Hobsonville Church & Settlers' Cemetery

09/09/2026

🌼 Remembering F***y and Nellie Holland 🌼

There are around 50 children resting in our graveyard - most of them under two years old.

Among them are two little sisters, F***y Marion Holland and Nellie Mabel Holland, whose graves sit near the eastern boundary fence.

Volunteers have recently placed the floral tribute with butterflies beside their headstones 🦋

In Loving Memory of
F***Y MARION HOLLAND
Died 13 July 1897, aged 3 years & 10 months

In Loving Memory of
NELLIE MABEL HOLLAND
Died 23 August 1897, aged 14 months

“Jesus said, suffer the little children to come unto me.”

F***y and Nellie are daughters of Martha Dumper Holland (1866-1921) and Robert Holland (1858-1918), married in 1886. Their known children are:

1. Ruby Elizabeth Holland (1887–1968) - married Frederick William Bennett. Fred and his siblings also all attended Hobsonville School.
Many Bennett family members are buried in the graveyard, connected to local families including Hutchinson, Sinton, Holland, Nicholas, Cottle, Cane, Bridgford and Dunlop.

2. George William Holland (1889–1960) - married Ivy Jane Coleman.
3. Robert ‘Bob’ Arthur Holland (1891–1927) - married Alice Maud Eustace.
4. F***y Marion Holland (1893–1897)
5. Nellie Mabel Holland (1896–1897)
6. Elsie Mary Holland (1898–1937) - married Robert Alexander Albert S***k.

In June 1897, Ruby, George and Bob Holland - all pupils at Hobsonville School - signed the Address of Congratulation to Her Majesty the Queen for her Diamond Jubilee.

Heartbreakingly, in the next two months, both their little sisters F***y and Nellie passed away and were laid to rest here in the graveyard.

Robert Holland later established Holland’s Pottery and Brickworks at Limeburners Bay (1904-1909), operating between Carder’s and Clark’s potteries before the site was taken over by Clark’s in 1909.

The Holland family appear to have moved from Hobsonville soon after, and Martha, Robert and their surviving children are buried at Ōtāhūhū Cemetery.

A tender reminder of the families who shaped early Hobsonville - and the little ones who remain part of our story forever 🩷

01/09/2026

The Traffica team are doing a brilliant job on the shared pathway and parking bays next to the graveyard. Just a heads-up for visitors - there can be road closures or one-lane traffic near the Church while the work continues.

01/09/2026

The Traffica team are doing a brilliant job on the shared pathway and parking bays next to the graveyard. Just a heads-up for visitors - there can be road closures or one- lane traffic near the Church while the work continues.

01/09/2026

It’s thanks to our dedicated local volunteers that our little heritage church and graveyard look so well cared for - just like communities all over the country where volunteers make the real difference 🩷

31/08/2026

Smugglers, Spirits & Surprise Swoops - Upper Waitematā Harbour in the 1860s

In the 1860s, the Upper Waitematā Harbour certainly had its share of smuggling adventures.

With so many inlets and creeks to slip into, the Upper Harbour was a favourite spot for quietly dropping off “liquid supplies” after an overland journey - or for ships to sneak past the Auckland customs point at night and unload their cargo where no one was watching.

The Customs Regulation Act 1858 was repeatedly infringed because there was always a heavy demand for liquor for those who had gone bush, and they weren’t exactly asking questions ... and definitely weren’t helping the police.

In one routine search, 13 brandy casks were discovered at Devonport.

Eyes turned immediately to the Upper Harbour - and they were right.

Sergeant Major Molloy spotted a cart full of empty casks heading back to Riverhead, and the next day he and landing surveyor Mr J.M. Tabuteau made a surprise swoop.

At the same time, Captain Williams and Sergeant Jervis made a successful dash up Lucas Creek.

The haul? 28 cases of Geneva (gin), 4 casks of Rum, and 1 cask of Brandy. The fine? £100 - a serious sting in those days.

The ship behind it all was the St Kilda, which sailed down the East Coast, cruised past Auckland’s wharves, dropped the remaining liquor up Lucas Creek ... and then casually carried on to Rarotonga.

Not everyone was quite so clever.

In 1885, one Upper Harbour moonshiner was caught unloading his wares at Freeman’s Bay. His excuse? He was delivering molasses to the nearby Catholic College. The court did not agree - and the fine was hefty.

Acknowledgement:
“God Willing and Weather Permitting”. The Upper Waitematā Harbour. Malcolm Hahn. Page 23.
Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington.
Papers Past NZ

28/08/2026

Flashback to nine years ago.

A few photos from 2017 of the Church and surrounds, alongside a few taken recently - amazing to see the difference over time.

