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Lawn family of Anderson St, Blacks Point - on section 43 or 46.
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Location (city or town)Blacks PointEventLawn family home
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CommentsJo-Anne Sunbeam Are there any maps of the township of Blacks Point with sections and names available (my grandfather was born there in 1892). Would be interested to see where in Blacks Point he was born?
Claire Ward Get in touch with Pete Lawn at Blacks Point museum, Jo-Anne. grin emoticon
Jo-Anne Sunbeam I have been in touch with him before but he got my query mucked up and i have never heard from him since even after emailing back ....
Ina Lineham What was your Grandfathers name? I could check out the old newspapers for you or you could have a look. Sometimes you find clues to that sort of information.
Jo-Anne Sunbeam My grandfather's name was Alfred Kennedy Sloan(e). His father William James Sloan had a carpentry shop on old soldiers rd. Alfred was born in 1892 in Blacks Point. Alfred's grandfather William Haydon Lawley Leech was a photographer in Reefton from 1872 onwards, off and on. I have looked at Paperspast. But i was wondering first what photos the Museum had by WHL Leech (which was the query I sent) and now was wondering where in Blacks Point the Sloans actually lived. The Sloans were from the Lyell. Cheers Ina for your help
Like · Reply · 1 · 22 March at 14:16 · Edited
Ina Lineham
Ina Lineham I've had a bit of a search... Did not find anything much. You may have already seen this..
Ina Lineham's photo.
Like · Reply · 22 March at 15:26
Jo-Anne Sunbeam
Jo-Anne Sunbeam Yep, thanks Ina. I have seen that. William Haydon Lawley Leech appears in West Coast papers a lot. He was a photographer in Nelson in 1868, then to Reefton in 1872. He was bankrupt a couple of times but was a noted Alpine photographer and won the silver medals for his photos of the West Coast in 1875. He was also an accomplished actor and singer and starred in a lot of musicals in Reefton. He came from a very well to do family in Sussex, Hampshire and Surrey. He was educated at Midhurst Grammar in Sussex. He fought in the Maori Wars in 1864. His cousin Annie was married to Colonel Charles Cecil Rookes who was a friend of Governor Grey. He comes from a long line of titled people and soldiers and surgeons. I was hoping to find some of his Alpine photos etc ....cheers
Like · Reply · 1 · 22 March at 15:42
Claire Ward
Claire Ward Jo-Anne, I suspect your Great Grandfather, Williams alpine photos will be at one, or any, of the NZ museums or libraries. Try looking up his name in Te Papa, Canterbury Museum, Alexander Turnbull Library et al. The likelihood of them being online for free will probably be next to nil, but you can try. If they're not online, the institution/s that have them usually have a description of each photo & how you can view them. To get a copy of each photo can be anything up to $30.00 each, or you can go in & view them - but you'll have to make an appointment at least 2 weeks ahead, as they have to delve in the bowels of the building, behind the mammoth skeleton, Edwardian furniture, hoard of Roman coins, Rewi Alley Chinese artifacts, taxidermied Huskies from the Scott expedition to Antarctica, and under the collection of Victorian snuff boxes, Moa bones, Viking Helmets, Jacobean jewelry, Qing Dynasty vases & NZ influenza pandemic ephemera. Lol, What I'm saying is that it can be a bit of a pain, (let alone expensive) sourcing photos from these institutions as they guard them like autocratic gatekeepers a lot of the time. It saddens me to think of how many photos they have locked away from the public that have never been seen &, by their behaviour, won't be seen anytime soon. I don't understand why they don't have them on display, as that's what these institutions are meant to be - free to see, (or a nominal entry fee) their collections.
Jo-Anne Sunbeam Yep i hear you lol Alexander T Library has one photo by WHL Leech and i have another but that is it lol. I am sure he took many many more pics and thought the Museum might have some. I stayed one year with Jane Davies at the Anglican Manse in the 198...See more
Jo-Anne Sunbeam Yep Claire, i gave them a lot of that info. He was a very colourful man as well. Very landed gentry and had the reputation of riding around Reefton in his hunting reds but had no money. Even the money he was left from one estate in Surrey in 1878 - an amount of £2750 never made it to him here which in today's value is worth $NZ620,000.00 (just worked out online) and there were several estates.
Claire Ward Where are his photos?! It seems odd they're not around. Perhaps they're in private hands.
