"It must be Wattie's"
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| Sir James Wattie (1902-1974) |
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| The Wangapeka Valley as seen from Tadmor Hill [1886] The central line of trees mark the path of the Sherry River. Artist : John Gully (1819-1888) |
His son William took up work as a shepherd. Experienced, hardy shepherds formed the backbone of the early South island sheep runs and were in great demand. Many of them came from a Scottish or northern English background. A hard-working Presbyterian family, the Watties preserved traditions and customs from their homeland - although born in New Zealand, William grew up very conscious of his Scottish heritage.
After their wedding, William and Annie Wattie settled at Hawarden, North Canterbury, where four of their five sons were born - Angus John (1895-1965); William Archibald, known as Archie, (1898-1941); James, known as both Jim and Jimmy, (1902-1974) and Ronald Eric (1905-1969). The fifth, Norman Bruce (1912-1964), was born later in Marlborough.
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| Jonsen's split slab hut near Rolling River. One of Wangapeka's staunchly independent old diggers, Jonsen, a runaway Norwegian sailor, spent 25 years working the goldfield. |
Gold, gold, gold, bright, fine gold
Wangapeka, Tuapeka, Gold, gold, gold.
The Tuapeka River was the centre of the Otago goldrush of the 1860s. and in his 1867 book "The Geology of New Zealand", German geologist Dr Ferdinard von Hochstetter described how, when the Tuapeka district in Otago was declared a goldfield on June 28 1861,"the Nelson goldfields were deserted in consequence of it; everyone rushed to Otago". (5)
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| Map of the Wangapeka Diggings pre-1870 |
However, it was the Wangapeka's potential as sheep country that was its first attraction. Scottish immigrant Edward (later Sir Edward) Stafford, early pastoralist, first Superintendent of the Nelson Province and later Premier of New Zealand, included land on the Wangapeka plain that he was already using for grazing when he applied for a depasturage licence for the Upper Motueka Valley in 1848. In his application he described the Wangapeka as "an isolated valley about six miles from the Motueka Valley, surrounded on all sides by wooded hills and mountains, which formed its boundaries, and containing about 800 acres of open land capable of carrying from 400-500 sheep", adding, "I have had a wether flock there for the past two years." Like many pastoralists ,Stafford never lived on his sheep station, and from 1856 till 1860 his run was left in the hands of Yorkshireman Thomas Fawcet, a shepherd who arrived at Lyttelton in 1850 on the ship "Charlotte Jane", along with his wife Mary and the tools of his trade - his sheepdogs. By 1863 he was running a store and accommodation house on the eastern side of the Tadmor River, sited to catch diggers heading for the Baton and Wangapeka goldfields. Stafford's run, known as the "Wangapeka Station", changed hands several times and increased in size -- at its largest the run consisted of 7500 acres and extended from the Sherry River northwards to the Baton Saddle, including land on both sides of the Wangapeka River. (6)
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| John Tinline (1820-1907) A Scottish settler of energy and enterprise |
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By the end of the 19th century, the Government was coming under growing pressure to find land for a population increased by immigration and the number of earlier settlers' children and grandchildren now wanting farms of their own. Large sheep runs in Marlborough (like the Starborough Station, which became Seddon) and the Amuri (like Culverden), were broken up for resettlement, sometimes without their owners' consent, thanks to an 1894 amendment of the 1892 Lands for Settlement Act. The opening of the Nelson railway from Belgrove to Motupiko (now Kohatu) in 1899, followed by its advance to Tadmor by 1906, was a direct response to demands that the back blocks of the Upper Motueka Valley and the Buller be opened up for farming. The Tadmor railway station was handily sited near the junction with the road which led to the Wangapeka and Sherry Rivers, a natural place for farmers to congregate and pick up supplies, send off their produce and use the local stockyards.(9) The timing was perfect and Tinline's agreement to sell would have been welcomed with open arms.
The sitting tenant, E.J. Robinson, moved on after auctioning his stock in March 1907 and the Wangapeka run was cut up into seven subdivisions , "comprising some 16 sections suitable for agricultural and grazing purposes". The upcoming ballot for what was billed the "Wangapeka Settlement" but would later become known as "Matariki", was widely advertised throughout the country, but it is possible that the Nelson-North Canterbury grapevine had been at work making sure that friends and acquaintances knew well in advance, if the large number of applicants from Canterbury was anything to go by.
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| Territorials on parade during the April 1914 camp at George MacMahon's Tapawera farm. This was the last camp to be held before the outbreak of WWI. |
Mr Frederick W. Flanagan, Commissioner of Crown Lands, paid a visit in October 1907. He was "exceedingly pleased" to find that the settlers had already done considerable work on clearing and cultivating their holdings and were in good spirits. He was also impressed to find that 14 of the Settlement's school-aged children were already attending classes being held by Mrs MacPherson, wife of one of the new settlers. The Commissioner optimistically declared that "Wangapeka will be one of the most successful settlements of its kind in the Dominion" .
