WELCOME TO
Historic Ethnic Bohemian Village
just 30 minutes north of Auckland city centre, New Zealand
Neighbouring village to Waiwera

Jenny Schollum has prepared an historic account of the origins of Puhoi;
a valuable document for this
Historic Ethnic Village

THE PARISH OF PUHOI

All the Bohemian settlers who came to Puhoi were Catholic. As they passed through Prague the Archbishop, Cardinal Schwarzenberg, gave them his advice – to be loyal to New Zealanders and to keep their Catholic faith.

They arrived in Auckland on a Saturday and I believe the travellers would have gone to mass on the Sunday to give thanks for their safe arrival. Bishop Pompallier was Bishop of Auckland at that time and the Bohemians asked for a priest to be sent to them at their new home.
   On Monday, the 29^th June 1863, the feast day of Saints Peter and Paul, the travellers arrived in Puhoi, four months after leaving Bohemia.
   They were met at the mouth of the river by the Maori chief – Te Hemera Tauhia and his people, and these people brought them up the river to a small clearing in the dense bush where two nikau whares had been erected for them. The land was steep and broken, the bush almost impenetrable and the only access to the river.
   The first ten years were very tough, and, I’m sure, many desperate prayers were offered and answered, in part by the Maori people who brought them food and showed them how to survive in the bush.
   Eighteen months later, the first priest came – Father D’Akerkmann, who could understand the Bohemian dialect. He had to visit all the catholic areas between Auckland and Whangarei and so was seldom at Puhoi. This occasioned the visit of a large, red-haired man on horseback, who, shouted at the Bohemians. He couldn’t make them understand what he wanted and so rode off again to the North. The Bohemians called him, ‘The Mountain Chief,’ (or) ‘The Man From Nowhere.’

The next time he visited Puhoi, the priest was there and was able to translate that the visitor was Terence Kennedy, an Irish priest from Pohuehue, who had just wanted to know, when the priest was due. From then on, a boy was sent with a message.
   In 1877, Puhoi was designated a Parish, but its area still covered North Shore to Whangarei. The Bohemians built a Presbytery, but the Priest Father Adelaar who also understood their language, was only irregularly in residence. He asked the people to build a church.
   John Wenzlick took the task to heart and asked the people to donate whatever they could give, which wasn’t much in terms of money, but they gave labour, timber, the use of bullocks and tools. Auckland businesses also contribute. Mr Wrigley was the Architect but the people did the building. In 18881 it was finished, blessed and opened and named for Saints Peter and Paul for the day of their arrival and for the church that John Wenzlick attended in Littitz.
   A copy of the altar painting was ordered from Littitz and hangs over the altar. A few years after the church was built, it was extended a little and the bell tower and statues added. The stained glass windows and names of the pioneers were installed to mark the sixtieth anniversary of the settlement.
  Mass has been celebrated every Sunday since then and also on weekdays. The congregation is now about fifty.
   Although many of Puhoi’s residents are not Catholics, I feel the prayer and faith of the pioneers and their descendants still have influence that protects the community. The atmosphere of peace and stability is apparent to anyone who visits – particularly the church.
   Hopefully the motto of the pioneers are still adhered to – ‘We kept the faith and we helped each other.’
                       Jenny Schollum

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