NINETY YEARS AGO

Evening Post, Volume CXXI, Issue 115, 16 May 1936, Page 11

NINETY YEARS AGO

BOULGOTT FARM FIGHT

BELMONT TO PAHAUTANU!

A EOEGQTTEX EOAD

(Written for "The Posi,")

!; Today is the "ninetieth anniversary of the fight at Boulcott's Farm. The story of that tiny battle on the Wellington frontier'and of the heroic deed of Bugler Allen is known to every ■New Zealand school child, but in connection with that fight ' there is another story that is not so well known —the' story^ of a "forgotten Wellington road." '■ " ' ': '■' '.•'• ■■ '"BOulcbtt's Farm was situated on the eastern side1 of the" Hutt Rivera a little to the- north of the; Belmont-railway station, and .looked across the- river towards-the deep ravine.that runs up into the hills behind the station. .Few people ,npw remember that there is- a road winding across the hills of the western -Hutt from Bclmpnt railway station to Pahautanui; most of the younger generation .do. not know of its existence. No one now passes along its grass-grown upper, reaches except an occasional shepherd, or a tramp or hiker seeking the solitude of the high hills, and-yet this abandoned road-has a' history that is eventful' and exciting enough to ; fire.anyone's imagination. ~-The.iroad- follows, more or. less, the course of an old Maori warpath which ..was often in use in. the old intertribal conflicts between the Natives of the Heretaunga and Porirua districts, and this same path played an' important part in Wellington's little war of 1846, when.-, the frontiersmen of the Hutt looked anxiously- towards the bushclad western hills' and went about their • labours .with -their.. muskets in their -hands. : - ■ -.Many a time-the rebel invaders from the Porirua district "used this, track "to sweep down upon the defenceless Hutt .settlers and beat a hasty retreat into the bush.' It was probably by this route that the. murderers of the Gil- ■ lespie. family made their .way into the valleyl .--.. '...,. • ? A SURPRISE ATTACK. It was. upon another Saturday morning, exactly ninety .years ago today, that this'track was' the scene of-great 'activity—the wily TeMarnuku' was leading his men from Rangiliaeata's fortified pa at Pahautanui across the hills and down, through the thick bush •that gr,e\y to the very brink of the Hutt.River. It was a cold, grey winter dawning, and the mists of early jnornirig hugged the river. At Boulcott's Farm, the last outpost of the British Regulars, "the sentry yawned as. hV'w'ejit" about his duty. Suddenly he hoticed\that some of the dark bushes at the 'river's edge stirred—the surprise 'attack was upon them.' After the fray Te Mamuku,' with about two' hundred men, retired again along this path to Pahautanui;"'after, dancing, a triumphant war-dance upon the river bank. Thestdcy, of ithe.i retaliation,.which followed is not so well known. Six lay dead on- the " field of Boulcott's Farm, and two others were to succumb to their wounds; the safety of the Wellington settlements was menaced. Governor Grey determined on an active policy? ;This is the most, picturesque 'incident in the whole history of the road—when Grey's militiamen marched across .the-hills-, using -the , old. Maori track which- Te. Mamuku had used, to attack" Rangihaeata'sr'pa at Pahautanui -from the rear.'' Mere, like .most Maori pas,lt'wa's'.most vulnerable.^ :,- ■ ..-.-, -IV stood on the rounded green, hill at Pahautanui where the Anglican' Church stands "today; arid Rangihaeata, in this strong position,'was a menace to the safety of Wellington and the Hutt. So the march,of the militiamen along this road was an important event in Wellington's history. They were' successful in,their aim—to make the district safe for .settlement.. ,: GREY'S SPEEDY ACTION. " When Grey' determined on strong action he was . speedy. - He had old-Te Rauparaha arrested ;at Plimmerton and determined to finally end the disturbances" by capturing his : nephew's pa. Accordingly; on the afternoon of Friday, "July 31,' the militiamen left the Hutt to climb the western hills and surprise the pa.- The regular- soldiers were excluded from this, expedition as their tight uniforms were not suitable for bushwork.'; .The militiamen wore blue shirts; caps like sailors,, and "any kind "■ of /trousers." It was the very Huddle of winter and the weather,, conditions for- any kind of bush work were terrible.,; -The.expedition-.consisted of fifty men of; the -Hutt militia, thirteen armed police, and 150 Ngati-awa friend-ly-Maoris under the charge of Mr. D. Scott. -'.-..•- ■> - '.'■'■':■[■: ■" • '-.-. "" ■•', ", : The militia were under the command of Captain McDonogh and ' Lieutenant White, and the police -under Mr. Chetham Strode. - Two settlers, Mr. Ludnam and-Mr. Stilling, and one Imperial officer, Ensign Middleton, of the 58th Segiment, joined the expedition as volunteers. ,-'.-,' ". . : The brave,little expedition ■' fought ;heir way up through the supplejacks md .other liajies of the New Zealand HishT and made their . camp' for ' the light ab.out a quarter to Jour in a valey half-way > between the Hutt and Porirua ' .Harbour. On halting they eht but scouts to.procure information. During the'night it rained very heavly, and the wood became so wet that hey'were unable to kindle a fire to jrotect'-' themselves from the weather. They struck camp; at about seven the ollowing morning-, and;after traveling, about, two miles they met their coiits returning. They brought the nf ormation that fires had been burntig in 'Rangihae'ata'S pa' that night; At the foot Of the -hill'the two scouts ell in with one of the enemy—a- minor Vahganui chief, who rejoiced in the lco'ngriious name of "Martin Luther:" le wounded one of them in the hand fith- his tomahawk before the other aught him by the hair-and made him prisoner.- He proved to be brie of ie band who had attacked Boulcott's arm and "in September of that year c was hanged outside the Fort Pareiata- redoubt for. sedition. .•-..-•■ THE* END OF RANGIHAEATA. His capture was made within sight fthe pa and it-was witnessed by some [aori women outside the stockade, 'ho ..gave the. alarm. The militia and slice threw down their • blankets and repared for fight, .and on the order i advance all rushed across the creek i the pa.'. The rest of the story—the end of that :storic march and its results—are well ibwn. The. expedition entered the i about one o'clock only to find that had been evacuated.' "Rangihaeata id taken to the hills. But his power as broken, and after miserable months 1 campaigning in.the range's,, when his en, with.; their women, children, and mp-followers; were in retreat without 6d or shelter, he entrenched himself the swamps -between Horowhenua id Manawatu.' ■■-He-1 was ho longer a enace and ; died of—measles. So the arch' of those blue-clad militia-men rbss the hills of the western Hutt was definite step' forward in the colonisamof the Wellington district. ■ ■■'• When the Provincial fathers conructed a road where the old track .d blazed the1 way, if was-"the first ad linking the" Hutt and Porirua dis.cts and later gave access to the lall farm ■ settlements, at Judgeford. ong it in the old Provincial "days; "on