A community spirit soon built up among neighbours all making a fresh start, and the new settlers were welcomed by already established Wangapeka and Sherry Valley residents, several of them, like Chandler, Rollet, Pahl and Phillips, with names dating back to the old goldrush days. James Chandler, formerly a digger at the Victorian and Otago goldrushes, established a store and hotel in 1869 at the junction of the Wangapeka and Dart Rivers, which also served as the Wangapeka post office from 1896. The new settlers enjoyed cricket games held on land drawn at ballot by Charles Grey, and horse races at George MacMahon's "Maniaroa" farm near the Tapawera township, where military exercises were also held, first for the local volunteer militia and then the Territorials. Although sheep-farming was the main preoccupation, a number of settlers took up dairying and started a factory near the cross roads by the Matariki bridge.The milk was taken to the factory to be separated and the cream was then carted to the Tadmor railway station and railed to the butter factory at Richmond. The factory was eventually closed down after home separation became the norm. (13)
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| Dapp family home at Skeet River, Baton Valley. Typical of Wangapeka settlers' dwellings. Original split slab thatched hut sits behind a newer house. |
The Wangapeka goldrush was well over by this time and the once-bustling Rolling River gold boom township at the junction of the Nuggety, Blue and Granity Creeks lay in mouldering ruins, but local residents still fossicked for gold in their spare time and no doubt several of the new settlers also chanced their arms. A number of sluicing claims were worked and it was still possible to find gold-bearing strata on the terraces around the Sherry and Wangapeka Rivers. Over the years various enterprises came and went in fits and starts, including the unsuccessful Belle Mine set up by Roderick McRae in 1896. Although coal deposits were identified in the area early on, as evidenced by the names Coal Creek and Coal Saddle, it seems there was little interest in mining it. At the start of 1901 a syndicate titled the Wangapeka Gold Dredging Company Ltd. was floated with the aim of dredging for gold at the junction of the Wangapeka and Sherry Rivers. It took a quite a while to get dredging equipment on site, with the operation finally underway by 1903, but only a short time to discover that it was a bust. In 1905 the company went into liquidation, much to the disappointment of several local men who had been making good wages working on site. The machinery was sold in 1906 to Sligo Brothers of Dunedin, to be used in the Philippines for tin-dredging. It was dismantled and waggoned out to the Tadmor railway station. Tailings left over from the operation were gradually eroded by the river, but still visible for many years. (15)
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| Building the Wangapeka gold dredge, 1902 |
An earlier petition, presented to the Nelson Education Board's monthly meeting in July 1907, had mentioned a potential 24 children of school age at the new settlement and resulted in authorization for Michael Corrigan, one of the new settlers, "to expend 5 pounds in preparing a room for an aided school". By the time of the August meeting there were already 17 pupils being taught by Mrs MacPherson. These first classes were held in a ground floor room at the former Wangapeka Run Stables, which was on Corrigan's land. Being the only pre-existing building of any size in the area, this was also used by the settlers for public meetings and social occasions. James Wattie is quoted as recalling that this setting meant "everyone got fleas"! An official roll was begun in September 1907.
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| First site of the Wangapeka/Matariki School The original Wangapeka Run Stables, built around 1860 and restored in recent times by the Lukey family. "Everyone got fleas", recalled James Wattie. |
Sherry Valley residents were adamant that they didn't want their school moved to fit the bill and during their monthly meeting in December that year, the Nelson Education Board concurred, citing an influx of settlers to the lower Sherry area also needing schooling for their children, and putting forward various other options in response to the settlers' request. It was noted that both William Wattie and Angus MacPherson, who with his brother Norman farmed on adjoining Section 18, Block XI, of 347 acres, had each offered to give two acres of land for a school if required, but neither offer was taken up. (17)
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| Matariki School The opening date, 1909, was marked on the gable end. Later used as a local hall. A plaque inside commemorates the Wattie connection. |
The Wangapeka Aided School kept running at the old Wangapeka Run Stables, though agitation for a dedicated school continued. In July 1908 the Nelson Education Board successfully concluded a deal with Michael Corrigan for two acres from his homestead section (Section 22) to be set aside for a purpose-built schoolhouse. However It wasn't until April 1909 that the Nelson Education Board instructed its architect, Arthur R. Griffin, to design and put work in place for a new school at the Wangapeka Settlement, to be completed on the former Corrigan land as soon as possible.The building seems to have been finished around July 1909. The number "1909" in wooden numerals was attached to the gable end to commemorate the date of the build and can still be seen today. One of 12 little schools in the Upper Motueka Valley which closed on or before the formation in 1942 of the Tapawera Consolidated School (now the Tapawera Area School), this new school at first continued to be known as the Wangapeka School but was renamed Matariki School around 1912. After it ceased to be used for a schoolhouse, It continued to serve the community as a public hall for years.
