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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Auckland Provincial District]

Waharoa

Waharoa.

Waharoa is 118 miles by rail from Auckland and fifty-four miles from Rotorua. The flag station is 175 feet above the sea, and the district was originally a portion of the Matamata Estate. The settlement dates from about 1884; some of the settlers lease their properties, and others are acquiring freeholds. A large cheese and butter factory, connected with the Matamata Estate, is not far from the railway station.

The Waharoa Post And Telephone Office was established in 1886. Telephone communication with Rotorua and Morrinsville has since been established, and daily mails are received and despatched.

Miss Emily Elizabeth Howe Latimer, Postmistress and Telephonist at Waharoa, was born in County Cavan, Ireland. She was educated partly in her native land and partly in New Zealand, and arrived in Auckland by the s.s. “Ionic” in 1888. Her father settled in the Waharoa district, where Miss Latimer became a dressmaker, and as such she has conducted business since 1892, and has done duty at the post office as well since April, 1898.

The Waharoa Cheese Factory (J. S. Paget, manager) is owned by the Assets Realisation Board, and is worked under the general superintendence of Mr. J. McCaw, of Matamata estate. It is a wooden building with an iron roof, is divided into five departments, and the machinery is driven by a three and a half horse power stationary engine. In the cheese-making department there are two vats and two presses capable of treating 1100 gallons of milk daily. Then there are two store rooms and a large cheese room for curing. The company has 120 milking cows, and there are in addition ten suppliers, who milk in the aggregate about double that number. The cheese from the factory is exported to the markets of the Old World.

Mr. James Strang Paget, Manager of the Waharoa Cheese Factory, was born at Mataura, Southland, in 1877. He was educated at Ferndale, near Mataura, and served three years in the Edendale Dairy Factory. Mr. Paget, who is unmarried, was appointed to his present position in January, 1898.

Botteley, photo.Mr. J. S. Paget.

Botteley, photo.
Mr. J. S. Paget.

Forsman, Axel Leonard, Farmer, Waharoa. The property farmed by Mr. Forsman consists of 153 acres of land, which is utilised as a dairy farm and for breeding purposes. Mr. Forsman has an Alpha-Laval separator on the premises. He was born in 1871 at the Thames, and, having been brought up to country life, settled in Waharoa in 1899. Mr. Forsman was married, in 1894, to a daughter of Mr. W. Johnson, of Taupiri, and has three sons.

Scelley, Daniel, Farmer and Butcher, Waharoa. Mr. Scelley was born in 1850, at Onehunga. He was educated in his native place and at Drury, and was brought up to country life. In 1868 he entered the employment of the late Mr. J. C. Firth, of Matamata, and remained with him till 1885, prior to which he had been for eight years one of Mr. Firth's foremen. In 1885 Mr. Scelley settled at Waharoa, where he took up 100 acres of land known as “Laurelgrove,” which he has since farmed, and where he also conducts the business of a butcher. Mr. Scelley has been closely connected with the local school committee, and has occupied the position of chairman for several years. Mr. Scelley was one of the first members of the Matamata Road Board, on which he occupied a seat for a number of years. He is returning officer for the Board. Mr. Scelley was married, in 1875, to a daughter of Mr. W. Lockley, of Nelson, and afterwards of Cambridge, and has four sons and four daughters.

Mr. James Ross, J.P., one of the Oldest Settlers in the district, was born in Nova Scotia in 1840, became a teacher, and followed that calling for about twelve years. He arrived in Auckland in 1882, settled in Onehunga, and was subsequently farming at Pukekohe till 1886, when he became one of the pioneer settlers at Waharoa. He farms eighty-nine acres of land near the railway station and has a comfortable little homestead, at which visitors to the district find acommodation. Mr. Ross has served on the local school committee. He was married, in 1886, to a daughter of the late Mr. A. M. Kennedy, of the Bay of Islands, who came to New Zealand in 1837, and his wife in 1842.