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Story: Lighthouses

Keeper and daughter

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Keeper and daughter

Keeping a lighthouse involved the whole family. Keepers’ wives had extensive domestic duties, and children, especially the boys, helped with station jobs. But although the children spent a lot of time away from other adults, many families swam and picnicked together, and children may have seen more of their fathers than their mainland counterparts. In this 1927 photograph the keeper of the Cuvier Island lighthouse is showing his daughter how to look through a telescope.

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Auckland Council Libraries − Tāmaki Pātaka Kōrero o Tāmaki Makaurau

Reference: Auckland Weekly News, 14 July 1927, p. 49

Permission of Auckland City Libraries Tāmaki Pātaka Kōrero o Tāmaki Makaurau must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Helen Beaglehole, Lighthouses – Lighthouse keepers, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/6669/keeper-and-daughter (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Helen Beaglehole, published 2 March 2009.