Arrival at the 'Hydrabad'

item details

NameArrival at the 'Hydrabad'

ProductionLeslie Adkin; photographer; 27 December 1909; Levin

Classificationblack-and-white negatives, group portraits, gelatin dry plate negatives

Materialsphotographic gelatin, sheet glass, silver, photographic plates

Materials Summarygelatin glass negative

Techniquesblack and white photography

DimensionsOverall: 164mm (width), 120mm (height)

Registration NumberB.022783

Credit lineGift of G. L. Adkin family estate, 1964

Overview

Waitārere Beach, with the wreck of the Hydrabad in the background. Back row: Clifford Adkin (paddling), Gilbert Adkin, Jimmy Cameron, Reggie Thurlow (both farm workers for the Adkins), Dora Adkin, Will Herd, Marjorie Adkin, Gertie Herd. Front row: Miss Main (housekeeper), Alice Herd, Olive Herd, William Adkin, Maud Herd, Clare Adkin, Ralph Herd, Kate Denton, Vivian Adkin, John Herd?, Elizabeth Herd, William Herd, Hugh Herd.

Adkin diary entry Mon, 27 Dec 1909: "A glorious day. Picniced at the beach. Gil, Dora, Marjorie, Reggie(?) & I rode & the rest drove. As by arrangement we met Mr & Mrs Herd & family at the junction of Bruce Rd & the Beach Rd & drove out to the beach.... Walked along beach & climbed on to the Hydarabad [sic] - taking several photos of both places. After tea, about 4pm we drove home. I went to Mr Herds to help Ralph & Will milk the cows & stayed to tea & for a short time after. The cool breeze & clear weather & pleasant company combined to make a very enjoyable day."

This extract originally appeared in New Zealand Photography Collected: 175 Years of Photography in Aotearoa (Te Papa Press, 2025) on page 144.

The Adkin and Herd families shown here were two large farming families who lived in Levin. They knew each other through Methodist circles, initially from Ralph Herd meeting Leslie Adkin at a YMCA gymnastics group. Adkin became enamoured of Ralph’s sister Maud, fifth from left in the front row, and they married in 1915, binding the families together forever. The Hydrabad wreck was a popular beach attraction at the time. Leslie Adkin grouped everyone in two nicely arranged lines (with horses facing each other symmetrically). The vessel had been caught in a violent storm in June 1878 and the captain deliberately ran the iron-hulled sailing ship aground at Waitārere Beach to save the crew and passengers. Attempts to refloat the ship failed, and after a fire buckled the hull it was abandoned. Over the years, storms and shifting sands have buried the ship at the edge of the dunes.