WILLSHER.

Otago Witness, Issue 2201, 7 May 1896, Page 42

WILLSHER.

By An Old Identity.

The name of Willsher having lately been prominently brought before the public, partly from the fact that a well-known bay on the ooaat line near Port Molyneux has been named after him, and subsequently a township which is rapidly becoming a favourite seaside resort, and partly because a piece of land containing some 20 acres situated at the mouth of the Korero Greek, and known as the Willsher claim, has bsen for many years used by the inhabitants of the Olutha as a publio recreation ground. The property was registered in the name of Willsher, but neither Willsher nor a title could be found. Quite recently, however, a well-known Old Identity found the title among some papers and sold the property to Mr Thomas Mackeneie, M.H.R., who has promised to hand it over at the price he paid' for it to the people of the Olutha as a recreation ground.

Willsher, who gave his name to these places, was one of the oldest residents in Otago, and doubtless some faots connected with hie history will be of interest. It was away back in the early forties that attention in Sydney was drawn to Otago as a country suitable for stook raising. A syndicate was formed to charter a vesssl, ship stock, and take up some suitable country, and Willsher, then a young man, was sent in charge. The fates were, however, against them, for they experienced a rough tempestuous passage, in which all the stook exoept one cow died. They brought up at the old Maorj landing near the mouth of the Korero Creak, and there landed the remaining cow. Willsher was so disgusted with the failure of the expedition that he decided not to return to Sydney in the vessel, but to remain in- New Zealand and take up his abode with the tribe of Maoris who lived in the neighbourhood. The cow lived and (gave birth to a bull calf, and from this pair sprang a hard which Willsher grazed on the open land round what is now Port Moiyneux. In about the year 1855 the, held having increased to a large one, and settlers having arrived and taken up the country round the Fort, Will«her had to look out for pastures new, and arranged with Thoraae and Alexander Arohibald, who then held the Pomahaka run (now Olydevale station), to run them there, whither he with all his belongings then removed. Daring the time Willsher lived with the Maoris he married a young Maori woman named Macarede, with whom he lived for many years, and about whose married life many funny stories were current in those days. It was said that Macarede was not blessed with an altogether' angelic temper, and that when a family dispute took place she vented her spleen by throwing everything in the hoaee out. Pots, pans, furniture, ' and bedding were all sent flying out of the door.

One day, when a friend of mine drew Willsher's attention to what was going on, he quietly remarked, *\lf, is all right, sir; Macarede's in a temper, sir. When she gets over it she will put them all in again." And So she did. Macarede had no children of her owb, but adopted the eldest son of Hermoni Raklraki, who was well known to most of the old Olutha residents as Ben Lakitapn. Ben as a child was subjeofc to uncontrollable fits of temper, and when they came on Macarede used to take him down to the Molyneux River, throw him in, and quietly walk along the bank smoking her pipe to watch him flounder ashore, ready any moment' should occasion require to plunge in and bring him oat. She could swim tike a fish, and on one occasion won a wager made by the crew of a vessel that she could not swim a mile with a lighted pipe In her mouth. She accomplished the feat with ease, and came out of the water to claim her prize with the pipe alight and laughing heartily at having beaten the pakeha. About 1859 Willsher disposed of his cattle, and the loDglng having come strong upon him to visit the land of his birth, he went oil without telling anyone where he was going, and was for years completely lost sight of and thought to be dead. About the year 1880, however, a lady, well known in Obago, was on a visit to the old country, and before returning to the colony was making some purchases in a shop in London, when in course of conversation she remarked to the shopman that the goods she wan baying were for exportation to Otago. " Pardon mo, madam," said a well-dressed gentlemanly looking man, walking np .to her, "did I overhear, you say you came from Otago? Do you know the Olutha 1" On being answered in the affirmative and names being exchanged he turned out to be Willsher, whom the lady had often heard of but had never seen. What a contrast between Willaher dressed in the height of London fashion and Willsher as he was known by the old settlers of the Olutha, without boots on his feet and with precious few clothes on. He has not now been heard of for many years and is in all probability long since dead.

Macarede lived to a good old age, and died at the Kaik in Willsher Bay, and will .still be remembered by many. To the end of her life, whenever Willsher's name was mentioned, she commenced to cry, whether from the fact that she was fond of him or that she felt disgraced by his leaving her, I know not. — Tha bSfsi of igaoranoa coastttutaj wae people* dole, happiness, ;