PASSING OF A PIONEER.

Northern Advocate, 27 February 1919, Page 1

PASSING OF A PIONEER.

MR HENRY ROBERT HOLMAN.

AN INTERESTING CAREER. The death took place at his home, Wiiau Valley, at 8 o'clock last night, of Mr Henry Ro!:t-?t Holman, aft'ir an illness of only one week's duration. Mr Holman returned from a trip to Auckland on Thursday last, 20th inst., and felt in good health and spirits. On Friday he came into town and walked home about mid-day, but on arrival there lie collapsed on the verandah, evidently having overestimated his physical powers. Widespread regret will be felt at the swift passing of one who was so highly esteemed in this district and throughout the North. The term "old identity" can be applied to few in the district of Whangarei more fittingly than to the late Mr H. R. Holman, who was in his 73rd year. His hale appearance and activity of movement suggested anything rather than "the sere, the yellow leaf." But hi 3 recocllections went back to the early days, when New Zealand was yet a baby colony, and the North—in the view of most Southerners, at anyrate—a sort of "Never-never land," uncultivated, and only half-explored. Mr Holman lived to see New Zealand, the lusty infant, develop into a remarkably active and sturdy youth, looking eagerly to the future, clear-eyed and unafraid; and he witnessed the North exerting a magnetic influence upon those very Southerners who once regarded it as little better than a "howling wilderness." PARENTAGE AND EARLY DAYS. Mr Holman was born in the City j of Auckland, on Anniversary Day, in

the year 1847, and was christened in old St. Paul's Church by the Rev. J. F, Churton, first incumbent of the church, his godfather being the Rt. Rev. Bishop Selwyn. His father, Mr Henry Charles Holman, arrived in New Zealand in 1841, and was associated in those early days with Governor Hobson and Lieutenant Willoughby Shortland. At the time that Lieutenant Shortland was appointed Colonial Secretary, Mr Holman, senior, became Colonial Architect and Surveyor. It is worthy of note that Mr H. C. Holman was the inventor of a machine for dressing flax, which proved very successful, although, owing to the sharp practice of agents concerned in its sale, the invention brought very little financial gaing to its originator. It may here be mentioned that the Holmans are a very ancient family, whose records go back to the fifteenth century, and in those records no blemish or "bar sinister" is discoverable. A gentleman of title was onco discussing the question of pedigrees with Mr Holman, and laughingly remarked, "Some of lis get hanged, unfortunately"; but non e of the Holman ancestry managed to achieve that somewhat doubtful distinction. The family was originally of Pendell Court, in the County of Surrey, but the property passed from it through lack of male heir. The branch from which Mr H. R. Holman traced his descent-was that of the Holmans of Topsham, and it was thence that his father set forth for

New Zealand. Lieutenant Willoughby Shortland, and a number of others more or less prominent in the early history of the Dominion, also hailed from the little Devonshire town. The Holmans have mostly been long-lived folk, Mr H. C. Holman attaining to the ripe ag e of 88. He was born in the year 1812; and the subject of our sketch remarked once that when his brother, Mr W. A. Holman (the wellknown architect, of Auckland) went j to England in 1912, he saw the room ' in which his father was born, just a hundred years before. On the maternal side, length of days was even more remarkable, for Mrs Holman's mother, who died about 18 months ago at Wanganui, was well over 90 years old. Artistic traditions and associations attach to Mr Holman's parentage, for, while his father was an architect by profession, his mother stood in the relationship of first cousin to the late William Morris, known to many as the poet of English . Socialism (author of "The Earthly Paradise," etc.), and perhaps not less widely known as the founder of a great industry at Chiswick, London, th e designing of wallpapers and other decorative work being the firm's speciality. Mr Holman was also a cousin of the Holmans constituting the firm of.John Holman and Sons, of Lloyd's Avenue, E.G., Whose reputation stands high in the shipping and insurance world.

