FEATHERSTON

Press, Volume XCV, Issue 28222, 9 March 1957, Page 3

FEATHERSTON

Gateway to the Wairarapa. The Story of the Tribulations and Triumphs of the Settlement of Featherston. 1857-1957. By C. J. Carle. Featherston Borough Council. 167 pp.

Originally, the township of Featherston was known as Burlings after Mr Henry Burling, the pioneer settler who took up land here in 1846. This grand old man died at Waikanae in September, 1911. at the age of 110 years, and he has over 600 descendants. In 1853, the main land purchases from the Maoris in the -district v.ere made by Sir Donald McLean, and in 1856 the site of the township of Featherston was surveyed by the colourful Captain William Mein Smith. The new settlement was named after Dr. Earl Featherston. Superintendent and the main streets commemorate the names of other members of the Wellington Provincial Coun cil: Fox. Wakefield. Fitzherbert, Bell. Re vans, Brandon. Johnston among them, with Clifford square in the centre. The first auction sale of sections was held on January 31, 1857, and although this sale raised the sum of only £157, many new settlers arrived in the district later in the same year. Thus it is that Featherston is now celebrating its centenary. The occasion has been marked by the production of this excellent little history, beautifully printed on art paper, strongly bound and well illustrated with maps and many interesting photographs. Those who may be lucky enough to secure a copy will treasure this book for its own sake. In a few years’ time it will most certainly become a collector's piece, for herein are many valuable sidelights on the history of the south Wairarapa district, the product of diligent research: the early Maoris, the story of parly exploration, pictures of such early celebrities as Bidwill of Pihautea and Matthews of Waiorongomai, as well as interesting

accounts of the building of road and railway across the Rimutakas and of the Featherston Military Camps, so well remembered by veterans of the two world wars. Especially interesting are the reminiscences of the prisoner-of-war camp and of the riot on February 25. 1943, when 40 Japanese were killed and eight mortally, wounded (one New Zealand guard was killed and an officer and five men wounded). At the time security precautions made it necessary to draw a veil of secrecy over this incident, but here we have the full story. Local histories usually suffer from a surfeit of lists of names of local identities, and these records can be very boring unless the author handles them with skill so that they fall naturally into the pattern of the history as a whole. In this book the local reader will indeed be satisfied to find the names of all the important people of his district; but the general reader and the student interested in the wider significance of local history will also find this book quite lively and entertaining, as well as valuable for the insight it gives into the background of a flourishing town and district. After reading this record those who have not yet visited southern Wairarapa will certainly wish to do so as soon as possible.

The Poetical Works of John Keats. Edited by H. W. Garrod. Oxford University Press. 477 pp. This is an entirely new edition of Keats’s poems, replacing that by H. Buxton Forman which previously figured in the Oxford Standard Authors series. The critical apparatus is mostly new. and one fragment of verse. “Gripus.” has been added to the edition. The volume is printed and bound with the usual distinction that marks the series.