Unsolved mysteries

Perhaps you know where some of the photographs below were taken?  If you can help, please note the number related to each image with your comment below. Click on the images to enable enlargement.

1) Its summer here…

Untitled (pohutukawa fringed beach), circa 1965, New Zealand. National Publicity Studios. Purchased 2003. Te Papa

Untitled (pohutukawa fringed beach), circa 1965, New Zealand. National Publicity Studios. Purchased 2003. Te Papa

2) North Island wharf

North Island wharf, 1960 s, New Zealand. Eric Lee-Johnson. Purchased 1997 with New Zealand Lottery Grants Board funds. © Te Papa.

North Island wharf, 1960 s, New Zealand. Eric Lee-Johnson. Purchased 1997 with New Zealand Lottery Grants Board funds. © Te Papa.

3) Is it Otago harbour? And if so, what is the view of?

Untitled, 1880s. Burton Brothers. Te Papa

Untitled, 1880s. Burton Brothers. Te Papa

4) Coastal view – probably North Island

New Zealand coastline scenery, 1950 s, New Zealand. Eric Lee-Johnson. Purchased 1997 with New Zealand Lottery Grants Board funds. © Te Papa.
New Zealand coastline scenery, 1950 s, New Zealand. Eric Lee-Johnson. Purchased 1997 with New Zealand Lottery Grants Board funds. © Te Papa.

 

5) Pushing a car through a township somewhere in the North Island

North Island township scene - pushstarting a stalled motorcar, 1950 s, New Zealand. Eric Lee-Johnson. Purchased 1997 with New Zealand Lottery Grants Board funds. © Te Papa.

North Island township scene – pushstarting a stalled motorcar, 1950 s, New Zealand. Eric Lee-Johnson. Purchased 1997 with New Zealand Lottery Grants Board funds. © Te Papa.

6) Summer again…

Untitled (beach cove), circa 1965, New Zealand. National Publicity Studios. Purchased 2003. Te Papa

Untitled (beach cove), circa 1965, New Zealand. National Publicity Studios. Purchased 2003. Te Papa

7) 19th century factory – perhaps near Dunedin?

Untitled, 1880s. Burton Brothers. Te Papa

Untitled, 1880s. Burton Brothers. Te Papa

8) A coastal Northland township

Coastal scenery, Northland, 1950 s, New Zealand. Eric Lee-Johnson. Purchased 1997 with New Zealand Lottery Grants Board funds. © Te Papa.

Coastal scenery, Northland, 1950 s, New Zealand. Eric Lee-Johnson. Purchased 1997 with New Zealand Lottery Grants Board funds. © Te Papa.

9) A real local in Rona Bay, Eastbourne – is the house still there?

Eastbourne Villa, 1921. Maker unknown. Gift of Margaret and John Christie, 1979. Te Papa

Eastbourne Villa, 1921. Maker unknown. Gift of Margaret and John Christie, 1979. Te Papa

 

10) Somewhere in the Coromandel?

Untitled, 1880s. Burton Brothers. Purchased 1991. Te Papa

Untitled, 1880s. Burton Brothers. Purchased 1991. Te Papa

11) No clues here….

Untitled, 1890s, New Zealand. Maker unknown. Purchased 1999 with New Zealand Lottery Grants Board funds. Te Papa

Untitled, 1890s, New Zealand. Maker unknown. Purchased 1999 with New Zealand Lottery Grants Board funds. Te Papa

12) Damage from the 1931 Napier earthquake – which bridge is it?

Untitled, circa 1931, Hawke's Bay. Maker unknown. Gift of Mrs J Paterson, date unknown. Te Papa

Untitled, circa 1931, Hawke’s Bay. Maker unknown. Gift of Mrs J Paterson, date unknown. Te Papa

13) Main street, Greytown?