EARLY WHANGAREI

Although he was born in Auckland, and had travelled pretty extensively over the Worth, Mr Holman spent by far the greater part of his life in this district, and his earliest recollections are of Whangarei. In his youthful days he was closely associated with \the Mail* family, the present Mr ■Robert Mair and Capt, Gilbert Mair hieing among his companions, i As an instance of the loyal enthusiasm of the early settlers, Mr Holman related that lie well recollected how, at the tim e of- the Crimean War, when news of the fall of Sebastopol '-■was brought by old Captain Mair, a 'small party, consisting of the Mairs, Burnetts, Bedlingtons, Frasers, and ilolmans, climbed to the top of Paranaki, and there lit a bonfire by way of celebrating the great event. Although a mere boy at the time, young Holman took some share in the building of the old Whangarei

Church, in 1859, The ground had been given by the Mairs, Mr Robert Mair and his brother doing the fencing, and also, with other settlers, helping very considerably with the construction of the church, which, upon completion, w r as consecrated by Bishop G. A. Selwyn. STRENUOUS DAYS. Mr Holman led a busy life, and his activities were of a varied order. For a number of years he was engaged in survey work, along with his brother-in-law, Mr ""John Grant Johnson, during that gentleman's period as Native Land Commissioner and afterwards as licensed Native Land Surveyor. He also engaged for a time in building and contracting work. Various branches of the mining industry, however, claimed a great portion of Mr Hol- : man's most strenuous day.s Prospecting for minerals of value always possessed a strong fascination fov him, and in this pursuit he, along with others, travelled all over the North, and throughout the entire Coromandel Peninsula, with a large measure of success. In the course of this work he made many thousands of assays, and possessed quite a collection of specimens and records from all parts of the northern dis-

trict. For some time he was mine manager for the Hampton Plains Exploration Company at Puhipuhi and

fWaiorongamai. It is worthy of Imention that the first bar of silver Jworked at Puhipuhi was brought in Iby Major Clark-Walker, Mr G. E. i Alderton, and Mr Holman. LOCAL AFFAIRS.

As a resident in the Whangarei district, Mr Holman took an active interest in local affairs. For a number of years he was connected with the Kensington Road Board, then with the Kamo Road Board (afterwards formed into the Kamo Town

Board), in both cases occupying the position of chairman. He served for some time upon school committees, both as chairman and member. He was also a member of the licensing bench for several years. The object of the Overseas Club specially appealed to him, and he was a member of that organisation from the year 1911. Mr Holman's work in connection with the Whangarei Acclimatisation Society is well-known. For the past 18 years he had been curator of the society, the hatcheries being situated upon his property. He took up this work from love of sport; nothink)of the kind had previously been done in the district. Mr Holman had charge of the young birds, as well as the fish. The culture and study : of the latter were his especial hobby, ■ and he was capable of holding hh ; own with any of the New Zealand ex'|perts in fishing matters. His attention was specially devoted to jrainbow trout, hundreds of thousands of which were hatched and distributed by him. RECREATION. Mr Holman was not only a man of many hobbies; he was also a sportsman of the most thorough-going type. Shooting and fishing were the branches of sport to which he was chiefly devoted, although, .as a youth, \ he was also an enthusiastic cricketer, ) and the possessor of the first set of ■cricket requisites landed in Whangarei, specially brought from Sydney, \ VIEWS ON THE MAORI RACE. In former days Mr Holman came frequently in contact with the natives. He spoke in high terms of the old chiefs, who were fine men in every sense of the word—brave, chivalrous, and truthful. The Maoris of early times observed high standards of conduct; their morals were good, and in their habits they were methodical and industrious. The settlers could leave their houses with perfect security; there was no need even to put money or valuables iv.ider lock and key. As illustrating the beneficent influence exerted upon the natives by the best among the early settlers, Mr Holman related an anecdote of Marsh Brown (Maihi Parone Kawiti), This fine old chief, when dying, gathered his relatives and friends round his bedside, and told them he was about to depart. In former days Maori and pakeha had been enemies, but now they were friends; he therefore begged his followers to live in peace and amity with the white man. And then, with what may well be regarded as prophetic insight, he said: "By-and-bye there will be a great war, and Britain will be very hard pressed. You must help the white man all you can." AN EARLY-DAY RAID. Although Mr Holman himself had never been in hostile contact with the natives, his parents had soma exciting experiences during the period of Heke's war. At that time his mother was staying with tiic Mairs in one of the cottages on their property, during the temporary absence of her husband in Auckland. When Whangarei was raided, the alarm was given by an old Maori, who came to the spot where the Anglican Church now stands, and fired off a gun to let the settlers know that the natives were coming. Mrs Holman was suddenly seized by a friendly native, who rolled a blanket round her, ran off down the hill to the river, took her down the stream in a canoe, and put her on a b&at that was going to Auckland. She arrived safely, much frightened, but unhurt. Mr H. C. Holman was at that time regarded as a tohunga, to whom nothing harmful could happen —or, if it did, woe betide the person responsible! He came up from

