Postcards from Miramar.: Wonderland.

Miramar Peninsula, Wellington, New Zealand.

I began collecting New Zealand postcards because of my interest in early New Zealand photography, and decided to collect Wellington postcards. I soon found that this was going to a huge undertaking, so now I only collect cards from east of the Mt Victoria tunnel, ie: Hataitai, Kilbirnie, Rongotai, with my main interest being the Miramar Peninsula. This has the advantage of keeping the collection small, just a couple of albums, and to be selective on what cards to add.
Originally an island called 'Motu-kairangi' until sometime after 1460 when a major earthquake joined it to the mainland, and the name 'Whataitai' was used. In 1840 surveyors divided the peninsula into 18 lots, 5 of which were purchased by James Watt, who never lived there, and the name 'Watts Peninsula' was adopted. James Coutts Crawford purchased 500 acres, and was probably the first white settler on the peninsula. The name 'Miramar' was first used by Crawford's brother-in-law, Major McBarnett, to a house build by him in 1868 on a hill at the south-east of Evans Bay and later occupied by Crawford. When the peninsula became a borough, it was given the name of the house.
There are a number of books on the history of Miramar if you want to know more. I recommend "Miramar Peninsula" (1975) by John Struthers, where most of the above information came from. Other reading includes; "Early days on the Miramar Peninsula" (1981) & "On the edge of our city" (1984) by J.M & B.M.Kenneally, "Waka, Ferry, Tram-Seatoun and the bays before 1958" (2001) by Bob O'Brien, "TV, 4WD, WWW, Seatoun and the bays after 1958" (2003) by Bob O'Brien, "Early events from Seatoun to Sinclair Heads" (2009) by H.Gary Tonks.

I am a member of the New Zealand Postcard Society.
Membership enquiries to jenny-long@clear.net.nz

Wonderland, Miramar's "Mecca of Merry Souls", was opened in 1907 by Mr Chase Morris, who had purchased many of the amusements from the Christchurch Exhibition (1906-7). Wonderland was located at the north end of Miramar on a block bordering Darlington Road and Camperdown Road. It went into liquidation in 1912. In December 1912 the Evening Post reported that "various accessories of Wonderland have been disposed of....and it is understood that they will be re-erected at the Auckland Exhibition." (1913-14).