Clevedon Presbyterian Church -
- The Management Committee minutes dating from 1864 to 1910 were destroyed in a fire when held in a local store, along with books belonging to other organisations. Except for the Session Book of the United Parish, the early records of this Parish are non-existant.
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Drury Presbyterian Church (Previously known as Opaheke) -
- The
Church building which had been opened in June 1858 and had provided a haven
of refuge to many settlers at the outbreak of the NZ Wars in 1863 accidentally
burnt down on the 15th February 1887, together with the adjoining Godkin's Farmer's Hotel. The Church was not insured. Accounts differ as to the cause :
"Rubbish fires were burning in the vicinity, and sparks from these,
or, as some thought, a fugitive rabbit running under the Church for shelter
and carrying fire in its fur, was believed to be the cause. The building
and most of its contents was a total loss." Some blamed a tramp who had been sleeping in the Church. Whatever the reason, the Waikato Times of the 17th February 1887 was rather premature in reporting that "good work by volunteers saves the Presbyterian Church from the flames". The first Session book to 1887 is missing; no record of early Baptisms.
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Mauku Presbyterian Church -
- Marriage register prior to Sep 1933
missing, Session book prior to 1923 missing (?) (all noted as missing in
1954).
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Papakura Presbyterian Church -
- While Marriage Registers are held for the Parish from 1856, those registers from March 1878 through to July 1912 are missing; Board of Management minutes prior
to Dec 1925 missing; no Communion rolls prior to 1917.
- It has been reported that at some point after 1905 the Papakura manse burnt down. We have been unable to confirm exactly when this occured and what records may have been lost although it is believed that diaries of the Rev Thomas Norrie which were stored in the manse may have been destroyed.
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Pukekohe East Presbyterian Church -
- At the outbreak of the Maori
wars a 7 foot high stockade of logs and thick slabs were built around
the Church for defence, including the digging of a deep trench to resist
attack. Remaining residents sheltered here for safety during an attack
on the 14th September 1863. Shots were fired and a neighbouring house belonging
to a Church Elder, Mr J Comrie, was burnt, however the the Church building
survived despite being riddled with bullet holes.
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St James's Presbyterian Church, Pukekohe -
- A fire in 1897 destroyed part of the second Church building which had been built in 1875. The other part of the Church was sold to a Mr John Bilkey, "on whose farm it did service as an onion shed for many years". It was still to be seen as late as 1968. It is unknown if any records were lost, certainly no mention of this is made in parish histories.
- A new Church was built on a different site, being opened on the 2nd January 1898. Fuller details of the financing of the Church might have been available if the Moderator had not had to report to the Annual Meeting of the congregation on the 29th June 1898, "that owing to the burning of the late Treasurer's house, the books had been lost, there consequently being no Treasurer's report to lay before the meeting." Therefore all or at least some of the Treasurer's books and correspondence up to this date have been lost.
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St John's Presbyterian Church, Papatoetoe -
- It is known that
some records for the wider South Auckland Parish area (Including Papatoetoe,
Onehunga and Howick) were destroyed when the the house occupied by the
Rev John Macky in Ferguson Road Otara burnt down, possibly in 1872. A new
manse was built in 1876.
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Queen's Redoubt Presbyterian Church -
- A Church was built here
in 1873 but burnt down while being used as a School room in 1874 (presumably
during the week). There is no mention of lost records. It was rebuilt
in 1874 but the services here were "interupted" in 1877; presumably that
means stopped as no further record of this Church has been found. It may
have been part of the Pukekohe Parish.
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Tuakau Presbyterian Church -
- In 1954 the Parish advised that
some early records were understood to have been destroyed in a fire sometime
prior to about 1915.
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Waiuku Presbyterian Church -
- No Communion rolls prior to 1917;
Board of Manager's minutes 1925 to 1931 and possibly prior to 1881 missing.
(noted missing in 1954).
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