The Official Ebenezer Teichelmann Blog

New information on Ebenezer Teichelmann's father

2011-06-05T03:47:00.000-07:00

When I was writing the book on Ebenezer Teichelmann, it was hard to find information about his father Christian Gottlob Teichelmann (1807-1888). Recently I found this very good thesis which throws further light on the Aboriginal area where Teichy spent his younger days.

A Vision Frustrated:

Lutheran Missionaries to the Aborigines of South Australia 1838-1853
by
Christine J Lockwood
A thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts with Honours in the School of Social Sciences,
Flinders University, Adelaide.

2007
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

On 12 October 1838, Christian Gottlob1 Teichelmann (1807-1888) and Clamor Wilhelm Schürmann (1815-1893), from the Evangelical Lutheran Mission Society in Dresden, arrived in South Australia. Originally hoping to go to India, they began Aboriginal mission work in South Australia at the request of George Fife Angas, Chairman of the South Australia Company. Angas promised five years‟ financial support. August Eduard Heinrich Meyer2 (1813-1862) and Samuel Gottlieb Klose (1802-1889) followed in 1840. By 1853 the mission work of all the four had ceased. In 1848 the Mission Society headquarters moved from Dresden to Leipzig. The Encyclopedia of Modern Christian Missions states briefly: „At first [the Leipzig Mission Society] sent missionaries to Australia but this project did not succeed.‟3 These missionaries do not feature among pictures lining the Leipzig headquarters‟ walls today, or among the biographies on the Society‟s website. The South Australian mission was considered a failure, best forgotten.4

In seeking to understand this apparent failure, this thesis assumes these missionaries cannot be understood apart from their theology, and asks what role theology played in shaping their vision, methods and experience, and in bringing their work to an end.

This analysis of the Dresden men also raises questions of wider significance: Who should be responsible for community welfare and fund it? What is the relationship between church and state, especially when aims and values diverge? The thesis throws another light on the relationship between colonisers and missionaries, culture and theology and warns against a simple identification of Christianity with Western civilisation.

The Dresden Mission Society instructed its missionaries to gather information, keep diaries, and prepare detailed reports. Angas also asked for reports. Consequently these early Lutheran missionaries left significant records and the main source used by this thesis will be the missionaries‟ diaries and correspondence with their Society.

Recent years have seen renewed interest in these Lutheran missionaries for their unique linguistic and ethnographic records of the Kaurna (Adelaide), Ramindjeri (Encounter Bay) and Parnkalla or Barngalla people (Port Lincoln). This arose from resources becoming more accessible to researchers. In 1960 the State Library of South Australia acquired two publications of Schürmann and Teichelmann on the language and customs

1 Teichelmann‟s second name is often given as Gottlieb. Wm Bruce Kennedy, Lutheran missionary to the Aborigines, Pastor Christian Gottlob Teichelmann 1807-1888, His Family, Life and Times, Coolangatta, 1989, suggests his name was misspelt Gottlieb on an official document.

2 Known as Heinrich Meyer.

3 Ernst Jaeschke, in Burton L Goddard (ed.), The Encyclopedia of Modern Christian Missions, Camden, New Jersey, 1967, 267.

4 Dr Lois Zweck, Lutheran Archives researcher. Personal communication.

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of the Kaurna people, subsequently reprinting them.5 This led to a resurrection of the Kaurna language of the Adelaide area and a renewal of Kaurna cultural awareness.6 Meyer‟s work on the Ramindjeri language and culture7 is being used in Ngarinndjeri language and culture revival programs.8

Other resources becoming more accessible have been Clamor Schürmann‟s diaries and some letters in old-German script which his great-grandson Edwin A Schürmann discovered on microfilm in the State Library of South Australia‟s archives. A partial translation, available in the South Australian Museum, formed the basis for Edwin Schürmann‟s I’d Rather Dig Potatoes, Clamor Schürmann and the Aborigines of South Australia 1838-1853. Geoff Noller is currently retranslating the full diaries for the Lutheran Archives in Adelaide. This material is not all new as diary entries became the basis for letters to Dresden, some of which were printed in the Dresdener Missions-Nachrichten.

In 1984 the Lutheran Archives in Adelaide acquired from the Leipzig Mission Society a large collection of correspondence between the Dresden Society and its South Australian missionaries.9 Leipzig staff had transcribed the old-German handwriting into modern German. The Lutheran Archives in Adelaide now have Schürmann‟s and Teichelmann‟s diaries, and correspondence between Teichelmann, Schürmann, Meyer and Klose and their Mission Society. Some letters are missing. Translation work is unfinished and varies in quality. Different translations exist of some material as accuracy has been hampered by faded, indecipherable handwriting. Friends of the Lutheran Archives, a volunteer group, have published Klose‟s correspondence10 and will soon publish Meyer‟s. Schürmann‟s letters, Teichelmann‟s diary, and letters from Dresden have been translated by Lutheran Archives volunteers. The University of Adelaide‟s Department of Linguistics has been translating Meyer‟s, Klose‟s and Teichelmann‟s letters. Most of Teichelmann‟s letters remain untranslated but, because much of their contents come from his diary, this is not a major omission for the purposes of this paper. This translation work has led to published papers by scholars primarily interested in linguistics, including Mary-Anne Gale, Heidi Kneebone, and

5 C. G. Teichelmann, Aborigines of South Australia: illustrative and explanatory notes of the manners, customs, habits, and superstitions of the natives of South Australia, Adelaide, 1841; C. G. Teichelmann and C. W. Schürmann, Outlines of a grammar, vocabulary, and phraseology, of the aboriginal language of South Australia, spoken by the natives in and for some distance around Adelaide, Adelaide, 1840.

6 See Rob Amery, „The First Lutheran Missionaries in South Australia, their contribution to Kaurna language reclamation and the reconciliation movement,‟ Journal of Friends of the Lutheran Archives no. 10, October 2000; and „Beyond Their Expectations: Teichelmann and Schürmann‟s Efforts to Preserve the Kaurna Language Continue to Bear Fruit‟, in Walter F Veit (ed.), The struggle for souls and science: constructing the fifth continent: German missionaries and scientists in Australia, Alice Springs, 2004.

7 H A E Meyer, Vocabulary of the Aborigines of the Southern and Eastern Portions of the Settled Districts of South Australia, Adelaide, 1843.

8 Mary-Anne Gale, The Linguistic Legacy of H A E Meyer: Missionary to the Ramindjeri people of Encounter Bay, 1840-1848. Conference paper, University of Adelaide, October, 2005.

9 Originals are now in Franckesche Stiftungen zu Halle, Studienzentrum August Hermann Francke archives.

10 Joyce Graetz, (ed.) Missionary to the Kaurna, the Klose Letters, Friends of the Lutheran Archives Occasional Paper no.2, North Adelaide, 2002.

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Cynthia Rathjen.11 Document locations and translators can be found in the bibliography and will not normally appear in this work‟s footnotes.

This thesis has benefited from the works of church historians A Brauer and F J H Blaess.12 The Dresden Society‟s annual reports and works by Ernst Otto13 and Hermann Karsten14 have provided theological background. In One Blood, 200 Years of Aboriginal Encounter with Christianity: A Story of Hope, John Harris discusses the Dresden missionaries‟ work in the broader Aboriginal Christian mission context.15 In her PhD thesis, Anne Scrimgeour uses Schürmann‟s and Klose‟s letters and Teichelmann‟s diary to explore what she calls South Australia‟s early 'civilising mission‟ and its focus on Aboriginal schools.16 She sees the missionaries as part of the colonisation process and „Christianization‟ as an integral part of the „civilisation‟ of the natives necessary if Aboriginal lands were occupied. This present thesis asks to what extent the missionaries‟ aim was to „civilise‟ the Aborigines.

This thesis is also informed by newspaper articles, Colonial Secretaries‟ correspondence, Protector of Aborigines‟ reports, Angas papers and parliamentary papers which have also been examined by other writers. The records of the missionaries and their Society are the most valuable source because they provide unique insights not widely researched. This is especially so of jointly written missionary letters and conference reports and Dresden letters addressed to its missionaries jointly. Missionary records are often treated cautiously by scholars. They are seen as propagandist or as reporting what mission societies wanted to hear. However these Dresden missionaries‟ records are remarkably frank and honest. They often report things the Society would not have liked to hear and which did not reflect well on the writers. They express despair and failures as well as joys. As suggested by the choice of sources, this thesis attempts analysis from the missionaries‟ perspective.

The photographs of Teichelmann and Schürmann on the monument at Piltawodli (see Illustrations) are of mature, experienced men and these are the images most familiar to us. However, it is important to remember that Schürmann was twenty-three and Teichelmann thirty when they arrived in South Australia. Similarly, Protector

11 Mary-Anne Gale, The Linguistic Legacy of H A E Meyer; Heidi Kneebone, „Why Do You Work? Indigenous perceptions of Lutheran mission work in the Encounter Bay area, 1840-47,‟ Journal of Friends of the Lutheran Archives, no.10, October 2000; Cynthia Rathjen, „A Difficult and Boring Task: Clamor Schürmann and the language achievements among the Parnkalla, Port Lincoln – 1840-1852,‟ Journal of Friends of the Lutheran Archives, no.8, October 1998.

12 A Brauer, Under the Southern Cross, History of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Australia, Adelaide, 1956; „A Further Page from the Life of the Fathers‟, The Australian Lutheran Almanac, Adelaide, 1930, 41-67; „More Pages from the Life of the Fathers‟, The Australian Lutheran Almanac, Adelaide, 1937, 43-68. F J H Blaess, The Evangelical Lutheran Synod in Australia and the Mission Work amongst the Australian Natives in connection with the Dresden (Leipzig) Lutheran Mission Society and the Hermannsburg Mission Institute 1838-1900, BD Thesis, Concordia Seminary, St Louis, USA, 1940; „Missions – Pioneers in Australia‟, serialized in The Australian Lutheran, Adelaide 1947-1948.

13 Ernst Otto, Hundert Jahre Missionsarbeit, 1979.

14 Hermann Karsten, Die Geschichte der evangelisch-lutheran Mission in Leipzig, Guenstow, 1893.

15 Sutherland, second edition, 1994.

16 Anne Scrimgeour, Colonizers as Civilisers: Aboriginal Schools and the Mission to ‘Civilise’ in South Australia, 1839-1845, PhD (draft copy), Charles Darwin University, 2007.

Link: http://lmw-mission.de/de/files/lockwood-a-vision-frustrated-5136.pdf

Freda du Faur and Ebenezer Teichelmann

2010-11-01T07:38:00.000-07:00

On 3 December 1910 a woman stood on top of Aoraki Mount Cook, New Zealand's highest mountain. Freda Du Faur felt “…very little,” and “…very alone,” after climbing to the summit of New Zealand’s highest mountain.

She wrote: 'I was the first unmarried woman to climb in New Zealand, and in consequence I received all the hard knocks until one day when I awoke more or less famous in the mountaineering world, after which I could and did do exactly as seemed to me best.'

That was a hundred years ago today. Let's clebrate this wonderful feat.

During a 15 year period while researching and writing the book I eventually published on Ebenezer Teiuchelmann, who was a climbing contemporary of Freda du Faur, I interviewed countless people who knew Peter and Alec Graham, and others who has heard second hand from Darby Thomson, who all climbed with Freda de Faur. I also came across many notes, snippets and photos of Freda du Faur, and my respect grew for her courage and ability. Although I have no written evidence of Dr. Teichelmann opinions of her, those who knew Teichelmann and the Graham brothers well, believed he would have been one of the few male climbers who would have supported her whole-heartedly.

Graham Langton in the 2010 New Zealand Alpine journal acknowledges the influence Dr. Teichelman had on her. " In late 1906 she and her father visited the Christchurch Exhibition where mountain photographs by men sucs as Dr. ebenezer Teichelmann inspired Freda to journey to the Hermitage, while her Father returned to Sydney.".

They did meet twice, but more on that later.Here is one of his classic photographs of Aoraki Mount Cook taken in 1905.

Aoraki Mount Cook taken by Ebenezer Teichelmann in 1905 from around Glacier Dome. The East ridge on the left, East Face in the centre and Zurbriggen's ridge at the immediate right of the east face.

Emmeline Freda Du Faur was born 16 September 1882 in Sydney Australia, but lived and grew up 25 kilometres north near the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. Much of her youth was spent exploring the diverse terrain of the park, ranging from wetlands to sand stone cliffs, a perfect introduction to the world of rock climbing.

Upon completing her education at Sydney Church of England Grammar School for Girls Freda started training as a nurse. This did not work out and there is some suggestion that she was suffering from bi polar disorder.

Freda spent the next few years traveling and in 1906 made her first visit to New Zealand’s South Island to gaze upon Mount Cook. Photos of the mountains inspired her to go and see it for herself. She stayed at the Hermitage Lodge with its views of snow-covered peaks.

On her second visit to Hermitage in 1908 she met local guide Peter Graham. Under his influence and guidance she progressed from youthful rock climbing to full fledged mountain climbing. By this time she had already decided that she was going to climb all of the major peaks of the Southern Alps of the South Island.

Freda first ascended Mount Sealy within the Southern Alps on 19 December 1909. At the Hermitage, she fell afoul of other women, who insisted she should not spend a night alone with a guide, not even Peter Graham. It is unknown whether Freda was aware of her attraction to other women at this point, and how she privately responded to these concerns about morality. Unfortunately for Du Faur, the designated chaperon proved to be an encumberance. Her well-learnt ropework expertise saved his life when he slipped.

Given the rigour of the alpine environment, Freda dressed practically. She wore a skirt to just below the knee over knickerbockers and long puttees while she climbed. Du Faur wore it on all her subsequent mountaineering expeditions. She contradicted gender expectations after some of her major climbs. Her femininity disconcerted male critics and upset stereotypes about female athletes. She was a practical woman, however, and felt sunburn, dirt and discomfort were minimal discomforts when it came to the excitement of climbing.

Freda Du Faur proved to be a trendsetter in her chosen vocation, not only for similarly motivated women, but for other guided climbers of the Edwardian era. She was celebrated for her rock-climbing expertise, perseverance, and athleticism. Muriel Cadogan trained her for three months at the Dupain Institute of Physical Education in Sydney, before she travelled to New Zealand in November 1910.

The south face of Aoraki Mount Cook. Photo: Ebenezer Teichelmann. Taken 1905.

Mount Cook: December 1910

For 40 years from the mid-1890s alpine climbing was dominated by professional guides. Alec (left) was based at Franz Josef Glacier and Peter (right) became chief guide at the Hermitage in 1906. Guides like the Grahams would take clients on expeditions through the central Southern Alps. The Australian Freda Du Faur (centre) was often guided by the Grahams. Alec and Peter were with her when she became the first woman to climb Aoraki/Mt Cook in 1910. Peter also guided her on the first traverse of Aoraki/Mt Cook’s three peaks in 1913.

Freda's rigorous preparation for the coming onslaught enabled her to climb Mount Cook soon after her arrival in New Zealand. On 3 December 1910, Peter and Alexander (Alec) Graham accompanied her to the summit. Her expedition was the first female ascent of the mountain, as well as the fastest to that date. She shared her tent with the guides. After this expedition, chaperonage, dress, and convention proved to be irrelevant to her enjoyment of mountaineering.

Over four climbing seasons she made many first ascents and notable climbs. Her feats included the second ascent of Mount Tasman, the first ascent of Mount Dampier and the first traverse of Mount Sefton as well as other 3000 m peaks. She made the first Grand Traverse of all three peaks of Mount Cook on 3 January 1913 with Peter Graham and David (Darby) Thomson.

She had great plans to climb other regions around the world including Canada, the Himalayas and the Alps. With Muriel she travelled to England in preparation, but World War 1 intervened. All her plans were set aside and Freda never climbed again.

Freda wrote her book The Conquest of Mount Cook while in London and it was published in 1915. In 1929 Muriel had a breakdown and her family came to take her home leaving Freda alone in England. Unfortunately, Muriel never reached Australia, dying at sea.
Freda returned to Sydney where she spent her time traipsing the nearby bushland. On 11 September 1935 Freda took her own life and was buried in an unmarked grave at Manly. It was not until 2006 that a proper headstone was erected commemorating her achievements.

Lendenfeld (l) Tasman (c) Mt. Cook Aoraki and dampier (l), all peaks climbed by Freda du Faur. Photo: Bob McKerrow

Earlier on in this article I spoke of my knowledge of the Freda du Faur era through my research on Ebenezer who climbed from 1897 to.1924. In her book The conquest of Mount Cook and other climbs : an account of four seasons’ mountaineering on the Southern Alps of New Zealand she refers to Dr. Teichelmann six times on pages., 21, 22, 80, 82, 137, 167 .

On page 81 she describes her first meeting with Teichelmann in 1910 at today's Franz Josef township, then Waiho. "We strolled over to Batson's about 6.30, and there found Dr. Teichelmann, a well-known West Coast climber, and Mr. Linden, of Geelong. They had both been waiting page 81some days for a chance of crossing over Graham's Saddle to the Hermitage. They were starting the following morning under the guidance of Alex Graham for a bivouac up the Franz Josef. We decided to spend at least two days at Waiho Gorge and explore the glacier, and then, weather permitting, follow the others across Graham's Saddle."

On page 82 "The next day, Sunday, was wet, page 82and we amused ourselves as best we could; I sent most of the morning in the swimming hole. Just as we were finishing dinner there came a sound of heavy boots and weary voices in the passage. It was Dr. Teichelmann and Mr. Linden, who had been driven back from their bivouac for the third time that week by bad weather. The doctor was unfortunate enough to have a toe slightly frostbitten, so retired to his room and was not visible that night. Their account of the days spent in the bivouac so diminished our desire to do the Graham's Saddle trip that we decided to return as we had come, endeavouring to piece in the missing bits of the view, and, weather permitting, spend a few hours on the Fox Glacier."

On page 167 "We got some splendid photographs; Alex taking a special one of the great rock slabs of La Perouse for Dr. Teichelmann. I also got a beauty of the ridge between the three peaks of Mount Cook, our situation being the best possible view-point from which to study it. Then deciding that we would have to leave Mount Ruareka for another day, until it had put off its mantle of snow and ice, we made all speed for home. We managed some splendid standing glissades, the tracks of which were seen by Peter and his party, who crossed over the Ball Pass a few hours later. They concluded we had succeeded in gaining our peak."

Like the meeting of the founder of Red Cross, Henri Dunant, and Florence Nigthengale in Paris, we have very little information. As a biographer of Teichelmann, I would love to know what they talked about when they met at least twice, , what they thought of each other, and did they have anything in common.

Sir Edmund Hillary wrote the foreword to my Teichelmann book

2010-10-29T01:00:00.000-07:00

When I finished the book on Ebenezer Teichelmann, I wrote to Ed Hillary asking if he would write a foreword to the book, as I said he and Teichelmann had something special in common, they were both former Presidents of the New Zealand Alpine Clubs. They had both climbed Aoraki/Mount Cook, photo (left) Photo: Bob McKerrow
This is what he wrote:

FOREWORD

As a young climber I came to respect the climbs and exploration done by Dr. Ebenezer Teichelmann, mainly from the West Coast of New Zealand, up those long and difficult valleys such as the Cook River Valley, and his many first ascent were remarkable in that day and age of hobnail boots and long handled ice axes. His third ascent of Mt. Cook in 1905 was a wonderful achievement.I have seen his photographs gracing many NZ Alpine Journals and other books and I am delighted that hardy band of West Coast mountaineers which included not only Dr. Teichelmann, but Peter and Alec Graham and later, my old climbing partner, Harry Ayres, is getting the recognition they deserve.Both Dr. Teichelmann and I are former Presidents of the NZ Alpine Club and I am pleased the club is supporting this important publication on New Zealand Mountaineering, and capturing a bygone era of courage and tenacity in exploration.

Edmund Hillary1 December, 2003.

In Teichelmann country

2010-07-19T11:34:00.000-07:00

I have been on the West Coast six days now and doing day trips from Ross. It is strange staying in Ross, as everywhere I go I feel the presence of the Rev. Newton and Dr.Teichelmann. Newton lived here for 6 years and Teichelmann was a frequent visitor. I have done a lot of trips to places which were well known to Teicelmann and I will post a few photos of those places.

On Thursday last week I travelled by the Tranzalpine from Christchurch to Greymouth. Tiechelmann used this rail route a lot. Photo: Bob McKerrow

On Friday morning Kira, Leith and I walked down to Mananui beach, 5 km south of Hokitika and took this photo. It captures the wild mood of the West Coast. There I could pick out peaks I had climbed: Cook Aoraki, Tasman, Elie de Beaumont, Douglas, Haidinger, Haast, Lendenfeld, Dampier, Vancouver, Malispina, McFettrick, St. Mildred, Red Lion and Drummond. For five days I had clear views of the Southern Alps as I moved down the coast. Here are some photos of the journey.

Approaching Arthur's Pass. Photo: Bob McKerrow

The bridge across the Taramakau River.This was the northern limit of Dr. Teichelmann's medical responsibility which stretched from here to Jackson's Bay. Photo: Bob McKerrow

A map of Westland.

Sunrise at Mananui Beach, 5 km south of Hokitika.Photo: Bob McKerrow

With my daughter Kira, and her son Leith at Mananui Beach.

Lake Mahinapua. Dr. T fought against the pro-logging industry to get some protection status for this lake.Photo: Bob McKerrow

Mount Cook Aoraki, Mt. Tasman. Teicehelmann did the 3rd ascent of Mt. Cook Aoraki.Photo: Bob McKerrow

Forest walk to Mananui beach. Photo: Bob McKerrow

Early morning on the Waitaha River. I know this valley well having climbed at the head of County Stream. In 1993 I was in a party that did the first winter ascent and traverse of Red Lion Peaks. Photo: Bob McKerrow

Lake Ianthe, north of Hari Hari. Photo: Bob McKerrow

The Wanganui River with Hendes Ferry on the right. This was where Carl Hende had his residence and was available with horse to assist people to cross. Frequently Teichelman usesd his services and operated on his injured horses. Photo : Bob McKerrow

Teichelmann country. Blue Lookout and the Lord and Lambert Ranges. Photo: Bob McKerrow

The view from the Wanganui river flats looking to the Lord and Lambert ranges. Photo: Bob McKerrow

The Kakapotahi River. Photo: Bob McKerrow

Tasman (l) and Mount Cook Aoraki (r). Photo: Bob McKerrow

The braided Waiho River which drains the Franz Josef, Callery, Spenser and Burton Glaciers. Photo: Bob McKerrow

Franz Josef Glacier. Photo: Bob McKerrow

Franz Josef Glacier from Castle Rocks Hut. Photo: Bob McKerrow

From Almer Hut looking to the Franz neve and the Southern Alps.Photo: Bob McKerrow

Lake Kaniere, New Zealand.

2010-01-07T17:59:00.000-08:00

Lake Kaniere, is one of those moody, spiritual lakes, that beckons you into the high mountains beyond. Photo: Ebenezer Teichelmann

Today I would like to post an extract from my book on Ebenezer Teichelmann, showing the role he played in getting scenic reserve status.

Teichelmann’s participation in the team which pioneered Arthur’s Pass National Park in 1929 must have encouraged him in his desire to protect the special places of Westland. He was concerned that the scenic values of Lake Kaniere were being eroded through the lack of a local management committee to monitor and protect the area.
Sometime in December 1933, Dr Teichelmann approached the Commissioner for Crown Lands in Hokitika to discuss a number of issues concerning the Lake Kaniere Scenic Reserve. On 21 December, 1933, the Commissioner wrote to the Under Secretary for Lands in Wellington.
‘Dr Teichelmann, at the instance of the local branch of the Automible [sic] Association and the Acclimatisation Society, which also acts as a local branch of the Tourist Department, recently interviewed me regarding the prospects of this department undertaking improvements on the Lake Kanieri [sic] Reserve…
‘Incidentally the question of having the control of the reserve formally vested in a local board of control was discussed in which connection it was agreed that this would probably meet with the approval of local people and give an impetus to local interest in the reserve. The Doctor inquired if, in the event of a local Board taking control it would control the revenue from the leasing of boatshed sites granted on the edge of the Lake. I advised him that I would also refer this question to Head Office.’
In his reply 15 days later, the Under-Secretary for Lands advised that there was no prospect of a Government grant or subsidy this year, but that his office would be pleased to see a special Scenic Reserve Board formed to control the reserve, and that revenue from leasing the boat-shed sites could be made available in the future for the Board’s purposes.
Correspondence in the months that follow on the Lands and Survey file show that Dr Teichelmann was the driving force behind empowering local people to take control of the Lake Kaniere Reserve. On many of the letters in the file there are handwritten notes from officials of the Lands and Survey Office, Hokitika, saying ‘discussed with Dr Teichelmann.’ The New Zealand Gazette, number 71, 20 September 1934, announced officially the ‘Vesting of Control of a Scenic Reserve in the Lake Kaniere Scenic Board by Bledisloe, Governor General.’
The following people were nominated for a period of five years: The Mayor of Hokitika, The Chairman of Westland District Council, The Commissioner of Crown Lands for the Westland Land District, The Conservator of Forests for the Westland Forest-Conservation region, Dr Ebenezer Teichelmann, David John Evans and John Noble Robinson.
At the first meeting on 8 October, 1934, a ground committee of Dr Teichelmann, S. C. Darby, Conservator of Forests and J. N. Robinson, was appointed to report in regard to matters for attention at Lake Kaniere.
Dr. Teichelmann had a small batch at Lake Kaniere and spent a lot of time exploring the lake and environs.

