The Grafters 7.3

GRAFTERS ALL
Our Otago NZ Families
Allan Sargison

Grafters All
A history of our Otago Families:
The Taieri Allans
The Stonemason Dicks
The Blueskin Sargisons
The Waitaki Cunninghams
The Varnish Rylances
The Whare Flat Havards & Jollies
[CITE YOUR SOURCE HERE.]
This document is a working draft which I have made available
to harvest input and because it will be some months before I
can locate the records needed to complete some sections,
Comments to allan.sargison@gmail.com.
Cover painting by Allan Gerald Dick c 1938
Version 7.2
10 December 2019
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Dedication
This work is dedicated to my wife Dr Patricia Ann Rylance
primarily for her outstanding love, loyalty and deep friendship over almost 50
years -and
also for her services as the Editor in Chief!
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Contents
Figures and Photos ....................................................................................... 13
Chapter 1 ..................................................................................................... 20
The Original Settlers ..................................................................................... 20
The European Precursors .......................................................................... 23
Riki Burns/Byrne ....................................................................................... 24
Richard Burns & Sylvy Ann Harwood ............................................ 25
Francis Octavius Harwood ........................................................................ 27
Richard Driver .......................................................................................... 29
Linkage ..................................................................................................... 32
Chapter 2 ..................................................................................................... 34
Edinburgh and Scotland as it was ................................................................. 34
Rationale for Emigration ........................................................................... 36
Chapter 3 ..................................................................................................... 38
The voyage out ............................................................................................. 38
The preparation ........................................................................................ 38
The Journey .............................................................................................. 38
The John Wickliffe .......................................................................... 38
The Philip Laing ............................................................................. 39
The Mooltan - .......................................................... 54
Peril on the Sea ......................................................................................... 71
Appendix .................................................................................................. 73
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Chapter 4 ..................................................................................................... 77
Chapter 5 ..................................................................................................... 77
Koputai First Arrival Point ............................................................................ 77
Main Arrivals ............................................................................................ 80
Chapter 6 ..................................................................................................... 84
The impact of the gold rush ...................................................................... 90
Dunedin in the 1860s & 70s..................................................................... 95
Chapter 8 ..................................................................................................... 98
Dunedin Photographs ................................................................................... 98
City Development ................................................................................... 102
Changing the landscape ......................................................... 103
Cable Cars.............................................................................................. 105
Chapter 9 Blueskin Bay .............................................................................. 109
Chapter 10 ................................................................................................. 112
The Otago Peninsula .................................................................................. 112
Pukehiki & Hereweka ............................................................................. 115
A Day Trip from Dunedin ....................................................................... 122
Sandymount ........................................................................................... 123
Chapter 11 ................................................................................................. 126
Social Activities Sandymount ...................................................................... 126
Chapter 12 ................................................................................................. 132
Taieri Places ............................................................................................... 132
Woodside ............................................................................................... 133
Outram ................................................................................................... 135
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Whare Flat .............................................................................................. 136
Chapter 13 Ōamaru the kingdom by the sea ............................................. 139
New Exports ........................................................................................... 145
Schools ........................................................................................... 147
Waitaki Girls High School ............................................................. 147
Part 3: The new people ............................................................................... 151
Chapter 14 ................................................................................................. 153
The first beginnings of our New Zealand Families ...................................... 153
The Robertsons ....................................................................................... 153
Chapter 15 The Allans ................................................................................ 161
NZ Descent Line ..................................................................................... 161
A1 Agness Allan & John Allen ................................................................ 162
A1- .................................... 167
A2 Agnes Allan & Adam Oliver .............................................................. 172
A3 Janet Scott Oliver & James Allan(1860-1934) .................................... 173
A4 Georgina Kirk & Lindsay Allan .......................................................... 174
A5 Elizabeth Allan .................................................................................. 178
Allans outside of the descent line ............................................................ 180
A4 1 William Maxwell Allan ................................................................... 180
A4-2 Eric James Allan ............................................................................. 181
Chapter 16 ................................................................................................. 185
The Dicks ................................................................................................... 185
NZ Dick Descent line ................................................................ 185
D1 Robert Dick and Jane Gray ................................................................ 186
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D2 William Dick & Helen Eason ............................................................ 190
D2 A William Dick & Ellen Elizabeth Dick ............................................. 194
D2 A1 B Ellen Eason Dick and Edward Young Aitken .................. 195
D3 Joseph Eason Dick & Sarah Kerr ....................................................... 196
D4 Hope Dick (1896-1968) & May Elizabeth Jolly (1899-1986) ............ 199
WW 1 .............................................................................................. 199
Introduction ................................................................................... 199
The road to Méteren ............................................................................... 200
Captured at Méteren ............................................................................... 202
SEVEN MONTHS A PRISONER ............................................................. 203
Private Hope Dick’s Story ............................................................. 203
Post War Life ................................................................................ 209
Movements & addresses of Hope Dick & May ............................. 210
Grandparenthood .......................................................................... 215
D 5 Mavis Doreen Dick ........................................................................... 219
Friends .......................................................................................... 224
Outside the descent line in chronological order ...................................... 226
A James Dick & Lucy Harwood ........................................................... 226
B John Gilston Dick ............................................................................. 226
C - Robert Dick ....................................................................................... 226
A James Dick & Lucy Harwood .................................................... 226
B John Gilston Dick & Isabella Russell .................................................... 229
Memories of grandparents....................................................................... 235
C Robert Dick (1870-1961) ................................................................... 237
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Social Security Act 1938 ......................................................................... 239
D -Maryann Dick .................................................................................... 240
D1 Jack Humphries Carroll .......................................................... 241
E Elizabeth Dick (1879-1965) ................................................................ 241
Nola Isabel Constance Griffiths OBE, JP ..................................... 241
F Katherine Leonora Dick (1881-1964) ................................................. 242
E1 Air Commodore Patrick Geraint Jameson CB ....................... 243
Chapter 17 ................................................................................................. 249
The Dick Stonemasons ............................................................................... 249
John Gilston & William Dick - buildings ................................................ 250
Dunedin’s pretentious piles .......................................................... 250
Chapter 18 The Blueskin Families .............................................................. 257
The Lunams ...................................................................................257
The Reids ...................................................................................... 258
The Andersons ............................................................................... 258
The Dons..................................................................................... 259
The Hornes ................................................................................ 259
The Robertsons ........................................................................ 260
Chapter 19 ................................................................................................. 262
The Blueskin Sargisons: .............................................................................. 262
Descent Line ........................................................................................... 262
William George Sargison 1852-95) ......................................................... 264
.......................................................... 267
Ada Burgess ............................................................................... 269
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Sarah Omand ............................................................................. 271
The Shetlands............................................................................ 272
Feuding brothers ..................................................................... 273
S1 A Harriet Sargison............................................................... 277
S2 James Henry Sargison, Georgina Betson Cunningham & Mary Ann Steele
............................................................................................................... 279
Marriage & Divorce from Mary Ann Steele (1881-1934) 284
Experience of Courts .............................................................................. 294
Evansdale................................................................................................ 295
S3 Eric Duncan Sargison & Mavis Doreen Dick ...................................... 296
World War 2: Eric’s War ....................................................... 298
Armour[ .......................................................................................... 302
Italy ................................................................................................ 303
Return ......................................................................................... 305
Marriage ................................................................................................. 308
Work History .................................................................................... 314
Caversham – the suburb ......................................................... 316
Family life ........................................................................................ 321
Parenthood ................................................................................ 324
The importance of Aunt Daisy! ............................................ 326
Goal Attainment .............................................................................. 329
Illness and death ........................................................................... 330
Not the descent line ................................................................................ 332
Laura Mary Sargison .............................................................. 332
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Agnes Sargison Jacob Eyers .................................................. 332
Child Murder Trial: “The Oamaru Horror” ..................... 333
Chapter 20 ................................................................................................. 337
The Waitaki Cunninghams ....................................................................... 337
Descent Line ........................................................................................... 337
C1 Robert Cunningham & Betson Wilson .......................... 338
C1 – A James Cunningham ..................................................... 341
The move to Waitaki ............................................................................... 341
Chapter 21 Whare Flat: Jolly & Havard Families ........................................ 343
The Jolly Descent line .............................................................................. 343
Family Background ................................................................................. 344
J1 William Jolly ...................................................................................... 345
J2 Robert Jolly & Mary West .................................................................. 346
J3 John Jolly (1847-1902)....................................................................... 347
J3A Robert Jolly ...................................................................................... 348
J4 Robert James Jolly (1870-1959)......................................................... 348
Chapter 22 The Havards: ........................................................................... 350
Descent Line ........................................................................................... 350
H1 William Davey Havard & Elizabeth Evans ......................................... 351
H2 Mary Hannah Havard (1882-1950) .............................. 354
Divorce ................................................................................................... 356
H 3 May Elizabeth Jolly .......................................................................... 358
Chapter 23 The Varnish Rylances ............................................................... 362
R1 Frederick Rylance (1856-1931) & Annie Whittle .............................. 363
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Paint manufacturing ..................................................................... 364
R2 Thurstan Vernon Rylance (1888-1948) & Mary Clapham Moss
(1888-1974) .................................................................................. 364
Recollections of Mary Clapham Moss. my paternal grandmother-
Patricia Sargison (nee Rylance) ................................................... 370
R3 -Philip Vernon Rylance & Elizabeth Allan .......................................... 375
World War 2: Philip’s War ........................................................... 376
Post War ........................................................................................ 381
Marriage ........................................................................................ 384
Elizabeth as Grandmother ........................................................... 392
Elizabeth and the community ...................................................... 393
Obituary ........................................................................................ 396
Chapter 24 ................................................................................................. 399
Rylance & Sons Paint Company ................................................................. 399
RYLANCE & SONS, LIMITED, VARNISH, COLOUR, AND
PAINT MANUFACTURERS, .................................................. 399
Chapter 25 ................................................................................................. 406
The right to vote ......................................................................................... 406
Appendix: Otago Peninsula Sheet ........................................................... 410
Chapter 26 ................................................................................................. 411
......................................................................... 411
HOME AND FAMILY .................................................................... 413
Threats & Responses ..................................................................... 414
Petrol rationing .............................................................................. 416
Rationing of other consumer goods .............................................. 417
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Clothing & Rationing ..................................................................... 419
Labour Control ............................................................................. 425
Communications........................................................................... 426
Lingering impact .......................................................................... 427
Chapter 27 ................................................................................................. 430
Other interesting connections ..................................................................... 430
The Aitkens ......................................................................................... 430
The Somme – through Alexander Aitken’s eyes .......................... 432
Post War ....................................................................................... 435
Winnie Betts ........................................................................................... 438
Index .......................................................................................................... 440
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Figures and Photos
Figure 1Emma Paerata and Maria Driver (right) ........................................... 30
Figure 2 Edinburgh around 1800 by Alexander Naysmith ............................ 34
Figure 3Photo in 1867 of a close leading off High St by Thomas Annan ....... 36
Figure 4 Te Ara sourced ............................................................................... 50
Figure 5 Departure, ,Illustrated London News, 6 July 1850 .......................... 55
Figure 6 Mooltan at anchor - Library of South Australia ............................... 57
Figure 7 Cospatrick on fire 250 miles SW of the Cape .................................. 71
Figure 8 Unloading at Port Chalmers ............................................................ 76
Figure 9 Port Chalmers, 1850, William Fox ................................................. 78
Figure 10 The Surveyors Arms, Port Chalmers renamed ............................... 80
Figure 11 Port Chalmers & Lower Harbour c1848 ....................................... 81
Figure 12 Dunedin - Otago Harbour c 1840 unknown ................................. 85
Figure 13 Dunedin Map, Ngaipress.com/dunedin.htm ........................................ 86
Figure 14 Gabriel Read ................................................................................. 90
Figure 15 Octagon 1862, unknown photographer. ....................................... 95
Figure 16 Princes St 1861- unpaved and difficult to negotiate ...................... 95
Figure 17 Wains Hotel ................................................................................. 98
Figure 18 Brown Ewing on Princes St ........................................................... 99
Figure 19 Criterion Hotel corner of Moray and Princes St later to be site of
the Savoy ...................................................................................................... 99
Figure 20 Princes and Moray looking to First Church, showing City Hotel,
Criterion Hotel, Burton Bros, a watchmaker and Fred Dick, land agent ...... 100
Figure 21 City Hotel ................................................................................... 100
Figure 22 Princes St showing Kilpatrick & Glendinning, Saunders & Co, City
Boot Warehouse and Brown & Ewing ........................................................ 101
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Figure 23 View of Dunedin from above Maitland St near corner of Walker St
(now Carroll St) ......................................................................................... 101
Figure 24 Stock Exchange built in 1868, first home of the University of Otago
.................................................................................................................. 102
Figure 25 Waitati c 1875 ............................................................................ 109
Figure 26 Waitati about 1900 ..................................................................... 110
.................................................... 110
Figure 28 Otago Peninsula in 1870s, unknown ......................................... 112
Figure 29 The Hereweka Area early 1920s ................................................. 119
Figure 31 The Leslie Farmhouse at Pukehiki .............................................. 121
Figure 32 one of the largest of the lime kilns .............................................. 123
Figure 33 Sandymount Dairy factory, c1900 .............................................. 124
Figure 34 Pukehiki Presbyterian Church .................................................... 125
Figure 35: Dick family wedding at Pukehiki ............................................... 125
Figure 36 the Dick family orchestra on the Peninsula ................................. 126
Figure 37 The first "bus" to Dunedin from Sandymount ............................. 128
Figure 38The Manor House built of local bricks ......................................... 133
Figure 39The Woodside Store restored ....................................................... 133
Figure 40 School Prizegiving 1893 Otago Witness...................................... 138
Figure 41 Oamaru 1863 Unknown............................................................. 143
Figure 42 1874 photo showing shipping and start of breakwater on right. .......... 144
Figure 43 The blood gutter from the slaughte house................................... 146
Figure 44 the granary reflecting importance of grain growing ..................... 147
Figure 45 Margaret Gordon Burn nee Huie ................................................. 148
Figure 46 Samuel Shrimski MP .................................................................. 148
Figure 47 HMS Cormorant, formerly privateer, Rattlesnake ........................ 154
Figure 48 Thomas Robertson ...................................................................... 157
Figure 49 Georgina Allan at Ranui .............................................................. 176
Figure 50 Georgina Allan at Patricia Rylance's wedding in August 1973, .... 176
Figure 51 Georgina & her son Max on left. Elizabeth & Max on right ....... 177
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Figure 52 Elizabeth & her mother Georgina ............................................... 178
Figure 53 Elizabeth & Philip on their wedding day .................................... 180
Figure 54 Luscar, Sandymount ................................................................... 191
Figure 55 Dick Family Orchestra, Sandymount .......................................... 193
Figure 56 Joseph, Sarah and family c 1916 ................................................. 198
Figure 57NZ Expeditionary Force ww100.govt.nz ...................................... 199
Figure 58 The Main fort entrance and chamber .......................................... 205
Figure 59 Sling Camp ex NZ Herald ........................................................... 207
Figure 60 Hope & May just after their wedding.......................................... 209
Figure 61 Eason, Hope, May, Doreen, Fred & Allan in front circa 1930 ..... 213
Figure 62 Packed for the road or offroad! ................................................... 214
Figure 63 Front Doreen, Hope, May, Rear Allan, Fred & Eason on right 1942,
.............................................................................................. 214
Figure 64 Pat(?) Allan, Eason, Fred, Hope, Doreen, May 1944 ................... 215
Figure 65 Hope & May, Brian & Allan at rear, Lorraine & Craig at front mid
1950sAnd of course the beauty was that we could easily walk home without
supervision or indeed transport .................................................................. 215
Figure 66 Hope, Allan S, May & Doreen up the ladder, 216
Figure 67 Hope, Allan, May, Doreen & Eric at Dunback1960s ................... 216
Figure 68 Doreen, Allan D, May, Fred & Hope on 50th wedding anniversary
.................................................................................................................. 217
Figure 69 Doreen in the Octagon ............................................................... 220
Figure 70 Doreen. mother and grandmother Byliss 1942 ............................ 222
Figure 71 James and Lucy with Lucy and Mary .......................................... 227
Figure 72 Harbour Board picnic ................................................................. 228
Figure 73 John Gilston Dick ....................................................................... 229
Figure 74 Wickliffe Bay 1890s. unknown but could have been Dicks ......... 233
Figure 75 Robert Dick ................................................................................ 237
Figure 76 At Dick reunion in 1981 ............................................................. 241
Figure 77 First church about end of construction ............................................. 252
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Figure 78 Seacliff Mental Asylum at its peak ............................................... 252
Figure 79 top mosaic and bottom floor in Larnach stables which has not moved
since laid. ................................................................................................... 254
Figure 80 Kiln work by William Dick ......................................................... 255
Figure 81 David Lunam move .................................................................... 257
Figure 82 Peter Souness, Kaitangata Chemist ............................................. 266
Figure 83 Goodwood on peace day 1918 ................................................... 270
Figure 84 Sarah Omand ............................................................................. 271
Figure 85 Sarah's mother Robina? .............................................................. 271
Figure 86 Robert David Mitchell Sargison ................................................... 271
Figure 87 Harry (seated) &son James Henry Sargison c 1948 .................... 276
Figure 88 Harriet with young cousin Don .................................................. 277
Figure 89 James Henry Sargison & Georgina Betson Cunningham's wedding.
.................................................................................................................. 282
Figure 90 West Taieri School as it became in recent years .......................... 283
Figure 91 Mary Ann Arthur ........................................................................ 284
Figure 92 Knowles St, QV photo ................................................................ 285
Figure 93 Eric, Egypt, 1941? ...................................................................... 299
Figure 94Depiction of Minqar Qaim by Peter McIntrye, official artist of
battalion. Eric described driving on this ..................................................... 300
Figure 95 Breakfast jsut behind front line - Eric's co. .................................. 301
Figure 96 Eric in Crrusader(?) tank c 1943 ................................................ 302
Figure 97 Caversham Presbyterian Church ................................................. 308
Figure 98 Dorren & Eric wedding photo .................................................... 309
Figure 99 Holsum shop with Easter queue ................................................. 315
Figure 100 Holsum artic Central Otago ...................................................... 315
Figure 101 Valpy St .................................................................................... 316
Figure 102 McCrackens 1928, height of modernity .......................................... 317
Figure 103 Rutherfords Caversham 1915? .................................................. 318
Figure 104 Terrace Housing & Methodist Church, Main Sth Rd ................. 318
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Figure 105 Main Rd looking Nth circa 1970.. .................................................. 319
Figure 106 Similar perspective looking South with Shums fruit shop on right ...... 320
Figure 107 Main Road Caversham at bottom of Morrison St looking north, 320
Figure 108 Eric on a picnic, possibly Dunback in the late 1940s ........................ 324
Figure 109 Camping trip to Te Anau, ca. 1960 ........................................... 328
Figure 110 Camping probably at Lake Te Anau .......................................... 328
Figure 111 Waitaki Photo with Craig beside the Ford Consul! 328
Figure 112 The 2 Mavis s: Mavis Doreen Dick & Lilian Mavis Strong ......... 329
Figure 113 Eric & Doreen , Craig's Graduation .............................................. 329
Figure 114 Evening Star Report .................................................................. 333
Figure 115 Lawrence in 1860s, Muir & Moodie ......................................... 338
Figure 116 Map of region - red is the Hyde Macraes shear zone. In its basement schist
lies the source of the Macraes Mine's gold today. ............................................. 340
Figure 117 View from Hamiltons Cemetery by Chris Weir .......................... 340
Figure 118 Skipton Castle .......................................................................... 344
Figure 119St Sannan's Church from 17th century ...................................... 351
Figure 120 Elizabeth Evans ........................................................................ 351
Figure 121 William Havard ........................................................................ 351
Figure 122 Water race which William cared for, 352
Figure 123 Mary Hannah Havard ................................................................. 354
Figure 124 Nana Bayliss, Doreen Dick, May Jolly 1942 .............................. 357
Figure 125 Whare Flat School which May attended. ................................... 358
Figure 126 Thurstan Rylance ...................................................................... 364
Figure 127 Mary Clapham Moss ................................................................. 365
Figure 128 Mary & Thurstan c1915 ........................................................... 365
Figure 1291st Echelon boarding 1940 ........................................................ 376
Figure 130 Philip 1941/2 ........................................................................... 377
Figure 131 Philip in the mountains of Crete, 1941 ..................................... 378
Figure 132 Pleasant Point Sanitorium ......................................................... 381
Figure 133 Philip with Daughter Patricia .................................................... 384
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.Figure 134 Philip, Robyn, Janet, friend of Janet's, Allan at Windsor with
Elizabeth's mini 1970ish ............................................................................ 385
Figure 135 The Rylance Sisters late 1970s, Windsor ................................... 387
Figure 136 Windsor theatricals mid 1960s ...................................................... 387
Figure 137 Landgirl from Te Papa .............................................................. 412
Figure 138 Digging Trenches, Alexander Turnbull Tapuhi collection ......... 412
Figure 139 Sample Ration Book - Te Papa .................................................. 417
Figure 140 Rationbook sample page: Te Papa ............................................. 418
Figure 141 Winnie Betts ............................................................................. 439
Figure 142 Joseph Dick and daughters, Auckland, c1912 ........................... 446
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The Original Settlers
Our ancestors did not arrive to a blank canvas.
Archaeological evidence shows the first human (Māori) occupation of New
Zealand occurred around 1250 1300, with population concentrated along
[1]
the south east coast. 1 A camp site at Kaikai's Beach, near Otago Heads, has been
dated about that time. There are numerous sites in the Dunedin area which date
from this early phase of Māori culture, when moa hunting was at its peak.
Researchers believe there were permanent villages at Little Papanui and
Harwood Township in the 14th century. As moa numbers dropped, the
population slumped but it grew again with the evolution of a new Classic
culture which saw the development of fortified villages (pa). The pa at Pukekura
(Taiaroa Head) was established about 1650.
In this period there were Māori settlements in what is now
central Dunedin (Otepoti), above Anderson's Bay (Puketai), on
Te Rauone Beach (Te Ruatitiko and Tahakopa), around Otago
Harbour. There were also settlements at Whareakeake
(Murdering Beach), Pūrākaunui, Mapoutahi (Goat Island
1
Largely drawn from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Dunedin
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Peninsula) and Huriawa (Karitane Peninsula) to the north, and
at Taieri Mouth and Otokia (Henley) to the south, all inside the
present boundaries of Dunedin.
Central Dunedin was still occupied about 1785 but was abandoned before
1826. Pūrākaunui and Mapoutahi were abandoned late in the 18th century and
Whareakeake about 1825.
Māori tradition speaks of Rakaihautu excavating Kaikorai Valley in ancient
times, of Kahui Tipua and Te Rapuwai, ancient peoples of shadowy memory,
and then Waitaha, followed by Kati Mamoe, the latter arriving late in the 16th
century. Kai Tahu came from about the middle of the 17th century. Although
European accounts of these successive arrivals have often represented them as
invasions, modern scholarship suggests that they were probably really
migrations, incidentally attended by bloodshed, just like the later European
arrival. Personalities from this time and later, such as Taoka and Te Wera,
Tarewai and Te Rakiihia are identified with events at Huriawa, Mapoutahi,
Pukekura and Otepoti and have descendants known in the historical period. Te
Rakiihia died and was buried somewhere in what is now central Dunedin about
1785.
The sealer, John Boultbee, recorded in the 1820s that the 'Kaika Otargo'
(settlements around and near Otago Harbour) were the oldest and largest in the
south.
Captain James Cook on board the Endeavour stood off at what is now the coast
of Dunedin between February 25 and March 5, 1770 and named Cape Saunders
on the Otago Peninsula and Saddle Hill. He charted the area and noted
penguins and seals in the vicinity. His reports encouraged sealers to visit, their
first recorded landings being late in the first decade of the 19th century. A feud
between sealers and Māori, sparked by an incident on a ship in Otago Harbour
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in 1810, continued until 1823. With peace re-established, Otago Harbour went
from being a secret sealers' haven to an international whaling port.
Before the Scottish settlement of the 1840s, William Tucker settled at
Whareakeake (Murdering Beach) in 1815. The Weller brothers, Joseph, George
and Edward, established their whaling station at Wellers Rock, in what is now
called Ōtākou, in 1831. Long, Wright & Richards started a whaling station at
Karitane in 1837 and Johnny Jones sent pioneers to settle land at Waikouaiti in
1840, all inside the territory of the modern City of Dunedin.
Ōtākou was at the centre of a network of stations owned by the Wellers. They
established 'fisheries' above Pilots Beach and on Te Rauone Beach in 1836 and
1837, and later they operated stations at Purakanui, Taieri Island, Timaru, and
Banks Peninsula. Ōtākou was a large station, so there were many jobs to fill.
These included the men who went out to sea and caught the whales, and those
who worked on shore. The whales were usually found fairly close to shore in
the bays, between two and seven miles off the coast. The whale kills were
achieved using a fleet of small whaleboats. In 1835, George Weller stated there
were eighty men working at the station. At some stage, twelve boats were in
use; as many as eleven were seen at one time in the harbour. Most whaling
stations were funded from Sydney and staffed with newcomers from all over
the world.
There were two other fisheries about which little seems to be known. One was
situated at Te Rauone Beach and the other near Harrington Point. One was an
American station and the other was called the Hobart Town Fishery. 2 The first
European settler was reputedly James Washburn Hunter, an American, who
2
Hardwicke Knight, Otago Peninsula, a local history, 1979, p.20.
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was put ashore because of some infirmity. 3 He became the first pilot for the
harbour.
The settlements at Wellers Rock, Karitane and Waikouaiti have endured,
making modern Dunedin one of the longest European settled territories in New
Zealand.
The country immediately round Port Chalmers was visited by Captain James
Herd in the Rosanna expedition in 1826, by D'Urville, the French navigator, in
1840, and in the same year by Governor Hobson, who obtained the nominal
cession of this part of the country from the Maori chiefs, Karetai and Koroko.
Captain W. Mein-Smith in 1842 reported on the district as a possible site for
settlement, but preferred Akaroa. Dr Shortland examined the country round
Ōtākou with some care in 1843, and camped in what was then called Oteputi,
and is now Dunedin. Bishop Selwyn spent a day at Ōtākou Harbour in 1844.
The officers of the New Zealand Company were therefore able to draw on a
range of information sources about the district when they were asked to have it
examined and surveyed for the new settlement. 4
The European Precursors
It is perhaps customary to think of the pākehā settlement of New Zealand as
emigrations, it ignores the very important precursors, the people Jamie Belich
, who laid important groundwork for the later
settlement. This is particularly true for the Otago Peninsula which was an
important region in the lives of the Dicks in particular, but also the Allans. It
is therefore worth looking at the people who were really European
3
Op cit.
4
Cyclopaedia of NZ, http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-Cyc04Cycl-t1-body1-d2-d2.html
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settlers. Some were to have significant associations with the Dick families who
came later.
The sealers and whalers began the process. From occasional ship visits emerged
land stations. In 1831, a schooner came into the lower Otago Harbour carrying
the Weller brothers, who promptly set up a land based whaling station at
Ōtākou. This survived until 1848 but many of
the other stations were fairly ephemeral:
Moeraki and Waikouaiti, 1838-1843; Taieri
Island, 1839-184; Matau (Molyneux) 1838; and
Tautuku 1839-1846
Although no family connection exists, the Willsher Bay Whaling Station led into
settlement and agriculture. The first livestock came in 1840, in the form of pigs
and goats, with many escaping into the bush. There were houses seen by
William Tuckett in 1844 which George Wilsher and Thomas Russell
established. At Tautuku, rabbits were liberated in the sand dunes. They were
of course isolated from the Otago grasslands by the forested Catlins so may not
have contributed to the plagues of the 1870s.
Riki Burns/Byrne 5
Riki was an early whaler based in Moeraki. He was born in
Sydney in 1816, the son of the
somewhat notorious Richard Byrne,
who was born in 1775 in Ireland but
had been transported to Australia
mother, Mary Kelly, was 30 when he
5
The father in law of the sister in law of Craig & Allan’s third great uncle.
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was born and was also a convict. They lived in the Rocks, Sydney, and ran a
pub.
Riki came to Moeraki in the later 1830s, although he was probably not in the
first group of six men to settle there. He married Pukio Iwa and had four
children by her. She was of the Ngai Tuahuriri hapu. She later figured in the
Native Contracts and Prolises Act 1888 when her third daughter, Tini Kerei
Taiaroa (Jane Burns), successfully lodged a claim for ancestral land.
Riki died at the age of only 33 on 30 November 1849 in Moeraki, Otago. His
widow, Pukio, later married Natanahira Waruwarutu, a man of considerable
mana. Waruwarutu supported the work of the missionaries at Moeraki from
1843, and, together with Matiaha Tiramorehu and his supporters, he gave
instruction in traditional Maori matters until the late 1860s. This environment
fostered in Tini, a strong feeling for both cultures. 6
Richard Burns & Sylvy Ann Harwood
on was Richard Burns 7 who was born on 16 December 1846
in Moeraki, Otago. He could be said to have had a somewhat tough childhood.
He spent the early years of his life in Moeraki and at a Maori settlement at
6
https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/2t2/taiaroa-tini-kerei
7
He was the husband of the sister in law of Allan and Craigs’ great uncle.
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Kaiapoi. He recalled that
people to-day.
slightly delayed until suitable clothing could be procured,
but at last he obtained a pair of moleskin trousers. Cut
.
Thus attired, he went to school on his 12 th birthday. But
Richard could speak only Māori; he did not enjoy school
and so one day sufficed. Cutting wood and ploughing with oxen filled in the
next two or three years of his teens. He could well recall the day when he
worked for clothes and
shearing sheds up country followed; then he decided to visit his birthplace. 8
That entailed a long walk to Dunedin through virgin country and finished with
his arrival in Dunedin at the same time as Governor Grey, one coming by water,
the other by land. Burns visited Waikouaiti and Moeraki, but Ōtākou was more
inviting; he decided to settle there. At that time, there were no roads on the
clearing the ground to build a house.
He married Sylvy Ann Harwood in 1876. When Sylvy Ann Harwood was born
on 21 October 1853 in Ōtākou, Otago, her father, Octavius, was 37, and her
mother, Janet, was 24.
Richard died on 6 October 1945 in Portobello, Otago, at the age of 98, and was
buried in the Pūrākaunui Cemetery, Otago. In a newspaper article, he was
de
8
HARPOONS AND TRY-POTS, Dunedin, New Zealand: The Evening Star, Issue 23165, 14 January 1939,
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ESD19390114.2.30
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Francis Octavius Harwood
Although there are no direct family connections with
the Wellers, the first such connection arrived at their
station in 1837 in the person of Octavius Francis
Harwood 9 from Sydney who was employed as a clerk
and storekeeper. Born in Stepney Green, he was the
eighth of ten children of Captain Robert Harwood, a sea
captain, and Mary Soutter, whose family owned the Soutter shipping line
trading to the West Indies and South Africa. They married in 1801. 10 Robert
was Captain of the Treasury Ship at London and was at some time Captain of
the Convoy. The family lived in Stepney Green, but also in Kent where they
were apparently on good terms with the Weller family.
Of the sons, one, Thomas, became a businessman in New South Wales.
Another, Henry, came to New Zealand on a ship owned by his cousin, Richard
Soutter, Captain Barnett, in 1843 and lived at Ōtākou. He later died on the
Louvain which sank near Cook Strait. 11
After a classical education, Francis Octavius
footsteps and became a seaman apprentice aboard the Soutter ships. In May
1837, he joined the City of Edinburgh, which took him to Sydney where he met
the Wellers and was hired for the Ōtākou station.
In 1839, on this sparsely populated, sheep farming coastline, south-west of the
Dunedin Harbour, Francis Harwood built his first house. He married Titopu,
aged 28, daughter of local chief, Pokene; marriage to a local Maori woman was
common practice
who sought to strengthen
9
The father in law of Allan and Craig’s third great uncle.
10
Hardwick Knight 1978 said that she had “been a Lady in Waiting to Queen Victoria” although the
dates don’t seem to fit at all.
11
Hardwick Knight, op cit, page 26.
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Māori-settler relations and establish their own places in the community more
firmly. Three years later, on 15 June 1842, Titopu died of tuberculosis and her
son, Te Here (later known as Harry West), whom she had brought into the
marriage, was taken to Foveaux Straight and raised by his relations.
In late 1843, Pokene arranged for his niece, Piro, who had also recently lost a
spouse, to take refuge with Harwood. Twins were born to the couple in early
1848: a boy, Tiari, and girl, Mere, though the boy died at the age of only two
months.
Harwood established a farm/garden at Kelvin Grove in 1836 which was
reputedly the first in the region. Cropping would have been an interesting mix
of English and Maori in terms of tuberous crops and the semi cultivation of
cabbage trees, bracken rhizomes etc. As Jill Hamel 12 notes, the early success of
southern Kai Tahu in growing potatoes for export to Sydney suggests that they
were indeed quite conversant with tuber growing.
In 1848, Harwood left the whaling store for sheep farming on leasehold land at
Ōtākou. He was married again, to a young Scottish immigrant, Janet Robertson,
who came out on the Philip Laing. They married
12 Jill Hamel, Archaeology of Otago, p106.
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at Ōtākou, the witnesses being Richard Barry and Mary Browner. Harwood and
his new wife added a further ten children to the Harwood whānau. About 1853,
they leased a 400-hectare block near Hampden known as the Bagdad Run
which was managed by brother. To get there, Octavius would row to
the Spit with his horse swimming behind and then ride up the coast! 13
Richard Driver
Richard Driver 14 was born in Bristol in 1812
and went to sea at the age of 14. In 1834 he
was on board a convict ship, the Governor
Ready, which was wrecked in Torres Strait.
The crew sailed the three lifeboats 1,500
miles to Timor with no loss of life. A detailed
account is available in the Nautical magazine
for 1835
13
https://www.myheritage.com/FP/fullSizePhoto.php?s=511098311&photoID=1500832&theme=7&siteI
D=511098311&popupHeight=624&randomParam=XWSBDDK&repository=&side=front
14
He was the husband of the aunt of the wife of Allan and Craigs’ great uncle.
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Whaling ships took Driver to the Pacific, and he came to New Zealand on the
whaler Chance. In 1839, as second mate on an American vessel, the John and
Edward, he landed at Whareakeake (Murdering
Beach) in search of water. The family tradition is
that his party came under attack from local Māori.
Driver's life was spared at the insistence of
Irahepti Motoitoi, born in 1822 at Ōtākou and
daughter of Kahuti, who threw her cloak over him
to claim him as her own. This is a standard motif
in stories of first encounter relationships!
Driver and Motoitoi lived for a time in a cave at
Whareakeake 15 beach which is still known as
Maria s Cave and had three daughters together:
Figure 1Emma Paerata and Maria
Driver (right)
Maria Catherine, Emma Paerata and Mary Titawa. After Motoitoi 16 died on 31
August 1846, Driver subsequently had a son, John Poroki, with his Māori
housekeeper, Mere (daughter of Kai) Poroki who was born at Long Beach about
1825 and died in 1847.
15
Murderers Beach
16
Died at Kaikai Beach, Haywards Point, Otago.
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āori daughters all married Europeans and bridged the cultural divide
between Māori and Pākehā. They produced many descendants who have been
important members of Kāi Tahu Whānui. They include the Tirakatene
(Tregerthen) family, three generations of whom have represented Southern
Maori in parliament, as well as the noted writer, Keri Hulme.
In 1847 Governor Grey appointed Driver as the pilot to the Otago Settlement,
a
position he held until his resignation in 1860. 17
When the first New Zealand Company immigrants arrived at Otago Heads in
March 1848, it was Richard Driver and a Māori crew who acted piloted their
ships through the difficult entrance to the harbour. Driver became notorious
for his salty tongue and the outrageous stories he peddled to new arrivals. He
was a great devotee of Otago, though, telling the immigrants that he would
17
Issue 89, 31 October 1860, Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle
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rather be hanged in Dunedin than die a natural death in Wellington. He later
moved to Purakaunui and died there in 1897, aged 85.
Like many whalers, including Harwood, Driver married a
European woman when formal settlement got underway. She
was Elizabeth Robertson, who was a passenger on the Philip
Laing. They had 11 children together over 26 years and there
are also large numbers of descendants from this line.
Elizabeth Robertson was born on 27 August 1831 in
Aberlady, East Lothian. Her father, Thomas, was 53, and her mother, Janet, was
28. She married Richard Driver on 30 May 1849 in Dunedin, Otago.. She died
on 9 May 1897 in Otago at the age of 65, and was buried in Dunedin, Otago.
Linkage
These three, Byrne, Driver and Harwood, provide fascinating case studies of the
social interaction as well as the occasional collisions between Maori and Pākehā
in the earliest days of European settlement in Otago. They also served as a
bridge to the period of major settlement; some of their descendants figure in
the genealogies of the families in this document. It is important to note,
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however, that each founded important families who subsequently identified as
Māori.
As a
way
, the map shows the main whaling
stations and farmsteads with the routes or more accurately tracks of the
period 18 - far from a blank canvas!
18
Jill Hamel, op cit, page 105
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Edinburgh and Scotland
as it was
Figure 2 Edinburgh around 1800 by Alexander Naysmith
The previous section looked at the world into which
the first large groups of emigrants arrived when formal
settlement to Otago began in 1848. Many of these
emigrants, including our ancestors, came from
Scotland. To get a perspective on the decision-making
which led them to emigrate and contributed to the
settlement of Otago, it is useful to know a little about
Scotland in the first part of the 19 th century. It has to
be said that the country was not a great place for
grafters!
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Established on a bedrock of sandstone, Edinburgh was long been dominated
by several quarries, with their output used to build the historic sites of
Edinburgh Castle, Holyrood Palace and Edinburgh University. In the late 18 th
and early 19 th centuries, hundreds of workers produced cartloads of sandstone
, which was
Castle.
n entire new
town was proposed. The massive project led to a surge in demand for sandstone
and people flocked to Edinburgh for work. Suburbs grew quickly along the
River Leith and several parishes boomed
of town. A fresh water supply was inaugurated, commissioners oversaw the
, gas lighting was introduced on Princes
Street, and the Royal Edinburgh Hospital opened. The first issue of The
Scotsman newspaper appeared. In 1822, King George IV visited, and delighted
the city by wearing a kilt.
Nonetheless, life was very tough for many. As the population continued to
grow, overcrowding in the slums of the
remained a problem, with
many mired in poverty and crime rife. Poor wages, dismal housing and high
unemployment were the daily experience of those in the working classes. In
1824, d much of the city, which was badly affected
again during an outbreak of cholera in 1831. In 1833, Edinburgh went
bankrupt.
Glasgow was if anything worse.
Life was not any easier in rural district. Highland landlords had evicted most of
their tenant farmers to create grazing land for sheep, because the prices for cattle
were low. The luckless farmers had to find food and jobs elsewhere. Emigration
started to look like a very attractive option.
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Religious difficulties added to the daily struggles of 19 th century Scots. Ten years
of bitter conflict between different factions
within the established Church of Scotland over
a schism, the Disruption of 1843. Hundreds of
ministers and elders broke away to form the
Free Church of Scotland, a bitter divide which
had major effects not only on the religious life
of the country but also on civic life. All together
it was not a happy time
Figure 3Photo in 1867 of a close leading off High St by Thomas Annan
Rationale for Emigration
The following conversation was doubtless staged but is attributed to John
MacGibbon and his wife, Jane, 19 who attended one of the many meetings
promoting colonial settlement.
What is it you’re sayin’, man! Are you askin’ me tae live among savages on
the other side of the warld? Where was it ye said?"
"New Zealand is where it is, Jane. By all accounts it’s a grand country, and
there’s a place for us in a town called Dunedin. They’re building a new Scottish
society there, and it’s the Free Kirk that is doin’ it. And we wouldna be among
savages - we’d be wi’ God-fearing fowk who believe what we believe. There’s
more savages in this part of Glasgow."
"But why would we want to leave the place we were born in – where we
belong? The place where all our friends and relations live? Would we ever see
them again?"
19
http://www.ngaiopress.com/argument.htm
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"We canna stay where we are, Jane. You’ve been sayin’ yourself that the
Saltmarket will ruin us if it doesna kill us first. And ye know full weel that we
canna afford to set up business in a better part of town. It’s you that’s doin’ the
household budgeting – you know how things are."
"It’s just not right – how can ye ask me to leave all we have here to go chasin’
after something that could be worse than we already have?"
"All I’m sayin’ Jane, is that we should tak’ a look at the notion. Will ye come wi’
me to the meetin’ tomorrow night?"
"Ye’ll be goin’ on yer own, guidman!"
Captain William Cargill and Reverend Thomas Burns were among those
supporting the Free Church of Scotland and they wanted
where they might worship freely. They chose Otago in New Zealand
as the ideal site and in 1847 The John Wickliffe and the Philip Laing carried 350
Scottish farmers, labourers, doctors, merchants and craftsmen towards a new
life on the other side of the world.
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The voyage out
The first settlers
All our families had to make this voyage which was one of the
longest colonising voyages in the world. Most came out under
sail and it is important to understand the reality of such a trip.
The preparation
in the beginning is the preparation. At the end of this section are lists of the
goods which it was suggested that working or labouring people should pack,
and other lists aimed at the more refined!
The Journey
Accustomed as we are now to almost instant travel, it is hard to comprehend
the nature of travel experienced by our ancestors. There were of course many
different voyage experiences. Here, three are covered The Philip Laing, the
John Wickliffe and the Mooltan.
The John Wickliffe
The ship John Wickliffe sailed from Gravesend on September 24, 1847. She was
under the command of Captain Bartholomew Daly. The agent of the Company,
Captain William Cargill, was in charge of the expedition, and with him were Dr
Henry Manning, surgeon, and the Rev. T. D. Nicholson, who resigned his
charge at Lowick, England, on 7 November in order to undertake duty as the
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Free Church minister at Nelson. Mr Nicholson travelled merely as a passenger
on the John Wickliffe, but he undertook religious duties on board. Although he
had no official association with the Otago Settlement, Mr Nicholson would be
the first minister to hold a religious service in the present city of Dunedin. In
addition to the Cargill family, the passengers included the Garricks, Mosleys,
Brebners, Finches, Watsons, Blatches, Westlands, and Wilsons, Messrs W. H.
Cutten, Julius Jeffreys, Thomas Ferens, J. E. Smith (Factor to the Church
Trustees), and others, 97 emigrants in all.
Violent storms raged round the coast of Great Britain a few days after the
departure of the John Wickliffe and the Philip Laing. The heavily laden John
Wickliffe, which was the storeship of the expedition, felt the full force of the gale
in the Channel, and sprang a leak, which compelled her to shelter and refit in
Portsmouth. Setting out again from that harbour on 16 December, the John
Wickliffe made a fast voyage, and anchored off Port Chalmers on March 23,
1848.
The Philip Laing
The Philip Laing, with the great majority of the settlers on board, included a
number of diary writing passengers. Below is an extract from one Archibald
McDonald, dealing with some of the early misery: 20
December 3
Still in Lamlash Bay, all the passengers indisposed with colds. This morning
children's porridge withheld by Dr Ramsay's orders. The children very weak,
20
https://www.ancestry.com.au/mediaui-viewer/tree/51035711/person/13136888139/media/268c507d-
f5b6-4e33-998d-
475eec07cb15?destTreeId=120819959&destPersonId=172028115058&_phsrc=VVZ27300&_phstart=d
efault Ship's Log (2) Posted 13 Nov 2013 by FMBARR1960
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not agreeing with tea and hard biscuit for breakfast. Deputation sent to the
doctor to try and prevail with him to allow the children porridge; were told that
porridge was not good for them. Parents in great uneasiness about their feeble
infants and children. Three constables appointed by Dr Ramsay, one of whom,
acting up to the temper of his master, kept agoing a petty warfare over every
trifling incident. Likewise they had to see that the watch in the married men's
apartment (none being among the single men) was taken in rotation by heads
of families, their duty being to trim and supply the lamps with oil, and to see
that no improper conduct was carried on in 'midships.
December 4
This morning we were all weak from want of meat - men, women and children.
Firm resolution to again apply to the doctor for more sustenance. Denied the
request. At a loss to know what to do. Women upbraid the men for cowardice
in allowing themselves and their children to be starved for want of that food that
was laid in the ship for their support. Seamen and some of the emigrants ashore
daily for fresh water since coming into the Bay. Passengers sometimes left
ashore after carrying water had to pay their passage back to the ship.
December 9
In Irish Channel. Dreadful storm commencing at 4pm and lasting till midnight.
Sad reflections - all expecting every minute to be launched into the deep. The
hurricane spread the utmost terror and consternation over all - sickness ceased
to exist, terror alone found a residence in the heart. But in order to give any just
idea of an emigrant's situation in a hurricane, the reader must imagine to
himself a space 50 yards by 12 yards, lined on both sides with berths or beds
capable, or thought capable, of containing living souls, and this space having a
bench running down the centre from top to bottom and under it the chests or
boxes belonging to each berth; suspended all around, innumerable cooking and
eating utensils, clothes, etc.
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By picturing all this and say half the aforementioned number of people in bed,
sick and vomiting all around, with the strong in all directions running for empty
pails and buckets, you will be led to conceive how fit such a family is for a
hurricane. Such was our state, however, when the storm reached us and when
it did commence, as I have said, terror occupied the place of sickness, and
consigned the faint and weak-hearted to their beds
The remainder were in a sad enough plight, having to contend with water,
boxes, chests, and a number of inexpressibles that, after keeping up a running
fight, at last obtained a complete mastery, driving foe by foe to seek alternately
refuge with the sick and wounded, the pitching and rolling of the ship along with
the runaway boxes and dishes being too much for anyone, however dauntless,
to contend against unless they wanted themselves to be deprived of life or limb.
Not a word or a sound was heard above the raging hurricane without; not a
sound was breathed save the secret whisper or prayer of despair within.
Tongues that had never uttered the name of the Almighty save in profanity now,
I believe for the first time in sincerity, fervently sought His protection. Nothing
seemed to be awaiting us but the jaws of the deep and everyone was with dread
and consternation looking every minute for death. This fearful and precarious
situation continued until midnight, when the violence of the storm began to
abate. Daylight gave a full view of the war that had been going on `midships
and then all who were able commenced a search for runaways. A number were
recovered but I am sorry to say a number had been captured and taken
possession of as lawful prey.
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The Rev. Dr Thomas Burns was in charge of the passengers. He was to be the,
pioneer minister of Otago and was a nephew of the poet, Robert Burns. He too,
kept a diary. 21 The following section is a long extract, using his words
throughout to convey what it was like from his perspective.
The ship had endured the perils of the storm which delayed her sister ship.
Burns commences his record thus:
21
Fortunately, the diary in which Burns recorded the daily events of the voyage and the happenings
which occurred for some years after arrival in Otago has escaped the destruction which overtook the
bulk of his papers after his death, and is now preserved in the Otago Early Settlers' Library
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The ship Philip Laing, 547 tons burden, weighed anchor from Greenock about 2 p.m.
on Saturday, November 27, 1847, with 186 adults, of whom 87 were children under
14 years of age, every two of whom are reckoned as one adult, and 11 infants. The
cabin passengers, consisting of myself, my wife and six children, the eldest of whom is
17, the youngest eight months, Mr James Blackie, schoolmaster, Mr R. Donaldson, Mr
Condamine Carnegie and his wife, Dr Ramsay, surgeon of the ship, A.J. Elles, captain
of the ship, Kenyon, first mate, Gilbert M'Gill, second mate, James Barron, steward,
James Andrew, cabin boy, with a crew of 26 (men and boys).
page 158
The number of souls carried as future inhabitants of Otago is given elsewhere as 248.
The members of the family of Mr and Mrs Burns were Arthur John (17), Clementina
(15), Jane (13), Annie (8), Frances (6), and Agnes, the present Miss Burns, who was
born at Portobello on April 7, 1847, and was about eight months old when the voyage
began. With Mrs Burns there was a servant, Mary Ann Carrodus, and a nursemaid,
Jane Patullo
On leaving the harbour of Greenock the fair wind soon died away, and at midnight
the ship was only three miles below the Clock Lighthouse. At 4 a.m. a fresh
southwesterly wind sprang up, and Burns refers to the motion of the ship, the noise on
the decks, and the beating up against the wind, all of which, with sea-sickness,
"produced on board no slight foretaste of the discomforts of life in a ship."
Sabbath, 28th. Cast anchor in Lamlash Bay by daybreak. In the course of the day
saw vessels that had gone down the Firth before us, passing by us on their way up
again not being able to run into Lamlash Bay, the wind having died away and
were drifting with the tide away back to the Cumbraes. Worship in the steerage last
night and this morning, in which the passengers seemed to join with great cordiality.
The weather being very disagreeable, and the passengers very much discomposed with
sea-sickness, I did not propose to have sermon through the day. In the evening worship
I addressed them on the circumstances in which we find ourselves.
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Monday, 29th. On getting up this morning found Goat-fell white with snow, with a
wind quite fair for us at north-east very cold. We could not take advantage of it
immediately, however, as the ship required to be trimmed, some of the stores
overhauled, and our empty water casks supplied from shore, to which last operation
all the young men cabin passengers and seven or eight steerage volunteered their
services. I gave Mr Donaldson money to buy as much timber on shore as will enclose
the place (galley) where the coppers for dressing the food of: the steerage passengers
are situated, it being at present so open that the fires kindle only with great difficulty,
and the cooks are exposed to the weather. On their return Mr D. told me he had paid
18s for the wood. Worship at night.
For 10 days the ship lay in safety while terrific storms raged all round. Burns
exercised the functions of his office in regard to discipline and receiving
deputations on the subjects which invariably arise on board ship. He was
confined to his cabin with a feverish chill and sore throat, and Mr Blackie
conducted the devotions while the illness lasted. More bad weather was
encountered after the Philip Laing left Lamlash Bay, and the people on board
had their first experience of being battened down, with "everything loose
driving crash, crash, in a way to awaken the liveliest apprehension amongst the
steerage passengers."
Sunday, December 12. Waked at 5 a.m., and from window saw the early dawn of
a beautiful day. Two lights apparently about a ship's length from each other. This
turned out to be the two (St. Anne's) lighthouses at the entrance to Milford Haven,
where we cast anchor about 7 a.m. All on board enjoyed the quiet and shelter of this
magnificent basin. We had prayers after breakfast, and at 12.30 public worship
preached from Matthew xi: 28, "Come unto Me all that labour," etc., to a very full
attendance, including the ship's officers and part of the crew. Preached again in the
evening from Luke xix: 1 (Zaccheus) also a very full and attentive audience.
For eight days the ship lay in Milford Haven, the wind continuing adverse. We
read in the diary that the captain went to the magistrate ashore for "a warrant
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to arrest four of his men who refused to work obviously for the purpose of
effecting their escape from the ship. Of their treatment they have no cause of
complaint. Finding the magistrate at Milford very old and unwilling to act, he
is under the necessity of proceeding to Haverford West, 21 miles off." The
passengers were glad of the opportunity of a respite, and they divided their time
between visits ashore, airing their bedding and attending to the washing of their
clothes. Burns secured a plumber to make repairs on the ship, in the interests
of the emigrants, whose welfare always received his most earnest and practical
attention.
Burns had brought on board a cow and a bull. The cow gave milk nearly all the
time. At Milford, two bushels of barley were obtained for feed, as both cattle
had been affected by the rough weather. The water casks were filled, and fresh
meat was purchased for the steerage passengers. The refractory seamen received
sentence of 21 days' imprisonment, and their places were filled at Milford.
Before leaving the Haven, Burns had the joy of receiving letters from his
brothers, William and Gilbert.
On Monday, December 20, with a north-east breeze, the Philip Laing again put
to sea, and the land had almost disappeared by 4 o'clock in the afternoon. A
heavy roll was running, and further rough weather was experienced. The ship,
being unable to carry sail, was drifting to leeward for some hours. Soon,
however, more pleasant conditions prevailed in the latitude of the Scilly Isles,
and the routine of the ship became established. Mr Blackie opened a Sunday
School at 4.30 p.m. on December 26, and had assistance from Messrs
Donaldson, Carnegie, and Bruce. The schoolmaster also held a day school
throughout the voyage. Mr Donaldson put forth the first number of his
newspaper, which was well received amongst the steerage passengers. A class
for sacred music was opened, the different parts being taken up.
Burns gave the following review of the routine on board ship in a letter written
after arrival at Port Chalmers, and dated May 2, 1848:
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We had divine service twice every week, and three times on Sabbath, and during the
greater part of the voyage it was on deck. Not only did all, without exception, including
the captain and his officers and men, attend, but I suppose we did not omit a diet of
worship above half a dozen times during the four months and a-half from Greenock
to Otago. Order was so well observed that a history of one day will be the history of
the voyage. Here it is:
At 6.30 a.m. the proper constable went along the steerage and warned the people to
rise. At 7.30 he had every soul on deck, when the roll was called, the cleaning and
scraping the floors and sprinkling with chloride of lime commenced, and, if not finished
before breakfast, was finished after, and before worship. At 8.30 the cabin passengers
went to breakfast. At 9 the steerage passengers began to have theirs served out to them.
At 10.30 we had morning worship. At 11, or rather, immediately after worship, the
school opened, six or eight passengers taking each a class, under the superintendence
of the school-master, Mr Blackie. At 2 p.m. the steerage dinner was served out, the
cabin dinner at 3. At 4 the afternoon school. At 5.30 the steerage tea; the cabin ditto
at 6.30. At 7.30 evening worship. The congregational library was opened once a week,
when books were returned and new ones issued. A newspaper in manuscript by
a cabin passenger was published once a week, and another by a steerage
passenger as often. The captain, the doctor, and the minister, a formidable
triumvirate, conducted several criminal jury trials with great formality, and
inflicted various punishments. Sometimes the proceedings were reported in
presence of the congregation, at the close of divine service, and public rebuke
administered. The state of discipline ultimately became very thorough. Out of
school hours it was a very joyous scene to hear the obstreperous mirth of the
children; and in the fine tropical evenings, the entire body of passengers being
on deck, sometimes they practised church music, sometimes Scotch songs were
sung. 3
The narrative of the voyage is best given by extracts from the diary:
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Wednesday, 29th. Wind almost fair at north-west, and blowing fresh, so that all
night and up till now (11.30 a.m.) we have been going seven and eight knots, and
sometimes more. Three vessels are ahead of us, a brig and a schooner, upon which we
are gaining fast the third, a small sloop, came within hail. She proved to be the
Killarney, six days from the Downs, for Madeira. She bore away in a westerly
direction as if for the Azores instead of Madeira. The bull and cow, in common with
the passengers, have suffered from the terrible weather we have passed through.
Within these two days the cow has again rallied, and now appears to be quite well.
Friday, 31st. Beautiful morning, wind fair. Day school going on. Progress, eight
knots all night vessels almost out of sight. Clementina and Frances, who have been
complaining a good deal, are rather better. In last 24 hours we have gone 192 miles
Deo gratias!
The eventful year 1848 broke under auspicious skies, and it was probably the
most orderly New Year's Day ever experienced by the passengers from Scotland!
On Monday, January 3, Burns writes:
A large ship astern of us. Were it a barque, might speculate as to her being the John
Wickliffe. Temperature mild and warm the sun rising gorgeously at 7 great
change from Portobello at this moment. Efforts making to get the regulations more
strictly observed by the steerage passengers. Mr Donaldson appointed an additional
constable. Distressed to hear of profane language coming from certain of the
emigrants. Spoke very seriously about it in the sermon last night.
Land was sighted when the ship passed San Antonia, the largest of the Cape
Verde Islands on January 9. On the following day Burns recorded that three or
four vessels were in sight. A French barque passed close to the Philip Laing, but
made no reply to the display of the ensign.
Saturday, January 15. It rained in torrents, a great deal of rain water being
collected by the passengers. For the cows William Winton filled two casks nearly full.
Two sharks appeared at the stern of the ship; a hook and line baited with a piece of
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pork was put down to them, when after a while page 164the smaller of the two, about
two feet in length, was caught and hauled on deck.
Sunday, January 16. Morning, torrents of rain filled a number of empty casks, two
for the cattle. Usual morning worship. A beautiful evening. The whole ship heard the
preaching. Immediately after evening service, was called down to pray at the bedside
of Mr Brown's child; it died the same morning.
Monday, 17th.
Heavy rain all morning and all day. No morning worship, from the
after prayer on deck over ship's side; strong apprehension on board. Steaming, hot,
pestilential weather; went down and prayed at the two parts of the ship where the
bereaved parents are instead of the usual worship, as the assembling them together
increased the suffocating heat and aggravated the close, heavy smell below, and it was
too wet to have the worship on deck. Worship in the cabin.
Tuesday, 18th. Signalled a brig, the John Scott, White-haven, and from Cardiff,
which she left the same day we left Milford Haven, with a cargo of coals for Ceylon.
She bore down to us in the evening, and hailed us and offered to give us the requisite
supply of coals, which was accepted of in the hope of saving the necessity of going into
the Cape.
Wednesday, 19th. Great bustle on lowering a boat to get a few tons of coal from the
John Scott, which prevented worship on deck. Great numbers of bonitos, dolphins,
ships' jacks, albacors, boobies. Caught some bonitos. Almost no progress since Friday.
Captain Noseworthy, of the John Scott, came on board. Both vessels lying to. Captain
Noseworthy had his wife, his wife's sister, and his two young children along with
himself.
Thursday, 20th. Beautiful morning, with a fine steady breeze from south a foul
wind for us, unluckily small advance. Worship on deck, taking my station on the
poop by the rail in front overlooking the waist, where and on both poop and forecastle
the audience was placed. All heard distinctly.
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The Line was crossed on Monday, January 24, about 10 a.m. Burns had Mr
Donaldson appointed assistant superintendent, for securing the better
observance of the regulations by the emigrants, and "preparing them for falling
into similar habits of propriety and order when they shall, D.V., arrive in
Otago." The captain was of opinion that the ship was becoming "jammed" in
towards the American coast by the lack of the trade winds and the trend of the
currents, which set in the direction of the Caribbean Sea. The health and spirits
of all on board, including the animals, showed a considerable revival with the
improvement in the weather. Burns opened the boxes of books which had been
supplied by friends in Scotland for the use of the party. The tropical evenings
were happily spent in singing "the auld Scotch sangs," and the well-known
Psalms and paraphrases.
Sunday, 30th. Still more delightful weather, the sun too powerful in such a pure and
cloudless sky to sit under, but the heat out of the sun, and especially in the afternoon,
when the deck is shaded by the sails, is tempered by the fresh, dry invigorating breeze.
Service three times. Received from Mr Donaldson a list of 42 male adults who have
spontaneously formed themselves into an association for improving themselves in the
knowledge of the Shorter Catechism. Intimated that, as it appears from the certificates,
a number of the emigrants have not been communicants in any Church, and as it
would be desirable that the ordinance of the Lord's Supper should be dispensed as soon
after our arrival at Otago as circumstances will permit, I would be happy to meet with
such as may be desirous of joining for the first time in that ordinance, and that their
names be handed in to me through Mr Donaldson.
On February 1 a baby boy was born to Mr and Mrs James Brown. On the
following day, the marriage of William Jaffray to Margaret Hunter was
celebrated, proclamation of the banns having been made in the parish of Mid-
Calder, County of Edinburgh, prior to their departure. Burns intimated his
intention to visit the various quarters of the ship. On February 6, a brawl which
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might have had fatal consequences took place between a lad and one of the
men. In the heat of anger the boy seized a knife and struck at the man with it.
Fortunately, the blade was turned by the belt. On the following day an inquiry
was held by Mr Burns, attended by the captain, the surgeon, the schoolmaster,
and a jury of 12 steerage passengers. After careful consideration, the boy and
man were sentenced to be publicly rebuked before the congregation after
evening worship, the man to assist the cooks by carrying water for one week,
and the boy to assist in cleaning the ship for a fortnight and to have his head
shaved. One of the eye witnesses described the scene of the rebuke by Mr Burns
following upon an insolent remark by the man who had provoked the boy to
the effect that the punishment of the lad was "not nearly severe enough."
Figure 4 Te Ara sourced
Each day Burns recorded the ship's position and made observations upon the
weather and the speed of the vessel. He visited and conducted classes in the
young men's quarters, the single women's, and the married people's portion of
the ship in turn, after due announcement from the pulpit. On 13 February he
baptised two children, the first to James Brown and Hannah Renfrew, named
after the ship and its captain, Philip Elles. This baby died before the completion
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of the voyage. The second baptism was for Margaret, the baby daughter of
Robert Gillies and Margaret Gardiner who had been born in Scotland on June
11. At times the ship did from eight to nine knots an hour, but baffling winds
retarded her course considerably. Worship was held twice, and on Sundays
thrice, a day in good weather, Burns taking his stand "at the cabin door, the
audience sitting, the greater part beneath the bulwarks along the waist of the
ship the cabin passengers, some on the front of the poop, some in the cabin."
On February 20 a large shark was caught and hauled on board. On the same
afternoon the ship Zenobia (master, Mr Owen) was signalled, and the captain
agreed to take letters from the Philip Laing to the Cape. Burns hurriedly wrote
to his brother Gilbert and asked him to report to Mr M'Glashan.
On 10 March, Burns records the birth of a son to Mr and Mrs Niven, the child
afterwards being baptised as David Elles Ramsay Niven. The marriage service
was read on behalf of Mr and Mrs Carnegie, who had been married by civil law
before leaving Scotland. Towards the end of March, the weather turned cold,
and a violent storm raged for some days. Windows were smashed by huge
waves, and water poured through the starboard cabin. The hatches were all
fastened down, and the ship rolled alarmingly. But Burns kept worship going
three times on the Sunday, despite the gale. The buffeting proved to be too
much for the cow, which had been ailing for some time, and she died when the
tempest was at its height. By this time (the first week in April), the ship was
south of Tasmania. On 8 April, Burns described the Aurora Australis:
A very remarkable Aurora appeared last night between 8 and 9 p.m. It covered the
entire heavens, with the exception of the north and north-east horizon. It had the usual
pale yellow coloured appearance that we are familiar with in the northern hemisphere.
But in the west, in a space covering the constellation Orion and for a considerable
space around it, it was of a strong, deep, blood-red colour. But by far the most
remarkable and beautiful feature was due north. Here the rays were concentrated
with great accuracy round a centre as I have often observed the clouds form themselves
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into a figure described as Noah's Ark in Scotland. The crown of the sky about 9 p.m.
presented an uncommonly striking and lovely appearance, suggesting the idea of the
Medusae, called jelly fish or blubber fish, when cast on shore with its rays of different
hues.
With the approach to New Zealand Burns began estimating the distance as the crow
flies from Otago, the land of his dreams. The closing entries regarding the voyage are
of interest:
Thursday, 13th. Lat. 47, 40, S. Long. 168, 19, E. Distance, 110 miles. Thermometer
55¼. At midnight again the ship was again put about on the seaward track, but made
no progress. The day cleared up to be fine and sunny. Thomas Cuddie's wife was
delivered of a boy about midnight; both doing well. All in hopes of seeing land.
Friday, 14th. Saw land last night a little before sunset (a sunset of most remarkable
beauty), being the north-east point of Stewart's Island. This morning the wind light
and from N.N.W. We were off the mouth of the Clutha.
Saturday, 15th. This morning made Taiaroa's Head. The pilot, Richard Driver,
showing a recommendatory letter from Mr Kettle, came on board about 9 a.m., and
took the ship in charge. Deo Laus.
Writing a few days later (April 25), with a full and thankful heart to the Rev.
John Sym, of Free Greyfriars' Church, Edinburgh, Burns thus described the
conclusion of the voyage:
After the lapse of nearly four months, without seeing aught but the heavens above us
and the wide waste of waters all round us, the ship, like a thing of life and of more
than mortal sagacity, glided with perfect precision, and without hesitation or mistake,
into its destined place at the farthest corner of the earth. What a "triumphant display"
I could not help saying to myself as we passed up this peaceful haven to Port Chalmers,
and found that there could be no doubt that we were in the right place, although not a
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creature on board had ever been in these seas before. What a triumphant display of
the art of navigation!
After reviewing the voyage, paying a tribute to the captain and surgeon, and
quoting the statistics of four infant deaths, three births, and three marriages,
Burns continued:
My first impressions of Otago surpass my anticipations, which certainly were high
enough. The harbour throughout the entire 14 miles to which it extends is one
uninterrupted scene of most romantic beauty. Nothing but hills on both sides steep
and bold headlands, and peninsulas of various forms descending to the water's edge
and forming little bays of hard sand; all of them without a single exception densely
clothed from the water up to their very summits with evergreen woods presenting an
unrivalled scene of the richest sylvan green and alpine beauty.
The John Wickliffe, after a fast voyage, had reached Otago Harbour on March
23, and was lying at anchor off Port Chalmers as the Philip Laing approached.
Deafening cheers arose from both ships as the anchor plunged into the calm
waters of the bay. Three incidents in connection with the arrival have been
preserved to us. The pilot, Richard Driver, endeavoured to scare the passengers
by dwelling on the cruel intentions of his Maori rowers, and he caused much
amusement by his quaint stories. Asked as to the relative merits of Wellington
and Otago, he replied that he "would rather be hanged in Otago than die a
natural death in Wellington!" The steep and wooded heights surrounding the
harbour on all sides caused some concern to the new settlers, who failed to see
how such land could be cleared and ploughed. Burns, whose practical
knowledge of agriculture always proved of value to the farmers, took the men
aside and explained to them that the rural lands were in the Taieri, Tokomairiro,
and the Clutha plains, and not on the hills which confronted them.
Immediately, their anxiety gave place to joy and confidence. The third incident
concerned the school master. As the ships drew together on arrival, one of the
small boys lost his balance and fell overboard. Without a moment's hesitation
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Mr Blackie dived into the water and rescued the child, with both being hauled
on board the Philip Laing amid loud acclamations.
Life on board the Philip Laing was disciplined and ordered. The emigrants rose
at 6.30 am, roll call was at 7.30 am, then quarters were cleaned. Breakfast
followed, then morning worship at 10.30 am. There were 93 children under
14, so they had school at 11 am under the supervision of the schoolmaster,
James Blackie. Lunch followed, then, after free-time, school was recalled at 4
pm. Steerage passengers had tea at 5.30 pm, the cabin party at 6.30 pm.
Evening worship brought the day to a close. Weekly rations for the steerage
passengers were:
5 1/4 lbs hard ship's biscuits; 3 1/2 lbs flour; 1lb beef; 1 1/2 lbs prime mess
pork; 1lb preserved meat; 1lb rice; 1lb barley; 1/2 lb raisins; 3 oz suet; 1 pint
peas; 1 oz tea; 1 1/2 oz coffee; 3/4 lb sugar; 7 oz butter; 1/2 pint vinegar or
pickles; 2 oz salt; 1/2 oz mustard; 21 quarts water; 3 1/2 pounds potatoes.
Steerage passengers had paid 16 guineas for passage, cabin passengers from 35
guineas upwards. 22
The Mooltan -
John McLay came out on the Mooltan in 1850. When he left Scotland he was
8.5 years old. He wrote his reminisces in 1916: 23
After a warm and solemn parting from Uncle and his two daughters my cousins we
got to our ship the Mooltan lying at the Greenock dock. It was all bustle at the dock
and on board this fine new ship. It was the same terrible bustle getting all the
22
Quoted from the "Founding of Dunedin website
23
http://www.ngaiopress.com/mclay.htm
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passengers things on board and them taken down to their cabins
passengers strangers to us.
and all the
Figure 5 Departure, ,Illustrated London News, 6 July 1850
We got the cow and her crib on board alright and placed it close to the long
boat. There was other four beasts on board ship – there were three dogs, and a
goat, it belonging to our Doctor of the Ship Mr. Purdie and the goats milk for
the use of his family. The goat was housed in the Long Boat and the three dogs
under the bilge of the boat. Two of them belonged to Allan Boyd and Brother
and the other to George and John Duncan. [There were also poultry, ten pigs
and nine sheep on board.]
We all got on board on the 11th of September 1849 and the men cast off her
moorings at the quay and she was then towed out to the anchorage at what is
called the Tail of the Bank and next day we sailed from the Clyde in the Good
Ship Mooltan for Otago the 12th September 1849. The Pilot towed us as far as
Lamlash where the tug cast us off and then three great cheers from ship and
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Pilot Boat wishing us a good and prosperous voyage. But many tears were on
many checks at parting as we all knew it was the last link in our parting from
Dear Old Scotland and not hope of ever seeing it again.
On the morning of the 13th we were making good progress down the Irish
Channel and we could see the coast of Ireland to Windward. and us Pilgrims
on our way to the Antipodes to found a home in New Zealand. I am not sure
what company the Mooltan belonged to but I think it was Patrick Henderson &
Co of Glasgow who after was merged into the Shaw Savill Coy and whose ships
are still running among our Principal traders with the old country with this
difference – the ships are not alike. [The Greenock Advertiser in September
1849, said the Mooltan was owned by "Captain William Crawford and other
townsmen."]
The Mooltan's voyage occupied 104 days from Greenock to Port Chalmers.
Heading south down the Atlantic
After getting through the terrible Bay of Biscay we thought it was very rough
but the sailors said it was not often as fine. We had a fine run from there on to
the Islands of Madeira. We had a grand view of some of these beautiful islands.
Our Captain kept in touch of land a great part of the voyage. One day we got a
fine view and part of next day of the Great Peak of Tenerreffe. It was a grand
sight to see this great volcanic cone – The one half seems to have been torn off
in some bye gone time and gone into the sea.
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And we had a fine view of some of the Canary Islands and off one of these
islands we got becalmed for 5 or 6 days and drifted back about seven miles per
day. this island was very pretty. It did not seem to be very high above the part
Figure 6 Mooltan at anchor - Library of South Australia
of the island the Mooltan lay out from becalmed. I think the island was called
Grand Canary.
Becalmed
All the time that we lay becalmed it looked like a beautiful land set in a sea of
glass. In the mornings it was covered in a mantle of mist like a white robe. Each
morning this beautiful pall of mist would come rolling down off the land and
spread over the sea then at evening it would come rolling in over the island.
Each day it made a very pretty picture. And the great patches of beautiful
seaweed with its pretty air pods and long mottled leaves 20 feet long and pretty
seabirds sitting on some of the patches and dead calm all the while. the land
that I could see was not very high above the ocean. About sunrise each morning
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could see a lot of boats – their sails looked so white in the sun. The men on the
ship said they were fishing boats.
When becalmed here the men that had the dogs put them into the seas to have
a swim. At the same time they lowered two boats and rowed them away from
the ship. the dogs followed the boats out and back to the ship and they were
lifted on board with a net. Two days or so later a favourable wind got up to
drive us along at a good pace and all were very pleased.
Getting up to mischief
When becalmed I caused a great commotion. When they were at their dinner I
got on to the bulwarks and climbed up the rigging and through what is called
the lubbers hole on to the cross trees and hid behind main mast main yard and
rigging for a long time before they found me and two of the sailors had to go
up the rigging for me. It was not such an easy job if I had been stubborn but
one of the sailors I was very fond of and he was fond of me. His name was David
Dunlop and when he got to me he spoke kindly to me and I came down with him
without any trouble.
The worst part was to get down through the lubbers hole. All the people on the
ship were gathered on deck and my Father was going to give me a thrashing
for being so daring and giving all on board such a fright thinking I had fallen
overboard.
Our Second Mate Mr. Ferguson and Sailors would not let father touch me –
they told Father he should be very proud of me as it was not one boy in 100
could have done what I did. The Mooltan was a full rigged ship sometimes
called a square Rigger vessel and the masts and rigging were very lofty. After
this on the ship I was quite a hero with the other boys and girls – also the crew
and passengers.
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Cholera breaks out
There had been terrible tribulation on the ship before through Cholera
breaking out in the Stearage. An English family by the name of Harrison they
were very nice people. This deadly disease carried off Father Mother and two
of their family. It was a terribly sad sight to see these poor things that had been
in good health the day before – to see them carried up on deck in death to be
soon launched into the sea – the corpse lying on a slide Board ready to slip as
soon as prayers had been given by the Doctor. He was a religious man. And all
the Passengers and Sailors standing around in fear and reverence for the dead
not knowing how soon their call may be.
Soon after this the boatswain and sailmaster went out one night through
between decks actin an old man and woman with a basket on their arms selling
trinkets to help cheer up the Passengers. After that they both took bad – both
strong healthy men – and both died a few hours apart and were both buried in
the Ocean two days after they had been between decks.
Everyone became very afraid when this deadly disease got into the fore castle
among the Crew not knowing how it was going to end. It did not interfere with
any more in the forecastle but it carried off nine more of the Passengers – one
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of them a fine young woman a Mrs. Kirkland. She died in the next berth to my
brothers and self.
All this made a very sad ship – all buried in the same way as the first mentioned
except that Mr. and Mrs. Harrisons young girl was put in a coffin late in the
afternoon and it was a very sad sight to see the coffin floating away slowly as
the ship had very little wind to fill her sails. Those that saw the coffin floating
away that evening will never forget the sight. After this all corpses were sewn
up in strong canvas, weighted with stone at the feet. It was a sad and grievous
sight.
[Note that the dead girl could not have been Clarinda Harrison, who was the
last person to die on board, in December. The person McLay refers to would
have been Ann McNeil, who died on 20 December, of "stomach and bowels".]
Things all about seemed sad and cloudy on board for a good while and the faces
of the dead were missed for a long time. And during all of this trouble so far as
I can remember it was fine weather and for a good while after. [Dr Purdie’s
report said that during the period when most deaths occurred, the weather had
been extremely hot, sultry and mostly windless. Once they passed the equator,
and strong breezes began, health on board improved considerably]
Near disaster on the rocks at Tristan da Cunha
Then we dropped into colder weather then thick drizzle and very thick fog so
that the Captain and Officers could not get a sight of the sun for 5 or 6 days
and they thought as far as they could calculate they would soon be in the vicinity
of Tristan da Cunha island but not being able to see the sun they were not able
to correct the calculations of Latitude and Longitude and through this we were
nearly wrecked on this barren island.
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Early one morning we found that our good ship was close under high towering
rocks and cliffs – dismal black cliffs over 200 feet above the Ocean. that
morning will never be forgotten. It was a dismil and forebodeing sight to see
these great rocks towering high above the ships masts and a great rolling form
the sea on to this barren island. And all the great sails hanging and dripping
with the thick drizzle and the very thick fogs that had been. All boats were
lowered as quickly as possible and every man that could pull an oar went into
the boats and the second mate Mr. Ferguson and they pulled for all they could
at their utmost strength and it was found to be a very hard job to keep her from
being taken on to the cliffs with the heavy swell.
It was a great blessing that there was not a wind blowing on to the land with
the swell or I am afraid there would not have been one saved to tell this today.
By terribly hard pulling the men managed to pull the ship towards the end of
the Island and God send wind came from off the land and smiles came on every
face that eventful day.
All felt that God had helped them most mercifully as the sails filled with the
Breath of Heaven. Away went the good ship like a captive bird set free again
and all hearts of men and women boys and girls beat warmly to God for the
great love and mercy that He had shown to us.
After all this was bustle and hard work getting the Boats on board again – all
the great chains and hawsers coiled on the deck and so many ropes to put into
place and poor Flecky the cow had yet a chance to spread her offspring in the
faraway New Zealand.
I forgot to mention further back that we sighted Trinidad. All these islands were
passed on our larboard side except the Canary Island which was on our
starboard side. After getting away from Tristan da Cunha we had a fine passage
all the way as far as I can remember.
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Sighting New Zealand
Then the first land to be seen was the coast of New Zealand and Stewart Island.
It all seemed to be clad in forest – Island and Mainland. I am not quite sure that
we sailed through Foveaux Straights but I think we did.
We had beautiful weather on the Coast except some very sudden gusts of wind
off the land. I now think these gusts must have been from the Northwest. From
the first sight of NZ after fourteen thousand miles it was the wonder of all on
board to see the Great Forest that extended from the South all along the coast
right to our landing at Port Chalmers – then all we could see was what they
call Bush in Otago.
Meeting
Maori
The first change in the landscape was the Maori Huts and Sandhills inside
Taiaroa Head where we first cast anchor for a day. Great lots of Maoris came
out in boats and had a great look at the figurehead of the Mooltan. They could
not make out what countryman he was. Maori men and women seemed very
excited over it. The figurehead was a model of an Indian with a wrap folded
round his waist, a lance in one hand and a club in the other – in a fighting
attitude. Very fierce looking.
Anchoring at Port Chalmers
Next day we got to Port Chalmers in good time – it was Christmas day – we
had the yellow flag flying through having Cholera on board on the way out.
None of the Passengers were allowed to land until the Harbour Master and
other Authorities granted leave to land and then a lot of the Passengers went
ashore and got fresh beef etc for their Christmas dinner.
My father got on well with the cow on board the ship. My mother milked her all
the way out and got two buckets of milk a day and any of the passengers or
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children needing milk through sickness or weakness got a share of the milk. It
was a great help to many and this cow was worshipped by all on board and my
Mother as well as it was she who served it out to those she thought needed it
most. It was a great boon to many young children.
The day after we got to Port Chalmers a great many Passengers went ashore
to stretch their legs and get a look at the bush that they had seen so much of at
a distance from the time New Zealand appeared above the Ocean.
Flecky the cow poisoned by tutu
So after they had a grand stroll through the bush and surroundings they
resumed in great spirits – and they did not forget poor Flecky the cow they
brought great branches of evergreen leaves for her to eat and some of the
branches must have been Tutu. None knew of this very poisonous shrub and
after she had eaten some of the leaves, a short time after – she was taken very
ill and as luck would have it, Driver the Pilot came on board and looked at the
cow and he saw at once that she had been poisoned from eating Tutu branches.
He told my father the best thing to do was bleed her as soon as possible, give
her a big dose of linseed oil and salts so Mr. George Duncan bled the cow and
Father gave her the Physic – and the lot of blood that was taken from her
together with the Physic acting well, it was surprising how quickly she
recovered. If you could have seen her when she was bad – sitting on her rump
and frothing at a terrible rate and her eyes fuming in her head – and her whole
body in convulsions. It was just terrible to see this beast in such a state – but
she recovered and did well after that.
Those who brought the branches were in a great way – all were very pleased to
see her get better for all the passengers thought so much of her. Mr. A. Todd
the owner of the cow was delighted at her recovery. Nine months after this
Captain Millymont offered Todd the best draft mare he had in a ship load for
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the bull calf she had. He wanted to take it back to Sydney with him as it was a
pure Ayrshire. It would have been valuable in Australia – but he did not part
with the calf.
After this all the Passengers went up the river to Dunedin by Boat as soon as
they could be taken. and wished the good ship Mooltan goodbye.
Leaving the Mooltan
Our family was the last to leave the ship on account of the Cow was there was
not a boat big enough to take her to Dunedin. Through this she had to be taken
overland through dense Bush from Port Chalmers via what is called Sawyers
Bay and from there up a range to what was called the ‘saddle’. Then down a
long gully to North East Valley. From Port Chalmers there was a rough track
through dense bush all the way. Father led the cow all the way which was not
easy to do at that time.
As soon as the Passengers left the ship the men set to work and took down all
the bunks and cabins tables etc. I well remember taking my last fond look as I
did not like to leave the ship. When I looked along between the decks and could
not see anything but the row of pillars all the length of the ship nearly. These
pillars supported the deck above. It was a wierd and forlorn sight and I have
never forgotten it. When I saw all the timber lying around in great heaps. I
though it was a terrible thing to do. I just thought I could see all the different
Families that had occupied the cabins and berths for 104 days and a short time
before this distraction I could stand in the front part of the ship that had been
occupied by the young men – it had been their home and from the part I have
mentioned I could see right away back to the far end of the Steerage part of the
Ship. That had been a part that had gone through great tribulations. this sight
between decks was the last thing I would ever see on board the poor old
Mooltan.
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And now comes the last act in connection with this handsome Ship. We get down
into the boat that is going to take us up to Dunedin. My Mother, Brother and
Two Sisters. Father is away with the cow – now we are out a bit from the Ship
and I can see the model of the Mooltan and she looks very nice and stately with
her tall masts, yards and the spread out rigging and bowsprit all so trim. Her
bold looking figurehead looking over the mighty deep.
And now dear old Mooltan I must fare you well for ever. I hope God will spare
you and your gallant crew through many storms. We are fast parting – the fine
fair wind is driving us swiftly along over the smooth water of the estuary that
extends to Dunedin. We are sailing fast between Goat Island and the mainland
and in an hour and a half we will be at the landing beach – Dunedin. Mr James
Adams says that his boat belongs to? he calls it the Queen.
Coming ashore at Dunedin
We got up alright and Father was there and carried us ashore and the other
two men helped to carry the things we had brought from Scotland. It was very
muddy and water up to the knees while carrying things on to dry land. From
here a man with horse and dray, I should have said Cart, I think there was only
one other horse and cart in Dunedin at this time – New Years day 1850.
Meeting other ships during the voyage
I will now write about some things that happened on the voyage out. The first
ship I remember seeing passed us in a very strong and rough sea. The wind was
on our larboard side blowing from the direction of the other ship and she was
lying at a great angle towards us and she was not far from us. With her lea
Bulwarks low down in the sea she was a queer looking craft. The Captain
officers and Crew could not make her out. Under the lea of the windward
bulwark we could see a woman washing We could only see two men, one was
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steering the craft and the other was looking at us. Our men took her to be a
Slave vessel.
Escape from pirates?
A few days after this a smart looking craft hove in sight a long way off on our
lea and our first mate and Captain could see through the Spyglass that they
were putting on more sail and steering for us – taking up to us as we were to
windward of them.
The Mate kept a sharp lookout on them, and about one-noon they came on a
cross tack to lea of our Stem – very close to us with all sail set and her ploughing
up the lea as she passed us at a great rate.
The Captain had every man we could muster on deck and all women and
children down below under hatches. And we had canons fixed all ready and
men all along the bulwarks to make a good show of bravado. Soon after they
passed on this tack the hove her around to windward and she swung around
like a bird and back tracked. She passed in a cloud of canvas. It was a pretty
sight as she passed us at a terrific rate.
As they passed our men sang out to them – "Does your Mother know you are
out – you better go home and get some Pap," and they sung out a lot of insults
to us.
But all on our ship were more than pleased to see them sail away. The women
and children between decks hurried up to see the craft as she sailed away. Our
Captain said that this craft was splendidly handled. He said it was a Pirate
vessel and when they saw so many men on board they were afraid to tackle us.
I do know that all on the Mooltan were glad to see the Pirate Ship sail away on
her nefarious work – the wolfs of the Sea.
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[None of the other accounts of the Mooltan voyage mentioned this
event. Francis Pillans was so thorough that he would certainly have mentioned
if such an incident had taken place. However it could have happened before the
beginning of the surviving portion of Francis Pillans’ diary. The ship was part
way down the coast of Africa before Pillans' diary started. Note that a very
similar incident occurred during the Mariner's voyage to Port Chalmers, six
months earlier.]
Whales
This vessel was the last ship except one we saw a long way off but soon after
this away to leeward one evening about an hour before the sun set we saw a
large school of whales coming towards us at great speed. When they got near
us they veered off from the stem of our Ship. It was a grand sight to see them so
close. Our attention was just drawn to them when someone saw them spouting
to leeward of us. Someone sang out "Whales" and there was a rush to see them.
As they came racing on. To see the forms of the great monsters you felt struck
with awe and wonder at this Great Leviathan of the Mighty Deep.
As they passed away it was a sight to see them spouting far away and in all
directions high above the Ocean and with the rays of the setting sun shining
through the gallons of water they spouted high into the air. It was a wonderful
and inspiring sight never to be forgotten. The spouts from so many whales
spread like great white fans – then fell in white streamers to the sea most
beautiful to behold.
Porpoises and dolphins
About this time for several days we saw great shoals of porpoises gamboling
about and they seemed to take great delight playing with each other. they are
wonderful swimmers. They dart too and fro at great speed and leap high, turn
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on their backs and show their pretty white shining bellies. And at times they
would race with the ship almost rubbing against the side. they are very playful.
I did see twice the wonderful Dolphin in all their beautiful colours of the
rainbow. They flash through the waves like lightening.
Albatrosses and other seabirds
The albatross is a most wonderful very large bird to see up in the sky. His great
wings spread 14 to 16 feet wide. We caught one and had it on deck and its wings
measured fourteen feet from tip to tip. But the poor thing had lost all the power
in its great wings and he could not raise himself off the deck. After we all had
a good look at the Albatross, two men carried him up on to the poop and let
him go. He soon spread his great wings and off he went. Where too none could
tell.
It is thought that the Albatross sleeps on the wing as they are often found
thousands of miles away from land. Not often do they rest on the sea and when
they do they have to put their head to the wind then spread out their wings and
run along the surface of the ocean until the wind under their wings gives them
power to rise above the water.
Then there is another remarkable bird the stormy Petrel. I have often watched
them up in a storm and heard their wierd screech. They are pretty light formed
bird with very powerful wings. They are pale slate colour with pink legs and
feet.
My fancy was the very pretty little Cape Pigeon. It is a pretty, innocent looking
little thing with beautiful eyes and pink legs and feet. There are many kinds of
Petrel. I have seen some much like the ones I saw on the Mooltan.
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Crossing the Line
The next thing was
what they called
the "line". At this
place there was
great work with
the sailors when
the Devil got on
board – he is
sometimes called
Neptune.
The night after crossing the "line" it was terrible. Anyone that passed the Long
Boat got drenched with sea water. There were men up on the longboat on both
sides and others ready to catch any man and shave him with a hoop with
Stockholm tar and Grease for lather and other mad things they did.
The same night some of the sailors painted the poor Goat red. It died later
because of this.
Our second Mate was the life of our Ship. All the Boys and Girls thought a great
lot of him and he was much liked by all on board. His name was Ferguson. He
worked terribly hard in getting the ship away from being wrecked on Tristan
da Cunha. He was laid up a few days after that.
A few days before we crossed the line he would be on deck with this telescope
looking away ahead of the ship very earnestly. Us Boys & Girls would ask him
what he was looking for. He told us he was looking for the ‘lines and that we
were getting very close to it. He had not seen it yet but he was sure he would
see it to morrow.
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Tomorrow came and a beautiful day it was – and there was the ‘line’ right
enough so Mr. Ferguson invited us to have a look through the Telescope. We
could all see the "line" and other men and women were asked to have a look
through the Glass and they too could see the "line" splendidly and such a fine
telescope it must be to be able to see the line so far away. He said we would
cross the line that night. And we did as you will see by what I have written
further back.
The Sailors and Passengers had Great fun with us Simpletons. The older people
got a lot of chaffing about seeing the line. "Oh" they would say "and you saw
the line did you? Well you can say you have seen what no other man has ever
seen."
Well Mr. Ferguson managed the deception by fastening a fine silk thread across
one of the lenses inside his telescope and the "line" looked perfect.
Amusing the children
Mr. Ferguson gave us Boys a large ringbolt to pull out at the Main Hatchway
because he said it was in the way and he would like it out. He would come and
have a careful look at the bolt to see how far we had shifted it and he gave us
great praise. He said we had shifted it a good bit and we would have it out
before we got to N. Zealand. I was the leading boy in this job and it never came
out while I was Boss. So much for the ringbolt.
Mr. Ferguson also made play for the Girls. He made lines on the deck with
chalk and two sets of girls could play at the same time. Their game was played
with a piece of round wood and he gave them raisins too and Place which is a
great Balm at times with young or old.
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Animals on board
We had a lot of fine Pigs on board and they used to kill one now and then for
the Cabin Passengers and a few days before we landed they Killed what pigs
were left.
Peril on the Sea
These three ships all made it safely to New Zealand, but some did not. Many
voyages
s worst maritime disaster was on 18 November
1874 with the
Cospatrick burning and
then sinking, with the
loss of 467 people. 24
Figure 7 Cospatrick on fire 250
miles SW of the Cape
The following extract
from David Hastings,
Over the Mountain of the Sea, shows another example.
24
PUBL-0047-1875-09, Alexander Turnbull Library.
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Thus, the voyages were both long and very tough, particularly for those in steerage!
The experience must have impacted strongly on each individual immigrant somewhat
in ways we cannot easily discern. 25
25
Another excellent diary covers the Robert Henderson which bought several of our ancestors to
NZ:
http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/diaries/thomasreid.html
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Appendix
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Figure 8 Unloading at Port Chalmers
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Koputai First Arrival
Point
Most of the first settlers came first to Koputai
Chalmers by ship from Scotland, England or Australia.
Port
Port Chalmers
was then
confined to a
small hilly
peninsula 26 on
the west side of
Otago Harbour.
Close to the
south-eastern
shore of this
peninsula are a
pair of islands,
which lie across the harbour between Port Chalmers and the Otago Peninsula.
26
There has since been major reclamation to provide land for the port and the container terminus.
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These two islands are Quarantine Island/Kamau Taurua and Goat
Island/Rakiriri.
The old Māori name for Port Chalmers was 'Potakere' or 'Pou-takere' which
may have indicated the hill where the tuahu, or altar, was sited. 'Koputai' is a
later name and refers to an incident in which the tide rose and beached canoes
were set adrift. When peace was made between Kati Mamoe and Kai Tahu
(about 1780), Koputai was one of two southern terminuses of Kai Tahu
territory. 27
Following the visit of the Mermaid in 1823, more regular visits of ships to
Otago's coast began to occur Even the French came: Commander D'Urville and
the Astrolabe entered Otago Harbour in 1827 and 1840 for the purpose of
taking soundings and bearings. His charting of the area "was not very accurate
for he saw "the entrance to Otago Harbour ... situated in the southern part of
Cape Saunders."
In 1842 Captain Wing
anchored the Deborah in
the bay now bearing its
name. Here he was joined
by Frederick Tuckett who
had been walking the last
miles overland. They
selected an adjoining block
of land (the Otago Block)
Figure 9 Port Chalmers, 1850, William Fox
27
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Chalmers for this section
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as the site for the Scottish New Edinburgh settlement. 28 He nominated Koputai
as its deep water port, to
be called 'Port Chalmers'
after the Presbyterian
Free Church leader,
Thomas Chalmers. The
sale of the Otago Block
from Māori to the Otago
Association was
concluded at Port
Chalmers 31 July
1844. 29 Already, by 9
June, there were two
whares, Māori-style
houses, and a pile of
bricks waiting to be turned into Tuckett's house. Mr. and Mrs. Lethbridge were
in residence, along with David Scott and several others.
In December 1844, Alexander McKay and his wife, Janet Allan, 30 having
married on 9 December 1844 in Nelson, set off aboard the Deborah for
Wellington and then boarded the Sarah Ann for Koputai. After a terrible voyage
of three weeks, they arrived to open the first public house, the 'Surveyors'
Arms'.
The town was surveyed by Charles Kettle in 1846 and a town board was formed
in that year.
28
Having declined the site which would become Christchurch as he felt the ground around the Avon
was swampy.
29
L2400 for land stretching from north of the harbor right down to the Molyneux or Clutha River.
30
Janet was the 3 rd Great Aunt of Patricia Rylance and her sisters.
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In 1847, a visitor noted
that there was only one
house in existence,
being a wattle and daub
structure occupied by
Mr and Mrs Whyllie and
Mr and Mrs McKay.
Figure 10 The Surveyors Arms, Port Chalmers renamed
Main Arrivals
On 22 March 1848 the John Wickliffe anchored at the entrance to Harbour.
Charles Kettle, the New Zealand Company surveyor, and Richard Driver, the
pilot, brought boats out to the John Wickliffe . 31 Unfavourable winds
prevented the vessel entering the harbour proper, but some of the passengers
used this time to good effect. Henry Monson, an English Methodist colonist
who would eventually become Dunedin his second son, John, and
Thomas Ferens went out in one of the John Wickliffe
āi
-fishing Beracootas by a long pole with a short piece of
wood and a crooked nail at the end which is attached with a string to the pole
another group of Kāi Tahu, headed by the great chief, Te Matenga Taiaroa.
These engagements initiated a tradition of collaboration and reciprocity
between Maori and colonists that would unfortunately not always endure.
31
Drawn from Alexander Ballantyne https://blogs.otago.ac.nz/global-dunedin/2015/03/23/arrival-thejohn-wickliffe-and-23-march-1848/
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Ferens observed that the Kā
On 23 March, the day the passengers finally arrived on land, Ferens began his
itself was quite uncoordinated: Reverend Nicholson recorded:
The landing was neither particular nor general one boat with a
party went up to Dunedin, and separate parties went ashore at
Port Chalmers to spy the land all seemed pleased and called it
a goodly land
rich in scenery
Port Chalmers and around is truly beautiful
its slopes and shores are fertile, and wooded to
Figure 11 Port Chalmers & Lower Harbour c1848
Ferens was also struck by the new environment: it seemed that he was
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passengers and explored the bush-clad hills. The party shared a meal of fish
and kumara with two Kā
amongst the Supple Jacks, a description of cane, underwood, numerous
Cabbage Trees, Ferns Trees, Shrub plants, Brambles the pines are noble trees,
by the
Birds of various species Thrushes, Green and Gray, Robin with
white breasts and brown back and head Linnets, Buntings, Tui,
the Mocking Bird of the Starling species 2 white tufts under the
bill, and grey feathers on the neck Cannaries Cacaus [kākā]
or the large Parrots, Parroquete Pigeons plentiful and
numerous.
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This section describes the Otago environments of
our early families.
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32
Emigrants on the first ships were accommodated in shelters or barracks, as they
were called, situated along the beach which at that time extended from the
junction of High and Rattray Streets to Dowling Street.
They were long and low, and constructed of native grass, rushes, flax, and small
timber. That built by the Scotch emigrants was 60 feet in length entered by a
door at one end. The single girls occupied the upper part, the married folks the
middle, and the single men the lower part. The sight must have been as unique
as it was busy and interesting. The Māoris helped their new comrades with all
the good humour of the race; indeed, their assistance was invaluable in the
erection of these primitive dwellings. The forms, tables, and other fittings
brought from the vessels, composed the furniture. The cooking was done outside
gipsy-fashion; fuel was abundant and to be had for the cutting. All were active,
happy, and exhilarated under the new conditions and the serene skies which
preceded the stormy and rainy weather. The landing of the cargo was much
mismanaged and occupied two whole months. There was no recognised leader
in the business, and the cases, crates, and casks were dragged up the bank from
the boats by main strength. 33
32
The name comes from name comes from Dùn Èideann, the Gaelic name for Edinburgh.
33
Dr Hocken, http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-HocCont-t1-body-d16.html
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Figure 12 Dunedin - Otago Harbour c 1840 unknown
after the two main thoroughfares in Edinburgh.
In the new settlement of
Dunedin, surveyor Charles
Kettle plans were for an
,
with beautiful views and a
dramatic harbour. He
created
Moray Place and, of
course, George and
Princes Streets, named
While such developments were positive, it is important to remember the raw
nature of the place and its semi-rural nature when the first settlers landed. John
Mclay (of the Mooltan memories) recollects his first home in Rattray St in the
1850s:
The cart took us to a four roomed house with stairs up to a loft
but the house did not have any lining. The house was the third
one from the left hand side going up from the comer of what was
called Rattray St. and it has the same name today. At last we are
in our first home in New Zealand and it is a wild place, bush and
swamp all around us and plenty of Wild Pigs in the Bush and
open country close by. In the bush plenty of Kakas and Wild
Pigeons, Native of New Zealand and plenty of Wild Ducks and
teal and fish. We get plenty of Baracuda and Grouper brought
to Dunedin by Maori boats. These are both large fish and we
often get 4 Baracuda for one shilling and a large Grouper for
1/6d - it is a much better fish.
Settlers in Andersons Bay wrote very similarly about that area.
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Economic conditions were challenging in the early years but improved from
around 1853. An indication of permanence was perhaps the establishment of
the Southern Cemetery in 1858, with the Northern following in 1872.
The first newspaper was the Otago News, first published in 1848 as a fortnightly
news sheet of 4 pages. In 1849, it was enlarged and came out weekly. 34
Figure 13 Dunedin Map, Ngaipress.com/dunedin.htm
Given that so many were farming for a livelihood, it is interesting to note how
expensive stock was at this point. In 1854, sheep were 35 shillings a head while
horses were between 50 and 60 pounds. 35
34
The Settlement of Otago, the people and the press.
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ODT19211115.2.134?page=21&query=philip+laing+passengers&title=
AHCOG%2CBH%2CCL%2CCROMARG%2CDUNST%2CESD%2CLCM%2CLCP%2CLWM%2CME%2CMIC%2CM
TBM%2CNOT%2COAM%2CODT%2COW%2COSWCC%2CSOCR%2CST%2CTT%2CWSTAR
35
A H McLintock, A History of Otago, 1929, pp, 329-30.
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After 10 years, Dunedin remained a village of about 2,000 mainly Scottish
settlers. By the end of the 1850s, around 12,000 Scots had emigrated to the
settlement, many from the industrial lowlands but the majority lived outside
the town boundaries.
In 1852, when the provinces of New Zealand were created, Dunedin became
the capital of the Otago Province, which covered the area of New Zealand from
the Waitaki south. It was the only one of New Zealand's original six provinces
to have a Māori name - a reflection of the area's European settlement in precolonial
times. There were squabbles between 'the Old Identity' - the Scottish,
Presbyterian majority, and 'the Little Enemy' - the English, Anglican minority.
Our combined family covers all sides! Dunedin developed a reputation for
furious public debate which continues to the present in the letters columns of
the local newspapers.
A minor example of the differences between the two groups of settlers can be
demonstrated by the slow and uneven transfer of Old World Christmas
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traditions to the new. As Dr Ali Clarke has pointed out in her recent Global
Dunedin lecture, 36 religious festivals provide a window into cultural encounters
in New Zealand not just between British settlers and tangata whenua, but
amongst the new settlers too. Dunedin, with its mixed population of Scots and
English, is an excellent location to note the marked difference in their
observance of Christmas. 37
After the Reformation in England, Protestants trimmed festivals. While the
Anglican calendar centred on events in the life of Jesus, Presbyterians focused
instead on the week and the significance of the Sabbath. Accordingly, in
England, Christmas was an important holiday; in Scotland, it was an ordinary
working day. The Scots shifted their main celebrations to New Year, which was
not a holiday in England.
In early Dunedin, the large number of Scots arriving from 1848 continued this
tradition of working on Christmas Day. In the town, however, Anglican
influence was soon felt, and it became a business holiday. But farmers of
36
Ali Clarke, Holiday Seasons: Christmas, New Year and Easter in nineteenth century New Zealand. Auckland:
Auckland University Press, 2007
37
Jane McGabe, https://blogs.otago.ac.nz/global-dunedin/
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Scottish origin continued to ignore Christmas until the turn of the century. As
the Scots did begin to embrace this celebration, it was more about food and
family than religion. Throughout the colony, new traditions developed to
celebrate a summer yuletide. Strawberries and cream joined Christmas pudding
as a favourite dessert, and harvesting home grown vegetables (such as potatoes
and peas) in time for the big day became an important part of festive
preparations.
The 1860s brought immense change to Dunedin. In early 1861, after gold
deposits were found elsewhere in the country, the Otago Provincial Council
offered a reward of £1,000 to the first person to locate gold in Otago.
Gold was discovered at Gabriels Gully , south of Dunedin and the rush began.
Prospectors flooded to the area and many others arrived in Dunedin, seeking
associated business opportunities. There are stories of businessmen being
offered five times the value of their businesses from what they had been worth
before gold fever struck.
The rapid influx
of population saw
Dunedin become
New Zealand's
first city in 1865.
The new arrivals
included many
Irish, but also
Italians, French,
Germans, Jews
and Chinese, all
lumped together
by the earlier
settlers as 'the New Iniquity'. The Catholic church established a strong presence
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while the Jewish population established a synagogue. Some people made
fortunes and built grand houses. Slums developed in the inner city. Dunedin
and the region industrialised. Dunedin's first railway, the Port Chalmers
Branch, was opened on 1 January 1873; it was the first railway built to the
newly adopted (3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm)) narrow gauge in New Zealand. The Main
South Line, linking Dunedin with Christchurch and Invercargill, was opened
on 22 January 1879.
After ten years of gold rushes, the economy slowed but Premier Julius Vogel's
immigration and development schemes of the 1870s brought thousands more
to Dunedin and Otago before recession set in during the 1880s.
The impact of the gold rush
Gabriel Read discovered gold in 1862, near the
Clutha River at Dunstan, in the mountains 200
miles (300 km) away from Dunedin. Within
days, two tent cities sprang up on the
riverbanks. Read was an unlikely prospector. A
great believer in Divine Providence, he was
highly educated in the classics and literature.
He was an unpretentious and likeable person by
all accounts, not particularly driven by the idea
of riches.
Figure 14 Gabriel Read
He sought his fortune, unsuccessfully, on the
Californian goldfields, and then traded among the Pacific islands, where he was
shipwrecked at Hawaii. He returned to goldmining in Victoria in the 1850s,
again with only limited success. Dismayed at the actions of the squatters, at the
lawlessness and violence on the goldfields, and at the clash between miners and
police at Eureka in 1854, Read had returned to Hobart, Tasmania, by 1860.
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In September 1860, Read learned of the discovery of gold in the Mataura River,
in Otago. In January 1861, he embarked for New Zealand, arriving at Port
Chalmers on the Don Pedro II on 8 February. Discouraged by reports of the
Mataura find, however, Read prematurely terminated his first prospecting
expedition in Otago. On 11 March 1861 he left for Canterbury to visit the
property of his cousin, John Terry Murphy, at Cust. The Lindis discovery in
April 1861 brought Read back to Otago. With the encouragement and
assistance of J. L. C. Richardson, the speaker of the Otago Provincial Council,
and of John Gillies and John Hardy, two farmers of Tokomairiro, he set out for
the scene of Edward Peters' prospecting at Woolshed Creek (Glenore), in the
Tuapeka district.
On 23 May 1861, in the gully which still bears his name, Thomas Gabriel Read
discovered gold, 'shining like the stars in Orion on a dark frosty night.' It was
this discovery which revealed the potential of gold in Otago, and thereby
initiated the series of discoveries and rushes which were to transform the
economic, social and political life of the province. 38
The 1861 census found that approximately 50% of the entire population of
Otago was concentrated in the Tuapeka area: some 11,500 people, including
only 148 women. 39
The following gives a contemporary perspective: 40
38
https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/1r3/read-thomas-gabriel/sources
39
J H McLintoch, History of Otago, 1929, p 457.
40
John Wilson, Reminiscences of the Early Settlement of Dunedin & South Otago, J Wilkie, Dunedin
1912, p270
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In 1863 gold was discovered at the
Tallaburn. at Manuherikia Valley,
at Campbell's Creek, and at Mount
Ida, and the first escort brought
4,320 ounces from the last field. For
the first three years and nine
months after Gabriel Read's
discovery 1,699.667 ounces of gold
had passed through Dunedin
Custom House, and 63,970 ounces
through other ports.
The news of the gold discoveries
spread like wildfire, and diggers
began to pour in from all parts of New Zealand and from the neighbouring
colonies. All Dunedin was in a whirl of excitement, and merchants
wondered if they could put their stores on wheels and transport them bodily
to Tuapeka. The road, which ran by way of Waihola and Tokomairiro, soon
got into a terrible state, and it was no uncommon sight to see a team of
bullocks stuck fast in a deep hole, where the drivers had to wait till the next
team came along, when the combined teams pulled one waggon at a time
out of the obstruction.
Laughable scenes were often witnessed, and on one occasion a party of
sailors was seen en route for the diggings with a hand-cart, with a man in
the shafts acting as steersman and a sail up to catch the wind. The steersman
had to run like the wind, and the various antics In- cut evoked roars
of laughter from onlookers
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It is perhaps worth observing
that not all was positive about
the new settlement. The
following is the view of one
Henderson)
whose book entitled Otago and
the Middle Island of New
Zealand: a warning to Emigrants
was published in 1866. 41 The
author clearly had a very
unfavourable view of the
Middle Island!!
The town of Dunedin
consists of a large number
of wooden houses
scattered over a piece of very hilly broken ground on the edge of the
bay, and over an adjoining swamp. There are also a few stone houses
here and there, and one compact mass of wooden buildings in the
centre of the town. One long street (with a few short branches), has
been formed and partially paved. Still it is a fearfully muddy place;
and when not muddy, it is swept by hurricanes and clouds of dust.
The climate is detestable. It is generally raining and blowing,
sometimes for months together. A lady told me she had been prevented
from going to church by the rain for seventeen Sundays in succession.
One is never sure for half an hour that it will remain fair, however
fine it may look. The high hills attract the clouds; and the somewhat
funnel shaped bay at the head of which Dunedin lies, nearly meeting
41
Pag4, Chapter 1, http://www.enzb.auckland.ac.nz/document/?wid=4236&page=0&action=null He
even found Dunedin publishers!
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the sea as it does, and skirted on both sides by lofty hills, entices the
winds to rave along its windings. If by accident it does not blow a gale
during the day, the wind never fails to rise suddenly about four or five
in the afternoon, blowing from the sea.
It used to be said in Australia, of New Zealand, that it rained nine
months in the year, and blew a hurricane the other three; and a
capital description it is. Altogether a more unpleasant place to live in
than Dunedin, cannot be conceived, with its rain and its mud, its wind
and [its dust; its ricketty wooden houses, with the wind howling, and
the rain pouring through them; its close packed blocks of houses,
hotbeds of fever, and devoid of all water supply; its frequent fires, its
dulness, its low tone of morality, its insecurity, and the impossibility
of obtaining justice, its want of good society, and its generally low style
of population.
The climate in the country is much better, though also blowy and wet.
There is very little land in the province fit for agriculture, and nearly
the whole of it has been sold. When a little is put up to auction, it
fetches absurdly high prices--frequently five or six pounds, or more
per acre.
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Dunedin in the 1860s & 70s
Figure 15 Octagon 1862, unknown photographer.
By 1866, Dunedin
d 15,000. In this first time of prosperity,
many institutions and businesses were established in the city, including New
Zealand's first daily
newspaper, its first
university, art school
and medical school. A
combination of
money, good building
stones and Scottish
international preeminence
in
Figure 16 Princes St 1861- unpaved and difficult to negotiate
architecture saw a
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remarkable flowering of substantial and ornamental buildings, unusual for such
a young and distant colony.
British settlers saw non-white migrants as undesirable. The discovery of gold in
California, Canada, Australia and later New Zealand attracted many Chinese
men wanting to make their fortunes before returning home.
In the 1860s, the Dunedin Chamber of Commerce sought to replace European
miners who had left Otago for the new West Coast fields. Chinese were
regarded as hard-working and law-abiding, and they were also willing to
rework abandoned claims. The first 12 men arrived from Victoria in 1866; 2000
more had followed by late 1869. Chinese women seldom migrated to New
Zealand. In 1881 there were only nine women in the country, compared with
4995 men, raising fears that white women were at risk from Chinese men.
As work on the goldfields became harder to find, anti-Chinese prejudice
resurfaced. Some spoke of a conspir
.
Dunedin in the 1870s saw the rise of significant new companies and
commercial dynasties, like the National Fire & Marine Insurance Company
(1873), Colonial Bank (1873), J. Rattray and Son Limited (1874), Standard &
Marine Insurance Company (1874), Union Steam Ship Company (1875), James
Speight and Company (1876), Arthur Ellis and Company (1877), Donald
Reid 42 and Company (1878), Westport Colliery Company (1878), and
Kempthorne, Prosser & Company's New Zealand Drug Company (1879). The
urban landscape was transformed by impressive buildings that elevated the
42
Father in law of 1 st cousin 3 times removed of Patricia Rylance. He married the daughter of John Barr
who came out on the Philip Laing.
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School (established ablished 1871) 43 ,
and the University buildings (1878 but founded in 1869). Local businessmen
promoted land developments to produce new suburbs like Maori Hill, Green
Island, Musselburgh and South Dunedin.
Horse trams became popular public transport and with their advent, the
Andersons Bay railway line closed. To support its growing population, Dunedin
invested in enduring public works: the Otago Museum, the University of Otago,
High Schools, the first Catholic schools, Dunedin Public
Methodist Churches were all built by 1884.
Towards the end of 1889, after the inlet was dredged and the bridge raised, the
steamer ferry, Pioneer, started a regular service from Dunedin to the old
Andersons Bay railway station. But the tides of the inlet regularly caused the
ferry to wedge on the mudflats and passengers were late to work too often, so
the business folded.
43
Otago Girls 1st Principal was Margaret Gordon Burn nee Huie, mother in law of first cousin 3 x removed
of the Rylance sisters,
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Dunedin Photographs
In 1879, the Dunedin City Council employed Burton Bros to photograph grand
buildings in Dunedin.
The photographs were part of an exhibition to showcase the city. They were
even displayed in Melbourne and Sydney.
They give a good perspective on
the central town, naturally
presenting the best reality and
showing some of the physical
effects of the goldrushes!
Figure 17 Wains Hotel
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Figure 18 Brown Ewing on Princes St
Figure 19 Criterion Hotel corner of Moray and Princes St
later to be site of the Savoy
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Figure 20 Princes and Moray looking to First Church, showing City Hotel, Criterion Hotel, Burton Bros, a
watchmaker and Fred Dick, land agent
Figure 21 City Hotel
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Figure 22 Princes St showing Kilpatrick & Glendinning, Saunders & Co, City Boot Warehouse and Brown &
Ewing
Figure 23 View of Dunedin from above Maitland St near corner of Walker St (now Carroll St)
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Figure 24 Stock Exchange built in 1868, first home of the University of Otago
City Development 44
With the rapid expansion of the city in the 1860s, settlement expended, notably
around what is now South Dunedin. Chinese settlers were notable among early
residents in the St Clair area, and largely through their efforts, the swampy land
inland from the beach was drained and converted into market gardens. Much
of the young city's vegetable production was centred on Chinese allotments in
an area close to what is now Macandrew Road, Forbury, and there were further
allotments in both Andersons Bay and Tainui.
Anderson's Bay In the late 19th century had both a railway and ferry service
connecting this area with central Dunedin, but neither has survived. The ferry
operated only during the 1890s, and the railway operated from 1877 until the
early years of the twentieth century. The original intention was for a rail line to
run along the shore of the peninsula to Portobello, but Andersons Bay was the
furthest the line ever reached.
44
Drawn from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Dunedin_urban_area
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Changing the landscape
Dunedin in 1855 before the land reclamation. Note the Māori reserve.
The money and people flowing into Dunedin after the discovery of gold funded
changes to the natural environment of the upper harbour. By the early 1870s,
Dunedin
The general street plan of a
central city octagon with major north-south roads stretching the length of the
city was created by the demolition of Bell Hill in the 1860s. Before 1858, the
town was divided in two until a path was blasted between Princes St and
the Octagon across the Nga-Moana-e-rua ridge. The material from this was
used to reclaim the mudflats, starting with the Queens Gardens. The 1860s also
saw the opening of the Forbury quarry to supply the city with building material.
Harbour reclamation continued and isolated the Māori trading station on the
waterfront which had been neglected by the city.
Dunedin's first railway, the Port Chalmers Branch, was opened on 1 January
1873. The Main South Line, linking Dunedin with Christchurch and
Invercargill, was opened on 22 January 1879. All these developments required
massive earthworks along half the length of the harbour.
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One of the world's oldest green belts, the Town Belt was planned in Scotland
before the first settlement in 1848. Residential areas outside the belt became
separate boroughs, and were not amalgamated with Dunedin until much later.
The Botanic Garden - New Zealand's oldest - was established in 1863 on a site
surrounding the Water of Leith now occupied by the University of Otago. After
extensive flooding in 1868, the gardens were moved to their current site in
1869. The name of the former site is still recorded in corrupted form in the now
little-used name of Tanna or Tani (i.e., Botanic) Hill for the small but steep rise
located close to the university's registry building.
Ross Creek dam was built between 1865 and 1867 to provide drinking water
for the city. The lower reaches of the Leith are contained within concrete
channels. These, and the various weirs located in the Leith's stream - notably
just to the north of Woodhaugh Gardens - were built to prevent a repeat of the
serious damage to Dunedin North by the highest recorded flood in March
1929. An earlier devastating flood occurred on the river in 1868. The original
course of the Leith was, in fact, a meandering track through what is now the
central city, emptying into the upper harbour where Cumberland and Stuart
Streets now meet. The Toitu Stream (now largely built over) used to run from
Mornington down Serpentine Avenue and Maclaggan Street, turning to run
south to the harbour at the top of Water Street. The memory of this stream is
preserved in the angle High Street crosses Princes Street and the name of the
Toitū Otago Settlers Museum.
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Dunedin in the 1880s and 1890s
Dunedin's Octagon from the First
Church's spire in 1874
In the 1880s, the long depression
began, with rising
unemployment, increasing
poverty and loss of population.
The frozen meat industry was
inaugurated in 1882, however,
when the first shipment of frozen meat to Europe left Port Chalmers, the
beginning of a later great national industry. In the mid-1890s the gold dredging
boom began and by around the start of the 20th century, Dunedin was
experiencing another time of prosperity. In 1893 Bell Tea started production in
Dunedin. The New Zealand South Seas exhibition (1889) was a chance for
Dunedin, New Zealand's new first city, to show off its success.
. Carisbrook became a sports ground in the 1870s and hosted its first
international cricket game in 1883.
Cable Cars 45
Between 1881 and 1957, Dunedin was
home to the Dunedin cable trams,
being both one of the first and one of
last such systems operated anywhere in
the world.
45
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunedin_cable_tramway_system
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Roslyn and Kaikorai
Dunedin's first cable car served Roslyn (although initially only going as far as
the town belt), covering a distance of 1.4 miles (2.3 km). It opened on 6
February 1881. The line went up Rattray Street, with the world's first pull curve
in front of St Joseph's Cathedral. It then cut through the Town
Belt in Belleknowes (where the cutting is still generally visible) past the Beverly-
Begg Observatory to climb the full length of Ross Street and part of Belgrave
Crescent, before descending through a cutting to the valley near Frasers Road.
The last cable car ran on this line on 25 October 1951.
The western section beyond the cutting was too steep for a road link, so when
the cable cars ceased, the portion near Belgrave Crescent was redeveloped as a
short street serving several houses while retaining the pedestrian walkway
through to Delta Street. Trolleybuses replaced the service as far as Belgrave
Crescent, using City Road instead of the straight steep cutting through the Town
Belt.
Stuart Street
Travelling a distance of 1.2 miles (1.9 km),
the Stuart Street line opened on 6 October
1900, running largely parallel to the Roslyn
line. The track went up Stuart Street from The
Octagon, turned half-right at York Place into
what was then called Albert Street, continued on past the end of that street
through a short section of Town Belt, past Otago Boys' High School, across the
bottom of Littlebourne Crescent and up to Highgate at School Street. It then
dropped down to Kaikorai just before Nairn Street, where a turntable in the
road turned cars through 90° and sent them south-west into their shed. The
route was eventually turned into a four-lane highway, cutting Littlebourne
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Crescent off from Littlebourne Road, going under a new bridge and undergoing
considerable widening on the Kaikorai side, restricting access to Ann Street and
Oates Street. It closed on 31 July 1947.
Mornington
Opening on 23 March 1883, the Mornington line travelled one mile (1.6 km)
up High Street to Mornington. This line was
the steepest recorded tramline in the world,
with a gradient at the highest point of the
track measured at 1 in 3.75.
The Mornington line was the last to close, on
2 March 1957, leaving San Francisco with the only operational cable car system
in the world. Cable Car House (now used by the Mornington Health Centre
after the plumbers moved out) is still clearly marked in the shopping area,
having had little external changes since the line closed. Doreen and Eric
Sargison used to take Allan on this line periodically.
Maryhill Extension[
The Maryhill Extension exited from the back of the Mornington cable car house
at the end of Henderson St, following Glenpark Avenue for 0.5 miles (0.8 km).
The line was perfectly straight, and was sometimes referred to as The Big Dipper,
similar to a roller coaster, going steeply down one side of the valley and then
up the other side. It opened on 18 March 1885 and closed on 29 October 1955.
The line was originally operated using two grip trams which were later
destroyed by a fire. Later, the line was operated by the former Elgin Road grip
tram, DCCT No 106. When this car was being overhauled, it would be replaced
by 'convertible' grip tram No 105, which was used as a spare car on the
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Mornington and Maryhill lines as its grip could be set at two different heights
to allow it to run on either line.
Grip tram 106 was withdrawn in 1955 and donated to the Otago Early Settlers
Museum where it remains on static display. 'Convertible' grip tram 105
remained in service on the Mornington line until the closure of the Mornington
line in 1957 when it was donated in working order to the Seashore Trolley
Museum in Kennebunkport, Maine, where it is stored in a complete state along
with its grip. Philip and Elizabeth Rylance used this line when they lived in
Maryhill after their marriage in 1950, and took their two older daughters,
Patricia and Janet, on it.
Elgin Road Extension
The Elgin Road Extension also left the Mornington cable car house, going up
Mailer Street and then following Elgin Road for a total of 0.9 miles (1.4 km). It
opened on 6 October 1906, and closed only four years later, on 22 January
1910. In contrast to Dunedin's other cable car lines, there was very little
gradient on this line. However, the line featured a number of very sharp curves
which caused the rope to wear out much faster than those on the other lines.
The Elgin Road grip tram was transferred to the Maryhill line and eventually
became DCCT No 106. It is preserved in Toitū Otago Settlers Museum as it
would have looked in 1955 when it was withdrawn.
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Blueskin Bay
Blueskin Bay was the primary home of the first two
generations of Sargisons
Blueskin Bay is 20 km north of Dunedin and includes the townships of Waitati,
Warrington, Evansdale and Seacliff
.
Figure 25 Waitati c 1875
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Figure 26 Waitati about 1900
The area was very popular for organized picnics, with special trains coming
from Dunedin. The adjacent report of 25 February 1924 provides one examples
Figure 27 Blueskin Bay
The following map shows Blueskin
from Omimi north. It identifies
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from the bottom the following farms and sites of family relevance: the Omimi
Dairy Factory (bottom left);
; two
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The Otago Peninsula
Kāi Tahu have a long association with Muaupoko (Otago Peninsula) and the
This was an important regions for the first three generations of
the Stonemason Dicks, the early Allans and the Andersons at the
Dunedin end.
mauka (mountain) of the Peninsula Hereweka (Harbour Cone). Hereweka,
meaning to
where weka were
the food resource.
Figure 28 Otago Peninsula in 1870s, unknown
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As we have already seen, the Peninsula was one of earliest areas in the Otago
region to be settled by white people. Whalers, including the Weller brothers,
arrived before 1830 and other settlers followed. While many interactions with
local Maori were mutually rewarding it has been noted, for example, that
several interracial marriages took place other cross-cultural encounters were
less happy. Dr Hocken 46 describes one such event which took place in 1825 at
Whareakeake.
A boats crew under one Kelly, a well known Hobart Town pilot
was engaged in bringing potatoes out to their vessel. Kelly
quarreled with the chief, Pokeno, and local Maori attached the
crew, who impeded by their heavy loads, were all tomohawked.
46
http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-HocCont-t1-body-d14.html
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boat deck retaliated fiercely. The bloodstained sands resulted in
the name Murdering Beach.
Walter Christie, a draper, established a thatch and board house and general
shop in Portobello in 1842. He called the area Portobello after his hometown.
Previous names for the area included Limeburners Bay, 47 Easy Bay, Koararia
and Parihaumia. The town is about 20 kilometres from the centre of Dunedin
City, a major journey in the 19 th century but a quick water crossing to Port
Chalmers. The road to Dunedin opened in the 1870s. A school opened in 1858.
47
Where whalers burnt shells to make whitewash.
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Pukehiki & Hereweka
ad
This early colonial
settlement was
predominantly comprised
of small dairy farms and
also the larger estate of
William Larnach. The
1844 Otago purchase
from Kai Tahu included
most of the Peninsula to
Taiaroa Head (Pukekura).
The Hereweka/Harbour
Cone property was
subdivided into land titles
in 1863 and many of the
stone wall features on the
property are boundary
walls constructed along
these first survey lines. At
the time of the 1863
subdivision, heavy bush
covered the landscape.
The first European settlers
cleared the land to
establish pasture for dairyfarming.
During the days of early colonial settlement, the family economy was dependent
on producing butter from the daily milking of small dairy herds, supplemented
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by hens for eggs, pigs, a few sheep and gardens producing other food for the
family. The presence of the large Larnach estate probably allowed local farmers
to supplement their income by providing their labour to the estate. William
Larnach began buying land on the Peninsula in 1870 and by about 1875 had
deve
purchases in the area, but also the smaller sections of land originally granted by
the Crown to earlier settlers and then amalgamated by Larnach. The Camp
Estate included the castle and associated buildings. Within the
Hereweka
(replacing an original steading) which was accessed through a grand arched
entranceway and consisted of a byre, stable, barn and dairy and the farm
-sufficient farming operations.
The Hereweka/Harbour Cone area includes the upper reaches of Sandymount
industrial activity was found. Further west, towards Dunedin at Pukehiki, other
important community structures were located, such as the drill-shed and the
Pukehiki Presbyterian Church. Two of the limestone kilns, the site of the
boundaries but played an important role in the community. Two other sites
crushing plant.
s boundaries are the Sandymount post office and a lime
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operative dairy factory was
established at John
-
farm on the Otago
Peninsula in 1871. The
Otago Peninsula Cooperative
Cheese Factory
Co. Ltd began producing
had been the cheesemaker.
cheese in September that
year, the first manager
being J.L. McGregor. Prior
to that his wife, Catherine,
Robert Dick of Pukehiki was a shareholder.
Mathieson left the company in 1875, and the factory was moved a short
distance to Pukehiki (Highcliffe) where they established the first factory-style
dairy processing operation in New Zealand, supplying Dunedin and exporting
to Australia. Cheese production continued until the mid-1880s when there was
a switch to butter manufacture. The concern finally disbanded sometime in the
1890s.
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Hereweka was divided into
nineteen farms varying in size
from 10 115 acres. Some were
probably no more than
subsistence properties, while
larger farms were developed into
economic units. As the
Hereweka bush was cleared and
developed into pasture, dairying
became the dominant type of
farming on the property. With
this development, Hereweka
farmers began to look
for opportunities to sell their milk and cream further afield to make important
farm revenue.
In September 1877 a group of farmers on the Hereweka property met and
decided to build a cheese factory. The building was to be situated on Captain
what the building looked like, though we do know its dimensions were 14 feet
x 24 feet. Water was drawn from a natural spring and fetched through pipes
from a wall built above Highcliff Road. The founding shareholders of the
Hereweka Cheese factory were;
• Capt William Leslie Snr
• William Leslie Jnr
• Robert Forbes
• Robert Dick
towards the bottom
• William Allan
• William Roger
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• Thomas Scott
• William Hunter
• James Rutherford
• George Bates
Figure 29 The Hereweka Area early 1920s
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The factory was not without its difficulties, largely because of the steep terrain.
Each farmer had his own method for getting milk to the factory. Robert Dick
had special milk cans with flat sides that could be attached to a horse; William
Hunter used a wheelbarrow; James Rutherford used a bullock with a sled.
The first cheese maker was Edmund Ward who began learning the trade
under supervision from the experienced cheese maker, John L McGregor.
McGregor was the first cheese maker at the Springfield site near Pukehiki.
Hannah Scott, the daughter of Thomas Scott, assisted Ward in Figure 30 The
Hereweka Area early 1920s
making the cheese, which was
sold directly to the George Street grocery store of Esther & Low. The Otago
Daily Times reported that the factory had produced 2.5 tons of cheddar cheese
in 1879, valued at 6.5 pence/pound. However, disaster struck in October
1881 when a massive bush fire destroyed the factory and many other
farmsteads in the area. The Otago Daily Times gave a dramatic report on 17
October about the Leslie family and their attempts to save the factory.
the flames, though great exertions were made by Mr and Mrs
Leslie, and Mr Leslie, jun., to save the building. Nothing with the
exception of some bacon and a saw could be got out, and the
whol
-house was twice on fire, but was put out,
though in one place the weatherboards were burned through. The
dairy also had a narrow escape, one of the piles being burnt
completel
sheds were also destroyed.
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The following year saw the famous first export of refrigerated cheese from Port
Chalmers, an event which secured the industry an export future.
Figure 31 The Leslie Farmhouse at Pukehiki
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A Day Trip from Dunedin 48
The adjacent account gives a
great perspective on the
Peninsula and life in Hereweka.
It was published in the Otago
Witness in 1881.
48
Inserted from <https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/OW18800731.2.10?end_date=31-12-
1880&page=11&query=sandymount&start_date=01-01-
1839&title=AHCOG%2CBH%2CCL%2CCROMARG%2CDUNST%2CESD%2CLCM%2CLCP%2CLWM%2CME%2CMIC%2C
Page | 122

