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Volume 6 No 3
2000
Cover: Carluke saw mill. (c1913) (Tyree Studio Collection, Nelson Provincial Museum)
Due to editorial oversight the volume and part numbers were omitted from the last two Journals. The 1996 issue was Volume Six, Number One and the 1998 issue was Volume Six. Number Two.
The tragic death through accident of Ruby Heberley, descendant of Jacky Guard and wife of Charlie Heberley, descendant of 'Worser' Heberley, is a sad reminder of the importance of the Journal and other services of Nelson Historical Society in making known and conserving the history of 'the North of the South', and underlines the urgency for that.
Two days earlier Charlie had addressed a packed meeting of the Society and he, Ruby and our member, archaeologist Steve Bagley, were to lead our field trip to historic shore-whaling sites and Okukari farm in Tory Channel. We share the sorrow her death has caused. That we shall miss Ruby's account of the journey back in time – perhaps including her forebears' startlingly unexpected arrival there in 1827 – is a small matter by comparison, but yet a real loss to the many intending to take part in the now delayed field trip.
In this volume of the Journal we have four narratives of reminiscences and we warmly welcome such articles for consideration, indeed, any that will increase knowledge and appreciation of our local history. We rely on your help.
We thank all contributors and those who made material available and our gratitude goes as well to our Journal production team: editor, Dawn Smith, and computer-operating secretary, Noelene Ford. The Society lives by the work of its volunteers and no one deserves our thanks more than Dawn and Noelene.
The articles will tap a wide range of interests and the subject of the first is never far from our minds:
Published by: Nelson Historical Society Incorporated, PO Box 461, Nelson.
ISSN 1173-9711
Copyright: Permission to reprint any part of the Journal should be sought from the Committee of the Nelson Historical Society and the source of any such reprint should be acknowledged.
We are grateful to the Nelson Provincial Museum and contributors for making photographs available.
Edited by Dawn Smith
Typed by Noelene Ford
Printed by Copyart, 276a Queen Street, Richmond
School of Earth Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, PO Box 600. Wellington.
Geography Department, Massey University, Private Bag, Palmerston North.
In comparison with other areas of New Zealand. Marlborough has had more than its share of earthquakes, two large ones in 1848 and 1855, and a smaller one in 1966. In geological terms. Marlborough lies in the middle of the deforming area between two great Earth plates: the Australian Plate to the northwest and the Pacific Plate to the southeast. Along the east coast of the North Island the boundary between the two plates lies about 200km from the coast, but nearer the South Island it swings towards the coast and comes inland beneath Marlborough, where it manifests itself as an approximately 150km-wide zone of earthquake fault lines. These cut through the landscape along the Wairau Valley (Wairau Fault), the Awatere Valley (Awatere Fault), the Clarence Valley (Clarence Fault) and along the southwest side of the Seaward Kaikoura Range (Hope and Kekerengu faults). (Fig. 1)
The Pacific Plate is descending like a conveyor belt into the Earth's interior below the Australian Plate at a rate of about 39mm per year, and it is this relative movement that is the driving force of earthquakes in the region. Uplift along the Marlborough faults during many earthquakes over the last 25 million years has helped create the Inland and Seaward Kaikoura Ranges and the high country bordering the northwest side of the Awatere Valley.
Earthquakes that are accompanied by rupturing of the Marlborough faults are large events and have Richter magnitudes greater than 6. The earthquake magnitude scale is not linear, because for each unit of magnitude there is about a 30-fold increase in the amount of energy released. The largest energy release of any earthquake recorded by instruments occurred during the Chilean earthquake of 1960. which had a magnitude of 9.3 with an energy release perhaps equal to that of the entire world arsenal of nuclear bombs.
The amounts of energy released during the earthquakes that have affected the Marlborough area lie within this range, and it is a sobering thought that the magnitudes estimated for the earthquakes that occurred in 1848 and 1855 were about 7.4 and 8.1 respectively, and that of 1966 had a magnitude of 6.1. Of course, what you feel depends on how close you are to the origin of the earthquake and how deep it is, as the following account relates.
At about twenty minutes to two on the stormy morning of Monday, October 16th 1848, Marlborough settlers were awakened by a large earthquake. This was to be the first and strongest of many more shocks that followed over the next four weeks, causing substantial damage to the young settlements of Wellington and Nelson, and throughout Marlborough.
The effect of the first shock at Flaxbourne is recorded by Frederick Weld: "Violent shock of earthquake felt at 29m [minutes] before 2 am this morning. The men ran out of their house…."
1
Thomas Arnold, the youngest son of the famous educator and headmaster of Rugby School in England, was staying with Weld at the time and describes the earthquake and subsequent events in a letter that he had begun to write to his mother on October 10th:
"Tues, Oct. 17th…. Yesterday a little before 2 o'clock, I was awakened by feeling the bed shake under me; my first impression was that the wind was shaking the house; but Weld cried out 'An earthquake,' and indeed there was no doubt as to what it was. For about a minute the bed was violently shaken from side to side; every plank in the house creaked and rattled, the bottles and glasses in the next room kept up a sort of infernal dance, and most of them fell. When the shock was past, there came a few spasmodic heavings, like long drawn out breaths, and then all was still. But for the rest of the night and all yesterday there were slight shocks at intervals. In the morning we found that the kitchen chimney which is of stone, was cracked right through."
2
Weld's house was a white painted wooden building composed of two wings with a veranda connecting them. A slightly different and expanded version of the event is given by Arnold in his book Passages in a Wandering Life: "On the night, (or rather the morning) of the 16th October, between one and two a.m. the whole household was roused from sleep by the shock of an earthquake. 1 awoke and found myself being rocked violently from side to 3
The first shock of the earthquake was also distinctly felt at sea. The New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian of October 25th reported that the Sarah Ann, about 20 miles off Cape Campbell, and being driven through Cook Strait by the southerly storm: "… felt the first shock of the earthquake. The vessel shivered from stem to stern and the impression of the Captain and crew was that she had struck on a reef and was forging over it. The lead was thrown overboard, but no soundings were found."
Later that day, Arnold records that he and Weld were out walking "and came across several large cracks in the ground, and in one place several fragments of rock had become detached from the cliff by the shock, and were scattered on the beach. There has not been an earthquake for many months before, and that is the reason I suppose, why this shock was more violent than ordinary. There has never been any serious harm done by them, so that people think very little of them now, though they used to be frightened at first."
2
Weld also wrote in his diary: "Heard afterwards that the earthquake had been felt more severely at the outstation ware [whare]. It threw down our ware, Kemps ware (Newcombes and Murphys house), Hon. C. Dillons and also Mr Goulands house were thrown down. A succession of minor shocks for two or three days. Large fissures are every where seen in the ground and one of them stretched right across the ware at the outstation."
1
Of the Marlborough inhabitants mentioned by Weld who had suffered earthquake damage, George Kemp managed the Starborough Run, bordering Flaxbourne to the northwest, for Major Richard Newcombe. He probably lived in a cob cottage called Kempton that he may have built himself.
After Flaxbourne, Newcombe's Starborough run was the first to be taken up on the south side of the Awatere River. Although his depasturage licence was granted on January 1st 1849, he was clearly 'squatting' prior to the 1848 earthquake, and probably had been since early 1848. By May of that year he had established a 'station', i.e. Newcombe Station, which was a cob cottage with a thatched roof. Mr and Mrs Daniel Murphy also lived in a 4
The Hon. Constantine Dillon lamented over the effects of the earthquake on his new house and dairy in the Waihopai Valley in a letter to his mother in England:
"We have been the greatest sufferers in the settlement for a new house and dairy which was just finished and established at the Wairau and which had altogether cost me about 80 or 90 pounds has been levelled to the ground. However, the dairyman made the best of a bad job and has put up in a hut which he has built on the same spot again and is quite happy. You see that this Colonial life if it does nothing else gives elasticity of view and teaches people to help themselves."
5
Henry Gouland lived in the Wairau Valley and, clearly retrospectively, merely noted in his diary: "Awoke at 2.30 a.m. by the great earthquake of 1848. House thrown off piles."
6
Gouland had bought William Budge's house on the Opawa River a few kilometers south of Blenheim, in the vicinity of present day Riverlands, for 40 pounds in November 1847. The fact that the house was built on piles suggests that it was constructed of raupo.
The effect of one of the more noticeable aftershocks is described by Arnold in a letter: "One beautiful morning, several days after the great shock, Weld and I climbed a steep hill about 1200 feet high for the sake of the view. We were sitting down on top when a smart shock came, and we distinctly saw the whole top of the mountain heave and rock to and fro."
2
Weld Cone is actually 1207' or 274m high.
In a later description of the incident he wrote:
"On Sunday, six days after the first shakes, we walked to the top of Weld Cone, seated on the narrow conical summit we gazed on the sublime appearance of the Kaikouras covered in snow. While we were thus intent there came a shock which distinctly made the top of the hill heave to and fro."
3
The aftershock experienced by Arnold and Weld at the top of Weld Cone on Sunday 22nd was presumably one of two recorded in the meteorological tables of Captain Oliver of HMS Fly while anchored in Wellington Harbour, one in the morning at 10 o'clock and the other in the afternoon at 3.55 pm.
7
2
Big Wood is the location of present day Grovetown. Arnold's observation of numerous deep holes (sand blows) in the Wairau Plain appears to have been verified by Weld, on a return journey from Cloudy Bay to Flaxbourne via the Wairau on the 2nd November: "In the Wairau the surface crust of dry land has in some places sunk 10ft. the water spouting up through diminutive craters from the swamp subsoil."
1
Judge Chapman, who recorded in some detail the effects of the continuing shocks in Wellington, mentions that he had heard of "some subsidence of land at the Wairau Plain (where the Ngati-toas massacred their prisoners in 1843), creating a swamp where the land was dry before, and draining another place hard by …."
8
This extract may refer to the possibility of more widespread subsidence in the Lagoons area behind the Wairau Bar by compaction during the earthquake shaking.
9
News of the effects of the earthquake in Marlborough began to become known in Wellington during late October and early November. On October 28th the New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian reported that "at Cloudy Bay, Queen Charlotte's Sound and Cape Campbell, the shocks appear to have been felt severely as any in Wellington."
The November 1st issue of the same newspaper reported: "The Triumph arrived yesterday from Nelson, having called on her way at Queen Charlotte's Sound. Mr Toms, who is a passenger from the latter place, states that the natives report an eruption to have taken place on the night of the 17th ult. at the Bluff, half way between the mouth of the Wairau River and Cape Campbell, and that a large fissure had been made in the Wairau near the native cultivations, about ten miles from the mouth of the river [at Tuamarina]. The natives, among who was Te Rauparaha, had left in alarm and proceeded to Otaki."
Seven days later the Wellington Independent of November 8th stated: "that the majority of natives assert that volcanic action is in force at the Bluff, two miles south of the Wairau, on the Middle Island, and they likewise say the hill which has now opened, tho' a cone, had not the slightest trace of its ever having been a vent, up which gases, collected in the earth, might escape. We trust in a few days to know the truth or falsity of these reports."
The 'eruption' reported by the Maori undoubtedly refers to a landslide, or the dust rising from it from the area of White Bluffs and this is confirmed by the Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle of November 3rd stating that: "on the seaward face of the Bluff a large landslide had occurred." The time of the landslide, reported to have taken place on "the night of the 17th ult." by the New Zealand Spectator, is also interesting.
Assuming that this is not a confusion with the first earthquake shock, early in the morning of the 16th, one has to assume that the landslide occurred as a result of an aftershock. A large aftershock did occur on October 17th. but at 3.40 in the afternoon, and none of any notable strength were felt during the night. The landslide may therefore have occurred in response to a smaller shock, after the rock had been weakened by previous shocks on an already unstable slope. We have examined the coast on the southern side of White Bluffs and found evidence of a large landslide from the cliffs that is being eroded by the sea.
Superficial cracking of soft sediments throughout the Wairau Plain was apparently widespread, as reported by Thomas Arnold. The Wellington Independent issue of November 3rd records that "a chief named Kanae reports that the earth had opened, and that the hills have been thrown down, and that water is bubbling up through the cracks."
