EARLY SETTLERS AT RIMU

Southland Times, Issue 23388, 21 December 1937, Page 14

EARLY SETTLERS AT RIMU

REMINISCENCES OF THE DISTRICT HEAVILY-TIMBERED LAND (SPECIALLY WRITTEN FOR THE SOUTHLAND TIMES) By T. P. GILFEDDER, J.P. In the early sixties of last century a sturdy band of Southland s pioneers took up their residence in that part of the Eastern District which was then called One Tree Point, from a solitary tree that stood out some distance from a projecting point of the Seaward Bush, about 10 miles from Invercargill. The early survey plans indicated that the main line of communication eastwards from Invercargill was intended to run along Tweed Street and Oteramika Road at no great distance from the heavily-timbered Seaward Bush, that would form a welcome protection against the keen southern winds. What was generally designated One Tree Point extended from the present Kennington-Waimatua road eastwards for about three miles to the Wood-lands-Mokotua Road. Though the climate was bracing and healthy, and the soil apparently fertile, judging from the fine timber, flax and native grasses it produced, the early settlers realized that _ much arduous work lay before them in order to make their holdings productive. There was no agricultural machinery, and the newcomers had to adapt themselves to conditions and to the use of tools to which they had not been familiar, such as the axe, adze and crosscut saw. Timber for their buildings was cut in the sawpits, while shingles and fencing material were split in the bush. Corn ,was cut with the scythe, and threshed with the flail. Roads were, for the most part, unformed, and communication and transport difficult.

The public men of Southland had spent over £lOO,OOO on two expensive and unproductive public works —the wooden railway running northwards from Invercargill, and the Mokomoko jetty, near Greenhills. Finances were, in consequence, at a very low ebb, and there were no funds for roads or local public works. There was little market for agricultural produce. The town population of consumers was small, and the export of frozen meat and dairy produce had not yet begun. Oats sold at l/6d and wheat at 2/6d a bushel, while butter and eggs ranged from lOd to 2/- according to the season of the year. Much of the oats and wheat was used for home consumption, and converted into meal and flour at the water-wheel stone grinding mills of Charles Gardiner, of Mill Road, and of John G. Brown, of Brunswick, One Tree Point. BRITISH COLONISTS But the personal element prevailed, as it did in many other parts of the colony. Our early pioneers hailed from the British Isles and possessed those admirable colonizing qualities so characteristic of the race from which they sprang. Their indomitable courage, grit, industry and dogged perseverance enabled the pioneers of One Tree Point to overcome all obstacles through periods of stress and privation, perform the weary spade work of colonization, and convert the primeval forest and rough open tussock downs into the fine corn and clover lands, and smiling homesteads, that their children and grandchildren in after years enjoyed.

The district surrounding the present Rimu school was in the One Tree Point subdivision of the Oteramika Road district. The Kennington School is not actually in Kennington. It and the Methodist Church were erected on property shown on the titles as “Township of Clapham.”

The earliest settlers in the One Tree Point portion of the county established homes for themselves along the Seaward Bush frontage, building their habitations with timber from their own holdings.

Beginning at the Invercargill end, from the present Kennington-Wai-matua road, and running east, the settlers were:—John Henry Dawson, Edwin and Joseph Townshend, Alexander and John Vallance, Ebenezer Dawson, Richard Stone, Peter Gilfedder, J.P., Roderick Mcßae, Eben Gibb, Archibald McSporran, John Souter, Orr Fisher, John Dempster, John Cameron, Charles Thompson Varden, John E. Black, Alexander Smith, James Hastie Wilson, William Johnston and William Butler.

Along the main KenningtonOteramika road the early settlers were Daniel Macfarlane, Daniel Phillips, Alexander McLennan, John McLeay, Robert Craig, Thomas Ramsay Morton, John Welsh, James Stott, James Cameron, George Talbot Birch and Thomas Todd. A few of the above came later than the sixties. Mr J. H. Dawson arrived from Tasmania in 1873, his family following in 1876. Mr Stone settled there in 1874 and Mr Todd came a few years later.

Children of most of the early settlers attended the original school, later called Rimu. One of the Gilfedder family enrolled when it was first opened, on the present site, 65 years ago, and a Gilfedder attends it today. The great majority of the early families have, however, disappeared from the district. Until the Education Act was passed in 1877 fees were paid by parents for the education of their children—this being one of the burdens that befel the sturdy pioneers.

In the eighties a regular weekly mail service was established. The contractor was Thomas Crack, of Myross Bush. He met the train at Mill Road every Monday morning and conveyed the mail to One Tree Point and Oteramika schools. The next contractor was W. H. Loftus, of Roslyn Bush, who collected the mail at the One Tree Point railway station. In later years when my father was chairman of the school committee, he approached the Postal Department to make Rimu a postal designation. The reply was that as there is a Rimu on the West Coast, confusion might arise.

