The Broderick family of Glenside

By Diana Flatman nee Broderick, 2020

Introduction

This is the story of Creasey and Sarah Ann Broderick, who migrated to New Zealand in 1843 and lived at the Halfway/Glenside from 1845. Their Broderick descendants farmed in Glenside until 1968.

Waterloo Road in Johnsonville was renamed Broderick Road in memory of Creasey and Sarah Ann Broderick at a Special Meeting of the Wellington City Council on 15 July, 1953. The Broderick Inn, which opened on 8 December 1973, was named for its location on Broderick Road.

To read the about the resilient Broderick family, scroll down to the article below the photographs. This article is also available, with additional photographs and farm documents  in PDF format here. 

Sarah Ann Broderick nee Walters (1806-1888)
Photo held: Diana Flatman Collection

Creasey Broderick (c1810-1884)
Photo held: Diana Flatman nee Broderick collection

Ceres Selina Drake nee Walters (1813-1898)
Photo sourced from Carman, A. H. (1982, plate 36b). Tawa Flat and the Old Porirua Road.

Ceres, also known as Selina, is a sister to Sarah Ann Broderick. The Drake's emmigrated from England in 1839, arriving in New Zealand on the Aurora in 1840. The Broderick's followed them out to New Zealand in 1843. In 1845 the Drake's moved to Section 19 on the Porirua Road. A sub-division of their section was sold to the Brodericks, who also moved there.

Thomas John Drake, husband of Ceres Selina Drake.
Photo sourced from Carman, A.H. (1982, plate 36a). Tawa Flat and the Old Porirua Road.

Outline of Brodericks clay house, on Section 19, in 1977. This site was bulldozed for Wingfield Place and associated streets. The sub-division was initially called Broderick Park.
Photo held: Historic Places Trust. 

Prospect Cottage, Porirua Road. Sketch. Undated. This is believed to be Creasey and Sarah Ann Broderick's home, following their occupation of the clay house. 
Sketch held: Diana Flatman nee Broderick collection.

In 1876, Creasey and Sarah Ann Broderick sold Prospect Cottage and bought a farm at Takarau, Ohariu Valley, where they lived until the end of their lives. Pictured above is the entrance to the farm, as it was in January 1987. It is now 353 Takarau Gorge Road.  
Photo held: Diana Flatman nee Broderick collection.

Image on silk of the Broderick's first Woodlands house. Inscription reads:
The Woodlands. Porirua Road. Province of Wellington. New Zealand. 
Held: Diana Flatman nee Broderick collection.

In 1863, Creasey and his sons William (1833-1922) and Thomas (1835-1924) bought Section 27 on the Porirua Road, comprising 107 acres of land. Here they built a cottage and named the farm Woodlands, a name which is used to this day.

First Woodlands house. Undated.  
Photo held: Onslow Historic Society 

Thomas Broderick (1835-1924) and his wife Clara, lived at Woodlands, and eventually Thomas became sole owner of Woodlands in 1879. In 1890, he bought 94 acres of Section 26 and 28 across the Porirua road from Section 27.
Photo held: Diana Flatman, nee Broderick collection.

Clara Broderick nee Hobbs (1846-1905)
Photo held: Diana Flatman nee Broderick collection.

William Henry Broderick (1873-1964) and farm dog. Undated.
Photo held: Diana Flatman nee Broderick collection. 

 Thomas and Clara Broderick's son's eventually took on the farming of Woodlands. At first William farmed Woodlands with his brother Alfred Thomas Broderick (1869-1950). In 1903, William bought himself a new farm, Section 31 along the Porirua Road. His brother stayed on at Woodlands.  

Alfred Thomas Broderick (1869-1950) of Woodlands,
grandson of Creasey and Sarah Ann Broderick.
Photo held: Diana Flatman nee Broderick collection.

Elizabeth Thomas Broderick nee Kemp (1874-1952) wife of Alfred Thomas Broderick (1869-1950). Photographed with farm dog Nat at the first Woodlands home. Undated. 
Photo held: Diana Flatman nee Broderick collection.