The first annual report of the Board shows a far-sighted and hardworking group. They cleared large areas of blackberry, erected notice boards regarding fire control, the destruction of flora, swimming and water pollution; and appointed honorary rangers. They were among the first in New Zealand to express concern about the effects possums, stoats, weasels and rats were having upon native birds. They voiced their concern:
‘The decision of the controlling department to discontinue issuing permits to trap opossums on scenic reserves had caused the Board some concern as it is considered that trappers are responsible for the destruction of much vermin of these reserves such as stoats, weasels and rats. Moreover from enquiries made it is ascertained that the damage done to bush on scenic reserves by trappers is almost negligible, and it is more than favourably offsetted [sic] by the destruction of vermin mentioned which are the natural enemies of our native birds.’
Teichelmann’s involvement in the Lake Kaniere Scenic Reserve Board grew in its first three years, and it became a very effective nature preservation body, but at the same time encouraging recreation. The Doctor's experience from serving on the Arthur’s Pass National Park Board was proving invaluable to steering the Kaniere Board in similar directions. Both reserves today are substantially attributable to the vision of this man. Here was a fine example of one man making a difference.
Doctor Teichelmann was a man with a belief in the preservation of nature for the benefit of all people. But his convictions did not exist solely in the purchase of a few glossy photography books to show visitors, or even the membership of a conservation organization. He lobbied and fought unselfishly for those long term goals. He suffered hardships to explore and record those wonders for those who did not have the means to access the wilderness. He was a man who lived what he preached.

Back in Teichelmann country

2009-08-11T12:42:00.001-07:00

On the Pioneer Ridge, Fox Glacier, Photo: Dr. E. Teichelmann.

I have been on the West Coast for three days and staying at Ross. Today I travel south to Teichelmann country. Here are a few photos.

Teichelmann's travelling companions in 1905. Another Teichelmann photo.

St. David's Dome (now Mt. Hicks) from the Opus Glacier, near Harper Saddle. Photo by Dr. E. Teichelmann

The Waiho River. Teichelmann spent a lot of time at Waiho. Photo: Bob McKerrow

A letter from Norman Hardie abour Dr. Teichelmann.

2009-07-17T17:43:00.000-07:00

Norman Hardie (r) with Tony Streather.

Dear Bob,
Thank you for the kind piece about me in your recent blog.
I was most impressed with your Teichelmann book. My wife's mother was brought up in Hokitika. Her father was MP and an uncle the Mayor. Teichy was family doctor and coached mother-in-law in hockey. On Thursdaqy 9th we will stay at the T B&B for the night, during a nostalgic Westland tour. In 1953 I stayed at Porter's house on two occasions and I met Canon Newton---great men.
Cheers,
Norman Hardie

I was delighted to get this letter the other day from Norman Hardie, the great New Zealand Mountaineer. Here is an article I posted on my blog late last year about Norm.

When I was back in New Zealand in July this year I stumbled across a copy of Norm Hardies book On My Own Two Feet. It is a brilliant book about a simple Kiwi guy who started off working life as a deer culler, which helped him finance his fees at Canterbury University where he obtained an engineering degree. Norm Hardies outlook on the mountains reminds me of Charles Brasch's poem, which describes the uniqueness of the New Zealand mountains...... Man must lie with the gaunt hills like a lover, Earning their intimacy in the calm sigh ... (full version at the beginning of posting)

Norman Hardie knows the South Island mountains like few others. You can feel the intimacy he has for his mountains. It must have come as no surprise in 1956 when Norm was a member of a small party that did the first ascent of the world's 3rd highest mountain, Mt. Kanchenjunga. pictured below from Goecha La (4940m), Sikkim, India.

The ascent of Kanchenjunga is an important part of the book and deserves such a well crafted section, but it is his raw love of the New Zealand Alps that makes the book a classic, and brings together the threads of tramping, hunting, culling, skiing, photography, climbing and his profewssional take on hydro electic generation.

There was an exceptionally good article on Norm Hardie in Saturday's Christchuch Press , which gave me permission to run it on my blog.

His name is not one immediately associated with the world's high peaks, yet Norman Hardie is among the great mountaineers of the great age of mountaineering, writes PHILIP MATTHEWS.
It's like the moon landings. Everyone over a certain age remembers exactly where they were when Apollo 11 touched down but no-one paid much attention to Apollo 12 or Apollo 13.
So it is with mountains. You know who knocked off Mt Everest, but not K2 or Kangchenjunga.
Which is why you probably haven't heard of Christchurch's Norman Hardie. In 1955, Hardie was one of the group that made the first ascent of Kangchenjunga. At 8586m, this is the third-highest mountain in the world, but it doesn't lag behind by much – its Himalayan neighbours Everest and K2 measure only another 260m and 25m respectively.
But it's always about Everest, isn't it? The tallest, the most famous. The most glamorous.
"Everest is nothing like the hardest, though," Hardie says. "Of the 14 mountains over 8000m, it ranks about 10th in difficulty. It's just the fact that it's big and has a pronounceable name, and particularly because the British began trying to climb it back in 1921. They climbed it on the 12th expedition. There had been masses of books about it and a hang of a lot of hype, especially in the English language."
You won't hear it from him, but Hardie is one of the 20th century's great mountaineers. In the foreword to Hardie's 2006 memoir, On My Own Two Feet, Sir Edmund Hillary called him "a skilled mountaineer and a formidable explorer . . . renowned for his considerable determination and refusal to accept defeat".
Michael Ward, medical officer on the 1953 conquest of Everest, called him "an outstanding mountaineer and surveyor, whose feats can be compared with those of Oliver Wheeler and Henry Morshead on Everest in 1921 and of Michael Spender in 1935".
Even if those names mean nothing, you know that's heady praise. Surely there should be statues and plaques, perhaps streets named after him. But the lack of attention back home isn't a concern. "They make a fuss of me in Germany and Japan. And the British do, too. I've never been worried about it."
Hardie is 83 now, officially a semi- retired engineer and living a quiet life in the hills of Cashmere. Where else would you find him in an otherwise flat city? Even the driveway is a perilous ascent. There is a sheer wall of mountaineering books and journals in his study, and a cluster of Nepalese artefacts. There is a view of the distant Southern Alps. There are photos from the last reunion of the Kangchenjunga party – of the original nine, only four remain.
Among serious mountaineers, Kangchenjunga was seen as an enormous challenge and a glittering prize – definitely a tougher climb than Everest, Hardie reminds us. Earlier German expeditions had come within 1000m of the summit but were driven back by bad weather. But with oxygen tanks designed by Hardie, Joe Brown and George Band reached the top on May 25, 1955. Hardie and Tony Streather followed a day later. And it would be another 22 years before anyone else would match them.
Their feat was even more astonishing when you consider that the 1955 expedition was only supposed to be a reconnaissance mission for the real effort the following year.
It was another time, the closing of the great age of exploration. By the end of the 1950s, the world's major peaks had been conquered and much has changed since. Everest has become "a playground", some say, just another stop on the adventure- tourism circuit.
Any would-be climber can buy the services of an experienced guide and pay their way up – New Zealander Rob Hall, a man Hardie knew well, died on the mountain in 1996 while looking after a client who had collapsed near the peak.
Yes, the commercialisation of climbing is a concern. "It worries me because a lot of people have been to the top of Everest and never seen snow before in their lives. People from Hong Kong and Singapore. A woman from the Philippines got to the top of Everest last year. It cheapens the whole thing."
Hardie served his climbing apprenticeship in the Southern Alps and first encountered Hillary there in 1948. It was the year of the famous Mt La Perouse rescue, when the injured Ruth Adams was carried down from the mountain in a stretcher. This has been called "the most arduous rescue in New Zealand's climbing history".
That story is a reminder of just how tough our backyard can be. For years, Hardie was called on to help look for lost climbers in the South Island. He can still vividly remember the time he was caught in an avalanche on Mt Rolleston during such a mission. "Unconscious for a while there," he says quietly. "Thought I'd had it. Slowly going out as the oxygen runs out."
The same avalanche took the life of his good friend John Harrison. The bodies of the four lost climbers they had looked for weren't found until months later. And that, he writes in his understated way, was to be his last high mountain search.
As for putting it all down in a memoir, he says that he "got pressured from all sorts of people saying that my story ought to come out. The official book on Kangchenjunga – by Charles Evans – was the most restrained, controlled book I've ever struck. A very gentlemanly British thing that didn't give anything like the whole story."
After Kangchenjunga he kept up a relationship with that part of the world. He made 14 trips to Nepal and only the first three were about mountain climbing. He spent 22 years as a director of Hillary's Himalayan Trust, helping to build schools and set up the Sagarmatha/Everest National Park. In 1960, he joined a team that had the very serious purpose of high- altitude acclimatisation research and another, more frivolous mission – to track the yeti.
How seriously was this taken? "The American members of the party took it very seriously. There were 22 of us from four different countries. The American sponsors were concerned that the medical research wouldn't get any publicity so they talked Hillary into going along with looking for the yeti. All of us who had been there before were very cynical about this. But it paid for the expedition and everyone had a good time."
And it might be a ridiculous question but was there any evidence? "There were footprints in the snow but they were just badly identified orthodox animals."
He went south, too, making three trips to Antarctica over 20 years. Once to instruct Americans in the right way and wrong way to tackle snow and ice, once to join Hillary's party for the first ascent of Mt Herschel and once as leader of Scott Base.
It was much harder then than now to make a living out of mountaineering. In the afterglow of the ascent of Kangchenjunga, that was something he had to consider. "Was I going to go a Hillary way and stay in this sort of thing permanently and somehow make money out of it? But I was already qualified as an engineer and decided to stick to that.
"Once I started to establish myself, I got all these invitations to free expeditions. I never ever went on one that got paid. I had to be grateful for having a co-operative wife and a co- operative business partner – I was able to go away for so long and so many times. It's no good going to the Himalayas for a fortnight. You're pretty useless for the first two weeks."
So bursts of adventure were slotted into domestic life. He had married Enid Hurst in 1951 and they had two daughters. He became a consulting engineer for a firm in Christchurch in 1956 and then a partner in his own firms. And until recently he was to be found kayaking and tramping around the South Island.
Can a sense of adventure be genetic? You might ask this if you heard about his older brother, Jack. A quick search of Nelson newspapers shows that one Jack Hardie holds a record as the oldest man to have ever skydived at Motueka airport. It's become a tradition: every January, Jack marks his birthday with a plunge, as it coincides with the day that he was shot down over Holland during World War II. "The parachute saved him and as a result of that, he does this thing every birthday."
In January, Norman and Enid will be in Nelson to watch Jack plummet out of the sky again, at age 90.
Planes, mountains – Hardie has had something else on his mind lately, too. It's that great South Island subject: water.
In 1948, as a young Ministry of Works engineer at Lake Pukaki, he had a brainwave. If the west coast of the South Island is wet, and the east coast is dry, why not pipe water from one side to the other? The idea hibernated for decades, but by the early 1990s, the surveying maps were accurate enough to see that the Landsborough and Douglas rivers on the western side are higher than Pukaki on the eastern side, meaning you could do it without pumping water uphill.
Among his collection of geological maps, rain graphs and engineering drawings, he has some photos of the Landsborough Valley: the glaciers, the moraines, the boulders. "I began with the Landsborough because I knew it so well through mountaineering.. All the mountaineers and shooters who go in there know it's really wet and the river comes up pretty fast and stays up for a long time."
It's entirely feasible, he believes, to put 25 kilometres of tunnels through the Alps and pipe the river water into Lake Pukaki. And as everyone who has spent a winter in Canterbury knows, the level of Pukaki and other hydro lakes are a matter of day-to-day anxiety. This could be a way to keep the levels up, without damming rivers and flooding valleys. As one Press correspondent wrote after reading about Hardie's scheme, "The forests and snails of the Copland Valley would be unharmed".
It sounds ingenious. The Press understands that this idea was put to the old Electricity Corporation of New Zealand (ECNZ) in the 1990s and that there was some interest before the carve-up of ECNZ into Meridian, Mighty River and Genesis. So has it been on Meridian's mind again since? Spokesperson Claire Shaw says that while "it's a very interesting concept that we're aware of" and "there are clear benefits to the project for hydro storage in New Zealand", it comes with significant challenges as well. Quite a few of them, she says.
"We have no plans to pursue it in the near future," she adds. "We have a whole host of options that would come before that."
Too bad. In the meantime, Hardie's legacy can rest on his mountaineering exploits. It's strange to think of it, but in all these years he's never reflected on what makes a great mountaineer. Can he define it? He pauses and considers this for a while.
"Fitness is obvious but you also need some appreciation of the high country, whether it's geology or weather," he says. "And certainly the ability to get on with people you're with if you're stuck in a small tent for three or four days."
And presumably you need patience? "Yes. Yes. I believe too that you should never stick your neck out too much. Don't take too many risks. If the weather's not on or you're not feeling well or your climbing companion has bust his equipment, give it away. The mountain will still be there tomorrow."

To the Cook River and Mount La Perouse - 1906. Ebenezer Teichelmann

2009-07-02T18:36:00.000-07:00

David's Dome (now Mt. Hicks) and Mt. Cook Aoraki from the Opul Glacier below Harpers saddle. Photograph: Ebenezer Teichelmann.

One of the great expeditions that Dr, Ebenezer Teichelmann led was in 1906 when he went up the Cook River Valley and over Harpers Saddle to the Hooker Valley and Mount Cook. En route they did the first ascent of Mount La Perouse. Here is the chapter from my book describing this magnificent journey.

1906 Cook River and Mount La Perouse

Flushed with the success of their 1905 expedition, the West Coast trio decided on the Cook River again, and the unclimbed Mount La Perouse as their main objective. They were joined this time by their companion from the Mount Cook climb: the Scottish climber, Mr R. S. Low. Greatly liked by the Doctor and the Reverend for his good natured humour and quiet, unassuming manner, Low was regarded as a skilled climber on both rock and snow. Another prospector, Charles Anderson, helped Alec Graham set up a base camp, a little higher than last year's one. Anderson had been working a gold claim in the Cook River, opposite the Digger’s Huts. He was a true bushman, sleeping in one blanket and a cocoon of ferns. Alec Graham was amused at the sight of smoke seeping out of a pile of ferns as he settled down for the night with his final pipe, rather like a talking haangi (a Maori cooking pit).

Ebenezer Teichelmann in the Cook Valley, 1906
When Newton arrived at Waiho on 17 January, he was pleasantly surprised to be reunited with an ice axe he had lost four years earlier on his first trip to the glacier. It had been discovered just a few days previous to his arrival, with its shaft sticking out of the ice of the glacier terminus. Apart from rust on the pick, it was in good order. Teichelmann, Low and Newton joined up with Alec Graham about a week later, and they swagged up the Cook River to La Perouse Glacier. A high camp was made on the spur which separates Gulch Creek and La Perouse Glacier. They had good views of the head of the valley, plenty of firewood, and a stream nearby. They even had sugar and biscuits from the year before.
It dawned fine on 1 February, 1906, but with fog in the valley below. The party of four left the high camp just before 4:00am and soon crested the main ridge. They had to traverse around two steep dips on the ridge before reaching the col and ridge leading up to the summit of La Perouse. It took a whole hour to negotiate the first gendarme. They had attacked it head on, only to discover that there was no way down off the other side. So back they went. Newton was last to descend, and his camera once again caused him grief. Determined to avoid the problems of 1905, he tied it to his rope and lowered it off. It kept snagging on rock projections, and it suffered damage with the crashing about. Later he was dismayed to find the shutter damaged. A rest day with the equivalent of a Swiss army knife and he had manufactured new parts sufficient for its continued use during that expedition.
The climb was straightforward, although a fair number of steps were required. They were pleased to find that the arête that had looked so sharp and steep from the Cook River flats was not too bad in reality. It was in excellent condition with a good firm coating of snow. It was a thrill for Alec Graham, who recalled his feelings of that moment. ‘It was my first real mountain, and a 10,000 foot virgin peak.’
It was only 10.50am when they stepped the final rise. There was plenty of time to linger on the top and take in the stunning view, especially of neighbouring Mount Cook, and to relive the excitement of the previous year. Newton carefully studied an unclimbed route on Mount Cook, known today as Earle's route. He expressed his desire to return one day to climb it. And as they sat on the summit, one wonders if they thought themselves a weird bunch. A Scot, an Englishman, a German/Scot born in Australia, and a New Zealander sitting on a peak named after a French navigator. Teichelmann, Newton and Alec Graham had forged not only friendships, but had become a formidable climbing combination that was on the brink of greatness.
They descended by a different route, using a snow slope on the La Perouse Glacier side. This was the route later used in 1948 by the famous Ruth Adams rescue party, which included Sir Edmund Hillary. Using judicious glissading, they returned to camp in just one hour 27 minutes, compared with over six hours for the ascent.
A few days of bad weather followed and the group explored the La Perouse Glacier. From it they climbed up to a col on the Balfour Range, which lies opposite Katies Col on the Fox Range. They had a good view of the upper Balfour Glacier and its spectacular display of avalanches from the hanging section down onto the lower glacier. Clarke Saddle was identified further east: another objective. To the south they traced their route over Harper Saddle. Just to the east of that sat the imposing bulk of Mount Hicks, then known by the more lyrical name of St David’s Dome. As it was also an objective, they carefully scoped out routes from the north, and even a potential bivvy site. That done, they got up and traversed east to climb a small rock peak. It is unclear whether this was Vanguard or a closer rock pinnacle.

Dr Teichelmann’s much traveled full plate camera was carried to this spot. Alec Graham, who spent much of his early guiding years carrying the Doctor’s camera best describes his passion.
‘The Doctor was very thorough in everything he undertook and it took a long time, sometimes, to get just the right composition he wanted. He never failed to ask me to look through the viewfinder to see if I could suggest any improvement, for he always liked me to help him. When on any sharp peak I put the rope on him as he was so interested in getting what he wanted that he was liable to forget where he was standing when he had his head under the focusing cloth. Then, when he was satisfied with the composition of the picture he was taking, there was the right aperture and time for the exposure to be carefully adjusted and checked.
Mr Newton would sometimes get a little impatient with the Doctor for taking so long. The Doctor would reply, “I'm not going to let Alec carry the camera all the way up here and then make a mess of it. The difference between you and me, Newton, is that is that you are a photographic climber and I am a climbing photographer!” ’
Next morning they set off for Clarke Saddle, but heavy snow and deteriorating weather at the second icefall repulsed them. The next day the elements kept them at bay, enforcing time for repairs and ablutions, philosophizing and observing.
The four explorers had waged some competition with the wekas and keas over ownership of certain items. For some unknown reason, their soap was in particular demand from the wekas (New Zealand native bird). When the Doctor decided to wash a shirt the following wet day, there was only one small piece remaining. The other three sat and watched as one particular weka stalked through the scrub towards where the Doctor sat washing by the stream. Bemused, they kept silent. Every time he put the soap down on a rock, the weka would line up an attack, to be foiled at the last minute by the unsuspecting Doctor picking it up again. Finally, the weka struck in a lightning raid, and raced off into the scrub with the enraged Doctor in pursuit. The soap was lost, but the audience deemed the entertainment well worth the price.
When the weather cleared at their base camp on the La Perouse Glacier, they readied themselves for the next objective: St. David's Dome, now called Mount Hicks. Unfortunately the Doctor had bruised his heel and elected not to join. It was late in the afternoon when Newton, Low and Alec Graham left for a higher bivouac below the first ice fall on the La Perouse Glacier. That night as they ate their meal, Newton remarked how he missed the Doctor's company, but said it was rather nice having a meal without the Doctor’s eye on you. Graham and Newton had wolf-like appetites, while the Doctor, a small eater, would jokingly remark that it was no wonder they had to carry such heavy swags.
On 9 February the party got away at 2:30am on a very warm morning. Following their previous route through the first icefall, they turned right on to a long snow ridge running down from Mount. Hicks (referred to in Anderson's Jubilee History of South Canterbury as the north-west arête), joined the main west ridge higher up. They struck soft snow on the lower part of the ridge, but step cutting became necessary higher up where conditions were colder. At the top of the north-west ridge, they struck a rock face which provided excellent climbing onto the main west ridge. The final section of ridge to the summit was climbed in gusty conditions. The force of the wind necessitated a straddle shuffle along one section of the icy ridge. They reached the top at 11:00am. It was so windy there that Newton had to lie down to take his photographs. Sheltering from the wind on the eastern lee of the summit, they had time to admire the neighbouring flanks of Cook and Dampier.
The descent was by the same route. It had been a long time since they had last quenched their thirst, so a stop was made on the rocks just before the glacier. The billy packed ready with snow, Newton got out the bottle of meths. In a second, it had slipped from his hand and shattered on the rocks. The meths quickly evaporated. Without a word, but with parched mouths worsened by anticipation, they packed up and continued on.

Meanwhile, back at base camp, Dr Teichelmann was having an enjoyable day with his camera. His heel injury was rapidly improving. He was obviously pleased with the first ascent of Mount Hicks by his team mates and congratulated them warmly and enthusiastically on their return. They were more interested in the contents of the boiling billy than his congratulatory speech.
Mr Newton and Dr Teichelmann were running out of holiday time, so they returned to their respective employments in Ross and Hokitika. Their companion Mr Low, whom they had come to respect and like, travelled back with them as far as Waiho. Alec Graham and Charlie Stoner transported out the remainder of their gear.
When Alec Graham returned to his home in Waiho, Mr Low was there and somewhat anxious to return to The Hermitage via Graham Saddle. He asked Graham to accompany him part of the way. The next day they camped under a rock on the Baird Range, below Goat Path.
‘We started early next morning and I went with him well out over the Franz Josef snowfields. Here we parted and I returned to the base of Mildred Peak and watched him cross the saddle. I did not feel anxious about him going alone, for he was a very careful and safe climber and should have reached Ball Hut before I got back home.’
It was 10:00am, Wednesday 21 February, when Alex Graham headed home to Waiho from near the Mackay Rocks. An hour later Mr Low was ready to descend into the Rudolf Glacier, having safely crossed Graham Saddle. He stopped for a short rest at the top of a couloir that led down onto the glacier. Conditions were good, and progress swift, so he resolved to travel right through to the Hermitage that day, rather than spend a night at Ball Hut. He bent and picked up his swag. It was bulky, but not heavy. He had only brought provisions for one day in order to travel light and fast. Shouldering his swag, and picking up his ice axe, he stepped carefully down into the couloir.
Not bothering to cut steps, he slipped into the repetitive rhythm of placing the axe firmly, then stepping down. Thoughts elsewhere, he was caught unawares
when his feet slipped on a small patch of ice. Quickly he rolled into a self-arrest position to brake his accelerating fall. Panicking, he drove the axe in hard. His momentum was too great, and the axe was wrenched from his hands. By now he had gathered considerable speed, and a hungry schrund below opened wide in expectation. It was not to be. Slamming into some protruding rocks, he heard and felt his ankle crunch and twist. The pain was excruciating, and he knew it was unusable. If not broken, it was at least badly dislocated.
Low dragged himself to safety behind some big rocks and collapsed. Wisely, he rested there. His racing thoughts gradually slowed, and he formulated a plan. He was a long way from anyone, and would not be missed for some time. He may be crippled, but one look at the gaping schrund below at the base of the couloir, and he realized that those rocks had undoubtedly saved his life. He had lost his ice axe and all his food, except for a tin of milk and some chocolate. At least he had plenty of tobacco, he thought, lighting his pipe. The options were grim. To descend meant a crawl with no ice axe down a hard frozen slope. Waiting for the sun, he needed the softened surface to gain some friction on the slope. Carefully, with two hands and one boot, he inched down to a snowbridge over the crevasse. An icy breath from the depths of the blue/black maw sent a shiver down his spine as he crawled across to the safety of the glacier. Now seated, he propelled himself out onto the centre of the glacier. There he spent the night, thankful for the insulation of his sleeping bag.
It took three painful days in snow and cold to crawl down the glacier, dragging himself along the last day in two feet of fresh hail and snow. Waiting for the assistance and comfort of the sun, he leashed his pack to one end of his rope, and himself to the other. Dragging himself a rope length, he would then wind in his pack. In this manner he passed his second day. That night was spent sheltered behind a large rock on the ice. His fierce thirst could be slaked with small pools of meltwater, or dribbles on rocks. Once he had gained the moraine, he had to crawl with his pack on. Its bulk exaggerated his movements, and balance was awkward. It snowed heavily that night. The de la Bêche rock bivouac was only three kilometres away, but it took all day, crawling over rough moraine and through sixty centimetres of snow to get there.
For another six days Low waited, living on a hundred grams of cocoa found in the bivvy, half a loaf of bread he had recently found in the bottom of his swag, and water collected from drips on the rock. As the days passed and his meagre supplies diminished, so did his hopes of ever being rescued. He wrote his last requests on the mica sheets of a headlamp, and with his own blood he wrote his thanks to his climbing friends on a map that Alec Graham had lent him.
Four days after Alec Graham had seen Mr Low go over Graham Saddle, he and Dr Teichelmann were worried by the non-arrival of telegrams which Low promised he would send when he arrived safely at the Hermitage. Both Alec and the Doctor wired the telephonist at Tekapo, who sent a message by pigeon to the Hermitage. Foolishly, the telegrapher tied the whole telegram to the pigeon's leg who, after having pecked it off, flew to The Hermitage without it.

