Other formats

    TEI XML file   ePub eBook file  

Connect

    mail icontwitter iconBlogspot iconrss icon

The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Auckland Provincial District]

Te Karaka

page break

Te Karaka.

Te Karaka is in Cook county in the Auckland provincial district, and is about twenty miles distant from Gisborne. It has a hotel, a store, and a sawmill, a post office savings bank, money order office and telephone office, and telephone connection with all the principal stations in the district. There is daily communication with Gisborne, and mails are received and despatched three times a week. The roads are in good order, and it is expected that there will very shortly be railway communication with Gisborne as the line is now (November, 1901) being completed as far as Ormond, which is eleven miles from Te Karaka. A new school has lately been built, and adds much to the appearance of the township. Te Karaka will in the near future be an important centre. Its central situation and the fact of its being the railway terminus, must help to open up the back country, which is extensive, and so push the township into prominence.

King, William, Timber Merchant, Makauri, and Sawmill Proprietor, Te Karaka, poverty Bay. Bankers, Bank of New Zealand. Mr. King was born at Blaby, Leicestershire. He is the eldest son of Mr. Thomas King, and was educated at Leicester. Mr. King was apprenticed to Messrs Johnson, Kinder and Co., railway coach builders, Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, where he finished his time, and afterwards, worked as a journeyman for two years. In 1862 Mr. King migrated to Auckland, per ship “Ida Zeigler,” and on landing, started work as a carpenter. He worked as a journeyman for two years, and then commenced as a master builder. In August, 1866, he took up a contract in Poverty Bay, where he settled down, and worked as a builder until 1872. He then commenced sawmilling at Makauri, and subsequently extended his business to Ormond, Te Arai, and the karaka district. The present mill at Karaka is fitted up with the latest and most improved breaking-down plant, and is capable of executing the largest contracts. On the outbreak of the rebels under Te Kooti in 1868, Mr. King joined the Poverty Bay Cavalry Corps, and saw active service. Prior to that, in the year 1860, he had belonged to the volunteers raised in Auckland, and took part in the Waikato war. Mr. King has always taken a very prominent part in local government, and was elected one of the members of the first local Road Board of the Poverty Bay district, and now holds the position of chairman of the same board. He formerly represented a riding in the Cook County Council, and has held various other appointments, including that of worshipful master of Lodge Turanganui, 1480, E.C., Gisborne, Mr. King has been twice married. His first wife was Miss Boffy, of Oldbury, Lancashire, and by her he had nine children, some of whom lived to mourn their mother, who died about 1891. On the 28th of June, 1893, Mr. King married his second wife, Mrs. Shelton, mother of Mr. F. J. Shelton, of the firm of Messrs Common and Shelton, of Gisborne.

Mr. W. King.

Mr. W. King.

Orr, James, Sheepfarmer, Te Karaka Mr. Orr was born in Renfrewshire, Scotland in 1845, and is the eldest son of Mr. William Orr, of Clive, Hawke's Bay. Mr. Orr was educated in Perthshire, Scotland, and came to Otago in 1863, per ship “Mystery.” He remained only a short time in Otago, and in 1864 removed to Hawke's Bay, where he served as a cadet on a station for some years. He subsequently became manager of “Hedgley Station,” Petane, for six years, and in 1878 he was appointed manager of Rangitira Station. During Mr. Orr's residence in Hawke's Bay he belonged to No. 1 Company of the local militia, and took part at the capture of Omaranui pah, at which the maoris were defeated, and many of them were deported to the Chatham Islands. Mr. Orr has also identified himself with the local government of the district, and in 1888 he was elected a councillor of Cook County. He is a member of the committee of the Poverty Bay Turf Club and a member of the Waikohu Road Board and School Committee. In 1887 he married Miss Torr, daughter of the late Mr. Joseph Torr, runholder, of Petane, and their family numbers eight.

Mr. J. Orr.

Mr. J. Orr.

The Rangitira Station, belonging to the City of Glasgow Bank Assets Company, is situated about twenty-two miles from Gisborne, in the Te Karaka district. Its area is 43,000 acres, mostly freehold, with a few thousand acres held under lease from the Maoris. — portion of the land—about 28,000 acres—is still in a virgin state, owing to bad roads and other difficulties of access. The remainder is in an improved condition, sown down with English grass, and carries 20,000 crossbred Lincoln sheep, with 500 head of horses and cattle. The manager also crops on an average about 150 acres of oats, fifty acres of maize and pumpkins (combined), and the latter crop is extensively and profitably used for winter feed for the sheep. The run is well watered, and has timber which affords ample shelter for the stock as well as fencing for the property. The wool clip averages 387 bales, and this yield will annually increase as the run is more and more laid down in grass.