Seaward Moss is a farming and school district about two miles to the south of Woodend, on the road leading from that settlement towards Awarua Bay. The land of the district is good, and is devoted chiefly to dairying and mixed farming. Seaward Moss has not a post office of its own, but the office at Woodend bears its name, and serves its purpose in that connection. The settlement is in the Awarua electorate and in the Awarua riding of the Southland county, and at the census of 1901 it had a population of sixty-seven. Seaward Moss is eight miles from Invercargill.

The Seaward Moss Post Office is conducted at the store of Mr. Thomas Hall. Woodend. In addition to his local trade, Mr. Hall delivers goods in various other parts of Southland. He was born at St. Ives, Cornwall, England, in 1867, and left for New Zealand in 1879, landing at the Bluff. At first he entered Price and Bulleid's drapery establishment in Invercargill, and went thence to Lawlor's drapery house in Dee Street, in 1881. After managing Mr. Lawlor's branch at Wyndham for some time he went to Otautau, and was in Gardiner's store there from 1885 to 1889. On coming back to Invercargill he entered the service of Mr. D. Roche for a year, and then left to take charge of his present store, then run by the New Zealand Pine Company. He took over the business himself in 1892, and has greatly extended it. Mr. Hall was married, in 1893, to a daughter of an old colonist, Mr. D. McKenzie, farmer, Seaward Moss, and has a family of two sons and two daughters.

The Seaward Moss School was opened in 1893, and is situated eight miles from Invercargill on the Seaward Moss road. It is a wood and iron building with accommodation for about fifty pupils, and in 1904 there were thirty names on the roll. The school stands on a glebe of about three acres, and there is a four-roomed residence for the teacher.

Mr. Robert Brownline , Head master of the Seaward Moss School, was born at Invercargill, in 1877, and educated at the South School and Invercargill High School. After matriculating, Mr Brownlie went to the South School for training, and was appointed to the Glenorchy School in 1897. He was there for four years before being appointed to his present position in July, 1901. Mr. Brownlie passed the first section of his B.A. degree in 1903.

Gerstenkorn, photo.
Mr. R. Brownline.

Seaward Moss Sawmill (Bird Brothers, proprietors), Seaward Moss. This mill is situated within a short distance of Woodend, on the Seaward Moss Road. The mill was started about the end of 1903, and cutting rights are held which are calculated to give from four to five years' work. The plant consists of a twelve-horse power engine, six-horse power hauling engine, two saw-benches, a planing machine, and the other customary machinery. Horses are used for hauling the logs out of the bush. About fourteen persons are employed, and the output is about 4,000 feet per day.

Mr. Thomas Bird , one of the partners, is manager and clerk at the mill. He was born at Clifton in 1877, and educated at Otatara. Since he left school, practically his whole time has been spent at sawmill work, at various mills. In 1900, in partnership with the brothers who are in the present firm, he started a mill at Otatara, and on working out there opened the Seaward Moss mill. As an Oddfellow, Mr Bird is a member of the Royal St. George Lodge, Manchester Unity.

Mr. John B. Bird (private address, Leet Street, Invercargill), is a partner in the firm of Bird Brothers, saw -millers, Seaward Moss. He was born at Waikiwi in 1871, and educated at Clifton. On leaving school he followed sawmill work at various mills throughout Southland. Together with his brothers, Messrs Thomas Bird and William Bird, he started a sawmill at Otatara in 1900, but removed with them to Seaward Moss at the end of 1903. Mr Bird is a member of the Royal St. George Lodge, Manchester Unitv, Invercargill. He married a daughter of Mr W. Anderson, farmer, of Otatara, and has one son.

Mr. William Bird , one of the partners of the firm of Bird Brothers, was born at Clifton in 1880, and educated at Otatara. As in the case of his brothers, practically his whole life since he left school has been spent at sawmilling, though he has also worked occasionally on his father's farm at Otatara. He was one of the partners in the mill of Bird Brothers at Otatara.

Wood, Thomas Eli , Farmer, Seaward Moss. Mr. Wood holds 100 acres of land, on which he conducts mixed farming. He was born in Melbourne, Victoria, on the 28th of November, 1857, and came to the Bluff with his parents when quite a child. After attending school at Nokomai, he went to work on farms and stations, and, later, at the sawmills. In 1888 he took up his present holding, then in its natural state. When not engaged at his farm, Mr Wood works at the sawmill of Messrs Bird Brothers, Woodend. He is a member of the Shamrock, Rose and Thistle Lodge, Manchester Unity, and has been a member of the Seaward Moss school committee for some years. Mr Wood married a daughter of Mr Thomas James, of Cornwall, England, and has two sons and five daughters.