One fissure in the Awatere Valley is specifically mentioned in the Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle of November 3rd: "In the Kaiparatihau district [lower Awatere Valley area] the shocks of the late earthquake were very severe. From the White Bluff, extending in an easterly direction [this would be out to sea!], there is for several miles a fissure in the ground, and the high and precipitous banks of some of the branch rivers have been thrown down."
This extract clearly indicates that rupturing occurred along the line of what is now known to be the Awatere Fault. Confirmation of this comes from Frederick Weld, as given in the account of the 1855 earthquake by Sir Charles Lyell:
"Mr Weld, who was in the Middle (South) Island during the previous earthquake in 1848. tells me that at that time there was produced a big crack in the high range of mountains, from 1000 to 4000 feet in height, which extends to the south from the White Cliffs [White Bluffs] in the Bay of Clouds [Cloudy Bay]…. The crack of 1848 was not, on the average, more that 18 inches in width, but was remarkable on account of its length, for it has been traced by Mr Weld or his friends, and some people worthy of trust, over an extent of 60 miles, in a N-S direction, on a line parallel to the axis of the range. Whether there may not have been some uplift to the formation of the crack is what one has not been able to establish."
10
Weld's meeting with Lyell took place in London sometime before 19th May 1856. when Lyell wrote to another eyewitness of the 1855 earthquake. Walter Mantell the New Zealand naturalist, who he had also interviewed, and mentioned: "I have seen Mr Weld and have obtained a good deal of information about the earthquakes of 1848 and 1855 as they affected the Middle Island….."
11
In 1850 Weld carried out the first exploration of the upper Awatere Valley, almost to the Acheron River, although his route up the valley as far as Middlehurst was mainly on the opposite side of the valley to that of the fissure. It is disappointing that Weld makes no mention of what must have been, and still is an obvious line of fissuring, although he does describe an 'earthquake fissure' on the true right bank of the Awatere River, near its confluence with the Isis Stream: "… encamped for our midday's bathe and rest by a spot where rugged rocks narrow the channel of the river…about 1-1/2 miles from our midday resting place we remarked a very extraordinary earthquake fissure horseshoe shaped some 30 ft wide by 12 ft deep – thus it appeared as if the neck of the land on which it was had – so to say, been shaken till one side bulged out leaving a fissure on the ridge – the bottom covered with strips of sod which appeared to have sunk into the aperture – apparently not more than two years had elapsed since the chasm was made – the hill was yellow gravelly clay – there is no possibility of its having been formed by the action of water."
Weld was clearly familiar with the formation of fissures from his first-hand experience of the ground cracking that occurred around Flaxboume during the 1848 earthquake. Further up the Awatere Valley at Fairfield Downs, in the vicinity of Upcot and Gladstone stations. Stephen Nicolls, who was sent by William Adams in September 1851 to select a suitable run for him, described the effect of the earthquake: "It is all ravines, chasms and 12
Lyell's account states that the fissure along the Awatere Fault extended inland from the coast at White Bluffs, in agreement with the report of the Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle. We have found no accounts of the fissure at the coast, even though the main route between the Wairau and Awatere valleys went along the beach and would have passed by the line of fissuring. If, however, the fissure was not more than 18 inches in width at this locality, as stated by Weld, then it could easily have been missed, and the cliff section containing the fissure was possibly obscured by the large landslide mentioned above, that occurs precisely where the Awatere Fault reaches the coast.
Additional contemporary evidence suggestive of the formation of a fissure along the Awatere Fault comes from J. W. Saxton of Nelson when recording, on December 22nd 1848. information from Major Mathew Richmond. Nelson's resident magistrate, who had visited the Wairau in November:
" …the awful effects of the earthquake at the Wairau; a crack quite straight crossed the country for miles; in some places he had difficulty in crossing it with his horse; in one place [the] crack passed through an old warre [whare] dividing it in two pieces standing 4 feet apart; in a Native potato ground holes appeared all over it from which sand seemed to have been expelled."
13
Early in 1848 Major Richmond had employed William McRae to take up and stock a run for him that lay across the Awatere River from Blairich, a 22,000 acre run lying between Blairich River and White Bluff Creek, which McRae was getting started. Richmond's run extended in a south-easterly direction across the Flaxbourne River to the Ure River.
2
His journey to the Wairau in November, after the October earthquakes, was presumably to inspect the area and the 1100 in-lamb ewes with which McRae had stocked the run.
Richmond's run bordered much of the western boundary of Flaxbourne Station, where Weld records that a fissure had cut through his outstation whare. It is tempting to equate this outstation dwelling, and the fissure which dislocated it, with that seen by Richmond. In fact, Richmond visited Flaxbourne at the invitation of Weld and stayed two nights there. He was also shown over much of Weld's run at the time, and is therefore certain to have seen and heard about the effects of the earthquake.
The outstation referred to by Weld was a shepherds' hut, most probably a mud whare, possibly situated near the northern boundary of Flaxbourne. The fissure that opened through the outstation whare is likely to have been one of the superficial cracks in soft alluvium recorded by Weld that "were everywhere seen in the ground."
1
If the extensive 'crack' mentioned by Saxton refers to rupturing along the Awatere Fault, his reference to 'the Wairau' clearly means the Wairau area, i.e. the area of the Crown's three-million-acre Wairau Purchase of March 1847, which also included the lower Awatere Valley. The fact that Major Richmond seems to have had difficulty getting his horse across it would imply that he probably crossed into the Awatere Valley by a bridle track over the hills from the Wairau Plain following Taylor Pass, formerly known as Kaiparatihau Pass, which had been discovered the previous year.
The line of the 1848 fissure would have crossed this track, now the Taylor Pass road, a short distance east of Lake Jasper, where the fault is upthrown on its southern side forming a steep escarpment. The location of the 'native potato ground' mentioned by Saxton is unknown, but it is worth recording here that on the north side of Toe Toe Creek, about 1.5km from the Redwood Pass road, there is a large wall two feet high and twenty yards square, with ditches that appear to have been dug to drain the area.
14
The site appears to have been a Maori potato garden. Interestingly, the fissure that formed along the Awatere Fault runs parallel to Toe Toe Creek, known as Flax Creek in the 1850s, within a few tens of meters of the garden.
Two other sources which confirm that breakage along the Awatere Fault occurred in 1848 are provided by Morton Jones and John Jolliffe of HMS Pandora, the successor to the survey ship Acheron, that was in Wellington Harbour during the 1855 earthquake. The Pandora sailed for Nelson two days after the January 23rd earthquake, and Jones and Jolliffe dined there with Major Richmond who presumably told them what had occurred during the 1848 earthquake.
Jones writes: "The Awatere during the 1848 shock suffered very much: a huge fissure having been made upwards of eighty miles in length: resembling a macadamised road and of about the same width."
15
Jolliffe records that: "the earthquake of 1848 was severely felt throughout the Wairau Plains [probably means the Wairau area] and the ground there was torn up and displaced in a direct line for eighty five miles, in some parts as wide as a canal, in other places merely a fissure in the earth of various depths."
16
For several days following the first shock of the earthquake sequence the night sky had a very unusual appearance, described from Wellington by the New Zealand Spectator on October 25th as a "fiery glare apparently the reflection of some stronger light" towards the south and lasting from half past eight until about twelve o'clock. Some thought it was the light of an erupting volcano in the Marlborough area, but Weld's diary entry of October 19th gives the correct explanation – "Auroa [aurora] Australis" – without further comment. The earthquake happened to precede the period of the solar maximum, when wide-spread solar lights of a red rayed aurora were seen throughout Europe.
The earthquake of 1855 was the largest historic earthquake in New Zealand, with an estimated magnitude of perhaps 8.1 or 8.2.
17
It occurred at 9.17 pm on Tuesday January 23rd, the second of two days of celebration to mark the founding of Wellington, and was felt from Auckland to Dunedin. The earthquake was centred in Cook Strait, between Turakirae Head and Cape Campbell, and the worst hit areas were the southern part of the North Island and the northern part of the South Island, in particular coastal Marlborough.
On the day of the earthquake Frederick Trolove at Kekerengu recorded:
"Wind from the W.; the sky looking very curious at sun set. Jurdon's cows came up from "Woodbank" [Clarence River]. About half past 9 o'clock pm or 10 pm a very severe shock of an earthquake took place. So sudden and severe was it that in running out of the house we had great difficulty in keeping our balance. We staggered like drunken men. The shocks continued lighter, and the earth constantly in motion either in little convulsive starts or oscillating like a pendulum until, I should say, the middle of the night, when a most awful shock the imagination could conceive forced us once more out of the house in the greatest confusion and alarm. It is impossible to describe one's feelings in such a moment – the earth trembling beneath your feet – everything in the house tossed to and fro, books shelves and books falling, rafters and roof creaking, chimneys falling, wall rent and split all in a few seconds. For the rest of the night I thought it safer to sleep in the Wool Shed, so we took our mattresses and blankets there and slept as well as we could until morning, being continually rocked with the earth's motion."
18
At Altimarlock, in the Awatere Valley, Alexander Mowat wrote:
"At 9 p.m. was visited by a most fearful shock of an earthquake which rendered our House uninhabitable and broke a great deal of glass, and earthenware. Got the children outside and lay down in front of the house a great number of shocks through the night but none so severe as the first."
19Unfortunately there is no account of the earthquake at Flaxbourne among Weld's personal papers or diaries. However, an entry in Trolove's diary for Tuesday 30th states: "Edwin [Trolove's brother] brought news from Flaxbourne that 16 houses (all new, having been built this summer and last) are either flat to the ground or so shattered that they are beyond repair. The houses built immediately under large hills have suffered the least. Those on the flat ground are levelled with it."
Despite the demoralising effects of the earthquake. Trolove kept a very informative diary of the events in the days following the earthquake:
"Wednesday, 24th. Jan. All day today the earth has not ceased shaking for 10 minutes. The shocks were lighter towards the afternoon and we heard more of the rumbling before each shock that we did yesterday.
"Thursday 25th. Jan. We have had a fearful night indeed and we have had 3 heavier shocks than any before. During the whole of the night until daybreak we have been in (I may almost say) perpetual motion. The shocks were always preceded by a hollow rumbling – something like the last part of a clap of thunder when heard in the distance; but, I think, more unearthly. I positively thought that N.Z. could not stand the racket until morning. The direction of the shocks seems to me, as near as I can judge, to be about S.E. and N.W. or probably a little more to the S. As I lay in the woolshed I could see the poor old house, which I put up with my own hands, tottering with every shock, and now and then part of a chimney or wall would drop to the ground. I felt that what I had done in N.Z. was doomed to be undone in one night. So indeed was it too true.
"Friday 26th., Sat 27th. Sun.28th., Mon.29th. Thursday night 11 or 12 o'clock pm we had the heaviest shock of any. About an hour after there was another very severe shake. Jurdan [sic] and Cate came just after the shock. They saw the ground rise before them like a sea and the horses they were riding staggered as though a bullet had been driven through their brains – sleeping in the hut on Madcap's Rat – Friday morning at the earliest dawn I peeped out of the hut to see if the house was still standing there, or whether the hill had slipped any more during the night. What a change it presented. In the grey morn a few days, nay a few hours past, you
might have seen one of the neatest N.Z. cottages (Station cottages) with a healthy garden before it full of vegetables. Its destruction is now complete. Its ruin is not to be repaired and like thousands more I fear, will remain a melancholy memorial of the earthquakes of Jan. 1855. I rode down to Jordan's along the beach (my shepherd) thinking that the house he was living in would not be all harmed by the shocks. It was the first house I built on the run and made of toi-toi and posts in the ground three feet with a clay chimney. I came up to the spot and Woodbank was no more!! Jurdon [sic], whom I had taught to write completed my surprise and consternation by these words written in pencil and put on the top of a pole which was supported in a rent made by the earthquake, 'i have goin to the Big river pint i do note like the grunde at the wood Bank i shulle Come Back to morror Trolove.' "There were two or three sharp shocks today (Friday) which came from the northward. The overhanging hills along the beach are now as bare of vegetation as can be well imagined owing to the slips. The sea has been inland many feet above high water mark. Indeed in some places the sea occupies what used to be green bushes and grass.
"Friday night – slept in the Big river hut – the chimney is down. The shakes have not been so constant tonight, but sharper than during the day.
"Saturday morning. We have no meat, very little tea, sugar and flour. We are living on eels, young sea-gulls, woodhens, potatoes and fish. This morning took across the river two cows and a filly belonging to the natives at Waipapa [five miles south of the Clarence River].
