Alfed Buckland 1825-1903
The land where Highwic now stands was probably settled around 1100 AD by descendents of the Tainui canoe. Maungawhau (Mount Eden) offered rich volcanic soil, ideal for growing kumara, as did all the other volcanic cones of Tamaki makau rau. In 1840 Ngati Whatua sold Governor Hobson land for a new capital and European migrants (mainly British) quickly established themselves in the area.
At the time Highwic was built in 1862, Auckland had been established just 22 years and was still the capital of New Zealand. This status was lost in 1865 and shifted to Wellington. Isolation was a key feature of Auckland in those days as travel by sea was by far the quickest way to go and it was a long journey to Wellington. The sea was the key to trade, transport, communications and leisure. Queen Street was very swampy and carried storm water and sewage in the form of an open canal out into the Waitemata Harbour. In fact, there was no proper sewerage system, just the night cart, until 1914. Another major problem early Aucklanders faced was a shortage of fresh water.
The earliest suburb was Parnell but access must have been difficult for pedestrians and people riding or travelling in carriages. They had to climb up Shortland Street, down Eden Crescent then up Parnell Rise. There was no waterfront way. Nevertheless, the richer areas quickly became Parnell, Remuera and Epsom. The roads in early Auckland were very few and very bad, either extremely dusty or muddy depending on the weather. At Newmarket, the Great South Road leading to Drury and the Waikato branched off from Manukau Road, which was the way to Onehunga, an important seaport in those days. In Newmarket there was a big slaughterhouse where hundreds of animals were killed each week. During the 1850’s and 1860’s the slaughterhouse gained a reputation for being filthy and smelly but it was not moved until the mid- 1870’s. By this time the railway had been laid.
Newmarket was the place chosen by Joseph Newman to set up his cattle sale yards and he went into partnership with Alfred Buckland in 1855. Within a year they became Buckland’s sale yards and continued to be an important activity in central Newmarket until the 1870s. It is almost certain that Newmarket acquired its name because of the establishment of this “new” cattle market. Cattle yards that were established on the corner of Market and Great South Roads and in Otahuhu eventually replaced the Newmarket yards. Alfred Buckland and his family lived in Newmarket by the sale yards for several years before they bought the land where Highwic now stands. The early part of the house was built in 1862. One can only imagine the relief the family must have felt with the move away from the swampy, smelly area where they had been established.
Unfortunately, Eliza Buckland lived at Highwic for only four years before she died of pneumonia at the age of 41. She was buried at St Mark’s church and her headstone is still there. She had had ten children, nine of whom had survived. It was not long before Alfred remarried – a New Zealand born girl by the name of Matilda Frodsham. Matilda went on to have eleven more children, but at any one time, there were at most 14 living in the house. During Matilda’s time the extensions to the house were made, making it a large but gracious family home. Of the 21 children, only seven were boys, and they slept in the boys’ barracks above the ballroom. The girls were ‘chaperoned’ by sleeping in bedrooms in close proximity to their parents. The boys’ education was taken care of at Auckland Grammar whereas the girls were tutored at home and sent to a ladies college nearby. At Highwic there is a lot of evidence of the differences in rearing boys and girls.
The Buckland family was wealthy and could afford servants. The maids’ bedroom and the cook’s bedroom suggest there may have been three domestic servants in the mid-1870s, the time when there would have been 14 children living at home. Many advertisements were placed in the Herald at this time for nursemaids, housemaids, general servants and cooks, indicating a shortage of domestic staff. Matilda Buckland would have had a lot to oversee: laundry, cleaning, cooking, child minding, mending and preparation for social occasions. At Highwic the servants were kept to the back of the house and worked very long hours.
Leisure pursuits are well illustrated at Highwic as well. Reading was important in Victorian times. If you could read you could keep in touch. Books line the shelves and some are inscribed with family names. Everyone was expected to play a musical instrument or to sing, or recite. The girls at Highwic learnt the piano and the violin and Matilda Buckland had lessons with a zither. Sport was another popular past time, and most Aucklanders enjoyed cricket, horse racing and athletics. There is a tennis court, a croquet lawn and a billiard house at Highwic and photos of sports teams and family picnics.
Highwic remains little changed today, an oasis of significance in busy Newmarket. It has not been moved to this site – it has been here nearly 150 years and it tells us of many aspects of our history. It is built of kauri, reminding us that this was once an easily sourced building material. The architectural style is Carpenter Gothic from an American design, illustrating the influences were not only British in the 19th century. The way the carriage way slopes gently upwards and allows a turn-around by the front entrance makes us think of the large number of horses that used to grace our streets. The grounds are set out exactly the same way as they used to be and there are cabbage trees growing from the cuttings of the sacred “Te Ti Tutahi”, the cabbage tree which once grew nearby, where Maori chiefs buried the umbilical cords of their children. The gigantic Norfolk pines on either side of the main entrance were planted when the house was built. Most important of all though, we need to remember this was a family home where highly regarded young New Zealanders raised a large number of children and worked hard for the good of the community. Their lives were not easy, but records and stories suggest they had a lot of fun.
Book your school visit now - your visit includes
- an introduction with the Highwic educator
- finding out about aspects of early Newmarket history, the influences of the immeduate environment on how people lived, and the manner in which a well-to-do family lived
- exploration of the house and garden
- resource material with information and pre and post visit ideas (pdf, 174 kb)
Call Highwic on (09) 524 5575 or email highwiceducation - please mark your school booking "Education".
Curriculum Links - Place and Environment
Social Sciences Curriculum Achievement Objectives
Level 1
- Understand how places in New Zealand are significant for individuals and groups.
Level 2
- Understand how places influence people and people influence places.
Level 3
- Understand how people view and use places differently.
Level 4
- Understand how people pass on and sustain culture and heritage for different reasons and this has consequences for people.
Level 5
- Understand how people's management of resources impacts on environmental and social sustainability.
Consider our Place of Significance pre and post visit resource material (pdf, 174kb )