History of Hawke's Bay Car Club - Lily Baker

Lily Baker spoke about he history of the HB Car Club and the book she has compiled on the history of the club.

"Off the Record"

1947 – 1997
A commemoration of 50 years Hawke’s Bay (sports) Car Club

This book is 360 A4 pages, stitched binding, hard cover with coloured jacket cover.

The fifty years history story of the Club has been written by several Members and covers many aspects of motor-sport in Hawke's Bay.

Each chapter is illustrated with many black & white photographs pertaining to the event and period covered.

Special price $20.00 incl. GST (plus postage).

Free Hawkes Bay Car Club Sticker with every book purchased.

Since the Club's first meeting in May 1947, the club has been a family orientated entity that encourage families and individuals to indulge in the motorsport environment from the entry level through to the pinnacle of motorsport overseas.
We are extremely proud that we can count amongst our associate members, two of NZ's most successful V8 Supercar Drivers in Greg Murphy (Murph) and Johnny McIntyre. To find out how you can enter the motorsport environment at a budget level that suits you, then visit ou

Angus Gordon Part II

The woolshed - This is a live farming show performed in and around the historic Clifton Station Woolshed. The station of 13,500 acres was bought in 1859 by James Gillespie Gordon. The station now 2000 acres (800 hectares) is owned by Angus and Dinah Gordon, whose children are the 6th generation of Gordons to live at Clifton.

The woolshed itself was built in 1886 by Frank Gordon, the owner’s grandfather. It was originally a twenty-stand blade shearing shed, which was converted to a 12 stand machine shearing shed in 1904. It is now an 8 stand shed, with a night pen carrying capacity of 1000 sheep. In 1912, Frank Gordon replaced most of the roofing timber inside the shed with Oregon timber, and in 1960, John Gordon, Angus’ father re-piled the whole shed with concrete piles.
In 2002 a new shed was built further in on the property allowing this shed to be converted into a museum. It is still used to shear all the sheep on the Clifton Flats and surrounds. In 2006, Angus and Dinah Gordon formed a partnership with Ian and Wendy Richardson called Wool World @ Clifton Station to provide a venue for a live farm show, convention centre, museum and wool retail shop.

CLIFTON BAY CAFE

Work began on the building of Clifton Cafe in November 1998. The cafe was complete in Ma 1999 and it opened for business on teh 28th July on a freezing cold day with snow glistening from teh Kawekas.
If it’s the ambience of the sea and the cliffs of Cape Kidnappers, spacious views across the Bay, good company, happy service and a wide variety of well priced delicious food and Hawke's Bay wines that you’re dreaming of, then Clifton Bay Licensed Cafe and Function Centre is the reality. If it’s a well organised atmospheric wedding or party catering for up to 150 people seated you’re looking for you need look no further than Clifton Bay By The Sea for the complete package. Whatever you desire, we will endeavour to deliver a memory you will never forget.

Angus Gordon - Clifton Station History

Angus Gordon (Clifton Station history - part two)
If you enjoyed Angus the first time round then you won't want to miss this one. Even if you you missed his first talk, this one is not to be missed. His topic is “In the Shadow of the Cape – the Gordon family history of Clifton”. Gordon will talk to us about his book and the history of the cape and in particular the clifton area. He will carry on from where he left off. You can also read his book. This is an easy-to-read, 216 page history of the original European family, the Gordons, who in 1859 bought the iconically beautiful 13,500 acre (5465 hectare) Cape Kidnappers block of land in Hawke’s Bay from the Crown, and called it Clifton.

Landmarks Trust AGM

AGM
Joyce Barry outlined the evenings agenda. She then thanked everyone fro their attendance followed by a brief overview of the Landmarks Trust and the Executive Committee.

Presidents Report

Treasurers Report

Election of Officers

Awards Ceremony
Presentation of excellence Awards
Presentation of the JeremyDwyer Award


BRUNO CHAMBERS - TE MATA TRUST PARK
Te Mata Trust Park
Te Mata Trust Park is a public park gifted to the people of Hawke’s Bay by the Chambers family in 1927. It’s 94 ha, and is part of the backdrop to Havelock North. The park is one of the most visited places in Hawke’s Bay: it’s where everyone takes their visitors, and there are many kilometres of walking and cycling trails throughout the park. Ecologically the park is home to a suite of rare and endangered plants: it’s a treasure chest of interesting species, and the upper slopes are home to flaxes, chionochloa and many smaller herbs like pimelea and celmisias, some of which are only found on Te Mata Peak. The park also has a QEII National Trust covenant over the whole title, which was registered in 1997. Three years ago Dr Mike Lusk, who lives just down the hill from the park, set up a group called the Friends of Te Mata Park. They meet once a month on a Saturday morning at the park, and although the friends number about 20, on average 14 turn up each month. They carry out weed control, and plant and release and maintain plantings. Last winter they planted Olearia furfuracea and Phormium cookianum sourced on the peak. The area they planted is fenced off with Biodiversity Condition Fund money to protect the cliff community from grazing. More of this planting is planned this winter. They have concentrated on cotoneaster control but have also got rid of a great deal of euonymus, banana passionfruit and some hemlock. This year they’ve pulled out a lot of the purple ragwort Senecio glastifolius which is a major threat to the cliff communities on the peak. He started the group because they use the park a lot for walking and training for tramping, and it is a nice place. They noticed that there were quite a lot of plantings done that were never looked after, and so started filling in the gaps with seedlings, and it sort of grew from there. People started talking to me about it and an informal group was formed.. Forest and Bird members are the mainstay of the group.” Mike the leader of the group said “It really is a pleasure to be there, and there is an endless supply of stuff to do. After I retire in September I hope to spend a bit more time there.” While other groups such as local PD workers spend a lot of time in the park on various projects, and there is significant Biodiversity Condition Fund money going into the park for weed control, the Friends of Te Mata Park make a sustained and continuing commitment to the care of the park. They are doing a great job for the love of the park!"
We are very grateful to all the volunteers and their time and energy they put into the park to keep it looking great. Unfortunately with the increased usage of the park and increased traffic the current roads are too windy and narrow for the tour buses that are now using the road and car park as turning bays. Its getting dangerous, and we need to protect the people as well as the park.
At the entrance of Te Mata Trust Park the views are magnificent and there is at least a 180 degree panoramic view across Hastings and Napier.
The proposed Park Headquarters and Education Centre would also encompass view platforms and an eating area too. It is proposed that there would be bus bays where the tourists can be dropped of f to explore the education Centre, using the view platforms, and even take the walk to Te Mata Peak if they wish. They would encourage schools to visit so the children could learn more about the history of Te Mata Peak, Havelock and Hawke’s Bay etc.
Buses would stop here and no longer go up to the top of Te Mata Peak.
Bruno has sought funding from the Hastings District Council, Napier City council and HB regional Council.
Te Mata Peak features in the AA top 100 Must See places. And New Zealand top 100 attractions.
He was been working with stakeholders including Nimons in how best to accommodate all users from Tour operators, visitors, walkers etc. In their current development planning.