Street scene, circa 1875, Wairarapa. James Bragge. Te Papa

Street scene, circa 1875, Wairarapa. James Bragge. Te Papa

17 Comments

  1. Ross Lyons from Totara North.
    Posted 22 August 2012 at 10.08pm | Permalink

    No.5 may be in Kaeo, Northland, judging by the shape of the supermarket on the corner and the bank opposite. Supermarket still exists.
    No.8 is definately at Whangaroa between the township and wharf, the overhanging tree still exists and is seen in many photos of Whangaroa.

  2. Posted 23 August 2012 at 8.56am | Permalink

    Quick response – Eric Lee Johnson 2 is Opua I suggest. 6 is Rawene.

  3. Sue McMillan
    Posted 24 August 2012 at 3.22pm | Permalink

    No.3 Is Otago Harbour. I think it’s looking at Ravensbourne, although I can’t quite place the church.

  4. Sue Milner
    Posted 24 August 2012 at 3.26pm | Permalink

    6 in the Kaiteriteri area-Little kaiteriteri?
    11 Knox College Dunedin?

  5. Posted 24 August 2012 at 3.46pm | Permalink

    1- cold be ohiwa beach eastern bay of plenty and 6. could be otarawairere – whakatane.

  6. Mary James
    Posted 24 August 2012 at 5.07pm | Permalink

    No 6 Looks very like Cactus Bay Waiheke Island.

  7. Posted 25 August 2012 at 5.31pm | Permalink

    Number 3 isn’t from the 1880′s – the photo clearly has power polls along the side of the road that follows the costline. Is this possibly looking at Port Chalmers?

  8. Lissa Mitchell
    Posted 27 August 2012 at 10.49am | Permalink

    Hi Ross re: no. 8 Whangaroa is this the approximate view?

  9. Ross Lyons from Totara North.
    Posted 27 August 2012 at 2.53pm | Permalink

    no, you need to go back to approx 573 Whangaroa rd, more towards the township. I have some old b/w pics of the tree 1905ish, if you need them sent.

  10. Lissa Mitchell
    Posted 27 August 2012 at 3.42pm | Permalink

    Thanks Ross – this one looks like it

  11. Lissa Mitchell
    Posted 27 August 2012 at 3.48pm | Permalink

    Thanks Sue McMillan – I agree that it is Ravensbourne. Looking at the buildings below the church (which seems to have gone now) – there is the Post Office and the old Coronation Town Hall with the site between occupied now by the Lodge Maori No 105. You can also see the two shops back towards Dunedin still there as well.

  12. Lissa Mitchell
    Posted 27 August 2012 at 3.53pm | Permalink

    Rebecca – it is definately Ravensbourne (see above) but the date is uncertain. They could be telegrah lines which were installed between Dunedin and Port Chalmers soon after the Chch to Lyttleton lines were put up in 1862.

  13. Neil
    Posted 3 September 2012 at 12.03pm | Permalink

    N0 2 could be the wharf at Point Howard in Wellington Harbour.

  14. Lucy Telfar Barnard
    Posted 9 January 2013 at 8.41pm | Permalink

    According to Papers Past (http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=HNS18961020.2.30.4), photo 10 may be Kuaotunu, where Tammadge and McSheffrey’s store was destroyed in a fire in October 1896.

  15. Lissa Mitchell
    Posted 28 January 2013 at 10.11am | Permalink

    Thanks Lucy. It certainly looks to be Kuaotunu.

  16. Kirsty Cox
    Posted 25 February 2013 at 9.37am | Permalink

    No. 2 definitely is Mangonui in the Far North.

  17. Kirsty Cox
    Posted 25 February 2013 at 9.42am | Permalink

    Actually maybe it isn’t but it looks very similar!

2 Trackbacks

  1. By Mysteries solved (part 1 of 3) « Te Papa's Blog on 28 January 2013 at 3.26pm

    [...] earlier posts published last year were: Unsolved mysteries, Object unknown and Lost [...]

  2. [...] earlier posts published last year were: Unsolved mysteries, Object unknown and Lost [...]

Leave a reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out / Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out / Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out / Change )

Connecting to %s

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 309 other followers

%d bloggers like this: