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Surrey S. Alleman

New Zealand architect

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 6, 2026
Entity authorityQ115466509 ↗
Source-derived summary

Surrey Sebastian Alleman (31 August 1901 – 17 April 1978) was a New Zealand architect based in Auckland, noted for designing the Hampton Court Flats in central Auckland and the Garden Court Flats on Tamaki Drive in Mission Bay.

Early life

Surrey S. Alleman was born in Kaponga, Taranaki, on 31 August 1901 and attended New Plymouth Boys' High School. He studied architecture at Auckland University College in the mid-1920s, passing exams for membership of the New Zealand Institute of Architects in December 1926 and associateship the following year. He set up in sole practice in 1928, then later worked in various partnerships.

Ye Old Pirate Shippe

One of Alleman's early projects was 'Ye Olde Pirate Shippe', an entertainment venue in Milford, Auckland which opened in December 1928. Alleman designed the building in the shape of a pirate ship, and with some partners set up a company called 'Milford Amusements Ltd' to fund the project. The building had two dance floors suspended on rubber for resilience, a dining area and an outdoor supper area on the poop deck. It opened with a private party on 21 December 1928. Some residents were opposed to the ship, saying it would "lower the moral tone of Milford", so the Takapuna Borough Council ordered that dancing in bathing costumes and dancing on Sundays would be prohibited. The venue was demolished in 1957.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Surrey S. Alleman” as new Zealand architect. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewStrongest as a route into the people, institutions and dated events that shaped the subject’s public record. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1901, 1978, 1926, 1928—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1901-08-31. The account is most persuasive where Surrey, Alleman and Zealand can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the people & ideas register because the source frames it as new Zealand architect. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 6, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q115466509. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1901, 1978, 1926 and 1928.

Critical limits

Later biographies can compress uncertainty and repeat inherited reputations, so apparently settled claims may still require comparison. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Surrey S. Alleman”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Surrey S. Alleman primary sources, Surrey S. Alleman archive and Surrey research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Surrey S. Alleman”?
  2. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
  3. How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Surrey S. Alleman” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.