home Service. A grain buyer, residing at Rona Bay, Wellington, he nominated his mother as next-of-kin. Christopher Hume Fyfe married Laura Eileen Connell in 1919 at Gisborne. He died on 27 August 1964 at New Plymouth and was cremated there, his ashes being interred in the Garden of Remembrance. His eldest brother, Thomas Camperdown Fyfe, served with the New Zealand Forces, while another, Charles Marshall Fyfe, served with the Australian Forces, and yet another, Alfred James Fyfe, also enlisted with the New Zealand Forces. - https://museum.timaru.govt.nz/explore/scroll/profile?id=6440
Obituary: Mr A. G. Fyfe 16/12/77
"A well-known Geraldine resident, Mr Angus Graham Fyfe, died recently in Geraldine. He was 63. Born and educated in Geraldine, he left school during the Depression years, and worked on sawmills and farms in the district. In 1938 he attended Radio School in Wellington, where he gained his first-class wireless operator’s ticket. He joined the New Zealand Air Force early in 1940, and served as a wireless operator-air gunner in Britain and the Middle East. In 1943, he married a fellow New Zealander in London, and early in 1944 they returned to New Zealand. He served for two years with No. 40 Transport Squadron at Whenuapai.
Early in 1946, after almost six years in the Air Force, Mr and Mrs Fyfe and their young son came to Geraldine, where he entered a partnership in the Woodbury Sawmilling Company and later the Geraldine Lime Company. This continued until November, 1974, when ill-health forced his retirement. A keen pipe band enthusiast, Mr Fyfe was a piper in the Temuka Pipe Band before the war, and a foundation member of the Geraldine Highland Pipe Band, of which he was a vice-president at the time of his death. Other interests included Scottish country dancing, salmon fishing, the traction engine club, and photography. He was a keen member and past secretary of the Geraldine Camera Club. He is survived by his wife, three sons and a daughter."
Andrew Fyfe wrote the piece as part of the Timaru Herald’s New Zealand centenary coverage in 1940. The country was marking 100 years since the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, and newspapers around the country ran features highlighting local contributions to national progress.
Fyfe’s article focused on the St John Ambulance in Timaru because it was one of the city’s most important volunteer organisations, with a long and sometimes dramatic history of service. By setting the story against the backdrop of the centenary, he was showing how ordinary people in Timaru had played a role in shaping New Zealand’s identity — through voluntary service, resilience, and community spirit.
It also looks like Fyfe had a personal interest in civic life and community organisations, so his writing can be seen as both historical record and recognition of local service.
Andrew Fyfe contributed to Timaru’s community history not only through family ties to Gleniti but also as a writer who documented local institutions. In a feature for the Timaru Herald, he recorded the development of the St John Ambulance in South Canterbury, tracing its beginnings in 1908, its challenges over ownership of the Citizens Ambulance Hall in 1913, and its growth into a well-equipped service by the mid-20th century. His account highlights the dedication of volunteers who responded to epidemics, accidents, and emergencies, and shows how the service evolved from simple stretchers and haversacks to modern ambulances capable of carrying dozens of patients. By setting this local story within the context of St John’s centenary in New Zealand, Fyfe ensured that the role of ordinary Timaru men and women in saving lives and building civic resilience was preserved for future generations.
- Andrew Fyfe, NZ centenary: Invaluable community service by St John Ambulance (23 Mar 1985). Aoraki Heritage Collection, accessed 03/10/2025, https://aorakiheritage.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/7275
Fyfe, Charles Marshall 1 May 1945 Row 7, Plot 450 - Memorial Only
Fyfe, Jean Craigie 75 Years 6 Dec 1921 Row 7 Plot 450A
Fyfe, Jessie 72 Years 25 Jan 1945 Row 7 Plot 450
Fyfe, Margaret 28 Years 1 Oct 1863 Row 7 Plote 450B
Row 30 Plot 398
Fyfe, Jane Pareora 78 Years 7 Aug 1945
Isabel Corbet died Aug 10 1912)
Fyfe, Evelyn 72 Years 26 Nov 1946 Row 30 Plot 398
Row 52 Plot 490
Fyfe, Evelyn Maude 85 Years 21 Apr 1990 Row 52 Plot 490 with
Fyfe, George Alexander 68 Years 11 Nov 1997. Address was noted 221A Wai-iti Road, Maori Hill, Timaru 7910.
Fyfe, John 59 Years 26 Jul 1962
Fyfe, Joycelyn 89 Years 12 Jun 2023 Address noted 78A Avenue Road, West End Timaru 7910)
Quarry Fun Facts – Otipua Creek Valley
Prowse and O’Connor’s Quarries are located on the southern side of Otipua Creek.
They were opened in the early 1900s.
