Farm Life in Katikati’s Early Days

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 81, Issue 6, 15 December 1950, Page 587

Farm Life in Katikati’s Early Days

KATIKATI is a settlement in the Bay of Plenty which has preserved much of the individuality of its early colonial life. It is prosperous now, but it was not always so, for it is a land where many dreams have come true.

FROM the time of their arrival the people of Katikati prided themselves that they were special settlers; and they were. This isolated colony owed its existence to the inspiration of George Vesey Stewart, its founder and nominal leader. He conceived the idea of an Irish settlement with tenant farmers from Ulster to work the land, a few country gentlemen to provide capital and a congenial social atmosphere, and he himself to oversee as

a sort of patriarchal head. He planned the settlement, making a grant of 40 acres to each member of the party and allowing 300 acres as a maximum for each family. He then made official application for and was granted 10,000 acres in the Katikati block, which the Government was to survey and road and he was to populate under the provisions of the Waste Lands Act of 1874. Last, he set about communicating his enthusiasm for the pioneering adventure to his countrymen. It is proof of George. Vesey Stewart’s ability as a writer and fluency as a speaker that the ships which had been provided by the New Zealand Government for his emigrants were soon fully booked. The settlement when founded had a character of its own; it was a homogeneous group. Though there were social distinctions, the settlers were at least all of one family sharing the spirit of adventure and possessing the common ability to face difficulty and disappointment with generous comradeship. Famous Old Homesteads Many of the settlers built fine houses for which Katikati became famous, and though time has taken a very heavy toll, some of these still stand. It is _ fortunate that “Athenree”, one of the most fascinating of these old homesteads, is also the best preserved. It commands a magnificent view of land and sea and combines individuality with beauty and comfort. In its hey-day it was said of the homestead that “there was graciousness in its grounds and the creeper-covered verandah and distinction in the drawing room with its grand piano”. It. seems to have possessed all the amenities of the civilisation which these settlers had known at home. Mrs. Stewart, the lady of “Athenree”, was a sister-in-law of George Vesey Stewart. A woman of culture, ability, and force of character, she became the acknowledged leader of the group at Katikati and was the mainspring of nearly every social

activity, for such was her determination not to be buried in the drudgery of farm life that she threw herself into all the available activities with tireless enthusiasm. She conveyed some of that enthusiasm to her friends on her return to England when she published her diary. At one time almost every house in the Katikati district had a copy of the book, but now it is comparatively rare. There is a copy in the Alexander Turnbull Library. It is an elaborate account of the part a woman plays in the unremitting toil of turning a wilderness into a farm. The interest shown in this book when it first came out is worth reviving, for though it is a personal record, it tells the story of the lives of nearly all farm women. A resume of Adela Stewart’s book “My Simple Life in New Zealand” is given below by Helen Paine, Rural Sociologist, Department of Agriculture, Wellington, in the hope that the original aim of the author, that of interesting other women in the life of the pioneer, may be achieved.

A Perpetual Picnic “A perpetual picnic” is Adela Stewart’s description of life in the backblocks. On her return to England in 1906 after 28 years in New Zealand Mrs. Stewart published her diary, an unbroken record of the humdrum routine of farm life. She called it “My Simple Life in New Zealand” and thought it would provide an answer to the questions of her friends and relations, and hoped that it might help and interest other women. The book is a day-by-day account of the activities of a family pioneering in the Bay of Plenty at Katikati; Little is given of their background, and the voyage out is hardly mentioned, but arrival in Auckland meant the beginning of a new life for Cap-

tain and Mrs. Stewart, so she recorded their many and varied experiences faithfully. They brought with them “our only child, Mervyn (seven years old) and Loua daughter of a dear friend . . . who proved an invaluable help to us. Soon after we settled she got married.” In addition, there were two servants, a man and his wife. Pleasure from Hard Work For Mrs. Stewart colonial life was mostly work, and really hard work, but she got so much genuine pleasure from every achievement that it was never drudgery; her attitude toward the adventure of pioneering made it a perpetual picnic. “. . . 300 acres . . . which we had bought from. our leader before leaving home and became possessed of by lot” was all that was owned, but Mrs. Stewart described the excitement of her first glimpse of that land. They pushed through . the fern and manuka “until on . an eminence we gazed on our future home, a limitless tract of undulating, uncultivated land”. The first necessity in any country is shelter. Before his family could move to their new home Captain Stewart had to build the nucleus of it; then at. the first opportunity they all shifted in, and “got comfortably settled in a small sitting-room, large bed-room . . . and loft”, all of which were intended for the stables when a proper house was able to be built, so there were many inconveniences. ■ “Our wooden shingle roof, not being waterproof, necessitated keeping a supply of baths, basins, pie-dishes, etc., handy to catch the drops, which, with frequent moving of furniture, enabled us generally to have a dry bed. ...” In their zeal they enjoyed “roughing it”. They tackled all their problems with tremendous enthusiasm, delighting in improvisation. There was no kitchen, but in the outhouse with a clay floor Mrs. Stewart had her early cooking lessons.

