Located close to the wharves of the Devonport Steam Ferry Company in Devonport, the Alison Clock was erected in 1928 to commemorate the services of Hon. E.W. Alison, MLC, a prominent local politician and the ferry company's founder. The monument was largely funded by the wider local community, but with a contribution from the Council. The structure was designed by the renowned architect, Roy Lippincott, and unveiled in October 1928. Containing a prominent clock, it has served as a public timepiece for nearly 80 years.
Ewen Alison:
Ewen William Alison (1852-1945) was a prominent local politician who played a significant role in developing Devonport's ferry and bus services in the late 1800s and early 1900s. His parents - Alexander and Jane Alison - were amongst Devonport's earliest settlers, having arrived in the area in 1854. Alison's father played an important part in the Devonport shipbuilding industry, one of the largest in New Zealand between 1860 and 1880. Ewen married Mary Ann Coleman in 1876, entering local politics in the same year.
Alison had a lengthy political career, serving as Mayor of Devonport from 1890 to 1895 and from 1902 to 1907. He was also the first Mayor of Takapuna in 1913, as well as being a Member of the House of Representatives for Waitemata from 1902 to 1908 and a member of the Legislative Council from 1918 to 1932. As Mayor of Devonport, Alison oversaw the provision of the first water supply system to the Borough in 1894 replacing the collection of water from wells and rainwater. He was also responsible for the establishment of foreshore reserves, the improvement of King Edward Parade and its seawall, and the acquisition of Rangitoto as a public reserve.
Ewen Alison established the Devonport Steam Ferry Company with his brother, Alexander, in 1881. He was chairman and managing director of the company for 53 years, during which time it gained a monopoly as the only ferry service operating on the Waitemata Harbour. The service was vital to the development of Devonport, with ferry transport being the main direct link with Auckland until the Harbour Bridge was built in 1959. The Alison family commissioned many of the Devonport ferries, including the Tongariro, the Tainui, the Victoria and the Brittania.
Alison had several other business interests, including the establishment of the North Shore Transport Company, which provided bus services on the North Shore. He was also involved with shipping in the upper North Island, and was chairman of the New Zealand Coal Mine Owners' Association and a number of goldmining companies in Auckland. In addition, he was a founder and president the Takapuna Jockey Club, the Waitemata Golf Club and the Takapuna Bowling Club. He was the author of three books; A New Zealander Sees the World (1937), A New Zealander Looks On (1939) and A New Zealander Looks Back (1946). As well as the Alison Clock, Ewen Alison has several North Shore streets and a park named after him.
Erection of the Alison Clock:
The proposal to erect the Alison Clock began when Mr. Thomas Lamont was Mayor (1923 - 1927). The idea for its erection reportedly came from Alison's friends, who according to a contemporary newspaper report, 'realised that his own life-story was the history of Devonport.' Funds for the memorial appear to have been primarily raised through public subscription, although the Devonport Borough Council also contributed finance. The place chosen for the memorial was described as Devonport's 'most prominent site, right at the borough's front door'. The monument was to lie next to the Devonport Steam Ferry Company's Victoria wharf, whose importance had partly been responsible for the shifting of the suburb's commercial focus to Victoria Road from an earlier centre further east in Church Street. Its incorporation of a timepiece was also a reminder of the extent to which water transport in Devonport relied on the ferry company's timetable.
Throughout 1928, arrangements were made for the erection the clock, which was initially intended to be surmounted on a cenotaph. However, following the Mayor and Councillor Walsh's suggestion that a 'less massive and taller design be adopted', the Council approved a design incorporating a tall slender column by the Auckland-based architect Roy Lippincott. Lippincott was noted for his forward-looking projects, having previously been involved in the planning of Australia's Federal Capital, Canberra, and the design of Auckland's most avant-garde timepiece - the clock tower - as part of the Old Arts Building, University of Auckland (NZHPT Registration # 25, Category I historic place). The latter was erected shortly before the Alison Clock, in 1923-1926.
