Pilgrimage : a biography of Anthony Spur Webb, M.A., Camb., Canon of St. John's Cathedral, Napier, and first Vicar of Ormondville

Webb, Alice F. (Alice Frances), A.H. & A.W. Reed, Wellington, N.Z., 1949

This eBook is a reproduction produced by the National Library of New Zealand from source material that we believe has no known copyright. Additional physical and digital editions are available from the National Library of New Zealand.

EPUB ISBN: 978-0-908329-32-8

PDF ISBN: 978-0-908332-28-1

The original publication details are as follows:

Title: Pilgrimage : a biography of Anthony Spur Webb, M.A., Camb., Canon of St. John's Cathedral, Napier, and first Vicar of Ormondville

Author: Webb, Alice F. (Alice Frances)

Published: A.H. & A.W. Reed, Wellington, N.Z., 1949

CANON AND MRS. A. S. WEBB

PILGRIMAGE

\ BIOGRAPHY O F ANTHONY SPUR WEBB

M.A.. Camb., Canon of St. John's Cathedral, Napier, and first Vicar of Ormondville

ALICE F. WEBB

Oh, God of Jacob, by whose hand

Thy people still are fed,

Who through this weary pilgrimage

Hast all our fathers led

Our vows, our prayers we here present

Before Thy Throne of Grace

God of our fathers, he the God

Of their succeeding race.

Wellington

A. H. & A. W. REED

A.H. & A.W. REED 112 Wakefield Street Wellington, N.Z. November, 1949

Printed at the Herald Printing Works, Timaru

To Nan with my love and thanks

Contents

Page

Prelude 11

Part I. The Parson 19

“By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country ... for he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” Heb. 11-9,10

Heb. 11-9, 10

Part II. The People 47

“How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?” Psalm 137—4.

Psalm 137—4.

Part III. The Parish 69

“And I have also established my covenant with them to give them ... the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers.” Exodus 6—4.

Exodus 6—4.

Illustrations

Canon and Mrs. A. S. Webb Frontispiece

Stockingford Vicarage Facing page 10

Josiah and Mary R. Webb 11

Anthony Spur and Maria Webb 11

Paterson home, Dunse, Scotland 32

Mother and Father with " Margaret " 32

Gustav and Benta Larsen 33

Bishop Stuart and his daughter 33

Webb family outside their home 48

Later additions to the home 48

Wood-splitting in the 70-mile Bush 49

Ormondville Church interior 80

Ormondville's first' dairy factory 81

Original church, Norsewood 96

Church of the Epiphany, 1892 96

Norsewood Lutheran Church 97

Makaretu Church 97

Ormondville wooden trestle bridge 128

Christian Jensen's first home 129

Nickolaison's factory 144

Volunteer Rifle Club 145

Foreword

I feel it is a great honour that Miss Webb has conferred upon me in asking me to write a foreword to the book she has written as a biography in memory of her father. I am very glad to do so as I am one of the few alive to-day amongst the clergy, who knew the late Canon A. S. Webb personally. I was also a fellow student with his son Edmond at Bishopdale Theological College, Nelson.

We, of tire Church, as well as the public, owe a debt of gratitude to Miss Webb, for the time she has devoted in collecting so much material, personal, historical, and spiritual, and giving us interesting and intimate scenes in the life of a good, saintly man of the past generation. The story is told in simple, unvarnished, and homely language, The historical value of the book will be much appreciated, especially by the older generation who remember the scenes of the past. Modem Churchfolk will also be interested in the various characters who performed their parts so effectively in those almost pioneer days.

This worthy record will be read with much interest by the old settlers as well as the new, and will be an inspiration as well as an example to the younger clergy as they face the new problems of a changing world.

Fredk. A. Bennett

Bishop of Aotearoa

12

STOCKINGFORD VICAB \CK

JOSIAH WEBB

MARY R. WEBB

MARIA WEBB

ANTHONY SPUR WEBB

Prelude

My great, great grandfather, Alan Edmondson, was a cloth weaver and lived at Keighley in Yorkshire. He had three sons, Alan, George and Jonathan, as well as daughters, Mary, Sarah and Martha.

Alan and George were weavers, but Jonathan, coming under the influence of John Wesley, became a “preacher of the Gospel ”. These men were set apart for the work by Wesley, but remained members of the Church of England as the Wesley brothers did to the end of their lives. Jonathan Edmondson presumed on the friendship of Wesley to the extent of defying the Methodist rule that young preachers were not to marry till they had reached “ a seemly age ”, He was an impulsive fellow, and he wanted to marry Ann Spur; so he did. Wesley would tolerate no defiance and instantly suspended Jonathan for twelve months, during which my great grandfather was not allowed to preach, and drew no stipend.

When this sentence had been served Jonathan was re-instated both as a preacher and as a personal friend. An affectionate letter of sympathy from Wesley on the death of Ann, some years later, was long treasured in our family.

I do not know how many children were bom to Jonathan and Ann. The one who comes into this history is their daughter, Elizabeth, sometimes called little Bet, but more often Betsy. I find reference in one of Jonathan’s letters to her sister Mary, who was possibly the eldest child. This

16

Pilgrimage

sister married a man named Betls, and a daughter of hers took care of Jonathan after the death of his wife. The first reference to the children occurs in a letter from Jonathan and his wife to his parents, written from Leicester where he was then stationed, and dated sth April, 1799.

It is as follows :

" Honoured and dear Father and Mother

“ Your last favour has just come to hand. We are exceedingly sorry to hear of Mother’s indisposition, I hope the next time you write we shall hear of her recovery.

“ We do often remember you all at the Throne of Grace, and hope that you are remembering us in the same way. It is probable I shall never spend much more time with my dear Parents here below, yet I have a hope to meet with them in a future State. O let us all be in good earnest, lest we should be found wanting in the day of Judgment.

“ If spared I shall certainly see you in July next, and it is not unlikely we shall come a little nearer you. I have thought of Doncaster, but Conference must determine.

" My clear wife and I have fully agreed to allow you a regular stated thing towards making you comfortable in your old age. The sum we have fixed upon is three shillings a week, that is one and sixpence each. You mav receive it in what way you please. I recommend you to receive it weekly of some person we may appoint. Perhaps Mr. Greenwood will take that trouble and receive it in large sums from us. You will tell me your mind on this, and it shall be done. This allowance shall be paid from mv last birthday as long as you want it, and if I die suddenly, shall be fixed in my will, only in that if there should be anything to spare at your death, our children

17

Prel u d e

will have a proper claim to it. If you would like to receive it half yearly it shall be deducted from my Rents. We thought of writing to you many weeks ago, having fully made up our minds.

“ Both our children are well. Mary is a good child, very healthy and stout. So is little Bett, though she cannot yet go by herself. Mary’s duty to you both and love to von all. Our love to all the family by name.

“ You may expect in a few weeks a parcel of old clothes, to be disposed of by yourselves.

We are yours affectionately

Jon. Edmondson.

Ann Edmondson

“ P.S. I hope Tommy, Alan and George are all well. I shall send Tommy a book in the parcel if I can think on. Shall be glad to hear from him and from George. How does their Trade go on ? I am much pressed by the people to stop another year, but do not intend it.”

Evidently “ Mr. Greenwood ” mentioned as a suitable agent to disburse the proposal allowance was a trusted friend, as will be seen from old Alan Edmondson’s letter to his son, written from Keighley, 17th February, 1795, as follows :

‘ Dear Jonathan

" We are all tolerably well only thy mothers cough is troublesom this frosty wheather. Thy mothers Tontine will be due in April, but how it will be paid, I cannot tell, nor what it will amount to.

“ They sent a certificate a little before Christmas in order to be signed by the Minister and Churchwardens which was to be sent back to certify that she was living at' the first of October 1789. We got it signed and send it back

18

Pilgrimage

to Bradford on Christmas Day. She purposes putting it into Mr. Greenwoods hands till she see thee and then ye can talk about it.” He continues : “ Trade is but very pore. We believe the Masters have plenty of orders but they are in suspense about the Hamburg Afare, and cannot be hardy in it. Our folks have a good many I think about 67 pieces unsold now. George sold 20 to-day, but it is so long befor they get paid for them that it rather distresses them.

" Thy Mother is determined not to let her money go into the trade. Mr. Greenwood has no acasion for money, but he will take to oblige her till thou come, and if they be distressed for monev, he will lend them some rather than she be distressed.

“ Thv Mother is anxious to know how Ann is and is J desirous that she should have the best doctor and the best Nurse thee can get, and not to have a new beginer in either line, and that if it should be a boy that you would call it Jonathan.

“ Thou desires me to write an account of my experience which will be a hard task as my memory is so weak and I am so ill qualified to do it, nevertheless I shall atemp it, and write a little about it, and it will but be a little.

“ I conclude this wiching Ann a safe and Happy deliverance, and quick return to her usal health.

“ I am your affectionate Father.

Alan Edmondson.”

To please his good son old Alan did ‘ atemp ’ an autobiography, but did not get very far with it. It relates that he was bom in March, 1737, at Bradley, near Scipton. That his mother died when he was two years old and he

19

Prelude

was taken by an aunt, who “ was better to me than most Children’s Mothers are

" When I was capable, she put me to school," he writes, " and continued me there till I was capable of learning to Spin. After that I said lesson to an old man who was our neighbour three times a day, as long as I stayt with her, in which time in a vulgar way I read the Bible through. I went to Church twice on Sundays and learnt the Lords Prayer and the Creed, and said them every night when going to bed." He then describes a nightmare he had, saying, " I rored out with disquietude of mind, and woke thanking God it was but a dream ".

I will quote one more of the old man’s letters written on 22nd April, 1806.

“ My dear Jonathan

“We are much as usual with regard to health. Jennet (a maid), has been very porely so that her life was despaired of, that one reason I did not write sooner, but she has got as usal again.

“ Thy pore Mother has gone. She died the sixteen of March between 6 and 7of the evening. Ido not remember her expressing any wish where she would be buried. I wish to have her by the side of Mary, but they have had the Church and the Steeple down, and there is such heaps of stones that it could not be, so we buried her under thy stone. I hope thou will not be offended.

" The Lord bless you and all yours with every new covenant and make you all meet to be inheritors with the saints in Light.

" Joind by all the family in love to you all

Your Father,

Alan Edmondson."

20

Pilgrimage

Jonathan was a worthy son of this worthy father. He continued in the active work of a preacher of the Gospel for man} 7 years, during which he wrote many tracts and articles in the press, as well as a number of volumes of " short" sermons, any of which would have lasted a rapid reader three-quarters of an hour.

He was President of the Conference in the year 1818. A Conference Seal, apparently given as credential to delegates to the Conference, bears this date. It was given to his sister Martha, and has her name above a large seal in red wax, with the head of John Wesley in profile thereon and below, the words " Conference Seal, J. Edmondson, President, 1818 ". The reverse side of the card appears to be a tradesman's business card. And what a peculiar trade —" Hot Air Dispensers ". Under the Royal Arms is the name Robert Howden—lnventor and Patentee of an improved Air Extractor. This patent seems to have been used to ventilate while wanning large halls. But a " Hot Air Dispensers'" business card at an annual conference !

It must have been in 1816 or 1817 that Betsy Edmondson married Grandfather Josiah Webb, for their first child, Jonathan, was born in June, 1818. Such records of her girlhood as remain seem to indicate that she was somewhat of a minx. Many preachers of Gospel visited her father’s home, and she was bored at times by their polite attempts to converse with their host’s young daughter. One such guest was startled by a glib quotation from the catechism, when in answer to his question, “ What do you like for your breakfast, Betsy ? ” she replied, with hands meekly folded on her breast, “ Bread and wine which the Lord hath commanded to be received ”,

On the morning of the day set for her marriage to

21

Prelude

Josiah her father came out, and reproved her. " Betsy, if thee do not stop plaving out here with thy dog in this unseemly manner thou shalt not be married this day to Mr. Webb." Betsy at once assumed a more seemly expression as befitted the occasion. Josiah Webb came of good farming people in Hampshire, but I think was living on the rents from inherited farm property at the time of his marriage. They lived in Portsmouth in a house called Marmion Place.

He and his Elizabeth had nine children, four of whom died in infancy. My father, Anthony Spur Webb, was the youngest child. His mother having died when he was but two or three years old, he was mainly the charge of his sister Mary. Such was the background to my father's life—a long line of simple, honest, hard-working and God-fearing folk. Surely an ancestry of which to be proud !

22

18

Part I.

The Parson

“ By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country . . . for he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.”

Heb. 11-9, 10.

24

Chapter 1

Fob many years 1 have wanted to write my father's life, but have hesitated to do so because in late Victorian times such numbers of biographies of dull insignificant men were written by unknown and prosy authors that I hesitated to produce another. But father's life was neither dull nor insignificant, and I shall strive not to be prosy.

Having outlined what may be called his background, I can continue that his unmarried sister, my Aunt Mary, took care of him after his mother's death, and that when he had passed through his school days and gone up to Cambridge, she continued to be his confidant and close friend.

In due course he graduated from St. John's College, a Master of Arts, and with a great wish to enter the Ministry. When this desire was made known to his father, there was no question of his being anything but a priest of the Church of England. Even though his father and aunts were enthusiastic members of " the Society ", as the Methodists then called themselves, he was ordained and went to his first curacy, with his brother-in-law, the Rev. Charles Tate, at Ripley, in Surrey. Here he must have met my mother, who was a daily governess, living in lodgings in the village. He was five years younger than she, and I think this may have been regarded by her as a drawback, for in later years when he was in high spirits, he was wont to go about chanting, " Patience and per-severance won a wife for his Reverence ". They were

26

Pilgrimage

married in Scotland on 26th June, 1862, in the parish church at Dunse, near Berwick-on-Tweed. My grandmother Paterson had died some years previously and grandfather was unable to go to the church as he was then always confined to the house or crippled in some way.

It was a simple wedding, as there was very little money in the family then (nor has there ever been much since), but the kindness of the squire, Colonel Hay, of Dunse Castle, who gave the bride away, and of his wife, who advised the sisters as to the preparations for the wedding breakfast, lending linen and silver, and sending her own servants to wait on the party, and her carriage to take the bride and bridesmaids to the church, enhanced the affair, and gave it lustre and glory otherwise beyond the reach of the wedding party.

Their first home was at Portsmouth, where father’s main duty, as curate, was the chaplaincy at the barracks. The service was held in what was known as the “ Tin Church ”, a hot, stuffy, corrugated iron building.

On her first appearance as the curate’s bride, mother was much distressed, as her natural good taste was revolted by the gown she wore. An aunt had promised to give her the material and price of making up “ a really good dress for your best”. For this offer mother, who was having some difficulty in providing a trousseau from her hard-earned savings, was most grateful—until the material arrived. It was an expensive silk, with buttons, lace, etc., to trim it, but it was a violent apple green, the colour of a very sour and unripe cooking apple, an impossible colour for mother, and in her view quite unsuitable for a curate’s wife. Poverty and horror of wastefulness drove her to have it made up, but “it was pain and grief to her ”. Probably

27

The P a r so n

the congregation were not nearly so shocked by it as she was. She said it made her feel vulgar, but she continued to wear it, and owing to its excellent quality, it took a long time to wear out.

It was during his work among the soldiers that father became a total abstainer. There was a great deal of drunkenness among the men, and he was advised to urge them to sign a temperance pledge. In those days it was called " joining the Blue Ribbon Army", and abstainers wore httle bits of blue ribbon on their coats. It did not seem to father reasonable to ask these men to give up what seemed to be their chief pleasure unless he did the same himself, so lie signed a total abstainer's pledge and wore the blue ribbon, nor did he ever retreat from that position. At the time of his death many years later in New Zealand, he was Past Chief Ruler of the local Tent of the Independent Order of Rechabites, and an earnest advocate of prohibition.

His actions shocked his family, who said that stout or porter, after the exertion of preaching two sermons, and reading the services, was absolutely necessary “ to keep up his strength ”. This made him laugh, as he was a stout, healthy young man, in no need of extra sustenance. Mother entirely agreed with him.

28

Chapter 2

The climate of Portsea, the suburb in which they lived, was relaxing, and disagreed with mother, who never was well near the sea. After the birth of my eldest brother, Arthur, they moved to Bath, which was even worse for her, and the second son, William, was born there. Other children arrived from time to time. They had nine in all, four sons and five daughters, and lived in various parishes, the last being Stockingford, in Warwickshire, where my father was vicar till leaving for New Zealand in May, 1884.

By this time our family was increased by three cousins, sons of my Uncle Josie, who had died leaving a motherless family of five boys and two girls. The youngest boy and the girls were taken by Aunt Mary, and the eldest was in the Navy, so he did not need a home except for holidays, which he spent with his aunt.

I feel I should now make some attempt to depict father’s character, which can best be done by reference to his work and way of life as vicar of Stockingford. Hitherto he had been a curate, carrying out the ideas of other men, but in the thirteen years in this Warwickshire village he was free to plan his work as he thought best.

The letter which follows testifies to the approval of Iris brother clergy.

Vicarage, Nuneaton

20th Sept, 1884.

“We the undersigned Beneficed Clergy in the Diocese of Worcester, testify that we have known the Rev. Anthony

29

The Parson

Spurr Webb, for the last five years and longer as Vicar of Stockingford in the Diocese of Worcester. That we have had constant opportunity of observing his Conduct. That during that time we believe he had lived piously, soberlv and honestly. Nor have we at any time heard anything to the contrary thereof. Nor have we known or heard that he hath at any time held, written or taught anything contrary to the doctrine, or discipline of the Church of England.

“ Signed

H. W. Bellairs, Vicar of Nuneaton Rural Dean

Jno. Thomas, Vicar of Attlebury, Nuneaton.

Bracebridge Hall, Rector of Weddington, Nr

Nuneaton.

The subscribers are beneficed Clergy in the diocese

of Worcester, and are worthy of credit.

L. Worcester.

September 6, 1884. Worcester."

Stockingford had several coal mines, a brick and tile making plant, and several factories, including one which made ribbons. There were many farms in the parish, and one of father’s activities, which was much valued, was a week night cottage meeting. Those who attended it showed by the gift of a large Bible that they enjoyed the weekly prayer and Bible readings in their homes, as the inscription on the fly-leaf of the volume shows.

He also held services at a place called Galley Common, where he bought a property, part of which was used as a school for the children of that district, who were taught by a Mrs. Arnold, the caretaker, and in which service was held. Sometimes he would stay a night or two there to minister to the parishioners nearby.

30

Pilgrimage

There being no national schools at that time, part of the duty of a parish priest was the oversight of the school. The school at Stockingford adjoined the vicarage. The vicarage was a large two-storeyed brick house with ivy and red roses climbing over its walls. There was a glebe farm attached to the benefice, on which a bailiff and his wife and several men were employed, and on which my brother Edmond and our three cousins strove to learn the elements of fanning. The stipend was £lOO per annum. Round the vicarage was a large garden with old fruit trees and a large kitchen garden. Many chicken coops and fowl houses arose in father's time, as he was a keen poultry fancier. Among family documents is a petition to him for the destruction of a savage gander, which was signed bv our Aunt Barbara, Rhoda and Mary Satchwell (our cook), of whom we shall hear later, and most of the familv. I was not a signatory as I could not then write.

At one time, when disaster had overtaken the house cow, and there was no money to replace her, mother had a miraculous answer to prayer. It is possible that Rhoda or Satchwell might have spoken of the trouble in the village. However this may be, a letter was handed to mother one day as under.

“ Stockingford.

November 3rd, 1874

“ Rev’d. & Dear Sir & Madam,

“ We the undersigned, in the name of the teachers and a few friends, do humbly beg your acceptance of the cow, which you will find in your cowshed as a mark of our love and esteem for you both, and to testify our thankfulness for your past labours amongst us. May God bless your united endeavours in this place, and give both of you,

31

The Parson

your hearts earliest and latest desires, that sinners may be awakened, that God’s people may be increased, and that there be a rich harvest of Souls in our midst.

“ Pardon the domesticated nature of this testimonial, for we were almost at our wits end to know what to do, until accident revealed the way our love and esteem should be shown to you. We feel assured that God’s blessing accompanies this token of our gratitude, for it was not done without first asking Him. May he still continue to bless, and make this animal all we heartily wish it to be.

“ Earnestly praying that you both may long be spared to us, and that you may abound in the work of the Lord, for ye know that your labour shall not be in vain in the Lord.

“ May God bless and be with you both

“We remain.

“ Rev. and dear Sir and Madam.

“ Your very humble servants.

Joseph Neal, Ann Neal, Emma Wilson

The cow, a red and white Shorthorn, was a highly prized animal, and was named Dorothy.

Joseph Neal was the parish clerk. It was part of his duty to escort the vicar from the vestry to the desk, a kind of pulpit with a door to it, and having shut him safely in, to climb into a smaller pen just below and in front, from which he led the responses, and made occasional announcements. Once, after a whisper from father, he gave out the number of a very long hymn, remarking,

" Muster Webb's nose is a-bleeding ". During the singing he led father back to the vestry where he doubtless ministered to him, returning to his little desk subsequently to dismiss the flock by saying, " Muster Webb's nose is still a-bleeding of ".

32

Pilgrimage

He was a good old man, and his wife made an excellent viand called " Lardey Cake ", which she frequently sent up " with her duty " for father's tea, as she knew he enjoyed it. She was a little, wrinkled woman, who always wore a kind of string bag over her hair. Her husband was also small and stocky and was always known as " Old" Neal. Both of them taught in the Sunday School, of which mother was the superintendent.

She also played the organ, a good pipe organ, in the gallery, which was in the tower. A hassock near her side was the seat of the youngest Webb attending church, the elder members of the family occupying one of the enclosed pews in the body of the church. Well do I recall the boredom of being too short to see over the front of the gallery. Occasionally the tedium was relieved bv a sweet, stealthily passed to me by one of the choir girls. Later, when Anthony James was old enough to attend church, and sit submerged on the hassock, I was promoted to the " minister's pew ", thus named in large block letters on its door. There was a legend about this seat to the effect that a former vicar, having lost one of his legs by amputation, had it buried in the aisle outside the door of the pew. We got a great thrill out of walking over this strange little grave.

