Governor William Francis Drummond Jervois Herne Bay cafe - and neighbourhood bistro after hours - The Governor serves breakfast, lunch and dinner with a true focus on locality.
It has become a community meeting place since throwing open its doors just a few months ago in the space formerly occupied by Zus & Zo. Manager Cédric says that even in the cooler months customers are stopping by to tuck into their seasonal fare.
The cafe is named after the official title of an interesting character named William Francis Drummond Jervois, a well-travelled gentleman whose name was given to Herne Bay’s arterial road.
Jervois was born in 1821, on the Isle of Wight, England. He was the eldest son of Lieutenant Colonel (later General) William Jervois and his wife, Elizabeth Maitland. After early schooling at Dr Burney's Academy, Gosport, and Barry's school, Woolwich, he entered the Royal Military Academy in 1837. Graduating two years later, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Royal Engineers.
Following service in the Cape of Good Hope, Jervois commanded a Royal Engineers company at Woolwich and Chatham from 1849 to 1852 before working on the defences of Alderney. In 1855 he assumed command of the Royal Engineers in the London military district, and the following year was appointed to the War Office with responsibility for designing Britain's harbour defences. As director of works for fortifications from 1862 to 1875, he was afforded great responsibility and closely oversaw their construction.
Jervois, who was made a CB in 1863, also became an authority on the defences of the British Empire - and of some of its potential enemies. During the American Civil War he visited the United States twice undercover, sketching the harbours of Portland and Boston while disguised as an artist. He reported on the defences of British North America, and travelled widely to inspect defences elsewhere. In 1871 he was approached for defence advice by Julius Vogel, then New Zealand's colonial treasurer, who was in London on financial business. Jervois obliged by drawing up a report in which he recommended a system of heavy guns at the country’s main ports. An impressed Vogel made arrangements whereby the colonial government might keep in touch with him in an unofficial capacity.
Made a KCMG for his colonial services in 1874, Jervois was appointed Governor of the Straits Settlements in April of the following year. In 1877 he was promoted to the rank of major general, and was asked to survey the defences of the Australian colonies. He had completed the survey for New South Wales and was embarking on the task for Victoria when he learned that he had been transferred to South Australia. Although Premier Harry Atkinson had hoped to have Jervois report on Australia’s neighbour New Zealand's defence needs, his successor, Sir George Grey, was much less interested in the provision of harbour defences and refused to send the government vessel to fetch him. Ironically, a war scare in 1878 induced Grey's ministry to urgently acquire heavy guns with which to arm the ports on the basis of British advice that followed Jervois's 1871 report to Vogel.
These guns had still not been put in place when Jervois, now a lieutenant general, was appointed governor of New Zealand. He assumed office on 20 January, 1883 and reaffirmed the pre-eminence of heavy guns over new weapons such as the mine and the torpedo, and proposed that New Zealand supplement the ordnance acquired in 1878 with the most modern guns they could find. These weapons were ordered during another more serious war scare early in 1885. Late in March Jervois convened a meeting at Government House in Wellington that established an official emergency defence programme.
A very well-liked man, Jervois is said to have carried out his duties conscientiously and without fuss. Following the Tarawera eruption in 1886, he took the initiative in establishing a committee to consider means of providing relief to the survivors.
He was quite gregarious, and played a prominent role in the social life of a still-young New Zealand, serving as patron of various cultural and sporting bodies and travelling extensively. Such was his popularity that when he departed from New Zealand in March 1889, it was reportedly “to the accompaniment of many sincere and heartfelt expressions of regard and esteem.”
A fitting character after which to name a popular local eatery. Raise a glass to Jervois next time you stop by The Governor for a bite, including the new winter menu on offer now.
THE GOVERNOR, 228 Jervois Road, T: 09 361 5060, www.thegovernor.co.nz