Other formats

    TEI XML file   ePub eBook file  

Connect

    mail icontwitter iconBlogspot iconrss icon

Journal of the Nelson and Marlborough Historical Societies, Volume 2, Issue 5, 1993

Country Living in the 1920's: Part 2 the country stores

Country Living in the 1920's: Part 2 the country stores

The general store referred to in my 1990 article was the Motupiko Store, built in 1883 as a further extension to the business of A.J. Palmer's store at Foxhill. In November 1869 James Grove, in a letter to his father in England, said that there had been a 'rush' to the Wangapeka where gold reefs had been discovered. Two hundred men were already there and he intended to pack goods into the area. He had been using packhorses to take goods to the Buller goldfields. Some months later, in July 1870, he stated that a large wholesale store had been built at 'Fox Hill' for supplying the miners at the Wangapeka. Previously, gold diggers used to walk across the hills to Foxhill and carry great loads of flour and other essentials back to the goldfield.

The Motupiko store was started as a branch of A.J. Palmer's Foxhill business. The land where the store was situated was transferred from William Quinney to Albert John Palmer on April 5 1883, the purchase price being seven pound ten shillings. The late George Landon-Lane remembered when the store was opened and managed by Robert Thomson, the brother-in-law of A.J. Palmer. Moleskin trousers then cost ten shillings. First class watertight boots were twenty two shillings, while shop ones were one pound. A work shirt cost three shillings. The late Thomas Quinney remembered looking after the store one day while Thomson was away, and one of his customers was William Flanagan, who had walked across the hills from the Wangapeka goldfields to buy himself a pair of boots.

These country stores stocked most of the everyday requirements, including foodstuffs, clothing, footwear, and other goods right through to some essential farm items. When a branch store was opened at Tadmor, Robert Thomson used to travel over there each week, leaving the Motupiko store to be managed by his family. Later, this Tadmor General Store was taken over by his son, R.L. (Len) Thomson, and after Len's death it was run by his grandson, Gerald.

page 42

The Motupiko store building did suffer alterations over the years, but it was essentially the same as when built. A. Hodgson & Sons, storekeepers of Wakefield, bought the Motupiko business in 1914 and ran it for about forty years. After being purchased by E.H. Watts, the business traded under the name of Motupiko Stores Ltd. This store was completely destroyed by fire in 1968 and was not rebuilt.

In the days when bread was being baked in the house, flour was one of the essentials and was sold in 100 pound bags and 200 pounds sacks. Before the smaller bags of 25 pounds were introduced, it was necessary for storekeepers to weigh out smaller orders into brown paper packets. The store also sold the hops which were used in making the barm, or yeast, used in bread making.

When I was young, my mother made the bread for the household. No doubt she used a well-established method to make both the barm and good bread. She used a measure of some kind to take the required amount of flour out of the 200 pound sack for a particular sized batch of bread. I can remember when a weekly family batch of seven loaves was required. This was quite a usual amount to be baked in the brick oven, although it was big enough to hold a greater number.

A bakery was established at Tapawera early in the century, when the railway was being built and the workers required a food supply. At first there was no district delivery, but over the years delivery was provided and this service gradually extended to the neighbouring valleys. Deliveries were by horse drawn vehicles and later by motors. At one time a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, with delivery box sidecar, was in use for the purpose. All these businesses are now gone and the modern shops at Tapawera cater for the peoples' trade.

Tadmor General Store, 1992. J.N.W. Newport

Tadmor General Store, 1992. J.N.W. Newport