Domett is a portion of the settlement of Cheviot, and is situated on the main road, about four miles from McKenzie. It is in the Hurunui riding of the Cheviot county, and the entire population of the riding is forty-five. Sheep farming is the principal industry. Domett, as a settlement, dates from 1893. It is six miles from Port Robinson, at which the produce of the settlers is shipped for Lyttelton and Wellington. There is a post office at Domett, which has telephonic communication with McKenzie. The place is named after Alfred Domett, who played a leading part in New Zealand politics in the early days of colonisation, and was afterwards more widely known as the author of “Ranolf and Amohia.”

The Domett Post Office, at which a mail is daily received and despatched, was originally established in 1896, and is now conducted at the homestead of Mr. T. L. Osborne.

Mr. Thomas Lester Osborne, Postmaster at Domett, was born in Kent, England, in 1858. He was brought by his parents to Lyttelton in 1859 by the ship “Amberzine.” Mr. Osborne is a carpenter by trade, and carried on business on his own account in Amberley and Culverden respectively till the opening of the Cheviot settlement. He was a successful selector, and acquired 250 acres under a lease in perpetuity, at Domett. His property was in its natural condition when he took it over, but 100 acres have already been cultivated. Mr. Osborne was a member of the Loyal Amberley Lodge of Oddfellows, and is now connected with the Cheviot branch of the New Zealand Farmers' Union. He was married, in 1883, to a daughter of the late Mr. T. Anderson, of Christchurch, blacksmith, and has five sons and one daughter.

The Public School at Domett was established in 1895. It has accommodation for fifty children; the number on the roll is thirty, and the average attendance twenty-three. Of ten acres of land attached to the school premises, about two acres are kept for school purposes, and the rest is leased to a tenant. A five-roomed residence adjoins the school.

Mr. William Henry Pike. Headmaster in charge of Domett school, was born in Christchurch, in 1877, and educated at St. Albans Main School. After a year at the Normal Training College, Mr Pike was appointed to the Clarence Bridge school, and to Domett in 1898.