Catherine and Miriam

Once in a while on my cemetery visits I find graves that make me want to find out more about that persons life. These ones which had an old Victorian picket fence around them are located in the Jewish section of the Old Symonds Street Cemetery and belong to 2 little ones named Catherine Nathan and her sister Miriam Nathan, daughters of David and Rosetta.

I managed to convert the Jewish dates to 1844 and 1855 as their dates of death and although I couldn't find the cause of why they died so young I did find out that their father owned a men's fashion shop in Auckland City and was also an auctioneer so I'm guessing they probably lived in one of the many old houses that once stood nearby that has now been replaced by a more modern building. 

I can't imagine how heartbreaking it would've been to lose 2 little ones at this time with no vaccines or the medical knowledge we have today.

Linking up with Our World Tuesday, Through my lens, Tuesday Treasures, My Corner of the World and Wordless Wednesday.

St Francis de Sales and All Saints Church

This is one place that's kinda special to me because of family connections. The St Francis de Sales and All Saints Church in Devonport, Auckland looks like one grand austere old lady.  Between 1890 and 1900 the Catholic population in town doubled and the first church on this site was a former mortuary chapel barged across the Auckland Harbour from the historical Symonds Street Cemetery to be resited here in 1893. This particular suburb was first settled by colonists in 1840 and is one of the first colonial settlements in Auckland and the first on the North Shore.

St Leo's school opened across the road in 1893 and by 1904 the church was enlarged for 200 parishioners. Father Michael Furlong who was the parish priest from 1905 to 1962 sold his own property to finance the current church, above which was built in 1919. 

My mum on the right with her twin on their confirmation day in the 1950s.

Interestingly enough my mother and her siblings were raised in Devonport and attended St Leo's school and this church as they were growing up, in fact when my grandmother passed away in 1996 her funeral was held here because they were all Catholics until the last 5 years of her life when she became a Christian.  Mum has said she remembers the nuns at school being very strict and not very kind to the children.

Linking up with Our World Tuesday and My Corner of the World.

The old Grafton Bridge

How did your Halloween go this week? It came and went for us, we had a few groups of children knocking on our door and we already had a bowl of sweets ready to give out but apart from that it was pretty quiet.

Anyway earlier this week we traveled to Auckland to pick up the other half's step daughter from the airport. On the way we explored parts of the city - now I grew up in Auckland and worked in the central city for many years so sometimes I miss it.

This iconic structure named the Grafton Bridge is on the outer fringe and opened in 1910. It links up Grafton Gully to Karangahape Road, Auckland Hospital and the Auckland Domain. At the time it was built it was the largest concrete bridge arch in the world. Originally the first bridge built was made of wood at 360 feet long and 85 feet high - this one was built in 1885 but as population grew people voiced their opinions about the safety of the structure.

In 1907 the Auckland City Council took tenders to build the new concrete bridge (still there today) which measures 296 metres long with a central span of 320 feet, rising 84 feet  with a height of 142 feet off the valley floor.

In recent years the wave shaped like cover was put over both sides to prevent people jumping over onto the busy motorway below. Underneath the bridge exists the Symonds Street cemetery, one of the oldest places in NZ which houses the remains of mostly early settlers in the 1800s.

(photo from Heritage.org.nz)

These days this part of the city houses mostly University students and only a handful of the old colonial properties still exist.