Prowse Quarry was named after Israel Prowse, Timaru Harbour Board Chief Quarryman, who died in May 1901.
O’Connor’s Quarry was probably named after Mr O’Connor, head of line formation at the time.
The tramline through the valley expanded rapidly, connecting multiple quarry sites.
Middle Quarry, which predated the Harbour Board works, supplied stone for Timaru’s first reservoir.
Other sites worked included Upper Quarry and New Quarry.
In 1903, a 20-ton steam crane toppled while being moved between sites.
By 1905, the tramline reached J.C. King’s Quarry, near Claremont Road.
King’s Quarry was mined several times and last operated in 1963.
Up to four steam cranes could operate at once, lifting massive boulders onto rail trucks.
Blasting techniques had improved by this time, with shorter tunnels for explosives producing more effective rock breaks.
Around World War I, the tramline was extended across Otipua Creek at the Claremont end of the park.
This extension allowed reworking of David Fyfe’s Quarry.
Later, the line was further extended to access Bone’s Quarry, Miss Fyfe’s Quarry, and others.
Quarries in the valley were worked at various times up to the 1950s.
The tramline track was lifted and re-laid as needed to meet demand.
Remnants of the tramline are still visible along parts of the walking track in Centennial Park today.
https://timarutrails.stqry.app/en/story/40829?utm_source=chatgpt.com
Detail of a 1962 Map showing Centennial Park that was once a quarry for blue stone - volcanic lava rock - nlnzimage_Timaru-natlib-NZDeptofLandsandSurvey-1962 detail
Side Quest: Scottish Roots in Stone
When I first started tracing the Fyfe story, I couldn’t help but notice how strongly Scotland linked their lives. David himself was born in Dundee around 1840, a place known for its mills and stonework. It feels no coincidence that he carried those stone-building traditions all the way to Timaru, where he became a quarryman and an advocate for using local bluestone in schools and community halls.
Their marriage, too, carries that Scottish link... In 1867, David married Mary Ann, with Reverend George Barclay officiating — one of his earliest Presbyterian ceremonies in South Canterbury. Presbyterianism, so deeply tied to Scottish identity, shaped much of the social and educational fabric of Gleniti, and the Fyfes were right in the middle of it.
Even the mystery of “Miss Fyfe’s Quarry” has a Scottish ring to it. In Scotland, it was common for unmarried daughters or sisters to be formally referred to as “Miss,” their identity tied to family and land. To see that title appear on the quarry maps here in Timaru is a small reminder of cultural traditions that travelled across oceans and took root in a new place.
The Fyfes were just one family among many Scots who left their mark on South Canterbury, but you can still feel their heritage in the stone walls, the churches, and even in the place names we pass every day.
Side Quest: How instrumental were the Fyfe's in the development of Timaru?
I have read in a few places that it was the Fyfe's who got really excited about the basalt (volcanic rock) in Timaru. The Lava flowed from Mt Horrible around 2.5 Million years ago to what is now the sea. Some say it is New Zealand's flattest volcano, and it is the most recent volcanic activity in the South Island.
A wander around the coast and the CBD and you'll see how the locals used this rock to mitigate erosion, to construct the harbour and to build our bluestone buildings. In the ground blue stone helped to channel water ways, and above ground it helped people cross streams with many of the blue stone bridges. The one at Coonoor Road is my favourite.
Fyfe is recorded in the newspaper as the champion of this rock, explaining to people its potential. I'm sure someone else would have figured it out eventually, but I think the Fyfe's deserve the credit as the blue stone pioneers of Timaru.
Below are a few photo's of the port development, that demonstrate how blue stone was used in the civil works. Without the harbour Timaru, and South Canterbury would look very different today, physically and financially.
Harbour Board Quarry, Timaru, circa 1904, Dunedin, by Muir & Moodie. Te Papa (C.014398)
David Fyffe's Quarry, Otipua Creek, Timaru, dated 1912. Comprised of two plans of the location, one bearing the notation as "8 years from 27 January 1912". The quarry was located at the west end of the present (2018) Centennial Park, north of Otipua Creek. It was opened for use in 1914 and operated in a few short bursts until 1931. Timaru Harbour Board plan no. 628. Fyfes Quarry - Centennial Park - Timaru - Map - South Canterbury Museum 20171350073
The A J Booth & Bros 20 ton crane working near the Old North Mole (Fyfe's) Quarry, circa 1902
You can see the one of the railway carts on display at the Pleasant Point Museum. These were used to move rock from the quarries to the harbour. Photo by Roselyn Fauth 2022. RailwayCart-Rock-Quarry-PleasantPoint-Museum-RF-2022
View of Timaru Harbour 1877. View looking north along the waterfront, with sailing ships, men beaching a boat, and a large building, probably Belford Steam Flour Mill near the waterfront, alongside other wharf or factory buildings. From a sketch books held by Hocken Library. By Fanny Wright Brunton - https://tiaki.natlib.govt.nz/#details=ecatalogue.59362
An unused postcard featuring an image of workers around a locomotive, with several loaded tipping wagons, used to transport quarry stone for Timaru harbour's Eastern Extension, circa 1911. Pictured in on of King's Quarries at the north-western end of the Centennial Reserve. The white wooden fence in the background borders Claremont Road. In the left A J Booth & Bros 20ton crane is partially visible. South Canterbury Museum
A map of the works to be carried out in Timaru Harbour 1886 - Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections Map 3837
1865 David Clarkson and Richard Turnbull issued penny tokens with the dream of a breakwater. Richard held a public meeting at his warehouse now the site of Timaru's Theatre Royal. From that meeting the first Timaru Harbour Board was formed.