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Sandymount
A prominent landform 5km south of Portobello, Sandymount rises to some 300
Figure 32 one of the largest of the lime kilns - note stonework quality by William Dick
metres
above the Pacific Ocean and features some of largest high cliffs and chasms in
New Zealand. It was a successful settlement, its economy based on dairy
farming. There was, however, also a flax scutching mill which prepared
harvested flax for spinning. Lime production was a very significant early
industry with various kilns being constructed, some of which remain to this
day. Most of these were constructed by William Dick and family. The limestone
was transported to Dunedin for incorporation into cement, mortar and
limewash. Other infrastructure included a creamery, a school (educating several
Cowan children), a post office, a volunteer hall and a Presbyterian church. The
residents had the benefit of a regular coach service to Dunedin.
MTBM%2CNOT%2COAM%2CODT%2COW%2COSWCC%2CSOCR%2CST%2CTT%2CWSTAR&type=ARTICLE%2CILLUSTR
ATION>
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Figure 33 Sandymount Dairy factory, c1900
In the 1895 Cyclopedia of NZ, Sandymount was described as:
one of the most important dairying districts on the Otago
Peninsula. It is eight miles east of Dunedin, with which it has
coach communication three times a week, by the main
road The farms in the district are of a fair size, and
devoted to dairying; and, owing to the breezes from the ocean,
the pasture is wonderfully fresh and luxuriant. There are good
roads, and Dunedin may be reached by the main high road, or
through Portobello, which is four miles distant. 49
49
http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-Cyc04Cycl-t1-body1-d5-d21.html
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Figure 34 Pukehiki Presbyterian Church
Figure 35: Dick family wedding at Pukehiki
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Social Activities
Sandymount
Although communications were difficult, there was a rich life in
the small settlements of Otago which surfaces in the
newspapers. I have chosen to demonstrate this using
Sandymount as an example, as many of our predecessors would
have been involved.
The following photo of the Dick family orchestra illustrates one such activity!
William senior is on
the left and the next
adult is his son,
William. The exact
location is unknown.
Figure 36 the Dick family
orchestra on the Peninsula
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Unsurprisingly, a major pursuit for men of various ages was shooting! The
Otago Witness in particular regularly reported shoots such as in this article in
1880. 50 Civic spirit was strong too with Mr
orts to benefit the Benevolent
Society in 1885 see bottom left report on
the next page.
The Lodge of Good Templars was founded
Sandymount in 1881: 51 (left below) as were
the Primitive Brethren:
50
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/OW18800110.2.46?end_date=31-12-
1880&page=5&query=sandymount&start_date=01-01-
1839&title=AHCOG%2CBH%2CCL%2CCROMARG%2CDUNST%2CESD%2CLCM%2CLCP%2CLWM%2CME%2CMIC%2C
MTBM%2CNOT%2COAM%2CODT%2COW%2COSWCC%2CSOCR%2CST%2CTT%2CWSTAR&type=ARTICLE%2CILLUSTR
ATION
51
Papers Past | PENINSULA. (Otago Witness, 1881-04-09)
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Figure 37 The first "bus" to Dunedin from Sandymount
Schooling was of course important in a Scots community in 1887: 52 the Mr
McKay would probably have been from the Andersons Bay McKays.
52
Papers Past | SANDYMOUNT SCHOOL. (Otago Witness, 1887-12-30)
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And in 1893, there was a lecture on Maori history.
The subject of women was not
forgotten: 53
The Boer War raised patriotic
fervour 54 and self- improvement
flourished. 55
53
Papers Past | SANDYMOUNT. (Otago Witness, 1891-05-28)
54
Papers Past | MEETING AT SANDYMOUNT. (Otago Daily Times, 1900-02-13)
55
Papers Past | SANDYMOUNT. (Otago Witness, 1891-10-01)
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Of course life had the usual vicissitudes as noted below 1881
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In 1899 the Primitive Methodists were
flourishing. 56 So too was the Otago
Peninsula Rifle Club 57 .
56
Papers Past | SOCIAL MEETING. (Evening Star, 1899-09-15)
57
Papers Past | SANDYMOUNT. (Otago Witness, 1891-12-22)
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Taieri Places
The Taieri is an important locale for many of our families.
Both the Jollys and the Havards lived there for a period. The
Allans lived on the Taieri from the 1840s and the Kirks from
the 1870s; some descendants still live there. For a time,
James Henry Sargison was the head teacher at Woodside.
The early 20 th century Dicks were in Outram
[CITE YOUR SOURCE HERE.]
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Woodside
Figure 38The Manor House built of
local bricks
This village was of significance both to James and
Georgina Sargison but also to Hope Eason Dick 58
and his family so it deserves some coverage. 59 The
village snuggled beside a glen at the foot of the
Maungatua Hill, looking over the Taieri Plain,
south-west of Dunedin. Gold was never found at
Woodside, although the goldrush put it on the map;
the end of the golden age wiped it off again. Between
times, Woodside was the scene of a famous gold robbery.
Up this gully the diggers tramped towards the goldfields of Waipori, Tuapeka
and Dunstan, in Central Otago, nearly 150 years ago. Later, up this glen, and
onto the Dunstan Trail, probing far across the high plateau beyond, bumped
the coaches of Cobb and Co.
Back down this glen came the gold coach with its
armed escort of grizzled troops. Some had seen
action in the Crimea and during the miners' revolt at
Eureka Stockade in Victoria, Australia.
Figure 39The Woodside Store
restored
At Woodside, they paused before pushing on to the
hotel and police camp at nearby Taieri Ferry, where
they stayed the night before the last stage of their
journey to Dunedin.
A few farmers, woodsmen and sawmillers were here before the diggers. These
God-fearing Presbyterians did not welcome the intrusion of a motley bunch of
hungry gold-seekers who stole their sheep and left only skin and bones.
58
The grandfather of Craig & Allan Sargison.
59
Much of this comes from a Mike Crean article in The Press.
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Henry Beresford Garret, the bushranger
Garrett 60 was New Zealand's first bushranger. He had been transported from
England to prison on Norfolk Island for crimes in his homeland. On release, he
heard of gold discoveries in Otago and headed there. He was associated with
Richard Burgess who, with accomplices Kelly and Levy, was later hanged for
the Maungatapu murders near Nelson, after a fourth gang member, Sullivan,
testified against them.
Garrett led a bunch of pistol-packing men who preyed on diggers returning
from the goldfields. At Woodside Glen, which is now a pretty picnic area, his
gang held up 15 diggers heading for Dunedin with gold in their pockets in late
1861. The gangsters tied their victims to trees and made their getaway with a
small fortune. Garrett reached Sydney before he was captured and brought back
to Dunedin for trial. After serving a term of hard labour, he was released but reoffended
and was locked up in Dunedin jail again. He was then transferred to
Lyttelton where he completed his time. Free at last, he spent the rest of his life
impressing people as a writer and speaker.
Other early settlers
James and Catherine Fulton built a Sunday School, which became a community
hall in the 1860s. It looks tumbledown now but the name Fulton remains
prominent. Two generations later, Jules Fulton and friend, Robert Hogan,
formed roading company Fulton Hogan near the hall.
Another early settler, Francis McDiarmid, arrived from Scotland on the
immigrant ship Philip Laing, in 1848. Sturdy Scots like him built sturdy homes,
like Woodside Manor. This impressive baronial homestead was built of local
bricks in the 1860s.
60
Whose real name was Henry Rouse. See https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/1g5/garrett-henry-beresford
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The Woodside hotel keeper, J. Iveson, also operated the daily coach service to
and from Dunedin. Frequently he would come out from behind his bar to drive
the horses.
Outram
When Woodside began to decline around 1880, Iveson had his hotel jacked up
and moved four kilometres down the road to Outram, where he re-established
his business.
Outram's star was on the rise. The Taieri River was bridged there and in 1877,
a branch railway line from near Mosgiel reached there. While Outram
prospered, Woodside, which had once contained a sawmill and flourmill, a
general store and post office, bootmaker's and baker's shops, various
tradesmen's workshops, a school and hall, gradually subsided to become a few
houses and a school.
The Cyclopaedia of NZ (1905), described Outram thus:
OUTRAM 61 is a country town in the Taieri Plain, and is
connected by a branch railway with Mosgiel, distant nine miles.
It has a population of 500 souls, two churches, a state school,
post and telegraph offices, two banks, two hotels, two
accommodation houses, and is the centre of an agricultural
district, which contains some of the best land in Otago. The
township is governed by a Town Board, which first took office in
1882. A disastrous flood occurred at Outram in 1868, causing
great destruction to property and the loss of a young settler's life.
Many houses were undermined, and others were washed away,
61
http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-Cyc04Cycl-t1-body1-d5-d50-
d5.html
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including the courthouse, and parts of the constable's residence.
At t
at Outram. Formerly the streets were lighted with kerosene,
which has been superseded by electric light. The water supply is
obtained by filterage from the Taieri river, the reservoir (an
elevated iron tank of 4000 gallons, which supplies the town)
being filled with the aid of steam power from the filterage well.
Outram is one of the finest and healthiest places in New Zealand,
and is a favourite resort for excursionists from Dunedin. The
roads are good and fit for cycling. There are several endowments,
one of eighteen acres, used as a domain and place of resort for
excursionists and another of 375 acres along the river Taieri.
There is also a recreation ground of about six acres planted with
macrocarpa trees for shelter and with a well laid cycle track.
The Sargison brothers, Allan and Craig, well remember many Sunday drives
with Hope and May Dick which went either round the Peninsula or out to the
Taieri and places described above in an Austin Somerset, accompanied of
course by ice-creams. It is clear in retrospect how much the area meant to
them both and we could have learnt much more from them!!!
When May Elizabeth Jolly married Hope Dick she brought two more families
then living in Whare Flat into the scope of this work the Jollies and the
Havards.
Whare Flat
Whare Flat lies some 15 km to the northwest of Dunedin city centre. It is
located at a widening of the Silver Stream's valley amid the foothills of
the Silverpeaks. Over the last 50 years it has perhaps been best known as the
location of a scout camp, Camp Waiora, well known to Allan Sargison who
enjoyed many camps there. It also hosts annually the Whare Flat Folk Festival
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, the southern South Island's biggest annual folk music event, which is held
over the New Year holiday. There are a number of Maori legends relating to the
area:
The Maori people of Otakou used to speak about
paramount chief, used to speak
about a taniwha which was the guardian of the spirit of a famous
Kari Mamoe chief. This taniwha lost its master and set out in
search of him. From Silverstream near the base of Whare Flat it
journed as far as the present Mosgiel. Then it took tis course
down the Taieri River and wriggling caused all the sharp bends
and twists in the river. The same taniwha scooped out the Otago
62
School view 63
62
TA Pybus, Reed, 1954). http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-PybMaor-t1-body-d4.html
63
Otago Witness, Issue 2831, 17 June 1908
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Figure 40 School Prizegiving 1893 Otago Witness
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Ōamaru the kingdom by
the sea 64
64
Novelist Janet Frame called it the Kingdom by the Sea. The phrase is from her autobiographical To
the Is-Land. Frame, Oamaru’s most famous daughter and the country’s supreme chronicler of
provincial life, was actually born in Dunedin but grew up here.
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Oamaru and the Waitaki Valley are important to the
wife, Georgina Betson Cunningham and her family
lived there. James Henry taught there at various times.
In the second half of the 20th century, Philip Vernon
and Elizabeth Rylance lived at Windsor for many
years. All three Rylance sisters attended Windsor
and Margaret
Gordon Huie, the foundation principal of Waitaki Girls High
School.
[CITE YOUR SOURCE HERE.]
65
Ōamaru itself is located on the east coast about 116 kms north from Dunedin
and about 90km south of Timaru. The meaning of the name is a little obscure
but one suggestion is that it is the Place of Maru, commemorating a Māori chief
buried near the Oamaru Creek. Another is mentioned in the insert below. 66
65
The mother in law of the first cousin 3x removed of the Rylance sisters.
66
Robert Valpy Fulton, Medical Practice in Otago & Southland in the Early Days, ODT 1922, p. 201.
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Initially the
area was
somewhat
overlooked by
European
visitors. 67
James Cook
came within
three miles of
the shore but
was not
tempted to
land noting
that the land
is very low and
flat and
continues so up
to the skirts of
the hills which
are at least 4 or
5 miles inland.
The whole face
of the Country appears barren, nor did we see any signs of inhabitants . Footnote?
Probably the lack of a harbour meant that initial settlement went elsewhere. The
sheltered landing spot in the lee of Cape Wanbrow was known to sealers and
whalers. The first European resident in the area prior to 1850 was probably the
67
This section is based on http://www.dunedinfamilyhistory.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/DFHG-
2013-Dec-newsletter.pdf
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trader, James Saunders, who was based at the mouth of the Waitaki River some
20km north of Oamaru.
European settlement began to develop in the late 1850s:
• in 1853), Englishman Hugh Robison erected the first house, fashioned
from raupo, flax and earth. Robison had bought a block of North Otago
land called Run No. 15 from the provincial government. He brought
with him 2700 sheep and 47 head of cattle to show that he was serious
about settling down.
• In 1858 the first accommodation house opened.
• A derrick and landing gear was installed by the Otago Provincial
Government to raise or lower goods into surf boats. It was not always
an easy process!
• In 1858 the township was laid out by the Otago Chief Surveyor and
Provincial Engineer, John T. Thompson who was responsible for
naming most of the original streets after English rivers!
• The first sale of sections was in May 1858.
• By 1860 there was a regular steamer service to Dunedin. The first
sermon was
William Johnstone who had come up from Port Chalmers for the
purpose
population attended! 68
• In 1862 the Provincial Government created the Oamaru Town Board
at 1,000.
68
Robert Valpy Fulton, op cit, p 202.
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For 15 years or so from the early 1860s, 69 Oamaru was one of the most
notorious shipwreck sites. Nevertheless, ships kept coming, so in time the
Oamaru Harbour Board, formed in 1874, constructed a safe artificial harbour
which was opened in
1884. This harbour is now
New
most
authentic
Victorian/Edwardian deepsea
port. On it rested the
prosperity that gave
Ōamaru its magnificent
limestone buildings.
North Otago by then was one of New finest wheat growing areas with
some 32,000 hectares under cultivation and a production of more than 1
million bushels pa. The market for grain was lifted by the huge population
changes driven by first gold and then public works and immigration policies of
Julius Vogel. 70
Figure 41 Oamaru 1863 Unknown
69
https://nzhistory.govt.nz/media/photo/port-oamaru
70
https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/city-of-stone/
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Figure 42 1874 photo showing shipping and start of breakwater on right. 71
In 1878 Sir George Grey remarked:
As I looked at your buildings rising in stone of the utmost
brilliance, of a kind I have never seen before, I thought, Oamaru
is a fair maiden that sits by the
sea. 72
The boost given by public works, including harbour development, and an
export trade in wool and grain from the 1860s, saw the town more than triple
71
'Oamaru Harbour, 1874', https://nzhistory.govt.nz/media/photo/oamaru-harbour-1874, (Ministry for Culture and
Heritage), updated 17-May-2017
72
Op cit
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its population from 1,657 in 1871 to 5,791 a decade later. By the mid-1880s
the town centre was home to an impressive array of buildings made from locally
quarried limestone. 73
New Exports
Totara Estate is 8km south of Ōamaru and is central to a NZ economic
revolution of at least as much significance as the gold rushes. The estate
provided the meat for the
s first successful
shipment of frozen meat to
Britain in 1882, thus paving the
way for the trade in frozen meat
and dairy products which became
20th-century economy.
The Dunedin -
based general manager of the New Zealand and Australian Land Company,
whose landholdings in the two countries exceeded one million hectares. The
entrepreneurial Davidson had taken a keen interest in experiments from 1876,
which had proved the concept, if not yet the economic viability, of shipping
frozen meat around the globe.
Davidson decided to fit out a passenger sailing ship, the Albion
Dunedin 74 , with a coal-powered Bell Coleman freezing plant, which
cooled the entire hold to 22 degrees celsius below the outside temperature.
Company employee, Thomas Brydone, was sent to Britain to study refrigeration
technology and then handled the experiment in New Zealand.
73
https://teara.govt.nz/en/otago-places/page-1
74
Built by Patrick Henderson in 1874, designed by Duncan and a beautiful iron ship of 1250 tons. There
was another ship of the same name trading to NZ in the 1850s of some 208 tons
and very fast.
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Most of the first cargo
originated
from
slaughterhouse at
Totara Estate, near
Oamaru
harbour development
was not then complete
so the meat was sent by
rail to Port Chalmers in iceboxes and the
mutton and lamb carcasses were frozen
aboard the Dunedin. Despite mechanical
problems, the plant froze nearly 10,000
carcasses in two months. About 5,000
carcasses were on board the Dunedin when
it sailed on 15 February. When the vessel
became becalmed in the tropics, crew
noticed that the cold air in the hold was not
circulating properly. To save his historic
cargo, Captain John Whitson crawled
inside and sawed extra air holes, almost
freezing to death in the process. Crew
Figure 43 The blood gutter from the slaughte house
members managed to pull him out by a rope and resuscitated him. When
the Dunedin arrived in London in late May, only one carcass had to be
remarked on.
More than a single successful shipment was needed to create a new industry.
Davidson set to work creating a marketing and insurance structure to underpin
refrigerated shipping. The second voyage of the Dunedin left from Oamaru in
1883.
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The new technology ultimately enabled the owner-operated (family) farm to
become the standard economic unit in rural New Zealand for the next century. 75
It doubtless helped the Sargison farm in Blueskin.
Figure 44 the granary reflecting importance of grain growing
The New Zealand Land
Company chartered
the Dunedin for nine other
voyages, making ten
consecutive passages in
all. The ship practically
died in harness, being lost
in 1890. No trace was
ever found.
Schools
Oamaru Middle School where James Henry taught was opened in 1862. It went
through some name changes but reverted to this name in 1887 and continued
until 1924 when it closed. 76
Waitaki Boys High School was founded in 1883 and Waitaki Girls in 1887. The
Rylance sisters all attended the latter in the 1960/70s. in 1968 Patricia was Dux
and three years later Janet was Head Prefect.
Waitaki Girls High School
75
https://nzhistory.govt.nz/first-shipment-of-frozen-meat-leaves-nz
76 http://www.dunedinfamilyhistory.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/DFHG-2013-Dec-newsletter.pdf
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Figure 45 Margaret Gordon
Burn nee Huie
The establishment of
Waitaki Girls was driven by
two local politicians..W.
Hislop and Samuel
Shrimski, persuaded
Parliament to establish a
high school for girls in
Oamaru to serve the North
Otago region. Mrs Margaret
Figure 46 Samuel Shrimski MP
Gordon Burn (nee Huie), aged 62, was appointed Lady Principal on 1
October. 77 The School opened on 17 October with roll of 9 students. Miss
Annie Forbes, the first woman in Otago to graduate MA with Honours and a
former O
pupil of Mrs Burn) was appointed first
assistant. She was joined a year later by Miss Alice Little to cope with the
growing roll (49 pupils). Music, physical drill and sewing were added to the
curriculum. Mrs Burn resigned in 1892 for health reasons.
Lane’s Emulsion
77
She had previously been the foundation principal of Otago Girls High until her retirement. & mother
in law of 2 nd great uncle of Rylance sisters.
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Bad taste = good
health
tonic
made with cod liver oil ,
was devised by Ōamaru
pharmacist Edward
Lane and first sold in
1898. It proved so
popular that a factory
was set up in the town,
where the tonic was
produced until 1984
For those growing up in the first half of the 20 th century,
point. 78
The 1868 advertisement below indicates the
range of medical supplies in popular use!
78
Photo of pharmacy from www.culturewaitaki.orn.nz, factory from dondonovan.blogspot.com.
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In the first part of the 20th century, nearly half of Ōamaru
population
stayed that way until 1960
sales. 79
the last South Island district to resume alcohol
79
https://teara.govt.nz/en/otago-places/page-1
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Part 3: The new people
Robert Dick Jane Grey Agnes Allan Luscar, Sandymount
Griffen Sargison
Janet Horne
William & Helen
Eason
The Robert Henderson
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Mary Clapham
Thurstan Rylance
Thomas Robertson
& Ann Peat
John Anderson & Isabella
Allan
Moss
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The first beginnings of
our NZ Families
The Robertsons 80
In 1775, James Robertson and Catherine Barclay were married in Musselburgh,
Edinburgh. They had two sons, Thomas (1803-1895) and Alexander.
Thomas was a baker and presumably was working in this trade when he
married Elizabeth Adamson shortly before his 20 th birthday. They were to enjoy
only two days of married life, as on 1 December 1796, Thomas was taken by
the naval press gang which was scouring the town for young men to fill the
ice in the war
against Napoleon. He was sent south to join the 74 gun Ganges on which he
served for nearly three years. It must have been a tedious time since the Ganges
was mainly employed patrolling the coast of the Netherlands to prevent the
Dutch fleet joining their ally, France. When the fleet attempted to leave port,
they were promptly engaged by the British and defeated at the battle of
Camperdown. The Ganges, however, took no part in this battle as she had
returned to Yarmouth to have a mast replaced. Firing at passing French fishing
boats seems to have been the hottest action Thomas saw during these years.
80
This section is heavily based on a letter from Donald Hansen dated 7.8.86 addressed to Mrs
Harwood. It was supplied by Don Hansen, the great-great- grandson of Thomas Robertson Stuart,
fourth child of Lewis Stuart and Margaret nee Robertson.
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Figure 47 HMS Cormorant, formerly privateer, Rattlesnake
In 1800 he was transferred to
a 20-gun ship, the Cormorant
and was sent to join the
Mediterranean fleet
blockading ports in Frenchoccupied
Europe and Egypt.
On the night of 20 May 1800
as the Cormorant was heading
for Alexandria, she went
aground on an uncharted
company were forced to abandon ship. They all reached the shore by rafts
where the French were waiting to take them prisoner. Thomas was held in
Egypt for 15 months by what the shi
came when the British took Cairo and Alexandria in 1801.
Thomas then joined the Egyptienne, a freshly captured French 40-gun ship. On
returning to England, he was moved to the 16-gun sloop Alonzo, which was
undergoing repairs at the Nore. On 23 April 1802, Thomas Robertson and three
shipmates saw a chance to escape from the miserable conditions of life at sea
Sheerness near London.
Thomas must have headed straight home to Scotland as his wife, Elizabeth, gave
birth to a son less than a year later. By this time the family was living in
Aberlady, a small village 14 miles along the coast from Edinburgh. Thomas
Robertson
died soon afterwards ( March 1805) , leaving his widow to bring up their 2 year
old son, also named Thomas (1803-1895).
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In 1824, young Thomas Robertson 81 , then 21 years old, was a stonemason
living in Edinburgh. He married Janet Pate (aka) Peat, a tailor s daughter, from
Fisherrow, the port of Musselburgh. They moved back to Aberlady to set up
home, where over the next 15 years, two sons and five daughters were born. In
1841 Janet died, only 38 years old. Thomas, with a young family to support ,
quickly remarried, this time to an Orkney Islander in service in Edinburgh,
Elizabeth Wells.
At this time, the New Zealand Company was offering to labourers and artisans
free passages to their new settlements in New Zealand, and the Robertsons
found the offer attractive. Precisely why they chose to emigrate in 1842 is not
known, but the fact that they were living moderately well for a working-class
family seems to suggest that the promise of a new life, rather than the broken
81
The maternal grandfather of Allan and Craig’s 3 rd great uncle.
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promise of the old one, was the greater influence on their decision to leave. The
Robertsons
daughter some years prior to meeting and marrying Thomas, which he stated
d a
have agreed as the Robertsons were accepted as colonists. They sold their house
and ceased taking on new work in anticipation of departure, so they must have
been sorely disappointed when in early 1843 they were told that NZ Company
emigration had been suspended.
Less than a year later, however,
advertised by the Company. Had they
known that nearly four more years were
to pass before they could sail, they might
have given up the whole idea. As it was,
eldest son by his first wife had
married in the meantime and moved to
Glasgow. The rest of the family (now
increased by the birth of another daughter) was aboard the Philip Laing when in
late 1847 that ship slipped out of Greenock for Port Chalmers. It was not a
quick passage.
The Robertsons was for a house ready
for winter.
, making a cave in the
Vauxhall cliffs habitable until they could afford a house. He earned a living
building chimneys for the Company, and in 1849 was able to buy some land at
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Andersons Bay, to which the family moved. In 1850, the last addition to the
family, Jane, was born.
Thomas opened a quarry at Anderson's Bay, and
brought stone across the harbour in a punt; with
his son, James, he built the school and other
buildings with this stone. Later, he quarried at
Forbury Rd and discovered lime at Burnside. 82
Figure 48 Thomas Robertson
The succeeding years were spent building up a farm
which Thomas named Mt Pleasant, a name
indicative perhaps of his satisfaction with his new life. The goldrushes of the
and farmers such as Thomas Robertson found the market for their cattle and
produce very favourable. His increasing prosperity is reflected in further
purchases of land in Andersons Bay and Tomahawk.
His home life, however, was less positive! In 1865 when his wife Elizabeth was
dangerously ill and bedridden, she was forced
to send for the police when Thomas, who had
been drunk for the past week, threatened to
throw her out the window and kill her.
Thomas was fined 5 pounds and costs. A few
days later, a rumour was all over town that he
had thrown her from a window after all, but it
proved to be unfounded. There was however a
drink, consumed this time by Elizabeth,
82
Obituary, Otago Daily Times, 17 March 1898.
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according to the newspaper report. She died a few days later, and Thomas was
married for the third time, to Margaret Napier who was born in Scotland in1813
and came to Dunedin with her parents in the 1860s. They had no children.
The Robertson children played vital roles in linking two of the precursors to
later family.
James Robertson was born on 25 November 1826 in Aberlady, East Lothian,
when his father, Thomas, was 23 and his
mother, Janet, was 24. Iinitially, he worked as
a stonemason in Dunedin with his father,
before buying land at North Taieri in the
1850s. He spent the rest of his life with his
family there on Racecourse Farm. He married
Jane Russell in September 1863. They had two
children during their marriage. He died on 20
June 1910 in Dunedin, having lived a long life
of 83 years, and was buried in Mosgiel, Otago. Jane predeceased him in 1908.
On 30 May 1849, Elizabeth Robertson, daughter of Thomas and Janet Pate,
married Richard Driver. A family of 13 followed, many of them born and died
in Purakanui. 83
83
It has been renamed to Purakaunui from Purakanui .There is another place with the same name in
the Catlins, 160 km south.
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• Janet Robertson 84 was born on 28 March 1829 in Aberlady, East
Lothian, when her father,
Thomas, was 25, and her
mother, Janet, was 26. She
married Octavius Francis
Harwood in 1848 in
Ōtākou, a year after her
arrival in Dunedin. They
had eight children in 23
years. After some years in
Ōtākou, they moved to
Portobello where they produced butter for the market. Lucy, one of their
daughters,
Lucy, the first boat to take
cargo from Otago Harbour. Lucy was an accomplished linguist who
married James Dick (covered later). Janet died on 27 May 1896 in
Portobello, Otago, at the age of 67, and was buried there.
• Agnes Robertson married Thomas Harrison, and for some time worked
, Harrison
bought land at Tomahawk and farmed there. He retired in the 1880s or
thereabouts, and he and Agnes moved to Dunedin where Harrison
devoted his time to fern collecting.
• Euphemia Robertson was born in 1840 in Haddington, East Lothian,
when her father, Thomas, was 37, and
her mother, Janet, was 38. She had one
son and one daughter with Captain John
Simpson who operated a coastal trading
vessel along the coast between Clutha
and Oamaru in the days before adequate
roads existed. He drowned at the mouth of the Taieri
R
Euphemia then married Alexander Inglis, a partner in the drapery firm
of A & T Inglis 85 in Dunedin.
84
These footnotes need to be reconstructed
85
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Alexander was born in 1834 in Scotland. They married on 21
September 1865, and had nine children in 11 years. Inglis died on 7
July 1887 in Dunedin, at the age of 53.
The children of Thomas Robertson
• Ann ( Annie) who married Charles Miller,a Dane, who farmed first at
Hoopers Inlet and later at Tomahawk.
• Jane ( Jeannie), who married David Ross, Scottish law clerk. They lived
in Dunedin until about 1874, then moved to Timaru where Ross
worked as a commission agent and also served on the Timaru town
council and as mayor for a time.
, born before her marriage to Thomas Robertson, was
Elizabeth Simson, born in the Orkney Islands. Her father was a seaman, James
Simson. Elizabeth Simson married Thomas Fairbairn, a shoemaker, and they
emigrated from Scotland to Dunedin in 1858. They lived in Andersons Bay and
raised a family of seven children.
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The Allans
The Allans were a very large family. Their history has been written up twice.
The most significant work is The Taieri Allans by John Thompson Allan which
is available on https://rylancesargison.xyz/family-histories/, along with a
detailed family tree. It is not therefore proposed to cover the family again
outside of the line of descent.
NZ Descent Line
A1 AGNESS ALLAN 1794-1891
4th great-grandmother
A2 Agnes ALLAN 1833-1922
Daughter of AGNESS ALLAN
A3 Janet Scott Oliver 1862-1944
Daughter of Agnes ALLAN
A4 Lindsay Allan 1895-1930
Son of Janet Scott Oliver
A5 Elizabeth Allan 1927-1998
Daughter of Lindsay Allan
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A 6 Dr Patricia Ann Rylance 1952-
Daughter of Elizabeth Allan
A7 Georgina Elizabeth & Geoffrey Phillip James Sargison
A1 Agness Allan & John Allen
John Allen was born in 1791. After his parents died, he ran away, aged 9, to the
Navy where he served on the Speedy (Lord Cochrane) and
then as Able Seaman on the Aboukir (Captain Thomson).
John was discharged in 1815 at the age of 18. He settled at
Irvine, working as a weaver and agricultural labourer until
1820 when he married Agness Allan and moved to
Kilmarnock.
Agness Allan was born in Ulster where her family had settled after leaving
Ayrshire, in Scotland during the Stuart religious persecutions. Agness claimed
that her family was related to the founder of the Allan line of steamers. The
Allan Line was once the largest private shipping line in the world, being
founded by Sir Hugh Allan (1810-1862). 86 No direct link has been found but
there were relations in the area at the time so she could be right.
Agness did not change her name on marriage and family legend has it that,
instead, John changed his, out of gallantry for his wife. During the late 18th and
early 19th centuries, Scottish society in the Highlands
suffered severely from the collapse of its system of chiefs and
fighting clans. As the population increased, overcrowding
occurred and subsistence farming did not meet food needs.
86
http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/allan_hugh_11E.html
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In order to create space for sheep farming, many major landowners evicted
crofters, sometimes burning their cottages.
The Allans were weavers and small farmers, so were doubtless affected by these
upheavals. In 1842, therefore, they emigrated to New Zealand with their four
sons and three daughters. They were not simply seeking to escape the poverty
and tense political situation; another reason for leaving was to found a church
in which they could worship, in their own way, without interference. They were
religious dissenters and had attended the Burgher Kirk, in Kilmarnock, one of
many sects that split from the Church of Scotland during the 18th century.
On 4 July 1842, John and Agness and the children sailed from Cumbrae on the
barque New Zealand, arriving in Nelson 87 on 3 November 1842. John
apparently had a small property at Richmond. They moved on to Otago in
1844, over three years before the official settlement began. This was largely as
a result of difficulties with land title in Nelson, challenging economic conditions
and the so-called Wairau Massacre. 88 The voyage south was not quite as
expected. Soon after leaving Nelson, John Allan fell ill, and the ship put into
Picton to consult a doctor, who was on board a man-of-war which was
anchored there. As this boat was also going on to Otago, and then to the
Chatham Islands, and as John had been a man-ofoffered
to take him and his wife with them so that he might have the attendance
of the sh during the voyage. After leaving Picton, a fair wind for the
Chathams sprang up, so the captain decided to go there first. Consequently,
Agness Allan was the first white woman to visit the Chatham Islands. It is not
clear whether she saw this as an achievement!
87
Note there was another pioneering Allan family consisting of David Allan (1838-1920) and his wife
Agnes Allan (1830-1915) who was a great horse rider and midwife based in Collingwood. No
connection has yet been made.
88
This incident occurred on 17 June and had a profound impact in terms of settler uncertainty despite
the Maori having right on their side.
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Presbytery.
The Allans initially lived at Andersons Bay
but in 1850 moved to the Taieri where
John built a house on the farm he called
Bellfield. He became the first elder of the
East Taieri Presbyterian Church and in
1854 a member of the first Otago
He died in August 1863.
Agness Allan survived her husband by twenty-eight years, and died at Bellfield
on 10th April, 1891, at the advanced age of ninety- six years. Joseph Anderson
has described her thus:
She was a typical woman for a new country. Of rather undersized
stature, she was active and wiry, maintaining her activity
of mind and body until the end of her long life. When I was a
child of two-and-a- half years of age I was staying at Bellfield,
when Grandmother took me home to Port Chalmers. We left the
Taieri in the morning with the bullock sledge that was going as
far as Dunedin, where we stayed the night with James Allan.
During the afternoon I got lost - a frequent occurrence. As there
was a great fear that I might wander into the surrounding scrub
and bush, a search party was organised. When I was found,
Grandmother rushed up and caught me in her arms, declaring:
journey she said I walked bravely for a mile or two, and when I
grew tired she carried me on her back for the remaining seven
miles! All I remember of the journey was that when we entered
Port Chalmers, my brother John, with another small boy, came
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was throwing down a biscuit from a paper bag to each of the
boys.
Some time after we had removed to Waiwera she decided on
coming out to see us. Without sending word, she stepped onto the
public coach that passed Bellfield in the morning and arrived at
the Waiwera Hotel after dark on the same day, where she stayed
overnight. Next morning an obliging shepherd who had his sheep
rounds in our direction piloted her over some deep creeks and
through the open tussock country for the three miles from the
hotel to Kelvingrove.
In the early Taieri life she was looked upon by her neighbours as
once arose:
at Bellfield a number of mothers getting their children
vaccinated.
When her death took place the attendance at her funeral was one
of the largest of any that ever took place in the Taieri, and was
probably exceeded only by that of her son, James Allan, of
Hopehill, who died a few months after his mother. 89
89
James Allan Thompson, the Taieri Allans, 1929, NZ Bible Society, p71
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A1- and Jane
Sutcliffe
James Allan 90 , was born in 1824 in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire. His father,
John, 91 was 33 and his mother, Agness Allan, was 30, and of Irish descent.
James accompanied his family to Nelson in 1842 aboard the SS New
Zealand along with his siblings Janet. James, Isabella,Joseph. John and
Agnes. 92
There are two versions of his
marriage to Jane Sutcliffe who was
born in Stockport, Cheshire and
had come to New Zealand aboard
the Ajax which called at both
Dunedin on 8 January 1849 and
thence to Nelson via Wellington
on 7 February 1849. 93
One apparently reliable source has the marriage as being in 1846 94 but
n Nelson.
The more likely place was Dunedin and the date used by others is 18
March 1850. After moving to the Taieri, they established a sizeable family
90
4 th great uncle of the Rylance sisters
92
https://bluegumtree.com/person/PER54.html
93
http://www.familyhistorynz.co.nz/ajax-1849-passenger-list/
94
"New Zealand, Civil Records Indexes, 1800-1966," database, FamilySearch
(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q24J-JWRP : 4 October 2016), James Allan and Jane Sutcliffe, 1846; citing
Marriage, New Zealand, registration number 1846/2, Archives of New
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of 12 children in 20 years. Jane died on 25 July 1923 in Otago at the age
of 93.
James first arrived in Otago in 1846 with a survey party, who were
engaged in surveying around the Clutha.
When James Smith came to Dunedin from Nelson with the Allans in May,
1848, he brought with him £120 worth of goods, consisting of boots,
flour, onions, bricks and lime for an oven, etc.. Taking James Allan into
partnership, they started a store and bakehouse in Dunedin under the
name of Smith and Allan, where they carried on business until 1853. The
bakery was only modestly successful because people were accustomed to
baking their own bread.
It is worth understanding the huge amount of physical work involved in
such an undertaking.
time of the Otago Jubilee:
Mr James Allan and I agreed to go into partnership as Smith and
Allan. We sawed timber in the bush at Port Chalmers, bought a
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boat from the late Thomas Jones (brother of the late John Jones),
and rafted the timber up to Dunedin to build a Bakehouse. Then,
as there was no draught animal in Dunedin at that time, we
carried it out, wet as it was, on our shoulders, and up to what
afterwards becam
Rattray Street. This section we had leased from the Rev. Thomas
(afterwards Dr) Burns for a term of seven years, at a rental of
£4 per annum, he being attorney in the matter for an Edinburgh
lady. We then bought some Nelson timber (three and four- inch
planks) out of a vessel arrived from Nelson, erected a saw pit at
high water mark on the beach, under where the old First Church
stood and ripped it up into three-quarter and one-inch boards. As
Mr A. C. Strode, then R.M., could not get timber enough to finish
the gaol, we cut a small portion of it out of the planks to enable
bakehouse, and help build a store. We cut it, carried it out on our
whaleboat, which we had bought for £28 from Mr Thomas Jones,
with Mr Adam Begg (o
others as passengers. We had the bakehouse erected about the
stands, about October 1848. About January, 1849, the store was
once began business as storekeepers 18 . When the boats first
came up with flour and other goods from Port Chalmers we had
to wade into the tide nearly up to our middles, and carry out the
200lb bags of flour on our backs up to the bakehouse. Mr George
Westland afterwards got a draught poly bullock and cart, which
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saved us a lot of heavy carrying. By the way, I helped to drive
this bullock from Waikouaiti to Dunedin, over Flagstaff, in
company with the late Mr Edmund Smith, of the Savings bank,
then a cadet with the Dunedin butcher, Mr Alexander
McDonald.
1849, employed a man to assist me, James Jones, afterwards of
Jones and Williamson. Our business as storekeepers was carried
on in conjunction with the bakery. The late Mr John Jones was
the only wholesale merchant at that time, and he only employed
one man (James Marshall, of Halfway Bush). Mr Jones kept his
ey for
supplies, but sometimes the supplies ran out, and then a famine
prevailed for a while. On one occasion, in 1850, we were about
six weeks without any flour in Dunedin, with the exception of
enough to make one batch of bread. This we made from the
surplus of some seed wheat that was imported from Nelson for
y man
and I ground this surplus wheat in a steel mill, baked it, and
were rushed for the bread before it was out of the oven.
On another occasion there was no salt to be got for two or three
months. We had to boil down the sea water to get enough salt to
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bake the bread, a process which entailed great labour, and was
not very satisfactory when done. 95
In 1851 James Smith retired from the store and took up land at East Taieri, at
what subsequently became Hopehill station. At the beginning of 1852, he
transferred Hopehill to James Allan, who gave up his Dunedin business. Smith
took up land at
Tokomairiro and
the Greenfield
Estate became
something of a
showpiece. A few
years later, James
Allan again joined
him in partnership
in a run near
Tokomairiro. He held this interest until 1860.
In May 1853, James and Jane moved into Hopehill, in East Taieri, which he had
previously stocked with sheep, and where he resided until his death in 1891,
at the age of sixty-seven years. He left a family of seven sons and four daughters.
He was a member of the Provincial Council until the abolition of the provinces;
a Commissioner of the Waste Lands Board, a member of the Education and
River Boards; and captain of the first East Taieri Rifles. 96
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TT19031121.2.12?query=smith+%26+allan&items_per_page=10&page
=5&snippet=true&title=AHCOG%2cBH%2cCL%2cCROMARG%2cDUNST%2cESD%2cLCM%2cLCP%2cLWM%2c
ME%2cMIC%2cMTBM%2cNOT%2cOAM%2cODT%2cOW%2cOSWCC%2cSOCR%2cST%2cTT%2cWSTAR 95
96
www.totouism.com
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A2 Agnes Allan & Adam Oliver
Agnes 97 was born in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, and came out to Nelson, New
Zealand, with her parents, John and Agness, in 1842. She moved with them to
Otago in 1844. Adam Oliver was born in Upper Hindthorpe Farm, Roxburgh,
Scotland in 1824 and arrived in Port Chalmers on the Cresswell in 1851.
97
2 nd great grandmother of the Rylance sisters.
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The couple married in East Taieri on 1 February 1855.
A3 Janet Scott Oliver & James Allan(1860-1934)
Both Janet Oliver and James Allan were New Zealand born. James, the son of
James Hopehill Allan and Jane Sutcliffe,was born in Taieri Mouth area. Janet
was the daughter of Adam Oliver and Agnes Allan, in East Taieri. They were
second cousin and became the great grandparents of the Rylance sisters. They
married in 1888 in East Taieri, and had four children. Later they moved to
Hawera in Taranaki.
James was an agricultural inspector but is perhaps best known, in certain circles
at least, for being the first All Black with the number 1 decided
alphabetically! 98 He played eight games for the All Blacks, including the first
match contested by a New Zealand team, and was nicknamed the Taieri Giant.
He also played six seasons for his province, Otago, from 1881 to 1886.
98
https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › James_Allan_(rugby_union),
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Allan's eight All Black appearances came on the 1884 New Zealand rugby
union tour of New South Wales, during which he scored three tries. He was
one of New Zealand's most valuable players on the tour, playing eight of
nine games, over 23 days.
Allan was highly regarded as a forward, with contemporary reports saying he
was "consistently in the vanguard". Allan was also reported to be never far away
from the ball and as being as "hard as nails". During his playing career at Otago,
Allan became a distinguished player for the province. His three brothers also
represented Otago. 99
Tragically, James and Janet lost their second son, Eric Oliver Allan, in World
War 1 on 13 July 1915 at Gallipoli.
A4 Georgina Kirk & Lindsay Allan
Georgina Kirk, the grandmother of the Rylance girls, was born into the large
Kirk family on the Taieri in 1898, the daughter of William Kirk and Georgina
Twelftree, the middle child of their 13 children. She married Lindsay Allan just
after World War 1 in 1919. The couple moved to Hawera where his parents
lived, and Lindsay worked as a linesman. They had three children. Tragically,
Lindsay was killed in 1930, electrocuted on a lines job.
Shortly thereafter, Georgina and the children returned to the Taieri and went
to live at Mayfield where her mother, Georgina Twelvetree Kirk, was running
the family farm. She was a formidable and very capable woman. In later life,
Georgina said this move was her greatest mistake, presumably because of the
loss of independence.
99
op cit
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Figure 49 Georgina Allan at Ranui
Just as her mother and her mother-in-law had in the previous war, Georgina
was to experience the tragedy of losing a son on the battlefield in World War
II. Her second son, Max, died in Italy, aged only 21, and is buried at Torino di
Sangro, Provincia di Chieti, Abruzzo.
In later years, Georgina lived with her Kirk
sisters Ivy, Alice, Mary and Ethel (Sam) at
Ranui in Easther Crescent, Dunedin. During
this time, Allan Sargison and Patricia Rylance
were both students at Otago University and
dating. Georgina especially but also the great
aunts made them welcome on so many
occasions with dinner in front of the fire or
afternoon tea on the enclosed verandah in
summer.
Figure 50 Georgina Allan at Patricia Rylance's wedding in August 1973, a few months after recovering from
surgery for bowel cancer, and only a few months before her death
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Georgina had one more tragedy to endure in her life with the death in Hamilton
in October 1972 of her eldest son, James Eric Allan, at the age of only 53, from
ody was brought to Dunedin to be buried. The day after
Helen, dead as she slept, along with her youngest daughter, Merinda, in the
spare room at Ranui. She had survived her husband by only five days.
Georgina herself died in 1974.
Figure 51 Georgina & her son Max on left. Elizabeth & Max on right
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A5 Elizabeth Allan
Elizabeth grew up at Mayfield in a matriarchal
household, headed by her formidable grandmother,
Georgina, still managing the family farm, and
comprising what she called her four
actual mother, Georgina, and her
unmarried aunts, Elizabeth (Betty), Mary, and Ethel
(Sam). The other aunts, Alice, Olive, Ivy and Anne
were frequent visitors, although Mavis lived in
Figure 52 Elizabeth & her mother
Georgina
brothers, Eric and Max, did have some male figures
in their lives, including their Uncle Bob, who ran
the farm with his mother and lived down the road
with his wife and family, and various Kirk and Allan cousins, who also lived on
the Taieri.
Elizabeth was only three when her father was killed, so adjusted quite quickly;
her brothers seem to have found it harder. According to his son, Cedric, Eric
seldom spoke of his father or his childhood in later life.
Elizabeth (she was called Betty at home
but became Elizabeth at school) at first
went to school in Mosgiel but attended
during the war years. This was after her
mother had been diagnosed with
pernicious anaemia, then a very serious
illness for which there was no cure. In
order to relieve Georgina of the
responsibility of childcare, and to protect Elizabeth from knowing just how sick
her mother was, she was sent to boarding school. She very much enjoyed the
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experience, making friends who she kept in touch with for many years, doing
well academically and serving as a prefect. Nevertheless, these years were
affected by two tragedies: the perhaps not entirely unexpected death of her
grandmother in 1943 (she was nearly 80), followed shortly by the more painful
wartime death of her beloved brother, Max, in Italy in 1944, aged only 21. Her
In 1946 she went to the University of Otago. After failing her first year, she
switched from a science degree to a home science diploma. She met Philip
Vernon Rylance while working at the Ross Home in North East Valley in the
holidays; he had just returned from the war and was employed as a gardener
there, before beginning his own university studies.
They married on 22 December 1950 at Mayfield after Philip completed his
teaching diploma and started teaching at Green Island School. Their first two
daughters were born in Dunedin (they lived in Maryhill). Their third daughter
was born in Tuatapere after they moved to Southland in 1956, when Philip was
appointed head (often sole) teacher at Merrivale School.
The coverage of this family is below under the Rylance section.
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Figure 53 Elizabeth & Philip on their wedding day
Allans outside of the descent line
A4 1 William Maxwell Allan
elder brother. Born in 1922,
died at the age of 21 on 7 January 1944 in Italy. He is buried
in the Sangro River War Cemetery there.
He was a gunner in the 7 th Anti-Tank regiment of the NZ Artillery.
Unlike his older brother, Max had no academic ambitions. He left school early
to work on the farm, which he continued to do until his enlistment in the army.
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A4-2 Eric James Allan
Eric was born in Hawera, the eldest son of Lindsay and Georgina Allan, and the
eldest brother of Elizabeth. After his father was killed when he was 10, he spent
a number of years at Mayfield on the Taieri before enrolling at the University of
Otago. After graduating in 1939, he worked in a number of scientific roles in
Wellington, before moving to Hamilton in 1950, to the Rukuhia Research
Station there. He was an extremely quiet, pragmatic and introverted man who
move to Mayfield where he had no adult men in the household.
Perhaps it was th most
noted scientists.
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He married Helen Edith Miller, the daughter of Alexander and Edith Miller, in
1939. She was one of the first geology students at Otago University and had
also represented New Zealand at cricket;
she was a fast bowler. Their two sons
and three daughters all went on to
achieve distinction in their various
fields: Geoffrey, for example, who now
lives in England, had a distinguished
career with the RAF and Cedric is an
extremely successful Auckland
businessman,
leading public relations operators. The
daughters, who all moved to Australia, have at various times been teachers,
writers and natural healers.
Upon his death, the NZ Institute of Chemistry established the J E Allan
Memorial Prize, awarded annually to the best second-year student in
Chemistry, in memory of James Eric Allan, MSc FNZIC. Mr Allan gained an
outstanding contribution to the development of atomic absorption
spectroscopy.
The following obituary summarises his contributions and is drawn from the
NZICE Journal in 1972.
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The Dicks
The first Dick arrived on 26 December 1849 aboard the Mooltan. 100 This was
Mary Dick, aged 18, a servant. Little is known about her. She married
Archibald Barr, a seaman on the Mariner voyage in 1850. It appears she died
before 1858. 101 It is possible that he was related to the Barr family who were
also on board the Mooltan or that she was related to the Barr family and Agnes
Barr who later married James Allan.
NZ Dick Descent line
D1 Robert Dick 1809-1876
4th great-grandfather
D2 William Dick 1837-1921
Son of Robert Dick
D3 Joseph Eason Dick 1864-1937
Son of William Dick
100 This voyage and ship is well covered in Going Abroad, by John MacGibbon, ISBN: 0-9582243-3-1
published by and available through the Ngaio Press
101 http://www.ngaiopress.com/mool-lst.htm
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D4 Hope Eason Dick 1896-1968
Son of Joseph Eason Dick
D5 Mavis Doreen Dick 1921-2009
Daughter of Hope Eason Dick
D6 Allan James Sargison 1949-
Son of Mavis Doreen Dick
D7 Georgina Elizabeth & Geoffrey Phillip James Sargison
D1 Robert Dick and Jane Gray
Jane (Jean) Gray was born on 18 December
1818 in Fort Augustus, Inverness-shire. Her
father, John, was 29, and her mother, Jane,
was 35. She married Robert Dick on 7
December 1835 in Boleskine, Inverness-shire.
Robert Dick was born on 2 June 1809 in Perthshire. His father, William, was
29 and his mother, Mary, was 28.
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Robert was a master stone mason in Carnock, Fife, Scotland. He passed this
trade on to at least two of his sons, with bountiful results in their new lives in
the colonies.
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Carnock, a village and a parish on the SW border of Fife. The
village stands 1¼ mile ENE of Oakley station, and 3½ miles
WNW of Dunfermline, under which it has a post office. The
parish contains also Cairneyhill village and the greater part of
Oakley Iron-works, and is traversed by the Stirling and
Dunfermline railway. It is bounded NE and E by Dunfermline
parish, S and SW by Torryburn and a detached portion of Saline,
W by the Culross district of Perthshire, and NW by Saline. Its
greatest length, from N to S, is 31/8 miles, its breadth, from E to
W, varies between 7 furlongs and 3¼ miles; and its area is
3502¼ acres, of which 10 are water. From 140 feet above sealevel
near Cairneyhill the surface has a general northward rise to
400 on Carneil Hill, and 744 on Craigluscar Hill, which,
culminating just outside the NE corner of the parish, commands
a view to the Ochils, Ben Lomond, and the Pentlands. Three or
four burns run eastward and south-eastward, to fall eventually
into the Firth of Forth; and several springs are chalybeate, one,
in the neighbourhood of Carnock village, emitting an ink-like
liquid- On the NE boundary is the Compensation Reservoir, with
extreme length and breadth of ½ mile and 11/3 furlong. The
rocks are partly eruptive, partly carboniferous. Coal has been
extensively worked; ironstone abounds in the W; sandstone is
quarried in several places; and limestone was formerly quarried
on the lands of Luscar. The Forth or Oakley Iron-works, on the
western border, were established in 1846, and occasioned a great
increase of the population, but are now discontinued. The soils
are variously clay, loam, gravel, and moss; and in most places
are shallow. About 450 acres are under wood, and about 45
waste. A Roman camp is supposed to have been on Campsbank;
and Roman urns have been exhumed on Carneil Hill. John Row,
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the ecclesiastical historian, was minister from 1592 to 1646, as
from 1741 to 1752 was John Gillespie, founder of the Relief
Synod, now incorporated in the United Presbyterian Church.
Newbigging, now a farmhouse, was the seat of Prof. Jn. Erskine
(1695-1768), author of Institutes of the -Laws of Scotland. At
present the chief mansions are Blair, Carnock, and Luscar; and 3
proprietors hold each an annual value of £500 and upwards, 2 of
between £100 and £500,3 of from £50 to £100, and 18 of from
£20 to £50. Originally comprising only the estates of Carnock,
Blair, and Easter and Wester Camps, this parish was enlarged in
1650 by annexations from Dunfermline. It is in the presbytery of
Dunfermline and synod of Fife; the living is worth £224. A neat
new parish church, cruciform and with a spire, was built in 1840
in the Saxon style, and contains 400 sittings; its predecessor was
the little building of 1602, in which Row ministered, and in
whose kirkyard he was buried, with a Latin and Hebrew
inscription on his tomb. There are also a Free church of Carnock
and a U.P. church of Cairneyhill; whilst 3 public schools-
Cairneyhill, Carnock. And Oakley-with respective
accommodation for 107,126, and 302 children, had (1880) an
average attendance of 66,80, and 72, and grants of £48, 2s.,
£72,5s., and £38,9s. Valuation (1881) £5901,15s. 1d. Pop.
(1801) 860, (1831) 1202, (1861) 2925, (1871) 1764, (1881)
1055. Ord. Sur., sh. 40,1867.102
102 A historical perspective, drawn from the Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A Survey of Scottish Topography,
Statistical, Biographical and Historical, edited by Francis H. Groome and originally published in parts by Thomas C.
Jack, Grange Publishing Works, Edinburgh between 1882 and 1885. This edition is copyright © The Editors of the
Gazetteer for Scotland, 2002-2019.
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For the keen- which became the name of
the house William Dick built on Otago Peninsula.
Robert and Jane Dick, along with their sons, Simon, Alexander, Robert and
James, arrived in Dunedin aboard the Robert Henderson in 1862, joining their
older sons, William and John, who came out in 1860. Robert died on 4 July
1876 in Dunedin, at the age of 67, and was buried in Portobello. 103 Jane died at
Sandymount on 25 October 1892 at the age of 73 and was also buried in
Portobello.
D2 William Dick & Helen Eason
William was born in Dunfermline in
trade of stonemasonry. Helen Eason was
born in the same month and year in the
same place! They married in 1858.
continued
through three generations of Dicks.
Together with Will brother, John
Gilston Dick, the couple were aboard the
Robert Henderson when it sailed into Port
Chalmers in 1860. Both men were
stonemasons who settled initially in
Portobello on the Peninsula. The Robert
Henderson was a relatively new Aberdeen built ship of some 552 tons which had
previously made the fastest voyage to NZ of 79 days. 104
103 The third great grandparents of Allan & Craig
104
http://www.aberdeenships.com/single.asp?index=99567
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parents and their younger brothers would come to Dunedin on the 1862 voyage
of the same ship.
William 105 acquired property overlooking Hoopers Inlet and eventually built a
stone house in the Sandymount
home in Scotland. 106 This remained a key part of the family history for many
years.
Figure 54 Luscar, Sandymount
This picture clearly shows Luscar with William on the left and Helen on the
right and, of course, the family dog!
105
William was Allan & Craig’s 2 nd great grandfather.
106
Dick Family, My Grandparents & their Descendants, John Humphries Carroll, Dunedin (Rev 1998). As
an aside at least two of her siblings went to Nevada.
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William and John Dick, along with their father, Robert, literally changed the
appearance of parts of Dunedin through their masonry efforts (dealt with in
the next chapter).
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Life was not all work. The following photograph shows the Dick Family
Orchestra sometime in the 1870s with William senior (I think) on the extreme
left and his son, William, playing the harpsichord.
.
Figure 55 Dick Family Orchestra, Sandymount
Helen died on 19 October 1903 at her home, Luscar, in Sandymount.
William lived on for another 18 years before he died on 31 March 1921 in
Portobello. He was buried in Block 1 Plot 65 at the local cemetery.
When William's wife, Helen, died, he moved out of their home, Luscar, to live
with his daughter, Jean (Ellen) Aitken 107 and her husband, Andrew Aitken, at
their home at Pukehiki. The following photo shows the family:
107 nd
great aunt.
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A
D2
William Dick & Ellen Elizabeth Dick
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When William Dick 108 was born in 1861 in Dunedin, his father,
William, and his mother, Helen, were both 24. William was the first of
their children to be born in New Zealand.
Ellen Elizabeth Smith married William Dick in New Zealand in 1883.
Little is known about her
D2 A1 B Ellen Eason Dick and Edward Young Aitken
Ellen Eason Dick was born in July 1883 in Dunedin, Otago, the
daughter of Ellen and William 109 . She married Edward Young Aitken
in 1907, and they had two children, Alexander and Dulcie. She died
on 26 March 1949 in her hometown at the age of 65, and was buried
in Otago at Andersons Bay Cemetery, block 164, plot 137.
When Edward Young Aitken was born in 1882 in Maungatua, Otago,
his father, Alexander, was 40 and his mother, Margaret, was 33. He
died on 10 September 1959 in Dunedin, at the age of 77 and was also
buried at Andersons Bay Cemetery.
108
2 nd great uncle of Craig and Allan Sargison.
109
The 1 st cousin 2x removed of Craig & Allan Sargison
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The last chapter has a section on Professor Alexander Aitken, their
son.
D3 Joseph Eason Dick & Sarah Kerr 110
When Sarah Kerr was born on 27 March 1873 in
Otago, her father, John, was 34, and her mother,
Euphemia Sharp, was 42. They had emigrated
from Assynt in Scotland.
It is believed that their farm was near the east coast
of the Otago Pensinula down the track shown on the Hereweka Map on the
southern side of Dicks Hill.
She married Joseph Eason Dick at Sandymount in 1894 and they had five
children together. He was a milk grader, working on the Peninsula.
110
The great grandparents of Craig & Allan Sargison
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Subsequently, he became manager of the East Taieri Creamery. He was living
in Outram in 1914, and their son, Hope, was also employed there.
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Figure 56 Joseph, Sarah and family c 1916
At some point, Joseph and Sarah moved north to Waharoa. Joseph probably
found employment at the butter factory which opened in 1921. Sarah died in
Waharoa in 1927.
After her death, Joseph married Margaret Dryden in 1931
in Dunedin. It was a second marriage for both.
Margaret Dryden was born on 14 May 1877,when her
father, William Glen Dryden, was 39, and her mother,
Margaret or Mary Donald, was 39. The Drydens had
emigrated to Colac Bay in Southland. 111 She first married David Esplin and they
had four children together. She then married Joseph Eason Dick in 1931. She
died in September 1967 in Ashburton, Canterbury, at the age of 90.
Joseph Dick died on 29 October 1937 at the age of 72 at his home at 13 McBride
St, Caversham..
111
Colac Bay is on Foveaux Strait some 12 kms west from Riverton.
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D4 Hope Dick (1896-1968) & May Elizabeth Jolly
(1899-1986)
Hope was born in 1896, the second child of Joseph Dick and his wife, Sarah
(nee Kerr). He trained as a milk grader/cheese maker, presumably under the
influence of his father. He was working in Outram in the dairy factory managed
by his father when he met May Jolly. Refer to chapter The Whare Flat Families
J4 Robert James Jolly (1870-1959)
They were married in 1917. 112
They lost their first house there to floods and shortly after that, he enlisted. 113
Hope
Introduction
Figure 57NZ Expeditionary Force ww100.govt.nz
Among the dominions of the
British Empire, New Zealand
had the highest percentage
(5%) of its military-age men
killed. The loss of 18,166
men and women severely
affected this country of some
1 million people. Two-thirds
(12,483) fell in the 30-month
Western Front campaign,
maimed or suffered from shellshock (post-traumatic stress disorder), imposing
112
NZBDM 1917/6584
113
Service number: 63119.
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a longstanding burden on their families and communities. The social and
personal impacts took years to work through, often ending only with death.114
Some one hundred years later, the various anniversaries and commemorations
have renewed interest in the battles in which New Zealanders fought. Anzac
Cove, Chunuk Bair, the Somme, Messines, Passchendaele and Ypres have
become familiar names to younger generations but a little less well known and
unusual battle was the Battle of Lys. It was unusual not because of the numbers
killed and wounded, but because of the large number of NZ soldiers who were
captured. 115
The road to Méteren
The date was April 16, 1918, the place Méteren 116 in northern France, close to
the border with Belgium, and the unit nearly destroyed was the 2nd New
Zealand Entrenching Battalion, a labour battalion made up of men from
Southland, Otago and Canterbury including Private Hope Dick who was in the
Otago Company.
The three New Zealand entrenching battalions (nominal strength 750-1000
men each) were created after the New Zealand attack on Polderhoek Chateau
in the Ypres Salient on 3 December 1917, where the 1st Otago and 1st
Canterbury Infantry Battalions were decisively defeated.
Questions were asked and it was decided, perhaps unfairly, that the men were
at fault. Each of these frontline battalions contained large numbers of
inexperienced reinforcements who had arrived in France following the
catastrophic defeat at Passchendaele in October 1917. Their morale was low,
they lacked confidence in themselves and their fighting spirit had been further
reduced by weeks in the nightmare conditions of the Ypres Salient in winter.
114
Ian McGibbon, https://teara.govt.nz/en/first-world-war
115
From an article by Mike and Anabel McPhee05:00, Apr 14 2018, https://www.stuff.co.nz/southlandtimes/news/features/102681455/captured-at-meteren-the-only-kiwi-surrender-in-world-war-i
116
It is not to be confused with Meteren in the Dutch province of Gelderland.
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The solution arrived at by the New Zealand army was to incorporate new
reinforcements, and men returning from hospitals in England, into the
frontlines gradually, by sending them to work for a few weeks in entrenching
battalions where they could acclimatise themselves to trench warfare and gain
confidence before being used as fighting troops.
The scheme was reasonable but had to be altered following the huge German
Spring Offensive of March 1918. French towns, villages, and territory
previously captured, or held at great cost, was lost within days. The Allies had
their backs to the wall and after three years of fighting and millions of casualties,
faced total defeat. Hospitals,
camps and depots in France
and England were emptied of
any men capable of fighting.
ALEXANDER TURNBULL LIBRARY Equipment
on, bayonets fixed, and ready to go.
New Zealand troops prepare to attack
on the Western Front.
The New Zealand Division was sent south to help stop the German advance
near Amiens, an important railway junction.
The 1st and 3rd NZ Entrenching Battalions went with them to provide support
but the 2nd NZ Entrenching Battalion remained in the north and was
strengthened by drafts of men from the 30th Reinforcements.
It was then re-organised as a fighting unit and dispatched to Meteren to support
the hard-pressed British 33rd Division. The road to Méteren was a nightmare
of retreating and advancing soldiers, ambulances, artillery, and thousands of
French and Belgian civilians fleeing the approaching German army.
No sooner did the New Zealanders arrive at Meteren and try to dig in than the
Germans attacked.
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The English 33rd Division carried out a planned withdrawal on the night of
April 15, but in the confusion either failed to inform the 2nd New Zealand
Entrenching Battalion, or their runners carrying the message did not get
through.
Captured at Méteren
At dawn, the Otago and Southland men who made up the forward platoons
found themselves practically surrounded and under attack from three
sides. They suffered severe casualties, 42 killed and 138 wounded, and soon
ran low on ammunition. Tragically, they were not well supplied with extra
ammunition as they initially believed they were going to Méteren to dig
trenches, not to man them.
Their officers soon became casualties and it was left to Sergeant Tom Souness
of Kakanui 117 to send a messenger, Private James McLelland of Owaka, to seek
help. Events moved quickly and before McLelland could return, Sgt Souness
attempted but failed to withdraw his platoon; he, his men and the other forward
platoons were caught in an impossible situation, and everyone still alive was
forced to surrender.
Thus, 210 men were captured. It was the only NZ surrender in World War 1.
Prior to this, the static nature of trench warfare meant the numbers captured
were very low. During the whole war, only 400 New Zealanders were captured.
117
The cousin of John Souness who married Agnes Robertson who later married William Sargison. His
family was in East Taieri and may well have been known to Jolly and Havard families and indeed Hope
Dick who was living there pre-war.
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SEVEN MONTHS A PRISONER 118
Private Hope Dick
Among those who returned by the Matatua on Saturday 22
February 1919 was Pte Hope Dick, a grandson-in-law of Mr
Havard, of Hadfield Street. Pte Hope Dick, who has picked up
wonderfully on the voyage to the Dominion, was looking fit and
well, and in the course of a most interesting conversation with
a Press representative told the story of his capture. Pte Dick was a member of
the Otago Entrenching Battalion 119 ,
and at the time of his capture was
engaged digging trenches in the
neighbourhood of Ypres. The big
German advance took place, as
everyone knows, in March last, and
in April it had reached Ypres.
On April 16th Pte Hope Dick was at Méteren when his company of 150 was
surrounded by a large body of Germans armed with machine guns and taken
prisoner. 120 This took place at ab
was marched through the German lines till nearly midnight. Nothing whatever
was given the men to eat either that day or the next, in fact it was not until the
third day that the prisoners were given any food. For some time the New
Zealand prisoners were quartered in an old farmhouse and were compelled to
118
Patea Mail, Patea Mail, Volume XLIII, 26 February 1919,
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/PATM19190226.2.11
119
As the name implies this was a labour battalion dedicated to building trenches and other similar
projects.
120
This was part of the Battle of Lys and resulted in the largest surrender by NZ during WW1.
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unload motor -
,
A few more weeks would have settled a good many of us. The bill-of-fare for
breakfast was burnt wheat and water, which the Germans called coffee. No
bread, no meat, and
of thin sauerkraut soup with, occasionally, a piece of black horse-meat in it.
The sauerkraut requires washing in about eight or nine waters to get the
sourness out of it, but it was tipped out of the cask into a boiler and boiled up
we got only a
quarter of a loaf. It all depended upon how much the Germans had. Two or
three days a week we managed to pick up a few turnips and mangolds, and
can scarcely believe how
badly the prisoners were treated, in fact the full truth Is never published as the
people would think we were exaggerating. The coffee had a curious effect on
Dick. six months and three weeks we did not have a change of
underclothing, and at the end of this time we each obtained a singlet and pair
of underpants through the kindness of some Belgian Sisters of Mercy. For part
of the the time of our incarceration we were kept closely guarded in an old
French fortress in Lille 121 . Here 300 of us were in a room 60 by 20 feet in extent.
121
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and digging trenches to stem the British advance, a work, needless to say, that
we carried out very unwillingly at the point of the bayonet. At this time we had
to walk 15 kilometres to
work and the same distance
back at night, and compelled
to work at high pressure.
What this meant to us,
Figure 58 The Main fort entrance and chamber
starved as we were, you can
Asked if there was a shortage of food amongst the Germans, Pte Hope Dick said
this was the case from July onwards, the Huns from then feeling the pinch more
and more each week. There was
not the slightest doubt there was
a shortage of food in Germany
towards October though there
was plenty of ammunition.
Continuing his narrative, Pte
Hope Dick said that as the
British advanced the prisoners were moved further back until at the time when
the armistice was signed the Entrenching Battalion was about 11 kilometres
from Brussels, having been on the march for four days, travelling about 30
kilometres each day. On the march the prisoners were made to pull wagons
loaded with the packs of their German guards. On the armistice being signed
the Belgian Relief Committee took charge of the prisoners and gave them
civilian clothes and food. 122 After a few days in Brussels the members of the
Entrenching Battalion were taken to Courtrai and thence to Calais, from which
122
This might be the point at which Hope was befriended by a Belgian family with whom the Dick
family corresponded for many years.
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place they were transferred to London where they were medically examined,
the unfit going to hospital and the rest on leave prior to returning to New
123
of Wanganui. A feature
of our imprisonment was that we were registered as being in one of the
internment camps in Germany when as a matter of fact, we were in France and
Belgium all the time. Consequently, we saw none of the Red Cross parcels that
being well treated were written at the instigation of the German authorities to
give the people at Home and in the Colonies an idea that the prisoners were
but when we did the authorities insisted on us giving a highly coloured account
would treat his beasts as we were treated, that is, if he valued their lives at all.
As an instance of the way the prisoners were treated, Pte Dick instanced the
case of a New Zealand sergeant who was taken to an hospital in Belgium
seriously ill. He was placed on the floor for two hours and then put into a bed
When I was in England and saw the way the British were treating the German
of escape during their term of imprisonment, Pte Dick said there was practically
123
Cecil James Wray (1867–1955) was a New Zealand sports administrator, resident in England from
1913. He represented New Zealand on the International Olympic Committee from 1931 to 1934, and
was on the Rugby Football Union in England for 25 years. He was born in Patea where the Havards
lived.
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none as they were all so closely guarded a German soldier with rifle and bayonet
for every three of four men. This, he said, was in marked contrast to the British
way of guarding prisoners one sentry having charge of 50 men or more. A few
New Zealand prisoners escaped, Pte Dick stated, and these got as far as the
German rear lines and the support trenches when they were re-captured. Some
came back and some did not, he significantly added. Those who returned were
placed in a dark cell on bread and water for 14 days, in marked contrast to the
treatment meted out by the authorities to Count von Buckner and his piratical
crew, by the way. Questioned as to the state of affairs among the German troops
when the armistice was signed Pte Dick said there was no doubt they were on
the verge of collapse, partly owing to disorganisation of transport consequent
upon the rapid advance of the Allies and partly through lack of food. It was a
ad the
war lasted a few more weeks, or even days, longer, there would have been
witnessed the greatest debacle in history, and the Germans would have gone
down never to rise again. As it is, up to the present the German people believe
their men have not be
Figure 59 Sling Camp ex
I would never like to see repeated, and one I shall never
forget to my dying day! I can only say in conclusion, from
my experience eleven months as a prisoner of war in the
hands of the Germans that one can believe all one hears of
the inhuman conduct of the Germans towards those who
have NZ Herald been unfortunate enough to fall into their hands, and even then a tithe of
. He served a total of 214 days, with 93 overseas.
Sweet it was not! He enlisted on 12 July 2017, 124 underwent training, and then
124
Regimental No 63119.
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embarked on the Willochra on 22 November 1917. He arrived in Liverpool on
7 February 1918 and proceeded to Sling 125 , the major NZ base in Wiltshire,
England. On 20 March 1918 he left for France and marched into Etaples on the
24 th of that month. Less than one month later, he was a prisoner of war! On 9
June, the Frankfurt Red Cross reported him a POW (classified as not wounded).
On 30 November he arrived back in London. The timing was fortuitous as the
NZ government was working to get all wounded soldiers and the POWs home
as soon as possible. On 8 January 1919, he boarded the Matatua in Tilbury to
return home. His final day of service was 22 March 1919.
Hope may not have served for long but the injuries he sustained greatly affected
the rest of his life.
125
Sling Camp was initially created as an annexe to Bulford Camp in 1903, named "Sling Plantation" after
the nearby woods. Soon after the beginning of World War I, New Zealand troops started work on building
wooden huts here. They were later joined by Canadian troops, joiners, bricklayers, and civilian workers.
The word "Plantation" was then dropped from the title and it simply became Sling Camp. After building was
completed, it was said that if each hut were placed end-to-end they would measure 6 miles.In 1916, the
camp was occupied by New Zealand forces and was then known as Anzac Camp by some. It then
comprised four main sections: Auckland, Wellington, Otago, and Canterbury Lines. It was officially called
the 4th New Zealand Infantry Brigade Reserve Camp, and trained reinforcements and casualties who were
regaining fitness. In 1918, there were 4,300 men at Sling. Soon after this date the camp suffered large
casualties as a result of the Spanish influenza. Troops carved a kiwi in the limestone cliffs nearby which
still remains.
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Post War Life
Figure 60 Hope & May just after their
wedding
Hope returned home with significant health
issues, including lung damage as a result of
being exposed to gas while on the Western
Front, and also damage to his back. In those
days, one needed to go where the right medical
specialists were, so the family variously
travelled to Taranaki, Auckland, and Hawkes
Bay; they may have been there during the 1931
earthquake. It seems that their eldest son,
Raymond Eason Dick, could have been born in
Auckland.
It was a long battle to get a permanent war pension, so Hope worked when he
could as a labourer and driver. He and May took in lodgers, including one James
Henry Sargison with his son, Eric. He and May also shifted house frequently, to
increase their capital and improve their living conditions. Their daughter,
Doreen, and her husband, Eric Sargison, would follow the same lifestyle choice.
Life was very challenging in that they had a family of four to support. The
futures of the children were unquestionably their first priority and all ended up
with a trade which gave them a solid start in life. Indeed they were lifelong
careers:- Raymond Eason as a draper, Doreen as a seamstress, Frederick as a
fitter and turner and Allan Gerald as a processing engraver/commercial artis.
The pension finally came through in the late 1930s which made life a little
easier. Nevertheless, the administration of such benefits was extremely
intrusive, just as it is today. The Pensions department staff felt they could pry
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example, stories of having to justify the purchase of a new coat for May and
explain where the money came from.
Movements & addresses of Hope Dick & May
Those currently known are listed in the following table.
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Date Address Occupation
Outram n.o.k
May Elizabeth
Dick
Cheesemaker, T & P
Milk Co
Military Record
Left 24 Feb
1919
Mr & Mrs W
Harvard, 126 Royal
Hotel Hawera
1919 Allan Rd, Green
Island
Driver
Military and
Electoral
1927 48 Goodall ST,
Caversham
Dunedin
1928 161 Castle St,
Dunedin
labourer
Military
Electoral
1938 3 Philips St,
Dunedin
Hope Dick and
Mary Dick
Labourer
Electoral
126
Father perhaps of Mary Jolly
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1946/9 20 Duddingstone
Steps, Dunedin
1957 22 Gillespie St,
Nth East Valley,
Dunedin
War Pensioner
May Elizabeth on roll
Retired
Electoral
Electoral
1963 22 Gillespie St Retired Electoral
136 Main South
Rd
Retired
Electoral
1968 died 20 Peter St,
Caversham
Houses with
no dates as
yet
34 South Rd
2 Signal Hill Rd,
Opoho
11 Josephine St,
Caversham
15 Richmond St
Caversham
4 Beresford St
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3 Catherine St
Caversham
25 Rutherford ST,
Caversham
The family travelled around the North Island in the 1930s and went camping
in Central Otago and Piano Flat. Roads were poor and vehicles not the best but
they endured! With 6 people and one car and no trailer loading was an art form
as shown below.
Figure 61 Eason, Hope, May, Doreen, Fred & Allan in front circa 1930
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Figure 62 Packed for the road or offroad!
In later years May and Hope were avid caravanners.
Figure 63 Front Doreen, Hope, May, Rear Allan, Fred & Eason on right 1942,
21st
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Figure 64 Pat(?) Allan, Eason, Fred, Hope, Doreen, May 1944
Grandparenthood
Hope and May were both
magnificent grandparents, caring
and supportive. Because there was a
long steep hill from College St to
Traquair St, Hope would always be
waiting in his car for Allan after
school in poor weather!
The Sargison were living in College
St 2 when they lived in Peter Street
and TV arrived! They were early
adopters, probably funded by their
son Allan who lived at home. We
had regular Saturday night invites!
Figure 65 Hope & May, Brian & Allan at rear, Lorraine & Craig at front mid 1950sAnd of course the beauty was
that we could easily walk home without supervision or indeed transport
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May was very much the driving force in the family by that stage the Dicks and
Sargisons have dominant women. She would periodically ask for Allan to tidy
Figure 66 Hope, Allan S, May & Doreen up the ladder, Rutherford St 1959, their caravan at back
Figure 67 Hope, Allan, May, Doreen & Eric at Dunback1960s
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Figure 68 Doreen, Allan D, May, Fred & Hope on 50th wedding anniversary at the Sargison residence in
College St
Hope had an operation for cancer in the mid 1960s which enabled May and
him to celebrate their 50 th wedding anniversary while living in Peter St,
Caversham. He died a couple of years later on 24 February 1968 127 and was
buried in Andersons Bay Cemetery Block 211, Plot 7. 17 years later his son
Frederick W A Dick died and was buried in the same grave, joined about a year
later by his wife May who died on 3 December 1986.
127
NZBDM 1968/27056
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To be
completed
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D 5 Mavis Doreen Dick
Doreen as she was known (Dossie to her
brothers which she did NOT like) was born
in 1921 in Dunedin. Some time later in that
decade she was in Auckland with her
parents briefly before returning to Dunedin
where she went to Arthur Street School.
As a child and young girl, she was closest to
her brother Raymond (always called
Eason), as the other two brothers,
Frederick and Allan, were younger. After
Allan; he was unmarried, and lived for
years with their parents, so perhaps this
relationship was easier than one incorporating a sister-in-law and niece and
nephew.
organiser, bossing her brothers mercilessly. She also provided the family bank
for her brothers; always a careful saver and money manager, it was she who
helped her brothers out when they ran short but she charged interest and was
very definite about collecting it! She was socially very conservative and
traditional; she considered it was her role as a daughter and sister to support
her parents without question, to help her mother with all domestic chores and
to look after her brothers by doing their washing and ironing, and cooking for
them. It was at this stage that she became a fanatical housekeeper, tidying
vigorously!
She was at best an average student but worked away steadily. She achieved her
proficiency in 1934 which was a great source of satisfaction. She would have
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liked to try for a scholarship to Otago
by her father, who said that she
needed to learn a trade and attend
instead.
As she moved into her mid-teens, she
worked periodically for her Aunt Aggie in various of her businesses in Dunedin.
Aggie was, indeed, her favourite aunt.
She began work at (we think) the Dominion Manufacturing Company under a
Mrs Sutherland, learning to be a dressmaker. She moved steadily and quickly
through the various functions until she was the go-to for intricate or difficult
jobs. By the end of her time with Mrs
Sutherland, she was the forewoman.
Doreen remained an outstanding
needlewoman all her life, making all her
own clothes as well as dressing her mother
and her children, and later sewing
occasionally for Pat. Her workmanship
was excellent.
Figure 69 Doreen in the Octagon
For the uninitiated since this is a largely
lost art, dressmakers specialised in making dresses, mantles, robes, cloaks and
underclothing for women. Their work was regarded as intricate and highly
skilled. Seamstresses in contrast were employed by or worked for dressmakers,
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stitching and finishing garments. Tailoresses were employed by tailors to
undertake routine sewing operations. 128
It was not an easy path. The following quote is from a person who started with
Ballantynes in Christchurch about 1933:
She had a
great
admiration
for Mrs
Sutherland
who clearly
recognised and used talent. The only major issue was that Doreen wanted to
go nursing as part of the war effort. Because she was in a priority and controlled
industry which was certainly desperate for staff,
Nevertheless, this remained a sadness for Doreen; she would have been a good
nurse at a time when much nursing was focused on scrubbing, hygiene and
efficiency.
Not a lot has been found about the Dominion Manufacturing Company. There
was a restructuring on 1948
and then in 1950 a capital of
L39000. Shareholders
including E Sutherland with
3500 preference and 4000
ordinary and H M Sutherland
similarly. The objects were the
manufacture of and
128
Malthus, 1991, p5 from Jan Hamon, The NZ Dressmaker 1940-1980, PhD thesis
https://onlinetools.sodapdf.com/document/11358b83-3897-1ec9-f079-45b38610b89d?r=view ,
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clothing. 129 The outcome seemed to be that the Dominion
Manufacturing Co continued but as a subsidiary of Pacemaker Buildings Ltd
which owned the premises. By that time of course, Doreen had left and was
married.
Figure 70 Doreen. mother and grandmother Byliss 1942
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Sewing was a big industry in Dunedin. By 1901 27%
Clothes and sewing
industry and 80% were women. This was broadly the
situation when Doreen joined the workforce. The
establishment dates back to the late 'seventies. It
con
outer clothing, which was done by hand-sewing
machines, all treadle driven. All pressing was done by
hand irons, but as the trade developed the treadle
r
machines, driven by gas engines, and the hand irons
were replaced by gas irons.
Modern improvements in machinery and’ methods
were adopted by the trade in Dunedin. These included
the use of electric irons, automatic pressing machines,
electric sewing machines, and special machines, such
as buttonhole, felling, and buttoning machines, which
are now used in the factories on the automatic
principle. The manufacture of men’s and boys’
clothing in Dunedin has always been of a high
standard, the goods being recognised throughout
New Zealand as being of good material, cut, and
workmanship. The capacity of the clothing trade was
first tested by the Great War of 1914-18. The mills
manufactured the materials for shirts, flannels, and
denim clothing, and Dunedin factories bore the brunt
in the manufacture of these articles for military
requirements. In the interim the trade has gradually
improved its methods, and when the present war
broke out and it was called upon once more to provide
military uniforms Dunedin was well equipped in
factories, machinery, and lay-out to cope with all the
orders asked for by the Ordnance Department of the
army.
It is worth noting that through
the interwar and indeed the
post-war period that clothing
was not always freely available.
The following report in 1948
outlines the situation for
CLOTHING FOR
CHILDREN P.A.
WELLINGTON, July
26. Children's clothing
was still in short supply,
said a statement issued
by the New Zealand
ration
today. Contrary to
reports, it said, several
clothing were still
.extremely hard to get.
These items included
-hose, jerseys,
shorts, grey and navy
flannel shirts and suits.
It was understood that a
recent supply mission to
the United Kingdom and Australia was concerned mainly with
the supply of materials for making up short items of boys'
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clothing. The Dominion factories concerned were facing extreme
difficulty in maintaining the supply because of lack of labour, the statement
of import
licences recently granted by the Minister of Customs, Mr Nash.
In later years Doreen did a lot of piecework at home including particularly
r girls which seemed to sell very well though
various outlets in South Dunedin and elsewhere.
Friends
Doreen made at least two close lifelong friends before she was married.
Susan Holland
This friendship dated back to primary school in Auckland in the late 1920 s.
Susan was born in 1922, probably in Auckland. She married Eric Snelgar and
lived in Whangarei for most of her life. After Doreen left Auckland, the two
girls became pen pals, a relationship which continued until D
2009 that is, for some 70+ years! Unfortunately the correspondence has not
survived. Later there were phone calls and the newly married Snelgars visited
Dunedin. Although conducted almost entirely by mail, it was a close and
indeed supportive relationship.
Sue died in15 June 2010.
Nance Brown
During the years when she worked for Mrs Sutherland, Doreen developed a
great network of women who worked there before marrying. It was a family
joke that every woman in Dunedin must have worked there!
She made one particular lifetime friend in Nance Brown (1919-2010) who
trained and worked as an embroiderer, before marrying Walter Eric Reader
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(1913-65). Nance had lost her mother, Annie Campbell Brown, aged only 46,
when she was 8. Her father was Thomas Alexander McDougal Brown (1876-
1962). The Browns lived at 27 Morrison Street, something of a hub of Browns.
as at 31 Morrison St, lived just
down the road from Doreen and Eric Sargison, which was not in fact far from
other Sargison residences in College Street and South Road. Eric Reader was a
compositor by training and something of a professional musician.
Nance and Eric lived with and cared for her father, Thomas, until he died.
, Kenneth McMurray Brown (1913-77), lived with Nance all his
life. He was a metallurgist at Hillside Workshops. Their only daughter, Judith,
is a close friend of Craig Sargison and a dog lover! After ,
Nance and Eric built 32 College St, 130 , 1964.
The Reader lot is at Andersons Bay Cemetery Block 1926, plot 121
Doreen and Nance kept in close touch right up until the end! I think it was a
ld then have been her oldest (in person) friend.
Dick, p296 below.
S3 Eric Duncan Sargison & Mavis Doreen
130
A street immediately north of Morrison St where the Sargisons were lliving
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Outside the descent line in chronological order
A James Dick & Lucy Harwood
B John Gilston Dick
C - Robert Dick
D Maryann Dick & family
E Elizabeth Dick & family
F- Katharine Leonora Dick & family
A James Dick & Lucy Harwood131
James Dick was born in 1847 in Carnock, Fife, when his father, Robert, was
39 and his mother, Jane, was 30.
He married Lucy Ann Harwood daughter of Francis Octavius Harwood.
(Refer Francis Octavius Harwood) and they had one daughter together. He
died on 2 March 1925 in Portobello, Otago, at the age of 27, and was buried
in the Portobello Cemetery.
When Lucy Ann Harwood was born on 19 November 1851 in Dunedin,
Otago, her father, Octavius, was 35, and her mother, Janet, was 22. She
married James Dick on 21 November 1877 in Portobello, Otago. Lucy was
a very accomplished Maori linguist. They had one child during their
marriage. She died on 27 July 1935 in Portobello and was buried there.
131
3 rd great uncle and aunt of Craig and Allan Sargison
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Figure 71 James and Lucy with Lucy and Mary
James was a harbour pilot although trained originally as a blacksmith. They
had a house in Lower Portobello which became known as Harwood.
For some time they had a house at the Heads 132 and James was a member
of the pilot boat.
As an example of the strong blend of cultures in the family Jane Dick
niece, as a young girl thought of Mrs Taiaroa as a Queen and Mr Taiaroa as a
King.
One very sunny morning Tiny Parata and I were standing on the
little wharf waiting to see the first torpedo boat ever to come to
New Zealand. When it pulled up the men on board asked us if
we would like to go for a trip on it outside the Heads, we both
132
Hardwick Knight, Otago Peninsula, a local history, Broad Bay 1979, page 32.
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said yes. It was a great experience. I was about 13 and Tiny
was a bit younger and a nice looking girl. The boat just cut
through the water, quite steady and quick and we were enjoying
According to Jack Carroll they had no children but instead cared for two
nieces Mary and Lucy Harwood 133 . That may be right although they were
certainly referred to as daughters as in the photo above. That Lucy
Harwood inherited the house and lived there until her death in 1980 aged
93.
Peninsula, a local history, 1979, page 31. The person at the stern assisting
with the beaching is James Dick.
Figure 72 Harbour Board picnic
133
Jack Humphries-Carroll, The Dick Family, page 6
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B John Gilston 134 Dick & Isabella Russell
John Gilston Dick was William Dick brother; they were the sons of Robert
and Jane Dick, who emigrated out to join them in 1862.
The brothers came arrived in Port Chalmers on 3
September 1860 aboard the Robert Henderson. As the
adjoining newreport shows it was a somewhat delayed
landing!! 135
Figure 73 John
Gilston Dick
There is some doubt as to when
Isabella Russell, arrived. James
Humphris-Carroll suggests that she arrived on the Ben Lomond:
1863, the Ben Lomond made one of the fastest passages of 74 days from
Scotland to Port Chalmers. A ship of 986 tons, commanded by Captain J.
Smart. Having embarked passengers, numbering 338 souls, she set sail from
Lamlash Bay on October 25th, 1862, and six days later the Fasnet light bore
ten miles away. She gained the S.E. trades on November 22nd, and the coast
of Brazil was sighted on November 27th. During squally weather on
November 30th, an apprentice named George Grant fell from the main royal
134
Apparently named after the minister who baptized him in Dunferline. John and William were 4 th
great uncles of Georgina and Geoffrey Sargison.
135
Otago Witness, 8 /seot 1860
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/OW18600908.2.16?query=Robert%20Henders
on&page=2&start_date=01-01-1860&end_date=31-12-
1862&snippet=true&title=ODT,OW,ESD
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yard, struck the bulwarks, and dropped into the sea, evidently being killed
before he reached the water. Apart from this incident, and the death of a
passenger, the voyage was a pleasant one. The ship reached the Snares on
January 14th. From that time she was baffled in her approach to port by calms
and hazy weather up to January 18th, 1863, when she made the Heads, and
was towed in the following morning. 136
Aboard was Isabella Russell, 137 born in 1844 in Dumferline, Fifeshire,
daughter of William Russell and Joan Gillan.
The Otago Witness, however, reports the arrival of the Prince Alfred in January
1861 with a Miss Russell aboard. That ship had come from Bluff. John Gilston
Dick himself wrote a note to the effect that Isabella had come to New Zealand
via Australia so this might be the most likely option.
She married John "Jack" Gilston Dick in 1866 in Portobello, Otago. They had
ten children in 18 years.
136
http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-Bre02Whit-t1-body-d2-d7-d13.html
137 rd
great uncle, John G Dick who arrived 3 years earlier.
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It is possible that this is the house referred to by Jane Dick
daughter) in her memories of the early days on the Peninsula. Alternatively,
this might be Robert Dick
, as it has been suggested that
John never lived there. Whatever the story, it represents Peninsula life in the
early 1870s.
In her 1951 Memories of Early Days on the Otago Peninsula, Jane (Jean) Pennell 138 ,
eldest daughter of John G Dick, said she was born in 1867 in a house made of
fern trees on a hill facing the harbour. This would almost certainly have been
overlooking Portobello. This house was soon replaced by a wooden one, but
when she was five years old, John Dick took his wife and family of four children
to live in Dunedin.
138
She was the 1st cousin 3 times removed of Craig & Allan
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Figure 74 Wickliffe Bay 1890s. unknown but could have been Dicks
As John became more and
more involved with his
stonemasonry trade, he
must have moved further
away from farming. This
may have prompted his
decision to shift his home
to Dunedin. His first home
in Dunedin was probably a
house in Duncan Street
bought in 1872 for 100
English pounds. His daughter, Jane, said she started school in 1872 at the
Mornington School, at that time at the top of McLaggan Street. It would have
been a short walk from her new home. But after a year John sold up and bought
a house for 110 pounds from Charles Hay in Argyle Street, then known as
Primrose Hill. From there the family went to the new Mornington School not
too far away from Argyle. This remained the family home until Isabella died in
1934 when it was demolished and subdivided. One part of the property
remains as a memorial to John's long occupation - the street wall almost
certainly built by John himself.
About 1890, John and Isabella Dick decided to try life in Australia but they
kept their home in Dunedin and the smallholding of land near Portobello. After
living in Melbourne for two years, the family settled on a farm in an area called
Swanpool near Benalla in north-east Victoria. The town is located on
the Midland Highway and in the Rural City of Benalla local government area,
211 kilometres north east of Melbourne. It must have been very small. The
Swan Pool (sic) Post Office opened on 10 May 1877 and closed in 1994. 139
139
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swanpool,_Victoria
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The Evans family, comprising 13 children and their parents were neighbours.
This family was connected to the Byrns' family, one of whom was a member of
the Kelly Gang although he left the gang before its members were captured.
A young man who lived in Benalla at that time, and was well known to the
Evans and Dick families, was Michael Joseph Savage, later to be the first Labour
Prime Minister of New Zealand. A point of interest was that the Dicks were
accompanied to Australia by a young man called Lawson, a son of the wellknown
architect R.A. Lawson for whom the Dick brothers had done so much
work.
One permanent remainder of their time in Victoria was
of gold that was found at their property at Benalla.
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Memories of grandparents
I can remember my grandfather. John Gilston Dick,visited our
home at Balclutha when [ was a boy of 5 or 6. but I came to
know him better when 9 or 10 and I was then allowed to stay
with him and grandmother at Argyle Street, Mornington.
Dunedin, sometimes on my own. In those days he seemed to stay
at home mostly sitting, reading or 'writing. in contrast to
Grandma who always seemed more active and did a lot of
walking and visiting. He was a tall well-built man with a white
beard and was a pipe smoker.
Although he used glasses to read, he had bright. even piercing
dark eyes. He chuckled rather than laughed and sometimes broke
into Scottish song. Sometimes he played the violin, and he wrote
poetry. He did nor seem to take part in public life although he
retained his membership of the Masonic Lodge, Kilwinning. Of
course, he had long retired from work when I stayed with him. At
drinker and was as canny with his money as any Scotsman. He
died of old age on 21 June 1920, 80 years old when I was 11.
Grandma survived him until she was 91. She kept good health
until near her end. She became fairly deaf with age but like most
"oldies" she heard what she wanted to hear, or what others did
not want her to. At the age of 80 she went (by herself) to
Australia by ship from Dunedin.
Grandma was always a great walker and thought nothing of
walking to Green Island, about three miles, to visit her sister up
until she was well over 80. She had a slight figure and had a
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bustling walk even about the house. She had a habit of puffing as
she moved around but I cannot believe this was due to a
shortness of breath. She was a good cook of the plain foods you
would expect in a frugal Scottish household and I can remember
her oatmeal cakes. shortbread, soup, mince and tripe.
She accompanied herself on the piano when singing hymns and
was a fairly regular attendant at the Mornington Presbyterian
Church. (I never heard of my grandfather going to church).
Some 67 years after her arrival in Otago, brother came to visit her in
1924. He may have stayed on since there is somebody of that name died at
Baker St, Caversham in 1929.
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Isabella died on 8 August 1934 in Mornington, Otago, at the age of 90, and was
buried in Otago.
John Gilston had predeceased her, dying on 21 January 1920 in Portobello.
C Robert Dick (1870-1961)
Robert was a son of John Gilston and Isabella Dick. His was a
most interesting and tragic life.
Figure 75 Robert
Dick
a violinola.
After a short and unsatisfactory apprenticeship in NZ, Robert 140
went to Melbourne where he worked until he had enough
money to get to London to join the Police Force.
Later, he moved to Canada to publish some of his violin music.
While there, he built a 5-string violin himself, which he called
Next he went to United States and became an American citizen. The family
believed this was solely to enable him to fight in the 1898 Spanish American
war. He served in the Philippines but became ill and was hospitalised, first in
Manila and then in Japan. It seems that he suffered a complete physical and
mental breakdown.
He returned to his parents who were living in Melbourne and returned to
Dunedin with them.
140
1 st cousin 3x removed of Craig & Allan
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In 1916, he was committed to the Seacliff Asylum where he was a long term
patient at the Orokinui Retreat, eventually moving to Cherry Farm; he spent
some 50 years in institutional care! The Orokonui Hospital was situated in
Blueskin Bay near Waitati. Dr Truby King had wanted a separate site for the
care of people with drink problems and in 1901 the site was purchased part
of a former school. It eventually housed about 30 male patients in the old
school buildings while about 10 females lived in what had been the former
, the women were removed
and Orokinui became a psychiatric hospital. 141
I remember visiting him at Orokonui when I was about 20, and
found him quite lucid and very knowledgeable. But when he
started talking about his incarceration and his intention of suing
the New Zealand Government for the money he would have won
at theraces had he been free, one realised his mental
instability. 142
A brother and sister took up the issue of his war service with the American
government which agreed to pay him a war pension although it went to the NZ
government for his upkeep! When the 1938 Social Security Act provided for
free medical care, however, Robert was finally in personal receipt of his pension,
which just accumulated to around 10,000 pounds at the time of his death.
While at Orokonui he complained about the lack of fish on the menu. He
decided to remedy this by trying to build a boat from a felled tree trunk,
hollowing it out with few tools. It was never finished but formed a talking point
for visitors!
141
http://www.dunedinfamilyhistory.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/DFHG-2011-Aprilnewsletter.pdf
142
Carrol, the Dick family, p 10
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In his last few years he became quite frail, almost bedridden. Carroll reports
that he was well regarded by the nursing staff.
There was only one family member at his funeral:
John Carroll.
Social Security Act 1938
Security Act overhauled the pension system and extended benefits for
families, invalids and the unemployed.
From the late 19th century, New Zealand had gained a reputation as the
was severely challenged by the harsh economic conditions of the 1930s Great
Depression. High unemployment, grim work camps and queues at soup
kitchens shocked many New Zealanders.
Labour won the 1935 election arguing that every New Zealander had a right
Depression was the Social Security Act.
Michael Joseph Savage broadcast to the nation on 2 April 1938 outlining the
Labour government's intentions and details of the proposed bill. He outlined
the details of a comprehensive scheme of social security to provide "a
condition of social security unsurpassed in any other country in the
world".[6] He stressed that the scheme had been carefully costed and was
easily affordable to allay fears of tear away government spending.1 The details
specified the following:
A means tested old age pension of £78 a year (30 shillings per week) to
women over 60 and men over 65
A national superannuation scheme of £10 per annum (rising by £2 10s each
year to reach the same level as the old age pension) to all aged 65 and over
Page | 239
All existing allowances for the unemployed, widows, orphans, veterans and
the disabled were either continued or increased

