GENESIS OF THE TOWN

Taranaki Daily News, 24 February 1932, Page 9

GENESIS OF THE TOWN

, MILITARY SETTLERS' DAY

CONSTITUTION • OF--THE’ BOROUGH

HAWERA TOWN A 9. IT IS TO-DAY.

The boi’dugh of Hawera, 48 miles south-east .of New .Plymouth and on the main road' to Wellington, ..which is 187 miles distant, -whs constituted on January! 2, 1882. The town lies in the centre of the rich dairying lands for which Taranaki is?famous'and,.in spite of the prevailing '.depression from which the whole country is at present suffering, it remains very busy, visitors ing favourably' upon its brisk appearance. The history of Hawera as a settlement appears to date from 1864, when a Maori force was defeated by :General Cameron at Kakaramea and the lands of South Taranaki were .invested. One of the blockhouses built was at Hawera. It was on January 30 ,of the next year that all the coastal land south , of the Waingongoro stream was confiscated, and six months later it was announced that 50,000 acres would, be opened for military: settlers.' Hawera was' not then selected as the centre 1 of the’: district, town 'sites being surveyed at Mokoia and-Ohawe. ’ ' ' ■ ■ ' ..

• With the gradual cessation of _ fightino' and the establishment of a military camp at Waihi, confidence was created in the minds of the Europeans, and the first settlers began to make their homes in the district surrounding the present site of Hawera. This was early in 1868, and the Middlemas family is believed to have been one of the first to settle. The uncertainty provoked by the activities of Titokowaru halfway through the year hindered steady settlement for a time. The Turuturu-Mokai redoubt was stormed by Maoris in July, and further serious trouble was anticipated in September, when all the women and children were ordered by the officer in command to leave for Wanganui., Drays carried them to Patea, from which port they proceeded by boat. Uncertainty prevailed until March, 1869, when the soldiers watched the last of the Maoris passinrr through the Ngaere swamp for re’fuge°in the north, and settlement was again resumed. ■ THE FIRST COACH. < A great fillip was given to development on January 11, 1871, with the arrival of Cobb and Co.’s first coach. By 1875 the town had really begun to E row, but the Waimate Plains, the promised land of the early settlers, still remained closed to them. The decision of the Royal Commission in 1879 to set apart only a certain area for the Maoris marked an important, stage in the growth of South Taranaki,. It also led to one of the few recorded instances of a republic being set up in a British country. It was claimed by a number of settlers that the Government was not firm enough with the Maori opponents of the commission’s findings, and when followers of Te Whiti began ploughing their land they took the law into their own hands. A resolution declaring Hawera a republic was carried by the settlers, and Mr. James Livingston was elected president. The need for the republic ceased when' the Maoris withdrew, and it existed for only a few days. Shortly after this the plains were occupied by the Armed Constabulary, and ou October 27, 1880, the first public sale of Waimate West land was held in Hawera. A second one a few weeks later attracted buyers from all over New Zealand.

TOWN BOARD REGIME. . A town board was set up in 1875, but only functioned for seven years. The chairmen of this body were Messrs Jas. Davidson (1875-1879), John'Winks (18791880), 'Max D. .King (1880-1881) and William Furlong (1881-1882). By the end ■of 1881 the population had exceeded the thousand mark and the growing importance of the town as the centre of a rapid* ly developing district led to the move for higher status, which was gratified on January 2, 1882. Hawera was proclaimed a borough,-and on January 20 the first Mayor and council were elected. Mr. Felix McGuire became the first chief magistrate of the new borough, and the following councillors were elected:—: Messrs G. Syme, F. Riddiford, R. E. Pritchard, M. D. King, W. M. Thomson, D. McL’Dowie, H. R Baker and Partridge, Mr. W. H. E. Wanklyn was appointed town clerk. - By the end of the summer by-laws had been adopted. A loan of £5OOO was raised, £3500 being for the formation of streets and the remainder for the provision of a water supply and a drainage system. The latter sum was not used for some time, but work upon different streets was proceeded with al-, most immediately. About this time, too, Messrs J. Livingston, J. Winks and Tait met as the first Hawera Licensing Committee. The next few years saw th® town water supply inaugurated and lighting by gas accomplished. A fire in 1884, a cyclone the next year, and another fire in 1888 were the most .dis-' astrous visitations suffered by the new borough in the first years of its existence. DAIRYING BENEFIT. The development of the surrounding country was.accelerated by the beginning of' the dairy industry in the eighties, and the borough was directly benefited. Forest in the vicinity of the town boundaries receded before the march of civilisation, and Hawera had advanced a stage' towards its attainment of the prosperity of later years. A really serious check was' received when the disastrous fire of 1895 demolished a large part of High Street. Jlowever, in one sense the fire had ; good ' results, for it led to the enforcement of building regulations and a higher standard of .architecture. In the last year of the century's pure water supply and a drainage scheme were brought into being. The first event of major importance to the borough itself in the first years of the century was the erection of a fire station. Then by 1904 ,the Hawera County Electric Light Company had harnessed the Waingongoro Stream and i one more amenity had been added to the life of the community. Three years later the first technical school was started, the location being Princes Street. In 1911 the value of the fire brigade was proved beyond a doubt, a fire, which would in all probability have rivalled the conflagration of 1895 had it not been checked, being extinguished by the brigade after two large High Streetbuildings had been destroyed. LATTER DAY HAWERA. ' The post-war boom period saw Hawera, which had been steadily progressing for two decades, unnaturally active. Land in the vicinity was sold, for sums up to £2OO an acre. Then cam® the depression, and 'a severe setback was administered.to th® borough. The firm foundations laid by the pioneers held, however, and the succeeding years have found the,position of the town steadily consolidated. In 1925 Nolantown, which had previously been part of the Hawera County, was incorporated in the borough and passed under the control of the council. In the years since that time considerable street formation work has been carried out in that locality. The municipality has jurisdiction over an area of almost 600 acres of which the business portion is a comparatively small part. As other articles show, the borough, is exceptionally well laid out both in the business and residential areas. Hawera is the capital town of South Taranaki, and the visitor is immediately impressed with its air of progressiveness and modernity.