The squire of our parish was seldom in residence at Arbory Hall, being an active Member of the House of Commons. When he was at home he gave dinner parties to which my parents were bidden. Two spinster aunts, the Misses Bouchard, kept house for him. He was a shy bachelor who showed great politeness to his vicar, and gave permission for us to play in the park.

This estate appears under the name of “ Cheverell

33

The P a r so n

Manor" in George Eliott's Scenes from Clerical Life, being the scene of Mr. Gilfill's love story. Stockingford was the " Paddiford Common " of " The Storv of Amos Barton " in the same book.

We were never taken into the gardens at Arbory, but saw the house in the distance across the lake when we were taken to visit Mrs. Clews and her daughter Cornelia, who lived in a strange building with a glass dome, known as " The Umbrella House". Mrs. Clews was a queer, shrivelled, little widow of great age. Her daughter, Cornelia, we hated. She was a seamstress, and occasionally came to the vicarage to make frocks, when she dug hard, bonev knuckles into our little necks while fitting us, and talked to Rlioda through a mouthful of pins. Had she swallowed them there would have been joy in the house of Webb.

There were a number of clubs—the Clothing Club, the Coal Club, etc., into which a few pence per week were paid by those who wished to benefit. Then there were certain bags containing sheets, towels and other things necessary for such occasions, which were lent to expectant mothers for confinements. All this involved a lot of minor book-keeping which fell to the lot of' mother. She was a very busy woman. When the big bovs attending Sunday School were ill-behaved, thev were sent over to the vicarage for " Muster Webb to punish them. Usually they were ordered to stand in the corner in the hall. It was not an uncommon sight to pass through the hall on a late Sunday afternoon, and see three corners occupied by big lads, standing meekly with faces to the wall, till " Muster Webb " released them. Seeing that their ages ranged from 15 to 19 years, and most of them were earning their own living in the coal pits, I marvel why they stayed there, but stav they did.

34

Pilgrimage

Often there were interesting visitors staying in the house. These were mainly missionaries on furlough doing deputation work. The neighbouring clergy took little interest in foreign missions, so such men were received by father, who was a keen member of the Church Missionary Society, as were most clergy of the evangelical school to which he belonged. The missionary we loved most was David Kirkby, who worked among North American Indians. He was full of fun and ready to play with the little ones in any home he visited.

Despite our extreme poverty we were a happy family. Father’s was a buoyant nature, subject to periods of depression, but not of long duration. At times he would sit at the piano, vamping accompaniments to imitations of operatic singers, falsetto, treble screams alternating with deep bass rumblings which convulsed his audience. When he had reduced us all to tears he would rise, and saunter off to look at his poultry, or stroll about the garden. Sometimes on rare occasions when mother went to Birmingham to stay a night with her sisters, he would arrange a feast of which we partook in the study. He had invented a sweet called Tulimaskey Pudding for such occasions, mainly composed of bread crumbs soaked in cold milk, but containing a layer of raspberry jam, and having jujubes and other sweets stuck about it for decorations. He was a very entertaining father. He had many hobbies, gardening, poultry, old books, old china and music being the chief ones. But he was never “ a man of his hands ”. If he wanted a nail driven or a screw put in, someone must be sent for to do it! He had a most maddening habit of remembering a letter that must catch a certain mail about five minutes before the postman called for the mail.

35

The Parson

or when the carriage was at the door to take him to the station for a particular train. He seldom lost his temper, though in times of depression he was often gloomy. His parishioners loved him. One who was asked to describe him, said after due thought, “ Muster Webb is the kind of man who goes about patting little dogs ”.

And what of the parishioners ? The majority were small farmers and their labourers, most of them being married and raising large families on a wage of £.l per week. In certain seasons the wives would earn a little by such jobs as picking stones off a ploughed paddock and carrying them to the edge out of the way, or “ singling ” turnips. While engaged on these back-breaking jobs, the baby would be put to sleep under the nearest hedge, being provided with a comforter, a lump of lard or other fat, tied up in muslin to prevent its being swallowed. These families lived very happily in small cottages with about a quarter acre garden, replete with vegetables and small fruits. Most people reared a pig each year which was killed, providing the year’s supply of bacon. The rent of such premises was only 2/- or 2/6 a week. Bread was cheap, being sold in quartern loaves (4 lb.) for 4d. Meat was usually too expensive. Some farmers gave their labourers skim milk. Coal was cheap, too. If you had or could borrow, a cart and go to the pit head for it, you could get a load, about half a ton, for a shilling. Flour, sugar and such groceries were bought by the pennorth. If a child had received a penny in reward for some small service, he tore off to the local shop for “ a pennorth o’ sook ”, probably about an ounce of pear drops, acid drops or bulls eyes, the local name for blackballs. If you were affluent you might even have pennorth, or ha’porth of each. We were not encouraged to use the local idiom, so asked for “ sugar plums ”,

36

Pilgrimage

The labourer worked a twelve-hour day beginning at 6 a.m. He was a sober, church-going man, with little education, just as much as he had picked up in the parish schools, which he attended until he got a job as a " bird clapper " or at the pit. A bird clapper patrolled fields of newly-sown wheat, or " turmatts", making horrid noises with two pieces of board losely fastened together. They began this work when about eight years old. Such urchins referred to their vicar as " Bibbs " and to his daughters as " Bibb'ses Wenches". Some of the clappers worked in the brickyards, of which there were several, when ten years old or more. It was a healthy, pleasant village. The pit hands were underground most of the day, and wean at night, when they had " cleaned ourselves". What their wages raav have been I don't know. They lived in semi-detached houses along the street on the way to the railway, and had no gardens, nor any time to work in them, even if gardens had been available. During winter evenings " pennv readings " were sometimes provided, when they heard some story read aloud, and heard a little music for the modest charge of one pennv per head.

I think grandfather Josiah must have helped with the education of my seniors. During his later years he occasionally sold building sites, and when he did so he divided the cash among his sons, believing that the money would be more useful to them while they were bringing up their large families. The eldest son, my Uncle Jonathan, had nine, six sons and three daughters; Uncle Josie seven, five sons and two girls, and father, the youngest son, four sons and five daughters. My brothers, Arthur and Edmond, both went to Trent College. Arthur took several scholarships which helped him through and, when

37

THE PATERSOX HOME AT DUNSE, SCOTLAND

MOTHER AND FATHER WITH “MARGARET” The red and white Shorthorn was a gift from the good people of Stockingford.

GUSTAV AND BENTA LARSEN

BISHOP STUART AND HIS DAUGHTER

The Parson.

he went to Cambridge, allowances were made on the fees for the sons of the clergy. There must have been fees to pay for Willie at the Birmingham School of Art where he studied, and his board to pay to the two aunts with whom he lived.

Mother taught the elder girls in the intervals of her manifold duties, and our nurse, Rhoda, gave us little ones lessons in the nursery spasmodically.

Rhoda was a very remarkable woman. She came to mother as a nurse girl at the age of fourteen, when my third brother, Edmond, was a baby, and stayed with us till she married in New Zealand, when she was about forty-five. She was a very resourceful little person, and gathered knowledge as she went through life from any available source. She kept an exercise book and pencil, and had a habit of writing down scraps of information in it, from the French name for something which the elder children would tell her, to a cooking recipe and names of books she had read. She was quite tiny, but full of power. None of us would disobey her. Her usual punishment was to stand us in a corner or make us sit on a chair. I have often " done time " in this way. It was tedious but in no way harmful, probably good for restless children. The time varied according to the seriousness of the sin. An hour was the longest chair sitting I remember. The comer facing the wall might be ten minutes or so. She told us wonderful stories, read aloud, taught us little verses, and invented games.

For some time we had a cook, a fat, kindly soul named Mary Satchwell, who was always called by her surname to avoid confusion with my sister Mary. This we shortened to Satchie. She used to come up and have tea with us

40

Pilgrimage

in our nursery and participate in whatever game followed tire meal. "When she married, Rhoda took over the cooking, and a stout, rosy-cheeked girl named Sarah Woodward helped her with the rougher work of the house.

Nursery meals became a thing of the past, and we were promoted to breakfast and dinner with our elders, and tea with Rhoda and Sarah in the large, red-tiled kitchen with its huge range. No laundry work was done at home. An o o J elderly widow, with the pleasing name of Scattergood, came and carried it oft on Mondays, returning with the clean linen later in the week.

I think the funds must have been very low in those davs. Arthur, at Cambridge, needed some financial help. Edmond had left Trent College and was with my three cousins, working on the Clebe Farm. Willie had been obliged to relinquish his art studies, and was resting at home in a vain hope of his recovery from the illness no one seemed to call by its real name. He was said to have a heaw cold, or his chest seemed to be weak and it was hoped he would outgrow his weakness. He spent much time in painting, and in writing verses, mostly humorous and topical. He teased his brothers and sisters unmercifullv as. when in the middle of a long poem dealing with his brothers, lie wrote of Edmond's musical efforts.

" The Lost Chord lie would often play

and playing lose more chords than one.

The writer, did he hear, would say,

Winch chord is Eddie's, which my own ?

Dora was the second daughter

of the Village Parson's crowd

Not addicted to cold water

Everyone allowed.

41

T he Parson

Often an indignant brother

Showed her features to her Mother

Features which the dirt did smother

Save where by her finger ploughed.”

Until he was sent to New Zealand he was much at home; so we knew him better and loved him more than our eldest brother, Arthur, whom we only saw in vacations, as he went straight from Trent to Cambridge.

42

CIIAP T E R 3

As I have mentioned, the reason for our migration to New Zealand was my brother Willies illness. He was studying art, and was a most promising student, but his health broke down, and after a period of treatment at home (the lamentably foolish treatment of those days for tubercular disease) it was decided that he should be sent to New Zealand as a last hope, and that his parents and family should follow him there as soon as possible. To uproot so large a family and transport them to the Antipodes took time. Almost a year elapsed before we too left our English home.

Of the preparations for the journey I was too young to know much, but I shall never forget our actual departure from the village. Before telling of the journey I should sav of whom the party of fourteen travellers consisted. Thev "ere father and mother, the third son, Edmondson, five daughters, Mary, Dora, Edith, Anne and Alice, the youngest son, Anthony, known later as Tony, three cousins, Tom, George and Jim, our good nurse, Rhoda Mitchell, and the young man, A. W. Besant, whose Uncle Walter brought him to the Royal Albert Docks to join us. Most of father’s children resembled him, with his blue eyes and curly hair, more than our mother’s family. All of us loved music, and the artistic genius of Willie must have been a Webb trait, as it was also evident in our cousins, Tom and Jim.

Actually our departure was hurried, as the New Zealand Shipping Company made my father the offer of first-class

43

T he Pa r s un

passages for second-class fares for the party, if he would travel by an old vessel making her last trip, instead of on the maiden voyage of their newest vessel for which booking was heavy. So generous an offer could not be refused.

We left Stockingford about a week before the original date which had been fixed. To take us to London, an express train, which did not usually stop at our village, had been ordered to make a special stop. Even as a little girl of eight, I was startled to see the goggling eyes of travellers who hung out of carriage windows to see the cause of the unusual interruption. They saw a crowded platform of school children waving flags, and weeping parishioners, who sang the hymn,

“ Here we suffer grief and pain,

Here we meet to part again,

In Heaven we'll part no more

Oh that will be joyful; joyful, joyful, joyful,

Oh that will be joyful.

When we meet to part no more "

There were about four verses and they sang them all. We were nearing Birmingham, eighteen miles away, when it was discovered that father had left all the tickets on the table in the stationmaster's office, when saying goodbye to him. But all was well, for at Birmingham the guard told us that the good Mr. Bliss had sent a telegram to say he held the tickets.

The night’s stay in London leaves me with only one clear memory that of an early morning walk along the Thames embankment, where Rhoda, our nurse, showed us Cleopatra’s Needle, with gulls and other birds flying about it. In the afternoon of 13th May we went aboard the old British Queen, a four-masted vessel, which, having been

44

Pilgrimage

previously in the sugar trade from Jamaica, was infested with rats, and full of cockroaches. Beside our party in the first class were two young men, Mr. Fletcher who was acting as clerk to the purser, and a Yorkshire man named Barker, who was bringing out a large number of readymade suits for men, 40,000 I think he said, as a speculation. We never heard how the venture turned out, as we left the ship before he did to go aboard the coastal boat, Ringarooma, having been booked through to Auckland from Port Chalmers.

The voyage must have been very dull for our parents. We only called at two ports, Tenerilfe and the Cape. At Cape Town, no one was allowed to go ashore, as it was a Sunday, and the ship anchored out in the Bay to take in coal from lighters, which came out to her.

Mother had been ill during the packing and probably the rest and change were good for her. Father had brought a large parcel of the letters of Miss Anne button, which he had been asked to sort, and make extracts from, to be published in book form. He pasted the extracts on sheets of paper, which later became a little booked called Light on the Christians Daily Path. Unfortunately he had forgotten to bring a brush for his pasting, so Mother, always practical, cut a lock of my hair, and tied it to the end of a pen-holder. I was much flattered when a year later a copy of the book was sent, “ to the dear little girl who so kindly gave her hair”. Actually the dear little girl had no option. A brush was needed and the first handy child was shorn to make it. Much time was also spent by the elders writing letters. Mother’s diary of the voyage records posting thirty-one letters at Teneriffe before starting sight-seeing. There was a good piano in the

45

T li e Parson

saloon and several of the officers sang well, and they were glad to find a good accompanist in Mother. On Sunday, we had two services, one in the second saloon and the other in the first. This was usually at night and was followed by hymn singing. The books used were The Hymnal Companion and occasionally Sankeys Sacred Aongs. On the first Sunday Mother records that Father preached on the text “ Forgetting those things that are behind, I press towards the mark”.

Life on board was pleasant for us younger members of the party. The steward found it more convenient to have us take our meals with the grown ups, which pleased us much, as at home we lived in our nursery, coming down to tea on Sunday only. My little brother aged four and a half, and I, sat one each side of Mother, who superintended our feeding, but Annie was at some distance, and afforded the stewards much amusement by her earnest consideration of the menu; and her habit of replying when asked " What will you have, Miss"? " What is there to be had." She said she could not see why the stewards laughed when serving her. When we ran into bad weather near Cape Town and the dishes slid about the tables, it is pleasing to read that " the Irish stew splashed over into Edmond's lap, but his table-napkin saved his trousers". We seem to have had stormy weather and thick fog most of the way from the Cape to New Zealand, which we reached on 2nd July, in beautiful weather.

Father had been in correspondence with some of the New Zealand Bishops, with a view to obtaining work as soon as possible, and had been offered a parish in the diocese of Dunedin. But although he went up to Dunedin to see the Bishop leaving us at Port Chalmers, where we

46

Pilgrimage

transferred to the coastal boat to continue our journey to Auckland, he did not accept the work offered. So we sailed from Port Chalmers the same evening, and after calhng at both Christchurch and Wellington, at each of which places he called on the Bishop, we came in due course to Napier, where he and Mother went ashore together in the little launch Boojum to see Bishop Stuart. Here Mother’s diary ends abruptly, for the Bishop broke the sad news to them that their son Willie had died. This was not unexpected news, as the later letters received by them, just before we left England, had in some measure prepared them. The reason for going on to Auckland no longer existed. They could not even visit his grave, as he had been sent on the Islands trip, but was so ill that when the ship got to Tonga, the Captain put him ashore. A Wesleyan missionary took him into his home, did all he could for him, and buried him there two days later. I never heard the name of this good man.

At the invitation of Bishop Stuart, we disembarked that night at Napier. This letter from Bishop Stuart to my Father, dated 25th April, 1884, must have passed us on our voyage out and been sent after us:

25th April, 1884,

Tauranga,

Bay of Plenty

Dear Sir,

I was very glad to receive your letter by last mail and to find that you still hold to your purpose of coming to N.Z. For while I should shrink from the responsibility of initiating such a serious step, where so many of a family are concerned, I do most sincerely hope that once you

47

The Parson

are here some suitable employment will be found for all and the very fact that you are so earning will take the edge off tire feeling of exile which might depress one coming out at your time of life, to new scenes far away from old associations.

Anyhow, if you adhere to your plan of coming to this diocese let me assure you of one friend, who for your friend, dear Milward's sake, will welcome you as no stranger.

I sent your letter to a gentleman in Hawkes Bay who had expressed great interest in your case, when I told him about you, and who is hkely to be of use to your boys, should they ever wish to strike out for themselves in that part of the country, the southern portion of the diocese. He has not yet returned it, but I think my letter to you of 28th Feb. has anticipated most of the points.

With regard to the offer of a parish in the diocese of Dunedin, without knowing more about it, I cannot advise I should be thankful to hear of one of your church principles entering that diocese in any important sphere there. But unhappily the church of England is not in at all a flourishing position in that diocese, partly I think owing to the prevalence of views and practices among the clergy which are distasteful to the laity generally, and partly to the ascendancy of my worthy Presbyterian Countrymen. Possibly you may regard the Bishop's offer as a call to a difficult post. Still I would venture to say, wait. I do not think there would be difficulty in one of your standing finding employment even in that diocese at anv time if you felt disposed to go there. And unless the present offer is something very advantageous in respect to importance of the parish to which you are invited, you

48

Pilgrimage

will lose nothing by waiting. There is, apart from all professional considerations and clerical reasons, one strong objection in my mind to your going, either to Dunedin or Christchurch, namely the climate.

You dear son Willie's case, suggests some weakness in other members of your family. There can be no doubt that this Northern Island (especially my part of it, though I say it who shouldn't) is much better adapted for those whose lungs or chests are at all weak. As you come partly for that consideration, you ought to choose the best conditions for that object. Many Otago men have emigrated and are now emigrating to our more genial climate.

In my previous letter I told you about Opotiki, 70 miles east of this (Tauranga). Since I have been here, I have become acquainted with a Mrs. Farrer and her son and daughter, who are desirous of returning to England where she has married daughters living. Since her husband Captain Farrer’s death (late of the 18th Royal Irish) she does not care to remain here at Gardenhurst, the name of their farm, as her son looks forward to entering the Church. He may decide to remain in N.Z. in which case his mother would postpone her visit Home for a time, but in any case they have decided to give up the farm, as it occupies too much of his time to allow of his giving himself to study. I mention this to explain why the farm is for sale, and that it is a bona fide transaction. In dealing with them you might have every confidence as they are gentlefolk, and in every way ensamples. It is as you will see, by the enclosed, a made farm, and would at once yield an income if you have any capital to invest, and being so accessible it would have many advantages

49

T li e Parson

for new comers. Still notions about profitable farming are so different that I cannot advise and again I would say wait.

Since writing the foregoing I have learned that there is every likelihood of this parish becoming vacant at the end of 1884, so I have a new reason for desiring your location in the Bay of Plenty. The incumbant has all but completed an engagement in Australia which will lead to his resignation, and the employment for six months of a locum tenens to which position I could appoint you. There may be other candidates coming forward, but you being here and becoming known to the nominators would be greatly in your favour. It may be that the Master is thus opening a door of permanent usefulness for you. I have to-day received a letter from my old friend Ridsdale of Pyrford mentioning you as formerly his neighbour at Ripley.

I must now hastily end

Yours sincerely,

E. C. Waiapu.

I do not know if the incumbent of Tauraunga referred to went to Australia, but the Bishop now had a definite position to which he could appoint Father immediately. This is defined in the Synod Report of September, 1884. Quoting from the Bishops pastoral letter we read: “We welcome here to-day two clergymen lately arrived from England as a much needed re-inforcement of the small band of clergy labouring among the English population, the Rev. John Elliott Fox and the Rev. Anthony Spurr Webb, both of them Masters of Arts of the University of Cambridge. Mr. Fox was nominated to the Church of the Holy Trinity, Gisborne, where he was inducted by me

50

Pilgrimage

on 21st June. Mr. Webb arrived in the Diocese on 12th July and has been appointed a Missionary Clergyman in connection with the Diocesan fund. He will unite his duties as an itinerant with the parochial charge of a portion of the 70 miles Bush district, where the rapid progress of settlement called for additional clerical strength. Mr. Webb resides at Ormondville, a station on the NapierWellington railway, whence he can with facility visit the different points of this southern portion of the Diocese where extra parochial Services are needed ".

Thus began our connection with the Ormondville Church, and with the Scandinavian settlers, who had arrived in the Seventy Mile Bush some eleven years before our coming to live amongst them.

Reverting for a moment to Bishop Stuart's letter, it is interesting to know that the young candidate for Holy Orders from Tauranga mentioned there was successful in Ins hopes, and when the " Mission of Help " sent to New Zealand by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York came to New Zealand in 1910, among the fifteen clergv of the Mission was Canon Farrar, and was the chosen Missioner to the Ormondville parish. My Father was then not alive, but Canon Farrar was interested to hear from Mother how it had been suggested that we should buy the farm he had to sell in order to go to England for his training.

When we followed Willie overseas, Arthur was left behind to take his degree, before taking up his chosen profession, teaching. He was successful and after graduation, spent some years as Mathematical Master in various coaching establishments in order to earn enough money to enable him to marry Susie Bowman, to whom he had been engaged since his second year at St. John's.

51

The Parson

When he was almost ready to do so, he met with an accident on the football field a kick in the groin, which resulted in a series of tubercular abcesses developing, and after an illness of a few months he died. So my parents never saw either of their elder sons again. No wonder Mother’s first months in New Zealand were overshadowed bv sorrow and ill-health.

52

Part II

The People

“ How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land ? ” Psalm 137—4.

Psalm 137—4.

54

THE WEBB FAMILY OUTSIDE THE HOME following its first additions.

