I’ve been doing some more research into the fire on Lambton Quay on 9 November 1842, if only because it struck me as odd that William took his family up onto the Terrace to get away from it.
The wind was blowing from the north-west (“half a gale” according to one local newspaper). The Norgroves lived at almost the northern-most end of Lambton Quay, near the intersection with Mulgrave St. The fire started the best part of half a mile south-east of that and was heading away from them. Of course anyone who has spent more than five minutes in Wellington knows that the wind there can change direction in the blink of an eye, but any wind shift would have been more likely to push the fire up onto the Terrace than not.
The wind was blowing from the north-west (“half a gale” according to one local newspaper). The Norgroves lived at almost the northern-most end of Lambton Quay, near the intersection with Mulgrave St. The fire started the best part of half a mile south-east of that and was heading away from them. Of course anyone who has spent more than five minutes in Wellington knows that the wind there can change direction in the blink of an eye, but any wind shift would have been more likely to push the fire up onto the Terrace than not.
The map below is of modern Wellington - the green line marks the Beach as it was in 1842 (everything to the right of the line is on reclaimed land).
The most likely reason for going up onto the Terrace was either that William wanted to seek shelter for his wife and children in the home of a friend, or in one of the wealthier settler’s homes. An exposed beach-front in a howling gale in the middle of the night is no place for a nine-day old baby. William’s priority was probably to get Sarah and the children safely under cover before going back to help fight the fire. Oscar wasn’t the youngest baby affected by the fire though – a Mrs Samuel had given birth to a daughter that day, and was given shelter at Barrett’s hotel during the fire.
The north-western end of Lambton Quay curves away from the Terrace, out to a point at its intersection with Thorndon Quay. This is the end the Norgroves were at, and to get to the Terrace, the family most likely went round the corner onto Sydney Street (now Kate Shepherd Place). They would have crossed the old Government reserve somewhere in the area of Museum Street to reach the Terrace. There were few houses on the Terrace at this early stage – the largest and best of them was Colonel Wakefield’s, which sat high on a town acre which stretched from Lambton Quay to the Terrace. Wakefield himself was out of town the night of the fire.
The fire started at Lloyd the baker’s premises, and from there proceeded to consume a solicitor’s office, a fishmonger’s, two pubs, a shoemaker’s, three butcher shops, Mrs Millar’s boarding house, two carpenters’ premises, two tailors’ shops, a stay-maker, another baker’s, a greengrocer, a hairdresser, a coffee-house and a bootmaker’s. Several stores and warehouses, the entire Kumutoto pa and sundry other private residences also went up in smoke. Jabez Dean, the plumber and painter who I’ve speculated William may have worked for, also lost his premises in the blaze. In all, contemporary accounts suggest 57 or 59 buildings were destroyed, of which around half were “Maori houses” made largely of raupo. Several more raupo buildings were pulled down to prevent the fire spreading even further.
It was quite a night. One account has the residents, aided by local Maori, rushing out of their houses with armloads of possessions and dumping them on the beach. Another account suggests that townspeople took refuge from the heat of the fire in water itself, although given how a north-westerly whips up the harbour, that seems unlikely. Sailors from the Bolina which was moored in the harbour helped with the fire-fighting, as did soldiers based in the town.
The fire was finally extinguished early in the morning – that afternoon, a public meeting, chaired by the mayor, gathered at the Exchange building and it was immediately agreed to launch a fund-raising appeal to help provide for the immediate needs of those affected by the fire. Almost £158 was immediately donated by those at meeting, and the total sum eventually raised was more than £360. The total losses of those affected were estimated to be in the order of £16,000. The economic effects of the fire were widely felt in the community because of the loss of large quantities of goods in the destroyed warehouses, as well as the temporary loss of services from a large number of small businesses. Some businesses recovered quicker than others – within six weeks, Lloyd the baker, in whose premises the fire started, was advertising he was back in business on the site of his former premises.
