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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Canterbury Provincial District]

[Loburn]

Loburn is on the north side of the river Ashley, about four miles from Rangiora, and the same distance from Ashley. The office of the Ashley Road Board is located in the district. There are two schools, one at North Loburn and one at South Loburn, and there is a post office at each school. The district, which is devoted to farming, is in the Mount Thomas riding of the Ashley county, and has several small rivers which are crossed by means of fords. At the census of 1901 the district had a population of 537 souls.

The Ashley Road Board was constituted in 1870. The boundaries of the district are from the Ashley railway bridge to the top of Mount Grey by an irregular line, thence to the top of Mount Karetu, and from that point northwards to the Waipara river. For ten or twelve miles from this point the boundary follows a road, and then branches off at the back of Lees valley, to the Ashley river, and on to the point of commencement. The area of the district is about 250,000 acres, and the valuation is £324,000. The usual rate is a 1/2d. in the £, but for the year 1902 it was 3/4d. in the £. There are 620 dwellings in the district, and about 300 ratable properties, owned by 185 ratepayers. The district has 155 miles of formed roads, and there are twelve principal fords over the rivers Ashley, Makerikeri, Okuku, Garry, Karetu, and Grey. The district includes the settlements of North and South Loburn, Okuku, and Birch Hill, all of which are school districts, and about half the Ashley school district. There are no loans. Members of the board: Messrs W. A. Banks (chairman), H. S. Carmichael, D. Carr, J. Dobson, M. Kennedy. Mr. John William Joynt is clerk and surveyor.

Mr. John William Joynt, Clerk and Surveyor to the Ashley Road Board, is a son of Mr. T. I. Joynt, the well-known solicitor, of Christchurch. He was born in Christchurch in 1864, and educated at Cook's School, Christ's College, and at the Lincoln College. Mr Joynt was dairy farming near Stratford, Taranaki, for two years, and for a like period was manager of the Maranui station, on behalf of the Union Bank. On settling in Loburn, in 1896, Mr. Joynt took up his present position. He was married, in 1898, to a daughter of Mr. A. H. Shury, of Ashburton, sometime manager of the Union Bank there, and has one daughter and one son.

The Post Office, North Loburn, is conducted at the residence of the local schoolmaster. Mails are received and despatched on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. The post office was established in the district in 1882. Mr. John Sayle Dalby is postmaster.

The Public School, North Loburn, is built of wood and iron, and was erected about 1882. It has accommodation for sixty pupils, and in the first quarter of 1902 there were forty names on the roll, with an average attendance of thirty-three. The teacher's residence adjoins the school, and the grounds consist of four acres, including the garden and playground.

Mr. John Sayle Dalby, Headmaster of North Loburn School, was born in Norfolk, England, in 1858. He was educated as a student of medicine at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, London, and landed at the Bluff, from Melbourne, in 1879. He served under the Otago Board of Education at Kurow and Glenkennick, and under the North Canterbury Board of Education at Mandeville Plains, before being appointed to North Loburn in 1888. Mr. Dalby was married, in 1881, to a daughter of Mr. W. Gardiner, of Annadown, Galway, Ireland.

The Anglican Church at South Loburn, is small wood and iron building, which was erected in 1890. Monthly services are held, and there is accommodation for forty adults.

The Presbyterian Church, Loburn, dates from 1890. It originally belonged to the Sefton charge, and was transferred to the care of the minister at Rangiora in 1895. The church is of wood and iron, with a schoolroom attached, and has seating accommodation for seventy adults; the Sunday school is attended by forty children, in charge of four teachers. The building is erected on a section of three-quarters of an acre of land, presented by the Carmichael family.

The Roman Catholic Church at Loburn was built in 1874 on an acre of land. It is centrally situated in the southern part of the settlement, and has accommodation for 120 persons. The cost of the property was £350. Loburn is a portion of the Rangiora. parish.

The Wesleyan Methodist Church, Raith by (Loburn), was founded in the fifties by Mr. David Patrick. The building is of wood and iron, and there is a good piece of land, including the cemetery, of over an acre in extent. The minister at Rangiora is in charge of the district.