page 220

No. 26.—Mr. Ebenezer Hay.

Mr E. Hay, of Pigeon Bay, was one of the early pioneers, and the following particulars, kindly contributed by his son, Mr James Hay, are of interest:—

Mr Hay was married in Scotland in 1839, and immediately thereafter sailed for New Zealand, arriving in Wellington in February, 1840. Before leaving Scotland Mr Hay purchased land in the colony, to be chosen in the North Island on his arrival. It transpired, however, that the Government had not completed the purchase of land from the Maoris, who, naturally, resented settlement until they had received payment. The Natives, therefore, refused to allow Mr. Hay to settle, who, having been brought to this impasse, applied to Mr. Wakefield to have his land transferred to the South Island. This was eventually arranged. With the courage and enterprise of true pioneers Mr. Hay and Mr. Sinclair proceeded at once to build a vessel, the former contributing funds, and the latter, with his skilled knowledge, and that of his sons, falling the timber and getting the actual building under way. To accomplish this they had, in the first instance, to make their own tools, using the [unclear: breech] of an old cannon as an anvil, and forging bolts and nails from such scrap iron as they could co lect. They contrived a bellows from a sheep skin and a gun barrell. In due time their vessel, a schooner of 45 tons burden, was completed to their satisfaction, christened the "Richmond," and launched on the Hutt River. Fortunately, at this juncture, a sailmaker turned up, and guided them as to the construction of the sails, which they found to ba the most puzzling part of the whole undertaking, In this vessel, which eventually proved to be an excellent sea boat, Mr. Hay and Captain Sinclair sailed from Wellington to explore the South Island, Port Cooper (now Lyttelton Harbour) being their first port of call. On reaching the head of Port Cooper they dropped anchor and pulled ashore in their dingey. They climbed the hill, reaching the summit a point now known as Gebbie's Pass, whence getting a bird's eye view page 221of Lake Ellesmere, they mistook it for the ocean, and returned on board disappointed In consequence of this error, they missed a view of the Canterbury Plains, and continued their exploration southwards, Skirting Banks Peninsula, the opening of Pigeon Bay attracted their attention, and induced inspection, which so much pleased them that they almost decided on the spot to establish their home there, but were prompted to continue their exploration a little further. They went down as far south as Dunedin, but, seeing no place to rival Pigeon Bay in their estimation, they finally decided in its favour, and re turned to Wellington. After a second trip southward to convey the Deans' party to Riccarton, the Richmond again returned to Wellington, and, with the families of the pioneers on board, finally sailed for Pigeon Bay, where she arrived in April, 1843. Mr. Hay selected his land here, and, having brought; down from Wellington two cows and a heifer calf, proceeded at once to establish the nucleus of a home. First of all he and Mr. Sinclair sold the Richmond to Mr W. B. Rhodes, of Wellington, for five cows each, valued at £20 per bead, Those cows were at Akaroa, and to get them over to Pigeon Bay it was necessary to cut a track through the bush. The line selected for this track was that of a path used by the Maoris, which was faintly marked by broken twigs, and the blazing here and there of a tree trunk. There was no pretence at grading, for the track followed the contour of the land straight up one side of a spur and down the other. It took eight men three weeks to widen this track sufficiently to enable the cattle to be brought home. In the combined Hay and Sinclair families there were fifteen souls, and for the first three months all of them lived together in a tent, which was pitched close to the beach at a spot now approximately indicated by the large gum tree growing near the main bridge.

In July, 1843, the first house was completed It was built of thatch work, with a clay floor. Some three years later a second house was erected, built of white pine, with black pine flooring and totara shingles. Although this page 222latter house stood for over thirty years, there was no tracs of borers in any of the white pine timber, indicating that these pests were an importation, probably introduced in the boxes and trunks of immigrants.

In 1852 Mr Hay introduced the cocksfoot grass into Banks Peninsula—a grass that was to play such an important part in Peninsula farming, as told in a subsequent article. Mr. Hay was also much interested in the establishment of the dairy industry on the Peninsula, and made both butter and cheese in the earliest days.

Mr Hay took a keen interest in educational matters, and himself built a district school on his own account, for which be also secured a teacher, the families benefitting, contributing only to the salary of the teacher, and not to the building, The first teacher was not a success, and Mr. Hay ultimately sent to Scotland, taking pains to secure a good man, who, in the person of Mr. J. W. Gillespie, arrived in 1859. Mr. Gillespie was a man of culture, an excellent teacher, and a great acquisition to the pioneers. In a few months the school proved too small, and Mr. Hay cheerfully erected a much larger one on another site close at hand, and gave it over free of cost. Unfortunately, Mr. Gillespie died about eighteen months after his arrival, and his loss was keenly felt, not only as a teacher, but a man of sterling character, who was much respected and appreciated by all. Mr. Hay again lost no time, and, taking full precautions, sent once more to Scotland, and was signally fortunate in securing Mr. W. S. Fitzgerald, who arrived in 1861, and who for a number of years remained in Pigeon Bay, whence he went to Oamaru, and eventually to Dunedin, where, as everyone knows, he became famous in educational matters, having been, in fact, the originator of our present system. He retired in 1910 full of honours from a high position in education. In church matters Mr Hay took a deep interest, and, in conjunction with a few others, was instrumental in procuring the first Presbyterian minister for Christchurch and the Peninsula.

Mr Hay was a good and a generous neighbour, whose [unclear: im] was not to take up more land than he could profitably page 223work, and whose desire was to assist settlers, for whose benefit he not only gave up part of his own pre emptive right, but, in many cases, advanced them money to purchase land and secure a foothold The roading of the Peninsula absorbed much of his time and care.

Mr. Hay lost his life in 1863, the result of an accident, when comparatively a young man.