Te Mata Trust Park some History
Te Mata Trust Park is a public park gifted to the people of Hawke’s Bay by the Chambers family in 1927. It’s 94 ha, and is part of the backdrop to Havelock North. The park is one of the most visited places in Hawke’s Bay: it’s where everyone takes their visitors, and there are many kilometres of walking and cycling trails throughout the park.
Te Mata Trust Park is part of the land purchased from the crown in 1862 by John Chambers. In 1927 his sons John Bernard & Mason gifted 98 hectares of their land to the people of Hawke’s Bay. Since 1927 thousands of native and exotic trees and shrubs have been planted throughout the park.
The act that authorized the formalization of the Te Mata Trust Park
An Act to authorize the Hawke's Bay County Council, the Hastings Borough Council, and the Havelock North Town Board to make Contributions to the Upkeep and Improvement of Te Mata Park.
Preamble
WHEREAS an area of land known as Te Mata Park, situated near Havelock North, in the County of Hawke's Bay, is vested in trustees, known as Te Mata Park Trust Board, as a public park and public recreation-ground, and is held by such Board under and subject to a declaration of trust dated the seventh day of February, nineteen hundred and twenty-seven, made by Bernard Chambers, of Te Mata, near Havelock North, Sheep-farmer; John Chambers, of Mokopeka, near Havelock North, Sheep-farmer; and Mason Chambers, of Tauroa, near Havelock North, Sheep-farmer; And whereas such park, being a scenic attraction, pleasure-ground, and place of interest, and being used and visited in particular by residents in the County of Hawke's Bay, the Hastings Borough, and the Havelock North Town District, it is desirable that the Hawke's Bay County Council (out of the funds of the Corporation of the Chairman, Councillors, and inhabitants of the County of Hawke's Bay) (hereinafter referred to as the County Corporation), the Hastings Borough Council (out of the funds of the Corporation of the Mayor, Councillors, and Burgesses of the Borough of Hastings) (hereinafter referred to as the Hastings Corporation), and the Havelock North Town Board (out of the funds of the said Board) should have power to make contributions for the maintenance, upkeep, and improvement of the said park:

Te Mata Peak Te Mata in Maori means 'The Sleeping Giant'. This name comes from the shape of the hill shown in the picture on the right where the top margin takes the shape of a person lying on his or her back, the resemblance is quite striking!! Legend has it that there once was a giant who took a bite out of the hill, choked and died, and this is where he lies till this day!!The peak is situated in Havelock North and on and around it lies Te Mata Trust Park.

From the top of the peak, you can pretty much see most of Hawkes Bay, i.e. Napier, Hastings and Havelock North, the views are great!!

Te Mata Trust Park is part of land purchased from the crown in 1862 by John Chambers. In 1927 his son's gifted 98 hectares of their land to the people of Hawke's Bay. Since 1927 thousands of natives and exotic trees and shrubs have been planted throughout the Park, which also features fossil rich limestone cliffs and stunning vistas across Hawke's Bay. Today the Park is enjoyed by a wide range of family, sporting and recreational groups including hang gliders, para-gliders, orienteers, elementary rock climbers, joggers and artists. The highest point of the Park rises a massive 399 metres above sea level. From the Peak lookout, the Ruahine, Kaweka and Mangagharuru Ranges form the Western horizon while the costal hills are visible to the South. Pack a lunch and take a walk to the top of the Peak. The complete round trip takes approximately 2 to 3 hours. The views from the top are stunning. The Park offers several different trips to suit all, from a 15-minute stroll through groves of New Zealand native trees to many more challenging walks - in fact we guarantee a walk that will suit your ability. Alternatively sit among giant Redwoods, listen to the native birds or read a book. Wherever you walk you will stumble on an outlook offering spectacular views. After your walk, return to Sunny Nook and enjoy a cup of tea or coffee and some of Beryl's home baking. Maori Legend of Te Mata Peak Maori legend has it that Te Mata Peak is the body of a Waimarama Maori Chief called Te Mata. Although given to warfare, Te Mata was swayed from his plan to attack the peaceful Heretaunga people when he saw the beauty of the Heretaunga Chief's daughter. True to stories of many cultures, the beautiful daughter set Te Mata a series of tasks to prove his worthiness. He completed all but the last - to eat his way through the hill. Looking towards Te Mata from Hastings one can see the gargantuan bite that choked the chief and the silhouette of his body on the horizon.



