Timaru’s Caroline Bay used to be known as the Riviera of the South. A wide, sandy beach, it was where Cantabrians would flock (by train) to swim, sunbathe and attend carnivals and concerts. Though it doesn’t quite draw the crowds of ‘Riviera’ times these days, it’s still a beautiful bay, enjoyed by Timaru locals.

But it wasn’t always a place of peace, nor of fine golden sand. Rather, Caroline Bay was a place of heaving southerly swells and many a shipwreck. According to Timaru researcher Roselyn Fauth, the story is a good one – and she’s helping plan a new playground to pay tribute to it.

“The natural basin of the area provided some shelter for ships,” says Roselyn referring back to the 1800s. “So they could come here, and they could import and export.”

When a big southerly swell roared to life, though, Caroline Bay became a graveyard for ships.

“I think over about 16 years we saw 28 shipwrecks here,” says Roselyn, a Timaru local and passionate historian. Mooring became a point of contention: to move the ships closer for more efficient handling of goods? Or to keep them further out, at a safer distance?

At the centre of all this, caught in the politics, was Captain Mills, who’d been harbour master for 16 years. He had a big job, especially when the sea rose up. Captain Mills bore the responsibility of the lives of all those aboard the ships, as well as the rescue Rocket Brigade and lifeboat crew.

The Rocket Brigade had their work cut out for them. They were the late-1800s version of lifeguards, except arguably (as the name suggests) with a more exciting job – one which involved rockets and “rescue pants”. As Keely Kroening, Museum Educator at South Canterbury Museum explains, when a ship was in trouble the signal gun would be heard all over town, and everyone would come running.

“Then they would send a rocket out, holding a rope over the ship, so that the seamen on the ship could grab the rope,” Keely explains. The seamen would tie off the rope to the mast and the brigade would then send out a pair of canvas shorts attached to a buoy. The seamen would hop inside the rescue shorts and be pulled back to shore, one by one.

In 1878, the people decided enough was enough, and work began on a southern breakwater to help protect the ships from the sea. Not everyone was behind the plan. The government’s marine engineer, John Blackett, wrote a report saying the port was a terrible idea, and that it would change the way sediment flowed up the coast.

He would prove to be right about the sediment: where Caroline Bay was once a rocky cliff, it is now a sandy bay. It also starved the lagoon, of which only about 10 percent remains today. But his opinion didn’t stand a chance against the hundreds of locals who turned up to parade and protest against him on the main street. “They hissed and carried this effigy of Blackett down to the breakwater, filled him with fireworks and then blew him up,” says Roselyn.

The breakwater went ahead, but because steamships took priority on the new moorings, many sailboats were still left to anchor too close to shore. Two years after the port construction, Caroline Bay witnessed its biggest shipwreck yet. It was May 14, 1882, and a huge swell had kicked up. The Ben Venue lost anchor, smashing into the rocks where a crowd from town had gathered.

The crew managed to escape to the safety of the City of Perth, but this lost anchor, too, and drifted down the bay before smashing into the wreck of the Ben Venue. Tragically, nine lost their lives, including Timaru’s beloved Captain Mills.

The story of Caroline Bay is a colourful and tragic one. Roselyn Fauth wants to see it be better celebrated, and that the bay be restored to its earlier glory as a place of play. To replace the tired playground that currently sits where so many once ventured for leisure, work is underway on a new playground inspired by Timaru’s stormy history.

Under the name of C-Play, the new playground features a lighthouse, a buried Ben Venue, a Rocket Brigade-themed flying fox and a big focus on inclusivity. Might this new playground put Caroline Bay back on the map as the Riviera of the South?

Accreditations: South Canterbury Museum, Aigantighe Art Gallery, Te Papa, National Library, State Library Victoria, National Library of Australia, Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections

History of the Alexandra - one of the oldest and best examples of a lifeboat of its type in the world. Alexandra, named after Queen Alexandra the wife of King Edward VII.

Since its retirement in 1882 the lifeboat has been a memorial to those who manned it and those it rescued. Named after the wife of King Edward VII, Alexandra of Denmark, the Timaru lifeboat is one of the oldest vessels of its type in the world.

1860s: Timaru needed a boat to navigate heavy surf conditions.
1862: Canterbury Provincial Secretary ordered a lifeboat from London.
1863: The 35-foot 6-inch long boat, Alexandra, named after Queen Alexandra, was crafted by the National Life-boat Institution in the UK.
1863: The lifeboat arrived in New Zealand aboard the "Huntress" ship.
1869: First used; capsized, resulting in the drowning of crew member Duncan Cameron. Taken out of service for 13 years.
1877: Due to financial constraints, Harbourmaster Captain Alexander Mills dismissed the lifeboat crew, but the Harbor Board formed a volunteer rocket brigade.
1882: "Black Sunday" disaster; the Alexandra was pulled out of storage and capsized four times during rescue attempts, resulting in the loss of 10 lives and saving 43 people.
1932: Memorial erected in Perth Street on the 50th anniversary of "Black Sunday".
1997: The Alexandra was restored and displayed at the Timaru Information Centre until 2010.
Currently stored at Mainland Depot on King Street, not on public display.

