By Roselyn Fauth
Invitation, 1901, New Zealand, by Benoni William Lytton White, A.D. Willis Ltd. Purchased 2001. Te Papa (GH009568)
Did you know we have a square named in honour of a queen? In Timaru’s Alexandra Square, it is easy to overlook the impact of the empire back in the early European settler days, they do feel like a long time ago... but in the center of some gnarly wych elm trees used to be a band rotunda which was replaced by a fountain monument to a grain mill. The square was a beautifying project for the town, named after Queen Alexandra of Denmark.
Alexandra was born Princess Alexandra of Denmark in 1844. She married the future King Edward VII in 1863 and became Queen Consort when he ascended the throne in 1901. In UK colonies like New Zealand, naming streets, squares, and institutions after members of the royal family was more than token loyalty. It was a way to assert a sense of belonging. Alexandra, as consort to the heir for nearly 40 years, became a symbol of patience and steadfastness, qualities that were highly admired in a rapidly changing world.
Band Rotunda, Alexandra Square, Timaru, circa 1905, Dunedin, by Muir & Moodie. Te Papa (C.014379)
Timaru’s Alexandra Square was laid out by Samuel Hewlings as a public reserve and gathering place. By the early 1900s, it had been used as a horse paddock, a circus ground, and a hockey field. In 1904, Charles Bowker, who lived in College Road in a two-storey house named The Pines, gifted the city its first band rotunda and twelve garden seats. Valued at £600, they marked the first significant civic gift of their kind in Timaru, offered in the name of beautifying the town and building community. The rotunda became a focal point for open-air concerts and public gatherings. I think they would have named the square after Queen Alexandra to give the space a feeling of dignity and imperial grace, tethering Timaru to London and giving the new Timaru a feeling of roots in British history as a new colony.
Invitation, 1901, Dunedin, by Robert Hawcridge, J. Wilkie and Company. Purchased 2004. Te Papa (GH010302)
Colour postcard entitled "Alexandra Square, Timaru", circa 1910. Features the band rotunda gifted by Charles Bowker in 1903 in the foreground, with the James Bruce & Co. (or Timaru Milling Co.) flour mill on High Street in the left background.
Another symbol of Alexandra’s legacy was thethe Alexandra Lifeboat. It was built in 1863 at a cost of £3000 and shipped with a carriage. The boat was 33 feet long, 6 feet beam, rowed by six oarsmen. It was named Alexandra during a public holiday in July 1863 to mark the wedding of the Prince of Wales and Princess Alexandra.
The Deal boatmen were closely involved in its operation; Strongwork Morrison was its first coxswain. Morrison was paid £6 while other crew members earned £4 14s 6d.
A dedicated boatshed was built beside Le Cren’s landing shed; the boat was later stored in the Government Landing Service shed. The lifeboat, operated under the Royal National Lifeboat Institution of Great Britain, and was part of a broader British tradition of maritime rescue. Timaru’s Harbourmaster, Captain Alexander James Mills, oversaw the lifeboat’s use for many years.
Tragedy struck in May 1869 when lifeboat crewman Duncan Cameron drowned after a capsize, and then the Alexandra’s most famous use was during the 14 May 1882 disaster (Black Sunday) when the lifeboat capsized three times. Nine people died, including four boatmen, and the Harbourmaster Captain Mills.
Timaru, looking south from Evans Atlas Mill - South Canterbury Museum
Alexandra was kept in storage and brought out for public parades. such as the Jubilee Procession held in Timaru on 13 July 1928, marking 50 years since the granting of self-government to New Zealand in 1878. The film of the event, presented by F.H. Drewitt, shows the lifeboat as part of the grand parade, accompanied by horse-drawn buggies, school children in uniform, brass bands, and floats marking the march of time from 1903 to 1928. Dominion Motors featured alongside the fire brigade, whose engine bore the words “Always Ready” while smoke trailed from its ladder. Biplanes passed overhead. Crowds lined the streets and spilled out at the close. It was a day to celebrate national pride and local service—and to remember the symbols that connected the town to a wider world.
That connection lives on today in subtle ways. The CPlay playground at Caroline Bay has incorporated a poured surface designed to resemble a lifeboat, inspired by the Alexandra. Children swinging side by side are invited to imagine themselves rocking through surf breakers, part of a rescue mission. The story is no longer only historical. It is lived out in play, in imagination, and in place.
In these storiesm, the band rotunda, the lifeboat, the Jubilee parade... we see how Queen Alexandra’s name became woven into the life of a small colonial town. She never visited Timaru, but her presence was felt. Not as a distant figurehead, but as a symbol of loyalty, public service, and the shared stories of a growing settlement finding its voice within the empire.
The lifeboat Alexandra, manned by Waterside Workers for an unidentified parade, pictured on Sarah Street in Timaru, circa 1912. The lifeboat is shown harnessed to a team of Clydesdale horses and appears to be heading for or leaving a parade. Amongsat the flags flown are the American and Australian flags and the British ensign (among others), as well as a banner for "Timaru Waterside Workers". South Canterbury Museum 1543
WuHoo Timaru volunteers Chris and Roselyn Fauith helped to research and bring design ideas to the Caroline Bay Playground surfacing. The Cyclops swing was designed to look like a life boat, inspired by the Alexandra life boat. People could pretend that when they are swinging on a double cyclpse that they are rocking over the breakers to act out a rescue with the life boat crew.
Race to the rescue with the Caroline Bay Playground Mousewheel. Signage was designed to help people connect to the sea rescue stories and choose the crew they wanted to race to the rescue with. The research and design for the signwriting was by Roselyn Fauth. Photo Geoff Cloake 2023
The lifeboat Alexandra, manned by Waterside Workers for an unidentified parade, pictured on Sarah Street in Timaru, circa 1912. The lifeboat is shown harnessed to a team of Clydesdale horses and appears to be heading for or leaving a parade. Amongsat the flags flown are the American and Australian flags and the British ensign (among others), as well as a banner for "Timaru Waterside Workers". - South Canterbury Museum 1543
Alice Solace, Rebecca Jackson, Sharleyne Diamond and and friends enjoy the new Playground Center Cyclops swing - Photo Supplied