The first Wangapeka School had been established in 1890 near the Rolling River Junction, close to the current DOC information shelter at the start of the Wangapeka Track, but had closed by 1904. The Wangapeka/Matariki School was seen as its direct successor, however a third school known as the Upper Wangapeka School was also established in 1909 and ran until 1936. This was situated between the Dart River crossing and the homestead site owned by James (Jim) Chandler Jnr., whose wife Caroline (nee Wray) taught at both the old Wangapeka School and the Upper Wangapeka School.
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| Perce Roeske (lt) & his uncle Jim Flanagan (rt), taking down the first Wangapeka School, built in 1890 near the Rolling River junction. The recycled timber was used in 1934 to construct an extra classroom at the Upper Wangapeka School to accommodate Depression-era goldminers' children. |
Angus McPherson's wife Rebecca (known as "Beck"), a qualified teacher who had been taking classes for children at the Wangapeka Settlement ever since they first began in the old Wangapeka Run barn, was confirmed as the schoolmistress of the new Wangapeka School, later renamed Matariki. She had a connection with the Tasman district, having been born in the Waimea to John and Mary (nee Young) McBeth from Donegal, ireland. Her family later moved to Geraldine, South Canterbury, where she married Angus MacPherson on 22 June 1898. When Mrs MacPherson retired in 1915, the community held a lively social evening to mark the occasion at the school, where she was presented with a suitably inscribed silver salad bowl in recognition and appreciation of her service in the district.
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| Chandler's Hotel at Wangapeka, close to the Dart River crossing. Early social centre and later post office James & Fanny (nee Biggs) Chandler top row far left, with their family. Later used as a barn by the Bells then intentionlly burnt down when too decrepit. |
The Wangapeka Settlement got its own post office in 1911, with James Chandler Snr adding it to his weekly mail run from the hotel, seven miles each way by horseback to and from the collection point at the Sherry River post office. (Three of Chandler's children later took over this run in succession from 1915 - William, Eleanor (Nell) and Alice Thomas nee Chandler). To avoid confusion with the already existing Wangapeka post office at Chandler's Hotel, the new post office was given the name "Matariki" in 1911. The former Wangapeka Settlement was then renamed "Matariki", and the Wangapeka School became the Matariki School. (18)
William and Annie Wattie's oldest son, Angus, won various prizes while at school and was awarded a Junior National Scholarship, which enabled him to attend Nelson College from 1909 -1911. He then entered the Civil Service, later becoming Chief Surveyor at the Lands & Survey Department in Napier. He may have inherited his talent from his father, William Wattie, who was a keen player of the bagpipes and Scottish dancer. William regularly took part in Nelson Scottish Society events - often in friendly competition against his Scottish neighbour, Angus MacPherson.
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| Local Heroes. Off to the War, 16 August 1914 The Tapawera Mounted contingent in camp at Nelson after enlisting with the NZ Expeditionary Force.
L-R Back row: Bob Bracefield, Jack Clougher, Rory Arnold, Bob Mead,
Bert Pearless, Jack Hannen, Frank Kidson.
Front row (kneeling): Jack Tomlinson, Norm McPherson (sic), Joe Thomas, Len Kinzett, Jack Crimp.
[Not in photo] Stan Berryman, Vince Davey. |
Angus MacPherson, who became closely involved with the popular Tapawera dog trials instituted in 1910, moved to Auckland with his wife in the late 1920s and died there in 1939. Norman married in 1923 to Margaret Quayle, daughter of William Quayle and Mary nee McPhail. Although she was born in Invercargill and raised in the Manawatu, Margaret's father was a native of the Isle of Man and likely related to the Manx Quayle family who were early Motueka settlers. Norman returned to farming at Matariki after the war, later retiring to Tahunanui, Nelson, where he died in 1952.
Adding to the MacPherson presence in the area, in 1913 Angus and Norman's sister Sarah MacPherson married Henry Oswald Kite, only son of nearby Tadmor farmer George Kite and his wife Elizabeth Ellen (nee Sutton). Henry had taken over the family farm after his father's death in 1907. Sadly, their only child, Phyllis ("Sadie") Kite, was killed at the age of 19 in an accident on Xmas Day 1934, when the Spiers' service car in which she was travelling to Murchison rolled on the Hope Saddle.
Angus Wattie also competed successfully in Scottish dance at Scottish Society meetings and became both a player and well-known teacher of the bagpipes. He later served during WWI as a Sapper with the NZ Engineers (Divisional Signallers Company), serial number 2051, 14th Reinforcements, NZEF, (19) and in December 1917 was awarded the Military Medal for gallantry in the field. While on leave in the UK in March 1918, he took the chance to visit ancestral haunts in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
Although gone by the time Europeans ventured into the Wangapeka Valley, there were plentiful signs of former occupation by Maori, who are thought to have fled the area in advance of an invading war party (probably Te Rauparaha's shock troops), setting fires behind them to mask their escape. They left as their legacy numerous black pigs which had gone wild and flourished in the bush. These provided a reliable source of food for the early diggers and over the years locals had become used to freely roaming the old Wangapeka Run in search of game. Wattie was obliged to post a trepass notice threatening to prosecute "all persons with dogs and guns" found hunting on his land. Periodic flooding from the Bush End Creek was another nuisance and William Wattie petitioned the Waimea County Council for help with drainage, but the damage was nothing compared to that caused by the big dry. Severe drought in January 1908 affected the entire Nelson region, leaving local rivers at an all-time low. It was accompanied by widespread fires which raged unchecked for several weeks, bringing about extensive destruction to Wangapeka properties. Many settlers' houses were destroyed and the MacPhersons' home was only saved from the flames after a heroic effort put in by fifteen neighbours over several hours.