Three generations of Broderick family at the first Woodlands. From left: Unknown, Chrissie Jepson nee Garratt, Thomas Broderick (1835-1924) Alfred Roland Broderick (1915-1963)  and Alfred Thomas Broderick (1869-1950). Undated. 
Photo held: Diana Flatman nee Broderick Collection.

Photo held: Onslow Historic Society. 

 Photograph of Woodlands farm and homestead, impacted by the development of the railway deviation from Tawa  through Glenside. Top left, a steam train on the original Wellington - Manawatu railway line. This railway intersected the Woodlands farm and was replaced by the Tawa deviation. In the 1950's, the old Wellington - Manawatu line would be developed into the motorway.

In the centre of the photograph is the tram-line, for carting rock from the Glenside tunnel construction. The tram-line would later be developed into Rowell's Road.

The earthworks at the bottom of the photograph is the new railway deviation, alongside the Kenepuru (Porirua) stream.

The cutting at the right of the photograph is the Porirua Road, which, in time, would be renamed Middleton Road. 

Detail of Woodlands, the Broderick homestead. The rail line across the front of the house is a service line. It would be replaced by a double track, resulting in the demolition of the house.

Excavating the site for the second Woodlands home. 
Photo held: Diana Flatman nee Broderick collection.

The second Woodlands home, which was built on the hills opposite, overlooking, the first Woodlands site. Alfred and Elizabeth Broderick relocated to farm from here. Undated. 
Photo held: Diana Flatman nee Broderick collection.

The second Woodlands, Glenside. Undated.
Photo held: Diana Flatman nee Broderick collection.

Alfred and Elizabeth Broderick had one child, Alfred Roland Broderick (Roland). He married Louisa Mary Edgar in Auckland, 1942.
Photo held: Diana Flatman nee Broderick collection.

Roland and Louisa Broderck bought this home on Stebbings Road (now Glenside Road) from Walter van Weede in 1946. Roly's parents remained on the Woodlands farm until 1950. Undated. Photo held: Diana Flatman nee Broderick collection.

Louisa Mary Broderick, nee Edgar. Photographed on the first anniversary of her marriage, 27 November 1943 at Stebbings Road, Glenside. Photographer: Frank Fitt.
Photo held: Diana Flatman, nee Broderick collection.

Diana Christine Broderick, born 1946, only child of Roland and Louisa Broderick,  photographed at the second Woodlands, Glenside. Undated. 
Photo held: Diana Flatman nee Broderick collection.

Diana Christine Broderick, born 1946. photographed at the second Woodlands, Glenside. Undated. Photo held: Diana Flatman nee Broderick collection.

Marriage of Diana Broderick to Nigel Flatman, 6 April 1968.
Photo held: Diana Flatman nee Broderick collection.

Louisa Mary Broderick at the opening of the Broderick Inn, Johnsonville, 8 December 1973.
Photo held: Diana Flatman nee Broderick collection.

Broderick Park sub-division, 17 November 1978. Street later named Wingfield Place.
Photo: Independent Herald. Held Onslow Historic Society collection.

Sign in background reads:
Broderick Park
Priced from $15150. Quality Fully Serviced homesites
Generous discounts for cash. No building fees
Easy terms over 5 or 7 years
For further details call our local representatives
Challenge Properties 

Background

My great great grandfather Creasey Broderick was christened in Boston, Lincolnshire, England on 26 July 1810. He was one of six (perhaps more) children born to John and Mary Ann Broderick (nee Bagshaw). John was a clock and watchmaker in Boston, Lincolnshire, following in the profession of his parents Jessie Creassy Broderick and Elizabeth (nee King).

My great great grandfather Creasey became a tailor by profession and worked in London. He married Sarah Ann Walters in St Mary’s Church, Lambeth, Surrey on 24 June, 1827. They set up home in London, mainly in the East End. Five of their seven children were born in London and christened in St Leonard’s Church, Shoreditch. London. The sixth child, Selina, was born in New Zealand and their seventh child was born in Australia. Their children are as follows:
Emma 1831-1909
William 1833-1922
Thomas 1835-1924
Elizabeth 1838-1879
Louisa 1840-1891
Selina (1846-1931) was born in Wellington, New Zealand
Walter Sydney (1849-1927) was born in Sydney, Australia.

