BY BULLOCK DRAY

Stratford Evening Post, Issue 25, 28 March 1928, Page 2

BY BULLOCK DRAY

JOURNEY TO STRATFORD. AN EARLY ARRIVAL. Mrs Brannigan., wife of Mr Jolin Brannigan, of Pembroke Road, was Olio of the first women to arrive _ in Stratford, and ai eliat with her elicited considerable information in reference to .the days in which Stratford was,just beginning to take shape.

"When I came first," said Mrs Brannigan, in conversation with a "Post" representative, "I did not know the road was the road. I planteel a strawberry bed on the road) in front of our boundary. When Mr Robinson saw it he said how kind I was to plant strawberries for the Crown Land Office men. I came to Stratford in a bullock waggon, drawn by six bullocks. There were many creeks between Inglewood and Stratford, and it was a very bumpy trip. As we arrived at Pembroke Road, Mr George Curtis came out of his bakehouse, wearing a big white cap and a white apron, took off his cap with a flourish and congratulated the Indies on coming to Stratford. Mrs Taylor walked from Inglewood when sh'o came to the town, and she also walked back and forward to Inglewood for groceries, as there was no store in Stratford at the time. Ifc would bo : 1876 when Fitzpatrick's house was ! erected. Curtis' store at Pembroke Road was chiefly a bakehouse and butcher shop. They went in for groceries when they moved into town,. When I arrived flour was £1 per 1001 b and hard to get. Mr Brannigan brought half a ton of potatoes from Inglewood in six sacks, but when ho got home there were only two sacks —people living along the road had helped 'themselves. THE RAILWAY COMING. "At that time the railway was just beJing made towards Stratford. Curtis Bros ran a dray with provisions from Inglewood. The site of. the County Hotel was a swamp. Mrs ■ Tayler and Mrs Tisch were here before me. Mr George Keheley's i father took us by bullock waggon from New Plymouth to Inglewood, and Mr William James brought us by bullock waggon from Inglewood to Stratford. Mrs Ellis was newly from Home, _ and got married and went to { live with her husband! on the farm j on Bird Road. Tire Rev. Brown (Anglican) was an old man and used to have to walk up Pembroke;Road, though once he had a loan of Mr. Brannigan's horse. In 1880 Dean Grogan (Roman Catholic) made visits from Hawera. He salid; "You will never have a, church in a place like this." But very soon afterwards we had a church. The building is now used for the convent school. It previously stood on the site of the present church. A photograph of the moving of the church i s at/ the Presbytery. Rough as they were, they were good times. Everybody seemed to help each other. Broadway was a sea of mud. Many a time I have gone down to the corner of Mountain Road, to see if the children wore safe, coming from school, or whether they had dropped into the creeks. BURIED BULLOCKS. , , "A "great many bullocks) are buried in Broadway, having been stuck in the mud and killed. Mr Mulreo once sard: 'There's more than bullocks there.' But I don't know whether that is true or not. When wo arrived there was n Maori scare on. We expected the Maoris to come down the railway line. The railway station was loopholed for defence against the Maoris. There were many Maoris about in the early days. Every time the dogs barked we thought it was the Maoris coming. One day when the dogs barked I went out to the road and saw about eighteen men standing at the gate. They had come from Nw Plymouth to work on ae contract. Thy could not get a meal at Taylor's boarding-house or at the hotel, and so I fixed them up. I supplied this gang with butter, eggs, milk, etc., and as a result lost £27 through the contractor going through the court. Mr Brannigan worked on the railway bridge over the Patca, ! and one day fell into the river, having a marvellous escape from death. Mr Mulree arrived about three years after the settlement started. Mr Donnelly taught at a half-time school, dividing his time between Stratford andl Norfolk Road. Wo arrived at New Plymouth from Home, and out in the sea we had to go down into a surf boat down a rope ladder. It was almost as had as the bush fire. The surf boat was pulled to the boadh by a draught horse. THE IMMIGRANTS. We arrived in New Plymouth in 1876,, and the town was about as big as Midhirst is now. Mr Brannigan worked at Colonel Trimble's sawmill at Inglewood until he decided to take up laud here. When we arrived in Inglewood there were a number, of cottages which were reserved for the use of assisted immigrants, and people who had paid their passages could mot get a house. Therefore, we had to share a house with a person who had. a large family. Finally we got into one of the cottages, receiving the key from the family who were vacating! it, and we were allowed to continue in possession, though Ave were warned that we would have to get out if ifc was wanted bv any assisted immigrants. Stlnce then I" have never been out of Taranaki. The two first rhododendron trees planted in Stratford are just inside my front gate. They are still growing and flower well each year. Tre first? blackthorns grown in Stratford are also on my property. I got the seed from Ireland. I had also the first laurel hedge, bringing slips from up the railway lino and planting them ( here.