Kakaramea
is on the main line of railway, 190 miles from Wellington, sixty-two from New Plymouth, and thirteen from Hawera. The district is devoted to sheepfarming and dairying, and is served by a flag station, which stands at an elevation of 221 feet above the level of the sea. The settlement is in the Otoia riding of the county of Patea, and in the Carlyle survey district of the Taranaki land district. The fine factory of the Kakaramea Dairy Company has several creameries in the neighbourhood, and there is also a flaxmill at work in the locality. The village contains a public school, a post office, a store, a hotel, and some churches, which are supplied by visiting clergymen from Patea, five miles to the south.
Williamson, James,
Farmer, “Spring Grove,” Kakaramea. Mr. Williamson's property consists of 300 acres of first-class land, most of which is leased for dairying and sheepfarming. He was born in Kingsley, Staffordshire, England, in the year 1837, and came to New Zealand when he was fifteen years of age. His father bought a farm near Wanganui, and Mr. Williamson assisted on it for fifteen years. At the time of the gold discoveries in Otago he went to the Dunstan diggings for a short time. In 1867 he took up land at Kakaramea, but on the outbreak of war was ordered by the officer in charge of the district to leave, which he did, but took his cattle with him, and in less than a year returned to the district. Mr. Williamson was a member of the militia at the time of Titokowaru's disturbance, and had previously been
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a member of the Wanganui Lancers. In the early days of the settlement he was a member of the local Road Board, and the school committee, and is now a member of the Farmers' Union. Mr. Williamson is married, and has four daughters.
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