The Alison Clock was built by D. Mount Limited. Its electrically-worked timepiece was ordered from England and installed to the order of Mr. W. Coltman, an Auckland clock maker and jeweller. The dials of the clock were driven from a long case master located in the Council offices. The timepiece was lit from the Borough lighting circuit, and an underground wiring conduit was laid from the clock to the chambers at an estimated cost of £38.
Unveiling of the Alison Memorial Clock:
The Alison Clock was unveiled at 2.30 pm on 27 October 1928, in the attendance of Ewen Alison himself. Several hundred local residents attended the opening and the Devonport United Band played at the event.
The Mayor of Devonport, Mr E. Aldridge, addressed the crowd at the band rotunda in the nearby Windsor Reserve. The Mayor referred to Alison as the 'Father of the Shore', remarking that he had been closely and actively connected with the life of Auckland's North Shore for over 50 years and that he, more than any other individual, was responsible for the transformation of the North Shore from 'hamlets of isolation to thriving and prosperous suburbs today'.
The Mayor outlined the purpose of the clock for Devonport with the following words:
No more fitting memorial could have been planned or devised. Useful beyond words as a chronological guide to the tens of thousands of hurrying ferry users, it stands as a sentinel on our waterfront, where the busy ferries ply regularly throughout the year; it uplifts a pillar to adorn the day, and a light to brighten the night; it stands as a column four square to every wind, with a dial which keeps track of the flying sun and the wheeling cohorts of the stars as they chronicle passing Time. It suggests Past, Present and Future; it tells of Progress and of the forward march of events which keeps step with capable citizenship; and it tells the changing land and the restless sea that there is to be found an impregnable empire in a man's heart when he is endowed with Energy and Enthusiasm, consecrated to Service, and crowned with Success.
References to progress mirrored the modern design adopted for parts of the monument. Other speakers at the opening included Mr. A. Harris, M.P., Mr J. W. Williamson, Mayor of Takapuna, Mr T. Lamont, previous Mayor of Devonport, Mr W. H. Duncan, who oversaw the collection of funds, and Mr A. E. Glover.
Mr Alison responded to the addresses, saying 'I believe in the doctrine of the strenuous life, the doctrine of work and achievement'. He commented that he had withstood fierce criticism during his work in public affairs, particularly over the introduction of the water supply to Devonport, but added that 'it has been my experience that when a man earnestly and honestly uses his best endeavours on behalf of the people, the great majority recognise his efforts and support him'.
Subsequent history and modifications:
The Alison Clock was one of several monuments and memorials erected along the esplanade in Devonport in the early to mid 1900s, which contributed to the beautification of the seaside suburb. A newspaper article published shortly before the clock was unveiled noted that 'the spacious waterfront esplanades of Devonport appeal to all visitors and as they are beautified in the coming years they will rank as the finest waterfronts in the Dominion...'. The development of the esplanade was influenced by Victorian and Edwardian tastes for recreation, in which seaside perambulation played a significant role. Other monuments erected in the vicinity included the Coronation Sea Wall (1902), a fountain commemorating the South African - or Second Boer - War (1903), and the First World War Memorial (1923-1924). Similar developments occurred in seaside resorts and suburbs elsewhere in New Zealand, as at Marine Parade in Napier and in Petone, Wellington.
The Alison Clock was also the first of several public clocks erected in Devonport. In 1936 a timepiece was incorporated in the Watson Memorial, constructed by the Borough Council on King Edward Parade. A newspaper article at that time commented that synchronised timepieces erected at strategic points were appropriate given that Devonport was '... a community that lives by catching boats and buses'. Three further public clocks were subsequently erected at strategic points in Devonport.
During the 1950s, the Alison Clock was maintained by the Automatic Telephone & Electric Co. of Auckland, but by 1979 Plessey (NZ) Ltd was maintaining the timepiece. Plessey recommended replacing the pendulum master clocks of all the public Devonport clocks, except the Alison Clock, with Solid Plessey Chronogram units to improve their accuracy.