Te Mata Trust Park Board
Hawke's Bay's popular Te Mata Park will boast an estimated $1.5 million visitor centre and car park just inside the main gates.
Te Mata Park Trust Board chairman Bruno Chambers said the landmark was attracting large numbers of visitors, specially during the cruise ship season.
He said the time had come to enhance their and the regular users' experience of the park.
Safety was also a prime concern and a new carpark would allow the more than 200 buses that visit each year somewhere to park while their passengers, mostly from cruise ships docked at Napier, were transferred to shuttle vans for the winding trip to the peak.
``We are very concerned about safety issues in the park, and particularly on the road to the peak,' Mr Chambers said.
``This car and bus parking area will hopefully solve problems associated with large buses driving to the summit.'
The new building would be home to a cafe and restaurant, public toilets and an education centre emphasising Te Mata Park's unique flora, fauna and history.
``It will have magnificent views across the Bay and focus on enhancing the visitor experience and knowledge of the park and the Hawke's Bay region,' Mr Chambers said.
``The new park headquarters will be a well-designed, functional and inspirational building to truly reflect the outstanding surrounding landscape of which it will be a part.'
The first part of the project involves completing planning and design phases, plus obtaining consent approvals.
Mr Chambers said he expected the first stage to cost $200,000 and funding was being sought from the region's councils.
``We are committing $50,000 of our own funds, and have received a generous $50,000 allocation from the Hastings Dis trict Council for stage one.
``We are asking for a similar amount from the Hawke's Bay Regional Council and the Napier City Council.'
A Havelock North resident had offered a $250,000 donation for later stages.
Mr Chambers is confident there will be plenty of public support for the three-year project.
The Peak House Restaurant would stay open during that time but would be closed and removed once the new centre was up and running.
``Te Mata Peak and the surrounding park is arguably the most important asset of the Hawke's Bay region,' Mr Chambers said.
``The use of the park is increasing every year and the economic and spiritual benefits it provides to Hawke's Bay are enormous.'


Newstalk ZB
Large bus ban for Te Mata Peak
26/05/2009 11:48:01
Large tourist buses will be banned from going up to the top of Te Mata Peak in Hawke's Bay because of growing safety concerns about the road.
The Te Mata Park Trust Board has announced plans to build a new $1.5 million headquarters at the park which will include a cafe, restaurant, education centre and toilets. Large buses will be stopped at the headquarters at the park gates and visitors will be transported to the summit using smaller shuttle buses.
The trust is becoming increasingly concerned about safety issues on the narrow and winding road.

James Morgan (Ex Editor in Chief at Hawke’s Bay Herald Tribune)

James Morgan well versed in community service. Retired newspaper editor, farmer, forester and administrator. Life member Hastings Group Theatre; producer Napier Operatic Society; director Hastings-Guilin Sister City Board; founder-chairman Flaxmere Licensing Trust 1975-90; foundation director Trust House Ltd; national administrator NZ Sister City Board 2000-2002.
A Brief History of Newspapers in Hawke’s Bay
James Wood was the beginning of the Newspaper era in Hawke’s Bay New Zealand. His imprint is still with us today. James wood was instrumental in the formation of Hawke’s Bay and the establishment of Hawke’s as a Province. James Wood arrived in Hawke’s Bay in 1856 armed with a case of printers type and an Albion Press. He was warned to keep it under lock and key as the Maoris would love the lead in the letter types to make musket balls.
The Albion Press was a slow laborious procedure involving the grouping of letters together to form words.but the words were made and stacked in reverse and upside down. A good type linker would managed 150 words per hour. It was a slow process publishing the written word.
Mr. James Wood, an Auckland journalist, was induced to start' the “HB Herald and Ahuriri Advocate,” in Ahuriri the first number of which appeared on the 24th of September, 1857. It was a very small sheet, issued weekly at first, but soon afterwards was published twice a week.
In Auckland Willis met James Wood, sub-editor of the Southern Cross newspaper. Having tested his capabilities, Wood persuaded the young printer to accompany him to Napier, where they started the Hawke's Bay Herald. The little paper made good progress. About two years later, much to Wood's regret, Willis returned to Auckland and from there travelled to Wellington, taking a post as compositor to the New Zealand Advertiser
The standard of publishing was not very good and after a few weeks the type face was getting blurred. William Colenso was the only other person in the district with an Albion Press and who new how to use it. Wood invited William Colenso over to his workshop.He removed his jacket on arrival and promptly started to show James how to wash the rollers and type heads.
Within a year of Mr Wood campaigning for Hawke’s Bay to become a separate Province from Wellington, he succeeded. Published in the paper on Saturday 13 November 1858 Hawke’s Bay Had been officially proclaimed a Province of New Zealand.It was a very small sheet, issued weekly at first, but soon afterwards was published twice a week. Early in the year 1871, Mr. Wood ventured to issue a daily half-sheet, Mr. W. W. Carlile being appointed editor.
Willis moved on to Wellington to go Printing, he was printing Government Publications.
Willis went onto publish several books including the “Williams & kettle “ book,
Soon after the Herald Office was moved to Tennyson Street in Napier what is now the corner of Tennyson Street and Cathedral Lane. The business prospered and the building expanded and grew until 1886 when the wooden building was burnt to the ground by fire.
This was replaced by a stronger red brick building but this was only going to last until the 1931 Earthquake, when it was severely damaged. The old Albion was replaced by a Rotary Flatbed Motorised Albion which was considerable faster and type setter had improved.
The HB Tribune was severely damaged in the 1931 earthquake, however Mr Whitlock had builders on the case and within hours the building was restored sufficiently and the printing press up and running that they could print the news, and earthquake bulletin was printed on the same day as the earthquake.
A new Brick and stone premises replaced the old building at a cost of £5000. This was now the tallest structure in Hastings at the time.
In 1937 WA Whitlock was made editor replacing his father WC Whitlock and soon after the rotary flatbed Albion was replaced with a lithographic press with curved plates on a rotating press. A vast improved, utilising engrave plates to print from, faster clear and much quicker.
The present handsome brick and stone premises were suitable to all the requirements of the town and district. The quality of lithographic, job-printing, and book-binding work issued from the “Herald” office will compared favourably with that executed in much larger towns.
WA Whitlock was using teleprinters to get up to the minutes news and photos from around the country and few months later from all around the world. WA would then on sell this news to other major newspapers. The HB Herald Tribune was now an international newspaper.
As far as international news went there was a lot of English news and royalty. WA Whitlock as loyal to his homeland. England was New Zealand’s “Mother country.”,
As picture engraving was expensive WA tried engrave those pictures that he could re use, e.g. famous people, royalty, Buildings, etc they he could get repeated use from. Other would have to be important to the news e.g. floods earthquakes etc.
The Whitlock’s profound motto was “We provide depth and quality printing, we are here for the truth, not self interest” The strong maxims of the Whitlock’s was to provide an emphasis on “Local news, immediacy, and the now as it happens and unfolds as well has History and the community”
On local race day a full page on stories on the days racing was provide with pictures. A flood and they were there in hours reporting it up to the minute. An earthquake in and they travelled the miles through rubble police barricades to get it to you the same day it happened.
WA Whitlock was fantabulous with words and would wander round the building checking stories and articles looking for grammatical, punctual or factual errors. He would change articles or stories if the were not to his liking or standard.
He took history seriously, when HB Province was celebrating 100 years as a province, WA asked Lewis Knowles to write a 100 page history of Hawke’s Bay celebrating 100 years of HB as a Province. James Morgan himself compiled it, checked it and rewrote it if not completely satisfied. He had a great knowledge of the district history.
Tony Whitlock introduce the breaking news box creating the excitement of immediacy with his “fudge box” printing creating a box of space for late breaking news. Or “Stop Press”

