freight ketch 'Elsie', Auckland area, early 20th century

Māori wait for the arrival of the ketch Elsie, which was built to carry cattle and other freight around the Manukau Harbour. on the banks of the Ōruarangi Creek in the vicinity of Makaurau Marae, Ihumātao, circa 1905. 

Built 1904 by C. Bailey Jnr, Elsie was owned by the Manukau Steamship Company until 1907 when she and the Weka were taken over by the Northern Steamship Co. In the 1920s, she was onsold to the West Coast Shipping Co, and worked from Hokitika, until wrecked at Bruce Bay in September 1930. She was declared fit only for salvage, and her engines were recovered from the wreck. (G.W. Wyman poc)