Previously I have written about such people as the Shakespears of Shakespeare Road, Thomas and Mary Poynton and the eccentric Edwin Harrow, who named Milford. However, there are other perhaps now not so well-known residents who also took advantage of the fertile volcanic soil and microclimate in the area around Lake Pupuke.
Carl Franz (or Frank) Fischer naturalised as a New Zealand citizen in 1854 and practised as a homeopathist. He firstly leased around 20 to 30 acres on the western shores of Lake Pupuke, then purchased land in the area and created both an extensive residence and a nursery with what was described as a renowned collection of exotic plants, in the area around present day Rangatira Street near the old Smale’s quarry.
He also built a brandy still and a wine cellar, which was very important as he also cultivated a vineyard. Fischer’s reputation was such that he was even visited by Dr. Ferdinand von Hochstetter, a highly esteemed Viennese Professor of Mineralogy and Geology, who wrote in 1857 “The settlement is beautifully styled ‘Flora Lea’ [later Greydene] and belongs to a worthy German physician, my friend Dr. C Fisher [Fischer] in Auckland, who has established here extensive nurseries and vineyards, and expects to produce excellent wine within a few years.”
However, by 1864 Fischer was in financial debt and decided to lease his estate of what was by then 40 acres. The advertisement for the lease described cattle, horses, pigs, poultry, an 800-fruit tree orchard, a large vineyard and a nursery. When his property was finally put up for sale in 1869, at the time he and his family were leaving for Sydney, there were 1,000 fruit trees, 2,000 vines and 5,000 conifers, ornamental trees and shrubs. The property also had a large barn and the sale included farm implements. Fischer died in Sydney on 22 June 1893 of a fever.
Another Lake Pupuke resident was Sir Frederick Whitaker. Born in Oxfordshire, England, in 1812, he was knighted in 1884. He served on the Legislative Council from 1853 to 1864, then in the House of Representatives from 1866 to 1867 and 1876 to 1879. He then returned to the Legislative Council from 1879 to 1891. In Parliament he served as Attorney-General on seven occasions, and as Premier from October 1863 to November 1864 and April 1882 to September 1883.
He and his family lived on the western edge of Lake Pupuke from at least the late 1860s, around what is now Taharoto Park. Although not on the same scale as Fischer’s estate, his well-laid out 23 acres included a boat and bathing shed for boating and swimming on thelLake. He imported Jersey cows and his nurseries tended exotic fruits such as the first strawberries to be grown on the North Shore and limes in the early 1880s. Whitaker also imported pine and macrocarpa seeds and served on the local school committee.
In 1888, while in dire financial straits following the failure of the Waikato Land Association, Whitaker put up his Lake Pupuke estate for sale, but his wife and two of his daughters were still living at Lake Pupuke when he died at his Auckland legal office on 4 December 1891.
Of course, on the other side of the lake, amongst others we have William John Hurst’s Hurstmere property, which also had a large orchard, pines, oaks and native trees. Hurst served on the Auckland Provincial Council from 1868 to 1875, was Mayor of Auckland from 1876 to 1877 and was a Member of Parliament from 1879 until his death in 1886.
By David Verran
