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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Auckland Provincial District]

Ormond

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Ormond.

Ormond is a picturesque little village situated on the banks of the Waipa river. Settlement in the district dates from about 1870, prior to which it was known as an old mission station. It has Presbyterian and Roman Catholic churches, a fine Government school, a public hall, a hotel, three stores and a blacksmith's shop. The settlement is within the Ormond road district, the office for which is in the village. There is daily coach communication with Gisborne, twelve miles distant, and it is expected that the Gisborne-Ormond railway will be completed and in working order by February, 1902. A fine sheepfarming country surrounds the township of Ormond.

The Ormond Road Board controls the district surrounding the settlement of Ormond. The district has 105 dwellings and 159 ratable properties owned by 105 ratepayers, and a rate of £1/2d in the £ is struck. In the year 1900 the total revenue, including subsidy, was £190, and the total liabilities amounted to £35. In 1900 Mr. J. A. A. Cæsar was chairman, and Mr. J. Gordon, J. P., secretary to the Board.

Mr. Julius Adolphe Albert Cæsar, J.P., Chairman of the Ormond Road Board, was born in London in 1863, and was educated at Dulwich College. He was brought up to commercial life, and was for two years in Germany and France, and for three years in the United States of America. In 1889 he became manager of Te Karaka, a grazing run of 3360 acres at Kaitangiti. He settled in Ormond in 1896, and his place, known as “Riverside,” is 350 acres in extent. Mr. Cæsar has been chairman of the Ormond Road Board since 1896, and served for about three years on the Waikohu Road Board. He is also a member of the school committee, a trustee of the cemetery, and president, secretary, and treasurer of the Ormond Cricket Club. In addition to his Riverside property Mr.Cæsar has the Te Karaka grazing run. He has altogether about 7000 sheep, and 350 head of cattle and recently imported several Hereford bulls. Mr. Cæsar was married, in 1898, to a daughter of the late Mr. Heeney, of Belfast, Ireland, and has one son.

The Ormond Public School was established about 1889. It was doubled in size in 1899, and has room for 140 pupils; the average attendance is over ninety. There are about four acres attached to the school premises, and these are divided into a playground, paddock, and garden. The flower borders surrounding the school are remarkably well kept, and very pretty, and the children are taught to take a pride in the garden. There is no schoolhouse attached to the school, and the headmaster is assisted by one certificated and one pupil teacher.

Mr. Edmund Jardine, Headmaster of the Ormond Public School, holds a D2 certificate. He was born in Liverpool, England, in 1857, and was educated at Rugby and at Brazenose College, Oxford. Mr. Jardine was originally intended for the army, but the idea was abandoned, and he arrived in Wellington by the s.s. “Doric” in 1884. Some years afterwards he became an assistant master at the Te Aute College. In 1890 he entered the service of the Hawke's Bay Education Board, and was stationed for seven years at Mangaatua, near Woodville. Mr. Jardine was appointed to Ormond in June, 1898. During his residence in Hawke's Bay he was a member of the Woodville Rifle Club. He is captain of the Ormond Cricket Club.

The Ormond Roman Catholic Church was erected in 1866. It is built of wood and iron, stands on a section of one acre, and has accommodation for eighty worshippers.
Waimata River.

Waimata River.

page 953 Services are held periodically by the priests who live in Gisborne.

The Ormond Cricket Club was established in 1899, and has a membership of fifty-four. Officers for 1900: Messrs J. A. A. Cæsar, president, secretary and treasurer; and Mr. E. Jardine, captain.

The Ormond Police Station. The district lying between Ormond and Motu, some fifty miles in extent, and including Ngatapa, Kanikanane and Patutahi, is worked from Ormond. The station consists of a four-roomed residence, with an office and lock-up at the back, and stands on an acre of ground. There has been a station at Ormond since 1885, and previous to that time the old constabulary barracks, which have since disappeared, were used for the purpose.

Mr. John Farmer, Constable in charge of the Ormond district, was born in Bristol, England, in 1839. He entered the Imperial Army in the 65th Foot in England in 1855, and in the following year arrived in Wellington by the ship “Lancashire Witch.” He was stationed for two years in Wellington, and afterwards served in the Auckland and Taranaki and Waikato campaigns. In 1865 Mr. Farmer took his discharge, and joined the police two years later in Hawke's Bay. After thirteen years' service in Napier he was transferred to Poverty Bay in 1880, and was placed in charge at Ormond five years later.

McMillan, Duncan , Blacksmith, Ormond. Mr. McMillan was born in Argyleshire, Scotland, in 1849. He came to Auckland by the ship “Hydaspes” in 1873, and settled at Ormond in the following year, when he established his present business. Mr. McMillan served a short time in the militia, and was for some years in the Gisborne Rifle Volunteers.

