Home interior & woman, Ocean Island, 1936

Comment

Comment by Stacey King on December 28, 2010 at 12:08pm

Mauri Pele

This looks like one of the houses of the BPC Management staff that were originally down the lane (street) from the Manager's House at Uma. The street is still there but the houses are very different now. The old BPC residency which I have photos of was located at the back on Tabiang up behind the tramway and old post office. They had a big govt oval up there where they had all the govt parades and ceromonies. The residency was a similar style to this one in the photo which was based on Queensland architecture which can still be found in Brisbane Australia today. Unfortunately this area was mined including the parade grounds and the old residency. This is why they had to build a new residency at Bukinterike next to what became the golf course. The new residency was completed just months before the outbreak of WWII and built in a more Melbourne style of architecture in solid blocks like some of the later buildings still found on Banaba today.As you said Pele the new residency was virtually never used as it was one of the first buildings destroyed by the Japanese bombers at the start of the war. My great grand parents house was very simiar to this one which would have been the Werner's home. My family the Williams had alreaddy left Banaba by 1931 and this photo was taken in 1936. Another very interesting thing about these old houses is that they had wooden shutter for windows that they used to capture the breeze. This photo is taken on the verandah which is fully enclosed by the shutters and in that era they loved their indoor plants. There are a lot of carved timber plant stands from that period and this is where the term PARLOUR PALMS came into being. Did you remember seeing all those spikey yellow and green leaf plants growing wild up the back of Uma? We call that plant here - Mother inlaw's tongue. They were much in vogue as an indoor plant in that era and now unfortunately have become a weed and pest on Banaba. Today that same plant is becoming popular again and I hope people will realise just how troublesome that plant can become if allowed into the natural environment.

Comment by Pelenise Alofa Pilitati on December 28, 2010 at 7:48am

Hi Guy

 

This is an amazing picture....it confirmed the story I heard that the High Commissioner's house on Ocean Island was the most beautiful house in the Southern Hemisphere at this period of time.  Unfortunately, the High Commissioners house was totally destroyed during the WW2.  I wonder whose house is this anyway....!  Thanks for posting this... its a beautiful & wonderful Christmas gift for any Banaban! 

Pelenise Alofa