Picturesque South Canterbury Townships

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLVII, Issue 21529, 16 December 1939, Page 36 (Supplement)

Picturesque South Canterbury Townships

Contribution to History of Province

Individuality in Development and Tradition

A FACT which must impress the chronicler of the early history of South Canterbury is the number of sturdy and progressive rural centres which have grown up quite apart from the radiating influence of a metropolitan centre. Each township has flourished in its own way, overcoming its own problems in the indomitable spirit of the pioneers, and each making its own contribution to the traditions, and social and economic progress which have gone to build up South Canterbury as we know it to-day. It is that individualistic growth which has occasioned the expressions of local loyalty and rivalry evident in many directions of community endeavour; it is a loyalty which is by no means centrifugal, but the fount and foundation of the vitality which characterises the social life of the Province to-day. The history of South Canterbury has few spectacular features, but it holds a worthy place in the romance of the New Zealand pioneers, and in that history each South Canterbury rural centre has played its part.

Geraldine Geraldine owes its origin to the day when in 1854 Mr Alfred Cox, one of the early run-holders, selected “the lower end of the Raukapuka Bush” as the site of his homestead. His first camp was on the spot where an old blacksmith’s shop now stands at the junction of the roads near the saleyards on the north bank of the Waihi river. In the ’fifties practically all the land in the present Geraldine County was held by pastoral lease from the Government. The land surrounding the Raukapuka Forest and Talbot Forest (now known as the Geraldine Bush) at the edge of which a township reserve was surveyed, was held mostly by Messrs William K. and Angus Macdonald and Alfred Cox. Messrs Francis and Muter were the first holders of the Raukapuka run. Mr Cox buying the lease in November. 1853. Colonel Campbell had 20,000 acres which he sold to Mr Cox in the following year. Mr G. Duppa fol-

lowed, and then came Messrs Tancred and Postlethwaite. The Macdonald Brothers originally selected four runs, one of 28,500 acres and three of 22,500, and they occupied the plain between the Orari and Rangitata rivers from the sea, inland to the present main north road. One area of 25,000 acres, was taken over by Mr C. R. Blaklston, and an area was taken by Mr Lee, and then by Mr Hammond, who apparently did not settle and forfeited or sold to Mr Macdonald. In 1860 Messrs Caleb Maslin and Philip Dale built Mr Alfred Cox’s first homestead which he named “Raukapuka.” Town Reserves On April 29, 1857, in order to make provision for the future, the Canterbury Provincial Council set aside 320 acres at Talbot Forest which consisted largely of flax swamp and manuka as a Town Reserve. It was not named,

I but after a ballot in the Council, the I name Fitzgerald, in honour » of the I early Provincial Governor. was adopted. This was later modified to I Geraldine, the family name of the I Fitzgeralds who emigrated from Irej land. I The first building in the reserve, i which was built by Mr Caleb Maslin. was that used by Mr Samuel Hewlings | in 1857 as a survey office. The walls I were covered with totara bark, and the roof was of nigger-heads. The site ' is now occupied by the yard of Messrs I E. H. Logan and Company’s business | premises, Talbot Street. The totara I tree growing on the property was I planted by Mr Hewlings to commem- , I orate the birth of his child. Mr Caleb j Maslin. who with his family arrived ! at Lyttelton by the Maori in 1858. • I was the next after Mr Hewlings to , 1 make a permanent home in Geraldine Mr Hewlings made the first detailed i i survey about 1861. but the actual layi ing out of the Geraldine township j was not effected until 1879. Owing

to the demand for small sections during the intervening years before the Government Town Sections were available for sale, private enterprise partly supplied the demand by cutting up freehold land at either end of the land reserved for the township, which accounts for the long main street and the present scattered appearance of the town. Timber-milling The town primarily owes its existence to the timber-milling industry, as, following the introduction of handsawing into the bush in the beginning of 1864 there was considerable progress, which received still further impetus two years later when a steam saw-mill and flour mill was started by two Australians, Messrs McKenzie and McKissack. Traces of this mill remain near the entrance to the former home of Miss Hughes adjacent to the Waihi traffic bridge. With commcnd-

