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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Canterbury Provincial District]

Old Colonists

Old Colonists.

Mr. Thomas Burston Mould was born in Cheshire, England, in 1838, educated at private schools, and apprenticed to the drapery trade. His health, however, failed, and he was advised to follow a sea-faring life. He obtained the position of steward on one of the Cunard Company's large steamers, trading between Liverpool, New York, and the West Indies, and held it until he resigned to sail for New Zealand. In 1865 he arrived at Lyttelton by the ship “Matoaka,' and almost immediately afterwards went to Banks' Peninsula, where he spent the rest of his life in farming. For five years after his arrival in New Zealand, he was engaged by Mr. Cholmondeley, farmer, of Port Levy, and in 1870 he purchased 100 acres of heavy bush land at Duvauchelle's Bay. By hard and incessant labour this rough land was transformed into a valuable and productive farm. At his death, in 1894, Mr. Mould left this property to his wife and family. He took a great interest in religious work, and was for many years warden of the English church at Duvauchelle's Bay. Mr. Mould was married, in 1875, to Miss Eleanor Macartney, and had five children. Of these, three sons and one daughter are still living.

Mr. James Pettigrew, sometime of Duvauchelle's Bay, was the son of Mr. John Pettigrew, a weaver of Airdie, near Glasgow, Scotland, and was born in 1830. He landed in Lyttelton, in 1863, and shortly afterwards settled at Pigeon Bay, where for many years, he was prominently associated with the sawmilling industry. Subsequently he took up property in Duvauchelle's Bay, and turned his attention to farming. Mr. Pettigrew took an active interest in all matters affecting his district, and was a member of many local bodies. He was married, in 1852, to Miss Jane Martin, daughter of a cotton spinner, of Glasgow, and at his death, in 1893, he left five sons and four daughters.

Mr. Henry Piper, Old Colonist, Duvauchelle's Bay, was born in 1833, in Surrey, England, and was educated at a private school in Old Kent Road. He came to New Zealand in 1852, in the “Samarang,” the last of the Canterbury Association's ships, and went to the Peninsula in November of that year to Mr. T. S. Duncan, afterwards Crown Solicitor, who was then “cockatooing” in Decanter Bay. In May, 1853, he went to Mr. John Hay, Pigeon Bay, and stayed there until Mr Hay went to England at the end of the year Mr. Piper was afterwards pit-sawing for a while, and he then worked a whaleboat for passengers between Pigeon Bay and Lyttelton. The trip was the same as that afterwards made by the steamer “Jane Douglas,” except that the whaleboat started from Pigeon Bay. After a time he returned to the pit-saw, and worked at Little Akaloa, and in three different
Mr. H. Piper.

Mr. H. Piper.

valleys in Akaroa. Mr. Piper was then employed at Henderson's, at the Commercial Hotel, Akaroa, where an extensive business was done in connection with a general store that supplied nearly all the stations and small settlers, and took produce or stock in exchange. Thence he removed to Le Bon's Bay, where he had a third share of a small sawmill, the first that was erected there. Mr. Piper afterwards returned to Akaroa, and went
Old Water-Wheel on Mr. Piper's Property.

Old Water-Wheel on Mr. Piper's Property.

page 635 pit-sawing. As he owned thirty acres of bush at Duvauchelle's, he, in 1858, joined four others, who held land there, in erecting a saw-mill, which was driven by a 25-feet water-wheel. Shortly after starting, one partner was bought out, and two others were bought out about three years later; but the mill war worked with little profit until 1865, when it was improved and altered and a fifteen-horse power engine added to the plant. The firm also erected a wharf, which did away with a good deal of bullock work, and saved 5s per 1000 feet for punting the timber to the vessels. The timber was large and mostly totara, and the vertical saw took a 6-feet log, but it was not an uncommon thing to have to blast a log on account of its being too large for the saw. As the timber was cut and the refuse burned, the land was sown with English grasses, which sometimes cost one shilling per pound. Mr. Piper claims to be—with Messrs Hay Brothers—the first that produced cocksfoot seed on the Peninsula, and he sold large quantities at from 6d. to 6 1/2d. per pound, before its production became such a valuable adjunct to the resources of the struggling dairy farmer. When the West Coast diggings broke out, Mr. Piper turned his attention to cattle, and the grassed clearings in the bush, together with the natural bush feed, enabled him to produce drafts of cattle in the spring about six weeks before the graziers on the plains. In 1874, Mr. Piper bought his partner out, and continued to run the sawmill till about 1880. In the early days, Mr. Piper competed in general sports, and was one of the unbeaten whaleboat crew, known as the “sawyers,” who held the record for six years against all-comers at Lyttelton and Akaroa. For three years he was starter at the Birdling's Flat races, and was judge at many rural sports. He was a member of the roads committee before road boards were established, and was for years afterwards chairman of the Akaroa and Wainui Road Boards, chairman of the Akaroa County Council, a member of the Akaroa High School Board, chairman of the licensing committee for years, and also of the local school committee. Mr. Piper was also president of the first Peninsula Farmers' Association; and in other ways he always made himself generally useful in the district.