Nine days after his accident, two friends of Low arrived in Waiho, having crossed the Copland from the Hermitage. One was Professor Marshall, and the other Doctor Bell. Low was engaged to be married to Dr Bell’s sister. They had been waiting at the Hermitage for Low to join them, so when they heard that he had left nine days before, they were justifiably concerned. The nearest telephone was 15 kilometres north at the Forks, but eventually a message was passed to Lake Pukaki, the closest telephone to the Hermitage. Realizing the importance of the eaten telegram, someone rode at speed through to the Hermitage. Jack Clarke and Peter Graham set off at once, even though it was 8:00pm. Fearing the worst, they traveled through the night, knowing that it would be at least de la Bêche corner before they would find any sign of him. At 4:00am they were relieved to hear Low’s answers to their calls as they climbed up from the Tasman Glacier.
‘Though terribly thin, Mr Low was able to sit up and tell us what happened. His first request was for tobacco, which Jack was able to supply. He was very hungry so I made some soup and gave him small but frequent helpings while Jack examined his injuries. There were abrasions on his face and hands and a fractured ankle, but he was suffering most pain from his knees. They were severely lacerated after crawling two miles over broken moraine.’

The best Peter Graham could do in the way of a mountain radio was to carry on his back the carrier pigeon, Dick Seddon, named after another famous West Coaster. Battered and ruffled, he was entrusted with requesting a doctor and others to come and help. Twenty minutes after repairs in the sun on a rock, Dick was back at the Hermitage. Later that day, with great relief, Dr Teichelmann received word in Hokitika that his friend was alive.
Peter and Jack then raced over Graham Saddle to the Waterhole below Goatpath, where they met Newton and reported the good news of the discovery. Later the following day they were back with Low, to assist the nine men who had arrived to transport Low. The doctor who had joined them was Dr Truby King of Plunket fame.
It took ten hours to carry Low to Ball Hut. There they strapped him to a mattress on Hanmer Jack, an old grey horse, renown for his sure footing. He was met by a coach that took him through to Timaru for x-rays. Transferred to Christchurch, Low then suffered further complications which nearly cost him his life. Eventually he recovered, and went on to do some more climbing, but it was never the same again due to the chronic ankle injury.
Low's dramatic rescue brought mountaineering to the front pages of all New Zealand newspapers. Up to this time, it was Malcolm Ross who brought mountaineering to the attention of the public using a style that John Pascoe regarded derisively: ‘He was too wedded to his easy-come-easy-go journalism and his uncritical gusto got the better of him.’ But regardless of style, Ross popularised mountaineering. Teichelmann also contributed greatly to popular literature of New Zealand mountaineering before the First World War with entertaining articles superbly illustrated with photographs in various magazine and newspaper supplements.
Not long after Mr. Low's miraculous rescue, the Doctor received word from Australia that his mother, Margaret Teichelmann, had died on 30 March 1906 at the age of 82.

A new photo of Ebenezer Teichelmann

2009-04-07T01:22:00.001-07:00

Dr Ebenezer Teichelmann in tam-o-shanter.
I was delighted to discover this photograph of Dr. Ebenezer Teichelmann in the Macmillan Brown Library (University of Canterbury.

I have studied many shots of Teichy and this is the first of him in a somewhat playful mood and pose. I believe this photo was given by Dorothy Fletcher.

Details:
Title: Dr Ebenezer Teichelmann in tam-o-shanter.
Subject: New Zealand : people
Macmillan Brown Library (University of Canterbury) and, where applicable, the copyright holder. Accession number: 1065

The West Coast of South Island New Zealand, Te Ara

2009-03-02T21:16:00.001-08:00

Dear friends

You have to visit the West Coast section of Te Ara, the online encyclopedia of New Zealand. there are some brilliant articles and superb photographs such as the one above of Alec Graham (l), Rev. Newton (c) and Ebenezer Teichelamnn (r). You can have a look at the whole thing at:http://www.teara.govt.nz/Places/WestCoast/en
There are actually two separate articles (see icons below). The "WestCoast" deals with the whole region (everything from geology, plants,history, farming and culture), while "West Coast Places" has a page on eachtown or district (from Karamea to the far south).

A friend of mine, Simon Nathan has compiled this section and says "a few of my favorites are." Just click on the URLS (and make sure that thesound is turned on).
(a) Stroppy West Coasters giving Michael Cullen a hard time:http://www.teara.govt.nz/Places/WestCoast/WestCoast/11/ENZ-Resources/Standard/2/en
(b) A Wellington view of the West Coasthttp://www.teara.govt.nz/Places/WestCoast/WestCoast/1/ENZ-Resources/Standard/5/en
(c) A few real West CoastersJohn Crawford, potterhttp://www.teara.govt.nz/Places/WestCoast/WestCoast/13/ENZ-Resources/Standard/4/enSylvia & Gary James, last Denniston residentshttp://www.teara.govt.nz/Places/WestCoast/WestCoastPlaces/2/ENZ-Resources/Standard/4/enAlun Bollinger - not just a cinematographerhttp://www.teara.govt.nz/Places/WestCoast/WestCoast/13/ENZ-Resources/Standard/3/en
(d) Myth of the Irish - West Coasters aren't all Irish - in the 20C theywere discouragedhttp://www.teara.govt.nz/Places/WestCoast/WestCoast/6/ENZ-Resources/Standard/2/en
(e) Life doesn't stop just because its raininghttp://www.teara.govt.nz/Places/WestCoast/WestCoast/3/ENZ-Resources/Standard/4/en
(f)"Humping & hollowing" - the West Coast way of increasing dairyproduction. Huge areas are being re-contouredhttp://www.teara.govt.nz/Places/WestCoast/WestCoast/10/ENZ-Resources/Standard/4/en
(g) Gloriavale - one of the unusual groups that has settled on the WestCoasthttp://www.teara.govt.nz/Places/WestCoast/WestCoastPlaces/8/ENZ-Resources/Standard/6/en
(h) Ebenezer Teichelmann and fellow climbershttp://www.teara.govt.nz/Places/WestCoast/WestCoast/12/ENZ-Resources/Standard/2/2/en

Leonard Cockayne and Ebenezer Teichelmann

2008-12-11T13:28:00.001-08:00

Leonard Cockayne and Ebenezer Teichelmann

In 1915 Leonard Cockayne and Ebenezer Teichelmann reported on indigenous vegetation on the Port Hills above Christchurch. This led to the creation of the first scenic reserves for primarily botanical reasons. In this 1929 photograph, Leonard Cockayne and Ebenezer Teichelmann are surveying manuka forest.
Appendix to the journals of the House of Representatives 1912, C-6

Ebenezer Teichelmann book by Bob McKerrow. First Chapter

2008-11-08T17:54:00.000-08:00

Chapter 1: - Beginnings

There was a loud CRACK above. Eyes swiftly swiveled up to witness a huge block of crumbling rock slowly tumble and disintegrate, then plummet, sweeping all before it. The sun had been warming the slopes for most of the day. The tenuous grip of spider-webs of ice was loosened enough, and with nowhere to hide, a volley of humming rocks cascaded down. With a clatter of ricochet and the smell of Hades they flew past. Silence returned. No-one had been hit. This time.

The ridge was like a knife. Any thoughts of jumping over the opposite side to hold a partner’s fall would be suicide. The parting of hemp fibres would not even be noticed in the swift descent.

Cover of the first international edition

Above soared a rock face, dropping like a forehead from the summit brow. Creases of ice knitted together large expanses of bare rock. Here the climbing was technical and demanding. Flashing axes occasionally sent out showers of tinkling frozen crystals as delicate steps were cut for boot edges. Numb fingers caressed the rock for any projections that might offer relief from the drag of gravity. Skillfully weaving a vertical path, the two climbers stalled at the base of a smooth, featureless slab. The summit appeared to be only a rope length away, and time was racing by. Tom removed his alpine boots and slipped on rubber-soled friction shoes for the rock. Even so, he could gain no height. Some combined tactics were necessary: a push from Malcolm Ross. Tom Fyfe slowly disappeared from view.
Malcolm was uneasy. The rope had been moving with a nervous manner. Now it stopped.
‘Have you found a good belay, Tom?’ queried Malcolm.
‘Not really,’ he replied.
This meant that the protection offered by the rope above would be solely psychological. Any slip by Malcolm would be fatal to both climbers.
Totally focused on the climbing, Malcolm carefully eased his way higher. Some tentative assistance with a tight rope was needed to start, but he concentrated on the delicate shifts of balance, and the play of rhythm and opposing forces. Quickly Tom resumed the lead, abandoning his axe for freedom of movement.
Soon they both stood where no-one had been before. This was the North Peak of Mount Haidinger, 3061 metres high in the Southern Alps of New Zealand, and the date was 1897.

Cover of the New Zealand Edition - Available at Take Note Hokitika New Zealand or at the New Zealand Alpine Club.

The long ascent had taken many hours, and they still had to descend before darkness fell. Tom went first, confidently down climbing the difficult sections, but always aware that Malcolm was just above. Should he slip, both would plummet down the steep cliffs to the ice far below. As quickly as they dared, they made their way to the rope-eater ridge, Tom retrieving his ice axe at the base of the slab. But luck was running out.

Malcolm led now, down a particularly rotten section of rock. Despite his best efforts, Tom could not avoid dislodging some rock onto his partner below. Unable to evade the bombardment, several struck Malcolm: a solid thump to the leg almost knocking him off the mountain, and then another blow to the shoulder. But this was no place to linger. Only minutes later disaster was narrowly avoided when another large flat one glanced him on his helmetless head. Had it been the sharp end, he may not have survived with just a struggle for consciousness.

Mt.Haidinger. One of the many thousands of beautiful glass plate photographs taken by Ebenezer Teichelamnn. View previous postings for more of his superb photos.

There were still some serious sections to negotiate, but eventually they reached snow slopes that could be safely slid. Unroped on the final rocks, they hurried downward. This was a section of schist, lying in sheets and slabs, poised to strike. Some had viciously sharp edges. Malcolm’s axe turned crimson when one sliced his hand. Tom lost a piece of his leg after one nasty blow to the shin. They could only treat themselves as best as possible with their meagre resources, and plod homeward.
They crawled into the safety of their bivouac at de la Bêche, on the edge of the Tasman Glacier, on nightfall. Forrest Ross, Malcolm’s wife, was there with William Hodgkins. The extent of the injuries was soon thrust aside with the pleasure of eating. The planning of further adventures in animated conversation after the evening meal kept their minds on more pleasant pursuits.
Malcolm recovered from his head injury to continue climbing with Tom, ascending Mount de la Bêche in four hours forty, then on to the Minarets. No complaints from Tom about his leg were recorded, but the injury worsened during their epic exploration over Lendenfeld Saddle and down the Whymper Glacier. Despite finding a hot spring for a relieving bathe, Tom had difficulties getting to sleep due to the pain of his injuries.

Matters did not improve the next day. Travel is awkward in the rugged and almost impenetrable Whataroa Valley, and he further damaged the leg negotiating the first gorge. The bad leg was knocked on sharp angular rocks twice in succession. Infection was raging: he had a feverish temperature, and the leg had swollen to a ridiculous size. The pain did not diminish. Sleep was fitful and fleeting.
Nearing the end of their pioneering trip, Tom was swept off his feet and tumbled towards the final gorge. Driven to survive, he scrambled out just in time, but the pain of his leg was now so great that he admitted later that it would have been a relief to drown.
After several days of rest and farm remedies in Rohutu, it was no better. The only option now was to continue up the coast to Hokitika for medical treatment.

÷€÷€÷€÷

About the time Malcolm Ross and Tom Fyfe were organizing supplies and equipment for their climbs of Mounts Haidinger, de la Bêche and the twin summits of the Minarets, a train was hissing to a stop further north in Hokitika. Amid the bustle and steam of a busy station emerged a curious figure. So slight was his stature that it could be mistaken for that of a thirteen-year-old boy.

Thin wiry legs stood askance, rooted firmly to the ground in wide-welted leather boots. His attire had a European styling unusual to the district: tight stockings to knee-height with woolen knickerbocker pants. A sports coat of similar weave clad the lightly-framed torso. He wore a hat on a head of coarse dark hair, and beneath its brim sparkled lovely grey eyes that spoke of intensity and compassion. Delicate, finely-boned fingers clasped a pipe that he replaced between a fine set of teeth. A whiskery goatee beard jutted forward, reminding one of a Captain Cuttle figure.
Beside him stood his pretty wife, Mary, beneath a broad-brimmed hat with flowing feathers. Her dress was more typical of the period, with a long dark skirt, tight bodice, and a small jacket. The quality revealed cosmopolitan origins; a step above what was sold around the corner in Tancred Street draperies and milliners. A subtle smell of expensive perfume was discernable.

Hurrying to meet them was the head of the Hospital Board, for this new arrival was the recently appointed Medical Superintendent of Westland Hospital, Doctor Ebenezer Teichelmann, and his wife Mary. (Ebenezer Teichelmann above)

On 27 February 1897, just a few days after the Doctor set up his practice; the injured mountaineer Tom Fyfe limped into the surgery of Dr Teichelmann for an examination of his leg. Several pieces of bone were removed, and a course of treatment for necrosis of the tibia was prescribed. This meeting was to change the course of the Doctor’s life. His curiosity was aroused as to what lay south of him in the misty mountains.

Teichelmann and 100 years of the Carnegie Building in Hokitika

2008-07-06T00:20:00.000-07:00

Brian Ward, who runs Teichelmann's Bed and Breakfast in Hokitika, New Zealand, send me this letter and photographs:

Hi Bob,
Trust all is well & under control in your part of the world. Winter here with a bit of a vengence however last weekend Sat 28th June after months of planning & in brilliant sunny weather, Hokitika welcomed the Carnegie Library building into it's second century.

The Westland District Brass Band led off a street march from Revell Street down to Tancred Street where a group of contemporaries portrayed their historic counterparts in faithfully replicating the original opening ceremony that took place on the porch steps on 24 June 2008.

The pictures attached are of the Mayor Maureen Pugh arriving by car an 1899 Locomobile steamer. (above)

Dr Teichelmann (yours truly) as chairman of the Literacy Committee was present.

Don Neale was MC and also took the part of Mr AC Morton, Bruce White was Mr W Arnott, the building contractor & Richard Simpson played a very regal mayor Mr HL Mitchel. Mayor Maureen was his 'wife' for the afternoon playing Mrs Michel. Afternoon tea of cucumber sandwiches, scones & tea followed after the official opening of the centennial photographic exhibition in the gallery by Mayor Maureen Pugh.

Best regards
Brian Ward @ TEICHELMANN'S

A love of light and shade, form and texture

2008-04-13T03:56:00.000-07:00

From the Fritz Fange looking over the Franz Josef Glacier and to Eli de Beaumont left and the Minarets right..

Last week I read Pete McGregor's blog http://pohanginapete.blogspot.com where he was discussing black and white, as compared to colour photography. I thought of Ebenezer Teichelmann when I read the lines "to see in black and white is mostly a matter of imagination. To look at a landscape, a street scene, or—much harder—a flock of brightly coloured parakeets and to be able to visualise what a photo of those subjects might look like in black and white differs hugely from the knack of knowing these would make lovely colour photos."

Ebenezer Teichelmann,(pictured above) the most brilliant New Zealand mountain, landscape, place and people photographer of the early 20th century, was recently described by my friend Bruce White of Hokitika, as having "a love of light and shade, form and texture." You can see it in his photographs. Look at the light, composition and his sheer artistry.
But because he lived on the remote West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand from 1897 to his death in 1938, he has never been fully recognised for his stupendous contribution to New Zealand as one of our greatest mountaineers, surgeons, conservationists, photographers, soldier/doctor, humanitarian and gardener. He also pioneered the term 'knowledge sharing' when he set up the Carnegie library and the Westland Institute in 1905.
.
Lake Mahinapua

The East Ridge and East Face of Aoraki Mt.Cook

The art of photography had fascinated Ebenezer Teichelmann ever since he was a young man, and after his arrival in New Zealand in 1897, he was inspired to compose and record what he saw. When exactly he had acquired the knowledge and equipment is not clear, but by the time he arrived in Hokitika he had both. Strongly in love with the curves and angles of nature, he set about creating a huge collection of images that reveal today the extent of his love of light and shade, form and texture.
Another great alpine photographer and later friend of Ebenezer's, Canterbury’s Will Kennedy, describes Teichelmann’s ability with the camera:
Though the Doctor possessed a number of cameras most of his photographic work was done with 5 x 4 film and a whole plate camera. The few who now-a-day know what a weighty and cumbersome thing a whole-plate camera is with all its attendant paraphernalia including supplies of heavy glass plates, will understand why the porters (used only on the lower levels) regarded with askance, and tried to dodge those swags containing the heavier parts of this photographic outfit.

Red Lake with Mt. Cook in the background. The weather is not that good so look how he places a man to get a reflection in the lake.

Yet, that whole-plate camera found its way, in spite of all its drawbacks, up the Franz Josef Glacier to Cape Defiance and on to the summit of Halcombe Peak; up the Fox Glacier as far as the Pioneer Ridge; up the Cook River Valley to near the head of the La Perouse Glacier, and up on to the Balfour Range; up the Waiototo Valley and on to the Therma Glacier; up on to the Sealy Range; and up the Tasman Glacier to the Malte Brun Hut.

The west face of Mt. Haidinger

This camera which he kept to the end of the chapter reflects much of the finest photographic work the Doctor produced, both alpine and otherwise.
Remarkably fine photographic results were obtained from about the heads of the more southerly sub-tributaries of the Big Wanganui namely the Lord and the Lambert, and from the Divide Peaks of Malcolm, Snowy and Tyndall, and these photographs later proved of great assistance in the mapping of this country.

Newton Peak

On the eastern side of the Main Range with the Hermitage as centre, the Doctor did additional fine camera work from the Sealy Range, Footstool, Haast Ridge and Malte Brun Range. Though he ascended Mount Cook (third ascent) via the Linda Glacier, owing to adverse weather conditions no photographic records were taken. From all his alpine standpoints the Doctor made it a practice to secure panoramas as nearly complete as possible.

Dr. Teichelmann taking a photograph on the Upper Fritz Range, Franz Josef Glacier

The diversity of his photography is illustrated in the Department of Lands and Survey, Extract From The Annual Report On Scenery — Preservation For The Year Ended 31st March 1930, written by Dr L. Cockayne C.M.G.F.R.S, and Dr E. Teichelmann, Member of English Alpine Club. There is a selection of nine of his photographs ranging from a close-up of crape ferns to forest and mountain landscapes. Many of his photographs appeared in New Zealand Alpine Journals, various climbing books and were used extensively by the New Zealand Tourism Department to promote the West Coast overseas.

The successful party after the third ascent of Aoraki/Mt.Cook in 1905. Teichelmann sitting on the right.

His photographic work was acknowledged publicly by the Chairman of the Westland County Council, Mr W. J. Jefferies, in a farewell speech in 1926: “The Doctor’s work in booklets and pamphlets had gone all over the world and he had not spared himself in his efforts to extol the beauties and attractions of Westland.”

How long did Alec Graham have to wait before Teichelmann got the right light and composition in an ice hole on the Tasman Glacier?

The mayor at the time, George Perry added, “He had taken a particularly prominent part in advertising the district, especially its alpine attractions. His photographs were excellent and the record he possessed was a tribute to his pluck and skill.”
It is quite clear that Teichelmann’s photography was a key element in raising public awareness for the early scenic reserve status given to Lake Kaniere, Punakaiki, Arthur’s Pass and the four Glacial Scenic Reserves that eventually made up the Westland National Park in 1960. Punakaiki (Paparoa) and Arthur's Pass also became National Parks.

South Face of Aoraki/Mt. Cook from Hooker valley

But photographic skills do not arrive overnight, nor from reading a book. They are acquired through trial and error. Alpine photography requires a keen sense of light values, and Peter Graham recalled that the Doctor's first attempts on the Spencer Glacier were all over-exposed. Fortunately he learned from the experience and went on to become one of the best of his era.

Landing supplies at Bruce Bay

The Doctor was very keen to see the International Exhibition being held at Hagley Park in 1907, for it contained many of his photographs. At the Hermitage that year Teichelmann was met by Mr Longdon, the director of the British Art Collection, who had travelled to New Zealand to see the exhibition. Longdon was also a mountaineer, and was checking out climbing possibilities whilst in New Zealand. They enjoyed each other's company in the Mount Cook area, before Teichelmann set off to Christchurch for the exhibition while Newton and Graham continued climbing.
Teichelmann’s close friend and mountaineer Will Kennedy, some six years his junior, first met Ebenezer at the 1907 International Exhibition in Christchurch where Kennedy had been taken with magnificence of Teichelmann’s photography.
Among the photographic exhibits adorning its walls were displays of many whole-plate photographs of Westland scenery bearing his name. The outstanding beauty and excellence of these photographs attracted my attention so tremendously that I longed to know the man who was responsible for them.
Kennedy was President of the Canterbury Mountaineering Club and an active member of the New Zealand Alpine Club. They shared a common interest in mountaineering and photography. But the Doctor’s lack of a system prompted Kennedy to help him.
On one occasion, during one of his many visits to Teichelmann’s home in Hokitika, Kennedy, always a methodical man, decided to tidy up the Doctor’s photographic records by cataloguing them properly. From that day on it was Teichelmann's humorous lament that he could no longer find anything.