At the same time, Plessey Ltd noted that the cabinet of the Alison Clock cabinet had a hole in its roof and that two glass faces were cracked. The company recommended that repairs be carried out immediately, that the existing Slave units and master clock receive an overhaul and that a Gel Cell battery and charger be installed to replace the dry cells. Plessey also suggested that all the clocks be lit by photo cell control rather than from the street lighting circuit which they ran on at the time. However, the Alison Clock remained driven from a master clock in the Council Chambers until the late 1980s, when it was connected to its own master clock in the passenger terminal building.
The clock remains in use, having served the local community as a public timepiece for nearly 80 years. North Shore City Council became caretakers of the clock after the body took over responsibilities from Devonport Borough Council in 1989.
Comparisons:
Other clocks registered by the NZHPT include: the Victoria Clock Tower, Victoria Street, Christchurch (NZHPT Registration # 3670, Category I historic place) designed by Benjamin Mountfort and later used as a monument for Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee; War Memorial and Clock Tower, Seymour Square, Blenheim (NZHPT Registration # 243, Category I historic place) which was unveiled in 1928 and serves as Marlborough province's principal monument to residents killed during the First World War; Clock Tower, Railway Road, Hastings Central Mall (NZHPT Registration # 1075, Category I historic place) completed in 1935; Memorial Clock Tower, Hokitika (NZHPT Registration # 5054, Category II historic place) constructed in 1903; Edmonds Clock, Christchurch (NZHPT Registration # 3106, Category II historic place) constructed 1929; Town Clock and War Memorial, Waipawa (NZHPT Registration # 4844, Category II historic place) constructed in 1935; and, Rest Rooms and Town Clock, Havelock North (NZHPT Registration # 4797, Category II historic place).
The clock is one of five surviving public clocks or clock remnants of early twentieth-century date in Devonport, the others being located on King Edward Parade (Watson Memorial, 1936), at the intersection of Victoria and Albert Roads, at the intersection of Lake Road and Old Lake Road and attached to a shop at 87 Vauxhall Road.
Ewen Alison:
Ewen William Alison (1852-1945) was a prominent local politician who played a significant role in developing Devonport's ferry and bus services in the late 1800s and early 1900s. His parents - Alexander and Jane Alison - were amongst Devonport's earliest settlers, having arrived in the area in 1854. Alison's father played an important part in the Devonport shipbuilding industry, one of the largest in New Zealand between 1860 and 1880. Ewen married Mary Ann Coleman in 1876, entering local politics in the same year.
Alison had a lengthy political career, serving as Mayor of Devonport from 1890 to 1895 and from 1902 to 1907. He was also the first Mayor of Takapuna in 1913, as well as being a Member of the House of Representatives for Waitemata from 1902 to 1908 and a member of the Legislative Council from 1918 to 1932. As Mayor of Devonport, Alison oversaw the provision of the first water supply system to the Borough in 1894 replacing the collection of water from wells and rainwater. He was also responsible for the establishment of foreshore reserves, the improvement of King Edward Parade and its seawall, and the acquisition of Rangitoto as a public reserve.
Ewen Alison established the Devonport Steam Ferry Company with his brother, Alexander, in 1881. He was chairman and managing director of the company for 53 years, during which time it gained a monopoly as the only ferry service operating on the Waitemata Harbour. The service was vital to the development of Devonport, with ferry transport being the main direct link with Auckland until the Harbour Bridge was built in 1959. The Alison family commissioned many of the Devonport ferries, including the Tongariro, the Tainui, the Victoria and the Brittania.
