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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Auckland Provincial District]

Rangiaohia

Rangiaohia.

Rangiaohia was originally an old mission station, and is situated about two miles from the township of Te Awamutu. It is now a rich and fully settled farming district, considered by many to contain some of the most fertile land in the Waikato. The Puniu river flows along the southern boundary of the district. In this river considerable quantities of salmon ova have been placed by the Auckland Acclimatisation Society, and are said to be thriving. The district was, like others near it, settled by the military at the close of the war, and has since then attained celebrity for its stock and its potatoes. It was in a skirmish at Rangiaohia that the gallant Colonel Nixon and several of his companions lost their lives. The fight at Hairini also took place in the same district, on a portion of Mr. Cottrell's Matai Hall Estate.

Cottrell, James, Farmer. “Matai Hall,” Rangiaohia. Mr. Cottrell is a native of the West of England. He came out to Australia in 1855, and followed commercial pursuits in New South Wales for a number of years, but settled in New Zealand in 1884. Shortly after his arrival he purchased his property of eighty acres of land in Rangiaohia, and has since increased it to nearly 200 acres. During his residence in New South Wales Mr Cottrell was Justice of the Peace for that colony. He was first mayor of Yass, and was re-elected for a second term and was Under-Sheriff for the district of Yass for some time.

Kay, Roger, Farmer, “Woodbine Farm,” Rangiaohia. Mr. Kay's farm contains 550 acres of good stock-carrying country and runs a flock of about 600 longwool sheep and 150 head of cattle. The property was bought and broken up about twenty-five years ago. Mr. Kay is a native of Radcliffe, Lancashire, where he was born in 1832 and brought up to farming. He came to this Colony in July, 1854, after visiting New South Wales, Tasmania, and Victoria, and having studied the tanning business, he established himself at Mechanics' Bay, Auckland, as a tanner and fellmonger. In 1860 he sold out to Messrs. Ireland Bros., who removed the works to Panmure. Mr. Kay was head manager for this firm (which in 1890 took first prizes against allcomers at Dunedin Exhibition for thirty-one years. He retired about eleven years ago to reside on his farm, where he has taken a great interest in the district and is a member of the road board and other local bodies. Mr. Kay is married to a daughter of the late Mr. M. Hurley of Auckland, a respected pioneer settler, and has seven sons and six daughters, all of whom are grown up.

Mr. R. Kay.

Mr. R. Kay.