| able forethought Messrs McKenzie and McKissack replaced part of the bush they had cut out by planting young bluegums, and to-day there are a | number of line trees near the site of the old mill. In spite of the rapid disappearance of the bush due to the mill and the pit men, the Government managed to preserve the 80 acres of native bush ; which now crowns the hill on the north and west belts of the town, and which greatly enhances the charm . of Geraldine. I Messrs J. Bull, R. Taylor, S. Taylor, G. Nicholas, William and James George, Thomas and Charles MereI dith. T. Patterson, W. Grace, jr., W. 1 ; Young and C. Hammond were among I the first settlers to blaze the trail for future colonists:—Messrs Guilford, 1 James Fergusson. W. Bennett, W. Grace. A. Best and James Reid. In the i Waihi Bush, Mr W. Scott was the first to commence work, splitting logs for i fencing material for the Raukapuka ; Station. Messrs F. R. Flatman, senr.,

and R. Taylor later commenced a sawmill in the Waihi Bush which remained in operation until the timber at the lower end was cut out. Messrs Penny and Webb operated a sawmill at the upper end of Waihi Bush. Early Stores With the advent of the bushmen in the district, stores were necessary to supply their needs, and the first store was opened at Pleasant Valley by Messrs Mendelson and Morris who moved to Geraldine in the ’seventies. The two first stores in the Geraldine township were opened by Mr Grimmer and Mr Maslin. Mr Maslin’s store was at the south end of ‘the town. These stores were followed almost immediately by Mr Robert Morrison who commenced business in 1867. Other shopkeepers in the ’sixties were Mr John Huffey, a general storekeeper, Mr Nelvin, a draper, and Mr P. W. Hutton, of T x ' Jiaru, who, much

to the chagrin of local storekeepers, used to hire a room at Taylor’s Hotel I to sell his fancy goods. The method of selling and buying ’ was by barter. Farmers would bring their produce into the stores to ex- | change it for goods. The produce would subsequently be sent to Timaru by waggon and thence by coastal | steamer. The first builders to settle in Geraldine were Messrs Young. Waters, “Yankee” Taylor and Pearce. Material for the buildings erected was supplied 1 mainly from the local bush. The early blacksmiths were Messrs Anderson, Kirby and Trengrove, and i the pioneer saddler was Mr S. Mills. | Mr Trengrove also acted as a veterinary surgeon. Mr Clouston, who was one of the early workers on Mr Cox’s 1 run. was the first wheelwright in the i town, and his original home in Waihi I Terrace is still standing. | The first/ hotel was built in 1864 by IMr Robert Taylor. At that time the residents of the township were few in | number and comprised Messrs I “Yankee” Taylor. Reuben Johnstone. | Kirby. J. Brown, “Parson” Brown, John i Huffey. James Kalaugher, John Dean I and the Maslin family. I The immigrants, who arrived to I settle in the Geraldine' district, lived | first of all in a room which was built over the old pound yards, and as many as four families at a time could sometimes be found there. Later a house was built for the immigrants near the stone bridge at the south end of the town.

