Coromandel Life Magazine 2015 Winter V3

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“Totalspan were really on the ball. They
answered all my questions & got the
job completed on time & on budget.”
07 869 0400 29 l KOPU RD, RD1 KOPU, THAMES
0800 TOTALSPAN (0800 868 257) l
A great crowd gathered for the dedication of the cornerstone
of the Boer War monument near the Wesleyan Methodist
Church in 1902. The completed monument was later moved
from its corner location to Victoria Park.
The Methodists later joined with the Presbyterians to form
the Union Church (St. James).
St. Francis Catholic Church and school buildings located in the Shortland
district. Father Nivard Jourdan, O.S.F., arrived in 1867, staying at a hotel,
where initial services were performed for the many Irish immigrants. Their
first church was finished within a few months, a third of the donations
coming from non-Catholics. The other Catholic church was St. Brigid’s
(founded 1871) on Queen Street in Grahamstown. They supported
various schools and two convents, and all eventually melded with St.
Francis. Their school and church are now in modern buildings.
“Next generation in the industry”
M: 0274 694 338
W:
Alyce Rowe
For buying and selling
property in the
Thames/Hauraki Plains area
E:
Still neighbours after all these years, the St. James Union Church
(previously Presbyterian) and The Junction Hotel to the left, at the
corner of Pollen and Pahau. The Junction Hotel has operated as a hotel
and eating establishment (GBD, or Grahamstown Bar & Diner) nonstop
since it was built in 1869 to cater to the miners. It was remodelled in
1888, with further additions in 1901.
Catholic churches served the
area’s Irish immigrants.
30 COROMANDEL LIFE 2015 WINTER