I have been researching the Helensville Town Board, formed in 1883, and note both parallels and points of difference between Helensville and Devonport at that time.

The name Helensville comes from Helen, the wife of John McLeod. McLeod began logging in the area surrounding the meeting place of the Awaroa and Kaipara Rivers, just to the south of Kaipara Harbour, in 1862. The Riverhead-Helensville rail link opened on 29 October 1875, and on 18 July 1881 the North Auckland railway line was extended to Helensville. By 1883, the population had grown sufficiently to allow locals to form a separate Helensville Town Board, within Waitemata County Council’s administrative area. That board took responsibility for local rates, such things as dog and slaughter house registration, attending to ‘public nuisances’ and local roading and culverts.
From 2 October 1881, the newly formed Devonport Steam Ferry Company finally provided Devonport with a regular and reliable ferry service to and from Auckland. By 1886, the Devonport population had grown sufficiently to enable the Devonport Road Board to become a borough, administratively separate from Waitemata County Council.
Issues such as roading were common to both, with the Helensville Board doing a lot of work levelling out roads, laying fascines (locally available small trees and branches), and topping some of them with scoria. In Helensville’s case that scoria came from the Railways Department’s own quarry at Mount Albert, which was then railed up on railway wagons to Helensville.
A water supply was also vital for both, with Devonport relying on local wells until the 1890s. Initially, Helensville wanted to have its own water supply, but ultimately that was postponed. Helensville’s resident population was much smaller than Devonport.
However, there were also distinct differences between Helensville and Devonport. Helensville was much more industrial than Devonport, with a soap factory (dating from 1881), a large fish cannery (dating from 1882), a flour mill (dating from 1883) and stockyards (dating from 1885). Helensville also had numerous sawmills, a brick works, an ironworks, and the regional Court House. Nevertheless, there were at least two strong Devonport links in the 1890s.
The Kaipara Steamship Shipping Co. had been formed in 1878, and was replaced by the Northern River Steam Navigation Co. in 1883. In 1892, that company was wound up in favour of the Northern Union Steamboat Co., with the chairman of the Devonport Steam Ferry Co., Ewen Alison, extending his shipping roles to also becoming the Northern Union Steamboat Co.’s new managing director. That new company commenced operations on 1 August 1892 in the Dargaville, Northern Wairoa, Otamatea and Port Albert areas and used the Mount Rix wharf, which was eight kilometres north of Helensville, on the rail line and accessible on all tides. The company also ran the 'SS Ethel J.' on the Kaipara Harbour and tendered for a slipway and a coal wharf at Helensville. Alison remained as managing director until early 1897, when that company was sold.
The second link was the paddle steamer 'Osprey', which had been owned by the Devonport Steam Ferry Co. from 1888 to 1889. In late 1889 that steamer carried excursions on Dunedin Harbour during the South Seas Exhibition, and then from 1890 to 1892 ran in opposition to the Northern River Steam Navigation Co. as a passenger and cargo steamer on the Kaipara Harbour. In 1892 it became part of the Northern Union Steamboat Co. fleet, but was grounded in December 1895. The 'Osprey' returned to the Devonport Steam Ferry Co. in September 1896, and was broken up in December 1927.

david.verran@xtra.co.nz