LATER ADDITIONS TO THE ORMONDVILLE HOME

WOOD-SPLITTING IN THE SEVENTY-MILE BUSH

Chapter 1

When Bror Erik Friberg had completed his education at the university of his native city, Stockholm, like other young men of his day he gave serious thought to the problem of how best to use the capital at his disposal, and the knowledge he had acquired. His mind turned toward the new colonies where a more rapid expansion and greater opportunities might be looked for, and since he had taken a special course in the science of forestry, it was natural to select New Zealand as the best field for his talents to be used.

He was betrothed to a young lady, a citizen by birth of Liibeck, one of the five Free Cities in Germany, and she was willing to marry him and accompany him to the land of his adoption, in preference to his going on alone to prepare a home for her. At the outset serious difficulties faced them. Liibeck, being a Free City, had its own laws concerning marriages, one of which provided that no banns could be called for marriage with a non-citizen until proof was given that the banns had been duly read in that non-citizen’s home town. This would have seemed simple enough, but for the fact, that Stockholm had an identical law, being also to some extent a Free City. A deadlock ensued which caused considerable delay before the difficulty could be surmounted. How this was managed I do not know. The future Mrs. Friberg was anxious to leave Liibeck because it was fast losing its proud freedom, and becoming over-ridden by German militarism.

58

Pilgrimage

This encroaching on the rights of the free city began when Blucher, fleeing from Napoleon, threw his army into Liibeck for winter quarters. The complete absorption of the proud old town into German rule was ended some five years after Mrs. Friberg, now safely married, left for New Zealand.

She must have been a girl of great determination which was coupled with practical common sense, for in her preparations for marriage and emigration to a partially civilized country, she braved public opinion in so conservative a city by going to the family doctor, and asking for instruction not only in the elements of nursing and first aid, but also in midwifery. The doctor was pleased with this evidence of a desire to be useful to her fellow settlers, and gladly gave the instructions she needed, which was later to prove so great a blessing to the Scandinavian settlers among whom her life was spent, but she had to endure biting criticism, almost to the point of ostracism from her friends and relations, to whom such pursuit of information savoured of indecent curiosity. Her strong will and native sense supported her through these trying circumstances, and the young couple sailed for their new home, landing in Auckland probably during 1866, for their son, Nils Arnold, was born in that citv in 1867.

Finding little outlet for his specialised knowledge in the northern province, Mr. Friberg moved to Hawkes Bay, making his home in Napier. As settlement proceeded it became clear that more labour must be found for the formation of the railway track and for road-making. The Provincial Government, under the Chairmanship of Mr. J. D. Ormond, decided to send an agent to the Scandinavian countries to select men suitable for such

59

Tlt c People

work, and to convey the offer of free grants of land, and assisted passages for themselves and their families, in return for definite periods of work on these projects. No more suitable man could have been chosen for this important errand. Not only was Mr. Friberg a good linguist, but he had the quality of inspiring confidence in others, a very needfull attribute in one who was to persuade men to leave the known for the unknown, and, uprooting all ties to venture over far seas to a land of which little was known. Leaving his wife and children in Napier, Mr. Friberg started on his long trip. He visited Germany, Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Two ships were chartered to bring the emigrants to New Zealand, Hooding and Fritz Reuter, of which more anon. Mr Friberg visited most of the larger villages, giving lectures on New Zealand and also having personal interviews with some of the leading men in such places.

Eventually a large number of suitable families were selected and in May, 1872, the ship Hovding (Captain Berg) left the port of Christiana, with seventy-four married couples, thirty spinsters, twenty-five single men and about 270 children over 470 travellers in search of a new home. Mr. Friberg accompanied them. The voyage took 108 days, some bad weather being encountered, and on 15th September, 1872, she arrived in Napier.

A letter from the Rev. N. A. Friberg (not very reverend, I should judge, as on this occasion he must have been about five years old) gives an eye-witness account of this historic landing “ I well remember ”, he writes, “ when the cry went up that the emigrants had arrived, and I saw a fine ship in the Bay, but it was not the Hooding. She arrived a couple of days later. The newcomers were

60

Pilgrimage

marched up to the Barracks, on what was then called Barrack, but is now known as Hospital Hill. They formed a very long procession indeed. All of the selected immigrants could not be carred on so small a vessel. A second shipment came next year, but not on the same vessel, for the first Hovding was condemned as unsafe for so long a vovage on her return to Denmark, and a second vessel of the same name, commanded by Captain Nordbye, brought the remainder reaching Napier on December, 1873. Two vears later the Fritz Renter brought more settlers."

61

Chapter 2

Talking to some of the survivors of the original settlers at the time of the celebrations of the golden jubilee of the settlement of Norsewood, I learned that there was a suggestion that the men should be taken up country at once, leaving the women and children in the barracks in Napier. This seemed terrible to them all. How could thev bear to see their men leaving them, among a strange people whose language thev could neither speak, nor understand ? They sat down and wept, and who shall blame them. It had been a great upheaval to leave their native lands, and the rigours of a long voyage, crowded together on a small ship, had left them in a mentally battered condition. The suggestion that their men should disappear, leaving them stranded in a strange place, was the last straw. The suggestion was born of a kindly idea of making some preparations up country for housing them before taking them out to the wilds.

Mr. Friberg did not go back to Europe for the rest of the immigrants, but remained to superintend the settling of those who had already landed. His presence was necessary, not only as adviser in getting them through the formalities in taking possession of the sections allotted to them, but also as interpreter, since few, if any, spoke English, nor could all of them converse with each other. A friend of mine once said to me, “ Danish is not a hard language to learn. All you need do is to add EN in the end of each word, and just talk English slowly ”, However that

62

Pilgrimage

may be, and it sounds to me too easy, the fact remains that the men, working with Colonials, picked up English much more quickly and easily than did their wives.

Huts were made ready near Takapau on the edge of the Seventy Mile Bush, where Mr. Drower, of Waipukurau, had a saw mill. Mr. Friberg moved his family to Waipukurau and supervised the transportation of the Scandinavians from the barracks on this first stage of their journey.

The curiosity of the settlers in these new arrivals must have been very trying to the women. People used to visit these camps and stare at the occupants, much as one examines strange animals in cages at the zoo. The unfortunate victims of this scrutiny had little to occupy them beyond the care of their children, and no privacy whatever. It was a very trying life, but they bore it patiently. Some of the men worked on road formation, and on the railway, which was only completed as far as Te Aute, but was being pushed on as rapidly as possible.

When the time came that the promised grants of land had been surveyed and were available, another pilgrimage commenced. One wonders if they were sorry to leave the neighbourhood of those staring strangers.

63

Chapter 3

The sections were in the heart of the forest. A newly formed road, little more than a bullock track, ran through what is now the main highway from Napier to Woodville. On the arrival of the caravan, if we can call it that, at Te Whiti, a natural clearing, to which the women, children and possessions of all kinds were brought on bullock wagons, the men walking, a halt was made, and the sections were apportioned to their new owners. It was a wise plan, put forward by their superintendent. Those of one race were grouped together, so we have the German Line, the Swedish Line, the Danish Line and Norsewood, the village settlement for the Norwegians. By this provision the women had the companionship of fellow countrywomen, with whom they could consult in the trials and difficulties that arose in their new life. This must have been a great comfort to them. I have always felt unbounded respect and admiration for the bravery and patience of these women.

The forest was unlike that of their native lands, more tangled with thick scrub and undergrowth. Again it was suggested that the men should go first and again the women refused to be parted from their protectors. They camped as best they could, under logs or in the open. One of them told me that her first home was formed of two large rimu trees, felled parallel from high stumps, from which long sheets of the bark were stripped, and laid across the space between them. Heavy limbs cut from their tops were heaped on top to hold this primitive roof down. Under

64

Pilgrimage

such shelter she lived for weeks and one of her children was born there. In such a home there was little cleaning to do. Cooking was done on open fires, but life was not easy. There was the hazard of falling limbs from the standing trees, and constant watchfulness lest little children should stray and be lost in the dense bush surrounding the newly-cleared patches. True, there were no wild beasts to be feared, but probably they did not know that. It would not have been surprising if they had clamoured to go home to their own land, but I believe they had no thought of that. All life was changed for them and they endured everything that came to them with what fortitude they could summon.

A ballot was held for the sections which had been surveyed in readiness for settlement, but there were not enough sections to go round, so a party was organised to go on to Dannevirke and take up land there. The journey was undertaken on foot. They had to follow the surveyor’s track, their possessions being conveyed on pack horses. Those who remained at Norsewood began to build primitive huts from slabs split as soon as enough space had been cleared to permit of building. Draughty habitations they were, with roofs covered with “ shingles ” miniature slabs overlapping each other. There was a scarcity of tools, which delayed the preparation of homes.

It would be interesting to give a complete list of those pioneers, but I find difficulty in obtaining any accurate information. In his interesting book, “ The Scandinavian in Australia, New Zealand and The Western Pacific ”, Mr. J. Lyng puts the number of immigrants carried on Hovding’s first trip in 1872 as “ over 360 Norwegians ”. This does not agree with the number given by Mr. Ole Ericksen, himself

65

T// e People

one of the party, in an article reprinted in the Dannevirke Evening News, 19th September, 1947, in which he stated that the party numbered about 460. Mr. Lyng also states that the passengers on the Hovding were all Norwegians, which was not the case. Some of those named in Mr. Ericksen's partial list were undoutedlv Danes, as Mr. Friberg, referred to by Mr. Lyng as a Norwegian, was of Swedish birth and nationality. Two weeks after the Hovding sailed, the English ship Ballarat, on her way out from London, called at Christiania and took over eighty Danish families on board for Napier, according to Mr. Lyng, but what of the many Germans, Austrians, Swedes, and Poles who are claimed to have landed in Napier in 1872 ? The Fritz Reuter did not arrive with her passengers till 1875. The second Hovding, having landed her passengers, returned to Norway, this being her only trip to New Zealand. It has been said that the Dannevirke settlers numbered twenty-one families, and Mr. Ericksen gives the name of eight, but one of them, Amund Amundsen, was not of that group, for he was one of the original occupiers of sections on the Danish Line.

This road was the connecting link with Ormondville, through which the railway was to pass in due course. This road was entirely settled by Danes, as the Swedish (now known as the third line) was peopled by Swedes. The German Line had Austrians, and possibly Poles as well as Germans living along it. Some of the Germans went to live at Makotuku, to which township Mr. Friberg now moved his family. There was certainly one Pole living there, a dark, mysterious being named Popoffski.

At first the settlers had great difficulty in obtaining supplies, and what little was obtainable came to Te Whiti

66

Pilgrimage

in bullock wagons, and had to be carried thence. Prices were high —lOO lbs. of flour 30/-, 40 lbs. brown sugar £1 salt butter 2/6 per lb. (and very poor quality), candles 2/6, loose tea 3/6 to 4/- per lb. All classes of food had to be carried more than six miles of hilly tracks. There was no milk to be had until enough bush had been cleared, burned and the land sown into grass to provide food for a cow. At the first opportunity, a good cow was bought by Mr. Hans Andersen, and the health of the children of Norsewood greatly improved. This had given the parents much cause for anxiety, for at one time there was an epidemic of diphtheria, and many of the children died, not having the strength to fight for life through serious undernourishment, caused by lack of suitable food. Medical aid was beyond the reach of the immigrants. The nearest doctor lived at Waipawa, many miles away, and he bad plenty to do in and around this township and was unwilling to go further afield, nor was he always in a fit state to do so.

67

Chapter 4

As soon as the slab whares had been built and the families settled in, most of the men left home to work on the road between Dannevirke and Norsewood. The contract for the construction of this highway had been let to Mr. Friberg, who employed such of the men as were not working on the railway. Mr. Friberg had been appointed a Justice of the Peace, which enabled him to attest signatures and other such documents as might be required in respect to the ownership of property. The men had to camp on the job. Thev worked long hours and were paid 5/- to 7/- per day. There was no "go slow "in those days. Periodically they had to return to their homes to do further clearing and fence their holding. These were mostly forty acres, but some were as much as sixty acres. Post and rail was the common type of fence, later to be abandoned in favour of the more permanent though more expensive wire fence.

About a year after the settling of Norsewood, Mr. Drower built a little slab store in the village in which small stocks of the most necessary supplies were stocked, under the care of a man named Hill. Schools were opened in both Dannevirke and Norsewood in the winter of 1873. These were partly supported by the Government of the day, which agreed to pay for the books and materials needed, the settlers at first paying the teachers.

It was not until 1878 that the Lutherans had a pastor to minister to their spiritual needs. Before his coming they had had occasional sermons from a Methodist lay preacher

68

P i I g r i m age

named Edvard Neilsen. But the Lutherans craved their own liturgy and sacraments, and with the coming of Pastor Sass to live in Norsewood, these were restored to them. Pastor Sass describes a baptism soon after his arrival when, in the open air, he baptised seven children.in a tin wash basin, on a three-legged stool. The settlers built him a house in Norsewood for a start, to be followed in a year or two by a very fine church, with a seating capacity of 500. There were Lutherans living at Napier, Makaretu, Palmerston North and other settlements, to whom he also ministered. Seeing the great need of more pastors, Mr. Sass went back to Denmark and brought the needs of the Scandinavians in New Zealand before the synod of his church. He persuaded the Lutheran Synod to link the New Zealand branch with the " Indre Missioner ". which later sent out H. M. Pies, who took charge of the Norsewood district.

Mr. Ries was a Slesviger, who had been studying at a mission school with a view to going as a missionary to India, but learning of the needs of the church in New Zealand he decided to go there instead. This was in 1886, and in the same year M. Christiansen was nominated for the Lutheran work in Mauriceville in the Forty Mile Bush, Wairarapa. Two years later Mr. J. Legarth arrived to settle in Makaretu, and still later they were followed by N. Topholm and G. Bjelke Pedersen. All these men were ordained by Pastor Sass.

69

Chapter 5

Education was also being arranged, for a school was opened in Makotukn, and a German lady, Miss Evers, was in charge. The school at Norsewood was thriving under the mastership of an Englishman named Thompson who was married to a Norwegian lady named Ingvoldsen. There was also a school at Ormondville which was attended by the children of the Danish Line, as well as those of the English settlers living in that township.

Families were large in those days and children did not leave school so early. There were no secondary schools for them to attend. Annual inspections were made by a gentleman named Henry Hill, who arrived on horseback, an awe-inspiring figure about six feet in height and wearing a large and fierce-looking black beard, but a kind soul really.

Sewing was taught by the assistant mistresses, usual!) plain needlework, underclothing and so on. The inspector examined this by grasping each side of a seam in his large hands, and tugging it. If the stitching held it was passed, otherwise otherwise, one small girl whose seam parted in his hands, grasped the rejected work, and wept into it, leaving what should have been a spotless nightgown a rather filthy object after its use on her tearful face, which was far from clean to begin with. At one time this good man was demonstrating for a young pupil teacher how to instruct a class in kindness to animals. He said, “ You must never hurt poor pussy if you pull her tail or slap,

70

Pilgrimage

she will do this ! He gave a howl, which the pupils enjoyed, and went on, “ Stroke her fur the right way and be kind to her and then she will . . . Again he made a noise intended for purring. He waited, then asked, “What is pussy doing?” The brightest student replied, “ Please sir, she going to be sick

The work of bringing the sections into production was carried out spasmodically, whenever the men could spare time from the business of earning what money they could by day labour elsewhere. When a patch round the house had been cleared of bush grass, seed was broadcast on the ashes of the “ bum ” ground for growing vegetables. Other crops had to be dug between stumps and roots. Sometimes the surface was broken by chopping with an adze, the tool used for squaring timber for rafters, or to make bridges across creeks. Peas were grown in this manner, and threshed with a flail, made by cutting two short poles, and joining them by leather loops, this allowing free play for the flail. When ripe the peas were pulled up and spread on a tent fly, or if none was available, on a hard patch of bare earth. The operator seized one pole, whirled it round and whacked the pea haulms. When the seed was all out, the haulms were carefully stored in the loft above the cow-shed for winter fodder. In later years these primitive instruments were used to thresh grass for seed. They were easy to make and to use.

After the first two years a number of cows were on the block. Most of them wore a brass bell on a stout leather collar, to ensure owners being able to locate them at milking time. Quite a lot of the under-scrub was edible for stock.

71

The People

and in search of what they liked, the cows made tracks through it, and broke down dead branches which, being dry and dead, helped the firewood position. There were pigs, cows and kakas in abundance, the latter a native parrot, having an unpleasant fishy taste, but there were no fish in the creeks except few eels. Wild pigs there were, but not in great numbers.

Sawmills were now being established in the district. There was a large mill at Makotuku belonging to Mr. Parsons, and a man named Samuel Firth had one on the bank of the Manawaru River on the outskirts of Ormondville. These employed a good deal of labour, and turned out building timber much more expeditiously than had the pit-sawyers, who followed the original slab-splitters. Bullock teams were employed to draw the logs to the mills. and greased skidways from the top of the nearest banks provided an excellent way of getting them down to the mills, which were built as near to a river as possible, to secure an adequate supply of water.

It was a fine amusement to watch the logs sliding down, gaining momentum as they slid, but at times an ill-shaped log would “ jump ” the side logs laid to keep them on the line, and those standing near were apt to get hurt.

Most of the graves in the cemeteries in the 70s and 80s were those of young men the victims of accidents in the bush, though there were many young children buried there also, who died mostly from lack of medical aid, or from improper feeding due to lack of milk and other suitable food. The difficulties were now not so great as ground was cleared, more vegetables could be grown, and in some cases strawberries were planted between logs and stumps, and bore abundant crops of good fruit on the soil fertilised

72

Pilgrimage

by potash from the wood ashes left by the fires of the first clearing.

A much larger store had been built in Norsewood at which eggs and butter could be sold, or “ taken against the bill”. The prices of the commodities sold were high, but the stocks were more plentiful, and the quality was better. To quote a few fines from a store account sent out to Mr. Christian Jensen, father of Mrs. Niels Nikolaison, dated September, 1878, and covering a period of about eighteen months, we find such items as 15 yds. calico at 2/-, £l/10/-; Byds. wincey. 2/6, £l/-/-; 2yds. alpaca at 2/-, 4/-; two flannel shirts, 19/-; two shirts, 17/-; 4 lbs. sugar, 2/-; matches, 1/-; 100 flour, 18/6 ; pair of child’s boots, 3/6; raw coffee, 2/- lb.

There was some building material, with one item of 24,000 shingles at 14/- per 1,000, and house blocks, 120 for £3/-/-, nails 6d. per lb. Two pieces of scantling (size not specified) were 8/-. It might be called a general store. There appeared also to be a fair supply of tools in stock. Wedges, files, a tomahawk and other tools are quoted at moderate prices.

Many of the men were now working on their own sections. The road from Dannevirke was finished, and as the railway track extended there was money to be made from the sale of sleepers, for the track as well as house blocks for the station building and homes for surfacemen and plate layers.

73

Chapter 6

It was early in 1878 that the Scandinavians suffered the loss of their friend, counsellor and agent, Mr. Friberg. He could never have been a very strong man, and his work among his charges, and his anxieties and worries on their behalf, added to his difficulties. He died at his Makotuku home, and was buried at Norsewood. He left his widow,

one son and four daughters, the youngest only two years old. Mrs. Friberg took up the burden he had laid down and, as far as possible, tried to carry on his work. She wrote their business letters, advised them in their dealings with their more sophisticated neighbours, prejeribed for their ailments, nursed them in illness, scolded or praised them, as the occasion demanded. It was a constant and exhausting struggle to keep everything running smoothly for them and not to neglect her own young familv. There was still a great deal to be done for the wellbeing of these people battles to be fought on their behalf with dishonest business people trying to exploit these simple folk, or with government departments in an effort to secure better conditions of education and medical services. It was an unending struggle to fill his place, and bring his work to fruition. No doubt at times she made mistakes. How could she help it ? And the people who she strove to serve were some of them wayward, and inclined to argue and find fault with her decisions and reject her advice. Her children were too young to understand her worries and she must often have been weary and discouraged. It was a hard life, but she struggled on with courage and determination.

74

Pilgrimage

She drew much consolation from reading a large family Bible in her native language, sitting up in bed with this large book on her knees late at night while her young family slept.

She took a great interest also in the affairs and wellbeing of the English settlers in the district, and was, I understand, the promoter of a deputation to the Bishop of Waiapu, asking for the appointment at the earliest possible date of a resident clergyman to minister to the spiritual needs of the fast increasing population of English settlers.

This deputation, having to deal with a most sympathetic bishop who already had their need in mind, was successful, the more so because of the arrival in New Zealand of a suitable man for the work, for it was in that year, 1884, that my father and mother landed in Napier with their family.

List of Scandinavian Immigrants (as far as is ascertainable)

Hans Olsen, Lars Larsen, Martin Hansen, Johan Winger, Ole Johannsen, Chris Christophersen, Christopher Finsen, Torkel Olsen, E. A. Laurirg, Ole Olsen (Berger), Ole Ericksen, Anders Thoresen, Emanuel Fredericksen, Anders Ericksen, August Anderson, Edward Christofferson, Thomas Jonasen, Christian Svensen, Fred Wahl, Martin Hansen, Theodor Anderson, Engelbret Engelbretsen, Ole Christofferson, Harold Sverdrup, Anders Lundgren, Ole Gundersen, Berthold Gunderson, Johan List, Frederick Mortensen, B. Ericksen (cabinetmaker), Erick Person, Johan Halvorsen, N. Sorenson, Pole Jackobsen, Niels Anderson, Anton.Nielson, Erick Fager, Amund Amundsen, Emil Olsen (mechanic), Edward Thoresen, Edward Hansen, Karl Olsen, Engelbret Svensen, Anders Johannsen, Jan Jonassen, Peder Pedersen, fan Jonhansen, Ole Lund, Nikolai Hansen (cabinetmaker).

