WAIMATE ONE HUNDRED YEARS OLD ON SUNDAY

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27403, 16 July 1954, Page 8

WAIMATE ONE HUNDRED YEARS OLD ON SUNDAY

One day in July, 1854, two bearded men, one on a horse, the other riding on a dray drawn by a long column of bullocks, set out from the embryo town of Christchurch on a 130-mile trek through the trackless wilds of Canterbury. On Tuesday, July 18, the small procession stopped and set up a camp which was to grow into today’s modern, prosperous Waimate, a town of 3000 residents. But it is doubtful whether Michael Studholme, who was to become the owner of Te Waimate station, and his bullock driver, Saul Shrives, were concerned at that time with the advances civilisation was to make in the next century. Like his two brothers, John and Paul, Mr Studholme was more concerned with obtaining and farming large areas of land. When the expedition to Waimate was made the Studholme brothers were already among New Zealand’s largest land-owners. During their lives they controlled nearly 1,000,000 acres in blocks between Morrinsville and Southland. Te Waimate itself was of 98,000 acres, carrying 65,000 sheep and 2500 cattle. The first house at Waimate was “The Cuddy,” a rough hut of totara slabs and clay, thatched with snowgrass and, later, with rushes. It is still standing near the present station homestead, its narrow doorway overgrown with creeper. Michael Studholme’s first duty on the morning after his arrival was to visit the Maori pa about half a mile away from his camp. There he met the chief Te Uru Uru and made an agreement with him to observe the boundaries set up, and not to interfere with the workings of the Maori settlement.

Township Established Waimate township traces its beginnings to 1859, when the Canterbury Provincial Council reserved 640 acres as residential land. The present borough covers 771 acres.

The site chosen was two miles from Te Waimate homestead, near a 2000acre spread of bush. The township was laid out in 1863 by J. S. Hewlings and E. P. Sealy, Canterbury provincial surveyors, and within a year more than 300 settlers had arrived. The large area of bush, a rare item in South Canterbury, attracted many of them, and for a time sawmilling was the main industry of the town. Commerce came upon the scene in 1863 when Saul Shrives, Mr Studholme’s illiterate but efficient bullockdriver, gave up the whip for the complications of the town’s first store. Although he could neither read nor write, the capable Mr Shrives evolved a successful system of bookkeeping in which each customer was known by a special sign, and purchases were recorded against them by the simple process of making a rough sketch of the article. Heartened by his example. Messrs Manchester and Goldsmith opened another shop soon after. A hotel made its appearance, to be followed by a bootmaker, blacksmith, baker, butcher, and all the other tradesmen necessary in the life of the community.

Some excellent examples of commercial enterprise were to be found even in those early days. Dan Brown, the butcher, heard that an elephant owned by a travelling circus had eaten tutu and died; he salvaged the trunk and offered it for sale in his shop, thps becoming probably the only man in New Zealand to include elephant meat among his goods for sale to the public. Historians of the time do not say that the venture was a success; the public of Waimate has never since had a chance to express an opinion.

First Brewery Fails Transport was difficult and, to supply me needs of the Waimate hotel, a brewery was set up by a man called Derrick. Apparently more consideration was given to the probable profits from such a venture than to the design and construction of the brewery itself, and the business did not last very long. Some individuals in odd years operated illegal stills, but they were found out and discouraged. In 1862. the first flour mill was built by George Buchanan on his 200-acre farm at Willowbridge. Later the Studholmes bought out Mr Buchanan and. for a time, continued to operate the mill.

The first church was the W.esleyai Church of St. Paul, which was foundec in 1866. By 1872, the foundation ston< of St. Augustine’s Anglican Churci was laid on land given by Mr Michae Studholme.