Auckland, and secured the protection of the chief Tirarau. The hostile natives had obtained possession of a boat belonging to one of the settlers, which they had taken down to Tamaterau. The chief already mentioned went with Mr Holman and compelled them to give up this craft; it was then brought up to Mr Carruth's place (where the town wharf now stands). Mr Holman loaded it up with all the things belonging to the settlers that he could possibly collect—many had been destroyed, of course—and started away that same night for Auckland. He succeeded in getting down opposite Marsden Point, before the natives saw him. They then tried to cut him off at the outlet of the channel, but, by taking the inside channel, he managed to get out to sea before they could hinder him, and eventually reached Auckland in safety.

GENERAL REMINISCENCES

Mr Holman's knowledge of the early settlers of the north was almost encyclopaedic, and his recollection of their doings were intensely interesting to any who cared for New Zealand lore. He w T as especially insistent upon the fact that ,but for the persistent and untiring efforts of such men as old Captain Mair and those associated with him, New Zealand would never have become a British colony, but French—and in

that case would certainly have passed into Germany's hands after the war of 1871. While it was Captain Hobson who actually carried out the annexation, the ground had been prepared by those patriotic old setlers and missionaries who had laboured for years to impress upon the native chiefs that British rule meant freedom and welfare, and not bondage and oppression, for the Maori race. Thus the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi was made possible, and New Zealand preserved as one of the choicest treasures of the British race. THE OLD "TAIHOA" DAYS.

It was with no little regret that Mr Holman spoke of the old happy days at Russell. Whaling was then the prinicpal industry, and in the height of the season as many as twenty-seven whaling vessels, were to be seen in the harbour at one time. In the intervals between the visits of the whalers, a primitive simplicity and unruffled leisure characterised the little town and its inhabitants. Contentment reigned, and hurry was unknown; Maori "taihoa" seemed to be accepted as phil-

osophically by the "pakcha" as by the native.

These were the days (1855 to 1865) before the advent of the tailor and the costumier. The settler did not wear a coat—indeed, he had no use for it. (The climate was at that period more equable than in these degenerate days.) A shirt and trousers roughly fashioned out of American drill, and a sort of long smock, (such as was worn in bygone days by the English ploughman) constituted the outfit of the pioneer, and quite satisfied his needs, being well adapted for a man working all day long in the primitive bush.

Food and other necessaries were very dear. Tea was 3s per lb; brown sugar 7d per lb;-flour 30s per cwt. Small cardboard boxes of matches cost Gd each. Almost everything was brought from Sydney. The postage on a letter was sixpence, and very often a period of two years would elapse between its sending and the receipt of an answer. SOME MAORI CUSTOMS. Mr Holman spoke highly < of the communal system of living practised by the Maoris. The building of a canoe, for instance, was a co-opera-tive concern. The native ideas of music might have been somewhat crude, but they sufficed as an incentive to regular labour. The hauling of logs was carried out by a large gang of men under the direction of their chief, and their movements were regulated by the rhythmic measure of a rude chant. A curious custom which obtained was that,. in the event of the death of one of a company of canoe- builders, before the vessel reached the water, the canoe would be hauled up and burnt. Seasons for planting and seasons for fishing, and so on, were religiously observed. The chief was not only a leader in battle he was a "captain of industry" in times of peace. THE WAIPU SETTLERS. Mr Holman remembered the coming of the Waipu settlers, about the year 1858. The minister who came with them (the Rev. McLeod) was of the stern old type associated with the memory of John Knox. He ruled his people with a rod of iron, and not even the most reckless dare defy him. "Look at that she-devil coming into the House of God." he exclaimed o>a one occasion, when a young woman who had been away on a visit ventured to come to church on her return bedizened with rib bona, And the offending damsel was forced to strip the worldly decorations from her new bonnet— there was no appeal.