In an eye-witness account, Jack Phillips describes how his brother Will's farm at Orchard Creek in the Sherry Valley, built up by back-breaking labour over four years, went up in a puff of smoke overnight. Like many settlers, Will Phillips had felled the heavy bush, mostly on his own, and lived at first in a slab timber "whare" or hut before putting up a cottage.
"Fire spread on to Will's place from the hill at the back.The wind brought it down into the dry bush clearings and a small team of us fought the blaze for days, carrying buckets of water from the creek. Then the wind changed and sparks flew past us and started fires behind us and the smoke drove us out. In fact we were lucky to get out and the place was left to its fate. Next morning we went back and even the handle of the pitchfork left sticking the dry ground of the garden was burnt out. The cottage was gone. A great many sheep were burnt and the grass was killed. It was a sad loss." (20)
Acres of bush and pasture were left blackened and shrivelled and mobs of sheep were driven down to Tadmor to be sold at a great loss to their owners, no grazing being left for them on the runs. (21) William Wattie lost much of his pasture and although he was still carrying 200 sheep on his block after the fires, this may have led him to have second thoughts about staying at Wangapeka. In April 1908 he applied to the Nelson Land Board for permission to transfer his lease for Section 19, Block XI in the Wangapeka Settlement to a Hawarden acquaintance and neighbour, Henry Samuel Gainsford, but was turned down. (22)
Henry Gainsford farmed with his brother Walter Allan Gainsford on Section 20, Block XV of 477 acres, which adjoined Wattie's property. They were sons of Robert H. Gainsford, Clerk, Surveyor and Treasurer of the Oxford Road Board. Walter was one of three Hawarden ex-pats who won land in the 1907 Wangapeka Settlement ballot - the other two being William Wattie and Charles Grey (Section 30, Block XV). Walter died as the result of a gunshot wound on 12 December 1909, at the age of 27. He'd been drafting sheep with his brother Henry and Alfred Charles Biggs, a local farm labourer, and was carrying a loaded rifle with him as he went off to muster stragglers. A shot was heard and when he didn't return the others became concerned. They went looking and found he'd been shot dead, presumably after accidentally discharging his own rifle. During the following inquest, William Wattie served as foreman on the jury, which returned a verdict of accidental death. (23)
Henry, who became well-known as a long-serving secretary of the Matariki Farmers' Union, and served as a member of the Wangapeka Domain Board, stayed on at the Wangapeka farm till 1917, when he moved, first to Hiwipango, then back to Canterbury. His brother Walter Gainsford left a widow and one-year-old son. He had married Hawarden girl Catherine Isabella (Isobel) Jones in November 1907 and they had a son, Allan, a year later. Catherine returned to North Canterbury and in October 1910 transferred the lease of Section 20, Block XV at Wangapeka to her sister-in-law, Henry's wife Mary. Catherine remarried in 1911 to Walter's younger brother Thomas Gainsford, a builder living in the East Oxford area.
In August 1910 William Wattie had another go at shifting his property and this time was given approval by the Nelson Land Board to tranfer the lease-in-perpetuity for Section 19, Block XI, Wangapeka Survey District, to Thomas. J. Reaney, a farmer formerly living at Mayfield, near Ashburton in Canterbury. (24) Once the formaltities were dealt with, Wattie and his family removed to Marlborough, where William again took up work as a shepherd on various properties, and a fifth son, Norman, was added to the family in 1912. William was working at the Hillersden Station in the Wairau Valley south of Blenheim, a run carrying over 40,000 sheep, when the Hillersden estate was broken up for settlement in 1914. He had entered and already won the ballot for a Hillersden section when he changed his mind, moving instead to Hawkes Bay. There he took up a small block of land at Mahora, a new dairying and fruit-growing subdivision of the Frimley Estate straddling the northern boundary of Hastings, thereby setting in motion the future of his third son, James (Jim) Wattie, as a canning magnate.