"Today I should think we have had shocks about every two hours but not severe if you compare them to what we had had. Sleep in the hut. The night is close and cloudy. Had a sharp shock about the middle of the night.
"Sunday morning thick and misty with a little rain. Light shocks every hour or so. Sunday night we felt a sharp quick shock or two. How one feels the want of religious consolation in such times.
"Monday morning, very misty. Beginning to put the hut into living order. Came from the Big river to Kekerengu. How very, very desolate everything appears as you pass along. How many sanguine people in England, if they had felt these earthquakes, would say, 'this is the country for England's surplus population.' Shocks as usual.
"Monday night slept in the tent. Went eeling; no luck. Fine but cloudy night. Reading 'Bleak House.' Shocks as usual.
"Tuesday 30th. Jan. Morning fine. Wind from N.W. …..Rode up to the Flags. The hills are very much shaken and split. My boat at the Flags was taken away 20 yards in land by the roll which came in from seaward and left high and dry on the green sward. Whilst writing this there has been one very decided, sharp, quick shock 7 o'clock p.m.
"Thursday 1st. February. [Trolove rode up the coast to Flaxbourne]. It is quite miserable to see Flaxbourne and the owners and manager seem quite cut up. Felt a shock or two there. The Flaxbourne house which is built of wood rocks and creaks like a basket (in a shock). Mr W[eld] thought that the shocks came from the W and S. No further news.
"Friday 2nd. Feb. At Flaxbourne. Very windy and warm. Now and then felt shocks. About 2 o'clock p.m. saw the
Shepherdesspass Flaxbourne going to take my wool from the Flags. Ate a mouthful of bread and cheese. Went to the Flags. Mr Weld and Harris rode with me to the White Rocks. Felt a shock as we were going round them, which brought down some stones. …. made a large fire on the beach opposite the place for the schooner to anchor.Shepherdessanchored about 11 o'clock p.m. Slept in a goat's house."Saturday 3rd. February. I was awake all night. Could not get to sleep. Got up at day dawn, went down to the beach. Wind from the W. Myself, Duckworth and a Maori went off to the
Shepherdess.Took two bales of wool. The boat leaked a good deal. The same trip we landed 10 rams belonging to Flaxbourne, a little boy, and letters. The boat was very near sinking before we could pull her on shore. A beautiful day for loading the schooner, smooth and not much wind. 12 o'clock midday, blowing strong from the N.W. Hauled the boat up for a while until the wind lulled a little. The Captain (Jackson) is assisting with his boat and two men. Got on board about 20 bales. Sent for a case of brandy to give the men a glass. We were working like horses. The schooner lies about 1 and a half to 2 miles off shore. Sent young 'Jack' off to Flaxbourne with letters and the news of 'Sly boots'. At 4 o'clock pm the wind shifted to the S.E. Afraid the schooner will weigh anchor and be off, certainly if it blows harder. All hands working like the devil to get the wool on board as quick as possible. Gave the boatmen (and wool rollers) as much grog as they could work on and no more. Saw a heavy shock out at sea. It made the sea appear on the horizon like a hilly and undulating country; it also caused a swell on thebeach for about an hour after. 8 o'clock pm the last load of wool is gone off in my boat with a hurrah! from all hands. The schooner's sails are being set, and they are taking up the anchor. She is under weigh, and we are pulling like one o'clock to get hold of a rope which has been hove from the schooner for us. We get the rope after a hard struggle, put the wool on board, and come on shore. Mr. Harris and Knight came from Flaxbourne, just in time to send their letters. I wrote a letter on the beach to Levin & Co., telling them about the wool. I also sent over for Levin to post four English letters. My feet are all blistered and the skin is off my knees and legs, holding on to the boat in the surf. "News of Earthquakes. Baron 'Alsdorf' is killed. He kept 'the' hotel in Wellington. Several have got their legs and arms broken. Clifford's house is shaken except two rooms. All the chimneys and a great number of wooden houses are shaken to the ground. The sea has been up 20 feet higher than it was ever known before.
"February 4th – February 10th
Monday night. Came home from the Flags. Everything looking as desolate as ruin and destruction can alone make a home appear. Shell fish and potatoes for supper. Sleep in the tent. Now and then feel slight shocks. …… Friday got the beds from out of the ruins, mended them and put them up in the Wool Shed where I have made a little room and lined it with wool bales and sods. 9 o'clock pm felt a sharpish shock – it brought down some stones from the hill back of the house. Two or three shocks during the night… The springs at Waipapa (5 miles to the S of my S boundary and on the other side of the Waiautoa or Clarence River or Big River) is gone dry. In the history of man it was never known before. … Shocks come sometimes in the middle of a job, when you are thinking nothing about them. In fact when you hope and believe they are all over. I have many times sat down for a few minutes to consider whether or not I should go on with what I was doing or cut and run away from everything and NZ.
"February 12th Monday – Thurs 22nd
"Mon – Tues. Left Flaxbourne about 12 o'clock rode to Redwoods Station in Awatere – there I saw Mr Mowat and felt a slight shock or two before going to bed – Redwoods people have deserted their house and are living in the woolshed – … We Rode over the hills to Dashwood's Station (Mr Paisley overseer) … Gave Mrs. Budge an order… Thurs. Left Dashwoods rode over to Marshalls… Fri. Marshall's place is shaken down with the earthquakes but I am confident they have not been so severe in the Awatere and Wairau as at Flaxbourne and Woodbank -
Mar 15 – shocks are still constantly felt in the Awatere…
Sun. 18 … Felt two shocks in the night. I consider it almost presumption to attempt to build again but it must be done."
18A record of the almost continuous aftershocks up to February 14th was also made by Alexander Mowat at Altimarlock.
"Wednesday Jan 24th 'Earthquakes nearly every half hour …. at 9 p.m. another fearful shake.
Thursday Jan 25th…. The ground in one continued shake … at 9 pm a very sharp shock of earthquake.
Friday Jan 26th. Earth still on the move with frequent earthquakes.
Saturday Jan 27th. Frequent earthquakes.
Sunday Jan 28th. Frequent shaking of the ground.
Monday Jan 28th. The ground in one continued shake and moving as if it had been afloat.
Tuesday Jan 30th. Numerous earthquakes.
Wednesday Jan 31st. Earthquakes frequent but not so sharp as the day previously.
Thursday Feb 1st. Felt four or five earthquakes throughout the day.
Friday Feb 2nd. Several shocks of earthquakes – at noon one very sharp shock indeed.
Saturday Feb 3rd. Two or three slight earthquakes.
Sunday Feb 4th. Felt one shock of an earthquake around 1 pm and two at night.
Tuesday Feb 6th. Several earthquakes throughout the night.
Wednesday Feb 7th. Felt some slight earthquakes through the night.
Thursday Feb 8th. Several slight shocks of earthquake.
Friday Feb 9th. Felt three or four earthquakes (after 6.30 p.m.)
Saturday Feb 10th. Several earthquakes. At 9 pm a smart shock.
Sunday Feb 11th. Several earthquakes."
19
The original Altimarlock homestead was badly damaged. There is no mention of repairs, but the day after the earthquake Mowat had to rig a tent. His February 7th diary entry records that he went to the Wairau to find a carpenter to build him a house. He appears to have met Trolove at the Redwoods, at Ugbrooke, on the 12th February where they stayed the night.
Two months after the earthquake the effects of the strong shaking were still visible to Sir David Monro at Flaxboume Lake (Lake Elterwater). Here, Monro observed that "in many places the ground is very much cracked and the sides of the hills have slipped." He also passed by the "ruins of the clay cottages," most of the houses being "down level with the ground."
20
These were presumably the same cottages referred to earlier by Trolove.
The coast from Kekerengu to The Flags (Wharanui), that was traversed by Trolove a few days after the earthquake, was badly affected by landslides and rock falls. The Austrian geologist Ferdinand von Hochstetter also mentions that "near Cape Campbell parts of the mountain fell exposing white rocks…."
21
Sir Charles Lyell states that further south along the coast "in a place called "The Flags', between Cape Campbell and Waipapa on the second day after the first earthquake of the 23rd January: several men employed to load logs on a ship distinctly saw an earthquake approaching them from a point called White Rocks, situated 3 miles northward. It approached them in a NW-SE direction, and was made visible by stones rolling from the top of the cliffs, by landslides, clouds of dust and a sea wave."
10
News of the effects of the earthquake in Marlborough appeared in the newspapers during February. From the Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle of January 31st, "… intelligence has been received from the Wairau, and we find that the shock of the 23rd was felt very severely at the lower end of the valley, where several buildings were more or less damaged, but ascending the valley, the shocks became less severe as the distance from
Others reports state that "in the Wairau Valley … near the river bed, numerous systems of earthquake fissures can be observed, which always trend parallel to the course of the river and are intersected at various angles by abrupt bends in the river"
21
and that "several fissures in the earth, four feet deep, and sufficient to admit a man, yawned…."
22
The February 21st issue of the Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle stated: "Within the last few days we have also received letters from the Wairau and Awatere, giving particulars of the extent of damage which the earthquake caused in those districts. In the Awatere, the shock was very severe, and nearly all the cob buildings, within twenty miles of the sea were more or less damaged, but beyond this the force of the shocks sensibly diminished. At the mouth of the Wairau river a gigantic wave swept the beach, similar to what is described to have occurred on the opposite side of the Straits, at Wairarapa, but fortunately without inflicting similar damage; and the ebb and flow of the tide, at short intervals, occurred in the manner in which Captain Drury [of HMS Pandora] described it to have taken place in Wellington Harbour."
This may have been the wave that stranded Trolove's boat at the Flags some "20 yards inland" and left it "high and dry on the green sward" although a large wave (tsunami) swept the coast on both sides of Cook Strait a few minutes after the first great shock earthquake at 9.15 pm on the 23rd.
There is some evidence to suggest that movement, or at least a fresh opening, was made along the Awatere Fault during the 1855 earthquake. Hochstetter records that one fissure "… was traced full forty miles" and this strongly suggests that the fissure was along the line of the Awatere Fault. The Atkinsons of Burtergill Station in the lower Awatere Valley mention that in 1855 "a great crack opened up in the ground, the remains of which can be seen today,"
23
although this could be a confusion with the fissure that formed in 1848. Similarly, J. Burnett mentions that "the earthquake crack in Marlborough was much enlarged, the ground east of it subsiding several feet….."
24
An unsourced footnote (p.37) in T.L. Buick's Old Marlborough quotes a writer describing the effect of the 1855 earthquake upon the upper Awatere: 'On Fairfield Downs, a fissure was opened as far as the eye could reach, and perfectly straight."
25
Alexander McKay was the first person to investigate the Awatere Fault in any detail, during his 1886/87 and 1888/89 surveys of the Marlborough and Amuri districts. His observations of "earthquake rents" were published by Sir James Hector in the progress report of Geological Explorations of 1890, where he states:
"It has up till now always been considered that this Awatere earthquakerent had its origin in and was caused by the earthquakes of 1855. Mrs Mouat [Mowat], of Altimarlock informed Mr McKay that the open rents and fissures yet seen on the surface along the line of fracture were not produced by the disturbances of 1855, but were caused by the earthquakes of 1848. It may have been as thus stated, but it is equally probable that fresh fractures may have taken place on both dates. Mr McKay came to the conclusion, both here [at Altimarlock Station] and further up the [Awatere] valley obtained distinct proof, that the earthquakes of 1848 and 1855 did but open afresh an old line of dislocation and produced meager results compared with the total movement which has taken place along this line [Awatere Fault]."
26Unfortunately, Hector did not elaborate further regarding this "distinct proof."
The information at hand suggests that some rupture may have occurred along the Awatere Fault in 1855, but to what extent is unknown, although it is clear that some statements appear to confuse the effects of the 1848 earthquake, in that the fault trace was an obvious feature that existed before the 1855 earthquake.
The earthquake caused the lower part of the Wairau Plain, together with parts of adjoining coast, to subside about 1.5m. According to Lyell, this allowed the tide to flow several miles farther up the Wairau River than formerly, and settlers had to go three miles further up the river to obtain fresh water than they had before the earthquake. William Budge, who was living at Budge's Island near the mouth of the Wairau Plain, found that the subsidence, which he considered to be eighteen inches, caused his land to become so sodden that he was forced to leave. As a consequence of the sinking, the Opawa River apparently became navigable by whaleboats up to the tidal limit, which was just beyond the railway bridge over the Omaka River.
