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Borough
of
Gisborne 1877
1927 County
of
Cook
Reprinted from
“The Gisborne Times”
May, 1927
with additional reading matter and reproductions.
The Gisborne Publishing Company,
Limited.
Printers And Publishers.
Gisborne - - - New Zealand
In request to a widespread demand this Jubilee Handbook is published. The bulk of the contents appeared in a special illustrated supplement of “The Gisborne Times” on 10th May, 1927, of which there were two large editions, which failed fully to meet the demand. Some of the articles and reproductions are not original and due acknowledgement is made as to the source of origin. To all who assisted in providing its contents the publishers extend their sincere thanks.
The interest which will always attach to the first visit of Captain Cook to the shores of New Zealand is sufficient justification for any attempt to elucidate a portion of his narrative, and, by the aid of personal acquaintance with the localities touched at, and reference to Maori traditions of the events, to enable any reader to present to his mind a more vivid picture of all the circumstances When, as in this case, places are not described in minute detail, it is often a matter of considerable difficulty to identify any particular spot; though this difficulty may often in a great measure be overcome by careful examination of the ground, and close attention to every hint contained in the narrative which may serve as a clue to the identification of the actual site of the occurrence. This, then, is what it is proposed to attempt in this paper with reference to Captain Cook's visit to Poverty Bay and Tolaga Bay.
It was on Friday, October 6, 1769, that the land was first seen from the masthead, bearing west by north, the longitude of the ship having been ascertained to be 180 degrees, 55 minutes W. On Saturday, October 7, it fell calm till the afternoon. At 5 p.m. Cook noticed a deep bay and stood in for it, but, when night came, he kept plying off and on till daylight. In the morning (Sunday Oct. 8) he found himself considerably to leeward of the bay, the wind being at north, and it was not till 4 o'clock in the afternoon that he anchored “on the north-west side of the bay, before the entrance to a small river … at about half a league from the shore.”
“In the evening,” Cook says, “I went on shore accompanied by Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander with the pinnace and yawl and a party of men. We landed abreast of the ship on the east side of the river, which was here about 40 yards broad; but, seeing some natives on the west side whom I wished to speak with, and finding the river not fordable, I ordered the yawl in to carry us over, and left the pinnace at the entrance. When we came near the place where the people were assembled they all ran away; however, we landed and, leaving four boys to take care of the yawl, we walked up to some huts which were about two or three hundred yards from the waterside.
When we had got some distance from the boat, four men, armed with long lances, rushed out of the woods and, running up to attack the boat, would certainly have cut her off if the people in the pinnace had not discovered them, and called to the boys to drop down the stream. The boys instantly obeyed, but, being closely pursued by the natives the coxswain of the pinnace, who had charge of the boats, fired a musket over their heads. At
The place of landing was evidently what is now called the boat-harbor, immediately on the south-east side of the mouth of the river, and separated from it by a narrow reef of rocks. From this place Cook and his companion walked about two hundred yards to a sandy point clear of the shelving rocks, as the most convenient point from which to cross over to the point formed by the junction of the Waikanae Creek with the river, where the natives were first seen, who ran away as the strangers approached them. The huts for which they were making when the attack was made upon the boat were probably not far from the north bank of the Waikanae, a short distance above the present signal-station. The four men who attacked the boat are said to have rushed out of the woods on the east side of the river. There are no woods in the neighborhood now, nor have there been any for the past fifty years; but woods are said by the natives to have existed formerly on the hill-side, within a short distance of high-water mark, which would form a convenient hiding place for the natives, whence they might observe the movements of the strangers without being seen themselves. The four men belonged to the Ngationeone hapu of the tribe called Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti, and the name of the one who was shot was Te Maro.
On Monday morning, October 9, a party of natives was observed at the spot, at which they had been seen the previous evening, and Cook determined at once to try to open up friendly intercourse with them. Three boats were ordered, manned with seamen and marines, and with these he proceeded towards the shore. Cook, with three others, landed first from the small boat; but they had not advanced far towards the natives when the latter all started up and showed themselves to be well armed with spears and meres, manifesting at the same time unmistakeable signs of hostility. Cook therefore determined to return at once to the boats and get the marines landed. This was soon done, and they marched, with a Jack carried before them, to a little bank about fifty yards from the water-side. Here they were drawn up and Cook again advanced with Tupaea, Messrs. Banks, Green and Monkhouse, and Dr. Solander. Tupaea was directed to speak to the natives and it was soon evident that he could readily make himself understood. After some parleying about twenty or thirty were induced to swim over, most of them, however, bringing their arms with them. All attempts to establish friendly intercourse were vain, as the only object the natives seemed to have in view was to get possession of the arms of the strangers which, as they could not obtain them by barter, they tried to snatch out of their hands. What followed is best described in Cook's own words:—
“In a few minutes, Mr. Green happening to turn about, one of them snatched away his hangar, and, retiring to a little distance, waved it round his head with a shout of exultation. The rest now began to be
The party of natives thus encountered was not the same as that which had been seen the evening before. According to the Maori tradition, the ship had been seen coming into the bay the day before, and was thought to be a floating island; and this was a party of the Rongowhaka-ata tribe, who had come from Orakaiapu, a pa just below the junction of the Arai and Waipaoa rivers for the express purpose to take possession of the ship, and hence their hostile attitude. The man who seized Mr. Green's hanger and lost his life in consequence was Te Rakau. The landing was effected, as before, at the boat-harbor, and the place where the marines were posted could easily be identified before the whole aspect of the place was changed by the harbor-works which are now in progress. It was a level piece of ground, about one acre in extent, from four feet to eight feet above the level of high-water mark, and immediately adjoining the spot where the river was crossed on the preceding evening. A part of it may still be recognised between the outer end of the blockyard of the harbor-works and the base of the hill. The rock in the middle of the river which the natives used as a resting-place is known by the natives as Toka-a-Taiau, and, from the way in which it is spoken of by Cook, would seem to have stood higher, at that time, than it has done now for many years past, and perhaps to have been awash, if not dry at low water. Till within the last few years its position was always indicated at low water by the rippling of the current, but since it has been partially blasted away with dynamite it has not been so easy to detect it.
Having failed, as above related, to establish any sort of friendly intercourse with the people, Cook proceeded with his three boats, to examine the bay in search of fresh water, and also with the design, if possible, of surprising some of the natives and getting them on board his ship, that by kind treatment their friendship might be secured, and that, by their means, an amicable correspondence might be established with their countrymen. Two canoes were seen coming in from the sea, making apparently for the mouth of the Kopututea river, which was then situated much nearer the Turanganui than it is now, and somewhere near where it is shown in the accompanying map. One of these canoes was intercepted, but, on the approach of the boats, the crew, seven in number, began the attack so vigorously with their paddles, with stones, and with other weapons, that the order was given to fire upon them, when four were, unhappily killed. The other three, who were all young lads, immediately leaped into the water, but were soon captured and taken on board the ship. Their names were—Te Haurangi, Ikirangi and Marukauiti. (Cook writes the names thus: “Taahourange, Koikerange and Maragovette.” The descendants of Ikirangi and Marukauiti still talk of the intercourse which their ancestors held with “Tepaea” but the name of
After advancing about a mile a large body of natives was seen coming rapidly towards them, whereupon, they drew together, took to the beach, and hurried back to the boats, the three boys joining them again and claiming their protection. As soon as they had got safely across the river, the natives, all armed, to the number of about 200, followed them across the Waikanae to the point. The boys, recognising the body of Te Rakau, which still lay exposed on the beach, went to it and covered it with some of the clothes which had been given them. Soon after this a single man, unarmed, who proved to be the uncle of Marukauiti, swam over to them bringing in his hand a green branch, which was taken as an emblem of peace. After making him a few presents, they left him and returned to the ship, the boys accompanying them. The actions of the natives were closely watched from aboard the ship. The man who had swum across to them was seen to perform some peculiar ceremonies over the dead body of Te Rakau, which was afterwards fetched across the river, and carried away on a litter. The boys were landed again in the afternoon and were seen to go away with the main body, as they returned by the way by which they had come. The Maori tradition states that Ikirangi and his companions had been out fishing, and that in answer to Tupaea's questions they had told him that the ariki, or principal chief of the district, was Te Ratu. This man was chief of the Rongowhataata tribe, and must have possessed great influence; for afterwards, when coasting along the Bay of Plenty, Cook says, “as far as we had yet coasted this country, from Cape Turnagain, the people acknowledwged one chief, whom they called Te Ratu, and to whose residence they pointed in a direction that we thought to be very far inland, but afterwards found to be otherwise.” There are no direct descendants of Te Ratu now living, but the family is represented by the descendants of his brothers. The Maori tradition also mentions a red garment as having been laid upon the body of Te Rakan to which they gave the name of Te Hinui Tuhuru.
“The next morning,” Cook says, “Wednesday, 11th, at 6 o'clock, we weighed and stood away from this unfortunate and inhospitable place to which I gave the name of Poverty Bay, and which, by the natives, is called ‘Te Oneroa,’ or ‘Long Sand,’ as it did not afford us a single article that we wanted … The southwest point of the bay I named Young Nick's Head, after Nicholas Young, the boy who first saw the land.” Thus ended Cook's only visit to this part of New Zealand; but as the ship lay becalmed in the afternoon, a little to the south of Young Nick's Head, several canoes put off, and, one, which had followed the ship out of Poverty Bay, came directly alongside. With a little persuasion the four men who formed the crew (one of whom was recognised as one of the hostile party encountered on Monday) were induced to come on board the ship. Their example was shortly afterwards followed by the rest and there was soon around the
After this Cook continued his voyage southward, following the coast as far as Cape Turnagain, whence he returned, on October 17, with a view of examining the coast to the northward of Poverty Bay. On Friday, the twentieth, being prevented by the wind from fetching Tolaga Bay, he anchored about 11 o'clock in another bay, a little to the north, the name given to which by the natives, he says, was Tegado. What Maori name this represents I have been unable to discover. He gives no description by which the bay may be identified, but from Parkinson's journal it is clear that it was Anaura. (“On the 21st we anchored in a very indifferent harbor, in 8½ fathoms of water, about one mile and a-half from the shore, having an island on the left-hand which somewhat sheltered us”) (Parkinson, quoted by Mr. Colenso, “Trans.,” vol. X., p. 123.) It will be noticed that there is a discrepancy in the date; but throughout this portion of the narrative Parkinson's dates are one day in advance of those given by Cook). The people were all remarkably friendly, and were found to be acquainted with what had happened at Poverty Bay less than a fortnight before. On the 21st, Lieut. Gore, with a strong party of men, obtained a supply of fresh water, and Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander found many new plants and shot a few birds.
On Sunday, the 22nd, another start was made, but, the wind being unfavorable for standing to the northward, Cook determined to put into Tolaga Bay, seeing that some natives had told him of a small cove a little within the south point of the bay where fresh water was handy, and where boats might land without being exposed to a heavy surf. This is the cove, which, in recent times, has always borne the illustrious navigator's name. The natives here were as friendly as those at Anaura, and a good supply of wood and water was easily procured. During the eight days' stay at this place, Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander explored the neighborhood, and were rewarded by the discovery of many plants new to science. In the course of their rambles they came upon what is described as a very extraordinary natural curiosity. “It was a rock, perforated through its whole substance so as to form a rude but stupendous arch or cavern, opening directly to the sea. This aperture was 75 feet long, 27ft broad and 45ft high, commanding a view of the bay and of the hills on the other side which were seen through it, and, opening at once upon the view, produced an effect far superior to any of the contrivances of art.”
There are three small streams of water here, one of which finds its way to the sea through the natural arch above-described. The arch (called by the natives “Te Kotore o te Whenua”) pierces the ridge, the extremity of which forms the western head of the cove, and is about 400 yards from high-water mark within the cove. The measurements given by Cook do not quite correspond with the present dimensions. The present length is 55 feet, the breadth at the narrowest part 24½ feet, and the height at the lowest part 23 feet. The length has probably been reduced by the falling away of the cliff at the other end, at which part also the measurements of the height and breadth given by Cook may have been estimated.
About thirty yards from high-water mark, among some bushes, about 20 feet up the side of the same hill as that in which the arch occurs, is what is known as “Cook's well.” This is a small hole, about 10 inches in diameter and about one foot deep, excavated in the soft rock where a tiny rill trickles down from a small spring a little higher up the hill. This could not have been used in any way for watering the ship, but was probably hollowed out for amusement by some of the boys in the ship's company. That it is not a natural cavity, but that it was made on the
Maori tradition states that Hinematioro, who was then a young girl, was pointed out to Cook as a young lady of high rank and that he presented her with beads and other ornaments. Hinematioro was much looked-up to in her time by all the tribes along this part of the coast, and her name was known formerly as far north as the Bay of Islands as that of a great rangatira. She lost her life about 60 or 70 years when making her escape from Te Pourewa on “Sporing's Island,” the pa which was attacked by Ngatiporou. The canoe was making for Whangara, and was upset at sea, the only survivor being her grandson, Te Kani-a-Takirau.
Cook says that the bay is called by the natives “Tolago,” but this has not been identified with any Maori name now in use in the neighborhood. The bay takes its name from the River Uawa, which flows into it; ano the name of Cook's Cove is Opoutama. The rocks off this entrance to the cove have altered very little since Cook's time, for the description which he gives of them might have been written yesterday. “Close to the north end of the island (Sporing's Island) at the entrance into the bay are two high rocks: one is round like a corn-stack; but the other is long and perforated in several places, so that the openings appear like the arches of a bridge. Within these rocks is the cove where we cut wood and filled our water casks.”
On Monday, October 30, Cook made sail again to the northward and here we take our leave of him.
It is not known for certain how or when the mid-East Coast districts of the North Island of this Dominion first came to be peopled. That members of the race designated “Maoris” were not the original inhabitants is, however, stated by all investigators to be a positive fact. According to most authorities one or more types of people made their abode in these parts prior to the major Maori migration which, it is claimed, took place, roughly, about 1350 A.D. Kupe and Ngahue were, it seems, the first Polynesians, according to Maori history, to visit New Zealand. Their visit was made around 950 A.D. and, from all accounts, none of their people settled in this country as a result of these voyages. Seemingly, also, neither Kupe nor Ngahue saw any trace of any inhabitants or of any habitations. Incidentally, they found greenstone on the West Coast of the South Island and both returned to Hawaiki with glowing stories concerning great birds they had seen. Whether or not they actually killed a moa is not clear, although certain traditions credit them, rightly or wrongly, with having done so. In due course, the coming of the Toi people followed. That event, it is laid down, occurred about 1200 A.D. Toi and his people found on their arrival that the country was the home of a race known as “Mouriuri” or “Maruiwi,” who may, or may not, have come here even before the days of Kupe and Ngahue. If they did, those famous sea strollers did not, as has already been mentioned, see any signs of them. Whither the aboriginals came, and when, is not now likely ever to be settled beyond doubt, but it may, with good grounds, be laid down that the various Native peoples who, in turn, settled in this country sprang from a common parent stock which had gravitated into the Pacific in the misty past.
In his work “Nga Tupuna Maori,” Sir George Grey tells of Kupe's famous voyage of discovery. It seems that Kupe and one Hoturapa one day went out to fish off their island home, Hawaiki. When the canoe gained the fishing-ground Kupe let his line down. “O, Hotu!” he said, “my line is foul at the bottom. Do dive and clear it.” Hoturapa said: “Let me have your line.” But Kupe answered: “Oh, no! You cannot get it loose unless you dive.” (Kupe wished to slay Hoturapa so that he might secure his wife.) Hoturapa dived and, when he was down, Kupe cut the cable of the canoe and pulled away. On reaching the surface Hoturapa cried out: “O, Kupe! Bring the canoe to me.” But Kupe did not so much as look round and pulled on. Hoturapa swam on till he became exhausted and was drowned. Kupe got on shore and took the wife of Hoturapa, but he was afraid lest evil should come to him and to escape vengeance, he and his party embarked in the canoe “Matahourua” and sailed to New Zealand. Kupe crossed over to the South Island and pulled
It has not been ascertained that any traces are left to-day in Poverty Bay of settlement prior to the advent of the Maoris in A.D. 1350. Searching enquiry has, indeed, failed to reveal a single relic of any earlier people hereabouts. Tradition is, of course, not silent on the matter, but it is vague and contradictory on this as in regard to so many other important matters. In some accounts it is stated that the original Native settlers were lanky people with dark complexion. Other stories aver that they were short and plump as well as dark. And, again, there are traditions alleging the existence in this country in times long past of fairy folk, and of a light skinned race with reddish hair. Generally, tradition hath it that the “tangata whenua” were inferior physically to the Maori. And so it would appear, for the predecessors of the Maoris, in this as in other parts of the country, failed in the race for the survival of the fittest. They were killed off or died out and all that remains to be remind the world that they ever existed are changes in the Maoris due to the inter-marriage of the main body of Polynesian migrants with the peoples who were found in this land on their arrival. Toi's people no doubt intermarried with the “Mouriuri” or “Maruiwi” and, in due course, the Maoris of the A.D. 1350 migration amalgamated with both earlier races. Melanesian castaways, it is also known, reached this country from time to time, which state of affairs is held to account for such strong traces of darker blood in some localities, notably in the Bay of Plenty.
Despite the absence of definite traces of settlement on the East Coast by an earlier people than the Maoris Toi is the authority for the contention that, even at the time of his advent, this district was not altogether unpeopled. This, at any rate, may be gathered from his speech of farewell to Mahutonga and Popoto, who visited him at Whakatane and were in search of a new home:—
“Farewell!” said Toi. “When you see a bay trending inward to the north-west, wherein are two rivers, one at the southern end of the sandy beach and the other at the other end of the beach where it trends westward, a bald cliff south of the southern river, a ridge on the eastern side of the other river, the outspread (hora) land lying between the two rivers, a range to the south west and one to the eastward—when you see this lay of the land, then that is the place where I stopped (halted) out at sea and inspected the place from my vessel. Now do you make your home there, for human occupation is scattered, as it also is further south. When you enter the bay turn your face to the south, and you will see the point of land I spoke of projecting outward; this is the place I speak of. Now do you name it Turanga for me, in memory of my turanga (halting, stopping his progress) out on the ocean.”
Popoto consented to this request of Toi and, on reaching here, no doubt, found, as Toi had advised him, that this district was already sparsely settled. The fate of the pre-Toi Natives of Poverty Bay must, however, now ever remain a mystery.
As to the original naming of Poverty Bay, Mr. Elsdon Best has this to say:—
“Evidently the name Turanga was applied to the district, not to a place or small circumscribed area. Turanga is the gerundial form of the word tu, which means ‘to stand, to remain,’ but in connection with any person, animal or object in movement it carries the meaning of ‘to stop, to come to a standstill, to halt.’ Of a train halting at a station a Native will say ‘Kua tu’—‘It has stopped’—as the vessel of Toi did prior to continuing his voyage. So that Turanga
Whilst on a visit to Wellington, thanks to the courtesy of Mr. Elsdon Best, Mr. G. J. Black, of Gisborne, secured a copy of the complete contents of Barnet Burns' extraordinary story of his adventures in this portion of the Dominion nearly 100 years ago Burns' booklet was published in Belfast in 1844 and created a tremendous amount of interest Embellished, as it was, with two illustrations of himself, after he had been tattooed from head to foot, and with a fantastic account of his life amongst the Natives of the East Coast, it could not fail to create the impression that life amongst the Maoris in those early days was nothing if not very perilous It has been suggested that Burns was the first white settler at the Mahia.
The title page, as befitted a work of its character in the days in which it was printed is set out thus:
A Brief Narrative Of a New Zealand Chief, Being The Remarkable History Of Barnet Burns an English Sailor, With a Faithful Account of the Way in which he Became
A ChiefOf One Of The
Tribes of New Zealand, Together WithA Few Remarks on the Manners and Customs of the People, and other Interesting Matter.
Written by Himself.Entered at Stationers' Hall.
Belfast.
Printed by R. and D. Read, Crown-Entry. 1844.
The text opens with an ‘Address’ as follows:—
Address.“
Multitudinousas are the ills “which flesh and blood is heir to,” and multifarious as are the miseries of human life, they become, from their frequency, common-place subjects of remark, and merely excite a transient sympathy in the mind. There are, however, incidents in the pilgrimage of some which force themselves upon our observation with a power which at once arouses our attention—startles our imagination—excites our surprise, and calls forth our admiration; such is the history about to be narrated.“To develop to the world the sufferings of our species is at no time a pleasant task; when a writer has to detail the hardships which a fellow
countryman has endured, perils unheard of in modern times, and sufferings almost beyond human endurance, and in a country of professed cannibals, the unpleasantness is augmented “It would be premature to anticipate all the events which will be detailed in the subsequent pages further than at present to observe that, being communicated by the lips of truth, they shall be recorded with fidelity.
“The most superficial reader of the following pages will behold the mysterious dealings of the Supreme with his creatures; he will be led to reflect on the perils of those “who go down to the sea in ships,” taught to believe the declaration of the royal prophet, that “the dark places of the earth are full of cruelty.”
“The severe hardships and great cruelties which the subject of this short history underwent, during his ten years' detention in New Zealand—the change of habits—harassing away of life, and other circumstances, which it has been his misfortune to be subject to, has so broken up his constitution as to render him no longer am able seaman, nor capable of earning his livelihood by his labor. He, therefore, by the advice of several persons who have interested themselves in his behalf, has published this his history, trusting that the British public will hold out the hand of humanity to one of her Sons of the Ocean, and assist in alleviating the cares and troubles which he must endure for the remainder of his existence. His difficulties and distresses have been such under which many would have sunk to rise no more, yet, cheered on by hope, he persevered and found that he had not done so invain. He would be wanting in gratitude were he to let this opportunity pass without tendering his thanks to those from whom he has received the cheering effects of kind regard, who have inspirited him on to the publication of this small work, and contributed to rescue him from indigence and want. Suffice it to say, that it has been prepared amid afflictions of no ordinary nature.
“We cannot refrain from indulging in the hope that the perusal of this pamphlet will act as a stimulus to Missionary exertion, and that the various societies who have long been engaged in sending persons to preach the Gospel to those who “sit in darkness and the shadow of death” we trust that a holy emulation will arise among them, who shall do most to reclaim these savages who have inflicted these unheard of cruelties.
“The manners and customs of the barbarians among whom the sufferer was cast will be given, nor will the natural history of the soil, etc., be overlooked.”
Then follows the narrative which, as will have been gathered, was dictated by and not written by Burns: —
A Brief-Narrative.“Old friend, thy face is valanced since we met!”—Shakespeare.
“Since I find it impossible to walk the streets without exciting the curiosity of all who see me, from my remarkable appearance, and not always having an opportunity of satisfying them, I have been advised by my friends to present the public with a short account of my adventures since I first left England, until my return from New Zealand, which I hope will prove acceptable to all who may feel anxious to hear something about New Zealand, as well as to those who may wish to have an account of the circumstances which led to my adoption as a Ghief by the Natives of that remarkable island. And as I aspire no further than to present them with a plain statement of facts, I hope some allowance will be made by my readers for all deficiencies of style, only detailing, as I have said before, the truth, without resorting to the aid of imagination.
“I left England in the year 1827, in the brig Wilna, with Captain Tate, bound for Rio de Janeiro, touching at the Western Islands. When we arrived at Rio, or at least a short time afterward, all hands were paid off the ship, owing to some dispute between the captain and the crew, the exact cause of which I cannot at this period of time remember; but at all events, it was something of very little consequence. I received a good character from the captain of the vessel, who
was, further, kind enough to recommend me to a gentleman, a merchant of the name of Burke, through whose interest, in the course of a short time, I procured a berth as steward in the barque Nimrod, commanded by Captain Illbeck, bound for Sydney, New South Wales.
“When we arrived at Sydney, I told the captain that I should prefer stopping on shore to returning; he accordingly gave me my discharge, and also a recommendation to a person of the name of William Bunn, a merchant, who is since dead, through whose interest I got a situation in the Bank of Australia, under W. M. M'Kensie, Esq. I stopped in his employment for about two years, when I, persuaded by some of my old shipmates, joined them in voyage to New Zealand, and I told him it was my inention to go to sea again; I therefore left that gentleman, who behaved to me not only as a master, but acted in every way as my friend.
“I then joined the brig Elizabeth, Captain Browne, bound on a trading voyage to New Zealand for flax. We remained on that coast, and in the different places adjacent, for nearly eight months, during which time I had an opportunity of acquiring the New Zealand language as fluently nearly as my own.
“I took a great fancy to that part of the world; in fact, so much so, that I made up my mind that on my arrival at Sydney again, I would procure a berth, if possible, as trading master, for any merchant from whom I could get employment, either to return, or settle ashore, and trade on any of the islands, or stop on board of a ship; but the former appeared to me to be preferable; so accordingly on my arrival at Sydney, I went to see my former master, Mr. M'Kensie. I told him intention; he advised me to go, if I thought proper, and recommended me to a gentleman of the name of Montefiore, who had just at that time formed an establishment for the flax trade—at least he was going to send persons down to New Zealand to trade for flax for him. None but persons who could speak the language were wanted; therefore I was lucky enough to procure a berth with him, at least under him, as a trading master. The following is a copy of the agreement made between Montefiore and myself:—
(Copy.)‘It is hereby agreed between L. Baron Montifore, Esq., and Barnet Burns, that the said Barnet Burns shall proceed in the schooner Darling, now about to sail to the port of Mahia, in New Zealand, there and then to commence bartering with the natives for flax, etc., such trade as (1) may be shipped under his charge per said vessel, and in fact, to act as the sole and entire agent of the said L. Baron Montefiore, at the aforesaid port of Mahia, or at any other port or place to which he may hereafter be directed to proceed. It is also understood that the said Barnet Burns is to be totally unconnected with any other establishment at New Zealand, or elsewhere: that of such trade as may be from time to time forwarded to him, he is to render a just and true account; and that he is in every way to use his utmost exertions to promote the interest of his employer.
‘In consideration of which services, the said Baron Montefiore hereby agrees to pay to the said Barnet Burns the sum of £4 per month, to commence on the date of his sailing from Sydney, together with a commission of £5 per cent. on all flax, to be valued at £12 per ton weight. Should it be desired by the said Barnet Burns to relinquish the service of his above-named employer, it is understood that the said L. Baron Montefiore is to have sufficient notice of such intention, to enable him to sencr a person down to take possession of whatever trade or flax might be on hand. It is also expected that at such places as the said Barnet Burns may remain for any length of time, he will make use of every conciliatory means in his power towards effecting a permanent and friendly intercourse with the natives, and that he shall obey the instructions which may be from time to time forwarded to him by the said L. Baron Montefiore.
Signed in Sydney, the 12th day of February, 1829, in the presence of etc., etc.'
(1) Articles for barter, as tobacco, etc., etc.
“I left Sydney, pursuant to agreement, in the schooner Darling; and after a passage of fourteen, or perhaps a few days longer, we put into Corner (Kawhia)—a fight took place here of which I was an eye-witness—to land another trading master in that part of the island. We lay in Corfier (Kawhia) river for about a month, until there was a house built to put the trade into that was for that part. We got all the trade for that place ashore safe, and everything then seemed as if things were going to turn out favorably. While we lay in this river, a great number of the natives used, to resort to the vessel to see her, and try to get things out of her. I do not mean to say steal anything out of the vessel, for they were their certainly rejoiced to see not only the ship, but the captain and crew. After the expiration of a month, we sailed to Mocaw (Mokau), there to land another trading master.
“Nothing occurred here worthy of particular attention, only that we landed the man and his trade ashore safe, and had a house built for him. We then touched at Taranackia (Taranaki) to see the state of the white people and natives there, who informed us they were on friendly terms with each other in that part, but expected to have a war, or at least to be disturbed by other tribes, who, it appears, had made up their minds to plunder them. We next touched at Entry Isle (Kapiti) and procured provisions. We remained there but a short time: when we started from thence, we went through Cook's straits, to get to the E. side of the island; and, after an absence of four months from Sydney, I arrived at my destination, Mahia, where I landed without a house being ready, a complete stranger, not a white man to be seen, not one residing within a hundred miles of me.
“The vessel only remained here two days, when she sailed for the Bay of Islands; therefore I was under the necessity of landing my, trade in canoes, and leaving it in one of the native chief's huts. So here I was amongst a set of cannibals, trusting wholly and solely to their mercy, not knowing the moment when they might take my trade from me, and not only my trade, but my life. Directly I landed here, the chief, whom I had particularly selected to trade with, left me; so I had the whole charge on my hands. I was obliged to carry my musket, and constantly sleep with it by my side; in fact I had to keep watch all the time. Then, for the first time since I took my fancy to visit New Zealand I felt frightened at my situation. I knew I was not sure of my life for an hour.
Barnet Burns' Trade on Mahia in 1829
Forced To Flee With-Native Wife To Gisborne
Sequel To Flax Buying Trip Ngai-Te-Rangi Make Murderous Attack
Burns Alone Escapes Being Killed and Eaten“In the course of a few days after my arrival at Mahia my trading chief returned with a large quantity of flax; I traded with him by giving powder, muskets, shot, blankets, tobacco, etc. I did all in my power to please the Natives, who were very soon delighted with me. I stopped here for nearly eleven months before I received any news from my employer, when, at last, a vessel arrived from Sydney, sent down to receive the stock that I might have on hand. At the time the ship arrived, it was a poor time for the trade in this place, so they had orders to take away the trade. The following is a copy of a
letter that I received from Mr. Montefiore:—
Mr. Burns, Sir,—I have authorised Mr. Sims to make such arrangements with you, relative to your stay, removal, or otherwise, at New Zealand, as he may deem most proper.—I am Sir, your obedient servant,
L, Baron Montefiore.Natives Inclined to Plunder“On receiving this letter, I gave up all the flax and remaining trade to Mr. Sims, which, I must say, gave me a great deal of trouble. The Natives, when they found the trade was going to be removed, grew quite cross; indeed they felt inclined for plunder. On one occasion a cask of powder was taken from a person—a Native, who was in the act of stealing it; but, however, he was detected, and severely punished according to their laws and habits.
“At this time I was under the protection of a chief of the name of Aw-hawee, who had a great regard for me; the fact is, I had married his daughter, who, at the time the ship arrived was on the point of being confined. For which reason I was obliged to make a settlement with Mr. Sims, and take trade in lieu of the money due to me.
Left Behind.“The vessel soon after sailed, and I was left behind. Words cannot express in what state my feelings were; suffice it to say, it would have been better if I had been dead. The ship, which contained all my friends and countrymen, leaving me at one side, and on the other, my wife, who would not quit her Native country; and, as she was on the point of lying-in, I could not bring myself to leave the country with the ship.
“In two days after the vessel sailed, all the men belonging to the tribe, whose protection I was under, went to cultivate their potato gardens, which are generally some distance from their pas—places of fortification—not expecting any danger to occur either to me, my wife, or any of the tribe who remained at home, who were but few.
A Perilous Position.“On the morning after the tribe went farming, as I have mentioned before, I was told by a person, who acted as a servant of maine, that he had bad news for me. I asked him what it was, and he told me he had overheard a conversation between some persons who came for the express purpose of seeing whether the tribe were away or not, that they might be enabled to plunder the trade I had. I did not conceive for a moment that they intended to serve me so; but they were jealous of the tribe I had stopped with, whom they imagined had advised me to send away the ship, and all the trade, as they had enough for themselves. And for that reason they were determined to have all the trade that was left behind for themselves, or die in the attempt. This intelligence gave me a great deal of uneasiness. I had ventured much for what little I had—I had struggled hard for it by night and day: and for that reason I was determined I would perish in its defence.
Advised to Leave the Mahia.“I acquainted my chief with the affair; he began to cry when I spoke to him about it, and told me that his tribe was so far distant, that it would be no use trying to defend the property I had, for it would certainly be taken from me, and not only that but very likely my life. The only plan that he advised was for me to get a large war canoe, and take the best part of my trade along with me, and proceed to Poverty Bay, where I could be protected by his friends. We accordingly got a canoe ready, and loaded her as much as we could. I, my wife, her father, and some of his slaves embarked, and bid the rest of the persons, whose husbands were away, farewell: they were principally women, and showed us their sorrow at parting, by crying, and cutting themselves with lava, until the blood
came streaming from them, it grieved them so much that we should leave them for want of protection.
By War Canoe for Gisborne.“We put to sea in our open canoe, nine in number, with a strong southerly wind, which came to blow so much, and the sea began to run so heavy, that we were forced to run for a place called Wharryawawa (Whare-ongaonga), where I was not allowed to go on shore, as the chief said he was fearful that the tribe would follow me by land, and, therefore, would have a chance of catching me. All hands went on shore but myself and my wife, who were obliged to sleep in the canoe all night.
“On the following morning we put to sea again, and steered for a place called Wyshee (Waihi, maybe, mouth of Waipaoa), where, when I arrived at, I could not leave, owing to the sea running into the bay so very heavily; therefore, I was obliged to haul my oanoe up out of the water, and allow the Natives (who were my chief's relations, and who flocked around me in hundreds) to carry my property for me, which they had to do for nearly thirteen miles through the country, before I arrived at Poverty Bay, the place I intended to go to. “When I got there I was received comfortably enough; they said they would encourage me in the trade, supply me with victuals, and protect me to the last moment of their lives.
Good Reception at (?) Ormond“I only remained here twenty-four hours after my arrival, when I proceeded about twelve miles further into the country (Mr Best suggests he went to Ormond) as I was advised it would be the best and most secure place for me to remain at, their strongest pas being in that place. When I arrived at the pa I was very well received; the Natives were overjoyed to think that I had made my escape (from Mahin) from the Wattihabitties (Whatu-i-apiti, a Hawke's Bay tribe), who were decided enemies on both sides.
“I had nothing to do here, for some time after I arrived, therefore I had an opportunity of viewing this part of New Zealand, which I think is the finest and most beautiful of all the island—at least what I saw of it. Here I found plenty of game, such as ducks, pigeons, and other kinds of birds; plenty of pork, potatoes, melons, and Indian corn, and every kind of vegetable in abundance. I remained in this place about three weeks, at a place called Wherowhero (Muriwai). I intended to go to see him, but was disappointed, on account of some trouble arising between the Natives, who had heard that another tribe, consisting of nearly 600 men (? Whakatohea), about twenty miles off, were come to war with them.
Preparations for Battle.“It was now for the first time I went to battle, it being my chief's particular wish for me to accompany him (I being then regularly ruled by a chief). I needed but very little pressing to take this step, as I thought it was better to go than stop behind myself. I gave them all the muskets I had, also all the powder and shot belonging to me. So we set out from here for a place called Mariaathe (Mr. Best suggests Maraetai); I dare say nearly seven hundred of us. We had to strike right through the country about twenty miles, where we heard the enemy were. On the evening we arrived, we perceived a great deal of smoke arise in different places, from which we thought the enemy were not far off.
Dog Spoils Ambush.“I will now give you a slight instance of New Zealand sagacity: We had a dog along with us, a common thing amongst New Zealanders, who generally take those animals with them when they are going to war. I should have mentioned before that we intended to lay in ambush the night we perceived the smoke; but the dog, having made its way right to where the enemy lay, and the enemy finding it to be a strange dog, seized it and made it fast round the leg with a
piece of cord, by which means, with the help of a person who was piloted by the dog, they discovered where the whole of us lay, and took the opportunity of making their escape, for when we came on the following morning to where we thought they were, we found them gone. We pursued them, but could only take four persons, who were some of the slaves that were employed carrying their provisions. They were shot and devoured; on which the tribe performed a war dance (a dance to denote their joy at conquering the enemy: they perform it before and after battle).
“When we arrived at home everything went on pleasantly enough. I stopped nearly six weeks trading, and procured a great quantity of flax and pigs. I agreed with my chief that he should take care of the stock belonging to me, while I would proceed on land with some of the slaves and purchase some more flax, as I expected a ship in the course of a short time to arrive, which caused me to be in a hurry to collect all the flax I could, as I was then trading on my own account.
Taken Prisoner at (?) Motu.“I went on land about twenty-eight miles, to a place called Mutu (?Motu) where I remained some time procuring flax. I bought a great quantity of flax here, but, unluckily, a jealousy took place between the Knightarangy (Ngai Te Rangi) tribe, and the tribe I was with. (? Te Aitangi-a-Mahaki, according to Mr. Best.) They came upon us and attacked us. There were not many of us to be sure, but we gave battle to a man, were beaten, and every soul killed, and not only killed but eaten, except myself, whom they spared, making a prisoner of me, thinking thereby to procure a ransom from my chief for me. They took me along with them in the bush; they had no houses belonging to them, being a regular wandering tribe.
“Whilst I was amongst these people (the Ngai-Te-Rangi), I got particularly acquainted with a female of rank, who told me that it was her father's wish that I should act as a friend to him; by so doing he would make me a chief, would give me land, pigs, and property of different kinds. She also told me the others belonging to the tribe had a great spite towards me; and, should they have an opportunity, would certainly kill me; for which reason I had better not leave the rendezvous at all, unless in company with her father, who was head chief amongst them, or in her own company.
Life in the Balance.“I must note one thing, that is, a chief's daughter has that superiority over her meaner subjects, that, if there were vengeance sworn by any persons against another, and they were in the act of killing him, by such female running and putting her mat over such person's head, it would at once prevent the murder taking place.
“I was here but a few days (a prisoner amongst the Ngai-Te-Rangi), when I made up my mind to escape from them. I was so uncomfortable: but I was so closely watched, it was out of the question to attempt it. They could see by my manner that I was not inclined to stop with them, and would often say: “What is the matter with you? You may think yourself happy we do not kill you!' Others, again, when they had an opportunity, would spit in my face, and tell me they would eat my very heart the first opportunity they had. I was afraid to complain of them, because it would only cause some of them being put to death, and by that means get me into fresh trouble.”
An Inter-Tribal Battle
A Siege That Succeeded
Chief's Wife Baked and Eaten“I will now proceed to relate, how, when, and where, I first got to be marked, or more properly speaking—Tattooed. When I found that there was no chance of making an escape from the Ngai-Te Rangi in the (?) Motu district, I tried to make them all think that I was getting very partial to them, and by that means I found that I was both loved and respected by them. On one occasion the chief took an opportunity of telling me that it was the wish of the other chiefs under him, not his own, that I should allow myself to be tattooed. I asked what was the reason for wishing it. He told me merely to make sure that I would stop with them, bring them trade, fight for them, and in every way make myself their friend.
“I told this old man, who had a great regard for me, that I did not fancy the tribe; I could not stop along with them; that I was losing a great deal of time by stopping with them; and that I never gave them any reason to serve me so. I was losing all my trade; I was losing my time; in fact, I told them that I should kill myself if I could not get away. The old chief began to cry; and told me that though he was head chief—in such cases he could not make those that were under him do as he thought proper; that he would effect all in his power for me; but he was greatly alarmed that others would find an opportunity to have my head—though this should never be done with his consent. He therefore advised me to take care of myself, and consider what was best to be done.
“Now, My Fine Fellow!”“In the course of about three weeks after I was brought here, I met one day a gang of persons in the bush, as I happened to be out fowling. They came up to me and said, “Now, my fine fellow, we have got you; you shall never lend a hand to kill any of our relations again.” I cocked my piece, and told them to fire if they were inclined to kill me. At that moment, one of them stepped forwards me, and told me that if I would fight for them I should not be injured. I told them I would. “Then,” says he “you must let yourself be tattooed the same as we are.” I expressed my readiness; at which there was nothing but exclamations of joy amongst them. They lifted me up on their backs and carried me to their settlement.
“They told the old chief they had brought me to an agreement:—that I was to fight for them, and was to be tattooed, as a pledge of my sincerity that I would act as their friend—for which reason they would prove true to me, and would give me anything that they had. I considered in my own mind that I had better agree to their wishes, as I could plainly see it was out of my power to make an escape.
“I did not know whether my own tribe would find me or not, nor whether I might fall into the hands of a strange tribe, perhaps that might behave worse to me; so, for the purpose of getting extra liberty, I told them to commence tattooing me as soon as possible. They immediately began the operation; the priest cutting in the flesh with bone instruments, which was horribly painful. (The tattooing is a practice common only to New Zealanders. The instruments in the shape of a chisel and mallet are formed out of bone; these are used after the flesh is cut to the eighth of an inch deep, for the purpose of beating in the Cowrie (black dye).
Method of Escape.“In seven days after they commenced (I could mention I was about onequarter tattooed here), I took the opportunity one night, while it was raining (you will read in my history of New Zealand what an aversion the Natives have to night travelling)—to make my escape; and, on the following day, I could perceive from the top of a mountain that I was but a short distance from where my wife and friends were, but then it was terrible travelling—nothing but bush, in addition to which, I was not very well supplied with shoes—the fact is, I was barefooted.
“It took me three days to reach home, as I had several round about ways to go to avoid being seen by the Natives, many of whom were in search for me—I mean the tribe from whom I escaped. When I arrived where my friends were, I was received with the greatest joy: there was scarcely anything to be heard except the firing of musketry.
“I mentioned before, on my leaving Maia (Mahia), that the Natives there, to show their grief, cut themselves with lava. The same thing is done both for joy and grief: many of them crying and cutting themselves terribly with lava, which was always done against my will—but that was no use, it was their fashion, and they would not, nor could they be persuaded to drop it
Vengeance Sworn.“They all flocked round inquiringhow I was? How the rest of their friends were? What kept me so long? Whether I had good luck in trade or not? How I came to be tattooed etc. I told them that I had been taken prisoner—that their friends were all killed—that my flax (I had a good deal of that article when I was taken prisoner)—was all burned—and I was obliged to submit to them by letting myself be tattooed. Directly they heard it they swore vengeance against the perpetrators of such deeds; and, accordingly, there were sixty men picked out, well armed, to go to the very spot from where I had escaped, according to my directions. I stopped at home myself, being unwell, or else I certainly would have gone along with them. These men were to search for the persons by whom I had been detained, and, if they could, were to return with the heads of everyone they might kill.
A Visit to Another Trader“But, however, in this point they were mistaken, for the enemy, when they found I had made my escape, knew what would occur, and, for that reason, left their abode—at least, their place of rendezvous: so that, when my friends arrived there, all the satisfaction they had was to take away four pigs that were left behind—anything in the way of plunder, particularly from an enemy, being sweet to a New Zealander. After an absence of five days they returned and informed us of all that passed. I remained here some time trading, and got a good deal of flax.
“I should have mentioned here before, that, when I returned from the Knightarangys (Ngai-Te Rangis), I went to see the white man that I alluded to—name not given—who was trading for another person, to whom I sold all the flax and other articles that I had, in the way of trade, for money, some tobacco, powder, and some things necessary to carry on trade.
Quarrel Interrupts Business.“I went some time after up Toorongo river (Taruheru) about three miles distant, to buy some flax. They were in my debt, as I had advanced them trade before; and, when they came to make a muster of what flax they had, I found it was not near enough to pay me. They then went about half a mile up the river to get some more flax: I remained behind with what flax I had got in my canoe. They had but a few minutes gone, when I heard the noise of musketry. I asked some of the persons who had remained behind what was the matter. They told me they expected it was a quarrel; in a short time they
returned, and told me they were fired at by the Walkathowas (Whakatoheas)—a tribe consisting of 400 men, women and children—and could not settle with me then, but if I would call again they would be happy in doing so.
