PIONEERS’ ARRIVAL

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 77, 29 April 1942, Page 4

PIONEERS’ ARRIVAL

MOTUEKA’S 100th ANNIVERSARY MAYOR'S TRIBUTE TO PIONEERS At a special meeting of the Motueka Borough Council held last evening the Mayor, Mr W. J. Eginton made refer cnee to the fact that next Saturday, 2nd May, would mark the 100th anniversary of the arrival of the pioneer settlers in the Motueka district. About two years ago memorial gates to the memory of the early settlers were placed at the entrance to the Motueka Cricket Ground, and at Pah Hill on the road to Kaiteriteri, on the exact spot where Captain Wakefield oi) tallied his first view of the surrounding country, a cairn had been erected. It. was unfortunate the Mayor added. ' that present circumstances would not | pcnyit of a fitting commemoration ol j the arrival of these wonderful people on 2nd May 1842. The late Mayor, Mr R. j J. L. York, had been closely associated with Mr Robert Pattie who had com ! piled a history of the district. A cop> j that had been forwarded to Mr York had been placed in the Council Cham- | hers for safe keeping. Mr Pattie had : given permission for the manuscript to be used when deemed desirable. One could not pay a better tribute to the pioneers who came to the Motu eka district, concluded Mr Eginton, than reiterate the last paragraph of Mr Pat | tie’s manuscript:— “The last of the grand old pioneer.' lias long since been ‘Gathered to their fathers.’ They toiled on. possessed of great courage and enduring industry, bearing untold privation and hardship with Spartan like fortitude ‘Till age did weary, and the years condemn’ and then and only then did they lay down their tools and go to their rest in the sunlit cemetery, where they sleep with in sound of the murmuring waters of Tasman Bay. over which they sailed to their new home in this the uttermost ! part of the earth. Well and truly did they lay the foundation of all the progress that has taken place in Motueka since they first landed and saw a wilder--1 ness of bush and scrub We may well take off our hats to the memory of ‘our pioneers’ and say ‘At the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember them.’ Mr Eginton stated that on the occasion of the unveiling of the Wakefield Memorial at Kaiteriteri lie had suggest ed that improvements in the way of seats etc., be effected in the vicinity of the Cairn: but this was not possible at present. Mr Kirk. Town Clerk, intimated that the Kaiteriteri Domain Board had offer ed to care for the cairn and keep the area in order. The Mayor said that in his opinion the Board was the most suitable organisation to act as trustees of this memor ial. It was resolved that the Motueka Borough Council regrets that owing to the world situation it cannot suitably cßmemorate the 100th anniversary o! the landing of the first pioneers in thi.district on 2nd May, 1842. but it places on record its appreciation of their stcr ling qualities of character which enabled them to persist in adversity and led to Ihe progressive borough which exists to-day. “At the setting of the sun we will remember them.’ It was also resolved that this Council agrees to the publication of the his lory of Motueka written by Mr Robert Pattie. and expresses its appreciation to him for writing this history and making it available to the Council.