Messrs Forrest of Limehouse life-boat building yard where Alexandra Timaru Lifeboat was built - The Illustrated London News Google Books - Page 478 

The lifeboat Alexandra, manned by Waterside Workers for an unidentified parade, pictured on Sarah Street in Timaru, circa 1912. The lifeboat is shown harnessed to a team of Clydesdale horses and appears to be heading for or leaving a parade. Amongsat the flags flown are the American and Australian flags and the British ensign (among others), as well as a banner for "Timaru Waterside Workers". South Canterbury Museum 1543

https://www.ngataonga.org.nz/search-use-collection/search/F7142/

Procession of floats along the main street of Timaru watched by large crowd of people lining both sides. Quick glimpse of two aircraft flying overhead, perhaps also part of celebrations.

F H DREWITT PRESENTS JUBILEE PROCESSION TIMARU, NZ, 13 JULY, 1928.
Horsedrawn buggy. Driver and passengers wear period costumes. Men with bowler hats.
Procession parades through main street? Timaru. School students, brass band, cars, buses, Timaru's Lifeboat , horse drawn carriages and fire service. ALWAYS READY fire service truck with smoke billowing out from end of ladder on which fireman is sitting above the motor.
School boys on parade. Dominion Motors Ltd 1903 and 1928. Various other interesting floats pass by and the crowd closes in on street at end of parade.
Crowds lining both sides of street to view parade.
L2 planes in sky.
People walking down street.
Last picture frame.

Royal National Life Boat Institution of Great Britain Plans for lifeboat.  None of the original Alexandra Lifeboat plans are known to exist.

We have designed the playground surface (Numat Pour and Play) to look like a life boat, inspired by the Alexandra. People could pretend that when they are swinging on a double cyclpse that they are rocking over the breakers to act out a rescue with the life boat crew.

Invitation, 1901, New Zealand, by Benoni William Lytton White, A.D. Willis Ltd. Purchased 2001. Te Papa (GH009568)

Invitation, 1901, Dunedin, by Robert Hawcridge, J. Wilkie and Company. Purchased 2004. Te Papa (GH010302)

Band Rotunda, Alexandra Square, Timaru, circa 1905, Dunedin, by Muir & Moodie. Te Papa (C.014379)

Laid out by Samuel Hewlings as Market Place Alexandra Square has been a horse paddock, a market reserve, a site for travelling circuses, a place to play hockey or cricket and a place that needed beatifying. In 1904 Timaru's first band rotunda was built at Alexandra Square and twelve garden seats, at a cost of £600, a gift to the people of the city, by Mr Charles Bowker, who lived in College Rd, in a two storied house named "The Pines." This was the first civic gift of the kind to the city. Later open air meetings and band concerts were held here. Today there is a fountain and a playground and some old gnarly trees. Named after the wife of King Edward VII, Alexandra of Denmark.

Colour postcard entitled "Alexandra Square, Timaru", circa 1910. Features the band rotunda gifted by Charles Bowker in 1903 in the foreground, with the James Bruce & Co. (or Timaru Milling Co.) flour mill on High Street in the left background. 

