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.