1839 Thomas Drake and Ceres Selina (nee Walters) move to New Zealand 

Sarah Ann had a sister, Ceres Selina Walters. Ceres Selina married Thomas Drake in Kent, in 1836. On 18 September 1839, Ceres Selina and Thomas Drake, both aged 25, and their baby daughter Ceres, departed London on the barque Aurora to begin a new life in New Zealand. The Aurora arrived at Petone on 22 January 1840. It was the New Zealand Company’s first settler ship to found the settlement that would become Wellington.

A ballot was held for one acre lots of town land. The Drakes were allocated No 437, an acre of town land on what was to become The Terrace, Wellington. Their prefabricated house, that they had brought out on the Aurora, was erected there. Thomas went into partnership to establish Wellington’s first brewery.

A year later, one hundred acre lots of rural land were allocated along the track between Wellington and Porirua, which became known as the Porirua Road. Section 19 was allocated to the Drake’s.

1843 Creasey Broderick and Sarah Ann (nee Walters) move to New Zealand

In 1843 Creasey, Sarah Ann and their five children followed the Drake’s out to New Zealand, departing Portsmouth on the 1st March 1843 on the barque Mary, arriving at Wellington on the 9th August 1843. Creasey was the only one of John and Mary Ann Broderick’s family to come to New Zealand.

Creasey started working with Thomas Drake at Northwoods Brewery and Flour Mill on Wellington Terrace. His signature appears on bank records dated 18 February, 1845.

In 1845, Thomas and Selina Drake sold their Terrace town acre to The Wellington Club, who continue to occupy the site today. The Drake’s moved north to their country section, Section 19 on the road to Porirua taking their prefabricated house with them. They sold 26 acres of this section to Creasey Broderick.

Section 19 includes some of the farmland on which the Wingfield Place sub-division was later formed. The Drakes house was located in the clearing on the reserve land on the south side of Wingfield Place and Middleton Road.

The Clay House

In 1846, Creasey and Sarah Ann Broderick settled on Porirua Road, building a clay house on part of Section 19. The remains of the cottage survived in part until 1977 when the land was sub-divided by developer John Walker. In an article in the Onslow Historian (1977, p. 29) it was recorded by Johnsonville historian Robert J Meyer, who measured the exterior walls, that the house was 25 feet by 14 feet 6 inches with a front and back entrance.

I find it so frustrating that I lived just down the road in Glenside for eighteen years and didn’t know of its existence.

Creasey could not begin to develop the land until it had been surveyed and it was not until 1860 that he was officially given title to the Land Grant, Number 1755.

Move to Sydney and then to San Francisco

At some time after Selina’s birth in New Zealand in 1846, Creasey and family moved to Sydney, where Creasey bought and operated a tannery in Balmain. The youngest child, Walter Sydney Broderick, was born there in 1849.

The 3 March 1931 edition of the Evening Post, published a report at the time of the death of Selina Broderick describing the decision to move to Australia:

“Like his brother-in-law [Thomas Drake] Mr Creasy [sic] Broderick was a man of many interests. A doctor with whom he became friendly on board ship coming out, went to Sydney, as nobody seemed to want a doctor in those early days in Wellington. He advised Mr Broderick to follow suit, and wrote that there was a tannery for sale there. The plucky pioneer went accordingly, bought the tannery, and conducted it successfully.”

“During that period the Californian gold-digging rush broke out, and Mr Broderick fitted out a ship with all sorts of goods that he thought would be required at the new Eldorado. When he got to San Francisco he found scores of vessels before him, with the cargoes discharged and deserted by their crews who had flocked to the diggings. In consequence, Mr Broderick lost heavily, and after disposing of the tannery in Sydney, he returned to his land at Ohariu Valley.”

I have yet to find evidence of the Californian episode in Creasey and Sarah Ann’s life.