Alison had several other business interests, including the establishment of the North Shore Transport Company, which provided bus services on the North Shore. He was also involved with shipping in the upper North Island, and was chairman of the New Zealand Coal Mine Owners' Association and a number of goldmining companies in Auckland. In addition, he was a founder and president the Takapuna Jockey Club, the Waitemata Golf Club and the Takapuna Bowling Club. He was the author of three books; A New Zealander Sees the World (1937), A New Zealander Looks On (1939) and A New Zealander Looks Back (1946). As well as the Alison Clock, Ewen Alison has several North Shore streets and a park named after him.
Erection of the Alison Clock:
The proposal to erect the Alison Clock began when Mr. Thomas Lamont was Mayor (1923 - 1927). The idea for its erection reportedly came from Alison's friends, who according to a contemporary newspaper report, 'realised that his own life-story was the history of Devonport.' Funds for the memorial appear to have been primarily raised through public subscription, although the Devonport Borough Council also contributed finance. The place chosen for the memorial was described as Devonport's 'most prominent site, right at the borough's front door'. The monument was to lie next to the Devonport Steam Ferry Company's Victoria wharf, whose importance had partly been responsible for the shifting of the suburb's commercial focus to Victoria Road from an earlier centre further east in Church Street. Its incorporation of a timepiece was also a reminder of the extent to which water transport in Devonport relied on the ferry company's timetable.
Throughout 1928, arrangements were made for the erection the clock, which was initially intended to be surmounted on a cenotaph. However, following the Mayor and Councillor Walsh's suggestion that a 'less massive and taller design be adopted', the Council approved a design incorporating a tall slender column by the Auckland-based architect Roy Lippincott. Lippincott was noted for his forward-looking projects, having previously been involved in the planning of Australia's Federal Capital, Canberra, and the design of Auckland's most avant-garde timepiece - the clock tower - as part of the Old Arts Building, University of Auckland (NZHPT Registration # 25, Category I historic place). The latter was erected shortly before the Alison Clock, in 1923-1926.
The Alison Clock was built by D. Mount Limited. Its electrically-worked timepiece was ordered from England and installed to the order of Mr. W. Coltman, an Auckland clock maker and jeweller. The dials of the clock were driven from a long case master located in the Council offices. The timepiece was lit from the Borough lighting circuit, and an underground wiring conduit was laid from the clock to the chambers at an estimated cost of £38.
Unveiling of the Alison Memorial Clock:
The Alison Clock was unveiled at 2.30 pm on 27 October 1928, in the attendance of Ewen Alison himself. Several hundred local residents attended the opening and the Devonport United Band played at the event.
The Mayor of Devonport, Mr E. Aldridge, addressed the crowd at the band rotunda in the nearby Windsor Reserve. The Mayor referred to Alison as the 'Father of the Shore', remarking that he had been closely and actively connected with the life of Auckland's North Shore for over 50 years and that he, more than any other individual, was responsible for the transformation of the North Shore from 'hamlets of isolation to thriving and prosperous suburbs today'.
The Mayor outlined the purpose of the clock for Devonport with the following words:
No more fitting memorial could have been planned or devised. Useful beyond words as a chronological guide to the tens of thousands of hurrying ferry users, it stands as a sentinel on our waterfront, where the busy ferries ply regularly throughout the year; it uplifts a pillar to adorn the day, and a light to brighten the night; it stands as a column four square to every wind, with a dial which keeps track of the flying sun and the wheeling cohorts of the stars as they chronicle passing Time. It suggests Past, Present and Future; it tells of Progress and of the forward march of events which keeps step with capable citizenship; and it tells the changing land and the restless sea that there is to be found an impregnable empire in a man's heart when he is endowed with Energy and Enthusiasm, consecrated to Service, and crowned with Success.
References to progress mirrored the modern design adopted for parts of the monument. Other speakers at the opening included Mr. A. Harris, M.P., Mr J. W. Williamson, Mayor of Takapuna, Mr T. Lamont, previous Mayor of Devonport, Mr W. H. Duncan, who oversaw the collection of funds, and Mr A. E. Glover.
