Charteris Bay #1: Bradley's Jetty aka the Potato Jetty
The last of the ‘southern’ bays in Whakaraupō, Charteris Bay is nestled between Black Point to the east and the long, sheltering peninsula of Moepuku to the north-west with the bulk of Mt Bradley rising directly behind. Early on its extensive oyster beds and fish spawning grounds must have made it especially attractive as a source of kai moana for Māori.
Māori named the area Te Wharau – the hut or shelter. Waitaha, Ngati Mamoe and Ngai Tahu must have established kainga or villages in the bay over the centuries. European settlers renamed it Charteris Bay after the Honourable Francis Richard Charteris MP, member of the management committee of the Canterbury Association.
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| Looking north-west over Te Wharau/Charteris Bay, lower centre, to Governors Bay, top left, with Otamahua/Quail Island centre right, 1973. V.C. Browne & Son |
Writing about the jetties of Charteris Bay has required more tea and plums than usual. (I write in the early morning otherwise it might be whisky!). I’ve struggled to gather sufficient concrete detail and then to decide how to present the partial material I do have. Unlike some of the other bays in Whakaraupō there are few references in contemporary newspapers or Harbour Board archives to Charteris Bay jetties, perhaps because most of them were privately rather than publically constructed. What really surprised me was just how many jetty-like structures (as opposed to slipways) existed – and still exist - along the strung-out length of Charteris Bay. I’ve tried to document them on a map of (part of) Charteris Bay. I would welcome further ideas, corrections, old images...
So, starting with some context for the jetty at the bottom of the map - Bradley’s jetty (or the Potato Jetty as it was sometimes known, probably because early potatoes were grown in Charteris Bay and shipped to Lyttelton).
In November 1851 Dr Thomas Richard Moore arrived on the Sir George Pollock with his wife Ann and six children. Moore had already purchased 50 acres in Charteris Bay before leaving England. With him came four cows which became the basis for a renowned dairy herd.[1] Manson’s stone cottage was converted into a dairy. In 1853 Dr Moore built a wooden cottage – the replica of which is now home to the Orton Bradley café. As well as adding to his land in Charteris Bay Moore also leased Quail Island. He then sold Barton Farm to the Reverend Robert Reginald Bradley in 1858.
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| The house built for Dr Moore and family, Charteris Bay, 1898. May Stoddart album, Diamond Harbour Historical Association
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The Moore and Bradley families would have been almost entirely reliant on sea transport. There was no formed road connecting the southern bays with the rest of the harbour until 1875 and then its condition was such that travel by sea was still the easier option. However there is no evidence that Moore built a jetty. Maybe boats were simply run up on the mudflats to be (un)loaded and refloated at high tide. Since he leased Quail Island after the death of the Ward brothers, he must have travelled across to the island quite frequently, as well as to Lyttelton to sell produce.
The Bradley family, about whom much has been written in connection with the Orton Bradley Farm Park, did construct a jetty and maybe more than one. Their farm produced butter, cheese and meat, rope from a flax mill operated by Adam Chalmers and in-demand stone from a quarry on the property. Most of this produce had to be transported to Lyttelton to support a family of nine children.
In his diary, which spans the years 1879-80, the 22–year old Orton Bradley notes the following.
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The Bradley stables with the Samuel Manson-built stone cottage visible centre-right. Stoddart Album, 1898, Canterbury Museum
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| Bradley homestead, Charteris Bay, built in 1901 on rising land 800 metres from the beach, by Hollis and Brown of Lyttelton. Constructed of kauri lined with macrocarpa. Stoddart Album, Canterbury Museum |
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| Orton Bradley in front of the farm stables with one of his many, much-loved horses, 1898. May Stoddart album, Canterbury Museum |
In his diary, which spans the years 1879-80, the 22–year old Orton Bradley notes the following.
September 29 1879: Down with Bob Hunter and Gideon helping to put jetty up I was helping to put the outer trestle up, when the bottom slipped out & it nearly fell on us we were working up to our knees in water [2]
In early January the following year, steam launch proprietor Agar transported 24 bales of wool from the Bradley farm to Lyttelton. A couple of months later 35 Bradley sheep and six pigs were picked up by the steam launch. Orton Bradley’s diary entry for 16 March 1880 notes the following...
Helped Hunters to take the old shears [sic] down that have stood at the jetty so long They were quite rotten at the top but the bottoms were as sound as ever we took some of it to shellbay for props to the jetty there but the tide never went low enough for us to get to work [3]
The last excerpt suggests two jetties. The reference to ‘shellbay’ or Shelly Bay locates this jetty in what is now Traffic Cops' Bay where the earthquake-damaged, off-limits jetty still stands. Knowing Orton Bradley's interest in technology it is not surprising that early images of Bradley's jetty feature an interestingly designed derrick (see photos below)
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| Jesse Hollobon, Early Morning, Charteris Bay, Lyttelton Harbour, no date (private collection). The Bradley (or Potato) Jetty at the far end of Traffic Cops' (Shelly) Bay |
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| Bradley jetty, Charteris Bay, probably 1930s judging from the fashions? W. A. Taylor collection, Canterbury Museum
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In 1908 a young Oliver Hunter wrote in his journal.
Went along to Bradleys Gully with the horse & sledge & after sorting & ??? up 14 cases of pears took them to Bradleys wharf. Mary helped me and we had dinner at W Hays then came home with sledge & father went back to Bradleys wharf & helped me to bring fruit to bay in boat. Arthur & I then took it to Port for shipment to Wellington by the Maori. Got back about 7o’c with light S.W. wind.[4]
The following month the Hunters were still picking and transporting fruit to market.
Went along to Bradleys Gully & picked & sorted fruit till 12 o’clock. Father sledged it to wharf. Came home & changed clothes then went to Bradley wharf & met J. Sinclairs oil launch & went to Port with fruit (28 cases to Wellington). After doing various business came home via steamer to Dia Hr.[5]
Meanwhile, further around Charteris Bay, in Paradise Bay, other jetty activity was happening. Details in the next post...
[1] Moore’s cattle included Brother Phil, Cranberry, His Honor, General Wolfe (bulls), Flash, Duchess, Creamy, Dunny (cows). Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, 22 April, 1890
[2] R. O. Bradley, A Sort of Diary, Friends of Diamond Harbour Library, 2009, 32
[3] Ibid, 66
[4] Oliver Hunter, Diary 1907-1909, entry for Tuesday 18th February, Hunter Archive
[5] Ibid, Saturday 14 March 1880
For further information about Orton Bradley Park and the Bradley family, see Karen Gregory-Hunt, Orton Bradley Park, Charteris Bay - A History, Christchurch, Lands and Survey, 1986.
For further information about Orton Bradley Park and the Bradley family, see Karen Gregory-Hunt, Orton Bradley Park, Charteris Bay - A History, Christchurch, Lands and Survey, 1986.
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