Prospect Cottage

Creasey returned to his 26 acres in Porirua Road in 1856. It’s possible that a wooden cottage was built to replace the earth one either before or at this time. I have a photograph, undated but titled Prospect Cottage, Porirua Road. There is a Wellington Independent newspaper record dated 1861 that Creasey’s daughter Elizabeth was married in Prospect Cottage, the home of her father, in 1861.

Muirhead – Broderick. On the 17th Sept., at the residence of the bride's father, Prospect Cottage, Porirua Road, by the Rev. W. Kirton, Mr. Kenneth Stewart Muirhead, to Miss Elizabeth, second daughter of Mr. Creasy Broderick.
Wellington Independent, Volume XVI, Issue 1674, 8 October 1861

On the outbreak of the Taranaki Land War in 1860, Creasey joined the Wellington Militia and his son William joined the Porirua Rifle Volunteers.

1863 purchase of Woodlands

In 1863, Creasey, and his sons William and Thomas, bought Section 27, 104 acres of land further north along the Porirua Road. A wooden cottage was built on the eastern side of Porirua Road and stream and the property was named Woodlands. The water supply for the house came from a spring on the hillside, which can still be seen today on the east side of Rowell’s Road.

Thomas, (my great grandfather) married Clara Hobbs on 4 July 1863. They had five children:
Elizabeth Anna 1864-1938
Catherine Sarah Grace 1866 - 1943
Alfred Thomas (my grandfather) 1869 - 1950
Twins William Henry (1873 - 1964) and Christina (1873 - 1890)

Thomas and Clara lived at Woodlands on Porirua Road and eventually Thomas became sole owner of Woodlands in 1879. In 1890, he bought 94 acres of Section 26 and 28 across the Porirua road from Section 27.

1876 Sale of Prospect Cottage, move to Ohariu Valley

In 1876 Creasey sold Prospect Cottage and his 26 acres and bought 234 acres in Ohariu Valley, in Gorge Road. He worked this land with his son Walter Sydney Broderick until Creasey’s death on 3 July, 1884. He is buried in Holy Trinity Cemetery in Ohariu Valley, as are his wife, Sarah Ann and children Louisa, Selina and Walter. These three children never married. Of Creasey’s other children:

Emma married William Jones and died in Otaki in 1909.

Elizabeth married a sea captain named Kenneth Stewart Muirhead on 17 September, 1861 at Prospect Cottage, Creasey’s residence on Porirua Road. Kenneth is reported to have died in China, but I have been unable to prove this. Elizabeth died in 1879 at Woodlands. She is buried in St John’s Churchyard in Johnsonville.

William married Mary Jane Watson, an Irish girl from County Armagh. They settled in Taranaki and are buried in Hawera Cemetery.

Farming Woodlands

Alfred Thomas Broderick, and his brother William Henry Broderick, worked Woodlands, the Broderick farm, together until there was a family split.

William bought Section 31, further north along the Porirua Road in 1903 and lived there before moving to Palmerston North. He married Annie Hunt and died in 1964 and is buried in Terrace End Cemetery in Palmerston North.

Alfred continued on the farm and married Elizabeth Thomas Kemp in 1912 and they had one son, my father Alfred Roland Broderick.

Alfred and Elizabeth and family lived in the Woodlands home along with Alf’s father, Thomas Broderick.

Thomas Broderick died in 1924 and is buried in St Johns Churchyard in Johnsonville, His wife Clara had died in 1905 and is buried there also, as are their children, Elizabeth Anna, Christina and Catherine Sarah Grace. Elizabeth and Christina never married. Catherine married Alfred Garratt and lived in Johnsonville.

Railway land acquisitions

1881-1886, the Wellington & Manawatu Railway Company

Between 1881-1886, the Wellington & Manawatu Railway Company constructed a railway line from Thorndon, Wellington to Longburn, at Palmerston North. Our farm was dissected by the railway. As a result, access to the farm on the eastern side of the railway was through gates and across the new railway line.

1927-1935 Tawa Flat Deviation construction

Between 1927-1935 the railway line deviation was constructed, deviating from Tawa Flat through Glenside to Kaiwharawhara. The deviation ran alongside the Porirua stream, through our house and into the hills though two tunnels.