27
Nevertheless, the subsidence did not extend south of White Bluffs,
A letter dated January 7th 1949 from Everard Aloysius Weld, second son of Frederick Weld and the last manager of Flaxbourne Station, implies that some uplift or shallowing may also have occurred during the 1855 earthquake:
"Flaxbourne River was deep enough for small craft to come up as far as the old boiling-down plant, and that was the reason that the original homestead [i.e. that of Frederick Weld] was established a short distance further up the river. The big earthquake of which you speak in your letter [by a Mr E. Roberts] was responsible for the alteration ….the cutter which was used for trading with Wellington used the river which in those days acted as a harbour."
28
Unfortunately this letter is not archived in the Alexander Turnbull Library, but Kennington mentions that E. Roberts worked at Flaxbourne as a fleece picker during the 1899 shearing season and was interested in the history of the station, hence his inquiry.
29
It is interesting to note that there is a personal communication from the same E.A. Weld recorded in a 1914 article by Sir Charles Cotton on the uplifted wave-cut platforms along the east coast of Marlborough, stating that the bed of the Flaxbourne River had been "perceptibly raised" and that the Kekerengu River that now flows in braided channels on a broad gravel bed was, in the early day of settlement, a "swamp stream."
30
Cotton concluded that this was the result of aggradation from man-induced destruction of original vegetation cover. However, the area was not forested when Weld first saw it in 1846: "plains and gently undulating hills all covered solely with grass and anise…" and "The general aspect of the country is open, not a bush except flax to be seen, neither is there any fern…" and so Cotton's explanation can be ruled out.
Today, in times of normal flow the river is very shallow, such that it would be hardly navigable for a dinghy. In addition, for much of the year the river entrance is blocked by a large gravel bar, and is therefore completely changed since Weld first entered his "river-harbour" in John Wade's six ton cutter, the Fidele. The river estuary that they entered "had six or seven feet of water at low tide" and they anchored in the river itself.
In consideration of the above, admittedly meager, evidence we consider that there is a distinct possibility that a very small amount of localised uplift occurred along the Kaikoura coast during the 1855 earthquake – enough to have at least begun the process of aggradation and consequent growth of the gravel bar across the mouth of the Flaxbourne River. The amount of five feet mentioned by Kennington is impossibly high and would certainly have been commented upon by Trolove, for example. No obvious change in land level along the coast or river bed was mentioned by Weld, who would almost certainly have commented on it if it had immediately affected his access into and up the Flaxbourne River.
If uplift did indeed occur, it might have happened in response to an aftershock. Some of the aftershocks felt at Kekerengu and Flaxbourne were unusually strong. While Marlborough residents elsewhere regarded the first earthquake as the most severe, Trolove at Kekerengu considered six other shocks as more severe or very severe. Some of these were hardly noticed in Wellington. Also, Weld informed Sir Charles Lyell he had felt an earthquake at 3 am on January 24th that he thought was equal in strength to the first shock at 9.15 pm, and supposed this second shock to be local.
Any slight uplift of the coast could easily have been missed, because Weld told Sir Charles Lyell of "the great disturbance of the tides for some weeks after Jany 23/55 and this all along the shores of Cook's Straits so that when they at length settled into a state of equilibrium adjusted to the new levels it would render the estimate of the rising or sinking of the land very vague except in favoured spots."
11
He was clearly unaware of any uplift of coastal Marlborough.
As with the 1848 earthquake, many people believed that the cause of the earthquake was the result of a volcanic eruption and they were eager to locate the source. It appears that while the Lady Grey, a steamer trading between the mainland and the Chatham Islands, was nearing the coast, those on board noticed "wreaths of white vapour rising in a thin and unsteady column" from a high and conical shaped mountain in the Kaikoura range, culminating in "a canopy of smoke," and it was concluded that a new volcano was in eruption.
25
The "volcano" was sited about 20 miles south of Cape Campbell and was also apparently observed by shepherds at Flaxbourne.
This report, however, was not supported by passengers of the steamer Nelson that arrived in Wellington shortly after the Lady Grey, and an argument ensued. Indeed, when Weld left New Zealand for England in mid
Apparently to settle the matter, a party went across the Strait in a whale boat and on proceeding to Flaxbourne, found that the cause of all the excitement was an old shepherd who had set fire to the fern on Benmore. The flames spreading up the mountain slope had ignited a clump of white birch trees on the summit, resulting in the "wreaths of white vapour" and "the canopy of smoke" that indicated the site of "Marlborough's active volcano."
At 6.25 pm on Saturday 23rd April. 1966, an earthquake of magnitude 6.1, originating in Cook Strait at a depth of about 22km, shook the Marlborough area and the southern part of the North Island.
32
In Marlborough the earthquake appeared to come from the northeast, striking first Blind River and
The worst hit populated area was the town of Seddon, about 35km from the epicentre of the earthquake, although fortunately no one was injured. Residents had a similar story to tell, of breaking kitchen crockery and crashing of utensils, of windows shattering and the noise of chimneys collapsing on roofs, television sets being overturned and plaster showering from the ceilings, of floors heaving, wallpaper splitting and the crying of frightened children, followed by an uncanny silence as people waited for the next shock that never came.
33
,
34
At least one house was moved a good half inch out of plumb, with consequent damage to walls and ceiling. In other buildings, including the church, cracks appeared in concrete walls, brickwork was cracked, timbers split and paint flaked. Settlement on house piles also occurred. About 150 chimneys were shattered and dozens more were damaged. Windows in shops, houses and the local hotel were broken; water mains fractured, leaving most of the town without supplies for the greater part of Sunday. Power and telephone lines were broken, with the whole area blacked out for up to half an hour and telephone services out of operation for seven minutes.
The road seal was cracked. In most houses the contents of kitchen cupboards, shelves and bookcases were emptied and floors were strewn with broken crockery, glassware; mirrors and pictures fell from walls. In the Seddon Hotel dozens of bottles of spirits crashed from the shelves in the bar to form a mixed cocktail over the floor. Door hinges snapped and lavatory pans cracked. A number of space heaters were pulled from the wall and rotated, although none were alight at the time.
A large slip, bringing down thousands of tons of the grey mudstone (papa) rock that forms the cliffed banks of the Awatere River, occurred upstream of the combined rail-road bridge. At the Cape Campbell lighthouse a glide roller to the light prism weighing two and a half tons was sheared off by the movement of the prism during the earthquake shaking. The roller hit the prism, bounced off and went through an outside window.
33
It almost appeared that the earthquake had selectively damaged parts of the town, while leaving other parts relatively little affected. For instance, it shattered the chimney of the house of the head teacher, but left the school only 50 meters away almost unscathed. Only two or three chairs that had been placed on top of the desks had fallen, although most of the books in the school library had been thrown from the shelves.
The house of Mr and Mrs George McNulty in the middle of Seddon was the worst hit. They were in Nelson at the time, and arriving home on Sunday found doors wrenched from their hinges, windows shattered, the floor covered with the contents of cupboards and shelves, and mirrors which had been thrown from the walls lying broken on the floor.
Many of the Railway houses in the town were also badly damaged. All of them, together with the station, lost their chimneys. Heavy goods wagons in the railway yards were derailed. Mr and Mrs Marfell, who were driving home from Blenheim, did not feel the earthquake although Mr Marfell, the civil defence controller, noticed that there were an unusually large number of stones on the highway in the vicinity of Dashwood and Weld passes. Arriving about half an hour later, their home looked such a mess that they thought it had been ransacked by thieves.
In Blenheim 180 guests, including two Members of Parliament, the Hon. T. Shand and W. Rowling, the Mayors of Blenheim and Picton and the Chairmen of the Awatere and Kaikoura County Councils, were just about to begin a dinner in the Marlborough Centennial Hall to mark the 100th anniversary of The Marlborough Express when the earthquake struck. This
Initially there was hardly any damage reported outside the general area of Blind River and Seddon. In Blenheim there were reports of a window in Woolworth's building in Market Street being cracked, of stock on shelves and in windows being upset in a few shops and some plaster being shaken from a few other buildings, including the Palace Theatre which also suffered cracks in its facade, necessitating its closure for repairs. In homes in and around Blenheim items in cupboards and on walls were disturbed, and some breakages occurred. One television was reported to have "blown up". In Picton, a chimney was reported to have been damaged.
About 1km south of Seddon, distortion of the Main Trunk Railway Line over a distance of 60m was discovered when the line was checked by a railway ganger shortly after the earthquake. It was found that the inner rail of a 20m radius was found to have bulged upwards by 76mm, while the outer rail had buckled downwards by 25mm. The buckling caused a reverse in the cant of the railway line, from being 82mm to the east before, to 19mm to the west after the earthquake.
Careful inspection of the railway line between Blenheim and Ward showed that there was no other ground distortion. The area of damage is situated where the Hogg Swamp Fault intersects the railway. This fault trends east-north-east along the Hogg Swamp Stream, but has no surface break such as the Awatere Fault. Its presence is deduced from geological and geophysical evidence.
32
It appears that the fault moved during the earthquake, and the damage to the railway line is consistent with horizontal movement on the fault at depth having caused distortion of the surface sediments.
At Ward the damage was scattered, with some houses being unaffected. Seven chimneys of Railway houses were damaged and had to be dismantled, while other residents reported furniture, mirrors and ornaments cracked or broken.
The following day was both clean-up time and a chance for detailed damage inspection to be made. Close inspection of buildings and homes in Seddon revealed extensive, although not always severe structural damage to
Earthquake damage assessors in Blenheim received more claims than anticipated, with most relating to chimneys and several for stock and the contents of shops and homes. Many older-type buildings in the town had suffered minor earthquake damage, with cracked plaster interiors, parapets and other ornamental fixtures, and in general had their weaknesses shown up by the shaking. For example, at Farmers in Queen Street the main flagpole had fallen on the veranda and cracks were found in second floor walls and ceiling.
The main shock on Saturday evening was followed by smaller intensity shock registering 4.1 on the Richter magnitude scale at 8.28 pm on Sunday. Over the weekend 11 other minor shocks occurred, although a large number were only identified by the seismograph at the Seismological Office in Wellington. Within the week following the earthquake about 40 aftershocks took place.
An interesting phenomenon was observed a few hours before the earthquake struck. This was a large area of pure white foam in Cook Strait seen over an interval of one hour by Mr and Mrs G. Woolley of Seddon from their parked car at the mouth of the Wairau Diversion. They described the foam as being about five miles out from the coast, covering perhaps several acres aligned in a north-easterly direction.
The area of the foam appeared like some kind of disturbance within an otherwise calm sea. There is no way of knowing if this phenomenon was a precursor, related to the earthquake that was to follow, but the description suggests that it may have been the result of a significant release of gas from the sea floor.
Abbreviations.
ATL – Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand.
NA – National Archives.
Carluke is in the Rai Valley, approximately mid-way between Blenheim and Nelson and a mile off the main highway. Many years ago it was the site of a big band-saw timber mill, and a town where hundreds of workmen, bushmen and saw mill workers lived. There were thousands of acres of timber; beautiful big totara, rimu, white pine, matai, miro, birch and many other kinds of trees. I went there with my family at the age of seven. We travelled to Carluke from Blenheim by Newman's stage coach service. What beautiful horses they were. Their first change was at Okaramio, the next at Canvastown, and we got off at Flat Creek in Rai Valley to walk along a bush track to our destination.
The three storied saw-mill had been erected on a flat at the mouth of the Ronga and Opouri Valleys by Brownlee and Co. of Havelock to cut up the trees in the area, some of which were over six feet through and over a hundred feet high. The mill was fed by three steam winches. The felled trees were hauled in by a steel wire rope 60 to 80 chains long. Teams of up to six heavy draught horses hauled the ropes, depending on distance and the condition of the country. When the ground was too steep for horses, the logs were jacked and skidded down into a gully where they could be got at.
After felling the trees, the bushmen cut off the heads with their cross-cut saws to remove the branches, leaving as much of the trunk as they could. The next job was that of the dogger, who rounded the trees off at one end and drove doggs into them. These were heavy steel grasps which were driven into the tree with a maul, one on each side. The wire ropes attached to them, which were five to six feet long, would then be connected to the toggle chain. Very big trees had a groove cut in them where the rope was placed, instead of being dogged.