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D -Maryann Dick 143
When Mary Ann Dick was born on 11 May 1875
in Dunedin, her father, John Gilston, was 34, and
her mother, Isabella, was 31. She married William
Carroll on 14 April in 1899 in Melbourne,
Victoria, Australia.
They had six children during their marriage,
although their firstborn died in infancy. Mary Ann
died in Oamaru in 1972 at the age of 97. Her son,
Jack, was the author of the Dick Family book used
here. Edward was in the RAF and was killed
accidentally in Iraq in 1929 . 144
The family returned to New Zealand from Melbourne, settling for a short time
at Clydevale before going to Balclutha. About eight years later, William was
adjudged bankrupt, largely because of his interest in alcohol! Mary Ann and the
children went to her mother in Mornington for two years. William disappeared
and finally surfaced in Oamaru where the family moved after the boys
education was completed.
Mary Ann had a big financial struggle to raise her family.
143
The first cousin 3x removed of Allan and Craig Sargison.
144
Apart from the statement in op cit no other evidence of this exists.
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D1 Jack Humphries Carroll
Jack was born on 1 April 1909 when his mother Mary
was 33. He died in Mornington, Dunedin, at the age of
95. His wife, Louise White Tonkin was born on 30
October 1912 in Oamaru, dying at the age of 93. They
had two children yet to be traced.
Figure 76 At Dick
reunion in 1981
E Elizabeth Dick (1879-1965)
Another daughter of John Gilston and Isabella Dick, Elizabeth was born on 19
November 1879 in
Balclutha. Her father, John,
was 39, and her mother,
Isabella, was 35. She had one
son and one daughter with
William Oswald Griffiths
between 1901 and 1903. She
died on 5 August 1965 in
Victoria at the age of 85.
Nola Isabel Constance Griffiths OBE, JP 145
145
2 nd Cousin 2x removed of Craig and Allan Sargison
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She was born on 27 December 1901 in Woodend, Victoria, when her
father, William, was 24, and her mother, Elizabeth, was 22. She had two
sons and one daughter with David Reaburn Barber between 1940 and
1944. She died on 29 December 1985 in Chelsea, Victoria, at the age of
84. She was a teacher and city councillor for some 25 years in the City of
Chelsea near Melbourne. She became mayor in 1962
F
Katherine Leonora Dick
(1881-1964) 146
Katherine Dick was another daughter of John
Gilston and Isabella Dick. She was born when her
father was 41 and her mother
known was born on 14 October 1881 in Dunedin. She
married Robert Devlin Jameson (Del) in 1909 in New
146
1 st cousin, 3 x removed of Craig and Allan
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Zealand. He was bron in Drogheda, Ireland in June 1882. They lived in
England for a good period and they had two children. She died on 22 October
1964 in Lower Hutt
The couple made at least one trip to the UK, returning on the Strathmore in
1938. The passenger list gives their UK address as Malverton Hall, Skerries,
Dublin.
The combined photo on the right is so evocative of Wellington residential
entrances!!!!
E1 Air Commodore Patrick Geraint Jameson CB
Patrick Jameson 147 was a WWII flying ace. Born on 10 November 1912 in
Wellington, the son of Del Jameson and his wife, Katherine (nee Dick), he
was educated in Lower Hutt before taking up employment as an assurance
clerk with Colonial Mutual Life. He learned to fly privately in 1933 at the
147
2 nd cousin 2x removed of the Sargison boys.
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Wellington Aero Club, and in January 1936, he left New Zealand and
travelled to England. 148
In England, Jameson joined the Royal Air Force (service number 37813).
He completed his flying training in January 1937 and was posted to No. 46
Squadron RAF.
At the outbreak of the Second World War, Jameson was a flight commander
with No. 46 Squadron, flying Hurricanes. From April 1940, he took part
in the Norwegian Campaign, destroying a Junkers Ju 88 and helping to
bring down two Dornier Do 26 flying boats.
In June, it was decided to evacuate all Allied forces from Norway. On 7 June,
No. 46 Squadron landed its Hurricanes successfully on the flight deck of
HMS Glorious, the first time Hurricanes had landed on a carrier. This was
achieved by fixing sandbags under the tail planes to shorten the landing run.
Jameson led the first three aircraft in the attempt, and after making a
successful landing (repeated by the other two pilots), he sent a radio signal
and the rest of the squadron followed suit.
The carrier, along with the escort destroyers Ardent and Acasta, was
intercepted on the way to the United Kingdom by the German battleships,
Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, on 8 June. All three ships were eventually sunk
by shelling. Jameson and his commanding officer, Squadron Leader "Bing"
Cross found themselves on a Carley float with thirty other survivors. After
three days drifting in the freezing temperatures, only seven men were alive
to be picked up by the Norwegian cargo vessel, Borgund. The two RAF pilots
148
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Jameson See also
https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/43783/Jameson-Patrick-Geraint.htm?c=aw
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were the only surviving pilots of their unit. Of some 1,474 men on board
the three ships, only 45 survived.
For his services in Norway, Jameson was awarded the Distinguished Flying
Cross (DFC) in July 1940. His citation read:
Acting Flight Lieutenant Patrick Geraint JAMESON (37813).
This officer led his flight with determination over completely strange country
during operations in the Narvik area. He discovered and set on fire, two fourengined
enemy flying boats which were concealed against the almost vertical side
of Rombaksfjord, in a position most difficult to attack. No trace of them was found
during a reconnaissance shortly afterwards. The following morning he destroyed
a Junkers 88 over Ofotfjord. During the previous seven months he has led his flight
with skill and determination, both by day and by night, often in extremely bad
weather conditions. His example has been an inspiration to the rest of the
squadron.
After recovering at Gleneagles Hospital in Scotland, Jameson took command
of No. 266 Squadron RAF in September 1940, as part of Douglas Bader's
"Big Wing". In June 1941 he was posted in as Wing Leader, Wittering Wing,
before becoming acting Station Commander at RAF Wittering in October
1941. He was awarded a Bar to his DFC that same month, the citation
reading:
Acting Wing Commander Patrick Geraint JAMESON, DFC (37813), Reserve
of Air Force Officers, No.266 Squadron.
This officer has set a high standard in the performance of his duties. He is a fine
leader whose unsparing efforts have contributed to the excellent fighting spirit of
his fellow pilots. Wing Commander Jameson has destroyed six enemy aircraft, one
being shot down at night, and he has damaged two others. His bearing in the face
of the enemy has been of the highest order. [3]
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In August 1942 he led the Wittering Wing over Dieppe, and in December
was posted to RAF North Weald to command Nos. 331 and 332 Squadrons.
For his services as a wing leader, Jameson was awarded the Distinguished
Service Order on 9 March 1943. The citation read:
Acting Wing Commander Patrick Geraint JAMESON, DFC (37813).
Since December 1942, this officer has led the wing on 21 sorties in which 13 enemy
aircraft have been destroyed. Early in February 1943, over France, the wing was
attacked by some 60 enemy fighters. During the
combat, Wing Commander Jameson was attacked by
8 of the enemy aircraft but he fought his way clear
and eventually led the wing back to base without loss.
Some days later, whilst acting as escort to a force of
bombers, the wing engaged a large formation of
enemy fighters and shot down 7 of them, 2 being
destroyed by Wing Commander Jameson. By his
inspiring leadership and fine fighting qualities, this
officer has won the complete confidence of all with whom he has flown. Wing
Commander Jameson has destroyed 9 enemy aircraft, 2 of them at night.
In 1944, he married Hilda Nellie Haiselden Webster, 149 born in July 1915
in Otaki, Wellington, New Zealand. The last record of her in New Zealand
was in the 1938 electoral roll where she was living in Lower Hutt.
Presumably, she went to England before the war. She died in Lower Hutt
on 29 June 2009.
After a spell on the staff at No. 11 Group Operational planning, in July 1944
he took command of 122 (Mustang) Wing, ending the war as a recognised
149
Her parents were Bertie Fitzherbert Barton Webster born in Wellington 20 Feb 1894 and Violet May
Haiselden born in Bolton, Lancashire in 1915.
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ace, with nine enemy planes destroyed, one probable and another shared,
two damaged and two destroyed on water.
In September 1945 he was Officer
Commanding RAF Schleswigland and was
later Officer Commanding of RAF
Wunsdorf.
Overseas Decorations
• USA Silver Star Medal (SSM) June 14
1946
• Commandeur in de Ordre van Oranje
Nassau (ON.3) 31 October 1947, Wing Commander
Patrick Jameson was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in
1959. He retired in 1960 and, after being treated for tuberculosis, returned
to New Zealand.
Remarkably, in the early 1970s, Jameson inherited Dardistown Castle,
Ireland, complete with
contents, from the estate of
Harry Osbourne, in
recognition of their
friendship and his heroic
actions during WWII. The
Castle was built in 1465 and
was, as a result of multiple additions over the years,
.
Jameson had developed tuberculosis and decided to convalesce back in New
Zealand, so the Castle was offered to his son who decided he d rather
. Accordingly, the Castle was sold and most of the
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contents was brought out to New Zealand. Nevertheless, there was still a
huge auction as the following overview from the auction catalogue (which
runs to 44 pages) shows:
Including a superb offering of Irish silver, rare Regency cellarette, George III chest on chest,
military chest,
Victorian walnut credenza ex. Dardistown Castle, Ireland, from the Jameson Estate, along with
our usual
quality auction of; antique French tools, Georgian Treen, Tudric pewter, fur coats, parasols,
Olympic
medals, war medals, a collection of rugby memorabilia, barometers, boxed sextant, marine
items, stamps,
Victorian copper and brass, 19thC embroidered map of Scotland, a selection of model steam
engines,
engineering books, Waterford glass, kiwi feather muff, whale ivory walking cane, Backhouse
shell painting,
WWI trench art bracelet, Crown Lynn, Len Castle, Chinese jade, ivories, ceramics, Japanese
ivories and
ceramics, Lladro figurines, Clarice Cliff, Doulton, Belleek, Worcester including Dr Wall piece,
Moorcroft,
Aynsley, Victorian and Edwardian jewellery, diamond rings, bracelets, pendants, earrings,
cameos, half
sovereigns, Krugerrand, superb antique sapphire & diamond ring, and an “internally flawless”
diamond
and ruby ring, Art Deco diamond brooch, portrait miniatures, clocks and watches including a
large brass
model of Big Ben, collection of carriage clocks, scent bottle collection, 12 fine antique
vinaigrettes, fish
slices, Irish silver cutlery, magnificent suite of silver tableware including tea and coffee service,
tureens,
trays by noted NZ silversmith Peter Woods, Persian rugs; Turkomans, Kelims, Afghan and
Baluchi rugs,
partners desk, Sheraton Revival bookcase, tables and chairs, chests of drawers, Japanese
furniture,
chandeliers, mirrors, watercolours, oil paintings, Perretts, and many more.
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The Dick Stonemasons
This was a family of stonemasons; Robert, the father
(D1) and his two sons, William (D2) and John Gilston
Dick (A), were all stonemasons. They arrived in the
new settlement of Dunedin between 1860 and 1862,
just as the gold rushes brought riches to the region,
so there was plenty of building work, even though
they really wanted land.
They were a major pivot in our family history. This chapter
deals with their business activities in the new settlement.
.
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John Gilston & William Dick - buildings
John Gilston probably continued farming until 1871 when Dick (William), Page
and Co . It took over 200
workmen three years to build the exterior. European craftsmen spent another
commissioning the building of this late Victorian-era abode. Both the exterior
and interior comprised thousands of extravagant stones and materials that were
imported from all across the world.
The following puts the venture into some perspective:
Dunedin’s pretentious piles 150
Dunedin claims two castles, although they are nothing of the sort.
William James Mudie Larnach will be forever remembered for
two things: taking his own life in Parliament in 1898 as he
150
''The Camp' and 'The Cliffs'', URL: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/media/photo/camp-and-cliffs, (Ministry
for Culture and Heritage), updated 8-Oct-2014
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rebounded from the verge of bankruptcy to the edge of family
disgrace, and fo
is a fitting monument for a man of whom the Dictionary of
New Zealand Biography
cost a show of material success, and to hide any trace of
weakness or self-doubt, was a ruling instinct which exacted a
-room Scots Baronial house, symbolised the
wealth and confidence of the Dunedin business community at its
peak. R.A. Lawson, normally an architect of taste, supervised it
for Larnach and work started on the isolated Otago Peninsula
site in 1871. It is an impressive if ill-proportioned lump
of Victorian and Scottish styles based on British plans.
The Dicks were probably engaged there for some four years 151
although some stonework on the property continued after that.
152
services were in great demand and it is likely that the
Castle architect, R A Lawson, would have secured him all the
work he could handle. Certainly, John and William worked on
First Church, Knox Church, Otago Boys High School and the
Municipal Chambers.
151
Jack Humphris-Carroll, The Dick Family, page 6
152 nd
great grandfather
Page | 251

