Trent’s Chicory Farm At Templeton

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31902, 1 February 1969, Page 5

Trent’s Chicory Farm At Templeton

(Specially written for “The Press” by

A. C. LOACH)

In 1862, the first settlers moved out of the tvvelve-year«old town of Christchurch by dray, by waggon or on foot, into that part of the “dreary”] Canterbury plain then known as The Waterholes (Ruapuna to the Maori',’ but now named Templeton.

At least two of the homes these pioneers built are still habitable while another, a mere 95 years old, is in the hands of the wreckers.

On that site, in a grove of 100-year-old trees in the centre of a 50-acre farm, a local doctor will build a home for his family, well sheltered from wind or storm. This is a far cry from that day in 1871 when a reporter who had visited this place wrote: “The country in this part of the province has a most bleak appearance, and displays less signs of civilisation than any other place within such a short distance from the city.” Here, nine and a half miles from town by road and waggon track and on the descriptively named Prebbletown and Waimakariri Road, Edwin William Trent purchased 150 acres of land for £712, between March and October, 1366, to grow the chicory to blend with the coffee roasted and ground in his “town manufactory.” Landed At Nelson About 1860 this 21-year-old eldest son of Edwin W'ard Trent—the proprietor of af hemp factory near London—appears to have landed in Nelson where he set up “a steam coffee mill.” The first definite news we have is ■ when Alfred Holland advertised in “The Press” of May 4. 1863, that he had sold his ] grocery business on Papanui: Road to Trent, who in turn, intimated that he intended i adding “hardware and gen-: eral furnishings.” Within 11 weeks, on July 18, the “Lyttelton Times” reported that Trent had established the first “stean coffee mill: in Canterbury”- which could: grind half a ton a day, but] could not meet the demand] for the coffee which sold in] 11b, 21b and 31b tins labelled "Trent’s Steam Coffee Mill, Papanui Road.” The mill and shop were ] just to the north of Papanui Bridge. (To resolve any confusion, this is where a firm ] of furnishers now trades atnumber 17 Victoria Street). Later the mill must have] been shifted to “a somewhat I confined space in Cambridge] Terrace” until February 6,' 1871, when the “Lyttelton! Times” reported that the{ coffee and chicory, roasting! and grinding were now to be, conducted in “commodious! new premises erected ini Papanui Road.” This was on 1 the site of the earlier factory cum grocery shop. j Chictory Profitable Out at Templeton, on what was now called Trent’s Road, the farm had increased to 200 acres and had yielded four crops of chicory the best of which had returned 100 tons of kiln-dried root from 75 acres. The production of chicory, worth £5O a ton for export to other provinces, proved so profitable that: Edwin Trent was soon to i devote himself entirely to the ] farm where sheep, cattle and i pigs were also raised. In 1869, Edwin, now 30, hadj been joined by his 18-year-old brother James. In 1872, ■ another brother, 30-year-old ] Frederick, came into the | business. From October 1, of this year Trent leased the town factory to his brother who were now in co-partner-ship under the style of “Trent Brothers.” The lease was for 21 years at £3OO a year. On the farm the factoryconsisted of a two-storey buildings of wood and iron, 56ft by 72ft; two kilns, each 24ft square inside; a root house, 48ft by 25ft; a

machine-room and a warehouse, 60ft by 25ft, all connected with each other. There was also a two storey chaffhouse and an office measuring lift by 14ft Nearby was k manager’s house and a bunkhouse for workmen.

At 4 a.m. on Wednesday, June 18, 1873, the chaffhouse, i filled with oatsheaves, was I found to be on fire. The workmen, with buckets of water I drawn from a 3000 gallon [reserve supply, tried to put : the fire out, but with no ; effect. Meanwhile, a messenger 'had been sent to Christi church, presumably by horseI drawn vehicle, to inform the fire brigade superintendent !in Chester Street “who at once proceeded to Mr Trent’s private residence (in Worcester Street, near Fitzgerald Avenue) and volunteered to send an engine (horse-drawn steamer) if there was a sufficient supply of water on the premises.” Trent said there was not and he and the fire chief “then proceeded to the scene of conflagration” nearly 10 miles away. At 10 a.m. an inspector of ] police “and a body of constables arrived on the spot and rendered valuable aid” ! in salvaging chicory from the ] smouldering ruins. The man from “The Press” stated that there was no in- ] surance on the warehouse, | chaffhouse, machine-room, office, the old kiln and part of the new kiln which was destroyed. Trent’s losses have been estimated at £5OOO, a small fortune in those days. The factory was rebuilt imI mediately, this time in brick. Next year, 1874. Trent, then a 35-year-old bachelor, married Mary Ellen Duckmanton, a spinster of 43. This could be the time when Edwin built himself the eightroomed two-storey home complete with an observation tower from which he could supervise his workers in the fields in comfort The far boundary of one paddock was nearly a mile away and this is where a telescope was handy.

Chicory, a plant with a carrot-like root, called I for intense cultivation, as a “Lyttelton Times” man of 11871 put it: “When the young plants come up the nicest care is required in keeping them free from weeds, partly by horse labour and partly i by hand.” The roots were I dug out by men in May gathered into baskets by boys and then tipped into drays. After one crop a paddock was “laid down in prairie grass and depastured by cattle.” At the kilns, the roots were washed then cut ito the size of a radish and dried on floors of perforated tiles through which heated air was passed. Chicory itself appears to add nothing but bulk to coffee. Just how long Edwin Trent and his wife remained on the farm is uncertain but by March 1, 1881, he was back in town for on that day he auctioned all the furnishings of his home at 2 Fairfield Terrace, Worcester Street east, wherever that was. This was just before his departure for London where, in May of the following year, he watched the arrival of the first frozen meat from this country aboard the sailing ship Dunedin and wrote a long and enthusiastic letter to the “Lyttelton Times.” In 1883 he was back in Christchurch, a very sick man, and died at his residence in Worcester Street on March 19. The death notices in the newspapers of those days seldom mentioned the time and place of burial. His grave was found in the Barbadoes Street cemetery with this inscription on the headstone: “In memory of Edwin William Trent. Born April 14, 1839. Died March 19, 1883.” To his widow he left twothirds of his £lB,OOO estate and one-third to a spinster sister in England. Farm Leased At this time the Templeton farm had increased in size to 671 acres an area into which Hagley Park, the Botanic Gardens, and the Christ’s College and Hospital grounds would have fitted with 162 acres to spare. In March, 1896, Mary Ellen Trent leased the farm to William Bailey, a Templeton farmer. An old photograph of the Christchurch Hunt Club hounds shows that sometime about then Arthur Lyon, master of the hunt, was in residence in the big house. It could have been the hunt headquarters which are known to have been in the Templeton area. William Bailey purchased the property from Mary Ellen White in December, 1907, for

£BO5O (Mrs Trent had remarried at 77). Six months later Bailey sold to the Cunneen brothers; Thomas, George, James and Edward for £10,050. In September, 1920, the brothers sold 446 acres to the Crown for £13,375 for soldier settlement. Ten years later a Government inspector reported that the tenants could not exist without taking outside work. Before the lease of the Victoria Street property expired Trent Bros built a factory in Durham Street so Mrs Trent sold the old factory site in August, 1891. There is now a further inscription on that headstone in the cemetery it reads: “Mary Ellen White, relict of Edwin William Trent. Died September 22, 1917. Aged 86 years.”