Looking down the Wanganui River, South Westland

When I returned to New Zealand in November 2003 to do some finishing touches to this book, an album of 600 prints of Ebenezer Teichelmann had been recently discovered in a garage in Christchurch. I trembled as I opened this book on Colin Monteath’s table in his library as if I was opening a door for the resurrected Doctor. The album was divided into 11 sections and each print was a 5 inch by 4 inch contact print of his large format negatives. Each photograph had a neat white border around it, with a number and a brief but accurate caption. Who had put this album together? Ebenezer Teichelmann himself, or was it Will Kennedy working with Teichelmann to get his photographs into a tidy collection? One clue is the caption to the photograph captioned Alf Day, followed by a question mark. Day should have been Alf Dale. Teichelmann would never have made a mistake with a name on a fine and much respected travelling companion. Perhaps Teichelmann dictated the captions to Will Kennedy.
Strangely, all the photographs in this album were taken before 1912. Was this the first of a series or a one-off? The album reveals the human face of miners, ferry-men, Maori communities, ships, railway lines, bridges, roads, horses, homesteads, camps, huts, houses, hotels, fellow climbers, waterfalls, river-crossings and rivers, creeks, lakes, gorges, passes, glaciers, ice-falls, hot springs, ice tunnels, and wonderful mountain landscapes. One classic photo is of Dr. Teichelman, in mining clothes and a sou’-wester hat, ready to go down a mine shaft. (BELOW)

Teichelmann’s photographs (and Newton) appeared regularly in the Canterbury Times, New Zealand Graphic, Weekly News and the Otago Witness and a stand alone supplement named ‘A Tour Through Westland‘ all between 1902 and 1910.
Dorothy Fletcher has in her collection a large brown album with all the photographs that he and Teichelmann had published, along with a handful of other climbers. This album was sent by Henry Newton and has inscribed in the inside cover,
Alex Graham in remembrance of old days,
Henry E Newton

Dorothy said Canon Newton sent it to her father, Alec Graham in the early 1930s.
Newton has made a detailed index of each photograph and story published by he and Teichelmann in his unmistakable handwriting that one gets to know after reading his hand written diaries.
Teichelman (l) before the first ever flight over the glaciers of South Westland in 1924.

The photographs are a smorgasbord of panoramic mountain centerfolds, small cameos of life in Westland, people, homesteads, ships, valleys, rivers, gorges, mountaineering, a selection of which are in this book.
But not everyone was overawed with Teichelmann’s photography. Louisa Graham had to give up the use of her bathroom at Waiho, Franz Josef to Dr. Teichelmann and her husband Alec. It was converted into a darkroom every time they returned from a trip for the Doctor to develop his large 4x5 inch negatives. “This became routine after every major trip in the mountains as Teichy wanted to get the negatives developed as quickly as possible at our house so he and Daddy could enjoy the fruits of their labours after carrying the heavy camera into the high mountains,” said Dorothy Fletcher.
One can imagine the anticipation and excitement that built up in the Graham bathroom as each plate negative was developed, and the results admired or rejected.
Teichelmann was fortunate in having a sound professional photographer in Ben Thiem, who was based in Hokitika. Being a busy professional, Teichelmann didn’t have the time to print his own negatives and then mount them on glass to use as lantern slides. So the Doctor used Ben to do quite a lot of his processing work.
Sherry Cowie donated a wooden large box of lantern slides to Dorothy Fletcher. In the accompanying note Sherry writes, “These slides were from Ben Thiem, a photographer in Hokitika. My mother, Sybil Turner, worked for him in the 1930s. She got these from either Ben Thiem, or ET (Ebenezer Teichelmann), who was a second father to Sybil.” In examining these lantern slides, they would appear to be those taken by Dr Teichelmann and appear elsewhere. However, with the close relationship between W. A. Kennedy, Ben Thiem, and the Doctor, occasionally they would borrow slides from each other, and possibly give each other slides, so they could give more complete presentations.
Ebenezer Teichelmann
Impressions as a child are often vivid and accurate, and Dorothy Fletcher recalls the atmosphere when visiting Dr Teichelmann’s home as a young girl every time she did a trip to Hokitika with her father, Alec Graham, and it was always the last stop. “He loved to see dad and it was always a warm welcome for him and me. Teichy did all his work in a large, darkish room with a distinctive smell of pipe tobacco,” she recalled, as her visits were usually late in the afternoon and the trees would block the sunlight. “He had a big chair, photos on the wall of mountains and people. Cameras, tripods, slide boxes, maps, photographs, books, magazines letters, papers and his pipes were scattered around. “My sister and I were fascinated by his pipes as some of them had little caps on them,” recalls Dorothy Fletcher. He wasn’t untidy or disorganized, rather a busy man and appeared to have systems for filing and storing.

Dorothy also mentioned that Teichy had copied photographs from Buller’s Book of Birds to enhance his photographic slide talks .

Packing supplies up the Waiatoto in 1909 for the first attempt on Mt. Aspiring from the west.

Teichelmann could count on a number of leading New Zealand scientists as his friends. Among these was Dr Leonard Cockayne the botanist, and Professor R. Speight the geologist. On 13 June 1928, Professor Speight introduced Dr Teichelmann to a full audience at the Christchurch Public Library lecture room. The Doctor’s lantern lecture was on ‘New Zealand alpine, lake, and forest scenery', which was given under the auspices of the Christchurch Tramping Club.

In a free conversational style, always interesting, Dr Teichelmann described the different slides as they were screened. The majority were of the Southern Alps, their high peaks, great glaciers, and other prominent and interesting features. Especially noteworthy was the series showing Aorangi, ‘the cloud piercer,’ Mount Cook, from various aspects. For the purpose of contrast they were shown views of the Swiss Alps and of Mount Everest. The views of Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers were especially fine and the combination views of Westland scenery — alps, lake, and forest — evoked warm applause…

Tourism was imperceptibly becoming a significant revenue earner for the West Coast. The jewels in the Coast crown were the glaciers, but tourists would stay at Hokitika, Ross, Harihari or Whataroa en route. In 1923–24 the Hokitika Exhibition was staged, and it brought large crowds to the region. Teichelmann was busy behind the scenes ensuring the exhibition was a success. Many of his photographs were used in promotions and displays.
Lake Mapourika, South Westland

Ebenezer Teichelmann not only mastered the idiosyncracies of large format photography, but he excelled with images that extolled the beauties of his beloved mountains and West Coast. His prints were sought after for promotional publications, and the outstanding quality of his large prints with their superb tonal range must rank him among the best of his time. Had he exhibited in North America or Europe, his name would be far more widely known as a photographer.

The extract above is from my book on Ebenezer Teichelmann. The covers of the two versions are pasted below. Available at: http://www.indiaresearchpress.com
or at Take Note, Hokitika.New Zealand. Distributed by Craig Potton Publishing in New Zealand.

If you want to learn more about Ebenezer Teichelmann, go to my blog which is about his life and times.http://ebenezerteichelmann.blogspot.com

Ebenezer Teichelmann in old age. He was 77 when this photo was taken in 1937.

Dorothy Falls, Lake Kaniere

2008-03-31T01:39:00.000-07:00

Franz Josef Glacier - Teichelmann photo

2008-03-06T03:20:00.000-08:00

This is a great photo taken by Dr. Ebenezer Teichelmann from the Fritz Range looking over the Franz Josef Glacier and neve regions to the main divided.

Another Teichelmann photo.

2008-02-04T01:34:00.000-08:00

A view down the Wanganui River from Blue Lookout. South Westland, New Zealand. Photograph by Ebenezer Teichelmann.Taken 1911

Foreword from Sir Edmund Hillary

2008-01-05T16:55:00.000-08:00

When I completed my biography on Ebenezer Teichelmann I started searching for a respected mountaineer to set the scene for the book, preferably someone who knew of Teichelmann's great feats. Sir Edmund Hillary was the obvious choice. With some trepdidation I wrote a letter to him. Both he and Dr. Teichelmann were former Presidents of the New Zealand Alpine Club and Ed had followed in Teichelmann's footsteps many times. Ed agreed immediately and graciously wrote the FOREWORD beneath.

FOREWORD

As a young climber I came to respect the climbs and exploration done by Dr. Ebenezer Teichelmann, mainly from the West Coast of New Zealand, up those long and difficult valleys such as the Cook River Valley, and his many first ascent were remarkable in that day and age of hobnail boots and long handled ice axes. His third ascent of Mt. Cook in 1905 was a wonderful achievement.
I have seen his photographs gracing many NZ Alpine Journals and other books and I am delighted that hardy band of West Coast mountaineers which included not only Dr. Teichelmann, but Peter and Alec Graham and later, my old climbing partner, Harry Ayres, is getting the recognition they deserve.
Both Dr. Teichelmann and I are former Presidents of the NZ Alpine Club and I am pleased the club is supporting this important publication on New Zealand Mountaineering, and capturing a bygone era of courage and tenacity in exploration.

Edmund Hillary
1 December, 2003.

His signature

2007-12-29T04:42:00.000-08:00

Teichelmann's surgery in Hokitika

2007-12-26T22:27:00.001-08:00

Here is the Surgery where Dr. Ebenezer Teichelmann conducted daily consultations. It was completed in 1910 and Dr.Teichelmann had his rooms here for almost 20 years.

It is now Teichelmann's Bed and Breakfast and is lovingly restored.

Book review of Ebenezer Teichelmann

2007-12-25T05:25:00.000-08:00

I discovered this book review on Ebenezer Teichelamnn today on Amazon.com

Fascinating for Kiwis or mountaineers especially, 28 Sep 2007
By S. J. Masty "writer/reviewer"

Mountaineer Bob McKerrow has produced a valuable and highly entertaining history of Ebenezer Teichelmann, a pioneering mountain climber in New Zealand. McKerrow uncovered volumes of unpublished photographs, letters and anecdotes that guarantee this to remain the seminal biography for years to come.

It is also proof-positive that the other Kiwis weren't napping until (the future Sir) Edmund Hillary made world history in clunky leather hiking boots and woolen jumpers. Nowadays, whether in New Zealand or Nepal, at every hill here's a ten-mile queue of mountaineering teenyboppers in space-age climbing kit. Teichelmann did it the hard way, as Hilary did, and McKerrow catches an interesting piece of history, preserves it forever, and serves it up to us as a most interesting and rewarding read.

Ebenezer Teichelmann - Keeping mountaineering alive in New Zealand (Part 2)

2007-12-21T18:29:00.000-08:00

Here is the second part of the story that I posted yesterday.

TEICHELMANN - PART TWO

The Rev. Newton visited Waiho some months after the 1904 trip on one of his regular parish visits. After the Church service he and Alec Graham poured over the photographs of the trip, reliving it once more. For their 1905 expedition, Teichelmann and Newton chose the Cook River. Charlie Douglas and Arthur P Harper had reached the terminal face of the La Perouse in 1894, but the upper reaches were little known.

Ten days before Newton and Teichelmann arrived, Alec Graham and Arthur Woodham started packing gear in. They took horses as far as Diggers' huts, which is about a mile upstream from the present bridge. After spending a number of wet days packing up the valley, the pair established a base camp about 2 miles above Tony's Rock and then returned to meet the others.(26)

Newton, Teichelmann and Alec Graham left Arthur Woodham at the base camp to do some gold prospecting while they pushed on up to the La Perouse Glacier. After a spell of bad weather and a brief excurion up the La Perouse Glacier to check the route towards Harper Saddle, the party left at 2.30am on January 29 1905 (27). At first light they were at the foot of a crumbling rock ridge, heading for the pass. Nearing the top, they struck a difficult pitch, where Newton took a tumble, but fortunately the impact of the fall was cushioned by his swag full of sleeping bags. Alec Graham was a little bemused by Teichelmann's reaction.
The Little Doctor was funny over this for as he went to help Mr. Newton, he whispered to me " I warned you, Alec, that Newton was impetuous sometimes." (28)

They reached Harper Saddle about 3.15am, descended to the Hooker Glacier and camped at the present day site of Gardiner Hut. It was getting towards the end of Newton's holiday and he felt he needed to get back to take church services the following Sunday. Neither of them wanted to go back by the same route so it appears that Teichelmann talked Newton into going up to the bivouac on Haast ridge with the view of crossing the saddle between Silberhorn and Malispina (now called Clarke Saddle) and then back to their camp in the Cook River, below the La Perouse Glacier. Well pleased with the first crossing of Harper's Saddle, the party left next morning for the Hermitage to be warmly welcomed by the McDonald family. Waiting for Dr Teichelmann was Scottish climber, R.S. Low, who was hoping that the Doctor would join him on a planned ascent of Mt. Cook by Zurbriggen's route. Jim Wilson, author of 'Aorangi', writes that Newton should have smelt a rat at this, but protests he went up in all innocence in an attempt to get back to his waiting parishioners.(30)

Dr. Teichelmann always made a point when making these trips into the mountains, of acquainting his wife of his safe arrival.(29) So next morning while Alec Graham rode to Glentanner Station to send some telegrammes, Guides Jack Clarke and Peter Graham left with the remaining three climbers for Ball Hut.

The next day, February 3 1905, the group camped at the bivouac site on the Haast ridge, and went up to Glacier Dome for a look at the route to Clarke saddle.

"Here Teichelmann proceeded to do some fast talking. All his enthusiasm was aroused at the thought of an ascent of Cook, rearing so magnificently across the Plateau. He hated the thought of slipping back to the Coast without attempting such a climb. On the other hand he could hardly desert Newton. He enlisted the help of the guides, and Newton was gravely told that the saddle he wished to cross was very difficult, that it would take too long to cross into the La Perouse. Newton suspected it was a put-up job but, he writes. "there was nothing for it but to submit to their plan." So tame a submission suggests that the call of his Sunday services were all but drowned out by the music of Cook's shining ridges." (31)

The next morning at 4 am, they set off to reconnoitre the route for the following day. On reaching Glacier Dome they descended to the Grand Plateau to the foot of Zurbriggen's route, and climbed up the steep 3000 foot route, with Clarke and Graham alternating withthe step cutting. What had started out as a reconnaissance was turning out to be the final climb. On the summit rocks, they found the tin matchbox that Green and his guide Kaufmann had left 23 years before. At the start of the ice cap, Jack Clarke turned to the group and said," Now we shall have to consider whether we should go on or turn back - if we go on, there is every chance of our having to spend the night out, which is not advisable; if we turn back we shall no doubt be able to get off the mountain before darkness."

The Doctor said, " Well, Clarke, we will leave that to you." Jack said, "I don't think that is quite fair."
However, the Doctor repeated, " No, we will leave it to you Clarke, you are the leader.(32)

Clarke didn't hesitate, and instead of answering, headed up the ridge to the summit.

For eight years since arriving in Hokitika, Dr. Teichelmann had woken up on fine days to a superb view of Mt. Cook from his home in Hampden Street. On his medical forays through South Westland, he would have seen Mt. Cook from virtually every known viewpoint. He wanted to get to the top. So when Clarke headed upwards towards the summit, he cheered spontaneously together with Newton, Low and Peter Graham. None of them really wanted to turn back and were now prepared to throw caution to the wind.

Within 100 feet from the top, Clarke let Graham cut the final steps to the summit. This was the third ascent of Mount Cook. Peter Graham recalls the moment:

"Everybody was delighted at gaining the summit. The Little Doctor was enormously
pleased for my sake and told many of his
friends, 'I believe, Peter, you know, led to the summit.' He was always most
generous with his praise and made me feel
as though he regarded me as his special
protege." (33)

With evening coming on, they had little time to admire the view from the top. The view was magnificent - almost beyond description, recalls Peter Graham. Cook chronicler, Jim Wilson, refers to the friendly interaction that was a feature of the relationship between Teichelmann and Newton:

"Then they began the long descent. A vivid sunset bathed the surrounding peaks in pink light as they climbed down the summit rocks, and the enthusiastic Teichelmann quite forgot the seriousness of their situation as he excitedly exclaimed over the beautiful sight. There was always genial byplay going on between Teichelmann and Newton, and on this occasion, as Graham recalls, the vicar had gently to admonish the doctor: " Now, now, Doctor, we haven't time to stop and admire everything; it's getting late, we must get down."(34)

At 9pm they reached their packs which had been left earlier in the day on a rocky outcrop just above the junction of Zurbriggen's Ridge and the Bowie Ridge. Here they spent a sleepless night huddled together, and the next morning met a very relieved Alec Graham at the bottom of the ridge, who had come to meet them. They headed down to Ball Hut and then out to the Hermitage.
Now that the climb was over, Newton's was concerned about his parishoners and planned a quick dash over the Copland Pass. A sudden storm prevented a quick crossing of the Copland, and Newton was resigned to missing out on yet another Sunday's sermon. When the weather cleared, Alec Graham, Teichelmann and Newton returned to the West Coast via the Copland Pass.(35)

1906

Flushed with the success of their 1905 expedition, the West Coast trio decided on the Cook River again and the unclimbed Mt La Perouse as their main objective. They were joined by the Scottish climber, Mr. R.S. Low. This time another prospector Charles Anderson, helped Alec Graham set up a base camp, a little higher than last year's one. Teichelmann, Low and Newton joined up with Alec Graham in late January and they swagged up Cook River to the La Perouse Glacier.A high camp was made on the spur which separates Gulch Creek and La Perouse Glacier.

It dawned fine on February 1, 1906, at high camp. The party of four left just before 4am and soon crested the main ridge. They had to traverse around two steep dips on the ridge before reaching the col and the ridge leading up to the summit of La Perouse. The climb was straight forward although a fair number of steps were required. It was a thrill for Alec Graham who recalled his feelings of that moment." It was my first real mountain, and a 10,000 foot virgin eak." (36)

There was plenty of time to linger on the top and take in the stunning view, especially of neighbouring Mt. Cook. Newton carefully studied an unclimbed route on Mt. Cook, known today as Earle's route. And as they sat on the summit, one wonders if they thought themselves a wierd bunch. A Scot, an Englishman, an Australian and a New Zealander sitting on a peak named after a French navigator.
Teichelmann, Newton and Alec Graham had forged not only friendships but a formidible climbing combination that was on the brink of greatness.

They descended by a different route by way of a snow slope on the La Perouse Glacier side. This was the route used in 1948 by the Ruth Adams rescue party. A few days of bad weather followed and then the group explored the La Perouse Glacier. From here they climbed up to a col on the Balfour Range, which was opposite Katies Col across the valley and then climbed a small rock peak on the divide side. It is hard to tell which peak this was. Was it Belmont, Vanguard or a rock pinnacle in the vicinity ? Dr. Teichelmann's much travelled full plate camera weighing 45 pounds, was carried to this spot. Alec Graham, who spent much of his early guiding years carrying the doctor's camera best describes his passion.

" The Doctor was very thorough in everything he undertook and it took a long time, sometimes. to get just the right composition he wanted. He never failed to ask me to look through the viewfinder to see if I could suggest any improvement, for he always liked me to help him. When on any sharp peak I put the rope on him as he was so interested in getting what he wanted that he was liable to forget where he was standing when he had his head under the focussing cloth. Then, when he was satisfied with the composition of the picture he was taking, there was the right aperture and time for the exposure to be carefully adjusted and checked. Mr. Newton would sometimes get a little impatient with the Doctor for taking so long. The doctor would reply, ' I'm not going to let Alec carry the camera all the way up here and then make a mess of it. The difference between you and me, Newton, is that is that you are a photographic climber and I am a climbing photographer."(36)

When the weather cleared at their base camp on the La Perouse Glacier on February 8, 1906, they readied themselves for the next objective - St. David's Dome, now called Mt. Hicks. Unfortunately the Doctor had bruised his heel and elected not to join. It was late in the afternoon when Newton, Low and Alec Graham left for a higher bivouac below the first ice fall on the La Perouse Glacier. That night as they ate their meal, Newton remarked how he missed the Doctor's company, but said it was rather nice having a meal without the Doctor's eye on you. Graham and Newton had wolf-like appetites, while the Doctor was a small eater and used to jokingly remark that it was no wonder they had such heavy swags.

On February 8 the party got away at 2.30 am on a very warm morning. Following their previous route through the first icefall, they turned right on to a long snow ridge running down from Mt. Hicks. ( referred to in Anderson's "Jubilee History of South Canterbury" as the North West arete, joining main west ridge higher up).
They struck soft snow on the lower part of the ridge but step cutting was necessary higher up. At the top of the north-west ridge, they struck a rock face which provided excellent climbing to the main west ridge. The final section of ridge to the summit was climbed in gusty conditions. They reached the top at 11 am and descended by the same route.

Meanwhile back at base camp, Dr. Teichelmann was having an enjoyable day with his camera and the injury to his heel was improving. He was obviously pleased with the first ascent of Mt. Hicks by his team mates and congratulated them warmly and enthusiasticly on their return.

Mr. Newton and Dr. Teichelmann were running out of holiday time so returned to their respective jobs in Ross and Hokitika. (37)

Teichelmann was a great admirer and friend of the explorer Charlie Douglas. They had met on numerous occasions and Douglas had both confided in and given Teichelmann diaries.(38) In the spring of 1906, Charlie Douglas suffered his first stroke up the Paringa River, and was carefully ferried by friends back to Bruce Bay, where a steamer took him to Hokitika for treatment. Back in Hokitika he was given the best of medical care under the guidance of Teichelmann. From that date, until Douglas' death in 1916, Teichelmann kept a close watch over Charlie. A year or so later Mr Explorer Douglas had a second stroke, which left him unable to talk. Teichelmann advised his old friend Arthur P. Harper it would be kinder not to see Charlie as he would be upset at not being able to talk to him.(39)

1907

The next year 1907, saw Mr. Newton's time in New Zealand drawing to a close. It was to be the last of five annual expeditions that Newton, Teichelmann and Alec Graham had been on together. This time, Newton had a much longer holiday at his disposal, and persuaded the Doctor to go with him up the Fox Glacier. They had long fancied the idea of putting a camp on Pioneer ridge and using it as a base for climbing the many accessible peaks flanking the neve.

As was usual practice, food and equipment were dispatched by ship, this time on the "Jane Douglas" a couple of months before the trip started. Mr. Newton and Dr. Teichelmann hired Herman Osmers from Ross, to go south and help Alec Graham to pack food up the Fox Glacier. Herman Osmers biked from Ross to Waiho on January 7 1907. (It is interesting to note that Herman Osmers, great-grandson Ted Brennan lives in Ross and is an active tramper and climber.)

Today climbers can drive from Hokitika to Franz Josef on an hour and a half, get a helicopter to Pioneer Hut, all within two hours of leaving Hokitika. It took Osmers, Alec Graham (with the later arrival of Teichelmann and Newton) 14 days from the time the first member left Ross until they were established in a high camp on Pioneer ridge, ready for the first climb. This entailed a number of packing trips up Fox Glacier.

The party of four were well settled in their high camp at the foot of Pioneer Ridge by January 20, ready to start the climbing programme. As both Teichelmann and Newton were a little out of form, they elected to climb with their cameras up what they called the Buttress, which is part of the Pioneer Ridge. (40) From the top of the buttress they got some excellent panoramas of the Alps and neves. Herman Osmers left the party at this stage and returned to Ross. A few days of bad weather followed, and some trips to lower camps before they were ready for the first climb, Mt. Halcombe.

The reason for climbing Mt Halcombe was due to its location on the range between the Fox and Franz neve, and the view it afforded to Glacier Peak and Mt.Douglas. They left shortly after 5am on January 26 and headed for the saddle on the seaward side of Mt. Halcombe. They had difficulty getting across a large bergschrund and after a long stint of step cutting finally reached the saddle. With the heavy full-plate camera, and Newton's lighter Sandison camera, the party of three carried over 50 pounds of camera gear. This slowed them down on the climb to the top, which they reached later that morning. From the summit the Doctor was bubbling with excitement as he set up the full-plate camera. The routes up Glacier Peak and Mt Douglas were carefully studied by the trio. By 2pm they were back in the camp preparing for another climb. That evening as they curled up in their sleeping bags and watched the darkness descend, Dr. Teichelmann, moved by the beauty, quoted these lines from Longfellow:

"The day is done and the darkness
Falls from the wings of night
Like a feather is wafted downwards
From an eagle in its flight."(41)

The billy was boiling shortly after 2am and they set out at 4am. The route up Glacier Peak was initially close in to the rock spur running down from the north shoulder, before cutting out towards a line up to the summit which was reached at 7.55am. (42) They were all quite surprised at the ease with which they climbed Glacier Peak, for it had a fearsome reputation from the east. Again using Newton's camera, they took numerous summit shots. Douglas Peak looked impressive from where they stood and it was agreed they would attempt it tomorrow.

The next morning they followed the route from the previous day up Glacier Peak and were soon on the slopes of Mt. Douglas. Two gendarmes presented difficulties, then they struck another rocky pitch which they slithered up a chimney-like crack. There were further difficulties along the final ridge to the summit which was reached at 1.45pm.