J P Maxwell suggested building a rubble mole in 1899 extending from the bend of the breakwater. This was adopted by the Harbour Board and the Timaru Harbour Board Loan Act was introduced to parliament and passed. It gave authority, subject to the approval of the rate payers for the borrowing of 100,000 pounds to build an eastern rubble mole. 23 Public meetings were held and the loan was authorised by 2,065 votes to 754. A contract was let to Black and Stumbles, for the first section of 1,300 feet, including the making of a four-mile tramway to the Board's quarry. The board canceled the contract and did the work themselves. It was a tricky task due to storms, but was completed in 1906.
At the end of 1906 432,207 ton of stone had been used in its construction!
The mole was extended to 3,474 feet in 1914. The quarry was three miles west of Timaru and leased by the Board March 1900 for 20 years for 500 pounds. The land required for rail access from the Otipua Road to the quarry, was purchased 1900 for 475 pounds. The Governor visited 1903.
I had heard that Timaru's Port was supposed to be the epi center for frozen meat shipping - but the first shipment left Dunedin instead due to concerns over the safety of Timaru's port. At one point we had a reputation as a ships graveyard. The ports construction and development enabled South Canterbury to prosper from its asset and prevented significant wealth leaving the region. I think we owe a lot to all of those involved in the Ports vision and execution, as Timaru and the District we know today would be very different without it.
Fulbert Archer was the first chair of the Timaru Harbour Board when it formed 1877 and held the seat until 1882. For many years his name was on the facade of the brick building that is now part of the D.C Turnbull & Co on Strathallan Street. From the first expense at the harbour being the 1858 moorings brought out on the Strathallan in 1859, it would be interesting to add all the numbers up to see the investment that has gone into the coastline to improve the shippings importing, exporting and transport.
Thomas Hall was the son of Thomas Williamson Hall a well known harbour board member. Thomas is known in the history books for attempted murder of his wife Kitty, and poisoning of his father-in-law Captain Cain. Thomas once was the bank manager for the Timaru branch of the National Bank. Captain Cain established and operated the first landing services in Timaru for Henry Le Cren at the foot of Strathallan Street.
Around this time drinking was causing many issue's including arrests. 1858 the Total Abstinence Society was formed at a time when the five largest buildings in Timaru's town were hotels and pubs and the total adult male population equalled 400. After the Total Abstinence Society, came the Blue Ribbon Army (Also the Salvation Army). They went head to head with the pro drinking Skeleton Army in 1883.
Engraving showing the Timaru Breakwater 1888. Picturesque atlas of Australasia"; The Picturesque Atlas Publishing Co.
Breakwater, Timaru 1885. Albumen print by Walter Burton, Alfred Burton. Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, purchased 1976
Shipping at Timaru, New Zealand in the 1880's. From a volume titled 'New Zealand Owned Shipping Lines and Early Shipping Views'. This section comprises New Zealand Owned Shipping Lines. New Zealand Early Shipping Views. This image is from the A.D. Edwardes Collection of about 8,000 photographs, mostly of sailing ships from around the world, taken between about 1865 and 1920. Mounted in 91 albums, the photographs are arranged by country of ownership, with some special volumes such as 'Shipping at Port Adelaide' and 'South Australian outports'. Additional information, giving the history of the ships where known, has been provided by maritime historian, Ron Parsons.
The breakwater, Timaru, photographed ca 1910-1913 by William Ferrier - natlib.govt.nz/263897
Timaru breakwater photographed by William Ferrier circa 1896-1899. - natlib.govt.nz/85664
Timaru Harbour & Breakwater, circa 1904, Canterbury, by Muir & Moodie. Purchased 1943. Te Papa (PA.000203)
Harbour Improvements At The Capital Of South Canterbury. Auckland Weekly News, 2 March 1911, p.14. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections AWNS-19110302-14-01 https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/photos/id/193668/rec/51
Harbour Improvements At The Capital Of South Canterbury. Auckland Weekly News, 2 March 1911, p.14. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections AWNS-19110302-14-01 https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/photos/id/193668/rec/51
View of the Port from the sky in 2014. Photograph by Geoff Cloake.
