LONG LIFE LIVED IN TIMARU.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXV, Issue 18519, 17 March 1930, Page 8

LONG LIFE LIVED IN TIMARU.

MR ROBERT MORGAN’S EXPERIENCES. To-day is the seventieth anniversary of the arrival in New Zealand of Mr Robert Morgan, one of Timaru’s earliest settlers. Mr Morgan arrived in Lyttelton on the sailing vessel “Clontarf,” after a voyage of 77 days. The Timaru passengers had to wait in Lyttelton for ten days until the small schooner “Wellington” sailed for Timaru. The schooner anchored in the open roadstead, and the passengers went ashore in whale boats, the surf boat service not having been begun at that time, and the harbour of course not even commenced. Recounting his experiences, Mr Morgan points out that when he arrived the town consisted of about forty houses. There were no shops in Stafford Street, but supplies were obtained from two stores, one, Beswick’s, situated in George Street, and the other, LeCren’s, stood where Turnbull’s shipping offices now stand. The Main Street in the 60’s consisted of a mud bullock track, with one or two wooden or sod buildings on either side. Bullock wagons w T ere used for the transporting of goods, where

there are now 7 numbers of fast motor trucks and lorries. One fortunate man at that time possessed a horse and dray. There was no main road north

or south, and long journeys were usually made by sailing vessel. In 1868 Mr Morgan witnessed a disastrous fire which started near the Empire Hotel and went beyond where the Theatre Royal now stands. In this fire 42 buildings were destroyed. Since 1860 Mr Morgan has lived in Timaru, and he has watched its remarkable growth and development from these small beginnings.