On the War-Path.“I left these people, and proceeded down the river again with my flax. These persons, who are called the Biddiraakos, (? Pirirakau) directly I left them, went and made every kind of arrangement for storming the pas belonging to the Walkathowas (Whakatoheas), and accordingly, they sent word to the tribe that I was along with, (Te Aitangi-a Mahaki) and told them that they wanted help. They also told several other tribes the same thing, and the result was they all agreed to go and kill everyone belonging to the Walkathowas (Whakatoheas), if they possibly could do so; and I amongst the rest who was particularly requested to go by all parties. (Mr Elsdon Best suggests the year was 1831.) I consented: so we set out; I having the command of about one hundred and fifty men. there were about six hundred men altogether. We marched to the Walkathowas' (Whakatoheas') pa, which was very strong; we surrounded it three weeks, during which time several persons were shot and devoured.
How the Maoris Fought.“The mode of warfare of the New Zealanders is simply this:— When they are attacked by a strange tribe, they fly directly to their pas, where they stop if they do not conceive themselves able to face their enemy; and such was the case with the Walkathowas (Whakatoheas). There were a few certainly that came out, but it was to search for provisions—a very good reason after being confined within the limits of a pa, only about a quarter of a mile round, with a beautiful river close to it; but they generally paid dear for their temerity.
“I will relate one instance:—Two days before the pa was taken, one of the principal chief's wives tried to make her escape by attempting to swim across the river, but, unfortunately, she was taken and made a prisoner. They took her away about a quarter of a mile from her pa, and informed her that she was to be killed and eaten. Each of the principal chiefs then began to bespeak their parts of the body, in the presence of the woman. One said he would have a leg, another an arm, and another her heart, etc., etc., until she was shared amongst them. When this was done, she was ordered to go into the river and wash a quantity of potatoes.
A Horrible Murder.“Whilst the unfortunate woman was away, the natives made a large hole—the same kind as I spoke of before for cooking in the bush, and got everything ready for cooking her. On the woman's return, she was told the oven was getting ready for her. She said it could not be helped. She was then ordered to prepare for cooking. I affirm, positively, that I saw the woman gather green leaves, lay them down on the hot stones, tie both her legs together herself, and then ask one of the party to tie her hands. When this was done, she took a friendly leave of two or three persons that she knew and threw herself down on the leaves.
“When she was over the fire, she begged some of the party would knock her brains out. But they would not; they kept her on the fire a few minutes, then laid potatoes over her, and covered her up with earth—aye, before life was half gone—until she was cooked fit for eating. I assure you, so sweet is the flesh of a New Zealander—an enemy—esteemed by these people that part of this woman's body was sent upwards of three hundred miles off to other friends, merely that they might have a taste.
Siege Succeeds.“These unfortunate persons, after being attacked all day by the persons outside the pa, would, in the night-time, allow the enemy to come and trade with them—such as giving mats for something to eat, flax for a little
powder; so that by trading in the night-time, in this kind of way, my friends had an opportunity of seeing which would be the best way of gaining admittance. They formed the plan of making a complete rush; and all proceeding at once, with the help of a tomahawk, to cut an entrance through the pas, which are constructed of a large fencing, made fast together with vines. They did so: we effected an entrance, and made every soul it possessed prisoners—about 400 in number. When they brought the prisoners out, they were all regularly shared between each tribe; and I myself was an eye-witness to about sixty being killed and eaten.
How A Cannibal Feast Was Prepared
Peaceful Rivalry with White Trader
Mission of Mercy to East Cape“I will here mention how, and in which way, dead bodies are cooked for eating, as many, perhaps, never have read before of such a thing. I shall relate this as plain as I possibly can, and mention nothing but the truth. In the first place, if a man of any consequence is killed—a person of any rank—his head is generally cut off, and saved to be sold in the way of trade to the shipping, or in any other way in which they may dispose of such heads. The bodies they cut up in quarters, something like the way you see a pig cut up by a butcher. They are not very particular about washing their provisions, at least, they are not particular in washing human flesh; but just as the piece is cut off they cook it; not a single particle of the body goes to waste.
“A Most Beautiful Dinner.”“The fashion of cooking is this:—They dig a large hole, in which they light a fire. They have got a particular kind of a hard stone; if they should be short of this stone, they use a sort of hard mud. They put these stones in this fire until they become red hot, and, when that is the case, they cover the stones with a kind of leaf. They then take the meat or carcase, whichever it may be, and lay it on these leaves, and then put their potatoes on the top of the meat, which they cover all over with leaves, and then fill the hole up with damp clay, until the steam which is confined underneath the earth completely cooks it.
“This may appear to some persons a curious way of cooking; but I can assure them, in such a way they can cook a most beautiful dinner, if they have a mind to take a little pains. For my part, I have cooked pork and potatoes as completely in this manner, as ever I have eaten them cooked in Europe. They serve up their victuals in baskets made of flax, which they are so very particular in having clean; indeed, so much so, that they get a new set of baskets every time they sit down to their victuals. This is the only thing they are particular in with respect to their eating and drinking.
“They have also a method of preparing human flesh for the purpose of travelling, which is done by making a fire underneath a grating of vines. They then lay the flesh over the smoke of the vines until it is perfectly smoked, without the help of salt. They then put in the sun until it becomes quite dry—such is the way they get meat ready for travelling. I have given a description now of their manner of cooking, and shall proceed to my return home to my friends.
Offer to Go to Uawa.“About three weeks after we arrived, a vessel, called the Prince of Denmark, came from Sydney, with all kinds of trade on board. The captain
asked me if I had been trading for any person lately. I told him I had not: therefore, I engaged with him for the sum of £3 a month, and no percentage on flax. He agreed with me to go about 30 miles further along the coast, where my wife's brother lived, to a place called Onawa (Uawa), it being the most likely place, at that time of the year for a good flax trade. The captain left me to take the trade ashore, and proceed to Onawa (Uawa) in a canoe, as I was not ready to start exactly at the time; so, accordingly, he sailed for some other part of the coast. In the course of two days afterwards, I proceeded in a canoe with my wife and child, and her two brothers, together with slaves enough for the management of the canoe. When I arrived here, I found one white man trading for Capt. Kent who remained at one side of the river, which is a beautiful one, and I on the other; but still one tribe, called Hooringawherea, only divided, or at least, commanded by two brothers. (Uawa river, Tolaga Bay).
Favorite with the Natives.“I remained here for some time; I dare say nearly three years, during which time I was constantly trading for one person. I sent, during this time, about 107 tons of flax to Sydney. The flax of New Zealand, which is indigenous to the Island, and grows in the greatest abundance, without the slightest cultivation, differs materially from that of Europe, and is of quality much superior. It grows somewhat similar to the blue flag of our marshes (forium tenax). It is cut by the natives and prepared; that is, scraped with a mussel-shell till it becomes as fine and as soft as silk; it is then made into the garments worn by the Natives, and likewise forms a valuable article of barter to the vessels touching at the various ports.) The vessel had been sent to me three times; but hearing such bad news from New South Wales, of the distress in England, I was determined then on never leaving New Zealand; and for that renson I did all in my power to please the Natives.
Chief of Tribe of 600.“This was the place where I enjoyed happiness—this was the place where I was tattooed; at least, where the remaining part of my face was marked—and not only my face, but my body. I do not mean to say that I have been tattooed altogether against my will, as I submitted to have the latter part done. In fact, I thought within myself, as one part of my face was disfigured, I might as well have it done completely, particularly as it would be of service to me. And so it was. In the first place, I could travel to any part of the country, amongst my friends, if I thought proper. I was made and considered chief of a tribe of upwards of 600 persons, consisting of men, women and children. I could purchase flax when others could not. In fact, I was as well liked amongst the rest of the chiefs, as though I had been their brother.
“S.O.S.” From East Cape.“During the time I remained here a messenger came to me and told me there were three of my countrymen some distance off to be killed. I enquired the circumstances, which were as follows:—A whaler had put into the East Cape for provisions. During her stay there, three of the crew ran away; in returm, the captain of the ship seized fifteen of the Natives, and took them away they could not tell where, until news came afterwards, by land, that the men were landed at the Bay of Islands. But, before this was known, the Natives on shore were determined on killing the white men. They were confined by one of the greatest tyrants of a chief on that part of New Zealand, of the name of Cotahrow.
“When I had all the information I required about them, I gave orders to my tribe, and told them to get a canoe ready—to get themselves well stocked with arms—and to prepare to come along with me to rescue my countrymen. The moment they got the word every one seemed as anxious to go as I was myself, such was the regard they had for me. I, and 60 of the ablest men, most of whom were
under-chiefs, manned a canoe, and directly went to the East Cape after them, a distance of about 30 leagues.
Enquiries for Missing Sailors.“We had two days' fair wind; and on the third day arrived there, at least, as close as we could get by water. When we got on shore, we hauled our canoe up in the bush, and covered her over with leaves. We then marched up to the pas where the men were confined, a distance of about six miles. We were on very good terms with these people before this affair took place. We went direct into the pas, where we were received with great civility: everything as amiable as possible—all we could expect was prepared for us, such as a supper of pork, potatoes, pumpkins, etc. (not knowing at the time what our business was).
“After supper, I took the opportunity of making our business known. I enquired of the chief before-mentioned, “If he knew anything of three men who had run away from the whaler?” (It is the fashion of a New Zealander, when he speaks about anything particular, to study a long time before he makes an answer: on a sudden, he rises up, and begins his conversation in a passionate kind of manner, at first, then by degrees he gets calm, and then sits down: his friends then get up in the same kind of way, and speak to the same purpose.) He told me I could not see the men. He said that he had sent the men away—that he was determined on keeping the men, as payment for the Natives that were taken away from him. I then began to reason with him, and told him that he could not blame the men that ran away from the ship. The captain was the man to blame. But, however, he insisted on keeping the men, and would not give me the least satisfaction more about the matter.
A Child Discloses Where Men Confined.“When I found this was the case, I walked out of the house, or rather hut and strayed about for some time, until it got dark. I then met a child, and took the opportunity of asking it a few questions, (knowing it to be the only way in which I could find where the men were confined.) The child did not know me from a New Zealander, and the questions and answers were as follows:—
‘My boy, do you know where the white men are?’
‘Yes; they are over there,’ pointing to a hut on the opposite side of the pas.
“I ran directly, burst in the door, and there I found them almost naked, whom I accosted in the following manner:—
‘How do you get on countrymen? How long have you been here?’
“They said they were miserable—they had been there six days, and were receiving information every day, that they were to be killed, and begged of me if it was in my power, to save them. I told them I would see what I could do with the chiefs, by paying a ransom; I had nothing at present to pay for them; but, however, they should not be killed until my return.
Bartering For The Captive Sailors
Decision to Leave New Zealand
Leave-Taking From Native Wife and Children“I went into the house again where the chief was, and spoke to him as follows: ‘Will you give those white men up to me? If you do, I will return you a compliment?’ He said it was hard to ask the like of him, and told me to consider. I then told him if he would give them up to me, I would give him a musket for one, a blanket for another—and
a small keg of powder for another. He considered for some time, and, at last, asked if I told a lie or not; I told him it was the truth. He said he would let his friends know of it, and, if they would agree to it, he should be satisfied. I then sent one of my acquaintances, a chief, along with him, and told him to encourage the others as much as he could.
Chief Agrees to Terms.“When he came back, he told me to make myself contented about the men, as I should have them on the terms before mentioned; but he should go along with them in his own canoe, and that I must be satisfied to agree to those terms; that I should pay the articles I promised to him when he took the men to my house; in default of payment, that he should return with the men back again to his own place. I told him everything was perfectly correct—he should be well satisfied for his trouble, or else it should be my fault.
A Lawful Prize.“So on the following morning we started: his party in one canoe, and I along with my company in the other. We had a strong north-east wind and ran along at such a rate, that we arrived at Onawa (Uawa) on the third morning; the wind being, as I said before, from the N.E., set a very heavy swell into the bay, and our companions not being very well acquainted with the harbor, got aground on the bar, capsized, and in less than twenty minutes every single thing belonging to the canoe, and the canoe itself, along with the white men who came on shore, as well as the New Zealanders themselves, were all instantly made a prize of. (It is a law of the New Zealanders, that if their most sacred friend is wrecked, he is made a lawful prize of: everything is taken away from him in the way of property, and the captors can do whatever they think proper about it afterwards—a regulation that generally causes a war among the Natives to get their property back again; but, however, it was not the case in this affair).
“The chief was quite willing I should hold the men for nothing, if I would use my exertions to get him his canoe and property back again, which was done the moment I ordered it; and the next day he took his departure for his own place. Thus fortune favored me; for it was in my power to pay for them, though I was determined they should never leave me once I got them on shore, even if war should be the result of it. These men afterwards went up to Sydney in the Byron schooner.
Determined to Return to Sydney.“I remained at home after this for nearly six months, when a vessel called the Bardaster, of Liverpool, commanded by Capt. T. J. Chalmers, arrived off the Bay early one morning. At the moment the vessel was reported, I launched a canoe (I had no idea, she being such a large vessel, that she had any commands for me), and went on board; when, to my surprise, I found my employer's agent on board, who enquired of me how much flax I had for him. I told him; and he said I must remain with it, and wait till the return of another vessel, which was coming down with trade. I told the agent my determination of going to Sydney. When he found such was the case he told me that I should have to pay the sum of £5 for a passage. I then told him it was rather hard to serve me so; but, however, as I wanted to have a settlement in Sydney with my employer, I would accept his offer.
By Canoe and Overland to Gisborne.“The ship stood then into Poverty Bay, but left me on shore. Next morning I manned a canoe, and took my wife and children, her father and brothers, and steered towards Poverty Bay, after the ship, according to promise; but the wind proved foul a short time after I left. I was obliged to put into a small bay, and travel overland (pretty hard travelling too! no omnibus being in that part of the world). But, however, on the following morning, having travelled all night, we reached Poverty Bay.
Dispute with Natives Settled.“I got a canoe and went on board of the ship, which was lying at anchor, waiting till I came up, as the agent was afraid of going ashore, owing to some promises he had made the Natives, which he did not perform. But, however, I soon put matters right, and got the flax on board safe, and paid them in tobacco and pipes. The Natives have no distinct idea of a Supreme Being, conceiving everything invisible, or that which they cannot account for, such as thunder, lightning, etc., to be an “Eatoa” (Atua), a God.
A Regretful Departure.“I had now to take leave of my wife and children, her friends and all my other acquaintances. I cannot describe how the Natives felt; but, however, I will say for myself, that no man ever left a place more regretted than I did wher leaving New Zealand. We weighed anchor, and set sail for Queen Charlotte's Sound, and touched at Cloudy Bay. I was a stranger here, and surprised the Natives; nothing particular occurred. When we got to Queen Charlotte's Sound, we came to anchor, and remained there for about three days. In the meantime the boat was sent further up the Sound, there to trade along with the white people (whalers) for whalebone.
Plan to Capture Vessel.“I stopped on board the ship along with the captain, as interpreter; there were a great number of Natives came off to the ship. I suppose not less than fifty canoes came off, full of men and women, and who immediately came on board. One of these persons told me she had something to say in private, and, when I inquired of her in her own language what it was, she told me she heard the men saying, as there were not many men on board the ship, they would take her, there being plenty of fire arms, and other property on board the ship, that would be very useful to them.
Warning That Was Heeded.“The moment I got a hint of this, I acquainted the captain, and advised him to get a line drawn across the quarter deck, and station a man with a loaded musket to keep sentry, and to send the Natives on shore, which was immediately done. I then invited the principal chief and his son, into the cabin to take some grog; and, when I got them ashore, I kept them, but did not let them know my intention for doing so; but told them I should like their company until morning, to talk to them about other parts of New Zealand. They seemed perfectly satisfied. I then came out of the cabin, and ordered all the Natives on shore. Directly they heard me speak the language, they were quite surprised. I insisted on their going, and when they found I was resolute, they immediately quitted the ship. About twelve o'clock the following day several boats arrived with whalebone, brought on board by Europeans for trade; when all the whalebone was on board, we got under weigh for New South Wales.
Back Again in England.“Thus ended my adventures in New Zealand. The gentlemanly kind way in which the captain of the Bardaster used me, to whom I shall always return my most sincere thanks, induced me to stop in his ship, and return with him to England, after an absence of eight years, glad enough once more to see my countrymen, to whom I have been no less an object of curiosity than of commiseration. Had I chosen, I could have filled volumes with the manners and customs of this singular people, by whom I have been adopted; but I have merely given a simple statement of my own personal adventures, which, I hope, will prove both satisfactory and arousing—as, in that case, my utmost ambition will be gratified.
The interesting historical information contained in this article is taken from a valuable record belonging to Mr. F. Harris, of this town. It was compiled by his father, the late Mr.
Natives Friendly, But Afraid of Enemy NeighborsBorn in Cornwall, England, in 1808, Captain John W. Harris emigrated to Sydney in his youth. He entered the employ of one De Mestre, a merchant, and his first duties were in a counting-house. Later on he went to employment on a station in the Wellington (N.S.W.) district, retiring as manager. In 1831 he came over to New Zealand to represent Montefiore and Company, and settled in Poverty Bay. He made the journey in a vessel commanded by Capt. James Stewart, who in 1809 made the discovery that what was afterwards, and still is, known as Stewart Island did not form part of the South Island. Towards the end of 1849, or the beginning of 1850, Capt. Stewart came to stay with Capt. Harris, but died in 1851 and was buried at the south-east end of the old garden at Tapatahi. Capt. Harris brought over with him from Sydney two subordinates—White, father of Hori Waiti—and Tom Ralph. For a while he stationed White as a trader at Wangawehi (Mahia), and Ralph at what is now called Muriwai, but then always spoken of as Wherowhero. (Note: This is not in accord with the narrative of White, otherwise Barnet Burns, who claimed to have arrived before Capt. Harris and to have been an independent agent for Montefiore, of Sydney). The chief articles of trade at these places were flax and potatoes. Shortly afterwards a branch was also started at Uawa, where one Ferris had lived for some years before Capt. Harris came to Poverty Bay. At the time of Capt. Harris's arrival the natives here were friendly, but lived in dread of probable attacks at the hands of their adjacent enemies. Trade with the natives at that time was restriced to flax, and the need to acquire firearms to repel possible raiders gave a big impetus to business. In the early '30's the natives here were fairly well supplied with firearms—a state of affairs which caused their enemies to hesitate about launching an attack upon them. Capt. Harris lived. first of all, near the mouth of the Big River, and later on removed to Turanga (Gisborne). The name of the mouth of the Big River at that time was Hikaronga, and that of the second mouth Kopututea. To the third and present mouth the same name was given. It was cut by the natives after the flood of 1841. as the previous ridge cutting off the sea was very narrow, and in consequence of an extreme bend there had been great liability to very considerable flooding.
How Capt. Sturley Taught Two Chiefs a Lesson.Visits of vessels to Poverty Bay in the early days were, of course, not very frequent. Most of the strangers hailed from Sydney, and the pioneers in the trade took away principally flax. One of Capt. Harris's firmest friends was Capt. Sturley, who first visited New Zealand in the whaler Essex in 1821, and made a second cruise in 1829. In 1837 he was in the Sydney-East Coast trade as master of the Trent and Mr E. F. Harris went from Sydney to the Bay of Islands with Capt. Sturley in that year, and came on to Gisborne. But two years later he had to return to Sydney to attend the Normal Institution, in Elizabeth Street, of which Mr H. Gordon was the proprietor and master. It was not until the vacation at the close of 1845 that Mr E. F. Harris came back to New Zealand. Amongst many stirring incidents connected with Capt. Sturley's adventurous career was his running away from Wangawehi with the chiefs Hapuku and Puhara, in the Trent. Hapuku used to terrorise all traders and masters of vessels excepting Capt. Harris. Capt. Sturley, having been paid a visit by Hapuku and Puhara took the opportunity of holding them and carrying them off to teach them a lesson. Towards the close of 1840 Capt. Sturley retired from sea life and took up his residence at Te Ariau-hai, Tuparoa, where Mr E. F. Harris stayed with him for a few days in May, 1849.
Whaling Station at Gisborne in 1837.European settlement in Poverty Bay grew very slowly at the outset, but soon after the arrival of Capt. Harris and the Europeans in his employ. T. Halbert took up his residence here, and a little later on R. Espie and A. Arthur settled in this district. It is narrated that Bishop W. Williams first visited the East Cape and vicinity in 1834, and subsequently his brother, Archdeacon H. Williams, was a visitor to these parts in 1838. On the latter occasion arrangements were made for the location of Native teachers and carried out the same year—three being stationed at Waiapu and four at Gisborne. Another visit was paid by Bishop Williams in 1839 and in January, 1840, he with his family, settled at Turanga. Archdeacon H. Williams landed in New Zealand in 1823, and Bishop W. Williams in 1825; the former made his home at the Bay of Islands, and the latter became first Bishop of Waiapu. Richard Poulgrain settled in Gisborne—then Turanga—in 1840. In the following year Mr and Mrs U'Ren and family (who had reached Wellington in 1840 by the Duke of Roxburgh) came on to Gisborne. Tom U'Ren was born in Poverty Bay on October 12, 1841, being the first European child born here. (Note: Archdeacon H. W. Williams says that one of Bishop Williams' daughters was born at Kaupapa, near Manutuke, six months before Mr T. U'Ren and is of opinion another of the U'Ren family was born before Thomas.) Mr and Mrs Tarr and family settled in Poverty Bay in 1845, and John Harvey changed his place of residence from Wellington to Poverty Bay in 1846. Mr Joseph Carroll (father of Sir James Carroll), who was born in Sydney about 1815, came to the Bay of Islands in 1841, and on to Wairoa in 1842. Although he did well out of his transactions in flax, Capt. Harris turned his attention in 1837 also to the whaling industry, being the first to establish a whaling station on the East Coast, the site being the mouth of the Turanganui River—or, to be more precise, within the river near where the wharves now stand. He began operations in the winter, but his task was restricted to securing whalebone, because no casks were available for oil-storing purposes. During the following season, whaling was in full swing. The station was shifted to the opposite side of the river, where the freezing works now stand, but afterwards to Papawhariki. Another station was started at the Mawhai (Tokomaru Bay) by Mr R. Espie, in conjunction, Mr E. F. Harris thought, with his father, Capt. Harris. Capt. Clayton, in 1838, started whaling at Waikokopu, and
Captain Harris had an interest in the business then, or very shortly afterwards. In 1840 whaling was also begun at Mahia by W. Morris, Tom Ralph and Bob Brown. Capt. Harris dropped out of the whaling business about this time. How the Primary Industries Were StartedTo Capt. Harris also beionged the credit of having done most in the inauguration of the primary industries in this portion of the Dominion. It was he who introduced fruit trees to Poverty Bay, for on his arrival in 1831 he brought with him some peach and apricot trees from Sydney. Other trees planted by him at the same time were upright and weeping willows. Later on Capt. Harris also introduced apple, pear and cherry trees. An oak was planted at Tapa-tahi (Opou) by Capt. Harris on the date of his son Henry's birth, in June, 1837. In 1886 it was believed to be the lar gest oak in New Zealand, the next in size being one at the Mission Station, Bay of Islands. The famous oak planted by Capt. Harris was blown down in the early '90's Capt. Harris also imported the first cattle and horses to this district in 1839, the consignment including three working mares which he purchased at the Bay of Islands from a vessel from Valparaiso. The next were brought a year later by the Rev. W. Williams (first Bishop of Waiapu). Kerry cattle were imported by Moses Yule, a merchant at Makaraka, in 1848. To Mr Yule the district was also indebted for the introduction of good breeds of pigs. The first sheep were introduced by Anaru Matete in 1850, consisting of a few Leicesters, a dozen or so. (Other accounts state that the first sheep were brought to Gisborne in the '40's by Bishop Williams and were shorn at Patutahi by the late Mr J. N. Williams and Capt. Harris.) In 1856 Capt. Harris, together with Capt. Read, began the first sheep station here, its location being on the Kaiti. with sheep imported from Sydney. According to Mr E. F. Harris, no wheat was grown in Poverty Bay when he went over to Sydney for his schooling, in 1839. It was believed by his father that Peruhuka introduced the first parcel. (According to Archbishop H. W. Williams, the chief, Waaka Peruhuka, lived near Kaupapa and was at one time owner of the famous canoe Te Toki a Tapiri, which is now in the Auckland museum. Peruhaka presented the canoe to the famous Ngapuhi chief, Tamati Waaka Nene, receiving in return a piebald stallion named Taika (Tiger) and this would appear to have been the first stallion in the district). From another source Mr. E. F. Harris says that he learned that Andrew Arthur introduced one of the earliest parcels, but the date could not be ascertained. Mr Tarr cropped wheat in 1846, also Mr King, Capt. Harris, and probably others. The natives prepared the ground with spades, and the Europeans with ploughs. Up to 1846 wheat-growing had not become general. Wheat was introduced into the Waiapu by the Rev. Stack after 1840. Mr Tarr grew the first crop of wheat at Makaraka for Mr R. Espie.
The Final Inter-Tribal Wars in Poverty Bay.Brief reference is made to intertribal troubles shortly before and after Capt. Harris's arrival here. Hongi Hika, who had returned from England to Sydney in December, 1820, made raids on the East Coast at Awatere and in the Waiapu between 1822 and 1824. The Ngapuhi, under Hongi, invaded as far south as Nukutaurua, and took prisoners both there and here. The upshot was that Te Wera, a leading Ngapuhi chief, returned with a prominent chief of Nukutaurua (who had been taken prisoner) and visited Turanga. He finally settled at Nukutaurua, where land was given him. and he settled down quietly with the people of that place. Next came an invasion by the Ngatimaru of Hauraki under Te Rohu, who came through from Heretaunga to Wairoa. Turanga and up the coast into the Waiapu. There was a further invasion by the Tuwahetoas, Taupos and Waikatos under Heuheu. The Ngatikahungunus
from Heretaunga and from past Wairarapa had left their districts and had come to Wangawehi to secure the protection of Te Wera and his Ngapuhis. They, together with Te Wera and the local people, were besieged by the Tuharetoas at a pah on the river near what afterwards became known as Ormond's homestead, at Mahia. It was known as Te Pukenui, from the hill on which the fort was built, and also at Kaiuku, because the besieged were reduced to eating clay and the children became very sickly. Some sections of the natives of Turanga went to the assistance of their besieged friends, but failed to effect a junction as they were attacked and defeated. It was at this time that Taraeo Rini, and Hirini te Kani (a babe in his mother's arms) were captured. Hirini and his mother, at the request of Rawiri, were given up. Rawiri told some of his people to go into slavery or worse as payment. Wi Ngana was (at the time Mr E. F. Harris made the notes) the sole survivor of these men. He is buried in the Kaiti cemetery. The struggle ended with the retirement of the invaders. Te Waru, with some Ngai-te-Rangi, were put to flight subsequently at a battle at Muriwai, and later were defeated at Te Pakake, near Napier, Later on the Ngai te Rangi under Mauri fought in Turanga, attacking isolated pahs. While camping at Turihaua they were attacked by the combined forces of the Rangiwhakaata and Te Aitanga-a-Mahaki (Rangiwhakaata retiring at an early stage of the fight), and severely defeated. The next incident relates to the defeat of Waikato raiders at Wairoa, and it was in this fight that Kopu, who afterwards gave loyal support to the Crown in the Hauhau trouble, so ably distinguished himself. There were return fights by our people at Makaukau, Taupo, Aotea, and at the Big Barrier. Kekeparaoa and Tokuakuku were the last of the fights. Wi Pere said that Kekeparaoa started in 1833 and finished in 1834. Native Version of Captain Cook's Visit.Not the least interesting feature of the diary is the recounting of incidents gathered from the natives with reference to Captain Cook's landing at Poverty Bay. Land was first sighted by Nicholas Young on October 6, 1769, and Te Kuri was re-named Young Nick's Head. On the 8th, the Endeavour anchored off the Turanganui River, and a party landed in the evening on the east side at the boat harbour or in the creek. There was a pah on a small peninsula on the west side of the river. The party crossed on to the west side and found huts about 200 or 300 yards from the water's edge. Four natives with lances rushed out of the bush to out off the boat's party. Other members of the party who had remained in a pinnace on the east side called out to their comrades to drop down, and one of the natives was shot dead from the pinnace. This was Te Maro, who had one side of his face tattooed. Subsequently another native was killed—Te Rakau, according to the natives. Cook's party then proceeded on a tour of the Bay in search of water. There was a heavy surf and some native fishing canoes were returning home at the time. In a fight another native was killed. In his account, Polack says that Ratu headed the attack and was the first native killed. This is evidently meant for Te Rakau, the second native who lost his life. Shortly after the arrival of Captain Harris he was shown portion of a garment left by Captain Cook on the body of Te Rakau. It was of red serge made into a cloak. Captain Harris tried to buy the cloak, but did not ever succeed in even seeing it again. It was called by the natives Te Makura (Archdeacon Williams says “Te Hinu o Tuhura”) and was worn by high chiefs when going into battle. If it shone, then victory; if dull, defeat or severe loss.
In the earliest days of settlement in Poverty Bay and the East Coast, church services were few and far between. Unconsciously the whalers occasioned the visit of the first missionary. It seems that one of their number transported some Ngatiporou Natives to the Bay of Islands and they were in danger amongst their old enemies in the North. This outrage moved the Rev. W. Williams, afterwards the first Bishop of Waiapu, who was then stationed in the Bay of Islands to intervene on their behalf. If the Ngapuhi had had their way, they would have kept the Ngatiporou as slaves. But Mr. Williams secured their release and, chartering the schooner “Fortitude,” sailed with them to Hick's Bay. Landing there on January 8, 1834, he proceeded to Waiapu, and returned them to their hapu. On this errand of mercy, Mr. Williams was so well received that he, later, suggested the establishment of a mission station in that district. The Waiapu, he reported, surpassed any other place he had seen for such a purpose. Meantime one of the Natives he had taken back to the Waiapu—one Taumatakura—with much zeal taught his people all he had learned about the Christian religion. But he was a warrior as well as a missioner and the story is told of him leading an attack on a pa at Cape Runaway with a musket in one hand and a Testament in the other. In October 1836, Mr. Willims brought six Native teachers to the East Coast to help Taumatakura in his voluntary missionary work. The year following both the Rev. W. Williams and the Rev. Mr. Taylor came south and were again much impressed with the progress that had been made. In December 1839, Mr. Williams with his family removed to Poverty Bay and here established a permanent mission station.
Not a great deal is to-day accessible with reference to the early trials of Mr. Williams and his family. Their perseverance, however, was well rewarded. Now and again they had the company of a visiting clergyman from some other district. Mr. Williams wielded a powerful influence amongst the Natives, who were not disposed to molest them, admiring, as they did, their courage and grit. The Natives, indeed, displayed an intuitive respect for justice and self-sacrifice. And thus it came about that Mr. Williams and those associated with them won the esteem and the confidence of the Natives. On account of its isolated position the European population did not grow rapidly and thus it came about that the whalers and the traders, and afterwards some settlers made up the bulk of the white residents hereabouts till the beginning of the sixties. In due course, Native churches sprang up in this portion of the Dominion, and close to Gisborne the most notable was the old Maori Church on Kaiti. The mission station was established at Waerenga-a-hika. Then came the Hau Hau rebellion and the forced abandonment of the mission quarters in 1868.
We now come to a time, 1871 to 1874, when there was no resident clergyman in Gisborne. It was in the former year that the late Wm. Dean Lysnar, father of Mr. W. D. Lysnar, M.P., took up his residence here. His diary for the period up to June 2, 1872, is not available but entries relating to later incidents make interesting reading in the light of the changed conditions of to-day. In the interval, until the establishment of a regular branch of the Anglican Church in 1874, with the Rev. J. Murphy, M.A., as resident clergyman, Mr. Lysnar, it would seem, was mainly responsible for the conduct of services. It is on record under date June 2, 1874, that owing to alterations in the Court-house, the church service was read in the school_house. Mr. Lysnar was appointed one of the church committee, which held its first meeting at Capt. Richardson's house. The harmonium was then removed from the Court-house to the school-house. On June 16 and June 23 Mr. Lysnar read the service and sermon but on the 30th he was taken ill with a bilious attack and Dr. Nesbitt and Capt. Richardson took charge of the evening service. The collection, it is noted, amounted to £1 6s 6d. The early infant local church was not without its troubles, for we read that on the first Sunday in July Mrs. Taylor, the first organist, objected to the children attending choir practice. Mr. Lysnar read the service. On the succeeding Wednesday, the first practice of the scholars was held, Mrs. Reid playing the harmonium.
It appears that, on July 15, Mr. Lysnar was appointed returning officer by the now Bishop Williams and the church lamps arrived that day by the Tawera. Wednesday saw the lamps hung and the second practice of the scholars. Mr. Lysnar was then appointed choirmaster and continued to conduct the services. On August 4, the Rev. Mr. Townsend conducted an afternoon service, the school-house addition being used for the first time. August 13 provides an item: “The Luna, from Napier, with Dr. Nesbitt, Capt. Richardson and others arrive. Amongst the number was Mr. Marshall, the late master of the Napier Grammar School, whom Bishop Williams purposes ordaining for Poverty Bay.” Sadness befel the community during that week owing to the death of Mrs. Goldsmith, who was buried by Mr. Marshall. On August 22 a meeting
On August 30, 1872, a public meeting was held to consider the question of erecting a church for the Church of England. The meeting did not, however, organise for business, as there were only seven persons in attendance—Archdeacon Williams and Messrs. King, Webb, Steel, H. J. Reid and Lysnar. We next learn that Mr. Lysnar, on the following Saturday, crossed the river (to Kaiti) to borrow some sermon books from Archdeacon Williams. September 1st was a notable date for on that day the Archdeacon administered Holy Communion to ten communicants. The first choir practice was held on the Tuesday under the charge of Mr. Skipworth. During the remainder of the month Mr Lysnar held the church services. On October 3 Archdeacon Williams convened another public meeting to ascertain ways and means of building a church. A committee was appointed—the Archdeacon, Mr. Hardy and Mr. Lysnar. Mr. Taylor expressed his dissatisfaction. There were six communicants at the service on October 6, which was conducted by the Archdeacon. During that month, Mr. Lysnar continued to hold the services. Flora Wyllie and Mary King, it is recorded, then began to learn the harmonium.
During November, 1872, Archdeacon Williams held some of the earlier services. There was some disagreement in the choir and Mr. Skipworth resigned as player of the harmonium. On the 17th Mr. Lysnar held the service; there was no choir but Miss Nesbitt played. The following Sunday there was not even music and Mr. Lysnar led the singing himself. On the 27th Bishop Williams and Archdeacon Williams came in the Luna to make an effort to locate a clergyman in the district. The Bishop held the next service and the diary says: “Mr. and Mrs. Tolemache, Col. Singin, Capt. Read and other unusual attendants were present.' Just before Christmas Mr. Robt. Read died and Mir. Lysnar conducted the funeral service at a place across the Big River.
On January 19, 1873, Mr. Lysnar held the first service to be conducted at Matawhero. The following Sunday he baptised Louisa and Charlotte Goldsmith, children of Frederick and Heni Goldsmith, in the schoolhouse. Regretfully he adds that the sponsors, Oliver Goldsmith and Rowley Hill, were absent. Services at Gisborne and Matawhero were continued. February 20 was the day of Mr. Johnston's funeral and Mr. Lysnar read the service. On March 2 it is recorded that the Rev. Mr. Root, a Presbyterian minister, held his first service in the school-house. Bishop Williams and Archdeacon Williams also preached during that month. On May 25, Archdeacon Williams prepared to administer Holy Communion, but there were no communicants present, and the celebration was postponed. March 20 was the date of a meeting in the Court-house to arrange about building a church. The services were now again being held at the Court-house.
In 1874 Archdeacon Williams held numerous church services in the early months. On March 21 Mrs. Langford's infant died and Mr. Lysnar held the funeral service. Most of the April services were held by Mr. Root. On April 26, however, the Wesleyans held their first service in Gisborne. Mr. Root conducted special services on June 21 for the benefit of a Sunday school. July 10 was a notable day in that the Rev. J. Murphy arrived to assume the duties of minister, and he preached his first sermon here on July 12. In August an Anglican service was held in the Court-house in the mornings and a Presbyterian service in the evenings. On August 19 a musical and reading entertainment was held in the Music Hall for the benefit of the English church. Owing to no Bishop's church-warden being present to
The Church of England Sunday school duly commenced on Nov. 1. There were 31 scholars and three teachers. On Nov. 9 a meeting of parishioners was held. Mr. Lysnar was appointed a church-warden and Messrs. Turner, Dufaur, Crawford, Parsons and Kempthorne vestrymen, with Messrs. Strong and G. Harris auditors. Robt. Skeet's funeral took place on November 15. The first vestry meeting followed on Nov. 16 when the business discussed was the election of Parish nominators, appointment of minister, stipend, books and seats. On account of the Rev. Mr. Murphy being unwell on December 6 Mr. W. W. Wilson read the prayers and lessons and Mr. Lysnar read a sermon: “The Rich Fool.” Messrs. Wilson, Crawford and Lysnar were appointed Parish nominators. The minister's stipend was fixed at £250 per annum and the vestry deputed Mr. Lysnar to confer with Mr. Root concerning the offertory, lights on Thursday evenings and the harmonium.
In the first week of 1875 a meeting of the Vestry had to be held to discuss the question of the arrears of stipend due to Mr. Murphy and the ladies were requested to form a committee to aid. On February 2 Mr. Murphy was allowed house rent of £50 per annum. He resigned, however, on February 6, deciding to return to Ireland. His resignation was accepted with regret on February 10, but Mr. Lysnar's resignation as church-warden was declined. Mr. Murphy went away on February 19. The following Sunday, Mr. Wilson read the service and Mr. Woon the sermon. Mrs. Wilson was buried on February 28 by the Rev. Mr. Root, who read the Church of England burial service. In March Messrs. Woon and Wilson continued the services. On March 24 a Vestry meeting was held to make preparations for the opening of the new church, which was built by Mr. Morgan for £880. The sittings were let on April 3. On April 11 the consecration of the church of the Holy Trinity was performed by Bishop Williams, assisted by Archdeacon Williams and the offertory amounted to £14 3s 4d. On May 2 Father Regnier held a service in the school. The Rev. E. Williams (of Naseby, Otago) arrived on May 20 and preached for the first time in Holy Trinity on the 23rd.
[As Mr. Lysnar left Poverty Bay on June 28 the diary ends so far aschurch affairs in this district are concerned.]
So far as we have been able to trace (said the Jubilee report of the church) the earliest mention of Poverty Bay as a field for the extension of the Presbyterian Church, occurs in the minutes of the Presbytery of Auckland under date 10th January, 1872. It appears from these minutes that some residents in this district had felt the want of the ministry of our Church, and had communicated with the Presbytery about establishing services. Evidently the Presbytery was unable to do anything towards meeting the request immediately. No doubt they felt the difficulty; Poverty Bay was a long way from Auckland, ministers were scarce and there were many other demands. The Poverty Bay communication was allowed to lie on the table for three months, during which there was probably some correspondence on the subject. Anyhow, on the 3rd of April, the Presbytery of Auckland got rid of the problem by passing it on to somebody else. It agreed “that the matter of supply for Poverty Bay be handed over to the consideration of the Hawke's Bay Presbytery in consequence of the greater proximity of the district to that Presbytery.”
It so happened that the Hawke's Bay Presbytery was able to do something almost immediately. The Rev. George Morice, who had been minister of St. Paul's Church. Napier, since 1866, resigned his charge in the month of February, 1872, intending bye and bye to re-visit Scotland. He had some time at his disposal before leaving for Home, and spent some weeks of it in Poverty Bay. He was the first Presbyterian minister to conduct services here. Apparently he found the people anxious to see our Church represented in the Bay, and he proceeded to make preliminary arrangements. A list of promised subscriptions was made out and entrusted to Mr. Matthew Hall, saddler, to look after. A section of land, ten acres in extent, was secured at Matawhero; and the Matawhero Church, then the property of Captain Read, and used at one time by the Anglicans, was bought, It was already an historic building. It had been spared by the Hauhaus during the disturbed times of 1868–70 and had afforded sanctuary to a number of settlers and their families on the occasion of the massacre in 1868. Mr. Morice himself advanced the purchase money for the church. He also wrote an account of what he had done to the Rev. David Bruce in Auckland, who was the Convenor of the Church Extension Committee in those days, and to the Rev. Peter Barclay, in Scotland, who had been in New Zealand, was indeed the first Presbyterian minister in Napier, and was deeply interested in the work of the Church here. Through these brethren he hoped to secure a minister for Poverty Bay.
All these matters were reported to the Hawke's Bay Presbytery at its meeting on the 27th of June, 1872. Mr. Morice had proved a zealous and efficient commissioner, and the Presbytery was inclined to leave the whole business in his capable hands. It resolved that he should be authorised “to proceed as circumstances permitted.” Details of his procedure are not recorded; but the result was that the Rev. W. Heningham Root, formerly a minister of the Anglican Church, but then a minister of the Presbyterian Church of England, was appointed in the Home Country the first minister of the Poverty Bay Charge.
Mr. Root arrived here in February 1873. He made his home in Matawhero to begin with, holding services in Matawhero and Gisborne on alternate Sundays, and visiting Patutahi. Ormond and other places on the flats as he had opportunity. After six months, however, it was apparent that the strategic centre of
Mr. Root later moved into town and resided in Customs Street. From that date services were held in Gisborne every Sunday. The place of meeting was the Court-house, a twostorey building, which stood then on what is now Adair Bros.' corner, and which is still in use on the opposite side of the street as Prime's ironmongery shop (since demolished).
The Presbyterians were the first to hold regularly organised services in Gisborne, and both prior to and for some time after the erection of the church these services were attended by members of the Church of England and other Protestant denominations. A very friendly and harmonious spirit marked the intercourse of all denominations in those early days.
It was not till the following year that Mr. Root visited Napier, and was formally welcomed by the Hawke's Bay Presbytery. At a meeting of the Presbytery on the 4th of February, 1874, he was able to report that he had been twelve months in Poverty Bay, and that good progress had been made in laying the foundations of the Church there. Besides the property at Matawhero secured by the Rev. George Morice, the Church possessed now a couple of acres in Cobden Street, Gisborne, half an acre of which had been given by the Provincial Government out of reserves for Church purposes, and the remainder purchased by five members and presented to it. The five members to whose foresight and generosity the congregation is so much indebted were Messrs. Matthew Hall, W. B. Mill, John Ferguson, Alexander Blair, and Andrew Graham. The acre and a-half cost £25. The section originally given by the Government was the one nearest to Gladstone Road. It was one of four sections set aside for Church purposes. The others were given to the Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Methodist Churches, the assignment being by ballot.
