On 9 December 1905 the Otago Motor Association conducted an outing to Henley. Nine cars and ten motorcycles took part and before returning home the participants posed for a group photograph in front of the White House Hotel.
The nine cars were (left to right): an Oldsmobile (owned by Peter Maclaurin), a Wolseley (James Gray), a Darracq (Frank Drayton Bamfield), an Oldsmobile (James Mills, President of the Otago Motor Association), a Decauville (Harrison-Jones), a Darracq (W.H. Grey), a De Dion Bouton (W.G.T. Goodman), a Rover (Dr Fulton) and an Oldsmobile (John Gray).
Like the Otago Motor Association itself, which had been formed in late June, many of the cars were fairly new. In September James Mills had replaced his previous Oldsmobile with this newer, more powerful one. Mr Harrison-Jones was not long back from the Old Country where he had acquired his Decauville.
Frank Drayton Bamfield’s Darracq had arrived in mid-November, personally delivered by Percy Skeates of Auckland agents Bockaert and Skeates. Mr Bamfield, his wife and two other female passengers had accompanied Skeates on the three-day, Christchurch to Dunedin leg of the delivery. On the second day, while his passengers crossed the Waitaki River via a footbridge, the driver had forded the river alone; and been forced to get out and push when the car stopped mid-stream. The third day produced a heart-stopping moment when the driver swerved to avoid some spooked horses and put the car into a ditch.
Dr Fulton and John Gray had only just purchased their cars too. Dr Fulton bought his Rover from Cooke Howlison & Co., while John Gray’s machine was supplied by local Oldsmobile agents Hayward and Garratt.
This snapshot gives great insight into the world of Dunedin’s first petrol heads; making it a very cool and collected piece of early motoring memorabilia.
IMAGE
Early motoring enthusiasts at Henley
Collection of Toitū Otago Settlers Museum
Permission of Toitü Otago Settlers Museum must be obtained before any re-use of this image.