This was a brilliant first ascent of a mountain which was up to then regarded as being very difficult - if not impossible. It was their third first ascent in as many days. Newton regarded Mt. Douglas as his finest climb in New Zealand and Alec Graham wrote, " To me, it still takes first place."(43)

After this climb of Douglas, they descended down the glacier in threatening weather to get more food and to enjoy the hospitality of the Williams family at Weheka (Fox). They were back in the top camp on February 3.

Their next objective was the beautiful Mt. Torres, a peak which is a continuation of the western arete of Tasman, lying between the Fox and Balfour Glacier. (44)

With the last quarter of the moon to guide them, they set off at 3.40am from their camp on the Pioneer Ridge on February 4. They made good time across the Fox neve and began climbing up towards the saddle ( now named Katies Col) at 4.45. An hour later they were on the saddle where they had a second breakfast. Finding a route up to the rocks on the arete was difficult. After a few false leads they found a 60 foot coulior which took them on to the rocky part and then the arete. Snow conditions were better on the Fox side of the ridge and it required negotiating some slabby rock and two gendarmes. From here there were two snow aretes, the first taking considerable time to negotiate as it was new snow on old. Alec Graham led the Doctor and Mr. Newton to the summit which was reached at 12.15 pm. Handshakes all round for the fourth first ascent of the trip. The two photographers pulled smaller cameras from out of their swags, and captured the moment.(45)

The descent and the plod in soft snow back to the top camp took seven and a half hours.

It rained the following day, and on February 6, they checked out the route to Pioneer Pass. Dr. Teichelmann's holidays were coming to an end so he decided to cross the divide to the Hermitage and return home via Christchurch after a look at the Christchurch Exhibition.

The night was hot and they got very little sleep. As they were nodding off, the alarm rang. Alec Graham recalls an uncharacteristic, but mild oath from the Doctor. " Damn that alarm," he muttered.(46) At 4 am they left for Pioneer Pass and reached the pass in under two hours. Although Newton didn't talk about it in his diary, it is possible that he reflected on what would be the last time that the Teichelmann/Graham/ Newton team would climb together on the West Coast.

As is quite common at that time of year, they had trouble with route finding around large berschrunds, and were constantly threatened by avalanches. Alec Graham's pack fell down a crevasse as he was letting it slide down a slope so he would be free for step-cutting. As he was the lightest it was decided to lower Dr. Teichelmann down. About this time Mr Newton received a nasty blow on the shoulder from a piece of falling ice.
They were under bombardment from falling ice and it would've taken just one large piece to kill a person.

Meanwhile a small shelf on which Teichelmann was standing on in the crevasse gave way, and he slipped winding himself badly and cutting his mouth and lip. The other two jumped into the crevasse to seek shelter from the falling ice and snow, and walked along the bottom to find a route out. They found Alec Graham's pack after much difficulty. It had been a difficult morning but there were laughs all round over the number of incidents. From here the route took them over Haast Ridge into the Grand Plateau, to Glacier Dome reaching it at 2.10pm. They then descended to Haast Bivouac where Newton and Graham left their packs as they would return this way in a few days time. A few hour later they reached Ball Hut.(46)

After a night at Ball Hut the trio reached the Hermitage. Here Newton and Teichelmann were in their element being both sophisticated and men of the world.
Names and occupations were important to Newton and he records details meticulously in his diary. It seems that Teichelmann spent much of his time promoting the beauties of the West Coast. " The Doctor fell in for a lot of good natured teasing about his praise for his beloved West Coast scenery," writes Alec Graham.(47)

Teichelmann set off for Christchurch, thence and later Hokitika, while Newton and Graham continued climbing.
The Doctor was very keen to see the International Exhibition held at Hagley Park. A long time friend, W.A. Kennedy first got to know Teichelmann around this time. " Among the photographic exhibits adorning its walls were displays of many whole-plate photographs of Westland scenery bearing his name. The outstanding beauty and excellence of these photographs attracted my attention so tremendously that I longed to know the man who was responsible for them." (48)

While Teichelmann was in Christchurch, Newton and Graham pushed back over Pioneer Pass in bad weather and down to Chancellor Hut. The pair went on to climb Haast, Lendenfeld, Bristol Top and Conway Peak, all first ascents.(48)

It must have been with a heavy heart that Alec Graham said goodbye to Mr.Newton at Waiho. Later that year Newton returned to England, thus ending a superb list of climbing feats by the greatest climbing trio in the history of New Zealand mountaineering.

Teichelmann was a busy man. His medical and surgical work kept him fully occupied, but he still found time for his conservation work, building a Carnegie Public Library and all other philanthropic and charitable work. The New Zealand Gazette of 19 September announced that Surgeon Captain E. Teichelmann was promoted to the rank of Surgeon Major in the New Zealand Medical Corps.

Apart from all his work Ebenezer and Mary Teichelmann were great hosts. Photographs from that era show the Teichelmann's at picnic's, garden parties, opening of public libraries and it seemed that their door was always open. He was a close friend of G.J Roberts, the Chief Surveyor for Westland and Charlie Douglas was a regular caller when he was in Hokitika. Mountaineers frequently visited the Teichelmann's such as A.P Harper, W.A. Kennedy and of course among the regular visitors were the Graham brothers. Alec Graham recalls returning from Christchurch with his brother Jim in 1907 and popping in to the Teichelmann's. " We had a most interesting evening looking over the photographs he had taken on our recent trip to Fox. We also talked over plans for his next holiday. He told me he had practically decided that our next trip would be up the Waiatoto Valley," writes Alec Graham.(49)

1908

Dr. Teichelmann departed Hokitika aboard the small coastal ship, the S.S. "Jane Douglas" at 8.30 pm on January 17, 1908. This coastal boat ran two monthly trips as far south as Jackson Bay, delivering mail and supplies to remote communities. After a difficult and tiring year, it must have been a relief for him to have break from his hectic life as Medical Superintendant.

Aboard he had notes from the diary Charlie Douglas had given him, giving details of the Waitoto. The following day he was moved to write about the land that was so special to him:
"On the way down the coast the steamer is never very far out at sea, and the great mountain ranges forming the Southern Alps present one of the greatest sights imaginable. The Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers are seen falling from the summits of the main range almost down to sea level, passing great rocky peaks, and ending in forest of tropical luxuriance. Prominent among the peaks visible from the sea are Mts. Cook, Tasman, Elie de Beaumont, and Sefton, the latter showing up particularly well."(50)

Next morning the ship called at Bruce Bay, Paringa and then Jackson Bay where they spent a night at anchor. The next day Dr Teichelmann disembarked at Okuru, which was some 20 miles from the mouth of the Waiatoto. At this stage Alec Graham and Denis (Din) Nolan were up the Waiatoto cutting a track. With the help of Matt Nolan the Doctor used pack horses to carry the expedition's food and equipment from Okuru to Eggling's old homestead, some two and a half miles up the Waiatoto valley, which served as a campsite.

Alec Graham and Din Nolan spent several days cutting a track to within six miles of the Therma Glacier. A few days later Teichelmann and Matt Nolan teamed up with Alec and Din at Base Camp, after nearly capsizing in a leaky one-oared dinghy whilst river crossing en route to base camp. They were fortunate in having Charlie Douglas's diaries for in one of them he expressed regret at having chosen the right bank of the river instead of the left (western bank). Teichelmann's party took Douglas's advice.

When inspecting the equipment Teichelmann had brought, Alec Graham got quite a shock to see the Doctor's supply of cameras and photographic equipment.
There was the familiar 50lb full plate camera, and the small film camera, but in addition he had a fairly large Panorama camera and a Steroscopic, both fairly bulky. " Do you think there are too many, Alec ?" he asked. " You know, Newton is not with us this year and we can play round with them to our heart's content," said the Doctor.

On January 22, still with pack horses, they continued up the Waiatoto. The pack horses were dispensed with by January 25 and from there they carried heavy loads up the valley which become increasingly difficult. Three days later, Alec and Din reached the snout of the Therma Glacier and reported there would be no problems in finding a camp site and that Mt Aspiring looked beautiful, but unpromising from a climber's point of view. The advance party returned to join up with the Doctor who had been taking advantage to record the incredible beauty on film.

The last day of January dawned clear, and the party swagged through the upper river gorge, and on reaching the glacier's snout, set up a high camp. Here Teichelmann had his first full view of Mt. Aspiring from the terminus of the Therma Glacier upwards. He was inspired. It is likely he would have recalled Charlie Douglas description of it - "as being among the grandest and most magnificent scenery he had known." (51)

While Din Nolan set up base camp, Alec and Teichelmann went up to the cirque and found the rocks cliffs inpenetrable. They decided the right-hand icefall was out so the only option was up the left-hand icefall.

After a comfortable night's sleep, they set off early on February 1. Dr. Teichelmann describes the route taken:

" We made a vain attempt to get through the left icefall, tried the rocks in one place but found them smooth and ice worn, and so decided to retrace and ascend a rocky peak at our left which formed the shoulder to Glacier Dome, a peak on the divide some distance north of Aspiring."

At 3.30pm, they reached the summit of Glacier Dome. From here they had a superb view of Mt. Aspiring. The Doctor felt it could possibly take a week to climb Aspiring and with his holidays drawing to a close, he
decided to return to Hokitika. He was delighted with the time he had devoted to photographing much of this virgin country and knew his contribution would add to Charlie Douglas survey work.

Alec Graham picked-out a route on Mt. Aspiring and told the Doctor he felt they should have another attempt at it. Back at camp that night he raised the issue again with Teichelmann. Alec Graham recalls the moment:

"The Doctor looked at me for a long time with a look I knew so well and then he said, I have been thinking over it a lot. I want to stay and can quite imagine how you feel, but Alec, our work in life is the most important thing and I have promised to be home at a certain date. If there is a change in the weather we could easily be flood-bound for a week in this valley, and even when I get out to Okura (Okuru) I still have five days travelling and a lot of rivers to ford before I can get back to Hokitika and could easily be held up at some of the rivers on the way." (52)

Alec Graham travelled back as far as Waiho with Dr Teichelmann. Here they met Mr. Greville and a survey party carrying out a topical survey of the Franz Josef Glacier region. The Doctor and Alec accompanied the party to the top of Alec Knob, and this is when Mr. Greville gave the name 'Ebenezer' to the next peak along the ridge towards Mt. Moltke. Teichelmann was much amused. "Fancy a peak being saddled with a name like 'Ebenezer", he chuckled. (53)

Although there is no record of Dr. Teichelmann talking to Charlie Douglas about the recent trip up the Waiatoto, it would be inconceivable to think that the Doctor did'nt have a good yarn with him about the trip as Douglas was living in Hokitika at the time. This was after he was recovering from his first stroke and before his crippling second stroke.

1909

As the population of the greater Hokitika area and South Westland gradually increased, Westland Hospital grew to provide a comprehensive medical service. Dr. Teichelmann's work load and involvement in other voluntary organisations, seemed to increase.
In 1909 his alpine holiday was shorter than usual.

In early February he started with Guide Alec Graham at Waiho by spending a few days photographing the area. For this trip, they planned to go up Goat Path, cross Graham Saddle and onto the Hermitage. On their way up Goat Path Ridge, they found a tin of milk and another of pineapple that Teichelmann and Newton had stashed under a rock in 1902.(54)

At the Hermitage the Doctor was delighted to meet Dr. Vollman, an archaeolgist from Peru who was a member of the Swiss and Austrian Alpine Clubs. (55) The two Doctors enjoyed each others company and it was by no accident that Dr Vollman and his guide Peter Graham, Dr. Teichelmann and Alec Graham, Darby Thomson and his two male clients, all arrived at Malte Brun Hut together. You can imagine the scene at Malte Brun Hut as they downed countless cups of tea; Vollman and Teichelmann discussing 'worldly matters' and switching from German to English at will, the three West Coast Guides talking of climbing and their homes and families on the West Coast and Thomson's clients wondering what they had struck.

Early the next morning, February 15 1909, the two Doctors with brothers Alec and Peter Graham as guides set out for Mt. Green. Darby Thomson and clients accompanied them until they turned left off Tasman Glacier for the ridge onto Mt. Green. Darby and party headed for Hochstetter Dom.

For Teichelmann it must have been one of his most enjoyable days in the Southern Alps. It was a beautiful day, not a breath of wind. They climbed Mt. Green and then Mt. Walter. He was now 50 years old and in good health. With him were his two protogee, Alec and Peter Graham who he had nurtured and encouraged to be mountain guides. Peter Graham couldn't help but notice his joy " The two doctors were greatly enjoying the climb, and both being keen photographers, they were making the best use of their time on both peaks. We boiled the alpine cooker for tea on the top of Mt. Walter, and had a picnic lunch, spending more than an hour the view of the Tasman valley and the surrounding peaks, with Malte Brun rising grandly across the valley. My eye was ever drawn towards the view of the west, for immediately below were the Spencer Glacier, the western slopes of Mt. Elie de Beaumont, and the camping spot of that expedition years before when with Dr. teichelmann and Arthur Woodham, I had made my first real contact with the mountains."

An exciting glissade took then quickly back to the Tasman Glacier and then Malte Brun hut. That night, Dr. Vollmann entertained all residents with a description of archaeological work in the old Inca cemetery in Peru. (55)

For Dr. Teichelmann it was a quick trip back to the Hermitage and then home to Hokitika via the Copland Pass.

Dr Teichelmann's world was shattered on May 20 1909, when Mary, his wife died suddenly of a heart problem in Hokitika at 46 years of age. Two days later she was buried at the Hokitika cemetery. (56)

A few months later, in the depth of a West Coast winter, Jack Clarke wrote to Alec Graham, saying that Mr. Earle and Captain Head were planning a trip up the Matukituki valley with the first ascent of Mt. Aspiring as the key objective. Alec Graham sought advice from Teichelmann and describes his feelings at the time.

" This was very exciting news and I was keen to go, the only sad bit about it was that it was not with the Little Doctor. I spoke to him about the offer, and he said I would be very foolish to refuse the opportunity and wished me the best of luck.(57)

Even in his darkest moment grieving for his dearly loved Mary, he was able to offer encouragement to young Alec Graham. Of the pain Ebenezer Teichelmann went through in 1909, is not known.

What is known is that he got a lot of strength from memories and future plans for journeys in the West Coast mountains. It is likely he turned to men of kindred spirit, G.J. Roberts, Chief Surveyor of Westland, the ailing Charlie Douglas and Arthur Woodham, living in Hokitika at the time. It is highly probable that in late 1909, around the time of Roberts retirement from the Survey Department, that Robert's fired Teichelmann to unravel what he considered ' the uncertain topography' at the headwaters of the Wanganui.(58)

1910

Teichelmann's article in 1923 Alpine Club Journal throws light on the Teichelamann/Roberts relationship:

" The late Mr J.G. (sic) Roberts, Chief Surveyor and Commissioner of Crown Lands for Westland, always took interest in our climbing expeditions in Westland, and was helpful in supplying detail maps and advice. He expressed a desire that we should explore the headwaters of the Wanganui, particularly the Lambert branch, stating that the Survey Department was very uncertain about the topography of that region. In compliance with this desire, I decided to organise an expedition up the Rakaia from the east, to endeavour to cross the divide in that region, and come down the Lambert and Wanganui to the Coast."(59)

As a warm-up climb they choose Mt. Chudleigh, in the Mt. Cook region, and with guides Alec and Peter Graham, did the first ascents of the low and middle peak on February 19, 1910. (60)

Alec Graham and Dr. Teichelmann travelled from Mt. Cook to Ashburton. From here they took a train to Mt. Somers, purchased food and supplies, and hired a trap to take them to Lake Heron Station. The pair used horses to reach the first shepherd's hut and the next day, packed up to a camp under Mein's Knob. For five days in rained and the pair were forced to shift camp to higher ground. During the incessant rain, they climbed the Knob but got only occasional glimpses of Lyell Glacier and the surrounding mountains.

During a respite, Graham and Teichelmann crossed the Rakaia and camped on a spur at the junction of the Louper. The rain continued but they travelled up the left bank of the Rakaia and got onto the Ramsay Glacier at its terminus. They now knew the route up the Rakaia to the snout of the Lyell Glacier, the continuous rain hampered them from further exploration. They returned to Hokitika via Whitcombe Pass and Kowhitirangi farm settlements. Teichelmann wrote, " Having failed in this attempt, we decided to tackle the region from the Wanganui in the following season."(61)

There are no exact dates for the return of Teichelmann to Hokitika, or records of Teichelmann meeting Roberts to share details of his journey. But his return would have been somewhere in the first ten days of March 1910. It is safe to assume that Teichelmann would have talked to G.J.Roberts and it is easy to picture them pouring over photographs and Teichelmann taking advice for his next trip to the head of the Wanganui.

But Robert was never able to see the fruits of Teichelmann's more successful 1911 expedition, as he died in Hokitika on September 14 1910.
`

1911

On January 25 1911, Alec Graham and the Doctor, accompanied by Jock Adamson and his loaded pack horses, left Hendes Ferry for the Upper Wanganui. Adamson was of the view he could pack provisions and gear up to the forks of where the Wanganui meets the branches of Lambert and Adams. He was wrong. They had only gone one and a half miles to the first bluff when they found the river unfordable. Teichelmann sent the horses back and replaced them with 'three stalwart West Coasters' Carl Hende, MacKay and Weller, to assist swagging their equipment up river.

The next day the party of five, carrying loads between 50 and 70 lb, tramped up river until they reached an old geological survey camp site near the junction of the Wanganui and Lambert. The following day they moved up the Lambert to Benighted Creek, where the three stalwarts dropped their loads and returned home. One of them Carl Hende, returned a few days later with Jack Clarke.

Clarke joined Teichelmann and Graham and on January 31 carried heavy loads up to Blue Lookout, 'an open cave above the head of Benighted Creek and well up on the Lord Range....an old camp-site of Charlie Douglas....'(62) The view from here was spectacular. Below the Wanganui took a winding course seawards and above, the impassable Lambert Gorge and the towering Lambert Icefall dominated. Three days of bad weather passed and on February 4, they climbed up to the crest of Lord Range and dropped down the other side, hoping to find a route on to Lambert Glacier above the threantening ice-fall. It seemed that the only way was to drop into the Lord riverbed and set up camp on the northern shoulder of Mt. Stoddard. By the morning of February 6, they climbed and traversed round the shoulder of Mt. Stoddart and found an easy descent into the Lambert Glacier just above the icefall. Teichelmann was thrilled. " We were now on the high snowfields of the Lambert, and travelling was easy in many directions. Mt Lambert was a glorious sight across the undulating and slightly crevassed snowfields, with the early morning sun producing great contrasts of light and shade."

It was still early in the morning, so they pressed on up the snowfield to the Main Divide, reaching it at 8am. Here they had their second breakfast, sunbathed and took a great many photographs. Mountaineer Jim Wilson believes they were at this point, on Lambert Col.(63)

The topographical mysteries were slowly being unravelled ont his day. from Lambert Col, Teichelmann describes what he saw:

" We expected to look down into the Lyell Glacier (Rakaia River) but instead of that we were looking into the Clyde Branch of the Rangitata, which here sends a projection (the Francis Glacier) in the direction of Malcolm Peak, quite cutting off the Lyell from the Lambert snowfields, and saddling over into the basin of the Lord. Opposite us on the left was Mt. Nicholson, seen across the Francis Glacier. This was the peak climbed by Dennistoun and party the previous season, and some tributary glaciers came down from its flanks to join the Francis. Looking along the Divide to the south-west a small peak appeared in the skyline, which we thought might be Tyndall."(64)

At 9.30am they walked along the Main Divide ridge and found it wasn't Mt. Tyndall. They christened it Snowy Peak and then carried on the West Coast side of the ridge to record the first ascent of Mt. Tyndall. From the southern end of Mt Tyndall are twin rocks and from here they got an unimpeded view into Perth River to the south-east and into Adams Gorge to the west.

Opposite Mt. Tyndall to the west they found the highest peak in the region, which was unnamed. It was obvious that Teichelmann and Graham were missing Newton their climbing partner, so in his honour they named the mountain Newton Peak. At 1pm, the group descended a fairly steep snow slope towards Newton Peak and crossed the saddle between the Adams and Lambert Glaciers, regaining the route they had taken earlier in the day at Mt. Stoddard. At 6pm they reached their camp.

Jack Clarke and Alec Graham were keen to push off early next morning to climb the beautiful virgin peak of Malcolm, but Teichelmann asked for a rest. He was now 52 years of age, and had been pushing himself hard on this trip. The next day they had a short outing to the north shoulder of Mt. Stoddard, to check the route up Malcolm and take further photographs.

On Wednesday March 8, they set off 'as soon as light permitted', and descended the gully the had checked out the previous day, and climbed up Malcolm Glacier to the base of Malcolm Peak. Turning right they kicked steps up a narrow snow coulior. They alternated between rock and snow to provide variety and as they climbed higher, it became necessary to cut steps. Eventually they reached the divide near the southern arete of Malcolm. Here they spent an hour and three quarters eating, resting and changing clothes. Teichelmann changed his singlet which was a regular habit which in his words, "I have always found that a change into a dry singlet when I am wet and cold infuses new vigour into me."(65)

Refreshed the trio pushed on across a ledge on the western face to the north-western arete which lead them to the corniced summit. Teichelmann was delighted. He had fufilled his promise to the late G.J. Roberts for now, on this auspicious day, ' the weather was now perfect and the views in every direction, magnificent. The whole topography of the region seemed to be laid out before us as if it were a map.' The climb of Malcolm both added to, and confirmed many of the topographical finds of the previous days.

To descend they traversed the peak and descended to near the divide on the north-east side on steep snow and some 'rock-work.' Three glissades took them onto the Malcolm Glacier and they reached their camp late in the afternoon. Not to content to sit back and savour a highly successful day, they packed up camp and descended to the left bank of the Lord River where they slept on some very soft but wet patches of sphagnum moss. Two days later they reached Hendes Ferry, having left a fair amount of food and equipment at each of their camps. Having achieved three first ascents of significant mountains, unravelled the last remaining topographical mystery on the West Coast and taken vital photographs for the Survey Department, he could be justified in saying how good he was. No, the ever modest Doctor gives praise to his two guides...." this was one of the most interesting trips I have ever made, and it was made comfortable by my two companions. Fortunate indeed is the climber who has Graham and Clark (sic) for his guides." (66)

Friend and fellow photographer W.A Kennedy talks about the photographic success of the expedition some 30 years later. " Remarkably fine photographic results were obtained from the heads of the more southerly sub-tributaries of the Big Wanganui, namely the Lord and Lambert, and from the Divide peaks of Malcolm, Snowy and Tyndall, and these photographs later proved of great assistance in the mapping of this country." (67)

In June that year Alec and Jim Graham purchased Batson's Hotel at Waiho, which saw Alec very busy for the next few years. On July 4 1911, Charlie Douglas was admitted to the Westland Public Hospital in Hokitika for 44 days.(68) Here on the hill overlooking Hokitika with brilliant views of the Southern Alps, Dr. Teichelmann saw that his old friend Charlie Douglas was well looked after. Douglas was discharged on September 5 1911.

1912

Although Alec Graham was heavily involved in setting up an hotel business, records show that the 4th, 5th and 6th ascents of The Footstool were done on the same day - April 3 1912. Dr. Teichelmann was in a party with H. Chambers and guides Alec Graham and Jack Clarke and did the 5th ascent. Others on the mountain that day were Mr and Mrs Lindon with guides Darby Thomson and Jack Lippe, and H.F Wright and J. E Walker.(69) Although not recorded, it is likely they crossed to the Hermitage by Graham Saddle and came back the Copland.

1914

In late February 1914, Dr. Teichelmann and Alec Graham were back climbing on the Franz Josef neve.Their trip was briefly mentioned by Andersen as climbing Mt. Spencer from Almer Glacier, over the neve of the Franz Josef Glacier to the col, north of Mt. Spencer, and then on to the summit by the N.E. Arete.(70)

During this period of Teichelmann's climbing career there are numerous references to his stamina, small stature and outstanding qualities. Perhaps these are best summed up by Canon Newton, who wrote:

"A small man, without an ounce of flesh, his physical powers were amazing. I can still see him -slipping through the
tangled bush like a Maori Hen and
perfectly happy, while I panted and
struggled behind in the vilest of tempers- and an enormous 'swag,' above which the crown of a hat was just visible and below, the lower part of a pair of very thin legs.
.....A fine character, a delightful
companion, and one who, when climbing
was almost dead in New Zealand, did so
much by his climbs and his photographs
to rekindle that enthusiasm for the hills which is bearing such good fruit among the new generation of climbers in the
Southern Alps."`

Dr Teichelmann turned 55 years of age in 1914. The Great War saw young guides and amateur mountaineers plucked away to serve overseas, including Teichelmann and Alec Graham, a number never to return. The Doctor's climbing career was not yet over but he had played a very important role as earlier described by Arthur P. Harper and Canon Newton, that of keeping the new sport of mountaineering alive in New Zealand after the NZ Alpine Club went into recess, through his regular expeditions, photographs and articles.(70) Through his encouragment and support Alec and Peter Graham became two of the most notable mountain guides in New Zealand, and together they put South Westland on the map as a destination for tourists and mountaineers.