MEDICAL MEN OF LONG AGO. Mr Holman had vivid memories of the doctors who practised in the Whangarei district in by-gone days. Dr. Kenderdine was the first resident doctor; he stayed for a while, and then sold his practice and went to Auckland. The next doctor to make his abode in Whangarei was Dr. Perston, who came here towards the end of the fifties, and bought Mr James Burnett's place, residing on the spot whore the Langham Hotel now stands. Of this doctor it was related that he would go anywhere, and, if his patknt were in straitened circumstances, would ask no fee whatever. Dr. Perston for a time farmed the whole of the Whangarei flat, but eventually cut it up into small sections and farms, sold them, and went away. At a later period, Dr. | Sissons practised in Whangarei, bearing an honoured name among the people generally.

AN OLD-TIME MAGISTRATE. After Whangarei had become

somewhat settled, Mr Aubrey was appointed resident magistrate and Custom house officer, and Was sta- j tioned at Whangarei Heads, near where the Freezing Works now stand. All court business w T as transacted there for some years, and nominations for membership of the House of Representatives had to be made at Mr Aubrey's headquarters. After a while the court was transferred to Whangarei. Mr Aubrey is remembered as a very energetic man. One of- his daughters married Mr Robert Thompson, late member for Marsden.

In the old provincial days the county of Marsden took in the whole of Northern Wairoa. Mr Holman recalled that in tho fifties the polling clerk was sent over to Wairoa to collect the votes, and after travelling for about a week would return with perhaps five votes in his ballot box.

SOME OLD-TIME SETTLERS

There are very few* of the old settlers in the Whangarei district of whom Mr Holman had not some recollections. He thought that Robert and William Carruth were the first settlers here, owning between them the whole of the Whangarei township that was not included in Mair's grant. Robert afterwards went to Papatoetoe, and William to the Californian gold-diggings. Mr Pettingall purchased land from them, a portion of which he sold to Mr Dent (grandfather of the present Mayor); h e also sold a small piece of land to Mr Cafler, who built the first hotel with full license. in Whangarei-—it stood on the pot now occupied by the timber yard. Mr Cafler also had a store, and made himself a pretty homestead in Whangarei. The Hunts, the Burnetts, the Reyburns, and the Woolleys wer e also among the early settlers of Whangarei, some of their descendants still residing in the district.

THE NORTH AND ITS NEEDS

With regard to the present-day needs of the North, Mr Holman always contended that of course roads, and yet more roads, were urgently required. He . considered that the North had in the past been robbed of its birthright—kauri gum and forests—which were sold in order to build up the City of Auckland. The country had possessed all that was necessary for roading and fencing, if only it had been properly handled. The North was the richest part of New Zealand, but it had been stripped by people who made a great deal

of money out of it and then disappeared, having done no good to the country. The present settlers, therefore, had to be heavily taxed in order to buy timber and material for roads and bridges. Mr Holman believed that the roading problem might be solved in some degree by the construction of a system of light railways, which would j."rove far cheaper than roads, and they might be put through to various centres where road-making was impracticable. When the Main Trunk Railway came through from Auckland, these light railways could" be connected with it, and they would offer greater resistance to th c inroads of a ilood than would be possible in the case of roads. Whangarei, he held, was bound to be the great centre, on account of its harbour and general position. The future of the North, in Mr TTolman's opinion, depended upon its Icing populated. This part of the country was quite capable of carrying a large population; and the poor gum land, when properly dealt with, would be found ahead of most of the rich areas in other parts of th c Dominion. For some years past Mr Holman Ived in comparative retirement, but by no means in idleness. His interest in affairs was at least as keen as that of most younger men ( and his work in connection with the hatcheries afforded him continual interest and a good deal of enjoyment in the evening of his life.

FAMILY,

Mr Holman was married in the year 1876, to Miss Clark-Walker (a sister of Major Clark-Walker). He is survived by his widow and married son, Mr Frank Singleton Holman, who also resides upon the Whau Valley property. The interment of the late Mr H. R. Holman was arranged to take place at the Ketenikau Cemetery, Kamo, this afternoon.