The original Woodlands cottage was pulled down for the construction of the railway deviation. A replacement cottage was constructed on the west side of the Porirua road and stream. I believe this home was built as compensation for the loss of the first, but I can’t prove it.

The family retained the name Woodlands for their new home, therefore we refer to “The first Woodlands” and “The second Woodlands”.

Access to the farm on the eastern side of Porirua road was now via Rowell’s Road.

Alfred Roland Broderick (1915-1963) known as Roland

My father Roland (Creasey and Sarah Ann Broderick’s great grandson) was born in 1915 and went to Tawa Flat School, Johnsonville School and Wellesley College. He served in the 2NZEF in the Pacific during WW2. He married my mother, Louisa Mary Edgar in Auckland in 1942. Mum lived with Dad’s parents at the second Woodlands home until Dad came home from War. She helped out on the farm and became expert at handling fleeces.

In November 1946, my parents bought the house on Sections 18 and 20 Stebbings Road, Glenside from Walter van Weede for £1450 NZ pds. I was born in December, 1946. We did go back to live at Woodlands for a short time when I was about three or four years old, probably to look after one or other of my aged grandparents.

Note: Section 18 and 20 Stebbings Road were later re-numbered 26 and 28 Glenside Road.

Northern motorway land acquisition

In the early 1950’s, the farm was again divided, this time by the building of the Northern Motorway. The family received compensation of £2123 for acquisition of eight and a half acres, severance of 142 acres and loss of water.

The land on the eastern side of the motorway had to be sold as the only way to get stock to and from there, was to drive them down the Ngauranga Gorge, along the Hutt Road and up through the Horokiwi.

My grandfather, Alfred Thomas Broderick, continued farming the 94 acres on Porirua Road and the remaining ten acres on Rowell’s Road until his death in 1950. He is buried in Porirua Cemetery with his wife Elizabeth, who died in 1952. The property then passed to his only child, my father, Alfred Roland Broderick.

Life in Glenside from 1946

Dad (Roland) was a very community minded person and became chairman of the Glenside Progressive Association. He, along with other like-minded men in the settlement, spent many hours keeping the water supply in working order. I remember walking through the Glenside sale-yards, under the motorway through the water tunnel and up to the water supply at the waterfall with him many times at all hours of the day and night.

Dad also organised bonfires on 5th November and kids Christmas parties, complete with Santa, on the flat piece of land behind the Halfway House. Santa arrived by sled pulled by Savages draught horse, Flounder. We even had the Glenside Library, open on Saturday mornings, in a room behind Mr and Mrs Allen’s garage.

Unfortunately I was too young to know the property as a working Broderick farm, as I was only four when my grandfather Alfred Thomas Broderick died, although I remember swinging on supple jack in the native bush, looking at the glow worms and being warned not to go near the sheep dip trough.

I also remember the two sheds about 20 metres from the back door of the second Woodlands house. The furthest one was the dairy and it was always cool in there and of course the lovely sheepy smell in the woolshed, not forgetting the sheep shears that always hung on the inside of the toilet door.

Dad was not interested in farming the land himself, He was a clerk in the Ministry of Works in Sydney Street West. He leased the land to Wright Stephenson’s and to a Mr Steele. The Woodlands home was leased to a family named Marshall. Dad did all the farm maintenance himself, apart from fencing for which he employed the help of Phil Stoebener.

I spent many hours with Dad spraying gorse and grubbing tauhinu (aka tawhini) using my horse to carry water up to the back of the property so we could mix up the spray. This continued until my father’s very sudden death in 1963. Following his death, the property was managed by the Public Trust, until I was old enough to be able to sell it. It was impossible for me to manage as Mum and I had moved to Auckland in 1965. I sold to Bob Warren in 1968.

My mother Louisa died in Auckland in 2009 and is buried alongside my father Roland, in Porirua Cemetery.

I have many happy memories of my childhood in Glenside.

 Diana Flatman nee Broderick, 2020