Chapter XVII.

Soon the season changed and winter was ushered in with cold, disagreeable weather and almost incessant rain, which streamed in through the leaky, insufficient roofs. But no one complained, nay, all boasted of the healthy, invigorating climate, and told stories of long exposure or of sleeping out in the open with no evil results. Mr. Burns preached his first sermon on Sunday the 16th of April, the day after arrival, in the barracks erected for the married people of the John Wickliffe; his text was from Psalm cxxx. 4. In the evening Mr. Creed preached from "Strive to enter in at the strait gate." It will be remembered that this was the gentleman who released his brother Watkin from purgatory at Waikouaiti. For four months service was conducted generally in Mr. Kettle's survey office or occasionally in the barracks. The new church and school-house, or rather its first instalment, for there were three, was opened on the 3rd of September, when Mr. Burns preached from Jeremiah viii. 20. It was built of wood, cost £83, and finally seated 400 people. The second portion was completed by the 8th of July following. The principal landing place was at the bottom of Jetty Street, where the first jetty was afterwards built; here the water was somewhat deeper than at the Maori landing place and not so much affected by the ebb-tide. But it mattered little which was used as most of the goods were brought ashore on the backs of men, who waded with them from the boats. The stores and provisions, of which the vessels had brought some months' supply, were sold by the Company at very reasonable rates. Oatmeal was 2s. 6d. and flour 3s. a stone, sugar 3½d. and tea 1s. 3d. per pound; beef and mutton 6d. a pound. By the time these were exhausted it was expected that the settlement page 99would be partly self-supporting and have developed trade with other parts.

The 21st of April was fixed for the formal selection of their own town sections by the land purchasers, who for a week before had been trudging around busily engaged in the important business of making a choice. Until this was done there could be no permanant building nor regular employment. Though aided by copious plans and maps in the survey office the task could not have been easy. The so-called streets were much as nature made them, though cleared of flax and undergrowth and marked by the surveyor's lines and pegs. Up and down, through scrub and bush and numerous watercourses, they marched taking note of what pleased their fancy, and it is not astonishing that many of the best sections failed to attract. Mr. Julius Jeffreys had won in the home ballot the first choice, and considering that the seaport had a great future he chose a water frontage at Port Chalmers close to the present dock. Mr. David Garrick, fourth on the list, was the first private individual to select in Dunedin, and with apparent prescience he chose what is now probably the most valuable site—that quarter acre upon which stands the Bank of New Zealand and adjoining buildings at the east corner of Princes and Rattray Streets. Upon this he erected his frame house brought out in the John Wickliffe, which was afterwards converted into the Royal Hotel, long the southernmost hotel in Her Majesty's dominions. As showing the remarkable increase of land value Mr. Garrick shortly afterwards sold this section to one McDonald, the landlord, for £100, by whom it was sold to George Smith for £300, who in turn sold it in 1861 to Messrs. William Carr Young and Edward McGlashan for £1600, who disposed of a portion of it in 1863 to the bank for £9000. Mrs. James Brown, eighth on the list, chose the junction of Princes and Stafford Streets, where she and her husband had a draper's shop for many years. Brown, Ewing's corner was selected by James Williamson. The Government Insurance section was not worth selection, as it was in a hollow; nor was the site of the Grand Hotel at High Street corner thought more of. It will be remembered that these sections each contained a quarter acre and that these have been considerably subdivided. Few had the faith or courage to select in the terra incognita beyond the Octagon. Mr. Edward Lee, before referred to, chose the corner of Pitt and London Streets, prior to the arrival of the first settlers, in accordance with some instructions page 100to select a site for Captain Cargill's residence. With this view he had erected a house upon it. But when Captain Cargill arrived he refused to endorse the choice, preferring to be in the midst of his people rather than to dwell in solitary grandeur at so great a distance. This house was long the only one beyond the Octagon, and like a beacon or lighthouse directed the feet of many a belated wanderer returning from the distant regions of the flat or North-east valley.