References

1 NZAC Journal 1939 p116
2 Place of Return - Hokitika Borough Council
1869-1989 Field Ron p80
3 Press December 20, 1938
4 -5 Dorothy Fletcher, personal communication
6 Various sources, predominently The West Coast Times and West Coast Historical Museum, Hokitika.
7 The Descendents of Christian Gottlieb
Teichelmann - O'Donnell J.F. 1974
8 Dorothy Fletcher, personal communication
9 Graham Collection, Hokitika
10 Death Sighting, Graham Collection
11 Canterbury Mountaineer 1939 p 98
12 West Coast Historical Museum, Hokitika
13-16 Peter Graham - Mountain Guide. p 41-42, 47
17 Uncle Alec and the Grahams of Franz Josef
Graham A & Wilson J (Abbreviated) UA p39
18-22 Mountain Guide p 52-75
23 Newton Diaries, Hocken Library (ND) 1904
24 ND,UA & Mountain Guide
25-26 UA
27 Jubilee History of South Canterbury
Johannes C Andersen 1916
28 Mountain Guide
29 AG
30-31 Aorangi - Wilson, Jim
32-33 Mountain Guide
34 Aorangi
35 UA
36 UA
38 NZAC Journal 1935 p 18-24
39 Mr Explorer Douglas - Pascoe J 1957 p66
40 Newton Diaries 1907
41 UA
42 Newton Diaries 1907
43-44 UA
45 Newton Dairies 1907
46-47 UA
48 Canterbury Mountaineer 1939
49 UA
50 NZAC Journal 1935 p18-24
51 Mr. Explorer Douglas - Pascoe J
52-54 UA
55 Mountain Guide
56 Death Sighting - Graham Collection
57 UA
58-59 NZAC Journal 1923 p175
60 Jubilee History of South Canterbury
61 NZAC Journal 1923
62 UA p 104
63 UA p 105
64-66 NZAC Journal 1923 p 186-190
67 Canterbury Mountaineer 1939
68 Mr. Explorer Douglas p 66
69-70 Jubilee History of South Canterbury
71 NZAC Journal 1939 p 116

Ebenezer Teichelmann - Keeping mountaineering alive in New Zealand (Part 1)

2007-12-19T17:21:00.000-08:00

Here is an article I wrote for the New Zealand Alpine Journal somr years back which gives a good insight into his early days in New Zealand.

Keeping Mountaineering alive - 1897 to 1914

By Bob McKerrow

Reaching into the life of Dr Ebenezer Teichelmann is to open a window on one of life's great and gifted people. Medical doctor, surgeon, photographer, author, philosopher, gardener, conservationist, soldier, humanitarian, public health expert, explorer, mountaineer.... the list goes on and on and is exhaustive as it is diverse.

Dr. Teichelmann's contribution to New Zealand mountaineering was phenomenal, but never recorded in great detail. With the help of Dorothy Fletcher of Hokitika, daughter of one of Dr. Teichelmann's close friends, Alec Graham, I shall try to give a detailed insight into his life and mountaineering expeditions during the period 1897 to 1914.

Arthur P. Harper, President of the New Zealand Alpine Club for many years, pays tribute to the role that Teichelmann played in those years when the New Zealand Alpine Club was in recess and the popularity of climbing waned:-

" In estimating the value of Teichelmann's work, it must be remembered that High Alpine Climbing was almost at a standstill when he took it up. The small "Old Brigade" of the late 'Eighties and the early 'Nineties, had temporarily gone out of action, and except for Malcolm Ross and Fyfe's successful season in 1897, little had been done since 1895; thus Teichelmann must have the credit of reviving the sport, and his successive expeditions kept it alive for some years." (1)

Dr Teichelmann was elected to the Alpine Club (England) in 1903, and when the New Zealand Alpine Club was revived in 1914, he became a member. He held various offices in the Club including President of the New Zealand Alpine Club in 1936-37 and Chairman of the Canterbury-Westland Branch in 1936-38. But he will be remembered more for his mountain exploration which started at the late age of 40 and spanned 25 years. His long list of first ascents are sprinkled from the head of the Wanganui River in the north to the Waitoto in the south and his extensive photographic collection, housed in the Hocken Library, is one of the most significant in New Zealand.

During World War One he was even accused of being a spy when the member for Grey Lynn raised his name in Parliament as one of a number of German suspects. The accusation quickly died as people from all walks of life rushed to his support.(2) Shortly afterwards he served as a captain in the Medical Corp with the Sixth Reinforcement and was on board the Marquette when she was torpedoed in the Mediterranean. He was in the water for several hours before being rescued. (3)

So what was this remarkable man really like ?

To say he was different is an understatement. Peter Graham records his first meeting in 1899 with Dr. Teichelmann in his book 'Mountain Guide':

"The Doctor shook hands with me. He had wonderful
grey eyes and he looked earnestly into my face as
if he was peering into my soul; then he said at
last in a squeaky sort of voice, " So this is
Pe-tar." Instead of a big man I had pictured, he
was a little man I could have picked up in my arms. He had a "Captain Cuttle" beard and wore a sports coat, knickers and stockings, and wide
welted boots which emphasised the thinness of his
legs. We were much amused when having a smoke after dinner, he stood with his legs wide apart on the uneven ground and said to Arthur, " I can't
find a level place to put my feet." I was drawn
to this quaint little man at once, and when I came to know him better I developed a very warm
affection for him. He was a lifelong friend to
my brother Alex and myself."

Teichelmann trained seriously for his expeditions and his techniques must have provided great amusement to his neighbours in Hampden Street, Hokitika. He possessed a long ladder, which he would rest against a tall tree in his garden and with full gear and a heavy pack, climb up and down for long periods of time. (4)

Mary, his wife, also displayed qualities which were considered a little eccentric for a women of her time. With little regard for the conventions of the day, she played golf, smoked, and was one of the first women in Hokitika to drive a car. (5) It is not hard to imagine the impact that Mary and Ebenezer Teichelmann on Hokitika society.

Apart from being a great mountaineer and surgeon, Dr. Ebenezer Teichelmann was a pioneer in tourism development, abattoirs, conservation and Free Public Libraries. Among the positions he held were; President of the Westland Acclimatisation Society for more than 40 years, vice-president of the Westland Savings Bank, a member of the Westland Racing and Trotting Clubs, the Westland Progress League, President of Hokitika Lawn Tennis club, Patron of the Lake Kaniere Power Boat Club, member of the Hokitika Borough Council and Hokitika Harbour Board, and a member of most, if not all Boards formed for forest conservation at Lake Kaniere, Punakaiki and Arthur's Pass. Together with Leonard Cockayne he published a little known paper, "The Glacial Scenic Reserves of Westland," which is illustrated with Dr. Teichelmann's photographs. (6)

Ebenezer Teichelmann was born in Adelaide, South Australia in 1859 of a Scottish mother and German father. His father, Christian Gotleib, was born in Dahme, in the Duchy of Saxony, and came to Australia in 1838 as a Lutheran Missionary to work among the Aborginal people of South Australia. Seemingly Christian Teichelmann was a competent linquist and published in 1840, a book on the Aboriginal language of South Australia. In 1841 Governor George Grey appointed him official interpretor for the natives. Margaret Nicholson, his mother, was born in Edinburgh, and migrated to Australia with her family in 1840. Ebenezer was born ninth of fourteen children, seven boys and seven girls.(7) From early childhood he was fired up with dreams of becoming a surgeon. There was not much money in the Teichelmann family, so some of his six brothers helped finance him through medical school. (8)
Details of his early medical career are a little sketchy, but an old newspaper cutting throws some new light:

"Dr. Teichelmann returned to this colony by the
steamer 'Adelaide' from Melborne on Thusday after an absence of nearly ten years, during which he has been engaged in the study and practice of
medicine and surgery in the City of Birmingham.
Dr. Teichelmann was educated in this colony, and before leaving for England, was assistant with the late Dr Gething and Dr Toll at Port Adelaide."(9)

In 1897, at the age of 38, Dr. Ebenezer Teichlemann moved to Hokitika to take up the position of Medical Superintendent for the Westland District Hospital, a position he was to hold for 23 years. He brought Mary ( nee Bettney) to Hokitika, whom he had married while studying in Birmingham.(10)

His 'patch' extended from south of Greymouth down to Jackson Bay and there wasn't a community or corner he didn't visit.

A longtime friend of Teichlemann, W.A. Kennedy describes the conditions the Doctor had to travel in:
" Roads in those early days were few, and transport bad. Below Ross, little more than pack tracks existed and the rivers were all unbridged. Under such circumstances dogged determination, coupled with judgement, was often necessary to get safely through. This quality the doctor fortunately for all concerned, possessed in a marked degree, a quality which later served him in good stead during his exploring and alpine adventures." (11)

The new Doctor was an active man, always willing to go to the scene of accidents, often with scant regard for his own life. He had only been in Hokitika a little more than a year when a terrible mining tragedy occured at a goldmine at Craig's Freehold, across the river in South Hokitika. When word reached Hokitika, the Doctor left immediately and went into the mine to ascertain for himself the nature of the accident, and what probabilities there were of the entombed men being recovered alive. (12)

1899

The "Little Doctor" as he was affectionately known by close friends, learnt about the early miners and explorers as he travelled on his far-flung medical forrays into South Westland. It wasn't long before he was bitten by gold-fever and became friends of local gold miners, the Stonar brothers and Mr. Lee. In early 1899, Arthur Woodham and Peter Graham spent three months in the Callery and Burster Range area getting enough gold to pay expenses and share twenty pound between them. Further down the Callery at Little Beach, the Friend and Watson party had struck it rich and were washing up an average of one pound weight in gold a day and had three extra men working for them on wages. (13) Teichlemann knew Arthur Woodham and had heard of young Peter Graham, so he backed them financially to go back into the Callery to find the elusive 'Mother Lode' from whence all gold came.

Teichelmann's first excursion into the mountains was with Arthur Woodham, Charlie Stonar and Peter Graham. They packed up the Burster Range, with Peter Graham carrying the Doctor's full-plate camera. His first photographic stop was to take a photograph of the Spencer Glacier. The party explored the Burton and Spencer glaciers and discovered a metre-wide quartz band, but no gold. Here they spent seven days exploring the Spencer and Burton glaciers, but the Doctor had to return back to the Westland Hospital. As Dr. Teichelmann parted from Peter Graham at Burster Camp, he said, " You know, Peter, this mountaineering-it's a bug-it 'gets' you doesn't it?" What we see here is a transition from pure gold prospecting to recreational mountaineering with a little fossicking.(14)

He was 40 years of age on his first trip into the mountains which started him on a 25 year stint in South Westland's mountains. He was hooked. The bug never left him.

1900

A new century dawned, the twentieth, and with it the excitement and prospect of more climbing for the " Little Doctor" and his friends. In January 1900 he was making plans for a trip into the Fox Glacier region. Unfortunately Peter Graham was working a gold claim and was unable to accompanying Teichelmann. " Peter, you are deserting me," (15) he told Peter Graham as he passed through Waiho Gorge. But once Graham had explained his predicament of not being able to walk out of his job on a gold claim, he understood and got Charlie Stonar and Alf Dale of Hokitika to accompany him.

The party set out from the terminal face of the Fox Glacier after spending a night in the old tin hut which was close by. After spending most of the day on the Fox Glacier, they climbed Craig Peak. Details of the trip from here on are sketchy but Peter Graham reported that they traversed the Victoria Range, ascended several peaks including Mt. Purity. They had hoped to cross to the Franz Josef Glacier but when they reached the saddle at the top of the range the Fritz Glacier was so broken that they were prevented from proceeding further.(16)

It is likely that Dr. Teichelmann had received a copy of Edward Fitzgerald's book (published in 1896)'Climbs in the New Zealand Alps', and was following his map and route which shows his route over Blackburn's saddle into the Fritz Glacier and then over Zurbriggen's Saddle into the Franz Josef. It appears from his description he turned back at Blackburn's Saddle.

In 1901, a young Englishman arrived in Westland, to take up the position of vicar of Ross and South Westland. Alex Graham recalls meeting the Rev. Newton shortly after his arrival in Ross : "He was a young man then, full of energy and keeness, and I notice while he talked to one and another his eyes often wandered to the mountains." (17)

1902

The eyes had it. It didn't take long for Teichelmann with his wonderful grey eyes and Newton with his wandering mountain eyes to team up. Bishop Julius had given Newton a letter of introduction to Dr Teichelmann, who, he said would like a companion to share his mountain trips.

The West Coast Times on 6 February 1902 gives a details of their first trip together:
" Dr. Teichelmann and Mr. Newton, who left here about a fortnight ago on a mountaineering
expedition have arrived at the Hermitage, having
crossed the range at Graham's (sic) Saddle. We
understand that the explorers are entitled to
the credit of being the first to cross the ranges by this pass. Dr. Teichelmann in a wire from Lake
Tekapo stated they intend leaving there today or
tomorrow on the return trip and expect to reach
Hokitika about the end of next week."

The above article omitted to mention that they were the first to cross Graham's Saddle from west to east from Waiho to the Hermitage, the first crossing west to east crossing from Fox Glacier being in 1895 by Fitzgerald and party.

Newton and Teichelmann had asked Peter Graham to join them on the 1902 trip, but again was unable to take leave from his employers. To help carry their heavy loads, they took along Mr. Batson who owned the guest house at Waiho as a porter. It took the trio three days to reach Graham Saddle after a new route using the Miner's Track into the Callery, up onto the Callery Ridge which they followed until reaching the Water Hole. They spent their second night above Rope Creek. On the third day they ascended the Goat Path ridge, crossed the Almer Glacier to a Col below St. Mildred which gives a splendid view towards Graham Saddle. From here they picked out a route to the dsaddle late in the afternoon, with Mr. Batson using his slasher to cut steps up a steep slope. They reached the junction of the Rudolf and Tasman Glaciers at nightfall and spent a cold night out before reaching Ball Hut.

The trip was far from finished. Young Newton, fresh from a few seasons in the European Alps was keen to come back by a new route. At Ball Hut they discussed possiblities with Jack Clarke. Clarke who had made the first ascent of Mt. Cook was then Chief Guide at the Hermitage. He agreed to accompany them back to the West Coast from the Hooker Glacier via Baker Saddle. They reached Baker Saddle, making the first ascent, and climbed down to the Strauchon Glacier and camped at the terminal face. Poor Batson, not having the mountain temperament, kept saying "Let me get back to the bush; I feel safe there." (18)

The next day while descending to the Copland River they struck thick bush and Teichelmann turned to Batson and said," Here's your chance now, Batson, get into this with your billhook and whack away." Jack Clarke left them at the Copland River, returning to the Hermitage by the Copland Pass.

Teichelmann's concern for others and his wry sense of humour is further illustrated by his actions on their arrival at the Scott's homestead. Batson, who had arrived before Newton,Teichelmann and Graham, had obviously pushed himself beyond his limits. Peter Graham takes up the story:
"Batson was well settled in bed by that time, but
the Doctor's first thought was for him, so they
took a candle each and went in as if holding a
wake. Very sunburnt with the skin peeling off
his nose, and with a week's beard, he looked a
picture. "Isn't he a beauty; and doesn't he look lovely there!" After a lot of raillery they left
him to rest." (19)

This ended Teichelmann's 1902 trip. He called in to see brothers Peter and Alec Graham and discussed their trip.

The Doctor encouraged Peter and Alec to improve their climbing skills. On days off they would explore the Franz Josef using prospecting picks to cut steps. Soon they began taking local people for trips on the glacier and Teichelmann started referring people to "get" young Graham to take them on the glacier. (20)

1903

In early 1903 Peter Graham received a letter from Dr. Teichelmann informing him that he and Newton were organising a trip to the head of the Fox Glacier. Graham was invited to join and accepted immediately. At that time the Fox neve was unexplored.
Peter Graham arranged for all the gear to be packed by horses over the bridle track from Waiho (Franz Josef) to the Fox Glacier. After a recce, a spell of wet weather and a few days hard slog, the party put in a camp, high up Chancellor ridge. The next day they climbed to the top of the ridge and did the first ascent of Chancellor Dome. The view was stunning. Teichelmann and Newton set up their bulky plate cameras and photographed the virgin panorama before them. Newton was fascinated by the bulk of Horo Koau ( Mt. Tasman) and expressed a desire to attempt the arete from the col ( later named Engineer Col) between Lendenfeld and Tasman.

During the next week they climbed up to Engineer Col, retreated back to their camp on Chancellor ridge, and later climbed back up to Pioneer Pass, becoming the first to set foot on it. Gale-force winds forced them back to Chancellor ridge campsite. Here they spent a few days, photographing and taking observations with a prismatic compass for chief surveyor, G.J. Robert back in Hokitika. Peter Graham describes the careful attention Teichelmann gave his surveying.

" I erected a cairn with a firm flat stone on top on which to place the prismatic compass. The Doctor was very careful about taking three special points, Douglas Peak, Mt Haidinger, and Mt Tasman. I put down the number of the prismatic reading as he called it out. To make doubly sure that the readings were accurate, the Doctor took them again and was dismayed to find them all different. This was a poser until he realised the goggles he was wearing were affecting his compass needle. Afterwards he always removed them before taking any readings." (21)

At the conclusion of the trip, Dr Teichelmann gave Peter Graham a rope, an ice-axe and a 'Badminton' book on mountaineering. Graham studied the book carefully and worked on his skills along with his younger brother Alec. The Doctor's generosity put Graham in a position to be able to guide Mr. T.E. Donne, the first Superintendent of the Tourist Department, up the Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers in the winter of 1903. During the trip, Donne offered Peter Graham position of assistant to Chief Guide at the Hermitage. In October the same year, Peter Graham crossed the divide, by the Copland Pass, to take up the position.(22)

1904

The annual 1904 expedition of Newton and Teichelmann took shape. Teichelmann was keen to cross Pioneer Pass from the east, and engaged Jack Clarke and Peter Graham as guides, while Newton and Alex Graham went up the Fox Glacier. They planned to meet on the west.

Teichelmann, always the explorer with a dash of surveyor and scientist, arrived at the Hermitage in late January 1904 (23)to explore the different glacier valleys and take a series of photographs of the various peaks, before crossing Pioneer Pass. With Peter Graham he climbed up to the Sealey Range and from the top of Mt. Ollivier, the Doctor, greatly impressed by the view, set up his full-plate camera and spent an hour taking photgraphs. The next day they set off for Ball Hut. At the meal table that night were a number of other visitors, including the Reverend Mr Hansell of Timaru and two young Australian women. Peter Graham describes Teichelmann's conversation:

" We on the West Coast..." followed by a
description of some of his climbing experiences
or some beauty spot. Mr Hansell was very taken with the Doctor's enthusiasm for the West Coast
and teasingly remarked to his table neighbour,
"Let's see how long it will be before the Doctor
mentions the West Coast again." He hadn't long to
wait before the Doctor was in earnest conversation with the two Sydney girls, telling them of the attractions of Franz Josef Glacier. When
opportunity offered, Mr Hansell with a
mischievious twinkle asked the girls what they had
in Sydney worth seeing.
They replied with one voice, " We have a wonderful
harbour."
Hastily the Doctor rejoined, " Yes, yes, that's about all you have got."

Peter Graham and the Doctor walked up to Malte Brun Hut the next day. Using the early morning light to his advantage, the next morning saw Teichelmann setting his camera up at the end of the Western arete of Malte Brun on a small rock platform, where he spent the morning photographing the overwhelming scenery before him.

At the beginning of February the Doctor set out again for Ball hut with guides Jack Clarke and Peter Graham with the objective of crossing the pass between Mt. Haast and Grey Peak, later named Pioneer Pass. The party swagged up Haast ridge with seven days food and a large full plate camera and camped high on Haast ridge at the levelled-off spot which had been used by earlier parties attempting Mt Cook. A violent storm which brought gale-force winds and heavy snow forced them back to Ball Hut, but three days later they were back at the same camp site. Canon Newtown and Alex Graham were similarly affected by bad weather on the Western side of the divide.

It dawned fine on 7 February. Teichelmann and his party plodded up to Glacier Dome in soft snow. Here they abandoned any thoughts of high climbing for the day and the morning was spent assisting Dr. Teichelmann taking photographs and checking out the route for the next day. While on the Dome, Peter Graham and the Doctor, pointed out the col between Lendenfeld and Tasman they had reached the previous year. They had hardly finished explaining when they observed two distant figures appear over the horizon from the western side of the Southern Alps. It could only be Mr. Newton and Alec Graham. The eastern party watched them move from Engineer Col slowly up Mt. Lendenfeld before they turned back.

Jack Clarke said he wanted to cooee and shout out to them but Dr.Teichelmann quickly replied. "No, no, don't do that. If Newton heard you he would want to climb straight down to us." This is another example of Teichelmann's judgement. He knew well the impetuousity of youth and advised New Zealand's most experienced guide against a course of action. At the same time he was shaping the future of two of the country's upcoming guides, the Graham brothers. The party watched Newton and Alec Grahan disappear out of sight, presumably back to the Fox neve.

The next morning, Dr. Teichelmann and his guides retraced their footsteps up to Glacier Dome, crossed the prominent arete leading up to Mt. Haast, and headed up to Pioneer Pass in soft snow. Jack Clarke lead out in waist deep snow to the pass and before long they reached the pass. They trudged down the West Coast side of the divide and were relieved to find Newton and Alec Graham's footsteps of the previous day.

Alec Graham had been hoping to meet Jack Clarke for some time. " I was especially looking forward to meeting Jack Clarke, whom I had heard so much about as a mountaineer and guide. I think I regarded Jack with something amounting to hero worship for his prowess and for the fact that he was one of the party to conquer Mt Cook."

That afternoon Alec Graham met his hero on Chancellor ridge when Clarke arrived with Teichelmann and Peter Graham. There was much excitement and conversation.

History was made that day! The first crossing of Pioneer Pass was posted and, more importantly, plans were cemented for the future, a future in which these five mountaineers were going to play a leading role for decades to come.

It just didn't happen. Teichelmann was at his innovative best. He had hired Clarke and Peter Graham, and arranged for Newton to climb with Alec Graham from the west. The rendez-vous on Chancellor ridge was planned by the Doctor a month before. The Graham brothers from Waiho Gorge had been nutured and encouraged by him to learn the trade of mountain guiding from the first day he had met them.

Two days later the group decided to head for the unclimbed Glacier Peak and Mt. Douglas. They climbed up to the Pioneer Ridge and discovered a patch of gravel at the top of a steep buttress and noted it as a future tent or hut site. Time ran out and they descended the Fox Glacier back to Weheka (Fox) and then to Waiho.
On February 13, Dr. Teichelmann took Jack Clarke, who had suffered terrible toothache on the trip, to Okarito where he had two teeth and three stumps extracted. The forceps, a rudimentary book on dental extraction had formerly belonged to Dick Dickens at Okarito, and somewhere about 1903, had been given to Jack Heveldt, the proprietor of the Forks Hotel. After the bush dentistry, Jack Clarke returned to the Hermitage with Peter Graham by way of Goat Path and Graham Saddle.(24)

Teichlemann returned to his medical duties in Hokitika where much of his work was surgical. One of the Doctor's fears when climbing was damaging his hands, which would affect his ability to perform delicate operations. Before climbing on rock, he would often tape his fingers up to prevent cuts and abrasions. Alex Graham describes " The Doctor's fingers had suffered with all the rock work and some of them were bleeding. I strapped up the tips with plaster and the doctor jokingly remarked that it would be better to put the plaster on sticky side out, to give him a better grip on the smooth rock. He was always worried about letting his wife down, and being hurt or even dying from a fall.(25)

References

1 NZAC Journal 1939 p116
2 Place of Return - Hokitika Borough Council
1869-1989 Field Ron p80
3 Press December 20, 1938
4 -5 Dorothy Fletcher, personal communication
6 Various sources, predominently The West Coast Times and West Coast Historical Museum, Hokitika.
7 The Descendents of Christian Gottlieb
Teichelmann - O'Donnell J.F. 1974
8 Dorothy Fletcher, personal communication
9 Graham Collection, Hokitika
10 Death Sighting, Graham Collection
11 Canterbury Mountaineer 1939 p 98
12 West Coast Historical Museum, Hokitika
13-16 Peter Graham - Mountain Guide. p 41-42, 47
17 Uncle Alec and the Grahams of Franz Josef
Graham A & Wilson J (Abbreviated) UA p39
18-22 Mountain Guide p 52-75
23 Newton Diaries, Hocken Library (ND) 1904
24 ND,UA & Mountain Guide
25-26 UA

Charlie Douglas - his final years

2007-12-19T04:21:00.000-08:00

Caption: Charlie (centre) having a tot, or a pot, of whiskey with Andrew Scott.