James Wattie, who had added primary education at rural schools in Tuamarina, Blenheim and Wairau Valley to his curriculum following nearly four years at Wangapeka School, spent his Standard Six year (1915) at Mahora South School and passed his proficiency examination. (Hawkes' Bay legend has it that while still at school the budding entrepreneur started bottling fruit in his parents' wash-house, then selling it to neighbours and from a fruit stall.) A bright child and always a hard worker - when at Blenheim he had earned five shillings a week by doing a twice daily milk delivery - he didn't go to high school, instead taking on a variety of jobs. including working in a packing shed At the age of 14 he took a job as a junior clerk at the Whakatu Meat Works while studying at night to become an accountant. In 1928 he became manager of Hawkes' Bay Fruitgrowers (25) and in 1934 opened a small factory at an old cottage in King Street, Hastings, at first producing jam pulp, then canning pears and peaches. This marked the start of meteoric career in the fruit and vegetable canning industry which saw "Wattie's" become the iconic household name it still remains today. By 1971, Wattie Industries Ltd., with its catchy promotional slogan cum advertising jingle, "It must be Wattie's", was at the forefront of the food industry in New Zealand. (26) James Wattie was knighted in 1966. He died 8 June 1974 of a heart attack at his grand old Maungateretere homestead, "Maungapapa" (currently run as a luxury hotel). Political and community leaders and employees were among the estimated 2000 people who attended his funeral. He is commemorated at the Hastings Cemetery, where his ashes were deposited on 11 June 1974.
Acknowledgement : Mr Edward Stevens, Ngatimoti.
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| Angus John Wattie (1895-1965) |
Although gone by the time Europeans ventured into the Wangapeka Valley, there were plentiful signs of former occupation by Maori, who are thought to have fled the area in advance of an invading war party (probably Te Rauparaha's shock troops), setting fires behind them to mask their escape. They left as their legacy numerous black pigs which had gone wild and flourished in the bush. These provided a reliable source of food for the early diggers and over the years locals had become used to freely roaming the old Wangapeka Run in search of game. Wattie was obliged to post a trepass notice threatening to prosecute "all persons with dogs and guns" found hunting on his land. Periodic flooding from the Bush End Creek was another nuisance and William Wattie petitioned the Waimea County Council for help with drainage, but the damage was nothing compared to that caused by the big dry. Severe drought in January 1908 affected the entire Nelson region, leaving local rivers at an all-time low. It was accompanied by widespread fires which raged unchecked for several weeks, bringing about extensive destruction to Wangapeka properties. Many settlers' houses were destroyed and the MacPhersons' home was only saved from the flames after a heroic effort put in by fifteen neighbours over several hours.
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| Matariki, formerly the Wangapeka Settlement (underlined in red), in relation to other small settlements in the Upper Motueka Valley. |
In an eye-witness account, Jack Phillips describes how his brother Will's farm at Orchard Creek in the Sherry Valley, built up by back-breaking labour over four years, went up in a puff of smoke overnight. Like many settlers, Will Phillips had felled the heavy bush, mostly on his own, and lived at first in a slab timber "whare" or hut before putting up a cottage.
"Fire spread on to Will's place from the hill at the back.The wind brought it down into the dry bush clearings and a small team of us fought the blaze for days, carrying buckets of water from the creek. Then the wind changed and sparks flew past us and started fires behind us and the smoke drove us out. In fact we were lucky to get out and the place was left to its fate. Next morning we went back and even the handle of the pitchfork left sticking the dry ground of the garden was burnt out. The cottage was gone. A great many sheep were burnt and the grass was killed. It was a sad loss." (20)
Acres of bush and pasture were left blackened and shrivelled and mobs of sheep were driven down to Tadmor to be sold at a great loss to their owners, no grazing being left for them on the runs. (21) William Wattie lost much of his pasture and although he was still carrying 200 sheep on his block after the fires, this may have led him to have second thoughts about staying at Wangapeka. In April 1908 he applied to the Nelson Land Board for permission to transfer his lease for Section 19, Block XI in the Wangapeka Settlement to a Hawarden acquaintance and neighbour, Henry Samuel Gainsford, but was turned down. (22)
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| Walter Allan Gainsford. Accidentally killed at his Wangapeka farm 12 December 1909. |
Henry, who became well-known as a long-serving secretary of the Matariki Farmers' Union, and served as a member of the Wangapeka Domain Board, stayed on at the Wangapeka farm till 1917, when he moved, first to Hiwipango, then back to Canterbury. His brother Walter Gainsford left a widow and one-year-old son. He had married Hawarden girl Catherine Isabella (Isobel) Jones in November 1907 and they had a son, Allan, a year later. Catherine returned to North Canterbury and in October 1910 transferred the lease of Section 20, Block XV at Wangapeka to her sister-in-law, Henry's wife Mary. Catherine remarried in 1911 to Walter's younger brother Thomas Gainsford, a builder living in the East Oxford area.