A huge thank you to everyone who has supported, and continues to support, the Hobsonville Church & Settlers’ Cemetery Preservation Society in caring for and preserving our community’s heritage Church and graveyard.

Your ongoing aroha and commitment mean a great deal🩷

27/08/2026

Waitematā Harbour Crossings - 160 Years of Big Ideas (and Hobsonville right in the mix!)

Discussions about crossing the Waitematā Harbour go back at least to 1860, and Hobsonville has often been right in the middle of the conversation.

1860: North Shore farmers wanted a faster way to get livestock and produce to Auckland markets. They commissioned Ponsonby farmer Fred Bell, who proposed a pontoon bridge across the harbour.

By the 1890s, Aucklanders were imagining all sorts of possibilities: suspension bridges, rail bridges, chain ferries, two lane vehicle bridges with footpaths and promenades, steam floating bridges, and pontoon ferries - early signs of creative thinking about how to cross the Waitematā.

In 1913 a bold plan proposed a lock system between Birkdale and Hobsonville, creating a huge freshwater lake, transforming mudflats into a recreational and residential asset which would benefit communities along 50 miles of shoreline and create an unrivalled sheet of water for sport.

In February 1923, the Auckland Upper Harbour Association proposed an artificial lake at the upper end of Waitematā Harbour. The plan included a highway across the harbour, a permanent water supply for local farms, consistent water levels for shipping, a picturesque lake for recreational purposes, and the possibility of hydroelectric power.

1927: A letter to the Auckland Star claimed Auckland already had “a bridge three parts of the way across the harbour” - the Point Chevalier reef (Meola Reef) - with causeways imagined from the Northcote end to Devonport, Bayswater, and Northcote.

The writer also suggested building a smaller bridge near Hobsonville, benefiting districts as far as Kumeu, and noted that if linked to the future Harbour Bridge by a good road, “the benefits should be apparent to all.”

1929: The Waitematā Chamber of Commerce debated tunnel vs bridge, with experts noting tunnels might be far cheaper.

Also in 1929, Hobsonville residents campaigned for a bridge to Greenhithe. Engineer F.E. Powell even drew up plans: an 18 ft roadway, 6 ft footpath, costing under £30,000.

1932: A well attended public meeting at Beach Haven again supported the scheme to link Birkdale and Hobsonville by constructing a lock and roadway across the Upper Harbour.

1930 & 1946: Two Royal Commissions studied harbour crossing options.

1959 & 1975: After a century of ideas, Auckland finally built the crossings we know today:
• Auckland Harbour Bridge (1959)
• Upper Harbour Bridge (1975)

Vehicular ferries were rendered obsolete by the opening of the Auckland Harbour Bridge and were later beached for burning at Greenhithe or removed for scrap.

26/08/2026

26/08/2026

🦈🐬 More Sharks… School Off Hobsonville 1925

On 28 December 1925, Hobsonville had quite the early morning spectacle. At around six o’clock, Mr B. Bernecker spotted what he believed to be a school of twelve sharks cruising lazily off the Hobsonville wharf. Some, he said, were up to ten feet long, drifting about for a time before slowly heading down the harbour.

But the story took a twist.

A follow up report in the Auckland Star revealed that these “sharks” were not sharks at all, but a lively school of porpoises enjoying the upper harbour. “And although it may seem unusual to see deep water animals so far up the estuary, old Hobsonville residents recalled that it was once quite common to see porpoises running in on the high tide - chasing small fish or simply exploring out of curiosity.
One Hobsonville spectator estimated the visiting group at twenty to thirty porpoises, all disporting themselves happily near the wharf.”

A wonderful reminder that our Upper Waitematā Harbour has always been full of life - dolphins, porpoises, and sharks - all cruising past Hobsonville just as they did a century and more ago. 🌊🐬🦈

Baron Bernecker’s (1882-1936) parents Elizabeth (1840-1924) and A.C.F. Bernecker (1832-1907), and his sister Ida Louisa Hedwig Havard (1876-1921) are buried in the graveyard.

26/08/2026

Huge thanks to Victor, Dom, Ma, and Glenn from Traffica Roading Services for their excellent work on the shared pathway and parking bays along Clark Road.

The team has re-concreted the Clark Road graveyard entrance, and we’re grateful that they also reinstated the red concrete driveway surrounding the shared pathway - such attention to detail. It was a tricky job given the steep gradient created when Clark Road was built so high, but the chaps have done an excellent job.

With a burial taking place on Friday afternoon, 28 August, our gravedigger will now have full access to the graveyard.

The Traffica team have also generously offered traffic‑management assistance for attendees on Friday. This is truly above and beyond - thank you so much, team 🩷