54 rue Grehan, Akaroa - well preserved French history

Here is the last of the Libeau cottages to be featured. It is easily the best preserved of the lot (one being long gone).

It has a category 2 heritage listing and was originally the home of Joseph Libeau  jun. and his wife Clémence, built in 1863.

The house was associated with the neighbouring Libeau brickworks until at least the mid 1870s. 

The land is 1,897m2 and shows off its long established orchard. It’s laid out to be easy maintenance as the house has been part of Bachcare properties for short term rental. 

It sold for $820,000 in 2020. Council records say the walls and roof are of average condition but I really think this doesn’t do the cottage justice. This is a high quality restoration and improvement. Modern amenities have been done with care and taste. No clutter, just preserving the character and providing modern comfort.

Despite its modest exterior, the home offers four bedrooms, including two attic rooms accessed via a steep staircase. The living/dining space is open plan with an updated kitchen and bathroom ensuring day to day life is considerably easier than it was for the original occupants! A large double garage and external studio provide further options.

 Joseph Libeau jnr. migrated to Sydney in the 1850s, but returned to Akaroa in 1856 to marry Clemence Gendrot. The couple initially settled in Duvauchelles, but returned to Akaroa to work at the Libeau family brickworks in Chemin Grehan (now Rue Grehan), developed on land Joseph Libeau sen. purchased from Clemence’s father Pierre in 1857.

In 1860 Joseph sen. subdivided the site of 54 from the brickworks plot; the house was presumably developed soon after. Joseph jnr worked at the brickworks for eight years before returning to Duvauchelles with his family. The brickworks continued under the management of other family members until the 1880s, but Joseph junior’s cottage was sold to carpenter George Checkley in 1875.

Checkley had substantial landholdings in and around Akaroa, so may have leased the cottage out until his death in 1897. By 1895 Checkley had also purchased the remainder of Joseph Libeau sen.’s property. The cottage belonged to members of the Sunckell family (another old Akaroa family who built Windermere on Rue Lavaud) from 1902-1958.

If you would like to check out its listing for a stay in Akaroa, here’s the link https://www.booking.com/hotel/nz/libeau-cottage-akaroa-holiday-home.en-gb.html

Beware!! It is pricey. For two nights in the middle of winter it’ll set you back at least $1,080 making it one of the most expensive places to book in Akaroa.

There are an additional 2 bedrooms at the top of the attic accessed by a tiny staircase and these are not in use for renters.

Down the long drive there is a separate modern double garage, sheds and outdoor dining.

 

Here you can see the lovely setting for the property with a view to the harbour. The fruit trees in the foreground are all that remain of the Libeau market gardens (#56) which were still in operation during the early part of the twentieth century.

This concludes the series on French Libeau cottages in Akaroa. I hope two of them will live on beyond myself. 

 

 

56 rue Grehan, Akaroa, lost French history

This post concerns a former Libeau French settler cottage and kiln/ stables business from the nineteenth century in Akaroa, Banks Peninsula, but the cottage and business have all but disappeared. They were built by my great, great, great grandfather Joseph Libeau Sen. who, with his first wife Magdelaine, were original settlers of the doomed French colony.

This is as far back as I can go, visually, 1920s. In front of the stables are Josephine Mary Libeau (m. Brocher, my great, great grandmother) and her second husband irishman Joseph Sergison. 

Her father Joseph Libeau Snr (original French settler arriving on the Comte de Paris in 1840) built the kiln and produced bricks, later helped by Josie’s first husband (the ‘dastardly’ double murderer Etienne Brocher) and sometimes Joseph’s son Donatien. 

The kiln was then closed in and became stables. The site fell into disrepair in the late 19th century and by the time these photos were taken circa 1918 the site wasn’t well maintained by the aging couple.

FORMER LIBEAU BRICK KILN AND SETTING 56 RUE GREHAN Christchurch City Council 2015
Archeological report [edited]

HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL SIGNIFICANCE

 The Rue Grehan Brick Kiln has historical and social significance for its association with the well-known Libeau family and contractor Edward Morey, as evidence of early industry in Akaroa and as remnant of one of the earliest known brick kilns in New Zealand. It is likely that the kiln was first built in the late 1850s or early 1860s. The oldest known surviving kiln in New Zealand is currently the Upohongaro kiln ruin in Wanganui, which dates from 1857.