75

The People

L Martin Andersen, Johan Berntson, Emil Olsen (tailor), O. O. Nordbye, Johannes Engelbretsen, Hans Jakobsen, Hans Boltstadt, Anders Larsen, Peter Larsen, Peter Gundersen, Martin Peterson, Mathias Hansen, Karl Johanneson, Jeus Nielsen, Edward Petersen, Johan Petersen (blacksmith), Hans P. Stoke, Mr. Tjels. These are from Ole Ericksen's list.

Further names are Leopold, Fierabend, Fischer, Miilery Adrian, Brieske, Hulena, Ingvoldsen, John Winger, Jeus Olsen, Finsen, Anton Anderson, Andreas Olsen (painter), Lundgrid, Piers Magunsen, Pommerans Mads Hansen, Torkilson, Tostensen, P. C. Olsen, C. A. Friis, Peder Rasmussen, H. Bal, Jens Andersen, Gustav Larsen, Ole Nikolaisen, Mathias Beck, Dr. Gradman, Thodsen, Miklesen, Hegh, Christian Jensen, Nils Larsen, J. Bengston, Schaare, Carl Schmidt, Jorgen Schmidt, Gottlieb Schmidt, W. Ebel, Holm, Griibner, Jakob Nielsen, Svensen, Marcussen, Iggulden.

To readers who have borne with me patiently, so far it may not be apparent that the foregoing account of the coming of the Scandinavians to this special part of Hawkes Bay has any place in a biography of my parent; but their heroism in coming so far from their own country and the steadfast purpose which animated them in their determination to established homes for their families, and

make a success of such an adventure, fired his imagination and drew forth his deep admiration for their sterling characters. He was deeply interested in all that concerned them and valued their friendship very highly, as I believe they valued his feeling for them.

We therefore are now ready to go on to Part HI., in which I shall try to give a picture of our fives together in this village in the years that followed. They were eventful years for us all.

76

Part 111.

The Parish

’ And I have also established my covenant with them to give them . . . the land of their nilarimnaa wherein they were strangers.”

78

Exodus 6—4.

Chapter 1

The night that father returned to the ship saying that we were to land at Napier, and that he had left mother with Bishop Stuart, looking for lodgings for such of the party as he could not accommodate in his own hospitable home, we young ones were filled with delight. He probably told the elder ones and Rhoda why we were going no further.

The news that Willie had died in Tonga before our coming was not known to him or mother till a few days later, but the offer of suitable work, under a bishop he liked and respected, was too good to reject. No doubt the need to find safe housing for her flock was helpful to mother in her anxiety. Rhoda and Mary rapidly packed our bags and, after the evening meal, we scrambled down into the Boofum and were taken to the wharf. It was a perfect moonlit night, cold but still. I had never been up so late in my life, for it was after 10 o'clock when the conveyance came which took us up to the town. Mary, Rhoda and we three little ones were left at the Clarendon Hotel in Shakespeare Road, and very sleepy children we were when we slipped into bed. Mother and father, Dora and Edith were at the bishop's in Clyde Road. Edmond, the three cousins, and Bertie Besant were put up by Mrs. Troy in Coote Road. The next day being Sunday, it was arranged that we should all meet to attend together at the morning service at St. John's Church. I believe there are people still living in Napier who recall the startling entry of a stout, middle-aged parson, with small wife, five

80

Pilgrimage

daughters, ranging in age from about seventeen to eight years, a small boy, ably shepherded by the nurse, and five young men, for in addition to my brother Edmond, and our cousins Tom, George and Jim, Bertie Besant was bidden to parade. Rumour had run round the town that a new clergyman had arrived from England. Doubtless the question was asked, “ Can all these be Webbs ? ” They could and they were, with the exception of dear old Rhoda and the reluctant Bertie Besant, who was not accustomed to the group movements favoured by our parents.

A short time elapsed before we were able to proceed to our new home during which time negotiations for the purchase of a home, however small, were in progress.

During this period the final tragedy of what was known as the Edwards Murder took place. This was the case of a remittance man who was a kind husband and good father, when he was unable to get alcohol, but who became a raging madman when drink was obtainable. When he received his quarterly allowance, he would struggle with temptation at first, but later would embark on a terrible drinking bout. In February of that year his wife became afraid for the safety of the children, and went to the licencee of the hotel, begging him not to give her husband more drink, to which he replied, “As long as he brings the money he’ll get the drink”.

During the evening of Sunday, 10th February, Edwards sat by the fire sharpening an axe, and when his wife returned from the Methodist chapel service to which she had taken the family, he killed them all except the eldest boy, who was away for a few days, with friends. When news of the tragedy became known next morning, the constable organised a party of local men to search for this

81

T he Pa r i s li

unhappy man. They found him at length, hiding under the viaduct, near Makotuku, cold, miserable, wet through, and knowing only that he had done some terrible act, the nature of which he could not realise. He was taken to Napier gaol to await his trial, and at the time of our landing had been sentenced to death.

The Ormondville publican meanwhile had fled from the district, and it was well for him that he did so, for the public indignation rose so high that there was talk of lynching. The windows and doors of the hotel were nailed up, and for some years following this terrible affair, no licensed sale of drink was allowed in the district.

From a safe distance this man sent a tombstone, the first stone to be erected in Ormondville Cemetery, bearing this inscription ; “ Sacred to the Memory of (here follow the names of the mother who was only thirty-three years old, and four children) murdered at Ormondville in the night of February 10th, 1884, by Rowland Herbert Edwards ”.

Could cold-blooded insolence go further ? Should not the name of the man who had looked forward to the periodic access of cash for his business from the spending of the remittance money, and who refused an appeal to exercise his right to refuse further drink to one already drunk, have been coupled with that of Edwards ?

The execution took place in the Napier gaol during the time we were in Napier. The house in which the tragedy took place was burned down, and the village people were in no way placated by the tombstone which is still to be seen in the cemetery. Nor did the publican ever dare to return to the district.

82

CHAP T K K 2

When father had completed the purchase of the cottage for which he had been in treaty, he came up to Ormondville to take possession of it. There was a small accommodation house to which he brought Rhoda, who would clean the premises, and my sister Annie and myself. Mother was still far from well, and there was a certain amount of necessary shopping to be done, so the rest of the party stayed on in Napier for a further period.

Annie and I, the two younger daughters of the house of Webb, greatly enjoyed the journey. We had soon tired of Napier, in which town we were expected to comport ourselves “ in a seemly manner ”, and the journey by train was full of interest.

We were met at the station by Mr. Skinner, the local baker, who was also the owner of the accommodation house which adjoined the town hall. It was a small house with a small sitting room, and a bedroom opening from it in front, and some other rooms behind in which the owners lived. A large, bare dining room was built on, between the house and the hall, for the use of travellers. It was sparsely furnished with a long trestle table and a few wooden chairs, the only ornament being an almost life-sized portrait of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, wearing a scarlet tunic with the broad blue ribbon of the Garter across his breast. The fare was plain, but well-cooked, and cleanly served, and we were ravenous in the keen air. At that time the Skinners had only one child, of whom her mother

83

Th c Parish

proudly said, “ She has three names When asked what these were, she said “Mary Jose Phine”. No argument would make her reduce it to the more usually accepted number.

On our first Sunday afternoon, we attended service in the little wooden church, which had been consecrated only six months before father arrived in New Zealand. He was its first vicar.

Our way from the village lay along a muddy road, past the school and on till we reached the store belonging to Mr. J. J. Browne, where the side-road leading to the church turned off. Mr. Browne was later to become a wonderful friend to all our family, and our first meeting with him on that July afternoon has sweet memories for me still, as he came from his side door bearing gifts a little packet of musk-drops each for Annie and me. They were small, pink sweets about the size of Aspros, done up in some transparent tissue. He did not accompany us to church, as he was a Roman Catholic, but father learned later on that he had given the section on which our church was to be built. He was an Irish-born American, and his elder brother Michael lived almost next door to him, and was our nearest neighbour in the new home.

It was a very small cottage standing in a bare paddock, covered with logs and blackened stumps with miniature ponds here and there. From a narrow verandah one entered the kitchen, from which a bedroom opened. Another door directly opposite the front door gave access to two tiny rooms, from which the back door opened. There was a large open fireplace in the kitchen, with iron bars across the hobs on which pots and kettles could stand. To this abode father took us on Monday morning and Rhoda set

84

P i I g r i vi age

to work to wash out the little dwelling, while he went to the store to confer with Mr. Browne, and Annie and I essayed to walk all over the two-acre paddock without coming to earth, by the plan of walking from log to log, having occasionally to step on stumps.

The rest of the family came on the mid-day train the following day, by which time all our luggage had been got ashore from the boat and brought to Ormondville. To pack into so small a dwelling presented difficulties. Mr. Browne suggested that the boys should sleep in a large loft over his shop, which offer was gratefully accepted. Bertie Besant had been installed in lodgings in Napier, where he hoped to get employment in an office.

Father and mother took possession of the tiny back bedroom, sleeping on the floor to begin with, Rhoda, Annie, Tony and I packed into the front bedroom, and Mary, Dora and Edith slept on the trestle table in the kitchen. We “ slept hard ” but we slept very soundly in that pure mountain air.

There was great activity in those first days. The boys’ first work was to saw and split quantities of firewood from the logs, with the double aim of providing fuel, and also clearing a space round the house for the future garden. Before we left England, several of mother’s friends had given her plenty of old clothes to be used on the voyage and then thrown overboard, but most of these garments were too good to waste, so had been brought on for future use.

Rhoda and the three elder girls spent many days getting all this washing done, and mother, who was still very far from well, mended the clothes, and kept an eye on the cooking. She did not make a great success of cooking in

85

The Par i s hj

a camp oven, which was lent to her, so a colonial oven was bought and installed in the large fireplace, which proved easier to manage.

Father, meantime, was interviewing the village people to obtain advice as to the resources at hand to improve the position. Timber was ordered from a nearby sawmill, and two brothers, James and Robert Youngman, from Norsewood, engaged to build an additional three rooms. These were to be put at right angles to the cottage, forming a T. Just why these excellent men should have built it as a separate unit five feet away from the original dwelling is hard to see, but so it was. When it was done a gangway was built to lead from the verandah to the glass door giving entrance to the new dining room, from which a bedroom opened at each end. The Youngmans were good workmen, but very slow, so it was weeks before the much needed extra rooms were ready for occupation.

From odds and ends of timber Tom essayed to make a bedstead for father and mother to sleep on, as the mattress on the floor was uncomfortable. In the front bedroom our bedding was spread on the packing cases in which everything not in immediate use was stored. This was necessary because the boxes had to be in the cottage and there was no room for them elsewhere, but was inconvenient, as when any article was wanted from their contents, the bedding had to be shifted. There were no sheds on the section as yet, where such things could have been stored.

Tom’s first bedstead was not a great success. It had four stout legs, connected by side and end boards, and slats were nailed across. It was always known as the “ Gridiron ”, as were all its successors, but when it was

86

Pilgrimage

finished, and its proud builder tried to carry it into the room, it stuck, and careful measuring showed it to be six inches longer than the room was wide, and if put in lengthways the door could not be opened. Much sawing and hammering ensued in an attempt to reduce it. Later efforts were more successful, and we had no other bedstead in the house for years. A couple of cane-seated armchairs, and two or three wooden ones were bought, but most of us sat on wooden stools, one leg with a flat bit of board nailed on it became a three-legged stool when one's feet were on the floor. They took little room when not in use.

When the new rooms were ready the three elder girls moved into the front bedroom, and father and mother into the back one. There was no fireplace in the dining room, as we then believed that in a sunny land such as this, none would be needed, an error which was corrected as soon as possible. For the dining room, six Austrian bentwood chairs were bought and a longer trestle table made. Hanging cupboards in each of the new bedrooms made it possible to empty cases containing clothing, linen and such things, and the empty boxes were put to other uses. Some stood on end, with shelves added, held crockery.

87

Chapter 3

The village at this time was quite small. The railway in course of construction roughly divided it. This was only completed as far as Makotuku, though the plate-layers were nearing Matamau.

There were two general stores, that of Mr. Groom down by the railway station, and Mr. Browne’s on the Ormondville-Norsewood road, previously known as the Danish Line. The bakery, the butcher’s shop, owned by Mr. F. W. Redward, and Mr. Codlin’s smithy clustered round the station. The Roman Catholic Church and the Methodist Chapel were near these, too. The school and our church were on the other side of the line, as was our home. There was a resident constable in charge of the district, but no official residence for him. If it was necessary to lock anyone up, they were put into the ladies’ waiting room at the railway station. Monthly sittings of the court were preside dover by Captain Preece, Resident Magistrate from Napier, who came up between trains. At one session a case was tried as follows :

Two Scandinavians appeared. The constable outlined the case an accusation of the shooting of a neighbour's dog.

The magistrate to the accused : " How do you plead ? "

This being explained, the man replied : " I shot ze dog all right but let him prove it."

The magistrate remarked : “It seems to be a simple case of a claim for damages.” To the owner he said : “ What was your dog worth ? ”

88

Pilgrimage

To which the reply came : “Ze dog vas vorth nothing but I will have the full value of him.”

“So you shall ”, said Captain Preece. “ The case is dismissed.”

Fortnightly services were held in the Roman Catholic Church by Father Ahearn from Takapau, and in the Methodist Chapel by Rev. J. Worboys, who came from Woodville on horseback, and also held services in Norsewood. Our little church had been used only monthly before Father came to it, as it was then included in what later became Dannevirke Parish. Of this more will be heard as we go along.

The school was in the charge of a very eccentric master, who kept a number of goats hopping about the grounds, most of them lame. Shortly after our advent, he disappeared during the night, taking his wife, but abandoning the goats. There was also an assistant mistress who boarded in one of the nearby homes. There were a great number of children on the roll, as the district surrounding the village had numbers of small farms the owners of which had large families. There were also the children of the plate-lavers and of sawmill employees. No doctor visited the district unless specially sent for in urgent cases, when a doctor from Waipawa came if he was in a fit state to do so which was not often. Father, among his other duties, became for a time secretary to the School Committee. One of his treasures was a document written by himself to the effect that the School Committee were satisfied that Annie and Alice Webb were receiving sufficient education at home, and were therefore exempt from compulsory attendance at the District School. Signed George Henson, his mark X. Chairman Ormondville School Committee.

89

ORMOXDVILLE CHURCH Taken from a painting, before the alterations

ORMONDVILLE'S FIRST DAIRY FACTORY Buill I>v Mr. Neils Nickolaison, seen here (left) with his youngesl son,

The Parish

“Garge Euson” as he called himself, was a runaway sailor, as were three other men in the district. Most of the families living in and around the village were of English birth, many of the older people having arrived even earlier than the Scandinavian settlers, whose children attended the Ormondville School.

From the beginning of our life among them, our neighbours showed us the utmost kindness, more especially the members of our own Church, who were delighted to have a Vicar of their own living in their midst, and able to provide more regular services as well as to visit the flock and get to know them.

Much of my information about such things is drawn from Father’s letters to his sister Mary, which she had bound in a volume, which returned to him many years later after her death. Not all his letters were preserved of course, for they corresponded regularly for some eighteen years, but those which she thought most interesting. From these letters I find that the cottage with 3K acres of freehold land, was bought for £-32/0/- in cash, and the transfer of the mortgage thereon of £ 125/-/-. Beyond having a wire fence along the boundary of the land, it was a bare log-covered area. From the very first, one parishioner showed practical kindness, which must have been a wonderful help. Mrs. Plank and her husband lived some distance away, but every Saturday morning, one or other of the bigger boys in their large family arrived at our door with a bag of vegetables, sometimes poultry, ready for the pot, or fruit in season, but always vegetables until we had established a garden of our own. When Mother tried to express gratitude, Mrs. Plank replied, “It means so much to us to have our own clergyman living among us.

92

Pilgrimage

What we can do is but little compared with the comfort and help we get ”. The friendship between the Plank family and mine continues to the present day. Mrs. Friberg was also a most generous friend. She gave us a good young cow, a pig, a vast iron boiler to replace the kerosene tins in which clothes had been boiled over an out door fire, and many other useful gifts. The cow was named “End” and served us for years.

At first the cows, two others having been given to Father in lieu of a stipend subscription, used to graze in " the long paddock", the roadside and unfenced lands, during which one or other wore a bell as the Scandinavian cows did, till fences were put in. I was not sent to look for the cows at milking time, but to listen for them. Perhaps because I was a rather weed}' little child, as well as being the youngest girl, I got these little jobs out of doors, which seemed to me far more desirable than helping in housework or burying mv nose in a book, as Annie mv senior did.

It took a surprisingly short time to establish a routine for our new life. In a letter of that first year, written by Father to Aunt Mary and dated 12th August, he tells her that my brother Edmond and Jim, the younger of the three cousins, had gone to work at Taharaite, the property 7 of Mr. W. F. Knight. “ Mr. Knight is very 7 experienced,” he writes, “ and his wife and he are so kind. It is a very 7 good opening for them. For the first year they will get £.30 each, and everything found for them.' A job as book-keeper at a Waipukurau saw-mill had been secured for young Besant. Tom and George, meantime, were busily splitting firewood for sale from the logs which lay about the paddock round the house. For this wood the price was

93

The Parish

14/- per cord on the truck. Tom was also clearing a patch for a vegetable garden. In the letter describing this, Father writes, “He has sown peas and beans. It looks very neat. Patty (my mother was always called this, as father’s eldest brother Jonathan had also a wife whose name was Maria) and I are now sleeping in our new room on a bedstead made by Tom. It is very strong unostentatious but serviceable, and as the wood was given us, and he made it, the only cost was the price of the nails, of which he uses far too manv.”

94

Chapter 4

Owing to the nature of Father's appointment the duties of which took him away from Ormondville on so manv Sundays, he felt it would be desirable that some form of service should be held in the church during these absences. He chose my cousin George to read evening prayer and a short tract or sermon on Sunday afternoons with suitable hymns. George was a studious quiet fellow with a clear, pleasant voice, and his lay reading was very successful. Later on he took up school teaching, which suited him better than firewood splitting. He continued to live at home, walking to and from the Norsewood School, in which he taught. Tom, the eldest cousin at home, had his interest chiefly engaged bv gardening, and the study of bird-life, but he became a quick and neat fencer, and worked steadilv on the sections Father had bought, although he did not specially love such work.

Full of desire to organise this new and somewhat scattered parochial district in the best possible way, and in view of his frequent absence on Sundays, Father at once started week-night services, one at the railway siding at Papatu, not far from the sawmill, and the other at Makotuku. At first this was held in the men’s dining room at Parson’s Mill. This contained a long table with benches on either side, on which lamps were set at intervals. There was an element of excitement at these services, as the lights attracted numbers of moths and beetles of all kinds, especially the large brown ones, known

95

T he Pa r i s hj

to us as “ Threshers ”, the noise of their wings reminding us of those machines. These large insects, having noisily circled the lamps, would drop on to the table, when the nearest worshipper would lay a hymnbook on its back to to keep it down. The effect of solemn people, sitting listening to a sermon while hymn books rode on beetles all over the table, was comic, but no one ever laughed audibly.

Mother opened a Sunday School in Ormondville, held on Sunday mornings, in the church and very well attended. Most of the family were teachers in it. In that respect Father was more fortunate than are many of the country clergy, for his family provided two lay readers, six organists, and eight Sunday School teachers, in addition to his wife. Of course all these were not in action at the same time, but if one moved elsewhere the place could be filled. When Edmond left Tahoraite, he became lay reader at Makotuku, as well as organist and choir-master.

Here I must pause to describe the Church at that period in its development. It was a bare little building, unlined, having a plain window in each end, three windows on each side and a door in the side wall near the back of the building. Inside, at the east end, were two little cubby holes one on each side, formed of wood frame with a scarlet cotton fabric known as “ Turkey twill ” stretched on the inside. That on the right was to contain the little American organ, when funds allowed of its purchase; that on the left was the vestry. These partitions were only about seven feet high, and the curtaining failing to reach lower than three feet from the floor. The legs of him who robed therein were always visible to the flock. Under the east window was a plain bare table. There were eight seats, four on each side, and that was all. There was no provision

96

Pilgrimage

for lighting or ventilation. It was one of the earliest churches in the diocese, and was planned by the Rev. Edward Robertshawe, by whose effort it was opened free of debt.

Mr. Robertshawe’s parish then stretched from Woodville to Takapau, including all intervening settlements. He lived in Dannevirke, and in addition to his clerical work, he was headmaster of the school there, and held his services in the school. He must have been glad to be freed from so large a section of his district. Mrs. Robertshawe was a sister of Mr. W. F. Knight. Her husband the first Vicar of Dannevirke till the day of his death. His was a very long life of service, and he died in harness.

But I must return to our church and my Father’s work therein. The first time when we had evening service, the only fight was shed by two candles, set in a pair of small brass candlesticks sent by his sister to Father “ for his study table Since he had no study nor any writing table, they at first seemed to be useless. Father held one of these to fight himself and Mother, while one of the boys held the other to light the remainder of the congregation. Thus was the use of candles introduced into the Church of the Epiphany, a custom them thought to be an extremely Popish practice by my Low Church, evangelical parent. Shortly after this occasion, fights were needed again when we had the first Flarvest Thanksgivings held in this district. This was arranged for a Thursday evening, and aroused much interest. For such an occasion much more fight was needed. Battens were nailed on to the studs at intervals, having three nails in the outer ends, between which a candle could be jammed securely. The Methodist Congregation had kindly offered to lend us their harmonium,

97

T it e Paris hj

since we had not yet been able to get one. Quite a crowd gadiered in the afternoon to decorate the building. Nails were driven into the walls and large cabbages were hung to them. A small lectern made by my cousin Jim was to be used as a pulpit, and was festooned with onions and draped with bunches of carrot and parsnips. Heaps of vegetables were piled in corners, and rosy apples and other fruits were set out on the window sills. The special preacher invited by father, the Rev. Harry Woodford St. Hill, of Havelock North, having arrived on the morning train, amused himself very happily by sewing pods of peas together into long garlands, which were tastefully draped from stud to stud. There was a very large congregation. The collection was £2/14/3, which was devoted to the Harmonium Fund. I do not remember the sermon, nor all the hymns used, but I do recall that die old German hymn " Now thank we all our God," was specially chosen by Father to ensure that his Lutheran friends, who had said they were coming, should have at least one hymn they could sing. They sang it in the original German and the bi-lingual thanks-giving was very hearty and effective.