McCoomb, Robert, General Storekeeper, Ormond. This old settler, who was born in Ireland in 1833, served in the Crimea in 1855, and became instructor of volunteers to the artillery in Sydney in 1863. He arrived in Auckland by the ship “Wood Lark” in 1873, and served with armed navvies on the construction of the Mercer-Hamilton railway. He has been a storekeeper in Ormond since 1882.

Teat And Friar (W. A. Friar), Storekeepers, Ormond; Headquarters, Gisborne. Mr. James Friar is manager of the Ormond branch, which was established in 1895. The premises consist of a large double-fronted shop, with bulk stores, stabling, and a dwellinghouse, and the local post office is conducted at the store.

Mr. James Friar, Postmaster at Ormond, and Manager of Messrs Teat and Friar's business, was born near Belfast, Ireland, in 1840. He had a long experience in connection with goldmining and mercantile life in Australia, and settled in Poverty Bay district in 1897, when he took his present position.

John Robb, photo.Maru Maru Caves.

John Robb, photo.
Maru Maru Caves.

Kempthorne, Arthur, Sheepfarmer, Ormond. Mr. Kempthorne was born in London in 1841, and in 1842 he came to the Colony with his father, who landed at Auckland. He was educated at the Auckland Grammar School under Dr. Kinder, and was afterwards engaged for three years under the late Bishop Williams (first Bishop of Waiapu), in teaching at the native training college at Waerenga-a-hika, in Poverty Bay. In 1860, Mr. Kempthorne went to Hawke's Bay, where he remained till the end of 1864 on the Kereru station, engaged in learning the business of sheepfarming. In January, 1865, in partnership with Mr. Roskruge, he leased 10,000 acres of native land at Ormond, and the partnership lasted five years. Mr. Kempthorne now has 1100 acres of freehold land, on which he runs 1500 sheep, and eighty head of cattle. In common with other settlers in this district, he has suffered considerably from the unfriendly Natives. In October, 1865, he was forced to abandon his run to serve in the militia, and was at the siege and fall of the pa at Waerenga-a-hika. He was afterwards a member of the mounted volunteers, and was engaged against Te Kooti. Mr. Kempthorne has been a tenant of Native lands for more than twenty-five years. In 1891, he built his present residence, which occupies one of the prettiest sites in Poverty Bay. Mr. Kempthorne has done good service to his district in the capacity of member of the Waikohu Road Board. In 1872 he was married to Miss Wood, of Bradford, Yorkshire, and has one son and one daughter living.

McKenzie, Alexander, Sheepfarmer. Seaforth, Ormond, Poverty Bay. Mr. McKenzie was born at Strathpeffer, near Inverness, in 1834, is the youngest son of Mr. John McKenzie, farmer, of Strathpeffer, and was educated in his native village. About 1857 he migrated to Wellington in the ship “Indian Queen,” and was in the employment of a runholder as head shepherd for three years. He then, in conjunction with Mr. Alexander Shennan, commenced page 954 shipping sheep to Oamaru, and during one year about 60,000 sheep were landed at that port. Mr. McKenzie then became overseer of the Woodland Run, Hawke's Bay, and held the position until his employer sold the property. He then purchased the Te Harota Estate, Mohaka, Hawke's Bay, and after working it for some time disposed of it to a Waikato gentleman. Thereupon he engaged in cattle dealing for three years, and afterwards leased the native run “Akawa,” near Ormond. About 1875, Mr. McKenzie purchased his present property, which consists of 750 acres of rich pastoral land, and carries 2500 pure bred stud Romneys and Lincolns. In 1865 Mr. McKenzie married Miss Catherine Ferguson, daughter of Mr. John Ferguson, of Argyleshire, and has eleven children.

Parsons, Alexander, Horse Trainer, Ormond. Mr. Parsons was born in 1858 in Auckland, and was educated in Hawke's Bay and at Wanganui. Always fond of horses, he has had thirty-two years' experience as a trainer, and, having studied as a veterinary surgeon, he is regularly consulted in connection with horses, their nature, and their ailments. Mr. Parsons was two years in the Rangitikei district, and nine years in Hawke's Bay. In 1880 he settled at Ormond, and has a farm of fifty acres in the Waimata district. He is well known also as a breeder of horses, and is the owner of the trotting entire. “The Baron.” At agricultural shows in the district he has been a frequent prize taker, and at the Poverty Bay show of 1892 he took the first prize with the well-known horse “Wakatipu,” with “Strowan” in 1894, and with “The Baron” in 1900. Mr. Parsons, who served for thirteen years as a member of the Ormond Road Board, and was for about five years on the school committee, was married, in 1880, to a daughter of the late Mr. J. A. Maxwell, of Ireland, and has two sons and six daughters.

Mr. and Mrs A. Parsons.

Mr. and Mrs A. Parsons.