New Zealand, South Island



Lyttleton

Arrives from Wellington on Saturday 29th October and travelled to Christchurch the same day.. [1]


Lyttelton on a day in 1882


Lyttelton (Moorhouse) Railway Tunnel
Opened 9th December 1867

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Christchurch

Arrives through the Lyttleton Tunnel by railway on Saturday 29th October.[1]


Cathedral, Cathedral Square [ca. 1888]
CCL PhotoCD 1, IMG0048 [2]


Christchurch railway station [2]


The local players discovered the Baron’s presence too late to arrange for any games.[3]

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Dunedin


Dunedin (1862 by William Meluish)


Henry Hookham supplied a letter he received from the Baron to the Evening Star which contained the following comments about the Baron’s visit to Dunedin: “… I forget the names of my four opponents; two of them, I believe, were the strongest players of the club. … My last 2 games … took them down from memory and give you here a transcript …” [4]

John Mouat reported “We had the honour and pleasure of playing two games with him, both of which he won.” [7]

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W. B. Eyre

Mr. Eyre was born in Ballarat, Australia in 1858 and died at Devonport, NZ in March, 1935 aged 76.

In 1860 the family moved to Dunedin, NZ where he received his education excelling in Music & mathematics.


A brief bio is here.

W. B. Eyre
Auckland Libraries,
Kura Heritage Collections Online


The Canterbury Times reported Black in the following game as "Mr Y------". [6]

Tassilo Heydebrand und von der Lasa vs. W. B. Eyre
ECO "C39" King's Gambit, Allgaier Gambit, Thorold variation
Location: Otago Chess Club, Dunedin, NZL 2nd November 1887
Annotators: "HH - H. Hookham" [5] & "DRH - D. R. Hay" [6]
1 . e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 g5 4. h4 g4 5. Ng5 h6 6. Nxf7 Kxf7 7. d4 d6 {HH - The usual move is 7...d5.}
8. Bxf4 Nf6 9. Nc3 Nc6 10. Qd2 Bg7 11. Bc4+ Kf8 12. O-O-O Ke8 13. Rde1 Na5 {DRH - This is the turning point, for it virtually puts this N out of play, and gives White time to prepare an overwhelming attack. We fancy Ne7 was the best move here, followed by d5.} 14. e5 {HH - Prettily played.} 14…Nxc4 {HH - As good as anything; the attack is irristable. DRH - Black has evidently overlooked the strength of White's position after exf6+. There is no satisfactory move, but Kf8 at once would have been preferable.} 15. exf6+ Kf7 16. Qe2 {HH - Herr der Lasa appends the following note regarding this move: - "The combination 16. fxB NxQ 17. (now it goes wrong Bk5dis+ NR6 18. RxN+ PxR 19. PxR(Q) QxQ 20. BxQ BB4, seems less favourable for White than the text move".} 16…Bf8 {DRH - Immediately fatal. Black must surely have been overawed by the reputation of his opponent, for he usually plays the this defence in much better style. Bf6 would have given Black a pretty good game.} 17. Qxc4+ {DRH - White's conduct of the game clearly shows that the distinguished veteran can still play with skill and vigour.} 17…Be6 {HH - An oversight, of course; but the game was lost anyway.} 1 - 0


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J. Mouat
John Mouat was born on the 10th of November, 1830, in the Shetland Islands, where he was educated at the local parish and high schools.

In 1852 he came out to Victoria, where he followed gold mining till 1861, when he crossed the Tasman Sea and settled in Otago.

During his first four years in New Zealand he was engaged in mining at Gabriel's Gully. Mr. Mouat entered political life, as a member of the Otago Provincial Council for the goldfields, in 1864, and during Mr. Julius Vogel's administration in 1866, became provincial secretary and secretary for public works.
He resigned in 1867 to become barrister's pupil to the late Mr. B. C. Haggitt, and, after serving three years, was admitted a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court.

He practised his profession at Lawrence, and afterwards removed to Dunedin, and at his death, on the 1st of July, 1902, left a surviving family of three sons.

A brief bio is here.

"Mr. M" (J. Mouat?) vs. Tassilo Heydebrand und von der Lasa
ECO "B01" Scandinavian Gambit
Location: Otago Chess Club, Dunedin, NZL 2nd Nov. 1887
Annotators: "HH - Henry Hookham" [5] & "OCC - Otago Chess Club" [4]
1. e4 d5 2. exd5 {If 2. e5 then 2...e6, and we have a form of the French defence not considered advantageous for the second player.} 2…Nf6 {Not so usual, nor probably so good as 2...Qxd5.} 3. c4 {White should play 3. d4. He gets a bad game by trying to defend the P, which is really indefensible.} 3…c6 4. Nc3 cxd5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Bc4 Nb6 7. Bb3 Nc6 8. Nge2 e5 9. O-O Bg4 10. f3 Bc5+ 11. Kh1 Bf5 12. Ng3 {Black has cleverly availed himself of the opportunities offered by his opponent's weak play in the opening, and has now a fine attacking position. The text move loses the exchange, White should continue 12. Ne4.} Bd3 13. Re1 Bf2 14. Nge4 Bxe1 15. Qxe1 O-O 16. Nf2 a5 17. Qe3 Bg6 18. d3 a4 19. Bc4 Nd4 20. Qd2 Nxc4 21. dxc4 Nc2 22. Qxd8 Rfxd8 23. Nfe4 {Which loses a piece.} 23…Bxe4 {And White abandoned the game.} 0 - 1

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Lake Wakatipu (Queenstown)

Nov. ?? - Visits Lake Wakatipu (Queenstown) ????


Queenstown, Lake Wakatipu, 1878-1880, by William Hart


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Invercargill & Bluff



Invercargill (Fenwick Album)


Sketch of Bluff, ca. 1900’s

Nov. 10 & 11 (??) - Leaves Invercargill & the Bluff for Australia

“He leaves the Bluff this day for Melbourne.” [8]
"Departs Bluff at 7:15 pm." [9]




The passenger list for the S.S. Manapouri shows the Baron gave his age as 59, instead of 79!.



The Baron's travel to the Australia is here.

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References:
[1] Star, 31st October 1887
[2] Christchurch City Libraries
[3] Canterbury Times, 4th November 1887
[4] Evening Star, 21st January 1893
[5] Canterbury Times, 19 November 1887
[6] Otago Witness, 25 November 1887
[7] Otago Witness, 16 November 1899
[8] Canterbury Times, 11 November 1887
[9] Press, 12th November 1887