Reference must here be made to the selection made by the representatives of the Free Church itself, from which to this day is derived a large portion of its income, Prior to the departure of the first vessels four gentlemen were selected as the Trustees for Religious and Educational Uses. These were Captain Cargill, the Rev. Thomas Burns, Mr. Edward Lee, and Mr. Edward McGlashan, brother of the Lay Association's secretary. The title indicates their functions. To them was confided the control of church and school affairs, and, according to order of choice as laid down in the terms of purchase, the selection of such properties as they considered appropriate for securing an income or endowment for the trusts. The latter duty devolved on Messrs. Cargill and Burns alone, as Mr. Lee was absent in a distant part of the colony and Mr. McGlashan still remained in the home country. The selection was made with a judgment which bears valuable fruit to-day in the shape of substantial rents derived from ninety properties more or less. Originally, however, and up to the time of the New Zealand Company's retirement, there were but twenty-two of each kind, town, suburban, and rural, exclusive of sites for manses and churches. For the first four years the whole income from these sources was but £33. Other properties were afterwards bought. Twenty-two of these are in the towns of Dunedin and Port Chalmers, the remainder being distributed throughout the provincial district.^*

An instruction to Mr. Kettle when commencing his surveys was to lay off certain portions of land for public use, not open for sale, and termed "reserves." As agent of the Company Captain Cargill was empowered to deal with these and to appropriate them to special uses. He selected three for the purposes of the church; one at the top of Jetty Street for the manse, upon which Mr. Burns' frame page break

From a drawing in the possession of]
[Mr. James Elder Brown.
The Old Church.
[To face p. 101.

page 101house was erected, a second for the school and schoolmaster's house, on which stood for sixteen years the primitive First Church, which faced the harbour and had also a frontage to Dowling Street. This is now principally occupied by Messrs. Sargood's warehouse and by the City Hall. The third reserve comprised most of old Church-hill, afterwards known as Bellhill, which has been cut down and cast into the harbour for reclamation purposes. Since 1873 it has assumed its function of site for the present handsome First Church and manse. With curious irony the manse reserve was later on occupied by a public-house and by the offices of a local leader of freethought, and the City Hall, which replaces the second edition of the First Church, was originally built for and used as a temple for the observance of freethought doctrine. The old First Church had multifarious duties besides its proper one of church and school. Meetings of all kinds were held within its walls; lectures and concerts, horticultural shows, the first Provincial Council meeting, and Governor Grey's first levee; nothing came amiss. Finally the end came; it was let as a woolshed, but was purified by fire from this disgrace on the 24th of January, 1865. This view of the "Old Church" was taken after the first addition had been made to it. Mr. Fox's "View of Dunedin" (page 120) shows the original.

By degrees little houses sprang up in every direction, the usual order of architecture being that of "wattle and dab"; saplings were fixed side by side, and the interstices filled with clay, the roof was thatched with the tussac grass, which everywhere abounded, or with shingles; the chimney was a huge clay ingle, to which the house was appended, and was well suited to the consumption of huge logs. Glass was scarce, so windows were small. Furniture was scanty and primitive, a bunk in the corner for a bed, the section of a tub for a chair, or a log, or a whale's vertebra brought from the Heads. The clean, yellow clay made the best of floors, and two rooms, a "but and a ben," made the whole a mansion. Then there were picturesque little houses made in the same way with trunks of tree-fern, of which the last lonely specimen remains at the Half-Way Bush. This was built in 1849 by Mr. John Borton and his brother. Put small cultivations before each, and embower many with a bit of bush, and the picture is complete. As civilization advanced it brought with it sawn timber, but the resulting houses raised on piles were not so snug and warm; moreover pigs, goats, page 102and fowls gathered under them at night time and fought for best place. Captain Cargill's house, which had also been brought out in frame, was situated on an eminence in Princes Street, a stone's throw from his friend Mr. Burns, and midway between Stafford and Walker Streets; it contained but three or four rooms and a "lean-to."

