PIONEER'S LIFE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 37, 13 February 1934, Page 9

PIONEER'S LIFE.

MANY OCCUPATIONS. MR. HASWELL, OF NIT. ALBERT. 78 YEARS IN NEW ZEALAND. A saddler's apprentice, carpcnter, shipwright, millwright, jailor, boat and bridge builder, ship owner, miner, stevedore and machinery expert, Mr. William Henry Munro Haswell, of St. Luke s Road, Mount Albert, now in his 85th year, has had some notable experiences in New Zealand. Coming to the Dominion with his parents as a boy of six from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, in the ship Gertrude in 1850, Mr. Haswell took his 11 rest step as a wage-earner by becoming a chemists's message boy, but when the first Maori War threatened and embryo Auckland was much disturbed by rumours of invasion, his parents, apparently to curb in some degree an excessively adventurous spirit, had him apprenticed to the saddlery and harness trade with Messrs. O'Connor and Harding, who had received the contract for making and repairing for the militia. With the town under military law and bis work requiring him to ride as far as Rangiriri, to bring back saddles from the encampment to wagons waiting on the main road, there was plenty of action for the lad, but he disliked the tedium of the indoor work and soon "kicked over the traccs" again. Before the Mast. The sea called him, and as the sharpfeatured veteran of to-day leaned forward on his walking-stick he unconsciously showed by increased ardour the deep impress left upon his character by his life before the mast. "As a boy in my 'teens," he said, "ofT I wont in the top sail brigantine Kenilworth, as a sailor to Noumea (New Caledonia), where I worked ashore for a while. Then I shipped in the cutter Woodstock (Captain McLcod) on a cruise of the islands to get labour. We called at Lifu (Loyalty Island) and Tanna (New Hebrides), where I climbed to the top of that burning mountain, and to other South Sea islands. W 7 e got over 20 natives, who were brought with powder, shot, clothes and oilier things from chiefs, whose custom seemed to be to get up regular rows with each other so that they could sell their prisoners to the traders. At Fortuna once we weie followed from the harbour _by five canoes filled with armed warriors, who obviously disputed the rights of our 'cargo.' When it looked as though the game was up for us, a good breeze suddenly sprang in our favour. The skipper then swung the vessel round and ran down the nearest canoe, so the others were left with so much to do saving their comrades in distress that they dropped the pursuit. I often have wondered how we would have fared in the hands of these savages." Returning home Mr. Haswell engaged in carpentry and shipwright work. At Aratapu he was employed by a Mr. Sharp. Re mentioned mat he made all the spars for the well-known schooner Huia. "Mr. Barber was her builder," he said. "There was a little accident over that job. W : hen I was making the main boom the men told me that they intended to use it and the foremast as a derrick to hoist the other mast. So I hurried to put jaws on the main boom, so that the men could take a turn round the jaws to prevent the lashing slipping. Well, thev did not use the lashing and the result was that the mainyard broke in two and I had to remake it." With a brother-in-law. Mr. Mclnnes, Mr. Haswell in 1875 built the schooner Mangawai, which was sailed for trade by them from Auckland to Napier and as far south as Lyttelton. On one trip Mr. Haswell considers he was lucky in not being washed, off the boom and drowned. He became foreman for Messrs. Suther-

land and Smith, contractors for the building of the first Onehunga bridge, and he built the first railway station platform at Auckland —the old station at Fort Britomart. He came from Taranaki to Auckland for the visit of the Duke of Edinburgh. Work on Goldfields. "When the Thames mining- boom broke out," he recalled, "I was prompt 1 / on the move to the goldfields. I sailed down in the yacht of Mills brothers (twins), and was one of the first on the field. For a start I was a go>xl deal underground, but gradually found that I could do well in connection with putting up mining plant at the Bi'ightsmile Company's claim, of which Mr. Adams was manager for many years. Then later, as foreman for Chambers and Sons, for whom Mr. Sam Gordon wafe supervisor, I went to Coroniandel and spent quite a time carrying out machinery installations." With the decline of mining, Mr. Harwell was engaged in bridge building by such well-known contractors as Messrs. McLean, Uren and others. Just prior to his retirement, 20 years ago, Mr. Haswell erected machinery foi a company at Parenga, in the Far North, and later installed a small gum plant at Houhora for Mr. Mcßea. Six Soldier Sons. Mr. Haswell married, when 2(5 years of age, Miss Elizabeth Lang, daughter of Mr. Win. Lang, of "The Cove," Waipu, who also was from Nova Scotia (therefore also one of the "blue noses"), and had been a miner at Ballarat and Bendigo. His wife also is halo and hearty. They had 12 children, including six daughters, one of whom died after marriage. Their six sons cerved| in the Great War. Hugh Gordon, Drummond and Harry were witji the Auck land Mounted Division. The firstmentioned was killed in Palestine, and the other two served in Egypt and Gallipoli. Sergeant Wm. Drummond Haswell was with the artillery. Three years ago he met with an accident, which proved fatal. John Haswell was in the Navy, and is believed to have lost his life in a vessel that was mined. The youngest son, Bert, who saw active service at 19 years of age in France, is with his parents. The daughters are Mrs. W. J.' Hammill (Mount Eden), Mrs. C. Vahry (Mount Albert), Mrs. C. Maguire (Sydney), and the youngest Mrs. H. Preston (Takapuna). A Claim in Chancery. Recently Mr. Haswell has made a claim on behalf of his family for an estate in Chancery, amounting to about £2,000,000. His grandfather was a titled master gunner in the Navy at Caithness. Noticing that the British Government had intimated its intention to revive the title, and lie being the only member of his father's family ir; ' line living, Mr. Haswell considered it his duty to lodge a claim.