Maori History
Ancient stories tell the origins of southern Maori, with the waka of Aoraki becoming Te Wai Pounamu (the South Island), and its sternpost, Te Taurapa a Te Waka o Aoraki becoming Bluff Hill (also known as Motupohue). The Maui traditions are told in the south, with Maui arriving in his waka Maahunui, and pulling up the stone to be used as an anchor - Te Puka o Te Waka a Maui (Rakiura). Maui’s achievements are recognised in place names in the south, including Omaui near Bluff, and Te Tapuwae o Maui and Te Rereka o Maui in Fiordland (Maui’s footstep and Maui’s leap).
Stories of the original explorers of the south are also told. The explorer Rakaihautu journeyed through the south with place names recalling his journey.
After Rakaihautu came the Takitimu waka with Tamatea Pokai Whenua. The waka was overcome by three waves O-te-wao, O-roko and O-kaka, coming to rest near the mouth of the Waiau (Waimeha). The three waves continued across the low lying lands and ended up as features of the landscape.
The early generations learnt about the land and its resources: stone sources were found, and stone (especially pounamu) became an important trading item. Kaika were established close to resources. Rights and resources and places were established, and traditions established which protected the manawhenua.
When traditions were written down Kati Mamoe and Kai Tahu dominate the history after Waitaha, with stories of war and peace, and intermarriage that spread through the south. In the early 1820s there was further fighting, with muskets first being used at this time, with major sieges in the more northern area of the South Island leading a retreat to the south. Ruapuke Island became the centre of leadership in the south, its isolation giving a measure of security. The final fight with the northern taua of Te Puoho and his followers at Tuturau in 1835-1836, where Te Puoho was defeated, saw the end of warfare in the region.
According to the Ngai Tahu Statutory acknowledgments in the settlement important villages along the south coast included: Te Wae Wae (Waiau), Taunoa (Orepuki), Kawakaputaputa (Wakapatu), Oraka (Colac bay), Aparima, Turangiteuaru, Awarua (Bluff), Te Whera, Toe Toe (mouth of the Mataura River) and Waikawa. Mokamoka (also known as Mokemoke or Mokomoko) was a settlement at the Invercargill estuary sustained by the rich resources found there. Tauranga waka occur up and down the coast linking land and sea trails with mahinga kai resources. Whaling boats plied the waters from the 1820s leading to changes in settlement patterns and resource use.
1853 saw the Murihiku purchase which left Maori south of the Waitaki (excluding the Otakou Block) with only 4,630 acres, the start of a long quest by southern Maori for justice questioning the legality of the purchase as well as the inadequacy of the land reserved.
The Anglican Church in Southland
In the early 1840s a Maori mission was set up on Ruapuke Island, the earliest known Anglican mission work in Southland. In 1844 Bishop Selwyn visited whaling stations and Maori communities on the Southern Coast.
Invercargill Township was laid out by chief surveyor John Turnbull Thomson in 1856, Thomson choosing the location for its centrality for both sea-based and land-based traffic, though the surrounding low lying swampy ground made the new settlement practically inaccessible. A visit from Bishop of Christchurch, the Right Rev. J.C. Harper and his son followed in 1857. Harper recalled their wading ashore at Waituna Lagoon: ‘Three fellows, stark naked, one of them a Bishop, up to their waists in water, clothes on their heads, plodding through mud and water.’ Southland was under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Christchurch until the Diocese of Dunedin was formed in 1868. Bishop Harper appointed T.J. White as the lay-reader to the nascent congregation, and White began the first Anglican services in Invercargill. St John’s is, therefore, the senior parish of Southland.
In 1858 superintendent J.H. Menzies gave two sections for the church and a vicarage. Collections in Dunedin and Invercargill provided £100, and in the same year Mrs C.T. Howard requested her English parson brother’s assistance and he donated £200 toward the building fund. With this £300 a small wooden church designed by E.J. Clarke, seating 90 parishioners, was built on the present site of St John’s. The name ‘St John’s’ was suggested by Nathaniel Chalmers.
The glint of gold in Queenstown and Central Otago drew people to Invercargill in the early 1860s as hopeful miners made their way from the port at Bluff through the town, and a network of commercial enterprises were set up as a result of the new demands. Spiritual needs were also foremost in the minds of many residents, with the congregation growing during this busy period. In 1865 a nave was added to St John’s Church, with the first building forming an aisle on the south side of the Church. Instead of building a chancel and a sanctuary a cedar screen (now in the choir vestry) was erected to divide the chancel from the nave.
In 1871 a Sunday School was built at the west end of the church. By 1874 more space for worshippers was needed and the dividing wall was torn down and the Sunday School was incorporated into the nave, though it was recognised that these alterations were but temporary solutions and a permanent place of worship was essential. As a first step, it was agreed that a parsonage be built in brick for W.P. Tanner, the first vicar of St John’s. In 1875 the tender of Mr Little was accepted at a price of £913.