Here is an article I wrote for the New Zealand Alpine Journal in 1995 called
Charlie Douglas - His final years It threw light on hitherto information which influenced the rewrite of John Pascoe's book on Mr. Explorer Douglas. It also highlights the care and treatment given to him by Dr. Rbenezer Teichelmann.

Here it is for the records.

One of the best New Zealand books on exploration must be Phillip Temple's 'New Zealand Explorers - Great Journeys of Discovery.' The chapter on Charles Douglas is moving and gives a descriptive insight into his arduous trips in the Waiatoto Valley. Unfortunately Temple paints an incorrect picture of Charlie’s last years: He tes,

"In 1906, Douglas suffered a stroke from which he seemed to have recovered; but he was not to recover from the more massive blow which struck him down in 1908." From then, until his death in Hokitika in 1916 at the age of 75, Douglas lay paralyzed, unable even to talk with his friends." (1)

Research I've conducted shows that Douglas did recover from his second stroke and was well enough to be camping by himself at Lake Kaniere in 1911 at the age of 71.(2)

Temple can certainly be excused for this mistake as he built on the research of the usually reliable John Pascoe. I began making the same mistake in writing a biography on Ebenezer Teichelmann until I started digging deeper. Interviews with two men who remembered Charlie well, were key in piecing together the last years of Douglas' life and the friends who supported him.

It has revealed that instead of a tragic stroke-ridden and paralysed Charlie Douglas portrayed by John Pascoe and repeated Temple, it is likely that Charlie Douglas' final years were among the best of his life apart from the period from October 10, 1914 to his death on May 23, 1916 where he was permanently hospitalised.

In two recent interviews with Hec Davidson (June 1993, three weeks before his death) and Ces Preston ( September 1993)
it is clear that Charlie was seen out at Lake Kaniere in late 1911. He had his tent pitched near to Dr Ebenezer Teichelmann's batch. Neither Hec or Ces recall him looking paralyzed and he was certainly able to speak.

" I met him through going to the Lake with some of my cobbers - I was there with Hector Davidson who was three years older than I. Hec said, 'there's Mr Douglas.' He had a tent there. I saw him go to the tent and he said hello to us as he passed. The tent had a fly on it. I was told later by a very reliable source that the good doctor wanted Charlie to stay in his house, but he said, 'Oh no, I want to stay in the tent.' That would have been late 1911, " recalled Ces Preston. Ces said that in later life he dicussed these boyhood memories with his friend that day, Hec Davidson, and both "were clear in our minds that we saw Mr. Douglas at Lake Kaniere in 1911." (3)

Charlie had a second stroke either late in 1908 or early 1909. Around that time,Teichelmann "told Arthur P. Harper not to see Douglas as he would be upset at not being able to talk to him, and it was kinder to leave him alone." (4)

John Pascoe concluded from his research that after his second stroke , "He never recovered sufficiently to roam again in the bush or on the ranges." (5)But he was to roam in the bush again in a limited way, for he was seen walking on the shores of Lake Kaniere in 1911 which has bush down to the waters edge.

As his doctor, Ebenezer Teichelmann saw a lot of Charlie Douglas between 1906 after his first stroke, and up until late 1915 when he left for Egypt to serve in the First World War.(6)

Pascoe is also short on detail when it comes to writing about the people who cared for Douglas in his last years. Teichelmann saw to it that Douglas got the best possible medical care. For most of his last years Douglas was living with Mrs Jane Ward, the widow of Charlies deceased partner in exploration, Bob Ward, who drowned in 1881 crossing the Omoeroa River. Bob Ward and Douglas had done a number of survey trips together and he had got to know Jane Ward well over the years. What has been revealed recently is that Jane Ward lived at 20 Fitzherbert Street, which was either next door to G. J. and Mrs Roberts or two houses along from him. With the closeness of the relationship between Douglas and the Roberts, support was always on hand next door. (7)

Roberts writes of his relationship with Douglas as one between "two human beings who fully understand each other and, ignoring our many weaknesses, fully appreciate the remainder." (8)

Mrs Roberts had a soft spot for Charlie. In the winter of 1897 he had taken her on ice for the first time near the Bealey and later that year her husband refers to his wife and a lady climber from Greymouth going down to visit Charlie. He wrote, " Most probably when Douglas gets up the Waiho these two camerists will pop in at his Bat-wing for afternoon tea and consficate him for a few weeks." (9)

According to Jane Ward's grandson Tom Ward, his grandmother got on well with Charlie Douglas who lived in accomodation at the rear of the house.
" He was a very shy person, particulary with women, but this he overcome with time. His long association with the Wards meant that he could talk easily with Mrs Ward," recalled Tom Ward. (10)

" Charlie would have been well looked after, you wouldn't have got a better women than Mrs Ward, she was so kind and with her nursing training he would have got good care," (11)

Preston also wrote, " Another hospital attendant told me that when Explorer Douglas was hospitalised in old age the doctor saw to it that he had his hot toddies at night, as his rheumatics played up." The hot toddies usually were made up of whiskey and hot water. (12)

Ces Preston is quite adamant that Dr Teichelmann arranged for Charlie Douglas to go out to Lake Kaniere every Christmas/New Year period during the period 1906 up until he was permanently hospitalised. (13)

So instead of the tragic picture of Douglas that Pascoe and Temple write about from 1906 to his death in 1916 it is likely that some of Charlie Douglas final years were warm, comfortable and friendly ones, although he would have had bouts of pain and the frustration of poor speech , limited mobility and rheumatism some of the time. He certainly wasn't without friends. Tiechelmann was his doctor and friend, Arthur Woodham his old mining friend from Waiho assisted Mrs Ward in looking after him. and Mr and Mrs Roberts were neighbours. And, if that wasn't enough, Duncan McFarlane and his large family were regular visitors. (14)

What is equally interesting is that Teichelmann advised A.P. Harper not to come and see Douglas in 1908/1909 sometime after his second stroke. This statement intrigued me. I was tempted to leave it alone , but on talking to Dorothy Fletcher, daughter of Alec Graham, who knew Teichelmann well, I decided to probe further.

" I believe it is likely that Teichelmann and Roberts in particular, protected Charlie from Harper," said Dorothy Fletcher. (15)

The question that has to be posed is, did the Charlies West Coast friends - Roberts, Teichelmann, Woodham and McFarlane - close ranks to keep the rather boastful Harper away? Roberts opinion of Harper was "how unconsciously full of self the youthful Harper was" (16)

Harper, who a member of the New Zealand Alpine Club since its inception in 1894 and was later President for many years, was likely to be tarred with the brush of disdain that Douglas had for "that gang of amateurs called the New Zealand Alpine Club they have done nothing and explored nothing that wasn't known long before." He also said, " some crack brained idiot who wishes to make what he calls a record, and who's ambition is to be a small hero in a lecture hall, a drawing room, or even pot house..."(17)

Whilst Douglas' criticisms were in the main directed to Malcolm Ross and George Park, early members of the NZ Alpine Club, he and fellow West Coasters held a high degree of distrust and suspicion against the east coast amateur climbers, who came over and made exaggerated claims about their exploits in the west.

Pascoe writes, " His attitude was not uncommon in Westland and persists to this day; alpine feats are not ones about which to boast, and pretentiousness in any form is to be condemned." (18)
Even today on the West Coast there is a degree of simmering resentment towards John Pascoe, who from 1938 onwards made a number of trips to the West Coast, and took away valuable West Coast Archives and records of exploration.(19)

Fortunately not all the West Coast's archives were taken for in Hokitika we have a number of valuable historical resources on exploration and mountaineering:

The Westland Savings Bank has the origional copy of Charlie Douglas Journal 1892-1897 , the West Coast Historical Museum holds a number of Douglas sketches and archives on some West Coast explorers/surveyors/ mountaineers, some of Douglas field books are with DOSLI, The Department of Conservation in Hokitika and Franz Josef have a comprehensive photographic collection . Dorothy Fletcher has the best West Coast alpine archives known as the Graham Collection. I have also built up a lot of valuable references on West Coast. All these collections are well cared for and in good condition.

Plans are currently underway to establish regional archives in Hokitika of a national standard where most of these collections will be housed together. It also will present an opportunity to bring back a number of important West Coast collections that are housed elsewhere. Heritage Hokitika has a committee called the Carnegie Building Restoration committee which is developing a strategic plan to restore the Carniegie Building which for many years functioned as a public library. It has the backing of the Westland District Council, NZ Historic Places Trust and numerous other local and regional organisations. (20)

REFERENCES:
1 Philip Temple, New Zealand Explorers - Great Journeys of Discovery, Whitcoulls Publishers. Christchurch , 1985, p 163
2 Ces Preston, personal conversation, September 1993
3 Ces Preston and Hec Davidson, personal conversation, June 1993 and September 1993
4 John Pascoe, Mr. Explorer Douglas, A.H. & A.W. Reed. 1957, p 66
5 John Pascoe op. cit., p 65
6 Bob McKerrow, Ebenezer Teichelmann, Unpublished book 1993
7 Tom Ward, Letter, 9 July, 1993
8 John Acheson, Mr Surveyor Roberts, NZ Alpine Club Journal, 1973, p 110
9 John Pascoe op. cit., p 110
10 Tom Ward, op. cit.
11 Hazel Kelly, personal conversation, August 1993
12 Ces Preston, op. cit.
13 Ces Preston, op. cit.
14 Dorothy Fletcher personal conversation and Graham
Collection, Hokitika.
15 Dorothy Fletcher, personal conversation.
16 John Acheson, op.cit., p110
17 John Pascoe, op.cit, p 78
18 John Pascoe, op. cit., p 78
19 Dorothy Fletcher and numerous others, too many to list.
20 Carnegie Building Restoration Committee Heritage
Hokitika, Restoration

Barron's Canyon- New Zealand

2007-12-11T17:31:00.000-08:00

One of my favourite Teichelmann photos. Taken in 1911.

Barron's Canyon, Prices River, Upper Whitcombe Valley

Dorothy Fletcher

2007-11-29T16:50:00.000-08:00

Dorothy Fletcher (r) with Bob Mckerrow going through her archives on Ebenezer Teichelmann. Dorothy, the daughter of the famous New Zealand mountain guide, Alex Graham, new Ebenezer Teichelmann well as a girl. She has many fond memories of the wee Doctor or Teichy, as she affectionately calls him ater all these years. To be precise, 68 years, 11 months 21 days after his death in 1938.

Here is an excerpt from Teichelmann's biography quoting Dorothy Fletcher.

Impressions as a child are often vivid and accurate, and Dorothy Fletcher recalls the atmosphere when visiting Dr Teichelmann’s home as a young girl every time she did a trip to Hokitika with her father, Alec Graham, and it was always the last stop. “He loved to see dad and it was always a warm welcome for him and me. Teichy did all his work in a large, darkish room with a distinctive smell of pipe tobacco,” she recalled, as her visits were usually late in the afternoon and the trees would block the sunlight. “He had a big chair, photos on the wall of mountains and people. Cameras, tripods, slide boxes, maps, photographs, books, magazines letters, papers and his pipes were scattered around. “My sister and I were fascinated by his pipes as some of them had little caps on them,” recalls Dorothy Fletcher. He wasn’t untidy or disorganized, rather a busy man and appeared to have systems for filing and storing.

Dorothy also mentioned that Teichy had copied photographs from Buller’s Book of Birds to enhance his photographic slide talks .

Lake Mahinapua

2007-11-16T16:50:00.000-08:00

Dr. Ebenezer Teichelmann was a brilliant photographer and this is a photo of Lake Mahinapua, Westland, New Zealand. Taken about 1909

Teichelmann book at Mount Cook village

2007-10-28T23:01:00.000-07:00

Caption: Charlie Hobbs, Bob McKerrow with Teichelmann book & Roy Smith

Shortly after my book on Teichelmann was published in India, I flew to New Zealand for an official book launch in Christchurch at the New Zealand Alpine Club monthly meeting in early December 2004.

A few days later I went to Mount Cook Aoraki village and met up with old friends who are mountain guides, Charlie Hobbs and Roy Smith. Roy I took on his first climb in 1973 (Ruapehu) and Charlie I have known for years. This was the first copy of the Teichelmann book to reach the Mount Cook village, 98 years after Teichelmann had climbed Mt. Cook. It was such a pleasure to show the first copy of Teichelmann to Charlie and Roy.

South Face of Aoraki Mt. Cook taken by Dr. Teichelmann

2007-10-16T17:40:00.000-07:00

Teichelmann, his photos and writings still generate interest and still contribute to science even 100 years later.

I got this email the other day from Tim Kerr a young Ph D. student at Canterbury University, and I post this to show what top quality photographs generate even 103 years later.

What delights me is if Teichelmann wanted to be remembered as any one thing, it would be his contribution to science and conservation. Thanks Tim for acknowledging this great man.

tim.kerr@pg.canterbury.ac.nz
10/16/2007 05:09 PM
To
bob.mckerrow@ifrc.org
cc

Subject
Teichelmann photo date question - with image

Hi Bob,

I am a student at Canterbury University investigating rain and snowfall in the Mt Cook area. Recently I have been looking at pre4paring some before and after images of the glaciers in the region. I obtained a copy of a photo from the Canterbury Museum from the Kennedy Collection attributed to Teichelmann. Unfortunately the museum has no date for the photo. I have scoured your book and concluded that the photo wasprobably taken in 1904, but he had plenty of opportunity to have taken
it on other occasions too.

Would you have an idea of how I could tie this date down? There are two avenues that I think may be a possibility:
1/ a review of his diaries at the time. Do you know where I can access them?
2/ I am guessing that he used different cameras on different occasions (e.g. a smaller one when climbing). There may be a way of determining from the photograph what type of camera was used. Do you know if this is possible?

Any information or help would be gratefully accepted.

Regards

Tim Kerr
PhD Student
Department of Geography
University of Canterbury

Dear Tim

In 1904 Teichelmann set out to have a good look at the Mt. Cook side of the Southern Alps with his Large plate camer and 5 " x 4 " film camera

I believe he knew then in 1904 that an International Exhibition was to be held in Christchurch in 1907 and that would have spurred him on to build up his photographic collection.

On page 194 of my book there is a photograph of Mt. Cook and the old Hermitage he tool in 1904. The shape of the snow plasterings on the South Face look very similar to the photo you have attached. Unfortunately I am moving house here in Jakarta and my electronic copies of photos are in storgae for a few weeks. I lived at Mt. Cook in the early 70's for some years and my bedroom looked at the South Face of Mt. Cook. The snow plasterings vary quite significantly from year to year which tends my bet that the photo you sent would be 1904.

Re plate cameras, Bruce White, English teacher at Westland High school ( try Hokitia phone boook, under Bruce and Angela White ) still uses one and helped me edit Teichelmann. He may be your best bet of the likelihood of which canmera he used. My bet again he would have used his large plate camera as it was in the valley.

If I can be of further help, please contact me.

Good luck with your very interesting research.

Bob

If you would like a copy of Teichelmann, the New Zealand edition distributed by Craig Potton Publishing, is available at bookshops throughout New Zealand, and on the West Coast at Take Note bookshops, Greymouth, Hokitika and Franz Josef Glacier.

Ebenezer Teichelmann – Cutting Across Continents’ by Bob McKerrow, is the international edition and available internationally at India Research Press.New Delhi,www.indiaresearchpress

Beyond the central Southern Alps

2007-09-27T23:31:00.000-07:00

Here is an excellent New Zealand website which will take you to photos and articles on Ebenezer Teichelmann

http://www.teara.govt.nz/TheBush/BushAndMountainRecreation/en

Graham, Newton and Teichelmann
Outside the Aoraki/Mt Cook region
Guided climbing was based at the Hermitage hotel, but the early climbers also visited ranges beyond the central Southern Alps. Harry Birley climbed the East Peak of Mt Earnslaw in 1890. Guy Mannering climbed the Low Peak of Mt Rolleston, above Arthur’s Pass, in 1891. Cloud obscured the High Peak, which was not climbed until 1912. Mannering attempted Mt Arrowsmith in 1893.
Jim Dennistoun, Lawrence Earle and Jack Clarke made the first ascent of Mt D’Archiac in 1910. Mt Arrowsmith was climbed two years later. Up the Waimakariri, A. P. Harper climbed Mt Davie in 1912. In Fiordland, the great prize was Mt Tūtoko. The first serious attempt was made by Malcolm and Kenneth Ross and William Hodgkins in 1895. The peak became an obsession for Samuel Turner, who finally succeeded in February 1924.
Mt Aspiring was first attempted from the Waiototo River in 1905, but not climbed until 1909 by Alec Graham, Bernard Head and Jack Clarke.
A remarkable pair
On the West Coast, an unusual team made an indelible mark on New Zealand mountaineering. Ebenezer Teichelmann, born in Australia, was a doctor in Hokitika from 1897 until 1926. Henry Newton, from England, was vicar at Ross from 1901 until 1907. While Newton was in New Zealand, he and Teichelmann initiated climbing from the West Coast side of the Southern Alps. Often climbing with Alec Graham, the pair completed 26 first ascents, culminating with Mt La Perouse in 1906.
A mixed group on top
Ebenezer Teichelmann, R. S. Low, Henry Newton and Alec Graham achieved the first ascent of Mt La Perouse in 1906. It was noted that there were ‘a Scot, an Englishman, a German/Scot born in Australia and a New Zealander sitting on a peak named after a French navigator.’1
Access from the west
On the eastern side of the Southern Alps broad valleys, with little forest, give relatively easy access to the high peaks. The western flank of the range is much steeper and has a higher rainfall. Heavy forest, deeply gorged rivers and steep icefalls guard the peaks. Teichelmann and Newton were among the first to force routes onto the high West Coast neves (the high snowfields that feed glaciers).

Footnotes
Bob McKerrow, Ebenezer Teichelmann: pioneer New Zealand mountaineer, explorer, surgeon, photographer and conservationist. New Delhi: Tara-India Research Press, 2005, p. 161.

Link to Ebenezer Techelmann photograph - Te Ara

2007-09-27T23:14:00.000-07:00

The website below will link you to a classic photo of Teichelmann, Newton and Graham in the mountaineering section under Beyond the central Southern Alps. This is a wonderful website. Bob

http://www.teara.govt.nz/TheBush/BushAndMountainRecreation/en

Two of my favourite Teichelmann photos.

2007-09-22T17:08:00.000-07:00

Ebenezer Teichelmann portrait and below, after the 3rd ascent of Mt. Cook Aoraki in 1905. (seated far right)

Teichelmann's photo of Mt. Cook Aoraki

2007-08-30T23:57:00.000-07:00

Taken in 1905 by Ebenezer Teicelamann on his large plate camera, this photograph of Mt. Cook Aoraki must be one of the best ever. Look at the detail and the lighting.

Ebenezer marries Mary Bettney

2007-08-21T19:32:00.000-07:00

While in Birmingham, he met and later married Mary Bettney, a former matron of a Birmingham hospital.[1] In 1886, his older sister Charlotte gave birth to a boy, and named him Ebenezer Thomas Kendall.[2] In 1890 he married Mary.

In 1892, Dr Teichelmann and his new wife Mary, returned from England to Melbourne, Australia on board the Anchor liner Yarrawonga as the ship’s Doctor. Behind his name were the titles, FRCS (Birmingham) MRCS and LRCS. Fifteen years earlier he had been an apprentice to a chemist and now returned a highly qualified surgeon. On arrival he moved to Port Adelaide where he filled the post of Health Officer.

[1] Graham Collection, Teichelmann file, Hokitika.New Zealand
[2] Kendall Genealogy, Australia :website: members.fortunecity.com

Ebenezer and Mary's Gravesite - Hokitika

2007-08-06T22:53:00.000-07:00

photo credit: Bruce White

Dr Ebenezer Teichelmann died at the Westland Hospital on 20 December 1938, of a cerebral haemorrhage following a cerebral thrombosis ten days earlier. Two days later he was buried at the Hokitika Cemetery. A service was held for him in the All Saints Anglican Church. At the graveside, Father J. Finerty, Roman Catholic priest, conducted the ceremony. This final gesture of having an Anglican Church service and a Catholic Father conducting the graveside rites for a man who professed by faith to be a rationalist, showed that there is hope for unity in this world. His whole life had been devoted to healing and discovery.
It was a poignant moment.
“O leave my bones at the Hokitika cemetery when I die,” he had said some years earlier, when questioned about his future, and being a lover of Stevenson’s poetry, it was indeed “here he lies where he longs to be.”
The Patriach had found his rest. He was in the forefront of applying scientific and medical knowledge as it became available, a voyage of discovery in surgery, medicine, rainforests, conservation and exploration. And on photographic plates he left his record.

Buried alongside his wife Mary, his gravesite is not far from the Westland Hospital where he gave over 30years of medical service to the district, and in the distance Mount Cook, Mount Torres, Mount Douglas, Glacier Peak, La Perouse — all peaks he climbed — dot the horizon. Not far away are the graves of his mates, of a kindred spirit; Charlie Douglas, G. J. Roberts, Dr. MacAndrew and Duncan McFarlane.
Even the day after he died, Teichelmann’s generosity was still being felt. Mrs K. Lee (nee Warren) was working in the Post Office Exchange and she said that “Teichie always gave Five Pound each year towards Post Office Christmas Cheer. This year Teichie died before Christmas, but before he died he had written out a cheque for Five Pounds, and the Post Office received the cheque the day after he died.”
Mount Teichelmann, Teichelmann Rock, Teichelmann’s Corner, Teichelmann’s Track, Teichelmann’s Creek, Ebenezer Peak and Teichelmann’s (Bed and Breakfast) guesthouse celebrate his memory.
Peter Graham recognized something many others were to verbalize in different ways. “I was drawn to the quaint little man,” he said. Others described it as an attraction, a charisma, or a magnetic personality.
'He had that rare gift of always seeing the very best in his friends, for he especially loved and had much consideratio for younger people, and I always felt he loved us in spite of our faults; yet; withal, he was so amazingly modest about his own gifts and especially concerning his mountaineering achievements,’ wrote another friend in the Alpine Club Journal.

A small man, without an ounce of flesh, his physical powers were amazing. I can still see him — slipping through the tangled bush like a Maori Hen and perfectly happy, while I panted and struggled behind in the vilest of tempers — and an enormous ‘swag’, above which the crown of a hat was just visible and below, the lower part of a pair of very thin legs.
… A fine character, a delightful companion, and one who, when climbing was almost dead in New Zealand, did so much by his climbs and his photographs to rekindle that enthusiasm for the hills which is bearing such good fruit among the new generation of climbers in the Southern Alps.’

FIRST FLIGHT OVER THE GLACIER REGION OF SOUTH WESTLAND

2007-08-02T21:23:00.000-07:00

Ebenezer Teichelmann, left, after the first flight over the glacier region of South Westland in 1924

Ebenezer Teichelmann - Cutting Across Continents and Teichelmann. Two Editions

2007-07-28T19:54:00.000-07:00

I hope you get a chance to read this book on the life and times of Ebenezer Teichelmann, one of New Zealand's greatest mountaineers. He also was a surgeon, conservationist, photographer, soldier, humanitarian and gardener.

Teichelmann, the New Zealand edition distributed by Craig Potton Publishing, is available at bookshops throughout New Zealand, and on the West Coast at Take Note bookshops, Greymouth, Hokitika and Franz Josef Glacier.