At first, and indeed for some years, there were but few actual employers of labour. Settlers employed themselves in cutting timber, fencing, or firewood, or splitting shingles and bringing them to market. Neighbours often assisted each other or exchanged labour, and the necessaries of life were constantly purchased in this way. Hence the money passing from hand to hand was very small indeed. Mr. Burns was probably the chief employer. He had purchased several properties for friends at home, and that they might more readily let they were cleared and fenced. He also commenced to farm and erect a house at a spot across the water, long known as Grant's Braes, but now laid out as the township of Waverley. Under Captain Cargill as its agent, the New Zealand Company employed men in sawing timber, improving the streets, and making fresh tracks. Wages under the company were 3s. a day for labourers, and 5s. for mechanics. A day's work consisted of ten hours, from six to six, with two hours for breakfast and dinner, which were at 9 and 2 o'clock. Saturday was a half-day. At noon a gun was fired for general information, but very shortly this was replaced by a sweet-toned bell which had a history and which, after its rescue from a stable-yard, is now in the writer's possession. It originally belonged to one of the early Botany Bay convict vessels which was at last converted into a hulk. It was then bought by Mr. John Jones, who placed it on the well-known old whaling vessel the Magnet, which traded in these seas sixty or seventy years ago. Then it was used on the first mission station in this island, the Wesleyan Mission station at Waikouaiti. Soon after the arrival of the John Wickliffe it was placed on the church reserve which was thereupon called Bellhill. From this eminence it served all the requirements of such a bell until superseded in 1851 by its huge sonorous sister, a present from friends at home, which gave tongue for page break

By Wm. Livingston.]
Ferntree Cottage, Half-Way Bush, 1849.
[To face p. 103.

page 103five-and-twenty years, and now lies cracked but sheltered under the shadow of the First Church.

The Eight Hours movement has always been one of interest, and to Mr. Burns must be accorded the credit of its introduction to New Zealand. Ever mindful of the overtaxed and underpaid labourers left behind, he assured his people on the Philip Laing that so far as he had influence their day's labour in the new country should consist of eight hours, and should be paid at 3s. 6d. or 4s. a day. To this promise, as almost the sole employer, he faithfully adhered, though the scale fixed by the Company remained unaltered for more than a year until abandoned by the force of strong opinion. In January, 1849, Mr. Fox—afterwards Sir William—paid his first official visit to the settlement as agent of the Company, an office to which he had succeeded on the sudden death of Colonel Wakefield. He was memorialised by thirty-eight labourers, who set forth their grievances in very quaint and plaintive terms; the application was endorsed by a similar number of tradesmen and mechanics. Mr. Fox's lengthy reply was unfavourable. In it he showed amongst other things that under the new circumstances wages were 50 per cent. higher for 10 per cent. less work than in the old country. The result was unmeasured grumbling and the "government stroke." Careful examination of the whole matter leads to the conclusion that the final concession of these demands led to no improvement in the workmen's condition, and retarded the progress of the settlement.

Shortly before the arrival of the first vessels Governor Grey visited Otago, and in a despatch to Earl Grey praised highly the locality, which he considered better adapted for the occupation of British settlers then any he had seen. He sent two officials from Wellington, thereby formally connecting Captain Cargill's domestic rule with that of the New Zealand Government. These gentlemen were Mr. A. C. Strode and Mr. John Macarthy, both very old colonists. The former, who was first entitled Deputy-Inspector of Police, and afterwards Resident Magistrate, was accompanied by a small detachment of armed police, a sergeant, corporal, and four privates. A tent was gaol enough for the first modest amount of crime. The second page 104gentleman, who was stationed at Port Chalmers, was in multiplicity of appointments a veritable Pool Bah; sub-collector of customs, sub-treasurer, deputy post-master, and deputy registrar of births, marriages, and deaths. The postal arrangements were for long of the most primitive kind. Letters were sent up to Dunedin by any and every hand. There arrived, they were usually deposited on a table in the Royal Hotel, turned over by every finger and thumb, and in this way self-distributed. Country settlers received them when any casual traveller passed their way, as was the case every few weeks at least. Correspondents by an outgoing mail were always on the alert, as often no notice was given of its departure. Soon better arrangements followed, and Mr. Brown, the draper, took charge of this important department.

