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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Otago & Southland Provincial Districts]

Te Tua

Te Tua.

Te Tua is in the electoral district of Wallace, and in the Orepuki riding of the county of Wallace. At the census of 1901, it had a population of 161, but as the district is progressive there is little doubt that this number has since been considerably increased. The wooded ranges of Longwood on the north-east separate the Te Tua district from the watershed of the Aparima, and on the south-west the waves of the Pacific Ocean roll on to the beach at Tewaewae Bay. It is at Te Tua that the main road from Orepuki to the Waiau Ferry branches off to the fishing camp at the mouth of the Waiau, and lovely vistas of sea views are obtainable from various points along the road. In 1893 the entire place was a virgin forest, but numerous clearings and homesteads now (1904–5) bear witness to the intelligent energy of the settlers. The public school at Te Tua dates from September, 1898, and has an average attendance of forty-three. Sawmilling is of course, carried on in the district, and there is a flourishing cheese factory, locally owned, in constant operation. Te Tua has had a post office since 1894, and the district receives, and sends, a weekly mail.

The Te Tua Post Office , which was established in 1894, is conducted at the residence of Mr Caleb Small. Prior to 1900, there was only a weekly mail, but since then mails have been received, and despatched, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. The telephone bureau was established in 1900.

The Te Tua Dairy Factory , which was established in 1897, is the property of the Te Tua Dairy Factory Company, Limited. The chairman, in 1904, was Mr Caleb Small, and the secretary, Mr E. E. Willett, of Riverton. The factory has three cheese vats capable of treating up to 2,000 gallons of milk at a time. In the season of 1904, there were twenty-eight suppliers, who delivered about 1,300 gallons daily. The storeroom of the factory is capable of storing from seventy to eighty tons of cheese. Regular fortnightly shipments of the produce are sent to London, and the output of an ordinary season is about 100 tons. The plant is driven by a steam engine of eight horsepower.

Mr. Alexander Milne , who has been manager of the factory since 1898, is referred to at page 762 of the Auckland volume of this work, as manager of the Tauwaare Cheese Factory, Waikato.

Arthur, William , Blacksmith, Te Tua. Mr Arthur was born at Elderslie, near Oamaru, in 1875, and was educated at Winton, Invercargill, Limestone Plains and Drummond. He learned his business at Invercargill with his father, Mr J. W. Arthur, and in 1893, removed to the Te Tua district, where he engaged in farming and Contracting for about eight years. In 1903, however, he sold his farm, and established his present business. Mr Arthut was married, on the 14th of August 1899, to a daughter of Mr Henry McQuillian, of Te Tua. and has one son.

Miske, Gustav , Farmer, Green Valley Farm, Te Tua. Mr Miske was born in 1858, near Berlin, Germany, where he was educated and brought up to farming. He arrived at Port Chalmers by the ship “Nelson,” in 1884, and settled in the Makarewa district, where he engaged in sawmilling and farm work. In 1898, Mr Miske bought 295 acres of bush land at Te Tua, on the deferred-payment system.

Lake Manapouri.

Lake Manapouri.

page 954 Of this, thirty-five acres have already been cleared, and the owner of a sawmill now working on the land, has bought the timber from 260 acres. Mr Miske was for some time a member of the Te Tua school committee. He was married, on the 23rd of December, 1885, to a daughter of Mr Ferdinant Ludtke, of Germany, and has had three sons and three daughters, of whom two sons and two daughters have died.
Gerstenkorn, photo. Mr. and Mrs G. Miske and Children.

Gerstenkorn, photo.
Mr. and Mrs G. Miske and Children.

McQuillian, Henry , Farmer, “Burnbrae,” Te Tua, Mr McQuillian was born, in 1845, at Loch Leven, Kinross, Scotland, where he was educated and brought up to farming. At the age of sixteen, he entered the employment of the North British Railway, and afterwards became guard in that service. At a later period Mr McQuillian came out to Queensland, and resided at Rockhampton for six months. In 1885, he arrived in New Zealand and joined the New Zealand railways, where he was soon promoted to the position of guard. Mr M-Quillian performed the duties of guard between Invercargill and Orepuki for fourteen years, when he resigned owing to ill-health. In 1889, he bought land at Pahia, and two years later purchased his property at Te Tua, where he has resided since November, 1900. Mr Quillian is chairman of the Te Tua branch of the New Zealand Farmers' Union, and was for some time a director of the dairy factory. He married a daughter of the late Mr David Rintoul, of Dunfermline, Fifeshire, Scotland, but his wife died in August, 1903, leaving three daughters and one son.

Mr. H. McQutllian.

Mr. H. McQutllian.

The late Mrs H. McQuillian.

The late Mrs H. McQuillian.

Stalker, Alexander , Farmer, “Carradale,” Te Tua. Mr Stalker was born in 1838, in Kintyre, Argyle-shire, Scotland, where he was educated and brought up as a fisherman. He afterwards worked as a shepherd, and in that capacity was engaged by Mr Hunter, of Oamarn, to come to New Zealand. He arrived at the Bluff, in 1862, by the ship “Flying Mist,” and worked on Mr Hunter's station, near Oamaru, for about a year. He was then engaged as a shepherd for some years in the Coal Creek district, and afterwards at Hamerton station, Central Otago, and later at Avondale station, where he resided for twenty years. In 1904, Mr Stalker took up 401 acres of land, under perpetual lease at Te Tua, his sons residing on the property till 1900, when he joined them. Mixed farming is carried on, and Mr Stalker has an interest in the Te Tua Dairy Factory. He was married, in 1868, to Miss McDonald, of Orkney, and has six sons and three daughters.

Ward, Henry , Farmer, Te Tua. Mr Ward was born in Tasmania, in 1859, and was brought to Southland by his parents as an infant. The family settled at Groper's Bush, where Mr Ward was educated and brought up on his father's farm. In 1894, he settled in the Te Tua district, where he acquired a property of 480 acres of freehold. The land was then almost covered with bush, but 160 acres have been cleared, and this area is devoted to sheep grazing and mixed farming. Mr Ward is interested in the development of the flax industry, and has recently erected a mill, in conjunction with his brothers, at the Waiau river. Mr Ward served as a volunteer at Clinton in the early days, and has been a member of the Te Tua school committee since its inception. He was married, in 1894, to a daughter of the late Mr George Grey, of Riverton, and has two sons and three daughters,
Mr. H. Ward.

Mr. H. Ward.