“Then 1 made my first jam; spent hours peeling peaches . . . acting ® according to ignorant instructions, to boil this fruit with sugar for a day, at the end of which, worn out and tired with standing and stirring, in great heat, the result was a dark unattractive-looking and tasting compound. Experience . . . taught me simply to remove the stones, crack these, blanch the kernels by pouring boiling water over them, and boil them with the whole fruit and equal weight of sugar, as fast as possible for twenty to thirty minutes . . . when, having jars ready, you at once fill them with a bright-coloured clear preserve. ... I was able after practice to make 500 to 1,5001b5. of jams, jellies, bottled fruits and marmalade every year, so that my store-room was a perfect picture!” War with Nature The Stewarts found themselves waging constant war with Nature. Their land was not first class, and the climate left much to be desired, but before long they had become enthusiastic gardeners, finding more pleasure in growing flowers and vegetables than in any other occupation. “Some of our garden experiences were very successful, others quite the reverse; but we learnt to bear our disappointments philosophically. . . .” And they learnt to make the most of the climate, feeling in the long rainy season that “all this wet weather was splendid for planting”, and at the same time finding the mud and the dirt and the wet clothes trying. “. . . our patience was tried by rain, rain, rain, beating into our small quarters, and interfering hopelessly with the drying of our clothes. ...” So they started whitewashing the ceilings of the rooms, then tacked scrim on to the walls, and covered them with paper. “. . . this was wet weather work and most satisfactory.” Of course it was never long before the summer came round again. “December came again with everincreasing work, for it was shearingtime, and I had nine men all told to cook for. . . . Bread had to be baked every day except Sunday, so that we imported half a ton of flour at a time when the roads were good and rain not falling, using lOOlbs. of flour a week. ...” This is an indication of the amount of work that had to be done, often unassisted. “I alone prepared breakfast and the whole dinner for the first time . . . and was not I proud of it, and hot, too!” Then two young men who were fencing the farm taught her to make bread. Mrs. Stewart was learning quickly, but “the early settlers’ good, useful daughters were marrying fast”, and as help was becoming difficult to get, she mostly worked alone. “It would be wearisome,” she adds, “to enumerate my changes of servants and helps; the regret at parting with a good girl on her marriage, or relief at a useless one leaving because ‘Mother, has broken her leg’, or ‘is dying’, or ‘wants me to look after the baby’, etc. Then I was often for weeks without help, but got no sympathy because all my friends were in the same plight.” One day’s holiday meant extra work before and afterward in this busy life, but it was always considered worth the effort. “As a rule, we all walked on Sundays to Hillside for Morning or

farm life In early katikati

Evening Service, and I made hot-cross buns on Good Fridays, pan-cakes on Shrove Tuesdays, and, of course, plum-puddings and mince-pies on Christmas Days; thus, as far as possible, in our home in the Antipodes keeping up home customs and traditions.” Social Gaiety They found time for a continual round of dances, picnics, tennis parties, and dinners, which were held in many of the scattered homes, often on an elaborate scale. “Next came a little gaiety in the form of a dance. . . . We walked ... to Larkspur, our sister Mary’s pretty place . . . and found all bubbling with excitement there in anticipation of the dance that evening, to which many came, although it was a very stormy night, beginning dancing at 8 p.m. and going on vigorously till 4 a.m., with intervals for supper at midnight and soup at 3. We spent a day or two there . . . and so home in ankle-deep mud roads in pitch darkness.” In summer other activities took the place of the dances, so there was never time to feel lonely even in this isolated spot. Mrs. Stewart’s story from the beginning is one of hard work interspersed with social highlights. “Although next day was Sunday I had, contrary to my usual day of rest, to bake bread, set the night before —a very hot job on a very hot day. On Monday I was up at 5 a.m. to make butter, pick strawberries, and do a lot of extra cookingroast goose, boiled ham, cakes, etc., for a picnic to-morrow. ...” It was not long before the house had to be enlarged. Expenses were increasing and views modifying, so it

was decided to build rougher stables and make the present stables the nucleus of “Athenree”, to be erected on a better site, necessitating removal of existing buildings intact on rollers. “Before doing so, the drawing room, 28 x 18, was built on wooden blocks rammed into the ground; then followed the studs, upper plates, ridge board, rafters, rusticated board walls, battens for roof, shingles, window sashes, one being a large bay commanding a fine view of practically unlimited Pacific Ocean, quite lifeless.” Many rooms, a dining room 22ft. x 16ft., several new bedrooms, and a kitchen with a brick floor, were added —luxury compared with the old outhouse. The homestead began to look more inviting as the trees and shrubs and garden grew up around it, and it was then that they christened the farm “Athenree”, a name that was to become well known not only in Katikati and surrounding districts, but all over the North Island wherever travellers’ tales were told. Callers Many and Varied Visitors of all sorts called there. “. . . now a piano tuner, of whose services we gladly availed ourselves for 255., providing him with free board and lodging for the night, and the same for the bricklayer who came to build our chimneys. ...” Tinkers, tailors, and watchmakers plied their crafts from house to house; tradespeople sold their goods in the same way; even the dentist called with his pedal-drill, and of course there were the many men tramping the country looking for work. All were welcomed, along with friends and relations, who often arrived without warning, knowing that food and a bed for the night were always available at “Athenree”. The