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Figure 77 First church about end of construction
.They worked beyond Dunedin too: a bridge in
Thames Street, Oamaru (before the railway was
laid) they walked there; a church at Hampden;
the Seacliff Mental Hospital; and an imposing
residence at Otanomomo 153 for William Telford
who purchased the property in 1867 and built up
his sheep flock to more than 18,000 by 1888. His
descendants presented the property to the Telford
Farm Training Institute in 1964. 154
The Seacliff Mental Asylum became the largest employer in the Blueskin Bay
area when it opened in the 1880s. It had an unhappy history, as did many of
the inmates. Locked in a building so large that there were over 1,000 keys to
open the many doors, close to 1,500 patients judged as insane (or who, after
1911, committed themselves for voluntary treatment) lived out their lives until
Figure 78 Seacliff Mental Asylum at its peak
demolition in the mid-
1970s. Many people
spent much of their lives
in the locked wards in
this corridor asylum built
in accordance with the
international trend
153
6 km south of Balclutha. Nearby settlements include Finegand to the north, Paretai, Puerua,
and Romahapa to the south, and Waitepeka to the west. Telford Farm Training (formerly
Polytechnic) is based in the house.
154
https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/16928/telford-rural-polytechnic
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toward the construction of vast institutions that characterised Victorian care of
the mentally ill.
Built in the Scottish Baronial style to the design by prominent Dunedin architect
Robert Arthur Lawson, the Seacliff Asylum was notorious for its size, the threat
and unfortunate structural history. Built on unstable ground, the long main
block began to fail almost as soon as it was completed. The largest architectural
commission in the country at the time of its construction, the failure was a
public humiliation for Lawson who fled to Melbourne following a commission
of inquiry which found him negligent. The building was plagued with problems
throughout its life. Further notoriety resulted from the fire in a ward block in
1942 in which 37 female patients died in the locked building.
Page | 253

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Figure 79 top mosaic and bottom floor in Larnach stables which has not moved since laid.
Page | 254

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Figure 80 Kiln work by William Dick
In a slight switch of focus, John Dick obtained a contract for track formation on
the Otago Central Railway in 1885. The contract involved 69 chains on the
Dunedin side of the Mingatui Viaduct.
But although a separate contract was let for the abutments and masonry piers
holding the metal bridge, it was not to Dick.
There was a tunnel in the section he worked on but there is some doubt that
the tunnel was included. The contract price of 936 English pounds seems to
preclude it. It was not a good contract and it was finished late, probably because
of the bad winter weather. In any event, he took court action to secure an
increase in the contract monies payable but, despite being represented by a
Page | 255

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young Dunedin counsel, J.G. Hanlon, who later became a famous criminal
lawyer, 155 he lost the case.
155
In 1895, he defended, also unsuccessfully, Minnie Dean in the famous Baby Farm case. Minnie Dean
was the only woman ever to be hanged in New Zealand.
Page | 256

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The Blueskin Families
The Lunams
Although not directly related to our
family, William Lunam and Margaret
Robertson with their five children
sailed into the Otago Harbour on 3
Sept 1860 aboard the Robert
Henderson. William went to
Caversham where he died in 1878.
Margaret died on 1 September 1889.
One of their sons was David Lunam 156 who married Edith
Henry at the Waitati Church in 28 December 1887.
David and his family went to Blueskin Bay where farmed.
Figure 81 David Lunam
move
They would have been neighbours of the Sargison
brothers whom they would have met on the Robert
Henderson. Their granddaughter, Maud Isabella Lunam Shaw later married
James Don after the death of his first wife, Alice Maria Sargison(1881-1944) , a
niece of Henry Griffen Sargison.
156
Paternal grandfather of wife of husband of 1 st cousin 2x removed of Craig & Allan SArgison
Page | 257

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The Reids
The Reids appear to have arrived in Otago around the same time. James Reid 157
arrived with his wife, Ann Christie, and daughter Isabella on the Robert
Henderson in 1861, settling at Omimi. They would have known the Lunams
and later their son would marry Susan Jane Sargison, 158 one of the daughters of
Henry Griffen and Mary Ann Sargison.
The Andersons
John Anderson arrived on the Bernida in 1848. He settled in Blueskin where
he had a sheep and cattle run. In 1857, he moved to Wyndham, where he
remained till his run was needed for close settlement. Then he shifted to
Hawkes Bay, where he died.
His son, also John Anderson, was in Dunedin in 1848 and employed as a
shepherd. With his father, he took up a run at Wyndham; he and his brother
157
James Stevenson Reid was the father in law of Allan & Craig’s great aunt Susan Sargison.
158
Great aunt of Craig & Allan Sargison.
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became the first white men to visit Waikawa from inland. He resided 30 years
in Otago and then in Napier. 159
The Dons
On 22 September 1858, William Don and his father, John, arrived at Port
Chalmers aboard the Jura after a 92-day passage. William was 20 and his father
was 51. In 1870, William married Betsy McDonald, born in 1837 in
Blairgowrie, Scotland. The Margaret McDonald aboard the Mermaid arriving in
Lyttelton on 16 December 1862 may have been her.
William and Betsy were established in Waitati and one of their sons, James, was
later to marry Alice Maria Sargison. 160
The Hornes
James Horne and Susan Yates and their family were on the Wellington when it
arrived in Port Chalmers in 1875. Clearly their daughter Mary Ann (Janet) met
her future husband, Henry Griffen Sargison, on that voyage although they may
well have known each other earlier as both hailed from Wisbec,
Cambridgeshire.
159
Papers Past | Biographical Notes of Settlers of the First Decade. THE OLD IDENTITY. (Otago Witness,
1898-03-31)
160
1 st cousin twice removed of Craig and Allan Sargison.
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The Robertsons
Another key Blueskin family. Peter and his wife, Catharine Dickson, came out
to Port Chalmers from Scotland aboard the Robert Henderson, arriving on 9
February 1858. They too settled in Blueskin.
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Agnes Robertson, with her sister, Jane, and William Robertson with a family of
eight arrived later that year on the Jura. 161 Agnes went on to marry John Souness
and after his death, William Sargison, 162 who came out with his brother, Henry
Griffen Sargison in 1875.
161
http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/facilities/cemeteries/cemeteries_search?recordid=80164&type=Burial
162
2 nd great uncle of Craig & Allan Sargison.
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The Blueskin Sargisons:
The Sargisons settled into Blueskin soon after their
arrival. For almost 100 years there was at least one
Sargison living in the district.
Descent Line
S1 Henry (Harry) Griffin Sargison 1856-1951
2nd great-grandfather
S2 James Henry Sargison 1881-1947
Son of Henry (Harry) Griffin Sargison
S3 Eric Duncan Sargison 1908-1978
Son of James Henry Sargison
S4 Allan James Sargison 1949-
Son of Eric Duncan Sargison
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S5 Georgina Elizabeth & Geoffrey Philip Sargison
Children of Allan James Sargison
The Sargisons were relatively late settlers, arriving on the Wellington in Dec.
1874. The ship, incidentally, was of 1,250 tons, new and built for Patrick
Henderson which later amalgamated with
Shaw Savill. 163 This ship was
approximately twice the tonnage of the
Philip Laing, Such was the demand for
emigration and the advancement of
technology!
Aboard were Henry (Harry) Griffen Sargison 164 , born
in December 1856 at Parson Grove, Wisbech,
Cambridgeshire and his elder brother, William
George Sargison, 165 born in 1852.
163
http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-Bre01Whit-t1-body-d13.html
164
The great grandfather of Allan & Craig.
165
This was Allan & Craig’s 2 nd great uncle.
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William George Sargison 1852-95)
When William George
Sargison 166 was born in 1852
in Parson Drove,
Cambridgeshire, his father,
Michael, was 22 and his
mother, Jane, was 25. He
had two brothers and four
sisters.
He emigrated from
Cambridgeshire to New
Zealand in 1875 aboard the
Wellington with his brother,
Waitati or Merchiston.
Sargison. The two brothers
each purchased land in
In 1883, William married Agnes Robertson (1838-1925) at Merton
Presbyterian Church. Agnes had arrived in New Zealand on 22 September 1858
at Port Chalmers aboard the Jura. She and her family came from Marnoch in
Banffshire, Scotland.
166
2 nd great uncle of Craig & Allan
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Agnes had previously been married to John Souness who died in 1877, leaving
her with five children. It is believed William took these children, teenagers at
the time, although one was much younger, into his household. One son, Peter
Souness (1866-1911) became the chemist and later the mayor of Kaitangata.
He lost a son in World War 1 in Belgium. The Souness family lived in Waitati
although at some point Agnes
and John had moved to East
Taieri. John died in
Waikouaiti.
William and Agnes had no
children of their own. It
appears that they spent their
lives largely in Blueskin where William was a surfaceman (road worker).
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Figure 82 Peter Souness, Kaitangata Chemist
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S1 Henry Harry Griffen Sargison
Henry (Harry) Griffin Sargison was born in Parsons Drove, Cambridgeshire in
December 1856; his father, Michael, was 26 and his mother, Jane, was 29. The
differently (but not consistently) is unknown. Multiple spellings of names were
not unusual.
many years.
On 15 May 1876, Harry married Mary Ann Horne from
Leverington in Cambridgeshire. Harry and his brother,
and the Horne family had all emigrated to Otago aboard
the same ship the previous year. Harry and Mary Ann had
three sons and three daughters. As noted above, he
bought land near Waitati and seems to have kept this for
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At some point, the family moved to Omimi where Mary Ann died, aged 51, on
19 September 1907. She may well have been ill for some time as the newspaper
coroner after a jury investigation which concluded that she died of pneumonia
and cardiac failure. Given that she died at Seacliff Hospital and there was a
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coronial enquiry, there was certainly more to it and suicide cannot be
discounted. This has some anecdotal support. One of her daughters, Laura
Mary, died at Sunnyside Hospital in Christchurch in 1955, so there may have
been some form of mental illness in the family.
Ada Burgess
Henry married Ada Burgess in 1918. She had
come out to Otago aboard the Jura in 1858 167 from Leicestershire and died in
Goodwood in 1926. She was buried at St Barnabas in Warrington. 168
Interestingly it seems to have been a
double wedding; he and Ada married at
niece, Alice
Sargison, 169 who had recently come out
to New Zealand and was living in Goodwood with them. She married James
Don. The Dons became an established Blueskin family.
For the duration of the marriage, Henry and Ada lived in Goodwood, where
Henry worked for the railways. It seems
that her death in 1926 followed an
illness, as the adjacent acknowledgement
suggests. 170
167
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ESD19071015.2.77?page=28&query=sargison&title=NZT
R%2CAHCOG%2CBH%2CCL%2CCROMARG%2CDUNST%2CESD%2CLCM%2CLCP%2CLWM%2CME%2CMI
C%2CMTBM%2CNOT%2COAM%2CODT%2COW%2COSWCC%2CSOCR%2CST%2CTT%2CWSTAR%2CAMB
PA%2CAG%2CASHH%2CEG%2CGLOBE%2CLT%2CNCGAZ%2COO%2CCHP%2CSCANT%2CTS%2CSUNCH%
2CTEML%2CTHD%2CWDA
168
Block 4, plot 1.
169
A first cousin 2 x removed of Craig & Allan Sargison.
170
Papers Past | Page 10 Advertisements Column 2 (Otago Daily Times, 1926-03-27)
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Goodwood
Goodwood is about 50km north of Dunedin. It was first settled by an early
Scandinavian settler, Charles Suisted, who came to Otago via Australia and
Wellington. 171 . According to Suisted's son, James, the final decision to leave
Wellington was made, 'because of the disturbed state of the Maoris, and because
of the earthquakes I have heard my father say, that during those earthquakes
the ground was almost in continuous motion for 35 days.'
In 1848 Suisted paid £200 for 550
acres of land near Pleasant River in
North Otago. Being the first European
to settle in the area, Suisted and his
family may truly claim to be among
the founders of the province. He
Figure 83 Goodwood on peace day 1918
named his new property Goodwood
and eventually the entire district took
on this name. A barn-like structure was built initially to house the family. It
was their home for at least eleven months. After the family moved to their new
homestead in 1851, the structure was converted to stables, which amazingly
still stand today under the protection of the NZ Historic Places Trust. 172
171
http://www.nzsba.nz/latest-news/news-archive/October-2013/Swedish-Pioneer
172
After buying the Goodwood block, Suisted moved quickly to establish squatting rights further north over Kakanui
and Otepopo, stretching from the Wainakarua to the Awamoa Creek near Oamaru. An outstation was established at
Waianakarua in 1848 and a shepherd was installed to look after the holdings. These were the first European farm
buildings to be erected in North Otago, which was a significant milestone in the history of the district. When the
new tenure system came into force Suisted made haste to legalise his position and the licenses to these new blocks,
containing circa 50,000 acres (20,234 hectares), were granted in 1852
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Sarah Omand
Figure 85 Sarah's mother Robina?
in Goodwood,
Henry moved
back to Waitati,
where he met and
married Sarah
Barbara Omand in
1929. She had
been born in 1895 in East Yell,
Figure 84 Sarah Omand
Shetland. She and her son, Robert Mitchell Omand,
born on 1 March 1925 in Lerwick, East Yell, were living in Blueskin. Actually
there was a little grouping of Omands in the area. Two of her brothers William
and David, both farmers, came out in 1924. Two sisters Catherine and Mary
Isabella also came out, perhaps with Sarah but no dates have been found. They
lived in Blueskin.
Figure 86 Robert David Mitchell Sargison
Henry and Sarah had two children together:
John Martin who died in infancy, and Harriet.
Henry also adopted
Robert David Mitchell 173 Sargison.Sarah was
apparently active on the farm (Henry was by
this time well over 70!), winning prizes at the
local Blueskin Show. She was also able to
secure local body approvals for such projects
as erecting a gate across a road.
Sarah outlived Henry, dying in July 1954 at the relatively young age of 59.
173
Robert Mitchell Oman, 1854-
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Quite apart from his longevity and his three wives,
Harry was somewhat unusual in a number of ways.
It does seem odd that he buried both Mary Horne
and Ada Burgess in the same grave in Warrington,
19 years apart. It is indeed a beautiful churchyard
The Shetlands
The Shetland Island 174 s, also called Zetland or Shetland, are a group of about 100 islands, fewer than 20
of them inhabited, in Scotland, 130 miles (210 km) north of the Scottish mainland, at the northern
extremity of the United Kingdom. Although not well known by New Zealanders in general, the Shetlands
provided many emigrants to New Zealand most notably, perhaps Sir Robert Stout the notable politician
and Chief Justice who arrived in 1863.
Sarah Barbara Omand came from East Yell to Blueskin. Her two brothers,
William and David came to New
Zealand in 1924n Sarah, her son
Robert Mitchell Omand and her
sisters Mary Isabella and Robina
appear to have come later and
settled in Blueskin along with
William. David took up farming
in the Kaitangata area.
They came from a long line of descent in the Shetlands and primarily on East
Yell. The names vary between Oman, Omand and Omond, but all originate
from the Orkney and Shetland Isles, and in particular the Isle of Yell. The name
is almost certainly of Norse-Viking pre 10th century origins, as these were areas
174
https://www.britannica.com/place/Shetland-Islands-Scotland
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very much controlled by the Scandinavian invaders of the Dark Ages, and it is
claimed, derives from either of two personal names. This may be the compound
"Hamundr", composed of the elements "ha", meaning high and "mundr"
protection, or from another personal name "Amundr", comprising the elements
"a" meaning an ancestor and again "mundr". Both could be translated as
meaning "high protector", but not too much credence should be given to a
translation, as with many compound personal names of this period of history
between the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century and the coming of
Emperor Charlemagne in the 9th, there is often little apparent logical
relationship between the two elements. Early examples of the surname
recording include: Thome Omond of Kirkbuster in the year 1530, Edduard
Homonsone of Orkney in 1546, and Edward Oman of the same place, in 1576.
Richard Eumound was recorded in Clouston in 1602, whilst Robert Omond
was a resident of Kirkwall in 1647. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every
country have continued to "develop," often leading to astonishing variants of
the original spelling175
.
Feuding brothers
Family and indeed non-family stories abound of two Sargison brothers who
lived in Blueskin but did not speak and indeed at times insisted that they were
not related. Clearly Harry and William Sargison had a major falling out. Just
what it was about is unknown. It could have been that they both wanted to
marry Mary Horne, whom they met on the voyage out. A more likely reason is
that they disagreed about helping their sister, Agnes, in her time of need. After
she was accused of murdering her illegitimate baby, she wrote to William,
175
https://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Omond
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seeking for help to get a lawyer to defend her. He was not well off and almost
certainly he asked Harry for his support; Harry may have refused.
When William died at a relatively early age, Henry inserted two somewhat
176
unusual death notices
There was no mention of his wife who survived him!
Quite why he asked his friends to attend and why there was no mention of the
widow is uncertain. The former could indicate some measure of remorse for
his treatment of William?
Henry retired from the Railways after a career of 35 years.
The adjoining 1899 report
probably relates to Harry. 177
176
Otago Daily Times, 24 May 1895.
177
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/OAM18991020.2.14?end_date=31-12-
1900&page=5&query=william+sargison&start_date=01-01-
1839&title=AHCOG%2CBH%2CCL%2CCROMARG%2CDUNST%2CESD%2CLCM%2CLCP%2CLWM%2CME
%2CMIC%2CMTBM%2CNOT%2COAM%2CODT%2COW%2COSWCC%2CSOCR%2CST%2CTT%2CWSTAR%
2CCHARG%2CGRA%2CGEST%2CIT%2CKUMAT%2CLTCBG%2CWCT%2CWEST%2CAMBPA%2CAG%2CEG
%2CGLOBE%2CLT%2CNCGAZ%2COO%2CCHP%2CSCANT%2CTS%2CSUNCH%2CTEML%2CTHD%2CWDA
&type=ARTICLE
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It is possible that he stood for the Blueskin mayoralty in 1888/9. 178 If so the
reference in the newspaper to the Jura in 1858 is wrong. There is no further
corroboration in newspapers.
Together with his adopted son, Robert David Mitchell Sargison, Henry owned
a farm two miles from Waitati, comprising 97 acres with:
• 56 head of cattle
• 35 gallons milk per day
• 5 horses
• 12 acres of oats
This was enough to have produced a good income at the time. It was sold in
December 1949 for L2,600. 179
In 1948, there was a dramatic hedge fire at the Evansdale property. Harry and
Sarah subsequently inserted a thankyou note in the Otago Daily Times, thanking
passersby and locals who stopped to help them extinguish it. 180
178
freepages.rootsweb.com/~nzbound/genealogy/oesa.htm - Mr Henry Sargison (57), Omimi, Jura,
1858 ... Mrs Alice Wilson, Hart street ... to stand for election as Mayor in the year of the New Zealand
and South Seas . Note there is no Sargison on the passenger list but there are some Wilsons who could
include Alice.
179
Blueskin Days
180
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ODT19481105.2.9.7?page=42&query=sargison&title=NZTR%2CAHCO
G%2CBH%2CCL%2CCROMARG%2CDUNST%2CESD%2CLCM%2CLCP%2CLWM%2CME%2CMIC%2CMTBM%2CNOT%2
COAM%2CODT%2COW%2COSWCC%2CSOCR%2CST%2CTT%2CWSTAR%2CAMBPA%2CAG%2CASHH%2CEG%2CGLOB
E%2CLT%2CNCGAZ%2COO%2CCHP%2CSCANT%2CTS%2CSUNCH%2CTEML%2CTHD%2CWDA
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Harry died in 1951 in Dunedin, Otago, at the age of 94, and was cremated.
Figure 87 Harry (seated) &son James Henry Sargison c 1948
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S1 A Harriet Sargison 181
Harriet was born in Waitati to Henry Griffen Sargison and his third wife,
Sarah Omand in 1930.
She was clearly
a bright girl,
consistently
winning
Figure 88 Harriet with
young cousin Don
school excellence awards for academic subjects as well as sewing. In 1938,
for example, when she was in Standard 1, she got 1 st equal overall and
the sewing prize! She had an interest in the farm and took up exhibiting
at the Blueskin Show, following in the footsteps of both her parents and
with evident success.
She appears to have stood for Dunedin Central in the Otago district
elections in 1946. 182
Although there was ongoing contact with Doreen in particular after
Harriet married Gordon Clark, we actually have little specific information
about her. She did have at least two children.
181
extent Eric!
182
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ODT19461116.2.134?end_date=31-12-
1950&phrase=2&query=harriet+clark&start_date=01-01-
1920&title=OW%2CODT&type=ARTICLE%2CADVERTISEMENT
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She died in 2018 and
was buried with her
mother, Sarah Barbara
Omand at Blueskin
Cemetery in Waitati.
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S2 James Henry Sargison, 183 Georgina Betson
Cunningham & Mary Ann Steele
When James Henry Sargison was born in 1881, his
father, Henry, was 25 and his mother, Mary Ann, was
25.
Not a lot is known about his early life although he did
well at school, as the following 1888 prize list for Union
St School in Dunedin shows:
He trained as a teacher, working in many schools around New Zealand until
the many court cases associated with his second marriage ended his career.
183
Grandfather of Allan & Craig Sargison
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He first married Georgina Betson Cunningham at St
Pauls in Oamaru on 2 August 1906. They had one
son together. Perhaps while he was courting, he
entered in the North Otago Cycling Club races in the
one mile novice class. 184
Georgina came from the Waitaki Valley where her
parents farmed. She was born some months after her father, George Duncan
Cunningham drowned in the Waitaki River, which was announced in the Mt
Ida Chronicle.185 There were several relations in Oamaru with livery stables
184
Papers Past, Oamaru Mail, 11 January 1899.
185
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/MIC18780907.2.3?query=george+d+cunningham&title=AHCOG%2CB
H%2CCL%2CCROMARG%2CDUNST%2CESD%2CLCM%2CLCP%2CLWM%2CME%2CMIC%2CMTBM%2CNOT%2COAM%
2CODT%2COW%2COSWCC%2CSOCR%2CST%2CTT%2CWSTAR
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and coachbuilding businesses. 186
Her mother, Anne Jack, also died young ,when Georgina was only five. It seems
likely that she was then looked after by her aunt, Margaret Strachan (nee
Cunningham) who was living in Oamaru.
wedding reception was
held at Mrs S .
and moved to Australia from Fife in 1854 aboard the Fullwood. The
Cunninghams moved to Otago around 1860; their son, James, was born in
Tuapeka in 1861 and died in Oamaru in 1904. T
at least four generations to Betson Turpie, born in 1787 and married to a John
Wilson; her father was a John Turpie but I have not traced the name further
back.
186 Picture from Erik Olsen, A History of Otago,
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As noted, the
wedding of James
and Georgina (or at
least the reception)
was held at the
Figure 89 James Henry Sargison & Georgina Betson Cunningham's wedding.
At rear on opposite sides Eva Landels & Henry Griffen Sargison with the best
man who was possibly his brother William. James and Georgina are in the
middle with unknown bridesmaids.
aunt, Margaret
Strachan (nee
Cunningham), 134
Thames St.,
Oamaru. 187
It is believed that husband, William Strachan, was a bank manager.
incursion into hosting weddings. While living in
Melbourne, she had hosted her brother,
erine Orr.
187
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/OW19060829.2.189?page=68&query=sargison&title=NZTR%
2CAHCOG%2CBH%2CCL%2CCROMARG%2CDUNST%2CESD%2CLCM%2CLCP%2CLWM%2CME%2CMIC%2C
MTBM%2CNOT%2COAM%2CODT%2COW%2COSWCC%2CSOCR%2CST%2CTT%2CWSTAR%2CAMBPA%2C
AG%2CASHH%2CEG%2CGLOBE%2CLT%2CNCGAZ%2COO%2CCHP%2CSCANT%2CTS%2CSUNCH%2CTEML
%2CTHD%2CWDA
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Of the wedding party, the two young flower girls are: Irene Cunningham was a
cousin of Georgina, born in 1895 to her uncle, Thomas Cunningham and his
wife, Mary Adams. Irene was to marry John Francis Aubrey in 1925; and Olive
Agnes Cunningham, another cousin, born in 1896 to uncle, James
Cunningham and his wife Catherine Orr. She later married Robert Young.
After their marriage, Georgina
and James resided in Wairuna
where James was the
schoolmaster. It is named after
a prominent peak between
Conical Hill and Otaraia and
was then a sheep farming
district some 40km west of
Balclutha. It was part of the
Poputuna Estate, with settlement beginning in 1863. An influx of Highland
S
Aberdeen All that said, it was
somewhat isolated, certainly compared to Oamaru.
They were only there for perhaps 18 months before moving to Oamaru where
their only son, Eric, was born in 1908. James taught at Oamaru Middle School
as 1 st assistant and was a
captain in the school cadets.
It must have been a good
time for Georgina, being
amongst her family.
Figure 90 West Taieri School as it became in recent years
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Then, in 1911, they moved
to Woodside. James was
the school headmaster.
There tragedy struck;
Georgina died in 1912 and
was buried in Oamaru at
the Oamaru Presbyterian
Cemetery on 24 August. 188
As with the wedding, the
coffin and funeral cortege left her uncle and aunt Strachan s house but this time
the location was Eden St.
Her death was recorded as resulting from appendicitis/toxaemia after a 5- day
illness.
Marriage & Divorce from Mary Ann Steele (1881-1934)
Left with a young son to bring up, James was quick
to move on, probably too quick! After a broken
engagement in 1913, he married Mary Ann
Steele 189 in 1914. The couple spent the next 20
years trying to get rid of each other!
The first sign of dysfunction was the auction of the
total contents of their home at 123 Knowles St in
Fendalton, Christchurch in 1917.
Mckenzie & Willis. THURSDAY NEXT, 29th NOVEMBER,1917
Figure 91 Mary Ann Arthur
Commencing at 1 o'clock. AUCTION SALE OP NEARLY NEW AND
CHOICE FURNITURE. CONTENTS OF FIVE ROOMS. ON ACCOUNT OF J. H. SARGISON, ESQ., who is giving up
188
Block 6, plot 21. I remember Eric, her son trying unsuccessfully in the 1960s to find the grave.
189
Her parents were Robert Steele (1845-1869) & Mary Anne Moore (1844-1910) born in Ireland.
Page | 284

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housekeeping. ON THE PREMISES, 123 KNOWLES STREET, ST. ALBANS. (Take Papanui Cars to Knowles Street.)
THE WHOLE OF HIS PRACTICALLY NEW AND CHOICE FURNITURE AND HOUSEHOLD EFFECTS, including:
QUAINT BUNGALOW SIDEBOARD IN FIGURED RIMU, EXTENSION DINING TABLE TO MATCH, 5 HIGH-BACK
DINING CHAIRS AND CARVER CHAIR with slip-oiit seats, LISKURL HEARTH RUG, BRASS RAIL FENDER, NEARLY
NEW UPHOLSTERED WICKER CHAIRS, OAK FRAMED PICTURES, AXMINSTER HALL RUNNER, HALL STANDS,
Palm Stands, NEARLY NEW OAK DROP-HEAD SINGER SEWING MACHINE (LATEST 66 MODEL), Liskurl Slip
Mats, LINOLEUMS, Vases, Ornaments, Axminster Hearth Rugs, MASSIVE DOUBLE WOOD BEDSTEAD AND IDEAL
WIRE MATTRESS, Kapoe Bedding, HANDSOME CHEVAL DUCHESSE, MIRROR-DOOR WARDROBE AND BEDSIDE
CABINET TO MATCH, } WOOD BEDSTEAD AND WIRE MATTRESS, Kapoc Bedding, SPLAYED MIRROR
DUCHESSE CHEST, CHEST OF DRAWERS, PEDESTAL WRITING DESK, 2 Roeker Chairs, Couch, Kitchen Table,
Chairs, Crockery, Glassware, Kitchen Sundries, Scales, Mincer, Flour Bin, Churn, GAS STOVE, Brooms, Cross-cut Saw,
Frame Saw, LAWN MOWER, WRINGER, MANGLE, Nearly New Wheelbarrow, Garden Roller, WHITE LEGHORN
and RHODE ISLAND RED FOWLS, Etc. McKENZIE & WILLIS, AUCTIONEERS. McKENZIE & WILLIS,
AUCTIONEERS AND HOUSE FURNISHERS. CATHEDRAL SQUARE (Next Post Office). FOR NEW FURNITURE.
BUY AT AUCTION PRICES WE CAN SATISFY THE KEENEST BUYERS. WE SPECIALISE iN OAK FURNITURE of
new and up-to-date design* COMPARE OUR PRICES. We can sell you A SPLENDID OAK SIDEBOARD, from £5/10/-
. HANDSOME OAK HIGH-BACK DINING CHAIRS at 19/6. OAK GATE-LEG DINING TABLE, £3/7/6. HANDSOME
OAK DUCHESSE CHEST, £3. COMFORTABLE CHESTERFIELD COUCH, £7/10/-. AND ALL THE OTHER
FURNISHINGS for a comfortable moderr home AT SIMILARLY LOW PRICES. ALL NEW GOODS OF BEST QUALITY.
Guaranteed to give satisfaction. WE HAVE FURNISHED HUNDREDS OT HOMES IN CANTERBURY, and always given
satisfaction. OPEN FRIDAY NIGHTS. 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. WE DELIVER ALL GOODS FREE OF CHARGE. COUNTRY
CLIENTS. NOTE THIS. ALL NEW FURNITURE PURCHASED HERE CAREFULLY PACKED AND RAILED FREE TO
YOUR HOME. EASY TERMS OF PURCHASE IF DESIRED. McKENZIE AND WILLIS, AUCTIONEERS AND
FURNITURE SPECIALISTS CATHEDRAL SQUARE (Next Post Office).
This was to become an all too familiar pattern of clearance sales by James Henry.
By 1919, the couple were in court. Detailed
reports of round one are given below. In any
divorce case, there tends to be rights and
wrongs on both sides, but what is truly
horrifying is the lack of consideration by all
parties
who was dragged into court when he was
only 10 to give evidence against his father!
Figure 92 Knowles St, QV photo
AN UNHAPPY COUPLE. Reported 11 Feb 1919
Page | 285