Steps were now taken to build a church on this property. The site was covered with scrub, and the pegs had to be sought for among the manuka. An interesting minute of the period tells how the committee approached the Road Board with the request that the formation of the road from Gladstone Road to the Church section should be undertaken. In spite of some difficulties the building was carried through expeditiously. Friends in Auckland assisted the project with subscriptions amounting to £101. Many of the first settlers in Gisborne came from Napier and Hawke's Bay, and a considerable sum of money also was collected in Napier. The Church was opened by the Rev. D. Bruce, of Auckland, and the Rev. D. Sidey, of Napier, on the 25th of October, 1874. Mrs. Brooke-Taylor, a prominent Church of England worker, presided at the harmonium on the occasion. With the exception of the native church on the Kaiti side of the river, this was the first ecclesiastical building in Gisborne.
Burning questions about this time were the proposed removal of the Matawhero Church to another site, and where to erect the Manse—in Gisborne or at Matawhero? The Presbytery strongly recommended that the Matawhero Church should stay where it was, and the Manse should be in Gisborne. In Gisborne, accordingly, the Manse was built, and occupied by Mr. Root in 1876. It is now the caretaker's cottage at the back of the present Church.
During the years 1874–77, while the congregation was bearing the burden of its building schemes, it received substantial help in the matter of stipend from the Colonial Committee of the Church of Scotland. An annual grant of £50 was paid to it, on condition that it raised £150 itself, making the stipend in all £200.
On the 5th of February, 1878, the Presbytery received the report that Mr. Root was about to ordain elders in Gisborne, and agreed to leave the matter in his hands. This seems to have been the first Session.
Six months later, in August, Mr. Root received a call from Greymouth, which he accepted. There was a fairly long vacancy. In the following March a call was sustained to the Rev. John McAra, of Balclutha. Mr. McAra accepted it, and was duly inducted on the 14th of May, 1879. In its early years the congregation found the problem of finance a somewhat serious one, and it is evidence of the progress made that the stipend offered to Mr. McAra was £300.
St. Andrew's Church was now firmly established, and henceforward its course was like the course of other Churches. It has had its ups and downs, its changes and losses, its difficulties and anxieties; but it has continued throughout all to bear its testimony to Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Saviour of the World. From its pulpit the Gospel has been faithfully preached; in its Sabbath Schools and Bible Classes the young people have been faithfully taught. The hearts of men and women have been refreshed and comforted, and many have been won for the kingdom of God.
Mr. McAra's ministry was cut short in 1890 by a fatal buggy accident on the old Peel Street bridge. He was succeeded by the Rev. R. M. Ryburn, M.A., now the Director of the Youth Work of our Church. On Mr. Ryburn's translation to Wanganui in 1897, the Rev. James G. Paterson, of St. Paul's Church, Napier, was appointed to succeed him. In his time the old Church, which had already been added to, was enlarged to its present size. Mr. Paterson died suddenly on the 10th of August 1906. The Rev. William Grant, formerly of Leeston, was inducted on the 17th of October in the same year. During his ministry, in 1910, a new Manse was built on a site in Childers Road, donated to the Church by the Misses Morice, sisters, of the Rev. George Morice, who had long been resident in the district. A few years later, in 1913, the present Church was erected. Mr. Grant was one of the first ministers to serve as chaplain when
It was during Mr. Ryburn's ministry that the country districts, with the exception of Matawhero, were disjoined from the town. Matawhero was separated in 1899. This present year (1923) saw the suburban district of Mangapapa and Kaiti, where Knox Church and St. David's have for many years been under the fostering care of St. Andrew's, attain independence as a Home Mission charge.
In Gisborne's earliest times, the spiritual needs of the Roman Catholic residents were administered by more or less regular visits from the priests stationed at Napier. It was not until the early 70's that a priest was regularly stationed here.
Father Walter McDonald, during the years between 1860 and 1870, made a number of visits from Hawke's Bay and, during one of these, on behalf of the Church, he purchased the two sections on which the present Church and presbytery stand from the Government at £15 apiece.
During the 70's, Father Regnier, then at Napier, made a number of visits and held Mass in the old Courthouse (then situated on Messrs. Adair Bros.' site) and in the old school which stood on the corner opposite the present Roman Catholic Church. Father John O'Connell was the first resident priest (1872) and he was succeeded by Father J. B. Simpson (1874).
In 1878, Poverty Bay was established as a charge separate from Napier and Father Chastagnon took up his permanent residence here. Archbishop Redwood (then Bishop) visited the district and officiated at the ceremony of laying the foundation stone of the present Church. The following year saw the Church dedicated by Archbishop Steins.
Fathers Vagioli, Reardon, Murphy and Ahearne followed in that order and then came Father Keogh, during whose time the present presbytery was built.
Father Mulvihill next held office for a number of years up till his death in 1906. During his charge, the preset Convent was erected and the Church made great strides in enlarging its sphere of influence. Father Mulvihill enjoyed wonderful popularity throughout the community and, on his death, a public subscription fund was opened to erect a fitting tombstone over his mortal remains. The result is to be seen in the handsome monument over his grave in the Roman Catholic portion of the Makaraka cemetery. He is the only priest who has been buried in Poverty Bay.
Father (now Dean) Lane followed Father Mulvihill on the latter's death in 1906 and held office for the long period of nineteen years. During this time, further great strides were made by the Church, of which undoubtedly the most important work was the re-building of St. Mary's school and the acquiring of a new church and school site in Childers Road. It is intended that, ultimately, all the Church buildings shall be situated on the Childers Road site. Like his immediate predecessor, Father Mulvihill, Dean Lane enjoyed wonderful popularity and when he left Gisborne in 1925, he was farewelled not only by the Roman Catholic community, but also by many residents of other denominations.
In 1925 Father Murphy, the present head, took charge, with Father Kelly as assistant. His term of office has seen the building of the splendidly-equipped school in Upper Childers Road and also the establishment of the Marist Brothers' school for boys.
An interesting reflection of the growth of Roman Catholicism is given by a comparison of the numbers attending the school in the past and at the present time.
In 1906, when Dean Lane took over the charge, the old St. Mary's school had a staff of two teachers and 48 scholars.
At the present time, there are the old and new schools with a total roll of 360. The new school has a staff of eight Sisters of St. Josephine and 300 children, while the old school is under the control of two Marist Brothers, who have sixty boys under their charge. This latter institution has made splendid progress, especially when it is remembered that it was established only two years ago.
The full list of clergy who have officiated in this district since its establishment here, in the order in which they occupied office, is as follows:—
Father John O'Connell (1872)
Father J. B. Simpson (1874)
Father Chastagnon
Father Vagioli
Father Reardon
Father Murphy
Father Ahearne
Father Keogh
Father Mulvihill
Father (now Dean) Lane
Father Murphy (now in charge).
The growth of Methodism in Poverty Bay, and indeed throughout the Dominion, since it was linked up strongly with the trials and tribulations of the early settlers in the colonising days, presents an interesting and fascinating study for theological students. From small beginnings, Methodism in this district made its influence for good felt, and in the interval of fifty years, progressing with the development of the town, has become one of the most potent forces in the spiritual well-being of the community. The happy event recently celebrated by Methodists of the district—the jubilee of the establishment of the Wesleyaa Church in Bright Street — recalls many interesting events in the progress of Methodism in this district.
The foundation of Methodism here owes much to the splendid spiritual endeavors of the late Mr Jas. East, who in 1874 conducted the first Wesleyan services in a little school-house which then occupied a site on an allotment situated on the corner of Childers Road and Lowe Street, opposite the Gisborne Hotel, and it was in this building he started the first Sunday school and formed the first choir, of which he was conductor. His spiritual endeavours were followed by the Hon. G. W. Russell, then a youthful student, who
In the following year, Jan. 1876, the Bright street church was opened, the occasion being marked by an exchange of courtesies between the Wesleyan and Presbyterian congregations, both of whom attended the opening service at which the Rev. W. H. Root, the Presbyterian minister, was the preacher. The Rev. Carr occupied the Wesleyan pulpit in Gisborne only a year and was then succeeded by the Rev. W. S. Harper, and in succession new ministers were appointed to this charge ranging from one to five years as follows: Revs. W. L. Salter, John Bellow, Lewis Hudson, J. T. Penfold, W. J. Spence, T. J. Wills, J. A. Luxford.
In the course of a few years with the increase of population and consequent development in the congregation the limited accommodation offered by the church became fully taxed and in the course of twenty years became inadequate. When the Rev. Josiah Ward took charge here it was decided to re_build and a contract was let to Mr. R. Robb for the erection of the building which now occupies the forefront of the section in Bright Street, the old church being removed to the rear of the property and it has since been used as a Sunday school.
The period during which the Rev. Mr. Ward was in charge was a busy one and it was to this gentleman's energy and influence that funds were found for the new church and the parsonage, which was included in the same contract. The congregation secured a remarkably good bargain in the matter of building, for the cost of the church and the parsonage, which were erected in 1890, was only £1200, a proportion of which was advanced by the conference.
The extension of the church influence into the country was rapidly effected. During the ministry of the Rev. J. A. Lochore, which continued over a period of five years, commencing in 1909 new buildings were erected at Te Hapara and Mangapapa, and the establishment of the church in Victoria Township followed shortly after. To-day these churches have regular services, while visits are paid by the presiding minister to Motu, Motuhora, Matawai, Kaiteratahi, and to the coastal centres when opportunity offers. The work of the minister has been made more arduous of late years by lack of assistance, which through lack of funds
Following the Rev. Ward the following ministers have presided over the Wesleyan pulpit in Gisborne:—S. J. Gibson, T. N. Griffin, L. Salter (second term), Joseph Blight, F. B. Oldham, G. Hounsell, Cornelius Griffen, W. H. E. Abbey, E. T. Cox, M.A., and George Frost. The Rev. Mr. Frost is now in charge, he having succeeded Mr. Cox in 1924.
“At the time of which I write the Bay of Islands was a great resort of shipping. Auckland was a small place; its Government House not built. Wellington was rarely heard of and then only as a horrible locality in great danger of being swallowed up earthquakes. Traders from Sydney had, for years, found it to their account to coast round the eastern shores of the island and exchange slops, tobacco and fire arms for large stores of maize, pigs, potatoes and flax which the Natives were ready to supply to facilitate trade with what were known as trading masters.
“We dropped from time to time at various places a supply of goods to give in exchange for produce to be collected against the arrival of the coasters. The business of trade was very frequently connected with whaling; the whalers being traders and vice versa. Almost all the old hands had at one time or another had a turn at both.
“In 1837 two fisheries were established—one by Ward Bros. at Waikokopu and the other by Ellis at Te Mahia and a number of Natives collected together as a consequence. In Poverty Bay, Capt. Harris, Espie, Halbert and others whaled in winter and spent the summer trading and sawing timber for their residences. Mahia Peninsula was thickly populated with Natives. Hapuku, Puhera, Marena and the principal chiefs of Heretaunga (Hawke's Bay) had their dwellings there and including Nuhaka. There could have been little fewer than 2000 Maoris at that end of the Bay.
“Most of the whites had domestic establishments with an aboriginal lady at the head of it and the good old plan of having a pet chief who took you in charge and whilst plundering you himself preserved you from others was still in vogue.
“No regular mission had, as yet, been established at Turanga (Gisborne) so left to their own “Messieurs the Whites” led a pretty considerable careless, reckless, Godless kind of life, drinking and gambling, having in these halcyon days full liberty of action.
“Risking life to acquire money in the fortunate season brought no greater benefit than to bestow a means for a greater spree than ordinary. Nor were the Natives at all backward in following so noble an example. It became a custom with these shore parties to man some of their boats with Maoris and having European
“The fisheries I have named employed some eight or nine boats, five oared and carrying six men in each, besides a little army ashore. Black oil was the produce most obtained, the sperm whales not showing up till 1842. The owners paid the Natives a rental for the ground occupied by the fishery huts, trying down works, etc. The oil sold for a price varying from £18 to £26 a tun allowing enormous profits to the buyers. More established as the trade was generally in those days there was little else besides barter in which the mercantile class had by far the best of it.
“The plan on which these establishments worked and, indeed, the whole thing was based has, I believe, often-times been described before. Nevertheless, it is necessary to my purpose to give an outline of it. The custom that obtained with some variations was a system of division by shares. For instance the headsman would receive a 1½ share, the boat steerer 1½, the boat 1, each baling hand 1 and the try-works 1/4. The owners would appear to have been the worst off under this arrangement. In reality, owing to the amiable propensities above referred to, everything went to them. Clothing, food, lodging, perhaps everything, had to be paid for and the balance, when there was one, went for rum, which the owners supplied. It was the duty of the headsman to steer the boat up alongside the whale when the boat steerer pulled the bow oar made fast and, passing aft, took charge of the boat until the headsman killed the fish and had all ready for towing when he again took to his oar, redelivering charge of the boat to the headsman.
“The catch of a fish was very naturally the occasion for much labor. It had to be towed in at the top of high water and the line, having been made fast, it was hauled as high up as possible on to the beach. The cutting in now took place, the blubber being sliced off in pieces 18 to 24 inches in length by 5 in breadth. It was then crimped and cast into the try pots, the fires of which had to be kept up constantly while the process of trying out was being completed which usually occupied about 30 hours. The scraps rose to the surface as the boiling down went on and were skimmed off with a kind of long-handled colander. The oil was drawn off into coolers as fresh blubber was thrown in, after which came the filling of the casks.
“In addition to the regular crews there were generally a couple of men attached to each party who followed the occupation called “tongueing.” These men were bound to give their services to pull in the event of any of the regular hands falling sick, to assist in cutting in and trying out, receiving the tongue and whatever was left besides (generally a good deal of fat inside the fish, especially about the heart) as their “perks.”
“The oil from these parts was, for the most part, inferior in quality and dark in color owing to the blubber becoming stale, the whalers being obliged to wait till the finish of the try-out before they could obtain the use of their works. Nevertheless I have heard these men say they did well out of it. The black fish yielded from three to eight tuns of oil according to their size. The tongue contained nearly a tun of oil itself. Besides this, the bone was scarcely less valuable than the oil and three whales would yield a tun. The smell of the fishery during the lucky season, when the carcases of three or four of these huge animals lay festering in the sun Is something once felt by the unaccustomed nose is not easily forgotten. The whalers themselves—such is use—scarcely noticed it and I verily believe rather liked it than not: it smelt like business. I found that the Wards didn't make much of it.
“In 1836 Ellis took up Waikokopu station. Accounts under this heading
“About 1843 or 1844 Perry bought out Ellis, taking Waikokopu station for a debt due by Ellis to Mayo and stipulated that Ellis should whale no longer in Hawke's Bay. Mayo then disappeared from the scene and Perry became the principal fish master at that end of the Bay.
“Whaling continued to augment in importance till 1852 or 1853 which time would seem to have been its culminating point in Hawke's Bay something like fifty boats being engaged in the pursuit of the animals under various owners, one gentleman having as many as 20 under his direction. The Natives then owned boats, Toha distinguishing himself among the rest.
“The Lewises (Americans) were well-known in Wairoa in 1846 and did pretty well, carrying on with the fishery successfully till nearly 1860. Thaddeus Lewis left in the boat Wave in 1856 and was never heard of again. Wm. Lewis was drowned while in charge of a small vessel belonging to Mr. Joseph Lewis… . The mortality Amongst the old hands seems to have been probably caused in many cases by drunkenness. During ten years 17 deaths occurred of which only two were due to the ordinary operations of Nature.
“Ned Tomlin was notorious. He was a valuable man and an able headsman. On the occasion of a heavy spree, after a more than usually successful haul Perry and others were card playing. Tomlin, more drunken than the others, had been turned out of the house. In the evening, just after dusk, he persisted in going in again and Perry, considerably irritated, went to the door and struck him, knocking him down. No more was
“Another man known as ‘Blind Charley,’ although, at the time, seriously unwell, upon a cry of ‘Whales in Sight’ being raised insisted upan taking his place in the boat, being afraid or losing his share of the luck. Finding himself unable from weakness to pull as well as his mates, he got chaffed by them, which he resented on leaving the boat and reaching the house he immediately drank off a whole basin of rum and then disappeared. When his mates tired of their several occupations they went to look for him. They found him dead under the table where he had drank the rum. Two others died raving mad owing to similar excesses. Perry himself died suddenly from apoplexy.
“In the Wairoa district the Natives have made considerable progress under the missionary teaching and have learned to read their Bibles and are striving to walk consistently with its teaching they have received but genuine reformation has made but small progress
“With the Natives' love of special observances the institution of the Sabbath and its rigid regard was insisted on so strongly as to become an infringement of personal liberty. Cooking was strictly prohibited and potatoes were peeled and prepared on the Saturday for use on the Sunday. It has been said that the Maoris had a custom of observing a day similar to our institution long before any whites ventured to settle in the country.
“However this may have been, it is certain the custom became used so tyrannically that the Maoris had, in many cases, to exercise their personal influence to mitigate fines and penalties imposed for some petty breach of the rightful observance (to the Native mind) of the Sabbath.”
‘In the Maori kingdom as in all other Native districts in N.Z. the supreme authority, legislative and judicial, resides in the village runanga. When making laws, the runangas have no idea of any limits to the province of Government. Their regulations extend to the minutest details of private life. They make laws about behavior on Sunday; laws against falsehood, whether slanderous or not; laws to fix the price of pigs, corn and potatoes; laws to fix the payments for which people shall carry the mails. In short, the runanga is a generous tyranny and would be insupportable if it only possessed the power to carry its decrees into execution… But any Native who feels strong enough to redress wrongs received from pakehas, without troubling the runanga, will help himself to a horse or a cow and obtain satisfaction. Any such action will, too, be approved and susstained by the runanga if the original claim to compensation is considered just… . Whilst a runanga may not have power to enforce a sentence, it has the power to banish a man from society until he voluntarily submits… . During the time that I was stationed in the Waikato the Maori king was visited by leading chiefs from Taranaki, Wanganui, Hawke's Bay, East Cape, Tauranga and even from the Ngapuhis in the Far North.”—J. E. Gorst M.A., in “The Maori King, 1860.”
For much of the information that follows concerning the effects of the runanga rule established by the Maoris in the 50's in defiance of British authority in this portion of New Zealand, as well as in most other portions of the North Island, we were indebted to the proprietors of the “Hawke's Bay Herald,” who very kindly placed their early files at our disposal. That journal, for instance, in April 1858, published the following letter from the Resident Magistrate at Gisborne to the Government.
Resident Magistrate's Court, Turanga, April 8, '58.
“Yesterday Watane Motu, Hira Kingi, and Pana, all of Taru Horu (Taruheru), in consequence of Kahutia being dissatisfied with the decision of the amount in the case Manahi v Newnham, deliberately entered Newnham's house and removed from it all his clothing and bedding; a new double barrelled gun was taken and several other articles; indeed, they completely stripped the house.
“A cause of the dissatisfaction referred to was that I insisted on deducting from the amount recovered from Newnham by Manahi for Kahutia the price of a sledge which the latter some time since had most unjustly taken from Newnham. You are aware that, in this district, from the want of sufficient power, the only means which I can employ to obtain even restitution of these goods, are derived from moral influences.
“In these circumstances, I request your co-operation in manifesting to all the Natives belonging to Taruheru that in the opinion of right-thinking people, such conduct as that described and over which they must collectively be considered morally responsible renders them the object of contempt and aversion and that until goods so unjustly taken are returned they can look for no friendship or assistance from the Europeans.
“It is very desirable that the manifestation of this feeling should be universal and continued until the goods are returned and I suggest that, in the meantime, the offenders should be spoken of as ngati muru wahine—a term of contempt amongst themselves and one which they partly observe as at the time the goods were taken Newnham's wife was alone in the house and against her some violence was used.
“I shall be glad if you will exercise your influence with those Europeans and Natives with whom you are connected in order that a general feeling of disapproval may be manifested. It is absolutely necessary that these acts should be treated very gravely or the effect on the minds of the Natives may lead to disastrous consequences.
In June 1858 were received in Hawke's Bay accounts that were not favourable concerning Poverty Bay. The Natives were not working well with the Europeans, but, on the contrary, some were still disposed to resist British authority.
A private letter stated:—
“There is a movement among the Natives here the wrong way. They object to the prayers offered for the Queen. They have, in several instances, taken the law into their own hands in defiance of the Resident Magistrate.
“You will perceive that we have retrograded to the old times when we had to apply to the one tribe to obtain protection against the others.
On June 29 1858 it was found necessary to petition the Governor in respect of the Native movement in Poverty Bay.
“As yet, on account I presume of no mail having arived, we are,” wrote a correspondent, “ignorant of its fate, although privately we learn that the Governor has said that we must manage the best way we can, despite the fact that we have no adequate means of enforcing the law. So I suppose we must wait a little longer under the idea that there is a good time coming.
“We are still under tapu—the decision of the Runanga still being in force. The Natives demand 12/-per bushel for wheat, in consequence of which the Natives here are poorly clad. Most of them, indeed, are heartily sick of this stupid movement—a movement for which they will feel the ill-effects for some time. There will not this season be one-tenth of the land that there was brought under cultivation.
“You are doubtless aware of the Native character, quite a “follow my leader” impulse in almost everything they do. Far and near in this locality they have been carrying on a war of extermination against the wild pigeons by way of preparation for a grand feast to come off in Sept. next and at which I believe two matters regarding the terms on which we shall be allowed to trade are to be finally settled.
“One blessing is that the Natives are quiet just now. Would they only remain in such a state of coma as regards the pakehas they might for what we care continue that tapu till the end of time.”
“I am of opinion that much of this trouble has arisen from advice given the Natives here in 1851 by the Rev. Grace “to hold back their produce, by which they would raise prices in Auckland.” They in a measure acted upon this advice. Gold was discovered in
“There being no cargo there is of course no inducement for vessels to call. The Ann and Queen from Napier and the Emerald Isle from Wellington on their way to Auckland have been only once during the month. The Ann took a cargo of wheat and oil, the latter amounting to 2¼ tuns of sperm and the produce of a whale stranded near Nick's Head. The wheat had been purchased prior to the Runanga.”
Further evidence of the contempt in which British law was held in Poverty Bay is supplied by a correspondent under date October 20, 1858—
“We have,” he says, “been rather excited in Gisborne lately by the following occurrence. Some time ago a European here was convicted of giving spirits to Natives and sentenced to a fine of £10. This was not paid and some cattle were distrained said to belong to the defendant (they ultimately proved to be the property of another person and were restored) on which the Natives, accompanied by defendant's wife, demanded restitution. This being refused they proceeded to the government property, broke down the fence, and drove away some 13 head of cattle, belonging, it seems, to our Resident Magistrate and others. There the matter rests—a pretty state of things, you will say, for a so-called British colony.
“The fact is there has been such a temporising policy adopted in all matters appertaining to the Natives the government is (here at least) treated by them with the utmost contempt. It is in fact a farce—a piece of most unmitigated humbug to place a paid magistrate anywhere without power to enforce his decisions. He can mulct the unfortunate European who has committed some trifling fault that never would have been noticed had there not been a court to apply to, but he is fairly bullied and laughed at by the Natives if he endeavours to coerce them. They use language most insulting to him when on the Bench and at other times both in and out of Court.
“Another instance of the powerlessness of the law. A store here was broken open on June 24 last and property taken away amounting to more than £50. The perpetrators were known, and the case put into the Magistrate's hands, and a decision given to amerce the parties concerned in £150 which, of course, has never been paid. I have no hesitation in saying we manage the Natives better when left to ourselves. The Court has now shared the fate of all scarecrows by being openly laughed at and defied by all parties.
“Why place a paid magistrate at the expense of the Colony of at least £500 a year in such a district—a district where he and his office are already scorned by the Natives. He is in a fair way to being equally scorned by the settlers. There have been numerous cases of crime, including one case of abduction. The latter actually took place in the Court-house in the very face of the magistrate whither a woman (a native) had gone to be married, and to whom the female clung in her terror vainly imploring that protection he could not offer. The scene that followed was magnificent. Our Resident Magistrate (notwithstanding the assistance of his clerk) the would_be bride and the bride-groom abductor and one or two others rolling on the floor together.”
On Oct. 20 1858, the Poverty Bar correspondent of the “H.B. Herald, wrote:—
“Our runanga is still in full swing. The members have now for the last few days been in full committee, taking cattle and other things from those parties who have sold in defiance of their fiats. They now say they will prevent the sale of everything, including timber, firewood, etc., unless we come to
This was followed on Dec. 3, 1858, by the following report:—
“I hear that the committee of the runanga have agreed to allow the sale of wheat provided it never rules at a lower rate here than 5s cash, but as they say we have been making a profitable ‘spec’ by sending timber to the Napier market. they have stopped that branch of our trade by stopping the sale of all timber, firewood, etc. either for sale or for home consumption. With their usual liberality they will not allow us to use the standing timber though the trees have been purchased and marked but still unused to the amount of perhaps £1000. So much for the honour of the Natives by many so loudly proclaimed.
“The idea of turning the whole of the Europeans off their properties and expelling them from the district has again been mooted. “This state of things is calmly viewed by our paternal government without even raising its voice on our behalf. We are told the poor fellows (the Natives) are in a transition stage. This has been the cry far and wide for the last 18 years i e back to 1840. How much longer it will take to transform the Native grub into a civilised butter-fly remains to be seen.
“In the interim, we pay our share of the expense of being governed without receiving the slightest advantage. In fact as a member said in the House, they have no sympathy with the ‘tobacco and blanket man.’ If so they can have none for themselves as the Government gave two or three cases of tobacco for the Treaty of Waitangi and paid the Natives here and at other places in blankets and other trade to obtain their signatures to that Treaty.”
In 1859, it was reported, under date Feb. 19, that,
“The runanga law is still going on and the settlers are not allowed to remove even wheat grown before it same into existence. The effect of the runanga will probably be felt up to the East Cape. They (the Maoris) will not allow any grain to be moved till (they say) the prohibition on trade is removed, and which is not to take place till the traders succumb to their terms. But, subsequently, a section of the settlers came to the conclusion that a better state of affairs would never be reached until a charge was brought about in connection with the Resident Magistrate. And they were by no means half-hearted in their condemnation of the then occupant of the office. For example, the late Capt. J. W. Harris, on April 19, '59, published his views as follows:—
“A young protege of the Government was sent here direct from England. He could not be supposed to know enough about the Colonies or of the usages therein which are in many instances at variance with those of the Motherland. On receiving his appointment he probably supposed that he became the great man of the district and that the settlers would look at him with an awe inspired by his situation and never attempt to civil at his proceedings.”
Mr. Wm. Scott Greene, it seems, was chairman of a public meeting of protest against the magistrate, when numerous complaints were voiced:
“The Natives,” it was reported, “don't apprehend the nature of an oath and the responsibility thereunto attaching. The testimony of the Natives should be received with caution and no conclusions
On June 4, 1859, a petition by W. S. Greene, James Dunlop, George Goldsmith, Geo. Poulgrain, Robert Newnham, G. E. Read, John Tarr, Richard Horsley, J. Hervey, Joseph Cross, Thos. U'Ren junr., Wm. Tarr, James Mackey, Wm. Brown, J. W. Harris, James Wilson, J. Wyles, Wm. Howard, R. H. U'Ren, Thos, Halbert, Thos. U'Ren senr., Robt. Read. John Edwards, was published in the “H.B. Herald.” It said:—
“That the gentleman holding the office of Resident Magistrate here appears to consider himself more in the light of a Public Prosecutor than an impartial administrator of the law of the Colony, and that he tends to improve his activities as a magistrate by procuring as many cases as possible to be brought before his Court.
“That the Resident Magistrate has on more than one occasion used threats towards some of your petitioners by threatening to turn them off the land on which they are living.
“That the clerk or interpreter often uses leading questions in his examination, thereby obtaining answers not always consistent with the truth. On more than one occasion he has threatened to throw discredit on Native evidence when given in favor of Europeans by telling them (out of Court) they were endeavoring to screen the Europeans. His general conduct is exceedingly mischievous and irritating and having by birth and education nearly all his sympathies on the side of his Native countrymen and little if any with the European population, he is unfit to fulfil his present office in a purely Native district.
The “Southern Cross,” under date Jan. 28, 1860, says:—
“The reception of His Excellency the Governor by the Natives of Poverty Bay was just what might have been expected from the reception given to the Land Commissioner as lately described by us.
“At the school those who were under pupilage were of course polite enough, but the main body of the Natives showed themselves surly and disaffected to the last degree. They freely ask in the district what business the Governor has there bringing the Queen's flag amongst them.
“The runanga partakes somewhat of the character of a judicial and of an ecclesiastical court as well as that of a council. It is over nearly the whole of the North Island and had its origin like the King Movement in the Waikato. The runanga is the most powerful of the supports of the King movement.
“It appears to exercise undisputed jurisdietion over all the Native lands and while it meddles with everything it will not allow its decisions to be re-considered or delayed. Lands which have been purchased from the Native owners and paid for have been said by this Council to be restored to Native possession by the re-payment of the purchase money whilst unpurchased lands we are told have been made over by the proprietors to
In some notes from Turanga (Gisborne) to the “Hawke's Bay Herald” under date August 5, 1862, it is stated:—
“We are quiet in this district. Still the Natives are, I believe, watching for events. They are decidedly averse to the settlers getting any further footing in Turanga. They profess to be Queen's men; but all their sympathies are with the Waikatos. I should not be surprised to see the King flag hoisted at any moment. We cannot disguise the fact that we are living under the rule of the runanga with which the laws of England have as much connection as with the laws of Timbuctoo.
“The Natives' foot is virtually placed in the neck of the settlers and we appear to have no other course but to worship the image set up by the authors in this miscalled British colony of New Zealand.
“Efforts are being made here to induce the Ministry to allow the sale of powder, shot and caps under certain restrictions, the plea being the unfairness of debarring the Natives from the the use of these articles for sporting purposes and the bagging of a few pakehas to be included of course in the list of game. Will the Government be mad enough to grant this?”
Thus the Wairoa correspondent of the “Hawke's Bay Herald' on May 13, 1863:—
“I cannot succeed in obtaining any reliable information concerning the feast at Turanga (Gisborne). There appears to have been a very large concourse of Natives; the Maoris say 2000 were there. The gathering seems to have been of a political nature, many subjects being discussed. Amongst others Henare te Apatere made a strong appeal in favor of the Maori king, but was not listened to; on the contrary, the desire was expressed that he should refrain from speaking on the subject. According to rumor there were consumed or given away—
1400 bags of flour 800 bags of sugar besides other articles of food in much profusion.”
The following alarming statement was handed to the “Hawke's Bay Herald” by the master of the Tawera on May 30, 1863:—
“The schooner Tawera, anchored off Kawakawa on the 12th inst. It was blowing hard from the south and we could not communicate with the shore.
“Next day a boat came out and we asked if we could get any water from the river. Being told that we could we sent a boat ashore with two casks to be filled.
“After they had been filled, and the boat had left, the Natives came to me and demanded one shilling per cask, threatening that if I didn't pay to take a boat as payment when she next came ashore. This demand I paid.
“On the 14th they went to the store of Messrs. Peachey and Collier and said that, if the magistrate, Mr. Baker, should come round that side of the Cape they would make him pay £100; if he should come by the inland route, the sum would be £200.
“They were determined, they said, to drive him away, as he was trying to buy over all the Natives to his side. Their next talk was that I should make it known to the masters of all vessels that if they wanted wood or water anywhere off the coast they should pay for the same or else they would take a boat for payment.
“They next informed Messrs. Peachey and Collier that they should pay for the grass and water which their horses and cows had used, also for the water drunk by their ducks and fowls. This being refused, they intimated their intention of there and then taking away four horses the property of the firm and two belonging to Mr. Parsons left there to be shipped by the ‘Sea Breeze’ and of coming back for the cows and poultry.
“The Natives will not allow the Europeans to dig an inch of ground anywhere.”
A doleful account of his treatment at a runanga held at Te Horo, Waiapu, was told by Henare Paeroa in Te Waka Maori of March 7, 1876. He says that he became intoxicated and on attempting to ride away from the settlement he fell from his horse, which galloped away, leaving him stretched senseless on the beach. Some person, seeing him in that state, coolly drew off his trousers and appropriated them to himself. As he lay in this pitiable condition, a woman named Harata Harete, pitying his condition, came up and covered him with a valuable Native mat. Some time later, she poured water over him, which restored him to consciousness. He then went into the presence of the Natives, who were holding a runanga in the village, to the number of some 300, and begged for a pair of trousers but they only laughed at his misfortune and suffered him to depart in his nakedness.
The dust nuisance was so bad in Gisborne in the 70's that it was almost impossible to go anywhere when a nor'-wester was blowing. On race days everyone, men and women, wore blue gossamer veils, and I have known the leaders in the five-horse brake turn round and refuse to face the blinding dust storm on the road to Waerenga-a-hika course. Gladstone Road was like Waikanae Beach for cutting sand. But, soon after the Borough Council was formed, it was decided to try and keep down the dust nuisance and punts were built and were towed up to the “Island” up the Waimata river and there loaded with papa which was brought down and the muddy papa placed on Gladstone Road from the Post Office to about Grey Street. That was all right in the summer but, when winter came, it was awful, for the cure was as bad as the disease or worse. Stone crossings were then made of flat stones from the other. ‘Island”—Sponge Ba—one crossing from the Albion to Williams and Kettle's corner, one from there to the letter boxes at the Post Office, one at the Masonic corner, and one at Townley's corner. If you saw a friend “over the road” whom you wanted to speak to, you whistled to him and walked up to the stone crossings and met on one side or the other of Gladstone Road. It is said that a man was thrown off his horse opposite the N.Z. Clothing Factory's premises and he was never seen again. I was not there, so I cannot vouch for this.
The country districts had no roads—only tracks. My first trip to Ormond in September, 1872, took from 1 o'clock till dark. Leaving the old Argyll Hotel in Bidgood's coach, a light three-horse vehicle, we rode as far as Makaraka along the sandy ridges. Then we came to the clay and we children got out and walked and ran along the roadside, while the three horses plodded through the mud till about King's Road, when we got into the coach again but had once more to leave it and walk. The late Arthur Cuff, who lived at Mangatu, had a pack of mules that carried in the tucker to the station. My cousin, the late Alfred Hatton, had a butchery business at Patutahi where he killed and then carried the meat to town for delivery. It took from 2 a.m. till 6 a.m. to get the meat to the Bridge Hotel, where it was transferred to the lighter carts and reached town about 8 o'clock. So you see, we are not quite so badly off for roads now as then.
The Makauri bush supplied us with white-pine for building. Shingles were used then, not iron, for roofing and white pine split easily into the light shingles. We also had kauri from Auckland, also from as far as “Hobartown” (Hobart now). I remember well the hot Sunday the bush was cleaned up by fire. It was an awe inspiring sight to me as a child, and I shall never forget it.
The kauri timber came from Auckland in schooners and was rafted ashore here on to the mud flat where the old slip used to stand. The schooner, after being lightened, then came into the river. One shop still stands to-day that was built of kauri by my father for the firm of Robjohns, Teat & Co. It is on the Lowe Street corner and is now occupied by Mrs. Gunn as a ladies' supply store. I think it is the oldest business place in Gisborne to-day.
The first wreck I remember was the barque “Lochnagar,” 444 tons, which vessel took our total shipment of wool Home in those days. The next was the “Arcadia,” a schooner which put in here dismasted. The U.S.S. Co.'s s.s. Taupo got on the rocks on Kaiti Beach one misty night, the lights of the Maori pah being taken for the town lights. I also saw the wreck of the s.s. Sir Donald on the Wainui Beach. She was blown away from Napier in a southerly and all hands were lost. Of course we often had the Pretty Jane, the Go Ahead, and other small vessels holed on the bar. I was on the beach having a dip when the s.s. Wairarapa landed our little launch the s.s. Snark. I was also on the beach when the Wairarapa came in on fire and was gutted. The fire broke out in the linen locker just after leaving Napier. All her cushions and movable fittings were jettisoned and she was filled with water by our fire brigade and her own pumps. Our old manual was taken out on the “cattle punt.” The steamer later left for Auckland under her own steam but all her passengers remained here.
The wreck of the Tasmania, which occurred one night off Mahia, near Table Cape, will not be forgotten by those old residents of the day—September, 1897. My brother Walter was a passenger and he was landed with others at the boat harbor, near Cook's monument, at daylight the next morning. All were saved except one boat load, which tried to land over near Whareongaonga, the boat being upset in the surf, and I believe all were drowned. As I was not here at the time, I am not too sure of the details. I have my brother's boat pass, which was handed to him that night when the steamer anchored in the Bay, but as a s.e. moderate gale was blowing the tender did not go out. The “Tasmania” slowly steamed out of the Bay on her way to Napier, but was wrecked later in the evening and went down in deep water. The owner of a hand-bag containing some diamonds worth several thousands later engaged a ketch and diver to try and recover the bag, but it was never found. Capt. McGee was master of the “Tasmania” and I have heard that the night of the wreck his wife in Sydney was awakened by a crash and, on rising to find out the cause, found that the cord holding an enlarged photo of her husband had broken. The picture fell and was smashed by the fall; next morning she heard of the wreck.
The Union Company's Arahura was also holed in the roadstead and beached near the groyne, eventually getting away all right. An old ship's boat that lay at the wharf bottom up was bought by two men who went fishing in her and never returned. The small barque Rio Grande became a total wreck near the groyne, also the cutter Spray near the end of Grey Street. I remember the loss off Waipiro Bay of the Aotea with all hands. Capt Nicholas was in command. Also the upsetting of the surf boat belonging to the s.s. Australia with loss of life off Tolaga Bay. I was present at the City Rink when Constable Stagpole received the R.H.S. silver medal for bravery in saving life on that occasion.
I must not forget to mention the s.s. Star of Canada, whose bones rest beneath the waves off the Kaiti beach.
Du Verney.—A man who was well connected at Home and had been in the Horse Guards. He used to drive a dray for John Bidgood. I saw his sword, which Uncle Blair held for him and, boy-like, enjoyed looking at the same very much.
Geo. Williamson, who lived where the Wi Pere monument now stands. I remember him as the man who used to bite off the terrier dog's tails.
“Dusty” Stevenson.—Who was always prominent at election times. He named the bullocks in his team after the rival candidates and would give the one “McDonald” all the whip and “Locke” his own favorite candidate no whip at all.
“General” Chute—An old chap who lived around the Riverside Road.
Charlie Peterson.—Who carried the mail from Muriwai once a week.
Captain Read, Mill, Williamson, John Harvey, Chas. Gilman, Joe Kennedy, Old Mackay (the ferryman), Geo. Nesbitt, Tim Reardon, Dr. Nesbit (first Dr. Magistrate, and who took the church services in the old Court-house), John Bradley (of the Albion Hotel), Wi Wharekino, Andrew Park (fisherman), Sam Stevenson, Matt Hall, Jas. McCaffery (saddler), Skipworth, J. H. Stubbs, M. G. Nasmith, John Maynard, John and Peter Breignan, Joe Hamon, George Bruce, Geo. Scott, Ewen Cameron, Fred. Hardy, Alex. McKenzie, W. H. Horsfall, John Ferguson, Henry and Edward Harris, W. W. Smith, Wm. King, A. Kempthorne, John Parsons (Matawhero), Larry Dunn, Tarr family, Wm. Walsh, Espies, Jas. Dunlop, Finucanes, Peter McFarlane, Martin Casey, Joe and John Kennedy, Capt. Porter, Edwin Bourke, Brooke Taylor, Barsdell, Bob Cooper, Bedford Sherriff, John Brodie, Johnstone, L. McIntosh, W. Byrne (boot repairer), Edward Burch, Parkhouse, Caulton, Blair, Arch. Gray, Mickey and Jimmy Mullooly, Andrew Reeves, Wm. Milner (Tuparoa), Edward Murphy, Andrew Reeves, A. Y. Ross, W. Dean Lysnar, Capt. Tucker, J. B. Poynter, A. C. Arthur, David Dobbie, John Clark, A. Bruce, Newman, A. M. Newman, Benson, J. Bidgood, T. Cahill, the Harrises, Oyigons, John Dick, John Robert Forbes, R. M. Skeet, Wyllie and family, Fred. Allwood, Chas. Evans, John Villers, Albert Pentford, Edwin Webb (Gisborne Standard newspaper), W. H. Turner (Bank of N.Z.), Rushbrook, Alf. Tibbles, C. Ferris, C. D. Pitt, W. E. Gudgeon, Major Westrupp, John and Tom Uren, John Wall, O. L. W. Bousfield and family.
Of great interest to me are the glass cases containing the photos of the old-time commercial travellers who visited this district many years ago. Every one of those same photos recalls the days that are gone never to return. There is Salmon of the Kaiapoi; Waters, of Wellington; D. Jones, Levisohn, etc. Old “Kiltie” Smith of the Masonic Hotel, Napier. is also there. There are so many faces there that I knew intimately, but time has obliterated many of the little incidents and jokes connected with each one.
To get or have your photo taken fifty years ago was no joke and was not an amateur's job. My first photo was taken when five years old by Sammy Carnell of Napier, and it took all day to do the trick. My mother left home with four of us at 10 a.m. and got home again at 4 p.m. The light, the long exposure, the arranging of us tour in the correct positions was not the work of an instant. We had to stand so long in the one position that iron stands were required to prop up our heads and hold them in a fixed position. We were all very tired, not forgetting poor mother, when the job was over. The old photographer had to make his own “plates” in those days, and many a time I have watched the late C. P. Browne and his wife at work in their studio, which stood on the site of Mr. J. D. Harries' boot shop of to-day. Photography was then only for the professional.
My boyhood from the age of six was spent in Gisborne. My first school master was Mr. W. Dean Lysnar, father of Mr. W. D. Lysnar, M.P. The school was on the corner of Lowe Street and Childers Road, opposite the R.C. church. The hotel opposite, now the “Gisborne,” was then the “Shamrock” kept by Tom Scrivener. Next to the school in Lowe Street was John Dick's shop, where he was blacksmith and wheelwright. We loved to gather round the forge to watch “the many sparks that fly like wheat on a threshing floor.” One day, whilst watching the process of shoeing a horse, my earthly career was nearly ended. After the farrier had fitted the shoe to the foot, he threw down the fitting spike and a boy picked it up and threw it at me. Fortunately, it only hit me a glancing blow on the head, or my “lights” would have been out.
The oldest pioneer of Gisborne, living in the oldest house built on blocks in Gisborne. Such is the record claimed by Mr. Robert Thelwall, who, despite his eighty-seven odd years, is still hale and hearty and as active as the average “youngster” of half a century. He trundles the wheelbarrow with the best of workers, looks after the cows, digs the ground, cultivates a maize patch, and carries out the general work on a farm. Now and again during the week he comes up town and puts in the afternoon at the bowling green, where even now he is one of the best exponents of the game in the Bay. On Saturday he takes a whole day off, and is usually noticed in the town between 10 and 11 o'clock. The afternoon sees him on the Gisborne Bowling Club's green, and he goes home to tea. After the meal, Mr. Thelwall sets off again for town and puts in the night at the pictures, for he is an inveterate “movie fan.” It is nearly eleven o'clock before he again reaches home, but on Sunday morning he is up again bright and early, and carries out the farm work necessary for the day. Still at times he thinks of the old friends of boyhood days, when life was one long dream of happiness and of excitement, of the continuous watch against the treacherous Hauhaus and the midnight marches against Te Kooti, of the days in the township of Turanga when money was scattered like water, of the revelry at night. Nearly all his old comrades, alas, are now amongst the number
That from his Vintage rolling Time has pressed
Have drunk their cup a round or two before
And one by one crept silently to rest.