With the arrival of the second vicar, Rev. H. Stocker, there was a further impetus toward building a new church. By the early 1880s the vestry were working at trying to meet the needs of the growing congregation. Architectural partnership Mackenzie and Gilbertson invited tenders for additions in brick and wood to the church, supervising the contract free of cost. The additions resulted in 50 additional seats.
In 1886 it was resolved by the vestry committee to call for designs for a new church. Fourteen architects submitted plans (perhaps a sign of the economic downturn of the 1880s and the need to get any new work). The plans of Mackenzie and Gilbertson were selected. The committee recognised that the parish was unable to afford the total cost of a new church, so it was agreed that the nave, excluding the clerestory be built first, at a cost of £1,050.
Mackenzie and Gilbertson went into partnership in June 1882 with Gilbertson joining John Mackenzie in his Dee Street offices in the Earnslaw Chambers. Little is known about Charles Gilbertson except that he was in partnership in the firm McKenzie & Gilbertson between 1882 and 1897, and subsequently practiced on his own account. During that time the firm built residential and commercial properties in the town such as the Clifton Church (1887), and the residence Altrive (1894) at Waipounamu, as well as the Invercargill Club on Don Street. In January 1897, the Weekly Times reported that Mr C. Gilbertson was due to leave Invercargill and had transferred his interests in the architectural firm to Mr E. R. Wilson. It is not clear if Gilbertson left, as he is reported to have designed Invercargill’s Victoria Railway Hotel in 1907. John Mackenzie retired to Nelson. The commission for St John’s seems to have been the most significant building the firm designed.
Tenders for the erection of the first section of the building were advertised in March 1887, with that of McLeod and Shaw accepted. The foundation stone was laid on 14 May 1887, with a full Masonic ceremony. The 94 Masons ‘issued from their hall’ preceded by the Garrison Band: ‘Two tylers with drawn swords, the architect with plans, stewards carrying ‘consecrating elements’: corn, wine, oil and salt, the secretary with the scroll, the treasurer with phial and coins, stewards with the plumb rule and the level, past masters with the square and the mallet, as well as other officials. The foundation stone was dedicated to the ‘glory of God and to the memory of St. John the Baptist.’
The Masonic ceremony was outlined in a lengthy article in the Southland Times. Architect Charles Gilbertson was Worshipful Master and played a prominent role in the ritual (as well as being a vestryman of St Johns). Contractors McLeod and Shaw presented Gilbertson with a silver trowel in recognition of his role. The architect ceremonially handed the plans to the builders, and having done so the consecrating elements (corn/abundance, wine/joy, oil/peace and salt/friendship) were placed on the stone. The mayor, though unable to attend the ceremony, conveyed his good wishes at the ‘very laudable undertaking’, commending the building as a structure which would ‘be an honour to the town of Invercargill and a credit to the parishioners of St. John’s.’
Gilbertson, in his position as worshipful master, emphasised the importance of the ceremony. ‘To the operative mason the foundation or corner stone was the one which that determined all other measurements; to the speculative mason every stone laid implied the social progress and prosperity which resulted from mutual support and relief’ and even more so when the foundation stone was laid in a building intended for the service of the ‘Supreme Ruler.’ He stated that ‘[a]ll communities cheerfully assisted in raising and supporting their churches, assistance especially needed in this colony where the Bible was not read in the schools and where there was no State aid for churches. The Masons were largely indebted to the Sunday schools as there the young were taught to reverence and respect what was good and true, and were trained in the principles which showed them their duty towards each other, the principles which in after life produced men who joined the Order, promoted its prosperity and enforced its teachings. In the name of the Masons he had to thank St. John’s Vestry for their courtesy in inviting the members of the craft to carry out so important a ceremony. He trusted the Church and the Craft would even labour in the same field with material respect and support.’
The first section of the building to be constructed was the bay of the north end of the nave. By September 1887 the carpentry work was nearly completed, and there was discussion about the internal arrangements for the new church. The seating was to be altered to suit the arrangement of new pews. The building was to be lit with gas. The Ladies Guild arranged for a church bell from Warner & Son in London, the old bell donated to Christ Church in Clifton.
The vestry’s attention also turned to the vicar’s accommodation. By 1889 the ‘Parsonage Fund’ was large enough to allow members to consider building plans. McKenzie and Gilbertson’s plans were again selected. The design provided an ‘entrance hall and two rooms’ on the ground floor, and four rooms on the first floor ‘in place of the wood portion which will be removed.’ The addition was designed to match the existing brick parsonage.