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SCHOOL TEACHER AS DEFENDANT 190
The adjourned case of Mary Ann Sargison (Mr L. A. Dougall) v. James Henry
Sargison (Mr A. Lucas), was concluded in the Magistrate's Court yesterday afternoon,
before Mr T. A. B. Bailey, S.M. Complainant had applied for an order for separation
from her husband (a school teacher), on the ground of persistent cruelty, and for
maintenance.
Constable Hannafln, of Upper Riccarton, who gave evidence for the defence, stated
that on one occasion Mrs Sargison had complained to him that her husband had
assaulted her. He saw no marks of violence. Witness was of opinion that even if an
assault had been committed it was not sufficiently serious to be a matter for the police
to interfere in.
Defendant, in the box, dealt with allegations made by complainant. In crossexamination,
Mr Dougall asked if it were not a fact that a near relative of defendant
had been in a mental hospital [This would have been
Mary Ann Sargison, who died in Seacliff Asylum]. Defendant objected to the question,
and appealed to the Magistrate, who upheld the objection, remarking that even if the
statement were true it was defendant's misfortune only, and not his fault.
Reviewing the evidence, the Magistrate said that even on complainant's own version
there were no grounds for separation. Defendant was quite justified in preventing
complainant from interfering with and undermining his authority over his own
child. An order for separation was refused. Defendant was bound to maintain
190190
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/SUNCH19190211.2.16?page=4&query=sargis
on&title=NZTR%2CAHCOG%2CBH%2CCL%2CCROMARG%2CDUNST%2CESD%2CLCM%2CL
CP%2CLWM%2CME%2CMIC%2CMTBM%2CNOT%2COAM%2CODT%2COW%2COSWCC%2CS
OCR%2CST%2CTT%2CWSTAR%2CAMBPA%2CAG%2CASHH%2CEG%2CGLOBE%2CLT%2CN
CGAZ%2COO%2CCHP%2CSCANT%2CTS%2CSUNCH%2CTEML%2CTHD%2CWDA
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his wife, added Mr Bailey, and he thought the patties should agree as to the
amount to be paid. Failing an agreement, he would make a maintenance order.
The report of the case in the New Zealand Truth was far less circumspect:
SCHOOL TEACHER'S TROUBLE
Wife Seeks Separation and Maintenance
Alleges Cruelty
15/02/1919
(From "Truth's" Christchurch Reporter191)
What may foe regarded as a "sassiety sprint" in the -Matrimonial Misfits Handicap,
was run off before Magistrate Bailey at Christchurch on Tuesday of last week, when
Mary Ann Sargison sought a separation and maintenance from her hubby, James
Henry Sargison, on the grounds of cruelty and failure to provide adequate
maintenance. Complainant was represented by Lawyer Dougall, while Sargison, who
is a school teacher at the Papanui | School was defended by Lawyer Lucas. . .
There was nothing very dreadful in Mary's evidence. She said she married Sargison
in December 1914, at Dunedin, but almost from the first her life had been unpleasant.
He ' was a widower at the time with a little boy. However, they lived together a cat
and dog life till 'he' enlisted and went into camp, but he did not go on active service
and was discharged from camp. Later, he secured a small farm at Evansdale and this
he ran while also following his usual occupation of teaching. He made a slave of himself
and expected her to do the same, and there was much unpleasantness because she
could not milk the four cows they had. This was at Palmerston and a couple of years
ago they came to Christchurch, but he did not treat her any better, and she always
191
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZTR19190215.2.38
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had the impression that he wished to get rid of her. They lived at Papanui and
Fendalton and quarrelled continually. On one occasion he mentioned that he could get
a position at Lincoln College, but he could not take her into the college, and suggested
she should go to work. However, the job didn't come off. While living in Harewood
Road, she retired to her room one night, leaving him to write some letters, but later in
the night she got up and found he had gone TO BED WITH THE BOY. When she
asked him why he had done so, he endearingly instructed her to go to the devil. Dressed
in her "nightie," she went outside crying, and he followed her. He tried to hustle her
inside, but she refused to be hustled and he pushed her over at the door. She threatened
to leave him and later she and the boy went to Evansdale.
Sargison was still a teacher, but though she wrote frequently while away, she did not
know his private address till he was drawn in the ballot and she then found he was
living in Bishop street. At Christmas' time, and also at Easter, he came to Evansdale
and said they were not suited to each other. He also mentioned that a young lady
teacher and he were going out to Brighton for a blow, on Saturday mornings.
It would be about August of last year when the place at Evansdale was sold up and
they came to live at Christchurch. While living in Waimairi road in September last,
he again assaulted her because of a difference they had over the boy at the table. She
packed her belongings and went to live with a relative at Dunedln and since then she
and her husband had not lived together. To get money from him was like drawing a
tooth.
Mr. Lucas. Were you not engaged to another man when you were engaged to
defendant? Yes.
And was the date arranged for your marriage with, the other man?
No.
Afterwards you asked defendant to take you back as you found you had made a
mistake with regard to the other man? Yes, but he does not tell you that he was
engaged to another woman when he was courting me. Complainant then answered a
lot of questions respecting the farm property and buildings at Evansdale, and further
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said that the first time she was assaulted they were living in Harewood-road. Lawyer
Lucas: Regarding the night you went outside: Was it not 'only natural that he should
want you to get Inside out of the cold? - Not THE NATURAL THING for Mr. Sargison
to do.
Did he not trip over the doorstep?
No..
In answer to further questions she said that while she and Sargison were living in
Knowles-road, St. Albans, she had left him, but only for a few days. It was because he
was always growling and life was unbearable. She had then gone to Waimate to a
brother, who said she should not have left her husband to go scot free. The letter
(produced) in which an invitation was extended to Sargison to spend a week with her
brother was written by her, but the invitation was only given because her brother was
desirous of trying to heal the breach between them. She had never told anybody that
Sargison was a model husband she could not honestly say so.
Sargison's ten-year-old son192 said that his father and step-mother did not lead a
happy life. The father was continually growling, and started the arguments himself.
The incident which finally led to the mother leaving home occurred when they were
living at Riccarton. One evening they were having tea and the lad asked permission to
leave the table. The mother granted the boy permission, but Sargison ordered the lad
to sit down again, and asked what right complainant had to grant permission, seeing
that she was only the boy's step-mother. The boy replied that even if she were only a
step-mother she had been very good to him, whereupon the father smacked him across
the head. Complainant got up to protect the boy and she was Immediately pushed
down the passage and into a back room, while the lad, after being hit across the leg
with a Stick by the father went for help. He was then joined by the mother and they
went to a friend's place till it was time to come home and go to bed. The mother said
she was going to leave the father because he had been too cruel to her. A neighbour
who had lived next door to the Sargisons in St. Albans had very little good to say for
192
This was Eric Duncan Sargison, the father of Craig & Allan
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Sargison as a man. She said she knew they did not live happily, and Mrs. Sargison
always looked worried and complained that Sargison treated her with contempt and
like dirt. She had noticed Sarglson and the boy leaving the house to go to school, and
Mrs. Sargison at the door bidding them good-bye. The boy would answer, but Sargison
would IIGNORE HIS WIFE'S FAREWELL and turn his head away. When living In
Knowles-street the witness had never noticed Mrs. Sargison with any new clothing or
hats, but Sargison had found two new suits for himself. On one occasion Mrs. Sargison
came to witness with her hand bruised and said it was the result of Sargison's ill
treatment.
Mr Lucas: Now, has not Mrs. Sargison been pouring her troubles into in your ear?
No, there was no necessity, I could see for myself.
Hasn't she inflamed you against him? Not at all. - Now, when Mrs. Sargison was
assisted out of court yesterday, what was the remark you passed? l could not tell
you. - X Don't you remember? No. Did you say, You brute'? Yes I did and what
else is he to treat his wife as he has done? What woman could have any respect for
him?
This closed the complainant's case. The defendant, James Henry Sargison, then went
into the box. He said he was a teacher at the Papanui School. He then went into details
about the purchase of a farm at Evansdale, also alterations and the cost of same which
had to be made to the buildings. They had lived happily enough till they went to
Evansdale and then differences began between them. Referring to the alleged assault
while they were living in Knowles-street, he said that she had gone to bed with the boy,
which was against his wish, and when he remonstrated with her she got up and went
and sat on the doorstep. He pleaded with her to come inside out of the cold, but she
refused and he then picked her up arid started to carry her inside, but while doing so
tripped over the doorstep and fell. At this stage the- case was adjourned till Monday.
On Monday the case was concluded when Sargison was submitted to a very lengthy
cross-examination. He emphatically denied the allegations of cruelty alleged by the
wife, in fact he denied everything detrimental his wife had stated about him. In giving
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his decision Magistrate Bailey said there was not sufficient evidence of cruelty or
failure to provide adequate maintenance which would justify him m making an order.
It was one of those unfortunate cases, in which, if the parties could not live together,
they could come to some arrangement as to the amount the husband should allow his
wife.
That should have been the end of it but over the next 15 years James Henry
went to great lengths to avoid paying any maintenance. Mary Ann seems to
have pursued him with righteous vengeance
Shortly after he had sold up everything in West Harbour and left, there was an
advertisement placed asking for information as to his whereabouts
presumably organised by Mary Ann or her legal advisors. At the time of her
death in 1934, she had a claim in the police courts for maintenance. In
September, because she had 40 pounds in the bank it was argued that she was
not destitute and did not need money. On 19 November that year the case
resurfaced:
The Magistrate said that since the claim was commenced Mrs Sargison had died,
and it was now being continued for the purpose of obtaining funeral expenses.
that she was his wife. He was unable to find that the deceased was destitute.
The application would be dismissed.
It is rather hard to believe that James Henry did not read the paper where his
orted on 15 September 1934. It is, however,
understandable that he did not attend the funeral!
SARGISON. At Dunedin, on September 14 1934, Mary (Sister
Sargison), younger daughter-of the late Robert and Mary Steele,
of North-east Valley), and beloved sister of Mrs A. E. Tyrrell, of
Balfour street. Private interment.
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Even so, farewell! .Each rugged earlier mile
With labour she achieved, not all in vain;
Her guerdon waits in some eternal ' gain.
Hope and Kinaston, undertaker193
Mary Ann seems to have been a very strong and
capable individual. After the end of her marriage, she
trained as a midwife. At the time of her death, she was a nursing sister.
Arguably,
marital issues ruined his career, as there was significant
press coverage on an ongoing
basis of his divorce case. He was
apparently a very good teacher
.
He was academically capable
and earned a degree, studying
part time, at a time when few
men of his background achieved
a university education. He did not seem to fulfil his early promise or indeed his
ambitions.
That said, the biggest negative impact was undoubtedly on his son, Eric Duncan
Sargison. At the age of only three, he lost his mother, and was pushed from
pillar to post as different relatives cared for him. Then he found some stability
with a stepmother, only to have that destroyed in bitterness and acrimony.
ducation, as a child, teenager and young man
193
ODT, 15 September, 1934
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was split apart by incessant moves with his father, who seldom stayed anywhere
.
James Henry consolidated Movements
1913 C3, Otago
June 29 1917 C Certificate 75 in graded list
School/or occupation Place Source
Year
1881 Blueskin Bay
1905 Railway Clerk Mosgiel Electoral Roll
1905 Head Teacher Moonlight
1906 Wairuna, Otago (NW of Clinton) Stones NZ City
Directories
1910 Oamaru Middle School Main Nth Road Oamaru NZ City Dirs
1911 Woodside Electoral Ross
1913 Woodside Stones
1915 Head Teacher, Waihao Downs
1915 - 1916 Palmerston Middle School, 1 st
Papers PAst
Assistant (District High)
1917 Chch Technical College Reported 14 April 1917 Temporary
1918 Assistant Master, Papanui Appointed 5 April 1918.
1919 Kaiapoi, Canterbury Kaiapoi, Canterbury
St Bedes?
547 Hills Rd Papanui.
Christchurch
Electoral Roll
Teacher Licensing has
him in Canterbury
1916-9
456 Papanui Rd,
Electoral Roll
Christchurch
Harewood Rd, Bishop St.
Waimari Rd
Mentioned in court
reports
1924 -7 Kauana School, Southland
Papers Past
(North of Dipton)
1928 Awarua School, (on road to
Bluff)
Bainfield Rd Waikiwi Electoral Roll
1934 Green Island School, 3 rd
Assistant
Papers Past
Electoral Rolls
1938 Farmer Sawyers Bay Electoral Roll
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1939 Ravensbourne EDS military record
n.o.k.
1941 (Nov) Store Keeper and
Boardinghouse keeper and
Evansdale Glen
Blueskin
Days, Ian Church
Postmaster
1944 Range and pound keeper
Evansdale
1946 Meter Reader note this is for a Evansdale
Electoral Roll
James S
1947 Died, cremated Andersons Bay
Cemetery
James Henry also appears to have taught in Hawkes Bay as salary cards are
available but no dates. He declined appointment as headmaster at the Waihao
Dowsn School in 1910. 194
The Evening Star on 11 March !945
reported a presentation to J Sargison:
Experience of Courts
Quite apart from sustained Court appearances regarding his marital issues,
James seems to have resorted to the Courts on other issues, not always
successfully.
There was also a complicated case
about building services in Evansdale
over 143 pounds of timber and
services. Admittedly this was brought
194
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/OW19151006.2.84.9?page=38&query=sargison&title=NZTR%2CAHC
OG%2CBH%2CCL%2CCROMARG%2CDUNST%2CESD%2CLCM%2CLCP%2CLWM%2CME%2CMIC%2CMTBM%2CNOT%
2COAM%2CODT%2COW%2COSWCC%2CSOCR%2CST%2CTT%2CWSTAR%2CAMBPA%2CAG%2CASHH%2CEG%2CGLO
BE%2CLT%2CNCGAZ%2COO%2CCHP%2CSCANT%2CTS%2CSUNCH%2CTEML%2CTHD%2CWDA
Page | 294

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against him by the builder but James Henry replied with a counter claim of 338
pounds. It is not clear how the matter finally ended.
Evansdale
After he retired from teaching, James moved back to Blueskin where he ran the
local general store/accommodation/petrol
business for the rest of his life. He was also
animal control officer and postmaster. After his
death in 1947, his son Eric and wife, Doreen,
ran the business for a short time until it was
sold.
James died on 15 February 1947 at Evansdale, at the age of 66. His death notice
(below) makes no mention of his second wife! While my mother called him a
, this seems rather doubtful. He seemed to have real issues in
dealing with women.
195
195
ODT, 17 Feb 1947
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S3 Eric Duncan Sargison & Mavis Doreen Dick
Eric was born on 3 May 1908 in Oamaru to Georgina Betson Cunningham and
James Henry Sargison.
There is little doubt that his early life was challenging.
As noted, his mother died when he was only three and
he was packed off to an aunt. With his father
marriage in 1914, there was a prospect of stability and
family life, but this proved to be short-lived. After living
in Christchurch, Eric was probably in Palmerston in
1918 when James Henry enlisted he gives his address
as Burg St, Palmerston, with his wife living at York
House there. From that time on, as we have seen through the court case for
separation, family life was brutal and bitter.
The trauma of the separation and his subsequent loss of any mother figure
clearly impacted. It was no
, peripatetic lifestyle.
After a number of moves, he and his father arrived in Kauana in 1924. It is just
north of Dipton in Southland see red dot on map below.
They stayed there for at
least three years and
then moved nearer to
Bluff. At that time of the
move to Southland, Eric
was 16 and he entered
Southland Boys High
School where he
remained until the end
of 1927. In the 1924 November Public Service Entrance examinations, he
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qualified for a free place at the school, with a scholarship providing some
support at least in his final years.
Given the distance from Kauana, he may well have boarded in Invercargill or at
the school. Certainly, in later years he talked warmly of having a lot to do with
a family of Maori descent. He picked up and used for the rest of his life many
Maori weather tips.
Sir Garfield Todd, born July 13,
1908, Invercargill, N.Z. died Oct. 13,
2002, Bulawayo, Zimb.), served from 1953 to
1958 as prime minister of the Federation of
Rhodesia and Nyasaland (now divided
into Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Malawi). In 1934
Todd went as a missionary to Southern
Rhodesia, where he ran a mission and helped
build clinics and schools, among them a
teaching school for blacks where many of
Todd was first elected to Parliament in 1946.
He was elected prime minister in 1953
dependence from Great Britain. Although he
opposed giving the vote to all people, his push
to grant suffrage to educated blacks provoked
his cabinet to resign, and he failed to secure a
Amongst others he met at Southland Boys
High was Garfield Todd, soon to achieve
unlikely success in Africa.
My mother always said that it was the
Depression that stopped Eric from going to
university clearly he had the academic
capability to succeed there - but he left
school in 1927, before the main onslaught
began in 1929. Interestingly, he is listed in
the SBHS
as a farmer at
Kaunana. Almost certainly, he just wanted
to settle somewhere and had a real desire to be on the land!
second term.
James Henry left Southland in the late 1920s. It is not known if Eric left then
or not but they were both boarding in Dunedin with Hope and May Dick by
1934: that year, Doreen got her Proficiency Certificate and Eric had been
helping her study and with her homework, particularly in maths. He was
apparently an adept tutor! Just over a decade later, they were to marry.
By 1938 Eric was residing in Elizabeth St, West Harbour, Dunedin. He is listed
as a farmer on the electoral rolls.
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Eric was enlisted into the 2 nd
New Zealand Expeditionary
Force (NZEF) No 5 in August
1941. 196
Embarkations were from 1st
July, 1941 to 30 September,
1941.
Eric served as a driver. Perhaps
accidentally this nonetheless
recognised his aptitude for vehicles.
He was not simp0ly a mechanistic
driver but somebody with great
understanding of vehicles and their
noises. He was popular with
mechanics when working later at
Holsum as he never thrashed a
vehicle and always identified
possible faults at a very early stage.
To be completed
you need sources for all this
Fortunately for him, Eric arrived late enough to avoid the decimation of the
20th Battalion at Belhamed and could join the reconstructed battalion at
196
OTAGO DAILY TIMES, ISSUE 24692, 22 AUGUST 1941
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Figure 93 Eric, Egypt, 1941?
Baggush
in
December.197 He was
probably one of the 600
reinforcements which
brought the battalion
back to reasonable
strength (around 800).
For the next two
months, newly
promoted Brigadier
Burrows oversaw
training of his new
command while it was
based at Baggush and
then later at Maadi.
Eric talked of Maadi. In February 1942, the battalion was on the move, with
the rest of the 2nd New Zealand Division, to Syria to defend against a possible
attack through Turkey on the Middle East oilfields by the Germans.
In Syria, the battalion prepared defences in its assigned sector around Djedeide
Fortress, digging weapons pits as well as undergoing further training.
Following the attack on the Eighth Army's Gazala Line by the Panzer Army, the
2nd New Zealand Division was recalled to Libya. On 17 June, the battalion left
for Mersa Matruh, a 320-kilometre (200 mi) journey that took four days to
complete. After a period of indecision as to where the division was to be best
used, it moved to Minqar Qaim with the 20th Battalion remaining behind at
197
This section based on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/20th_Battalion_(New_Zealand)
Page | 299