As but natural, such thoughts come to the veteran, but a smile soon creeps over his features as he recalls the fun of the early days. “They were good days, too,” said Mr Thelwall, “much better than the present times. We had to work hard and we got little money, but there was a different feeling abroad then. Friends then were true friends, who would stick to one through thick and thin. Nowadays with all these laws and unions things are different.” The march of civilisation has not impressed Mr. Thelwall.
Mr. Thelwall was born in Farndon, Cheshire, in 1840, and at the age or sixteen was apprenticed to a farmer
After a voyage of nearly 130 days the ship arrived at Auckland, where the two, who were bound for Napier, transferred to the steamer Phoebe. The little vessel struck a gale on her way down and could not call in at the Hawke's Bay port, and anchor was not cast until well into Wellington harbor. After a few days there the weather eased, and the Phoebe left for Napier, arriving early in January, 1866.
On arrival at Napier young Thelwall received an enthusiastic welcome from his cousins, the Parker family, father and mother of Mr. W. Parker, now of Mangapapa, who was, of course, then but a very small boy. After the rejoicings at the reunion were over, Mr. Thelwall commenced work with Messrs. C. Smale and W. Parker, erecting a bridge over the river between Napier and Hastings.
While at work on the bridge, Mr. Thelwall received word of a legacy of £1000, and decided to purchase an interest in the Parker family's run at Turanga. Early in 1866, therefore, Mr William Parker and Robert Thelwall set out for their new home. The party left Napier in the schooner Ringleader, and were taken right up to the corner of their property, their landing place being the point, the junction of the rivers, near the Wm. Pettie bridge. Then for the first time Mr. Thelwall saw the property in which he had secured an interest. It comprised over 24,000 acres, roughly all the land between the Taruheru and the Waimata rivers, and extending some twelve of fifteen miles up the Taruheru. All the land now known as the suburb of Whataupoko was included in the block, which extended back almost as far as the Waimata settlement. It was a Native lease, for 21 years, and was considered first-class land, being all scrub, fern and swamp.
A few weeks previously, Mr. W. W. Smith had brought up from Napier some flock ewes to stock the run. They were landed at the Point, and driven along the river-side up to a point between the present freezing works and Makaraka, where it was decided to erect the homestead. In those days the Taruheru was a wide, deep river, with a shingly beach on each side. These beaches were a favorite place with the Maoris, for the layer of sand hid literally millions of large and luscious pipis. Schooners from Sydney came right up to Makaraka, sailing all the way. They lay sometimes at anchor for weeks, waiting a cargo of wool and wheat, for the district grew much wheat on those days.
A little later the Parker family came up from Napier, and it was decided, instead of building a homestead, to lease a big house on the town side of the river belonging to Mr E. Espie's father. The building was on the bank of the river, not far from the Roseland gardens, and close to where the Roseland Hotel now stands. The property, as stated previously, was on the other side of the river, but access to the homestead was gained by means of a rope stretched on which settlers seated in
Meanwhile the colony, and more especially Poverty Bay, was thrown into a state of excitement by the news that Te Kooti, who had been deported to the Chathams in 1865, after the Waerenga-a-hika fight, had seized the schooner Rifleman and with a band of Hauhaus had landed at Whareongaonga. That was on July 10, 1868. The Europeans at Turanga and on the flats did not know of the arrival until two days later, and Captain Biggs called out the Poverty Bay Mounted Rifles under Captain Westrupp, Mr. Thelwall being amongst the number. The volunteers camped at the head of the Arai, and the first clash occurred on July 20, at Paparatu, on a field of snow. That was the opening shot in a campaign which lasted for many years, cost many lives, and involved an expenditure of thousands of pounds.
This first fight was a test of Te Kooti's strategy, for he sent a body of Natives behind the colonials, who were thus caught in an ambush—Te Kooti being on a ridge above and other Hauhaus below. The fight resulted in the loss of ten colonials and friendly Maoris, six more being wounded. The rebels lost three killed. Many of the friendly Natives quickly reteated before the Hauhau attack, and the Poverty Bay Mounted Rifles, about thirty in number, gave themselves up for lost when Henare Kakapango, who was in charge of the friendly Maoris, came to their rescue. Kakapango was one of the best and most experienced pighunters in New Zealand and knew the bush backward. Realising the seriousness of the position, he headed the retreating party, who were to a large extent hampered by the wounded. For his bravery, Kakapango was later presented with a sword, accompanied by a gift of £100.
At the head of the Arai the dispirited Europeans met Colonel Whitmore, the well-known ex-Imperial Army officer, who had already had much experience in Maori warfare. The retreating colonials and Colonel Whitmore's small force, which had come up from Napier, met in the Arai valley.
The Colonel asked full particulars and they were supplied him by Captain Westrupp.
“Ah!” he said, “you men must come back again with me.”
“Who the h— are you”? asked one of the volunteers, one Dodd, who was afterwards killed in the Massacre.
“I'm Colonel Whitmore,' was the reply.
“Well you can go to h—!” said Dodd. “We're all going home; we've had enough.”
The Colonel said: “Martial law has been proclaimed, and I order you to turn back.”
“We all laughed,” said Mr. Thelwall, “or at least we smiled, as well as one could” smile at such a time. We surrounded him and told him we didn't care what he said. We had had quite enough, at any rate, for a start, and we were off home. We knew nothing of martial law being proclaimed. His abrupt official manner didn't appeal to us and we left him speechless. We told him, however we might come back next day if we felt like it After a good wash and a good feed we felt better. Later we had a meeting and decided to turn up on the following day, and we all joined Whitmore's forces.
The troops followed Te Kooti up the Ruatikuri river, where the Hauhaus attacked, killing six British and friendly Maoris and wounding five, and Whitmore's force came back. Te Kooti moved on to Puketapu in the Urewera Country, where he rested for the winter, and Whitmore's force was disbanded.
For a little time matters appeared peaceful in Poverty Bay and the Parker family and Mr. Thelwall put in strenuous work clearing the bush on their propeity. On November 8, 1868, there was generally joy in the homestead for the first shearing had just been completed. The flock at that time totalled over 2000, and the young settlers could see themselves on the high road to prosperity. There was still uneasiness over Te Kooti's return, and the settlers on the flats commenced the construction of a large redoubt, which was nearing completion. The idea was that every evening the settlers and their families should sleep in the redoubt, returning to their homes in the daytime. Sunday, November 9, was a day of rest, in which the chief topic was the good fortune which had attended the farming venture in Poverty Bay. Wool was bringing ninepence a pound, and the clip was a good one. It was a merry party at the homestead that evening. In addition to Mr. and Mrs. Parker and their two children (Mr. W. Parker, of Mangapapa, and Mr. F. Parker, who later was manager of the Bank of New South Wales in Gisborne), Mr. Thelwall and Mr. C. Smale, there were also two European shearers, Dan Munn and Beb Parkhouse. The household retired early, little anticipating the horrors which the next day would bring forth.
Between 3 and 4 a.m. on Monday, November 10, a rifle shot broke the silence. The cause was only too apparent and a thrill of horror ran through all present. It was the opening scene in the Poverty Bay Massacre. Messrs. Smale, Thelwall, Parkhouse and Muhns were still members of the Poverty Bay Mounted Rifles, and as Mr. and Mrs. Parker and the children in their night attire rushed into the scrub near the house, the others ran for their rifles. Munns seized a horse standing near and rode full tear down the road towards the other settlers. He met two Natives who appeared almost panic stricken and said To Kooti had returned and intended to kill all the settlers. Munns turned his horse, and galloped madly back. The news all had feared was only too true. The Natives, however, who had given Munns the news were Hauhaus, and as soon as he was a few yards away they fired on him and wounded him in the back. Munns, however, rode full tear into the manuka and eventually reached the stockhouse at Turanga. The almost hysterical party from the homestead, hidden in the manuka two chains away, counted a party of twenty-eight Hauhaus outside the door of the homestead, which they entered. They saw signs of hurried flight and thought the inmates bad been warned some time previously and had escaped. The Hauhaus, intent on more victims, wasted no time and rode away. After some little time the party in the manuka went back in the house and dressed themselves, secured a few valuables, crossed the river, and fled through the scrub on Whataupoko down to the blockhouse at Gisborne. Shortly after their departure the Hauhaus returned, looted the place, and set the homestead and woolshed on fire.
Soon after reaching the redoubt Mr. Thelwall fell a victim to typhoid fever, and as there was no doctor at Turanga was sent to Napier, but a few months later returned and rejoined his old troop. Meanwhile Te Kooti, with his mana increased as the result of his victories over the pakehas, moved down from the Urewera into Poverty Bay again, and established himself at Ngatapa, the first fight taking place on December 5, when six Europeans and friendlies were killed, the rebels losing ten men. Then on January 1, 1869, commenced the siege of Ngatapa when, with the help of 200 Ngatiporous under Ropata Wahawaha and Kotene Porourangi, and 170 Wairoa Natives under Lieut. Preece, the Ngatapa pa was besieged for three days and three nights until the Hauhaus abandoned their mountain hold, losing over 130 dead. Te Kooti retreated to the Te Wera forest, with his mana
The Poverty Bay men returned to Turanga, and lived in the blockhouse, guarding the township. This was in 1869. In 1872 Te Kooti escaped into the King Country, where he spent eleven years. He was pardoned in 1883, but was not allowed to return to Poverty Bay.
In 1889, however, he decided to defy the Government, went to Auckland, and in spite of warnings travelled to the Bay of Plenty with a large number of followers, intending to revisit Turanga or Gisborne, as it was then known. A meeting was held at Makaraka school and a force of over 100 left Gisborne to prevent his reappearance in this district. The force was commanded by Colonel Porter, with Major Winter next in command, and Major Ropata in charge of the Ngati-Porous. Mr. Thelwall held the rank of sergeant-major in the advance guard. The force marched to Opotiki. Here it was ascertained that Te Kooti with a following of 150 men, women and children was at Ohua. The Hauhaus were surrounded but Te Kooti was missing. Later he came near and found himself in a net of Ngatiporous and the advance guard. He was arrested and later sent to the Supreme Court at Auckland and sentenced to remain in a prescribed area on the shore of Ohiwa harbor, where he died in 1893. Uncertainty as to the exact location of the body exists, however, to the present day.
After his return from active service early in the seventies, Mr. Thelwall secured 250 acres at Patutahi, at a Native lease of 5/- an acre, the term being for 21 years. Mr. William Smith went into partnership with him and occupied the land while Mr. Thelwall worked as overseer for Johnson Bros., and Westrupp at Wharekia station, near Muriwai. After a few years the partnership was dissolved, and Mr. Thelwall took to shearing at Te Arai, working for Mr. Woodbine Johnson. Then he resolved to commence butchering, with his slaughterhouse at Makaraka and the shop in Gisborne. His first purchase was 100 fat wethers. The Gisborne shop was at the end of Captain Read's wharf, which ran out into the river at a point where the Band Rotunda now stands.
At that time Captain Read was practically “king of Gisborne,” and ran his own fleet of schooners to and fro. He lived on the Kaiti side of the bay, opposite his wharf, and had also a woolshed there. At his store the greater part of the business of the Bay was done, and many humorous tales are told of his dealings with the Natives. He issued his own private notes in exchange for gold, and these notes were universally accepted as currency in the district.
It is related that on various occasions after a Native had exchanged his gold for notes, a dispute would arise with the Captain, and the incensed Maori, in order to show his contempt for the pakeha trader, would tear the notes to pieces in the store, scatter the remnants on the floor, and stalk indignantly out. On another occasion, it is related, a Native appeared in great consternation and related that his house on the Flats had been destroyed by fire, and a number of notes had gone up in smoke. He explained that he was unable to replace these notes which, to his mind, were the property of Captain Read, who listened solemnly to the story, and told the Maori that as they were old friends he need not worry about such a small matter as replacement. He agreed with the Maori that it was a sheer case of bad luck. No more need be said. The delighted Maori, it is stated, left in the highest spirits, singing the praises of the generous captain!
Gladstone Road in the seventies was a very different thoroughfare to the wide bitumen surface of to-day. The road, which was named after William Ewart Gladstone, Britain's. Premier at that time, commenced as now at the Turanganui river. It
At the end of Capt. Read's wharf stood the house of Mr G. G. Mill, Captain Read's manager, and Mr. William Adair's dwelling was next. Then, at the present corner of Gladstone Road and Read's Quay was Mr Thelwall's butchery, with Capt. Read's bond at the back. A section about 80 yards or so wide separated the butchery from Bradley's Hotel-afterwards the Albion Club hotel, and next to this was the Albion Club stables, which may still be seen at the end of the Albion Club right of way. In the early days there was still a right of way, which led, of course, to the stables. On the town side of the right of way and in front of the stables, was Mr Arthur Cooper's bootmaker's shop, and then came Fromm's, booksellers, Nasmith's jewellers; Bests, drapers; Adams, booksellers, and the Bank of New Zealand, a small shed. Then on the site where Adair Bros, now stands was the old Court-house, which also included the Customhouse, the Armoury and the Public Library. At the back stood the residence of Major Westrupp, which was later occupied by the only medical man of the town, Dr. Nesbitt.
On the opposite side of what is now Lowe Street stood Teat and Robjohn's store, then came the dwellinghouse and shop of Mr Matthew Hall, saddler, and Parnell's store, which was on the site near where Mr Good's jewellery establishment stands at present. Further down the street was the Music Hall, in which entertainments and theatrical performances were given. This was on the site of the auction mart occupied a few years ago by Mr W. Samson, and the old building is still there, being built on in front by McKee's buildings. The first Masonic lodge in Gisborne, removed to the Music Hall from a room over Mr Thelwall's butchery. Later the lodge room was transferred to a hall near the back of the buildings now occupied by the U.S.S. Co. in Childers Road.
On the other side of Gladstone Road from the river, was the Post Office, then Horsfall's store, the Argyll Hotel, a barber's shop, and Mr Stubb's chemist shop, on a site ner where Mr E. D. Smith's chemist shop now stands.
The block-house, a two-storey building with loop-holes, and surrounded by a stout palisade of manuka stakes, was on the site between the present Police Station and the Opera House. From the block-house to the Courthouse ran an embankment five feet high, with a trench behind. For some considerable time all the settlers had to assemble every evening behind the embankment, outside of which a military patrol was stationed, and under no circumstances were civilians allowed to break bounds.
On the left-hand side of Gladstone-Road stood Steady's Post Office, a little shed, with a loft above in which the postmaster slept. That was on the site at present occupied by the Parcels Office. Then a few yards away stood McFarlane's house, which had attached to it a dairy run, with cowbails, yards, etc. The run extended some distance towards the sea, the next building being the house of John Harvey, Captain Read's storeman. Later a man named McKay lived in Harvey's house. Then came the Turanganui Hotel, kept in later years by Madame de Costa, who was a very popular hostess, and gave innumerable parties to the young folk of the district.
In the seventies, when Mr. Thelwall was the town butcher, there was only one price for meat. 4d per lb, roasts of beef and legs of mutton all being retailed with no advance for the better cuts. After a time Mr. Thelwall put in a sausage machine, the first in the Bay. The engine was purchased in Sydney for £100. Later Mr. Thelwall increased the power of the engine and crushed oats and
Captain Read slept on the Kaiti side of the river in an imposing building in those days, with a wharf running out. on which ships and schooners unloaded. This was near the site of the present Kaiti freezing works Underneath the building was a cellar containing large quantities of wine, rum, whisky and brandy. On one occasion some careless individual left the tap of a big whisky cask turned on, and on the next visit the floor was found covered with the spirit. This mishap caused quite a sensation in Gisborne at the time.
“Early in 1860 my parents, with their family of three children, of whom I was the eldest, my Uncle Henry being another of the party, came to New Zealand in the clipper ship Red Jacket, commanded by one Reed,' remarked Mr Wm. Parker, of Mangapapa to a Times interviewer. “Amongst the passengers were Thomas Powdrell, his wife and three grown-up children, Mary Ann, Emma and Henry. They were friends of my parents and came from Cheshire where my father's people had resided for many generations. Other passengers included Mr John Eldon Gorst, who shortly after landing became a magistrate in Waikato and was very conspicuous in the early stages of the war there, and the Reverend Von Dadelszen, the latter bringing a large family with him, one of whom was Otto, afterwards manager of the Union Bank of Australia at Gisborne.
“Shortly after our arrival in Hawke's Bay, my father and uncle went into partnership with a Mr William Rich as stock dealers, shippers and butchers, and as their business employed many hands, most of whom came from Auckland, there were some characters amongst them, and it was a pretty hot shop out of which it was most difficult for my mother to keep me.
“In 1864 some of the Poverty Bay Maoris awakened to the fact that far too much of the land in their district was lying idle. Three of them, representing most of the principal owners of Whataupoko, came to Napier in search of Europeans inclined to take up land in Poverty Bay. They were Henare Ruru, Pitau and another half-caste named Tom Jones. Pitau was the elder brother of Wi Pere, and Jones represented people who then lived on the southern side of the Bay, of whom old Raharuhi Rukupo (Lazarus) was the principal man. These men got into touch with my father and uncle, with the result that they were induced to occupy Whataupoko. My uncle came with sheep, which were brought by sea and landed at The Point—just where it is proproposed to have a swimming bath for Gisborne. The sheep had a very rough time within 24 hours after being put ashore, many being worried to death by Maoris dogs, which swam across from the Kaiti side and elsewhere. Kaiti was, so to speak, swarming with Maoris at that time. This unexpected knock annoyed my uncle, who sought satisfaction by poisoning as many dogs
“In Dec., 1867, we left for Poverty Bay in the ‘Cleopatra,’ a small paddle steamer, and, as it was daylight most of the way, we passed between Portland Island and the mainland. The following morning the little craft went up the Waipaoa river, pulling into the bank near where Captain (afterwards Major) Charles Westrupp was living. From there we made our way across the Flats to Makaraka, the location of our new residence.
“I used to ride to Turanganui about once a week for the mail, etc., and often brought little things for ‘French Bob.’ Sometimes on returning from ‘the top end’ I called in and had a chat with him and old Biddy, his wife. On one occasion he invited me to go down his garden to where he had a shed in which he kept a cask of wine, and, suggesting that I should have a drink from the cask, he handed a straw to me and told me to put it into the bung-hole and suck away. I followed his directions and did suck away until I didn't want any more. I then rode away home—about a mile off—and when I got there didn't get off but fell off all of a heap. I was dead to the world for the rest of the day. Bob had a large flock of goats and their principal run was from about where the junction of King's Road is with the main road for a mile or so towards Waerenga-a-hika. Bob would not flee on the morning of the Massacre and, as a result, he and his wife and an adopted European child were killed.
“Excluding Turanganui, now the town of Gisborne, Poverty Bay was very sparsely settled in 1867. The U'Rens were at Makaraka. Two sons, Tom and John, lived there, their home being called Roseland. Robert had died shortly before and his widow resided on a small property adjoining Roseland. These three were sons of the original U'Ren, who settled very early—I think in the 40's,
“Old Tarr had just come to Makaraka from some other part of the Bay. He had a large family, and many of his descendants are still living in the district. He was living in a slab whare just outside Espie's property. Pilbrow was another resident who occupied a house on land adjoining Espie's (this house after the Massacre was occupied by old James Dunlop, who had a large family. (They raised more in those days than they do now.) Mr. Dunlop, at the time of the Massacre, was living at Te Kohanga, on the bank of Te Arai and had a few acres there. Dick Poulgrain lived just to the westward of Espie's. He had a good house and orchard, and ‘French Bob’ (Robert Newnham) lived a bit further away on the edge of Makauri bush. The only two residences between those around Makaraka and Turanganui were—one in the occupation of Tom Goldsmith (who was head stockman for G. E. Read, and usually had one or more other stockmen living with him); and the other had just been placed in the flax a little eastward of where the Makaraka Hotel now stands. This was on a stedge and occupied by one Mann, who, with his wife, were murdered on that fateful morning—10th November 1868—before we got away. We lived within a mile of Mann.
“An old whaler named William Brown lived at Tahoka, on the Taruheru, within half a mile of our residence. He had several descendants living around him there, and a very old Maori woman was the only occupant of a whare close to Brown's. I saw the woman once; she was crouched in a dark corner of her whare. An interesting statement regarding her, and I believe it to be a fact, was that she had seen Captain Cook. It is quite likely that when I saw her she was over 110 years of age. She was mother of Brown's wife, who had died years before. Living within quarter of a mile of Brown's were George Williamson and Bill Ward; they had V huts about a chain apart on the bank of the Taruheru. Each had an aboriginal as a companion and cook, and each had a canoe, used between his abode and Turanganui. I think I've embraced all the Europeans living in 1868 between Turanganui and Makauri, except William King, who was a new arrival and lived in one of the U'Ren's houses.
“At Matawhero the most conspicuous residence was that of Mr. Bloomfield, a brother or step-brother of G. E. Read. He died shortly before the Massacre. Near that residence. Major Biggs lived, and Captain Wilson's house was not far away. Walsh and Padbury, who were in partnership as butchers, had premises there, and Cadle and Blair were also in partnership there as storekeepers. These firms' premises were each within thirty chains of Major Biggs' residence. All those mentioned, with the exception of Blair, who did not live at Matawhero, were murdered on the morning of the Massacre. An old bullockdriver named Jim Garland, who lived on Bloomfield's property, escaped death. Captain Wilson's residence was further away from the centre of Matawhero than any of the others mentioned. Near him lived George Goldsmith and another settler named John McCulloch. Goldsmith escaped, but Maria, his daughter of about 16 years of age, who was out around Matawhero on the morning of the
Among the run holders in Poverty Bay in 1868 (says Mr. W. Parker, of Mangapapa) were Randall and Woodbine Johnson, who occupied about 13,000 acres at Maraetaha (the homestead later was called Wairakaia).
Then there was Charles Westrupp, who had Te Arai—11,000 acres. Westrupp in 1863 was a Lieutenant in the Forest Rangers, and was a renowned officer of that famous body of fighting men. Evidence of that fact is to be found on a brass plate placed in the hall at the entrance to the public library in the City of Auckland, on which the names of two officers are mentioned—one being Captain Wm. Jackson and Westrupp the other who, with forty-seven men of their company whose names are also placed on the brass plate, captured a large flag carried on the 13th December, 1863, by the rebels in an engagement in Paparata. The flag is also deposited in the hall referred to, and attracts considerable attention on entering.
Harris and Ferguson occupied the Opou run and other lands adjoining. Their homestead was at Tapatahi, at the junction of Te Arai stream with the Waipaoa river.
Dodd and Peppard occupied Repongaere. They were both murdered on the 10th November, 1868. Their cook, Charlie Rathbone, escaped from the homestead, but was killed near the redoubt at Toanga, where he was overtaken, when probably making his way to Turanganui.
Arthur Kempthorne was in possession of Pukepapa, a block of 11,000 acres. He had previously been employed at the Mission Station at Waerenga-a-hika, and all the Maoris in the Bay called him Mita Aata (“Mr. Arthur”), no doubt owing to his position at the Mission Station.
George Scott was at Ruangarehu, a very nice block of about 3000 acres between Ormond and Te Karaka.
Poynter and Evans occupied Ngakoroa, a large block on the opposite side of the Waipaoa river to Scott's.
George Sisson Cooper occupied portion of the Pouawa block. His manager was W. H. Tucker, who was so very well-known in the Bay for many years. Cooper, at the time, was a Resident Magistrate in the southern part of Hawke's Bay, and afterwards became permanent Under Colonial Secretary.
Capt. G. E. Read occupied four or five thousand acres koown as Wainui, and my father (Mr Parker, senr.), had Whataupoko.
Living on the southern side of the Waipaoa was Frederick Green Skipworth, who had been in the Colonial Defence Force. He married one of the Miss U'Rens of Makaraka and resided at Te Rahue.
William Scott Greene lived on a very nice property on the northern side of the Waipaoa, but when that river changed its course that property was left on the southern side. Greene also married one of the Miss U'Rens.
Another settler on the southern side of the bay at that time (1868) was William W. Smith, who lived at Rakau Kaka—about three miles beyond
The Mission Station farm, of about 400 acres, at Waerenga-a-hika in 1868 was in the occupation of one, Clarke, who came from the Bay of Islands. He used the farm for cattle-rearing and fattening and was a shipper of cattle to Auckland. Bob Atkins, now of Patutahi, was his head stockman, and, on the day preceding the Massacre, was engaged shipping cattle at Turanganui. He rode home to the farm that night late, it being nearly midnight when he rode through Matawhero, and the next morning, having to return to Turanganui, he took the track through Matawhero again, just about daylight, and, totally unaware of what had taken place there, reached Turanganui safely.
Wonderfully well-informed, bright, and interesting, and one of the most esteemed residents of Bushmere, is Mrs W. W. Smith, whose husband became a model farmer and one of the best known amongst the early settlers in this district.
Mrs Smith, who was a daughter of Mr Wm. Griffin, of Auckland, decided to pay a visit to Poverty Bay to see her cousin, Mrs W. King, who lived at Makauri. She returned here two years later and, in 1871, she was marrieGd to Mr Smith, the ceremony taking place in the Argyll Hotel. In 1913, Mrs Smith had the great misfortune to be bereft of her husband.
Speaking of their early experiences in this district, Mrs Smith said that Gisborne, at the time of her arrival, was still under martial law and she was the first white woman to take up residence at Patutahi after the Massacre. Her husband had landed at Auckland in 1862, proceeding to Hawke's Bay, where he had engaged in cattle raising. After a brief spell at the Gabriel's Gully gold fields, he had returned to Hawke's Bay, but in 1864 he came up and settled in Poverty Bay.
As the Hauhau rebellion broke out in the following year, Mr Smith's plans naturally became upset, for he at once joined the volunteers. He first of all saw service at Waerenga-a-hika under Capt. Wilson. During the engagement Mr Smith had a very narrow escape. With others he was engaged in trying to prevent the rebels from obtaining their water supplies, when a reinforcement of 200 strong from Opotiki for the rebels turned up and the party had literally to cut their way out through them, only half a dozen escaping. The deportation of Te Kooti and a large number of rebels to the Chathams had followed the quashing of the rebellion.
When Te Kooti and his party returned to Whareongaonga, Mr Smith, together with Mr Thelwall and others, joined the party sent to intercept them. This proved an ill-fated mission and the rebels, after more than holding their own at Paparatu, got away inland. Returning to his farm on the Flats, Mr. Smith worked on industriously and successfully till the fateful November 10, 1868 when the awful Massacre occurred. On that
In 1871 Mr and Mrs Smith, then newly married, went out to live at Waitaria, Patutahi, which her husband had taken up. Those were not by any means days of luxuries, according to Mrs Smith. There were no jewellery shops in Gisborne then and when a young woman got married her choice of a present was either a side saddle or a sewing machine. Before the Massacre, Captain Read had been the only draper. He was reputed to have kept everything except coffins. He used to get in a large consignment of drapery every now and again and one lady who had eight daughters usually got the first pick. After that Mr Horsfall started a store, but he sold out to Kinross and Graham.
Touching upon financial matters, Mrs Smith said that when she came here there was no bank. Capt. Read was the great money king and used his own bank notes, a facsimile of which, thanks to the courtesy of Mrs Smith, appears in this issue. The Bank of N.Z. was the first to open and its banking chamber was in a corrugated iron store owned by Capt. Read. Mr Kirkton was the manager. Next came the Union Bank and its premises were on the present site, Mr Von Daldelzen, being the first manager. The Bank of N.S.W. started in the old Courthouse when it was at Adair Bros.' corner. For a long time, there were only these three banks. Nobody could cash Capt. Read's notes but himself, but they passed round freely. When the Union Bank started, Johnson Bros, Major Westrupp and Mr Smith were reported to be the only ones not under an obligation to Capt. Read in some form or another.
As to the amusements provided in the early days, Mrs Smith said that she always laughed when she recalled a visit paid by a circus. It was arranged for the occasion that the pakehas should sit on one side and the Maoris on the other. In the course of the performance two clowns came out on stilts and before one could say “Jack Robinson,” the Maori side of the enclosure was empty! Perhaps the most enjoyable dances were those held in the old Court-house. The music was supphed by a hurdy-gurdy and those who could not dance had to take turns in producing the music.
One day Mrs Smith, amongst others, witnessed a rare incident in the Bay. Mr King called Mrs King and herself out and said “Have a look here. You will see something you may never see again.” They saw a boat coming in and a cutter going out. When they came together a man on the cutter painted on the larger boat a broad arrow three times on either side. The cutter was a
Questioned as to Mr Smith's narrow escape on the night of the Massacre, Mrs Smith said that the previous day her husband had been mustering sheep on the Parker's property. That night a Maori came along and said: “All killed there” (pointing to Makaraka and Matawhero). “Kooti down and killed them.” Dan Munn had an injured shoulder and had told him he had been shot. Mrs Parker said they should all get away, but Mr Parker reproved her for being an alarmist. Mr Smith joined in with: “Well. I am going, at any rate.' They had hardly got over the river when the rebels arrived, calling out to them: “Come into the river. Komati, Komati.”
As to the Massacre, Mrs Smith said she had been told that, on the Sunday, Mr Blair, a storekeeper, had come into the church and told the men to be ready to go out as Te Kooti had landed at Whareongaonga. She understood Te Kooti had gone away with very bitter feelings against the settlers on the Flats, particularly Messrs Goldsmith and Wyllie, and that he had come back determined to slay them. On the night of the Massacre, a Maori saw Te Kooti on Mr Wyllie's verandah at his home at Torua. She told them all to clear out and they crossed the river to Patutahi. The 100 acres granted to Jimmy Wilson on account of the loss of his parents was, later, sold by him to Mr Smith.
Back Row: Major W. A. Richardson, Capt. Handley, Dr. J. M. Gibbes, Col. Gudgeon, Lieut.-Col. Herrick, Capt. Harvey, Spiller, Lieut. Milner (18th Royal Irish).
Front Row: Lieut. J. W. Witty, Lieut. Ferguson, Capt. Northcroft, Major Scannell, Capt. M. N. Bower, Capt. A. D. Corfield. Major Ed. Withers.
If one man more than another sees the varying phases of life in a country town, it is the postal carrier, especially when his experience extends over some thirty to thirty-five years. This is the record of Mr.
Mr. Fyson has exceeded the allotted span by five years, but it is indeed difficult to believe that fact. To outward appearance he looks considerably less than sixty years of age, and if, as is often said, a man is as old as he feels, Mr. Fyson is still in the forties. Still active, and with all his faculties at practically their best, he is indeed a model type of pioneer who helped to raise Gisborne from a tiny borough into one of the largest towns in the Dominion.
Mr. Fyson was born at Highham, near Bury Street, Edmunds, Suffolk, in 1852. He was educated at Bury Saint Edmunds, and then went on to Framlingham College, Suffolk. School days over, at the age of sixteen, he decided to follow the sea, and was appointed a midshipman in Messrs. Green and Co.'s line. His first experience of life on the ocean wave was on the Clarence, a typical handsome full-rigged ship of those days, which left London for Madras. He remained on the Clarence for two more trips to India, and then the ship went to Melbourne. At the conclusion, Mr. Fyson, who had been studying his profession, passed his third mate's exam, received his ticket, and like many others of those days, deserted sail for steam, being appointed to the St. George, which traded to the East, the Black Sea ports, the Baltic and the Mediterranean, also on one trip going to Canada.
The young adventurer then decided to look to the new lands for a permanent home, and decided on New Zealand, coming out at the age of twenty-four as a passenger in the ship Thurnland Castle.
On arrival at Auckland Mr. Fyson decided to work in the Waikato, but after a few months there came on to Gisborne, arriving in 1877. In 1879 he was appointed postal carrier at the Gisborne Post Office and remained there five years. In 1892 he joined up once more and remained in the Government employ until five or six years ago, when he retired on superannuation.
In 1877 Gisborne was a very small place compared with the town of today, said Mr. Fyson, in conversation with a representative of the Gisborne Times. The borough, for it was a borough then in its first year, did not contain 500 residents. On the Kaiti side there were practically no Europeans living, the population there consisting of Maoris. Gladstone Road was almost pure sand, and the dust that arose during even a slight breeze was enough to blind one. Bullock drays were common vehicles of transport in those days, and it was quite an impressive sight to see twenty to thirty bullocks removing a house on sledges. These bullocks were very powerful animals, but even at times their task was beyond them. He remembered on one occasion seeing a bullock dray with a large team bogged in Gladstone Rd., just above the Royal Hotel, and it had to be dug out. The road near the Matawhero Hall was very bad in the early days. The route was past the Royal Oak, and not round towards the saleyards as now. At the end of the road the rider or pedestrian crossed the river and joined the road again just below the present bridge.
As stated above Mr. Fyson entered the service of the Postal Department in 1879 and was the first letter carrier appointed in Gisborne. The procedure in delivering the mail was to put the letters in one's pocket, meet the addressee up the street, and deliver the missive to him. Later he used an old bag to carry the mail. He would go to the wharf on the arrival of the steamer from Napier, and often carried on his shoulder the whole of the southern mail (from Napier, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin). Later the mail was removed in a hand cart, which was wheeled on the footpath.
The Coast mails in the early days were carried by packhorses, and the journey from Gisborne to Port Awanui took three days. On occasions the mail was considerably delayed. One week the mailman was due to leave again on the Monday, but when the day arrived he could not be found. The Postmaster inquired of Mr. Fyson the whereabouts of the mailman's horses, and was told they were on the Kaiti side of the river. He instructed they should be caught and Mr. Fyson should take the mail up the Coast. He protested he did not know the road, but his objections were lightly waved aside. Mr. Fyson set out on the journey, but to his delight was overtaken near Tolaga Bay by the mailman, who had arrived on the scene after Mr. Fyson's departure.
In those days the Post Office was at the back of the present building, but prior to that it stood where the present Post Office clock is situated. It consisted of a four or five room shanty with a verandah and residents knocked on a slide for their mail. If the officer in charge happened to be busy at the time of the knock, and it was repeated, his language when he came out was not always according to Government regulations.
The correspondence for the Maoris was always a source of anxiety to
In the course of his duties as a postal carrier, Mr. Fyson was often called upon to exercise his ingenuity to decipher addresses. One day, however, a letter came to the office which caused general consternation, as for some time no one could make head nor tail of it. The staff were called in and even the aid of outsiders sought, but it was almost useless. Mr. Fyson put forward his theory, which met with general assent, but one line was still missing, and to this day, so far as is known, no one has interpreted it. The address on the letter was as follow:—
Drawing of a bell, followed by the letters E.R.,
C/o the old Jew who taught Oliver Twist to steal, 49 Where Peary Went Street Fresh Place, Home of the Rarest Bird, New Zealand.
Mr. Fyson's interpretation was as follows:—
Mr. Beller, C/o Mr. Fagin 49 North Street, Newtown. New Zealand.
“The Home of the Rarest Bird” baffled all. The problem was solved so far as the Gisborne office was concerned by Mr. Fyson writing across the envelope, “Try Palmerston North!” What the Manawatu staff did is not known, but nothing further was heard of the letter.
Volunteer corps were in existence in Poverty Bay before Mr. Fyson's arrival, but about 1880 the J. Battery was formed. They had a 6-pr Armstrong and drilled strenuously at this gun, under an insructor from Napier. One Easter encampment held at Roseland Gardens, Makaraka, about 1881, near the present railway station, lives in Mr. Fyson's memory. A picked gun crew of nine had been chosen to give an exhibition of gun drill. The gun had to be dismounted, and with wheels, laid flat on the ground, and then put together again. This particular crew was very smart, and so keen in their work than at the camp they practically slept under the gun. The exhibition had first to be given in slow time and then in rapid time. In the latter case one minute for the complete dismounting and mounting was considered a record, but the gun crew mentioned performed their task in 59 sec. Captain (afterwards Colonel) Winter made a close inspection of the gun after the operation, and there was intense excitement when he declared everything was correct. The gun crew were the heroes of the day and were rushed off to the canteen. On parade at camp that day there were 110, including a volunteer corps at Ormond. The exact number is recalled by the fact that Mr. Fyson, in addition to being a member of the gun crew, was also quartermaster-sergeant. A well-known local resident was so pleased at the exhibition that he insisted on “shouting” for all the men in camp. Quartermaster-Sergeant Fyson was called in, and added up the total, and the bill ran to just over £2 10s, for one or two of the men did not accept the invitation. The uniform of the J Battery in those days was a blue uniform, white pipeclay belts, and a blue forage cap.
The chief pastime in the early days was billiards. There were only five hotels—the Albion, Argyll (now Coronation). Masonic, Shamrock (now Gisborne), and Royal. The lastnamed was on the site of the present building, and stood quite a long way out from the town. Every hotel had its billiard room and many keenly exciting games were played. There was also an hotel at Makaraka, near the old Kia Ora factory, two hotels at Waerenga-a-hika, two at Ormond, where the Armed Constabulary were stationed, and one at Matawhero. Keen interest was also taken in cricket, and many exciting games were played at Te Hapara, where Mr. Rees had a proper pitch at his residence.
Official time was recorded in Gisborne in those days. Near the old flagstaff just close to the mouth of the Waikanae stream stood a 24-pr muzzle loader, an old ship's gun. Various bands of residents were in the habit of practising with the gun, firing shot and shell at targets in the sea. It was also used on the Queen's Birthday to fire the Royal Salute. One of Mr. Fyson's duties was to go down to the gun every Saturday and fire it at noon exactly to give the residents the correct time. He always took with him two pounds of powder and the first procedure was to grease the gun well. Mr. Fyson cannot recall how the practice of firing the gun at noon started, but the residents used to look forward to it. Afterwards the gun was removed, and the practice of course ceased.
The report of the gun invariably caused consternation among the horses in the vicinity and in this conncetion is an amusing story. There was no bridge over the Waikanae then and the residents had to ride or drive across the stream. On Saturdays the farmers always came into town. On one occasion the late Mr W. S. Greene was crossing the stream when his buggy stuck in the middle. Though he tried every means he could not get the horse to move the vehicle. Mr. Fyson suggested to Mr Greene that he should get into the buggy and hold on tight when the gun was fired only a short distance away. Mr Greene wanted to argue, but there was only two minutes to go to noon. Rather sceptically, he got into the buggy, and in a few minutes had the surprise of his life. When the gun was fired the horse plunged madly and a second later the horse, buggy and rider were on the bank.
The ammunition in those days was placed in charge of Mr. Fyson, and on one occasion he had a very exciting experience. One Sunday night a fire broke out in the store of Carr and Sons, merchants. He was at church at the time, and a man nearby said the Post Office was ablaze. Mr. Fyson rushed down and saw that for the present the Post Office was safe, but sparks were occasionally descending on the shingled roof. In a shed near the building were two live shells. Deciding to take no risks he carried the shells away and threw them in the river near the present Kaiti bridge, and to the best of his knowledge they are still there.
When he first came to Gisborne Mr. Fyson stayed at a boardinghouse in Peel Street, near the site or the present Gisborne Garage, and with many others he spent much time on the beach. Opposite the boardinghouse was the prison, a yard enclosed with a palisade and fence, on the site of the present police station. On the way to the beach the bathers would converse with the prisoners. On several occasions prisoners anxious to join the bathing party would implore their assistance in removing some of the battens, and the offender would go to the beach with the party. On the return he would again enter the gaol, and the battens would be replaced.
A large number of Maoris lived near the mouth of the Waikanae then. On one occasion when in the vicinity, Mr. Fyson found three skulls, apparently a relic of the olden days.
Another time when on his round as a postal carrier he passed a Maori whare which was open, and saw something like a keg of ammunition. As he was in charge of the ammunition of the district he investigated and found 300 rounds for the old long Enfield rifle. He removed the keg, and took it to the store at the Post Office, but strange to say no inquiries were ever made on the matter.
A narrow escape in the Poverty Bay massacre was experienced by Mrs. Fyson, who by the way was a daughter of Mr. Forbes, a wellknown local builder. He was engaged in constructing a woolshed at Waerenga-a-hika when a workman said he had received information that the Hauhaus were coming down. Mr. Forbes said he intended to stay, but all the workmen thought otherwise and in his temporary absence, all left in a body. As no good could be gained by remaining, Mr Forbes left and with his family went to Auckland. A few days later the Poverty Bay massacre occurred. It is interesting to note that Mr. Forbes built the Catholic Church in Gisborne in 1878 or 1879, and also built a house on Whataupoko next to where Mr. Lysnar is now living. That house is still standing despite the fact that it must be sixty years since its erection.
Great excitement was occasioned in Gisborne on June 10, 1886, on the occasion of the Tarawera eruption. A rather severe shock of earthquake was experienced during the night, and the residents had to breakfast by lamplight. Mr. Fyson came into the street, and met Mr. J. W. Nolan, who commented on the occurrence. The residents were undoubtedly frightened, and as all the wires were down no news could be obtained. Volcanic sand fell in Gisborne and especially heavy falls were recorded at Ormond. The steamer Southern Cross from Tolaga Bay to Gisborne had her decks covered with sand. It was noticeable that no volcanic sand fell at Napier, and this was accounted for by the fact that at the time of the eruption the wind was blowing strongly across towards the East Coast from the direction of Rotorua.
One thing that puzzles Mr. Fyson is the absence of Maori canoes, which in the seventies and eighties were common on the river. They were of rather a small pattern, but were seen in large numbers. They were in constant request by those desiring to cross the river. He assumes that they have either been taken away or been washed out to sea.
In respect of the late Mr. W. F. Crawford, the first Mayor of Gisborne, grey hairs gave a chastened appearance to unbounded mirthfulness. Tall, broad-shouldered, studious and, withal, genial his friends were legion and of enemies he had none. Public spirited to a degree, he found time amid the heavy worries associated with business life in the early days of Gisborne to put his shoulder to any wheel which was intended to be rolled in the direction of progress. If any mooted project were likely, in his opinion, to be helpful, it at once had his enthusiastic backing. His early participation in civic affairs was, therefore, only natural.
