This small wooden horse and cart toy, located in the historic 1863 house Alberton in Auckland, has special significance for the Kerr Taylor family - who owned and donated the house to the NZHPT in 1972. The 500mm long x 160mm high folk art stylised item was purchased for Donald Kerr Taylor, by his Aunt Muriel, in 1912 when he was four years old.  Following the death of Donald the toy was returned to Alberton in 2007.

Horses have always had a special interest for the Kerr Taylor family who were amongst the founding members of the Pakuranga Hunt Club.  Allan Kerr Taylor was President of the Auckland Racing Club before his death in 1890. One of the family descendants started breeding and racing horses under the title of “Sir Alberton” in 1987. It went on to win seven races. Its progeny have also gone on to success. In 2008 “Lady Alberton” won the Auckland Racing Club’s Eclipse Stakes, the same race her mother, “Alberton Star” had won in 2000.  Another horse, “Alberton Princess”, is also racing under the colours of the Alberton silks.

The NZHPT's collections project is still coming up with pleasant surprises. Information about many of the former inhabitants of the Heritage Destinations properties remains lost in the mists of time, but a recent discovery has shed light on an Alberton character that was somewhat of a mystery.

In contrast to his second wife, the forthright and long-lived Sophia Kerr Taylor, little was known about Alan Kerr Taylor’s first wife Martha, known as Patty, who died shortly after the birth of her second child, in 1864, aged 24. The pair had been married for less than two years, and Patty never saw Alberton in its finished glory.

Apart from a handful of photographs and a few books, little survives to give us any insight into Patty’s character. However, Auckland Collections Registrar Belinda Burgess recently discovered a previously unknown diary among the thousands of items at Alberton. This book dates to her time in London prior to emigrating to New Zealand. Along with haircuts, church services and notes about the weather, she writes of purchasing William Swainson’s book ‘New Zealand and the War’ – perhaps in excited preparation for her life in a new land.

This natty men’s two-piece number dates to the early 20th century and features bold orange stripes – a contrast to the usual muted blacks and navy blues.

Swimsuits are rare in the NZHPT properties – but the collections still contain dozens of photographs from the 19th century of Kiwis picnicking, at the beach, camping, and engaging in all the pursuits still in practice today.