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Urquhart's Pukekura Hotel - also known as Lake Ianthe Tavern . South Westland.
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Description Urquhart's Pukekura Hotel.also known as Lake Ianthe Tavern.
Photo from William Hill Chinn
Date of Photo1904Map[1] ContributorMary Moffitt
Photo from William Hill Chinn
Date of Photo1904Map[1] ContributorMary Moffitt
Shown in this image
Location (city or town)WaitahaLandmark (Place)Urquhart's Pukekura HotelOrganisation (eg business)Urquhart's Pukekura Hotel
Category Information
Category TagHotels
From Facebook
Date Created26th October 2019CommentsAllen Brereton Did that frog hop along the road south to end end up as the Puki Pub?
Bobby Moran That's what I thought
Pam Englefield-Absolum Love the carriage.
Katrina Anderson Amazing in so many ways. Very proud.
Mary Moffitt Photo from William Hill Chinn. Has Waitaha on sign on building.
Mary Moffitt I am trying to figure out the reason for the photo to be in the book 'Packtrack to Highway' by W Hill Chinn.
There are only three photos - one of him, one of Maori Creek, and this one. Is he connected to the Ferguson family? It is not mentioned in the book. Perhaps he is one of the young men in the scene?
Caroline Emily Donovan Arthur Dehn are you related to W Hill Chinn?
Glenn Johnston Mary Moffitt W Hill Chinn had flaxmilling and farming interests in South Westland so he would have been a regular traveller past Ferguson's Accommodation House. Various Chinn descendents are still about here on the Coast and may know if they are related to the Fergusons. I'm not convinced this photo is of Ferguson's Accomadation House; see below.
Glenn Johnston Mary Moffitt I have a hunch that the photo in the W Hill Chinn book of Ferguson's Accomodation House used above has been mislabelled and this photo is actually of a fairly new Pukekura Hotel which is a little further south. Photo's I've seen of Ferguson's Accomodation House show a two story building.
Glenn Johnston In licensing applications Ferguson's Accomodation House is described as being at Ferguson's whereas Urquhart's Accomodation House at Pukekura is described as being at Waitaha. The thread starter photo has now been compared with photos of Urquhart's Pukekura Hotel and Ferguson's Accomodation House and this thread starter photo is actually Urquhart's Pukekura Hotel not Ferguson's Accomodation House. The caption in W Hill Chinn's book got the name of the Accommodation House wrong but the general location correct. The book was not published until about sixty years after the photo was taken and some how an error in the captioning has occurred!
Mary Moffitt Thank you. That sorts out my question in part, but why is it included in the book? There is probably a reason even if it is the only interesting pic available for Waitaha. I'm picking that WHC is in the photo. Perhaps he stayed there?
Did this Urquhart family also own Erewhon? They are kin to the Hall family of my husband.
Mary Moffitt My husband thinks that the Urquhart family home he remembers at Erewhon was similar to this one, even if perhaps a different size.
M
I can make out Waitaha on this sign. I can also kid myself that the word Ferguson appears above it too. The word accomodation would, maybe, be too long for the smudges above Waitaha. I'm open to discussion!
Glenn Johnston The building was originally built on the south side of the Waitaha River but it got shifted to the nearby Pukekura site in 1904. To my knowledge it was never owned by Ferguson's. Urquhart who was "publican" had previously been ferryman at the mouth of the Waitaha River then shifted inland once most traffic started using the Bowen - Okarito (main south road) rather than the coastal route. I can speculate that Urquhart's pub was first at the upper ferry spot and was shifted to Pukekura because a bridge was built over the Waitaha?
Mary Moffitt Here's the sign from the other photo on Recollect. I'm still questioning things. The word Waitaha is distinct. I think that I can see the F for Ferguson above the W, but it is still open to debate.
Glenn Johnston Yes I can make out Waitaha. This building was on the south bank of the Waitaha so that makes sense. It was built and owned by Alex Urquhart not a Ferguson. Ferguson's is north of the Kakapotahi aka the Little Waitaha. Ferguson's is a place name in its own right distinct from Waitaha. Note the post I made about licensing applications above.
Manage
Glenn Johnston I don't know if W Hill Chinn or family members are in the photo but it is a fair supposition to think that is why this photo may have been chosen for the book.
Nana Pop Detlaff Here is a story passed down through our family which we believe is true. Before the main road south of Ross was established there was a track south of the Mikonui River along the now Bold Head Road. There was probably one through the now Fergusons Bush area(?) Fergusons living inland built an accommodation house to capture the passing travellers believing the road would go inland. The Manera family at Kakapotahi built a big two storey building to do likewise. They believed the highway would go along the coast route (Bold Head Rd) and pass right by their property. The road did go inland and virtually by-passed Maneras' boarding house. There are photos of Maneras' lovely big two storey building that we have seen.
Dianne OBrien Glen is right this also known as Lake Ianthe Tavern
Dianne OBrien Uncle Billy had family in Waitaha hence the photo of the local watering hole. His book has a few mistakes in it
Dianne OBrien No Ferguson’s are not related to us Chinns at all. Uncle Billy came and went by Pukekura on his way south. He put it in the book as they lived a few miles away and it’s a local pub
Stephen Foster
Anne Urquharts some relation to us wayback in the clan Biddy or Dianne can you’s put some light on this ??
Biddy Manera
Stephen Foster correct ....
Chris Aitken
Blast from the past.
Trevor Robertson
Back in the 80s I remember playing darts there on Easter Sunday in an obviously open pub.
A few years later I stopped there with my then fiance. One local had decided to attract more customers by placing beer kegs on the road, to redirect traffic to the pub. The local copper wasn't too impressed, and the offending kegs were soon stacked away.
