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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Auckland Provincial District]

Ohaupo

Ohaupo.

Ohaupo is the centre of the cattle and sheep trade in the Waipa and Waikato Counties, and possesses very extensive stockyards and sheeppens. It is situated in the county of Waipa, ninety-four miles from Auckland, and seven from Hamilton, with which it is connected by rail. The township is surrounded by a wide extent of good farming country, in which there are many well cultivated holdings. Ohaupo has a public school, a good hotel, a post and telegraph office, and a daily mail service. It is eight miles from Te Awamutu, the road to which runs over a succession of low hills, from which much fine country is visible, and there are several pretty lakes not far from Ohaupo. The township of Ohaupo is scattered, and resembles an English village more than any other Waikato settlement. It extends for the greater part of three miles along the main road, with the public school and Presbyterian Church at one end, and the Roman Catholic Church at the other. It is a dairy farming and fruit growing district, and there is a prosperous creamery close to the railway station. Ohaupo was originally settled by members of a German regiment of the Waikato Militia. Few of the original settlers now remain, but their names are perpetuated in their successors, the present owners of the soil. The railway station is 170 feet above the level of the sea.

Waikato Bush Scene.

Waikato Bush Scene.

Mr. Edward Lake, at one time Member of the House of Representatives for Waipa, resides on his farm, “Fernside,” at Ohaupo. “Fernside” consists of 1170 acres, and farming is carried on upon it on a large scale. The property has been in Mr. Lake's occupation for over twenty years. Mr. Lake was born in Kent, England, in 1838. After taking his degree at Wadham College, Oxford, he was for many years engaged in farming in his native county. He came to New Zealand in 1875, and settled at “Fernside” in 1877. Mr. Lake was for many years chairman of the Waipa
Mr. E. Lake.

Mr. E. Lake.

page 720 County Council, and only retired from the position on entering political life in 1884, when he was elected member for Waipa as an opponent of the Stout-Vogel Government. He again represented Waipa in 1892–3, and was in opposition to the late Mr. Ballance. Mr. Lake was for many years a member of the Auckland Hospital and Charitable Aid Board, and also of the local road board.

The Ohaupo Railway Station And Post Office has a ladies' waiting room, public vestibule, ticket lobby, a stationmaster's office, where the business of the post office is conducted, and a large asphalt platform for passengers. A goods sned adjoins the station, and there is a stationmaster's house of seven rooms.

Mr. Charles Horsnell, the Officer in Charge of the Ohaupo Railway Station and Post Office, was appointed to the position in June, 1900. He had previously served as stationmaster at Waverley for three years and a half, and fuller particulars of his career will be found at page 1153 of the Wellington volume of this work.

The Ohaupo Public School, which stands on an elevated section of five acres off the Ohaupo-Pukerimu Road, is built of wood and iron, and has two class rooms and a porch, with accommodation for 150 children. There are seventy-one names on the roll, and the average attendance is sixty-five. A school-house of five rooms occupies a portion of the property, and there is a large playground for the children and a paddock for their horses. The headmaster is assisted by one pupil teacher.

Mr. John Colhoun, who holds a D2 certificate, is in charge at Ohaupo school. He was born near Londonderry, Ireland, in 1868, and came to Auckland by the ship “City of “Agra” in 1879. After serving a pupil teachership he was for some time in the Auckland Training College, and, before taking up his duties at Ohaupo in 1896, had been in charge of half-time schools in the Auckland district.

Hunter, William James, Auctioneer, Ohaupo. This business was established by Messrs Hunter and Nolan in 1880. Mr. William Hunter, one of the founders of the firm, was a well known colonist and popular auctioneer, and died in 1897. The present proprietor, who had for some time managed the business, took it over on his own account in 1888. He was born in Auckland in 1850.