James Morgan & Hawke's Bay Herald Tribune

Come and here james Morgan talk about the history of the HB Herald Tribune and his time there as editor of the HB Herald Tribune.
Hastings Library 11 August 2009 at 5.30pm

Thomas Tanner

Thomas Tanner (known as the “Father of Hastings”)
Thomas Tanner was born in Wiltshire, England, probably in 1830, and was baptised at Devizes on 31 July 1831. He was the son of Mary Pontin and her husband, Joseph Tanner, a landowner. After studying medicine briefly, he started work as an analytical Chemist. Thomas Tanner came to New Zealand in 1849 on the Larkins.He made his way up to Wellington and onto Wanganui while aged only 19 years and worked as a cadet on a Wanganui sheep run. There he acquired a knowledge of Maori culture and a Maori version of his name, Tanera.
In 1853 Tanner took up a large run, Milbourne, on the Ruataniwha plains, Hawke's Bay. He promoted horse-racing, and selected the course at Clive for Hawke's Bay's first formal race meeting in 1856. After a few years he returned to England and married Julia Denton daughter of John and Caroline Denton at Hartlepool, Durham, on 5 May 1859. There is little evidence to indicate whether this was an arranged marriage or whether he had made her acquaintance as a teenage boy before leaving England. One suspects there was a connection with the two before he left with his parents and family to move to new Zealand. He returned to New Zealand with Julia. There were to be eight children of the marriage. The couple came out to New Zealand about 1862 on a chartered ship with furniture, books, servants and pedigree animals including a Stallion, pheasants and rabbits.
Tanner took an important step in 1864 when he obtained an illegal lease on the Heretaunga block, then a swamp but today one of the most valuable pieces of land in New Zealand. A few years later Tanner tried to buy the land but was not prepaped to pay what the Maoris wanted. Some years later a syndicate was formed to try and buy the land from the Maori. He divided the land into twelve shares, and, retaining four for himself, distributed the rest among six of his associates: J. N. Williams, A. H. Russell, T. E. Gordon, J. D. Ormond, T. P. Russell and J. B. Braithwaite. These men became known as The Apostles. In 1867 a Crown grant was issued on Heretaunga in the name of 10 Maori owners and Tanner obtained a legal lease. Heretaunga Block was secured by seven people who had 12 shares in the purchase of the land.These people are often referred to as the “Twelve Apostles”. The purchase price was stated to have been about 30s. an acre, and payment was made by £16,000 in cash, with the balance liquidating debts which had been incurred by the Maoris.
Here the first settle was established with apostles building on the land. In 1873 Francis Hicks (one of the syndicate) presented the Government with a section of land for the site of a railway station and decided to lay out 100 acres near this site for a township to be called Hastings. James Boyle later sold some of his land to the government to create the greater Hastings area north & South of Heretaunga Street.
A total of 144 sections were offered, the average price per acre being 56 pounds
Many local people firmly believe that Hastings was originally named Hicksville, after Francis Hicks, who bought a block of land, which now contains the centre of Hastings, from Thomas Tanner. However, this story is apocryphal. The original name of the location which was to become the town centre was Karamu. In 1871, the New Zealand Government decided to route the new railway south of Napier through a notional Karamu junction in the centre of the Heretaunga Plains. This location was on Francis Hicks's land. The decision on the railway route was based largely on two reports by Charles Weber, the provincial engineer and surveyor in charge of the railway. Karamu junction was re-named Hastings in 1873. (On 7 June 1873, the Hawke's Bay Herald reported: "The name of the new town is to be Hastings. We hear it now for the first time.") Exactly who chose the name has been disputed, although Thomas Tanner claimed that it was him (see Hawke's Bay Herald report 1 February 1884) and that the choice was inspired by his reading the trial of Warren Hastings. Warren Hastings was the first Governor-General of Bengal, from 1773 to 1785. He was famously accused of corruption in an impeachment in 1787, but acquitted in 1795..... In any event, the name fitted well with other place names in the district (Napier, Havelock and Clive), which were also named after prominent figures in the history of British India.
Tanner also bought land on the Ahuriri plains, and the Endsleigh and Petane runs.Thomas Tanner settle in Hastings building Riverslea Homestead where he raised his family.

