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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Canterbury Provincial District]

Mr. Ebenezer Hay

Mr. Ebenezer Hay, one of the pioneer colonists of New Zealand, settled in Canterbury seven years before the official foundation of the province and the arrival of the first immigrants brought out to it by the New Zealand Company in the year 1850. He was born in 1814, and was the youngest son of Mr. James Hay, of Midbuïston, Ayrshire, Scotland. Though brought up to country life on his fathers farm, he was, before leaving for New Zealand, in business in Glasgow for several years as a grain and produce merchant. On the 27th of October, 1839, he married Agnes, fifth daughter of Mr. Thomas Orr, whose farm of “Annandale” was within a few miles of that of Mr. James Hay, and both families belonged to stocks who had for centuries been characterised by industry, hardihood, high character and righteous living. Before their marriage the young couple had arranged to leave, Scotland at once for New Zealand, and their ship, the “Bengal Merchant, Captain Henley, got away from the land on the 31st of the month. There were 120 passengers on board, and after a passage of 104 days the “Bengal Merchant” dropped anchor on the 12th of February, 1840, near Somes' Island, in the harbour of Wellington, close to her three predecessors, the “Ariel,” “Aurora,” and “Roxburgh,” and was thus the fourth passenger ship to reach the colony under the auspices of the New Zealand Land Company. After many inquiries and much looking about the country, under trying and even dangerous conditions, Mr. Hay found that he could not obtain and which suited him in the North Island. Accordingly, he and a friend of his, Captain Sinclair, decided to examine the southern districts of the colony, and in the end of 1842 they left Wellington in the schooner “Richmond,” which was their own property. On reaching Port Cooper—afterwards named Lyttelton—they dropped anchor, and the two friends climbed the hills till they reached the summit, which, later on, became known as Gebbie's Pass. Seeing nothing which they thought likely to prove a suitable site for a settlement, they returned to the schooner, and made for Pigeon Bay, the original native name of which was Wakaroa, or, more correctly Whangaroa (deep bay). With what they saw they were very much impressed, (but did not at once decide to settle there. Akaroa was visited, and in fact the explorers went as far south as Otakau (subsequently corrupted into Otago), and travelled all over the site of what was to become the populous, prosperous and picturesque city of Dunedin, then a wilderness. Nowhere, however, did they see any place which equalled Pigeon Bay in their estimation, and they decided in its favour. On their way back the pioneers called at Moeraki, and bought from the Maoris there a cargo of potatoes for the Wellington market. That was the first shipment of native produce taken to Wellington, and the reputation of the Oamaru district for the super-excellence of its poetoes dates from that early day. On returning south again from Wellington, with Pigeon Bay as their definite destination, Messrs Sinclair and Hay brought Messrs W. and J. Deans and Messrs Manson and Gebbie in the “Richmond” to Lyttelton, the Messrs also having decided to endeavour to get their land orders satisfactorily fulfilled in the Middle Island, After landing their passengers, Captain Sinclair and Mr. Hay went straight to Pigeon Bay, and there, acting under Colonel Wakefield's promise of protection, they selected their estates and chose sites for their homesteads, Captain Sinclair taking the Holmes' Bay land, and Mr. Hay part of Pigeon Bay valley, and a run to the eastward extending to the heads. Of course no formal surveys were then possible, but all that was done was done in good faith and with the knowledge and under the approval of Colonel Wakefield, as representative of the New Zealand Land Company. Early in April, 1843, the pioneers brought their families from Wellington, where all, especially during the first months of their stay there, had had to put up with many privations, occasionally a startling experience with the Maoris, or an unannounced and decidedly disturbing shock of earthquake. However, the women and children, as well as the men of those days, exhibited a hardihood which was little short of heroism, and everything was faced and generally overcome in the spirit of Ulysses and his companions, That ever with a frolic welcome took The thunder and the sunshine, and opposed Free hearts, free foreheads.