Ebenezer Teichelmann – Cutting Across Continents’ by Bob McKerrow, is the international edition and available internationally at India Research Press.New Delhi,www.indiaresearchpress

Ebenezer Teichelmann at the head of the Fox Glacier

2007-07-23T23:12:00.000-07:00

Ebenezer Teichelmann (left) at a campsite on the lower Pioneer ridge at the Head of the Fox Glacier. He, Newton and Alec Graham did the first ascent of Mt. Douglas from here plus a number of others first ascents.

Teichelman and party after 3rd ascent of Aoraki/Mt. Cook

2007-07-21T20:21:00.000-07:00

Ebenezer Teichelmann (right) with the group he made the 3rd ascent of Aoraki/Mt. Cook

Teichelmann's ascents of mountains

2007-07-15T02:36:00.000-07:00

Dear friends

Here is a list of ascent done by Ebenezer Teichelmann bewteen 1899 and 1924.

THANKS FOR VISITING THE SITE AND IF YOU CAN CONTRIBUTE ANY INFORMATION ABOUT TEICHELMANN, I WOULD BE MOST GRATEFUL.

Bob

Each Ascent is listed with: Season- Ascent -Date - Partners - Comments

1899 Spencer and Burton Glaciers Nov or Dec A.Woodham, C. Stoner & P. Graham
1st recorded trip on these 2 glaciers

1900
Craig Peak, Mts.Gaskill, Purity, McIntosh, Ferguson and Vickers
January 1900
1st traverse of Victoria range & 1st ascent all peaks

1902
Graham Saddle via Goat Path
31.01.02
Batson, Newton
1st west to east from Waiho to Hermitage
Baker Saddle
6.02.02
Above party plus J. Clarke
1st crossing
Strauchon Glacier
7.02.02
above
1st party to descend glacier

1903
Chancellor Dome, Jan 03, 1St ascent
Engineer Col
Jan. 1903
Newton, P.Graham
1st ascent
1st ascent
Pioneer Pass
1st ascent
Fox Glacier
1st party to explore upper reaches

1904
Mt. Ollivier
Jan 1903
P.Graham
Glacier Dome
Jan 03
Pioneer Pass
1st crossing E to W.

1905
La Perouse Glacier
Harper Saddle
29.01.05
Newton, Graham, Low
1st crossing

Glacier Dome
2.02.05
Mt Cook/Aoraki
2.02.05
Newton, Low, Graham, Clarke
3rd ascent

Copland Pass
Newton, AGraham

1906
La Perouse
1.02.06
Newton, Low, A.Graham
1st ascent

Col. on Balfour Range
Some speculation as to whether they climbed Vanguard or possibly Belmont

1907
Mt. Halcombe
26.01.07
Newton, A.Graham
1st ascent

Glacier Peak
27.01.07
1st ascent

Mt. Douglas
28.01.07
1st ascent

Mt. Torres
04.02.07
1st ascent

Pioneer Psss
07.02.07
1st west to east crossing

Mt. Moltke
Late 1907
Rev Kemp, A.Graham.
1st ascent
Mt.Roon
1st ascent
Mt.Anderegg
1st ascent
Mt. Bismark
1st ascent

1908
Glacier Dome (Waiatoto)

A.Graham,D.Nolan

1909
Graham Saddle
A.Graham

Mt. Green
15.02.09
Dr.Vollman, A.Graham. P.Graham
1st ascent

Mt. Walter
15.02.09
1st ascent

Copland Pass
A.Graham

1910
Mt. Chudleigh
19.2.10
A.Graham, P.Graham
1st ascents of low and middle peaks

Mein’s Knob
A.Graham

Ramsay Glacier
Whitcome Pass

1911
Lambert Glacier

A.Graham, J. Clarke

Mt.Soddart
01.02.11
1st ascent

Snowy Peak
1st ascent

Mt. Tyndall
1st ascent

Malcolm Peak
1st ascent

Clarke Saddle
(between Lord and Ramsay Glaciers)
1912
Footstool
03.04.12

SWITZERLAND

Possibly with members of the Alpine Club.

Wellenkuppe
Furgengrat
Theodal Pass

1914

Mt. Spencer
Feb 1914
A. Graham
1st ascent

1924
Glacier region
23.02.24
Capt. Buckley & Havelock Williams
1st flight over the South Westland Glaciers

Sealey Pass
March 1924

24 first ascents of mountains. Eight first ascents or crossings of passes, cols or saddles

Mining and sawmilling accidents

2007-07-08T06:30:00.000-07:00

Mining and saw milling accidents were common on the West Coast of New Zealand’s South Island in the early 20th Century and as a leading surgeon and doctor, Dr.Ebenezer Teichelmann would be summoned to tend to the injured. This photograph shows Dr. Teichelmann (centre) about to go down a mine shaft in Ross

In spite of the growing use of x-rays, and common use of antiseptics, Teichelmann had a struggle to combat old ways. Most people carried on as they always had, going only to a Doctor when all else failed. Home cures were based either on herbal remedies, castor oil, tonics, so called old wives’ tales, or the private use of such hard drugs as paregoric and opium. Newspapers advertised Stubbs Fern Ointment, which was guaranteed to heal rheumatism, sprains, colds and influenza; and Charles’ B41 pills could be furtively taken for urinary or venereal diseases. Holloways Pills, Beechams Pills and Davis Painkiller helped deal with any other complaints. Any recent advances in medical practice had to be proven in the community before they won acceptance.
Diseases that claimed many young lives over the years the Doctor worked on the Coast were measles, scarlet fever, whooping cough and tuberculosis, along with epidemics of typhoid and diphtheria. On top of those, Dr Teichelmann also had to deal with numerous mining and saw milling accidents. It was a wild and unforgiving frontier, and the isolation of patients from medical centres meant even more tragedies than today. Too often help arrived too late. Travel was slow and cumbersome; frequently dictated by the weather. Medicinal supplies were poor, and access to consultation with peers was difficult. But despite all these impediments, Doctor Ebenezer Teichelmann endeavoured to do the best for his community with the available resources. He made numerous difficult and dangerous journeys in the face of ridiculous odds, on the chance that there was still something that could be done. The lifestyle took its toll on his personal life. He had to battle with self-doubts when lives were lost. But this was a man that sacrificed much for the sake of his fellow citizens, no matter who they were. Many people owe him their lives.

2007-06-26T18:12:00.000-07:00

Ebenezer Teichelmann

Pioneer New Zealand mountaineer, photographer, surgeon and conservationist.

Cutting Across Continents

by Bob McKerrow

The 274 page book is richly illustrated with 106 photographs, 4 maps list of ascents, glossary of terms and a comprehensive index, has a Foreword by Sir Edmund Hillary. Published by Tara Press New Delhi, India and available from http://www.indiaresearcpress/

and distributed in New Zealand by Craig Potton Publishing.

Born in South Australia in 1859 to German and Scottish parents, Teichelmann trained as a doctor and surgeon in Australia, England, Ireland, (1880-90) and later updated his surgery skills in England, Germany and Austria. (1912). He emigrated to New Zealand in 1987.

Author Bob McKerrow describes his struggle to piece together the life of Ebenezer Teichelmann:
“At times I struggled to find what made this remarkable man tick, but the more I talked to people who knew him, I slowly brought together his many faces; Doctor, surgeon, public health promoter, mountaineer, explorer, photographer, conservationist, world traveler, philanthropist, philosopher, humanitarian, gardener, soldier, promoter of free-public libraries and tourism, tennis player, swimming, golf and cricket club president, newspaper director, Trustee Savings Bank pioneer, admirer of abattoirs, harbour board chairman, and a rationalist by faith. A canvas as wide as the world.”

Friend of……..

Friend of ferrymen, gold-miners, publicans, prostitutes, farmers, explorers, speculators, rock-solid working women, fishermen, sailors, shepherds, saw-millers, tunnelers, blacksmiths and shop-keepers who lived on the edge of life, at the end of the world.
Teichelmann lived on the periphery of the mountains and he felt their pulse and moods in his daily work, travels and life. The watery arteries of the snow, ice and mountains often blocked his passage as he tried to reach patients needing urgent medical treatment. He fell in love with their shape, light and curves and sensitively captured their moods on his large plate camera. There was a sense of intimacy in his photographs and writing, and when he was moved by the beauty around him, would often quote from Longfellow, Stevenson or other romantic poets. He was in love with Mary, a beautiful and unconventional women.

Mountaineering

1907

First Ascent of Mt. Douglas

This was a brilliant first ascent of a mountain which up until then had been regarded as being very difficult — if not impossible. It has an imposing presence when viewed from the Fox névé. It was their third first ascent in as many days, and one of their most satisfying. Newton regarded Mount Douglas as his finest climb in New Zealand, and Alec Graham wrote, ‘To me, it still takes first place’.

Later that year Newton returned to England, thus ending a superb list of climbing feats by the greatest climbing trio in the history of New Zealand mountaineering.
Apart from exploring a large amount of virgin territory, the intensity and enormity of Newton, Teichelmann and the Graham brothers climbing in the period 1902 to 1907 was phenomenal. During six annual trips into the mountains, they had crossed four passes for the first time, made twelve first ascents and the third ascent of Mount Cook.

First Ascents of Mt. Green and Walter

Early next morning, 15 February, 1909, the two doctors with the Graham brothers as guides set out for Mount Green. Darby Thomson and clients accompanied them until they turned left off Tasman Glacier for the ridge onto Mount Green. Darby and party headed for Hochstetter Dom.
For Teichelmann it must have been one of his most enjoyable days in the Southern Alps. It was a beautiful day with not a breath of wind. Using the narrow arête from the Tasman Valley, they climbed Mount Green, where Teichelmann took particular interest in the view down into the Callery Valley, one of the most impenetrable on the West Coast. Mount Walter looked more comfortable for dining, so they climbed that also, crossing the col and ascending its north-eastern arête.

Photography

Strongly in love with the curves and angles of nature, he set about creating a huge collection of images that reveal today the extent of his appreciation of light and shade, form and texture.
Ebenezer Teichelmann not only mastered the idiosyncrasies of large format photography, but he excelled with images that extolled the beauties of his beloved mountains and West Coast. His prints were sought after for promotional publications, and the outstanding quality of his large prints with their superb tonal range must rank him among the best of his time. Had he exhibited in North America or Europe, his name would be far more widely known as a photographer

Conservation

Doctor Teichelmann was a man with a belief in the preservation of nature for the benefit of all people. But his convictions did not exist solely in the purchase of a few glossy photography books to show visitors, or even the membership of a conservation organization. He lobbied and fought unselfishly for those long term goals. He suffered hardships to explore and record those wonders for those who did not have the means to access the wilderness. He was a man who lived what he preached. Bruce Watson, a former Conservator for the Department of Conservation, West Coast Conservancy, acknowledged the difficult pioneering work achieved by Teichelmann. “ In an era and region where natural resources were often exploited with scant regard for posterity, gaining protected status for Arthurs Pass, Lake Kaniere, Lake Mahinapua, Punakaiki, later the Paparoa National Park, and the four glacial Scenic Reserves of South Westland, later Westland National Park, was a tremendous achievement.[1]

Andy Denis writing on one of the world’s richest conservation areas, teeming with biodiversity and wonder, Te Wahipounamu, South-West New Zealand, spoke of those great conservation pioneers such as Teichelmann “…a celebration of wisdom and foresight of those New Zealanders, who from as early as the 1880s, who have been aware of the necessity of setting aside large areas of unspoilt wild country both to protect their intrinsic values and for the benefit, use and enjoyment of those who need such places for inspiration, solitude and escape.”[2]

The enduring glory of the land and mountains of South Westland are indeed a fitting tribute to this extraordinary man.

Medicine and Surgery

In 1892, Dr and Mary Teichelmann returned from England to Melbourne, Australia on board the Anchor liner Yarrawonga as the ship’s Doctor. Behind his name were the titles, F.R.C.S. Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, M.R.C.S (Eng) Member of Royal College of Surgeons, England and L.R.C.S. (Ireland) and Associate of Mason’s College (Birmingham). Fifteen years earlier he had been an apprentice to a chemist and now returned a highly qualified surgeon. On arrival he moved to Port Adelaide where he filled the post of Health Officer.

On 17 October 1897 the Doctor made a record trip to Okarito. He received an urgent call at 2:00pm on Tuesday and left Hokitika at 3:00pm, arriving in Okarito at 12:30am the next morning. After attending to the patient, he left at 8:00am the same day, and arrived back in Hokitika by 7:15pm. He had covered 174 miles, mainly on horseback, and in a little over twenty hours.

On 20 December 1897, the Doctor was summoned to an unusual incident. This time he hurried around the corner from his surgery to the Café de Paris in Tancred Street. Upon his arrival, he was ushered over to a table in a darker corner. A man was seated there, unaccompanied. It must have been a quiet time of day, as his head was face down in a bowl of water, and on the back of his head, to hold it down, was a clothes trunk. John Scopinich, aged sixty-seven years, had drowned himself in a public restaurant, using a bowl of water.

1912
It must have been a searching time for Dr Teichelmann. He is likely to have asked himself if there was anything more he could have done to save Hugh Preston and Elsie Cameron. These two deaths and many others led Teichelmann to go overseas to learn the latest developments in medical treatment. The West Coast was becoming too isolated. In fact he felt New Zealand was too, for keeping up with new surgical and medical knowledge emanating from Europe.

Less than two months later, the West Coast Times of 7 March announced that at the monthly meeting of the Westland Hospital and Charitable Aid Board, a letter was received from Dr Teichelmann asking for twelve months’ leave of absence. The Doctor pointed out that he had been the Board’s Medical Superintendent for fifteen years, and Westland was not only commercially isolated, but medically as well. Therefore he considered it his duty, not only to himself, but to the public, whose servant he was, that he should revisit the centres of medical and surgical knowledge in Europe.[3]

First world war

Teichelmann’s knowledge of cold injuries gained from his years in the high alps of New Zealand served him well. It was a far cry from his work on the West Coast of distant New Zealand where he had a modern operating room to do his surgery. The operating theatre was in a marquee on a raised wooden floor with a strong incandescent light to operate under. Numerous operations were performed by Captain Teichelmann and his colleagues. Surrounding the marquee was a slit trench, and nearby were dugouts to shelter from enemy attacks. All water had to be carted up to the tents. Apart from treating war injuries, accidents and hundreds of cases of frostbite, there were large numbers of soldiers to be treated for typhoid, para-typhoid, dysentery and trench-fever.
As the Allies retreated, the front line moved closer to Salonika and the number of casualties increased. Enemy planes bombed the medical camp on 30 December, and to prevent further bombing, staff painted a large red cross, 30 yards by 20 yards, on each side of the ridge on which the hospital was situated.

He served in England Egypt, Greece, France and on Hospital Ships.

Ships and Shipwrecked

Why was standing for the Harbour Board so important? “Teichelmann had worked in the remote parts of South Westland in communities like Bruce Bay, Jackson’s Bay, Haast, and to reach these places overland by car, horse, it could take four days or even two weeks, depending on the state of the rivers, as to whether you could cross them or not.”

“By ship, these remote communities often with large Maori populations, could be reached in an overnight journey,” said Maori chief, Jack Bannister. “Teichelmann cared for our people, people whether they were European, Chinese or Maori.”

1915 Shipwrecked off Greece

As Teichelmann clung to his life in this watery drama it is likely he thought that the Marquette may have been sunk by cousins, nephews, distant relatives or friends from his father’s native Germany. The war was now very real and the stupidity of European fighting European must have hit home. After several hours in the water, he survived the ordeal. Others weren’t so fortunate. The death toll revealed that 170 lives were lost following the sinking of the Marquette, ten of the 36 New Zealand nurses and 22 of other ranks in the NZ Medical Corp lost their lives.[4]

Humanity, humour and love

There in the early 1990s I was able to interview people who knew very him well. Many are no more. Their stories always had a touch of admiration, humanity, detail of deeds done, and often humour. What stood out was that he cared for people, and those close to him were not afraid to use the word ‘love’ to describe one of Teichelmann’s strong emotions, for example, “He had that rare gift of always seeing the very best in his friends, for he especially loved and had much consideration for young people, and I always felt he loved us in spite of our faults; yet withal; he was so amazingly modest about his own gifts and especially concerning mountaineering achievements,” said Peter Graham. In annual Christmas cards he sent to friends he picked out quotes that immortalized love and friendship, and illustrated with his most beautiful photograph. He was a caring and sensitive man. But he still remained a source of curiosity. Few, if any, truly understood this man of a character so different to theirs.

Arrival in Hokitika New Zealand in 1897

About the time Malcolm Ross and Tom Fyfe were organizing supplies and equipment for their climbs of Mounts Haidinger, de la Bêche and the twin summits of the Minarets, a train was hissing to a stop further north in Hokitika. Amid the bustle and steam of a busy station emerged a curious figure. So slight was his stature that it could be mistaken for that of a thirteen-year-old boy. Thin wiry legs stood askance, rooted firmly to the ground in wide-welted leather boots. His attire had a European styling unusual to the district: tight stockings to knee-height with woolen knickerbocker pants. A sports coat of similar weave clad the lightly-framed torso. He wore a hat on a head of coarse dark hair, and beneath its brim sparkled lovely grey eyes that spoke of intensity and compassion. Delicate, finely-boned fingers clasped a pipe that he replaced between a fine set of teeth. A whiskery goatee beard jutted forward, reminding one of a Captain Cuttle figure.
Beside him stood his pretty wife, Mary, beneath a broad-brimmed hat with flowing feathers. Her dress was more typical of the period, with a long dark skirt, tight bodice, and a small jacket. The quality revealed cosmopolitan origins; a step above what was sold around the corner in Tancred Street draperies and milliners. A subtle smell of expensive perfume was discernable.

Diversity

The egalitarian society was one he believed in. Maori and European he viewed with similar respect. The barriers of race didn't exist for Teichelmann. Often when queried about his own heritage of a German father and Scottish mother he would say, ‘I have a Scots body and a German brain.’[5]

In old age

1924

For 13 years Dr Teichelmann had dreamed of completing his 1911 exploratory work up the Wanganui Valley. The war intervened, the influenza epidemic came and his medical duties just didn't give him the time to get away. He was now 65 years of age, an age when most mountaineers have hung up their ice axe and retired to the rocking chair.

‘I have not a single photo of the high region there, the pass was reached in a fog and nothing could be seen thirty yards away. We then established a camp a day’s march further up the Perth and from it we nearly reached a saddle into the Rangitata and the Adams branch of the Wanganui, but high snow drove us back, this was well into March. At the end of just on six weeks, bad weather made a return necessary.’[6]

1929
Both Hazel and Nell remember the Doctor still playing tennis in 1929, when he would have been 70. Despite his age, he was fit and agile, and his wiry body and sharp mind and reflexes still made a formidable opponent. He never wore whites when playing tennis, only his trademark knickerbockers.
Hazel Kelly recalls Flo Lewis quite clearly from her tennis days:
“One day we were at tennis and she was playing and she was rather big in the bust and she didn't wear a bra, and somebody said, ‘Isn’t it uncomfortable?’ She said ‘Oh no, I just let them flop.’ ”
The doubles team of Teichelmann and Lewis, Ebenezer in his knickerbockers and Flo playing bra-less, must have been quite a sight.

[2] Craig Potton Publishing, Te Wahipounamu- South-West New Zealand World Heritage Area –Photographs by Andris Apse, Introduction by Andy Dennis. 1997

[5] Elsie Davidson, personal conversation. June 1993.
[6] Ibid.

Ebenezer Teichelmann Book Review

2007-06-26T18:01:00.000-07:00

Book Review - Greymouth Star 6th May 2006

Mention of the name Ebenezer Teichelmann brings to mind a range of roles – doctor, mountaineer, photographer and conservationist – or the fine bed and breakfast establishment now operated in his former home and surgery in Hokitika.
Bob McKerrow’s book on the life of Teichelmann adds a good few more including surgeon-soldier, campaigner for abattoir and library, avid tennis player and firm friend to a range of people.
It’s a story with a good few paradoxes, beginning with the high level of education attained by one of 15 children of an impoverished missionary-farmer in South Australia. A sad twist was the early and sudden death of Teichelmann’s wife Mary, to whom he was clearly devoted.
The mountaineering aspect of his life comes through strongest, and clearly interests the author, an accomplished climber himself. Teichelmann was a link between the explorer-surveyors Charles Douglas and G.J. Roberts and early mountaineers Alec Graham and Canon Henry Newton, with whom the wiry doctor formed a successful climbing trio. It’s significant that most of Teichelmann’s excellent photographs were of mountains and climbing expeditions.
Colour is added to the text by reminiscences from many people who knew him, including mountaineer and local body personality Mick Sullivan who recalled how the doctor once operated on him upon a kitchen table at Fox Glacier.
A mountain of historical information collected by Alec Graham’s daughter, Dorothy Fletcher, was also of immense value; one of the book’s most endearing images is of archivist and author poring over volumes of material together.
Importantly, it’s a book with a good feel and appearance – compact, hard-covered, strongly bound with 270 pages of high-quality paper and sepia toned photographs – in fact the sort of volume the doctor would very likely have had on his own bookshelves.
‘Ebenezer Teichelmann – Cutting Across Continents’ by Bob McKerrow, published by the Tara-India Research Press, is $49.99 at Take Note bookshops, Greymouth and Hokitika.
www.indiareserachpress

Sir Edmund Hillary - Foreword

2007-06-26T07:00:00.001-07:00

FOREWORD

Edmund Hillary1 December, 2003.

Book Review: Ebenezer Teichelmann

2007-06-25T22:40:00.000-07:00

Book Review, By Tony Gates
Ebenezer Teichelmann. Pioneer New Zealand explorer, surgeon, photographer, conservationist. Cutting across continents.

By Bob McKerrow (2005), Foreword by Sir Edmund Hillary. $49.95. $270 pages.
Many excellent mountain photographs, most naturally taken by the book’s subject, are scattered throughout this fine book. Like the cover, they are black and whites, presented as sepia tones- a nice touch. Quotes too, and good stories by the author, present the life and climbs of a truly great man. Many quotes are by Teichelmann (example below), as well as by his climbing companions who kept good dairies. I completed the book after a week of easy evening reads feeling that I had finally met Ebenezer Teichelmann (as well as Alex Graham, The Rev Newton, and others) and knew a whole lot more about a vital section of New Zealand mountaineering history- 1900 till 1934. He didn’t start his expeditions as a young man, and his career was interrupted by the war, but he continued long into his 50’s. He met such luminaries as Charlie Douglas, Jack Clarke, and the Graham Brothers, and served as President of the New Zealand Alpine Club.
The book commences in a biographical sense, you know, family background, professional interests (and they were many), and his life in general. The book concludes with notes from his funeral service detailing an amazing character who touched many. The author personally interviewed many people who had, in turn, personally met “the little doctor” (one of the many pseudonyms that he was known by). But it was the 15 chapters concerning mountaineering expeditions that interested me the most. One summer expedition per year, from 1900 till 1914 is written into each chapter, with photographs. Some expeditions are briefly presented, but each make for good stories. Many modern day readers should know some areas that Teichelmann visited, such as the head of the Fox Glacier, the summit of Mt Cook, and the Rakaia.
A few maps are provided- not particularly good ones unfortunately. And I got the distinct feeling that the spell check software used had English as a second language, so let through a number of typographic errors that shouldn’t have been there. Editing was therefore a bit poor.
However, the book does make a good read, and is a valuable addition to the history of New Zealand Mountaineering. IPNTCndeed, the Teichlemann- Newton- Graham trio is said to be the greatest ever seen in the New Zealand Alps, largely due to their numerous first ascents around the head of the Fox Glacier from 1902 till 1907. I’d like to finish this review with a quote from the man himself.
I had the good fortune to have Harry Butler with us, a splendid bushman, good cragsman, although no alpine experience, he saved the situation. He organised the bridge, and did most of the track making, it was a bad river that he could not cross. Lippe was always getting lost in the bush, and as he was a big man, he was slow in getting through it. I thought I would be the weakling of the party, not being very young, but was surprised to find I could carry a 35 to 40 lb swag for 8 to 10 hours without being played out. The only pity of it was that I should be spending my energies in the bush instead of the snow regions. Perth River, 1924.
______________________________________________________________________________________ PNTMC June 2005