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Matruh for two days to act as
security for engineers laying
minefields before joining up with
the division.
Figure 94Depiction of Minqar Qaim by PEter McIntrye,
official artist of battalion. Eric described driving on this
At Minqar Qaim, the division was to
hold and delay the advance of the
Panzer Army Africa for as long as it
could while remaining intact. By the
middle of the afternoon of 27 June, the division had been encircled by the 21st
Panzer Division. Panzer units approached several 2nd New Zealand Division
positions, including the 20th Battalion's sector on the northern side of the
Minqar Qaim escarpment, and were successfully beaten off. The New
Zealanders broke out that evening with the 4th Brigade breaching the German
lines and the 20th Battalion on the northern flank of the chosen withdrawal
route. During the action at Minqar Qaim and the subsequent breakout, the
battalion's casualties were light, with thirteen men killed and it reached the El
Alamein line by 28 June.
El Alamein
On 14 and 15 July 1942, during the First Battle of El Alamein, the battalion was
engaged in what would be known as the Battle of Ruweisat Ridge. Ruweisat
Ridge was held by the enemy and was in the centre of the El Alamein line,
dominating the surrounding area
After a night-time advance, the 20th Battalion was positioned on the ridge in
reserve behind the 18th and 19th Battalions. On daybreak, it was discovered
that the advance had bypassed numerous strong points, leaving the German
line in front of the ridge largely intact. [59] The supporting British armour was
nowhere to be seen and the supporting artillery and anti-tank units were unable
to break through, leaving the two New Zealand brigades in position on the
exposed ridge. Kippenberger had difficulty with his radio communications and
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made a dash through enemy lines to make contact with the British armour. On
Figure 95 Breakfast jsut behind front line - Eric's co.
reaching one of the British brigades, its commanding officer resisted
Kippenberger's entreaties to advance and it was not until a passing British
general authorised the move that the British mounted up. By the time the
armoured support arrived, the flanking battalion of the 5th Brigade had been
overrun, leaving the battalions of the 4th Brigade even more exposed and
receiving fire from the enemy. Such shenanigans did not endear the English or
many of the Kiwis and Eric spoke bitterly about it in later life.
A counterattack by elements of the 15th Panzer Division was launched in the
afternoon of 15 July. The limited number of anti-tank guns present were
exposed and quickly immobilised or forced to withdraw. This left the infantry
to be surrounded and large numbers were forced to surrender. Some soldiers
made it to the positions of 19th Battalion, but it too became surrounded. By
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nightfall, the brigade had been overrun. Only the 18th Battalion managed to
escape largely intact. Of the 20th Battalion, nearly 200 men were taken
prisoner.
Armour[
About half of the 20th Battalion had been wounded, killed or captured during
the Battle of Ruweisat Ridge and it was withdrawn to Maadi to be brought back
up to strength. [63] It had previously been decided to form an armoured brigade
to provide tank support to the 2nd New Zealand Division and as a result, the
1st New Zealand Army Tank Brigade was formed. h. As one of the constituent
units of the brigade, the 20th Battalion was officially re-designated the 20th
Armoured Regiment on 5 October 1942.
Figure 96 Eric in Crrusader(?) tank c 1943
The regiment, with three squadrons of tanks, would spend the next year in
training, learning to use the signalling equipment and guns of the tanks it was
expected to use. One squadron was to be equipped with Crusaders with the
other two squadrons operating Shermans. However, the mechanically
unreliable Crusaders were later replaced with Shermans.
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ith the close of the North African campaign in May 1943, attention then turned
to the European theater of operations. Despite a preference amongst some
sections of the New Zealand government for the 2nd New Zealand Division to
be redeployed in the Pacific theatre, it was decided that the division, having
served with the Eighth Army throughout the desert campaign, would remain in
Europe. Accordingly, in October, the division moved to join the Eighth Army
in Italy.
Italy
The 20th Armoured Regiment disembarked at Taranto on 22 October 1943 and
gradually travelled up Italy towards the Sangro River, which it duly crossed on
3 December. [68] In the following weeks, the regiment was involved in a
supporting role in the 5th and 6th Brigades' attack on Orsogna, as part of
the Moro River Campaign. Although the infantry made some gains, the German
defences were too strong and the attack soon faded into a stalemate, with a
number of back and forth actions. [69] The regiment lost a number of tanks during
the fighting but generally acquitted itself well and was withdrawn from the line
the following month.
Following its withdrawal from the area around Orsogna, the 2nd New Zealand
Division was one of a number of divisions that was transferred from the Eighth
Army to the Fifth Army, then engaged on the western side of the Apennines.
This was part of an overall strategy to breach the Gustav Line and break an
otherwise deadlocked Italian front. Together with the 4th Indian Division and
supporting British and American artillery, the division formed the New Zealand
Corps, under the command of Freyberg. The corps moved to Cassino, the
defenders of which had resisted American forces for several weeks. [69]
The 20th Armoured Regiment was again to play a supporting role in the Cassino
attack, with the infantry of the 5th and 6th Brigades bearing the brunt of the
battle. When the attack began on 15 March, the regiment was initially held as
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a reserve, ready to exploit any breakthrough by the infantry but this did not
eventuate. The infantry struggled to make progress in the face of determined
resistance. Over the next week, some of the squadrons of the regiment became
involved in small scale raid actions. On 24 March, the regiment moved into the
area of Cassino controlled by the New Zealand infantry, and essentially became
mobile pillboxes. [74] The tanks were vulnerable to artillery and German patrols
and the troops of the various squadrons of the regiment were rotated in and out
of the town in two day shifts. While the New Zealand infantry had been relieved
by the Guards Brigade in the early April, the 20th Armoured Regiment stayed
in the line until the end of the month.
To be finished when record available
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Return
In September 1944, the Australian hospital ship Wanganella arrived in
Wellington with 360 sick and wounded New Zealand soldiers, a fair proportion
being stretcher cases. There were in addition a few naval personnel, some
W.A.A.C.s, and nursing sisters. A good contingent of Otago men were on board,
including one Eric Duncan Sargison. 198
The party was welcomed by the Prime Minister, Mr Fraser, and the Minister of
Defence, Mr Jones. After medical examination those not seriously ill were
allowed to go home on leave.
198
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ESD19440923.2.145?page=21&query=sargison&title=NZTR%2CAHC
OG%2CBH%2CCL%2CCROMARG%2CDUNST%2CESD%2CLCM%2CLCP%2CLWM%2CME%2CMIC%2CMTBM
%2CNOT%2COAM%2CODT%2COW%2COSWCC%2CSOCR%2CST%2CTT%2CWSTAR%2CAMBPA%2CAG%2C
ASHH%2CEG%2CGLOBE%2CLT%2CNCGAZ%2COO%2CCHP%2CSCANT%2CTS%2CSUNCH%2CTEML%2CTH
D%2CWDA
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The Wanganella had left Sydney in March 1944 for Bombay. She was in that
port when the British ammunition ship Fort Stikine exploded on 14 April 1944.
The explosion caused vast damage to local infrastructure and to the local
population, as well as shipping in the area. For one entire week the
s medical team and crew worked around the clock helping all
comers. The ship was undamaged but total area deaths were reported as being
about 3,000. 199 Then after Italy surrendered the Wanganella was sent to
Taranto to collect New Zealand Forces patients,
Thus Eric was back in Dunedin by the end of 1944, having done his duty as he
saw it and incurred a
back injury which
was to plague him for
the rest of his life
and for which he did
get a partial disability
war pension which
helped a little. He
completed a rehab
course in carpentry and worked as a builder full- time for a few years but
eventually had to give that up.200 Not long after his marriage in 1945, he was
admitted to Montecillo for treatment which lasted some months. There was
thankfully some improvement. Strangely in some ways, he seemed better able
to work as a milkman, carrier and driver. That said, Allan has clear recollections
of the injury hitting him when loading bread at Holsum, to name one example
where he had to drop the crates. His mates who knew of his struggle came and
199
https://www.navyhistory.org.au/australian-hospital-ships/
200
Effectively he worked part-time as a carpenter for the rest of his life, doing up houses for family and sale. Thankfully
he trained his sons well in the trade.
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helped him load up but he insisted on persevering, gritting his teeth and
sweating profusely while trying to minimise the effects for his son!
From his reflections, it is apparent that Eric had no desire for advancement in
the army. He left and returned a Corporal. He did not want to stand out and
had a healthy scepticism, perhaps mistrust, about the army and its
organisational capabilities.
Eric arrived back with
and two particular friends whom he kept in touch with throughout his life. The
first was Arthur Edward Chalmers . When he returned from war and for very
many years afterwards, he ran a classic barbershop on Hillside Rd near Loyalty
St in Dunedin. When in the area, Eric would park his truck and go in for a
chat and of course a haircut. The chats were all about events and war time
colleagues who had distinguished or disgraced themselves. Great listening for
a young Sargison! Arthur died in 1985 and was cremated at the Andersons Bay
Crematorium, with the ashes being buried in Andersons Bay Cemetery Block
1A, plot 6. His wife, Ada Mary, was buried there in 1991. We never socialised
with the family which was not unusual for Eric although it is also possible
Doreen did not like them!
The second friend was Alexander (Alex) John Paisely (1916-80)201 who was
in the same detachment as Eric. He was born in North East Valley. On his
return, he married Margaret Peace (1918-2002) born in Alexandra, who
became a life-long friend of Doreen. In later years they were in regular phone
contact. The Paiselys had a town supply dairy farm at the top of the Mt Cargill
Road. They had a family of three- Margaret, Joan and Allan - and were great
hosts.
201
Buried with his wife and young son in Andersons Bay Cemetery Block 165, plot144.
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memory 70 years later! It is possible that Doreen met Margaret through work
before the marriage.
Marriage
Figure 97 Caversham Presbyterian Church
Much to his future in-
, Eric married
Doreen (as she was
known) Dick in 1945.
Hope Dick, his father-inlaw,
had long been a
supporter of such a match
it was he who first
suggested to Doreen that
she invite Eric as her
partner to some function
when her first partner was unable to attend. Hope be
friends. Eric and Doreen married in Caversham Presbyterian Church in
November 1945.
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Figure 98 Dorren & Eric wedding photo
They had met when Doreen we
still at school and Eric and his
father were boarding with the
Dicks. She certainly had stories
of Eric helping with her
homework and with study for the
Certificate of Proficiency,
particularly in mathematics,
which she attained in 1934. That
was the start of a long
relationship!
Eric had found the happy home
and refuge he had been waiting
so long for. He adopted Hope and May as parents, never hesitating to help
them out on any project or issue.
claiming after his father died that he had no relations himself!
Correspondence before marriage makes it very clear that this was indeed a true
love match. Doreen wrote in her diary a year or two after the marriage that she
could never have imagined being so happy.
The story of their life can in some ways be best summarised in the following
table of homes!
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Date as
at 10
August
Dunedin Address
1946 147 Queen St
father, died
Hunt St
Milk Run
1950 35 Ramsay St
Allan at 3 months
1951 149 Maitland St
Carrying
business
Henry (Harry)
Griffen Sargison died,
1951
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1952 363 Hillside Rd Demolished
1953/4 4 Traquair St Drive done
subsequently
Allan got glasses and
went to Caversham
school
Craig born
Sarah B Omand died
1954.
1955/7 411 South Rd,
Caversham
Raymond Eason Dick
died in car crash
1958/9 44 College St,
Caversham
Eric,
Post delivery
Craig & Goliath
Doreen sewing for
clients from home
Carrying business
morphed into mail
and the Goliath
disaster!
1960/2 35 Morrison St,
Caversham
Consul & Craig,
Waitaki
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4 Square Grocer at
Hunts
1963/7 58 College St,
Caversham
Allan G Dick
returned from
UK/middle east
golden anniversary
camping Te Anau
Morgan joined the
family
Holsum
1967
Novemb
er
August
1968
6 Wairoa St
(10/1167)
Hope Eason Dick
died.
August
1968
March
1969
8 Farquharson St,
Opoho
st
car
March
1969
April?
1971
31 Murray St, Kew
Self employment
Allan was 21 here
Eric had blood
clot/stroke
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May
1971 -
October
1972
18 Huia St, St
Leonards
Allan & Pat courting
years!
Eric, Doreen, Fred,
Mavis
October
1972
October
1975
18 Lisburn Avenue Allan in Wellington
Craig at university
Allan & Pat married,
Windsor
Picture on far left
Allan,
Doreen, May, Fred
(on right)
Oct
1975
March
1978
19 Culloden Street
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March
1978 -
1984
361 South Road Eric died in August
1978
1984 -
1986
31 David Street Frederick W Dick
died 1985.
1986 -
1989
17 A Ruskin Terrace May Elizabeth Jolly
died
Picture of Doreen &
her brother Allan in
1989
1990 -
1994
117 A Queen Street Allan Gerald Dick
died 1990
1994 -
1997
13 Beach Street (
now renumbered as
15), St Clair
house
Work History
• Carpentry
• Milk Run
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• Carrying business
• Parcel Post
Holsum Bread Factory. His association
started with the carrying business when
he had a bread-run early in the
morning. Later, when he worked for
them full time, he had successively the
Port Chalmers, Portobello and city
runs.
Allan frequently accompanied
him during the holidays. A particular
feature of the city run was that it included not only the Holsum town shops but
also the wharf deliveries to all the coasters and other ships including the royal
yacht, the Britannia, when in port!
Figure 100 Holsum artic Central Otago
Figure 99 Holsum shop with Easter queue
•
Self-employed builder house renovation and sale jointly with Doreen. He
did all the carpentry, electrical work and plumbing, while she focused on
design, furnishings and painting. She had a great eye for colour. Both were
extremely astute when it came to finding bargains, both for fittings, curtains
and other elements of décor. Both Allan and Craig became very competent
xpert tuition; only Craig
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seems to have picked up the electrical and plumbing know-how, although Allan
can do the basics! Craig also learned paperhanging and of course became a firstclass
cook while working with his mother in the kitchen.
Caversham
the suburb
From around 1950 for some 20 years, Doreen and Eric lived in or near
Caversham which
became the backdrop
for their family who all
went to Caversham
Figure 101 Valpy St
parents and brothers
all lived in the area.
Caversham is sited at
the western edge of
the city's central plain
at the mouth of the
steep Caversham
Valley, which rises to
the saddle of Lookout
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Point. Major road and rail routes south lie nearby; the South Island Main
Trunk railway runs through the suburb,
Caversham is one of the older Dunedin suburbs founded by William Henry
Valpy. Its name reflects his family connections with the town of Reading in the
English county of Berkshire. The suburb blossomed during the Central Otago
gold rush.in the 1860s, in part because the main route went through the
suburb.
Figure 102 McCrackens 1928, height of modernity
many skilled or semi-skilled tradespeople.
By the end of
the 19th
century,
Caversham
was heavily
industrialised,
and its
population
included
This, combined with the community's strong Protestant roots, led to the area's
generally left-leaning political stance. Caversham's early history has been the
subject of the Caversham Project, a major historical and archaeological study
led by Erik Olsen of the University of Otago.
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Figure 104 Terrace Housing & Methodist Church, Main Sth Rd
In the 1950s and 1960s
It was a good place to
live and grow a family.
At that time,
households owned at
most one car and many
women did not drive.
The suburb was well set
up for this. There was
good shopping a short
walk away from
everywhere we lived, churches, doctor, pharmacy, bakery, book & newspaper
agency, post office, bank, TAB, three grocers and fruiterers and for much of the
Figure 103 Rutherfords Caversham 1915?
time two schools, College Street and Caversham. There was also regular
transport into town with trams, and then trolley buses.
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Although it was in decline by then, there was also a railway station.
Caversham Main St
Figure 105 Main Rd looking Nth circa 1970.. College St is beside the Carpets shop on the left
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.
Figure 106 Similar perspective looking South with Shums fruit shop on right - 1 of 2 outstanding stores.
Figure 107 Main Road Caversham at bottom of Morrison St looking north, time of Royal Visit
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Family life
This provides an opportunity to look at family recreation in Dunedin during
the first part of the 20 th century. The following extract from Sites of Gender by
Barbara Brookes, Erik Olsen and Emma Beer does just that, with a focus on
Caversham and South Dunedin. It was chosen because of its high relevance to
Craig and Allan
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Almost all of this applied to our family in the 1950s and into the 1960s. Eric
was a great gardener and loved listening to 4XD on a Saturday night in front
of a fire and with a good novel and feet up on fireplace! Allan joined him!!
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From the start of their marriage, Doreen and Eric went on picnics. Dunback
was one of their favourite locations, and the following picture of Eric was
probably taken there before they had children.
Figure 108 Eric on a picnic, possibly Dunback in the late 1940s - first dog caught on right. The car was a
Chevrolet coupe and the first car Allan can remember.
Parenthood
Parenthood did not come easily. Doreen had a miscarriage and then suffered
significantly with toxsemia when pregnant with Allan. Fortunately for Allan at
least, she fought through that successfully, although she was ill for some time
afterwards and her hair began to turn white! At least she had strong family
support available, and Eric was a very hands-on father, who participated fully
in feeding, sleeping and nappy changing activities. Interestingly, at some stage
after the birth, Doreen moved to an early women doctor of some renown, Dr M
Gow, whom Allan can remember visiting. Doreen and Eric delayed their 2 nd
child, so that Doreen could fully recover.
Eric was a devoted father although not in any sense a pushover! Doreen and
Eric were utterly dedicated to the wellbeing and advancement of their two
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children. From early on, it was their single minded determination for the boys
Doreen was assiduous in ensuring as far as she could that the schools performed
appropriately. Particularly in the case of Allan, this determination did involve
several encounters with the then headmaster of College Street, a Mr MacDonald
who tended to come off second best! That said, Allan was somewhat lazy,
preferring to sit at the back and surreptitiously spend as much time as possible
reading the library books shelved behind him, rather than focusing on the task
at hand. It was periodically not surreptitious enough; unable to answer a
question because he had no idea what was going on, he ended up
Eric was very helpful in matters of homework although neither he nor Doreen
invented all sorts of outrageous décor imagine shocking pink and green in a
, it did not help that
the barber shop he should have been describing was owned by an army friend
us and
passed on to both his children his love of reading. Friday night visits to the
library were the norm. He passed on his green fingers to his children as well.
He and Doreen were both insistent that study took precedence over other more
exciting projects around family activities, even when they could have done with
the help. But family projects came before any outside friendships; Doreen
insisted that the boys should help their father if he needed it, rather than
undertake their own pursuits.
The boys were always well dressed whatever the economic circumstances. Of
course, Doreen had been brought up to believe that no respectable boy or man
ever left the house without a tie, and she retained those convictions well past
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the changing times. Just as Hope always had to put on a tie to go shopping in
Caversham, so too did Eric when working as a carrier and on just about all
family social occasions! Allan is frequently the only child wearing a tie in
primary school photographs.
The importance of Aunt Daisy!
Maud Basham nee Taylor became a NZ institution under the name of Aunt
Daisy.202 . She was born in London, England, to Robert and Eliza Taylor. Her
father died shortly after she was born and her mother soon emigrated to New
Plymouth in 1891. At 16 she
began a four year teachers
training course at Central
School and also teaching at
South Road School, New
Plymouth. She married
Frederick Basham in 1904,
and they had three children.
Her husband worked as an
engineer in New Plymouth
but lost his job during the
depression.
His
unemployment led to Daisy
seeking work to support their
family. Daisy's first radio work
was for the 1YA station in
Auckland through singing
engagements. This expanded
during the 1920s as Daisy
202
This section is based on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aunt_Daisy
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broadcast programmes on the lives of composers illustrated with song. [ In 1929
she became a full-time announcer on the 2YA station initially to "fill up
Wednesdays" as the station previously had not broadcast on these days. In 1931
she was fired when 2YA became nationalised and public service rules decreed
only one woman was allowed to be employed at each station in an attempt to
provide more work for men. Daisy moved to a smaller private
station 2ZW Daisy continued to shift stations as more became nationalised and
she and other staffers moved to private stations.
In 1933 Daisy began work at the private "Friendly Road" station in Auckland
run by Colin Scrimgeour (Uncle Scrim). Her 30 minute daily morning show
ran from 1933 to 1963. Her role was primarily to promote household products
and to boost morale during World War II. She averaged 202 words a minute
during her shows and her morning show opened to the song 'Daisy Bell' and
the greeting "Good Morning, Good Morning, Good Morning everybody".
Doreen ALWAYS had the radio on for Aunt Daisy
sure in many families there was often a post Aunt Daisy briefing
Doreen would ring her mother to compare notes!
certainly
Owing to her popularity, the government sent Daisy to Navy, Air Force and
Army bases to visit women stationed there and report back on them in her radio
show. This was part of New Zealand government propaganda efforts during
World War II. In 1944 Daisy went to the United States to promote New
Zealand. She was invited to a tea with the first lady, Eleanor Roosevelt, where
she passed on messages from the American troops and nurses stationed in New
Zealand. She continued to record morning shows informing New Zealanders of
what she encountered in the United States. The results of her American tour
were published in Aunt Daisy and Uncle Sam.
In 1946, Daisy returned to the United States to deliver a lecture series which
extended to include Canada. She spoke on New Zealand's landscapes and
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wildlife and advocated for the appreciation of nature. In the 1956 New Year
Honours she was appointed a MBE for services in the fields of entertainment
and broadcasting.
A recipe book, "The Aunt Daisy Cookbook with Household Hints" was a
natural result of the popularity of her show, edited by her daughter Barbara
Basham. It ran to several editions. Seven others of her cookery books were also
published. The cookbook was reprinted in 1977, edited by Barbara Basham and
published by Hodder and Stoughton. 2010 saw the 22nd reprint of the book,
almost 50 years after Aunt Daisy's death in 1963.
Holiday Breaks
Figure 110 Camping probably at Lake Te Anau
There was an occasional camping trip
but Doreen hated camping. She told Pat
once that she resolved during a family
camping trip when she was a child that
when she was married, she would
to camping is identical!). The family did,
however, enjoy a lot of day trips.
Christchurch was a popular destination;
while there, they would visit Margaret
Hurndell from Dunedin. There were also
regular trips in the 1960s to the Waitaki
Valley to view the progress of the dams
Aviemore and Benmore.
Figure 109 Camping trip to Te Anau, ca. 1960
As an aside, the Ford consul pictured
was around 1955 and the first new
model Ford Car after the war launched
in 1951 to great acclaim.
Interests outside the home
Figure 111 Waitaki Photo with Craig beside the Ford
Consul!, probably taken by Allan
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There was in fact little time for either Doreen or Eric to do much else in their
busy working lives. What little leisure
time they had was filled with buying,
renovating and selling houses, in order to
increase their capital and acquire small
lump sums for special purchases, such as
a new car. For very many years, however,
Doreen was a member of the Caversham
Home Economics branch, taking her
turn as secretary and president. She had
her sister-in-law, Mavis Dick (nee
Strong), and her long standing friend,
Nance Reader (nee Brown) (See p.224)
as fellow members and activists!
Eric was on the committee of the
Figure 112 The 2 Mavis s: Mavis Doreen Dick &
Lilian Mavis Strong
Caversham Scout Group before becoming Chair for one or possibly two terms.
This was prompted by Allan joining the cub pack and then the scout group.
Goal Attainment
1978, the year Eric died.
Both Eric and Doreen fortunately lived long enough
to see one of their major life goals fulfilled, with the
graduation from university of both sons Allan in
1971 with a BA (Hons) 1st class in History, followed
by a position in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in
Wellington, and a two-year posting to Papua New
Guinea, and Craig in 1976, with a BA, LLB, followed
by a year at Library School and then appointment as
deputy chief librarian at Timaru Public Library in
Figure 113 Eric & Doreen , Craig's Graduation
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Illness and death
In 1971 Eric awoke one morning with one arm largely paralysed and with no
other major symptoms. It was of course a mild stroke which left him
permanently disabled and brought an abrupt end to his building activities and
indeed most activities. He fought it at every step but despite therapy the arm
did not come back into anything approaching normal use. He had to give up
driving as well probably because of the side effects rather than the loss of the
arm. This was hugely frustrating for him. He was left with nothing to do other
than read and some minor pottering. Doreen rose to the occasion continuing
to try to earn some income to support the family and finally getting her driving
licence!
Eric had always been quick-tempered, but it was always over in a flash. Now
driven by the frustration and inactivity and people treating him as an invalid
or even as mentally impaired the rages became longer. Apart from Doreen
the two people who could control him were his mother in law, May and her
sister Agnes or Aunt Aggie as she was known. The former was particularly
supportive even moving house to be close to Doreen and Eric when they lived
in Culloden St.. As Allan had left home ,Craig bore the brunt of this, providing
his mother with ongoing support which actually continued for the rest of her
life! This was a huge load for him.
in giving her friendship and support until his death in 1991.
From the start Allan
. While in Dunedin
he did his best to help his mother, but he really did not know how to related
effectively to his father. Being away from home made this both easier on a day
to day basis but even more difficult when visiting. It was indeed a sa reflection
on his social shortcomings. Of course, it was all made mu
obvious pride in him! The guilt endures.
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In this situation it is perhaps not surprising that the Rylance and Sargison
parents did not get on overly well. At best it it would have been hard given that
both fathers for various reasons were not overly social. Eric felt that Philip in
particular thought he was mentally impaired
Eric died on 27 August 1978 in Dunedin and was cremated at Andersons Bay
Crematorium. The last 6 years of his life were a bitter reward for a life of
hardwork and selflessness.
Although she could see that it was a happy release for Eric, Doreen really
struggled to get over E
. Fortunately, she had
support from her family and close friends but she found it a hard and indeed
lonely road. Craig went to work in Dunedin at the Otago Polytechnic in 1990
and in 1994 she went to live with him in Beach St, St Clair where she had a
lovely basement flat and he had the upper storey. It was nice at this time that
she was there because Eric and her had always loved going to watch the waves
at St Clair, particularly in difficult times. She moved with him back to
Christchurch. The move to Christchurch was essential - she could no longer
live alone - but in the end she considered it a mistake. In her diary that it was
the worst mistake of her life. She left all her known life behind, all the people
she had known for decades and was totally dependent on her 2 sons and
grandchildren, all with very busy lives Allan was working in Wellington and
travelling and she and Pat did not have an easy relationship leaving Craig with
an extra burden. . That said Allan has great memories of going over to Craig
and Dore
scones and coffee!
To be finished
Doreen died in 2009 after a relatively short illness and a stay of a few months
in a resthome when she became too much for Craig to care for while working
in a busy job. She was, I think, happy to pass on after a life well lived.
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Not the descent line
Laura Mary Sargison
Laura Mary Sargison was
born
in April 1877 in Port Chalmers, when her father, Henry, was 20, and her
mother, Mary, was 21. She was their first child (of six), born a year into their
marriage. It is not clear whether Mary had come over to Port Chalmers from
Blueskin for the birth or whether she and Henry were living there. Henry and
Mary were definitely living in Blueskin by 1881 when James Henry Sargison
was born.
Laura married John (Jack) Porteous in 1897 in Waitati, Otago. John Porteous
was born in Port Molyneux, Clutha, Otago. His father, John Porteous and
mother Isabella Philips (McMinn) had emigrated from Inveresk, Edinburgh,
Scotland.
Laura and John had three children during their marriage. She died on 18 June
1955 in Christchurch, Canterbury, at the age of 78, and was buried in Bromley,
Canterbury. At the time of her death she was in Sunnyside Hospital in
Christchurch which suggests some mental condition.
Agnes Sargison Jacob Eyers
Agness 203 Sargison was born in 1864 at Parsons Drove, Cambridgeshire, one of
seven children. Her brothers, William George and Henry Griffen Sargison came
out to NZ first, arriving in 1875 on the Wellington. William married Agnes
Souness (nee Robertson) in 1883, after the death of her first husband, John
Souness in 1877. After 1883, therefore, she was known as Agnes Sargison.
In 1884, an Agnes Sargison arrived in Invercargill aboard the Ruapehu as a single
woman. We do not know why she decided to emigrate at that time, other
203
A second great aunt of Craig & Allan Sargison.
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than that she may have wanted to join her brothers in the new colony, and had
reached a suitable age to do so. It is possible that she continued on to Dunedin
from Invercargill. She worked as a servant, apparently for a member of the
Tripp family, runholders at Orari Gorge in South Canterbury.
An Agness 204 Sargison was arrested and charged with the murder of a child in
1886. Clearly, this Agness Sargison was the sister of William and Henry, not
the wife of William. She is described as a single woman, and she wrote to her
brother, William, seeking financial assistance for her legal fees.
An additional interesting note is that one of the witnesses at the trial was a Susan
Horne who was married to James Horne, a carter in Dunedin. They were the
parents of Mary Ann Horne who was the wife of Agness brother, Harry Griffen
Sargison.
Figure 114 Evening Star Report
burying the parts, then absconding.
Agness was found guilty by
the coronial court but was
acquitted in the Supreme
Court in Oamaru on 17
March 1887. The trial was by
any standard horrific. The
transcripts make for
harrowing reading. Agness
was accused of murdering her
female infant child, then
dismembering the body and
204
Sometimes referred to with one s and sometimes with 2.
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The letter below 205 clearly establishes that she did in fact have an illegitimate
child, probably fathered by her employer or another member of the family for
whom she worked, in circumstances that would probably amount to rape
today. Such tragedies were not uncommon in 19 th century New Zealand, just
as they were in the Britain. It seems that William did come to her aid as she did
have a lawyer at the Supreme Court trial.
The central element at that trial seems to be that the doctors could not agree on
the cause of death. The doctor who attended the child four or five days before
its disappearance said in his evidence that it could not have lived as it was dying
when he saw it. There was also disagreement as to whether the remains were
those of the child.
The plea set up was that the child died a natural death, and that the mother
bad buried it in the yard, the mutilation being caused by the spade used for the
burial.
Agness must have suffered greatly from the whole nightmarish experience, yet
she seems to have hung in there. In 1890, she married Jacob Eyers. 206 When
Jacob was born in 1863 in Adelaide, South Australia, his father, Isaac, was 29
and his mother, Marion, was 33. Agness and Jacob had two sons together.
205
Clipped from: https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers (Web view)
206
Also spelt Eyres.
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Jacob died in 1895, aged only 32, probably as the result of a boating accident.
He was buried in August. Agness William Sargison died the same
year, in November.
Interestingly, Agness successfully asked the Court to commit her son, George
William Sargison Eyers to the Industrial school (similar to a juvenile detention
centre) on 23 June 1898, so presumably she was unable to cope with him. He
and his brother, William Eyers, later moved to Wanganui where they died in
the 1970s.
In 1911, Agness was married again, to Joseph Love who was born in 1854 in
Staffordshire. 207 The Loves were a mining family, originally Cornish tin miners.
The marriage took place in Victoria, Australia but the couple returned to New
Zealand at some stage. Joseph died on the West Coast on 15 November, 1931.
, it must be Agness who seemed to
have had a life requiring constant determination and grit! Everything was
stacked against her and yet she lived to be 80!
207
The home of pottery making and Staffordshire terriers!!
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The Waitaki
Cunninghams
The Cunningham line came from Australia to New Zealand
in 1861, first to the Tuapeka goldfields and thence to the
Waitaki Valley and Kurow.
Descent Line
C 1Robert Cunningham 1823-1899
3rd great-grandfather
C2 George Duncan Cunningham 1849-1878
Son of Robert Cunningham
C3 Georgina Betson Ann Cunningham 1878-1912
Daughter of George Duncan Cunningham
C4 Eric Duncan Sargison 1908-1978
Son of Georgina Betson Ann Cunningham
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C5 Allan James Sargison 1949-
Son of Eric Duncan Sargison
Georgina Elizabeth and Geoffrey Philip James Sargison
Children of Allan James Sargison
C1 Robert Cunningham & Betson Wilson
When Robert Cunningham was born in 1823 in St Andrews, Fife, his father,
Robert, was 20 and his mother, Margaret, was 25.
When Betson Wilson 208 and her twin sister, Eliza, were born in 1822, their
father, John, was 21 and their mother, Betson Turpie, was 35. Betson married
Robert Cunningham on 16 December 1848 in St Andrews and St Leonards,
Fife. In December 1854, they arrived in Melbourne aboard the Fulwood.
Figure 115 Lawrence in 1860s, Muir & Moodie
The Cunninghams began their
New Zealand lives in Tuapeka
(Lawrence), Clutha when they
arrived in the latter part of 1860
or 1861. Their son, James 209
who was born in Tuapeka in
1861. Robert was a shopkeeper
and undoubtedly benefitted
208
Georgina Cunningham’s mother and the 2 nd great grandmother of Craig & Allan Sargison
209
Covered later but the uncle of Georgina Cunningham.
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James went to school at Hamiltons so presumably his parents moved the shop
there once gold was discovered.
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Hamiltons is 10kms from Waipiata, just above Patearoa and the tuberculosis
sanatorium built in the 1930s. The area is named after Captain Hamilton, who,
along with two others, took up Run 204, known as Hamiltons Station.
Figure 116 Map of region - red is the Hyde Macraes shear zone. In its basement schist lies the source of the
Macraes Mine's gold today.
In late 1863, gold was reported
and the field initially proved
very rich, yielding thousands of
ounces of gold. When the news
was confirmed, virtually the
whole of Naseby decamped
(population 2000 at the
time).210
Some 2,000 miners first worked the area, peaking at 4,000 in 1864. Ironically,
the surviving township of Patearoa (formerly known as Sowburn) once relied
Figure 117 View from Hamiltons Cemetery by Chris Weir
heavily on Hamiltons for
shops and services. The town
of Hamiltons, which included
25 liquor outlets and 40
stores, did not last long,
although a few miners did
stay and continued hydraulic
sluicing. A small rush (of
210
http://www.dunedinfamilyhistory.co.nz/central-otago/
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some 2-3 miners) took place at Sowburn while
the Hamiltons rush was in full swing. 211
As an aside, the Waipiata Country Hotel apparently continues the legacy of the
ancient ice sport of curling with Hamilton's Curling Club, which was
established in 1886.
C1 A James Cunningham
The move to Waitaki
James Cunningham 212 started farming at Otiake on rough tussock land in
1881. Otiake is located between the Kurow and Otiake creeks, on the
south bank of the Waitaki river, and extends back to the hills. It is a sheep
farming and agricultural district, and has alluvial flats, with fertile valleys
among the hills. Today there are two small vineyards in the area.
In 1905, Otiake had a public
school with a library in the school
grounds, and a post office and
telephone bureau. There were
two flag stations on the railway
line Hille's and Strachan's; the
first, one mile, and the second, four miles from Kurow. Otiake is in the Otekaike
riding of the Waitaki county, and in the Mount Ida electoral district. At the
census of 1901, the village and neighbourhood had a population of 146.
The 1905 Cyclopedia of NZ reported that James
has now fenced and cultivated (his farm). The property consists of 320
acres of freehold, which is devoted to grain growing, and the raising of
211
Op cit
212
2 nd great uncle of Craig & Allan Sargison
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sheep, cattle, and horses. Mr. Cunningham drove one of the first waggon
teams through the hilly part of the settlement. He has been a member of
the North Otago Mounted Rifles since 1893 and holds office as senior
sergeant. For a number of years he served on the Otiake school committee,
and also on the library committee. Since 1901 he has resided in Oamaru,
where he owns livery and bait stables. 213
James Cunningham was married in Melbourne, in 1890, to Catherine Orr,
a daughter of Mr. John Orr of Oamaru.
photo was presumably taken before 1905. 214
The
213
http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-Cyc04Cycl-t1-body1-d5-d12.html
214
http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-Cyc04Cycl-t1-body1-d5-d12.html
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Whare Flat: Jolly &
Havard Families
The Jolly Descent line
J 1 William Bloomfield Jolly -1841
5th great-grandfather
J2 Robert Jolly 1819-1896
4th great-grandfather
J3 John Jolly 1847-1902
Son of Robert Jolly
J 4 Robert James Jolly 1870-1959
Son of John Jolly
J5 May Elizabeth (aka Mary) Jolly 1899-1986
Daughter of Robert James Jolly
Mavis Doreen Dick 1921-2009
Daughter of May Elizabeth (aka Mary) Jolly
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Allan James Sargison 1949-
Son of Mavis Doreen Dick
Georgina Elizabeth& Geoffrey Philip James Sargison
Family Background
The Jolly family has been traced back to the 17 th century, to Guiseley, St Oswald
in Western Yorkshire, where William Grime was born. 215 He married a Mary
and their daughter, Mary (1675-1727) married a Peter Jolly (1664-1729).
Figure 118 Skipton Castle
Peter Jolly was born and died in Skipton, Yorkshire which is a classic market
town at the gateway to the Yorkshire dales. For the geographically challenged,
Skipton is about 61 kilometers west of York. It is today a beautiful market town
with a medieval castle dating from 1090 and built by Robert de Romille.
215
He was the 8 th great grandfather of Craig & Allan.
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J1 William Jolly
William was the son of William Jolly
(1747-1824) and Sarah Stell (1745-
1898). He was born in Skipton.
He married Elizabeth Birtwhistle
(1718-1754), also of Skipton. Her
parents were born and bred in Skipton
too.
William B Jolly, who died in 1841
moved to Henstead, Norfolk where his
wife Elizabeth (1776-1859) was born. 216
Somewhat confusingly, Henstead is actually located in the county of Suffolk,
Eastern England, five miles south-east of the town of Beccles, 22 miles southeast
of the major city of Norwich, and 99 miles north-east of London. Henstead
lies four miles south-east of the Norfolk border.
Only one child has been identified Robert born in 1819.
216
The were the 4 th great grandparents of Craig & Allan.
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J2 Robert Jolly & Mary West
, Robert (1819-1896), married Mary West (1819-
1894) on 7 August 1840 at Forncett St Peter in South Norfolk.
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Forncett St Peter, Forncett St. Mary and Forncett End are adjoining villages in
the Hundred of Depwade, southeast Norfolk. The parish of Forncett sweeps
around a right angle with a parish church at each corner - Forncett End,
Forncett St Peter and Forncett St Mary.
In 1821, local field labourers rioted against the introduction of modern
threshing machinery and were almost all imprisoned. In the 1840s, an
agricultural depression forced many to abandon rural life in search of work in
the factories created by the Industrial Revolution.
Robert was a shopkeeper at the time of the 1851 census. Two of Robert and
sons, John and Robert, born in 1847 and 1850 respectively, were to
emigrate to New Zealand. Robert arrived on 27 October 1875 at Port Chalmers
aboard the Auckland
date of arrival
is unclear although he was clearly here by 1870 when his son, Robert James
Jolly, was born.
J3 John Jolly (1847-1902)
John and his wife, Elizabeth, lived at Whare Flat
where he died in 1902. Virtually nothing has
been found about Elizabeth other than they had
one son, Robert James Jolly, who was born in
1870 at Whare Flat.
The adjoining photo is probably Elizabeth at 94.
It is in the Hocken collection as Granny Jolly,
94 years old Whale Flat.
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J3A Robert Jolly
Robert also lived in Whare Flat. He appears to have arrived in
Dunedin on 27 October 1875
aboard the Auckland. He is listed as
a machine maker. 217 The letter
opposite gives a good idea of life in
Whare Flat at the time.
In 1910 there is a newspaper report
to the effect that
resident of Whare Flat met with a
serious accident at Kaikorai Bally
yesterday afternoon. He was
loading some chaff on a dray when
the horses bolted and he was thrown heavily on the road. On examination at
the Hospital, it was found that several ribs were broken and his right hand so
injured as ti necessitate the amputation of a finger. Hal also sustained a slight
scalp wound but in spite of all the old man refused to remain in the hospital
and was anxious to return to Whare Flat last night, though he was persuaded
to remain in Dunedin 218 .
This is almost certainly Robert who was either so named or he adopted
the name; his nephew was so named.
J4 Robert James Jolly (1870-1959)
Robert James was the son of John and Elizabeth. In 1889 he married Mary
Hannah Havard, also of Whare Flat. They had six children. The marriage was
to end somewhat dramatically and certainly unfortunately. This is dealt with
under the section on Mary Hannah Havard (H2 Mary Hannah Havard (1882-
1950).
217National Archives Passenger lists, IM-15-12-232, Auckland (Ship), Jul. 31-Oct. 27, 1875,
218
Otago witness October 6, 1910
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The Havards:
Descent Line
H1 William Davey ( Henry?) Havard 1851-1936
3rd great-grandfather
H2 Mary Hannah Havard 1882-1959
Daughter of William Davey ( Henry?) Havard
H3 May Elizabeth (aka Mary) Jolly 1899-1986
Daughter of Mary Hannah Havard
Mavis Doreen Dick 1921-2009
Daughter of May Elizabeth (aka Mary) Jolly
Allan James Sargison 1949-
Son of Mavis Doreen Dick
Georgina Elizabeth & Philip James Sargison
You are the daughter of Allan James Sargison
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H1 William Davey Havard & Elizabeth Evans
Figure 119St Sannan's Church
from 17th century
The Havards were from Wales. William Davey
Havard was born in Llowes, Radnorshire on 14
January 1851, the son of William Havard (1824-
1909) and Sarah Davies (1831-1911). In 1875, he
married Elizabeth Evans of Dukestown,
Breconshire, Wales at the parish church in
Bedwelty, Monmouthshire.The church of St Sannan was built in a thirteenth
century Gothic style. The church tower is fourteenth century and contains six
bells. The church was restored in 1858 and repaired in 1882. The exterior is
whitewashed.
William 219 and Elizabeth eldest child, Eleanor, was born in
Wales in 1877. The family emigrated to New Zealand and
Otago on 26 January 1879. Their second child was born in
Otago in January 1880.
William and Elizabeth settled in Whare Flat where William
was for some years the water-race caretaker.
Figure 120 Elizabeth
Evans
Adjoining this is a photo of the race and what may well have
the district.
, taken just about the time they left
Figure 121 William
Havard
219
2 nd great grandfather of Craig & Allan
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In 1891, William owned a residential
section number 15 at Kirkland
Hill.220 By 1913 they were living in
Dunedin.
Figure 122 Water race which William cared for,
Otago Witness 25 April 1917
220
1890 Electoral Roll. It is now known as Halfway Bush but was originally named after or by James
Kirkland.
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Elizabeth was to play an important role in the upbringing of her granddaughter,
May Elizabeth Jolly, described below.
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William s brothers, Fred Davies Havard (1868-`935) and John Havard (1861-
1938) also came to Otago.
Fred Davies 221 was in New Zealand by September 1897 when he married Mary
Elizabeth Cubitt (1868-1942) in the Kaikorai Parish, Dunedin. They later
moved to Hornby in Christchurch and then to Hampden in North Otago. John
went to Bendigo in Central Otago. by 1931 with his wife Mary Vaughan whom
he married in 1878 in Wales.
A niece and nephew of John and William Havard also settled in New Zealand
Elsie Hannah Havard (1892-1973) and her brother, Jonas Palfrey Havard
(1897-1935).
H2 Mary Hannah Havard (1882-1950)
Returning to the descent line, Mary Hannah Havard was
born in Whare Flat on 25 August 1882. She was to
become the great grandmother of Allan and Craig
Sargison through her daughter, May Elizabeth Jolly.
Born at Whare Flat in 1882, she married Robert James
Jolly in 1899. The couple lived in Whare Flat and were to have six children.
Figure 123 Mary Hannah Havard
221
3rd great uncle of Craig & Allan.
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The first child, May Elizabeth Jolly, was born before the couple married and
seems to have been brought up by her grandmother, Elizabeth Evans.
Some nine
born in 1892, came to stay with the family, with fatal consequences for her and
tragic ones for the wider family.
Robert James Jolly clearly had a wandering eye and seduced the young woman.
This apparently went on for a little time before she became pregnant. While
suspicions were rife, there was no confirmation until the child was born and
Maggie lay dying; she confessed all to her sister. It is not known who brought
up the baby named after her mother: Margaret Sisera Havard, born in January
1911.
Mary Hannah had had enough and sued for divorce. Of course, there was
extensive newspaper coverage, some of which is included below but Mary won
through and obtained custody of the children. Her life must have been very
hard indeed. Some 14 years later in 1925, she married Robert Kennard Bayliss
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who was 25 at the timer. She had no luck in this relationship either for he died
on 24 December 1926. Mary or Nana Bayliss as she was known to her
grandchildren lived until 1959. She was buried in the Andersons Bay cemetery.
The errant Robert James Jolly lived until the same year when he died at Ocean
Grove, Dunedin, aged 88. He was buried in the Southern Cemetery. He does
not appear to have remarried.
Divorce222
222
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/nz-truth/1912/2/24/5
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Figure 124 Nana Bayliss, Doreen Dick, May Jolly 1942
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H 3 May Elizabeth Jolly
May was born to Mary Hannah
and Robert Jolly on 25 August
1899, 223 before their marriage
the same year. She was largely
brought up at Whare Flat by
her grandmother, Elizabeth
Jolly (nee Evans) who amongst other things was
Figure 125 Whare Flat School which
May attended.
able to supply her granddaughter with a horse. May enjoyed riding round the
district, exploring and indeed riding to school, at least at times. It seems to
have been a hard but good childhood.
At a young age by standards, May went out to work, going into service
in a large house in the area. Her grandmother secured the job for her. While
there are a number to choose from, it is likely that her employer lived in Outram
or Woodside, as it was while working there that she met a young milk
grader/cheese maker called Hope Eason Dick who was working in the local
dairy factory in Outram. They married in 1917. The rest of her life is dealt with
elsewhere under the Dicks.
It is however worth recording that the first house lived in by Hope and May
was in the Outram area which was very susceptible to flooding. One report
noted stated that the Taieri River near Allanton was three metres shallower than
at the time of settlement, driven in part by the sluicing of the gold era. In 1917,
shortly after their marriage, there was a large flood which wrecked the Dicks
house. They lost all the contents except for two glasses which are now in the
223
The situation of her
Sargison!
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possession of Craig Sargison, their grandson. The following newspaper report
relates to that flood.
LARGE AREA INUNDATED. A YOUNG MAN DROWNED. RAILWAY
COMMUNICATION RESTORED. As stated last "week, the weather improved
on the 18th inst., and as the waters of the Upper Taieri commended to fall, the
news heartened up the settlers on the Lower Taieri Plain. Large tracts of the
Plain had been inundated and much valuable farming land had suffered badly,
but it was realised that the most serious part of the crisis was over. Late in the
afternoon of the 18th inst., the flood waters broke through the embankment in
Mr Cross's paddock above the Otokia traffic bridge. The breach increased to
10ft in width, and through this the water flowed inundating many places to a
depth of 6ft, and the plain resembled a sea with houses and trees dotted here
and there. This gap did not prove so serious as one which occurred in Mr
Morrison's paddock, south of the Otokia railway bridge. Here a gap of three
chains in width allowed an enormous quantity of water to pour out over the
lower part of the plain, the total area, submerged being probably 12 miles
square. On the main road on the 19th motor car traffi6 was possible as far as
Otokia, but south of Otokia the road was covered with water in several places,
and these parts had to be negotiated by means of horsedrawn vehicles. : A
number of travellers made the journey southwards by this method, and parcels
of newspapers were also conveyed to Milton. At Allanton the waters dropped
rapidly, and the railway and roads were clear. The whole of South Taieri, from
Waipori Lake to Otokia, however, became flooded during _ the day, ,the water
rising rapidly and increasing in extent under the influence of the wind and the
making tide. The flood waters at East Taieri receded 24ft on the 19th, and
portions of land are now showing through, though boats are still being used as
a means of transit. The wind, by keeping the water in motion all day, did a good
deal of damage to the protective embankments. A regrettable occurrence took
place near Otokia on Wednesday, 20th inst., as the result of which a young man
named Alfred Lobb, about 20 years of age, lost his life by drowning. It appears
that he left his home on horseback to go to the place where he was working on
the other side of the railway. When he had gone a short distance along the
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station road the horse shied and ran backwards over the side of the road into
about 12ft of water. 224
As an aside, New Zealand's lowest point, at 2m below sea level, is slightly north
of the airport on Kirk's Drain Road, Momona.
At the time of the marriage, both Hope Dick and his father were working at the
Outram Dairy Factory owned by the Taieri and Peninsula Company. The 1905
Cyclopedia of Otago & Southland describes it thus:
It is situated about a mile from the railway station, and was first opened in
1891, by Messrs Cuddie Bros., and the present owners have worked it for about
ten years. The daily supply for four months of summer is about 1,200 gallons,
and 700 for the balance of the season; in the winter time the supply amounts
to about 600 gallons, every other day. There are about thirty suppliers. The
factory is equipped with all necessary plant and appliances, and the cream is
224
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/OW19190829.2.134?query=taieri+floods&items_per_page
=10&page=3&start_date=01-01-1900&end_date=31-12-1920&snippet=true&title=ODT%2cOw
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forwarded to the head factory in Dunedin, and ultimately took charge of the
factory at Outram. Hope and his father worked here.225
section on the life of Hope Eason
Dick. D4 Hope Dick (1896-1968) & May Elizabeth Jolly (1899-1986)
225
http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/name-412290.html
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The Varnish Rylances
This was the last of our primary families to arrive in New
Zealand in the early 20 th century. They settled in Dunedin
and Christchurch
Descent Line
R1Frederick Rylance 1856-1931
2nd great-grandfather
R2 Thurstan Vernon Rylance 1881-1948
Son of Frederick Rylance
R3 Philip Vernon Rylance 1922-1979
Son of Thurstan Vernon Rylance
R4 Dr Patricia Ann Rylance 1952-
Daughter of Philip Vernon Rylance
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Georgina Elizabeth & Geoffrey Philip James Sargison
Children of Dr Patricia Ann Rylance
R1 Frederick Rylance (1856-1931) & Annie
Whittle
Frederick Rylance. was born in April 1856, when his father, Thomas, was 31
and his mother, Sophia, was 30.
He then married Annie Whittle in February 1881 at Stockport in Cheshire. By
1891, he was living at 127 Delaware St in Openshaw, Lancashire.
Frederick was a paint manufacturer, a trade which had been pursued by his
own father, and would also occupy his sons. In 1911, he is listed as living with
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his daughter, Muriel, and sons, John Valentine and Thurstan Rylance in a 6
roomed house om Denton. Thurstan was a varnish maker and John a clerk at a
hat manufacturers. There is no mention of Annie, who had presumably died
before then.
Frederick, Muriel and Frederick Thomas Robert all emigrated to New Zealand
around 1911, although on his army records, Frederick Thomas did say he had
been in NZ since 1912 and his father from 1911.
Frederick died on 4 February 1931 in Christchurch, Canterbury, at the age of
74, and was buried in Bromley Cemetery.
Paint manufacturing
This commercial venture because it involved both the brothers and the father
is dealt with separately in the following chapter.
R2 Thurstan Vernon Rylance (1888-1948) & Mary
Clapham Moss (1888-1974)
Figure 126 Thurstan Rylance
Thurstan Vernon was born in 1888 in Openshaw, Lancashire. He followed his
father and indeed grandfather into the paint and varnish trade.
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Mary Clapham was born on 29 December 1886 in Warrington, Lancashire.
Her father, Philip, was 28, and her mother, Mary, was 28. She was baptised on
5 June 1887 at St Elphins Church, Warrington.
Figure 127 Mary Clapham Moss
Although his father was
probably in New Zealand,
the wedding notice locates
him in Manchester.
She became a cotton weaver. After Thurstan
emigrated to New Zealand with his father and
siblings about 1911-1912, she remained at home
to care for her father, Philip, in his last years.
Philip died in 1914 and she quickly came out to
New Zealand (presumably before the outbreak of
war), marrying Thurstan Vernon Rylance on 27
February 1915 at All Saints Church, Dunedin
.
Figure 128 Mary & Thurstan c1915
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In June 1918, Thurstan was enlisted, but the war ended a few months later, so
he never served overseas. At the time of his enlistment, he was living at 28
Calder St, North East Valley, Dunedin.
The couple had four children, three daughters and a son, but the marriage was
a desperate;ly unhappy and violent one. It was over by the mid 1920s.
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Thurstan clearly
did not want to
support his wife
and children after
he left them and
so Mary in early
1925 applied for a
maintenance
order as shown
opposite. 226
226
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In the 1933 appearance, he was
sentenced to 2 months
imprisonment to be suspended
if he paid 10L off in two
months. The order was reduced
to 15 shillings a week!! Even
during the Depression, five
people must have struggled to
exist on such a tiny sum; no
wonder the older daughters all
entered the workforce at the
earliest possible moment, while
Philip, the son, sold
newspapers on street corners in
the cold and rain at the age of
10.
Thurstan was also charged and
convicted of sneak thieving:
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He also appears to have
defaulted on an invoice in
Christchurch in 1931. 227
At some point in the mid-
1930s, Thurstan entered into another relationship with Alice Jean Mann, the
widow of Earnest John Sandrey (1890-1930). They had a daughter, Ruth
Christina Rylance (1936-2017). She died in Ashburton.
By 1946, Thurston and Alice were living at 57 Waimari Rd, Christchurch where
he was a poultry farmer. He died in 1948.
This whole matrimonial history had a tremendously negative effect on his wife,
Mary Clapham Moss, and her children, particularly his son.
227
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ODT19310313.2.11
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Recollections of Mary Clapham Moss. my paternal
grandmother- Patricia Sargison (nee Rylance)
My memories of my grandmother, whom we called Nana, are few. We never
spent much time with her, and we were certainly never made to feel welcome
at her house. She never appeared to take any interest in us at all; I only
remember ever receiving one gift from her, a book for Christmas one year:
Dimsie Head Girl. The fact that I do remember getting this book it was one I
enjoyed very much as young girl is perhaps indicative of how unusual an
event it was, as well as perhaps a sign that it meant more to me to be
acknowledged than I can now recall. As it is, I have no memory of ever feeling
east partly I suppose
because we were so much loved by our other grandmother and the great aunts,
with whom we spent many happy holidays and to whom we always felt
important. I do recall Grandmother taking me to visit Nana once, when I was
staying with her on my own; Grandmother believed I owed her that duty but
we were certainly not welcomed and as I recall, the visit was short, with Nana
saying almost nothing at all to us. This was the case whenever we did visit; the
only conversation was carried out by my Aunt Rene, who lived with Nana all
her life, and who did welcome us. Aunt Rene worked as a secretary to the
manager of Thomsons Soft Drink factory now we would call her an EA I think
and the only reason Janet and I can ever remember wanting to visit was
because we were always allowed to have a bottle of fizzy drink of our choice.
This would have been the only time we had fizzy drink I recall the joys of
icecream soda, raspberry and orange, the thought of which now make me
shudder! I visited Aunty Ethel and her second husband, Stuart Cameron, quite
regularly when I was at university in fact Stuart, who was a geography lecturer
at the university, was very good to me in the early confusing days as a student
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taking Allan to meet them 228 , although I introduced him to Grandmother very
(which occurred when we were in Port Moresby so I was unable to attend the
funeral), I did visit Rene whenever I was in Dunedin and enjoyed something of
a friendship with her. But her greatest support undoubtedly came from
were far closer to Nana and Rene than any of us, living as they did just a few
blocks away, and spending a good deal of time with them, but even Kathleen
does not feel she knew Nana, though she was very close to Rene.
ives was his
middle sister, Ethel, and her three daughters particularly the youngest,
Kathleen; even she was three years older than me. I do recall holidaying with
Aunty Ethel and Kathleen in Dunedin when I was about 13, I think and her
trying to persuade me to encourage my father to visit his mother more often. I
remember feeling extremely uncomfortable because my father was never
prepared to talk about his relationship with his mother and would certainly not
have welcomed any interference from me. I was far too young and naïve to
know what the problem really was, but my feeling was that Nana had taken out
her bitterness about men in general, after being deserted by her husband, on
her only son, my father. His close physical resemblance to his father presumably
rubbed salt in the wound. One can certainly understand the bitterness there
was no pension for abandoned wives in those days and a woman with 4 children
to support must have been in dire straits. All the children had to leave school
as soon as they were allowed 13 or 14 in order to find work and help pay
the rent and put food on the table. I am not aware that Nana was ever in the
paid workforce herself, so she was dependent on the earnings of her children,
and the miserable sum awarded to her as maintenance by the courts, which
anyway Thurstan seldom paid. All four of the children were intelligent and
228
Allan remembers one visit!
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academically able, as well as being intensely musical, so it must have been a
source of some angst that they were never given any opportunity to have the
best education. I know my father hated whatever job he took when he left
school; he certainly enlisted as a 17- year old as a way of escape from the many
problems and challenges of his life. His war service, however damaging in all
sorts of ways, did offer him a second chance at education; as a returned
serviceman, he was entitled to rehabilitation and support to establish a future
career, so he was able to study at university (briefly, as his diagnosis with TB
put an end to his university studies), and then train at college as a teacher. Not
so his sisters; Ethel and Rene made the best of what they had, and both ended
up with good clerical jobs at a senior level but no doubt in a different time and
in a different family, they could have reached much greater heights.
I seem to recall
someone telling me once that when my grandfather deserted his family, and
went to live in Christchurch with another woman, my father at some point lived
continue
and he was returned to his mother so must have felt that neither parent
wanted him. I would call his relationship with his mother a love/hate one; he
desperately wanted her to love him but resented bitterly the way she treated
him. She ignored my mother when my parents met,
family as snobs and elitists, who would look down on working class people. My
mother told me that my father was utterly mortified when neither his mother
nor Rene nor Elsie attended his wedding; nor did they give my parents a
wedding gift. Dad did not tell Mum this for many years he said they had given
money as he was so embarrassed and ashamed. I can remember him saying
that the only gift they got from his family was from Ethel, who could least afford
it. Nana did not attend my wedding either, nor did she give me a gift. It did not
bother me in the least, as I felt no affection for her or any relationship with her.
By the time
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My mother told me once that Dad always felt he did not know how to be a good
father and always saw himself as the worst father in the world. Reading about
he must have
feared that he would be the same sort of parent as his own father. Dad did have
a temper and could be very frightening at times, although he loved us all very
much. I always put this down to his terrible war experiences but maybe not.
The damage inflicted by his upbringing certainly remained with him all his life.
Physically, Nana was a small woman clearly her children took after their father
as Dad and all his sisters were tall, and they all had the hooked Rylance nose. I
remember Nana as being quite slight, and stooped by the time we knew her.
Her hair was straight and brown, parted at the side and held back by a clip
she never went grey. Rene had the same hair. She spoke always in a broad
Lancashire accent which my father could mimic to perfection but she spoke
very little, and almost never addressed we children directly. I believe she was a
fruit cake usually, as we often visited over the Christmas period. Mum used to
was and where Nana and Rene lived. You entered by the back door
ever remember using the front door. The kitchen was to one side of it and there
was a sunroom to the other side, where Rene used to sleep. The front of the
house, which included the other bedrooms and the formal living room and I
presume the bathroom, were never entered by us. There was a large garden,
beautifully kept by Rene, with lots of fruit trees and flower beds. Rene was a
dedicated cat lover and there were always many cats. Rene successfully showed
her Persians for many years but they were not friendly animals and never
allowed children to pet them. In later years, they were the focus of her life; they
dined on the best steak while Rene lived on mince and water!
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I am never quite sure of the provenance of the house where Nana and Rene
lived during all our childhood; indeed, Rene lived in it until she died. It was at
359 Main North Road, opposite the Ross Home. I understood from Dad that he
had bought it for his mother with his rehabilitation grant after the war, but if
so, they must have been renting it before then, as the address is given for Nana
and Rene in 1930s electoral rolls. And my parents bought a house in Maryhill
after they were married, where they lived until they moved to Merrivale when
I was 4, so my father must have still had some money for that (although I believe
my grandmother helped). Mum taught for a year before the marriage so may
have had some savings. Who knows? May have been wishful thinking on my
may have remembered wrong.
I think all I can conclude about Nana was that she was an extremely unhappy
woman, who had every reason to be unhappy and sour but was never able to
come to terms with the choices forced on her, and was never able to create any
kind of comfortable family life for her children. Instead, she divided them, and
created bitterness and misunderstanding, which reverberated down the years
and affected family relationships over the generations. For much of her life,
Elsie was estranged from the family for reasons no one really understood, and
The pain inflicted by a woman unable to give or receive even the smallest
element of joy from family relationships continues to hurt her descendants
today.
Patricia Sargison
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R3 -Philip Vernon Rylance & Elizabeth Allan
After his father died, Philip grew up in an all-female environment. He believed
his mother did not really like him and she refused to call him by his name (even
though it was a Moss name, the name of her father, her grandfather and her
brother). Instead, the family called him B , which seems to relate to nobody
in particular in the overall family. His sisters and nieces, as well as his mother,
always called him Bob, something he very much disliked.
He became a very good and sought-after boy soprano, performing at most of
the major venues in Dunedin. He and his sisters all seem to have studied music
to some degree when they were young. Philip was an excellent amateur pianist,
who could play anything by ear. Later in life, he and his wife, Elizabeth, both
sang in the Oamaru Choral Society choir. Rene and Ethel also sang in and
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musically gifted. Her eldest daughter, Irene, is a trained classical pianist with
an LTCL, and is a professional music teacher; her two sons are professional
musicians.
who works as a surgeon, is a gifted
violinist who has always played in orchestras, and eldest son, Alex,
very young still, is also musically gifted, already playing in an orchestra at the
age of six.
.
World War 2
Philip, like his sisters, left school young, so that he could contribute to the family bills.
It is thought that he may have worked as an office boy. He enlisted early, perhaps to
get away from family life which must have been very trying, and to get away from a
job he hated. He left Dunedin for training on 22 December 1939, aged 17 (he lied
about his age on his enlistment papers).
Figure 1291st Echelon boarding 1940
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He was part of a draft of 20 to bring the 1 st Echelon up to strength. He was
driver in the 1 st Echelon of the 2 nd NZEF never having previously sat behind
a wheel, as far as we know. His driving style was certainly rough and ready,
learned on huge and forgiving army trucks, and in locations where there were
no road rules. Although he could carry out basic maintenance, he was never
particularly interested in the mechanics of vehicles. He remained something of
driver all his life; Patricia doubts that he ever studied the road code.
Figure 130 Philip 1941/2
The battalion's first year in Egypt was mainly
devoted to training - boredom and sickness
were always pressing. It had yet to fire a shot
at the enemy against whom it had trained so
assiduously; none of its four casualties had
been killed in action. Some of the men had
had anxious moments and close escapes
from bombs dropped by high-flying Italian
planes, and a few on anti-aircraft sentry duty
had relished the opportunity to hit back with
their light machine guns but had scored no
known successes. Most of the troops had had to be content to lie in their beds
at night and listen to the surge of the motors of the three-engined Italian planes
-
looking for a target. It was too passive a role for men keen to see action.
The following is of interest as it is a report of action on 27/8 May.
Meanwhile a runner from the Australians reported to Major Royal28 (28
Battalion) with his Colonel's compliments and asked what they were going to
do about the advancing Germans.29. The runner was told that the Maoris were
fed up with being pushed around and were going in with the bayonet.
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Figure 131 Philip in the mountains of Crete,
1941
Arrangements were being made with 19
Battalion on the left of 28 Battalion to give
covering fire, when another message came
from the Australians asking the Maoris to
wait a little and the Australians would be
pleased to join them. The forward
companies of 21 Battalion had scarcely
lined the sunken road when they heard yells
that could come only from Maori throats. It
was a blood-stirring haka. The Australians
produced a scream even more spine-chilling
than the Maori effort, and the sight of
the Maori Battalion charging with vocal
accompaniment sent the whole line surging
forward. The reserves were sent up, but most of them kept on going instead of
stopping in 42nd Street.
The forward elements of the enemy did not wait. They threw away their packs
and ran. They were shot from the hip, and those who hid in the scrub were
bayoneted. Some mortar teams that tried to get into action were overrun and
dealt with. Patches of crop were trampled flat, drains were peered into and
buildings ransacked. The chase went on for about half a mile without a prisoner
being taken, before it was checked at a group of houses with rifles firing from
every window.
This was in the leadup to the withdrawal. Tough fighting was needed to
support it. Philip was taken prisoner in Crete in early June 1941, one of 80
captured around the time of the withdrawal to Alexandria.
Philip then spent four years in prisoner of war camps. While he seldom
mentioned his time in Crete although Patricia remembers him once saying
that shooting the parachuting-in Germans was like slaughtering ducks, and all
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the war he did occasionally talk about the horrors of the POW camps. He was
put to work in coal mines and quarries at various times his later tuberculosis
was probably the result of his time in the mines. He was missing the top section
of the small finger on his left hand and this was the result of something that
happened while he was in camp; either an accident, or possibly a deliberately
inflicted injury which meant hospitalisation and an escape from the nightmares
of the work parties for a time. After she read The Great Escape, Patricia asked
him if he had ever worked in tunnels and he said that he had, but Patricia
To be completed
Stalag VIII-D Teschen (modernČeský Tě n). The base camp at Lamsdorf was
renumbered Stalag 344.
Stalag VIII-B Lamsdorf was a German Army prisoner of war camp, later
renumbered Stalag-344, located near the small town of Lamsdorf (now called
) in Silesia. The camp initially occupied barracks
built to house British and French prisoners in World War I. At this same
location there had been a prisoner camp during the Franco-Prussian War of
1870-71.
It was opened in 1939 to house Polish prisoners from the German September
1939 offensive. Later approximately 100,000 prisoners
from Australia, Belgium, British
India, British
Palestine, Canada, France, Greece, Italy,
the Netherlands, New
Zealand, Poland, South Africa, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, the Isle
of Man, the United States and Yugoslavia passed through this camp. In 1941 a
separate camp, Stalag VIII-F was set up close by to house the Soviet prisoners.
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In 1943, the Lamsdorf camp was split up, and many of the prisoners
(and Arbeitskommando) were transferred to two new base camps Stalag VIII-C Sagan
(modern Żagań and word missing
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Post War
Philip came out of the war something of a skeleton, with tuberculosis (not
diagnosed until a year or two later) and breathing issues which were to last his
lifetime. His wartime health issues, combined with decades of heavy smoking,
resulted in his early death at the age of only 57.
After being liberated from the POW camps, Philip spent some time in England.
He was befriended by
a. He then returned to Dunedin. It seems possible that
he undertook some kind of carpentry training as part of his rehabilitation
package; after his marriage, he always had a well-equipped workshop and he
was a skilled woodworker, able to build furniture and carry out quite advanced
DIY projects. While living
in Merrivale, he built a
caravan from scratch,
doing almost all the work
himself. He also worked
briefly as a gardener at the
Ross Home (which was
Figure 132 Pleasant Point Sanitorium
house in North East
Valley), and there he met
Elizabeth Allan, who was employed there during the university holidays. Philip
enrolled at the University of Otago but was able to study for less than a year
before his tuberculosis was diagnosed. He spent the next 18 months in the
Pleasant Point Sanatorium at Palmerston (north of Dunedin), where he was
seriously ill and nearly died. Only the discovery and administration of the
powerful antibiotic, streptomycin, saved his life. Elizabeth used to take the train
from Dunedin to visit him.
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Philip suffered another bout of tuberculosis in 1963. This time he was
hospitalised for only six months, at a sanatorium in Highgate, Dunedin. The