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| Tea-break during grain harvesting, Hastings, c. 1930 William Wattie far right (wearing braces), his youngest son Norman (with hand on hip) next to him. |
James Wattie, who had added primary education at rural schools in Tuamarina, Blenheim and Wairau Valley to his curriculum following nearly four years at Wangapeka School, spent his Standard Six year (1915) at Mahora South School and passed his proficiency examination. (Hawkes' Bay legend has it that while still at school the budding entrepreneur started bottling fruit in his parents' wash-house, then selling it to neighbours and from a fruit stall.) A bright child and always a hard worker - when at Blenheim he had earned five shillings a week by doing a twice daily milk delivery - he didn't go to high school, instead taking on a variety of jobs. including working in a packing shed At the age of 14 he took a job as a junior clerk at the Whakatu Meat Works while studying at night to become an accountant. In 1928 he became manager of Hawkes' Bay Fruitgrowers (25) and in 1934 opened a small factory at an old cottage in King Street, Hastings, at first producing jam pulp, then canning pears and peaches. This marked the start of meteoric career in the fruit and vegetable canning industry which saw "Wattie's" become the iconic household name it still remains today. By 1971, Wattie Industries Ltd., with its catchy promotional slogan cum advertising jingle, "It must be Wattie's", was at the forefront of the food industry in New Zealand. (26) James Wattie was knighted in 1966. He died 8 June 1974 of a heart attack at his grand old Maungateretere homestead, "Maungapapa" (currently run as a luxury hotel). Political and community leaders and employees were among the estimated 2000 people who attended his funeral. He is commemorated at the Hastings Cemetery, where his ashes were deposited on 11 June 1974.
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A high point for James Wattie (rt)
Queen Elizabeth II visits Wattie's cannery in Hastings during the 1954 Royal Tour of New Zealand. |
William Wattie had a farm at Mahora, where he ran about 200 sheep, and in 1918 was described as a drover when he took to court a Hastings motorist who accidentally struck and killed one of the sheepdogs helping him drive a mob of sheep to the Whakatu Freezing Works, a case he won. (27) He supplemented his income by taking on agricultural work around the Hastings area. William and his wife Annie both died in Hastings, Hawke's Bay - William on 29 April 1936 at the age of 68, and his wife Annie on 18 April 1962, aged 87. They lie together beneath a headstone at the Hastings Cemetery.
Acknowledgement : Mr Edward Stevens, Ngatimoti.
References
1) Ancestry.com. The surname "Wattie" is paricularly associated with Aberdeenshire and is attached to Clan Watson.
James Wattie, wife and 3 children
Note: Surname incorrectly transcribed as "Wait".
NZ Yesteryears website
"Star," 29 January, 1894, pg 2
James Gifkens, ploughman, and wife
NZ Yesteryears website
5) Newport, J.W.N.(1962) "Footprints: The story of the settlement and development of the Nelson back country districts" Christchurch, NZ: Whitcombe & Tombes. Ch. XIX Wangapeka Valley, pp 215-217
6) Ibid Ch. XXII Wangapeka Station and Matariki pp 255-256
7) Lash, Max D. (1992) "Nelson Notables". Nelson, NZ: Nelson Historical Society Inc.
Tinline, John (1820-1907)
8) Newport, "Footprints" Ch. XI Sheep Trade with Canterbury, pp 127-138.
9) Voller, Lois (1991) "Rails to Nowhere: The History of the Nelson Railway". Nelson, NZ: Nikau Press. Ch.18 Change Comes to the Tadmor Valley, pg 208.
The Crown Lands of New Zealand- How to Obtain Them
The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout, Vol 78 ( NZETC)
"Nelson Evening Mail" 28 June 1907, pg 3
"Nelson Evening Mail" 9 August 1907, pg 2
13) Newport, "Footprints", Ch. XXII, Wangapeka Station, pg 256
14) Newport, J.N.W. (1978) "Footprints Too: Further glimpses into the History of Nelson Province", Pub J. N.W. Newport, printed Blenheim, NZ: Express Printing Works. Ch.25 John (Jack) Phillips' Memories of Sherry River, pg 163
15) Newport "Footprints", Ch XX11, pp 257-261
"Nelson Evening Mail", 28 August 1907, pg 2
"Colonist", 17 December 1907, pg 2
18) Newport "Footprints", Ch XXI, pg 257
See also Startup, R.M. (1975) "Through Gorge and Valley: A history of the Postal District of Nelson from 1849". Motupiko-Kohatu-Tadmor-Sherry River, pg 39; List of Post and Telephone Office- Matariki, pg 64.
Masterton, NZ: R.M. Startup for the Postal History Society of New Zealand.
Masterton, NZ: R.M. Startup for the Postal History Society of New Zealand.
Online Cenotaph Database, Auckland War Memorial Museum
See also:
Extract from a letter sent by Angus Wattie to his parents detailing the action resulting in his award. "Hastings Standard," 21 February 1918, pg 4
20) Newport, "Footprints Too",Ch. 25, pg 167
"Colonist", 29 January 1908, pg 2
22) Nelson Land Board - request to transfer lease of Section 19, Block XI, Wangapeka Survey District to H.S. Gainsford denied.
"Colonist", 13 April 1908, pg 4
"Colonist" 15 December 1909, pg 2
24) Nelson Land Board - transfer of lease for Section 19, Block XI, Wangapeka Survey District to T.J. Reaney approved.
"Nelson Evening Mail" 12 August 1910, pg 3
25) Mary Boyd, "Wattie, James", from the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Te Ara- the Encyclopedia of New Zealand.