horseback or oh foot, went many a traveller. James Crawford in 1863, after his arduous exploration of the Akatarawa Valley from - .Mungaroa to Waikanae, returned to Wellington by this road. He called it Beetham's Line and remarked that it went straight'up and down hill after the fashion of a Roman road, so that he found it very tiring. FOLLOWING THE OLD TRAIL. I determined'to follow this forgotten road, so often trod by our early colonists, and . accordingly set off up the hill from Belmont station one autumn morning when a purple ; bloom still lay on the valley;,the grass at the roadside was still drenched with dew and the aromatic tang of the macrocarpa cut the cool air like a sword. Far below me, in a,bush-clad ravine, was Speedy's Stream, so named after a Mr. Peter Speedy, a pioneer settler of these hills. The thick bush of the ravine^ in contrast to the' treeless slopes, gives some little idea of- what these hills must have looked like before they were .cleared, when! these bushy fastnesses were such a menace to the' settlers'' of the .Hutt. The old Maori war crail followed the bed'of the stream until it forked and then led up a steep forested spur to the ridge. /In less than an hour.l had climbed past the last farmhouse, high above the pretty little settlement ..of .. Bel : mont. By the farmhouse was a russet pear tree catching the first glint of the morning sun, and a hidden stream gurgled among the shrubs'of its garden. Then the road became grass grown and entered a narrow pass leading towards the ridge; . In the pass, near.where a grassy road from Normandale came winding over the hills, was an abandoned farm—a wilderness of pines, hollies, and laurels around a shack which, bore the encouraging sign, "The Hobo Hiking Club." Just above this farm is the ridge where I paused a moment to look back at the purple out-runners of the Rimutaka Range across the valley. The Maoris called this ridge Te-Raho-o-te-Kapowai. . ■ ''-.-'.;. RELICS OF THE STRUGGLE. Mr, Speedy told. Mr. James Cowan .that when he was bush-felling there many years after 1846 he found the remains of hilts roofed with totara bark, rusted musket barrels and bayonets,' and other relics' of thai troubled year. "' From the top of the ridge there is a glimpse of Plimmertoc and the entrance to Porirua Harbour. A very welcome sight it must have been to the early. travellers. Then the road runs north for a mile or so along the -Hutc side of the divide before it winds down another valley leading towards Judgeford. From', here you can see the Pahautanui end of Porirua Harbour, the Horokiwi Valley, and the Anglican Church on its rounded. hill. It was easy to see the route by which Rangihaeata's warriors had climbed the hill. - ■ •..".' Downwards, ever downwards, went the road! A man in a green woollen cap chopping pine logs—the only human I saw on the road. "Good morning. How far is.it down to Pahautanui?" - "About an hour; the road winds about so." .■'".' : .■■'■■'". Past another forsaken' hill farm I went, past, gnarled and. naked. gumtreeSj down; to the .lower reaches of the valley where there are still patches of the. original; jbush. >.and; another stream, narrow and singing,. edged with bullrushes in places arid "shaded by old aspen trees. Lower" still there is a farmyard with rich glossy chestnut trees, and in their branches 'a row of magpies—solemn as judges, but very raucous.- Then the road runs out on to : the Judgeford Valley Road-about a mile-from Pahautanui. '-It. takes about-three hours to follow this road today but the march of those militiamen of. ninety- years ago''to avenge the attack on Boulcott's Farm was no holiday • tramp. ' It was an arduous journey "through unexplored and heavily-wooded country. The picket who kept watch that night neW knew but at the next moment, a band of savags warriors would rush out from the. undergrowth to annihilate that company of adventurers.—P.M.