EARLY DAYS RECALLED.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20876, 16 November 1929, Page 11

EARLY DAYS RECALLED.

EDUCATION AT WAIKOUAITI. STARTED IN 1848. ACTIVITIES OF THE METHODISTS In the course of an article which was published recently reference was made to the arrival of the passengers by the Magnet and the foundations of settlement at Waikouaiti. Some information regarding the pioneer work in education and the early activities of tho Methodist Church may prove interesting, especially to the younger generation. As is well known the foundations of settlement at Waikouaiti were laid by Mr John Jones, who had a whaling station and a large area of land in the district. Mr Jones was a keen business man, but he took an interest in tbo Church and the Maoris, and with the object of promoting tbe spiritual welfare of the natives he offered to give 100 acres of land and to build a church if the services of a missionary could be secured. The Magnet's passengers took up their abode at Waikouaiti in March, IS4O. and they were followed by-the first missionary after tbe lapse of about three months. A Mr Butnby made a visit to Sydney, and while tbere. he met the Rev.- James Watkin, who had recently arrived in that city after' labouring as a missionary in the Friendly Islands for 11 years. It was agreed that Mr Watkin should take charge of the mission station at Waikonaiti, and in June, 1840. he arrived at. the scene of his labours tn*thc Regia, one of Mr Jones’s vessels. He was tbe first Minister, not only jn Otago, but in any part of the South Island. He entered Into his work with the energy that was characteristic of the pioneers, and in a sbort space of time established a circuit extending from Moeraki in the north to the Molyneux Eiver iii the south, which was traversed at regular intervals. The work was carried on steadily, and a goodly measure of success was achieved. Prior to the arrival of the Magnet’s passengers, who were genuine settlers, Waikouaiti was merely a whaling station, and the European population was of a very mixed character. Various nationalities were represented, and most of the men had been at sea for years. Quite a number of them were bard drinkers. Some of them had married' Maori women, but others were notoriously immoral, and their free-living and hard-drikjng habits proved very serious obstacles to the spread of the Gospel amongst the Maoris, who, when approached by the missionary, naturally drew his attention to the lives led by his own countrymen. When Mr Watkin began his work he had first of all to acquire the Maori language. His knowledge of the Tongan language helped him, and he was soon able to make himself understood. There were no books, however, so he had to begin to translate immediately. Primers and a translation of the Gospel of Matthew in their own dialect were prepared, sent to Sydney for printing, and on their return he set to work himself to teach young and eld alike. The Natives proved apt scholars, and some of. them soon became acquainted with the outline of Christ's life. The missionary also took long journeys, and regularly visited the kaiks (as the villages wore then called) from Moeraki to tho Molyneux. , When Mr Creed took charge in May, 18-14, he was better furnished than his predecessor, as lie brought with him a supply of service books, hymns, and Testaments. The Natives who could already read were charmed, and as Mr Creed was a fluent speaker all listened with great attention to his addresses. We now pass on to IS4S, Amongst the passengers by the John Wickliffc, which arrived at Port Chalmers on March 23 of that year, was a young local preacher from the city of Durham—one Thomas Ferens by name. He had received a good education, and was full of zeal. A few days after his arrival tbe Eev. Charles Creed visited him and ono or two other Methodists at Port Chalmers. After inspecting Mr Ferens's credentials Mr Creed offered him the position of day school teacher for the Maori, half-caste, and European children on the mission station at Waikouaiti. Mr Ferens accepted the proposal. Ho started his work in July, and discharged these duties for about three years. During that time he kept a journal, the manuscript of which has been kindly placed at the writer's disposal. It is full of interesting details, and shows the difficulties with which the mission was beset in the early years and the progress made.

Mr Fcrens threw himself heartily into the work of preaching, and both Mr Creed and himself were gratified with the progress the children made. He also learned Maori, so that he might preach to Natives as well as Europeans. As he was imperfectly acquainted with the idioms, he adopted the plan of reading the text, stating the divisions, and then applying the various parts by reciting appropriate Scripture passages bearing thereon. This earned for him from hi« Maori congregation the sobriquet of the man with the straight tongue.’’ Mr Creed aimed at making Waikouaiti the chief centre of education for the southern portion of the South Island, and he and Mr Kerens actually selected a site for the institution that was to be. Mr Creed wished Mr Kerens to become a missionary, as they were opening up a good few stations in and around Canterbury. Trouble arose in England, however. The missionary exchequer was depleted, and imperative instructions were sent cut that no further extensions were to be attempted. Even the small allowances made to the missionary and the schoolmaster were two years in arrear. Like good men and true, they stuck bravely to their posts, and exercised the most rigid economy, but even then the financial stringency was such that no additional missionary could be employed, so after three years of this work among the Maoris at Waikouaiti Mr Kerens had to turn his energies into other channels. Mr E. C. Suistcd, who had the Goodwood estate, employed him there and eventually at his Otepopo estate, and later on Mr Kerens took up a run of his own, which he called Stotfold station, and did well for a number of vears.

In token of their regard for their first missionary the Waikouaiti Maoris changed the name of the hill, 2000 feet high, which was known as Hikororoa, to Mount WaiVcin. The second missionary (Mr C. Creed) is remembered by the changing of the name of the peninsula on which the mission house stood from Huriawa to Earitane. or “the man Creed.” The provincial education system was taken up in 1856, and in March of the following year a memorial was received from the residents of Waikouaiti asking that the district‘be proclaimed an education district. Evidently progress was slow in those days, for it was not-till September, 1857, that the board agreed to make Waikouaiti an education district. At a meeting of the board in August, 1859, the Rev. W. Johnstone reported the election of a committee at Waikouaiti, and the Rev. Mr Fenton and Dr Crocome appeared at the board meeting as representatives of the committee, The public school system in Waikouaiti as it is known to-day apparently came into operation in *IBOO, The first teacher was Mr Franks, whose appointment dated from July 1 of that year.