It was not very long afterwards that a good American organ was bought, pushed into its scarlet draped alcove, and it used materially to impove the services. Before the coming of the instrument Mother had always to “ raise the tune ”, as our American friends put it.

There is a story in our family annals that my Aunt Libby, Fathers eldest sister, when doing this once made an unfortunate start on too high a note. The tune “ Irish ” commences at a reasonable pitch, but rises rapidly. Having struggled unaided through the first verse, she tried to alter the key, but nervously began almost an octave higher.

98

Pilgrimage

As she neared the highest note, Aunt Libby fainted and was borne out of the sacred edifice.

99

Chapter 5

The first occasion for Father to minister to the Scandinavians arose when a lad arrived on a wild-eyed, black pony, to ask him to come to baptise a dying baby. Father said he would come at once, intending to walk the mile that lay between our homes, but young Amundsen said it would be too late, and there was the pom'. So the little beast was pushed into the ditch, where it was held down by its owner and two of our boys, while Father clambered on to his back from the bank. Father had never been on a horse before. The reins were thrust into his hand, and the terrified animal being released, and having its head toward its home, shot off up the road. It must have been the force of gravitation that kept our sire on its back. He lost the stirrups, his trousers worked up above his knees, and his socks slid down over his boots. Whether he got off or fell off when the pony brought up at an inner gate too high for it to jump, I do not know, but being off, he stayed not to arrange his clothing, but proceeded with the baptism for which he had come. I think the child lived and grew to manhood, and Father walked home, stiff and sore from the unaccustomed experience. It was evident to him that riding would be a necessary means of getting about, so before long he bought an excellent and very quiet brown mare from Mr. Knight, which carried him round his district for many years in perfect safety and comfort when he had acquired confidence by more leisurelv and orthodox riding lessons.

100

Pilgrimage

Coming from the settled and orderly life of the Old Country and an established old-fashioned parish in England, with a possible radius of three miles well supplied with roads and lanes, the emergencies which arose in a bush settlement in process of civilisation must often have put a heavy strain on him, especially as he was past middle-age when he came to New Zealand. I well remember a dark night in mid-winter, when a gale blew and rain fell in torrents, he learned that a woman lav dying at Matamau and a new-born infant awaited baptism. The horses had been turned out before dark, and could not be found so, earning a lantern, he set out to walk seven miles along the railway track which was the shortest way, crossine open trestle bridges without hand rails where one had to step from sleeper to sleeper in the flicking light from his lantern. He got there two or three minutes after the woman died. The baby lived and was adopted by friends, and the other children were brought up by relatives. After a short rest, when he had baptised the baby, and arranged to return a day or two later for the funeral, he patientlv walked home again, arriving tired out in the grey dawn. On another occasion he spent all night by the bedside of a boy who had eaten a quantity of tutu berries and was dving from their poison. Father spent the night in the cottage dosing the boy with the usual antidote, and offering prayers for his recovery. The boy recovered. Other problems presented themselves in his pastoral work among the souls committed his care, not easy to deal with. One of these was the extraordinary exchange of wives bv two railway surface men. Man number one decided that he preferred the wife of number two, who held the same sentiment with regard to the wife of number one. So after

101

The P a r i s li

a friendly discussion they decided to swop. There were children involved in each case. Some people telling the story, say that a bag of sugar changed hands to balance the bargain. Be that as it may, before their Vicar had any inkling of what was afoot, the transfer had taken place. There seemed little to be done to set things right. A problem surely for any conscientious parish priest.

On another occasion, when he had agreed for good reasons to marry a couple in a house instead of the church, the bride to be wept so bitterly and was evidently so frightened, that he refused to begin the ceremony until he talked with the child, for she was little more than fourteen or fifteen years at the most. Having turned out the parents and all others present, he told the girl that he would not marry her to the middle-aged man concerned if she were unwilling, or frightened. Possibly fear of hexparents prompted her to assure him that she was willing to go through with it, so the ceremony was performed, but at least she had her chance of escape. On the whole the marriage seemed to be a reasonably successful one despite its watery beginning. About this time the English mail brought details of the sale of implements, stock and the furniture we had been unable to bring with us from the Vicarage at Stockingford. The total sum realised was disappointing, some articles in the list awaking regi-et that they had not been brought with us, and now had to be replaced expensively such articles as table silver and china, for example. My parents had been informed by some one professing to know that the duty on such things was so heavy that in many instances it exceeded the value of the goods. This we learned too late was not the case. Fortunately Mother’s two sisters were at the Vicax-age

102

Pilgrimage

clearing up what remained to be done, and they took possession of the silver to hold in the meanwhile.

In the catalogue of things sold appears " 2 vols, dictionary 3/6." This was hearthreaking to a collector of old books like Father. It was a leather bound first edition Johnson, which had inadvertently been omitted from the cases of book packed, and it was bought by the butcher because he could tear out the large pages one by one to wrap meat. The property at Galley Common only brought £.300, much less than Father had paid for it. It stood in a large garden, and contained a sitting-room, a kitchen, two bedrooms, and a couple of rooms for the caretaker on the ground floor, and a very large attic above. This was sometimes used for services, as well as for a little dame school carried on by Mrs. Arnold, the caretaker. It was about 1/2 miles from the Parish Church, and quite a number of cottages occupied by hand-weavers were clustered round it.

Letters containing news about parish affairs were constantly arriving from those who had “ suffered grief and pain ”at our departure. A letter from Leonard Neal, son of the old parish clerk, speaks of the two boys at Tahoraite thus : “ I like to picture the boys riding among the sheep with their guns.” He also urged on our parents, “ not to let the children out of sight of the house, lest the Maoris should get them ”. Leonard thought very seriously of bringing his wife and young family to New Zealand to join us. He never did so, but at a later date he wrote to Father : “ I don’t know if it is anywhere near you, but we are now at Stanley’s Works on an order for ornamental ridging tiles for the roof of a large church at Napier”. Father was much interested, as he was then active!)

103

The Parish

engaged in helping to collect funds to build St. John’s Cathedral, on the roof of which the Stockingford tiles were used, which building was later destroyed by the earthquake of 1931.

Many others of the old friends wrote of their desire to follow us to New Zealand, but only one family did so Mrs. E. Smith with her two sons and four of her daughters, the other two following later. They settled in Ormondville, but not until some years after Father's death. In his first year in Ormondville Father's time was occupied in the itinerary work, to which he had been appointed in conjunction with his parochial work. This involved a great deal of travelling and took him as far north as Wairoa, and south to Woodville, where a voung man who was studying for the Ministrv was in charge. He was under Father's supervision to some extent and occasionally came to visit us. A queer young fellow ! He may have been twentv-two years old, but it was hard to judge his age, as he was enveloped in or concealed by a large bristling black beard. He was exteremelv shy and difficult to talk to, and was not there verv long. What became of him I never heard.

In his letters to Aunt Mary about this side of his life, father tells of the warm welcome and kind hospitality he met with wherever he went. He used to return home laden with gifts of all kinds, usually fruit and vegetables, but Mr. W. H. Nelson of Tomoana gave him a pedigree Clumber Spaniel once, which was named " Pluto", and adorned our premises for years.

A pen of fight Brahmas, cockerell and five pullets, given by some other friend formed the foundation of a strain which he kept for years, and from which he won many

104

Pilgrimage

prizes at poultry shows. They came from Te Ante, I think, but from which Williams household, I do not remember.

In the course of this side of his work he saw a great deal of the bishop, under whose personal direction it was carried on. This dear old man was a most hospitable host, and when he came to our part of the diocese was a most welcome guest. The first time he stayed with us was during the summer of 1885, when drought conditions had long prevailed. The bishop was preaching at a morning service in Makotuku, and accompanied by father and such members of the family as were not engaged at the Ormondville Sunday School, had walked two miles. During the service his Lordship offered prayers for rain, and before the party had got halfway home his prayer was answered by something resembling a cloudburst which soaked him to the skin. As he had no spare change of raiment with him, he had to be sent to bed while his clothes were dried by the only fire we had, that over the Colonial oven in the kitchen. He told us, with much amusement, that once when he was staying at the Knights, he had gone along to the kitchen to ask if he might clean a pair of shoes. He tapped on the kitchen door, and the maid called out : "If you are good-looking, come in ; if not, stay out" a witticism of the day. The Bishop said, " Not feeling sure, I laid down the shoes and stole away". He was almost the ugliest man I ever saw.

On another occasion he was, as reported by a Napier paper, walking along Emerson Street in full dress, top hat, apron, gaiters, and umbrella, when a very large dog which had gone into the second-storey showroom at Blythe’s Drapery, becoming panic-stricken, leapt from the window on to the glass roof of the verandah, crashed through the

105

The Parish

glass, and landed on his Lordship’s top hat, and telescoped him. It was stated that, as solicitous passers-by helped him up and dusted him, tire bishop remarked :

“ It’s raining dogs I plainly see,

The cats I don't espy

But doubtless a catastrophv

Will happen by and by.

Ido not vouch for this. I wasn’t there, but he was quite capable of it.

When he had been bishop about twenty years, he was asked by the head of the Church Missionary Society’s work in Persia to try and find some volunteer to fill a vacant post, among his younger clergy. He tried without success, and then resigned his bishopric, being then over seventy years old, and returned to fill the gap at Ispahan, saying cheerfully, “ After all, it is easier for me as I already know the language His daughter went with him, and kept house for him there. Some ten years later he retired, and died shortly after.

106

Chapter 6

Towards the beginning of 1885, father began a week-night service on the German Line. It was held on Tuesday evenings in the homes of the settlers in turn. Accompanied by Edmond, who had come home from Tahoraite, he used to ride out in time for five o’clock, when the Germans usually had tea, which meal he shared with the household in whose dwelling the service was to be held. At that time there was no resident Lutheran pastor, the man in charge living some miles away at Makaretu. Pastor Sass was most willing that his flock should receive such ministrations. Edmond went along as company on these rides and to help with the music. Music was his long suit. These services began at 7 p.m., by which time all who were attending had crowded into the house. Writing to Aunt Mary an account of the first of these services, father says ; “On the previous Sunday evening we had a capital service in the Norsewood School, all the leading English settlers in Norsewood, a few of the Scandinavians and a contingent from the German line were there. I have already told you a good deal about the German line. Last Tuesday I went to the home of the younger Fischer. We had a capital attendance filling up the front room and overflowing into the passage, and young Frederick Adrian betook himself to the kitchen where he could hear plainly through the wall, but my nose told me he had had the presence of mind to light his pipe. The people were all very attentive. The very old ones don’t understand much I

107

THE ORIGINAL CHURCH, NORSEWOOD

CHURCH OF THE EPIPHANY, 1892

NORSEWOOD LUTHERAN CHURCH

MAKARETU CHURCH

The P a r i s /i

fear, still they are very devout and seem to like gathering for public worship. For their sake I have arranged the service thus : We begin with a German hymn, then an English hymn, then prayers, of course in English, another German hymn, then I have appointed young Fischer to read the chapter on which I am to speak, in German. I expound it, in English, we have an English hymn and prayer, followed by the blessing which all can understand. Usually when it is over I go to the door according to my wont at such meetings, and shake hands, saying a word or two to one or another. Some of them being in the passage, I went to the door, and said, ' Why you are going off without a shake of the hand.' Presently however I noticed that thev were consulting among themselves. When they had been at Norsewood they had seen old Mr. Thompson, the schoolmaster, use his open hymn book in lieu of ' a decent bason 'to make an offertory. The young Germans evidently thought this to be the correct ritual in the Church of England, so across the room now went old Fischer with an open German hymn book, and then with a flourish came and poured out the coins on the tabic before me. I must tell you that when I saw what thev were about, I told them I would not let them do it, but they persisted in collecting it. So I told them I valued very much their kind feeling but I could not take an offertory coming from a little service like that. Then I said if thev liked to put money in at the Sunday services at Norsewood when the} 7 were there, well and good, but the pleasure of seeing so many coming on the week-nights in the German line was sufficient. They tried hard to persuade me, but I was firm. So they resumed their respective coins. Ido not know how much it was, but I

110

Pilgrimage

saw a number of half-crowns. I was very much pleased with their nice feeling, but for mam' reasons I do not think it would be right to take an offertory at a little service on a week-day. First they are really very poor, struggling people. Second, they have, in conjunction with Scandinavians, to support their own pastor, Mr. Sass, and third, I hate the offertory in my heart, even in church on Sundays, and I feel it is very needful to let people know that a clergyman's object in holding services is not to grab at the people's monev, so I determined not to have offertories on week-davs."

These services, and the opportunity they afforded to the Germans to show hospitality to their new friends, were continued for quite a time, and lasting friendships resulted therefrom. In some ways we saw more of the German Line people than of our nearer neighbours along the Danish Line. They used to walk into Ormondville to barter their produce at Mr. Browne's store, which was nearer to them than those in Norsewood or Mr. Groom's in the village. They carried their butter, eggs, strawberries and so forth in baskets of their own manufacture, woven from supplejack. a basket on each elbow to have the hands free for knitting as they walked. Their usual dress was a woollen skirt, a close-fitting cloth jacket, a coloured handkerchief tied round the head, thick knitted stockings and clogs on the feet. The wool thev knitted as they walked was of their own spinning and was dyed in various shades, derived from mosses or lichens.

To-day the women’s institutes are reviving these home industries to some extent. The value of the produce they carried so far was veiy small only 4/kl, or sd. a pound for butter. To be truthful, I must admit it was not very

111

The P a r i s li

nice butter. How could it be, when they had only small sheds built of slabs in which to set the milk or store the cream till churning day ? Eggs were only 4d. a dozen. Occasionally father induced one or more of them to come in for a meal before they trudged home again, the baskets now laden with purchases from the store. They were very shy, and unwilling to visit where they must use English to make themselves understood. The children picked up English much more quickly than the women did since they had to attend schools where English was the only language spoken, but it was surprising how much the mothers learned from their children, even though thev continued the use of their native tongue in their homes.

112

CIIAP T E 1! 7

Father had begun buying sections around the original property, and on the opposite side of the road, most of them covered in thick bush. He had also secured a forty-four-acre section on the deferred payment system then in vogue. Payment was spread over a considerable period, providing each year " improvements" to a specific value were made to the section so many acres of bush felled, so many chains of boundary fence put up; the fallen bush when dry must be burned, and grass sown on the area thus cleared. Looking back, it is hard to understand how the rapid destruction of so much valuable timber as went up in smoke to attain this end could have been considered useful.

Father’s object in buying land was to provide occupation for the boys, who could continue to live at home under his fatherly eye, while earning their living. Edmond and Jim returned from Tahoraite and joined Tom in this work. George, who was totally unsuited to this type of work, was plodding to and from Norsewood School, where he had been fortunate enough to get a position as pupil teacher, graded as third year on the basis of his advanced education and ability'.

Now that things were more settled in the house, all the girls were not needed at home, so our eldest sister, Mary, after a few months observing in the Infant School in Napier, was appointed mistress o£ the Ormondville School, in succession to Miss Rosie, who had resigned and taken

113

The Par i s hj

another school near to her Gisborne home. Mary was a shy girl, but a keen student and hard worker. Like all our family, she was musical, a great reader, and painstaking to a degree. She spent most of her evenings in studying for the examinations which she had to sit, and never failed to pass one. although she usually went to the ordeal suffering from extreme headaches and acute nervousness.

Dora and Edith helped Rhoda with the housework, and we three young ones “ did lessons ” under the intermittent instruction of one of them, usually Dora, since she disliked housework of all kinds and dodged it when she could.

Mother did a lot of parish visiting, and spent hours in making, altering or mending clothes. At nights when all the family assembled for tea, being a very small eater, she would read aloud, while the hearty meals the rest of us consumed were being disposed of. A great many books were read to us in this way, and a great variety, ranging from school stories from the Boys’ Own Paper to Kingsley’s Water Babies, Alice in Wonderland, Anstey’s Black Poodle and Vice Versa. It was useful as well as entertaining, teaching us to appreciate good English. After the meal was over we often played games. Chess, draughts, or similar games, or all sat solemnly round with combs, covered by thin paper, and produced weird music therefrom. Father would roll a newspaper into a cylinder through which he could trumpet. Early bed for most of us was the rule, since early rising was essential.

During this period we were not able to make sufficient butter for so large a household, so we bought a regular supply from Mrs. Niels Nikolaison. She and her young husband lived on the original forty-acre section granted to his father, Ole Nikolaison, who arrived on the Fritz

114

Pilgrimage

Reuter. Following the Danish custom that the parents should vacate the farm in favour of the eldest son when he married, Ole Nikolaison, with his wife and younger invalid son, Emil, moved to a small home across the road. Actually Niels was not the eldest son, the first bom, Peter, having already married and settled at Norsewood. Again following Danish use, Peter had taken his father’s Christian name, adding “ Sen ” or “ Son ” to it, and was known as Peter Olsen. Later, when he found that there were over a hundred Olsens living about Norsewood, many called Peter, some of them scoundrels, he changed his name by deed poll, for the few shillings necessary to do so, and was once more a Nikolaison. Niels had married a daughter of Christian Jensen, and worked during the day at Firth’s sawmill.

His wife had a lovely, cool dairy, a kind of cave dug into the hillside, with slab shelves and front. She made marvellously good butter there. When in due time she was temporarily occupied by the birth of her first son, Olaf, her sister carried on for her, making equally good butter. We were glad to welcome Mrs. Nikkie, as we called her, when she resumed her delivery, pushing her offspring in a pram, from the handle of which the butter basket hung. I think the old people helped on the farm while their son was at the mill, Emil having died.

Neither of the stores delivered goods, but the baker did. So did the butcher, whose joints were brought by a boy on horseback, usually one of his many sons, riding a sad-looking palfrey named “ Crazy Jessie There were large families in those days, and most of the children from the Danish Line also attended the Ormondville School. There was still plenty of work at the sawmills, on the

115

The Parish

railway, and on road-foundation to keep such of the families as were not farming going, and splitting firewood for sale brought in money from outside districts.

116

Chapter 8

Father felt that a large centre, such as Makotuku then was, should no longer rely on using the school for church services. There were many church families living there and no church building of any kind. He began to collect funds for a suitable church and with the bishop's permission begged subscriptions from the well-to-do in the older settlements which he visited on his itinerant journeys. He was treated generously, perhaps because he made out a good case for the struggling new district. On one occasion however, he hurried into an office on his wav to catch a train home from Napier. The occupant was busy opening his letters and when father proffered his request, barked a curt refusal. " You are a very rude old man", father said cheerfully, and departed to catch his train. Two days later he received a cheque for £,25, "with J. H. Coleman's compliments ", as a reward for this thrust. His efforts must have been very successful, for I am sure that the local parishioners could not have raised the required sum for this project. Their major effort was a large bazaar held in the Makotuku Hall. This affair has sad memories for me, as I caught measles at it, and spent a considerable time in bed thereafter. I should not have been present at the bazaar had I not been staying at Mrs. Friberg's for a few days with my friend, Gertrude, her youngest daughter. When I got home I developed a fine rash and gave the disease to my little brother. During the period of confinement to bed, we occupied our time very happily

117

The P a r i s hj

in reading Tennyson’s Princess aloud in turns not a bad performance for children aged eleven and seven respectively.

The bazaar produced a good sum, and with the amounts collected from more wealthy districts, a sufficient sum was gathered to justify building. Plans were drawn by Mr. Robert Lamb, of Napier, who designed a really lovely building. Tenders were called, and the work was undertaken by Messrs. Coles and Sons of Onga Onga. The workmanship was worthy of tire design. Unfortunately this church was destroyed by a large fire in the 1890s, and though a new one was built to replace it, this had no trace of tire original beauty about it.

The building of St. Saviour's, as the new church was named, gave great impetus to church life in Makotuku. A very good choir was organised by my brother Edmond, mainly from the employees of the two sawmills. Notable among these was Mrs. Nannestad, who had a lovely soprano voice, and a tenor, Mr. Hayward. The Makotuku Sunday School was now held in the Forresters' Hall under the superintendency of Mr. John Brabazon, and was largely attended. The population of the whole district had much increased, partly from the opening of a second mill in Makotuku.

A general store owned by Mr. Sugden was opened in this township. A tiny store had been opened on the Napier-Dannevirke road by Mr. John Browne of Ormondville, named by him “ Garfield ” after his favourite American president. The name is still in use as applied to that locality, about halfway between Norsewood and Makotuku, though the store was closed many years ago It was managed by Mr. Sidney Passons, son of the Makotuku

118

Pilgrimage

sawmiller, who lived in the two tiny rooms at the back. Part of his work was to ride into Ormondville daily and bring out the mail for the people of that district. A second store in lower Norsewood was built and occupied by Mr. W. Small.

With the increased settlement throughout Hawkes Bay, and also the advent of more clergy to the diocese, father now had less itinerant work and was more at home. To provide more scope for the boys' work, he rented a farm from Mr. Roythorne, about 117 acres, on the hill above the railway cutting the other side of the line from our home. The bush section previously bought had been ring fenced, and a good deal of the bush felled and burnt, but it was not yet in production. When leasing Roythornes father bought the stock upon it, and the boys milked the dozen or so cows there, for about a year, walking across night and morning, each carrying two buckets. This involved too much labour and time, so the best of the cattle were brought home, and sheep were put on instead. Ido not think this venture was at all profitable. At the end of the term of the lease, father did not try to renew, as the land nearer the house had then become a more payable proposition.