A Tipperary lad, on December 17, 1863, at the age of 19, he rode away from his father's home on a smart pony to the Templemore railway station to leave by train for Dublin en route to Auckland, New Zealand. “Wild boys,' he wrote in his memoirs, “ran after the train, whacking it with their sticks for having the audacity to steal away with their young friend. The ‘Statesman,’ of 700 tons, a Dutch-built vessel, but lively and dry as a cork, got away from Gravesend as the Christmas chimes were pealing from many a steeple in the Grand Old City. Our staunch old ship after five months of plugging through it landed us on the Auckland wharf on the 5th May, 1864. The post office was up Princess Street and it was a struggle for us new chums to get up Shortland Crescent for our letters. We were accommodated in an emigration barracks where the late post office was, and were offered various employments—farm hands, bushmen, substitutes for soldiers at the front, for the Maori war was raging at this time. In fact, the news of the Gate Pah disaster arrived about that time in Auckland. Queen Street ran up a gully and was in a fearful mess of mud and scoria cut up by the commissariat carts ploughing through with two horses to a six hundred weight load. The barracks of scoria buildings stood on the hill, now converted into a handsome park, and another similar block erected by Walter Graham on the foreshore were the first buildings of masonry and slate roofs. There were weather
Try-Out in the Bush.“The yellow lizard of good luck, although a terror to the Maoris, crept up my leg in the Domain at Auckland, making me think it was a land of reptiles. Was it to be a welcome visit? It became known to a Mr. Robert Cashman, working a kauri bush at Awitu, near the South Manukau Heads, that four young new chums were available, in fact anxious, to attack the glorious primeval forest. We became at once engaged and were placed in charge of Captain Ogden of the ‘Mystery’ lying at the Onehunga wharf. With our bundles on the shoulder no boys could be bolder, and we were off to Onehunga in the morning.
“Mr Bob Cashman, our boss, being a judge of muscle and fine swinging arms, took two of us down a gully with an axe each and introduced us to a lordly kauri about three feet in diameter. My sympathies were all aroused for the quiet, harmless, good-looking tree and I felt a pang in being ordered to put a scarf on one side whilst my mate was set at the other. He left us, and a couple of hours' indiscriminate chopping took place until his return to see how we got on. ‘God bless my soul’ (or words to that effect), he said, ‘it reminds me of a hare biting into a turnip.’ After repeated lessons, emphasised by words of infinite tenderness, we cleared away what he called the matchwood blisters we had raised around the venerable stem of the sturdy and much-to-be-pitied monarch, shedding large tears of kauri gum worth £20 a ton. Towards nightfall we saw symptoms of the tree staggering and managed, by scrambling through the bush to get on the opposite side to that on which he fell with an angry crash that did not surprise us.
“Down the gully he plunged naturally, for we never expected him to go up the hill. But Mr. Cashman did and he commenced family devotions over the event when he came to see the result. We pointed out that if he had determined to go up hill we would have been crushed, as we never foresaw such a thing. He threw his hat on the ground and said, ‘How on earth are we going to get the tree back on to the side-line where the saw pit is ready?’ We said that we could pull it out again. Pull your grandmother out again' was part of what he remarked with a heavenly smile. He referred to new chum duffers in such a polite way we said we would be pleased to resign our positions if desired. He agreed that a return ticket would be provided for us on the return of the ‘Mystery’ and, thanking him for his great consideration, and receiving his cordial blessing, we parted on the shore.
Auckland in the Sixties.“We were introduced to a lady who knew all our relatives at Home on our return to Auckland. She took us all in as boarders. Her husband was employed in Mark Somerville's stables, about the back of the British Hotel, near or about where Alfred Buckland's saleyards were situated. Through this good man's influence, I was employed by Mark Somerville in the City Mart at the Corner of Short-land Crescent and Queen Street near the Q.C.E. Hotel, popularly known then as ‘The Loafers’ Corner. (The letters of the hotel stood for Quality, Cleanliness and Economy, but, wittily dubbed ‘Questionable Company Encouraged.’) I was employed as second porter there, and amongst my duties had to mix up sugars of grades from black to yellow, and had to truck up from the wharf boxes of butter, crates of fowls and produce as required. We had to crush coffee bleans and maize which we ground and mixed up with chicory before sending them to our troops, then engaged at the front up the Waikato. We had the officers' mess to supply with choice wines, bottled ales and groceries. Well I remember struggling up to the barracks with these commodities on my shoulders. (I have been fond of climbing hills ever since.) Mark Somerville had a contract to supply maize, oats and bran
to the military train and I was promoted to charge of his supply store somewhere about where Edson the chemist's pharmacy stands opposite the hotel kept by Pat Danby and the old jail at the corner opposite the Union Bank which, with its great Corinthian pillars, was then the most imposing edifice in Queen St. Seized with Gold Fever.“The outbreak of the West Coast goldfields filled my brain with the golden microbe and I soon got away with two mates in the ‘Armidale’ for this El Dorado. We called in at the Iron Pot, entering Port Ahuriri stern foremost, viewing the unimposing swamps of Napier. Then we saw the Lambton Quay beach of Wellington, the grave-yard overhanging the town and the Maori pah at the back of Willis Street. Then we saw Picton, the French Pass, and went into Blind Bay, Nelson. It was the custom to fire a small cannon on the fore deck to announce the arrival of the mail at every port. We noticed that the steward placed a big charge in the gun and then went to the galley for a red-hot poker to touch her off. All his preparations were made as we came up near the lighthouse, so the filling of the gun in the steward's absence with turnips and potatoes lying handy was the work of a moment. There was a schooner sailing up abreast of us, and we suggested that the steward should give her a surprise by firing blank ammunition at her. The result was a shower of vegetables into the sails of the schooner to our infinite delight. War broke out instantly and the return was a volume of the finest description of expletives I ever, up to that moment, listened to, so that we were able to acquire some of the correct expressions in the language to store up for any oxen conductor that we might have an argument with in after life.
On the West Coast Goldfields.“Nelson at that time was called ‘Sleepy Hollow.’ Auckland, being the seat of Government and, having the spending of some millions of British gold over the Maori war, held a high hand. Otago had struck rich gold and was springing up rapidly. Wellington was flourishing, but poor Nelson had nothing but her fine climate and rapidly spreading homely industries, so she had to grin and bear it. Our next port was Hokitika, a canvas town, with a shifting bar and the tight little tug ‘Bruce,’ which tendered us ashore for 20s a head. We erected our tent at the back of Revell Street and got an early number of the first paper published on the West Coast. There was a description of the new rush to Ross, then known as Jones' Creek.
Our first impressions of a goldfield were a surprise—fallen bush, piles of gravel, sluice boxes, busy men picking and shovelling, heaving at rude windlasses, pitching tents, erecting shanties, whacking and making holes in all directions. We got at the fringe of this busy crowd, found a level spot on the side of a terrace, strung up our tent, put fern tree stems side by side for our bed, strewed leaves and twigs, laid our blankets and slept as best we could with our boots for pillows and got through the night as weary men can often do, although the roots and leaves under them may be tickling their short ribs. The rain came down and we noticed in the morning that we had camped in the bed of a mountain stream that showed itself responsive to every shower and ran under our punga mattresses. We had to wade out in the morning thankful that we had not been floated down into the creek in our dreams.
“I had brought a spade with me to the amusement of the old hands who always used shovels, short-handed except the Bahandandy boys from Australia, who prided themselves on the long one, to which they gave a scientific twirl over the shoulder when delivering a shovelful. We were nearly starved out and went down to the sea beach, where, cooking the last of our flour in a greasy frying pan into a slap-jack or sort of bloated pancake, we divided it and I tramped away to Hokitika to seek employment. After three days without food or chance of a job, I was walking down Revell Street quite disconsolate, contemplating the spending of my last half-crown (which I clung to as the last extremity) on a loaf of bread. My eye caught a face looking
at me over a vise in a blacksmith's window. Without a moment's hesitation, I stepped over and the youth came out and shook me warmly by the hand and said ‘Oh, Mr. C., what brings you here?’ I told him I was down on my luck. He then told me he worked for his uncle and that he knew me because I used to pass his smithy going to school in our native town, Templemore. Asking where I was stopping, I told him I slept under the verandah of the post office! His uncle, Michael Bohan, came out and very kindly invited me in and made a snug doss under the bellows in the shop, which I very gratefully thanked him for. He cooked a sumptuous supper of beefsteak and I rose next morning early trying to conceal my utter destitution by going out without breakfast. The boy came after me and I was obliged to again partake of his generous hospitality. I then bid them a grateful adieu.
“Two very rare events now took place on our field, heralded by wild cheering, clanging of dishes, blowing of horns, a Highland piper and loud cries of ‘Joe! Joe!’ Seated on a horse rode into the creek the first woman on the flat. She was a barmaid for Jim Horries' canvas hotel and restaurant to dispense shilling drinks and half-crown lunches. The other event was a man wearing spectacles, quickly named ‘Old Four Eyes.’ The ground where our tent stood on the sideline being cleared, ‘Old Four Eyes’ sank a shaft of about 5 feet and struck a rich patch of gold. My mate, hearing of this, declared we were sleeping on our pile. About this time the other mate, Bill, came down from Jones' bringing his brother and we had a great celebration down at Billy Rae's store. A powerful man his brother Frank was. ‘Look at him,’ said Bill. ‘Oh! how glad I came-to find him. I knew such a specimen couldn't be lost on any snow-clad Gentle Annie, but it grieves me to find that he does not believe the Bible is any better than the “Arabian Nights.”’ Frank laid a short-handle shovel on the ground, made George (about 12 stone) stand on the blade, caught up the handle in both hands and threw him across the table, landing him fairly on his feet at the other side.
“Tired of Digging Gold.”“These were the days of our primitive microbes, germs and animaculae. Having put down a shaft 20 feet and found a good prospect, we began a tunnel with rough props, slabs and caps. Our cradle was erected with dipper complete and the whole set in motion. Oh! it was a glorious day in our annals when we found a 15 dwt nugget and in our joy we decided to celebrate the event with a glorious feast of a leg of mutton and a bottle of port wine. This blow-out shed a radiance over the event that still shines this very evening. We had got in about six feet with our tunnel when old Peter and I came to a big boulder in the face. Big stones always sat on a good pocket when they occurred in wash dirt, so we determined to shift it. We were both trying to crack it with heavy blows of our pick heads, when I noticed a flake fall from the roof of the drive. I caught hold of Peter and dragged him to the shaft; he was nervous and I had to shove him up, and we had barely got half-way when the drive fell in and the lower half of the shaft with it. We got on top safely, lit our pipes, went in to our hut and started a game of euchre to cool cur nerves over the shock of our narrow escape.
“We worked the claim for some months before washing up. When we had saved about seven pounds of gold per man we sold the concern to the storekeeper for our account with him for tucker and all cleared out for Hokitika. Thus ended my first experience of alluvial mining, and I agreed with my mate George, who said ‘A man gets tired of even digging gold.’ We found Hokitika a lively place, as most of the lucky strikers were painting the town red, ordering a case of champagne at a time as a shout for all hands, pouring it all into a bucket and serving it round in pannikins; holding sports and races down Revell Street, out of bravado using one pound notes to light their pipes, holding boxing competitions on the plan that the first shedder of blood shouted for drinks all round. Barry, of Thames fame, fought Hogan, of Bendigo, in the back of one of the hotels, 15 rounds,
for a pair of new watertights. The police turned up to stop the mill, but couldn't force their way through the crowd until it was all over, when they declared there must be no more of it or they would be forced to take someone in charge to vindicate the law! Hearing gold had been discovered at Terawhiti, down the straits, we popped on board, landed at Wellington in time for the New Year sports, won a couple of prizes in the athletic competitions, and, meeting a man wearing a brown plush digger's hat, who said he had been to the Terawhiti rush and found it was a duffer, our company split up and two of us got employed by Tonks next morning on the first reclamation contract in front of the beach at Lambton Quay. I am not quite certain from memory, but I think this was the year 1867.
In a Store at the Thames.“A rumor having got round the Wairarapa (where I was working in the bush) that Hunt's party had struck gold at the Thames, the golden microbe again got into my brain and, as soon as my place could be filled, I was off. I called at Wanganui as a mere accident and I was able to meet my intended, who promised to wait until I made a pile for her. Most of my visit at Wanganui was spent in cultivating love's young dream. We left Wanganui with the last detachment of the British soldiers in the ‘Rangatira’ to the strains of ‘The Girl I Left Behind Me.’ We were nearly swamped crossing Manukau bar but got through, and I took up my abode with my step-uncle in Auckland and looked out for a billet, being ready for any job bar two—one was driving bullocks, the other milking cows. I finally got employed as storeman to Petschler in Shortland, Thames. I copy some lines in the local paper of the day supposed to be inserted by a Frenchman. ‘I cause myself to arrive by the ‘Enterprise’ making an abutment against Sheehan's landing on the Kai Inanga. I look for the streets; it is no streets: it is much water; it is oyster shells. I am induced to proceed and spring ashore. My boots they fill up and go down. I meet a man of the field and enquire the place for a chop. He says “Butcher, Baker, Grocer.” I say “Damn, I want a bit of sheep done brown.” The footpaths were two or three planks loosely laid on the mud, very treacherous at the ends when they were likely to spring down and squirt mud up your body. Butts' hotel and theatre stood at the corner of the main street called, I think, Pollen St. Most of the houses were either pubs or boarding houses. Petschler's store stood behind Butts' near the Hapu creek. It was acute angle shape to fit the point of the section and contained three rooms and a long wedge shape general store, containing provisions and wearing apparel, spirits, fruit and vegetables, with an assortment of tinware and ironmongery. I was installed second officer and a lad was also engaged to run with parcels and messages. I struck a patch in a claim next the ‘Caledonian’ and invited my intended to join me when I could get a cottage put up and, in due course, we settled down next to Burke's on the Hapu creek, Shortland. I got my employer's permission to make this home but he promptly gave me the sack on the grounds that he must have a man living in the store.
When Ballots Were Not Secret.“My old Hokitika chum who found his brother on Jones' joined me now and we became sharebrokers and did a thriving business in Bank's buildings opposite Curtis' Hotel, Grahamstown. We opened up the Little Nell, next to the Wild Missouri up the Tararua creek. It was understood that no sharebroker could hope for success unless he swaggered round smoking cigars and playing billiards. We were getting on quite nicely until my partner went in for dairy farming and old Petschler offered me the old billet, which I accepted, and ran the place for him until he failed over a shipload of goods imported from Sydney proving unsuitable for the market, not giving him a chance to realise or get advances on it to meet the bills passed in payment for them. Out of collar again I organised a prospecting party to Ohinemuri, up
the Waitekauri creek. We loaded a boat up with goods, landed at Belmont, bought out Cassel's store and began business in a much-required commodity—a pub that hadn't the sanction of the State. Just about this time John Williamson was standing for election for Superintendent of the Auckland Province and Hugh Coolaghan, one of his supporters, bought up all the axe and pick handles on the Thames to arm the Williamsonites on this day. It was before the secrecy of the ballot. “The Pretty Jane.”“At this time I was called to Auckland to the bedside of my poor relative, who was seized by an internal tumour. I stood by him for three months to the end. The poor fellow introduced me to his employers to take his place as clerk in the Albert Brewery and, in 1871, I removed to Auckland and took up the position which I held until the firm decided to start a branch at Gisborne in 1874. Whilst engaged in this office, I saw an opening at Onehunga for a general store, and got an old friend of mine, just arrived from Home to take up the management of it. I removed to Onehunga, got a spring cart, drove in to my office in the morning and brought back supplies at night. I accumulated a few hundreds by this, which gave me a free hand for the removal to Gisborne with my accumulation of worldly goods in the old ‘Pretty Jane’ of those days. She was a pretty model of a boat, with all the masts and sails of a schooner, for they hadn't found out the triple expansion engines and the coal consumption was enormous.
The machinery was crude and liable to a breakdown at any moment. Under adverse circumstances, she was often four to six days on the run either up or down to Auckland. She carried sheep and cattle from Gisborne to Kohimarama, on the Tamaki creek, south of Auckland. The little deck was often covered with sheep and the hold full of cattle and plank ways were laid from the cabin to the cook's galley forward, along which, when one had got sea legs on, one could take an airing full of mutton odour and beef bellowing. The cabin was over the boiler with a small crib partitioned off for ladies.
Hold-Up on Trip to Gisborne.“On my first trip from Auckland we called in at the Thames for an eight horse-power portable engine for the South Pacific Oil Co. at Waiongaromia, near where the Gisborne Oil Co.'s works were later situated. The steam engine was laid in the hold and we proceeded on our way until we reached the turning point of Coromandel Peninsula, where we were obliged to take shelter and anchor awaiting a favorable breeze. This breeze came on us with a rush in the north-east direction, having a tendency to blow us onto the rocks at the point. Our boat began to rock at her anchor, causing the engine below to fall over and nearly swamp us. An attempt was made to heave the anchor, but it was caught in a rock below. With all hands and the donkey engine we got the anchor free at last and got away into the shelter or Brown's Island, where we found a small cutter laden with trusses or hay. The men in this cutter, one of whom had a wooden leg, came alongside and traded a truss of hay for some provisions that they had run short of. As we had some prize sheep just imported from Home aboard, the exchange came in very timely for us also.
Gisborne's Business People in '74.“When we reached the river at Gisborne, it struck me that the scene was not much changed from that presented to Captain Cook when he first landed from the ‘Endeavor.’ We had to land at the Boat Harbor We found Sam Stevenson, G. E. Read, G. Lawrence, J. Harvey, Skipworth and W H. Tucker amongst the few first to meet us on arrival. Old Blind Charley, who ran the Turanganui ferry, lived in a hut about the Supreme Court site. Stubbs, the chemist, kept the Post Office. The Albion and the Argyll were the first hotels and the Masonic was in course of erection. Capt. Read and Mr. Horsfall carried on the only stores.
Mr. Horsfall subsequently sold to Kinross and Graham. Mr R. Thelwall had a butcher's shop where Mr. de-Lautour's buildings now stand. Mr. Buchanan had opened a general store where the Poverty Bay Club stands. Mr. Daly was building the ‘Shamrock,’ now the Gisborne Hotel. Sledge houses that had been drawn into the town after the Te Kooti raid stood in every direction. Dr. Nesbitt and his family lived in a cottage at the back of Adair Bros., which was given up to me with the section to Read's Quay, on which we built the new brewery. A Tramping Expedition.“I started to explore the country on foot, did the Coast as far as Whangara, then crossed the ferry down the Big River to Wairekaia, up to Kaiteratahi on the way to the oil springs at Waiongaromia, above Whatatutu. Tom Bell had opened the Kaiteratahi Hotel and, stopping there for the night, I ordered an early breakfast, intending to follow the trail of the engine that had just been hauled up by a bullock team a few days before. It was considered to be quite an unheard of thing for a man to go on a tramping excursion in Poverty Bay and Tom volunteered to find a fair of good horses and accompany me to the oil wells just starting. Arthur Cuff had an accommodation house at Whatatutu, where we were kindly treated for the night and plunged up the hill to the works in the morning. When I rode up to the works with Tom Bell (who afterwards settled with his family on Sunday Island) the derrick was being erected and the engine had been pulled up hill to the site of the first well. I think Parsons was the first American expert in charge of the works. The surface indications were very promising. Oil and gas exudes all the way through the hills up to Hikurangi at the East Cape where, in some places, a surface deposit of what is known as dopplerite exists. It is a sort of solidified crude oil saturating the vegetable matter of the surface and petrifying rats, birds, or lizards that have become immersed in it. Petrifying is hardly the correct word for it, but the animals are preserved intact and solid in the oil. We clambered down the greasy slopes of the Waiongaromia, forded the Waipaoa and the Mangatu river and went on through this to the ti tree scrub and I nursed my blisters for a couple of days at Kaiteratahi before crossing the hill to Ormond to catch Bidgood's coach for Gisborne.
In 1875, the year following his arrival in Gisborne to take charge of the local brewery, Mr. Crawford took over the business. Twenty years later a company was formed to take it over and he was appointed manager. Subsequently the business was acquired by another company with Mr. D. J. Barry as managing director. In turn it was taken over two or three years back by N.Z. Breweries Ltd. Mr. Crawford had always taken a keen interest in photography and for a number of years he conducted a studio in Harris Buildings. Some years before the war he paid a visit to his native land and subsequently he went to reside in Auckland with a daughter, who was the wife of Archdeacon Hawkins and passed his last days in the Queen City of the North.
Gisborne, nowadays, is once again troubled with the problem of an inadequate water supply and the “City Fathers,” ever and anon, cast around in search of a fresh source to supply the increasing demands made on the system. It is, however, merely a case of history repeating itself. Fifty years ago, even with the scanty population of those days, difficulty in this direction was a continual cause of worry. But, at that time, it was not a question of a leaking pipe-main, for the font of the town's supply was merely a spring, situated right in the town, close to the position now occupied by the Wi Pere Memorial in Read's Quay. Here, in those good old days, Gisbornians gathered with buckets and cans and obtained their daily supplies of water for washing and cooking. It was the only supply pure enough for these purposes, for all other available water was merely from the river or had gathered in wells after rain, and required boiling before becoming fit for human consumption. Use of the impure water often resulted in a disease commonly known then as “Gisborne fever.” When this single spring ran low, then, the town's water problem became acute.
This feature of old Gisborne days was related by Mrs. John Townley in the course of a chat on life here in the early days. Mrs. Townley, who was ninety years old on May 6, came to Gisborne, or “The Port” as it was then called, fifty-four years ago. Prior to that she had spent ten years in Napier, whence she had come from the Old Country. Reports often reached Napier, in those days, of wild doings in and around “The Port” and this part of New Zealand was considered a good place to be absent from. Mrs. Townley recollected that, only two months prior to their leaving Napier, her husband had jokingly asked how she would like to live in Gisborne. She had replied that nothing in the world would make her go to “that wild place.” “Yet,” remarked Mrs. Townley whimsically, “there we were, two months later, setting out for Gisborne to start a branch of our firm.
“We were very pleasantly surprised, however,” Mrs. Townley continued, “The people here were wonderfully friendly and we were soon entirely at home. Gisborne townsfolk, then, were a very happy little family
“I well remember the little concerts we used to have,” she continued. “Everybody, of course, came along and all contributed items, whether they had talent or not. Newcomers were always great fun and were usually hard to get on to the platform at first. They always be came alright afterwards, perhaps because, after they had heard the rest, they felt they didn't perform so badly after all.
“Another of our favorite amusements was to go for picnics up the river. As usual, everybody joined in and we had splendid times. There were always plenty of small boats for hire and quite a fleet often used to set out from about opposite the Wi Pere Memorial early in the morning. Impromptu concerts were all the rage on these trips, too. Whenever anyone wanted a change, it was always a trip up the river that was suggested.
“Of course,” commented Mrs. Townley, “we had only the rivers. Roads were too bad to go far on, and there was nowhere to go to anyway. On one occasion a man set out from town to drive to Ormond and reached there two days later. Travelling by the roads was not at all enjoyable in wet weather! Of horses we had only a few, and fewer still of traps and carts—so it was always the river.
“There were no bridges at that time,” proceeded Mrs. Townley, “and so little row-boats were absolutely necessary. And the river was far more attractive in those days and was far more navigable, too. Some of the smaller visiting craft, the ‘Pretty Jane,’ for instance, from Auckland, came right up the river, but others stayed in the roadstead. A pilot boat went out to these and landed cargo and passengers, when the bar was in good order, in the vicinity of the present Post Office. When the bar was bad, however, the pilot boat berthed near the Cook Memorial.
“Mail-days were naturally our great days,” Mrs. Townley remarked. “Everyone gathered about the Post Office and waited anxiously while the letters were being sorted. The Post Office, by the way, was then in a chemist's shop, owned by a Mr. Stubbs, on the present site of Mr. E. D. Smith's shop. Later, the authorities put up a tin shed about where the Post Office now is—just a tiny place with only room enough for a single bed, a small table, an oil heater, a few mail-bags and a chair. The man in charge slept there and when anyone wanted to inquire about the mail, a tap at a small window and the calling of the inquirer's name brought either a gruff ‘No’ or a hand containing letters or papers. They seemed to have very taciturn officials in the Post Office then.”
Church services in Gisborne fifty years ago, Mrs. Townley related, were carried on in a small building later placed on the site of the present
The only really established church at first was out at Matawhero, where a Presbyterian minister held regular Sunday services in a small building. Gifts of land from the Government, however, to the various denominations soon led to the establishment of separate services. One church was situated near the present Kaiti freezing works and was largely attended by the Natives. Here the late Archdeacon Williams usually took the service, but was occasionally assisted by Maori clergymen. A Maori pa was situated nearby and the greater number of its inmates attended services regularly. Most of the land now called Kaiti was then very swampy and wet.
“We had plenty of dancing in those days,' concluded Mrs. Townley, “and we thoroughly enjoyed it, even without fox-trots and the jazz. There were sawmills out at Makauri and the bushmen often came into town for some amusement. They were very keen on dancing and always ready for it. Sometimes we held out little evenings in two or three rooms of a private house and at other times in one of the stores. Eveybody joined in, of course, and there were always several good pianists about, with occasionally a violin or fiddle to make a good orchestra. Some of the Maoris came along and thoroughly enjoyed the fun, but, later, when more pakehas arrived, the Maoris became fewer and many of them moved away from the town to more sparsely-set-tled parts inland.
“Gisborne townspeople,” Mrs. Townley repeated, “were just one big family in those days and I think everyone enjoyed life, even though the work was hard and the conveniences few.”
It is interesting to record that the first school in Poverty Bay stood in Childers Road in front of what is now the Gisborne Hotel. The late Mr. William Dean Lysnar, father of Mr. W. D. Lysnar, M.P., was the first dominee. He was a trained master of St. Mark's College, London, and certificated D2 by the Department of Education in this country. Previously, he had had a private school in Auckland and a register, relating as far back as 1859, is still extant. Incidentally, the late Mr. Lysnar could claim to have taught the children of some of the most influential early residents of the Queen City of the North. His terms were—weekly in advance—as follows:—Lower Division: Reading, writing, spelling, geography and arithmetic, one shilling and sixpence. Upper Division, including the above, with English grammar and composition, advanced arithmetic, history and book-keeping, two shillings and sixpence. Mr. Lysnar also held evening classes, for which the fee was two shillings per week, with Latin, French and the Higher Mathematics extra. It would appear that Mr. Lysnar gave up his school at Auckland—it was at first known as “The Commercial School” and later, as “The Lyceum School”—early in 1864. Some twenty years later, however, he again had a private school in Auckland known as the Eden Hall School, and situated on Mt. Eden Road, Auckland.
The late Mr. Lysnar commenced school-teaching in Gisborne early in 1872. The school building was used also to hold church services in on occasions. His diary (kindly lent by Mr. W. D. Lysnar) contains the following interesting references to the school.
June 10th, 1872: Attended a meeting of the school committee in school-house. Resolved to call a public meeting. Mr. Read signed the specification for addition to school house.
June 22: Public meeting to consider advisability of imposing a tax for educational purposes. Considerable discussion ensued, all those present being on one side—in favor of education. Mr. Horsfall proposed that the meeting do not agree to any taxation for educational purposes. Seconded by Mr. Dalziell and carried.
June 25: At a meeting of the school committee it was resolved that the chairman be empowered to apply to the Central Board of Education at Auckland to impose a tax estimated at sixpence in the £ on the annual rental on this district for the purpose of raising £150 to be expended as follows: Lining school house £40; fencing £25, debts due £40; rent for teachers' house £25; additional furniture £10; expenses of collection £10; total £150.
June 29: A copy of the above resolution and statement was affixed to the Court-house this day.
August 7: A soiree took place in the Gisborne school-house at 5 p.m. There was a very large attendance of all ages and conditions. It continued until about 4 o'clock next morning. The gross proceeds were £23 2s; tickets 4/-each.
August 22: In the evening a meeting of the Church and school committees to consider the question of religious services in the school-house. Resolved that the school-house be common to all denominations.
February 27, 1873: Mr. O'Sullivan inspecting the school. Attended public meeting for the election of school committee. Committee elected: Capt. Porter (chairman) and Messrs. Steel, Skeet, Webb-and Adams.
March 31: Letter from the Board of Education—salary £150; mistress £15; rent £25; school requisites £10.
April 30: Meeting of the Gisborne school committee. Resolution passed to regulate the price of stationery—sixpence per quarter for slate pencils and 1/- for pens and ink.
January 17, 1874: Public meeting in schoolroom to elect a new committee. The attendance was small and, although five prominent residents (Messrs. Buchanan. Teat, Morgan, Capt. Porter and Rev. Mr. Root) were willing to serve, it was resolved on a motion proposed by Mr. Webb and seconded by Mr. Skeet that no committee should be elected for the present year on account of the unsatisfactory working of The Education Act 1872.
March 30, 1874: Gave notice to the school committee of my intention to apply to the Board of Education for a gratuity to the monitorial teachers.
December 18, 1874: In the morning the Gisborne school examined by the Rev. Mr. Root at the request of the School Commissioners. Result—Reading, very good; writing, fair; arithmetic, very inferior; composition, good; spelling, middling; history, inferior; geography, fair.
April 15, 1875: Saw Mr. Gill, who told me I would shortly get a letter from Capt. Porter about the admission of Native children into the school at a fee of £4 per head per annum by the general government.
June 5, 1875: Dr. Nesbitt brought me an offer from Mr. Gill to take charge of the Native school at Omahu, near Napier. The terms are £150 a year for the master; £20 a year for the mistress; free house, and enclosed garden land of nearly two acres. Limited right to pasture land.
June 8: Resigned the mastership of the Gisborne school.
September 1: Started a school at Omahu, salary £200 per annum; wife's £20.
In 1875, it seems, the bulk of the Native children attending Te Aute school at Napier came from the East Coast. Here is an account of what Te Paki te Amaru, of Uawa, said after a visit to that institution:—
‘I am much pleased with what I have seen and heard here, viz., the personal cleanliness of the children, their clean clothes, the good beds and iron bedsteads, and the wholesome food. They eat from tables and follow the customs and the habits of the pakehas generally. They are taught arithmetic, the English language, and the Scriptures in English. This is good for ‘The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. Another good thing is that European children attend the same school; and they all converse together as if they were children of one race. What I also admired was the untiring energy of the teacher, who seemed to take no rest, except when eating or sleeping. I thought if I were still a child I should like to attend this school. The children who attend are—from Tokomaru Bay, 1; from Uawa, 12; Turanga (Gisborne), 3; from Wairoa, 3; and from Napier 3; total 22.”
In the late Mr. Lysnar's diary appear the accounts of the Gisborne School for the various quarters during his headmastership. The first is for the quarter ended September 30, 1872, and the particulars include:—
Mr. Mill: To tuition for William and Maggie £2 12s.
Mr. Adams: Tuition for Joshua £1 6s and four months' pen and ink 2s.
Mr. Dunlop: Tuition for Charles and David £2 12s, pens 4/-, Nelson's No. 4 1/3, Superseder 1/6.
Mr. Uren: Tuition for F. W. Goldsmith £1 14s, pens and books 6/9.
Mr. Langford: Tuition for Annie and Eustace £1 6s, pens and ink 4-. Royal Geography 1/9, Copy Book 6d.
Capt. Kennedy: Tuition for Mary and Edward £1 6s.
Mr. Wylie: Tuition for Gavin and Alexander £1 14s, books etc. 3/9.
Mr. Robb: Tuition for Robert 17/-; for Ellen (3 weeks) 3/-, books 3/9.
Mr Stevenson: Tuition for James 19/-.
Mr. H. Bertie Reed: Tuition for Florence, Ernest, Edith, Arthur, and Bertie £2 5s. 6d.
Mr. William King: Tuition for Elizabeth and Thomas £1 6s, Mary (seven weeks) 7/-.
Mr. W. S. Greene: Tuition for Theodore and Arthur £1 8s; pens and ink 5/-, Anderson's Geography 2-, Royal ditto 1/9, Slate 9d.
Mr. Goldsmith: Tuition for Oliver (five weeks), 5/-.
Mr. Forbes: Tuition for Louisa and Rachel £1 19s.
Mr. O'Donoghue: Tuition for Mary Ann 13/-.
Mrs. Meldrum: Three medium slates 1/8; 3 small do. 1/2; 1 box slate pencils 5d; 3 Royal Geographies 4/6; 2 small Arithmetics 8d; 2 Readers No. 4 1/8; A Step by Steps 6d; 2 Sequels 8d; and 3 Copy Books 1/-.
Mr. Doleman: Tuition for Martha £1 6s.
Mr. Dunlop: Tuition for Ellen (6 weeks) 6/-.
Mr. Steele: Tuition for Alice (7 weeks) 7/-.
Mr. Gilman: Books 4/-.
Mr. W. King: Tuition for Elizabeth and Thomas £1 6s.
In the following quarter the following also were amongst the scholars: Findlay Drummond, Charles Young, Heber Pritchard, Lucy Morton, Jane and Elizabeth Hall, Walter and Clara Webb, Kate O'Donoghue, Laura Langford, Ada Stevens, Frank and Emily Skeet, Geo. Brown, P. Jones, Annie, Walter, Harry and Frederick Clayton, Flora Wylie, A. McDonald, A. Harris, Cameron, Kate, Arthur and Mary Buchanan, Wm. and Robt. Stuckey, Annie Adams, John Cook, Alfred Skipworth, David Bridger, Robt. Skeet, James and Frederick Martin, Louisa and Richard Byrne, Minnie Dawson.
Pianoforte lessons were now also given as an extra.
Further new names appear in the 1874 list of scholars as under: John Sampson, George Brocklebanck, Alice Habbourt, M. and H. Sloye, Esther Habbourt, M. and H. Sloye, Esther Brimskill, E. Nasmith, R. Caulton, A. Tibbals, E., M. and R. Tier, Ernest Evans, M. E., J., and S. Morgan, F. Steele, Alf. Adams, T. and E. North, A., B. and F. O'Meara, S., M. and E. Hunt, J., M. and M. Harris, H., Henry and J. Cameron, R. Bailey, H. Nasmith, Em. Blair, M. and A. Scrivener, E. Harris, E. Davis, S. Dawson, Haache.
The 1875 list has also: F. Burnard, E. and H. Warren, F. and T. Faram, J. F. Martin, S. Dawson, A. Sorry, J., G. and N. Carey. W. and J. Maher, J., M. and E. Reed, F. and L. Gibbons, T. Littlewood, M. Hepburn.
Every town has associated with it names of prominent residents, and in this connection Gisborne is inevitably linked with the Carroll family. The late Sir James Carroll, it is safe to say, carried the name of Gisborne to numerous large cities and smaller towns in England, Scotland and Ireland, and also throughout the Commonwealth. In every part of New Zealand the mere mention of Sir Jas. Carroll inevitably brought Gisborne to the mind. With Sir James, however, more especially in this district, is always associated the name of Lady Carroll. Lady Carroll is perhaps better known to hundreds by reputation than personally, for she has always been of a quiet and retiring disposition, delighting more in home life than in the fierce glare of publicity. As an enthusastic lover of Gisborne Lady Carroll has few equals in this town. Anything for the advancement of the district, particularly if the Maori race is concerned, finds a sympathetic place in her heart. Her gift of £500 to the Kahutia Bowling Club of which the late Sir James was the loved ariki, for a new pavilion, is well remembered by all residents of the town. In ladies' hockey, too, Lady Carroll has taken a keen interest, which culminated in her donation of the handsome Carroll Shield for competition between Poverty Bay, Wairoa and Hawke's Bay. That shield is the most expensive and most magnificent trophy of its kind open for competition in any sport in New Zealand. Lady Carroll is proud of Gisborne, and needless to say, Gisborne is proud of Lady Carroll.
For sixty-three years has Lady Carroll resided in this town, coming here as a girl, with her mother, Riperata Kahutia, in 1864, Lady Carroll was born in Makauri, and spent a happy childhood there. Then one day came the news of Kereopa's murder of the Rev. C. Volkner, at Opotiki, and the advance of the Hauhaus towards Poverty Bay. Next came the news of the fighting at Waerenga-a-hika, and it was thought advisable to remove to a more inhabited portion of the district. The tribe thereupon came to Turanga, as it was then called, and established a pa near the mouth of the Waikanae stream. All the Natives from Te Arai also joined this pa. The men went out to the properties during the day, but returned to Turanga at night. Across in Kaiti, on the site of the present pa in Hirini Street, was established Hirini te Kani's pa, and these two were the only big pas at that time in the vicinity of Gisborne known to the loyalists.
“They were happy days then,” said Lady Carroll to a “Times” representative. “The elders were, naturally, worried somewhat over the fighting, but we younger ones spent much time in fishing and wandering along the beaches. There was, of course, no bridge over the Turanganui; we went across in little canoes. There were very few pakehas in the district then. Just outside the sertlement itself was dense manuka and fern.
“At intervals,” continued Lady Carroll, “the township and especially the pas would be thrown into a state of excitement, when the Ngatiporous came down from Tokomaru and Waiwas in charge. The Ngatiporous apu, especially when Henare Potae would be stationed sometimes at Hirini te Kani's pa and sometimes further on, where Mrs. Harding's house now stands. Those visits were indeed memorable days for us. We would watch them come in to Turanga and then see them go out again on the flats after the Hauhaus. Then when the fighting was over the town grew bigger and bigger. The manuka and fern outside the settlement were cleared, and gave way to houses and streets, and so Gisborne grew.
“Still, the old days were good days,” continued Lady Carroll reflectively, “and we had happy times, then. There were no by-laws to tell us what to do. We did as we liked. Now we have trams and motor-cars, and speed restrictions”—and Lady Carroll smiled broadly.
No more was said, but it needed little prescience to gather that Lady Carroll's thoughts were travelling back to those happy days in the pa on the Waikanae stream in the sixties, with their fun, and yet with their excitement, the welcoming of Henare Potae's warriors, and the anxious awaiting for their return after chasing the Hauhaus. Life indeed was preferable in the settlement of Turanga in 1864 to the up-to-date Borough of Gisborne in 1927.
If by “Early Settler” we mean one who was in Gisborne in 1877, then Mr. Rees has no right to the title, as he first came here two years later, and even then might be classed as “semi-detached,” because afterwards he moved to Auckland and then to Napier. In all, he spent over 25 years—a third of his life—here, a longer period than in any other district, and during those years his wonderful vision, enthusiasm, ability, untiring energy and warm affection for Poverty Bay accomplished much, so that his name is indissolubly linked with the early history of this town.
Every Gsborneite of the '80's probably, at some time or other, visited Te Hapara, then the home of Mr. and Mrs. W. L. Rees. Church fetes and open-air functions in aid of any good cause were almost invariably held in the garden. On these occasions, brakes, spring-carts and cabs (a term which covered a few magnificent growlers and a fleet of high, narrow, closed-in waggonettes) raced through a two-mile-long cloud of dust, conveying townspeople—often gratuitously—to the festivities. The garden gate was approached from Gladstone Road by a narrow avenue a quarter of a mile long, a green tunnel between alternate willows and poplars, and careful driving was necessary to avoid collisions, especially when it was a case of four-in-hands meeting.
Inside the second gate the scene was gay and animated—booths lining the walks and drives; sometimes the band or an orchestra; tea-stalls; crowds visiting these attractions, strolling over the lawns or seated in the shady shrubberies; sometimes children's sports or a costume cricket match, the air full of talking and laughter. In the evening an openair concert—rows of seats facing the front verandah which served as a stage. Sometimes dancing on the tennis lawn: sometimes in one of the paddocks a great display of fireworks.
The most spectacular pyrotechnic display was staged one night by V. G. Day and W. E. Akroyd, then both recent arrivals from England. By some mischance their careful plans went a-gley, and, after a quietly successful
Te Hapara garden, the morning after a fete, was a sorry sight, strewn with torn paper wrappings, empty bottles (looking as rakish as if they had held Falernian instead of lemonade and raspberry vinegar), overturned benches and trestle tables. Flower-beds were trampled down, arbours broken, and—horror of horrors—the tenins lawn! Instead of smooth green turf, a sandy waste bearing eruptions of stubble and torn-up roots!
Mr. and Mrs. Rees were garden lovers. They quailed before the mute reproach of the green things which had trusted them. They vowed “Never again,” and Mrs. Rees might upbraid her husband for being too ready to consent to such a sacrifice, and exact a promise that it should not happen again. And then—next time—she herself would give permission.
Cricketers throughout the district and visiting teams played their matches in one of the paddocks where “W.L.” laid down an excellent pitch and a very fair fielding ground, levelling, turfing, watering, rolling incessantly, early and late, with the help of his three young sons, Lincoln, Arthur and Ted—the last barely in his teens. Tennis flourished vigorously, four courts being all in demand when forty or fifty players assembled.
One of the most exuberantly happy gatherings was when Mr and Mrs Rees invited all the school children and then, hating invidious distinctions, extended the invitation to any children. Games, a programme of sports with attractive prizes; an open-air feast with liquid refreshments—mostly pink—cakes and fruit galore—surely the memory of the party will be cherished by some of those children of over forty years ago.
As this sketch is concerned chiefly with Gisborne and only subordinately with Mr Rees, the facts of his life elsewhere must be touched on as briefly as possible. These stand recorded in many books of reference. His birth in Bristol in 1836; his mother widowed two years later; Dr. Rees's practice taken over by his brother-in-law, Dr. Grace, father of “W.G.”, “G.F.”, and “E.M.”, the Three Graces of the cricketing
In 1863 he married the daughter of Mr Opie Staite. Mr and Mrs Rees met for the first time in Melbourne, though born in the same Square in Bristol. Shortly after his marriage, Mr Rees resumed his law studies and was called to the Victorian Bar in 1865. Briefed for a New Zealand case, he came to the South Island in 1866, and, after passing a more or less formal exam necessary before he could appear in this Court, he was admitted as a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of New Zealand by Mr Justice Chapman, father of Sir Frederick Chapman.
Those were the first hectic days of the rush to the newly discovered gold-fields of the West Coast. Strong persuasion was offered to the Victorian barrister to go there. Probably he needed little urging. Shortly we find him moving his household, consisting of mother and sister, as well as wife and two bairns, to Hokitika. Three exciting years followed. Events moved with dramatic swiftness. People made sudden fortunes—were as suddenly beggared. Untimely death lurked on the rock-strewn coast with its dangerous bar-harbors, and its encroaching ocean; in the swift floods in the Bealey and other mountain torrents which had to be forded by travellers; at the hands of bushrangers hidden in the forest along the course of the Buller, the only track to Nelson; in the hasty quarrels of the diggers; in the threatened clash between Fenians and Orangemen. Fortunately, the last danger was averted; but buildings were burned, a great procession organised in honor of the victims of the “Manchester Murders” and a cross erected to their memory in the cemetery, guarded night and day by an armed body of the malcontents. On the other side, most of the loyalists were enrolled as special constables and patrolled the streets every night. Orangemen threatened to cut down the rebel cross in spite of the guard. And cut down it was one wild night when the guard had sought temporary shelter.
A great rush of business was being dealt with in Mr Rees's office with its large staff. And in the course of his work he was more or less connected with all the excitements. Elected to the Westland County Council, he threw himself heart and soul into the work of furthering the interests of the district. But the radiance on the future was clouding over. People began to drift away. Mr Rees's sister married Mr E. K. Tyler. His mother died. The money which had poured into the office had been lavished in the development of worthless claims. Another move was decided on and in 1869 the family moved to Auckland.
Stepping at once into a good practice, briefed in every important case, four years later elected to the Auckland Provincial Council, later appointed Provincial Solicitor, Mr. Rees was brought into intimate relationship with Sir George Grey. A
Influenced by Sir G. Grey's desire that he should guard the rights of the Natives in disputed titles to land, he moved to Napier in 1878 and shortly afterwards, in pursuance of the same course, settled in Gisborne.