Tanner became established as a dominant figure in Hawke's Bay affairs. He named his 5,332 acre portion of the Heretaunga block Riverslea, and built a 22-roomed mansion there. A landscape gardener was brought from England to lay out the grounds and an architect designed all the buildings, including the stables. The Tanners proceeded to show Hawke's Bay what gracious living was all about. Only one other family could boast gold plate on the table.
When war spread to the East Coast in 1868 and 1869 Tanner raised his own fighting force, the Hawke's Bay and Waipawa Yeoman Cavalry. He was commissioned captain and supplied his men with uniforms, mounts and arms, hiring the Oddfellows Hall in Napier as his private drill hall. The cavalry saw action at Gisborne in 1868 and at Mohaka in 1869.
Tanner was not simply a land speculator: he was committed to the idea of scientific farming. In order to drain and clear his Riverslea estate he needed both labour and capital. First he leased portions of his land and after obtaining the freehold, in 1871 he advertised for sale sections at Karamu. This area became closely settled. After 1873 small farmers subdivided their land into town sections and from the settlement of Karamu grew the town of Hastings. Tanner later called himself the town's father, because he owned the land in the first place, and its godfather, because he chose its name. He bought a section for an Anglican church and he gave land for a school and a public park. He also set aside two sections for a municipal building, for which he guaranteed building costs.
In 1873 the Heretaunga purchase was the subject of a commission of inquiry presided over by C. W. Richmond and F. E. Maning. There was an outcry: Tanner and The Apostles were attacked as instigators of grog mortgages and forced sales. However, fraud charges were not proved. Tanner survived the scandal because of his character and his ability as a businessman. During the inquiry Richmond wrote in his journal, 'I must say I like Tanera: He is no doubt a self confident little man - some might say conceited, but I don't give it that name: he is thoroughly self reliant & avows it'. Settlers in general did not like him but they eagerly followed his lead. Maori continued to co-operate with him even when he was found to have manipulated them because he understood their customs and always worked through the chiefs.
By the late 1870s Tanner's fortunes were on the wane. He had borrowed at high interest to purchase land and, as economic depression deepened, he was forced to subdivide and sell large areas of the Riverslea estate, in 1879, 1885 and 1889. He turned his attention instead to schemes for developing industries. This interest was not new. When leading the Hawke's Bay cavalry into action, he had been given a piece of coal picked up by a trooper at a stream crossing. After the emergency was over he had sent a coal prospector back to the area. He was one of the directors of the Hawke's Bay Goldmining Company which unsuccessfully prospected near Taupo in 1869, and was later, in 1880, a leading investor in the Mohaka Goldmining Company.
Tanner searched for ways of enriching himself and, at the same time, providing opportunities for small farmers. During the 1870s and 1880s he tried sugar-beet and tobacco growing and failed. In 1883 he invested heavily in hop growing and set up a processing plant at Riverslea as an outlet for small hop growers. However, his attempts to ship hops failed and he lost heavily. He set up a syndicate to promote a woollen mill in Hastings in 1887 and gave 6½ acres of land for the project, which did not eventuate. Although these schemes were largely unsuccessful, they illustrated Tanner's energy and his confidence in the potential of Hawke's Bay.
His sense of commitment was reflected also in his involvement in public affairs. He helped found the Hawke's Bay Agricultural and Pastoral Association in 1873 and was a long-standing member of the Hawke's Bay Philosophical Institute, the Hawke's Bay Education Board, and numerous other organisations concerned with cultural and social life. A devoted member of the Church of England and a friend of Bishop G. A. Selwyn, he was present at the signing of the Constitution of the Church of the Province of New Zealand. He was the principal benefactor of St Luke's Church in Havelock North, and its vicar's warden and synodsman. Tanner signed the contract and contributed financially to the building of the church. Many of the trees of Hastings and Havelock North were planted by him and the pin oak outside St Luke's Church is known as Tanner's Oak.
Tanner was at various times a member of the Heretaunga Road Board, the Hastings Town Board and the Hastings Borough Council, and was a Hawke's Bay county councillor between 1878 and 1893. He served on the Hawke's Bay Provincial Council from 1867 until 1876 and was member of the House of Representatives for Waipawa from 1887 to 1890. He died at Havelock North on 22 July 1918

