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Welcome to the Devonport Volunteer Fire Brigades' History Site.   Devonport - the Marine Suburb of Auckland - has had a long history and has always been known for the independence of the inhabitants, a trait that persists to this day. 

One of the more enjoyable things about reporting in the past was the value of insurance which was included along with the "story".  At times it seems as though the contents were worth as much as the house, and you can almost feel the misery when it was reported there was no insurance, however the people of the parish did come together to help raise money for those afflicted by poor planning, or just plain bad luck.   Then as now people were extremely generous with their time  and money.

Also included are some rather lighthearted, although possibly not at the time, information about local characters.   The town clerk for instance who deserted his post and 'possibly' went to Fiji.

I hope you enjoy reading about the setting up of our Brigade and the colourful characters along the way.  This is very much as work in progress, and will be edited and updated from time to time, as and when I have the time.

Rod Cornelius who writes a column for the Flagstaff on Devonport History has kindly given me access to his columns.   I have included them in their entirety in a section at the bottom of the sidebar.

I have taken freely from history that has already been published and acknowledged the sources.   Many thanks to those in our community who have pointed me in the right direction.