Great place.Katie Earnshaw
Is this photo taken when it was down at the Waitaha ferry crossing or after it was moved here in Pukekura on the way to the lake?
Tony Foster
I rememberdad talkingabout auntie Urquhart ,
Bobby Moran That's what I thought
Pam Englefield-Absolum Love the carriage.
Katrina Anderson Amazing in so many ways. Very proud.
Mary Moffitt Photo from William Hill Chinn. Has Waitaha on sign on building.
Mary Moffitt I am trying to figure out the reason for the photo to be in the book 'Packtrack to Highway' by W Hill Chinn.
There are only three photos - one of him, one of Maori Creek, and this one. Is he connected to the Ferguson family? It is not mentioned in the book. Perhaps he is one of the young men in the scene?
Caroline Emily Donovan Arthur Dehn are you related to W Hill Chinn?
Glenn Johnston Mary Moffitt W Hill Chinn had flaxmilling and farming interests in South Westland so he would have been a regular traveller past Ferguson's Accommodation House. Various Chinn descendents are still about here on the Coast and may know if they are related to the Fergusons. I'm not convinced this photo is of Ferguson's Accomadation House; see below.
Glenn Johnston Mary Moffitt I have a hunch that the photo in the W Hill Chinn book of Ferguson's Accomodation House used above has been mislabelled and this photo is actually of a fairly new Pukekura Hotel which is a little further south. Photo's I've seen of Ferguson's Accomodation House show a two story building.
Glenn Johnston In licensing applications Ferguson's Accomodation House is described as being at Ferguson's whereas Urquhart's Accomodation House at Pukekura is described as being at Waitaha. The thread starter photo has now been compared with photos of Urquhart's Pukekura Hotel and Ferguson's Accomodation House and this thread starter photo is actually Urquhart's Pukekura Hotel not Ferguson's Accomodation House. The caption in W Hill Chinn's book got the name of the Accommodation House wrong but the general location correct. The book was not published until about sixty years after the photo was taken and some how an error in the captioning has occurred!
Mary Moffitt Thank you. That sorts out my question in part, but why is it included in the book? There is probably a reason even if it is the only interesting pic available for Waitaha. I'm picking that WHC is in the photo. Perhaps he stayed there?
Did this Urquhart family also own Erewhon? They are kin to the Hall family of my husband.
Mary Moffitt My husband thinks that the Urquhart family home he remembers at Erewhon was similar to this one, even if perhaps a different size.
M
I can make out Waitaha on this sign. I can also kid myself that the word Ferguson appears above it too. The word accomodation would, maybe, be too long for the smudges above Waitaha. I'm open to discussion!
Glenn Johnston The building was originally built on the south side of the Waitaha River but it got shifted to the nearby Pukekura site in 1904. To my knowledge it was never owned by Ferguson's. Urquhart who was "publican" had previously been ferryman at the mouth of the Waitaha River then shifted inland once most traffic started using the Bowen - Okarito (main south road) rather than the coastal route. I can speculate that Urquhart's pub was first at the upper ferry spot and was shifted to Pukekura because a bridge was built over the Waitaha?
Mary Moffitt Here's the sign from the other photo on Recollect. I'm still questioning things. The word Waitaha is distinct. I think that I can see the F for Ferguson above the W, but it is still open to debate.
Glenn Johnston Yes I can make out Waitaha. This building was on the south bank of the Waitaha so that makes sense. It was built and owned by Alex Urquhart not a Ferguson. Ferguson's is north of the Kakapotahi aka the Little Waitaha. Ferguson's is a place name in its own right distinct from Waitaha. Note the post I made about licensing applications above.
Manage
Glenn Johnston I don't know if W Hill Chinn or family members are in the photo but it is a fair supposition to think that is why this photo may have been chosen for the book.
Nana Pop Detlaff Here is a story passed down through our family which we believe is true. Before the main road south of Ross was established there was a track south of the Mikonui River along the now Bold Head Road. There was probably one through the now Fergusons Bush area(?) Fergusons living inland built an accommodation house to capture the passing travellers believing the road would go inland. The Manera family at Kakapotahi built a big two storey building to do likewise. They believed the highway would go along the coast route (Bold Head Rd) and pass right by their property. The road did go inland and virtually by-passed Maneras' boarding house. There are photos of Maneras' lovely big two storey building that we have seen.
Dianne OBrien Glen is right this also known as Lake Ianthe Tavern
Dianne OBrien Uncle Billy had family in Waitaha hence the photo of the local watering hole. His book has a few mistakes in it
Dianne OBrien No Ferguson’s are not related to us Chinns at all. Uncle Billy came and went by Pukekura on his way south. He put it in the book as they lived a few miles away and it’s a local pub
Stephen Foster
Anne Urquharts some relation to us wayback in the clan Biddy or Dianne can you’s put some light on this ??
Biddy Manera
Stephen Foster correct ....
Chris Aitken
Blast from the past.
Trevor Robertson
Back in the 80s I remember playing darts there on Easter Sunday in an obviously open pub.
A few years later I stopped there with my then fiance. One local had decided to attract more customers by placing beer kegs on the road, to redirect traffic to the pub. The local copper wasn't too impressed, and the offending kegs were soon stacked away.
Great place.Katie Earnshaw
Is this photo taken when it was down at the Waitaha ferry crossing or after it was moved here in Pukekura on the way to the lake?
Tony Foster
I rememberdad talkingabout auntie Urquhart ,
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West Coast New Zealand History (5th Feb 2023). Urquhart's Pukekura Hotel - also known as Lake Ianthe Tavern . South Westland.. In Website West Coast New Zealand History. Retrieved 27th Apr 2026 05:38, from https://westcoast.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/26387