Shirley McKay Talks on Thomas Tanner

Tanner, Thomas 1830 - 1918Runholder, land speculator, farmer, entrepreneur

Thomas Tanner was born in Wiltshire, England, probably in 1830, and was baptised at Devizes on 31 July 1831. He was the son of Mary Pontin and her husband, Joseph Tanner, a landowner. After studying medicine briefly, Thomas Tanner came to New Zealand in 1849 on the Larkins and worked as a cadet on a Wanganui sheep run. There he acquired a knowledge of Maori culture and a Maori version of his name, Tanera.
In 1853 Tanner took up a large run, Milbourne, on the Ruataniwha plains, Hawke's Bay. He promoted horse-racing, and selected the course at Clive for Hawke's Bay's first formal race meeting in 1856. After a few years he returned to England and married Julia Denton at Hartlepool, Durham, on 5 May 1859. There were to be eight children of the marriage. The couple came out to New Zealand about 1862 on a chartered ship with furniture, books, servants and pedigree animals.
Tanner took an important step in 1864 when he obtained an illegal lease on the Heretaunga block, then a swamp but today one of the most valuable pieces of land in New Zealand. He divided the land into twelve shares, and, retaining four for himself, distributed the rest among six of his associates: J. N. Williams, A. H. Russell, T. E. Gordon, J. D. Ormond, T. P. Russell and J. B. Braithwaite. These men became known as The Apostles. In 1867 a Crown grant was issued on Heretaunga in the name of 10 Maori owners and Tanner obtained a legal lease.
In the next few years Tanner obtained freehold title for the Heretaunga block, in the face of opposition from some Maori owners and from Europeans who deplored the control of large areas of land by a few. Using persuasion and sometimes force, he pressured the grantees until one by one, they sold. By 1870 Heretaunga was freeholded. Tanner also bought land on the Ahuriri plains, and the Endesleigh and Petane runs.
Tanner became established as a dominant figure in Hawke's Bay affairs. He named his 5,332 acre portion of the Heretaunga block Riverslea, and built a 22-roomed mansion there. A landscape gardener was brought from England to lay out the grounds and an architect designed all the buildings, including the stables. The Tanners proceeded to show Hawke's Bay what gracious living was all about. Only one other family could boast gold plate on the table.
When war spread to the East Coast in 1868 and 1869 Tanner raised his own fighting force, the Hawke's Bay and Waipawa Yeoman Cavalry. He was commissioned captain and supplied his men with uniforms, mounts and arms, hiring the Oddfellows Hall in Napier as his private drill hall. The cavalry saw action at Gisborne in 1868 and at Mohaka in 1869.
Tanner was not simply a land speculator: he was committed to the idea of scientific farming. In order to drain and clear his Riverslea estate he needed both labour and capital. First he leased portions of his land and after obtaining the freehold, in 1871 he advertised for sale sections at Karamu. This area became closely settled. After 1873 small farmers subdivided their land into town sections and from the settlement of Karamu grew the town of Hastings. Tanner later called himself the town's father, because he owned the land in the first place, and its godfather, because he chose its name. He bought a section for an Anglican church and he gave land for a school and a public park. He also set aside two sections for a municipal building, for which he guaranteed building costs.
In 1873 the Heretaunga purchase was the subject of a commission of inquiry presided over by C. W. Richmond and F. E. Maning. There was an outcry: Tanner and The Apostles were attacked as instigators of grog mortgages and forced sales. However, fraud charges were not proved. Tanner survived the scandal because of his character and his ability as a businessman. During the inquiry Richmond wrote in his journal, 'I must say I like Tanera: He is no doubt a self confident little man - some might say conceited, but I don't give it that name: he is thoroughly self reliant & avows it'. Settlers in general did not like him but they eagerly followed his lead. Maori continued to co-operate with him even when he was found to have manipulated them because he understood their customs and always worked through the chiefs.
By the late 1870s Tanner's fortunes were on the wane. He had borrowed at high interest to purchase land and, as economic depression deepened, he was forced to subdivide and sell large areas of the Riverslea estate, in 1879, 1885 and 1889. He turned his attention instead to schemes for developing industries. This interest was not new. When leading the Hawke's Bay cavalry into action, he had been given a piece of coal picked up by a trooper at a stream crossing. After the emergency was over he had sent a coal prospector back to the area. He was one of the directors of the Hawke's Bay Goldmining Company which unsuccessfully prospected near Taupo in 1869, and was later, in 1880, a leading investor in the Mohaka Goldmining Company.
Tanner searched for ways of enriching himself and, at the same time, providing opportunities for small farmers. During the 1870s and 1880s he tried sugar-beet and tobacco growing and failed. In 1883 he invested heavily in hop growing and set up a processing plant at Riverslea as an outlet for small hop growers. However, his attempts to ship hops failed and he lost heavily. He set up a syndicate to promote a woollen mill in Hastings in 1887 and gave 6½ acres of land for the project, which did not eventuate. Although these schemes were largely unsuccessful, they illustrated Tanner's energy and his confidence in the potential of Hawke's Bay.
His sense of commitment was reflected also in his involvement in public affairs. He helped found the Hawke's Bay Agricultural and Pastoral Association in 1873 and was a long-standing member of the Hawke's Bay Philosophical Institute, the Hawke's Bay Education Board, and numerous other organisations concerned with cultural and social life. A devoted member of the Church of England and a friend of Bishop G. A. Selwyn, he was present at the signing of the Constitution of the Church of the Province of New Zealand. He was the principal benefactor of St Luke's Church in Havelock North, and its vicar's warden and synodsman. Tanner signed the contract and contributed financially to the building of the church. Many of the trees of Hastings and Havelock North were planted by him and the pin oak outside St Luke's Church is known as Tanner's Oak.
Tanner was at various times a member of the Heretaunga Road Board, the Hastings Town Board and the Hastings Borough Council, and was a Hawke's Bay county councillor between 1878 and 1893. He served on the Hawke's Bay Provincial Council from 1867 until 1876 and was member of the House of Representatives for Waipawa from 1887 to 1890. He died at Havelock North on 22 July 1918.
KAY MOONEY

Shirley McKay Talks on Thomas Tanner

Come along and hear Shirley McKay Talk on Thomas Tanner his family tree his life and more...
Don't miss it!!
Thomas Tanner was born in Wiltshire, England, probably in 1830, and was baptised at Devizes on 31 July 1831. He was the son of Mary Pontin and her husband, Joseph Tanner, a landowner. After studying medicine briefly, Thomas Tanner came to New Zealand in 1849 on the Larkins and worked as a cadet on a Wanganui sheep run. There he acquired a knowledge of Maori culture and a Maori version of his name...

