KATIKATI.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 230, 28 September 1935, Page 8 (Supplement)

KATIKATI.

SIXTY YEARS OLD. STORY or THE SETTLEMENT.

PILGRIM FATHERS FROM ULSTER. (By A. J. GRAY.) T 1. Sixty years ago this month the settlement of Katikati in the Bay of Plenty was founded by a body of countrymen from the North of Ireland. This colony of Ulstermen was almost the I.7st of those special settlements which have enriched.the history of New Zealand colonisation. In them the romance of emigration reached its highest point. The emigrant ship, with Ler gleaming sails and her cargo of stout adventurers, was' always a sight to thrill the heart: but how much greater was her appeal when.she carried not a mere conglomeration of strangers, but a body of people united by ties of race, kinship or religion, who had resolved to form a new community in some distant land, where they might preserve their old traditions in a new setting? The story of the Pilgrim Fathers has had its counterpart a score of times in New Zealand history. Katikati is in the line of a line and honourable tradition: and it has preserved its individuality to a degree that is rare amid the swift changes of colonial life. Until a few years ago the Irish families who came out in the Carisbrooke Castle and the Lady Jocelyn formed the bulk of tho population, and even now, after the passage of sixty years, at least one-third of the original settlers are represented by descendants in the district. Charm of the Site.

Set down in an angle between the mountains and the sea, Katikati owes much of its charm to both. As the traveller emerges from the barren Waihi Gorge at -Atlienree ho conies suddenly upon a scene of surpassing beauty. Directly in front of him the waters of Tauranga Harbour sparkle in the sunshine, and beyond stand the twin domesof the Katikati Heads and the blue sea stretching to the wooded peaks of Mayor Island. Across the month of the harbour lies the long barrier island of Matakana, its. crystal beaches washed by the warm waters of the Pacific Ocean. Atlienree is a delightful spot with its white-shelled roads, its cool pine trees and its green meadows running down to the water's edge. Here the hills stand close to the sea and the view is restricted: but as one nears the Tuapiro River the vista widens. Four miles away the red roofs of the township show out among the trees, and beyond, in tho broad shadow of Taninliineroa, lie the fertile fields and orcliards of Aongatete.

Vesey Stewart, the Colony-maker. The history of the Katikati settlement is closely bound up with the life story of its founder, George Vesey Stewart. This remarkable man, born on October 3, 1832, was tho son of Captain Mcrvyn Stewart, of Martray, County Tyrone, and a member of a distinguished Ulster family. After a brilliant career at Trinity College, Dublin, ho settled down as a country squiro and estate agent, but his interests were many and various. He longed to make his mark in public life, for which his abilities well fitted him, for he had the imagination to envisage great schemes and the driving power to carry them through. His adventurous spirit responded eagerly to the call of emigration and he gradually evolved in his mind the conception of a special settlement of Ulstermen in New Zealand, in which ho should rule in the patriarchal fashion of a Highland chief. He proposed to draw his settlers from two sources, the country gentlemen of his own class and the tenant farmers of Ulster. The first would contribute the capital and provide a congenial social atmosphere, the second would do the fanning. But he expected even these to become farm owners rather than farm labourers and wisely insisted that all should bring some capital with them: "At least live pounds per acre in tho case of those employing labour, and three pounds for the practical farmer, tho other two pounds representing his bone and muscle." A Careful Selection.

Those were tho spacious days of the Vogel development policy, and Vesey Stewart had no difficulty in securing the approval of the New Zealand Government. In November, 1873, he came out to New Zealand to select his land, and for four months travelled the length and breadth of tho colony. At length his peregrinations brought him to the pleasant little township of Tauranga, where his attention was directed to a block of land at Katikati, on the northwestern shore of Tauranga harbour, which had been confiscated from the Maoris during the wars. This seemed to meet his requirements admirably; and after much difficulty and obstruction, he succeeded in obtaining a grant of 10,000 acres. This was to be given free to the settlers; 40 acres to each member of tho party over 18, with an additional 20 acres in respect of each child between 12 and 18, provided that no household might occupy more than 300 acres. Vesey. Stewart, as leader of the party, was to receive a grant of 500 acres, with 40 acres on account of his wife and each of his children.

Well pleased with his success, Vesey Stewart returned to Ireland, and proceeded to select his settlers. He so far modified his original plan as to compose his first party almost entirely of Ulster tenant farmers; these were to break the ground for the well-to-do eettlers, most of whom were to follow in a year or two with a second party. THe First Party. • The Government of New Zealand provided two fine sailing ships to convey the Irish immigrants to the new country; the Carisbrooke Castle (1400 tons) and the Dover Castle (1000 tons). The latter left Belfast Lougli on June (!, 1875, with a hotly of free emigrants; the Carisbrooke Castle, reserved for members of the special settlement party, together with a few miscellaneous | emigrants, sailed on June 8. She carried 238 Katikati settlers and 125 Government' immigrants. Of the 34 families who formed the nucleus of the special settlement party, 28 actually took up land in Katikati. Many of the pioneers were men of exceptional character and ability, and deserve more than a passing reference. Next in general estimation to the leader stood the Rev. W. E. .Mulgan, an able, broadminded, genial man, whose services were much in demand as an arbiter in the early days of the settlement. Another clergyman accompanied the party, the Rev. John Crossley, who died soon after his arrival. Other prominent figures were Fitzgibbon Loueli and Hugh Nesbit Lattimer, two civil engineers; Thomas H. Fletcher, a doctor or' chemist; and Stephen Goss, an experienced Devonshire farmer. Most 'conspicuous among the tenant farmers were Alexander Turner and Noble Johnstone, who embodied the sturdy virtues of old Ulster; and other heads of

families, who deserve mention on account of their long connection with the settlement were William Andrews, Thomas Leech, Stewart Rea, Arthur Stuart, Thomas Dunne, William Preston, Richard Roorke, And l'ew and John Wilson, John and William James Mulgrew. The Carisbrooke Castle dropped anchor in Auckland harbour oil September 8, the Dover Castle having arrived a fortnight earlier. The arrival of the special settlers was regarded as the event of the week in Auckland; they marched in procession through the city, witli a band in attendance, and were entertained by the Mayor and citizens at a banquet in the Choral Hall. A few days later they were taken to Tauranga in the steamers liowena and Pretty Jane; and as they steamed up the harbour in the warm sunshine of a spring morning, the Armstrong guns in the Monmouth Redoubt thundered out a salute, and Europeans and Maori together crowded down to the wharf to welcome them.