Wynyards (Lushington’s) Bay + Wirihana 1

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Wynyards (Lushington’s) Bay
photo ex Mac Taylor Collection

Now I’m sure to some / most of you the bay in the above photo will be very familiar but not to me. I have a good hunch but I’ll let you all chip in. Remember you can click on the image to enlarge & if you click again on the enlarged photo it will zoom in even more.

Wirihana 1
The 2nd part of today’s post is a great photo, below, I found in Mac Taylor’s album, the launch is the first Wirihana (1) – there is a great story found at the link below concerning Wirihana (1), which most likely became Lady Gay (1) + how Wirihana (2) & Lady Gay (2) fitted into the scene. Great reading & a fine example of the ww blog really working.

Wirihana Who ‘Built’ Her?

Update

Seems everyone is right on the button with ID’ing the location – Harold Kidd sent me a link to the Henry Winkelmann photos (post card) ex the Auckland Museum collection below, taken in 1899. It is ‘Rodmershaw’ the residence of Mr Lushington.

I’m very familiar with the location as early one morning during a Mahurangi Regatta weekend, I had to retrieve my #1 kauri clinker dinghy from the beach after it went walkies in the night & washed up there, undamaged. The gods were smiling on me that weekend 🙂

Update from Harold Kidd
The photo below, ex Auckland Museum collection,  shows Mrs Lushington sitting on the ballast of her husband’s Robert Logan-built yacht MURITAI in 1899 at the property.
The 22ft mullet boat on the beach behind MURITAI is the 22 footer BELLE built by Hewson & Melville in 1883 also owned by Lushington. BELLE was converted to a deadwood keel yacht & later renamed LOTUS.

Muritai & Belle (Lotus) c1899

Pam Cundy Input

Pam sent me the photo below of of her partner, George Emtage, grandfather Captain George Samuel Emtage. They lived in a bay just around the corner from the bay shown above and worked for the Lushingtons and the Chandlers on Motuora. The excerpt from the book Jade River tells the story of how George’s family inherited Motuora island.

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16 thoughts on “Wynyards (Lushington’s) Bay + Wirihana 1”

  1. Funny how old thoughts and memories can be stirred up. George’s aunt and uncle, Margaret and Frank Emtage; used to look after my grandmother and her house in her declining years.
    Auctioneers John Cordys had a name board off the Waiheke ferry Muritai on offer at one of their auctions in 1966. I bid a fiver and got it.
    I had watched her being scrapped by the Auckland Timber Co (Phil Zambucka scrapped a lot of ships at the Viaduct) and had a few other goodies off her. An adopted uncle of mine skippered her during WW2, hence my interest.
    I polished the bronze letters and had the board on the wall in my bedroom at home. Frank Emtage was most interested and told me all about his family connection with the yacht Muritai. Wish I’d taken notes.

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  7. I have come to love this image, of course there’s the boats but then there’s the house maid that has come along the beach with her skirts raised so as to not dirty them and then there’s Mrs Lushington perched on the huge stack of lead as though she would do this every so often whilst out walking the dog. It’s a fine picture of its time.

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  9. Eastern end of Lagoon bay, Mahurangi weekend 2014 someone got airlifted off the hill right above our masts on Arcturus.

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  10. The bay used to be called Lushington’s Bay, naturally enough, but morphed into Wynyard’s Bay when Lushington died and his grandson Wynyard took over the property.

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  11. Is the large building seen, the stone house? Or has that structure entirely gone now. We need a recent photo.
    Thats Cudlip pt in the distance and pudding island on the end of that.
    Orewa in the far distance. Looks to have a nice long white sandy beach.

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  16. Mahurangi. Can’t remember the name of the bay but it’s on the starboard side entering the harbour. The house and garden are still there all beautifully maintained..

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