Other formats

    TEI XML file   ePub eBook file  

Connect

    mail icontwitter iconBlogspot iconrss icon

The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Taranaki, Hawke's Bay & Wellington Provincial Districts]

Porangahau

Porangahau.

Porangahau, which means in Maori, “mad winds,” so called from the prevalence of heavy westerly gales, is situated on the seacoast, in the county of Patangata, and lies seventy-four miles southwest from Napier. From Waipukurau, the nearest township on the railway line, there is a tri-weekly coach service, which runs through Wanstead and Wallingford, twenty-eight miles in all; a very enjoyable drive in the summer months, the scenery en route being picturesque in places. The country is rugged and hilly, and suitable only for sheep farming, and there are several large sheep stations in the district. Close to the township is situated a large Maori pa, where the natives are mostly well to do, and own large blocks of land in the district, which are leased to Europeans. A small coastal steamer plies between the settlement and Napier, and is a source of great convenience to the district, as it enables settlers to ship wool and other products direct to Napier, without having to undertake the long and expensive journey by road to the railway line. Porangahau has a post office and a telephone bureau, with money order and savings bank departments. There is an Anglican church with a resident minister, and a public school. There are also various athletic bodies in the township, and a racecourse, where a meeting is held yearly, generally on Boxing Day.

Porangahau General Store (F. H. Roach, proprietor). This business was established in the year 1891, and taken over by the present proprietor in 1896. A large stock of drapery, groceries, crockery, ironmongery, boots and shoes, saddlery, fancy goods, and everything suitable for the requirements of the district, is carried. Country produce is bought and sold. In conjunction with the store there is a billiard room, fitted with a full-sized Alcock's table.

page 526

Mr. Frank Hamilton Roach, J.P., proprietor of the Porangahau General Store, and Registrar of Births, Deaths, and Marriages, was born in Levuka, Fiji, in 1869, and is a son of Mr. G. H. Roach, of Hastings. He was educated in Wellington and Wanganui, and afterwards joined the firm of Messrs Ruddock and Fryer, ironmongers, Napier. Subsequently he was with Messrs Common, Shelton and Company, of Gisborne, and travelled for the ironmongery firm of Messrs E. Porter and Company, of Auckland. Mr. Roach is a member of the local school committee, vice-president of the Porangahau Football Club, a member of the Porangahau Racing Club, and as a Freemason is a member of Lodge Heretaunga, No. 73, N.Z.C. He married a daughter of Mr. E. L. Ingpen, of Napier, in 1896, and has two sons and one daughter.

Braeburn Station (Frank White, manager), Porangahau. This property was taken up in the early days by the late Mr. John White, and consists of 3,000 acres of freehold land, and 20,000 acres of leasehold. It is practically all hilly and rugged country, but there are some rich flats on the freehold portion of the estate, on which good crops of oats, rape, and turnips are grown. The stock comprises 26,000 Romney Marsh-Lin-colns (including 8,000 breeding ewes), 1,500 polled Angus and short-horn cross-bred cattle, and upwards of sixty horses. Lambing averages eighty-eight per cent. The property is well watered, and well fenced, and excellent shelter is provided for the stock. The woolshed is fitted with fourteen stands of Wolseley machines, and accommodation is provided for 1,400 sheep in the night pens. There are numerous other outbuildings, also a two-storeyed house for the accommodation of the men employed on the station. The homestead, a new palatial residence, replete with all modern conveniences, situated on a rise, and surrounded by trees, lawns, and well-kept flower beds, commands a magnificent view of the coast line and the sea.

Mr. Frank White, manager of Braeburn station, was born in Porangahau, in the year 1877, and received his education at the Napier Boys' High School and the Wanganui College. After spending two and a half years with Messrs Levin and Company in Wellington, he returned to Porangahau, and subsequently took over the management of his late father's estate.