They were now ready to be hauled in and connected to the main rope and I have seen as many as four and five smaller trees hauled in one pull, but only one or two with the bigger, heavier ones. They used what we called the pan, a large thick steel plate with one end curbed up and rounded off at the two front corners, for protection under the snout of the trees. My father drove the team at one of the haulers.
On each hauler there was a whistle attached to a wire which was run out into the bush within hearing distance of the men working. When I left school, the first job I had was whistle-boy at one of these haulers. Once the rope was attached to the trees, the men would call out "Go-Ahead" and I would give the wire a pull and sound the whistle to notify the hauler driver to start up. When the trees came to a block they would call out "Stop her" and I would sound the whistle again. After they had tripped the rope I would blow to start up again and this went on until they got the trees into the land. For this work I received five shillings a day.
When the trees arrived at the land they were hauled up on to the skids and sawn into logs which varied in length from 10 feet to as much as 22 feet. The logs were then jacked down the skidway to be sent to the mill. They had just started working in the Ronga Valley when we went there to live and the haulers there were about forty chains apart. To get these logs to the saw-mill they had engaged a gang of men, the trammies, to construct a steel-rail tramway.
Four locomotives hauled the trucks onto which the logs had been loaded. The tramway was also used to take the timber to Brownlie's other mill at Blackball at the head of Pelorus Sound. When the logs arrived at the mill they were unloaded by cant-hooks onto skids, loaded onto another truck and hauled by steam winch up to the middle storey of the mill.
The machinery which drove the big band saw, the two breast bench saws and the three goose saws was powered by a big twin cylinder steam engine fed from two boilers. There was a whistle on which the engine-driver gave two short blasts ten minutes before starting time, to remind the men, and one long blast at twenty past seven each morning. There would be another long blast at noon to knock off, at one o'clock to start work again and at five to knock off for the day. The clock was kept half an hour ahead of mean time, and the men worked eight hours forty minutes on weekdays and four hours forty minutes on Saturdays.
The logs were cleaned before being loaded onto a steam carriage for breaking down, when they were cut into flitches and boards by the big band-saw. Boards, some as wide as five feet and of various thicknesses, beautiful clean totara, rimu, white pine and matai. As the log was rounded off and squared up, the flitches coming off the band-saw were sent along steam driven rollers to the breast benches. When there were enough, they would be retrieved and piled on the steam carriage to be cut into various sizes, sometimes as many as six or eight boards at a time.
These boards and those from the circular saws then went along rollers to be docked, classed, tallied and loaded onto a trolley. Beautiful clean white pine was used for the tally boards, which were 12 or 14 inches wide and an inch thick. They were lined off for the men to mark the class of timber, size and length and the number of boards. After the day's work the tally-boards were sent to the office. They were made by the mill carpenter, who also made the handles for the cant-hooks and various other things.
The sawn timber was pushed out along a high staging from where it was loaded onto trucks for transport. The off cuts, or slabs we called them, were cut into shorter lengths by the goose-saws and sent down a chute to the ground floor. They were loaded onto trucks and pushed out along three slab lines, which could have thousands of cords stacked on each side to dry for use in stoking the mill's two boilers. Loads were also sent out into the bush for steaming the log-haulers.
The top story of the mill was solely used for saw sharpening and repair and all the saws were sharpened by machinery. If a saw became buckled it had to be hammered out, and this was done by the saw doctor. The works were closed down for ten minutes at ten o'clock each morning and three in the afternoon to change the band-saw and this was when we had Smoke Oh.
There were two managers in my time, one for the bush. Ern Coleman, and one for the mill, Hadfield Smith. One man at each one of the three haulers had the job of keeping a record of the gang's time sheets and noting any necessary repairs. There were two blacksmith shops for repair work, one in the bush and the other at the mill. A smithy was employed at each, with the one in the bush shoeing the horses, make the doggs and doing repairs for the haulers, while the other attended to the mill and locomotive repairs.
Shortly after we went there to live the Carluke Hall was built, and it had a beautiful clean heart matai floor to dance on. Our annual school and Sunday school concerts were held there, and it was where we children were taught the old time dances such as the waltz, veleta, schottische, polka, mazurka and quadrilles.
The men formed a football club and competed with teams at Canvastown, Havelock and Linkwater. Some of the older men formed the Ronga Rifle Club, which I joined later and belonged to for many years. I have miniature replicas of the cups that I won in those days.
An annual carnival was held, when the men would compete in chopping and cross-cut sawing events. White pine blocks 12, 14, 16 and 18 inches in diameter were used for these events. There were the standing and underhand chops and also a smaller block for the boys' chop. On New Year's Day the Pelorus Hack Racing Club meeting was held at Havelock Suburban and later at Canvastown.
There was no store at Carluke at first and Fred Scott of Havelock would come up the tramway on one of the motor driven trollies one day a week to deliver goods and take orders for the next week's supplies. Shortly after we arrived a house and store was built for him at Carluke and the stores were brought up by the locomotives. There was no baker and I well remember the good old home made loaves my mother and other women used to bake. The township had a Post Office Savings Bank Office named Timatanga and I still have my first account book, which I opened for a shilling.
In fine weather a blanket of fog would come down over the valleys at night which would not clear off until the next morning, sometimes lasting until noon. It was mighty cold some mornings when going through the bush on the jiggers in pitch dark to get to the haulers in time to start work. A few of the men camped in whares up in the bush at various stands handy to the haulers.
Brownlees did not have the whole of the timber in the Opouri Valley and could only go up as far as Kaiuma gully, approximately six miles from the mill. Craig Brothers milled the top end of the valley and they did not make as much use of horses to pull the felled trees to the haulers. A smaller tail rope running off another drum of the hauler was used for this. The trees were then loaded onto trucks and hauled by a locomotive along a tramline to one of their two mills and sawn into logs.
To get their timber away, Craigs put a hauler on a saddle above Nydia Bay in Pelorus Sound and another a few chains along the Opouri side of the hill, at a point directly up from the mills. A steel-rail tramline was built and the trucks of timber were hauled up by one winch, then pulled along the line by horses to the other hauler and lowered down to the bay to be shipped away. A telephone system was used to notify the hauler drivers.
My father and I went to work there during the First World War, after Brownlees had shifted to the West Coast. We had to get there on horseback, and would leave home early Monday mornings, camp in a whare during the week and come home on Saturday afternoon.
Once the milling trees had been taken off this country, it was surveyed and divided into sections which were balloted for at intervals. What bush and scrub was left would be felled and left to dry until ready to burn off and I saw many a good fire. The land was then sown down, fenced into paddocks and stocked. The Rai Valley Dairy Factory was built and there were cheese factories at Canvastown, Havelock and Linkwater.
My father took up farm work, milking cows on a farm in Rimu Gully for a few seasons and then on a farm for Bert Hughes, close to the factory. Both farms had a steam boiler to drive the milking machine. For the first two seasons at Rimu Gully we used the bucket system. It was an eight bailed milking shed and four buckets were used, with a pulsator on each. One would be placed between each two cows and the milk was carried out to the cans, to be carted to the factory. There was plenty of wood on the farms to stoke the boilers and cords would be cut up in the winter months, once the cows were dry.
The second farm we lived at is on the Nelson side of Rai Valley, fronting onto the main highway at the turnoff to Carluke. I was now in my early twenties and took up work at a small sawmill owned by Robertson Brothers of Nelson at the foot of the Rai Saddle, where I learnt to class and tally timber. We shifted back to Carluke and lived in the old store and house.
My father drove a six horse wagon team for Gosling and Son of Blenheim, carting timber out from the saw mill in the Kaiuma Valley. I took the job of stripping the timber to be seasoned and loading it onto lorries to be transported to Blenheim. Once this mill had cut all the timber out we went to live in Blenheim.
The Bett Collection at Nelson Provincial Museum holds five portraits painted in the 1840s which were for many years part of a mystery regarding the identity of the artist. The watercolour portraits are of Te Rauparaha, his wife Pipi Kutia, Te Rangihaeata, his wife Te Rongo and Piki Warra, a chief from Motueka. They are part of a larger series depicting at least 19 Maori men and women who were all associated with the central region of New Zealand. Multiple copies were made of some of the subjects, and altogether the location of around 52 of the portraits is known. Over the years partial sets were obtained by institutions in the USA, New Zealand and Australia, the most complete being the 17 held by the Peabody Museum in Salem, Massachussetts.
In 1989 the Alexander Turnbull Library purchased a set of 19 of the portraits from a dealer in Boston, at a cost of $106,000, and this was now the most complete set held. It contained one portrait from the series, that of Te Puni, which had never been seen before. Interest in the puzzle of who the artist had been was renewed, and the Turnbull's Curator of Drawings and Prints, Marian Minson, carried out extensive research which was published in the Turnbull Library Record of May 1990.
The usual suspects such as Heaphy and Fox had been eliminated by the main clue to the artist's identity, a monogram which appeared on some of the portraits in the form of a Q containing the initials JC or IC. The Q was dismissed as having been merely a flourish by the artist, and the monograms on two of the portraits held privately were considered to show a particularly clear JC, so the research was focused there.
A number of New Zealand Company immigrants had these initials, but none could be linked with the paintings. John Sylvanus Cotterell of Nelson was one, but his handwriting ruled him out. The paintings themselves provided some information about the artist. The high quality of the works, and the fact that captions were written in a beautiful script, with perfect spelling and grammar, indicated that whoever it was had been well educated.
Engravings of the Te Rauparaha and Te Rangihaeata portraits were advertised for sale in Hobart in October 1843, with the information that they had been taken from life by Mr Cootes, artist. James Cootes, a whaler, was traced but eliminated, due to the fact that he had been illiterate. Engravings of the two chiefs were also published in 1844 in the Illustrated London News, with an accompanying article which said that they had been done from copies forwarded from Nelson by Mr J. Greaves. Joseph Greaves was the New Zealand Company solicitor in Nelson, but his handwriting in a letterbook did not match with that on the captions.
There were also some clues in the historical time frame. It was obvious that some of the paintings had to have been done before the affray at Tuamarina in June 1843, because Te Rongo was killed on that occasion. Te Rauparaha and Te Rangihaeata were in Nelson with a large contingent of Ngati Toa tribespeople from the 11th to the 14th of March 1843, to protest the surveying of the Wairau. The first portraits of the two chiefs and their wives may have been done during this time.
Three of the subjects were from Queen Charlotte Sound and they also had to have been done prior to June 1843, as Maori living in the Sounds departed en masse after the events at Tuamarina. Of the remaining subjects, five were from the pa at Wakapuaka, three from Motueka one from Massacre Bay and three from the Wellington area.
The possibility that the artist had been just a passing visitor to Nelson was thought unlikely, because of the way detailed local names such as Wakapuaka had been used. The available evidence seemed to indicate that a Nelson resident had done the paintings in the first half of 1843, and then later made further copies as demand arose.
Marian Minson had visited the Museum Library in the course of her research, and I was aware that the solution to the puzzle probably lay in the resources held there. In 1991 I came across an 1845 jury listing for Isaac Coates, artist, Nile Street. It was one of those moments when the world stands still. I knew in a flash that I had cracked the mystery, but more substantial proof was required, so I began searching out all the references to Isaac Coates that I could find, and he began to emerge from the shadows.
No passenger arrival listing was found, but he was in Nelson by 2.30 pm on the afternoon of 2nd February 1843. This information came courtesy of Ruth Allan, in her account of the search for a shorter route from Nelson to the south, where she mentions a trip made up the Maitai Valley by Isaac Nelson Examiner of 11th February 1843, under the heading Source of the Maitai.
"Sir: Thinking the following remarks on an excursion to the source of the Maitai River will be interesting to some of your readers, we beg to offer them for insertion in your paper, Yours respectfully, Isaac Coates, William Bishop.
Feb 2nd. At half past two pm we started from Nelson, and pursued the course of the river till seven, when we encamped for the night on a small islet; having made little progress, in consequence of the swollen state of the river which obliged us to force a difficult passage through the thick brushwood, made more disagreeable by a constant rain which fell after four o'clock".
