Makauri is about six miles from Gisborne, and lies between the road leading to Waerenga-a-hika from Makaraka and the small settlement of Waiohika. There is a public school in the district, which is entirely devoted to farming.

The Makauri Public School was established in 1886 as a private school, but was subsequently taken over by the Hawke's Bay Education Board. The building is of wood and iron, and stands on a section of an acre of land. There are two class rooms, with accommodation for ninety children, and there are eighty-seven names on the roll, with an average attendance of seventy. The teacher's residence stands close by on a section of fourteen acres of land.

Mr. Edwin Claude Bolton, who holds an E4 certificate, is the Headmaster of the Makauri school. He was born in Dublin, educated at Kilkenny College, Ireland, and brought up as a teacher. Mr. Bolton arrived in Auckland by the ship “Ida Zeigler,” in November, 1868, the day before the Poverty Bay massacre. He joined the volunteers in Auckland, and served altogether for twenty-five years in the Auckland Rifles and in the East Coast Rifles, and was one of those who attempted the capture of Te Kooti. Mr. Bolton is often called “the school founder” in Hawke's Bay. He founded schools at Matawhero, Te Arai, Te Karaka, Maraeteha, and Waerenga-a-hika, and has been stationed at Makauri since 1886. He has a very large apiary of 200 hives on his property, and a considerable vineyard, from which he manufactures excellent Burgundy and Madeira wines. Mr. Bolton has had large experience in treating cases of sickness, and is often consulted with beneficial results. He has discovered a page 1010 specific for typhoid and scarlet fever, and has cured every case that has been placed under his care. But he says that he has great difficulty in bringing his remedy before the public, as the medical profession, he affirms, are opposed to any innovation. Mr. Bolton desires that his specific may be judged only by results, and he believes that if these are fairly considered his discovery will justify itself as one of the wonders of the twentieth century. He has been practising in medicine for twenty-seven years, but it was merely by accident that he discovered the specific under notice. He cured thirteen patients in three days, one being his third son. Mr. Bolton was married, in 1879, to a daughter of Professor Higgins of Sai Francisco, and has three sons.

Mr. E. C. Bolton.

Oxenham And Somervell (S. Oxenham and John Somervell), Brick and Tile Makers, Lime Burners, and Firewood, Coal and Timber Merchants, Makauri. This business was established by its present proprietors in February, 1901.

Mr. John Somervell, one of the Partners, was born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1840. When eleven years of age he entered the employment of Messrs Napier and Sons in the joiners' department of their Iron Shipbuilding Yards at Govan, where he worked for three years. In 1856 he arrived in Auckland by the ship “Joseph Fletcher,” and continued to work as a house carpenter till 1862, when, like a good many others, he caught the gold fever, and went from Auckland to Dunedin in the small brig “Lalla Rookh.” He experienced some hard times and rough living on the Dunstan, and in the Lake Wakatipu and Invercargill districts. In 1864 he returned to Auckland, where he qualified as a millwright. On the opening of the Thames goldfield Mr. Somervell cast in his lot with the miners on that field, where he held several positions of trust as battery manager, and where he soon learned to drive an engine. He also fulfilled several contracts for the erection of all kinds of machinery. In 1877 he removed to Gisborne, where he remained for about eighteen years, and carried on business as a builder and contractor, and houses and bridges in that district still bear evidence to his practical skill. Mr. Somervell went to Reefton in 1882 to superintend the erection of the Just-in-Time winding plant, after which he returned to Gisborne, where he took a lively interest in local affairs, and was a member of the school committee and borough council for many years. Christmas 1895 saw Mr. Somervell again on the Thames, where he took charge of the Waihi-Silverton battery for six months, and was then appointed manager of the Deep Sinker mine. In Mr. Somervell was appointed foreman of works at the Standard Exploration Company's Thames-Hauraki mine, which, however, was closed down in October, 1900. Mr. Somervell secured a mine manager's certificate of the first class in 1897. While in Auckland in 1860 he was sworn in as a militiaman. A year afterwards he joined Capt. Derrom's company of volunteers, and with his companions in arms did garrison duty without pay while the regular soldiers went to the front. On the formation of the Thames Scottish Rifles, he joined, and served seven years. He was a member of the Kauaeranga school committee from 1898 to 1900. When the Thames-Hauraki mine was closed down, Mr. Somervell again returned to Gisborne, and he and Mr. Oxenham shortly afterwards established their present business. As a Freemason Mr. Somervell is a Past Master of Lodge Montrose, S.C., of Gisborne. He married a daughter of the late Mr. Speight, of Dublin, and sister of Mr. W. J. Speight, of Auckland, and has six sons and one daughter.

Mr. J. Somervell.