The Native Land Laws were a mass of baffling restrictions preventing open and legitimate dealings, while giving cover in their technicalities and ambiguities to fraud hard to bring to light and prove. Only a man of great courage and most sanguine disposition could have flung himself almost alone into a threefold fight: against the European owners of lands unjustly acquired, against Natives who wanted to repudiate perfectly fair contracts and against the contradictions and delays of the Statute Law. His object was to benefit both pakeha and Maori. But, as usual in such cases, he was often regarded with suspicion and alarm by both parties. By amicable compromise, also, he often ended ruinous litigation to mutual benefit.
In 1883 he arranged a friendly settlement of disputed titles between the original Native owners of the Whataupoko block and Mr. P. Barker, who had purchased most of the interests in it, but could get no finality and no sure title in the Courts. Mr. Barker re-sold a part of the estate for a cash payment and an indefeasible title to the interests he retained. Then the suburb of Whataupoko, so popular to-day, was surveyed, subdivided, roaded and thrown open for settlement. But the locai authorities had little desire, and perhaps no money, to build a bridge, so Mr. Rees, realising that one was indispensable, spanned the river at Peel Street. He persuaded the Natives to provide some of the funds, but had eventually to contribute a great part of the cost out of his own pocket. The bridge (known as “Rees's Folly”—the public wondering how he could expect anyone to make a home among the thick manuka, so far from the Post Office) was for years only wide enough for one vehicle from bank to bank. Later, the authorities widened it on both sides of the middle swing. When the present splendid bridge replaced it, the excellent state of preservation of the piles and other timber caused surprise.
Besides many beneficial arrangements similar to that of the Whataupoko block, local settlers had also cause to thank Mr. Rees for urging on the legislation by which they were able to convert their leaseholds into freehold titles.
For years he advocated a simpler manner of dealing with Native lands through a system of committees. He continually urged that a Commission should be set up to consider the whole question and take evidence throughout the North Island. Eventually, in 1891, the Commission was decided on, with Mr. Rees as chairman, and Mr. (later, Sir James) Carroll as a member. The report of the Commission was a valuable contribution towards the proper understanding of the need for reform.
From the first Mr. Rees strongly advocated the construction of an outer harbor. One of the prime movers in getting Sir John Coode and other eminent marine engineers to visit Gisborne and report, he was eager to see the plan on which they were practically unanimous—a breakwater on the reef running out from Kaiti—adopted and put in hand. He appealed to the public by letters in the
Surely I am not the only person alive to-day who remembers those meetings—political, too, some of them, for Mr. Rees unsuccessfully stood for Parliament—perhaps McFarlane's Hall with its historic notices round the walls “Smoking, Chewing and Dogs are Disallowed”; perhaps a little up-country room where smoking was not “disallowed” and where through the blue haze, one might see persistent hecklers being hustled out by stalwarts anxious to hear—or even a stout interrupter rolled on the floor and used as a sofa by a couple of self-constituted guardians of law and order placidly smoking and sternly forbidding even groans from their victim. One question seemed invariably to suggest itself to the audience: “Who's going to pay for the hall?” The lecturer would loftily dismiss the triviality and proceed with his prophetic rhapsody. Incredible as it seems, Mr. Rees and a few kindred spirits so fired the community with their zeal that that handful of people—perhaps not numbering as many hundreds as there are thousands here to-day—decided to take upon their shoulders a liability of £200,000 and build the harbor on Sir John Coode's plan. Determined to get the harbor, it was strange that the public never succeeded in electing a Harbor Board prepared to carry out the public wish. I have been told that Mr. Rees was the prime mover in securing over 44,000 acres of land at Tauwhareparae as a Crown grant for the endowment of the Gisborne harbor. But I have no evidence of the fact. The block was recommended by Col-Porter, applied for in the House by Allan McDonald, member for the district, supported and voted for by all Mr. Rees' friends in Parliament. But whoever moved in the matter, the Harbor Board certainly did not. Mr. McDonald's advertisement of intention to apply for the endowment was brought under the notice of the Board by one of the Board members in May, 1883, and provoked an amusing discussion. “Where was it?” “Was it of any value?” “Should they send a letter to Mr. McDonald approving of his action?” Ultimately they decided that endowments of 44,000 acres were not likely to fall from the skies every day and that they would write approving of the application. Until lately, Gisborneites have paid no harbor rates, thanks to the rentals from Tauwhareparae.
In 1884, The Gisborne Harbor Board Empowering Bill, drafted by Mr. Rees and commended by him to Sir G. Grey and other friends in the House, was presented by the member for the district and became law. It sanctioned the raising of £200,000 for the building of “a deep sea harbor,” “a harbor for ocean-going vessels.” That night there was rejoicing in this town. Its usually dark streets were illuminated, and the wish of the people to have an outer harbor seemed as good as fulfilled. But the Harbor Board used the money for improvements (!) to the river. Later, no fewer than seven Amending Acts had to be passed in about the same number of years to enable them to continue to use the money which had been granted for a different purpose. The unexpected sequel was a bitter blow to Mr. Rees, but he took it as a temporary check, not checkmate, and until he died continued his agitation for an outer harbor on the site chosen by Sir John Coode and approved by nearly every marine engineer since.
In 1883, on the invitation of Wahanui, Mr. Rees and Captain Tucker visited him in the jealously guarded King Country to discuss the position of the Native lands.
In 1886, briefed by Mr Percy Macarthur. Mr. Rees went to Samoa. He won his case in which immensely valuable interests were at stake. But during the only ten days he ever spent in Apia he became the storm-centre of events of world-wide interest. Samoa was at that time under the joint protection of England, the United States and Germany. The last, however, asserted its dominance. The German flag had been flying for eighteen months instead of King Malietoa's, and when Mr. Rees reached Samoa the one topic of conversation was the presence of the German fleet, rumored to have papers of annexation.
A party of rebel natives were being feted and visited by Admiral and officers, the flagship's band playing ashore while Admiral Knorr dined with Tamasese the rebel leader. On the following Monday morning, said rumor, the rebels would come into Apia harbor, receive last instructions from the German ships, land, loot, sack and burn, and then the Admiral, in the name of law and order, would annex the group.
Malietoa came to consult Mr. Rees, who vainly implored the British Consul to intervene to save British lives and property. He studied the agreements of the three powers guaranteeing the protection of Samoa. In that of the United States was a clause not found in those of the other two—that, in the event of threatened hostilities, the United States would use its good offices to avert attack. Under this, he persuaded the American Consul most reluctantly to hoist Malietoa's flag under the Stars and Stripes, and to inform Dr. Steubel, the German Consul, and Admiral Knorr that King Malietoa was under the protection of the United States. The German replies to these communications, as well as to Malietoa's announcement of the facts and his assertion of his rights, were not merely strong; they were violent. The rejoinders of Mr. Greenebaum and of Malietoa (as anyone acquainted with “W.L.” might expect) were also strong and extremely pithy and trenchant.
Then, on Monday morning, the war canoes of the rebels swept into Apia harbor, went to the flagship for instructions and were ordered back to their camp. The German ships were hoisting anchor and preparing to leave when the Diamond's guns were heard, saluting the Admiral's flag. As the English ship came in the Germans glided out. There was feasting and laughter in Apia that night.
In 1888, Mr. Rees, on his way to England, visited Washington and was received by the President, but found that Germany had gained later by diplomacy what for the moment had been snatched from her grasp. In London he learned that England had withdrawn entirely from Samoa.
He wrote the whole dramatic story for the Nineteenth Century (Nov. 1888) ending with a remarkable prophecy that, when the Great War came, the broken pledge of Germany to a Native King would meet with just retribution, and that the nation would have bitter cause to regret the leadership of the Kaiser, then newlycrowned and seemingly with a brilliant future before him. The article closes with the words “When that day comes, Malietoa and Samoa will be avenged.” It was strange that the first German possession lost in the Great War should be Samoa, taken by our New Zealand Expeditionarv Force before the end of August 1914.
Mr. Rees' mission to England was to try to turn into fact a splendid vision of his mind. He and Wi Pere were entrusted with a quarter of a million acres of land in this district on which it was hoped to settle two or three thousand families from Great Britain, on the principle of what is now called “Group Settlement,” but which Mr. Rees, its first apostle, called “Co-operative Colonisation.” The money for such an Imperial project could well be expected from the Imperial Parliament.
Mr. Rees and Wi Pere went to London, Wi Pere being much perturbed when he saw the shipping in the Channel, by the thought that all the people in England were going away, just when he and Mr. Rees had come so far to speak to them! Petitions from pakehas and Maoris were presented to the House. The big world listened eagerly to Mr. Rees' facts, theories and plans. Cabinet Ministers gave him attentive hearings. The House of Commons discussed the propositions. Several hundred crofter families were likely to be nominated and assisted by the owner of the Island of Lews. The British and Scottish Co-operative Wholesale Societies invited Mr. Rees to explain his proposals.
A most influential committee, including Lord Onslow, the Earl of Aberdeen and fifteen or twenty equally well-known men and women, with the Marquis of Lorne as chairman, was set up to help Mr. Rees in London. His book on economics “From Poverty to Plenty” brought his mission still more prominently forward. He took an office at Westminster. Requests for lectures came from the most diverse quarters. One day he would address the leaders of thought or society; the next, perhaps a Radical Club in the Mile-end Road, a country debating society, or a vegetrian dinner-party. He attended the meeting of the British Association at Bath and read a paper on ‘Economics’ which aroused considerable interest. The newspepers throughout England reported every fresh step taken in his campaign, and the New Zealand press published frequent cables about the interest he was arousing.
But with all this encouragement that he received there was also bitter and continued opposition. Anonymous letters appeared in the papers attacking Mr. Rees and declaring that the writers knew the land in question to be worthless, and that settlers on it would starve. Mr. Rees fought on, believing defeat impossible. But the opposition was too strong and the Government declined to consider the matter further. The blow, coming after the strain and hard work, was very severe, and Mr. Rees looked ten years older on his return to New Zealand in 1889. His own affairs had been neglected (except so far as they were bound up with his work for the community which had failed) and he lost Te Hapara.
Leaving Gisborne and making his home in Auckland, he was returned again to Parliament for his old seat. He was soon chosen as Chairman of Committees in the House of Representatives. His work in 1891 on the Native Land Laws Commission has been already noticed. In 1892 the “Life and Times of Sir George Grey” was published. This was almost an autobiography, for Mr. Rees and his eldest daughter who collaborated with him, living near Sir George were able to submit each chapter to him for verification or amendment of the facts stated, and to have access to his letters and documents.
The year 1893 found Mr. Rees again engaged in fierce political controversy. He charged Mr. Cadman, the Native Minister, with acquiring lands from Maoris while in office, throwing down a challenge in the House of Representatives that if Mr. Cadman would resign his seat he would do the same and test the feeling of Mr. Cadman's constituents by standing against him in his own electorate. Rees was defeated by a small majority and then had to defend a libel action on his charges. The jury found him technically guilty and assessed the damages at one farthing.
In 1894 he returned to Gisborne and did not leave it again until his death in 1912, except for short periods
This account, though not often mentioning Mrs. Rees by name, is the story of her life from 1863 to 1912, as she was associated with all her husband's activities, frequently modifying his extravagance of thought, and showing a greater mastery of detail than he. After his death, a year before they would have celebrated their golden wedding, her life seemed over, but as the months passed her affection for young people and flowers and growing things kept up her interest in life, almost, as it were against her will. Six years later, she passed away from a small world that loved her dearly.
In many of the causes dear to his heart and for which he worked untiringly, Mr. Rees met with little or no success. But his failures were partly the result of his over-sanguine disposition which saw a tree in full fruit when he planted a seedling, and partly due to the fact that he was a century before his time.
For the world at large, he wanted perfect industrial co-operation bringing commercial and national peace. For the Empire he wanted co-operative colonisation, a peopling of the wide empty spaces with prosperous happy citizens. For New Zealand he wanted just laws, a great future, liberty and progress not merely in wealth but in ideals, knowledge and vision. For Gisborne, besides the aims already referred to, he wanted large parks and playing fields. He persuaded the Native owners to offer one hundred acres of Kaiti Hill to the Borough Council at £10 an acre and fifty acres on the Waikanae, near Childers Road, at £50 an acre to the Sports Association—though that may not have been the name of the guardians of games of the day. Neither offer was accepted. In later years, he wanted the owners of bush sections to get the value of their timber instead of being forced to burn it; the owners of quarries to find a market for their metal; the local Councils to have stone for their roads and the harbor of his dreams; and he formed a plan by which these parties could work together to mutual advantage.
For himself, he wanted to give happiness, to plan great things, and help to carry them out (in which last attempt he beggared himself more than once), and to leave the world better than he found it. He was utterly lacking in the chief virtue of the commercial world. He had no money sense. With all his influence among the Maoris and his opportunities to enrich himself, he never accepted land or gifts from them. A prodigal giver, often in financial difficulties himself, he could make fortunes for others but when he earned a hundred guineas on a brief he would visualise a £300 plan of getting rid of it. Most kindly yet a born fighter; often impatient of a habit of thought or a standard lower than his own, he was greatly loved by many and disliked and feared by a few. Perhaps his most outstanding trait was that voiced by Sir Francis Bell: “One of the most unselfish and public-spirited men I have ever known.”
In the early days of 1878 the task of issuing a daily newspaper in Gisborne was one beset by many difficulties—as communication by steamer was very uncertain and frequent long delays occurred in procuring supplies of paper necessary for its production. The port was then served by the s.s. “Pretty Jane” from Auckland, and from the South by the s.s. “Rangitira.” At times it so happned that supplies would be out in the Bay for days before being available. On one occasion the stock of news print of both papers had run out, and this necessitated one journal having to search the town for a sufficient supply for its next issue. By good chance a few reams of white wrapping paper were unearthed in a merchant's store, which then stood on the site where the Band Rotunda is now situated on the riverside. The anxiety for the next issue was relieved by the “Jane” negotiating the bar and berthing at the wharf next day.
Being isolated, both by steamer and road communication, rendered it a difficult matter at times to supply sufficient “copy” to fill the columns of the then four-page daily issues. The local journals were prohibited, under severe penalties, from publishing either “cables” or “wires” until the expiry of a stated period had elapsed from them appearing in the “first grade' papers in the principal centres.
Hence the arrival of “exchanges” was eagerly awaited by sub-editors and it was no uncommon occurrence to insert “pars” and “wires” snipped from contemporaries and serve them up under “This Day's” headings.
On one occasion a popular advance agent of a touring concert company, scanning the current day's issue of one journal, exclaimed “Sure, this is some ‘News Buster!” Picking out certain items under ‘this day's interprovincial news, he declared he had read them in the South Island some days previously. The prestige of the paper was at stake! The prompt reply was: this was easily accounted for by Gisborne being geographically situated so many degrees “farther north.” The response was “Son, come and sell tickets for me in the box office to-night,” and half-a-dozen “complimentaries” for the staff handed out.
The composing room of the newspapers was the resort of many “old timers,” who would drop in with an item of news. A frequent visitor was a dear old partly crippled French priest — Father Chastagnon—always humorous and full of quaint sayings. Nothing would suit but that he must assist in some way, and finally he was provided with a pair of “cases” and a composing “stick.' Great was his delight when he was shown the “proof” of the first few lines, the result of some hours of “setting.”
On one occasion a disastrous fire threatened the destruction of the printing office, and it was deemed advisable to remove portion of the plant to a place of safety. The good Father, with the best of intention to help, was found endeavoring to move one of the heavy news “formes,” which providentially was rescued in time from being converted into a heap of “Printers' Pie.” A kindly, good-hearted soul was the little French “Pere.” In the early days, the delivery of the paper to the country subscribers was a matter of extreme difficulty, and it was a common occurrence for one day's issue to be delivered the afternoon of the day following publication. During several months of the winter season, the principal roads were veritable quagmires, with mud up to the horse's girths. It became quite a common practice to walk inside the boundary fences, leading the horse outside. The country “runner” had a most strenuous time, having to keep two and three horses at various places to complete his round. How different from the present conditions! Settlers are now served with a daily issue in all parts of the district within an hour or so of publication.
Paparatu, Matawhero, Makaraka, Te Arai, Patutahi, Opou and Ngatapa are a few of the places whereat Mr. Robert Goldsmith participated in active service against the Hau Hau rebels who terrorised this district round 1868.
It was in 1848 his period of residence in this district began, and although he spent much of the early days up the East Coast, by far the greater part of his career has been lived in close proximity to the town On September 9 next, he will complete seventy-nine years of life in Poverty Bay.
Mr. Goldsmith's outstanding memories of the old days are, naturally, vivid mental pictures of the famous fighting times and, in the course of an interview, he re-lived some of those stirring days.
When word was received that Te Kooti and his band had landed from the Chathams at Whareongaonga, Colonel Whitmore went out with a force, which included Mr. Goldsmith, to intercept the Natives. Te Kooti made for Tiniroto en route to the Urewera country and it was at Paparatu that the opposing forces came into conflict. Colonel Whitmore came up with Te Kooti about 9 o'clock in the morning and immediately engaged him, the fight taking place in nills covered with bush. The Hau-Haus were on one side of a gully and the European force on the other, so that there was little scope for a straight-out encounter. The two forces took cover in the bush, each man finding the best shelter he could and keeping up a desultory fire whenever a target presented itself. Until darkness fell the engagement lasted, but, thereafter, Colonel Whitmore, who had by far the fewer number of troops, deemed it necessary to withdraw and Te Kooti continued his dash for the Urewera country.
It was in this fight that Mr. Goldsmith received a wound, the scar of which he bears to this day. He had taken cover behind some bushes, but exposed his left arm and a ball smashed through it at the elbow. A comrade saddled a horse for him and he rode back to Matawhero, where a temporary hospital had been set up in the small church—the first established church in Poverty Bay. After being tended there, he was sent down by boat to Napier and remained there until news of the terrible Massacre.
This awful disaster occurred, of course, after Te Kooti had returned from the Urewera country. Mr. Goldsmith was immediately very worried about the safety of his parents who had stayed behind in Gisborne, so he determined to return to the field of action at once, although his wound was still causing him much trouble, making his left arm useless. A boat was about to leave for Gisborne and he smuggled himself aboard, after being put ashore once, finally landing in Poverty Bay again within a week after the tragedy. Despite his wound, he immediately attached himself to the avenging mixed force of Europeans and friendly Natives, and was engaged mainly in despatch-carrying between the punitive force and headquarters in Gisborne
On one occasion Mr. Goldsmith and a friend were driving some cattle for the troops from Patutahi to the forces situated beyond Ngatapa. They had reached Ngatapa when they saw some Natives riding down a hill-side. “We didn't like the look of them at all,” continued Mr. Goldsmith, “but my friend said they couldn't be Hau-Haus since they had horses and we knew—or thought we did—that the enemy were all on foot. Nevertheless, we decided to be on the safe side and halted for a time, watching these strangers. They approached rapidly—too rapidly for our ease of mind—and so we took cover in the bush at a moment when they were hidden from us. Lying there concealed, we could hear them beating around in search for us. So close were they, for a time, that we could hear them talking and then knew for a fact that they were hostile. They moved some distance away and we took the chance of a dash for our lives in the direction of Patutahi. When we were sighted, the chase was on. The Hau-Haus were well mounted, having apparently captured some stray horses on the Flats.
“We had a good lead and at any commanding point, on the top of a hill for instance, we fired a couple of shots at them to cool their ardour. They would approach these points cautiously, not knowing whether we were still waiting for them. Meantime we would be dashing down the hill-side increasing our lead.
“Following some distance behind us, when we set out from Patutahi, had been some ammunition carriers, friendly Natives. My friend and I came upon this party at a place called Puketoro and they immediately fell into a panic when we told them we were being closely followed by Hau-Haus. Our total number was greater than the enemy and as the latter were then coming down a valley, while we held a commanding position above the track where they would pass, there was an ideal situation for an attack, which was practically certain of success. But our ammunition carriers would have none of it. We argued vainly and I swung my horse in behind them to prevent them returning to Patutahi. But it was no good and a splendid chance to destroy or capture some of Te Kooti's men went begging simply throgh the carriers' timidity. Seeing our augmented forces, the Hau-Haus stopped and we returned unmolested to Patutahi.”
At this time, Mr Goldsmith stated, there was a military depot at Patutahi, with a good supply of ammunition and stores. The Hau-Haus came down from Ngatapa and the occupants of the depot left immediately without firing a shot. With no opposition, the rebels simply walked in and helped themselves, thus replenishing their scanty stocks of cartridges, using them, later, to shoot down the men who had been issued with these self-same munitions.
Choice of death by fire or by shooting was almost forced on Mr. Goldsmith and his mates in a small encounter with Hau-Haus. near Ngatapa. The rebels were on one side of a ridge and the Government troops on the other, the latter being steadily on the defensive against superior numbers. All over the ridge was a prolific growth of fern and, while hidden in this, the European force was
On a scouting trip near Ngatapa, related Mr. Goldsmith, they had seen no signs of the Hau-Haus, despite warnings from friendly Natives that the enemy had come down from the hills. Proceeding to Patutahi, the scouts heard Natives talking on the other side of the river, but could not tell whether they were friendly or otherwise. Night came on and they camped at a redoubt situated on what is now Mr. Ewen Cameron's place at Makauri. During the dark hours, they again heard Natives talking, but could not run the risk of attracting their attention, for fear they should prove hostile. Morning came, the neighborhood appeared deserted and, after returning to Makaraka for the following night, they once more made their way out to the Ngatapa Flats. Still they had perceived no Natives who were definitely hostile, but they came on traces of a camp-fire. Back they came to Pukepuke in the Patutahi Valley. Mr. Goldsmith was some distance ahead of the rest of the party, when he noticed a number of Natives coming down a hill towards them. Extensive scouting had revealed no trace of the Hau-Haus and he, concluding these were some of the friendly Natives, took no notice of them. Mr. Goldsmith and this party gradually approached one another and when they were only two hundred yards away they suddenly discharged a volley at him.
“It was a nasty shock,” commented Mr. Goldsmith, “but I didn't take long to get over it, you may be sure, and I cleared back up a hill towards our own men. There was too much excitement in it for my comfort and I can't understand yet how they missed me, for they kept up their shooting as I dashed up the hill-side and down the other side to safety. it was fortunate for our men that I did get away, for no others in the party knew the lay of the land about there. The Hau-Haus outnumbered us greatly and we were placed in an awkward position, being in a valley with a wide swamp at our rear. By coming to the hill-top, which they could have done with perfect safety, the enemy could have picked us off at leisure. Fortunately I knew an easy path along the edge of the swamp and so we galloped along this to the more open country at the bottom of the valley. When the Hau-Haus reached the hill-top, we were well away, but they wasted little time in setting out hotly after us.”
Mr. Goldsmith was rather diffident about relating an incident of this chase and passed it off with a few words. It appeared that one of the scouting party was mounted on a horse of indifferent quality and rapidly fell behind the others. Eventually his mount became completely “puffed” and came to a standstill. The Hau-Haus rapidly approached and none of his comrades would risk a dash back to rescue the unfortunate straggler. Mr. Goldsmith, who was up with the leaders, on noticing the man's plight, immediately checked his mount, turned and rode back to his assistance. Tearing along at full gallop, he called to his comrade (who had then dismounted and was running after the fleeing party) to be ready to jump. The rescuer swung his horse in a circle without checking the pace at all, came up by the dismounted man, gripped him, and half supporting him across his leg and
Two days after this narrow escape, Major Ropata arrived at Patutahi from Napier and Mr. Goldsmith joined his party as a scout, once more getting up to the firing-line. Leaving Patutahi, they set out for Ngatapa and had reached Makaretu, when they engaged a strong body of Hau-Haus. The enemy were caught in a valley with a deep creek at the bottom, so Major Ropata divided his party, sending a band of friendly Napier Natives, some seven or eight hundred, along one ridge, while he took up a position, with the remainder of his force, on the other. Caught between two fires, with no possibility of escape, the Hau Haus fought bravely despite rapidly-diminishing numbers. The Government troops gradually closed in and drove the rebels up the valley which narrowed down to an end in a clear space near the hill-top. When the retreating Natives reached the end of the cover, they had the choice of rushing out into the open to be shot down or of jumping into the deep creek at the side. Some made a dash for the open, but none won through Others jumped into the creek (which had a deep flow of water) and attempted to escape down stream. “They hadn't a chance in the world,” Mr. Goldsmith remarked reflectively, “and with some of them swimming and others breast-high in the water, we had no trouble in fixing them all.”
This victory over the Hau-Haus had an unfortunate sequel. Before the engagement, Major Ropata had issued orders that no prisoners were to be taken. The Napier Natives had captured two men and, for some reason, did not wish to execute them. Major Ropata demanded that they be delivered to him, but the Napier men proved adamant. Thereupon the Major, whose own party consisted of only 70 or 80 as against ten times that number of Napier Natives, delivered an ultimatum that the latter could keep the two prisoners until next morning, but they would then have to be given up without fail. During that night, all the Napier “friendlies,” with their two prisoners, departed for Patutahi and were thence returned to Napier, taking no further part in the fighting. Their departure was a big loss to the Government forces.
Very shortly after this, on the same trip, Mr. Goldsmith participated in the attacks on the pa situated on Ngatapa hill. Many of the Hau Haus had retired to this strongly fortified post which was well guarded on all open sides by a series of rifl-epits outside the stout pallisade. All the brush and scrub had been cleared for a considerable distance around the pa and the attackers were thus fully exposed to the defenders' fire when advancing. Major Ropata, however, led an assault to the first line of rifle pits which were captured, but they had to relinquish this position during the night, owing to the supply of ammunition running out.
The whole party then retired to Gisborne and were there fully equipped again. Large numbers of Europeans arrived from all parts of the country and again the pa at Ngatapa was besieged. On three sides, the pa was easy of approach and the attacking force set a cordon around to prevent any of the Hau-Haus escaping. The fourth side of the pallisade was on the edge of a precipitous cliff, about twenty feet high, with ti-tree growing profusely along the brink. This side was considered inaccessible either from within or without the pa and, consequently, the attackers placed no guard thereabouts
A number of assaults were made by Major Ropata and his men, the rifle-pits being captured, but the pa itself remaining in Hau-Hau hands. To shorten the siege, it was decided to
“But the Hau-Haus must have known something,” said Mr. Goldsmith with a smile, “for every one of the beggars cleared out of the pa that night. They slipped out the back way and got down the cliff by bending the ti-tree over and using it to lessen the distance of their fall. In the morning, it didn't take us long to find they had gone and so we captured the empty Ngatapa pa. Anyway we had our explosion and utterly destroyed the stronghold.”
Many of the escaping Natives were captured and they were dealt with very summarily They were made to dig their own graves and were then shot down as they stood on the edge. “It seems cold-blooded,” remarked Mr. Goldsmith, “but it was a necessary measure and these devils had committed cruelties which made any mercy impossible.
“They were stirring times,” said Mr. Goldsmith, in conclusion, “and they were wonderful in some ways. Thoughts occasionally come to me of the days spent under the stars, waiting, breathlessly, at the sound of Native voices, to discover whether they wore those of friend or of foe. Life seemed of very little consequence and we thought little more of shooting down a Hau-Hau than a farmer does now of killing a fat sheep to supply his household. But one can only hope that New Zealand will never see such a state of things again. The greatest burden of it all was borne by the women, our wives and daughters, who sat by the fireside and thought of the absent ones who even then might have passed to death amidst the fern and shrub of some desolate hill-side.”
Not long after Captain J. W. Harris, grandfather of Mr. Frank Harris, of Kaiti, settled in Gisborne at the dawn of the 30's he and his few pakeha helpers were surprised to find in their midst a new settler in the person of one William Brown or, as he became known to the Natives, Wiremu Parone, a sailor whom they had previously seen ashore with some of his comrades prior to the sailing of a whaling vessel that had called in at the Bay.
As to the date of William Brown's advent, even as to the name of the vessel from which he ran away, history is silent. In the past, it has been supposed in some quarters that he came here about the same time as Capt. Harris, if not before. Enquiries, however, go to show, conclusively, that the vessel by which he came out to New Zealand was an English boat and that her object in calling was to pick up oil, whale-bone and provisions. It is also known by his descendants that he landed on the Kaiti beach and that, at the time of his arrival, Capt. Harris was not the only pakeha resident here. As Captain Harris did not commence whale hunting at Papawhiriki, near Tuamotu Island, until about 1837, it would seem, therefore, that that would be about the date of Wm. Brown's advent.
Even so, it requires to be set down that William Brown was one of Poverty Bay's very earliest settlers. Unfortunately, the names are not known of all the pakehas who assistted Captain Harris in his trading and whaling activities. Some, it would seem, moved about a great deal and would be only temporary residents. Tom Ralph was, of course, one. Barnet Burns, it was, in the early days, thought was another, but Burns' account of his strange exploits on the East Coast indicates that he visited here a year or two earlier, prior to settling at Tolaga Bay. Maybe, Mr. Thos. Halbert, father of Pitau, Wi Pere and Thos. Halbert, Junior, of Makaraka, was, like Capt. Harris, also established here before Wm. Brown's day. That Mr. R. Poulgrain, Mr. Espie, senr., or the U'Rens preceded him is not supportable.
What led this William Brown to forsake his roving life on the ocean wave to partake of the hardships incidental to pioneering life in this isolated part of the Dominion amongst Natives who had, up till that time, come into contact with but few Europeans, is not known. It is, however, well authenticated that he did not
From what can be learned, William Brown came of a good family. His people, it is generally supposed, were English, but, even on that point his grandchild, Mahaki Brown, of Puha, for instance, is far from emphatic, having come to the conclusion that he might also have had Scottish blood in his veins. At all events William Brown had some petty difference with his people and, in consequence, he decided to quit the British Isles and see something of the wide, wide world for himself.
In those early days of pakeha venturesomeness in these parts it was highly advantageous for an intruder to get into the good books of an influential Native chief, and it so happens that it was William Brown's good fortune to find favor with no less a Native nobleman than Kahutia, for history records that, very soon after he landed here, Kahutia gave him for a wife one of his relatives. Maybe, this particular damsel may have lured William Brown from his duties aboard ship.
The young Native woman who became Mrs. William Brown could trace her descent thuswise—Te Kaapa begat Ruku and Tu Tapu. Ruku begat Kahutia, who begat Ripirata Kahutia, who begat Lady Carroll. Tu Tapu begat Apikara, who begat Hine Whati o te Rangi, the wife of William Brown.
On every hand it is agreed that the matrimonial alliance was a most happy one. It was blessed by the advent of five children—
Wi Brown, who lived near Makaraka, dying in 1895.
Mere Kingi Parone, a resident of Manutuke.
Eruera Parone, who died at Makauri in 1920.
Paku Brown, of Makauri, who was killed at Tiniroto by Te Kooti rebels whilst carrying despatches from Gisborne to Wairoa in 1868; and
Kato Ruru (the esteemed mother of Henry Ruru, of Te Karaka) who very kindly, at her son's request, supplied much of the information now being placed on record concerning her father.
Incidentally, it may be mentioned that Kato Ruru, Wm. Brown's youngest daughter, married Karaitiana Ruru, who was a son of Henare Keepa Ruru, who was the donor of the Waerenga-a-hika Mission site of 600 acres to the Rev. W. Williams, a property which to-day is worth probably up to £60,000. Henare Keepa Ruru was the first Native buried with military honors in this district, his burial taking place at Waerenga-a-Hika in 1873. It was to him, according to Mr. Henry Ruru, that the Native rebels after the Waerenga-a-Hika rising, laid down their arms.
What is further of interest concerning Henare Keepa Ruru is that Mr. Henry Ruru claims that Kahutia and his grandfather were the last Maori males to be tattooed in Poverty Bay. Many of the females of high rank subsequently underwent the operation. To-day, however, tattooing is a thing of the past for Maori female as well as Maori male in this district. Mr. Ruru also says that in different districts the tattooing differed and that the tattooing of the East Coast can be readily recognised by experts. In fact the old experts could give the name of the operator on studying the markings. Both Wm. Brown's daughters were tattooed.
It has been suggested in some quarters that Wm. Brown, when he ran away from his ship, managed to get ashore a chest of tools. This, however, is not well established. What is certain, however, is that when he landed he had with him an old-style large English Bible, which he greatly treasured and which, much to his sorrow, was burnt in a fire at Makaraka many years afterwards.
William Brown, strange as it may appear, never became a master of the Native language. However, he quickly gained a sufficient smattering to enable him to converse and even to teach English to Natives with whom he came into contact. He conducted family prayers every morning and taught the Scriptures to his wife and family on Sundays, and to Natives who cared to join in his religious observances. Being an industrious man and of a quiet disposition he got on remarkably well with the Maoris, who showed him every consideration.
In due course, William Brown set up shop at Ngawaierua, which was on the side towards the sea between Awapuni and Opou, his stock-in-trade consisting for the most part of clothing, blankets, etc. Barter was, in those days, the only means of exchange and with the produce which he obtained from the Natives in return for goods he was abJe to enlarge his stocks in the course of trading with vessels calling in to Poverty Bay. William Brown was also given in return for goods the right to use certain lands.
Prior to the Hauhau trouble oreaking out in 1865 Wm. Brown had established himself as a flour miller on the Flats near Makaraka. Where he got the plant does not seem clear, but it was probably obtained from Sydney. The Natives as well as the few white settlers thereabouts brought their wheat to the mill to be ground. A pakeha named Neri (Ned) Paranohi was his chief assistant. Oftentimes, helpers came from the Waerenga-a-hika mission station to assist, and, not infrequently, the growers of the wheat lent a hand. The mill had, however, to close down when the rebellion started and Wm. Brown and his family came in to the Kaiti redoubt. After the Hauhau trouble had subsided he opened a store in the Makaraka district. It was destroyed by fire in 1878.
William Brown sustained a heavy blow when his wife died in the middle 60's. For a long time he had contemplated re-visiting England, but his love for his wife and children restrained him from taking the step. Up till then, he and his relatives in the Mother Country had maintained correspondence. When Mrs. Brown died, he firmly made up his mind to return Home, but the elders of his late wife's tribe would not agree to his proposal to take with him two of the boys. They told him that if he wished to go he could go by himself. Off he went, but on reaching Melbourne, he began to miss his family so much that he retraced his steps. It seems that the elders were afraid that he would not return if he took any of the children with him. His relatives abroad now ceased to write to him and their identity remains unknown on account of the destruction of all his correspondence in the fire at Makaraka.
In later life, William Brown became a most conspicuous figure on the streets of Gisborne by reason of the fact that he wore his hair long. After the death of his wife, he would not suffer his hair to be cut and it hung down to his waist. This decision on his part was questioned by members of his family, but he would invariably reply that keeping his hair long was a token of respect for his dead wife. He lived to the advanced age of 87, dying at his home, “Brown's Point,” not far from Makaraka, and near the old Kia Ora Coy.'s factory, in 1889.
Happy and contented, Mr and Mrs
Prior to taking up a Patutahi township section, in 1878, Mr Hills had been employed by the late Mr Maynard in the butchery trade at Ormond. When surveyed, the township was in heavy rushes and the sections ran, in size, from quarter acres to lots comprising several acres. There was quite a rush for sections, but few went out to live upon their newly acquired properties. As much as £70 was paid at the sale for a quarter acre. Mr Hills, therefore, considered himself lucky in being able to acquire an acre close to where the hotel now stands for £54. At that time, Mr Maynard owned, at Ormond, the first stone house built in Poverty Bay. The builder was Daniel McNair, one of Mr Hills' shipmates, and the stone was obtained from Ormond Valley. Mr and Mrs Hills had been married at Ormond in January 1877, and they were brought over to Patutahi by George (“General”) Jackson in a bullock waggon. At first, they had only a 2-roomed shack, and they are sure they have never been happier since. For ninen onths trey had no chimney and then Mr Hills and his brother-in-law went to where the Patutahi Quarry was, later, opened up, and, from stone obtained there, burned sufficient lime to enable a chimney to be built. It was the first occasion an which the stone had been so used.
Asked as to the state of the Patutahi district in those days, Mr Hills said that in the Lower Patutahi there was to be seen pasture of English grasses that would have been hard to beat anywhere in the world. The whole district was studded with sheep on account of the fact that free grazing was permitted. When scab broke out in 1878, however, a great change came over the scene. It then became necessary for stock
Joining in the conversation, Mrs. Hills mentioned that, at first, their nearest neighbour was Miss MacKenzie, who resided on Lavenham, three-cuarters of a mile away. Some months later a Mr Carron, a ship's carpenter, migrated from the North Auckland district, with his wife and eleven children and settled in the district. They reached the township per medium of a bullock waggon and husband and son quickly built a small wooden place 8ft. × 10ft. with a long sleeping place built of rushes In 1879 Mr Strong put up a store and Mr F. Bee built a house, as also did Mr Bilham and Mr Hatton. The nearest Maoris resided at Waitui. Mr Bilham's old house opposite the station was the oldest building left in the township. It was built by Mr. Pinwiddie.
Mr Hills went on to say the first church services at Patutahi were held on the site opposite that at present occupied by Mr. Monteith s store. Here Mrs Hills interposed to explain the trouble which the few residents then had to get a school. Mr Locke had advised them that it was necessary to secure twelve pupils. But that number could not be obtained and when Mr Locke was so informed his advice was that they should boroow enough to make up the shortage. As Mr Strong did not continue with the store, it was taken over by Mrs Bilham as a school. She had three children of her own of school age at the time. Later on the classes were transferred to a hall about 24 × 12ft. that was built on the fringe of the township. In that building all sorts of meetings and functions were held.
The first Road Board for the district, it seems, was formed in 1879. To consider the project a meeting was held in Mr Hills' house and the first meeting of the body took place II. August of that year at Mr Bee's house. The members were; Mr L. Sunderland (chairman,) and Messrs Hills. Bee, McKenzie and Burgess. Mr Bilham was the secretary. At that time there were no roads at all in the district. The Board did a lot of excellent work in the way of formation and drainage and a halfpenny rate was all that required to be exacted, when the subsidy was taken into consideration. As showing the state of the rcads in winter, it was mentioned that Mr Carron used to leave Patutahi with his bullock waggon on a Monday morning and he would not get back from Gisborne before the Saturday night. Along what is now the road past the Domain Mr. Bee had a four-wheeler come to grief, with the result that it could not be rescued for four months.
White sand, little grass and much tree were the most prominent feares of Gisborne's landscape some ty-six years ago, according to Mr
Mr Walsh was born in Newtown, County Cork, Ireland, eighty-three ars ago, and, at the very early age eleven, joined a man-o'-war. He saw service in the Chinese War of that period but, shortly after this, left the Navy. His parents, in the antime, had settled in Canada and joined them there. After a short period, he again took up the sea-faring life and joined on with a mermtman sailing for the then little own land of New Zealand. Sixty. four years ago, this vessel touched Port Chalmers and Mr Walsh, leaving her, once more adopted a life land. For a time he lived in ago, but then came north to Taraki, where he joined the 2nd Forest Rangers and saw some service against the Maoris. Coming to Taupo, then to this district, he changed from the Rangers to the Armed Conbulary and, in 1871, was allocated duty in Gisborne. Since then, this period of fifty-six years, Mr lsh has resided in and about Gisne. In 1881, he left the A.C. and took up land out near Matawhero.
Gisborne was a peculiar place then,” said Mr Walsh, in chatting those old days, “and it really is marvellous when one considers all changes that have taken place, emember the time well when the sent site of the Government buildings was simply a large clump of very high ti_tree. Right along by British Empire Hotel the scrub stretched and the major portion of the town was made up of houses peeping from among patches of the growth.
“When I came here in 1871 I did Armed Constabulary duty. There were only one or two civilian police in the whole district. The old A.C. did most of the work of this nature. We were always ready for a dash out into the country after any natives who threatened to become troublesome, but, during my time, we never actually came to grips with them—they knew the country too well. It was disheartening work, for we would be out for two or three days, with only such food as we could pick up en route, and we always seemed to be chasing phantoms. In those days we had no modern conveniences such as ration parties and field hospitals to follow us. We picked up such grub as we could and when a man fell, generally speaking,
The male residents of the town were all members of the Militia and paraded one day every month or so, at Ormond, where they were drilled and instructed in various points of service work. These parades were compulsory and each man was paid 4/- or 5/- a day to compensate for his loss of working time. It was considered a very serious crime to be absent from a parade, except through sickness.
“As a last line of defence, should the town ever be over-run by natives, we had an old block-house on the site of the present police station. This was of wood, with the lower par strongly fortified by sand-bags and freely loop-holed. It would have been a hard proposition for any band of natives to tackle. From the block-house, a trench communicated with the old court house situated on Adair Bros.' site—apparently intended as an outlet for the defenders who could use it and then fall on the attackers in a surprise attack from the rear.
“I came after most of the Maori trouble had finished,” said Mr Walsh in conclusion, “but I remember one little experience of my police duty in the towm. Twenty-one of the Ngatiporous came in one day with a big stock of seed, disposed of it well, and then started out to drink up the proceeds as fast as they could. By evening, every man-jack of them was fighting mad and things became very serious. I was the only policeman on hand and so I gathered up any passers-by and went along to see about quietening them. Talk was useless, so we separated them as best we could and took them in batches along to the lock-up—only a small cell. By the time the last of them was packed in, this cell was a solid mass of swearing, fighting Maoris on the verge of delirium. Gradually they quietened down, as the strong liquor took effect, and they fell into a drunken sleep. Next morning one of the sorriest bunches of men I have ever seen appeared before the J.P. and were severely admonished, before being escorted out of town and sent their way in peace.”
Amongst the earlier Mayors who did good service for the town is Mr. C A. deLautour, who, in his retirement, enjoys the esteem of a host of friends. Mr. DeLautour was born in India and came out to New Zealand in 1863, landing at Auckland. He first settled in Otago and gained a seat on the Provincial Council, and, later, was a member of the House of Representatives for Mt. Ida. Coming north again, Mr. deLautour paid his initial visit to Gisborne 48 years ago, but he spent two years in Napier before permanently settling in Poverty Bay, where he has been prominent in local body and business circles.
In the course of an interview, Mr. deLautour threw some interesting light on the relativity of Gisborne to other parts of New Zealand and on the trials of the settlers in the good old days of nearly half a cenutry ago.
When he arrived in Gisborne, Mr. deLautour remarked, the town area consisted of a thousand acres, bounded by the Taruheru river, the Turanganui river, the Waikanae stream and what is now called Lytton Road. In those days, the last was merely a line on the survey maps, but the Natives who ownea the adjacent land were quite familiar with the boundary and were always ready to assert their rights. A great willow tree formerly marked the termination of this line and was one of the land-marks of the district. This area had been purchased from the Natives, Ripirata Kahutia, a famous chieftainess being the one most interested. “Whataupoke was practically unsettled, the only two houses there being one on the Point, owned by the late Mr. W. Dean Lysnar, and another, further to the north, belonging to Mr Wyllie. North Gisborne was described by Mr. deLautour as “hefty scrub,” the only clear spot being what is now termed the Park, in Russell Street. Kaiti was much the same, only more swampy, and the only habitation there was a Maori pa near the present Kaiti freezing works. There were, then, of course, no bridges, but a ferry, worked by a wire rope, crossed the Turanganui for the convenience of Coast travellers. To reach Whataupoko, small boats were available, but when on horseback, one had to swim the animal behind the boat.