Port History

• Timaru Harbour is located deep in the bight extending from the Waitaki River on the south to Banks' Peninsula on the north.
• Protected from southerly seas by reefs projecting from Patiti Point.
• Known and used by the Maoris as a halting place on the long harbourless eastern coast, long before the arrival of white settlers.
• Warlike Maoris from Dunedin and the south rested there before continuing their canoe journey northwards to battle enemies in the North Island.
• Between 1852 and 1857, shipping wool and landing supplies at Timaru was done with whaleboats, with no convenient beaching and landing facilities.
• Loading and unloading even small vessels was slow, tedious, and often dangerous, but essential for settlers to trade wool and obtain supplies.
• In 1857, Messrs H. J. LeCren and Cain opened a store and started a landing and shipping service using small surf-boats hauled up on the beach by a capstan.
• The landing place was the site of the present Harbour Board's service.
• In 1865, shipping facilities improved with the erection of boat sheds (now owned by the Harbour Board) and the introduction of a steam engine for hauling boats.
• The steam engine was initially considered extravagant due to the cost of coal, leading to recommendations for a return to manual labour.
• Two additional boating services were later started at the foot of George Street.
• Before protective works, wrecks were common at Timaru, often without loss of life.
• The Rocket Brigade frequently provided rescue services.
• A coasting steamer was once washed up between the present railway station and Club Hotel but was successfully refloated.
• In 1882, the "City of Perth" and "Benvenue" broke from their moorings, with the "Benvenue" being completely wrecked but the "City of Perth" refloated.
• Heroic rescue efforts during these wrecks led to the erection of a monument near the Post Office.
• During the wrecks, Captain Mills and other crewmen attempted rescues, resulting in capsized boats and several fatalities, including Captain Mills.
• The local lifeboat made three trips and rescued many, despite capsizing multiple times.
• The Timaru Harbour Board was established under the Timaru Harbour Board Act of 1876 and began operations in 1877.
• Steps were taken to construct an artificial harbour, with Mr. John Goodall's design for a concrete breakwater being adopted and modified.
• The first contract for a 300-foot mole was let to Messrs Allan and Stumbles in 1878.
• The concrete breakwater, completed in December 1887, is 30 feet wide and 2278 feet long, costing £219,518.
• On the northeast side, the harbour is enclosed by a 2400-foot rubble wall.
• The enclosed space is fifty acres, with total construction costs reaching £281,000.
• A rubble mole was authorized to extend the harbour, with a proposed length of 3000 feet; 1800 feet had been formed by July 1903, costing £82,000 by the end of 1902.
• Wharfage has been extended, and a powerful suction dredge is maintained for deepening the harbour.
• The registered tonnage of shipping entering the port increased from 58,402 tons in 1883 to 283,425 in 1902.
• Cargo handled increased from 62,492 tons in 1883 to 124,497 tons in 1902.
• Principal imports include general merchandise, timber, and coal; chief exports are breadstuffs, potatoes, frozen mutton, grain, and wool.
• The port's ordinary revenue from dues increased from £6356 in 1883 to £19,809 in 1902.
• The Harbour Board consists of members representing various districts and includes positions such as Secretary and Treasurer, Resident Engineer, and Harbourmaster.
• Mr. William Evans has been the Chairman of the Timaru Harbour Board since 1899 and is also the proprietor of Atlas Roller Flour Mills.
• Mr. George Lyall, J.P., a member of the Harbour Board, is also the general manager of the Pareora estate and involved in several local organizations.
• Mr. John Manchester represents the Makikihi riding on the Harbour Board and was previously the Mayor of Waimate.
• Mr. Alexander Campbell Pringle, J.P., a member of the Harbour Board, has been involved since 1893 and is active in numerous local societies and councils.
• Mr. David Clarkson Turnbull has been a member of the Harbour Board since 1900 and founded the firm D. O. Turnbull and Co.
• Mr. William Julian Bardsley, Secretary and Treasurer of the Harbour Board, has been in the position since the end of 1902.
• Mr. Albert Ernest Austin, A.M.I.C.E., is the Resident Engineer of the Harbour Board, having a background in railway surveys and harbour construction.
• Captain Thomas Nicolson Clarkson has been the Harbourmaster at Timaru since 1886.
• Mr. Peter Sinclair, foreman blacksmith at the Harbour Board's engineering works, has been in Timaru since 1870 and involved in various local organizations.

Summarised from https://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-Cyc03Cycl-t1-body1-d7-d1-d4.html

Timaru, "Ben Venue" stranded, bows circa 1882  https://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/object/1346852

Race to the rescue - Research and design by Roselyn Fauth - Photo Geoff Cloake

Alice Solace, Rebecca Jackson, Sharleyne Diamond and and friends enjoy the new Playground Center Cyclops swing  - Photo Supplied

How the Illustrated London News saw rowing lifeboats in action. heartheboatsing.com/for-those-in-peril-on-the-sea/

Siblings Ruben Cloake and Annelies Bray have a race on the 50m tandem flying fox. Photo: Geoff Cloake

Timaru Volunteer Rocket Brigade. Photographer William Ferrier c1882. South Canterbury Museum 0844

Looking ship shape and ready for play. Photo: Todd Mudie Group.

The Ben Venue (left) and City of Perth (right) ships in Caroline Bay. The Ben Venue was wrecked at Caroline Bay in May 1882. The city of Perth collided with the wreckage and also ran aground but was eventually refloated carrying over 5000 sacks of milling wheat from newly broken in farms of the area. Photographer J Dickie Courtesy South Canterbury Museum 2014/056.01

Ship deck can be accessed by a ramp on a mound, so everyone can have fun steering the ship, ringing the bell and using the talker to give orders to the ship crew. Photo: Roselyn Fauth

The South Canterbury Museum has an exhibit that includes the Benvenue Bell and medals, the rocket brigade lifesaving launch and the canon that summoned the rocket brigade. Photograpy courtesy of Roselyn Fauth with permission from South Canterbury Musuem.