Town Board Formed Rapid development marked the period from the ’seventies up to the formation of the Town Board in 1884 and the appointment of a Borough Council in 1905. On June 19. 1884. when the population had increased to approximately 700, an announcement appeared in "The New Zealand Gazette” stating that Mr Caleb Sherratt had been nominated by the Governor to conduct the first elecion of the Geraldine Town Board consisting of seven commissioners. The election was held in July and Messrs R. H. Pearpoint, W. S. Maslin, Robert Taylor, John Mundell. Nathaniel Dunlop. T. Farrell and John Huffey were elected. The first meeting was held on July 21, 1884 when Mr Pcarpoint was appointed chairman. The Town Board functioned as a Domain Board from March 9, 1887, until the formation of the Borough in 1905 when the population numbered 1020. The members of the first Borough Council were Mr W. S. Maslin (Mayor), Dr. P. W. Hislop and Messrs Maling, Herlihy. R Taylor, E. H. Logan, J. Farrell and W. A. Dawson. The list of mayors is as follow: 1905-07, W. S. Maslin; 1907-09, J. Maling; 1909-11. F. R. Flatman; 191115. J. Kennedy; 1915-17. Dr. P. W. Hislop; 1917-18, Dr. F. Paterson; 191821, B. R. Macdonald; 1921-23, E. Hardcastle; 1923-31, J. Kennedy; 1931-May 1938. B. R. Macdonald: May to December, 1938, J. R. Lack; January, 1939, D. C. McKechnie. Waimate Waimate could very aptly be described as South Canterbury’s “Garden Town.” as not only is its layout and appearance a credit to municipol organisation, but it has become through the. foresight of those responsible for its civic affairs, a model community centre for a richly productive district. The Waimate Borough Council owns and controls facilities for all kinds of sport; the management of the playing fields and the paries under its jurisdiction would do credit to a town of much larger size.

The history of Waimate could be started from 1844 when Bishop Selwyn and Mr E. Shortland visited the district. The arrival of the first white settler did not occur until June 1954, when Mr Michael Studholme reached Waimate, with a bullock dray. From that stage onwards, the history of the town and district can be divided into three distinct periods. In the first period after the arrival of the first

white men. a few settlers arrived and they gradually opened up 3000 acres of bush. In the early days. Mr Studholme grazed cattle, and they were driven through the Lindis Pass to Queenstown to supply food for the 2000 men engaged in mining. Gradually the Waimate bush was opened up and at the end of the first 25-year period, the town had a populaiton of 1400. The people depended on sawmilling for their livelihood, and five steam sawmills operated in the bush. A railway was even projected to go up Mill Road and take the place of three-horse teams and waggons, which were transporting the timber to the railway station. An Early Disaster Disaster came to Waimate in 1878 in the form of a huge bush fire. The Waimate bush was destroyed. and with it the five steam sawmills and the homes of 70 settlers. The population lost its means of livelihood. It took 25 years for Waimate 1 to regain its population of 1400, and during that 25 years agriculture was slowly developed. Towards the close of the period, however, farming received a great impetus through the passing of the Lands for Settlement Act introduced by Sir John Mackenzie Among the large tract of lands cut up was the Waikakahi Estate of 50.00 C acres, and a portion of the Waimate Estate, including the Arno anc Nukuroa Settlements. The influx oJ settlers, the great expansion of agricultural and pastoral industries started Waimate on the way to progress. which until the present time, ii steadfastly continues. Ten years age the County population approachec 8000 and the Borough 2000. To-da> the Borough has a population of 240( and the County had also shown ai increase. Interesting Dates The first postal service started ir Waimate from Christchurch on May 1 1858. The mail was transported 01 horseback. It was not until 1870 tha the first Post Office building wa; erected. A lAoney order office opem-' and an electric telegraph installed. Thi telephone was installed in Waimate ii 1903. An enlarged brick building wa: erected in 1892 and the present out standing Post Office building, whicl has a chiming clock, was erected it 1910. A petition for a school in Waimate

was sent to the Board of Education in 1865, and the Lown then had over 300 I inhabitants, but the school was not j opened until February 5. 1867. A new i school was built on February 21, 1876, and the present brick school in 1882. It is now to give place to a modem open air building which is expected to be completed early in the new year. A meeting was held in Waimate on July 2, 1877. with a view to having the town constituted as a borough. There was considerable opposition to the proposal, but the proclamation was made on September 8. 1879. The first Mayor was Mr John Manchester, who served until 1881. He was followed by Matthaw Sherwin 11881-1882), S. W. Goldsmith <lBB2-1884'. C. V. Clarke <lBB4-1886), James Sinclair <lBB6-1887), Frank Slee <lBB7-1889). James Sinclair <lBB9-1891), George H. Graham <lB9l- - William Coltman (1893-1895),

