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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Canterbury Provincial District]

[Makikihi]

Makikihi is the name of one of the ridings of the Waimate county, and of a township on the main line of railway between Christchurch and Dunedin. The population of the entire riding at the census of 1901 was 632; that of the township and vicinity 112, to which should be added residents near the main road — namely, fifty-three. Makikihi has a railway station, which stands twenty-two feet above sea level, and is 113 miles from Dunedin, and seventeen from Timaru. The township also has a public school, a commodious hotel, two stores, and a blacksmith's shop. Divine service is held periodically in the school by visiting clergymen, and a Roman Catholic church was built in 1903. The Makikihi river runs to the sea to the northward of the township, and has bold sandstone terraces on its northern bank; to the southward, rich flats extend for miles. The Makikihi district includes a great deal of fine land, lying between the seaboard and the Hunter.

Makikihi Railway Station And Post Office combined dates from 1879. Besides the usual accommodation for the public and the department, there is a private grain store on the station grounds. Three trains pass each way daily, and the express stops at the station. Mails are received and despatched four times a day. The sationmaster has one assistant.

Mr. Albert Ernest Firman, Station-master and Postmaster at Makikihi, was born in Christchurch, in 1874. He entered the service in that city in 1889, and has been in charge at Makikihi since 1902.

The Makikihi Public School which, was established in 1879, has a glebe of five acres of land. The building is of wood and iron, and was erected in 1882. It contains a class room and two porches, with accommodation for seventy pupils; there are fifty-three names on the roll, and the average attendance is fifty-one. The glebe is divided into a playground, a paddock for the children's horses, and a garden for the school-house, which is of six rooms. The teacher in charge has one assistant.

Mr. Alexander Goodall, Master of Makikihi School, was born at Waitaki Plains, in 1869. He was educated at the Pukeuri school, near Oamaru, where he served a pupil-teachership of four years. After two years at the Normal Training College, Dunedin, he was stationed at Kaikori school, and was appointed to Makikihi in 1894. Mr. Goodall was married, in 1897, to a daughter of Mr. B. Battersby, of Enfield, Oamaru.

The Makikihi Roman Catholic Church was built in 1903 on a site of five acres, presented by Mr. Nicholas Quinn. It is a brick building, with accommodation for 200 worshippers, and cost £900. Services are conducted by the clergy in charge of the Waimate parish.

Makikihi Hotel (John Thomas Bourne, proprietor), Makikihi.—This is a large two-storey building, and contains two commercial rooms, bar parlours, a billiard room, dining room, and eleven bedrooms, exclusive of the accommodation needed by the family. The domestic requirements are efficiently looked after by Mrs Bourne, who shares with her husband the esteem of the local residents and the travelling public.

Mr. John Thomas Bourne, Proprietor, is a son of the late Mr. William Bourne, an old colonist of Waimate. Mr. William Bourne came from Geelong to Dunedin in 1864, and engaged in carrying produce to the Otago goldfields. In 1875 he went to Waimate, and started contracting and cropping in the district, and also engaged in carting timber, from the Waimata bush to Timaru. He afterwards started in business in Waimate in a flour mill, which he conducted for some years. Meeting with reverses he returned to Victoria, where he died from a kick from a horse in February, 1890. He left a wife and a family of two sons. Mrs Bourne survived her husband four years. Mr. J. T. Bourne was born in Geelong in 1857, and accompanied his parents to New Zealand. He was engaged in agricultural pursuits in the Waimate district for a number of years, and in March, 1897, he took over the Makikihi Hotel.