26) Hastings Disrict Council - Hastings Heritage Trail
27) Hastings Magistrate's Court : A Sheep Dog Case
"Hastings Standard", 23 January 1918, pg 4
Sources
Books
Gardner, W. J. (1983, 2nd rev.ed.) "The Amuri: A County History.". Culverden, NZ: The Amuri County Council.
Lash, Max D. (1992) "Nelson Notables". Nelson, NZ: Nelson Historical Society Inc.
McAloon, Jim (1997) "Nelson: A Regional History"Watamango Bay, Quuen Charlotte Sound, NZ: Cape Catley Ltd. in asscociation with the Nelson City Council.
Marshall, Graeme (1981) "School Days.... School Days! 100 yrs of Education - Tapawera and Districts". Motueka, NZ: Cherry Printers & Stationers.Ltd.
Marshall, Graeme (1981) "School Days.... School Days! 100 yrs of Education - Tapawera and Districts". Motueka, NZ: Cherry Printers & Stationers.Ltd.
Newport, J.W.N.(1962) "Footprints: The story of the settlement and development of the Nelson back country districts" Christchurch, NZ: Whitcombe & Tombes.
Newport, J.N.W. (1978) "Footprints Too: Further glimpses into the History of Nelson Province", Pub J. N.W. Newport, printed Blenheim, NZ: Express Printing Works.
Newport, J.W.N.(1987) "More Footprints: Still further glimpses into the History of Nelson Province", Pub. J.N.W. Newport, printed Neson NZ: General Printing Services.
Newport, J.W.N.(1987) "More Footprints: Still further glimpses into the History of Nelson Province", Pub. J.N.W. Newport, printed Neson NZ: General Printing Services.
Voller, Lois (1991) "Rails to Nowhere: The History of the Nelson Railway". Nelson, NZ: Nikau Press.
Maps
Plan of the Town of Wangapeka (also referred to as the Rolling River or Courthouse Flat Township)
This town never got past the planning stage. Plan drawn up by Robert Preston Bain in 1880 during a period of burgeoning interest in quartz-mining, and published by the General Survey Office, Wellington. This is digital image which can (with care!) be manipulated. The main thoroughfares, Doran Street and Chandler Street, were named after goldfield pioneers Irishman Paul Doran, who set up the first quartz reef stamper battery at Nuggesty Creek, and James Chandler, who had a hotel on the Dart River and was also the local postmaster.
Maps
Plan of the Town of Wangapeka (also referred to as the Rolling River or Courthouse Flat Township)
This town never got past the planning stage. Plan drawn up by Robert Preston Bain in 1880 during a period of burgeoning interest in quartz-mining, and published by the General Survey Office, Wellington. This is digital image which can (with care!) be manipulated. The main thoroughfares, Doran Street and Chandler Street, were named after goldfield pioneers Irishman Paul Doran, who set up the first quartz reef stamper battery at Nuggesty Creek, and James Chandler, who had a hotel on the Dart River and was also the local postmaster.
Articles
Newport Jeff, Wangapeka
Nelson Historical Society Journal, (May 1957) Vol 1, issue 2. Pub. Nelson Historical Society, Inc
Boyd, Mary, "Wattie James"
Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand
"Hastings Mail", 26 February 2011 (via Press Reader)
Papers Past
"Colonist", 30 September 1859, pg 2
Mr Burnett's Report on the Coal Districts of Wangapeka and the Baton River
"Nelson Examiner and NZ Chronicle",10 June 1863, pg 3.
Tadmor Valley, the Sherry and the Wangapeka Plain (Wangapeka run)
Part of a series titled "Through the Wangapeka with a Geologist".
"Colonist", 20 March 1888, pg 3
Images
Sir James Wattie (1902-1974) in 1970
"Evening Post" portraits, 1970 Alexander Turnbull Library, ref. no. PAColl-8557-57
"The Wangapeka Valley" [1886] . Artist: John Gully (1819-1888)
Suter Art Gallery/Te Aratoi o Whakatū, Nelson, object number 117
NZ Museums website
Wangapeka Diggings- advertisement for William Henry (Harry) Phillips' store and accommodation house in the Sherry Valley, at the foot of Tadmor Hill. It's easy to see which commodity was most in demand!
"Nelson Examiner & NZ Chronicle", 31 December, 1864, pg 4
Jonsen's split slab hut at Rolling River, Wangapeka goldfield
Ex Newport, "Footprints", pg 256.
Goldfields map of the Wangapeka Diggings, pre 1870 (The term 'Wangapeka Diggings" included the Wangapeka River and all its tributaries - the Baton, Sherry, Tadmor etc )
Archives NZ
Ex Newport, "Footprints", pg 141
John Tinline (1820-1907)
Nelson Provincial Museum Collection, photo ref. 67719
Government Notice :Wangapeka Settlement Ballot
"The Press", 15 June 1907, pg 12
"Wattie's Run", Section 19, Block XI, Wangapeka Survey District, drawn at ballot by William Wattie on 28 June 1907.
Map, dated ca 1920, courtesy Mr E. Stevens.
Territorials at George MacMahon's "Maniaroa" fram, Tapawera.