Mr Alison responded to the addresses, saying 'I believe in the doctrine of the strenuous life, the doctrine of work and achievement'. He commented that he had withstood fierce criticism during his work in public affairs, particularly over the introduction of the water supply to Devonport, but added that 'it has been my experience that when a man earnestly and honestly uses his best endeavours on behalf of the people, the great majority recognise his efforts and support him'.
Subsequent history and modifications:
The Alison Clock was one of several monuments and memorials erected along the esplanade in Devonport in the early to mid 1900s, which contributed to the beautification of the seaside suburb. A newspaper article published shortly before the clock was unveiled noted that 'the spacious waterfront esplanades of Devonport appeal to all visitors and as they are beautified in the coming years they will rank as the finest waterfronts in the Dominion...'. The development of the esplanade was influenced by Victorian and Edwardian tastes for recreation, in which seaside perambulation played a significant role. Other monuments erected in the vicinity included the Coronation Sea Wall (1902), a fountain commemorating the South African - or Second Boer - War (1903), and the First World War Memorial (1923-1924). Similar developments occurred in seaside resorts and suburbs elsewhere in New Zealand, as at Marine Parade in Napier and in Petone, Wellington.
The Alison Clock was also the first of several public clocks erected in Devonport. In 1936 a timepiece was incorporated in the Watson Memorial, constructed by the Borough Council on King Edward Parade. A newspaper article at that time commented that synchronised timepieces erected at strategic points were appropriate given that Devonport was '... a community that lives by catching boats and buses'. Three further public clocks were subsequently erected at strategic points in Devonport.
During the 1950s, the Alison Clock was maintained by the Automatic Telephone & Electric Co. of Auckland, but by 1979 Plessey (NZ) Ltd was maintaining the timepiece. Plessey recommended replacing the pendulum master clocks of all the public Devonport clocks, except the Alison Clock, with Solid Plessey Chronogram units to improve their accuracy.
At the same time, Plessey Ltd noted that the cabinet of the Alison Clock cabinet had a hole in its roof and that two glass faces were cracked. The company recommended that repairs be carried out immediately, that the existing Slave units and master clock receive an overhaul and that a Gel Cell battery and charger be installed to replace the dry cells. Plessey also suggested that all the clocks be lit by photo cell control rather than from the street lighting circuit which they ran on at the time. However, the Alison Clock remained driven from a master clock in the Council Chambers until the late 1980s, when it was connected to its own master clock in the passenger terminal building.
The clock remains in use, having served the local community as a public timepiece for nearly 80 years. North Shore City Council became caretakers of the clock after the body took over responsibilities from Devonport Borough Council in 1989.
Comparisons:
Other clocks registered by the NZHPT include: the Victoria Clock Tower, Victoria Street, Christchurch (NZHPT Registration # 3670, Category I historic place) designed by Benjamin Mountfort and later used as a monument for Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee; War Memorial and Clock Tower, Seymour Square, Blenheim (NZHPT Registration # 243, Category I historic place) which was unveiled in 1928 and serves as Marlborough province's principal monument to residents killed during the First World War; Clock Tower, Railway Road, Hastings Central Mall (NZHPT Registration # 1075, Category I historic place) completed in 1935; Memorial Clock Tower, Hokitika (NZHPT Registration # 5054, Category II historic place) constructed in 1903; Edmonds Clock, Christchurch (NZHPT Registration # 3106, Category II historic place) constructed 1929; Town Clock and War Memorial, Waipawa (NZHPT Registration # 4844, Category II historic place) constructed in 1935; and, Rest Rooms and Town Clock, Havelock North (NZHPT Registration # 4797, Category II historic place).
The clock is one of five surviving public clocks or clock remnants of early twentieth-century date in Devonport, the others being located on King Edward Parade (Watson Memorial, 1936), at the intersection of Victoria and Albert Roads, at the intersection of Lake Road and Old Lake Road and attached to a shop at 87 Vauxhall Road.