John Buck History of Te Mata Winery

Te Mata Estate Winery originated as part of Te Mata Station, a large pastoral land holding established by English immigrant John Chambers in 1854. John's third son, Bernard had the original vision for wine production off the north facing hillside slopes bordeing Havelock North. Bernard was well travelled and had observed similar, successful wine growing conditions in France. When John formalised the division of his estate between his sons, Bernard retained the 1,960 hectare Te Mata Estate homestead block. A French vistor to Te Mata Homestead in 1886 kindled Bernards interest in wine and vineyards. The surrounding slopes and sunshine was ideal for wine grape sto grow. After visits to deveral French and Australian Wineries this motivate d Bernard even more. In 1892 cuttings of Pinot Noir were obtained from the Society of Mary's Mission Vineyards at Taradale and the first vines struck root at Te Mata Vineyard. He went onto plant grape vines on three parcels of hillside land above the homestead. (Today, Te Mata Estate still utilises those three original three vineyards to produce its most famous wines; Coleraine, Awatea and Elston.) The business flourished. Chambers converted a brick stable into his cellar and by March 1895 the first wine was flowing. 'My wine is turning out very well', he wrote in 1898. 'I made claret and chablis and have given a lot away. I won't begin selling for another year, until the wine is more matured.' By 1900, on 5,430 acres of freehold land, Bernard Chambers had 10,328 sheep and six acres of grapevines. Among the stream of eminent visitors to the vineyard were the premier, Richard Seddon, and the governor, Lord Ranfurly.
By 1906 Te Mata Vineyard had spread to 26 acres. Three years later, with Australian wine-maker J. O. Craike at the helm, production was the highest in the country, with an annual output of 12,000 gallons of claret, hock and Madeira from the 35 acres of Meunier, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Riesling and Verdelho vines. Craike won gold medals for Te Mata overseas. In 1914 Sidney Anderson, the government vine and wine instructor, wrote that Te Mata Vineyard 'is now the leading one in the Dominion' and that the wines 'are commanding a large sale'.
However, not all was plain sailing. The prohibition movement peaked in the second decade of the twentieth century, forcing many wine-makers out of business. From 1909 onwards Chambers did not extend his vine plantings. Birds, mildew, frost (which in 1914 irretrievably damaged 16 acres of vines) and labour posed further problems. Chambers wrote in 1916, 'the vines are in a disgraceful state, unhoed under the rows, and generally neglected'. Meanwhile, some of his employees were 'in the cellar doing talking principally.
In October 1917 Bernard Chambers, now 58, sold his winery, wine stocks and part of the vineyard to Reginald Collins Limited; Chambers retained a minority shareholding. Five months later he sold most of Te Mata station, retaining 129 acres for himself. By 1923, when Reginald Collins sold its interests to TMV Wines, the vineyard had shrunk to 10 acres.
It had various owners until it was acquired by the current owners in 1978. Both vineyards and winery were run down, although still making wine. The opportunity to purchase brick cellars, dating from 1872, and two wonderful vineyard sites were irresistible to the Bucks and the Morris's, the two families behind the current company. A twenty year development programme was commenced, beginning with a restoration and re-equipping of the original building. More land was acquired by ownership, lease and management contract. All the original vineyards were replanted and viticulture underwent a further detailed review when Dr Richard Smart was engaged as a consultant in 1989. Peter Cowley joined as winemaker in 1984 and is now Technical Director in the company. Under his direction, all our winemaking techniques are monitored and kept in tune with our policy of producing small lots of high-quality wine from our own properties. In 1994 we appointed a viticulturist, Larry Morgan, a close associate of Richard Smart. Larry has put in place all the monitoring and review systems to further enhance the quality of grapes arriving at the crusher, and has also steadily advanced our move into sustainable viticulture. Te Mata Estate currently produces 35,000 cases of wine and is at full production. Sixty percent of this is red.

ARCHITECTUREAnother feature of Te Mata Estate is its architecture. Incorporating the original winery building, Wellington's famous Athfield Architects have created a modern complex using local materials and limewash colours. Apart from the restored original building the rest of the premises have been progressively built since 1987. Both the winery buildings and the Buck family home, Coleraine, across the road from the winery, were designed by Wellington architect lan Athfield. Athfield's brief was to create a New Zealand winery environment which did not copy the traditions of other winemaking countries. Local materials were to be used. Circular and square forms and the use of a range of limewash colours chosen.

John Buck Te Mata Winery

Come and listen to John Buck talk about the history of Te Mata Winery...
Te Mata Estate Winery originated as part of Te Mata Station, a large pastoral land holding established by English immigrant John Chambers in 1854. John's third son, Bernard had the original vision for wine production off the north facing hillside slopes bordeing Havelock North. Bernard was well travelled and had observed similar, successful wine growing conditions in France. When John formalised the division of his estate between his sons, Bernard retained the 1,960 hectare Te Mata Estate homestead block. In 1892, he went onto plant grape vines on three parcels of hillside land above the homestead. Today, Te Mata Estate still utilises those three original three vineyards to produce its most famous wines; Coleraine, Awatea and Elston.

