Heritage et AL

The first issue of this weekly suburban newspaper came out on Thursday 3rd November 1921. 2,500 copies were delivered free of charge to “each house in the Borough of Devonport” and also made available to patrons of the Victoria Picture Theatre in Devonport. It was published and printed by James William Henry Martin and family, who managed the Devonport Printing Works at 56 Victoria Road, Devonport. Ref: The Devonport Gazette and Greater North Shore Advocate, 19 August 1922.  On the front page, the middle two columns carried movie advertisements and stills for screenings at the Victoria Theatre, while other parts of the newspaper also included movie news. The ‘Who’s Who’ columns were for advertising local businesses and trades, while the editorial on page two addressed local issues. Pages two and three also included reports from Devonport Borough Council and other local public meetings. Later this was extended to cover reports of the Takapuna Borough Council and other Takap...

The Esplanade Hotel is an imposing three storey plastered brick building. Its three-sided facade is aligned so that the Hotel entrance faces Victoria Road - Queens Parade junction. The hotel was built by the Great Northern Brewery Company Limited on the former site of Holmes Brothers 'Flagstaff Hotel', which had opened in August 1864. The old hotel was moved to an adjacent site in Queens Parade, so that the new hotel could be built. The old wooden building was used as a staff residence and boarding-house until it was demolished in 1938. Ref: D_GSV-0009, Esplanade Hotel, c. 1909, North Auckland Research Centre