75 YEARS AGO

Waikato Times, Volume 125, Issue 20890, 23 August 1939, Page 9

75 YEARS AGO

FOUNDING OF HAMILTON

LANDING OF FOURTH WAIKATOS MANY DIFFICULTIES OVERCOME On August 24 three-quarters of a century ago the gun-boat Rangiriri made its way up the Waikato River in search of a" suitable place for the militia to found a setlement. After rounding a long bend and passing high banks, the boat oamo upon low slopes running gently to the water’s edge, and there the' travellers disembarked. The leader of the contingent was Captain William Steele, and the men he commanded were known as the Fourth Waikato Regiment. When the gun-boat pulled in 75 years ago at the place now known as the Soldiers’ Memorial Park, the foundation was laid for Hamilton, the second largest inland town in the Dominion. Little did the hardy pioneers think that from the rough scrub country, which presented them with so many difficulties, would grow the principal dairying centre of the colony and one of the richest areas in the Empire. To add to the troubles facing the small band of settlers, they were in Ihe midst of hostile territory, but courage was the keynote when the work was commenced, and tne hardy Fourths battled gamely against all obstacles. Regiment Disbanded With the cessation of hostilities about 1865, the regiment was disbanded and the soldiers were allotted 50-acre sections, as was the custom in other militia towns in the colony. Many of the settlers were unable to resist the lure of gold at the Thames, but a number remained to break in the land, and Hamilton's future was moulded by the land companies which cultivated the extensive tracts of arable land surrounding the settlement. A further step was taken in 1877 when the proclamation of Hamilton as a borough took place, Mr I. R. Vialou being the first mayor. Today Hamilton stands first in the Waikato and second among the inland towns in the Dominion in population, and in addition it is the junction of the northern, southern and eastern railways. Each year the memory of the pioneers who laid the foundation of the town is honoured at a reunion of members of early Hamilton families.