“There were strong expectations in the south, then,” said Mr. deLautour, “that good things were to be made out of the East Coast of this island. The south was then the dominant portion of N.Z. and the north had only been opened up on the coasts, little being known or the interior. Southern farmers were then looking to
Passenger trade to Gisborne was then entirely by coastal vessels and no journeying was done overland. The Union Shipping Co. maintained a service of four boats from Dunedin—the Wanaka, Rotorua, Taupo, and Hawea—these travelling jointly to Wellington and then separating, two going up the East and the others up the West Coast. The Australan trade was in the hands of a firm, McMickin and Blackwood, who had two boats travelling more or less regularly between Melbourne and New Zealand. Most Australian cargo designed for Gisborne was transhipped at Wellington.
Internal communication in New Zealand, Mr. deLautour related, was not very good. There was no main trunk line in either island. Christ-church was not directly connected with Dunedin and in the North Island the main trunk line had reached only as far as Masterton. The west coast line, now so much used, had not been opened, and there was no line through the Manawatu Gorge. Palmerston North was in existence and had a line running to Foxton, but thence the connection with Wellington was by boat. Gradually, however, the eastern line crept on, first to Woodville and then to Napier. Gisborne, even then, did not benefit much, as communication overland between Gisborne and Napier was impossible except by walking or on horseback. Even railing to Napier was of little use, as the double handling entailed much extra expense. Thus Gisborne, until very recent times, depended almost entirely for communication upon its shipping facilities.
“Poverty Bay attained notoriety,” commented Mr. deLautour, “largely through the awful massacre of 1868. Though that disaster acted on settlement here as a deterrent in some ways, yet it really stimulated inquiry about the district. As the panic following the massacre died down, inquiries literally poured in and the district became very widely known. Stories of its richness and fertility, many of them perhaps exaggerated spread throughout New Zealand and man expressed the wish to take up land here. Then came the difficulty: Where was the land to come from? The only Crown lands in the district were the original 1000-acre town block and such areas as had been confiscated from rebellious Natives. All the rest was in the hands of the Maoris.
“The Government had been approached,” continued Mr. deLautour, “but it was some time before its purchasing agents began to get any land and then there was always much difficulty over the purchases. Some of the agents were far from satisfactory in their methods. This afterwards reacted greatly against the progress and there were many imperfect and disputed titles. The Natives soon learned from their agents to set up all manner of claims. Undoubtedly, in many instances, the Natives were entirely in the right, but some of their claims were really ridiculous.
“The real progress of the district,” said Mr. deLautour, “dates from the establishment of the Valuation Court and the appointment of the late Mr. George Elliot Barton, who was considered rather eccentric, but who was an excellent lawyer and had plenty of courage. I think he found his courage of far more value here than his knowledge of the law. His Registrar, Mr. H. C. Jackson, was of great assistance and these gentlemen did fine work, freeing large areas of land and making them available to settlers. With their titles established, the settlers were able to offer security for backing and progress really commenced. Other men who did fine work for the Crown were Mr. S. Locke and Major (afterwards Colonel) Porter. Mr. Locke was a magistrate and a sort of resident agent of the Crown. The work of these two stands out as compared with that of many others employed at the time.”
Mr. deLautour pointed out that the great difficulty facing settlers in the early days was the lack of markets. Of stock there was little and the only produce that was marketable outside the Bay was rye-grass seed and maize. It was Mr. Nelson who started the first freezing works in the district, at Taruheru, but, prior to that, the only use for wethers was to boil them down. Carts went round the township selling legs of mutton at 1/6 each Some twenty-eight years later, Nelsons Ltd. had so reduced their prices that the farmers, to guard their own interests, decided to establish their own works and the Gisborne Sheepfarmers' Freezing Company came into existence.
“I had the honor,” stated Mr. deLautour in conclusion, “of officiating as Mayor at the opening of the first bridge over the Turanganui. The first bridge over the Taruheru cost the town exactly nothing. When the title to Whataupoko was definitely settled, it thus made another 1000 acres available for settlers on that side of the river. Without a bridge, the land was of little value, so the promoters, to gain any profit from their investment, were compelled to bridge the Taruheru at their own expense.”
The Argyll Hotel (now the Coronation Hotel) erected by the late Mr. Alex. Blair; also on the right premises at one time occupied by the Herald Company.
Son of Mr. E. F. Harris, and a grandson of Capt. J. W. Harris, the first pakeha trader to settle down in Gisborne, Mr. F. R. Harris is as well-known as the town clock and has attained an enviable reputation in respect of kind-heartedness, integrity and public spiritedness. None of the few survivors of the very early days of Poverty Bay is better acquainted with its history and none has a wider acquaintanceship amongst the old hands—Maori and pakeha alike. He is never happier than when enjoying a chat on the days that are past, on the trials and triumphs of the pioneers, on the wonderful record of progress that has been achieved, and on the great possibilities of the district in relation to the future. To-day, Mr. Harris is living in retirement, after a lengthy period of strenuous application to work of a variety of characters, which culminated in his highly successful control, for many years, of the Albion Club Hotel. But he has still numerous interests to occupy his critical attention, including participation in the direction of various companies, whilst, for recreation, he continues actively to associate himself with his favorite pastime, the game of bowls.
Mr. Harris was born in Napier on February 26, 1858, and his parents came to Gisborne in the following year. His father had a store a little way from Biggs' Corner, but, three years later, the lure of gold drew him to that famous Otago goldfield, Gabriel's Gully. Ere he left Mr. Harris senior sold sixty acres around the store to Capt. Read at the price of £2 per acre. Incidentally. Mrs. Pearson, now living at Te Karaka, who is a sister of the subject of this notice, was born at the home of the U'Rren family at Makaraka, near where the railway station now stands. The U'Rens' property was very large and had a very fine orchard and flower garden and was known as “Roseland.” Mr. Harris returned to Gisborne in 1873, five years after the Massacre.
Speaking of the early 70's Mr. Harris told his interviewer that, at that time, settlement was just creeping into the back country. Mr. W. S. Greene took up Okahutia, and was the most outlying settler in that direction. It was not until 1874 or 1875 that Gisborne was linked up with Napier by telegraph and wild rumors got into circulation rather too frequently for the comfort of the then small community. In fact, a very trivial incident was liable to create a very big scare. About that time, Te Kooti was sheltering in the
Mr. Harris went on to say that, in the early 70's, there was a large Native population on the banks of Te Arai river. It started near the Arai bridge on the Opou side and was called Tapatahi. Pipiwhakau was a bush of some hundreds of acres. To-day, there remained, but a few scattered trees, principally kahikatea. A year or two before his return to Gisborne, a fire had gone through a large portion of the bush, and, for years afterwards, strong winds would play havoc with tottering giants and, as they fell, the noise would be heard for miles around. Not infrequently Natives had been lost in the bush. Later on it was cut out by the late Mr. William King. Kiekie thrived in great abundance and it produced a delicious fruit, with two crops. In olden days it was a case of woe betide anybody who touched the early crop. As a warning a rahui (embargo) was adopted. It took the form of a pole with some kiekie vine at the top and it was used there in 1873 for the last time. There was also a bush next to Kupenga where the Dunlops lived called Meremere. It was principally
Continuing, Mr. Harris said that Opou station took its name from a small block of land containing about 60 acres. Opou was one of the most historical places in the Bay. It was taken up in the early days by his grandfather, Captain J. W. Harris. The first horses, cattle and sheep brought to the district were taken on to Opou, Such was also the case in respect of the first willow, oak and ash trees. Many of the first fruit trees were also planted there. An oak was said in 1876 to be the largest in New Zealand. Kupenga, part of Opou in the early days, was the home of the Dunlop family. Te Kooti destroyed this home in 1868, the family escaping, with others, through the bush to Mahia. Mr. Harris remembered seeing the remains of the home, as well as those of other settlers which had been burnt out by the rebels. The once fine orchards and gardens had now gone. A few hundred yards beyond Dunlop's, on the banks of the Te Arai river, the Forest Rangers were stationed and he understood that the embankments made by them were still in existence. They were disbanded about 1865. The pa at Tapatahi had left traditions of the great loyalty of its people. Assuredly, the timely warning given from the pa to the Harris family had robbed Te Kooti of many victims.
The Europeans of to-day should be reminded that many of the loyal Natives of Tapatahi made great sacrifices on behalf of their white sisters and brothers. Tutere, for instance, was tomahawked, after refusing for a second time, to tell the rebels which route the fugitives from the Massacre area had taken. On account of the loyalty of Henare Turanga, the British soldiers, after the fight at Paparatu, were saved. Henare Turanga was also known as Henare Kakapango. Te Kooti got between the soldiers and Gisborne. Henare summed up the position well and led the pakehas by an unexpected track. Henare Turanga's action was never fully recognised by the Government. Te Poti, his father, was killed by Te Kooti, because he refused to leave the pa. When threatened with death he said: “I am old; I will die on the land.” Many of the descendants of Henare Turanga are still alive. Those who were taken prisoner by the Hauhaus lost their lives. In the circumstances, it was hard to find fault with Major Ropata, when he took such stern measures with all the rebels who had taken part in the Massacre and fell into his hands.
According to Mr. Harris, he found it hard to understand how the awful Massacre of 1868 was allowed to come about. He had had many conversations with survivors and the general opinion was that it should have been realised, after the fight at Paparatu, that Te Kooti, in accordance with Maori custom, would seek revenge. Some of the settlers on the Flats knew that they were not safe and expected a raid. In conversation with him, the late Alick Robb,
He (Mr Robb, senr.) went home, however, far from satisfied. On the morning of the Massacre, Mr. Robb was lucky to escape with his wife and family to Gisborne. At the time, he was living at Newstead, Makaraka, and, as they fled along the narrow track through the thick scrub, fearing that Hauhaus would emerge at any moment and destroy them, they could hear the rebels' guns going off and see the reflections in the sky from the burning homes at Matawhero. When at last they reached Gisborne and had placed his loved ones in safety no one could understand how relieved he was. Messrs. Dodd and Peppard who had Repongaere, but resided near Waeren-ga-a-hika Crossing, were, he had been told, planting potatoes when they fell out with a Native who said, in the heat of his passion: “You may plant the potatoes, but you will never eat them.” As far as he could gather, they were the first victims of the raid. Thus the Native's words came true. Captain Read went out to his place at Matawhero the night before the Massacre. When bed-time came, he said: “I do not feel safe here; I will return to Gisborne.” His luck was in. There were others who had their fears, but would not show them. The authorities must have had something in their minds when they placed Lieut. Gascoigne and others in the Te Arai Valley to keep watch.
Mr. Harris went on to say that an impossible task was set Lieut. Gascoigne and a few men to protect such a large extent of rough country and give warning to such a large number of settlers. It was well-known that Te Kooti had his spies in and about Gisborne. Wherever Lieut. Gascoigne placed his men their position would be known to Te Kooti. In 1898 Mr. Harris slept on the place where Te Kooti camped five nights before he instituted the Massacre It was on a ridge above the Ruakituri river. There wree still a number of Natives living in that locality who could shed new light on the awful event. He knew that the late John Ferguson and others had thought that the then Government, that of Stafford, had been lax. If the State papers of that day could be brought from their pigeon-holes it would show who was really responsible for the protection of the settlers. After the Massacre it was said that Major Biggs had to get the sanction of the Government even to allow the settlers to build a redoubt and go into it. Joe Alexander hao told him that when he got into Gisborne the authorities had no arms to give him. It was hard to say what might or might not have happened if Te Kooti had also attacked Gisborne. A few of the followers of Te Kooti were still to be seen occasionally on the streets of Gisborne and the old incident was buried.
According to Mr. Harris, Poverty Bay, in 1873, was an ideal spot for sportsmen. Pigeons and kakas were numerous. Like many others, he was able to shoot them off his horse on his rounds on Opou. If he fired to one side the old mare would simply throw her head to the other side. Twenty to thirty pigeons were easily obtainable. Ducks were to be found in large numbers in all the rivers and creeks on the Flats. Awapuni was a great home for them. There were thousands in that locality. On Repongaere Lake and Glencoe Lake it was very easy to get fifteen brace. From Harris' bend on the Waimata river right up to its source ducks were also plentiful. Right back for many miles from Long Bush was heavy bush. Many a good bag was taken from Glenroy. Pigs also were plentiful on the front ranges. He had killed many from Long Bush onwards. Parakeets used to come to the Flats in thousands. Their last visit was in 1875. Pukakos were plentiful in the Patutahi swamps (and on the adjoining lands) in those days probably 1000 acres in extent. To-day all this land is in grass. No wonder the Native game disappeared when it lost its feeding grounds!
There were, Mr. Harris continued, many Natives in 1873 between Tapatahi and Muriwai at Owheta pa, Pakirikiri and Muriwai. The Natives cultivated on both sides of the present road to Pakirikiri. Mr. Horsfall had a store at that place and did a big business. There was a ferry at the mouth of the Big River. The main traffic with Gisborne and the Muriwai district went that way. It was a short route, seeing that there were no bridges at Te Arai and Matawhero. There was an hotel at Muriwai which was burnt down one night when Mr. Tibbals was at Gisborne. His wife and daughter lost their lives. It was never satisfactorily explained how the fire originated and the fatalities caused a deep gloom over the district as the victims were very popular with the residents and the travelling public. In 1876 there was a flood which was probably the biggest known in the last 50 cr 60 years. Before then there was a flood which was higher. It occurred in his father's boyhood. Mr. Harris thought that flood was known to the Natives as “Victoria” as it happened early in her reign. One again prior to that was known as the “King George” flood. It was said to have been higher than any other. Tradition, indeed, had it that it covered the Te Karaka Flats and that the deposit raised them many feet. The old Natives, in this regard, used to call attention to the timber sticking out from the river banks. Let us hope that Poverty Bay will never see their likes again.
As to the mode of conveyance in the earliest days of settlement, Mr. Harris said that his mother told him that in 1859 she and his father were in the habit of making visits to neighbors on a sledge drawn by two horses. They had seats on the sledge and considered it a very gay turn out. Both his sister, Mrs. Pearson and himself would then be infants. In 1873 the spring cart was in use; it was a one-horse affair. Later on came the double-seated buggy—a four wheeled vehicle. Many of the old folks used to get into trouble with them by turning too short when the wheels would lock. They would have gone back to the old spring cart, but the young folks would not let them. Mr. Harris, with a smile, said he did not think he was ever in a pram. Today he was rushed about in a motor-car. Sometimes he thought he was safer on the sledge. The late Mr. Sievwright was the first man he ever saw on a velocipede. They were not favored; they had a high front wheel and a small one behind. He was sure, too, that the old gentleman never felt safe upon it. In his (Mr. Harris') young days he used a horse or had to foot it. In 1873 the use of bullocks was at its height. All the carting to and in the country was done by these patient animals. With a good driver it was hard to stick them. They would go practically
Talking in respect of the explorations for oil in the district, Mr. Harris said that before 1868 some of the local explorers discovered the oil springs at Te Hau-o-Te-Atua (“The Wind of the Gods). The local Natives, however, wondered why they were making a fuss over them. The springs, they said, had been known to them for many generations. They were told that the pakehas would put down a pipe into the earth and from it thousands of barrels of oil would come forth. An old patriarchal Maori amongst the visitors shook his head and said: ‘Pake-has! Your work will fail. Listen to me and I will tell you why. In ancient times Rongokako stood on Mahia peninsula. When you are on the kaipuke (ship) you will notice how flat the hill is (we call it Table Cape or hill). After looking round, he stepped across the sea and placed his foot on Tapuwai (a flat hill on the Coast, this side of Whangara pa). As he moved across the Bay, a whale was spouting underneath him. He reached down and lifted him in his arms. On his next step the whale slipped out of his arms and fell on the land, where you see the oil.” If many of us had taken the advice of the old chap, we would have been freed from many disappointments. Perhaps, my friend Mr. Dalton could estimate Rongokako's height by the length of his stride!
The candidates for the first election for the Borough were: Stubbs, J. H.; Smith, Carlaw (elected); Nasmith, Matthew (elected): Adams, Thos. (elected); Crawford, W. F., who became Mayor; Kelly, Richard; Boylan, Hy.; Morgan; Ross; Brown, E. K. (elected); Warren, John; Teat (elected); Adair, William (elected); Tutchen, Josiah; Clayton (elected); Cooper, Robert; Taylor, Brooke; Townley, John (elected); Best. Alas, the majority of the above old townsmen are resting in their last sleep. Many of their descendants, are, however, still with us. I do not know if any of those old candidates are living. Some of them went to Australia, including Kelly, Brown and Stubbs. The “G.O.M.” Crawford rests in Auckland cemetery. I think there should be one more on the Council, but I cannot place him, as fifty years is a long time to test one's memory. There are some amongst us who worked for the first Council. Mr. Thomas Saddler is one of them.
On my return to reside in Gisborne in October, 1873, the following are numbered among those whom I was closely in touch with: Richard Poul-grain, who had arrived in 1840, a son William at Te Karaka (Richard Poul-grain died after Captain Read); Tom U'Ren, who was living on the old family estate at Makaraka. (the railway station is on part of it, and it was called “Roseland”; Mr. and Mrs. Tarr (1845). Mrs. Tarr lived to a great age: John Harvey (1846); Mr and Mrs. Dunlop; Brown (grandfather of Mahaki Brown, now at Puha); Capt. Read: James Smith, who lived near Awapuni, near the wool works; James Mackey (father of Ra and Wi); and John U'Ren, who was farming at Taurika (John and Tom U'Rren were sons of the old pioneer). The above all came to Poverty Bay before 1860.
Capt. Read was the financial king. He owned the “Willows” and also a large area in the Makauri block and 600 acres at the Big bridge. He grazed a large number of cattle. He was the biggest owner in cattle. He leased 1000 acres to De Moidry at £1 per acre and he sold many 10 and 20 acre sections around Matawhero and Makauri at £20 per acre he named it Mendlesham” after the place where he was born in the County of Suffolk. He was keen to get settlers on the land, as he said it was the only way to settle the Native troubles. He brought many workers from Auckland in the Tawera (Capt.
Mr. Horsfall started in opposition to Capt. Read at what is now Williams and Kettle's corner, but Horstall sold out to Graham and Kinross. This was the first hard opposition the old man ever had to face. Some of his right hand men later went into business on their own account. But Read was cute enough to see that he was too old to carry on and he sold out to William Adair. Many of his old clients were sorry to see him retire. I never knew the old chap to advertise cheap sales. Fashions did not change much those days! You must remember that steam communication with Wellington was once a fortnight and with Auckland only occasionally. The Tawera, a schooner (Joe Kennedy, capt.) carried most of the trade that way in 1873. Two or three years later, the business system had changed considerably. I was told that goods Capt. Read could not sell were put into the wool bales, placed in the Tawera, and thrown into the sea between here and Auckland.
Read was a jolly old chap in his own way. One time he bought some flour in Auckland, where he principally did his business. It was a bad spec. He sold a 1001b bag to a Maori Later on, the Native told Read the flour was no good and wanted to return it. Read's answer was, “I had to stick to it and so will you.” Later on, when the rye grass was coming in, one bag proved very heavy and it was emptied and out came the 1001b bag of flour! When Read was told, he asked if the Maori had been paid. The answer was “Yes.” Some days afterwards, Read met the Maori and told him that he would have to refund the money. The answer was: “You tell me I buy the flour (prower) and I have to keep it. I talk the same to you!” This conversation would be in Maori and English. The old man took it as a good joke, but John Harvey got a lecture for taking delivery of heavy bags.
There was another old chap that Read did business with for big amounts. They would settle accounts once a year, and a great day it was. You could hear them a good distance off. High words were used on both sides but no blows were ever struck. At last, the client would come out, closely followed by the old man. The client's parting words would be, “You will never get any more of my money” and Read's: “You will never get any more credit from me.” And thus they parted. This way of settling accounts had been going on for many years.
When Read retired from business, he was living in Lytton Road where Mr. Barker now lives. He went in for breeding high-class sheep on land owned by him from Lytton Road to Stanley Road, all facing Gladstone Road and Childers Road. It was in a
When the Government paid out, the bulk of the money was taken by Joe Kennedy to Auckland. Capt. Read used to issue paper money of his own. His notes were called “shin plasters”—for why I do not know. I think they were used until the Bank of N.Z. started. He was supposed to have made money with them. A lot of them would be burned when Te Kooti made the raid. He had a small steamer named after his wife. He also had a store where the freezing works stand and vessels used to discharge into it. He also had another store where the band rotunda is situated. He used, both these places for many years. Then again he had another store between the Albion Hotel and the river; this one was where he did his business with the public. He had no country branches and he liked everything in that line under his own eye.
Captain Read was married to a Native woman named Noko. I was at Read's house on two or three occasions and Noko was always doing something. She was a fine type of woman. Capt. Read's apparel was always spotlessly clean, all due I
James Mackey—one son was killed in the second Massacre—in the early days was pit-sawing for my grandfather at Rakukaka. He was fond of a joke and could tell many stories of the navy. He kept the ferry at Gisborne for many years and lived to a great age. The gaiety and lure of the city had no charms for those old chaps. Poverty Bay was good enough for them and you would get a dressing down if you said anything against the place. They took great exception to the changing of the name from “Turanga” to “Gisborne” and refused, for a long time, to say “Gisborne.' There were the founders of Poverty Bay. Their comrades murdered and homes burnt, and barely escaping with their own lives, within a few days or weeks they were back again with their wives and children. They helped to build the Empire and keep the old flag flying.
Fruit grew in abundance. Peaches and apples were found in many parts of the runs. There was a peach grove on Te Arai station, about half a mile long, on the bank of the river Te Arai in 1873. I don't suppose the trees had been pruned for we knew nothing about fruit pests. The trees simply grew and great was their yield. They had evidently started growing before the stock came into the country and delicious fruit it was, equal to the fruit one gets today. It was invaluable and anyone could help themselves. Although we were isolated, we enjoyed ourselves.
Dancing was all the go, but I could never manage it. Being too big, my feet got beyond control! The concertina was the principal musical instrument in those days and beautiful music it was. You would find some very fine players in those days on stations. The station boys would have their dances in the wool-shed and this was the style of one M.C.—“Hook your mutton!” “Turn to your partner, Tawhio! Now to Tommy's daughter! Now to the girl with the blue dress on!” and so on. This was all to the strains of a concertina. Later on, when the European mammas came to the back blocks of those days a different sort of M.C. was made use of. Our refreshments were very light—a bucket of water with a few pannikins and you helped yourself. There was no charge for admittance. The conduct was of the best; if otherwise one was put out and later on he would know all about it. The Natives have always been fond of dancing and the European modes of dancing appealed to them. The songs of those days seem to have had a swing which you do not have to-day. I still remember a few lines that moved us station rouseabouts: “The captain with his whiskers took a sly glance at me, etc.” We would bring our bluchers down with great force for an encore. The other one was sung by a gent dressed to the knocker with great force: “My heart was in a flutter when she tripped across the gutter,” etc. These songs would get a great hearing.
The following fugitives at the time of the Massacre escaped through the bush: Mr and Mrs Henry Harris (both dead) and daughter; John Ferguson, Finlay Ferguson, Dugald Ferguson, (all deceased); Isabella Ferguson (now Mrs. John Breingan, Bushmere); Bidgood (deceased; he married one of the Tarrs); Robert Read, brother of G. E. Read (buried at Te Arai), William Greene, son of W. S. Greene (died at Auckland); Major Westrupp, in command (dead); Pimia Arta (guide of the fugitives, dead); Mr. Dunlon, Senr. (dead); Mrs W. S. Greene, wife of W. S. Greene, nee Miss U'Ren (dead); John Williams Harris (dead); Woodbine Johnson (father of Lady Maui Pomare and Mrs. Randall Sherratt), dead; Harry Ellis, a partner of Bidgood,
Liquor at Matawhero delayed Te Kooti. Tipuna, father of Lady Carroll, and Henare Turanga gave the alarm to my grandfather between 3 and 4 in the morning. Finlay Ferguson was on an out station beyond Kupenga. John Ferguson brought him in and gave the alarm to the Dunlop family. The Harris and Ferguson families crossed the Arai river by a boat owned by R. Read and walked to Tamihana's pa. John and Finlay Ferguson followed with the horses. Mrs. Wyllie's aunt warned my uncle to go on, as there were enemies in the pa. Finlay Ferguson, Mackey (brother of Ra Mackey), Hapi Kiniha's son and Gavvy Wyllie's brother were killed at Opou on 12th December, 1868. John Ferguson and others returned from Mahia to Gisborne. Major Westrupp and Mr. Wodbine Johnston were with the party. H. Harris and J. Ferguson followed later. H. Harris and J. Ferguson left F. Ferguson and party on the date he was killed. They rode through the Okaunga bush. Te Kooti and his followers saw them and some of them pointed their guns to shoot them but Te Kooti forbade them to fire. He did not want to disclose his position to Colonel Whitmore, who was leaving Gisborne with his troops on the steamer Start. Luckily for the settlers, she struck a rock and sprang a leak and had to return to the river. Colonel Whitmore followed Te Kooti and fought him at Ngatapa.
Finlay Ferguson, on the morning of the Massacre, buried in the old orchard a dressing case; the secret of the plant died with him. Many searches were made for it but it was never found. It was an oak case, mounted in silver. It was said that the late R. Read, before he left his home on the morning of the Massacre, buried a sum of money which he was never able to locate again. He was an old man.
Reprinted from “The Gisborne Times,” October, 1926
The birthplace of the late Sir Jas. Carroll, who was born at Wairoa, H.B., in August, 1857, is still marked by a vigorous cabbage tree (which has been enclosed by a tence) on the northern bank of the river near where his parents lived at Awatere, and for many years the spot has been one of special interest to visitors. His father was Mr. Joseph Carroll, who was born in Sydney in 1814, went to the Bay of Islands in 1841, and eventually settled at Wairoa in 1842. Of Irish extraction on his father's side, Sir James held the belief that Chas. Carroll, who was one of the signatories to the American Charter of Independence, came from the same family stock, which, in the 15th century, was headed by none other than the famous King O'Carroll. His mother was descended from a noted East Coast tribe, the line running back through Tapuke, Turiparira, Kopua, Te Patuwhakarawe, Whenua, Tapuae, Huhuti, Rangitaumaha, to Taraia.
As befitted a descendant of such high Native lineage, Sir James, upon his birth, received the attentions of the high priests of the Maori people. He was himself the authority for the assertion that part of the rite performed on that occasion was that his unbilical cord was severed by one of the priests and thrown over a distant cliff. It seems also that his mother was unable to suckle him and this duty fell upon two specially chosen midwives. As a sequel to the special rites performed at birth Sir James was dedicated to his people and became eligible for instruction, later on in life, in a Whare Wananga (“School of Learning”). Ultimately he went through the necessary courses in Hawke's Bay it is understood. Speaking on the matter shortly before his death, he remarked that, to-day, the Whare Wananga was practically an institution of the past. As far as he was aware—and he was almost positive on the point—he and another were then the sole surviving links with what was the most notable type of “storehouse” of Maori religion, history and lore. It is interesting also to mention that Sir James was a firm upholder of the theory that Mesopotamia was the cradle of the Maori race er, in other words, that the progenitors of the Polynesians were Aryans.
“As a Buddha came to earth under the shade of the mystic tree so came Carroll at the due hour into noble and simple being under the auspices of the benign tribal gods,” wrote a newspaper contributor, “Darius,” recently. “Yet, even at this hour, aye even before this hour he was devoted and dedicated to the highest callings—racial and human service. Ere yet his lips had been allowed to draw solace and strength from his mother's breast he was claimed and carried off by the tribe. There was no struggle in the motherheart against destiny. Her faith told her that all had been pre-arranged, even before Rangi and Papa were wedded, or the darkness and the light divided. The babe was carried into the mountain fastnesses about the source of the Ruakituri river in Hawke's Bay, and lodged in the tribal pa wherein he passed his babyhood and early childhood.
“One can but faintly imagine the surprise and wonder of a darkskinned savage on first beholding a white man, but one cannot, even faintly, understand the feelings that arose in the mind of this infant savage when he, at the age of seven years, first beheld a white man, and that white man his own father.
“Joseph Carroll had come to claim the son he had not set eyes upon from the time of his birth.
“Negotiations for the ransom of the child now commenced, but even the great influence of the trader was not at first sufficiently strong to move the tribe to give up its adopted child and chief, and there were many long and serious talks in the meeting-house before the paramount claim of parentage was recognised.
“In the night time the sleeping child was carried to the canoe that had long waited for the finalising of negotiations, moored to a kowhai on the river's bank, and in the silence of the night “with its heaven full of stars” he took the backward way to the wharepuni near the encnanted palm. In the morning his wondering eyes opened upon a new and strange world, the world of the Pakeha.
“Taken from the fastnesses of the Ruakituri gorge, ignorant of the language and customs of those around him, and being, as he himself put it to the writer, a perfect little savage,' the Ishmaelite awoke in him, and he found himself consorting with the children of civilisation, so that it was deemed advisable to send him away from under the family roof-tree for a time, and place him under a guardian.
“George Richardson, or ‘Old Geordie,’ as he was affectionately called, was selected for the rather onerous trusteeship, as he was a partner of Joseph Carroll, and a kindly, capable business man, of strong character and rare integrity.”
In his home town of Wairoa, then a very isolated township, Sir James could not, even if he had wanted to, have secured what is now termed a higher education. The teaching in those days was restricted mainly to the three “Rs.” His parents, it seems, were insistent that the family should take the fullest possible advantage of the meagre educational advantages offering. Here it is interesting to mention that, when School Inspector Colenso visited the Wairoa school in the early 60's, he went out of his way to praise the school work done by the Carroll family. In a special report he pointed out that Mr. Carroll would, on no account, allow his children to be absent from school and what is more he always supported the master's authority—a thing that was worthy of imitation by other parents. As to the children, he said that they read and wrote well and ciphered pretty well, doing compound multiplication and division.
On his part, however, Sir James does not appear to have had as much schooling as other members of the family. Indeed, he once told a gathering of friends that he stayed at school only between the ages of 8 and 10 years. In other words, he did not like school, preferring the outdoor life, spending his days riding about on a horse! When his schooling was over, he was unable, he also often smilingly confessed, to piece even two or three sentences together correctly in English.
Sir James Carroll first came prominently into the limelight of the European residents when, as a lad of 14, he volunteered for service against Te Kooti in the Urewera Country. Shouldering his carbine, he joined up with a war party of about 300, of whom only a few were pakehas, and into the way-back bush the force went. In due course he became bootless and that state of affairs added to the hardships experienced by him, as the country was very rough. It fell to his lot too, to belong to a party,
Possessed of the true Bohemian spirit, Sir James then filled in several years on neighboring stations. He was happy when mounted on a sturdy gee-gee and the mustering of sheep and cattle proved an ideal life for him. It so happened, too, that he began at that time to develop a strong thirst for knowledge. Around the camp-fire at night he had, amongst his companions, a number of well-educated young fellows from Home. He proved a good listener, and there were debates on all manner of interesting subjects and argument often waxed fierce and long. Sir Jas. found that he was now receiving a college education without having to stir abroad. But, at last, the day came when his father decided that young Carroll was cut out for something better than a station hand, and he was bundled off to Napier to be a cadet in the branch of the Native Land Department there under Mr. Samuel Locke, Disrict Native Commissioner for the East Coast. Sir James wearied of the office stool, but found pleasure in perusing books by eminent authors which he found lying about.
It was owing to the great interest which Sir Donald McLean, then Native Minister, took in Sir James that he received rapid promotion. He went on a trip to Port Awanui with that gentleman in connection with a Native dispute and, on the return to Napler (this was in 1870), the party called in at Gisborne, then only a small, scattered village. From Napier, Sir James was transferred to headquarters at Wellington, where he remained for about a year. Then he went back to Wairoa and again indulged in the outdoor life. It was in 1879 that he heard another call from Wellington and he accepted a position as a Native Interpreter in the House. Those were the days when New Zealand could boast of oratorical giants and, in due course, he added greatly to his growing stores of knowledge. Within him yearned a desire to become an active participant in the political arena.
After acting as an interpreter for close on three years, Sir James decided to contest the Eastern Maori seat against Wi Pere, the sitting member, but Wi Pere won by 23 votes. If he had entered upon a more lengthy campaign—he was only a fortnight in the field—the contest might have resulted differently. As matters stood, he had no chance of covering an electorate which extended over nearly a third of the North Island! In the interim, until the next election came round, Sir James acted as interpreter for Judge Rogan of the Native Land Court. Then came another appeal to the electors and, this time, in 1887, he turned the tables on Wi Pere. On the occasion of the succeeding general election, he was again successful. In 1893 Sir James decided to be an aspirant for the Gisborne electorate. His opponent was Mr. C. A. deLautour, and both were Liberals. Sir James was successful, winning the seat by a majority of 500. He continued as the representative of Gisborne in the House until 1919 when, in a threecornered fight—Mr Lysnar and Mr Brindle being the other candidates—he lost the seat to Mr. Lysnar. Subsequently he was appointed to the Upper House.
In the political arena, Sir James had a wonderful record. Whilst member for the Waiapu seat he became, in 1892, the representative for the Native race on the Executive. The Ballance Government was then in power. Four years later, when Mr. Seddon was political “king” he was placed in charge of the Stamps Department. In 1900 he was promoted to be Native Minister. This was the first occasion on which a member other than a European had been made a Minister of the Crown. Sir James retired from Ministerial office in 1912 when the Ward Government resigned and did not accept a portfolio in the short-lived Mackenzie Government that followed. Whilst a member of the Ward Government he was chosen on two occasions to take up the position of Acting-Prime Minister during the lengthy absence of his leader from the Dominion in London and carried out the important duties in a very dignified and careful manner.
As an orator, Sir James was, when at the height of his career, unexcelled in the Dominion. He had an easy flow of speech and his choice of words was most happy. Thanks to his Native ancestry on the one side, he held a fine command of appropriate metaphor and imagery and his coloring was never overdone, although plentiful. Seeing that he was also of Irish extraction, one might have expected he would be inclined to be somewhat fiery, but his disposition was to remain mellow unless, of course, called upon to answer an unjust accusation. Sir James had other political qualifications, which were even more valuable to his party than his debating abilities. He was, first and foremost, an able political general. Only those who have been behind the political scenes could know what a great tower of strength Sir James was to the Ward Government. He could anticipate every move on the part of the then Opposition, which was increasing not only in numbers but also in political sagacity, resource and fierceness. Lying back in his bench Sir James may have appeared to the unsophisticated to be taking little interest in the proceedings. As a matter of fact, he was noting, for the benefit of his chief, every fresh or intended move on the political chess-board.
The late Sir James Carroll made but few trips outside his native land. Only on the occasion of the inauguration of the Commonwealth, when he accompanied Mr. Seddon to the celebrations, did he pay a lengthy visit to Australia and he had a great reception from its people. In 1918 he was selected as one of the members on the Liberal side to join the Parliamentary party to visit the Western battle-fronts in France and Belgium. On his return he expressed the utmost delight in connection with the trip and he always retained most pleasant memories of the splendid treatment accorded the party, both in England and in France. Of the British statesman of that day the one who impressed him most was Mr. Bonar Law, whom he described as most earnest and most direct in debate. Mr. Bonar Law, indeed, appealed to him as being the strongest man he had ever had the pleasure of listening to. Mr. Asquith, then Prime Minister, attended only one of the many important functions tendered in honor of the party. The occasion was a banquet at the Giuldhall, when 1500 scions of the British race were présent. In his address Mr. Asquith said that his main object in being present was to give the visitors a message to take back overseas as to how England was faring in the great fight. Sir James was one of the visitors selected to reply, and, referring to Mr. Asquith's remark, he slyly said that it would be regarded as very good of him to give them such a message, but he was afraid the visitors had formed their own impressions and would take back a message of their own! Mr Asquith, after the gathering, went along to him and told him that he realised that he (Sir James) was perfectly right. On the occasion of another important banquet Mr. Lloyd George, addressing the visitors, said: “You, who have climbed up
There was no truer sport in the Dominion than Sir James Carroll. No matter what form of outdoor exercise happened to be in season, he took an interest in it, if he were not an active participant. In turf circles he was always prominent. For many years he had been the patron of the Gisborne Racing Club, and the members at last decided to create a new office, “Ariki,” and it, of course, was intended for him. Sir James owned several horses, which acquitted themselves well. In bowling circles he was also a great favorite, and when at the height of his form he was no mean exponent of “Drake's game.” His great interest in the Kahutia Bowling Club was once again shown just before his death when he joined Lady Carroll in making a handsome donation to its new pavilion fund. He was. too, a great favorite on the local bowling greens. In his young days Sir James was a noted athlete, displaying remarkable strength as a wrestler and in other field games. He was an ardent boxing “fan” and it is recorded in the history of the early days of the town that, on one occasion, he accounted for a pakeha braggart in great style. Another pastime of which he was particularly fond was billiards, and in his younger days he proved a doughty opponent in many a hard-contested match. Sir James had the true sporting instinct, for he always gave credit where credit was due.
When buying a section of land in Gisborne these days of pampering civilisation, it is merely a question of getting the address from the land agent, starting up a car, and you are deposited at the spot within a few minutes. Fifty-five years ago, however, when Mr. Ezra Smith first landed in Gisborne, land buying was a very different proposition. Mr. Smith applied to the right and proper official whose duty it was to allot sections to would-be residents and was informed: “You'll see the pegs with numbers so and so on them in the manuka away up there,' and he was directed up Gladstone Road. Mr. Smith waded through several inches of mud for nearly a mile and then hunted through manuka as tall as himself for signs of the surveyors. After nearly an hour's search he located one peg with one of the required numbers on it and a further twenty minutes were required before he had learned the definite boundaries of his new home. And to-day Mr. Smith still occupies that same piece of land
On the section adjoining Mr. Smith's, there settled, a little later, a painter named Mr Freyer At the back of Mr. Freyer's home was a patch of raupo, growing in a pool of swampy water. Heavy rain fell one night and, in the morning, Mr. Fryer got up, picked up his kettle, intending to fill it at a well in his back yard, and opened his back door. A stretch of water, a foot deep and extending to the standing manuka behind his section, met his gaze. Had the water risen half an inch higher it would have flowed into the house. That morning, Mr. Fryer filled his kettle at his back door without stepping a pace outside. In order to fill in the swampy ground about this raupo clump, this Mr. Fryer helpea himself to parts of Gisbone's thoroughfares, going round the streets and roads with a wheel-barrow and scraping up all the loose surface. Possibly, in these days, such a course of action might not be tolerated! Fortunately for Mr. Smith, his section was on slightly higher ground than that of Mr Fryer and he was never flooded out.
“Gladstone Road was largely a tangle of ti-tree and fern,” related Mr. Smith to a “Times” representative, “and the first real move for its improvement was made when the Road Board let a contract, to form it properly, to a Mr. Owen Kelly. Mr. Kelly's tools consisted of nothing so elaborate as a bitumen plant—nor even a simple roller—let alone a steam one. He went to work with axes, slashers and shovels solely, and really made a very good job indeed. His men were set first to cut down all the standing scrub and this was thrown into the centre of the road. Then the shovels came into the operation and the earth was thrown from the sides of the road on to the pile of scrub in the centre. That was all the work required to be done as far as Mr. Kelly was concerned and the traffic and rains did all the rolling-in of the surface required. “Yet, I can tell you,” he said, “that road was then perfect compared with what it had been before.”
Mr. Smith recalls some of the early Borough Council work with a great deal of amusement. “Soon after being formed,” he remarked, “the Council set to work to improve Gladstone Road. The first requirement appeared to be efficient drainage and so the Council had a deep drain dug along the roadside from Roebuck Road to Carnarvon Street. This certainly helped to draw off a great part of the surface water, but, in those days, we had nothing in the nature of street lights. In conseouence people using the road were continually stumbling into the drain and even the cushion of water at the bottom for them to fall on did not alleviate their indignation at all. Finally, so many protests came into the Council that these authorities were compelled to take the only possible course and have the drain filled up.
The initial steps in the creation of a town are, oft-times, enshrouded in mystery even in so young a country as New Zealand. It is, of course, easy to account for the birth of settlement in respect of the coastal towns. Originally, they were trading stations and ports of call for vessels from Sydney in search of timber, flax, etc., and of overseas vessels sent to lift oil and whalebone. Such, indeed, was the case in regard to Gisborne. or, as it was known to the Natives, “Turanganui.” Very different was the origin of the inland towns, which came into existence on account of the development of some industry, as, for instance, sawmilling, where a small mill and a few slab huts were quickly supplemented by other mills, a smithy, store and the inevitable “pub.” Mining townships arose in a like manner. Christchurch, to take another type of town, was actually designed in England and the settlers knew, before they migrated, where their sections appeared on the plans!
As it so happened, however, the earliest residents of Gisborne, with but a few exceptions, could not, for a long time, obtain a “title” to a section near the port from the Natives. They made the best terms they could with the Natives for the right of occupation. It seems that the Natives could not understand why anybody should require more than the right to use a piece of land. The position was not different in respect of the country land suitable for grazing and farming.
It fell to the lot of Capt. J. W. Harris, grandfather of Mr. Frank Harris, to acquire the first section of land from the Natives. The section was the site where the Turanganui Hotel now stands and it was required in connection with the whaling station which he desired to start in the river. Officially the property became known in the State records as “Harris's Homestead.” It was bought from Kahutia (grandfather of Lady Carroll), Pototi, Turanga and others, and the consideration was:—
29lbs. of gunpowder.
1 axe.
48 pipes.
6lbs. of tobacco.
On more than one occasion, Mr. (afterwards Sir Donald) McLean paid a fruitless visit to Gisborne in an effort to induce the Natives to part with some of their lands. His description of Gisborne in 1854, for instance, is most interesting. He reported to the Government that the Turanganui river would admit vessels of 40 to 50 tons and that with a little blasting at the entrance vessels up to 100 tons would be able to enter. He estimated the Native population of the district at 2,500 and that there were in addition 79 Europeans, including children, besides 25 half-castes from 1 to 18 years old. The exports in 1850 he computed as being worth £2,890, including 10,000 odd bushels of wheat, together with maize, pork and other products. On their part, the Europeans had 202
It was, indeed, not until after the Massacre in 1868 that Sir Donald McLean succeeded in breaking-up, in large measure, the system of Maori landlordism in this district. Then it was that the Government decided upon confiscating a lot of the lands held by the Native rebels. According to Colonel Porter he met the chiefs in conference at Gisborne and told them that, as they had ignored former warnings, he was going to treat them according to their own custom. He was the conqueror and would confiscate portions of their lands as “utu-rau-patu,” literally, “spoils to the victors.” Sir Donald, in a memorable address, proceeded:—
“I won't take all your land but each tribe must cede me part of its country, and I want a plece now for the establishment of a town on the river bank—part of your possession of Wai-o-hiharore (Water of the Mushroom).”