For recreation there was an occasional concert or dance to raise funds for local objects. To the dances we did not go, having been brought up otherwise, but the concerts were great fun. The first piano in the village was the property of a young man named Beale “ Billy Beale ” as he was always called, was a self-taught musician. He played vigorously in excellent time. Whv he always wore a bowler O / J J hat on the back of his head when playing, I cannot say. He stuck out his right leg and beat time with his boot

119

Th e Parish

heel, and the performance was most spirited. He was extremely generous .with the use of his instrument, which he lent for all occasions. Performers of all kinds took part in these programmes. Mr. Redward singing " The Postman's Knock ", Mr. Maynard " The Slave Ship ", " On the Banks of the Clyde ", " Wait Till the Clouds Roll By ", " When You and I Were Young", and such tuneful old songs were favourites. Such entertainments began about seven o'clock and were over about ten. Evervbodv attended them and they were most enjoyable. Our family provided part songs and glees, and Edmond improvised accompaniments to the songs.

Several new families moved into Ormondville at this period, notably Mr. Maynard, a carpenter, who built himself a dwelling opposite the school, and Mr. William Westlake and his brother-in-law, Mr. Zed Hall. Mr. Westlake built a large store in Ormondville, a smaller one at Norsewood, and a small sawmill at Makotuku. In this mill Edmond was employed as engine-driver for a short time, and later as sole employee at the Norsewood Store. I do not think he shone in either capacity, his gifts being otherwise.

Taking on so many ventures at once proved to be more than Mr. Westlake could finance. He became so involved that he decided to leave the place, and after his departure all his assets were auctioned on behalf of his creditors. Many people believed that he might have extricated himself by rigorous retrenchment and the help of a good accountant, but his nerve broke and he left. At the sale of the contents of the Ormondville shop the people went quite mad, bidding wildly for such things as packets of candles, or tea, at prices far in advance of those marked

120

P i I g r i m age

on the goods. Why our usually practical mother bought seven dozen bottles of essences, we did not know. After a lapse of more than sixty years I still have a bottle of cochineal which she then bought.

For this period I have little documentary evidence, and may chronicle some events out of " their proper squeezance " as one of my friends would say. I think it was at this time that a new Lutheran pastor, H. M. Ries, came to live in Norsewood. Pastor Sass had been moved to another district. Pastor Ries was a big fair-haired Dane, with a keen interest in life. He was very keen to learn English, and father undertook his teaching. For a text book they used a four-volume Life and Times of Queen Victoria, published by Cassell and Co. and well illustrated.

Father disliked riding alone, so it was my dutv and \ ery much my pleasure to ride with him. While father and the pastor worked on one volume in the front room, I sat in the kitchen with Mrs. Ries, and I claim that I taught her. She was too shy to speak the word aloud, but we used to sit side by side on a couch waiting for the coffee beans to roast, she pointing as something in the picture, which I would name for her. If she was not sure of the word, she would point again, and I would repeat, or explain its use to the best of my ability. She would then grind the coffee and set it on to boil, while she baked some biscuitish things, rather like pastry with sugary glazing, which we ate with the coffee. Then we would ride home, and I had dodged my lessons once again. At this I was skilful, but looking back over the years, I have sometimes wondered if my sister Dora, who was then teaching us. was quite such a fool as I took her to be. Our programme was two hours' work after dinner, and at three o'clock

121

The Paris hj

release, when we put away our books, she took us out for a walk. She kept the time on a small clock which sat on the opposite side of the table with the back of the clock to me. By reaching across I could easily turn the screw that moved the hands when she was not looking, sometimes ten minutes at a time. But could an intelligent sister, sixteen years old, have failed to mark the too rapid flight of time? She also preferred walking in the fresh air to sitting inside teaching unwilling little sisters. Our walks usually took us along the Danish Line. Sometimes we would turn up what was then called Brabazon's Road, now known as Newlings Road, and if I had got well advanced with mv manipulation of the clock, we might be early enough to get as far as the Brabazon's home. This we loved. Mr. John Brabazon was likely to be out milking. but his wife would give us tea and home-made bread and butter in the comfortable room in which old Mrs. Brabazon sat in a warm corner bv the fire. The old lady seldom welcome, and we would lurk in that pleasant place for half an hour or so, and then go out into the dusk and spoke. Mrs. John was a gentle soul. She made us verv take our way home. The Brabazon family had emigrated from the Irish village which was the bovhood home of Bishop Stuart, and lie always liked to visit them when in the district.

122

Chapter 9

It was during our second winter in Ormondville that an attempt was made to appoint a new licensing committee favourable to re-opening hotel bars. Feeling ran high, and when the election took place, serious irregularities were reported, and it was declared void. To secure a favourable vote, those in favour of the restoration of the sale of drink worked the oracle in some way, and the boundaries of the area were altered to include some parts of Makotuku and comers of Papatu, leaving out bits of the district where temperance sentiment was strong, so that the map of the licensing area was much like a starfish on the map. These jugglings caused a delay of some time before a “wet” committee was elected. But we were not free from the presence of drink, as a German named Kutze bought a small plot of land along the Danish Line, where he built a brewery. Here he brewed and sold beer for some years. His younger daughter became pupil teacher at our school, and is still remembered with respect and affection by those who were children at the school in her time.

Our post office was then part of the railway station, and mother was much annoyed when letters from our brother Arthur were delivered with the stamps tom from the envelopes. This only happened when his letters were written during the long vacation, when he was “ bear-leading ” on the Continent, seeing Switzerland, France, Belgium and other countries at the expense of the wealthy parents of backward sons. Had our stamp-collecting

123

r he Paris hj

stationmaster asked for these stamps he would probably have got them, but he took no risk of refusal.

It was felt wise to provide some improvement in the conditions of life in the village, and with this in view a section was bought and vested in trustees, on which a reading room and librarv were erected. To give it a good start, father offered to give a hundred books. A large number having been put on the long dining room table, the trustees, Messrs. R. R. Groom, J. Packer and F. W. Redward, came one wet afternoon and made their selection and carried them off. At first the reading room was opened every night, some responsible person being in charge, and the lads used to play draughts and other games there, but the noveltv soon wore off, and the boys reverted to the custom of gathering at the station to see the last train come in, so their elders were relieved of the duty of supervision and the library was opened once a week for subscribers to change their books.

In pursuance of his temperance principles, father had joined the Independent Order of Rechabites, and he organised an annual church parade of the order, which they attended in full regalia, as did the members of other friendly societies, who were always invited to attend. This was held on the Sunday, when for the first lesson the chapters regarding the Sons of Rechab and their pledge to drink no wine were read. A special preacher was alwavs invited for this occasion, the Reverends John Hobbs, J. C. Eccles and Joshua Parkinson being among those whom I recall. It was a very popular service and very well attended. Among those who took a leading part in such affairs was Mr. R. R. Groom. Having been brought up in the Baptist faith in his London home, he now found

124

Pilgrimage

he must affiliate himself with some other branch of the family of God. I think he had a strong feeling for forms and ceremonies, so he joined with us quite happily, and father baptised all the children, except the two elder boys, Robert and Bernard.

After father's second year, the itinerant work ended, partly because the advent of additional clergy to the diocese made it less necessary, and principally because the steady expansion in his own district called for more work there. Being able to have evening services every Sunday, the old " Popish " candles were replaced by hanging lamps. But the road up which we had to struggle to the House of God was a hazardous highway. It had not yet been formed or gravelled, and roots, stumps and ponds dotted its surface. A deep ditch had been dug along one side about a yard from the wire fence, thus making a high little path with a fence one side and ditch the other. In winter we hung hurricane lamps at intervals on the fence, four on a ten-chain length, which partly lighted the perilous pathway. One could cling to the wires when following one's elders to church, but there was a good deal of "back sliding ". Once arrived, all was bright and cheerful. Good congregations assembled, singing was hearty, and the new organ was in use. On the long summer evenings when there was ample light there were no ponds to fall into, nor slippery mud in which to slide.

We were getting to know all the people by now, and they were friendly folk. Mr. and Mrs. Charles Benbow had come to live beside us, on the Norsewood side, with their ever-growing family, our former neighbour, Mr. Henry Smith, having built himself a large house further on. Mr. Benbow was a pensioner from the Crimean War, having

125

The Parish

served in that field in the Grenadier Guards. He was an immensely tall man with piercing blue eyes and a white beard. He leaned on a long staff as he walked, and I always was reminded bv him of the pictures of Abraham in Line Upon Line.

Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Bovaird were newcomers at this time, moving up to the little cottage on his land, which had housed the Barnes family as caretakers till Mr. Bovaird was ready to retire from managing the Mount Herbert Estate at Waipukurau. The Bovairds had no children of their own, but had adopted Mary, the second daughter of the Brabazons, who had four daughters and one son. I used to watch on Monday mornings to see Mrs. Bovaird cantering by on a white horse to help Mrs. Brabazon with the washing. I also remember having tea at her cottage down by the creek, sitting by the fire on a bench beside Mary, eating pancakes. It did not seem possible to empty your plate, because she continually slid fresh ones on it from the pan. Mr. Bovaird became people’s churchwarden, and also served for many years on the school committee from which father had escaped.

Among the clergy in the diocese father had made many friends, the one most congenial being the Rev. de Berdt Hovell, Vicar of St. John’s, Napier. Mr. Hovell’s great ambition was to build a cathedral in Napier, and when Synod decided to raise funds for this purpose, father was appointed as one of the collectors. The Hovells, with their three children, sometimes stayed with us during the summer holidays, our house having been further enlarged to admit of entertaining guests.

Napier was not then a very healthy town, owing to the swamp which was later reclaimed and became Napier

126

P i / g r i m age

South. The doctors often ordered children up to our village in hot summers, and the inhabitants made monev by letting rooms, or even cottages to such visitors. These people benefitted by our mountain air, Ormondviile being nearly 1,000 feet above sea-level, as well as by the fresh vegetables, milk and fruit obtainable. Dr. and Mrs. Allen of Napier were among those who came for several summers, as did Mrs. Rutherfurd, Mrs. Blythe, and the Margonliaths. A permanent memento of two little girls who were among these summer visitors is the font given to our church in memory of Metallil and Dorothv by Mrs. Rutherfurd, whose little daughters spent some of their happiest days there. The font is very simple in design, and is of Oamaru stone.

The Makotuku sawmills, having cut out their " stands" of bush, had moved their plant and been followed bv their employees to new tracts of bush elsewhere. A hotel had been built in Makotuku. The railway had now been completed as far as Woodville, from whence one could travel by horse-drawn coach through the gorge to connect at Palmerston North with the Wellington railway. The rosy-cheeked, stout. German lady had resigned from the Makotuku School and Miss Reed, with the eldest daughter of Mrs. Friberg as assistant, reigned in her stead.

In our village the hotel had been leased bv a man named Remington, who used it as a chemist's shop and home for his familv. Licence being now granted for the sale of drink, a new hotel had been built and occupied by Mr. Leach who was a prime mover in the formation of the Ormondviile Racing Club. Mr. Leach had a fine roan called " Tommy Dodd " and Mr. Skinner, a lanky bay named " Fagh-a-ballagh ". There were half a dozen other owners training their horses, but not sufficient flat land

127

The Parish

for a racecourse, so the meeting had to be held on the nautral clearing, Te Whiti, near Norsewood. The club, lacking financial support, did not last very long.

128

Chapter 10

The year 1888 was for us an eventful one. The summer was a very dry one, tanks were empty soon after the New Year and all drinking water had to be carried from the Mangarangiora Creek, locally called the “ Mungi This was a distance of perhaps half a mile, up a very steep track and across paddocks. We had a well, but it was dirty water that was unfit for drinking. The air was always smoke-laden from the bush fires, one’s eyes smarted, and there was a feeling of tension and uneasiness. St. Patrick’s Day will long be remembered in the district. Smoke was so thick that the strong westerly wind failed to disperse it. The sun was red and angry-looking, and the heat was intense. About two o’clock a man stopped his panting horse at our gate. He had come from Norsewood and reported that “ all Norsewood ” was burned and the fire was working its way towards us, driven before the gale and leaping across the road from farm to farm It had got as far as Amundsen’s where logs and fences were blazing. He advised flight. Father offered him a meal, but he refused, saying he must not delay in warning the people further on. The railway people sent word that half a dozen empty trucks had been left at the Papatu siding, in which personal belongings and refugees- could be accommodated should it become necessary to abandon our homes. These trucks could not be left at tire station itself for fear the wooden trestle bridge might bum if the standing bush near it took fire.

129

The Paris hj

This bridge was said to be the largest wooden trestle in the world. A model of it was exhibited at the English Exhibition a few years later. It stood more than one hundred feet above the stream, and was curved to suit a bend in the line at that point. To keep us little ones happy, mother gave us an empty oatmeal bag each in which to puck our most cherished possessions. What my parents thought and felt I do not know, but I believe they had a strong impulse to offer help without seeing how or where to begin. This was soon decided by the arrival of Pastor Edvard Nielsen, the Methodist Pastor from Norsewood, with his son Paulus, his daughter Anna, and a small boy, Willie Christoffersen, who was staying with them. These fugitives brought more precise information. The Lutheran Church, public school, headmaster's dwelling, about forty other houses, barns, haystacks, fences and all sorts of materials were totally destroyed. He gladly accepted father's offer of hospitality, and advised us not to be preparing to leave, as he thought he observed a change in the direction of the wind, as well as a decided abatement of its force. This proved to be true, as before darkness fell the wind was blowing in the opposite direction, blowing the smoke back toward the ruins of Norsewood, and with the change to south-east, rain commenced and poured down for some hours. The Nielsens stayed with us that and the following night, going to friends in Dannevirke on 19th March. I regarded the presence of these children as a birthday party for me on 18th March, the first such party I had ever enjoyed. Someone told me, a few years ago, that Anna Nielsen went to Australia after her father's death, and married there, a child of the marriage being the famous singer, Gladys Moncrieff. I do not vouch for it, but find it interesting if true.

130

Pilgrimage

It was early in this year that mother’s elder sister, Flora Paterson, died, and towards the end of the year Aunt Barbara came out to make her home with us. A great welcome awaited our good aunt, who was a favourite with us all. She landed at Napier in mid-November and arrived in Ormondville by the evening train. Having lived in the city of Birmingham for many years, it must have been a surprise to her to find the supper table adorned with a large tin milk pan filled with strawberries and set about with jugs of cream. From the first she loved the simple life we lived and the country to which she had come. While Aunt Flora and she had lived together they found great difficulty in making ends meet on the small income which was all they had to five upon. In those days it was considered to be impossible to do without domestic help for the rougher work, so Aunt Barbara had to supplement the funds by daily pupils, or by reading aloud to wealthy invalids and similar tiresome jobs. Since they could only pay the wages of a young girl needing to be trained and with the healthy appetite of a growing child, it is obvious to me that it would have paid better to do the work herself, and save the wages and tire food, but such a course was considered quite impossible, so poor aunty had to scratch round to earn money to pay a girl to do work she could have done much better herself.

The third outstanding event in 1888 was the consecration of St. John’s Cathedral in Napier, on 20th December, by Bishop Stuart. In the synod report we read that its extreme length was 180 feet, breadth 57 and height 65 feet. It was built of red brick with white stone facing inside, and tile roof ridged with the qmamental tiles made by Leonard Neil, in Stockingford. During the building of tire cathedral

131

The Paris It

the bishop had been in England at the Lambedi Conference, In his pastoral letter to Synod on his return he wrote :

Need I say that during die past few months the prevailing feelings of longing desire has been to see the new cathedral of whose progress towards completion I have been receiving regular reports. Its erection has been constantly a source of interest to those who have sought information about the diocese, and some valuable gifts have been presented by friends in token of their sympathy with die undertaking. It is indeed with much thankfulness that I view the successful completion of so great a work, and very heartily do I congratulate the incumbent of St. John's, the Rev. de Berdt Hovell, and the zealous churchmen of Napier, who have co-operated with him, on the result of their labours. I trust that the solemn dedication of the building on Thursday next, as the Cathedral of the Diocese will stimulate and encourage us all to supply whatever may be lacking, and that those, if such there be, who have as yet held back from giving their active support, may now join their fellow Christians in contributing to a work which stands out as a symbol and outward expression of the unity of the Diocese. For this is one of the high purposes that a Cathedral is meant to express, and if it fail in promoting godly unity and concord among us, and in drawing us together in heartier church work, it would prove so far to be a mere anachronism, an abortive revival of obsolete tradition."

The cathedral did not prove to be an abortive revival of obsolete tradition. The necessary machinery for the appointment of a dean and chapter was outlined in the bishop’s pastoral letter to the Synod of 1889. The fact that the new cathedral was also the parish church had to be

132

Pilgrimage

taken into consideration, and a special committee had been set up to collect all information. The appointment of the first canons lay with the bishop, and he made his choice, and at the Eleventh Synod held in 1889 the first canons were instituted. They were the cousins William Leonard and Samuel Williams, J.E. Fox and H. W. St. Hill.

At the following Synod in October, 1890, father was appointed to the vacant canonry as precentor. The bishop in his pastoral explains the duties of a chapter and the business which had already been done, adding, " I cannot forego this opportunity of gratefully acknowledging the valuable assistance I have received from the Members of the Chapter, who one and all have taken the liveliest interest in the proceedings, and given their hearty co-operation in promoting its objects.

“ The development of the work of the Chapter in such directions as I have indicated in my address to last Synod, must be of gradual development, but I have already felt the advantage of having in this council of advice the sympathy and ready help of those who by their experience and devotion to the highest interest of the Church, are so well fitted to strengthen their Bishop’s hands in the extension and consolidation of the Church.” The honour conferred on their vicar was pleasing to father’s flock. On his first visit to Makotuku, after his return from Synod, father was amused to be ushered into the house of the Jarman’s by little Willie galloping up the path ahead of him shouting, “ Here comes Candle Webb ! ”

133

Chapter 11

After the coming of Pastor Hies to live in the district, father gave up the week-day services in the German Line. Although the pastor was a Dane, he was a Lutheran, as were the Germans, who accepted Iris ministrations very happily. Another reason for us seeing less of the Scandinavian and German settlers was the commencement of the delivery of goods by some of tire district storekeepers who picked up the eggs and so on, to be credited against the bill.

Father spent a lot more time in visiting his flock, and laid out an extensive garden and orchard round our home. A new call upon his time and thought was the necessity of doing something to strengthen the church. The pitch of the roof was too high for the width of the building and the constant buffetting of the wind caused a most unpleasant swaying of the whole building. In a real gale the creaking made it impossible to listen, and the wall lent away from the ends of seats as much as eight or nine inches, swaying back to push the ends of them. It was terrifying to picture the' walls of the building shutting together and then collapsing. In windy weather the congregation stayed at home, and who could blame them ?

A wedding had to be held in our large drawing room, as the church was deemed unsafe. The bride-to-be was staving in the house, as she had done on occasion during school holidays, she being the principal of the Hukarere School in Napier. She was elderly, prim and doubtless

134

P i I g r i m age

somewhat nervy on the day and spent part of the morning in tears. She explained later that, smelling the coffee which was being prepared for the feast, she had thought we were secretly fortifying ourselves, and had forgotten her, whose great day it was. When she later learned that such was not the case, she cheered up.

The bridegroom we saw for the first time, though father had often met him at Wairoa where he had a large sheep farm. He was a cheer)- old fellow, and brought a large case of excellent fruit as a contribution to the feast. Apples, rock melon, water melon, bananas, pears, oranges, etc., a luscious collection, much of which remained untouched, " and the}' of the household divided the spoil" as the Psalmist said. The heavy gale on that wedding day brought father's worry about the dangerous condition of the church to a head, and it was decided that the building must be strengthened. Mr. Lamb came up from Napier, made a careful examination of the building and drew plans for its enlargement and alteration, while plans for raising the necessary funds were discussed in the parish.

The plan, besides allowing for buttresses to stay the walls, and strong iron bars across the interiors to keep them apart, more than doubled the seating space and greatly enhanced the church’s appearance. The original building became the nave with transept and a chancel beyond. There was also a beautiful spire. And now a fresh effort to raise enough money to pay for these additions commenced. First of all, a working party was begun at which plain and fancy needlework was engaged in, to provide material for a bazaar. A series of concerts was organised during the winter evenings for which glees and part songs were practised in our home, as we had bought a piano. Added

135

The Parish

to these preparations was the collecting of subscriptions from outside the parish and from the more well-to-do within it. All these labours culminated in the bazaar which was kept going all the week. Mrs. Groom, wife of one of the churchwardens, presided over the main work stall. Aunt Barbara had a fancy stall; there was a bran tub, fish pond, and two sideshows in rooms opening off the stage one a display of the skins of wild animals for which Mr. Ham Smith lent his fine collection. He had recently returned from Australia, where he had shot the animals whose skins he now displayed and explained. It was worth the 3d. charge for admission, though a somewhat smelly pleasure, as he was definitely not a skilled taxidermist. The other was run by my sister, Edith, for the same fee, in partnership with an English friend who was visiting us at the time. This was styled "An Art Gallery" and was an amiable hoax, containing exhibits such as " Sweet Seventeen " a group of lollies, which had to be replenished at times, after the visits of children.

The refreshment room did a roaring trade, and served ice creams in mid-winter. This was managed by Mrs. Beale, sister-in-law of Mrs. Groom. During her labours she announced one afternoon : “ I must be sickening for something, I’m so cold ”. She shivered till her teeth rattled. Dismay overtook us, for how could the place of so stalwart a worker be filled ? But when she arose to be escorted home to bed, it was found she had accidentally seated herself on the box of ice used for making ices. Another alarm was raised one evening when some thoughtless being rushed into the refreshment room crying, “ Mr. Groom has been bitten by a dog”. Mrs. Groom was having a cup of tea there and went into hysterics, from which she was

136

]' i I g r i in age

recovered by Mrs. Beale who hurled the contents of the washing-up bowl over her, to the injury of her black velvet gown. Actually, the schoolmaster's mastiff, trying to push in after his master, had tripped Mr. Groom and, trying to make amends, had licked his face.