Roche, Hungerford, Land and Estate Agent, Ohaupo. Mr. Roche, who served for three years as a Member of the Waipa County Council, in which he represented Mangapiko riding, represented the Waikato district in the Auckland Provincial Council for three sessions in the early days, and has generally served on road boards and school committees during his long residence in the Waikato. He is the eldest son of the late Mr. Thomas Hungerford Roche, of Glandire Castle, County Cork, Ireland; was born in 1841, in Dublin; and completed his education at the Albert Model Farm Training College, Glasnevin, near Dublin. In 1863 Mr. Roche arrived in Auckland by the ship “Ida Zeigler.” He obtained an appointment in the Commissariat Department in connection with operations against the Raglan Maoris, and at the conclusion of the war settled in the Waikato as a farmer. In 1879 Mr. Roche contested the Waipa seat for the House of Representatives in the interest of the Liberal party as headed by Sir George Grey, but was defeated. In 1891 he established himself as a land and estate agent at Ohaupo, having previously sold his farm, and from his long experience in farming, he is well qualified to give an opinion on the merits of the Waikato lands. Mr. Roche was married, in 1876, to the eldest daughter of the late Mr. Neil Malcolm, barrister of the Inner Temple, and of Regent's Park, England, and cousin of Lord Malcolm of Poltalloch, and has four daughters and five sons.

Mr. H. Roche.

Mr. H. Roche.

Ohaupo Hotel (John Teddy, proprietor, Ohaupo. This hotel is a two-storey wooden building, which was erected about 1880. It contains about thirty rooms, including a dining room, which will seat seventy-five guests. It is the only hotel in the district.

Edwards, James Thomas, Storekeeper, Ohaupo. Bankers, Bank of New Zealand. Mr. Edwards' store is centrally situated and contains a large and well-assorted stock of the class of goods needful for a farming population; he is also a large buyer of produce, grain, etc. Mr. Edwards was born in London, in 1840, and was educated there. For several years he was employed in a large city warehouse and had considerable commercial experience. He came to New Zealand in 1862 per ship “William Miles,” and during the Waikato War, served with the troops and was present at the engagements near Wairoa South, for which he received the New Zealand medal. For a considerable time he followed the occupation of storekeeper to the troops and was at Te Rore. He then became proprietor of the Alexandra Hotel, but on the “rush” to the Thames he removed there and kept the Star Hotel. Eight years later he became the proprietor of the Ohaupo Hotel, and afterwards built the store in which he now carries on a flourishing business. In all public matters he has shown that he has the welfare of the district at heart, and has given much of his time to various local bodies. For many years he was chairman of the Ohaupo School Committee and member of the Highway Board. He was also instrumental in promoting the successful creamery at Ohaupo, near which place he has a farm. The gifts of sites for the county council chambers and the Anglican church were due to the liberality of Mr. Edwards. He married Miss Annie Krippner, daughter of Mr. Michel Krippner, a well-known settler of the district, and has three sons and eight daughters.

Cowley, Thomas, Farmer, Ohaupo. Mr. Cowley was born in Warwickshire, England, in November, 1840, and was brought up as a farmer. He came to Auckland in the ship “Alhambra,” in 1875, and settled at Ohaupo, where he purchased the first portion of his holding, which he has since increased to 202 acres of freehold. Mr. Cowley milks thirty cows during the season. During his residence in the Waikato he has completed a considerable number of carting contracts for public bodies. He was married, in 1863, to a daughter of Mr. J. Pope, of Gloucestershire, and has four daughters and seven sons.

Botteley, photo.Mr. and Mrs T. Cowley.

Botteley, photo.
Mr. and Mrs T. Cowley.

page 721

Gane, Joseph, Farmer, Ohaupo. Mr. Gane was born in Somersetshire, England, in 1837, and was educated in his native place, and brought up to a country life. He was afterwards apprenticed as a draper in London, and after some years' experience, came to Auckland by the ship “Harwood” in 1859. For fifteen years he was in business as a draper in Otahuhu. He then settled in the Pukerimu district, where he purchased his property of 400 acres, and built a residence near the river. Mr. Gane has served on two or three occasions as a member of the Pukekura Road Board.

Mr. J. Gane's Residence.

