Camera obscura

This image is said to be 1910 and it’s Raglan. The ship is the SS Rimu, which has the look of a coastal trader.

While the North Island main trunk railway was open by the end of 1908, the nearest rail head for Raglan was at Hamilton.

In 1910, the road between Hamilton and Raglan would have been arduous and possibly substantially unsafe day to day. For many coastal communities, small ships were the most efficient method of transport.

There is a small mob of sheep on the pier being driven on to the ship. Sadly, we have no image of the deck of the ship, nor do we know the structure of the holds. Did the sheep travel on the deck? Images of shipping livestock overseas springs to mind nowadays, but these animals were probably destined for the freezing works in Auckland.

Contributed by Perry Rice, Heritage Librarian – Photographs, Hamilton Central Library. If you have any information you would like to pass on or would like to buy an electronic copy of the photo, please email perry.rice@hcc.govt.nz quoting: HCL_00255