In the early days Seaward Bush (or Forest, as it was sometimes called in official circles), was heavily timbered, and in the One Tree Point area there were- six sawmills operating when I attended the school. The nearest mill was erected by Laidlaw and Ramsay. It afterwards passed into the hands of Joseph Lee and Alfred Tapper, the latter becoming sole proprietor on a dissolution of partnership in 1882. Mr Tapper was a well-known Invercargill citizen and a quondam mayor. Other sawmillers were: Christopher W. Dawson, J. H. Dawson and Sons, Thomas Gillies, McCallum and Asher. In later years John and George Melvin had a sawmill near the part of Seaward Bush known as Millwood. All these mills worked full swing, and gave employment to hundreds of hands, and, indirectly, to a large population. Three tramway lines crossed the main road, bringing sawn timber from the mills to the railway line.

In the early eighties a sawmill at Catlins River closed down and many of the workers came to the One Tree Point mills. Mr Tapper provided all new workers at his mill with comfortable cottages and so began “Rimu Township.” Section No. 1, on the Block was occupied by Charles Canty and his cottage stood beside where the Druids’ Hall was afterwards erected. This hall was used extensively by the Salvation Army and also for social purposes. It was burned down some years later and w T as not rebuilt.

As settlement increased, business enterprise kept pace therewith. Stores existed at the mills, while Donald Barclay, Mrs A. Rhind and the late D. Weir conducted stores at Kennington. A flourishing butchery business was; carried on opposite to the Rimu school gates by James McMaster. Robert Hamilton was a later butcher. EARLY FLOUR MILL

The district had a well-equipped flour mill in the early days. It was situated on the Waihopai River, neat Brunswick, close to where J. H. Dawson and Sons afterwards erected a saw mill. It was owned by John. G. Brown, who ultimately removed it to Invercargill, near the jetty. Mr Brown also had a flaxmill on the Waihopai river. Another early industry was the brick and tile business carried on by Thomas Todd, near where the Rimu dairy factory now stands, but the proprietor later removed to Waikiwi, and the firm of Thomas Todd and Sons became well known throughout Southland. Caleb Froggatt built a brick kiln along the One Tree Point-Long-bush road and carried on the industry there until it was disposed of to Mr Thomas Jones.

The district also had its public pound, and stray cattle from far and near found temporary lodgings there. The pound was situated near where the Kennington dairy factory is now operating, at the junction of the In-vercargill-Dunedin-Roslyn Bush roads. The property was attached to a former hostelry, well known to travellers in the early days as the “Bridge Inn.” The poundkeeper was Thomas Dyke, the owner of the property. Saleyards were erected close to the One Tree Point railway station, in the early eighties and their proximity was urged as a reason why the Kennington School should not be located where it now stands.

If the original intention had been adhered to the Invercargill-Dunedin railway line would have passed close to the Rimu school. The line was to leave Invercargill and follow the old Oteramika road to tap the Fortrose district. The early settlers were, however, disappointed, especially those along the bush frontage. SHOOTING PARTY LOST In the early eighties the Seaward Bush was fairly dense. A party of Invercargill shootists got lost close to the Rimu school, while in pursuit of pigeons, and the occurrence caused great commotion. Search parties were organized, guns were fired at intervals, an old canon was fetched from the Garrison Hall in town, and a band was requisitioned. Those lost distinctly heard the mill whistles, the gun shots, and the cracking of bullock-whips, but were unable to judge from what direction the sounds came. After nearly a week’s search, bushmen found the shootists and the spot where they were lost was quite close to the edge. It was afterwards the site of the saw mill erected by John and George Melvin.

Another instance showing the density of Seaward Bush may be cited. In 1885 a new arrival from Ayrshire, Scotland, left the One Tree Point railway station to go to Gillies’s saw mill where he had secured a job as enginedriver. He .went by way of the present Waimatua road, but got lost and wandered for six days without food or water. Eventually he emerged near Seaward Bush township, more dead than alive, and a nearby settler afforded him much-needed hospitality. In the early eighties the saw mill erected by Christopher Dawson at Kennington, close to where Mr Matheson’s fellmongery now stands, was burned down by a spark from a passing railway engine. Litigation followed and Mr Dawson received consider-

able compensation. He afterwards rebuilt the mill in the bush. The houses of many of the former employees still stand in Kennington township. Present-day residents will be interested to learn that a whisky still was used for manufacturing purposes on a creek in the bush. It was well known to many people who frequented the bush, and often shootists and cattlehunters spent overnight in the surroundings—being overcome by the influence of the still! The old schoolroom at Mavis Bush was long used for meetings, church and Sunday school purposes, while many lively and interesting political battles were fought in the One Tree Point school —ever since it became known as Rimu. It was originally in the Mataura electorate, but was latterly included in Awarua. Kennington formed part of Invercargill electorate for a time, but the district was in Awarua when Sir Joseph Ward spoke in the local school during his first election campaign in 1887.