Other formats

    TEI XML file   ePub eBook file  

Connect

    mail icontwitter iconBlogspot iconrss icon

The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Auckland Provincial District]

Matawhero

Matawhero.

Matawhero is a small settlement five miles from Gisborne on the road leading from Makaraka to Patutahi. It has large saleyards, where fortnightly and monthly sales are held, and are so largely attended that the prices realised are said to govern the value of stock throughout Poverty Bay. There is a hotel and store; the local post and telephone office is at the homestead of Mr. Stevenson; and there is daily coach communication between the district and Gisborne.

The Matawhero Post And Telephone Office is conducted at the homestead of Mr. W. T. Stevenson, at Biggs' Road. The post office was established in 1893, and has been conducted as at present since September, 1900. A mail is received and despatched daily, and Miss Nora Stevenson is postmistress and telephonist.

The Matawhero Public School was established about 1880. It has two class rooms and two porches, and accommodation for 150 pupils. There are 130 names on the roll, and the average attendance is 112. The school stands on two acres of land, and is surrounded by a good playground, which has a shelter shed. The teacher's house adjoins the school, and is of five rooms. The staff page 1006 consists of a certificated mistress and pupil teacher, besides the headmaster.

Mr. John Marshall, who holds a D2 certificate, has been in charge of the Matawhero School since 1893. He was born in County Tyrone, Ireland, in 1863, and became a teacher under the Irish National Board of Education. In 1881 he arrived in Lyttelton by the ship “Waimate,” and was employed under the North Canterbury Education Board until he was appointed to the Matawhero school, which, though situated in the Auckland provincial district, is under the control of the Hawke's Bay Education Board.

The Matawhero Presbyterian Church is said to have been the first church erected in Poverty Bay, and was the only building at the time of the massacre that was not destroyed by Te Kooti during his raid. It is, beyond doubt, the mother church of Presbyterianism in the Poverty Bay district. It was originally built on behalf of the Church of England, but subsequently passed into the hands of the Presbyterian body. The church is built of kauri, with a shingle roof, and has now accommodation for 150 persons. There is a Sunday school, which is attended by fifty children, and there are four teachers. The manse, which adjoins the church, was erected in 1900, and contains eight rooms, besides a bathroom. The minister in charge holds service at Matawhero, Makauri, Patutahi, Waerenga-o-kuri, and Hangaroa.

The Rev. Robert Gardner, Minister in charge at Matawhero, was born in 1855 in Linlithgowshire, Scotland. He was educated partly at Bathgate and partly in New Zealand. Mr Gardner arrived in Port Chalmers by the ship “Vicksburg” in 1866. For six years he had charge of Pukerau parish, and was transferred to Oteramika, where he continued for three years. Mr. Gardner was called to the Matawhero charge in 1899. He was married, in 1875, to a daughter of Mr. A. Love, of Orepuki, Southland, and has three sons and six daughters.

Bridge Hotel (Edwin Quinn, proprietor), Matawhero. Mr. Edwin Quinn, the proprietor, was born in Galway, Ireland, in 1851. He arrived in Auckland by the ship “Balaclava” in 1865, and became one of the pioneers of the Thames in 1867. For twenty-four years he was well known on the goldfields, and is one of the oldest mine managers. He had charge of the Queen of Beauty, Bird in Hand, Norfolk, Sylvia, and Silverton at Waihi, and many other mines during his career. Prior to settling at Matawhero he was mine manager of the Kauri Freehold Gold Estates Opitonui mine at Coromandel. While he was at Te Aroha, Ohinemuri, he was the first chairman of the Te Aroha Town and Domain Board. He was also for three years a member of the Ohinemuri County Council, on which he represented Karangahake riding, and had a seat at one time on the Te Aroha Licensing Bench, and was afterwards chairman of the Ohinemuri Licensing Bench. Mr. Quinn was married, in 1883, to a daughter of Mr. H. Martin, Roscommon, Ireland, and has four sons and three daughters.

Browne, photo.Mr. E. Quinn.

Browne, photo.
Mr. E. Quinn.

Hall, Matthew, Saddler, Matawhero. Mr. Hall, who has been in business as a saddler at Matawhero since 1894, arrived in Auckland in 1863, and has been a resident in Poverty Bay since 1867. He was in the district at the time of the massacre, and claims to have been the first to start business as a saddler in Poverty Bay. From 1867 to 1880 Mr. Hall served as a member of the Poverty Bay Mounted Rifles, and held office as lieutenant for some time.

Image, Reginald Henry, Storekeeper, Matawhero. Mr. Image was born in 1861 in Barbadoes, West Indies. He was educated at Wellington College in England, and came to New Zealand in January, 1879. He settled in Poverty Bay, and was engaged in sheepfarming with his uncle, the late Mr. J. W. Johnson, until the latter's death. Since that time Mr. Image has visited England, and on his return in November, 1900, he established his present business. He was married, in 1893, to a daughter of the late Mr. W. Dixon, of Mount Stewart, County Tyrone, Ireland, and has three daughters.

Steggall, Robert Mayhew, Settler, Matawhero. Mr. Steggall was born in 1838 in Suffolk, England, and was brought up to country life. After residing four years in London, he came to Auckland by the ship “Romulus” in 1862; in October of that year he settled in Turanganui, and has lived chiefly in the Poverty Bay district since that time. For a number of years he has engaged in farming, and also had a good deal of experience as a hotelkeeper.