A male swimming group posing in front of dressing marquee on Napier's Marine Parade, 1908.
Gail Pope is a social history curator at the MTG.
Warmer weather is looming, and with summer comes time relaxing at the beach or river’s edge, picnicking and swimming.
Imagine if you had to adhere to strict bathing regulations that disallowed swimming in public places during certain hours and dictated the kind of costume to be worn while doing so, as was the case in Ahuriri/Napier during the 1880s and 1890s.
Napier Town Council introduced a bathing bylaw in April 1880, to regulate the hours “during which bathing on the beach or open rivers could be indulged in”. This was to ensure that “sensibilities”, especially those of the “fairer sex”, were not affronted.
Incredibly, the bylaw stipulated that bathing happen only overnight - in the sea between the hours of 9pm and 7am, and rivers 9pm and 8am.
Punishment for infringement was extreme, with culprits fined £5 or imprisonment.
Public opinion was scathing, stating that the times dictated were nonsensical and most inconvenient.
The absurdity was illustrated, when on February 1, 1887, eight young boys were brought before Magistrate George Preece for the offence of “bathing in view of passers-by” on January 31, 1887.
An exceedingly hot day, there were “scores of children dabbling in the surf” on Marine Parade. One small lad specifically mentioned in the court case, was dressed only in singlet and trousers and ran exuberantly down to the sea, diving into the waves to join other swimmers.
Not only was he breaking the bylaw, his bathing attire was unacceptable under the standards of “decency”. When brought before Preece, however, he dismissed the case after giving the culprits a severe lecture on the ‘enormity’ of their offence.
Local newspapers were quick to defend the youngster’s attire and commented that the real concern was not what bathers wore, but the strong and dangerous undertow of Napier’s beach and that bathers “taking a dip” ought to confine themselves to shallow water.
Public demand for repeal of the bathing bylaw continued unabated, and on December 20, 1890, the Hawke’s Bay Herald insisted that, instead of encouraging “this most healthy and enjoyable institution” [swimming], the council was “practically stifling it”.
Perhaps, the reporter pondered, the council had a dislike for cleanliness and was doing its upmost to stop bathing altogether.
On February 4, 1892, the Daily Telegraph reported complaints about three well-known gentlemen “dressed in football costumes” seen bathing on the parade at the prohibited hour of 1.30pm. Although “properly dressed”, police advised that these recalcitrant characters were “offending against the law” and should be punished.
The attempt to prosecute these gentlemen failed because of the technical point of attire, again showing the inadequacies of the bylaw, which one reporter stated was “without a doubt a stupid one, in that it prevented a person going into the sea no matter how fully dressed”.
It wasn’t until February 15, 1894 that the stipulation of strict bathing times was removed from the bylaw, which then focused on “appropriate attire” to be worn by those publicly bathing within one mile (1.6km) of Napier Borough’s boundary.
The bylaw’s dress code stipulated swimmers “be attired in decent and proper bathing dress, extending from the shoulders to the knees” and that the fabric should not be white or flesh-coloured, nor made of net. The council’s major concern was for ratepayers living on Marine Parade, who paid an extra “sixpence in the pound” for the privilege, arguing that if bathing was permitted “at all hours the value of their property would depreciate”.
However, if “decent clothing was worn” and dressing tents erected, this would alleviate the problem. The bylaw dictated that swimmers provide their own changing tents, and they were forbidden to cross a road dressed in their bathing costume.
They had to wear “ordinary walking dress” and, once at the shoreline, undress in a tent or temporary edifice to “effectually conceal such person from view”. This resulted in the Working Men’s Club erecting a dressing tent near Bluff Hill; however, they came under fire as it was a semi-permanent structure.
Mr Wood, from Napier Boys’ High School, urged the council to relax this new bylaw focus, stating that for eight years he had taken boys onto the beach north of Coote Rd for a morning swim, and it would be extremely difficult to provide tents for such a large number.
Combined with this, the time it would take to transport, erect and strike the tents would make swimming untenable.
Finally, on November 7, 1901, as “an experiment”, the council agreed that one marquee and a hut be erected on the beach between Byron St and Coote Rd.
Strict segregation between females and males became the council focus and was robustly enforced. From 6-10am male bathers had exclusive use of the accommodation and sea, and women and children between 1-6pm.
A male and a female caretaker were hired for 20 weeks over the summer, with the male caretaker, who was also the lifeguard, in attendance the whole day, joined by the female attendant in the afternoon. Swimming segregation was in place until the beginning of World War I, when it was removed.
If you’re enjoying a dip over the summer, you might take a moment to soak up and enjoy the freedom we have today.