Ngaire is a township thirty-four miles south-east by rail from New Plymouth, and lies in the south riding of the county of Stratford, and the Ngaire survey district of the Taranaki land district. The railway station stands at an altitude of 834 feet above the sea. Ngaire has a dairy factory, a butchery, two stores, and a public school. The Mountain road runs through the settlement, which lies to the south-east of Mount Egmont, and there are some attractive gardens in the locality, well planted with shelter trees. Originally, the undulating country, which surrounds the settlement, was covered with native bush; this, however, has been cut down, and the local sawmill, which did duty for many years, has (1906) been removed.

The Ngaire Public School is a commodious wood and iron building, and contains two class rooms and two porches. There are two shelter sheds in the playgrounds, flower gardens and an experimental garden, and there is also a teachers' residence of five rooms. There are 120 scholars on the roll, with an average attendance of one hundred. The school has also a cadet corps, of which the headmaster is lieutenant. Mr. W. J. Evans, the headmaster, is assisted by one teacher and a pupil teacher.

Mr. William James Evans, DI, was appointed Headmaster of the Ngaire School in 1900. He was born in the year 1870 at Ross, Westland, where he was educated, and served his apprenticeship as a pupil teacher. Mr. Evans subsequently removed to the North Island, and was for one year assistant in the Inglewood public school, and was then appointed to the Dudley road school, of which he was for two years headmaster. He has always taken great interest in football and cricket, and as a Freemason is a member of Lodge Stratford, No. 75, New Zealand Constitution. Mr. Evans is married, and has five children.

Mr. Charles Colin Robertson was appointed Manager of the Ngaire Dairy Factory in the year 1905. He was born in 1880, in the Gore district, where he was educated and brought up to farming. In 1896 he began work at the Otama Bridge Dairy Factory, and, after several years' experience, removed to Taranaki, and was appointed first assistant at the Ngaire Dairy Factory. Two years later he became manager of the Otama Bridge Dairy Factory for one season, and then returned to the Ngaire Dairy Factory as manager. Mr. Robertson was for two years a member of the Mataura Mounted Rifles.

F. A. Lee and Co. (Frank Arthur Lee, proprietor), General Merchants, Ngaire. This business was established in the year 1900 by Mr. Lee, and is conducted in freehold premises, which contain a large store, a private residence, stables and a cart-shed. Full stocks of groceries, ironmongery, drapery, boots and shoes are carried. Three persons are employed and delivery is made by the firm's own carts.

Mr. Frank Arthur Lee, the Proprietor of the business of Messrs F. A. Lee and Co., was born in New Plymouth, in the year 1877, educated in Eltham, and was afterwards employed successively by Mr. Adams and Mr. Parrott. In December, 1900, he started business on his own account at Ngaire, in a small shop, and three years later bought his present commodious premises. Mr. Lee is married, and has one son and one daughter.

McAllister, photo.
Mr. F. A. Lee.

The Wingrove Road Sawmill, the property of Mr. George Syme, is situated some distance from Ngaire, on the Wingrove road. It has been in existence for many years, and there is a tramway connecting the mill with Ngaire, where the timber yard is situated. The mill has a complete up-to-date plant, including a thirty horse-power boiler, a twenty-five horse-power engine, an iron travelling bench, and an American planer, etc. Thirty persons are employed, and the annual output is about 1,000,000 feet. A locomotive is employed for conveying the logs to the mill, and in the bush horse or bullock teams are in use.

Mr. Walter Barfield Blizzard, Manager of the Wingrove Road Mill, was born in Suffolk, England, in the year 1847. In 1856 he came to New Zealand with his parents, and settled in the Nelson district, where he was educated. Until he was twenty-one years of age he was employed at blacksmithing, but afterwards turned his attention to sawmill work. Mr. Blizzard has been engaged in sawmilling in the Marlborough, Wellington, and Taranaki districts. He has been in the Ngaire district for about twenty-two years, and has been employed as a mill manager during the greater part of that time. Mr. Blizzard has been a member of the Ngaire school committee, and was a volunteer in the Marlborough district. He is married, and has two children.

Mr. and Mrs W. B. Blizzard.

Brown, George Macaulay, Farmer, Ora Downs, Ngaire. Mr. Brown's property consists of 985 acres of freehold land, 600 acres of which is in grass and 385 acres in heavy bush—the latter left for sawmilling purposes. A large number of cows are milked, and a Lawrence Kennedy milking machine has been installed. Mr. Brown was born in the year 1874, at Mahakipawa, Marlborough, was educated in New Zealand, and brought up as a sawmiller. He disposed of his mill to Mr. G. Syme, of Hawera, in 1901, before taking up his present property.

Mr. James Robson has been prominently connected with the timber industry in Ngaire for many years, and was formerly manager of the New Plymouth Sash and Door Company's mill, of which he was one of the founders in 1883. He was born in Northumberland, England, where he was educated, and came to New Zealand by the ship “Prince of Wales,” landing in Otago in the year 1860. Mr. Robson had charge of machinery in Otago for some time, and then removed to the North Island. He was first engaged in the timber industry in Wellington about 1870, and was for several years with Mr. J. Cruikshank at the Upper Hutt. He then went to the Wairarapa, and erected machinery for Mr. Cotter's large sawmill at Greytown, where he remained for some time as manager. Mr. Robson removed to Taranaki in 1875. He started the first mill at Normanby, and carried it on successfully till establishing the Ngaire sawmill in conjunction with his brother, under the style of Robson Brothers. This business was afterwards bought by the New Plymouth Sash and Door Company, for which Mr. Robson acted as manager for a number of years. He is a Freemason, and has held office as treasurer of his lodge. Mr. Robson is married, and has five sons and five daughters. He has now (1906) retired from the more active pursuits of life, but still resides in the Ngaire district.

Mr. J. Robson.