The land on which the kiln is located was purchased by Joseph Libeau sen. from fellow French settler Pierre Gendrot in 1857. In 1860 Joseph subdivided the site for his eldest son Joseph jun. and family and a cottage (54 Rue Grehan) was built to accommodate them on their return to Akaroa from a period farming at Duvauchelles. There is no reliable date for the commencement of brick-making on the site, but this would seem a likely date. Architect Samuel Farr, who left Akaroa for Christchurch in 1862, recalled ‘a brick-kiln, belonging to Lebeau [sic] on Grehan Road’ (Star 15/12/1900). Joseph was reputedly involved in the operation of the kiln for about eight years before returning to his farm.

By the mid 1870s, the brickworks was being operated by Akaroa builder and builder’s merchant Edward Morey, who had earlier built Holy Trinity Church in Lyttelton and St John’s Church in Okain’s Bay. He offered the ‘Grehan Road Brick Yard’ for sale in July 1877. The Libeau family appear to have then resumed their interest, and the works were carried on by another two of Joseph senior’s sons, Donatien and Alfred until Donatien’s bankruptcy in 1885. Donatien then went abroad where he made a name for himself as a competitive walker and cyclist. There is no evidence that the yard operated after this time.

By the 1880s brick-making on an industrial scale had commenced in New Zealand, and the small Rue Grehan operation would no longer have been economic. At some time after this date, the kiln remains were adapted to serve as a stable.

The Rue Grehan Brick Kiln has technological and craftsmanship significance as evidence of early industry in Akaroa, and as a remnant of one of the earliest known brick kilns in New Zealand. The remaining clay-mortared brick fabric, which includes arched portals and stubs of the chamber walls, would indicate that the kiln was of an early type superseded by the new, larger and technologically more advanced Hoffman-type kiln from the late 1870s.

 It has historical and social significance for its association with the Libeau family and Edward Morey, as evidence of early industry in Akaroa. 

The Libeau Brick Kiln has archaeological significance as it remains comparatively undisturbed, and has the capacity to reveal considerable information on early brick production in mid-nineteenth century New Zealand. 56 Rue Grehan remained in the hands of Joseph Libeau senior’s descendants until the death of his grandson Augustus Sergison in 1966. 

At one time it became a rental home, unfortunately, as that was bound to degrade it. After that it was sold and  used as a holiday home from this time until its demolition in 2012. 

The kiln remains and sustained slight damage in the Canterbury earthquakes of 2010-2011. The current owners built a garage at the front of the property to live in while building a new house in front of the stables. They have also greatly modified the gardens that were there so there is now much less evidence of the old fruit trees planted by Libeau settlers. Little can now be seen from the road.

The original cottage was deliberately burned down by new owners in 2012, a real tragedy. They simply wanted the land. Today the stables/kiln is closed in but seems to be used as a shed. It is sad to see it like this and maybe its days are numbered but by closing it in may preserve it a bit longer.

Photos show Joseph Libeau sen., the house as it was in 2006 (with my daughter and I outside it), and burnt to the ground in 2012 - I still feel the horror, the stables as they are today. Similar Libeau cottages in this street are now worth in excess of $900,000.

 

 

Sliding into Musical Oblivion

After four years of dashed hopes, thousands of hours of home practice, a great many two-course meals cooked for unappreciative musicians, two expensive music courses where I never had a set drummer who could be bothered turning up and practising, I am feeling obliged to accept reality and call it quits for now on my time as a bassist. I'm about to disappear completely from the scene.

Disappointment is too minor a word for it. I never expected to have to deal with the darker side of humanity when all I have ever wanted to do was play my bass in a serious band. A band that held itself together, a band where members practised numbers and attended band rehearsals regularly, where female members were treated with respect and courteous communication occured. It never happened.