Nelson Provincial Museum
Ex Newport, "More Footprints", pg 51
Territorials at George MacMahon's "Maniaroa" fram, Tapawera.
Nelson Provincial Museum
Ex Newport, "More Footprints", pg 51
Dapp's homestead at Skeet Stream, in the Baton Valley. William Dapp was for some years the mail carrier for the Baton and used to pick up and drop off the Baton mail at the Phillips' house in the Sherry Valley.
Nelson Provincial Museum Collection, photo ref. 179311
Building the Wangapeka gold dredge, 1902
Ex Newport, "Footprints", pg 352
The original Wangapeka Run Stables, built around 1860 and restored in recent times by the Lukey family.
Used as the site for Wangapeka/Matariki School classes until a new schoolhouse was constructed in 1909.
Courtesy Susan Fenemor.
The original Wangapeka Run Stables, built around 1860 and restored in recent times by the Lukey family.
Used as the site for Wangapeka/Matariki School classes until a new schoolhouse was constructed in 1909.
Courtesy Susan Fenemor.
Matariki School, built and opened in 1909, now used as the local hall.
Photographer: Graham Martin, published 23 December 2007 via PanoramioGeoview Info
Taking down the old Wangapeka School building in 1934- materials reused to construct an extra classroom
at the Upper Wangapeka School site near te Dart River.to accommodate Depression era goldminers' children.
Photo courtesy the late Ethel nee Sharp, Mrs Percy Roeske.. Ex Marshall, Graeme (1981) "School Days.... School Days! 100 yrs of Education - Tapawera and Districts," pg 40
Taking down the old Wangapeka School building in 1934- materials reused to construct an extra classroom
at the Upper Wangapeka School site near te Dart River.to accommodate Depression era goldminers' children.
Photo courtesy the late Ethel nee Sharp, Mrs Percy Roeske.. Ex Marshall, Graeme (1981) "School Days.... School Days! 100 yrs of Education - Tapawera and Districts," pg 40
Chandler's Wangapeka Hotel on the Dart River, originally built to service the short-lived Rolling River township when hopes of a goldrush were high. In later years used by the Bell family as a barn before being burnt down.
Tyree Studio collection, Nelson Provincial Museum, photo ref. 51851
Off to the War, 16 August 1914. The Tapawera Mounted contingent in camp at Nelson after enlisting with the
New Zealand Expeditionary Force and awaiting transport to Chridtchurch for training.
L-R Back row: Robert Bracefield, Jack Clougher, Rory Arnold, Bob Mead, Bert Pearless, Jack Hannen,
Frank Kidson. Front row (kneeling): Jack Tomlinson, Norm McPherson, Joe Thomas, Len Kinzett, Jack Crimp.
[Not in photo] Stan Berryman, Vince Davey.
Nelson Provincial Museum Collection, photo ref 326761
Off to the War, 16 August 1914. The Tapawera Mounted contingent in camp at Nelson after enlisting with the
New Zealand Expeditionary Force and awaiting transport to Chridtchurch for training.
L-R Back row: Robert Bracefield, Jack Clougher, Rory Arnold, Bob Mead, Bert Pearless, Jack Hannen,
Frank Kidson. Front row (kneeling): Jack Tomlinson, Norm McPherson, Joe Thomas, Len Kinzett, Jack Crimp.
[Not in photo] Stan Berryman, Vince Davey.
Nelson Provincial Museum Collection, photo ref 326761
Sapper A.J. Wattie (1895-1965) serial 2051, NZ Engineers (Divisional Signallers Coy.),
14th Reinforcements, N.Z.E.F.
Archives NZ F897
Can be seen in Beattie & Pomeroy (2013- ongoing) "Onward: Portraits of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, Vol 2, pg 431. Auckland, NZ: Fair Dinkum Press.
Map showing settlements in the Upper Motueka Valley.
Newport, "More Footprints", pg 4
Map showing settlements in the Upper Motueka Valley.
Newport, "More Footprints", pg 4
Walter Allan Gainsford (1882-1909). Photograph thought to have been taken on the occasion of his wedding
Ancestry.com
Tea-break during grain harvesting at Hastings ca. 1930. Photographer Henry Norford Whitehead.
Alexander Turnbull Library, ref 1/1-004567-G
Accompanied by James Wattie, Queen Elizabeth II visits Wattie's cannery in Hastings (1954)
Hawkes' Bay Knowledge Bank, Hastings District Council
Accession no: 72/73/16914
That's a lot of good work. As a kid in Napier we were told James Wattie, started with bottling as a child in his parents wash-house, selling to neighbours and from a street stall.
ReplyDeleteI noticed a couple of typos, there's a g missing in one of the Wangapeka's and the excerpt below. Hope you don't mind.
"Walter died as the result of a gunshot wound on 12 December 1909 at the age of 2. He'd "
Cheers
Graeme
Thanks, Graeme and no, always happy for a heads-up relating to typos and/or errors of any other sort :)
DeleteCheers,
Anne