Shakespear Park History........ On 27 April 1866, Ranulph Dacre (an Auckland merchant who had been trading in timber in the Mahurangi area since 1832) purchased land adjoining Hobbs Bay, and in January 1868 he bought the western edge of Okoromai Bay, including McMillans allotments at Army Bay. In 1866-67 his son, Charles Craven Dacre, settled on the land and constructed a home (which is still standing) at Hobbs Bay. Between 1866 and the early 1870s he ran cattle and a large flock of sheep on this property and also on the Government Reserve which he leased. The main land purchaser in the area was Sir Robert Hamilton, Baronet of Stratford on Avon, Warwickshire, England. Having purchased the old Dacre property and homestead, he then purchased 148 acres (59 ha) above Te Haruhi Bay and 751 acres (303 ha) adjoining Okoromai and Army Bays on 18 October 1882. In May 1883 he purchased James Dacres land at Te Haruhi Bay so that he now owned the entire eastern end of the Whangaparaoa Peninsula except for the high country adjoining the northern and eastern coastline of the block. Sir Robert Hamilton remained living in England. However, his grandson Robert Henry Anson Shakespear and his wife Blanche moved to the old Dacre homestead and began the long Shakespear family association with the area in 1883. The outbreak of World War II in 1939 had a major impact on the Shakespear family. The N.Z. Army realised the strategic importance of the Whangaparaoa Peninsula in the protection of the port of Auckland and purchased 321 acres (130 ha) on the north western tip of the peninsula from the Shakespears. Here they developed a major military camp and installed a huge 130 ton gun capable of firing a 3801b shell over a twenty mile range. Stores were barged in to both Te Haruhi and Okoromai Bays by the military and an observation post and concrete gun emplacement were constructed on the Shakespear farm as part of the coastal defence network. After World War II, the Army retained their property as a training base and firing range while the Shakespears continued to develop their farm as a mixed sheep and cattle grazing run. In July 1967 the Auckland Regional Authority purchased 921 acres (373 ha) from W.R.A. Shakespear for the purpose of developing a Regional Park, although the Shakespear family retained both homesteads.Then in 1975, on the death of Mr R.H.R. Shakespear, both homesteads and the adjoining property passed to the A.R.A., finally ending the Shakespear familys 92 year association with the land.
Posted on: Wed, 04 Jun 2014 10:20:30 +0000