Messrs. Cargill & Burns had failed to secure a pressman for the first party, but this great want was supplied on the arrival of the Blundell in September when Mr. Henry B. Graham, a printer from Carlisle, was accredited to them. On the 13th of December, 1848, appeared the first number of his paper The Otago News, which was published every alternate Wednesday at the price of 6d. It was of foolscap size, and Mr. Graham was sole editor and compositor. Its career was chequered and unsatisfactory, and it had little or no literary merit, in this respect differing greatly from the Wellington and Nelson newspapers, the latter of which especially was conducted with unusual ability. Still its criticisms on passing events were sensible and faithful, and without it there would have been little record or insight of the earliest doings. On the 9th of June it was enlarged to folio size and issued weekly, and on the 21st of December, 1850, it ceased existence with its ninety-first number. Mr. Graham, who had been in failing health for some time died on the 25th of February, 1851, leaving a wife and children.

In the first number the following retail prices appear:—

Beef, 7d. per lb; bread, 10d. per 4 lb. loaf; butter 1/8 (fresh); butter, 1/- (salt); cheese, 1/- to 1/6; eggs, 1/6 to 2/- per dozen; flour, 16/- to 21/- per 100 lbs.; firewood, 18/- to 24/- per cord; ham and bacon, 6d. to 8d. per lb.; milk, 4d. per quart; mutton, 7d. per lb.; pork, 6d. page break

Key To C. H. Kettle's "View Of Dunedin," Etc.,
1849.

1.	Looking down Stafford Street from below site of St. Matthew's Church.
2.	Capt: Cargill's, Princes Street.
3.	Dugald Nevin's (went to Stewart Island); Donald Ross, bailiff, afterwards.
4.	Robert Chapman's (registrar).
5.	Rev. Thomas Burns's Manse, corner of Princes and Jetty Streets.
7.	N.Z. Company's store.
8.	N.Z. Company's office and residence of Webb, the secretary.
9.	Duthie's (N.Z. Company's labourer).
10.	Mr. W. H. Valpy's.
11.	Wattle and dab cottages in Manse Street.
12.	First Church.
13.	Monson's (gaoler) on Bell (or Church) Hill.
14.	Mr. Garrick's (corner of Princes and Rattray Streets); now Bank of N.Z., etc.
15.	Princes Street.
16.	Samuel Gibbs (baker); then Sutton, druggist; now Bank of N.S.W.
17.	James Fraser (ironmonger).
18.	Sandy Chalmers (sheep farmer, Half-way Bush).
19.	Andrew Mercer, grocer; Ross & Kilgour; Wise's Corner; Government Insurance Buildings.
20.	James Fulton's, High Street (?).
21.	Corner Rattray and McLaggan Streets. Black, carpenter; Willocks; Scoular & Chisholm.
22.	James Smith's (of Greenfield) and James Allan's bakery; Colonial Mutual Buildings.
23.	Black Jack's Point.
24.	Grant's Braes (Rev. T. Burns's farm); now Waverley. [To face p. 104.

page break

By C. H. Kettle.]
View of Dunedin in 1849, Looking Down Stafford Street.
[To face p. 104.By C. H. Kettle.]
View of Dunedin in 1849, Looking Down Stafford Street.
[To face p. 104.

page break

Key Plan To Kettle's "View, 1849."
[To face p. 104.

page 105per lb.; potatoes, £4 per ton; sugar (loaf) 7½d., (raw) 4d.; fowls, 4/- a pair; ducks, 4/- a pair; wild ducks, 3/- a pair; geese, 14/- a pair.

Cows, £12 10s. to £15; mares, £20 to £30; sheep, £1 to 28/-; working bullocks (a pair), £30 to £40.

Wages.—Mechanics, 5/- to 7/-; labourers, 3/- to 4/-.

Letters to all parts of New Zealand, ¼ oz. 4d.; ½ oz. 8d.; 1 oz. 1/4.