Mail was delivered to Te Waimat. homestead from 1858 by a man calle< Baines, who had worked as cook fo Mr Studholme. There were no roads and he covered his route between Christchurch and the Waitaki on horseback. The homestead was the town’s post office until Mr J. Manchester was appointed postmaster in 1864. By this time Mr Baines had exEanded his business, taking in Mr H. I Manning as a partner, and establishing a line of Royal Mail waggons. These vehicles became the first coaches. Gradually, as lhe population

grew and roads were improved, the coaching service also improved. Messrs Baines and Manning continued with it until 1864, when Cobb and Company took over until the railway was opened in 1873. Great Flood of 1868 Waimate’s early days included a fair share of disasters. In 1868, the worst flood since Europeans came to the district, occurred. Vast expanses of water lay feet down from Willowbridge to the sea, and from Studholme Junction, to the sea. The Waihao river rose over its banks into surrounding cropland. Stocks of barley, wheat and oats were carried away, and all lodged in one paddock, to which the farmers went, each to claim his own grain, to carry it back to his farm, and to dry it out. The Government granted £2OOO to repair flood damage to the roads, and the debris was finally cleaned away. Another disaster occurred in 1928, and although only one house was burned to the ground, a sadness was cast over the whole district. The house was the original Te Waimate homestead, which represented to the people of the district the spirit and tradition of the early settlers. The Waimate bush, of great beauty and considered one of the finest sources of milling timber in New Zealand, was almost totally destroyed in a raging fire in the spring of 1878. A high north-west wind on the morning of November 15, fanned to a blaze some smouldering heaps of sawdust; the flames spread to nearby patches of bush, and soon the whole 2000-acre block was burning fiercely. Mr Michael Studholme drove out in his buggy to see what could be done, but was blown over on the road by the force of the wind. For eight days the fire continued, and miles of country were enveloped in dense smoke. On the first after-

noon five sawmills and about 70 cottages were razed, without loss of life. After the fire, only about 25 acres, known as Point Bush. and a small area known as Kelcy’s Bush were left. First Woman Doctor Even in medical history Waimate has a claim to fame. It was there, in 1897, that Dr. Margaret Barnett Cruickshank, the first woman in New Zealand to enter medical practice, began her work. She was born in Palmerston, Otago, and was educated there, then at the Otago Girls’ High School, and Otago University, and she entered practice in Waimate with Dr. H. C. Barclay. She died on November 28. 1918.

In this present era of high- prices for primary produce, when butchers’ sheep sell for more than £4 a head, steers for £56, and wool at Bs, 10s and up to £1 per lb, it is interesting to recall scales of values during Waimate’s early history. During the gold rush on the West! Coast, fat cattle were sent across the Otira gorge to feed prospectors. Prices fluctuated violently. Sometimes the price was £6 a head, sometimes as high as £2O. Much money was made, and lost, by dealers in this business. Fat lambs sold for Ils 6d each, store lambs at 9s 9d to 10s sd. Two-tooth Merino ewes and wethers realised about 10s to 12s, and half-bred ewes 13s 6d to 16s or so. Wages were on a similar scale. During the harvest in 1880, farm workers were paid 9d an hour and found. Potato diggers received 8d a sack: musterers £2 a week; and shepherds £5O to £75 a year. Some of these workers saved hard—anything up to £5O a year—took up land of their own. and became wealthy.

Pigs, rabbits, hares, and various species of fish have, through the years, been introduced in the Waimate district. The destruction wrought by rabbits is well known. Less well known, but just as destructive, the wallaby is now numbered among the pests of the area. Mr Michael Studholme bought or obtained two does and a buck from Captain Thomson, who kept numbers of them in the Christchurch Gardens, and released them near Te Waimate homestead in 1874. They multiplied remarkably, and their descendants are now to be found in their thousands in a large area extending over the Hunter Hills behind Waimate. r Modem Market Town Modern Waimate lost a certain amount of its activity when the main south highway was moved away from it, but it is, nevertheless, a prosperous market town serving a rich farming area.

The district is also important to the rest of New Zealand, and Canterbury in particular, for its production of raspberries and strawberries, potatoes, and early green peas. Tulips grown on a farm nearby are sent to places all over New Zealand and Australia. Sheep and cattle are to be found in large numbers, and there is a dairy factory in the borough. Other industries include a bacon and ham processing factory, and a brickworks. ■ The name Waimate is a contraction of the Maori word Waimatemate. which means “slowly-moving waters.” Another, more mundane translation used is “stagnant waters.”