family was living at Windsor in North Otago, and Elizabeth took over his
teaching responsibilities at Windsor School while he was away. She did not
drive at that time and had three young daughters to look after, so was able to
visit him only twice in six months, when neighbours took her to Dunedin.
Patricia, Janet and Robyn saw him again only when he joined the family for
Christmas at Mayfield, just before he was discharged.
After being discharged from hospital the first time, Philip entered Dunedin
returned servicemen.
Philip proved to be an excellent teacher and remained teaching until his death.
After a few years as an assistant teacher at Green Island School in Dunedin, he
was appointed (consecutively) head teacher at two small rural schools:
Merrivale, Southland, a small rural school northwest of Tuatapere, 1956-1961,
a sole charge position, although when the roll increased from time to time,
Elizabeth became the infant teacher
Windsor, North Otago, 1962-1978
a two-teacher school
In the last year of his life, he was deputy principal of Oamaru South School.
While safe enough in the wide open expanses of rural Southland and North
Otago, and okay in small town Otautau and Oamaru, Philip was terrifying in
the city; he had no idea of either of the rules or driving etiquette, but became
enraged with every other car on the road. Elizabeth wisely was never taught to
drive by him; in fact, she did not learn to drive at all until she was well into her
40s, and could affor
must have made her isolated existence in Merrivale and later Windsor,
particularly challenging). He did teach Patricia to drive when she turned 15 but
would not allow her to sit for her licence (probably correctly; with no
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instruction in city driving skills, she would not have passed, and she was too
immature anyway). Allan, an outstanding driving instructor, retaught her when
she was 20, and she obtained her licence then, in Dunedin (Allan also
successfully taught both his children to drive and drive very well). Janet did
not learn to drive until after marriage, and Robyn was taught by her then fiancé,
when she was in her early 20s.
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Marriage
While at the University of Otago Philip met one
Elizabeth Allan,
partnering her to
the Home Science
Ball in 1947 as
shown. Although
from very
different
backgrounds something definitely
clicked and they were married on 22
December 1950 in East Taieri, thus giving all the family a special Christmas
present!!
n before their departure to Merrivale
was 95 Maryhill Terrace in Mornington,
Dunedin where Patricia Ann Rylance
was born in 1952 and Janet in 1954. At
the end of 1952, Philip was advised that
he met the requirements for a Teacher
Figure 133 Philip with Daughter Patricia
Certificate Class C requiring him to spend a year as a probationary assistant.
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.Figure 134 Philip, Robyn, Janet,
friend of Janet's, Allan at Windsor
with Elizabeth's mini 1970ish
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Philip was a classic handyman of the time with a well equipped workshop. He
built the caravan pictured below. Additionally he was a great gardener, a hobby
shared with Elizabeth and indeed his son-in-law.
Philip and Elizabeth joined
forces to stage amazing school
concerts, both at Merrivale and
at Windsor. They specialised in
operettas: Cinderella is the one
remembered best by the sisters,
but there were others. Philip
was an excellent director but a very hard taskmaster; no slacking was allowed
and everything had to be of the very best. The singing was top class and the
costumes (organised by Elizabeth) superb. Philip painted wonderful backdrops
(Patricia helped one year at Windsor), and the lighting was also professional.
The following poor photograph is one with
their daughter Robyn performing. Philip was
also an outstanding amateur actor and
director. He and Elizabeth took part in several
one-act plays, mostly mounted as part of the
Windsor (Elizabeth was an active member),
or as part of the local regional competitions
between small towns and districts which took
place at that time. While Elizabeth was
remembers the admiring comments from one of the judges and the spontaneous
applause which greeted them at one of those competitions. As a director, Philip
was again a perfectionist; he got very frustrated when others (and in small
district, that was almost everyone else!) could not meet his high standards.
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developed at this time; almost the only part of
secondary school she remembers with any pleasure were the house plays in
which she took part in her 5 th , 6 th and 7 th form years (she also directed the play
in the 7 th form, with some input from Philip). Her house was 2 nd in her 5 th form
year, and won the competition in the 6 th and 7 th forms.
Figure 136 Windsor theatricals mid 1960s
Figure 135 The Rylance Sisters late 1970s, Windsor
Philip and Elizabeth taught Sunday School in Merrivale and Bible Class in
Windsor, where they also organised Bible Class dances. Elizabeth taught
ballroom dancing to
me. Philip and
Elizabeth had both been brought up in strict, religious families, Philip in the
Anglican church and Elizabeth in the Presbyterian Church. They remained
active and dedicated members of the Presbyterian Church after their marriage.
Philip played the organ at the Windsor Presbyterian Church for many years. He
was an accomplished lay preacher, at Windsor and in other churches in the
parish, but also in Oamaru from time to time. His views tended to be somewhat
rigid and socially extremely conservative, but his faith certainly sustained him
in the last years of his life, when he was seldom well. He knew he would not
live a long life, but he did not fear death.
The Windsor church was just beside the school and opposite the school house.
Both Patricia and Janet were married there.
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Family singing was a regular event. In Merrivale there was no piano, but instead
an old organ, which possibly came from Nana and Rene. A piano appeared in
Windsor and Philip could of course play almost anything by ear. Patricia and
Robyn learned the piano from Mrs Direen, a neighbour and a qualified music
teacher, and Robyn became very proficient. She later managed the music
programme at various times at the schools where she taught. Patricia enjoyed it
and could play a few tunes well but lost the facility after leaving home for
university where she had no access to a piano. She was certainly the least
musical of the family. Janet lasted only a few lessons on piano but became a
good guitar player and also had voice training when she was a teenager. All
three daughters could sing and there were many family singalongs,
accompanied either by Philip or Robyn on the piano or Janet on the guitar.
Philip and Elizabeth had sung a great deal when they were young Philip, as
we have seen had been a well-known boy soprano in Dunedin and Elizabeth
had sung in church choirs but their voices were damaged by heavy cigarette
smoking over the years. Only when they finally gave up smoking for good in
TB sanatorium
in the early 1960s) did their voices recover enough for them to join the Oamaru
Choral Society. Elizabeth remained a stalwart of the choir until her death,
serving as president several times. Patricia and Janet sang duets at a few
functions when they were teenagers,
church events.
and occasionally at social events, accompanied by Janet on guitar. Janet and
Robyn sang Morning Has Broken as a duet while the register was being signed at
Over the years, it was always a laughing matter to have a Kiwi Elizabeth and
Philip living at Windsor! That was the end of any similarities with the royal
Windsors!
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Philip was not an easy man to live with. The
damage caused by his painful childhood,
compounded by his war experiences at an
age when he was barely mature, made him
a very difficult man, prone to angry
outbursts which could be frightening. All
the family tried to avoid making him angry;
he hada very firm and rigid views on many
subjects, and it was never wise to argue with
him or try to change his mind as social
mores changed. Philip always bitterly
regretted his outbursts,
Patricia remembers his abject apologies as being almost worse than the initial
violence. Her most vivid memory of one of these episodes was when he struck
her during a school lesson, causing her to fall to the floor; the cause she can no
longer recall although she thinks it was because she was unable to do some
educational activity. He sent her out of the classroom to his office, but then
appeared himself and tried to comfort her, crying himself and desperately
struggling to make amends. Patricia says it was dreadful. Neither she nor Philip
coped at all well with the conflicting father/daughter, teacher/student
relationship. Philip seems to have managed better with Janet and Robyn, both
much better adjusted, but Patricia, the most like him, totally lacking in social
skills, a ghastly little prig, desperately trying to be like everyone else but with
no idea how to do so and unable to make friends, was a real problem. Because
she was clever, Philip had very high expectations of Patricia, and this was
Patricia never recovered from this mathematical stress, which actually brought
on her first migraine headaches, something she suffered from until her late 20s.
She dropped the subject as soon as she could, after School Certificate. The fact
that Patricia never had another teacher, either at school, Sunday School or Bible
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Class, until she went to high school, made that transition exceptionally hard.
Although a
nevertheless the unhappiest of her life.
Philip was socially very awkward and struggled to establish friendly
relationships with people. He always felt that he could not become too friendly
with particular school families in a small district, in case others felt ignored but
it also suited him to avoid social events, apart from those related to school. He
and Elizabeth did become friends with the McDonalds in Merrivale though;
theirs is the only house to which Patricia can remember going for meals, and
Philip and Patricia used to go to movies in Tuatapere with Mr McDonald and
his eldest daughter, Heather. The McDonalds visited Windsor in later years,
friends were first, Geoff and Joan Dalziel. After leaving Windsor School, they
bought an old farmhouse from the Dalziels
for the rest of her life; she probably could not have continued to live alone
without the support of the Dalziels in her last years. Secondly, there were Keith
and Jan Gawn, who were great entertainers; there were many parties at their
house.
Keith was chairman of the
weddings. Apart from family, however, Philip and Elizabeth seldom entertained
at home. Philip could be quite rude at times; this must have been very difficult
for Elizabeth.
occasions, something they understandably bitterly resented. He never seemed
to like or particularly welcome Allan much; both very introverted, they were
unable to have any kind of real conversation. He got on better with Cliff, largely
because they had some interests in common and they also saw more of each
other.
In both Merrivale and Windsor, there were weekly trips to town (Otautau and
occasionally, Invercargill from Merrivale and Oamaru from Windsor). These
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trips sometimes included meals at a café usually fish and chips in Invercargill,
-
Grosvenor in north Oamaru every Friday night, sausages, eggs, chips,
sometimes steak. The height of sophistication at the time! Allan has clear
recollections of dinners at the Northside Tavern with great steaks! There was
named dux
friend, Paddy, who was runner-up to dux, to the Brydone Hotel
restaurant in Oamaru then. Paddy brought her rather older boyfriend of the
time, who ordered a bottle of wine; unheard of in those innocent days. That
wine!
In many ways, Philip seemed the dominant partner in the marriage Elizabeth
never questioned his decisions, at least in front of the children, which they
thought unfair at times, given his strictness and uncompromising views. Yet
this was not necess
superior background and of her happy family life, so unlike his own, and very
aware that it was she who was the more stable and reliable parent. While he
behaved very much as the pater familias, he also knew how dependent on her
love and support he was. This dependence increased as his health worsened; it
was his greatest dread that she might die first, leaving him alone. It is a great
relief to know that this did not happen; Elizabeth led a productive and busy life
for 19 years on her own; he could not have done so.
Philip died suddenly on 26 December 1979, four days after his 29 th wedding
anniversary. He went to bed early after Christmas dinner, and Elizabeth found
him dead of heart failure when she woke up in the morning. Janet and her
husband, Cliff, and Robyn had been there for Christmas, but Patricia and Allan
did not go south for Christmas that year, as Janet and Cliff were coming to visit
them in Wellington immediately after the festivities. Philip was cremated and
his ashes buried in the garden of their Windsor home.
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Elizabeth as Grandmother
Although not perhaps a doting grandmother in the classic sense, she was
nonetheless a wonderful grandmother, loving and tolerant. Both Kilmeny and
Georgina have great memories of her and of staying with her at Windsor.
Elizabeth was also a great
mother-in-law. After an
initial settling-in period, she
and Allan got on extremely
well, sharing, in particular, a
love of gardening. He was
able to help her with the
garden at her home in
Windsor and even built an
extra room for her. She was
quite prepared to accept his
introversion and the fact that
he did many things differently from what she was accustomed to and made no
efforts to interfere or steer events. Patricia thinks she was probably enormously
grateful that someone was willing to take on her most difficult daughter, with
whom her relationship was not always easy, and that they seemed happy
together.
.
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Elizabeth and the community
Elizabeth taught intermittently throughout the
marriage. Whenever the Merrivale roll grew
too large for one teacher, she would called in
as infant mistress (it was impossible to get an
assistant teacher in such a remote spot). Both
Janet and Robyn went to school long before
they were five; Robyn must have been still in
her carrycot. Elizabeth also taught at Windsor
for two terms, when Philip was in hospital with
TB. She also taught sewing, both at Merrivale
and at Windsor. Patricia remembers that she organised a fashion parade one
year at Windsor as part of the end of year celebrations, with pupils wearing the
garments they had made. She taught all three of her daughters to sew; in those
days, most people made their own clothes, although Robyn never enjoyed it
much. She and Janet were, however, good knitters and crocheters, skills Patricia
never acquired. Janet also embroidered well and taught Kilmeny, who
embroiders beautifully.
After the children were off her hands, and she had started driving, Elizabeth
gradually moved out of the home and into the community beyond Windsor. In
a time of great teacher shortages in rural areas, she was encouraged by school
inspectors to take up relieving in others school around North Otago, which she
did while Robyn was still at high school. Eventually, she began a long period of
service at Campbell Park School which necessitated a 45-minute drive each
way. From 1972, Campbell Park School was for boys who could not be
accommodated in special classes at their local school. Recommendations for
admissions came from Social Welfare and the Psychological Service.
Increasingly, admissions were for those who were regarded as educationally
backward and who would benefit from residential care to improve their life
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skills (personal, social and emotional), as well as their behaviour. By the 1980s,
most boys at the school were aged between 9 and 16 years, and had an average
stay of about two years. They were regarded as backward or slow learners, and
some had psychological, medical or physical problems. Most came from the
North Island; many Maori boys were admitted to the school. Elizabeth seemed
to thrive with such students and was always full of stories about them and their
lives. 229 Many years later, Janet would follow in her footsteps by undertaking a
Masters degree in special education and working as a special education
specialist, in schools and for a period, with the ICC. She is currently a special
education co-ordinator with the Ministry of Education. Robyn too has special
education qualifications, having undertaken courses while working as a teacher.
Although she had taught for many years off and on, Elizabeth was not a
qualified teacher; because she was engaged to be married, it was assumed after
she graduated from un
college. Accordingly, although she taught for year in Hastings before the
marriage, it was as an unqualified and poorly paid assistant. All the terms she
taught at Merrivale and Windsor School were similarly ill-paid, and this
continued when she began relieving and at Campbell Park School. When
Catholic and other religious schools were incorporated into the state system,
however, the government had to set up a procedure to provide for the many
similarly untrained teachers who had served for many years in those schools.
Elizabeth was able to apply for official recognition of her qualifications on the
grounds of her university diploma and long years of experience. For the last
years of her teaching life, therefore, she was finally paid as a qualified and
registered teacher. She always said she applied because Philip would have
wanted her to do so he had always felt it was unfair, she said but because
she had a university diploma, she would perhaps have earned more than him.
Patricia wonders how he would have coped with that! Elizabeth, while
229 https://www.archway.archives.govt.nz/ViewFullAgencyHistory.do
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devastated at being widowed relatively young, took on a whole new lease of life
, despite being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes a year or two
later. Far more sociable and community-minded than Philip, she kept herself
busy, both as a teacher at Campbell Park, and in many local organisations,
especially those related to the arts. She was out several nights each week! She
closed, but continued to relieve at
Windsor School for several years, and became a close friend of the then
principal, Verna Chambers. After she turned 65, she suffered from several
health problems, including ever-worsening Type-2 diabetes, but this did not
really slow her down. Although a fond grandmother, she preferred her own life
to that of unpaid babysitter and her diabetes became worse when she was
stressed so she was reluctant to take on too much solo childcare.
Janet and Kilmeny spent much time with her and she spent a lot of time with
them in Dunedin but the longest time she spent with Allan and Patricia was
three weeks after Geoffrey was born. The whole family (Elizabeth, Janet, Robyn
and Kilmeny) came for a couple of
weeks at Christmas after Georgina
was born. Allan and Patricia left
Georgina for a few days for the first
time at Windsor, when she was just
over 3, after Christmas one year but
this was only possible because
Janet was there. After Patricia and
Allan moved to Christchurch,
Elizabeth visited more often,
usually with Janet and Kilmeny.
endeavours comes from other
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Obituary
Elizabeth died suddenly, 19 years after Philip on 24 September 1998.
Tragically she was on her own, suffering a heart attack brought on by her severe
diabetes. She was able to use her pager to call her neighbours, the Gilmores,
who got an ambulance quickly and got her to hospital and informed the family.
Janet, Robyn and Patricia were all making arrangements to get to Oamaru when
they were told she had suffered a further, more serious heart attack and had
died. She was buried in Block 529, Plot 2 of the Oamaru Lawn Cemetery after
a large funeral at Weston Presbyterian Church. A great woman of her time was
the verdict of all!
The following Obituary summarises her various contributions.
Omitted from this was her membership of the Rose Society.
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Rylance & Sons Paint
Company
The Rylances were accomplished white lead and
paint makers & brought their skills to Otago.
Frederick arrived in NZ determined to resume his trade. He soon opened his
doors as Rylance & Sons.
RYLANCE & SONS, LIMITED, VARNISH, COLOUR, AND
PAINT MANUFACTURERS,
1942.
In making a visit to this establishment230 we were met with an astonishing business,
recently commenced in New Zealand, and continued from one carried on in
Lancashire, in the Old Country, for almost a century. The present manager has been
engaged in the manufacture for over 50 years, the knowledge acquired having been
handed down to him from his ancestors.
This factory, which has a floor space of 10,000 square feet, is supplied with the best
machinery for the production of paints, and for the.very varied requirements of the
230
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ODT19211115.2.153
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trade, as exemplified by the different classes of paints made, and we may say they
specialise in every one of the articles turned out, but perhaps more particularly in
Ferrosite red roof paint, farm red roof paint, and coloured paints for buildings of wood,
iron, or cement, also for bridges, gasholders, and the plants of municipal authorities,
corporations, hospitals, harbour boards, shipping companies and owners, railways,
house painters, coach-painters, agricultural and machine makers, foundries,
engineers and boilermakers.
Putty is also made at these works, largely from materials which can be found in the
dominion, and so obviates the importation of this very necessary and useful article.
Varnishes are made for the many purposes for which they are used (the required plant
being heated by both gas and fire), some from the well-known kauri gum and others
from gums procured from different parts of the globe, including Africa, South America,
the continent of Europe, and the Philippines, each gum producing a varnish adapted
to a different purpose, for which they are most suitable. Linseed oil is also boiled and
refined at these works.
DRY COLOURS. These are of a peculiar kind. being chemical, metallic, natural, end
carbon, and their manufacture necessitates great study, as in each case (we
understand) they should be neutral in their mixable nature; however, in this short
description it is impossible to define them precisely.
This business is carried on under the supervision of the manager, who has had a lifelong
experience in manufacturing, and he is ably supported by a sub-manager, with a
staff specially chosen for the work, so that both users and customers may rely upon
getting the best of paints produced at the lowest cost. The goods are packed in various
sized containers to suit buyers, and may be obtained through the wholesale houses, or
direct from the manufacturers- Phone 1942.
The company seemed very successful and morphed in the Dominion Paint &Tar
Company.
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Clearly there was no issue with the quality of their output as on 7 April 1926, the
Otago Daily Times reported the company had won first prizes for crude tar,
dehydrated tar and marine glue. Expansion into Christchurch followed with a factory
at Sockburn. The coverage on the left gives an indication of activity in 1925.231
The Christchurch company seems to have been successful, at least at first. The
Dunedin factory branched into roading when Roading Constructors Ltd was
inaugurated, with a capital of 100,000L. The company went public in May 1926
with the following advertisement:232
231
PRESS, VOLUME LXI, ISSUE 18473, 29 AUGUST 1925
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ODT19260501.2.119.5
232
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The objects for which the Company
is established are set forth in the
Memorandum of Association, the
immediate purpose being to engage
in the work of constructing and
maintaining highways, roads, and
streets in any part of New Zealand
on the latest and most approved
methods. Copies of the
Memorandum and Articles of
Association of the Company, and of
the above-mentioned Deed of
Covenant executed by
the Dominion Paint and Tar
Products, Limited, may be
inspected free of charge at the
(Messrs Adams Bros., 179 Princes
Street, Dunedin) at any time during
business hours.
voting rights and the same right
to Dividend as the Ordinary £1
Shares, and upon any return of
capital or distribution of surplus assets in a winding up, will confer the same
rights as the Ordinary £1 Shares, without regard in any case to the difference in
the nominal value of the two classes of Shares. They have no further right to
participate in profits or assets, and, apart from the power to appoint certain of
the Directors (see below), have no special privilege with regard to the
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subscribed by the parent Company The Dominion Paint and Tar Products,
Limited and the face value of the Shares will be payable by that Company in
Shares are intended to make those Shares equivalent for all purposes to
Ordinary £1 Shares, the extra value thus given being meant as & bonus or
reward to the parent Company for the nucleus of the concern and for services
rendered in the formation of this Company and in making preliminary
investigations and preparations for the business of road construction. Except
by the Dominion Paint and Tar Products, Limited, equivalent to Ordinary £1
Shares, no payment or reward of any kind whatsoever has been or will be given
to any persons for service* rendered in the promotion of the Company. No fully
paid shares are being issued for any purpose, and no plant, stock, or other
property is being sold to the new Company, which will be entirely free to make
its own selection of plant, stock, etc. The Dominion Paint and Tar Products,
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Limited, shows its confidence in the new Company by asking for no cash whatever for
the Road Construction portion of its business and by committing itself to a monetary
BROKERAGE The Company will pay a
commission not exceeding 5 per cent, on
the amount thereof on all duly accepted
applications for shares received from the
pointees.
DIRECTORATE
The Articles of Association provide that
the qualification of a Director is bo be the
holding of 200 Ordinary or 200
that the remuneration of the Directors
shall be such sum as the Company in
general meeting may grant, and that
such remuneration is to be divided
among them in such proportions as the
Directors may determine. They also
provide that two of the Directors, who
need not be holders of any shares in the'
Company, are to be appointed by
the Dominion Paint and Tar Products,
Shares. While the Board at the present
time consists of five Directors, provision
has been made that in the event of the
Directors considering it desirable,
Advisory Directors may be appointed in
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any centre on such terms and conditions as the Directors may decide. The Directors
have power to appoint one or more of their body to be Managing Director or Directors,
and may from time to time fix the remuneration of a Managing Director by way of
salary, commission, participation in profits or otherwise. Among the present Directors,
Messrs Gibson, Owen, and Paterson are also Directors of the Dominion Paint and Tar
Products, Limited. TERMS OF PAYMENT 2/6 per Share oh application; 2/6 per
Share on allotment; And the balance in calls not exceeding 2/6 per Share, and at
intervals of not less than three months. Capital will be called up according to the work
undertaken, but it is anticipated that it will not be necessary to call up more than 10/-
per Share. None of the Shares have been or will be underwritten.
Perhaps the company had over-expanded or perhaps it became an early casualty
of changing times leading to the Great Depression. For a while in the 1920s,
there were just the usual sort of court cases involving the company, claiming
payment for various services, but by 1928 things had got more serious. In
September of that year, the main paint manufacturing side of the business had
been closed and the plant auctioned. On 25 October, there was a Supreme
Court case taken by the BNZ seeking some 838L in overdraft and interest.
Paint manufacturing was a very competitive industry in Dunedin, where a
number of the long lasting paint companies were also in the market, including
Bergers, Steelite, Aburn, and Wrens. That said, the huge expansion of the
business, in particular the venture into roading, may have been a little beyond
the capabilities of the Rylance brothers and father.
Christchurch may have also left the Dunedin factory without enough
management experience. The Rylances may have been used by others who were
effectively calling the shots.
It is not clear when Thurstan left the business. In 1928, though, he was on the
Electoral Roll listed as an insurance agent.
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The right to vote
One could argue that the resolution of this issue had a great impact on our
families In early colonial New Zealand, as in other European societies, women
were excluded from any involvement in
politics. People men and women
accepted the idea that women were naturally
suited for domestic affairs, such as keeping
house and raising children. Supposedly only
men were fitted for public life and the
rough-and-tumble world of politics!!
Cartoon opposing women’s suffrage
In the later 19th century, some women began to challenge this view of the
world. New opportunities began to open for women and girls (especially those
from wealthy or middle-class families) in secondary and university education,
medicine, teaching, nursing, and in church and charitable work. Attention soon
al and political rights.
A movement emerges
The suffrage campaign in New Zealand began as a far-flung branch of a broad
late-19thits
colonies, the United States and northern Europe. This movement was shaped
by two main themes: equal political rights for women and a determination to
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use them for the moral reform of society (through, for example, the prohibition
of alcohol).
l-rights
arguments of philosopher John Stuart Mill and British feminists and by the
missionary efforts of the American-
Union (WCTU).
Robert Stout, J
suffrage. In 1878, 1879 and 1887 bills or amendments extending the vote to
women (or at least to female ratepayers) only narrowly failed to pass in
Parliament.
Kate Sheppard
Outside Parliament the movement gathered momentum
from the mid-1880s, especially following the establishment
of a New Zealand WCTU in 1885. Skilfully led by Kate
Sheppard, WCTU campaigners and others organised a
series of huge petitions to Parliament: in 1891 more than 9000 signatures were
gathered, in 1892 almost 20,000, and finally in 1893 nearly 32,000 were
obtained almost a quarter of the adult European female population of New
Zealand.
When Lord Glasgow, the governor, signed a new Electoral Act into law in 1893,
New Zealand became the first self-governing country in the world in which
women had the right to vote in parliamentary elections. As women in most
other democracies including Britain and the United States did not win the
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Many women from our families signed the petition 233 including Dicks,
Andersons, Cunninghams, Kirks, Kirklands and Allans. The page at the end of
this chapter shows the extent of input from Sandymount which was extensive
and included Helen Dick (nee Eason) and Jean(nie) Dick. Margaret Huie Burn
and her daughter were also
signatories, as were the Kirk women at Mayfield.
Helen Edwards 234 has written an interesting account of the geographical
approach used in Roslyn which almost certainly was similar to that used in
Sandymount and the Otago Peninsula.
233
There is a searchable version at - https://nzhistory.govt.nz/politics/womens-suffrage/petition -
234
Helen Edwards, Women’s Suffrage Petition, 1893; a Geographical Interpretation. (full text available)
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More than 90,000 New Zealand women went to the polls on 28 November
harassed at polling booths, the atmosphere on election day was relaxed, even
festive. At the close of the poll approximately two out of three adult women had
voted.
Even so, women had a long way to go to achieve political equality. They would
not gain the right to stand for Parliament until 1919 and the first female MP
(Elizabeth McCombs) was not elected until 1933 .
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Appendix: Otago Peninsula Sheet
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WW 2: The
War
By December 1941, thirty per cent of the male population aged
between eighteen and forty-five was in the armed services. At
this time, the total population of New Zealand was about one
million, six hundred and thirty thousand. 1 Although we
normally equate the war with battles and fighting, there is a
good argument that it was won on the ground in New Zealand
by the women who not only kept the home fires burning but
While it [CITE has YOUR been SOURCE possible HERE.] to individualise war experiences of men, it proved
more difficult for the women in our families. It was also hard to decide which
generation of women to individualise, because women of all ages bore the
responsibility for maintaining homes and farms, raising children, and assuming
previously unfamiliar roles in employment. While employment and the
continuation of essential industries may have led to exciting opportunities to
move away from home and some measure of independence for young single
women (a state previously only achieved following marriage), for most married
and/or older women, the war was notable for its years of hard drudgery.
For six years and more, lives were inconvenienced by rationing of petrol, food
and clothing. There were shortages of power, food and coal (used as a source
of heating and to fuel coal range stoves for cooking); restrictions on lighting,
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train services and long distance travel; the cessation of home deliveries of bread
and other products; and blackout regulations.
Figure 137 Landgirl from Te Papa
Figure 138 Digging Trenches, Alexander Turnbull Tapuhi collection
Women, in addition to taking on a lot of jobs previously undertaken by men,
also served in the Air
Force, Army and Navy in
Europe and the Pacific.
Whereas in September
1939, the female labour
force was estimated at
180,000, by December
1943 there were 228,000
women employed on the
home front and 8000 in
the armed forces.235 The
adjacent advertisement
235
https://digitalnz.org/stories/5cb8292d8d2a4e554e469bc4
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from 1944 is a good example of moving into non-traditional activities!236
HOME AND FAMILY
In the period directly before the commencement of World War Two, New
Zealand had not fully recovered from the effects of the Depression. Full
that nothing was wasted and to
make the best of what was
available was to serve home
managers well during the war.
The workload of women at
home was not eased by laboursaving
technology because
much of it was unknown at this
time. Many areas of the country
had yet to be connected to
electricity, and cooking had to
be done on a gas or coal range.
Refrigerators, washing
machines, telephones and cars
were not commonly found in
working class or even middleclass
homes. After the war
started, women not only had to manage their workload unaided, but also take
on the household responsibilities traditionally undertaken by men: managing
the finances, mowing lawns, maintaining a vegetable garden, chopping
236
Alexander Turnbull Library.
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were no longer applicable as domestic responsibilities were widened to absorb
all the tasks which men had usually accepted as their lot. 237
The shortages that were to affect everyday life for seven years began to make an
impact in September 1939, with the rationing of petrol. This was followed by
shortages of paper, due to interrupted importation from Scandinavia and North
scarce early in 1941.
In the clothing and textiles area, 238 the importation of silk stockings ceased in
1940, a hardship more keenly felt in this era than it would be today, when very
few women wore trousers and many employers insisted on the wearing of
stockings in the workplace. Wool and cotton stockings were available but were
considered a very inferior product to the desirable silk versions (Edmond, 1986;
Taylor, 1986). Elizabeth Rylance spoke several times of the common practice
among her friends of darkening the legs with tanning lotion and drawing a
black line down the back of the calf to denote a stocking seam (stockings were
always seamed then).
Threats & Responses
By May 1940 the Germans occupied Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium and
France, and Britain faced the direct threat of invasion. Although appalled by
events on the other side of the world, New Zealanders still felt far from the
danger zone. But the sense of security was short-lived. German raiders, or
armed merchant cruisers, were active in New Zealand waters, laying mines and
attacking Allied ships. Their targets were the vessels that sailed to or from the
country, transporting troops, freight and passengers. The raiders had some
237
Ebbett, 1984, p.38).
238
All the material in this section on clothing is drawn from Jan Hamon,
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success: in the second half of 1940 they sank four ships in the seas around New
Zealand, with the loss of more than 50 lives.
One of the first domestic moves was to enforce a blackout. It began in coastal
areas of New Zealand in February 1941. Black curtains, paper, or even paint,
covered windows in most homes. Outside, street lighting was dimmed, making
life difficult through the winter nights that followed.
On 7 December 1941, the tension rose dramatically. The Imperial Japanese
ur, an American naval base in Hawaii, killing
more than 2400 people and sinking five battleships. It was an act of aggression
that caused the United States to join the war, to the relief of many New
Zealanders, but the Pearl Harbour attack was also unsettling.
Those who lived through that period recalled genuine fear. Speculation was rife
about where the Japanese would land, and what they would do to New
Zealanders. People in exposed coastal areas felt especially vulnerable. Trench
digging, air raid practices and complex emergency planning were under way in
every city. Gas masks were issued. Hospitals were ready for casualties.
There was a belief that no real defence of the country would be possible. Some
regarded the precautions against attack sceptically. But others remember taking
them very seriously. Joyce Harrison recalled that the air raid practices in
trenches at her school 'brought it home to us that something might happen to
us'.
Invasion fear did not last for the entire war, as two crucial events brought some
relief to New Zealanders. In May 1942, the United States Navy got the upper
hand in the Battle of the Coral Sea, turning back Japanese forces attempting to
seize Port Moresby in New Guinea. The following month, in the Battle of
Midway named after an island in the Central Pacific further American
success and turned the tide in the Allies' favour. United States forces destroyed
four of Japan's aircraft carriers and the 'cream of the Japanese naval air crews'.
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Petrol rationing
Rationing of essential goods began early in the war, and books of coupons for
rationed goods became common possessions. The first place consumers felt the
pinch was at the petrol pump, following government fears that disruption to
shipping would block supplies of 'motor spirits'. Private motorists were hardest
hit. At the beginning of 1940, the limit on petrol was 8 to 12 gallons (36 to 54
litres) a month, depending on the size of the car. By 1942, this amount looked
generous, when the most petrol a private motorist could buy in a month was
just 2 gallons (9 litres). It remained at this level for most of the war.
Car owners had no choice but to accept restrictions on their mobility. Some,
like the Maclean family in Paraparaumu, abandoned their vehicles for the
duration. They parked their Dodge under a tree, and reverted to horse and cart
for transport on the farm until the end of the war. Those who kept their cars
running were on the alert for fuel. When Japan joined the conflict, motorists
rushed to use all their petrol coupons. In Wellington:
Califonts [water heaters], kegs, kettles, demijohns [large bottles],
vinegar and whiskey bottles, tins of all descriptions, and even a
new dustbin were produced to hold petrol as all available
coupons were handed in.
The rationing of petrol outlasted the war and did not come to an end until May
1950.
Although petrol rationing was undoubtedly a problem for farmers like the Kirks
and the Allans and for those living outside the main cities, for at least some of
our family, it would have been irrelevant. None of the Rylances drove a car, nor
did the younger Dicks.
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Because of the petrol shortage, the attack on Pearl Harbour also resulted in good
business for bicycle dealers. By midday on 16 December 1941, in the capital
and the Hutt Valley:
it was a matter of extreme difficulty to purchase either a man's
or a woman's bicycle. One determined suburbanite visited five
shops in Lower Hutt and Petone before he succeeded in making a
purchase, and he was told it was the last machine in that shop.
Rubber was also scarce and after Malaya and the Dutch East Indies fell to the
Japanese, at the beginning of 1942, the shortage became critical, with 90% of
the world's supply of raw rubber in enemy hands. Tyres were reserved for
priority use, and private motorists were again the last in the queue. The rubber
shortage affected other daily necessities too. To get a pair of gumboots, dairy
farmers had to prove they owned at least 12 cows.
Rationing of other consumer goods
Figure 139 Sample Ration Book - Te Papa
(petrol coupons were always separate) were
issued in April 1942, and on 27 April
rationing began, with sugar and
stockings as the first items. Every woman
over 16 years was entitled, once in three
months, to one pair of fully fashioned
stockings, of silk, art silk or cotton
(Taylor,1986, p.760).
An extensive list of items were in short
supply from early 1941, including tyres,
new cars, tools, plumbing fittings
(including baths and sinks), cutlery,
jewellery, and fancy biscuits. The demand for wool for Armed Services
requirements led to a shortage of carpets, blankets, and knitting wool.
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In their homes, New Zealanders also learned to do without or at least with
less. From early in 1942, the regular cuppa had to be reconsidered, as first sugar
and then tea were rationed.
Keeping the people of Britain fed, with dairy and meat exports, was the impetus
for a further round of rationing towards the end of 1943. From October, each
person was allowed 8 ounces (225 grams) of butter a week. Despite this being
four times the British ration, there was grumbling. West Coast timber workers
wanted twice the rationed amount of butter, and threatened to strike for it. They
got their way, and within a fortnight an extra 4 ounces a week was granted to
them and their coalmining counterparts.
In 1942, new telephone installations were
banned and the manufacture of some
electrical items for civilian use was
prohibited: radios, water heaters, irons,
kettles and toasters. The most crucial
shortage of 1942 was rubber, affecting the
availability of tyres, gumboots and hot
water bottles. Petrol and tyres were such
valuable commodities that, in order to
conserve stocks, home delivery of bread,
meat, drapery and laundry was stopped,
Figure 140 Rationbook sample page: Te Papa
and the delivery of groceries was severely
curtailed. For most women, these
commodities now had to be collected, often on foot or by bicycle. The shortage
of rubber led to the disappearance of elastic from the shops and from many
garments. U
suspenders were affected by the scarcity of supply.
Shiploads of meat were steaming to the people of Britain at the same time as
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United States forces in the Pacific needed feeding. Again, to keep up with these
essential supplies, New Zealanders were rationed to about 2½ pounds (just over
1 kg) per week two-thirds of what they were used to.
The Americans in the Pacific also put a strain on vegetable supply. In the last
four years of the war, they ate 137,000 tons of New Zealand vegetables. Mass
production was increased and the Department of Agriculture did its bit too,
starting a Services Vegetable Production Scheme. Farmland was taken over to
grow potatoes and greens. Dehydration plants were built and canning factories
and packing sheds extended. In communities and back gardens, growing
vegetables became part of the war effort. In 1943, the Dig for Victory campaign
persuaded citizens to get their hands dirty. Radio stations offered practical
advice on vegetable gardening and there were record sales of seeds and
seedlings.
Clothing & Rationing
The rationing of clothes began on 28 May 1942 and persisted until the end of
1947. Adults and children were issued with books of coupons that could be
exchanged for clothing, footwear, and materials. The allowance per person per
year was fifty-two coupons; a new winter coat could use up twelve coupons of
the allowance. Making do with the number of coupons allocated was not always
the issue; often the goods were not available for purchase anyway (Ebbett, 1984;
Taylor, 1986).
As with tea and sugar, clothing coupons had to be cut from books by retailers,
except for mail orders where they had to be fastened to slips showing the name
and address of the sender. The numbers needed for each garment were
published in trade lists, in newspapers, and on cardboard envelopes sold to
protect the fragile ration books. As examples, from the yearly 52 coupons, a
-piece suit took 16, a raincoat 8, woollen slacks 5, a jersey or
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cardigan 3, a shirt or blouse 2, pyjamas or a nightdress, 4. A
suit took 11, a fur coat 15 and a dress 4 (Taylor, 1986, p.792).
two-piece
The number of coupons required for dress fabric was calculated in relation to
the number and type of garments that the fabric would produce. Unrationed
textiles included butter muslin, curtain net, curtains, canvas, and furnishing
fabrics, and it was not unusual to see some of these fabrics made up into dresses
or housecoats. Knitting wool was originally covered by clothing coupons but,
by 1943, separate coupons were introduced specifically for the purchase of
wool (Nicholson, 1998; Taylor, 1986).
Several of the dressmakers interviewed have confirmed that there were
shortages of fabrics
Yes, it was terrible to get materials.
You had coupons and your friends gave you coupons if you were getting married so
(PF, personal interview, April 2003). PF also
recalled that the war was responsible for creating a fashion for fabric or fabric
covered hats. New felt hoods or straws were scarce, but a hat could be made
from small pieces of fabric or an old hat remodelled by covering it with fabric.
Women used to elasticated undergarments were forced to find ways to prolong
the lives of their corsets. The New Ze assisted with an
which gave advice on how to mend
splits in elasticated girdles and how to cope with corset bones or busks (New
, 25 November 1943, p.20).
Wedding garments or fabrics seemed to be particularly difficult to obtain or
allow for under the rationing system. Dressmaker DB recalls that she was
delighted when friends of her husband, owners of a drapery store, gave them
the cream satin for her wedding gown and enough green sprigged organza for
coupons
because she had a strong aversion to wearing green (DB, personal interview,
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Wellington just at the time when a bolt of white brocade was delivered.
I had been looking for material for my bridal dress and I was just
lucky to be in the shop at that time, and I bought what I wanted
then and it was 1/6 a yard. After the war, gradually they started
to bring in more. There was always a certain amount in the
shops but anything really special, like me, you were just lucky to
strike (DS, personal interview, November 1999).
JM made her own wedding dress of fine wool.
money unwisely. But it was a beautiful frock and I loved it. It
was a beautiful blue (JM, personal interview, June 2000).
Some brides did not attempt anything like a wedding dress, but were instead
married in a two-piece costume with a hat or, for those in the services, in
uniform.
Mothers struggling to clothe growing children received some reprieve in
January 1943, when an additional twenty-six clothing coupons were issued for
every child from the ages of five to seventeen. The education of children
continued during the war, despite the potential disruptions resulting from a
shortage of teachers, equipment, and school buildings. The school milk scheme,
started in 1937 to give each child free milk during the morning break, was
continued during the war. Free apples were also distributed from 1941 to 1945,
because the country was unable to export them as usual, due to a lack of
refrigerated shipping (Taylor, 1986, p.1125; Keith, 2001, p.224).
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The
rose to the challenge and published hints and
provided patterns to assist home dressmakers to recycle clothing (Lynch, 2004,
p. 84)
Magazines were indeed full of advice
to women to assist them to cope with
their new responsibilities and with
the ensuing shortages resulting from
the state of war. A 1940 issue of the
, in its
e
18 July 1940,
save newspapers, metal products,
rags, bones, soap scraps and candle
ends ( ,
were advised how to re-sole slippers with a piece of linoleum and how to make
cheap curtains from bed sheets (
, 4 December
1941, pp.30-31). The New Zealand Home Journal, (10 June 1943, pp.34-35),
flannel trousers and remore
tips for unpicking and re-working old garments to re-use the fabric.
Regulations affecting the design of clothing, intended to reduce the amount of
fabric used and the time and skill required to produce garments, were
introduced in October 1942. Manufacturers had pre-empted this
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the hope that regulation could be avoided. It
appears that women may have been expecting curtailment of sartorial excesses
for some time. The writer of the social column in the
Weekly signalled this in mid-1940, commenting:
If the new clothes people were wearing at the Wellington Racing
es the majority
, 18 July 1940, p.15).
However, the government decided that more stringent controls than selfregulation
were necessary. The regulations of October 1942 sought economies
in the manufacture of outer garments for everyone except brides, pregnant
women, and children under eleven. Clothing for women and girls could not
have capes, hoods, double yokes, full sleeves cuffs or trouser pleats. Men
double breasted jackets were banned.
Suits could only be two-piece and dresses could not have matching coats,
jackets or boleros. Restrictions were applied to the production of full-length
dresses and beachwear. Skirt lengths were regulated to finish a specified
distance from the floor and jackets must finish no more than ten and a half
inches below the waist (Taylor, 1986, p.836).
Women appeared to accept these dictates without protest. A Wellington draper
suggested that this was because the regulations did not order skirts shorter than
the current fashion and that business was likely to be diverted from clothing
manufacturers to drapers, for women would want to make what they could not
buy (Dominion, 31 October 1942, p.8).
Taylor (1986, p.836), reports that New Zealand men, like their counterparts in
Britain, were the source of the greatest protest. Regulations applied to menswear
did not allow for the addition of cuffs on trousers, a very unpopular move. Also,
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for men and boys, coats, jackets and waistcoats could not be double-breasted.
Any unnecessary trims such as belts, pleats, pockets over a certain number,
yokes, and buttons applied purely for decoration were not permitted. Trousers
could not have pleats, extended waistbands, or ankle widths exceeding twenty
inches.
The main feature of womenswear throughout the war appeared to be
many day clothes shown in advertisements display few signs of wartime
austerity. Patterns featured in publications such as the
Weekly and the New Zealand Home Journal support this.
Dresses incorporated pintuck and embroidery trims, pleated or gored skirts,
shirtwaists with buttoned fronts, crossover bodices or bodices finished with
appliqué or braid; all options that did not restrict design.
There was more variety available than the advertisements might indicate: not
all dresses were advertised, and for dressmakers and women who made their
own clothes there was no limitation in style. There may not have been the
variety of rich and colourful material that there used to be, but attractive
materials were still displayed and could be made up at home. There was
something of a cult in brightening up dresses with new belts, embroidery,
changes of collar. Both home and professional dressmakers were making smart
new clothes out of old ones, cutting up, turning, dyeing and joining new
material to old. Home dressmaking classes, with special advice on using
remnants, were popular (Taylor, 1986, pp.840-841). Even underwear was
made at home.
It was in this environment that people such as May Jolly, and Doreen Dick and
her friends flourished. Elizabeth Rylance was still at school during the war but
during her marriage (after having completed a home science qualification at
university), made all her own clothes and those of her three daughters.
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Labour Control
The government grip on civilians' lives tightened further at the beginning of
1942. 239 Thousands of men leaving for war had left job vacancies in factories
and other workplaces. To fill the gaps, 'manpower' regulations came into force.
Now workers could be directed where they were needed. Compulsory registers
were set up and in 22 centres throughout the country, the Manpower Office
became the hub of working life.
At first, all men between 18 and 49 had to get their names on a register. As jobs
in essential industries grew, the net was cast wider, and over the next two years
its scope expanded to men up to 70 years old. When the regulations were
introduced, there was 'some hesitation' in making women register for
manpower jobs. Only those who were 20 or 21 had to sign up. By 1944, this
reluctance had disappeared, and all women between 18 and 40 were liable to
work where directed.
Women who cared for children under 16 were exempt, but they were
encouraged to volunteer if they could arrange childcare. For a while, married
women were exempt too, but by the end of 1943, a wedding ring made no
difference to the local manpower officer.
In the 1940s, making women do any sort of paid work was a break with
tradition. It went against the belief that 'women's lives were best focused on
private family and domestic matters'. By the end of the war, though, 38,000
women had been sent to work where the government directed. They were
invariably paid less than men. In October 1942, minimum weekly rates were
fixed at £5 10s for men and £2 17s 6d for women. There was little resistance to
the inequality. Sheila Smith worked in an orchard for 'about half' the rate of the
men alongside her but felt there was nothing she could do about it.
239
https://nzhistory.govt.nz/war/second-world-war-at-home/war-work
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That's the way it was. Because you were a woman you got much
less than the men. That was the accepted thing, that you are a
woman and you just held out your hand and got your pay packet
and were grateful for it.
By the end of the war, more than 176,000 people were working where the
manpower officer had sent them. The government retained its right to direct
people into jobs until June 1946, nine months after the war ended.
Communications
WW2 was the 'radio war', with news provided directly from the BBC in London
on the shortwave service. 'For the first time, New Zealanders were hearing about
a war at first hand.' Many people listened to the BBC bulletins at the time of
broadcast, on shortwave radio, while local YA stations recorded the bulletins
for those without shortwave radio sets, and either rebroadcast or transcribed
them, depending on the sound quality. Local news and other broadcast
programmes were subject to strict controls, in case they contained hidden
messages for the enemy. Radio censorship was so tight that from December
1940, even weather forecasts were banned until the end of the war. 240
The only personal contact possible with New Zealand men and women overseas
was through letters. Again, censorship interrupted any intimacy, but the mail
still provided a vital link. The army recognised its effect on the morale of troops,
and the head of the Postal Corps was told, 'in words that were not meant to be
entirely jocular, that he was the only officer in 2NZEF who could at all times
have all the men he wanted'. At home, mail was equally important for morale.
Letters were not the only items filling the overseas mail bags. New Zealanders
were aware that their 'boys' were living a relatively Spartan life in the forces.
Within a month of war being declared, the government set up the National
240
https://nzhistory.govt.nz/war/second-world-war-at-home/challenges
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Patriotic Fund Board to co-ordinate efforts for welfare of those serving overseas
and at home. A complimentary booklet, Comforts for the men in the armed forces,
gave advice about what to send, and how to wrap goods, along with a few
knitting patterns and recipes. This was yet another thing for women to do! The
government provided some money, but provincial councils were also expected
to raise funds. Local committees ran concerts and carnivals and, in a precursor
to the telethon, radio got in on the act when 17 stations in the ZB network ran
a telephone appeal that netted a massive £75,000 (equivalent to more than $6
million in 2011 money).
Lingering impact
Before leaving the subject of war and women, it is worth noting that of all the
Commonwealth countries, New Zealand lost the highest proportion of its
population in the Second World War. The chilling casualty figures speak for
themselves: nearly 12,000 dead, more than 15,000 wounded and 8000
captured. 241
Those at home usually learned the fateful news by telegram, often hand
delivered. But communication was not always smooth. Immediately after the
campaigns in Greece and Crete, the first battles in which New Zealand troops
had fought, 2NZEF had some administrative problems. Lost records meant that
there were delays before casualties could be confirmed. As a result, airmail
letters of condolence from mates reached next of kin before the official telegram.
After this, the army ruled that condolence letters were not to be written until
the casualty appeared in the NZEF Times, the troops' newspaper. It is, however,
'doubtful the order was ever observed'.
Unlike Australia, New Zealand did not bring its troops home from Europe after
the Pacific war began. New echelons of troops were recruited to fight in the
241
Op cit
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Pacific. Accordingly, when the war in Europe ended, there were still 58,000
Kiwis serving overseas, most with 2NZEF in Italy and the Middle East. Over the
following months, families and friends waited patiently as troopships brought
them home.
For the engaged and married, post-war reunions were often followed by times
of adjustment. Although there was a record number of marriages in 1946, the
same year also saw a peak in the figures for divorce nearly double the rate for
1940. There had to be stated grounds for divorce, and in 1947 and 1948, the
most common one cited, by both men and women, was 'separation for more
than three years'. 242 Alongside that, in 1947 there was a record number of nearly
50,000 births registered!
Even those who remained married after their husbands returned from war
found there were changes to absorb. Other families endured long-term
consequences of the conflict. Of the men who came home, 15,000 returned
with physical injuries. And there were also those less visibly damaged. In the
1940s, the term used to describe psychological and psychiatric war wounds was
'anxiety neurosis'. Today, some of the men labelled in this way would be said
to have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The symptoms of PTSD can
include nightmares and flashbacks, irritability and outbursts of anger,
emotional withdrawal and depression. There was more understanding of
psychological damage by authorities than had been the case after WW1 (when
-one was prepared to admit
that it was an issue). By December 1949, the War Pensions Branch had a total
the doctors'. Nevertheless, psychological damage was often very difficult for
friends and family to manage. These people had never lived or served in a war
zone, and could have little comprehension of the traumas faced by their
242 https://nzhistory.govt.nz/war/second-world-war-at-home/back-home
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husbands and fathers. Philip Rylance and Eric Duncan Sargison were both
victims of the war. In the 1980s, Patricia Rylance gave her mother, Elizabeth,
an academic article about psychological damage and stress among returned
soldiers, which she read it with interest. She said that she wished she had
known more about the traumas of war at the time and had been given more
understanding of how to cope with the impacts of a severely traumatic and
damaging experience.
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Other interesting
connections
The Aitkens
Edward Aitken (see
D2 A1 B Ellen Eason
Dick and Edward
Young Aitken )
nephew by his
brother, William
Aitken and Elizabeth
Towers, was Professor
Alexander Craig
Aitken (1895-1967),
a famous mathematician 243
243
http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Aitken.html
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Alec Aitken's family was Scottish on his father's side and English on
his mother's. Alec's mother, Elizabeth Towers, emigrated with her
family to New Zealand from Wolverhampton, England, when she was
eight years old. Alexander Aitken, Alec's grandfather on his father's
side, had emigrated from Lanarkshire in Scotland to Otago in New
Zealand in 1868, and began farming near Dunedin. Alec's father,
William Aitken, was one of his fourteen children
and William began his working life on his father's
farm. Later, he became a grocer in Dunedin.
William and Elizabeth had seven children, Alec
being the eldest.
Alec attended the Otago Boys' High School in Dunedin, where he was
head boy in 1912, winning a scholarship to Otago University which
he entered in 1913. Surprisingly, although he had amazed his school
friends and teachers with his incredible memory, he had shown no
special mathematical abilities at school. He began to study languages
and mathematics at university with the intention of becoming a school
teacher but his university career was interrupted by World War I.
In 1915, he enlisted in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force and
served in Gallipoli, Egypt, and France, being wounded at the battle of
the Somme. To the soldiers on the shores of Gallipoli, he was known
for his violin.
Alec was gifted the violin by a friend who had won it in a raffle on
board the ship to Egypt. He played it almost every night in the
trenches, bringing the power of music to the soldiers who were
surrounded by the sadness of war. When his E string broke, he made
a new string out of field telephone wire. When Christmas came along,
- accompanied by a choir of
soldiers.
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It was hard work for Alec trudging through mud, carrying his heavy
loved the music so much that they took turns with the violin, making
sure it was always safe.
One night during combat, Alec was injured and sent to hospital. When
he recovered and was sent back home to New Zealand, he thought the
violin was lost forever, but it followed him home. The violin is still on
at the even smallest
things, like a silent concert, can make the biggest difference. 244 Aitken
continued to play the violin all his life and composed music to a very
high standard. A professional musician noted: Aitken is the most
accomplished amateur musician I have ever known.
The Somme through Alexander Aitken
Badly wounded on the Somme during the
Battle of Morval (25-27 September 1916),
Alexander Aitken managed to drag
himself back through no- -land to
safety:
Bullets still hissed above my shell-hole, a raised hand would have been
perforated at once; it was out of the question to think of crawling back. I saw
the head and shoulders, and once or twice the hands also, of a field telephonist
running forward from shell-hole to shell-hole and unrolling his wire; he was still
unwounded as he drew level with my crater and passed behind me towards the
front, but I fear he could not long have remained so.
244
https://www.walkingwithananzac.co.nz/alexander-craig-aitken
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Soon afterwards I was myself forced to move, by noticing amid the uproar a
regularity, a periodicity, in a particular type of explosion. I watched carefully,
and saw that shells from a 5.9 or 4.1 howitzer were coming closer every two
minutes, apparently in a straight line. When first seen, their burst seemed close
to the part of Goose Alley, perhaps 500 yards back, where we had emerged and
strung out. I visualized the German gunners lowering their howitzers by a
fraction of angle each time; I reckoned that in about ten minutes one of these
shells would fall near my crater, possibly on it. Being blown to pieces or killed
by blast seemed worse than the machine-guns. Using what cover I could, I
crawled from my shell-hole over to our original right, now my left, out of line
of fire. This brought me in a few minutes to the Factory Corner road again, at
a point some 200 yards to the original right of Goose Alley, which I could trace
by its thrownground
to either side were strewn with bodies, some motionless, some not. Cries
confessed. Under the strictest eye of truth, my sympathy for these men at that
moment was abstract almost to vanishing point. I deduced their pain, I know I
should feel it as grievous beyond measure; but I was still wholly mathematical,
absorbed in the one problem, whether pairs of consecutive explosions of those
howitzer shells showed the slightest difference in direction. It seemed to me that
they did. Soon two successive bursts straddled the road. I could not raise my
head to look, but judged that the later one must have landed very close to the
shell-
About 4 p.m. the sky clouded over and drizzle fell. I angled for a German
waterproof sheet a yard away, and this, though riddled with bullet-holes, gave
machine-gun fire should die down, I might hope to crawl back overland to
somewhere near the starting-point of our attack, where the trench would be
occupied by the 10th Company and would be in better repair. The distance
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About 8 p.m. the rain had stopped, the sky had cleared; in the dusk I could just
distinguish our observation-balloons. The stars shone in a moonless night, the
Great Bear swinging low with the Pole Star above. I turned my back on them,
fixed south by other constellations and began the long crawl, leaving behind the
water-
London General Hospital, Camberwell) round my neck.
It was thus that I ended my active service, so slight, unimportant, and
uneventful compared with that of hundreds of thousands of others who went
through such things over and over again, who saw three or four years where I
had seen less than one. From shell-hole to shellhole
I side-crawled on left elbow and knee;
perhaps taking three to four hours though I
had ceased to consult the luminous wrist-watch,
now daubed with mud. Many times I was
tempted to curl up and wait for the stretcherbearers,
but I crawled the few yards farther,
rested, and crawled again. The accurate
memory that I have retained of my active
service flags and blurs a little here, but at length
I saw outlined, in black against the rain-washed night sky, the figures of two
men on a mound, digging. I recognized them, Alf Ellis of my old section and Lou
Mylchreest, a Manxman, also of the 10th Company, which had evidently come
An indefinite time later, after midnight, I came to and found myself propped up
on a ledge cut in the side of the trench, no longer troubling to identify the
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constellations above; they had served their turn. My mind was at rest; the long
responsibility had ended 245 .
Post War
His war experiences were to haunt him for the rest of his life. After three months
in hospital in Chelsea, London, he was invalided back to New Zealand in 1917.
The following year, he returned to his university studies, graduating in 1920
with First Class Honours in French and Latin but only Second-Class Honours
in mathematics, in which he had no proper instruction. In the year he
graduated, Aitken married Mary Winifred Betts who was a botany lecturer at
Otago University. They had two children, a girl and a boy.
Aitken followed his original intention and became a schoolteacher at his old
school, Otago Boys' High School. His mathematical genius bubbled under the
surface and, encouraged by R J T Bell, the new professor of mathematics at
Otago University, Aitken won a scholarship to study for a Ph.D in Scotland in
1923 under Whittaker. His doctoral studies focused on an actuarially motivated
problem of fitting a curve to data which was subject to statistical error. His
Ph.D. thesis was considered so outstanding that he was awarded a D.Sc. for it
in 1926. Aitken had already been elected a fellow of the Royal Society of
Edinburgh in 1925.
He was also appointed to the staff of Edinburgh University in 1925 where he
spent the rest of his life. After holding lecturing posts in actuarial mathematics,
then in statistics, then mathematical economics, he became a Reader in statistics
in 1936, the year he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. Ten years later,
he was appointed to Whittaker's chair.
245 Alexander Aitken, Gallipoli to the Somme, 1963, pp. 170-3 available as ebook edited by Alex
Calder. Also see https://nzhistory.govt.nz/media/video/alexander-aitken-great-war-story
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Aitken's mathematical work was in statistics, numerical analysis, and algebra.
In numerical analysis he introduced the idea of accelerating the convergence
of a numerical method. He also introduced a method of progressive linear
interpolation. In algebra he made contributions to the theory of determinants.
He also saw clearly how invariant theory fitted into the theory of groups but
wrote that he had never followed through his ideas because of:-
... various circumstances of anxiety, or duty, or bad health ... I
have observed my talented younger contemporary Dudley
Littlewood's assault and capture most of this terrain.
Aitken wrote several books, one of the most famous being The theory of canonical
matrices (1932) which was written jointly with Turnbull. With Ernest
Rutherford he was editor of a series of the University Mathematical Texts and
he himself wrote for the series Determinants and matrices (1939) and Statistical
Mathematics (1939). In 1962, he published an article very dear to his heart,
namely The case against decimalisation.
In describing his period of recovery from a small operation in 1934, Aitken
wrote:-
The nights were bad, in the daytime colleagues and other friends
visited me, and I tried to think about abstract things, such as the
theory of probability and the theory of groups - and I did begin to
see more deeply into these rather abstruse disciplines. Indeed I
date a change in my interests and an increase in competence, from
these weeks of enforced physical inactivity.
Aitken describes the reaction of other mathematicians to his work:-
... the papers on numerical analysis, statistical mathematics and the theory of
the symmetric group continued to write themselves in steady succession, with
other small notes on odds and ends. Those that I valued most, the algebraic
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ones, seemed to attract hardly any notice, others, which I regarded as mere
application of the highly compressed and powerful notation and algebra of
matrices to standard problems in statistics or computation found great
publicity in America...
Colin M Campbell, a colleague of the authors of this archive at the University
of St Andrews, was a student in Edinburgh in the early 1960's. He writes:-
Professor Aitken's first year mathematics lectures were rather
unusual. The fifty minutes were composed of forty minutes of
clear mathematics, five minutes of jokes and stories and five
minutes of 'tricks'. For the latter Professor Aitken would ask for
members of the class to give him numbers for which he would then
write down the reciprocal, the square root, the cube root or other
appropriate expression. From the five minutes of 'stories' one also
recalls as part of his lectures on probability a rather stern
warning about the evils and foolishness of gambling!
In fact, Aitken's memory proved a major problem for him throughout his life.
For most people memories fade in time which is particularly fortunate for the
unpleasant things which happen. However, for Aitken memories did not fade
and, for example, his horrific memories of the battle of the Somme lived with
him as real as the day he lived them. He wrote of them in [2] near the end of
his life. These memories must have contributed, or perhaps were the entire
cause, of the recurrent ill health he suffered.
Unfortunately, this was all too typical of the situation many veterans found
themselves in and doubtless still do with no support.
Collar writes:-
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These black periods must have been harrowing in the extreme,
but were borne with great fortitude and courage.
The illness eventually led to his death. The book, which he wrote to try to put
the memories of the Somme behind him, may not have had the desired effect
but the book did lead to Aitken being elected to the Royal Society of Literature
in 1964.
. Article by: J J O'Connor and E F Robertson 246
Winnie Betts
She was
the first botany lecturer at the University of Otago. Winnie Betts was just 25
years old when she commenced her new position at the beginning of 1920.
Born in Moteuka, she was educated at Nelson College for Girls, receiving a
University National Scholarship in 1911. She then came to Otago, graduating
BSc in 1916 and MSc in 1917. She was clearly one of the more capable students
of her era, and by 1915, her tutor Professor William Benham had selected her
as a demonstrator in biology. On completing her MSc, she received a National
Research Scholarship; one was awarded at each university each year. This
provided her with an income of £100 a year along with lab expenses so she
could carry out independent research. In 1919, at a lecture to an admittedly
partisan audience in Nelson, distinguished botanist Leonard Cockayne
247
descr
246
http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/history/Biographies/Aitken.html
247
This section comes from https://blogs.otago.ac.nz/thehockenblog/2014/09/08/winifred-bettsbotany-pioneer/
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Figure 141 Winnie Betts
In December 1920, Winnie Betts married another brilliant
Otago graduate, the mathematician, Alexander Aitken. 248
They had two children together, but Winnie did not stop
working, continuing to teach and research in the botany
department until 1923, when her husband won a
scholarship to undertake mathematical studies in
Edinburgh. Sadly, her own career was brought to a full
stop by the move to Scotland, where the couple remained
for the rest of their lives. Such was the fate of all too many highly intelligent and
capable women in the early 20 th century around the world!
248
He was the nephew of the husband of 1 st cousin 2x removed of Craig & Allan Sargison.
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Index
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..................................... 58
“The Oamaru Horror” .............. 205
Ada Burgess ..................... 168, 169
Agnes Allan ..................... 101, 103
Agnes Robertson...................... 165
Agnes Sargison ........................ 205
Alexander Aitken266, 267, 268,
270
Alexander Inglis ........................ 98
Alexander McKay ...................... 46
Alice Maria Sargison ........ 160, 161
Alice Sargison .......................... 168
Andersons Bay Cemetery . 122, 181
Anne Jack ................................ 174
Aunt Daisy ...................... 201, 202
Bellfield ................................... 103
Bernida .................................... 161
Betson Wilson ......................... 208
blackout .......................... 255, 257
Blueskin1, 67, 68, 92, 148, 157,
160, 161, 162, 165, 168, 170,
171, 172, 181, 205
Blueskin Bay 67, 68, 148, 157, 181
Brown Ewing ............................. 60
Brydone Hotel ......................... 243
Cairneyhill, Carnock ................. 117
Captain Robert Harwood ........... 15
Captain William Cargill ....... 22, 23
Captain Wing ............................ 46
Carnock .......................... 117, 141
Catherine Barclay ....................... 95
Charles Kettle................. 46, 47, 50
Charles Suisted ........................ 168
chief Te Matenga Taiaroa ........... 47
Chinese ................................ 53, 57
Colin M Campbell, ................... 269
Commander D'Urville ................ 45
coupons ........... 258, 259, 260, 261
Criterion Hotel ........................... 60
Dalziels .................................... 243
Dardistown Castle .................... 154
David Elles Ramsay Niven .......... 30
David Lunam ........................... 160
Depression ............... 229, 250, 256
Dr Ali Clarke .............................. 52
Dunback .................... 10, 199, 200
Dunedin12, 13, 15, 16, 18, 21, 23,
36, 37, 45, 47, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54,
55, 56, 57, 58, 67, 68, 71, 72, 73,
75, 76, 83, 84, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91,
92, 97, 98, 99, 103, 104, 105,
118, 121, 122, 124, 141, 145,
146, 147, 148, 150, 156, 157,
159, 161, 171, 172, 205, 266
Dunedin cable trams .................. 65
D'Urville .................................... 13
Edward Young Aitken .............. 122
Elizabeth Birtwhistle ................ 213
Elizabeth Robertson, ............ 18, 98
Elizabeth Towers ...................... 266
Page | 441