They returned to Nelson on 5th February, having climbed a barren mountain between the two branches of the river. To me, the most interesting part of their account was a reference to a fine shrub bearing a profusion of blossom of a magnificent vermilion colour, which I felt sure was the observation of an artist.
The Examiner helped again in October 1843, when it published an advertisement for a Russian leather pocketbook. "Lost or stolen on or about 30th September, containing a deposit receipt of the Union Bank of Australia for fifty pounds. The above being of no use to any but the loser, a reward of two pounds will be paid to any person returning the same, and any person detaining it after this notice will be prosecuted. Isaac Coates."
A year later The Examiner published the notice of his marriage. "On 29th November 1844 by Rev. John Aldred, Isaac Coates, son of George Coates Esquire of Smelt House, Norton, Durham to Margaret Catherine Cockburn, daughter of John Cockburn Esquire of Brookfield near Ballintra, Donegal, Ireland."
The jury listing for him had been published on 8th February 1845. In April 1845 Mr Coates was among those nominated to a Committee of Safety at a public meeting called after alarm among the populace at news of the sacking of Kororareka. Workers volunteered their time on 10th April, repairing the bastions of Fort Arthur and deepening the surrounding ditches.
The last of the references found at the Museum was a passenger listing of the arrival of Mr and Mrs Coates in Port Adelaide on 21st September 1845 on the Palmyra from Nelson. The ship had left Nelson on 21st August. The information gathered thus far established that Coates had been in Nelson during the time that the portraits had been painted. The final proof came in a visit to the Methodist Church archives in Christchurch, where the marriage certificate was held. His signature matched the monogram and the captions on the paintings, and Isaac Coates was officially accepted as the mystery artist.
At the time of their marriage Isaac was 35 years of age and Margaret was 18. Margaret Cockburn matched her husband in one respect, in that there is no passenger listing for her arrival in Nelson. She may have been related to Sarah and William Cockburn who arrived on the Phoebe in March 1843 with their married sister Elizabeth Jones. The Cockburns were from Brookfield, Ballintra, which was also the address given for Margaret.
Information began to come from further afield. John and Hillary Mitchell found an illuminating reference while doing their own research at the Hocken Library in Dunedin. It came in the papers of Frederick Tuckett, who had been the New Zealand Company's chief surveyor in Nelson. Tuckett was in Adelaide in 1845 and wrote a letter to his brother in England on the 13th December which said, among other things:
"I have been able to assist Isaac Coates who had arrived here with his young and very helpless wife from Nelson and is obtaining a precarious subsistence by executing likenesses. I can hardly style him a portrait painter, although he has skill. He has much improved in appearance and habits since his marriage, notwithstanding that his wife was remarkedly destitute of all the qualifications of an efficient housewife. I cannot doubt but that he has improved in character and that this is the foundation of the amelioration in all respects."
An intriguing cameo. Tuckett also commented that Coates had lost goods sent by his friends in England in the wreck of the Tyne, which had sunk off Wellington on 4th July 1845. This loss may have been the catalyst for the couple's departure from Nelson the following month. The Mortlock Library in Adelaide found a directory listing for Isaac Coates in Halifax Street there in 1847.
The Durham Record Office was an important source of information. It holds the Wallis Collection of papers relating to prominent Quaker families
Isaac Coates was the sixth of eight children of George Coates and Hannah Whitwell, and was bom on 26th January 1808. George Coates was an Elder in the Society of Friends and was regarded as a most worthy man. The couple had married in March 1800 and their children were all bom at Norton, which is now a suburb of Stockton on Tees. Isaac Coates went into business in Darlington as a bookseller, stationer, printer and bookbinder. His stock included a select collection of polite literature, stationery articles of the best quality and artists' materials. An advertisement for the firm offered printing and bookbinding executed with elegance, correctness and despatch.
He later became principal partner in the firm of Coates and Farmer, printers and booksellers of Darlington. Goreen describes Isaac Coates as a very handsome, clever and active man. In 1832 he played an energetic part in the successful election campaign of Joseph Pease, the first Quaker to sit in the House of Commons. The history tells of an incident on 10 August 1842 when the workshops of Coates and Farmer were struck by lightning at about 8.45 pm during a terrific thunderstorm, with the resulting fire being extinguished by engines. Unfortunately there is no mention of when Coates left England, merely a statement that he later emigrated to New Zealand. It must have been about then however, to allow time for him to have reached Nelson by February 1843.
A daughter, Sarah, was bom to Isaac and Margaret Coates in Adelaide in January 1846 but, sadly, mother and daughter both died there in January 1848. Isaac Coates was in Melbourne, with his kinsman William Robson of Darlington, when the explorers Burke and Wills set out on their epic journey in August 1860. He had returned to England by 1872, when he married Ann Heath of Bitterne, Hampshire. Isaac Coates died at Bitterne in 1878 at the age of 70.
He was no longer a Quaker at the time of his death, but his earlier connection with the Society of Friends does throw light on some aspects of the story. It explains Frederick Tuckett's reference to Coates in the letter to his brother, as he was from a Quaker family, and it may have been a factor in Coates' decision to come to Nelson, as there were a number of Quakers among the early settlers.
In addition, it may have a bearing on how the portraits came to be done in the first place. The Society of Friends in England had concerns about the treatment of indigenous peoples by European colonists and established an Aborigines Protection Committee. The Committee contacted John Sylvanus Cotterell, a Quaker living in Nelson, for information about the civil and religious state of Maori living in this area. Cotterell visited Maori communities to gather the requested data, and may have been accompanied by Coates who then took the opportunity to execute the portraits. One version of the portrait of Te Rangihaeata includes a caption by Coates which states that those killed at the Wairau had been his intimate friends, and Cotterell was among them.
How many people travelling between Blenheim and Nelson have noticed or wondered about the remains of the old stone wall that can be seen close to the road, just behind a deer fence, on the Havelock side of the Pelorus Reserve? In case you are wondering, it was built in the 1860s by the Couper family, who bought 200 acres of land and built an Accommodation House on the opposite side of the road. The stone wall enclosed their orchard and garden.
Daniel Couper was born in 1819 at Leith, the seaport of Edinburgh, and went with his parents to the Shetland Islands, where his father had been appointed as a Fishery Officer. They lived in the large Haa House at Grobsness, a remote headland on the west side of the Shetland Mainland, where they raised 11 children. Made of stone, the three storied house was once the big house of the bay, but now sheep shelter inside its ruins and only one house of the original five is still lived in. The children were taught at home at first but, as the boys grew bigger, they sailed approximately 40 miles around the coast to attend Happyhansel school at Walls. They boarded at the Manse and learned navigation, as well as the 3 Rs, and had regular readings from the Bible.
Fishing was the main livelihood of the Shetlanders at that time and the boys grew up knowing the skills of the industry. Daniel became proficient as a cooper and fish curer, as well as learning navigational skills. By 1840 he was sailing his own ships between London and Capetown. Imagine travelling that great distance in a small ship only 82 feet long; the storms they must have experienced and the peace of the calm afterwards.
In 1846 Daniel married Mary Ann, a Capetown lass who was to follow him across the seas. She and their baby son went on a cargo trip to London, but did not get as far as Scotland, where Daniel's family were living. Daniel then contented himself with sailing around the Capetown coast, taking supplies to the fishermen and whalers working in the area, but he grew weary of leaving his wife and son on shore. In 1852 he wrote a letter commanding her to sell up everything they owned in Port Elizabeth and join him at Capetown, as he had decided to go to Australia.
They went to the Victorian goldfields, and what a hard life they must have experienced there. Daniel's youngest brother, Benjamin, joined them but was unfortunately killed in a fall of earth. I have recently been able to walk over the Forest Creek diggings at Castlemaine, the gold field where the brothers worked in the late 1850s, and visited Benjamin's grave site. He is buried among a lot of other unnamed miners' graves. Daniel's son John did his schooling while growing up at Forest Creek.
From there they came to the goldfields of New Zealand, with a short spell in Otago, and then to the Wakamarina diggings, where their son John worked. Daniel and Mary Ann set up an accommodation house in the bridge builders' huts at Pelorus Bridge. This was where they had contact with the Maungatapu murderers, who stole Mary Ann's poultry.
In 1866 Daniel bought 200 acres on the Havelock side of the Pelorus Bridge and built a two storied accommodation house, where he and Mary Ann became well known for their hospitality to the miners, surveyors, bush fellers, drovers, clergy and early explorers who travelled between Nelson and the Wairau on foot or horseback.
John left the Wakamarina diggings to help his parents clear the land, and planted a large vegetable garden and fruit trees. A few cows were brought in and then some sheep, and they were able to support themselves. Surplus produce was sold to the miners and workers in the valley. John wrote in his diary of going out on the hills around Rai to shoot wild cattle and carrying them back to sell to Moller, the storekeeper at the gold fields. The family made their own wine to serve at the accommodation house, which became the central meeting place of the valley.
John's diaries record the people who passed by, and the news of other places and people would become known up and down the valley. The family became involved in community activities, the church, the school, the library, or in just helping other settlers. John Couper married a Welsh lass, Amy Haycock from Richmond, and a cottage was built across the road from his parents in which to house their increasing family.
Amy died in childbirth in 1887 and Daniel and Mary Ann then helped with the upbringing of their five grandsons and one grand-daughter. Amy was buried on the hillside, in what became a small family cemetery, and Daniel and Mary were buried near her when they died in 1907 and 1908 respectively. Sinclair Couper, the youngest son of John and Amy, was buried there after his death in 1912 in a shooting accident, and it is also the
The Couper grandsons worked at bushfelling and shearing in the valley, while their sister Winnie kept house for their father. Letters from the family in Scotland were valued and kept, and tell of a very different type of life on the other side of the world. The pioneering of the Pelorus Valley was hard work and opportunities for schooling were limited, but they read well and developed a wide knowledge of the world events. They started a better life for their descendants in a new country.
In 1916 the roof was removed from the old accommodation house and then a rope was put around the building and attached to a horse, which pulled, and the house fell down. The building was rotten and the need for it had gone. A new house was built across the road that year for one of the sons, and another was built on the site of the old accommodation house for John and his daughter Winnie.
Now another generation of the family lives in the house on the top side of the road. The little cemetery and the remains of the old stone wall serve as reminders of that early pioneering family. The wall is identical to those I have seen in the Shetland Islands.
A young boy moving from Norfolk, England, to Nelson, New Zealand, in 1923 experienced a great difference in life styles. Geoffrey Gates, now nearly 90 years of age, can remember this contrast. When Geoffrey was aged 10 and living on a Norfolk farm with his parents and seven year old sister Joan, his mother responded to an advertisement by Mrs Perrine Moncrieff of The Cliffs, Nelson, who was wanting a cook. As a result the parents and their two children left the London docks in 1923 on the P & O emigrant ship Bellona. Despite paying extra money for two deck cabins, they found the food was very poor, with fruit rationed to one apple a week and Welsh rarebit served rather too frequently.
The voyage to Australia took six weeks and was boring, except for the visit to the engine room where men, stripped to the waist and clutching oil cans and cotton waste, seemed to be climbing all over the engines. In the stokehold the half dozen stokers were working in terrific heat, with perspiration rolling off them as they toiled to keep the coal-burning ship going. The ship stopped at the Canary Islands for fresh fruit, and then at Cape Town for two or three days to allow for re-coaling. Geoffrey celebrated his eleventh birthday during the voyage.
The ship docked at Fremantle, Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney for the emigrants to disembark and only a few were left to continue to New Zealand. At Sydney the Gates family trans-shipped to cross the Tasman, and would have enjoyed the fabulous meals if they had not been seasick during the four day trip. From Wellington they took the overnight ferry, Ngaio, to Nelson where Captain Moncrieff was waiting for them on the wharf on a bright and sunny morning.
After six weeks with the Moncrieffs the Gates family left to find their own home in Stoke, buying a house with three acres of land on the Main Road for 1250 Pounds. They named it The Havens and it was to be their home for the next 19 years. Today the name is unchanged, but the house is on the market for $850,000.