FARM LIFE IN EARLY KATIKATI

injured, too, often came under Mrs. Stewart’s care for the roads and tracks were primitive and many a cart and horse came to an end in the gorge behind the farm, but mostly the drivers escaped and reached the safety of the homestead. In addition to all the usual domestic chores and the work in the garden Mrs. Stewart was kept busy with poultry, beehives, and an orchard, for a man breaking 300 acres into farmland has little time for the frills of vegetables and flowers. Nevertheless they brought in quite a lot of pinmoney, and the list of produce for one year is almost unbelievable: — 8000 to 10,000 eggs, some being sold for 6d. to 14d. per dozen. 150 to 200 chickens and ducks, some being sold for Is. 6d. to 2s. each. 100 dozen lemons sold for 50s. An unstated quantity of onions and tomatoes sold for Id. per pound. Surplus Food Carefully Used Flowers, too, had a market at ss. a box when Waihi began to flourish as a gold-mining town. With all this produce available, food was never scarce; it was given away lavishly at parties and picnics, it was offered generously every day, but care was always taken to see that none was wasted. If there was no market for tomatoes, sauce was made; from a

good crop of peaches some were preserved, jam used others, and if there was still a surplus, wine and vinegar were made in quantity; extra fish caught on a day’s outing were smoked, walnuts were pickled, apples were made into cider; . even the feathers plucked from poultry were saved until enough had accumulated to make a pillow. Quantities . of honey for which there was no sale were used instead of sugar in the hop beer, making it much clearer , and more sparkling. Such tasks Mrs. Stewart. describes in detail, for they filled her working day. Time was always precious, and her routine had to be simple and quick. Her washing-day method was that described in the “St. James’ Gazette” by Miss Gordon-Cumming, traveller and authoress, who had visited New Zealand: “Put all the soiled clothes into the copper-boiler [Mrs. Stewart’s held 25 gallons], fill it with cold water, add -lb. yellow soap cut in pieces. , Next morning light the fire under the. boiler, and as soon as the water boils, add two tablespoonsful of kerosene; boil as fast as possible for half an hour, take out the clothes, pass through an indiarubber wringer into clean, cold water, wring again into ‘blue’d’ water, and again into the big clothes-basket; hang on lines to dry. ...” Often when the washing was done, Mrs. Stewart would set to work to make all sorts of. cakes, pies, and

sausage rolls and piles of sandwiches. Then on one occasion after dinner “we started a party of thirty, in carts and on horseback, to the beautiful Waihi Beach spring, where the boys lit a fire, boiled water in billies, made tea and feasted. Then followed songs, dances and athletic sports on the sands, and so home at one in the morning by moonlight.” One in the morning was early; often they arrived home so late that the next day’s work had to be started before anybody had a chance to go to bed. Time had to be found in among these varied activities to attend to Mervyn’s education, which . Mrs. Stewart thought was “quite necessary, as he was nine years old and most anxious to learn, also to play the piano. ...” While teaching him she “filled the unforgiving minute” by mending and sewing, by ' making carpets and stuffing pillows, and in general doing all the jobs that she could not fit in at other times. Quite often she worked for a charity bazaar, when she would sew and knit in this her only period of relaxation, and then give a garden party to raise funds for a new hall or a church organ. Once she proudly recorded: “. . . my gross total being £4l 9s. . . . and all were pleased with their money’s worth”. Decision to Sell Twenty years had passed almost imperceptibly when illness, which had never before troubled the Stewart family, began to make their work more difficult. There was little chance of any assistance in the house or. on the farm, because Waihi was nearby with its attraction of gold-mining and high wages. “. . . feeling our position getting desperate ... we yielded, and sold the place at a great sacrifice.” It was a decision made after much anxious thought,. but until they left New Zealand their struggle was unrelenting; ever-increasing work and a determination to keep up with the customs of their youth made life very difficult. Greater efforts had to be made each year as the dancing and the picnic seasons alternated; the occasional garden party or church bazaar called for more than Adela Stewart’s failing health could stand, and the position became intolerable as agents and intending purchasers began to call. When the sale was made “the news spread like wildfire.” Then came the farewells and parting addresses, all very exhausting for a woman already tired and ill, but she drove herself willingly when the end was in sight. “Visitors were so numerous that during this last week I did almost the record cooking, as all were entertained at dinner, tea, and sometimes bed to the very last.” Adela Stewart does not reflect at length on her parting with many friends and neighbours; she tells briefly of farewell socials and the last Sunday service, but her book finishes on a note of pathos as she parts with the beautiful old homestead built by her perseverance and energy. In her own words, “With closed eyes I passed the plantations of fine trees, which so many years ago, when young, strong, and hopeful I had made; they seemed like friends.”