The morning after the fire, local Maori offered to build, free of charge, several raupo houses as temporary shelter for those who had lost their homes. The offer was declined on the grounds that it was the raupo houses which had made the effects of the fire so disastrous. Many of the dispossessed were accommodated in the New Zealand Company’s immigration barracks. The Maori took up a collection at their Sunday church service, and contributed to the relief fund instead.
The fire resulted in New Zealand’s first building legislation, the Raupo House Ordinance, which prevented the further construction of raupo houses within towns, and severely and punitively taxed the owners of the remaining existing raupo buildings. Later, the 1857 Town Protection Act required householders to keep two buckets full of water for fire-fighting purposes. In 1858, the Council bought itself a fire engine, which was operated by the police. The first volunteer fire brigade formed in 1865, with the help of funding from insurance companies.
The north-western end of Lambton Quay curves away from the Terrace, out to a point at its intersection with Thorndon Quay. This is the end the Norgroves were at, and to get to the Terrace, the family most likely went round the corner onto Sydney Street (now Kate Shepherd Place). They would have crossed the old Government reserve somewhere in the area of Museum Street to reach the Terrace. There were few houses on the Terrace at this early stage – the largest and best of them was Colonel Wakefield’s, which sat high on a town acre which stretched from Lambton Quay to the Terrace. Wakefield himself was out of town the night of the fire.
The fire started at Lloyd the baker’s premises, and from there proceeded to consume a solicitor’s office, a fishmonger’s, two pubs, a shoemaker’s, three butcher shops, Mrs Millar’s boarding house, two carpenters’ premises, two tailors’ shops, a stay-maker, another baker’s, a greengrocer, a hairdresser, a coffee-house and a bootmaker’s. Several stores and warehouses, the entire Kumutoto pa and sundry other private residences also went up in smoke. Jabez Dean, the plumber and painter who I’ve speculated William may have worked for, also lost his premises in the blaze. In all, contemporary accounts suggest 57 or 59 buildings were destroyed, of which around half were “Maori houses” made largely of raupo. Several more raupo buildings were pulled down to prevent the fire spreading even further.
It was quite a night. One account has the residents, aided by local Maori, rushing out of their houses with armloads of possessions and dumping them on the beach. Another account suggests that townspeople took refuge from the heat of the fire in water itself, although given how a north-westerly whips up the harbour, that seems unlikely. Sailors from the Bolina which was moored in the harbour helped with the fire-fighting, as did soldiers based in the town.
The fire was finally extinguished early in the morning – that afternoon, a public meeting, chaired by the mayor, gathered at the Exchange building and it was immediately agreed to launch a fund-raising appeal to help provide for the immediate needs of those affected by the fire. Almost £158 was immediately donated by those at meeting, and the total sum eventually raised was more than £360. The total losses of those affected were estimated to be in the order of £16,000. The economic effects of the fire were widely felt in the community because of the loss of large quantities of goods in the destroyed warehouses, as well as the temporary loss of services from a large number of small businesses. Some businesses recovered quicker than others – within six weeks, Lloyd the baker, in whose premises the fire started, was advertising he was back in business on the site of his former premises.
The morning after the fire, local Maori offered to build, free of charge, several raupo houses as temporary shelter for those who had lost their homes. The offer was declined on the grounds that it was the raupo houses which had made the effects of the fire so disastrous. Many of the dispossessed were accommodated in the New Zealand Company’s immigration barracks. The Maori took up a collection at their Sunday church service, and contributed to the relief fund instead.
The fire resulted in New Zealand’s first building legislation, the Raupo House Ordinance, which prevented the further construction of raupo houses within towns, and severely and punitively taxed the owners of the remaining existing raupo buildings. Later, the 1857 Town Protection Act required householders to keep two buckets full of water for fire-fighting purposes. In 1858, the Council bought itself a fire engine, which was operated by the police. The first volunteer fire brigade formed in 1865, with the help of funding from insurance companies.