Mrs Gates took a job cooking for Mrs Rosemary Marsden, the wife of James Marsden of Isel, and worked there three days a week from 9.30 am to
Stoke at this time had orchards everywhere, with hawthorn hedges on the boundaries, or occasionally gorse or macrocarpa. The population was sparse, so everyone knew everyone. Stoke was a separate entity from Richmond or Tahunanui and people did not often go far from home. Orchard owners were Monopoli, Gilbert, Neale, who was where Whareama is now, Harry Chisnall in Songer Street, Pitts-Brown, Cyril Dee, Wallie Wilson, who was next door to The Havens, Robinson Brothers on their present site, H. E. Stevens, and Marshall at Hayes Corner, where he also made cider. There were a few other farms, such as that of James Marsden which occupied 950 acres from Songer Street to Marsden Road, and George Manson in the area of Manson Avenue.
Roads were gravel and the main road, which was only about a third of the present width, had to be graded regularly. Horse-drawn vehicles were common, and one lady regularly tied her horse to the big macrocarpa in front of St Barnabas while she went to church. The roads were nearly empty, with few cars or vehicles of any kind to be seen. There was no electricity, water supply or sewerage, and the telephone, if a home had one, would be on the party line with possibly ten subscribers able to listen in.
Some houses, including The Havens, had windmills. There was a 20-foot well and the windmill lifted water into a tank, which was augmented by rain water collected from the roof. Care had to be taken in hot weather in case the supply dried up. Toilets were outside, with either a long-drop, or a bucket which had to be emptied regularly onto the farm. Tahunanui had a nightcart but this luxury did not extend to Stoke. Lighting in the house was by kerosene and gas lamps.
Electricity was on the verge of arriving in Nelson, as the Power House at the Port was built in the 1920s and soon came to Stoke [through the newly established Waimea Electric Power Board as Stoke and Tahuna were in the Waimea County]. Not everyone was able to afford it on account of its high cost and the expense of house wiring. There was no home delivery of mail Nelson Evening Mail was either thrown from the train or from the Newmans service car, so the Gates either found it at the back of their house, where their section adjoined the railway line, or at the front.
Groceries were delivered by Mr Rodley from Nelson in a horse-drawn vehicle. Mr Gledhill cycled from Nelson to Richmond collecting the orders for groceries, and his call at Isel could take half an hour. The order for the following week could be given when goods were delivered. Bird and Coleman sent their butcher's van from Richmond, and the bread came from at least three different sources, including Anstice and Croucher from Richmond who had horse-drawn services, and Freemans from Nelson. Milk came from the family cow or could be obtained from a neighbour, but was not delivered. There was no doctor in Stoke and mothers may have gone to Hillcrest Hospital in Richmond to have their babies delivered.
When Geoffrey and his sister started school at Stoke early in 1924 there were only three rooms and Mr A. Trevella was the headmaster. The subjects taught seemed to be much the same as in England. They had a hard time for a while because their clothes and manner of speech were different from the other children. Despite this Joan became Dux of Stoke School and Nelson College for Girls. They were surprised to find that most of the children went to school bare foot.
The village of Stoke consisted of the Turf Hotel, the Methodist church, the Anglican church and the blacksmith W. B. Heath opposite the Turf, who shoed the horses and also had one petrol pump. Robinsons had a grocery store and Vincent Dee had a second small store down Songer Street, near the railway station. The Turf burned down in about 1927, leaving only the chimneys, and had to be rebuilt. The Rev Rogers was the minister of St Barnabas', which at that time was a small church with only a handful of people. Identities were Alice Ching the organist and her sister Lucy.
Opportunities for work were not great and Geoffrey, like many others, went to work in an orchard when he left school. He worked for Gilberts, who had the orchard opposite his home, for eight shillings a day. Gilbert came from the West Coast and had bought the farm in 1910. The hoses used for spraying were about 80 feet long, and horses and carts were used for the hard work of dragging them round the trees. The spray was in 150 gallon containers and two men walked behind the horse and cart to spray the trees.
Apples were packed on individual farms and inspected for quality at the port. Orchardists were able to select their own buyers in England. Geoffrey also worked for Ted Saxton, milking his cows with Mr McMurtry. At first 20 or so cows were milked by hand, but when the milking machine arrived the number of cows increased to about 30. A stationary engine was used to provide power and when it broke down they reverted to hand milking. They still had to strip by hand after machine milking.
An industry of the area was the cider factory run by the Roil family, of whom there were six brothers and a sister, all unmarried and in one household. Buses or service cars such as Newmans, Gibbs and Bums passed through Stoke. The Russell's Green Bus service left from the Empire Theatre in Bridge Street for Stoke or Richmond, and the driver could be relied on to wait for the late comers because he knew them all, and when they should be on the bus. Otherwise there was the train service, but some people still walked to town or to Richmond.
The main winter sport was hockey, which was played on the ground adjacent to the present hall, and in summer the tennis courts in the same grounds were used. Alice Ching was secretary of the Tennis Club. Rugby football was not played at Stoke in those times. Silent movies were shown once a week in the old hall, with a truck outside to provide the power. Old-time dances were held there and there was a dancing class every week for boys and girls. Mr Hector and Mrs Pearl Ching, very accomplished dancers, ran the sixpenny hop once a week for sixpence a lesson, and taught anyone who wanted to learn. They were very keen, and Mrs Ching might have just come from packing apples when the lessons started. The Ching home was the site of the present Brook Green, and Mrs Ching continued to live there after the first residents' cottages were built.
Children did not get many treats, but one special event occurred when Mrs Marsden hired a Newman's bus to take a group of children, including her own young relatives, for a picnic up Wairoa Gorge about 1926. Geoffrey went and had the job of opening the numerous gates along the road.
Editorial footnote:
The Nelson-Wellington ferry, Ngaio, in Mr Gates' account was the first Nelson Anchor Company ferry of that name and will be remembered by some as the earlier Mapourika of the Union Company.
The Ngaio was followed in service by the Anchor Company's Nelson- Wellington ferries: Matangi formerly the Marilyan from Australia, and the Arahura from the Union Company. These two had taken passengers to and from the West Coast river ports until rail and road transport improved to make them redundant there.
When age forced their withdrawal from the Nelson-Wellington overnight run, the second Ngaio, previously the Hualalai from Hawaii, plied between Nelson and Wellington from 1950 to 1955 as the last Anchor Company and Nelson-Wellington ferry.
My earliest recollection, as a new arrival into Nelson city in 1960 cycling to work from Washington Valley, is of first passing Kirkpatrick's factory and being greeted with the raspberry jam, vegies, fruit and tomato sauce smells. Then round into Trafalgar Square, where Harley's brewery was filling the early morning air with the strong smell of boiling hops, yeast and malt. Finally down Nile Street where, as I came closer to Griffins, the cool southeaster brought a heavy-laden aroma that was a combination of hot milk chocolate and peppermint flavoured Oddfellows.
Eight o'clock start at Griffins was the beginning of a new day not only for us, but also for several other local businesses which depended on our steam whistle to announce 'time to start.' The Nelson Paint Company, Harley's cordial factory and Russell's furniture manufacturing in Bridge Street, together with Harry Coltmans and Webley's timber yard in Alma Lane, all confessed to starting and stopping in unison with our steam whistle time signals. On many a cold winter's morning the nine-o'clock starters were encouraged to stay snuggled up in bed until the last minute, after hearing the whistle's first blast.
Griffins was a good firm to work for, with good staff-worker relations, and what a great collection of people to work with. Management asked for, and got, an honest day's work for an honest day's pay. Loyalty and cooperation were given and received. Attendance was good and punctuality, recorded by the time-clock, was commendable.
It was inevitable, where a large group of people worked, that sport became predominant. Challenges were issued, and who better to challenge than our old friends at Sealords. Friendly games between the workers at Griffins and Sealords were a wonderful experience, kilograms of muscle and grams of skill. Wonderful times, and to many of us Neale Park will never be the same again. Snooker, pool or darts, whenever an evening was wanted, who accepted the challenge? Yes, Sealords of course and, when the steam whistle blew for the final time, the whole city regretted the decision, but I'll bet no one more so than who? Yes, Sealords.
The Prince Albert was next-door neighbour for 100 years with never a dull moment and never a cross word. Watering-hole, oasis, second home for
At work it was management who had the say, but at play our social club made the arrangements about where to go and what to do. Nelson's New Year celebrations, the Mardi Gras, the boat races down the Maitai River, who was always there? Yes Griffins, flour-bombs and all, and who else? Sealords of course.
There were wine trails, trips down the Marlborough Sounds, long weekends in Greymouth, with our social club getting us there, and back. How many will remember the two parties that traversed the Heaphy Track? Eight each way and swapping bus keys at the half-way hut. Trips like that kept us together, made us realise the value of each other, taught us about life.
Now, several years later, Griffins has gone but something still lives on, in meetings in the street, at the races or in the supermarket, with a friendly wave, stop for a chat, reminiscences about bygone days and sentimental journeys never to come again.
We thank you, John and Charlotte Griffin and your seven children, the Isle of Wight's loss and Nelson's gain.
The New Zealand Company's 1841 Nelson Preliminary Expedition, under the leadership of Captain Arthur Wakefield, carried two Deal boats, one aboard the Whitby, the other aboard the Will Watch. These boats were probably chosen for their seaworthiness, and for the remarkable seamanship of boatmen from the Deal, Walmer and Kingsdown area of Kent. Their skills had been honed in the English Channel and the waters behind the dangerous Goodwin Sands, known as The Downs, where sailing ships sheltered until weather conditions were suitable for commencing a voyage. Wakefield would also have been fully aware of the strength of winds in the Roaring Forties, where the expedition's Deal boats would be used.
Deal boats were named for the area from which they came and were not made of deal timber. They were of clinker construction, built of English elm planking, while the ribs or timbers were of young English elm. The boats were copper fastened and were known as luggers because of their sailing rig. The expedition's Deal boats were a smaller version of the 38 to 40 foot luggers, being about 18 to 23 feet long, and were known as galley punts, although they were not flat bottomed.
All luggers had a similar hull shape, with an almost plumb stern, a plumb stern transom, thwarts for rowing and for strength, two masts, a dipping lug mainsail and a standing lug mizzen, the control or sheet of which was fastened to a long pole or
The Nelson Colony was well served by its Deal boats, at first in exploration and the locating of Te Whakatu, or Nelson, and then as general work boats, with one being used by the harbour pilots. The Deal boatmen who arrived on the Whitby were James Smith Cross, the coxswain, John Barnes and Samuel Goddard, while those aboard the Will Watch were William Claringbold, the coxswain, Henry John Elliott and John Ladd. James Smith Cross became Warden Pilot of Nelson and was the second Harbourmaster. He became a shipowner and a man of substance who was a highly regarded citizen of Nelson. William Claringbold became Nelson's assistant Pilot, but fell foul of the law and left Nelson.
With the passage of time, many of the buildings of last century have disappeared from the central city streetscape to make way for developments of one kind or another. One building which has clung tenaciously to life through its almost 140 years existence is the rather uninspiring austere wooden structure at 321 Hardy Street. The exterior of the building has a certain old world look about it but it is, nevertheless, difficult to believe that it started its days about 1860 as the Hardy Street Girls' School, packed to bursting point with young children. Despite the name, some boy entrants also began their education there.
The resplendent and hotly debated Nelson Provincial Government Building, which was erected on Albion Square at the same time, was demolished 100 years later, much to the chagrin of many citizens (and delight of others), because the wooden structure had become uneconomic to maintain. The Courthouse now stands on the site.
Visual traces of architecture from the Provincial Government era which do remain within the precincts of Albion Square include the Engine House, (used as a morgue for victims of the Maungatapu murderers), which was built in the same style as the Government Building.
The Hardy Street Girls' School, with the Office Keeper's house at the rear, is another survivor. It was used as a school until 1896, when a larger, handsome building was opened in Shelbourne Street.
Many hundreds of children must have passed through the doors during its thirty-six years as a school The reports of the Inspector of Schools, W. C. Hodgson, were published in the Nelson Government Gazettes and make interesting reading. According to his 1869 report the school was overcrowded, with 90 children in the Preparatory Division, an infant class of girl and boys, the majority of whom were under six years of age.
In 1875 he reported that there were 63 pupils in the 1st Division, girls up to 14 years, and the scholars had acquitted themselves exceedingly well at the examinations in arithmetic, reading and diction. They had also been able to write an outline of the reign of King John, giving principal events and dates
The Preparatory Division had 147 pupils and Hodgson wrote: "These numbers speak for themselves. Even with ample school room it would be impossible for two teachers to do justice to so many children but, huddled together as they are now upon rows of forms, it is simply marvellous how such good order can be kept and so much good teaching can be accomplished. Another teacher and an additional room are urgently required, though it is unfortunate that any enlargement of the school buildings will trench upon the already cramped playground".
