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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Wellington Provincial District]

Makakahi

Makakahi.

Makakahi, a farming district in the Pahiatua County, is 106 miles from Wellington, and four miles from Pahiatua. Conveyance is by rail to Eketahuna or Woodville, and thence by coach. Education for the rising generation is provided by a public school, at which the average attendance is about thirty-five. Most of the residents are engaged in farming pursuits. Mails for Makakahi close at Wellington daily at 6.45 a.m., arriving at Makakahi at 3.30 p.m. The return mail closes daily at Makakahi at 11 a.m., arriving at Wellington at 7.50 p.m.

page 1009
Makakahi.

Makakahi.

Makakahi Public School. This school consists of one good, well-lighted room, 26 feet by 21 feet. It was opened on the 2nd of June, 1891, by Miss A. Falla, with an average attendance of seven. The average has now reached forty-seven, with a roll strength of fifty-eight. The standards up to the sixth are taught. Since May, 1894, the school has been in charge of Mr. Walter Britland, who is assisted by Miss Annie Gregg, daughter of Mr. Richard Gregg, sheepfarmer, of Glengregg, Makakahi. The inspectors have been pleased to report well of the school, and Mr. Britland and his assistant evidently take great interest in their work.

Mr. Walter Britland, Headmaster of the Makakahi Public School, was born in Wellington on the 9th of March, 1870, and was educated at the Newtown School under Mr. Lillington and Mr. Hulke. In 1894 he obtained his certificate, D2, and was appointed to the above school. He was trained in his profession a the Newtown School, Wellington, where he taught for nine years. Mr. Britland is a son of Mr. Joseph Britland, of the Rock Road, Makakahi, one of the many sheep farmers of that district.

Avery, Thomas, Farmer, Mahakaki, about six miles from Pahiatua. Bankers, Bank of New Zealand. The subject of this notice is the fourth son of Mr. George Avery, senior, one of the early Wellington settlers, and was born at the Hutt in 1858. The early part of his life was passed on his father's farm, and when twenty-three years of age he came to Pahiatua, taking up some land,
Mr. Thos. Avery and Family.

Mr. Thos. Avery and Family.

page 1010 which he cleared and then sold advantageously. He went back to the Hutt, but came to Pahiatua again in a few years and bought the present farm. He has a fine lot of sheep and cattle, and has done a large daying business, but owing to illness has had to sell most of the cows. As an athlete, he carried off many prizes—among others the Caledonian Society's medal in 1882—both in Wellington and the Wairarapa, being for some time without an equal in high jumping and throwing the hammer. He married a daughter of Mr. John Hall. one of the earliest of the Pahiatua settlers, and has a family of three sons. In educational matters he has always taken an interest, and is a member of the Makakaki School Committee.
Gregg, Richard, Sheepfarmer, Glengreg, in the Makakahi district, Pahiatua. Mr. Gregg, who has had experience in many lands, is the youngest son of Mr. Robert Gregg, of Ballynascadden, County Donegal, Ireland, where he was born in 1854. In 1871, at the age of seventeen, he went to the United States, where he was employed by his uncle, Mr. Daniel Gregg, owner of one of the richest oil producing farms in Oil Creek, Pa. He joined the United States army in 1872, and served for a term of five years under the American flag, being in several engagements with the Indians in Wyoming, Montana, and Dakota territories, notably in 1876 under General Crook in the war with the Sioux tribes under their famous war chief Sitting Bull. It was in this campaign, on the night of the 15th of June, that General Custer, with his 7th United States Cavalry, made the celebrated attack on Sitting Bull's village, from which neither he nor any of his men ever returned. Crook's army, on their return, suffered great privations, marching a distance of nearly 400 miles in a period of nine days through unknown country, subsisting for several days entirely on the flesh of the half-starved cavalry horses. It was then that they captured a village of thirty-five lodges under the chiefs American Horse and Roman Nose, the latter being killed and the former taken prisoner. Mr. Gregg returned to Ireland in 1877, remaining at his father's
Mr. R. Gregg and Family.

Mr. R. Gregg and Family.

home for one year, with the exception of a few months, when he took a second trip to the United States. He left for this Colony in the ship “Lady Jocelyn,” sailing from Belfast with Mr. G. Vesey Stewart's Kati Kati settlers on the 20th day of May, 1878, and arriving in Auckland on the 17th of August of that year. He immediately transhipped for Lyttelton, where he remained nearly seven years in the employ of Messrs. H. Hawkins and Co. In 1885 he removed to the North Island, and settled at Pahiatua in the Forty-mile Bush, which in those days well deserved its name. Mr. Gregg's holding consists of 540 acres, originally all heavy bush, but now felled and grassed, with the exception of a few patches left for shelter. His venture has been successful, and the reward of his labour is now at hand. His sheep are crossbreds of the long-woolled varieties. Mr. Gregg has taken his share of public duties, having served on the local Road Board for two years, taking an active part in the formation of the County and the merging of the Road Board into
Mr. R. Gregg's Homestead, Makakahi.

Mr. R. Gregg's Homestead, Makakahi.

page 1011 the same, and for a similar period holding the chairmanship of the Makakahi School Committee. He is a master Mason. On the 1th of May, 1878, shortly before leaving the Old Land, Mr. Gregg was married to Miss Caroline Fletcher, eldest daughter of Mr. John Fletcher, of Manor Cunningham, County Donegal, Ireland, and their family consists of three sons and two daughters, the eldest daughter, Annie, now being pupil-teacher at the Makakahi School. The accompanying group and view are from pictures taken in September, 1896.

Quirk Bros., Sheepfarmers of Makakahi, hold 950 acres, all grassed, and about four acres ploughed. Their 2600 sheep are of the Romney-Lincoln variety. Their stud flock of sixty breeding ewes (Lincoln) is referred to on page 23, Vol. I., “New Zealand Flock Book, 1895.” Messrs. Quirk Bros. are also breeders of pure shorthorn cattle and horses of the Clydesdale breed. Their father, who died in September, 1896, came to the Colony in 1858, and was for many years well known in the Ohariu Valley.

Verry, George, Settler, Man Read, between Makakahi and Pahiatua. Mr. Verry has a dairy farm of 215 acres, about equally divided by the road. It is all flat and well grassed, and a field of a few acres has been stumped and ploughed. Mr. Verry has about seventy milch cows, and though within easy reach of the creamery, he prefers making his own butter, having, in fact, a creamery of his own. His land is rich and well watered. Mr. Verry was born in Reading, Berkshire, England, in 1835, and came with his parents to Nelson, per ship “Clifford,” in 1812. Educated and trained as a farmer in that province, he remained there until 1890, when he sold his farm at Waimea, Spring Grove, and removed to Pahiatua. In 1865 Mr. Verry was married to Miss Gibbs, daughter of Mr. James Gibbs, of Lone Oak Farm, Wakefield, near Nelson, and eleven of their twelve children survive: one of the six
Mr. and Mrs. Geo. Verry.

Mr. and Mrs. Geo. Verry.

boys died a few years ago. In his dairying business, Mr. Verry is ably assisted by those members of his family resident on the farm.
Photo by Mr. J. B. Hopkirk.

Photo by Mr. J. B. Hopkirk.