Devonport celebrates 75 years of RSA

by David Goodenough, Devonport RSA Secretary/Treasurer

It all started in July 1927, just prior to the depression of the thirties when unemployment was becoming prevalent.

At that time a group of about ten local ex-servicemen headed by Edmonde Napier and one ex-service nurse, Mrs McComb got together to see if something could be done to alleviate what was becoming a very bleak outlook for many returned servicemen and women.

	WHERE IT ALL BEGAN: Ford's Tearooms on Victoria Road.

At the initial meeting, this small group were able to acquire what was the then Ford's Tearooms, now the Flagstaff Gallery, in Victoria Road.

Regular meetings followed and at the end of each, a hat was taken around to collect sufficient cash to pay for the lighting and rent of the room.

After awhile, an inaugural meeting, chaired by the Mayor of Devonport Mr E Aldridge was held in the old Council Chambers with Mr E Napier elected president, Mr Harry Woolf, secretary and Mr Alf Wilson, at that time Town Clerk, treasurer. The annual subscription was set at 2/6.

In due course it was decided to hold a Flag Day and appeal to the local public for donations. A band of willing helpers got to work and by their efforts, combined with a jazz band providing music for dancing on the Windsor Reserve, the sum of £120 was raised.

The Devonport Council approached the Education Board which agreed to subsidise the amount collected and with the combined cash, unemployed ex-servicemen were given work on the initial formation of the Takapuna Grammar School's playing area.

As time progressed and the club gained more members, a new venue for meetings became necessary and the council permitted the use of the now defunct Band Room on Mt Victoria for the cost of power used.

The depression hit and quickly affected the community in general. The Auckland RSA, at the time a small body, handled and administered the Canteen Funds which had been collected during World War I. The local club supplied a list of needy cases each month and cheques were forwarded to them for distribution in the form of grocery orders or fuel.

From the Band Room, the club moved to hold meetings in the Methodist Schoolroom, then the Presbyterian Hall in Church Street, and then again to the Buffalo Rooms at the rear of what was the Farmers Trading Company in Victoria Road. It was here the idea of Devonia Hall originated and one of the most ardent advocates for such a venture was Ted O'Sullivan.

During the travels from hall to hall, social activities were held in the form of smoke concerts, picnics and lectures; two outstanding talks were given by Captain Harrison-Lee, one subject being the regimental badges of the British Army and another the various devices used in espionage work.

A Ladies Committee was formed and did yeoman work on behalf of the club. A children's concert party was also formed which visited the Evelyn Firth Home, the Dock Street Mission and other institutions to entertain and give pleasure to the residents.

By now the club was benefiting from the facilities of the Devonia Hall. Built in 1928, the hall featured a dance floor which was possibly the finest in New Zealand - 1¾-inch boards dovetailed on top of cork shavings to make a sprung floor. Rental arrangements were rather precarious with the lease running for only two weeks at a time, however when the owner died the club had the opportunity of purchasing the building.

Due to the generosity of Messrs Thew and Piper, who each donated £500, a deposit was raised to secure the property in 1954 for £14,500. Over the next 14 years housie evenings on Thursday nights (26 houses a night) and raffles were conducted to pay off the balance owed.

For many years, the club remained a branch of Auckland RSA, until in 1998, when it applied for, and received approval from RNZRSA to become an Association in its own right.