Other formats

    TEI XML file   ePub eBook file  

Connect

    mail icontwitter iconBlogspot iconrss icon

The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Canterbury Provincial District]

[Balcairn]

Balcairn, which is in the Kowai riding of the county of Ashley, is a sheep district, thirty miles from Christchurch, and four miles from Amberley. The flag station stands 123 feet above sea level. There is a post office, which receives a daily mail. The Kowai cemetery is situated on the Leithfield Road, about a mile out of the settlement. Balcairn is the headquarters of the Kowai Road Board, which has jurisdiction throughout the district. The population at the census of 1901 was 218.

The Kowai Road District is a portion of the county of Ashley, and was constituted in 1864. It extends from the Waipara river on the north, to the river Ashley on the south, and from a line taken from the trig pole on Mount Grey to the Ashley township on the west, to the sea coast on the east. The total area is about 140 square miles, and there are 753 ratable properties owned by 659 ratepayers. The capital value of the district in 1901 was £523,279, and included 540 dwellings. The rate levied is 5-8ths of a penny in the £. It produces £1326, to which has to be added £314 Government subsidy, and £216 from other scources, making, in all, a total revenue for 1901 of £1856. For the same period the expenditure on public works was £1755, and £238 was paid over on contributions for hospital and charitable aid. At the close of the year the balance sheet showed cash assets of £802, and liabilities amounting to £376. The members of the Board for 1902 were: Messrs G. A. Wornall (chairman), J. Mathers. G. A. McLean, D. Gorrie, J. Vallance; with Mr. G. S. Hickman as sole officer of the Board. The Board's offices are at Balcairn, near the railway station, and consist of a meeting room and office, with a substantial residence and outbuildings, erceted on a Government reserve of twenty acres.

Mr. George Sayce Hickman, Clerk, Treasurer and Surveyor to the Kowai Road Board, was born in Herefordshire, England, in 1858, and educated in his native place. In 1878 he came to Lyttelton by the ship “Rangitikei.” He settled for a time in Christchurch, but afterwards became clerk of works in connection with the Malvern Water Race. Two years later he returned to Christchurch, and became connected with the Drainage Board, and subsequently with the Selwyn County Council. He was clerk to the Avon Road Board, and, later, to the Ashley Road Board for some time before being appointed, in 1896, to his present position. Mr. Hickman takes great interest in poultry farming, and his son Cyril has charge of 800 birds, comprising Houdans, white and brown Leghorns, gold and silver Wyandotts, Indian game, Orpingtons, Langshans, bronze Turkeys, Aylesbury and Pekin ducks. He has a 240-egg incubator, and has been very sucessful as a prize-winner at shows. Mr. Hiekman was married, in 1885, to a daughter of the late Mr. B. Monk, of Kaiapoi, and has two daughters and three sons.

Kowai Pass School. The Kowai Pass School, in the county of Selwyn, has an average attendance of about seventy pupils. Mr. J. E. Glanville, the headmaster, is assisted by Miss Julia O'Shaughnessey.

St. John's Anglican Church, Balcairn, was built in 1900. It is of wood and shingles, has acommodation for sixty-five adults, and services are held fortnightly, the vicar of Leithfield being in charge.

Jackson, Albert Edward, Farrier and General Blacksmith, Balacairn. Mr. Jackson was born at Papanui in 1873. He was also educated there, and learned his trade at Sheffield. For a few years he was employed on Mr. McLean's estate at Waikakahi. During the South African war he enlisted in the Third New Zealand Contingent, served for fifteen months, and returned to the colony in June, 1901. He then settled at Balcairn, and acquired his present business, which was established about the year 1880 by Mr. W. B. Reid. The shop stands on the front of a quarter-acre freehold section.

Clarke, photo. Mr. A. E. Jackmanson.

Clarke, photo.
Mr. A. E. Jackman [sic: son].