The subsequent report in 1876 condemned the overcrowding in the Preparatory Division, which now had 193 pupils! A third teacher had been appointed and was in charge of 64 children pent up in a small classroom capable of accommodating not more than 30, but numbers had increased so much that the Inspector recommended that an additional room be provided urgently. He further suggested that the best solution to the problem would be to build a school for boys adjoining the one in Bridge Street, and it seems that the authorities adopted this proposal, as the Bridge Street Boys' School opened in 1880.
After the girls moved to their new school in Shelbourne Street in 1896, the vacant building was occupied by the Nelson Central Board of Education. Known later as the Nelson Education Board, it used the building as office accommodation until about 1927. The Public Works Department, which was the next occupant, changed its name to the Ministry of Works following the Second World War, then became the Ministry of Works and Development before finally becoming a State Owned Enterprise.
If any ex pupils of the Hardy Street Girls' School were still about, they would not recognise the modernised interior. The walls have been flush panelled and a ceiling now obscures the formerly open roof timbers of arched collar beamed trusses. The internal layout has also been altered. The building was extended several times during its many years of use as office accommodation, firstly by the addition of two wings, and then the space between the wings was infilled. The Ministry of Works also made a link through to the late Dr W. Jamieson's house and surgery next door and utilised that space as well.
By 1989 the wheel had turned a full circle and the building reverted to its original use as a centre for learning, under the control of the Nelson Polytechnic.
Adapted from an article by the author in the Ministry of Works and Development Journal, Works News dated October 1977. Nelson Provincial Government Gazettes are held in the Nelson Provincial Museum. Also referred to is Nelson Central School, a history, 1979, by Maurice Gee.
My first meeting with the Chaffeys took place in 1936 when I began work on the ridge at the Cobb. We were forming by hand the first road The isolated 1.5 mile road on a 3,500 foot high ridge was to connect two tramways by a motor vehicle. It was not joined to another road for four years.
Many of our acquaintances from our gold-digging days were working on the road, amongst them Bertie Macpherson Bertie 'Macpherson with a small p,' English Public School educated, came to NZ alone as a 17 year old. He knew the Chaffeys from gold prospecting near the Cobb and left for the war the day it was declared.
As the crow flies the cottage wasn't far from our initial camp. First it was a fifteen minute walk to the lookout, where a big sign warned all comers: "If visiting Asbestos Cottage call out here." Bertie's idea of letting them know he was near consisted of yelling and shouting and whistling loud enough to wake the dead. It took about another fifteen minutes to the cottage, and as we went he explained why he carried on for so long. The Chaffeys liked to have plenty of warning of visitors, and he wanted them to know it was Bertie Macpherson who was coming, hence the unique performance.
Sitting alongside the doorway to the Chaffey home was a big polished boulder, a convenient seat for any tired trampers who needed a rest. We traded greetings and handshakes, and being the stranger, I sat on the boulder while Bertie received VIP treatment.
Mr Chaffey provided no surprise in appearance, but his wife rather overawed me because I had somehow expected a much smaller woman. She was not quite as tall as her husband, whom I guessed hit the six foot mark, but whereas Henry Chaffey had the lean toughness of an oldtime prospector, Mrs Chaffey had a well proportioned figure, one usually described as 'motherly.' Whenever the old chap addressed or spoke about his wife he used the old-fashioned term 'mother.' He in turn was always 'Harry.' Both of them appeared to be dressed in their Sunday-go-to-meeting finery, which had me putting Bertie on
Presently a move was made into the cottage: Mr Chaffey interested to know how the road was progressing, while Mrs Chaffey bustled about with cups and saucers for afternoon tea with an apology, "it's only biscuits today, the tins are empty after unexpected guests and baking day is Tuesday anyway."
After our 'cuppa' we made our departure, stressing the fact that it was Stan's day to cook the evening meal and he created a fuss if we were late. Mr Chaffey told me to be sure and bring him with me next trip and "don't make it too long. I look forward to meeting your brother, Jack. Is he older or younger than you?"
"Two years ahead of me," I said, "and twice as big. He's a plumber by trade and not a bad one at that."
Bertie chipped in, "Stanley is a terrible bloke to argue," and Mr Chaffey grinned and said, "Just like you, eh, Bertie?"
We left on this cheerful note, ending a very pleasant afternoon, getting to know two people whom it was my privilege to eventually call my good friends.
Visiting the Chaffeys during my time in the Cobb became an agreeable and regular pattern, however after a time, as the monotony of pick and shovel work lost its appeal, I set off for Christchurch on an AJS motorbike I bought from fellow worker, Pat Jones. Before leaving I talked with Mr Pearless Lessels Pearless was the engineer for the private Hume (Cobb River) Electric Power Company until 1940, and until 1942 for the State after government take-over.
After this break of several months, I began seeing them on a regular basis. No longer did I go with Bertie, I knew them well enough to go alone. They were always pleased to see me and showed it.
I'd like to mention one little peculiarity I always remember about Mrs Chaffey. When she shook hands it was a strong almost manlike grip but never a full clasp. She seemed to grab your fingers and press.
The cottage was a two-roomed weatherboard musterers' type shack with a large chimney at the entrance and roofed with layers of malthoid, unlike the modern shed built down-hill from it which was used as a store, but also had several bunks for accommodation. I developed a once a month custom of staying overnight. The procedure was always the same. 'Goodnight' at ten thirty and two hot stones in flannel covers to take as 'hotties.'
At daybreak there would be Harry with a hot mug of tea, then an hour long discussion of shoes and ships and sealing wax and wireless. Harry had a fairly rudimentary knowledge of the art of radio, but I was able to put him right on a few fundamentals. He in turn started me on a basic philosophical insight, for which I am forever grateful. He led me to Spinoza Spinoza 1632–77 was a Dutch-Jewish philosopher, interested in natural sciences such as astronomy and in Descarte's rationalist philosophy. The Jewish community expelled him in 1656.
As I mentioned earlier, Mr and Mrs Chaffey always dressed up in their best, including hats, when visitors came to call. That space between your warning shout and your arrival at the cottage gave them time to don their best. In all the years I visited with the Chaffeys there was only once that I arrived at the cottage and they were not prepared. The episode very nearly cost me their friendship.
In due course I left the Cobb Power Company, before the Government took over the scheme, and went to work for one Alan Clapcott, who was responsible for keeping the Asbestos Road open now that the mine at the end of the road employed a dozen or more staff. I took the job mainly because it made visits to the Chaffeys so convenient. Twenty minutes up hill from the asbestos mine and there was the cottage.
It was on one such occasion we had our first and only disagreement, when I failed to call out at the sign. Having broken the golden rule my steps got
"We didn't hear you call Jack." No smile, eyes boring straight through me and Harry suddenly striking a match to light his pipe.
"I didn't call out today, thinking of something else and went past without noticing." Mrs Chaffey said nothing, turned and went into the cottage, while Harry led me off down to his storeroom below and showed me samples of asbestos I had already seen half a dozen times. Believe you me I didn't linger. I made some excuse to Harry, a hasty handshake and I was off.
The next weekend, armed with a bunch of flowers, I paid them a visit; my apology unspoken was accepted and the greeting, that for a long lost brother. Never again did I fail to observe the courtesy of calling out loud and long, for I realised that Mrs Chaffey needed to dress in her best to prove one did not necessarily lose one's pride because of an outback shack for a home, with homemade furniture and no carpet (or) modern gadgets or bone china cups and saucers. In Mrs Chaffey you see the true spirit of the early pioneer women. In the old fashioned dress and hat, the neat well-spoken woman was demonstrating the fierce pride which kept her sane and balanced during 40 odd years of living under conditions that only a woman of her calibre could have tolerated.
Geological Society of New Zealand miscellaneous publication 102 (Geological Society of New Zealand PO Box 303 Waikanae) 52 p. 1999. $ 18.95
This small soft covered book records some of the recollections of Max Gage. As one of New Zealand's leading geologists from the mid 1930s, Max undertook investigations in many parts of the country, including Golden Bay and Reefton. While enrolled at Victoria University, Max obtained a vacation job as field assistant to the Geological Survey in the summer of 1935/36. This was an ideal way of getting training, while also putting oneself forward as a prospective permanent employee – the reviewer did this in 1962, when he obtained a similar job at Greymouth but, with the demise of the Geol gical Survey, it is now very much a thing of the past.
Like all student field assistants Max, as he candidly admits, was very much a novice and had much to learn from the field geologists of the time, including the eccentric Mont Ongley who came from a prominent legal family and was to become a Director to the Survey. Other geologists were the parsimonious Director, Dr John Henderson, who took financial management to an extreme, beyond what was required in those depression years. Max's first taste of geological mapping was in the Wairarapa, inland from Castlepoint, an area that later became the reviewer's thesis area.
Because there were no topographical maps, the geologists had to construct their own base maps before they could add the geological observations. Base maps ranged from pace and compass surveys to, in critical areas, having professional surveyors attached to the field teams. Fieldwork made much use of bicycles on the gravel roads, although legwork was the norm. Bits of clothing left on barbed wire fences were silent testimony to unaccepted challenges from the local bovine population. More friendly were the human inhabitants, including the families running the country hotels that were utilised as field bases. The daughter of one family at the Porangahau Hotel was later to become Max's wife.
After being appointed to Geological Survey, one of Max's first projects was to assist in the remapping of the Reefton Goldfield. In charge was "Mac" Macpherson who had a reputation for a somewhat unpredictable temper.
Mapping also involved the use of the new science of geophysics, and one of the surveyors assisting was
Max gives a vivid account of the geological survey camps, often in old run down mining villages such as Tin Town at the Big River gold mine, and a revealing insight into the survey staff, be they geologists or temporary employees such as bushmen and cooks. Then of course there was the fieldwork, which involved much physical and mental effort in difficult mountainous country of complex geology. Superb, very clear and fully documented photographs taken by Max illustrate all of these aspects of being in the field for long periods of time. In winter the permanent staff returned to Wellington where, in a cramped two storied wooden former residence on The Terrace, the fieldwork was written up.
After completion of the Reefton survey, Max migrated to Greymouth and became involved with black gold. At that time a systematic assessment was being undertaken of New Zealand's coal resources. As well as the major coalfields, including the Greymouth field, the survey geologists carried out a host of other work. One diversion for Max Gage was to Onekaka in Golden Bay, where a blast furnace had been built by government in 1926 but which, after a brief period of activity, was now idle. Despite earlier geologists having described Onekaka as a mountain of iron, it had been discovered that only a thin, superficial layer existed and as mining progressed, bedrock appeared in the quarry floor. With Max confirming that the mountain of iron was an illusion there was considerable embarrassment, not only for geologists, but also the politicians who had to close the works.
With the onset of World War Two Max was transferred back to Wellington, but was soon reassigned to the Greymouth Coalfield, work of strategic importance. This was interrupted when he was transferred to a top-secret project to establish a coastal radar defence network. However, before this was complete Max, on the insistence of the Under Secretary for Mines, was sent back to Greymouth to finish the coals survey.
After the War he worked inland from Oamaru before commencing a career at Canterbury University, where he became Professor of Geology. On retirement Max and Molly lived in Nelson for several years, during which he wrote Legends in the Rocks, which was a guide to New Zealand's geology. The cover was fittingly illustrated with a photograph of the rocks at Magazine Point.
Although A Geologist Remembers is perhaps largely a narrative for geologists, it is easily readable and provides an insight into how fieldwork was done with limited transport in difficult terrain. It also records the end of an era in which the horse, bicycle and legwork were very much to the fore, with prolonged periods spent in areas that still very much displayed their colonial origins. The lack of adequate basemaps and no aerial photographs were a major hindrance.
The book, with its accounts of the Reefton Goldfield and the Onekaka ironworks fiasco is of particular relevance to those with an interest in the history of Nelson. The Geological Society and Simon Nathan are to be commended for having these fascinating reminiscences, and the excellent contemporary photographs accompanying them, published. Max's collection of over 800 photographs is now housed at the Alexander Tumbull Library.