Mr. J. Gane's Residence.

Holmwood, the property of Mrs William Lyn Martyn, is a fine farm of 600 acres, situated on the Ohaupo-Te Awamutu Road. It is worked chiefly as a dairy farm, and about eighty milch cows are kept, besides a large number of young stock.

Mr. William Lyn Martyn was born in 1844, in Cornwall, England, and was brought up to agriculture. About 1860 he settled at Runciman, but had to leave his farm at the time of the Maori war. For many years he was a prominent farmer in the Waikato, and went to West Australia in 1879. Mr. Martyn died there in 1886, and five years later Mrs Martyn with her family returned to New Zealand, and settled at Holmwood, Ohaupo. Mr. Martyn, who was married, in 1874, to a daughter of Mr. William J. Young, left four sons and three daughters. Mr. Young was well known as a very early settler at Otahuhu, and was in business as a merchant in Auckland. In the early days, during the war, he held contracts for provisioning the troops, and settled at Ngaruawahia, where he built the Delta Hotel, and was one of the founders of the Ngaruawahia brewery.

The late Mr. W. L. Martyn.

The late Mr. W. L. Martyn.

Kusabs, Henry, Farmer, Ohaupo. Mr. Kusabs, who served for some time as a Member of the Waipa County Council, and was for six years on the Waikato Hospital Board, was born in Prussia, in 1832. He was brought up to country life, but went to sea at the age of twenty, and served before the mast for eight years. Mr. Kusabs visited Auckland in 1858 for the first time, and, after trading for a year or two on the coast, left the sea. For two years he engaged in building at the Thames, and bought the first portion of his holding in Ohaupo in 1872. Mr. Kusabs has 400 acres of land, and milks from fifty to sixty cows. He took an active part in connection with the foundation of the Anglican Church at Ohaupo, and has been a clergyman's warden for twenty-seven years. Mr. Kusabs was married, in 1865, to a daughter of the late Mr. Prentice, of London, and has three sons.

Morrison, Kenneth, Farmer, Ohaupo. Mr. Morrison was born at Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, in 1844, and came to Auckland by the ship “Breadalbane” in 1858. Till 1876 he led a country life at Waipu, at a place named the Caves, between Waipu and Mangapai. Mr. Morrison then settled in Ngaruawahia, and remained there till 1885, when he acquired his farm of 270 acres at Ohaupo.

Botteley, photo.Mr. K. Morrison.

Botteley, photo.
Mr. K. Morrison.

page 722

Steele, Samuel, Farmer, “Runymeade,” Ohaupo. Mr. Steel's farm consists of 650 acres of first-class land under successful cultivation—about 100 acres being under crops—and grazing a herd of 100 head of cattle. Mr. Steele and his family have resided at “Runymeade” for the past twenty-five years. He is a native of Shropshire, where he was born in 1838, and in the early fifties visited Australia, spending some years on the Bendigo diggings. Visiting New Zealand in 1854 for a couple of years, he returned to Australia and passed the next seven years on various diggings, being present at the memorable flood on the Darling River which lasted thirteen weeks. On the outbreak of the Maori war, he joined the forces and in 1864 received the rank of ensign in the Waikato Militia. For his services he received a Government grant of land on which he resided for about eight years, adding to it by degrees till he acquired his present valuable property. Local politics have found an ardent supporter in Mr. Steele, who was a member of the first Rangiaohia Road Board and has been for many years a member of the Waipa County Council. He is chairman of the Tamahere School Committee, and a member of the Waikato Hospital and Charitable Aid Board. Mr. Steele is married to a sister of the late Mr. John McNicol, the popular auctioneer, and has eight sons and two daughters. Mrs. Steele's parents were amongst the earliest settlers in the Wairoa. She was present when the stockade was attacked by the natives, and with her brothers and sisters had to run from their house to the stockade under a shower of bullets, her brother Archie receiving a bullet through his cap.

Mr. and Mrs S. Steel

Mr. and Mrs S. Steel