Port construction continues in 1964. LEFT Loading rock at the Quarry on Kellands Hill for the North Mole extension at Timaru Port. The loads from Kellands Hill went Pages Rd, SelwynSt, White St onto Evans St then down to the bay and across the sand. RIGHT: Kellands Quarry Rock being tipped on to the North Mole at Timaru Port 1964. Photograph by George Kinch
Side Quest: Did they Fyfe's know the Bowkers and are they connected by the Elm
At the Centennial Park by Otipua Rd entrance is a stunnig arch and epic tree planted to commemorate the centennial of the Treaty of Waitangi and in memory of Mr G Bowker.
At the opening of the Bowker Gateway, 30 trees were planted. The Council was represented by the Mayor, Mr W. G. Tweedy. "The arrangements for treeplanting by citizens and school children are in the hands of the West End Association. Cr. W. H. Hall said that an excellent job had been made of the Bowker memorial, and he could not speak too highly of the way the men had finished the Job. Cr. A. S. Kinsman remarked that a vote of thanks was due to Cr. Hall, chairman of the Works Committee, for the voluntary work he had put in supervising the erection of the memorial which was a very fine structure. The motion was carried."
- ARBOR DAYTIMARU HERALD, VOLUME CL, ISSUE 22033, 5 AUGUST 1941, PAGE 6
Like the Fyfe's, the Bowkers were also Scottish. So far that is the only link I can find. But I am sure there will be more - maybe they supported similar projects, shared same religion, socialsised at Scottish events?
The park was purchased by the Timaru City Council from the Harbour Board in 1934, and dedicated in 1940 to mark the Dominion's centenary, the 52 hectare Centennial Park is a haven of rural peacefulness on the edge of Timaru City.
At the entrance is a large bluestone arch called the Bowker Gateway. It stands as a memorial to Charles Bowker, whose son George gave 7ha of land to the council to provide access to the park from Otipua Rd. From the gateway and the hilltop area just inside there are magnificent view of Mt Cook, 125km away beyond the Tekapo Addle. You can see it best in the early morning when Aoraki Mt Cooks three snow covered peaks, (3,593m, 3,722m and 3,764m south to north) catch the first sun light of the day.
See if you can find the sign for Kings Quarry at the foot of the zig zag. From 1901, the Harbour Board took stone for the eastward extensions to the harbour. A tramline followed the gradual slope of Quarry Rd, continued along Otipua Rd and James St, crossed under the railway line at Pat-iti Street, then followed the south beach to the mole.
Trains of flat top wagons, laden by cranes at the quarry and groaning under the weight of the massive rocks, they rumbled to the harbour for decades until 1958 when the supply from Kings Quarry ran out. The line was extended a further 1.6km up the valley, crossing Otipua Creek by a strong wooden bridge. The remaining piles of this bridge now support a new footbridge which forms on end of the park walkway.
The north branch of the Otipua Creek winds its way through willows and shrubs on the parks eastern edge. It's wonderful natural playground for children, ducks are never far away, including kingfishers, grey warblers, fantails, wax eyes, bellbirds and if you are really luck tui. The quarry tramline once climbed its way through here.
There are some really interesting geology spots. the bluestone (basalt) in this gully is part of the thick layer of volcanic rock which , as molten lava, once oozed from an earth fault near Mt Horrible. The lava flowed over the layer of loess, which is clay that built up over time from the dust from the glaciers. The lava heated the clay and baked it into a yellow orange layer below the rock face. See of you can see tiny trails of of tiny gas bubbles which struggled up through the lava as it slowly cooled.
Moa remains were uncovered nearby when excavations began in 1889 for stone to build the north mole of the harbour. Surprisingly the bones were exposed as 23m below ground level, baked beneath the 14m of solidified lava with a thick layer of clay above.
Pine trees were planted during the depression of the 1930s but were damaged by gale in August 1975. The Council and volunteers continue to clear the gully and area with replanting and the regeneration of native bush and biking and walking tracks.
Quarry Tramline: there is a neat flat walk along the quarry tramline to Fyfe's quarry which operated 1888-1890. The rock was used for the north mole and taken to the north mole of the harbour via Wai-iti road. Quarrying resumed when the Kings Quarry was depleted in the 1930s, and the eastern extension in the 1940s and 1950s. A bridge was laid across the creek. In 1957 the Harbour Boards steam crane came out of retirement to to lift rocks from the quarry. The footbridge is the remaining track, crosses Claremont Rd and climbs the hill to finish at the old Gleniti School.
