Bay Harbour: February 14, 2024

Wednesday February 14 2024 Bay Harbour News
TREASURES FROM THE PAST 19
Big contribution to peninsula’s heritage
EDWARD AND Charlotte
Morey had seven children, three
boys and four girls. Tragically,
all three boys died young, two
in infancy and the third, Alfred
Roelof, aged 7. His grave is in
the Akaroa Anglican Cemetery.
Three of the girls married
mariners – Myra Martha
married Captain Mello Schenkel
at the Wesleyan Church in
Lyttelton in February 1862. The
writer of this week’s final story in
the series on Edward Morey, Carl
Bonniface, is descended from the
Schenkel line.
When Edward Morey arrived
in Akaroa in early 1864 he leased
land in what is now Rue Jolie and
built one of the first houses on
the street. No 109a is still there,
although it has been added to
over the years and is today called
‘The French Rose Cottage’.
The original house had two
stories, minus the current bay
windows, with two rooms
downstairs and two upstairs
accessed by a steep narrow
staircase. The staircase and
upstairs rooms feature wooden
match lining, while the original
hand-sawn board and batten
exterior cladding remains in
good condition.
Other structures Morey built
during his 18-year stay in Akaroa
were:
• 1869: a wooden congregational
church on the site of today’s St
Andrew’s Anglican Church in Le
Bons Bay.
• 1872: the wooden Okains
Bay School, still standing proud
next to the restored St John’s
stone church, also built by Morey
in 1863.
• 1876: the Robinsons Bay
School, which has been demolished.
• 1878: the brick and stone
Farr’s bridge on Rue Jolie.
• 1879: extensive repairs to
Hahn’s bridge on Rue Lavaud.
Both bridges are still in use
today.
Morey’s business ventures in
Akaroa were varied – in August
1876 he was advertising bricks
for sale in the Akaroa Mail.
The location of his brick kiln
has been a mystery until recently
Edward Morey and his eldest daughter Myra Martha, c1862,
Photographer unknown. Reproduced courtesy of Akaroa
Museum.
Edward and Charlotte
Morey’s headstone at Picton
Cemetery.
– copies of the original deeds
have now been sighted showing
when Morey bought and sold
the four acres on which the kiln
was built (in the approximate
location of 65 Grehan Valley Rd
today). The writer also has one of
Morey’s bricks, identified by his
initials EWM pressed into the
frog before firing, albeit that this
example has those initials in a
different order – MEW.
Around the same time, Morey
sank a lot of money into setting
up Aotearoa New Zealand’s
first oyster farm in Takamatua
German Bay, which at its peak
contained 252,000 oysters. He
also purchased one acre of land
in that bay and built two houses
(where Quail Cres is now),
which he then put up for sale in
September 1877. Risky ventures
like these saw him bankrupted
twice, first in June 1868, when he
ended up as a guest in Lyttelton
Gaol (the irony being he had put
in a quote to build it in late 1860),
and again in September 1877.
Morey was also involved in
many civic minded projects. In
August 1877 he set up and was
captain of the first ‘bucket and
ladder’ fire brigade in Akaroa
– there were no high pressure
water hoses back then.
He stood successfully for the
Akaroa Borough Council and in
1879 fought hard for the railway
to be extended from Little
River through to Akaroa, a very
ambitious project, which never
eventuated.
His earlier commitment to the
Oddfellows Society continued
when he moved to Akaroa. He
was actively involved in setting
up a second lodge which he
called “Nil Desperandum” –
meaning “never lose hope”. That
may well have been his personal
motto?
Later, Morey moved to 134
Rue Jolie (now demolished)
and set up a building supply
business and large garden (a
keen gardener, he won prizes in
horticultural shows).
The French Rose Cottage in Akaroa, built by Morey.
In 1881 Edward and Charlotte
left Akaroa to be with family,
first to live in Christchurch, then
Auckland. In 1892 they moved
again to Picton to stay with
members of the Schenkel family.
Morey died there on 8 July 1892,
aged 70, due to injuries sustained
from falling from scaffolding
while volunteering his labour to
help build the new Presbyterian
church.
Morey and Charlotte, who
passed away at North West Bay
in Pelorus Sound on March 14
1894, aged 72, are buried side
by side in the Picton cemetery.
Ironically, after making
numerous tombstones during his
lifetime, Edward and Charlotte
did not have their own until
descendants of the Morey family
had one made, dedicating it at
their grave site on June 5, 2005.
Edward William Morey, an
amiable, eloquent gentleman,
gave much to the various
communities he lived in and
left a wonderful legacy around
Horomaka Banks Peninsula,
which current generations are
treasuring.
HELLO DRAGONS
WELCOME TO THE CHINESE NEW YEAR. FOR LEGAL EXPERTISE THAT TAKES GOOD CARE OF TIGERS,
ROOSTERS AND EVERYONE IN BETWEEN, LET’S TALK.
03 940 2435 | FERRYMEAD.LAWYER@SAUNDERS.CO.NZ
SAUNDERS.CO.NZ | CITY, WIGRAM, PAPANUI, FERRYMEAD