After a lengthy korero the Rongowhakaata tribe agreed to cede the Patutahi block as their part of the payment for their misdeeds. The Te Aitanga Mahaki tribe ceded the Ormond block. Then arrangements were made with Riperata Kahutia, mother of Lady Carroll, and other Native chiefs and chieftainesses to sell to the Crown what became officially known as Turanganui No. 2, extending up the left bank of the Turanganui as far as the junction of the Waimata and the Taruheru rivers, and thence up the Taraheru almost to Lytton road, then striking towards the Waikanae swamp and east along the Waikanae (Mullet Stream), the purchase money amounting to £2000.
In the early seventies whares, houses and huts were seen on various sections, but all, or practically all, were built on sleds. The reason for this course was due to the uncertainty, in many cases, of the ownership of the land. In those days timber was cheap, kauri, for instance, being bought at 6/- a hundred feet. When the real owner demanded a rental, friends got together and the house was pulled on to the next section, and so on.
The township was named Gisoorne in 1870 after the Hon. W. Gisborne, Colonial Secretary in the Fox Minstry, from 1869 till 1872. He came to New Zealand about 1848 and was Commissioner of Crown Lands till 1853, when he was promoted Under Secretary, holding that office until 1869. He was a member of the Leg islative Council in the sixties, and in 1877 was elected a member of the House of Representatives while in London.
According to Colonel Porter, Turanganui No. 2 was not then considered quite a suitable spot for the town. It was really desired that the town should be founded on the Kaiti side, but its ownership was in serious dispute as between Riperata Kahutia and her people and Hirini Te Kani and his people. Otherwise Gisborne might have been founded on the other side of the stream.
In 1870 the town was surveyed and was found to contain approximately 1200 acres. It was the late Mr. Munro who surveyed the town and laid it out, and the land was offered by auction, the upset prices being very low in February, 1873.
The highest priced section was at the corner of Lowe Street and Gladstone Road, the site of the present Masonic Hotel, the sum of £51 being realised for the quarter-acre. This was followed closely by the site where the Union bank now stands, which brought £50. On the corner, Mr. Horsfall later erected a store. A quarter-acre site where McKee's buildings stand at present opposite the Melbourne Cash changed hands at £19, the purchaser being Colonel Porter, who, later, erected there the first Masonic Hall. The site on which the Poverty Bay “Herald” now stands was given as compensation to a loyal chief, Mokena Kohere, and later with the buildings upon it was sold for about £200.
The quarter-acre section on which the Coronation Hotel stands now, was given to the noted Ngati-Porou loyal chief, Major Ropata. The Government added to its generosity by erecting for him a four-roomed cottage with a verandah, the house being brought up in frames from Wellington and fitted together, the building facing Lowe Street. Major Ropata's garden is now covered by Tattersall and Bayly's tobacconist's shop. Subsequently Major Ropata sold the place to Mr. Alex. Blair, who owned the Coronation Hotel adjoining, and later the whole property was sold for about £600.
By June, 1874, there were still a number of the town sections unsold, and the late Mr W. Deane Lysnar (father of Mr Lysnar, M.P.), records in his diary that he obtained from Mr Graham the following particulars—
Section 29, Rangi Road, 39p upset value £34.
Section 30, corner of Lowe Street and Rangi Road 30p, £34.
Section 29, Rangi Road, 39p upset value £34.
Section 30, corner of Lowe Street and Rangi Road, 30p., £34.
Section 31, adjoining, 29p., £20.
Section 61, Peel Street, just below Police Station, 1r., £20.
Section 62, adjoining, 1r., £20.
Section 63, lower down, 1r 11p., £10.
Section 64, two sections below Opera House in Peel Street. 1r 20p., £25.
Section 65, next Opera House, 1r., £23.
Section 66, Opera House site. 1r., £23.
Section 67, corner of Peel Street and Childers Road, opposite Opera House, 1r., £28.
Section 68, section nearer Gladstone Road, 1r., £25.
Section 69, Power Board site, 1r., £22.
Section 70, Sheridan and Adair's, 1r., £30.
Section 71, Townley's Corner, £29.
Other sections on the list run from Townley's corner round Gladstone Road and half way down Bright Street, but the upset prices are not given.
According to the late Captain Ferris, when he returned in 1874 to Gisborne, he found great changes had taken place. The township had been sold, and houses were going up in all directions. The Masonic, Argyll, Albion, and several other hotels had been erected. A public board had been formed, and was battling with the task of forming streets and footpaths. Several comfortable, and, for those days, pretentious residences had been built, notably the house at Te Hapara, erected by Captain Read. Another was the fine two-storeyed house put up by Colonel Porter in Customhouse Street, later destroyed by fire, and a house built for Mr Edward Harris, senr.
The first election of Mayor and Councillors took place on the 25th and 27th of June, 1877, when, out of a nomination or two for the office of Mayor, and 19 for councillorships, the following were elected: Mayor, W. F. Crawford, 95 votes, beating W. W. Wilson 38 votes), and Crs. T. Adams, Wm. Adair, E. K. Brown, Henry Clayton, J. R. Morgan, C. Smith, S. Stevenson, W. Teat and J. Townley. The estimated receipts for the first year of the Council's work totalled £1657, made up as under:—General rate at 1s in £ on a rental value of £13,397, £669; subsidy £350; Customs £270; rents £337, and sundry licenses £31, whilst the expenditure was estimated at: For public works £1153, and for administration, including office furniture, £504.
The first road loan of £10,000 was raised in 1878 and a special rate of 6d in the £ on the rental value was pledged. The water shortage was acute in the early stages of the Council's career, and one of the first works was the sinking of an artesian well in search of water to supply the town. In the year 1880 the Council's endowment comprising 21 sections, averaging an acre, were put up to auction for 21 year lease with an upset price of £2 per acre. The Borough Council also undertook the function of Harbor Board administration until 1885, when the offices were separated, Mr A. Graham becoming the first chairman of the Harbor Board, his successors, in turn, being Mr W. Sievwright, Capt. Tucker, and Messrs C. D. Bennett, J. Townley, F. J. Lysnar, Geo. Smith and W. G. Sherratt.
The population of the municipalitv at the time of the formation of the Borough in 1877 was between 400 and 500. Nine years later it was computed at close on 2,000, having grown four fold. The failure of the City of Glasgow Bank in 1882 did not, of course, tend to maintain prosperity. The growing problems from the '80's onwards were how best to provide good roads and bridges, furnish an adequate water supply, and deal in a proper manner with the sanitary needs. On its small annual income, as compared with today, and with the help of but small loans, it battled away as best it might for over a quarter of a century. The Borough built the Kaiti bridge and a structure linking Whataupoko to the town was provided, by private enterprise thanks to the energy and optimism of the late Mr. W. L. Rees. By the middle '90's, the Borough was getting well knocked into shape and the time became ripe for more extensive efforts in the direction of supplying it with the comforts of civilisation in a much greater degree.
The development of a permanent water supply then followed, together with a comprehensive sewerage scheme, tramways, electric light and power, station, improved roads, bridges, etc. But, once again, there is now need to augment these facilities. To-day the Borough is considering the advisableness of securing a more adequate water supply, and special reports have been obtained on the matter. As the town grows, so does the need arise for an extension of the sewerage and the outer areas are now clamouring to be served. The electric power and light station has fallen into the hands of the Poverty Bay Power Board, which has agreed to take a bulk supply of juice from the State works at Lake Waikaremoana and is now busily engaged reticulating the district. As regards roads, a re-construction policy is in progress, up-to-date methods being employed to provide good wearing, smooth surfaces. The town's two main bridges are not surpassed elsewhere in the Dominion. As regards the tram system it was not a happy financial venture and bids fair to be replaced in time by 'buses, some of which are now being operated by the municipality. Much further municipal work requires to be done, but it is being tackled in a business-like way. Up till date the Borough has expended £694,498 on municipal works. Its annual interest bill is £33,323. Its accrued sinking funds total £55,260.
A remarkable export record was put up by Poverty Bay district in the year 1915. According to figures supplied by the Collector of Customs for the year 1915 the value of exports from Poverty Bay reached the huge total of £1,941,736. This easily placed Poverty Bay, as the principal exporting district in the Dominion, on a population basis.
The official Year Book for 1915 gave the population at a total of 21,158 for the district and the total figures would thus work out on a population basis at £96 13s 3d per head and this no doubt constituted a Dominion record.
In 1886 the population of Gishorne was 2210. During the ensuing ten years the town and suburbs were amalgamatel, and the enlarged area showed at the 1896 census a population of 3826. Ten years later it had risen to 5687, and according to the census of 1911 the population of the Borough was 8196, and to-day it would be safe to say it had increased to over 12,877, and with the suburbs to 15,365.
(Commenced service 1888 and at present in office.)
According to the Government rolls the capital value of rateable property in Gisborne made rapid advancement:
For the year ended March, in each case, the amount of money spent on new buildings in Gisborne was:—
The following works have been carried out by the Borough:—
Together with other counties, the County of Cook was formed in 1876. Its boundaries at that time extended from Cape Runaway in the north to Paretu Bluff, south of Poverty Bay. The area was estimated to be not less than 2,000,000 acres. At the outset the capital value was held to be only £260,000 but, by 1890, on account of the growth of settlement, the rateable value had increased to £1,720,000. In that year the settlers in the northern portion of the district successfully petitioned for the constitution of a new county, which became known as Waiapu County, extending from Cape Runaway to Anaura. The new county had formed nearly one-half of the original County of Cook. By 1900, the rateable value of Cook County had advanced to £2,581,000. Subsequently Waiapu became subdivided, enabling the formation of the Matakaoa County. Cook County, too, became considerably diminished in area on account of the formation from within it of the counties of Waikohu and Uawa, whilst some southern areas have gone into Wairoa County.
The hiving off of various districts into new counties was all for the best as, originally, the county was so cumbersome that the Council was unable to do justice to all parts with the small income and the small loans at its disposal. Those were the days when the cry of “Roads and Bridges” was to be heard loud and long throughout this portion of the Dominion. Difficult as it was to do much in the way of road-making in the more settled districts the case of the far distant settler was infinitely worse. As showing how hard it was to make real progress it may be mentioned that in 1882—that is in the days when the County remained undivided—it was proposed to raise a loan of £7000. for expenditure on the Patutahi-Wairoa, Waipaoa-Makaraka, Ormond-Makaraka and Makaraka-Town boundary roads. The rateable value of the County was then £40,000, the loan was to be for ten years, and the security was to be two per cent. of the annual rateable value. It was, inter alia, proposed to use limestone from the Patutahi quarry in place or river bed material. Makaraka riding was overwhelmingly in favor of the proposal, as was Arai riding, but in the other districts, even the Ormond Riding, the voting was adverse to the suggestion. At Tolaga Bay, for instance, not a single vote was cast in its favor and the feeling was just as strongly hostile further north. It seems that by 1882 much good road work had already been done on the Flats and the Wairoa-Gisborne Road was being proceeded with at the Poverty Bay end.
By 1900 Cook County, as it then was, had 90 miles of metalled roads, 180 miles of formed and drained roads and about 100 miles of half-formed roads and tracks. Scarcity of good metal was, of course, the big problem, the material used costing as much as 16/6 per yard and being inferior at that. As regards bridges, a handicap was the absence of serviceable timber within the settled portion of the county. Timber for that purpose, mostly kauri, had to be imported from Auckland. By 1900 the revenue of the county was £9,200 and the expenditure £10,200, and the indebtedness of the county was £25,000 for loans and £6000 by way of overdraft. What very appreciably helped in the development of the
Standing out, as it to-day does, among the main Counties of the Dominion, the County of Cook has been fortunate in that its successive Councils have administered the area under that control in a progressive spirit. Not only has the district been developed into one of the richest pastoral and farming areas of the Dominion by their own enterprise and endeavors, but they have cheerfully accepted a growing burden of public debt to pave the way for further settlement and development.
The initial proposal to strike a rate was made by the Council six months after coming into office, but it was considered inexpedient to do so, members being in general agreement that it would be to the advantage of the Road Board to make a levy of 5/-. A couple of months later, however, the Council struck a rate of 5 per cent., payable as from April 1, 1877.
The condition of the roads and footpaths, such as they were in those days—merely bullock tracks in a quagmire of mud—is best described by a minute appearing in the Council books: “The Council to take sieps compelling the horses and traps to keep off the footpaths, as at present the drains are so completely blocked at the upper end of the township for drays by keeping one wheel in the drain, that the footpaths are only passable by going knee-deep in mud and water.” This state of affairs no doubt induced the Council to enter into negotiations for a loan of £6000 for the metalling of the main road from Read's Quay to the Roseland Hotel, Makaraka, and the offer of the money by the Bank of New Zealand was accepted, the interest rate in those days being as heavy as now, 7 per cent. The first extensive roading programme was initiated in 1887, when a loan of £7000 was raised at 6 per cent. and with which the metalling of the Waerenga-a-hika back road was carried out, besides formation work on other roads. Most amusing opposition to this loan proposal was raised by one Councillor when the scheme was mooted, for he objected to borrowing money because it entailed paying interest! On this loan a special rate of 1¼ per cent. was levied on.
In the intervening period up to 1894 the County continued to progress rapidly under capable administration and economical expenditure of loan moneys in the construction of roads and bridges throughout the district. The formation of the Waimata road was undertaken in the following years at a cost of nearly £7000, and the improved facilities for transport proved a great boon to settlers of that district. The public debt by this time was steadily increasing and at the end of 1896 stood at £25,568. One of the largest road works was undertaken in 1897, viz, the formation work to Kiore, on which £12,000 was expended, while the Waikohu road construction was initiated in the same year at a cost of £2978. Five years later the public debt had increased to £32,000. In succeeding
A big roading programme was undertaken in the Whataupoko riding in 1911, when a loan of £9300 was raised for these works, and by the following year over £5000 had been expended, while, in the same year, nearly £5000 was spent on the reconstruction of the Gisborne, Tolaga and Waimata bridges, which had fallen into a state of dilapidation. In 1913 when the foundation of Riverside Rd. was started, a loan of £1600 was raised and the Council was obliged to raise an additional 10 per cent. to complete the work, which was the first case on record which the statutory 10 per cent. additional loan to a was was required to be raised by the County. The re-building of the Cook Hospital was also undertaken in that year, the County having to subscribe £12,000 as its share.
The loan ependiture in the various ridings continued unabated from 1914, the Tolaga, Waimata and Maraetaha bridges, and the Arai Valley road formation being undertaken, with the result that, at the end of 1915, the public debt stood at £112,759. In the following five years the rate of expenditure diminished slightly, the only work undertaken, apart from the re-building of the Waimata and Tolaga bridges, being the formation of the Lower Hangaroa Road at a cost of £1500, the Te Arai Valley Road and the construction of Lavenham bridge, near Patutahi.
By this time, the Council and ratepayers began to direct their attention to the condition of the East Coast road, with the result that, in 1917, a loan of £1600, with an additional 10 per cent., was raised for the construction of the Pakarae Road, this being followed next year by the raising of £8000 for the formation of the Tolaga Road, also £4000 for the re-building of the Tolaga and Wigan bridges, whilst extensive road and bridge construction work was also undertaken in connection with the Mahunga drain, the Patutahi-Hangaroa road and the re-construction of bridges in the Gisborne riding.
Following upon an insistent demand from the ratepayers the formation of the Hangaroa-Tiniroto Road was undertaken in 1920, for which purpose a loan of £45,000 was raised, while the stormwater draining of Kaiti was also started, a loan of £4000 being raised for the purpose. The public debt of the County increased to £117,217 at the end of the year. In the next five years loans of £3000 and £1000 were raised in Uawa and on Wharerata, while other riding work on the Hangaroa-Tahora, Totangi and Hangaroa-Tiniroto roads was also undertaken.
The necessity for the reconstruction of the whole of the roads of the County was, later, impressed on the ratepayers by the condition of their highways, with the result that a loan of £153,000 was sanctioned for the re-construction of roads and bridges, of which £29,000 was raised and expended in laying down good surfaced roads, while a further £30,941 was raised in 1926, making a total expenditure to date of £358,590.
To-day Cook County has four hundred and fifty miles of roads. Since the inception of the Main Highways Board, and the rapid growth of motor transport, a greatly improved class of road has had to be constructed. With a view to being in line with the best methods of road-making, and road machinery, the County Engineer (Mr. J. J. Keane) was sent on a five-month visit to America, and the advantage gained by his experience is now being reaped by the ratepayers and general travelling public. Only a couple of years ago the ratepayers sanctioned a loan of £153,000, and this, together with substantial subsidies from the Main Highways Board and the Public Works Department, is being spent in bringing to fruition the project of the Cook County Council to make roads suitable for the present day highly improved methods of transport. Under this scheme, which it is hoped to complete in six years, the following permanent improvements have been made, viz.:
Main Highways—Widening and metalling, 21 miles 40 chains; metarling and bitumen, 6 miles 20 chains; total, 27 miles 60 chains.
County Main Roads—Widening and metalling, 18 miles.
County By-roads.—Widening and metalling 15 miles; total on all roads, 60 miles 60 chains.
Machinery is playing a large part in this extensive works programme and the plant owned by the Cook County Council, which now ranks fifth in order of importance in the Dominion, is a comprehensive one, including four motor rollers, eight 3 and 4 ton motor lorries, three Fordson tractors (to two of which are attached Wehr graders), bitumen sprayer and heater, in addition to many smaller machines, together with two motorcars and a motor van for the use of the engineering and bridge building staffs. The quarrying plants number three. That at Patutahi quarry originally was of an 80-yard per day capacity but, under the loan scheme, this was reinforced with a new crusher and engine, which has increased the capacity to twice that amount. The gangs of men on the various classes of works, by experience, are becoming experts and the work being carried out is of a high class.
—Engineers.—
R. M. Skeet G. J. Winter de Gennes Fraser J J. Keane
For the pioneers' luncheon held in the Garrison Hall on May 12, 1927, the following pioneers, who have been in the district fifty years or ever, accepted the invitation to attend:—
Adair, Chas., Sheehan Street, 50 years.
Allen, W., Matawhero, 1877.
Atkins, Mr. and Mrs. Robt., Patutahi, married in Matawhero Church, 1868.
Arthur, Mr. and Mrs. W., Ormond Road, Gisborne.
Adams, Mr. and Mrs. T., Cheeseman Road, Gisborne.
Allan, Mr. and Mrs. W., Matawhero.
Adair, Harry, Manutuke, 54 years.
Adair, Miss M., Stout Street, 50 years.
Adair, Thomas, Stout Street, 54 years.
Adair, Mrs J., Fox Street, 54 years.
Ahlin, Mrs, 101 Fox Street, 50 years.
Allan, Mrs J., Fox Street, 54 years
Arnaboldie, Mrs, near Bridge Hotel Matawhero, 50 years.
Atkins, Jas., Te Karaka, 1876.
Atkins, William, Patutahi, 1876.
Allan, Mrs J., Fox Street, 54 years.
Bell, Mrs F., P.O. Te Karaka.
Babbington, W., Gisborne, 1874.
Brown, W., Gisborne, 1873.
Browne, Thos., Wairoa, 1875.
Baker, Henrietta, Gisborne, 1871.
Bidgood, M. A., Gisborne, 1881.
Benson, Mrs. Fred., Ormond.
Buchanan, M.
Bolton, V. S., Makaraka.
Beets, Mr., Otoko.
Boyd, R., c/o Mrs. Faulkner, Gladstone Road, Gisborne.
Bousfield, F. B., 9 Collins St., Gisborne.
Bloomfield, B., c/o Mrs. H. Bright, Gisborne.
Bilham, T. W., 1871.
Drown, Mr. and Mrs. “Chum,” Te Raraka.
Bolton, Claude, Ormond Road, 50 years.
Bolton, Mrs Claude, Ormond Road, 50 years.
Brocklebank, George, Te Hapara, 1873.
Bryce, Mrs, Makauri, 50 years, (daughter of T. Dever).
Baty, Matilda, Tyndall Road, Kaiti, 1866.
Bach, Richard, Awapuni, Gisborne, 1873.
Barnard, Arthur John, Hura Hura Road, Kaiti, 1876. Came in the U.S. Co.'s “Pretty Jane.”
Benson, Mrs. Eliza, C/o Mrs. Pearce, Taruheru, born 1845 at Makaraka, (nee McFarlane).
Benson, Frederick, Ormond, Jan. 20, 1877.
Benson, Mary, Ormond, Dec. 23, 1876.
Benson, James Edwin, Ormond, Jan. 20, 1877.
Blair, Mrs Douglas, Hura Hura Road, Kaiti, born here Feb. 1875.
Brown, Mrs Ellen, c/o Mrs Pearce, Taruheru, 1869, has resided here over 52 years without break.
Bousefield, Edmund W. R., Te Karaka, Jan. 1869.
Bowes, Catherine, Ormond, Jan. 20, 1877.
Brown, Catherine Rebecca, 206 Stout Street, Gisborne, April 17, 1877
Buchanan, Sara E., 12 Haronga Road, Gisborne, 1875.
Burns, Thomas, c/o Mr F. Bull, Peel Street, before Massacre, 1868.
Burgess, David John, private bag, Gisborne, 1872.
Burgess, Mary, private bag, Gisborne, 1876.
Bartlett, T., Kopua, Muriwai, 1849, born at Mahia.
Breingan, Robt. Jas., Crawford Road, Gisborne, born in Gisborne, 1877.
Butt, Mrs Alicia, 33 Rangi Street, Gisborne, arrived 1870 in steamer Pretty Jane.
Breingan, I., Patutahi, February 8, 1868.
Bennett, Mrs. C. D., Childers Rd., Gisborne.
Black, Mrs. Walter, Iranui Road, Gisborne.
Boland, John Arthur, Ormond, Nov., 1874.
Bousefield, Frederick B. W., 10 Sievwright Lane, arrived 1870 in steamer Pretty Jane.
Brown, William, Riverside Road, Gisborne, 1876.
Bruce, Hugh, William Street, Gis borne.
Bruce, Katherine Ann, William Street, Gisborne.
Bach, Walter, 56 Harris Street, Gisborne, born Gisborne 1875.
Campbell, Charlotte, Makauri.
Caldwell, T., Stout St., Gisborne.
Choveaux, Mrs., senr., Kaiti Beach.
Caulton, R. S., Motu.
Chrisp, E. J., Wainui Road, Kaiti.
Crawford, A., Mangapapa.
Cameron, Mr. and Mrs. D. P., Waerenga-a-hika.
Clark, John, Opou, Gisborne, 51 years.
Cooper, Arthur, Palmerston Road, 55 years.
Coppin, C., Matawhero.
Coppin, T., Manutuke.
Craill, Robert, Upper Gladstone Road.
Campbell, Mrs H. E., Wharerata, 1881.
Craill, Thomas, Patutahi.
Carroll, Lady, Waikanae.
Crawford, T. F., Lowe Street, Gisborne, 50 years.
Cameron, Ewen, Rural Delivery, Gisborne, resident 57 years at Toanga.
Cuthbert, T. Y., Townley's Buildings, Gisborne, May 6, 1873.
Clayton, Hy. Jas., 155 Gladstone Road, Gisborne, 1872, father member first Borough Council.
Creswell, Mrs Louisa, Eastbourne, Hastings, 1865.
Chrisp, Emma Elizabeth, Wainui Road, Gisborne, May 6, 1872.
Crawford, Thomas Fitzgerald, Mangapapa, Gisborne, July, 1874.
Carter, Mrs George, 8 School Road, Gisborne, 1871.
Colley, J., Ormond Road, Gisborne, 1870.
Dalrymple, Ada, Riverside Road, 1873.
Dennis, J., Gisborne, 1857.
Donner, Mrs., Childers Road, Gisborne.
Dolman, Mrs., Te Hapara.
Douglas, A., Whangara.
Dever, T., Hansen Road, Mangapapa, 1874.
Dever, J., Patutahi, 1876.
Dods, Murielle Frances, Ormond, January, 1877.
Dinan, David, 458 Childers Road, Gisborne, Nov. 22, 1877.
Davis, Alfred, Ormond, born here 1876.
Erskine, Jas., 9 Iranui Road, Kaiti, August 23, 1875.
Espie, J., Richardson Av., Gisborne.
Fairlie. J. W., 36 Customhouse Street.
Ferguson, Miss, Hapara Road, Mangapapa.
Foote, Mrs C. A., Gisborne, 1877.
Ferris, Chas., Wainui.
Farr, John, c/o Mrs Pearce, Taruheru, born 1848, about 79 years.
Forrest, Mrs H., 72 Awapuni Road, Gisborne, 1875.
Finuchane, Martin, c/o Mr Clark, Opou, about 53 years here.
Finuchane, Mrs, c/o Mr Clark, Opou, over 50 years in Gisborne.
Foster, Rachel, Winter Street, Mangapapa, 1873, born here, father one of the pioneer settlers.
File, Mrs W. L., Gisborne, 1875.
Friar, Mrs A., 162 Childers Road, Gisborne, April, 1877.
Fyson, Rachel Mary, 111 Rutene Road, Gisborne, 1865.
Fyson, Albert Joseph, 111 Rutene Road, Gisborne, 1877.
Finuchane, Mary, 69 Clifford Street Gisborne, about 1860.
Gallagher, Owen, Patutah., November 9, 1876.
Gelling, Mrs. (nee Miss Ada Caulton). Gisborne, 1875.
Gibson, Mrs A. E., Gisborne, 1877.
Gordon, Mr. and Mrs. D., Tranui Road, Gisborne.
Gray, Mrs. A. M., Makaraka.
Gray, Chas., Waiohika.
Gedye, W. H., Patutahi.
Greig, Andrew, Lytton Road, Gisborne.
Goldsmith, Charles James Alfred, 15 Fitzherbert Street, May 28, 1872.
Goldsmith, Robert, 33 Salisbury Road, born Gisborne, 1848.
Goldsmith, Frederick, Te Karaka, 1869; some months after the Poverty Bay Massacre.
Good, William, P.O. Box 112, Gisborne, January 6, 1877.
Graham, John C. W., “Waimiro,” Waimata Valley, December 14, 1873.
Green, James William, 56 Clifford Street, Gisborne, 1876.
Green, Ellen, 56 Clifford Street, Gisborne, 1876.
Gordon, Mary Ann (Mrs), “Toharoa”, private bag, Manutuke, born Poverty Bay 73 years ago.
Habgood, Alice, 203 Childers Road, 1873.
Harris, E., Gisborne, 1874.
Hurrey, Mrs John, Gisborne, 1875.
Humphreys, Mrs., Carnarvon St., Gisborne.
Harris, K. S., Gisborne, 1870.
Harris, Frank, Gisborne, 1859.
Hills, Mr. and Mrs. J., Patutahi
Harding, Mrs., Kaiti.
Hepburn, Mr. and Mrs., Aberdeen Road, Gisborne.
Harris, Mr. and Mrs. Andrew, Waiohika.
Hall, Mr. and Mrs. W. M., Hole-in-the-Wall.
Hamon, Joseph, Waerenga-a-hika.
Hird, Ben, Harris St., Gisborne.
Hilbert, Ripeta, Makaraka, born locally October 12, 1864.
Halbert, Thomas, Makaraka, born locally March 26, 1863.
Halpin, Susan, 28 Hirini Street, Kaiti, August 23, 1875.
Hall, Mrs A. G., Mangatuna, Tolaga Bay.
Hansen, Otto, Kaiteratahi, 1874.
Hatten, Ellen, Ormond, 1876.
Hatten, William Ford, Ormond, November 5, 1874, arrived by s.s Pretty Jane, Capt. Fernandez.
Hansen, Adolphus, Kaiti, 1874.
Hansen, C. L., King's Road, Makauri, 1874.
Harries, E. T., Tolaga Bay, 1863.
Harries, J. D., Stout Street, 1863.
Harper, E., King's Road, Makauri, 1874.
Howarth, Thomas, Valley Road, Mangapapa, 1877.
Howarth, Mrs, Valley Road, Mangapapa, 1877.
Henderson, George F., 11 Harris Street, Gisborne, arrived by steamel Pretty Jane, 1877, captain rootball team, 1878.
Humphreys, Nurse, Gisborne, 1870.
Heade, Mrs H., Patutahi, 1875 (nee Miss Greaves).
Harris, S. L., Iranui Road, Kait;,
Houlden, Mrs L., 72 Awapuni Road, Gisborne, August 1, 1875.
Howie, Mrs H. E., Ormond, Gisborne, 1870.
Hurrey, John Alexander, Matawhero, January 1873.
Innes, Mrs. Kaiteratahi.
Janes, James, Waerenga-a-hika, 52 years.
Jerber, W., Gisborne, 1873.
Johnston, H. E., 8 Pitt Street, 50 years.
Johnston, Mrs., 8 Pitt Street, 1876
Jeune, L. M. (Mrs), 12 Leith Street Gisborne, 1877.
Johnstone, Mr. Graham.
Johnstone, Mrs. Graham (nee Miss Ebbing).
Johnson, Mrs. Woodbine.
Jobson, Mrs., Matawhero.
Johnstone, Mrs. George.
Jones, —, Ormond.
Jennings, Mrs., c/o G. Stephenson, Ormond.
Kane, Peter, Clifford Street.
Kirkpatrick, Mr. and Mrs. D., Patutahi.
Katiha, Himeona, Gisborne, 1872.
Kennedy, Mrs E., Gisborne, 1875.
King, J., Whatatutu,
Kiwi, Nopera, Gisborne, 1850.
Knight, Mrs. E., senr., Patutahi,
Kane, Mrs Peter, Clifford Street.
Kane, T., “The Willows,” Matawhero, March 17, 1877, arrived by s.s. Go Ahead, which took nine days from Auckland.
Kane, Mrs., “The Willows,” Matawhero, 1877.
Lysnar, G. H., Peel Street.
Langford, —, c/o Miss Yates.
Lewis, —, c/o G.S.F.M. and M. Co. (brother of Cecil Lewis).
‘Livingstone, Mr. and Mrs. H. B. Manutuke.
Lougher, H. J., Waerenga-a-hika, 1873.
Little, Robert, Tyndall Road Kaiti.
Lysnar, Hilton, 59 Russell Street, born Gisborne 1873.
Lucas, J. A., c/o Coronation Hotel, 50 years.
Lougher, Mrs W., Winter Street, Mangapapa, 51 years in district.
Lougher, W., Winter Street, Mangapapa, about 53 years resident.
Luttrell, Elizabeth, Manutuke, arrived November 22, 1868 by Tawera (Captain Read).
Liddell, Stephen, Hexton, 1877.
Lunn, Anna, 416 Palmerston Road, Gisborne, 1870.
McBhetney, Robert S., Memorial Home, Mangapapa, 1873.
McKay, Mrs J., Gisborne, 1875.
Mackay, Mrs, Gisborne, 1874.
McCarthy, Marjory Mary, Rural Mail, Bushmere, 52 years.
McCullough, William, Makauri.
Moore, Eliz. Esther, Makauri, 1872.
Moore, Miss F., 383 Stout Street, Gisborne, 1874.
McKay, David, Ormond, January, 1875.
Morrow, Mrs John, Patutahi, 1875.
Magistrate, Mrs S.
Muir, Mrs Robina, Matawnero, 1868, born in district (nee Miss McFarlane).
McFarlane, James, Waipaoa works, 1865, born in district.
Martin, Mrs Elizabeth, 321 Clifford Street, arrived nearly 60 years ago.
McMillan, Elizabeth, Ormond, March, 1875.
McMillan, Duncan, Ormond, March 4, 1874.
Machell, J., Gisborne, 1876.
McMillan, Neil, Gisborne, 1872.
Morse, H., c/o F. Read, Makauri.
Morgan, Miss Helen, Disraeli St., Gisborne.
Matthewson, Mrs. G., Derby St., Gisborne.
McLean, Mrs. W., Hole-in-the-Wall.
Murphy, Mrs. G., Manutuke.
Moore, G. R., Childers Road, Gisborne.
McLeod, Mrs. D., Ormond Road, Mangapapa.
Mogridge, J., Marton, 1874.
Mather, R., Makaraka, 1877.
Nicholson, Mrs, c/o Mrs Devery 78 Rutene Road, 53 years.
Nikora Hurahura, Muriwai, 1873.
Neenan, Mr. and Mrs. Con, Ormond.
Nea, Mrs. E., Hiriui St., Gisborne.
Nasmith, Mrs M. G., c/o Mrs. D. Blair, Kaiti.
Neall, Mr and Mrs Alfred, Whatatutu, 1875.
O'Dwyer, E. B., Waipaoa Works, Kaiteratahi, over 50 years.
O'Dwyer, Mrs E. B., Waipaoa Works, Kaiteratahi.
O'Meara, Mrs. A., Grey Street, Gisborne.
O'Dwyer, —, Mangapapa.
O'Hara, Mrs, c/o Mrs Hansen, Rutene Road, Kaiti.
O'Dwyer, Mr and Mrs, Gisborne, 1870.
O'Neill, Mrs Emily, 108 Wainci Road, 1876.
O'Neall, Mrs., 203 Kahutia Street, Gisborne, been here over 59 years.
O'Dowd, James, Stanley Road, Gisborne, 1862, fought in Maori War.
Oman, G. B., Gisborne, 1874.
O'Grady Thos. Matokitoki, 1868, just after Massacre.
Orr, David Malcolm, 155 Bright Street, Gisborne, Sept. 11, 1873. arrived by P.S. Boomerang, Captain T. Chrisp.
Parker, Mrs., c/o W. Bignell, Stout Street, 1877 (one of the first nurses in Gisborne).
Porter, Thos., Gisborne, 1869.
Parker, Mrs. E. M., Rutene Road, Gisborne.
Pitt, Mrs. C. D., Childers Read, Gisborne.
Pitt, E., Gisborne, 1872.
Pavitt, Mrs., c/o Mrs. W, Arthur, Ormond Road, Gisborne.
Porter, H. M., Mangapapa.
Piesse, Mr. and Mrs. C. G., Clifford St., Gisborne.
Pettie, Jack, Omaio.
Peddle, F. W., Motuhora.
Priestly, W., Makaraka, 1871.
Parnell, Edward, 51 Grey Street, Gisborne, 1870.
Preston, Mrs Robert, Winter Street Mangapapa, 51 years of age, born in district.
Parker, Frederick, 20 Cobden Street, Gisborne, 1875.
Parker, Frank, 20 Cobden Street, Gisborne, 1875.
Primrose, Clara, Cheeseman Road. Gisborne, 1875 (nee Miss Houlden).
Parnell, Frances L., 304 Palmerston Road, Gisborne, 1870.
Parsons, George H., Ormond, born Poverty Bay.
Penford, Albert, 169 Clifford Street Gisborne, March 1873, in Militia.
Penford, Louisa I., 169 Clifford Street, Giaborne, 1867, before Massacre.
Pierce, John, 504 Aberdeen Road, Gisborne, February 1875.
Pool, William, c/o Mrs Amies Rongotea, November 9, 1876.
Pouigrain, George, 370 Aberdeen Road, Gisborne, 1853, has been petmanent resident.
Price, Robert D., 2 Kennedy Street, February 4, 1870.
Price, Thomas, 2 Kennedy Street, March 24, 1867, draining Muriwai swamp for R. Johnston.
Proudfoot, Mary, Ormond, December 1870.
Poynter, James B., Manutuke, Te Arai, September 8, 1875.
Rees, Miss A. L., Gisborne.
Reeves, Mr. and Mrs. J., Tolaga Bay.
Reeves, Mr. and Mrs. E., Tolaga Bay.
Robb, Miss, Patutahi.
Reynolds, Mrs., Sandown.
Robb, W. K., Patutahi, 50 years.
Rogers, William, Waimata.
Roe, Mrs M., G.P.O., Waingake.
Rankin, Mrs Amy, Ormond, born here 1875.
Robinson, Mrs Annie, Muir Street, Gisborne, 1877 (nee Miss Martin).
Read, Miss Elizabeth, Childers Road, Gisborne, 1877.
Reynolds, E. G. A., Gisborne, 1874.
Read, Frederick, Makauri, March 12, 1877.
Reid, Harry John, 2 Derby Street, Gisborne, September 13, 1872, born in Gisborne.
Rice, Sarah, 414 Palmerston Road, Gisborne, April 1876.
Robb, Robert, 113 Grey Street, 1865.
Robb, Alexander Jas., Rakauroa, 1877.
Robinson, Reginald D. B., 309 Childers Road, Gisborne, 1877.
Robinson, E. M., 309 Childers Road, Gisborne, about 1877.
Salmon, Mrs, c/o A. F. Salmon, G.S.F.M. Co.
Skeet, E., Gisborne, 1872.
Smith, Mrs L., 1877.
Sawyer, E., 109 Roebuck Road, 1878.
Smith, Ezra, 409 Gladstone Road, 1869.
Smith, Walter, Rural, Delivery, Matawhero, 50 years.
Stuckey, William R., 127 Whittaker Street.
Shanks, Mrs H. R. Waingake, January, 1877.
Steele, Frances Alice. 8 Ballance Street, Gisborne, born Gisborne 1868.
Sealy, Mrs J., Gladstone Road, Gisborne, born Gisborne 1874.
Sawyer, Arthur, Roebuck Road, Gisborne, 1876.
Smith, Fred, Gisborne, 1869.
Steggall, Bert, Matawhero.
Sergent, Mrs. E., senr., Patutahi.
Stevens, Mrs., Waiohika.
Scott, Mrs. R.
Scott, Miss Enid.
Stone, Mr. and Mrs., Lytton Road, Gisborne.
Saddler, Mr. and Mrs., Stout St., Gisborne.
Schultz, Miss G., Bright St., Gisborne.
Skipworth, Alfred, 9 Disraeli Street Gisborne, born here 1866.
Skipworth, Mrs Margaret, c/o W. Arthur, Ormond Road, 82 years.
Smith, George, P.O. Box 5, Tolaga Bay, 1878.
Shaw, Norman, Gisborne, 1873.
Shaw, Annie Matilda, 219 Stout Street, Gisborne, June 1870.
Sherratt, Richard, “Swarthmoor,” Patutahi, 1876.
Smith, Henry Griffin, Makauri, 1874.
Shaw, Miss A., Gisborne, 1871.
Smith, Elizabeth, Rural Mail, Bushmere Road, January 1868, arrived by schooner Tawera, Captain J. Kennedy.
Somervell, John, Disraeli Street, Gisborne, 1877.
Stephenson, Mary E. M., Matawhero, July 16, 1874.
Tarr, Arthur, Kopua, 1876.
Tapunga, Tiere, Gisborne, 1847.
Thomson, Mr. and Mrs., Carnarvon St., Gisborne.
Tarr, Mrs. E., Te Hapara.
Tietjen, Miss, Gleneairn, Wainui Road, Gisborne.
Takina, Rutene, Gisborne, 1870.
Taylor, G. F. W., 107 Crawford Road, 1876.
Tucker, Henry G., Makauri, July 8, 1868.
Taylor, A. C., 269a Ormond Road, 50 years.
Turnbull, A. G., Rural Delivery, Makauri, 1876.
Turnbull, Eliz., c/o A. Greig, Lytton Road, Gisborne.
Turnbull, R., Rural Delivery, Makauri.
Townley, Arthur, c/o Coronation, 50 years.
Tutchen, Mrs., 61 Carnarvon Street, Gisborne, 1869.
Thompson, Elizabeth, Puha, November 1877, arrived in ship Mataura.
Thehwall, Robt., Aberdeen Road, January 1866.
Taylor, Adelaide F. B., 8 School Road, Gisborne, June 20, 1871.
Townley, Elizabeth, 11 Iranui Road, Kaiti, May 6, 1873.
Tuohy, Hannah, Ormond, December 24, 1876.
Taylor, Allan, Waverley Street, Gisborne, 1877.
Tietjen, Mrs Amy, “Glencairn,” Wainui Road, June 21, 1876, in Gisborne ever since
U'Ren, Martha, Whatatutu, April 1877.
Wall, J., Makaraka.
Whinray, Mrs., Whataupoko.
Wyllie, G. R., c/o Mrs. Matthewson.
Wells, Mrs. R., Derby St., Gisborne.
Wilson, W. T., 5 Cobden Street.
Wilson, Mrs W. T., 5 Cobden Street.
Whitlock, Mrs., Perry Street.
Wall, George William, Ormond, 1876.
Wood, Mrs Violet, Te Hapara, 1877.
Witters, Geo., Mangapapa, 1876.
Watton, Mrs., Te Karaka, 1870.
Witty, Mrs Alice Madeline, 56 Harris Street, Kaiti, born at Ormond. Jan. 3, 1877.
Walsh, Philip, King's Road, Makauri, born here 50 years ago.
Walker, Henry John, Upper Fox Street, Whataupoko, January 1876, by s.s. Jane Douglas.
Walsh, John, Ormond Road, Mangapapa, 1870.
Wilks, Henry Hamilton, 109 Rutene Road, Gisborne, 1876.
Williams, Herbert W., Naurea, private bag, born at Waerenga-a-hika October 10, 1860.
Witters, Mrs W., Makauri, 1875.
Woodward. Mrs Mary F., 133 Fox Street, Gisborne, one year after Massacre, mother resided at time of Massacre.
Wall, J. A., Gisborne, 1874.
Williams, Mrs H., Gisborne, 1875.
Whitlock, Mrs, Perry Street, Gisborne.
Yardley, Miss, Toa Toa, 1869.
Yardley, Bert, Awapuni Road, Gisborne.
“Cook's Visit” (Bishop W. Williams) 3.
“Poverty Bay in Pre-Maori Days” 13.
“Barnet Burns” 19.
“Dawn of Settlement in Poverty Bay” (Capt. J. W. Harris) 49.
Coming of the Church 55.
“Lively Days Before Missions on East Coast” 68.
“Maori Rule on East Coast” 72.
“Days that are Past” (H. J. Clayton) 81.
“Gisborne in the 60's” (R. Thelwall) 86.
“Back to the 60's” (W. Parker) 97.
“Stories of the Past” (Mrs. W. W. Smith) 103.
“Life in the 70's” (A. J. Fyson) 107.
“A Man of Many Parts; W. F. Crawford” 113.
“The Grand Old Lady; Mrs. J. Townley” 123.
The Pioneer School 127.
Lady Carroll 133.
“A Born Fighter; W. L. Rees” 135.
The Early Press 144.
“Under the Stars” (Robt. Goldsmith) 145.
“Over the Side” (Wi Brown, the Runaway Sailor) 151.
“In Patutahi's Infancy” (Mr. and Mrs. J. E. Hills) 154.
“After the Massacre” (Mr. J. Walsh) 156.
“The Big Problem” (Mr. C. A. deLautour) 158.
“Looking Backward” (Mr. F. Harris) 161.
“Savage to Statesman” (Life of Sir J. Carroll) 173.
“His Home Site” (Mr. Ezra Smith) 182.
“Gisborne the Golden” 183.
County of Cook 195.
Guests at Pioneers' Lunch 205.