Claire Ward Vilified, why?
Claire Ward How odd. Perhaps your Mothers cousin is a secret archivist in the same vein as the museum people. Who is she "giving" the FAMILY photos to when she shuffles off this mortal coil?
Jo-Anne Sunbeam Just deleted a wee bit in case its seen
Jo-Anne Sunbeam's photo.
Claire Ward I like the sound of William Leech, & the cut of his jib! Lol. Are you aware of any other family members who would like Williams photos? I hope she doesn't just leave them & whatever family cleans out her estate simply throws them away. Shudder!
Jo-Anne Sunbeam
Jo-Anne Sunbeam I think i have most of them or copies of about a total of 3. He lived at Burkes Creek for a while. I must get back up to Reefton and have a good scout around and get back up the Lyell and fossick around where Sloane family lived (a Sloane married a Leech). I haven't been for a few years and we were also related to Allens, Armstrong, Moss and Roddens.
Jo-Anne Sunbeam Here's the bit about winning the medal. Grey River Argus, Volume XIV, Issue 1718, 5 February 1874, Page 2
Jo-Anne Sunbeam's photo.
Claire Ward http://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/object/273789 Here's a photo William took, but it's not the West Coast.
Object: Nelson Post Office | Collections Online - Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
Object: Nelson Post Office,Leech, William Haydon Lawley,circa 1872,Nelson,albumen silver print, carte-de-visite,Gift of Mrs E W Gibbs, 1933at Te Papa’s collections Online
COLLECTIONS.TEPAPA.GOVT.NZ
ep that and the one at Alexander Turnbull of a man are the two they hold
Greg Ross love those false-front gold rush buildings, it's the same in the Yukon's rush of '98, in Dawson City, which is so much like Hokitika in appearance and history.
John Rosanowski For a map of old Black's Point: See Darrell Latham's The Golden Reefs, p.274
Unlike · Reply · 2 · 23 March at 09:16
Donald Munro-Williamson
Think that might be our place next door, we are at the end of Andersen St by High St, fisherman's access down beside us to the river
Donald Munro-Williamson
Our cottage is on two sections, these are the deeds and I can only make out section number 49? Thanks for posting
Claire Ward Get in touch with Pete Lawn at Blacks Point museum, Jo-Anne. grin emoticon
Jo-Anne Sunbeam I have been in touch with him before but he got my query mucked up and i have never heard from him since even after emailing back ....
Ina Lineham What was your Grandfathers name? I could check out the old newspapers for you or you could have a look. Sometimes you find clues to that sort of information.
Jo-Anne Sunbeam My grandfather's name was Alfred Kennedy Sloan(e). His father William James Sloan had a carpentry shop on old soldiers rd. Alfred was born in 1892 in Blacks Point. Alfred's grandfather William Haydon Lawley Leech was a photographer in Reefton from 1872 onwards, off and on. I have looked at Paperspast. But i was wondering first what photos the Museum had by WHL Leech (which was the query I sent) and now was wondering where in Blacks Point the Sloans actually lived. The Sloans were from the Lyell. Cheers Ina for your help
Like · Reply · 1 · 22 March at 14:16 · Edited
Ina Lineham
Ina Lineham I've had a bit of a search... Did not find anything much. You may have already seen this..
Ina Lineham's photo.
