Sale Of Siock Business Turns Page Of History

Northern Advocate, 11 January 1947, Page 4

Sale Of Siock Business Turns Page Of History

A page in Northland's history has been turned by the sale of the business of Walter Wakelin Ltd. to Alfred Buck land and Sons Ltd.

Long, favourably and intimately known by four generations of Northland farmers, the name of Wakelin has been synonymous with the progress of Northland and its development from an area of forest and bush to a prosperous agricultural province with even richer potentialities. The first stock auctioneering business to be formed in Northland, it came into being in 1874 when the late Mr Thomas Wakelin was inspired, by the difficulties of himself and neighbouring farmers in marketing their cattle, to erect a small stock yard where the Kamo Hall now stands. It was a portentious move and one fraught with confidence and vision in the possibilities of Northland and of the Whangarei and Kamo districts. The stockyard was small but it was substantial. It had to be. for in those days two-year-old steers were as big as the four-year-olds of today and they were imbued with spirit. Their association with man was most remote and there was no placid driving along roads to the stockyards. ANCHORED BEASTS Farmers had their difficulties in | getting their stock to the pens and, when there, of keeping them penned. ! It was not uncommon for steers to I be brought to the sale tied behind I a heavy dray loaded with wood to act . as ballast against the refractory antics of the unwilling beast. Consequently Northland’s first stockyard was of heavy timber and towered to a. height j of 7ft. The necessity for an auctioneering j firm was soon evident and Mr Wakej lin's faith was quickly justified, cattle j being sent from as far north as Kawa- ! lu-wa and from as far south at Waipu. 1 j Sales started on a basis of one every three months but soon they were increased to monthly. I For six years Mr Wakelin used the j original yard but the increasing busiI ness made it imperative that more | pens should be built. He then erected I new and extensive pens on property | he owned on the opposite side of the j road. These pens have remained in , use until the present day. During J those 66 years hundreds of sales have | been held and millions of stock have I passed under the hammer, i To those early sales came stock from ! as far afield as the North Cape, with j Waipu as a boundary in the south, j The Wakelin yards at Kamo were the I headquarters of the Northland cattle business. From Kamo cattle went nrincipally to Auckland, either by road—or what passed for road in those days—or by scow. NEW COMPANY FORMED The personification of energy, Mr Wakelin ran his business in conjunction with his farm, and it was not easy work. The caHlc did not find the ready demand they do today, because the outlets did not exist. Freezing works and large export trade were still to flourish. In 1902 Mr Wakelin sold the business to a firm known as Wakelin, Crane and Company, in which he had no financial

interest, the name being retained for business purposes because it had become so well-known in the auctioneering business.

Two of Mr Wakclin’s sons, the late Mr Writer Wakelin and Mr Frank Wakelin, still living at Kamo, were employed by the firm for five years, but with the expiry of their agreement, they decided to launch a similar business. This firm was F. and W. Wakelin. and the yards built by their father were used for their auctions. The lease tc Wakelin, Crane and Company had expired and it had built new yards, still existent, at the other end of Kamo, on the old Kamo racecourse. OTHER CHANGES Eventually, Wakelin, Crane and Company amalgamated with the Kaipara Farmers' Union, this organisation inter becoming the North Auckland Farmers’ Coop., Ltd. Messrs F. and W. Wakelin conducted sales at Kamo, Maungakaramea, Faparoa and Kaiwaka, later extending to Farua Bay and Maungatapere. These districts were then devoted mostly to running store cattle and the sales were large until the settlers turned their attention to dairying. In 1924 the brothers dissolved partnership, Mr Walter Wakelin carrying on the business and Mr Frank Wakelin retiring. In this year, Mr T. W. Wakelin, who was later to become managing director of the firm, joined as a clerk, graduating to auctioneer, an occupation he has continued. 111-health in 1938 decided Mr Walter Wakelin that he should form his business into a limited liability company, and, by so doing, he provided not only for the future of the business, but also for the welfare of his sons associated with him. The firm became Walter Wakelin, Ltd., with Mr Walter Wakelin, Mr T. W. Wakelin and the late Mr L. O. Wakelin as shareholders. Mr L. O. Wakelin was killed in 1942 when the ship in which he was crossing the Mediterranean from North Africa to Italy as a prisoner of war was torpedoed. DOWN TO GRANDSON The death of Mr Walter Wakelin in 1941 and then of Mr L. O. Wakelin, left Mr T. W. Wakelin the sole shareholder and managing director. He has continued to conduct the business with success, but the burden has proved heavy with resultant deterioration in his health and, to gain relief, he decided to sell. After private negotiation, the business has been acquired by Alfred Bucldand and Sons, Ltd., the founder of which was an Auckland associate in business and friendship of the late Mr Thomas Wakelin, who laid the foundations of a similarly successful business so long ago. After 72 years, a business which has served Northland farmers well and faithfully has been wound up, but the name of Wakelin will not be lost in its connection with North stock marketing. The name is to be retained in conjunction with that of the purchasing firm, while Mr T. W. Wakelin has been appointed branch manager of the Whangarei business of both companies. .