I C. V. Clarke <1895-1896). Robert Nicol; : | < 1896-1898). Dr. H. C. Barclay (1898- ; ! 1901). John Manchester (1901-1908), | . l Norton Francis '.1908-1912), John -‘Black (1912-1914). Norton Francis i I (1915-1916), George Dash (1917-1918), I William E. Evans (1919-1920), s I Frederick Nash <1921-22), William E. t Evans <1923-1924), George Dash ■ ' <1925—). 1 i Municipal Progress - Much of the credit for Waimate’s I I municipal development has been due e ! to the foresight of its present Mayor. •. - Mr Qeorge Dash. His life story is ° closely connected with the history of Waimate. When he was four years old he came from Essex in England to what was in those days a little bush a township. Ever since he accepted as a e youth, his first honorary secretaryship, d his career has been linked with the d development of Waimate. There is - , scarcely an aspect of the town’s social i service that has not benefited from o his enthusiastic interest. and there d are few public offices that at some L s. time or other, he has not filled. ;e ; Waimate’s development as a garden ,g ; town, as a centre for a wide range of L e ! community activities, has not occurred it < by chance; it has been the life long e. i aim of Mr Dash. For that reason no p 1 history of the town, however brief. )0 would be complete without mention of | this valuable contribution to its d ! remarkable progress. jf ; Many words would be necessary to i- J deal with the wide range of coms, munity interests centred in Waimate; )- ; there is scarcely a sport or a pastime it j that is not competently represented by io a thoroughly organised club. But apart ;d ' from all that, the town is the centre of iy ! one of the most productive areas m 10 New Zealand and in the world. In ,n | no other part of South Canterbury does agricultural and pastoral industry cover such a wide range of ' pursuits. "Waimate has established a in | permanent reputation for market 1. I garden products, for fruits both small >n ! and large and for all kinds of agriit cultural and pastoral products. is i There ls one aspect of Waimate that ■d ' has not been neglected through the ic I years. It caters for the aesthetic in ' taste with preserved native flora and is I in other respects with scenery that Ls e- I typically English. Rich soil has •h i produced a richness of scenery. The in I Borough Council has charge of Kelcy’s ■ Bush, and there much has ,been e, wrought by commendable forethought.

Temuka With no claim to spectacular development, Temuka. since it was created a borough in 1901, has made steady and solid progress until to-day it stands in place with the foremost of rural communities. Wise administration was the keystone of its foundation, and the edifice has been securely built by succeeding generations. To the < mayors and councillors the people of Temuka owe a deep debt of gratitude. ! Of recent years, the late Colonel J. It. M. Hayhurst, who was Mayor in , ‘ 1899 and from 1910 to 1914, was indefatigable in his work for the welfare I of the district. HLs many beneficences : I are a lasting tribute to his memory. , I Perhaps the most colourful career of ■ any mayor was that of the late Mr T. E. Gunnion M.8.E., who. after 10 years , j of office, was succeeded in 1931 by the

present Mayor. Mr A. W. Buzan. Mr Gunnion was widely known and respected throughout New Zealand, and ' his work for Temuka will not be easily lost sight of. In 1920, when the then : Prince of Wales visited Temuka the ' late Mr Gunnion was at a loss to read ; the old English characters in an j illuminated address which he had to ' read at the reception. Realising his I limitations when the moment came, he ' handed the address to the Prince and j with a friendly pat on the back asked i him to read it. The Prince graciously | complied with the request and read his own welcome. The borough of Temuka owes its origin to the wise provision and foresight of the men who guided the destinies of Canterbun 7 in its earliest years. In 1858 the first Provincial