Like · Reply · 22 March at 15:26
Jo-Anne Sunbeam
Jo-Anne Sunbeam Yep, thanks Ina. I have seen that. William Haydon Lawley Leech appears in West Coast papers a lot. He was a photographer in Nelson in 1868, then to Reefton in 1872. He was bankrupt a couple of times but was a noted Alpine photographer and won the silver medals for his photos of the West Coast in 1875. He was also an accomplished actor and singer and starred in a lot of musicals in Reefton. He came from a very well to do family in Sussex, Hampshire and Surrey. He was educated at Midhurst Grammar in Sussex. He fought in the Maori Wars in 1864. His cousin Annie was married to Colonel Charles Cecil Rookes who was a friend of Governor Grey. He comes from a long line of titled people and soldiers and surgeons. I was hoping to find some of his Alpine photos etc ....cheers
Like · Reply · 1 · 22 March at 15:42
Claire Ward
Claire Ward Jo-Anne, I suspect your Great Grandfather, Williams alpine photos will be at one, or any, of the NZ museums or libraries. Try looking up his name in Te Papa, Canterbury Museum, Alexander Turnbull Library et al. The likelihood of them being online for free will probably be next to nil, but you can try. If they're not online, the institution/s that have them usually have a description of each photo & how you can view them. To get a copy of each photo can be anything up to $30.00 each, or you can go in & view them - but you'll have to make an appointment at least 2 weeks ahead, as they have to delve in the bowels of the building, behind the mammoth skeleton, Edwardian furniture, hoard of Roman coins, Rewi Alley Chinese artifacts, taxidermied Huskies from the Scott expedition to Antarctica, and under the collection of Victorian snuff boxes, Moa bones, Viking Helmets, Jacobean jewelry, Qing Dynasty vases & NZ influenza pandemic ephemera. Lol, What I'm saying is that it can be a bit of a pain, (let alone expensive) sourcing photos from these institutions as they guard them like autocratic gatekeepers a lot of the time. It saddens me to think of how many photos they have locked away from the public that have never been seen &, by their behaviour, won't be seen anytime soon. I don't understand why they don't have them on display, as that's what these institutions are meant to be - free to see, (or a nominal entry fee) their collections.
Jo-Anne Sunbeam Yep i hear you lol Alexander T Library has one photo by WHL Leech and i have another but that is it lol. I am sure he took many many more pics and thought the Museum might have some. I stayed one year with Jane Davies at the Anglican Manse in the 198...See more
Jo-Anne Sunbeam Yep Claire, i gave them a lot of that info. He was a very colourful man as well. Very landed gentry and had the reputation of riding around Reefton in his hunting reds but had no money. Even the money he was left from one estate in Surrey in 1878 - an amount of £2750 never made it to him here which in today's value is worth $NZ620,000.00 (just worked out online) and there were several estates.
Claire Ward Where are his photos?! It seems odd they're not around. Perhaps they're in private hands.
Claire Ward Vilified, why?
Claire Ward How odd. Perhaps your Mothers cousin is a secret archivist in the same vein as the museum people. Who is she "giving" the FAMILY photos to when she shuffles off this mortal coil?
Jo-Anne Sunbeam Just deleted a wee bit in case its seen
Jo-Anne Sunbeam's photo.
Claire Ward I like the sound of William Leech, & the cut of his jib! Lol. Are you aware of any other family members who would like Williams photos? I hope she doesn't just leave them & whatever family cleans out her estate simply throws them away. Shudder!
Jo-Anne Sunbeam
Jo-Anne Sunbeam I think i have most of them or copies of about a total of 3. He lived at Burkes Creek for a while. I must get back up to Reefton and have a good scout around and get back up the Lyell and fossick around where Sloane family lived (a Sloane married a Leech). I haven't been for a few years and we were also related to Allens, Armstrong, Moss and Roddens.
Jo-Anne Sunbeam Here's the bit about winning the medal. Grey River Argus, Volume XIV, Issue 1718, 5 February 1874, Page 2
Jo-Anne Sunbeam's photo.
Claire Ward http://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/object/273789 Here's a photo William took, but it's not the West Coast.
Object: Nelson Post Office | Collections Online - Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
Object: Nelson Post Office,Leech, William Haydon Lawley,circa 1872,Nelson,albumen silver print, carte-de-visite,Gift of Mrs E W Gibbs, 1933at Te Papa’s collections Online
COLLECTIONS.TEPAPA.GOVT.NZ
ep that and the one at Alexander Turnbull of a man are the two they hold
Greg Ross love those false-front gold rush buildings, it's the same in the Yukon's rush of '98, in Dawson City, which is so much like Hokitika in appearance and history.
John Rosanowski For a map of old Black's Point: See Darrell Latham's The Golden Reefs, p.274
Unlike · Reply · 2 · 23 March at 09:16
Donald Munro-Williamson
Think that might be our place next door, we are at the end of Andersen St by High St, fisherman's access down beside us to the river
Donald Munro-Williamson
Our cottage is on two sections, these are the deeds and I can only make out section number 49? Thanks for posting
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West Coast New Zealand History (14th Jan 2026). Lawn family of Anderson St, Blacks Point - on section 43 or 46.. In Website West Coast New Zealand History. Retrieved 12th Apr 2026 22:47, from https://westcoast.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/15436