With a growing congregation, the education of the children became an important consideration. In 1895 the vestry indicated its intention to build a new Sunday School. The Sunday School movement was a growing international trend. In England, nineteenth century Sunday Schools evolved for children of the poor. The aim was ‘the inculcation of moral and religious truth, for the reformation of life and manners, which was the great object and final purpose of the Sunday School.’ Sunday Schools became an important social institution not only for children but for women, who predominantly served as teachers. At the heart of the movement were the feminine philosophies of nurture and guidance and it was here that women found opportunities to use their abilities. Sunday School teaching was considered to be a fitting womanly role that became central to women’s Christian reform work. It was in the last quarter of the nineteenth century that churches adopted the Sunday School as part of the church programme. By 1900, over 5 million children in Britain attended Sunday School. By the early twentieth century a new international movement arose to see the Sunday School as a training ground for future church leaders. Religious education took a higher profile.
Mackenzie and Gilbertson were again favoured with the design contract. The small building, which faced Esk Street, was completed in 1897. Yet again financial considerations were paramount, and the building was only partially completed, with a wall left with recessed spaces in the brick courses for an addition, when money allowed (the addition was never made, and the recessed spaces are still visible).
The lack of space in the church remained a matter of concern for the congregation. In 1901 a building fund was established to provide money for further additions. The tender was advertised in 1911 and the plans of E.R. Wilson (who was previously articled to Charles Gilbertson, and who took over Mackenzie and Gilbertson’s practice) were accepted. The tender for £6,600 was accepted. Yet again, however, the fully realised proposal was unreachable, and the tower which formed a pivotal part in Wilson’s plans went unbuilt, and the nave was only half completed. The old church was apparently demolished at this time, with worship temporarily relocated to Victoria Hall. The contractors were Henry and Andrews.
In George Featherstone proposed that a new organ be purchased. Support was forthcoming with £900 being raised in a month. On 27 July 1903 the organ was dedicated. It was built by Hill, Norman and Beard of London at a cost of £1,200. The organ was erected by Mr Pearce of Invercargill.
The church was opened and consecrated as ‘St John the Divine’ on 26 February 1913, with Primate of New Zealand and Bishop of Dunedin the most Rev. S.T. Nevill performing the dedication. At the same service the window above the high altar was dedicated to John Turnbull Thomson (the pioneering surveyor in Otago and Southland) and his wife Jane. The ‘well-proportioned and handsome’ high altar was carved by Invercargill dentist C.C. Jennings.
During Nevill’s episcopate twenty two new places of worship were opened, a strong period of growth in the Anglican Church. For the Anglican Church theologians of the Victorian period maintained that spirituality was the chief concern of the church and that ‘expression of this spirituality’ was an essential part of the services and of the church buildings. The timber vaulted ceilings, windows, altars and other decorative forms within the church were important expressions of the theology and practice of the time. These elements in St John’s, the carved pulpit, altar rails and other religious furniture, are significant manifestations of the spiritual philosophy and practice of the Victorian and early Edwardian period. The decoration of exterior of the Church itself is restrained, with contrasting stone facings and the window details providing the focus.
In 1917 St John’s School was established, with eleven pupils operating in the grounds of St John’s Church, shifting to a permanent site and becoming a private school in 1931.
In 1921 Rev. John Arthur Lush began his ministry which was to last over the next twenty nine years. He encouraged fundraising to lift the parish out of its financial difficulties. Lush supported the establishment of an endowment fund, the creation of which was enabled through a series of fairs, and through the sale of land on the corner of Tay and Deveron Streets, with the condition that it be used only for educational purposes (the RSA Hall stands on the site).
Some breathing space was provided by a 1923 legacy of £5,000 from prominent Southland landowner and politician Reginald Mackinnon. Mackinnon’s philanthropic legacy lives through the Reginald Mitta Mackinnon Trust. English-born Mackinnon arrived in New Zealand in 1878 and became part owner of Mount Linton Station at Waiau. He was also active in local politics and arts. With the money the vestry decided to pay of their existing mortgage, to provide a new vicarage, and to build a hall on Tay Street behind the vicarage in memory of Rev. H. Stocker, the second vicar of the parish. English-born Rev. Harry Stocker, later Archdeacon, was in charge of the parish from 1882 until retirement in 1912. He was remembered for his community involvement and his care for those who needed is support. The Memorial Hall was designed by E.R. Wilson (now the church architect), and cost £3,600. It was opened by Bishop Right Rev. Isaac Richards in 1925. The legacy was also used to install an electric pneumatic action and a third manual in the organ.
The only major building project since that time has been the construction of the Narthex on the north side of the church in 1976, designed by O.C. Lawrence from the offices of Smith, Rice, Lawrence & Mollison (now known as Mollison and Associates).The stained glass windows were obtained from the Dunedin Diocese and were donated by parishioners for use in this addition and are memorial windows.
In the last few years the Church has undergone an exterior maintenance programme with substantial outside funding support, and an office/records room has been built in the transept. Significantly, the stained glass windows have been protected by the installation of safety glass. The side porch of the Memorial Hall was removed in 2010 to provide an open view between the church and the hall to discourage vandalism in this part of the grounds. In 2010 the congregation continues to worship in St John’s and uses the hall and meetings spaces in the adjoining buildings for community occasions.