By the end of the week, which was deplorably wet and cold, all the workers were exhausted, but financially it had been a huge success, and enough money was in hand to begin re-building, with the chance of meeting all the cost of the work.

The plan originally drawn by Mr. Lamb had much less depth in the chancel. Father was convinced that the addition of six feet more would present a better balanced building and the architect agreed, but said <£3o more must be added to the proposed cost of the work if this greater depth was to be included. So father went to Te Ante and laid the case before Archdeacon Samuel Williams. " Uncle Sam " gave the money, in addition to the generous subscription he had paid ahead}". Mother, meanwhile, wrote to one of her former pupils who wrote to her regularly, explaining that there was a beautiful spire in the plan, but no available funds to have a bell. This friend gathered gifts from other ex-pupils sufficient to buy a good bell and pay its freight to New Zealand. The work was again undertaken by Mr. Coles and his sons, and during the alterations service was held in the Rechabite Hall. The re-building took some months to complete, enough time indeed for two of the four Coles sons to become engaged to local girls, and also for father's old friend, the Rev. Henrv Hawtrey, with his sister, his son, and the young friend Miss Dalgairns, who was travelling with them, to enjoy a lot of our simple life. Mr. Hawtrey was almost

137

stone deaf, but he managed to enjoy himself very well. He loved using tools, and spent a great deal of time in the church doing httle jobs to help the carpenter. If it worried them to have the old fellow using their tools and getting in the way, they concealed it very well, and the old man believed his help to be indispensable.

We entertained the two voung people by exploring the district, having log fires and cooking dampers over them, going for walks and in the evenings playing games of all sorts. These friends had to leave us before the work at the church was finished, but left as a memento of their visit a set of communion vessels, the inscription on a silver plate on the lid of the case bearing father's name and the initials of the givers. Thev all took the keenest interest in our Scandinavian friends, especially old Gustav Larsen who was so very polite that he took off his hat to each group of us he met, even bowing to a noxious white terrier we then possessed, because it was " the pastor's dog ". He was a very happy old fellow, despite his lameness which was caused by a slip on the railway cutting when he was working on the construction gang in the earlv days. His leg was broken above the ankle, and for lack of a doctor it was never set. He was a little difficult to understand, but was not a great talker.

The church was re-dedicated on 10th March, 1891, by Bishop Stuart, a number of neighbouring clergy taking part in the service which was held in the afternoon. A week of special services followed, the missioner being the Rev. John Hobbs, of Hastings.

The bishop wrote in his address to Synod later in tire year : “ A dedication service was held in the Church of the Epiphany, Ormondville, on the occasion of its

138

The Par i s Ii

Pilgrimage

re-opening after extensive enlargements. The alterations almost amount to rebuilding the original church and have been carried out by the energy and enterprise of Canon Webb, who has succeeded in providing his district with a central church of commodious dimensions and tasteful design, and better still he has the satisfaction of ministering in it to a congregation comprised of members of the various nationalities which make up our bush population, thus affording a practical illustration of the broad Catholicity of the Church of England. Not only on the day of dedication, but at the special services and throughout the week the interest was maintained, as was evidenced by the large and attentive congregations."

139

Chapter 1 2

Father was not able to enjoy working in the newly opened church for very long. The death of the Rev. Joshua Parkinson rendered the parish of St. Augustine, Napier, vacant, and the bishop appointed Canon Fox vicar there, as he had for some time found the cure of Gisborne beyond his strength. Gisborne then included a large country area which included the districts of Te Arai, Patutahi, Karaka, Waerenga-a-hika, Makaraka, Matawhero and other small settlements, a huge district to be served in conjunction with a large town. Even with the aid of a curate, Canon Fox (never a physically strong man) found the responsibility more than he could bear. The bishop suggested father for Gisborne, the parish nominators approved, and father agreed to go, somewhat unwillingly. He did not want to leave his home nor be parted from the people whom he had found so friendly. Also, there was the property to be considered. Edmond would remain for a time at any rate. My cousins, Tom, George and Jim, were already away, not having found the land at Ormondville providing enough occupation for so many.

Our happy family was already partly separated, and it had been a verv happy family. I cannot recall any serious quarrelling among us. But it had become evident that less than a hundred acres could not provide an adequate living for four young men.

Dora had for some time been teaching in Napier, at first in the Hnkarere Native Girls' School, later as governess

140

Pilgrimage

to the McLean children, grandchildren of Archdeacon W. L. Williams. Aunt Barbara would stay in Ormondville with Mary, Annie and Edmond. Edith, Tony and I were to go with our parents. So packing was begun and farewell parties were organised. To go back a little I should say that our good old nurse, Rhoda, had married very happily a couple of years before this date. She had been with mother over thirty years, and at first we found it very strange without her. But we none of us grudged her a home of her own, after so many years of sharing in ours.

During the preparations for our departure, mother was again very far from well. The weather was cold and wet, but did not deter people from far and near from coming to a wonderful farewell social, held in the town hall, and presided over by Mr. R. R. Groom, churchwarden. A lengthy report in the Bush Advocate, as the local paper was then called, describes the party very enthusiastically. After a couple of hours spent in chatting with the crowd and in games and music, supper was served " composed of the hundred and one dainties which our Bush ladies know so well how to prepare, and which the dwellers in the Bush know so well how to dispose of ". Mr. Groom made the presentation of a purse of sovereigns. He made a brief, but very appreciative speech, comparing the state of the district when father arrived eight years previously with its present state, attributing the great improvement in the spiritual life of the parish to father's personality and influence.

In his speech of thanks, father told the people that they could not love him as much as he loved them ever since he came to live among them. He had been comforted and helped by their kindness and friendship. He hoped the

141

ORMONDVILLE WOODEN TRESTLE BRIDGE Said to have been the highest of its type in the world.

CHRIST] \\ [ENSEN'S FIRST HOME Buili on the Danish Line, ii had split slab wall and a shingle rooi

The Paris hj

words he had spoken would not be in vain, but that all would turn for eternal life to the Saviour, through Whom God had promised it to us all.

Other speakers were the Rev. W. G. Wallace, of Dannevirke, who told of the brotherly welcome father had given him when he arrived as a stranger, and Pastor Ries, who said that he had come to rely on father for advice and help in times of sorrow or perplexity and would miss him greatly. Then Mr. Plank offered mother the thanks of the parish for her work in the Sunday school.

The fact that our Ormondville home was our own made the move much easier. Much of the furniture was home-made and not suitable for a town vicarage, and any articles forgotten could be collected later on. So no old books were sold to wrap meat, there being no need for a sale. Another and more interesting effect is that from our first coming, sLx months after the consecration of the church, to the present day, sixty-four years later, some member of the family of its first vicar has been in regular attendance at the services held in it, which must constitute a record.

Father was succeeded in the parish by the Rev. T. J. Wills, who at first rented a house in Makotuku, but after a time a vicarage in Ormondville was provided when the Westlake home came upon the market and was bought for this purpose, again very largely through the help of “ Uncle Sam ” as Archdeacon S. Williams was affectionately known in the diocese.

144

Chai'teii 1 3

We arrived in Gisborne in the early morning of Ist Mav, after an unpleasant journey from Napier on the Southern Cross, a small boat which then served the East Coast ports. We were rather a large party, as besides father and mother and three of their family, three girls named Gifford, to whom father had been appointed guardian, were to share our new home.

The vicarage was not ready to receive us, as such furniture as we had brought did not include bedsteads, tables and chairs. What we had brought would come ashore later in the day, by lighters from the ship.

With the wonderful hospitality so characteristic of them, Archdeacon and Mrs. W. L. Williams took us all in. The Theological College on the opposite side of the road had several spare rooms, and the Gifford girls stayed with the Herbert Williams, while we younger Webbs slept at the College, and had our meals at Te Rau with our elders.

It was necessary to get the vicarage in order as soon as possible, as on the 7th of May, the celebrated Missioner, the Rev. George Grubb was to arrive, and some of his part}’ must be entertained at the vicarage during their stay in the parish. After breakfast Mrs. Williams put on her bonnet, a large affair made of quilted black silk, with a white niching round the face, and set out with mother in her buggy (known to the irreverent as the Gospel Cart) to visit the shops in search of such furniture as must be bought at once. They arrived at the vicarage to measure

145

The Parish

for floor coverings, to find the cases from the ship had arrived, and so had a vast assembly of loaves of bread, which were stacked on window sills, in baskets on the verandah, and boxes on doorsteps. There were four bakers in the town, and each had delivered supplies in readiness for our coming with a view to securing custom. Mrs. Williams surveyed this liberal provision with a knowledgeable eye. " This," she said, "is Craig's basket. That heap looks like Erskine's bread, so those must be Nesbits, and the new man's. We will return it all as we pass the shops, and then you can order what you want and tell them when to deliver it." They returned the provender to the owners, gave orders for a regular supply, and went to work on the purchase of essential furniture.

By the evening of sth May, we moved in ready to receive Mr. and Mrs. E. C. Millard, who were to be our guests during the mission. That evening a welcome social was held at which we were introduced to the flock. One day to settle in followed, and on Saturday the Mission part}' arrived. There were five in the party. Mr. and Mrs. Millard concentrated on work among children, Messrs. Arthur Ewbank and E. C. C. Robison took afternoon Bible readings and meetings for women, and the leader Mr. Crubb preached every evening. It was a wonderful mission, lasting eight days and Holy Trinity, a large church, was crowded every evening and most afternoons. The weather was atrocious, yet people from far out in the country drove in open buggies, through pouring rain, and sat packed together in their wet clothing, yet nobody seemed to be any the worse for this. There was a great awakening to spiritual things in the hearts of many who had previously been formal but wholly uninterested members of the church.

146

Pilgrimage

A Saturday morning prayer meeting, held at 7.30 in the Sunday School, was begun during the mission, and continued for some time after it, being attended by members of all denominations.

The church stood opposite the district school in Derbv Street, with the vicarage on the corner by Palmerston Road, where the new church stands to-day, and the Sunday School on the other side. This building was rented during the week for the High School. There was a slight rise in the ground on which these buildings stood, but we missed the nearness of green hills to which we were accustomed, and felt that our new surroundings were unhealthy, for at that time tire town had no water supply, nor drainage and no collection of rubbish, all these sendees coming after we had left Gisborne ten years later. The tidal rivers divided the town. On the bank of the Taruheru, the Hospital was built. There were friendly people in Gisborne, plenty of them, and it was a pretty town, with glorious sunsets lighting up Young Nick’s Head across the bay.

Tom began attending the school, entering the lower half of Standard IV. He kept a score on the weather boarding of the verandah room in which he slept, one pencil stroke for each time he was caned. It was a long board, the pencil strokes were close together, but it was filled ere he was promoted. I did not enjoy the first six weeks or so, as I had whooping cough rather badly, and who that whoops can really enjoy life ?

Mother was almost overwhelmed by callers, who left stacks of cards. Here Mrs. Williams was a very helpful friend. She sorted the cards of country callers from those living in the town, and gave explanatory information such

147

Vilgr i m a " e

as, " These six are sisters and that is their sister-in-law'. To return the country calls, she lent mother " The Gospel Cart". Some of the country callers who lived far out of town very kindly told mother they did not expect return visits, but would come and see her when they came to town.

'Father did not have to take all the country services, as the Rev. Alan Gardiner, who had been curate to Canon Fox, stayed on. Mr. Gardiner had married Archdeacon Williams’s youngest daughter. He lived in the town, but worked almost entirely in the out-lying districts.

Gisborne was a most difficult parish. Owing to its isolation, its only contact with the outer world was the bi-weekly steamer service. The thought of the people revolved round their own affairs and those of their neighbours. As a community they were self-centred, as a church congregation, they were sharply divided. There was an eager section which craved a higher ritual than had been previously known in the church more ornate adornment of the building, more music, more ceremonial; and a keen low church party to whom such things were anathema. Father’s predecessor, Canon Fox, an ex-missioary from the West Indies, was a dreamy student, not interested in such things, but in father each party felt they could now secure a champion for their special views.

The Archdeacon definitely confined himself to his own large job, the care of the Maori church, in which he was assisted by his son Herbert, when his duties as tutor to the Te Rau College allowed. Owing to father's up-bringing and family tradition much of his loyalty and sympathy were the Evangelical school, while his love of beauty, of colour, perfection of design and music drew him toward

148

P i I g r i m age

the High Church section of his flock. Mother was less affected by this clash of opinion. She was always levelheaded, not easily swayed by feeling, settled in her views, and steadfast in principles. She had been brought up in definite church circles in London, not among the emotional atmosphere of early Methodism as father had been. Members of the choir were eager to have more music. This was fiercely resisted by the low church party, who declared that it would be impossible to pray in sincerity, if led by a vicar who intoned. Father loved to sing- He wanted to be fair to all, so he decided to have a perfectly plain service at 11 o’clock and a sung evensong with a simple anthem. It worked fairly well. Father enjoyed both services and tried to draw the divided congregations together.

Then arose the question of improving the very dingy appearance of the interior of the church. In earlier years the woodwork had been very liberally coated with varnish. During the great heat in summer, the varnish became stickey, and people stuck to the pews, leaving as they rose threads and fluff from their clothing, which gave the seats a strange furry appearance, and in very hot weather a peculiar smell. Pillars at intervals along the aisles were stuck over with toetoe fluff, torn from decorations used. A suggestion that all varnished surfaces should be scraped, or scrubbed clean, was viewed with suspicion, lest some deep Jesuitical teaching lay beneath it, but it was eventually agreed to, after which the opening sentence " Read your hearts and not your garments ", ceased to provoke unseemly mirth.

149

Chapter 14

During those years in Gisborne, we came into much closer contact with our Maori fellow countrymen than before. Father believed that it would be useful to their ministerial life, after their ordination, if the Maori students at Te Rau took part in the services in the town church. Later, when they became vicars of isolated parishes up country, with many Europeans living there, they might minister to them also. The Maori priests would have confidence in reading to Englishmen, and the Englishmen could accept the pastoral care of men who had been acceptable to the town congregation. For this reason it became the custom for a couple of the students to have tea at the vicarage on Sunday nights, and to read the lessons at the evening service, and at Easter an ordained student would help father adminster the Sacrament. The student’s reading was dramatic. One seemed to find fresh meaning in the old Bible stories so read, and their singing was a welcome aid to the choir. There was a good deal of sickness in the town. People spoke of “ the typhoid season ”or “ the diphtheria season ” as one refers to the coming of spring and autumn. If any preventive measures were taken they were very inadequate. The hospital would be very overcrowded in these “ seasons ”, but we were fortunate in escaping infection, although father freely visited patients.

There were some strange parishioners in this town. One old man used to make a practice of visiting father on

150

Pilgrimage

Saturday mornings bringing notes of sermons he desired his vicar to preach. We used to take turns at rescuing our parent from this old wretch in whose hands he was as wax. The end of these visits came when the old man was sent to gaol for beating his aged and partly crippled wife. He sent father a message that he wished to see him, and when seen, he asked that the prayers of the congregation be asked on his behalf. He was so offended when father refused this request, telling him that he should feel shame at his conduct, that he did not resume his visits after serving his sentence.

As is usual, those who were least deserving of help were those who applied for it. One made an unusual plea when he staggered onto the vicarage verandah late on Sunday afternoon, “to borrow sixpence ”. Being refused because he was extremely drunk, he wept, “ If you’ll only lend me sixpence, I’ll come to church and hear your sermon ”,

There was a girl who made a chemist open his shop on Sunday night to sell her cough lozenges, she did not need or like, to get a shilling changed, because it “ was too much to put in the offertory As she attended church very seldom, this seemed to me illogical. Very different types they were to the good old Lutherans who had attended the services “at home ”, There were things to enjoy in Gisborne life not possible in the country. The Choral Society was a great joy, as were the concerts held by visiting singers. Father joined the chess club. Most of us attended the “ Mutual Improvement Society ”, a land of debating club, which met in the winter evenings.

It was in October, 1892, that we said goodbye to Bishop Stuart, who came to Gisborne to hold a confirmation service, the last he held before returning to missionary

151

The Parish

work in Persia. There were over forty candidates, of whom I was one. All of us were proud to receive this rite at the hands of our saintly old friend. Our good friend Archdeacon W. L. Williams succeeded him as Bishop, his son Herbert being appointed Archdeacon in charge of the Maori work, while continuing his tutorship at Te Ran Theological College. Both these men showed father much kindness in every way, but they could not fill the gap left by the departure of Bishop Stuart, whose personal friendship, begun by correspondence while we were still in England, had ripened by the close contact involved in father’s itinerant work during his first year in New Zealand.

152

Chapter 15

Meanwhile things in Ormondville were moving steadily forward. Father's successor, the Rev. T. J. Wills, was a man of foresight, and hearing that the two blocks of native land on the far side of the Manawatu were being surveyed for settlement, he called on the Member of Parliament, and asked for the grant of a section for a church buildine. The member, Mr. Charles Hall, lent his assistance and the section next to that granted for the school was given for this purpose. Neither my father nor Mr. Wills lived to see the church built in Whetukura, though both of them did a part of the planning for funds used main years later in building St. James.

The opening of the Waikopiro Blocks caused a small boom in Ormondville. Many of the new settlers were married men with families, and houses in Ormondville, left vacant by the departure of sawmill workers when the mills “ cut out ”, and moved elsewhere, were rented by these new-comers, so that the children could continue their schooling while the roads giving access to the new sections were found and homes and school were built.

All this new activity in Ormondville was of great interest to us, as the opening of native land had been long expected, and the development of the parish in that direction would increase the work of the church. Father never intended to stay long in Gisborne, nor when he should leave that parish, to go anywhere else than Ormondville, where he had his own home, to retire to in his old age. Each rear

153

T li c Paris hj

when he came to Napier to attend synod, he would spend a few days in the old home.

When the Whetukura school was built, Mr. Walter J. King was appointed the first master. Mr. King had been at Waerenga-a-Hika, in the country part of the Gisborne Parish, and Father was acquainted with him there.

It was during those first years of our absence from the village that Dr. J. H. Allen, who had often spent summer holidays in Ormondville, died at his home in Napier, and his widow brought her young family to settle in our village. Thus began a connection with the church which continued for many years, for she was at once pressed into service as organist, as well as helping with the church cleaning, which was then done, as it has been ever since, as a voluntary labour of love by the women of the congregation.

Mr. Wills had settled into the work of the parish well, and was a keen worker. He was an excellent preacher, and an ardent advocate of temperance reform. He was a firm believer in homeopathy, and during an influenza epidemic supplied medicine to his flock, visiting them two or three times daily to administer the required doses at the due time. I often wondered if they were properlv grateful.

About two years after our going to Gisborne, my brother Edmond also left the district, going to Bishopdale in Nelson as a student for Holy Orders, under the tutorship of Bishop Mules. A fellow student with him was Frederick Augustus Bennett, now Bishop of Aotearoa. The parishioners both in Ormondville and Makotuku gave him farewell parties in appreciation of his work among them. The party at Makotuku was very happy and crowded affair. A presentation of books, which it was hoped would be useful

154

J' i I g r i m age

to Edmond in his studies was made by young Horace Newling on behalf of the Sunday School in which he had been a senior scholar. He read the titles as he handed over the volumes and got a little entangled in some of them as for example : Westcote’s Revolution of the Revised Lord, a less desirable book one would think than the real title, The Revelation of the Risen Lord. The books were cherished by my brother and were well chosen, as most of the six books were standards for the study of theology. The social at Ormondville was also a very cordial affair and a money gift was presented. Edmond may have heard whispering among the children about farewells, but I think he was much surprised by the warmth of feeling evidenced, he being a very modest man, who had always taken part in the work of Church, Sunday School and Band of Hope as a matter of course, and because the work needed to be done.

155

Chapter 16

I do not think the climate of Gisborne agreed with any of us. Mother was never well near the sea, and found the great heat very trving. The roads were watered with saltish water from the tidal river and dried almost as fast as they were done. Westerlv winds drove down rolling clouds of salty dust from the Palmerston road into the vicarage. One's eves were alwavs sore and throat drv in these hot days, and the tanks soon emptied. In this connection the story went the rounds of an individual who planned to go for a brief trip, and was told that should he do so, he would find no water in his tank on his return, but the clothes lines of his neighbours hung with washing. He went and returned to find the tap of his tank turned on. He was not dismayed, but when darkness fell withdrew the cork with which he had prudentlv plugged the tap before leaving home.

Father endeavoured to combine his two outdoor hobbies, flower gardening and poultrv breeding on the sandv section with scanty success. If the heavily-feathered white Brahmas were closely confined, they suffered from heat and became infested with lice. If they were let out they made dust baths in the flower beds. Often I have met him carrying armfuls of pine needles to sprinkle on a newly planted bed in hope of deceiving the hens. These birds developed a habit of going across to the church if they saw cabs there, as they liked the rice which was showered at weddings, I met a disgusted flock returning thence, having been misled by a baptismal party.

156

Pilgrimage

In common with other ladies, mother had a monthly "At Home Day", from which father usually absented himself. On one such day a lady had come in from the country and asked for him. I was sent to fetch him, and found him happily fumigating a hen house by burning pine needles in it. He came in to change into more seemly clothes. After a few minutes 1 was called. " I can't find my best trousers", said he. I sought in vain. Then I discovered that he had taken off his gardening pants, put on his best ones and absent-mindedly drawn on his old ones on top of them. Often he would lose his glasses and the)' would be found down the back of his neck on their little cord.