Instead I have been pursued by multiple predatory males posing as 'friends' who would never accept I was only in it for the music; stalked outside my bedroom (very scarey), ghosted, sexually aggressed (thankfully in a minor way, but still) and bullied much of the time, even in front of others. I get rung on the phone at midnight by guys trying to get me over to their places to play so I can be 'plugged in' as they refer to it. When I don't eventually succomb to their efforts to persuade me to have a 'relationship' with them they suddenly never contact me again and thus my ability to perform disappears.  I have had utter consistency in deplorable behaviour from people who have, in many cases, been playing for decades. It's not a gender thing or even necessarily an age thing though the guys around my age are the worst. I am not exaggerating - just a few examples so you can get the picture as to why I have reached this dreadful decision.

Last year, after travelling 50kms there and back each week for band practices over five months, I was summarily fired from the band because on one occasion I told a guy's big dog to stop jumping up on me and raking my thighs with its claws because it hurt. I simply told it to stop, I didn't even swear.  "Take your shitty little bass and your shitty little amp and fuck off," he snarled at me. I learned I had no value and thus didn't warrant any respect for my dedication to the group.

Three years ago I was invited to audition for a 3-piece so confirmed keys and prepared the songs. When I turned up the guy deliberately changed the keys of all the work I had prepared. I asked him why he had invited me to audition and he replied it was because I 'looked good in leather', and then grabbed my bass out of my hands and helped himself to my expensive Fender (bad muso etiquette).

On another occasion last year after practising music and having some home-cooked nosh a guy suddenly strips off his shirt in my lounge and insists on staying overnight. I shouldn't have to deal with this. I give them NO encouragement and always clearly lay out the ground rules at the beginning but it just keeps happening, getting ugly when things don't match their agenda. Is it because I am a female bassist? I don't know but it is unacceptable behaviour and now there isn't even that. Do ageism and misogyny exist in the Christchurch music scene? Hell, yes!!

With no-one to play with I can't perform or even do open mics so I cannot progress and it's certainly not fun alone at home. I feel I am a competent-enough bassist now for any rock, blues and even a bit of jazz and could handle country quite easily. I read standard notation, tabulation and chord charts, I work really hard, can create my own walking bass lines, always present myself well at performances and have good quality gear but it has been to no avail. No genuine opportunities in four struggling years so I've run out of options. It shouldn't be THIS hard.

THIS all began when I started teaching myself bass during the covid lockdown and surprised myself at how my instrument seduced me. I've learned a lot of theory and explored the real estate of my fretboard. I've also managed to get much of my singing voice back after my vocal chords were damaged by a long stint in ICU in 2022 so I'm interested in singing background as well as some lead vocals. I'm more confident in creating my own basslines but really wish I could have been at least once in a situation with a competent and reliable drummer to complement me in the rhythm section.

I've played with the best - I play covers with top bands on YouTube to prepare my repertoire (lol). That's all very well but it is very solitary and what I really want is working in with other dedicated musicians.

I've met quite a few local musicians but mostly their interest is superficial and extremely temporary. Many have drugs, alcohol and mental health issues they are not dealing with. There are quite a few with toxic personalities and I've had enough of being bullied every time I see them. For the past few years I've turned up at events on my own hoping to run into fellow musos who would like to put a group together, but it hasn't happened. My experience of putting my own band together was truly demoralising.

Is this decision permanent? It will be if I never get honest interest from musicians who do not have a predetermined 'relationship agenda', or are not people who mean what they say. I remain open to possibilities but have to accept they are unlikely.

I shall have to reinvent myself again in some different way.

I haven't yet packed my gear away in the spare room, in case I want to potter on my beloved instrument, from time to time, but there is an immense sadness I will just have to deal with; losing hopes and dreams and my creative outlet. At least I can say I gave it my best and treated other musicians with enthusisam and courtesy. I'm cleaning out many of my Facebook 'contacts'/fake friends as part of my grieving and moving on.

So 2025 is going to be a different sort of year and all the poorer for the loss of music but I'll put my brain into coming up with stuff to keep me meaningfully occupied.

My heartfelt thanks to those musicians who did attend band practices and who did appreciate working with me. You kept me going as long as I have.