Council of Canterbuy set aside a reserve of 640 acres to be the site of the township, and in 1860 the chief surveyor of the province was authorised to make a survey of all the topographical features within the township, then known as Arowhenua, preparatory to laying out its streets, and to plan the necessary communicating highways before the rural sections were offered for sale. But at the same time as Arowhenua was being surveyed by the Government, a private citizen purchased land close to the proposed township, which he subdivided into town lots and called Wallingford. This area, which subsequently became amalgamated as part of the town of Temuka, was acquired by the Provincial Council in 1866. First House The first house in Temuka, near Arowhenua, was a dwelling erected in 1860. Early development of the township was rapid, as although there was much swampy land surrounding it, that land was soon drained, and became some of the most fertile agricultural land in the district, and, though it is difficult to imagine in these years, the pioneer township was the centre of big areas of native forest, and developed first as a timber milling centre. It is indicative of its rapid advance that in 1868 the town was served by three stores, two millers, a butcher and baker, a tailor, a draper, nine carpenters, two brick makers and plasterers, a house painter, three blacksmiths and an iron founder, two saddlers, two wheelwrights, two sawyers, no fewer than six carters, a brewer, a chemist, four hotels and two doctors. It was a very small and immature township, but it evidently did not lack the essentials of civilised convenience. The soil around Temuka Ls heavy loam, exceptionally rich even for South Canterbury, and the settlers were not long in discovering its advantages for agriculture. Temuka became almost the first agricultural settlement in the district, and developed this source of prosperity in addition to saw-milling. It is evidence of the fertility of the virgin soil of the country that in 1884 a wheat yield of 45 bushels to the acre was regarded as nothing unusual, and in‘some favoured places wheat yields as high as 64, and even 72 bushels were recorded. Bush Disappears The bush as a source of wealth, or even as a decorative asset, did not last very long. Not only was timber in great demand, but the early settlers, keen to grow crops and graze sheep,

saw no use in it. By axe and fire it disappeared even as it has disappeared in many other parts of the country. A great bush fire in 1875 destroyed moot of what the mills had left, and the 1 settlers completed the extermination of the native forest in this region. New Zealand trees are slow-growing, and ! native bush may be preserved, but cannot be cultivated. The disappearance of the bush brought the settlers to the realisation, that after all. trees were necessary to agriculture, and the planting of more rapidly growing English 1 trees, and Australian gum trees was commenced. That is why in these • years, the country about Temuka. in j common with many other places in South Canterbury, impresses the EnsI lish visitor with a sense of familiarity. , The preparation of native flax and

the growing of linseed, and its manufacture, were also early industries of the town and the surrounding country, but native flax disappeared with the draining of the swamps and cultivation. As far back as 1863 linseed was grown in this part of Canterbury and a company existed in Temuka tor the manufacture of oil cake and the preparation of flax. Temuka can also claim to have had cne of the first flour mills in South Canterbun. In 1864. the province then being almost entirely devoted to sheep, flour was being imported from Chile and South Australia at a cost of fivepence a pound, and the price of a four-pound loaf of bread was 1 -6. The opportunity for a mill was right where most of the wheat was being grown about Temuka. or Arowhenua. as it was then called, and the first mill, driven by water wheel, was erected not far from the present town. The growing of wheat showed a rapid increase and in 1867 a meeting was held to consider exporting grain as it was then mentioned that in that year 30.000 bushels of wheat had been grown in the district. The Temuka millers stated that they used 30.000 bushels annua 11 v and there would not be sufficient surplus for export. The dairying industry, too. made good headway and has long been a source of wealth to Temuka. One of the first dairy factories in this I part of the province was established in 1883 together with a bacon-curin«r plant. Today there are five factories operating in the district. Education The enterprising residents of the embryo town were not behind in providing for the education of their children. Unlike so many other of the little communities of the day. they did not wait for the Provincial Council to provide them with a school, or rely on religious denominations to supply facilities. They called a meeting in • 1865. subscribed money and building material for the erection of a schoolroom and teacher’s residence, and had them in occupation in the following year. Churches followed. A Wesleyan church was built in 1869. an Anglican church in 1870. and the Presbyterian church in the following year. The building of the Roman Catholic church was begun in 1879. In spite of this progress Temuka was not even a town district until 1884. When Wallingford was absorbed in the town district of Temuka in 1886 the total population was 1.045. In 1901 Temuka was constituted a borough an 1 in that year the population numbered 1,465. To-day the population is 1.910. (Continued on next page)