Grafters All
Ellen Elizabeth Dick ............... 121
Elsie Hannah Havard ............... 220
Entrenching Battalion .............. 125
Euphemia Robertson ................. 98
Forncett St Peter ...................... 215
Frederick Rylance .................... 226
Frederick Tuckett ...................... 46
Gabriel Read ........................ 54, 55
Gabriels Gully ........................... 53
George Duncan Cunningham .. 173
George Weller ........................... 13
Georgina Betson Cunningham . 173
Gold .................................... 53, 84
Hamiltons ............................... 210
Hannah Scott,............................ 74
Harriet Sargison............... 169, 172
.................... 127
Henry Beresford Garret ............... 84
Henry Griffen Sargison162, 163,
172, 205
Hereweka .. 70, 72, 73, 74, 75, 123
Hilda Nellie Haiselden Webster 153
Hope Dick ............... 125, 126, 127
Hope Eason Dick ....... 83, 115, 222
Irahepti Motoitoi ...................... 17
Isabella Russell ........................ 143
Jack Humphries Carroll ........... 150
Jacob Eyers ...................... 205, 206
James “Hopehill” Allan ............. 103
James Cunningham . 175, 210, 211
James Dick ................. 98, 141, 142
James Don........................ 160, 168
James Henry Sargison ...... 173, 205
James Horne .................... 162, 205
James Reid ............................... 160
James Robertson ........................ 95
Jane Gray ................................. 116
Jane Sutfliffe ............................ 103
Janet Allan ................................. 46
Janet Robertson, ......................... 16
John (Jack) Porteous ................ 205
John Allen ................................ 101
John and Edward ................... 17
John Anderson arrived ............. 161
John Boultbee ............................ 12
John Gilston Dick .... 143, 146, 155
John Jolly ................................. 215
John Mclay ................................. 50
John McLay ................................ 32
John Souness ........... 163, 165, 205
John Wickliffe .... 22, 23, 28, 31, 47
Jonas Palfrey Havard ................ 220
Joseph Eason Dick ................... 124
Joseph Love ............................. 207
Jura .......... 161, 163, 165, 168, 171
Kate Sheppard.......................... 251
Katherine Leonora Dick ........... 151
Kati Mamoe.......................... 12, 45
Kelvin Grove .............................. 16
Kelvingrove .............................. 103
Page | 442

Grafters All
Kenneth McMurray Brown ...... 140
Kilmeny .......................... 243, 245
'Koputai .................................... 45
....................... 155
Laura Mary Sargison ................ 205
Louvain ...................................... 15
Lucy Ann Harwood ................. 141
Luscar ..................... 117, 118, 120
'manpower' regulations ............ 263
Margaret Dryden ..................... 124
Margaret Gordon Huie .............. 88
Margaret Robertson ................. 160
Margaret Sisera Havard ............ 221
.............................. 17
Mary Ann Carrodus .................... 26
Mary Ann Horne ............. 167, 205
Mary Ann Steele ...................... 176
Mary Clapham Moss ................ 227
Mary Elizabeth Cubitt ............. 219
Mary Soutter ............................. 15
Maryann Dick.......................... 150
Maryhill .................................... 66
Mavis Doreen Dick115, 137, 140,
183, 212, 217
May Elizabeth Jolly85, 219, 220,
222
Merrivale110, 232, 234, 237, 239,
241, 242, 243, 244, 245
Merrivale, ................................ 237
Méteren ........................... 125, 127
Michael Joseph Savage ............. 146
Mooltan23, 32, 33, 34, 36, 37, 38,
50, 115
Mooltan. ............ 23, 32, 36, 37, 38
Mornington64, 65, 66, 145, 146,
147, 150
Mrs Sutherland ................ 137, 139
Nance Brown ........................... 139
Naseby ..................................... 210
Natanahira Waruwarutu ............ 14
New Zealand South Seas exhibition
............................................... 64
............................. 260, 261, 262
Nola Isabel Constance Griffiths
............................................. 151
Oamaru87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 98,
150, 157, 169, 173, 174, 175,
181, 206, 211
Ōamaru .............. 87, 88, 89, 90, 93
Omimi ............... 68, 160, 168, 171
Orokinui Retreat ...................... 148
Otago and the Middle Island of
New Zealand: a warning to
Emigrants ............................... 55
Otago News ................................. 51
Ōtākou ......... 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 98
Ōtākou station ........................... 16
Otiake .............................. 210, 211
Outram .............. 85, 123, 222, 224
Page | 443

Grafters All
Passchendaele .......................... 125
Patricia Sargison .............. 230, 233
Patrick Henderson & Co ........... 32
Patrick Jameson ............... 152, 154
Pearl Harbor .................... 257, 258
Peter Jolly ................................ 213
Peter Souness .......................... 165
petrol shortage ........................ 258
Philip Laing16, 18, 22, 23, 24, 25,
26, 27, 28, 30, 31, 58, 84, 97,
165
Port Chalmers13, 23, 27, 31, 33,
36, 38, 44, 45, 46, 47, 53, 54, 71,
75, 89, 91, 97, 103, 104, 118,
143, 161, 162, 165, 205
Portobello15, 25, 28, 76, 98, 118,
141, 142, 143, 145, 146
Potakere .................................... 45
Professor Alexander Craig Aitken
............................................ 266
Pukehiki .......... 72, 73, 74, 77, 120
Pukekura (Taiaroa Head) ........... 12
Pukio Iwa .................................. 14
Purakanui ............................ 13, 98
ration books .................... 259, 260
Rationing ................. 258, 259, 260
Rev. Dr. Thomas Burns .............. 25
Reverend Thomas Burns ............ 22
Richard Driver .......................... 18
Richard Burn ............................. 15
Richard Byrne ............................ 14
Richard Driver17, 18, 30, 31, 47,
98
Riki Burns/ ................................. 14
Robert Cunningham ................. 208
Robert Delvin Jameson ............. 151
Robert Dick .. 73, 74, 116, 145, 148
Robert Henderson40, 118, 143, 160,
162
Robert James Jolly ........... 220, 221
Robert James Jolly124, 212, 215,
216, 220
Robert Jolly .............................. 215
Ross Home ............... 110, 232, 237
Sandymount .... 72, 76, 78, 79, 118
Sarah Barbara Omand .............. 169
Sarah Davies ............................ 218
Sarah Kerr ................................ 123
Seacliff Mental Asylum ............. 157
simplification without meagreness
............................................. 262
Sir George Grey.......................... 90
Sling ........................................ 129
Soutter shipping line .................. 15
SS New Zealand ........................ 101
Strathmore ................................ 152
Susan Holland .......................... 139
Susan Yates .............................. 162
Sylvy Ann Harwood ................... 15
Taieri and Peninsula Company . 224
Page | 444

Grafters All
Tautuku .................................... 14
Te Here (later known as Harry
West), .................................... 16
Te Rauone Beach ................. 12, 13
the Cospatrick ............................. 40
the Cunninghams .............. 88, 209
the Deborah ................................ 46
The Jolly Descent line .............. 212
the Matatua ...................... 126, 129
The Otago Pensinsula ................ 70
the Wellington .......................... 152
Thomas Ferens .................... 23, 47
Thomas Robertson .. 95, 96, 97, 99
Thurstan Rylance ..................... 227
Tini Kerei Taiaroa (Jane Burns) .. 14
Tirakatene (Tregerthen) family .. 17
Titopu ....................................... 16
Totara Estate ....................... 90, 91
Town Belt .................................. 64
us Francis Harwood .................. 15
vegetable supply ...................... 260
Verna Chambers ...................... 245
Wains Hotel .............................. 59
Wairuna .......................... 175, 181
Waitaha ..................................... 12
Waitaki Cunninghams ................. 1
Waitaki Girls High School ... 88, 92
Waitati67, 148, 160, 161, 165,
167, 169, 171, 172, 205
Walter Eric Reader .................. 139
Weller brothers .......................... 13
Wellington18, 31, 104, 129, 162,
164, 165, 168, 205
Whare Flat85, 86, 215, 216, 218,
220
Whareakeake (Murdering Beach)
................................... 12, 13, 17
William Allan ............................ 74
William B Jolly, ........................ 213
William Davey Havard ............. 218
William Dick.................... 121, 159
William Eyers .......................... 206
William George Sargison .......... 165
William Glen Dryden ............... 124
William Grime ......................... 213
William Jolly ............................ 213
William Lunam ........................ 160
William Sargison ...... 163, 170, 206
William Tucker .......................... 13
Willochra .................................. 129
Windsor10, 87, 191, 234, 237,
240, 241, 242, 243, 244, 245
Winnie Betts ............................ 270
Wisbec, Cambridgeshire. ......... 162
Woodhaugh Gardens ................. 64
Woodside83, 84, 85, 175, 181, 222
Page | 445

Grafters All
Figure 142 Joseph Dick and daughters, Auckland, c1912
About the Author
This book covers the Blueskin Sargisons, Taieri Allans (briefly) Stonemason Dicks, Varnish
Rylances, Waitaki Cunninghams and Whare Flat Jolly and Havard families. It is still a draft and
comments are welcome allan.sargison@gmail.com
The principal author is Allan Sargison who is connected in differing ways with all the families.
He is happily retired on the West Coast of the South Island gadening and family researching.
The latter has allowed him to return to his original university field of study social history
. Further information is available on https://rylancesargison.xyz..
He is married to Dr Patricia Rylance who has imparted a degree of rigour and editing skills to
the work along with her excellent NZ history knowledge.
Page | 446