Print, Photographc, Sgt Eyre, Greerton, Tauranga
Production date
1916-1921
Current rights
No known copyright restrictions
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Object detail
Description
An unmounted postcard format print showing two men sitting on chairs on a verandah talking. Handwritten on reverse "Mr Eyre & The Governor, Sir Charles Fergusson. Property of Violet Macmillan 34 Fraser St Tauranga. Crimean Veteran and Gate Pa 1926 or so". Extra papers record "The Governor Sir Charles Fergusson talking to Sgt Eyre at his home Hynds Road approximately 1916. Sgt Eyre was a Sergeant of Marines not a soldier on HMS 'Rasario' and took his discharge in NZ joining the special services group at Greerton". Second paper reads "The Eyre photograph as promised. To complete the portrait and the clipping giving the story. Sgt Eyre lived to old age and he and his wife were well known characters in the early Greerton settlement. V. Macmillan 19/4/78".
Further research shows that the photograph could be of Mr Eyre and Viscount Jellicoe as they also met in April 1921. "An error crept into our report of the reception to Viscount Jellicoe. We stated that Mr C. W. Eyre was a Maori War veteran. Such is not the case. Mr Eyre served in the Royal Navy for twenty-five years and rose to the rank of Sergeant Major. It is interesting to relate that he was on the warship 'Rosalia' when that vessel visited Tauranga prior to the Maori War. There was then only a liquor shop and a couple of shanties in Tauranga. Mr Eyre made up his mind that if ever he left England it would be to settle in Tauranga, and many years afterwards he 'tarried that resolution into effect.' The Bay of Plenty Times, 27 April 1921.
Further research shows that the photograph could be of Mr Eyre and Viscount Jellicoe as they also met in April 1921. "An error crept into our report of the reception to Viscount Jellicoe. We stated that Mr C. W. Eyre was a Maori War veteran. Such is not the case. Mr Eyre served in the Royal Navy for twenty-five years and rose to the rank of Sergeant Major. It is interesting to relate that he was on the warship 'Rosalia' when that vessel visited Tauranga prior to the Maori War. There was then only a liquor shop and a couple of shanties in Tauranga. Mr Eyre made up his mind that if ever he left England it would be to settle in Tauranga, and many years afterwards he 'tarried that resolution into effect.' The Bay of Plenty Times, 27 April 1921.
Production date
1916-1921
Production place
Tauranga, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand
Measurements
83mm (height), 132mm (width)
Credit line
Gifted by Violet Macmillan
Accession number
0505/08
Current rights