The Late Mr. E. Hay.

The Late Mr. E. Hay.

Captain Sinclair's household consisted of himself. Mrs Sinclair, three sons, three daughters, and Mr J. Hutchison; and Mr. Hay's, of himself and Mrs Hay and their two baby sons, James, aged one year and ten months, and Thomas Orr, five months, and their nephew, Mr. John Hay. The men of both parties unitedly built one long house of saplings covered with toitoi grass, and there they all lived for two years till they were able to build their separate homesteads. Alter conveying their families to Pigeon Bay. Messrs Sinclair and Hay sold their schooner to Mr. W. B. Rhodes for ten head of horned cattle, to be delivered at Akaroa. This, as it stood, was a plain enough bargain, but to get the page 365 cattle from Akaroa to Pigeon Bay was another story, which aptly illustrates the difficulties which beset the pioneer settlers. Between the two places there was a wide stretch of heavily timbered country, part of which consisted of a mountain 1300 feet in height. Only a Maori track ran through the dense bush, and it was impossible to bring the cattle by such a route. Accordingly the pioneers and those who were with them set to work to cut the trees, scrub, and undergrowth to a width of six feet along the entire length of the track. Eight men were thus engaged for three weeks, at the end of which the cattle were successfully driven home in one day. This spirit and this resourcefulness applied continuously for many years to his property and his opportunities, made Mr. Hay a man of much substance, and in every sense of the word an ideal pioneer colonist. He exercised great intelligence as a farmer and stock-owner, and became widely known for his enterprise, his high personal character, his hospitality, and the justness of his dealings with all men. His uprightness and his firmness stood him in much stead with the Maoris in the earlier days of his settlement. He employed many of the natives from time to time, and was always studiously careful to carry out his agreements with them to the letter. He had to be firm, however, otherwise they would occasionaly have imposed upon him. One incident may be cited by way of illustration. Once when Mr. Hay was paying a troop of Maoris for work they had done, a twily old native trickily endeavoured, by claiming to be paid a second time and professing that he had not been paid before, to secure a double recompense for himself. Mr. Hay was clear as to the facts, and remained firm, and when the Maori sulked, threatened and refused to go home even after all his countrymen had been paid, Mr. Hay undertook to settle outside with the imposter, who soon called out that he had had enough; and the assembled Maoris applauded the result, though they professed to believe that their comrade had claimed only his due payment. Of course Mr. Hay's firmness and hardihood had an excellent general effect on his relations with the natives. Another incident illustrative of the experiences which sometimes fell to the lot of enterprising pioneers is worth noticing in this sketch. In 1855 Mr. Hay chartered the brig “Gratitude” to carry a cargo of produce to Melbourne. The venture was successful in a commercial sense, but in returning from Sydney—to which the “Gratitude” had gone from Melbourne, to convey passengers, horses, and goods to New Zealand—such wild weather was encountered that many of the horses died, some were killed for food, the crew and passengers had to live for a time on biscuit-crumbs and horse-flesh, and the passage of 1300 miles occupied fifty-eight days. Towards the end of Mr. Hay's life a good deal of the land on the Peninsula was devastated by fires. In connection with one of these, legal damages to the extent of £3000 were claimed against Mr. Hay, without justification in the estimation of his friends, but a jury gave a verdict against him for the full amount, and the accompanying and contingent costs and expenses ran into an additional £2000. Other misfortunes, vicissitudes, and personal sorrows had to be borne by the hardy pioneer, but in spite of all he left a fine estate and an honourable name to his family, and to the country which he had helped to establish the example and memory of an able, enterprising and courageous colonist. He died through accidentally falling over a cliff on the 26th of November 1863. Mrs Hay, his true companion and comforter through years of sunshine and shadow, lived till the 3rd of March, 1880, when she was in her 66th year; and husband and wife rest side by side in Addington Cemetery, Christchurch.