WAIPAWA.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1031, 21 January 1911, Page 15

WAIPAWA.

A PROSPEROUS COMMUNITY. , (SOMETHING ABOUT ITS EARLY - ' ■' DAYS. The town of Waipawa was first settled tbout fifty years ago, : amongst tho first pioneers-being Messrs. W. Rathbone, E. Bibby, J. Britten, Abbott, B. M'Greovy, Collins, Cowper, I?osc, Liddie, M. Flynn, and Avison. The meaning of the namo Waipawa is smoky or' steaming' water." It is the chief town in . WaipaSva countyi and is situated on the Waipawa River. It possesses fine undulating land of firstclass quality,. and has some-very linebuildings. Tho following interesting particulars of the . early 'days of the placo have been kindly supplied.by Mr. E. Bibby, a son of'one of the'first pioneers, and'a business resident of the-town. , . . In the old days, ,hi id- Mr. Bibby, Waipawa was laid off By Mr. Abbott,- of Abbotsford.' in the centra of. iEomo groat. sheep runs, which' abutted on tho:. settlementand . amongst the owners of. these properties were Messrs. Jbhn Raiding - and .Copper,"of Mount; Vernon, Mr. D. Gollali/ot Mangatarata, Mr: Henrv 'Eus'celh" ; of Mount .Herbert, Mr.'Carlj'ori, of ,Gwav.is;'' and .Messrs. M-'Hardv-"\Grant;M ? aiVninv lnglis, Rairri, Tifliri, Duncan; itind - Colonel -Herriek. Tho count'yy.!ivas; "prptty. well ■ filled with Mioris, amongst., w'boni.".'was Hapuka. He was principal.chiefs, and had' Hauha'uV'tendencies;..'but'be ; was. kept in good. hur6bur;with. presents: of -blankets and) other -thingsvby tho. New Zealand ofSe-ipls " looking' after .the 'district.-' "

Amongst'; the: notable men who; -were' 'often"in tho.place.Wero' the Rev.-Sam-uel: WilliamSjJof. Te 'Ante/' and''the; Rev.', William p Co'lii'nso,: who ..printed tbo-iirst book published.in.N'ew'Zeaalndm 1535, and who lijd'. a 'lon£ and'distinguished career, which ended in his "death m 1899' at. tho' age' of';eighty-ei£ht' years'.The rev. gentleman;' is' credited. with, beirig'.thc iiirst; man to, 'bring a • horse into Haivkefs'. Ifay. The' first doctor. in Waipawa was'- Dr.' Veriri,'- who was -foliow«l ;by : DrS. Todd arid "English.'. Mr.. Thomas Henry Fitzgerald/ t-ho'- first superintendent of ; Hawke's 'Bay, opened the first shop in? the town, in which a Frenchman named Du Noyes was placed in charge. It wr.s this-business winch Mr. W. Uathbone subsequently \ took over;and:conducted.with success for a greit mainy"years'.. '

. ' The first sheep brought into the district; were imported: from the Wairatapa, -by Mr.' Tiffin. • Mr. Nelson, u'ho resided at Kereru;; was the. first man to' experiment'with .bush' sections for farming purposes in the district. ■ There was at t-he ..time a good-deal of bush in and sround Waipawaj aiid in-fact the forest joined the Seventy Mile Bush, which in turii connected . the- Forty ■ :' Mile Bush into Jla-stertonvV Most of the land which 'was taken up by pion-' .eers-in-Hawke-s Bay was-largely free from bush; .and itwasthought that .the : forest.lands. were-.unproductive cscopt . for' timber purposes. - .The experiments .o£ Mr..'Nelson;.wore'.-watched with; : a. great dear of interest. Tlicy.wore'found to' be "periectly successful, and amongst! those\vlio;fqHowed in 'Mr. Nelson's root-, steps ..were. Messrs. F! Morrison; S! Fletcher, -and Captain Hamilton'.' The latgentleiiian, who came of a .distinguished, was the first wiijte mall to' take up farming in the ; Seventy Mile^jjush,his-property at:,MangatoVo. lyiiVg'stimo tan iililes.'from ishing.town of Dannevirke.. - The first: school .wa,i'opened 111 1864,' ,and. the ' following . settlers ;, from Waipawai and!.' Kaikbura' North" guaranteed pupilsßibby, 1; .' 1; M Grecvy,' 1; Hariilin,. 2; Mrs. Smith, 1; Liddle,. 2; Rose, 1; M'Dormott, 2; AVatts, 1; Avison, •!; Devcreux, 2. Of these parents the only ones who survive ar<v Mr;. M'Greevy, who lives in Wai-pawa-;.Mrb. Smith and Mr. Watts, who' residev t in ' Kaikour.i, Niirtli. The first schoolmaster was Mr.. Godwin, and he was followed by Messrs.' Drower and Arrow'. ■ ,' .-Ji

Mr'.'.Dillon, M.l?.') was,also assceiated. with Waipawa's early history. He and' Messrs. Knight,, Limpus,. and Witheroiv uscS to .carry' goods 'to and fro, from; Napisr. : Jir. Limpus cut the first .boards that- were, used for Du Noye's store. That .would, be about- IBOS. Other settlers in the district'were Messrs. 0; Clark, J. .Collins, :A. Logan, and Hartshorn.'Mr. "Hartshorn, who was iiie'first maii to drive a;team of horses into. Napier,-.laid-off'.the first telegraph line, Napier 'and; Waipawa in; the early .'sixties. ' It was Messrs. Hartshorn, .Watts, Knight, and M'Greevy who purchased sections from Mr. Tiffin's estate, the first to be cut up in the district. .;.; , . ; . V

When'the place, was constituted a road district Mr. G. Bibbv was tho first -chairman .of- the Road Board, and he Tvas aWo secretary and.engineer.: Later he was. chairman of the Town Board and-also of the County Council. Before the railway days the coaches were rmj by; Mr. Peters. At one time, however, he waMaccd with opposition, with the result that there, was: a general cut, in prices, ; A passenger could ■ ride from Waipawa to -'Napier' for . a shilling." Later, the light becamo so keen between the, parties that-one of them allowed the charge to include, a free pass for'dinner. . With tho advent of..the railway the town'improved-considerably, and at the present,time' it:, is very progressive. " During recent years Mr. A. Jull has ta'kon , a prominent part in local' and provincial and general politico. Messrs. Whittington, J., Harker, and J. ' *D. Watson have also done much from an educational)point of view., The.present Mayor,. .Mr. Limbrick, has held officc for four years, that being the the'town has been constituted "'a' borough.: .''During his .• term ''several -important 'schemes have been - carried out, notably the provision of a water supply, municipal gasworks,' ant! a municipal- theatre and rcading-rcom.