I think most of his flock liked him, but such of them as held extreme views did not. An ambitious organist nowreigned and he urged more ornate services, which father liked himself, and which the Low Church section resented bitterly. The scraping away of the sticky varnish had left an ugh' bare section of woodwork below the east window in the church, and a dear old lady offered to work Ecclesiastical emblems on a length of white serge to cover this. Father grateful!}' accepted this offer, and the old lady set to work. She embroidered a border in gold silk all round the fabric, a plain Latin cross in the centre, and a monogram at each end. It took her months of hard work, and when it was finished and'fastened in place there was a sharp clash of opinion. The Low Church desired its removal; the High Church hailed it as " a move in the right direction ". Father refused to remove it. There were numbers of moderate churchmen who pursued their way calmly through these discordant elements and were at peace with their parson, which compensated to some extent for

157

T he Pa r i s hj

the great unhappiness caused by this atmosphere of strife.

Each year father looked forward with more pleasure to his all too short visit to his old home in Ormondville.

On these trips he could take stock of the work on the land since his last inspection. Before we left for Gisborne the bush-felling on the section across the creek had been finished by the boys, and later the burned grass had been sown. The cattle, formerly pastured on Roythome’s, were grazing on this land, and milk was being sent to Niels Nikolaisen’s factory by Annie, who managed the farm affairs. A young man named Neal was employed. Mr. Nikolaisen had progressed far beyond the cave dairy days and now had a steam-driven separator in a clean little factory, to which local farmers brought their milk a much easier way of dealing with this product than pan-skimming for the churn.

Father used to return much refreshed from these visits, during which he would plan with Annie, who was also a visionary, the most exciting schemes for terracing the sides of a deep gully and growing vines up its sides, or to breed turkeys there for marketing. A more practical suggestion was made by Charlie, Mr. Benbow’s eldest son, now married and striking out for himself. This was splitting sleepers for the railway on a royalty basis. There was plenty of timber for sleepers, house blocks, posts and firewood left in tire logs after the “ burn ” had consumed the lighter material. They had a lot of fun planning and estimating the future profits, but mother kindly but firmly punctured their rainbow-tinted bubbles on father’s return to sober realities. That was her job.

News had come from England of the death of mv eldest brother, Arthur. He had been ready to marry the

158

Pilgrimage

girl who had waited ten years for him to earn sufficient money to marry and come to New Zealand and take up his profession as a teacher, when he got kicked in a football match. A tubercular abcess in the groin developed, which resulted in his death. This was a bitter disappointment to us all. It is possible that this may have accounted for my parents willingness to let their youngest son, Anthony, go to South Africa with the troops sent over during the Boer War. Tony, having passed through high school, had a junior clerkship in the Bank of New Zealand. His health was not good, and they may have feared that he would develop the same disease as his elder brothers. Africa had been suggested for Willie when the question of his being sent out of England was being considered, all of which induced father to use what influence he had to get the boy into one of the early contingents. The “ Fighting Fifth ” was already filled, but it was rumoured that Mr. Seddon had consented to the addition of fifty men to be called “ Reserve ”. Tony was barely nineteen and would not have been accepted without parental consent. Father decided to enlist the aid of the local Member of Parliament. He hurried to the home of Mr. (later Sir) James Carroll about 6.30 a.m. and was told that this Maori gentleman was in his bath. Mrs. Carroll, seeing his disappointment, led father to the end of the passage, where he roared his request for aid through the bathroom door to the accompaniment of splashing water. Presently Mr. Carroll appeared, daintily draped in a towel and promised to use his influence, which he did most successfully. During the short period in camp before embarking, Tony’s health greatly improved. Many people had relations overseas, and the effect of anxiety and interest in the progress of the

159

NICKOLAISON'S FACTORY, ORMONDVILLE A home-built bush wagon is shown (left) and a miniature tip dray (right). |

THE VOLUNTEER RIFLE CLUB Seated, from left : Lt. F. B. Curd. Rev. A. S. Webb, Capt. V. Forbes, Hon. Surgeon I). McGavin, Lt, W. Johnstone

The Parish

war seemed to modify discordance in church affairs, and a more peaceful period followed.

162

Chapter 17

During those later years in Gisborne, there had been certain changes in our immediate family. My two elder sisters, both of whom had been engaged in teaching in the district schools, Mary at Makaraka, near Gisborne, and Dora at Norsewood, had developed serious throat affection, and had given up teaching to take up nursing ; both were in training in the public hospital in Wellington, which was then under the matronship of Miss Frances Payne.

Edmond, having passed successfully through the theological course at Bishopdale, had been ordained and was stationed at Denniston, where he lived in a couple of rooms at the back of the church. He was there for his year in Deacon's Orders and was then appointed Vicar of Kaikoura, in which parish he found a nice two-storeyed vicarage. He at once asked for one of his sisters to keep house for him, so Edith was despatched to his vicarage. I think she enjoyed her new life, though it was not of her choosing. The vicarage stood far back from the road and not very near the church, but they had bicycles and when there were meetings or services in the evening she always accompanied him to avoid staying in the vicarage alone. But their stay in Kaikoura was not of long duration, as he was appointed vicar of the newly-settled parish of Cheviot, a vast district including many small centres. A new church had been built, but there was as yet no vicarage, so they rented a strange little cottage. Here she might have been very lonely but for the friendship of the Kemp family,

163

T It e I' a r i s hj

who lived nearby, as the size of the district was such that Edmond had often to be absent a couple of nights when visiting the outlying parts of the parish.

In Gisborne we were very quiet at the vicarage, but for me the friendship of the de Lautours, more especially of Eva, the second daughter, made for great happiness. Tony wrote frequently from Africa, and seemed to be well and coming safely through that difficult war. As this drew to its end, Edmond decided to go back to England to try to obtain a degree at Cambridge University. He was too old to enter St. John's College, as father, and later Arthur, had done, and he had to maintain himself while studying. He and Edith came up to Gisbome, he to say goodbye before setting out, and she to resume die housekeeping with which I had struggled during her absence.

Father suffered a severe blow at this time, when the news of the death of his sister Mary reached him. She had been a wonderful sister. His mother died when he was but a toddler, and she had mothered him through his young days, and after he grew to manhood had been a most faithful correspondent. I think she must have written to him by every mail, and he had always cherished the hope that she would eventually follow us to New Zealand and settle in Napier.

Later he had a mournful pleasure in seeing her pictures, old china (she was an ardent collector), and some of the furniture from their old home, which she left to him, the remainder of her possessions going to the niece who had always lived with her. By the kindness of the Customs officer, the cases were carted to the Sunday School and opened there for his inspection and we trotted to and fro carrying books, music, pictures and china as his examination went on.

164

Pilgrimage

A few months later, on the death of mother's cousins, Charles and Mary Bruce, a legacy to mother and Aunt Barbara, £,5,000 each, arrived, and father was much touched to have been remembered by Cousin Charles by a legacy of £l,OOO. This brother and sister had lived together in London since his retirement from the Foreign Office, and had died within a week of each other, during an influenza epidemic. These legacies came at a most opportune time and were wholly unexpected. Father's health had been steadily deteriorating, and he was worried about monev matters, which did not help him through the depression he suffered. With his legacy he was able to free his Ormondville property from a mortgage and rid himself of other liabilities. Medical examination proved that he was suffering from diabetes, and he began a rigorous course of dieting. Acting on his doctor's advice. he decided to retire and return to Ormondville to end his days.

165

Chapter 18

With the conclusion of the Boer War, the New Zealand troops commenced their return and in due course my brother Tony came back to Gisborne, fit and well, having grown a little and put on weight. I was not there when he arrived, having been sent down to Ormondville about a month previously, as I had not been well after the shock of the very sudden death of my great friend. Nor had the decision for father's retirement been arrived at till after my going.

I was able to participate in a welcome reception to a Norsewood trooper, T. Barclay. This soldier had to arrive at the Ormondville railway station to reach his home at Norsewood, and the people of our village decided to make a great occasion of it. This was organised with no realisation of what it might mean to a veiy shy, modest man. The school children were supplied with small Union Jacks to wave and were marched in a procession which was led by a Waikopiro settler wearing his German reservist uniform, scarlet tunic, white trousers tucked into shiny black top boots, and metal helmet. Accompanied by his two sons, hung about with bandoliers and straps to convey the impression that they also wore uniform, and pushing a wooden model of a cannon, painted black and mounted on a pair of large wheels. The train came in and the crowd sang the National Anthem. The children waved their flags and sang “ Soldiers of the Queen ”, The chairman of the town board made a mercifully short speech of

166

P i I g r i mage

welcome, and the embarrassed trooper, crying, “ Thank you one and all ”, fled to the shelter of the goods shed, climbed into the waiting gig, concealed diere, in which his fiancee was awaiting him, and disappeared in a cloud of dust on Iris way to Norsewood. What he may have suffered on his arrival there, I do not know.

The ship in which Tony returned was discharged at Invercargill, to give those kindly folk the chance of a welcoming ceremony. Snow lay on the ground in which the troopers stood shivering, while listening to welcoming addresses. He said that they ducked apprehensively when local volunteers fired volleys over their heads as part of the joyful celebration. Later, when peace celebrations were being held everywhere, he had come on to Ormondville, after a short time in Gisborne, and greatly enjoyed helping in the provision of a glorious bonfire on the top of the hill behind the church. It was a gorgeous fire of logs and bushwood soaked in tar, which burned for hours after it was lighted, illumining the whole countryside. There had been processions of decorated prams, bicycles and vehicles earlier in the day, as well as feasting and sports. The weather was kind for mid-winter, and we all enjoyed it.

After this, we in Ormondville set to work in earnest to prepare for the family move home. A carpenter was engaged to add yet another room to the house to serve as a stud) for father, and Tony, the cowboy, and myself set to work to build pens to accommodate the poultry. there being three different breeds and several pens of each breed. Tom then returned to Gisborne to help move all this livestock, to which must be added a horse and buggy and two dogs. There were three dogs at Ormondville which took some time to become reconciled to the newcomers.

1.50

The Paris It

Father was a very happy man when he climbed out of tire tram one bright morning in early November, and stood in the sunshine, sniffing the clear air. He could now look fonvard, or so he thought, to a period of rest and time to pursue his hobbies and make more Utopian schemes for the improvement of his home and its surroundings. When the cases of books, china and pictures were safely landed, he had a very happy time deciding where their contents were to be put, pressing us all into the service. I think Aunt Barbara was happy, too, to have us back with her, and to be able to relinquish the housekeeping and concentrate on her orchard, formerly owned by old Michael Browne.

168

Chapter 19

There was no doubt as to father’s welcome, not only from his old neighbours and friends, but also from his successor, the Rev. T. J. Wills. They had always been friendly and now Mr. Wills, a very sick man, was most grateful for father’s help in preaching at some of the services, for he was finding it increasingly difficult to keep these going, even with the help of a very good lay reader, Mr. F. W. Quintrell. Father’s dieting and careful living had practically cured his diabetes, and he had regained much of his old cheerfulness. He was very glad to help in the Sunday work.

Soon after our settling down in the village, Mr. Wills consulted specialists, from whom he learned that he was not suffering from acute dyspepsia, as he had thought, but from an inoperable internal cancer. Early in January Mr. Wills died, after some weeks of extreme suffering and great weakness. After his death Bishop Williams, having no one whom he could put in charge of the parish, asked father if he would do so, on the understanding that this arrangement would cease if and when some other vicar could be found. Mr. Quintrell willingly gave his help. So began father’s second term of service in his first New Zealand parish. There was no responsibility towards the Scandinavians who had for some years had a resident pastor of their own, but, owing to the opening up of the two Waikopiro Blocks and the cutting up for closer settlement of several estates around Matamau, there was more ground

169

T li c Parish

to be covered, and more visiting to be done. There was a sawmill at Matamau which had opened since we went to Gisborne, and closer settlement about Norsewood.

Fadier no longer had his faithful mare to ride, but there were a couple of harness horses and I was always at hand to drive him. Services were held both morning and evening in the churches at Ormondville and Makotuku, once every Sunday at the school in Norsewood and at Whetukura and Matamau in the schools. Matamau was a long drive, as the Makotuku-Matamau road was not then opened. Father took three services every Sunday, the longest day being that on which we had morning service in Norsewood at eleven, and after dinner with some friends in that centre went on to Matamau for 3 p.m. Back to Makotuku for tea (usually with the Fribergs) and after sendee in the new church there, the beautiful original having been burned to the ground in a bush fire, we would reach home about 9 p.m. The kindly folk who fed us did not always realise that a very heavy, hot meal on such occasions was somewhat trying. One house in particular used to prepare an enormous hot meal on the hottest days.

We were also somewhat satiated by the well-known hymns chosen in each centre by the volunteer organists, often having to sing " O Happy Band of Pilgrims " at all three services on one Sunday and twice on the next. Some of these organists chose hymns with no regard to suitability of time or day, making us sing the communion hymn, " I am not Worthy ", as the last hymn on a winter afternoon, the verse, "Oh come in this sweet morning home", seeming most inappropriate. Another distraction to the mind at these schoolroom services were the pictures on the walls and partly obliterated sentences left on blackboards,

170

P i I g r i mage

such as, " If two men dig . . .", the rest blotted out by the cleaner's duster. Dig what ? a garden ? a ditch ? Or perhaps these queer phrases may have been written for a pupil to correct. My mind often rambled after the possible ending of these sentences.

It was my habit to sit at the back on the higher seat on the graded floor behind the flock. Once when a newly-wed couple were making their first appearance at church after the honeymoon, I saw a sinful baby in the seat immediately behind them, whose parents gave her a bunch of flowers to keep her quiet, dip the posy into the ink-well and plentifully sprav their new clothes, after which she swallowed the inky bunch. The young couple turned and glared reproachfully. The parents looked horrified, but the offending infant chortled with joy.

It was during this year that my sister Dora completed her four vears' training at Wellington Hospital. Mary had still another vear to serve. At this time the Government were calling for volunteer women teachers to go to Transvaal for work in the concentration camps in which Boer women with their children were cared for while their homes were being rebuilt. The idea appealed to her, and she was appointed the leader of this party, possibly because she was a nurse as well as a teacher and was a little older than most of the applicants. There were about twenty of them, and thev sailed from Wellington.

Tony had been offered his position in the bank again, but had no wish to return to office life. As a temporary occupation he was acting as “ slabber ” to a small mill near Papatu, walking to and from the mill along the railway fine over the lovely old curved trestle bridge. The usual “ slabber ” was taking a holiday, and the clearing of slabs

171

r/icPa r i s hj

was a continuous process to avoid congestion about the machinery. It seemed a wasteful thing to pile this wood on a small trolley, run it down a little branch line to the edge of the cliff, where the bump of the trolley hitting a stop beam shot the stack of slabs over the bank into the river below. Later, when the heap became too big, it was set on fire, and much good wood went up in smoke. Dodging housework, as usual, I used to rise and get Tony breakfast, and walk with him most of the way to the mill during those beautiful spring mornings. He was very restless and unable to settle back into civilian life. A volunteer rifle club had been formed under the leadership of Captain G. Forbes, with Messrs. F. B. Curd and W. Johnstone, schoolmasters at Ormondville and Makotuku respectively, as lieutenants, father as chaplain and Donald McGavin, M.D., as surgeon. Neither father nor Dr. McGavin accompanied them into camp at their rifle butts on Amundsen's farm. In this connection an amusing incident took place. Several of the volunteers had to work at their usual avocations on most days, coming into camp for the night. One of these, being detailed for sentrv work, got to bed with the others, and upon remonstrance said, " I have to have my night's rest to do my work properly ". So Colonel Newall, of Wellington, was summoned to hold a court-martial. Torn, coming home from the mill, saw a familiar figure on the road. The colonel also recognised one of his troop in Transvaal. " Where did I see you last, Tony ?" he asked. " Near Ermels, when I passed you sitting by the road, Sir." The good colonel, having settled the trouble at the camp, was on his wav to the village, but gladly came home with my brother to meet our parents. His two daughters were training in Wellington with our

172

P ilgri m age

elder sisters at the time. He was a most friendly old man, with many interesting stories to tell of his experiences in Transvaal and earlier days in the Maori War. We all greatly enjoyed his visit.

173

Chapter 20

Mother had a very much easier time after our return to Ormondville. She had no need to work in the Sunday School as Aunt Barbara was doing that very efficiently, nor to be organist that was Edith's job. Having three daughters at home, she was spared from the worries of housework, and the financial position of the family was sounder than ever before since the Bruce legacies had come. She did a good deal of parish visiting and organised a branch of the Mothers' Union. She looked after her own breed of fowls, Andalusians, which she claimed were more profitable than father's Black Hamburgs and light Brahmas, as indeed the)' were. She also worked in the garden.

It was a peaceful, happy life for a few months. Then fresh clouds began to gather round us. Tony, after his term as understudy to the mill slabber, got a job as local ranger under the Hawkes Bay Acclimatisation Society for a time, patrolling the rivers in search of poachers of trout, but he did not like the work very much, and the strange magnetism of Africa drew him back there. So it was that of father's nine children, only four remained in New Zealand during his last year on earth, and his health was failing again. He was able to carry on all the usual services, however, with the help of layreaders. He still kept up his friendship with some of the Scandinavian pioneers, notably with Mrs. Jorgan Schmidt in Makotuku, the Schaares Nikolaisons and old Mr. Larsen. He and I were much amused at an incident on one hot Sundav afternoon at

174

P i I g r i mage

Whetukura. The service was ended a little later than usual, when a man arrived and said he wanted his son baptised. The child was about eighteen months old, and when father asked if it would not do to wait till our next service, a fortnight later, when there would be a congregation, the father replied, " I mightn't be able to catch him. I've caught him now." So I was sent to Mr. King's house to borrow a basin of water, and we returned to the schoolroom, accompanied by members of the King family, and the child was duly baptised.

Mr. King was a helpful man. lie lent his harmonium for our services and often read the lessons. The services were well attended in all centres then and for man) years after. Father's absent-mindedness grew upon him in his later years. He had never been good at recognising faces, though he never forgot a voice. It is reported of him that on his return from Gisborne he shook hands warmly with a pretty young girl saying, "Now tell me who you are ? I seem to know your face." A very embarrassed girl replied. " I'm Jessie ". No one laughed more heartily than he, for she was an inmate of his house, the nice maid who came with them from Gisborne to help with the move. He was a friendly man always. Someone told me recentlv that on one of his visits to Ormondville he was on a crowded railway platform, waiting for the train to take him on his way back to Gisborne, when he saw some friend to whom he wished to speak, away at the other end. Fixing his eve on his friend, he extended his hand and clove his way through the crowd till he reached him, wrung his hand and hastily scrambled on to the moving train. This was typical of him. To make any list of his friends would be impossible. Their name was legion. He had a birthda)

175

T Ii c Parish

book in which he asked all and sundry to put their names ; then, in time to reach the individual on the actual day, a letter was written with a special word or two to fit the particular case. I believe many people took pleasure in receiving these remembrances on their birthdays.

During the winter of 1903 it became evident that father could not continue the care of the parish in his state of healtli. Bishop Williams could find no one to appoint in his place. He came up from Napier to see father, and possibly it was by his advice that Mr. Quintrell was engaged to do all the services, visiting, etc., being given the major share of the stipend to enable him to give his whole time to the work. Father took the celebrations of Hob' Communion. It so happened that there were no marriages at that time. This arrangement worked very well. Mr. Quintrell was a quiet, sympathetic man, and I think the people liked him. He was a very good preacher. Later he studied for Holy Orders at Bishopdale and when he was ordained worked in the Nelson diocese.

We could not have been more fortunate than we were with Dr. McGavin. Nothing could exceed his kindness and attention. He invited a specialist from Wellington to spend a week-end with him and brought him to see father. This surgeon, having made a careful examination, verified our own doctor's opinion that the diabetic condition had been completely overcome, but that cancer had developed. It was situated in the jaw and no operation was possible. The result of the consultation was a great shock to father, and to us all. It was so unexpected. He felt no shaqi pain, just the dull misery of a " grumbling" toothache, as our Stockingford friends would have called it. Being weakened by the illness of the past year or two, he sank

176

Pilgrimage

into an apathetic condition, brightened by visits and sympathetic letters from Gisborne friends. This condition was very mercifully short. Only about six weeks after he heard the verdict, he died on 19th October, 1903, and was laid to rest in the Ormondville Cemetery two days later.

It was a very largely attended funeral on a clear, sunny afternoon. A number of the clergy from Napier and other parts of the diocese came together, of whom I remember Dean Hovell, Canon Tuke, the Revs. J. C. Eccles, E. Robertshawe and O. Dean. The clergy were pall-bearers from the house to the church, from which the rifle club bearers carried their chaplain to the cemetery. It was a long procession, as the Members of the Independent Order of Rechabites attended in regalia and read their special service at the graveside at the conclusion of the church service. Father's own regalia, the scarlet and white watered silk sash of a Past Chief Ruler, was buried with him by mother's wish. A firing party fired a volley after the Last Post had been sounded, and we learned later, caused their captain great anxiety as, having been unable to obtain blank cartridges thev used live shells, and being unaccustomed to shoot into the air there was strong risk of accident.

We were happy and proud that the love and respect in which father was held should be amply demonstrated, and that he should be so truly mourned.

But of all these sad memories, I like best to recall that dark October evening two days before the end, when old Gustav Larsen limped down the stony road from his home and knocked at our door, saying that he had come to ask for the pastor’s blessing. Father was barely conscious when I led the old man, who would take no denial, to his bedside. Old Gustav threw down his hat and, dropping his stick,

177

The Parish

knelt, sobbing, by the bedside. Father roused a little, laid his hand on the old man’s head and blessed him, the last act of his earthly ministry, and the seal of the love and friendship between himself and the Scandinavian pioneers among whom he had lived so happily, and whom he had served together with his own parishioners.

It was a fitting end to the pilgrimage.

178

Please return this item to:

Document Supply Services

National Library of New Zealand PO Box 1467

Wellington

Supplied at no charge from the collections of the National Library of New Zealand.