Jerry Hapuku Talks about Chief Te Hapuku

TE HAPUKU
(born 1799 – died 23 May 1878).
Ngati Kahungunu chief.
Very little has been recorded of the early life and lineage of Te Hapuku. He was born 1799 in Hawke's Bay, probably at Ahuriri, the son of Te Whakahemo, and younger brother of Te Namu. Chief Hapuku had 10 wifes and Jerry Hapuku recited them and their descendats. Numerous they were. In 1825, during the northern tribes' invasion, he took part in the defence of Te Papake pa, on the Ahuriri sandpit, and was taken prisoner by Iwikau Te Heuheu. On the way to Taupo he escaped and made his way to Mahia where he was given protection by Te Wera. Three years later the Hawke's Bay tribes, which had taken refuge at Mahia, were again attacked. They repelled this and, as a result, were able to return to their former homes. Towards the close of the 1830s Te Hapuku engaged in a minor war with the Hutt Valley tribes; however, hostilities ceased in September 1840 when the Ngati Kahungunu chief visited Wellington. On 23 June 1840 Bunbury called at Hawke's Bay where, at a meeting near the mouth of the Tukituki River, he secured the signatures of Te Hapuku and Waikato to the Treaty of Waitangi. In December 1850 McLean met Te Hapuku and other Hawke's Bay chiefs at Waipukurau. Te Hapuku was well disposed towards McLean's wish to buy land; and, on 4 November 1851, negotiated the sale of the first Waipukurau block for £1,800. In 1853, because of his great mana among his fellow chiefs, the Government appointed him as a magistrate to settle disputes among his countrymen. About 1855 Te Hapuku bought a small schooner in order to ship timber and native produce to Auckland and other coastal ports. He visited Auckland in August to complain to Wynyard that he had not been paid for his land. In the same year Te Hapuku received Wiremu Tamihana Te Waharoa and other leaders of the King movement at Te Hauke, and attended subsequent meetings at Taradale, when the kingship was offered to Te Kani Takarau of the east coast. At this meeting, which Iwikau and Taiaroa attended, Te Hapuku and Karaitiana Takamoana were both contenders for the kingship, but each was too jealous of his own precedence to accept the other as king. In August 1857 Te Hapuku and Tareha, or Te Moananui, had a dispute over the former's right to remove firewood from the latter's bush land at Whakatu. This erupted into open warfare and three engagements took place. Peace was restored when McLean mediated between the two chiefs and Te Hapuku agreed to return to his pa at Te Hauke. This was the last tribal war fought in Hawke's Bay. In August 1859, at Napier, McLean negotiated with Te Hapuku and the Ngati Kahungunu chiefs for a further area of 90,000 acres.
Towards the close of March 1865 Hauhau emissaries entered Hawke's Bay on a recruiting mission. Shortly after this, when news came of the murder of Volkner, Te Hapuku and other chiefs sent messages to the Governor expressing abhorrence of the crime and disavowing sympathy with Hauhau doctrines. In October 1866, Te Hapuku, Karaitiana, Kawepo, and Tareha were present at the Omarunui battle and, afterwards, pursued the enemy across the Mohaka River to the boundaries of the province.
Te Hapuku was among the first of the Hawke's Bay chiefs to realise the benefits which would accrue to the Maori from the presence of European settlers in the district. In 1844, when Colenso arrived to open the first mission in Hawke's Bay, Te Hapuku extended his protection to the venture. Four years later he intervened decisively to prevent Te Rangihaeata from obtaining muskets from the Ngati Kahungunu. In 1851, when Selwyn visited the mission, Te Hapuku placed his canoe at the Bishop's service to bring him from Whakatu.
During his later years Te Hapuku lived quietly at Te Hauke, near Te Aute College. There, in 1878, when Te Hapuku lay dying, Sir George Grey brought along his greatest rival, Te Moananui, in order that the two might make peace. Te Hapuku died on 23 May 1878 at Te Hauke. He was buried with full military honours, the New Zealand Government running a free train from Napier in order to bring Maori and European mourners to his tangi.

Chief Te Hapuku Whakapapa
Ko Tamatea-Ariki-Nui (Captain of the Takitimu waka)
ko Rongokako
ko Tamatea-Pokai-Whenua
ko Kahungunu (ancestor of Ngati Kahungunu tribe)
ko Kahukuranui
ko Rakaihikuroa
ko Taewha
ko Takaha
ko Hikawera
ko Te Whatuiapiti (ancestor of Ngai Te Whatuiapiti tribe)
ko Te Wawahanga-o-te-rangi
ko Te Rangikawhiuia
ko Te Manawaakawa (ancestor of Ngati Manawaakawa)
ko Te Rangikoianake (ancestor of Ngati Rangikoianake)
ko Tamaiawhitia
ko Te Rangikoianake
ko TE HAPUKU

Jerry Hapuku (Chief Te Hapuku)

Tuesday 12 May Jerry Hapuku (Chief Te Hapuku)
Jerry will be talking about Chief Te Hapuku at this months Landmarks Meeting.
Te Hapuku, who sometimes called himself Te-Ika-Nui-O-Te-Moana, was born in the late eighteenth century before the coming of the European to our region of Heretaunga. He was a chief of our Ngai Te Whatuiapiti tribe and his main hapu (sub tribes) were Ngati Te Manawakawa and Ngati Rangikoianake. He had kinship links within Ngati Kahungunu, Rangitane, Ngati Ira and other tribes throughout the Hawke's Bay and Wairarapa regions, and was therefore very influential. His father was Kurimate, also known as Te Rangikoianake II, and his mother was Tatari of the Ngati Tapuhara and Ngati Hinepare sub tribes of Ngati Kahungunu.

Ewan McGregor - Notable and Historic Trees

Ewan McGregor is one of New Zealand’s most enthusiastic proponents of growing poplars over
pasture, initially for erosion control, amenity and stock shade and shelter, but also managing them for timber. He is the nominated farmer leader of the Hawke’s Bay fodder tree group and has developed a most attractive tree-covered farm that lies in summer-dry hill country a short distance to the northeast of Waipawa in Central Hawke’s Bay.
Ewan Mcgregor is Councillor on the Hawke's Bay Regional Council. He is enthusiastic about the planting of trees in Hawke's Bay as well as the preservation of Historic and notable trees in Hawke's Bay.

The McGregor family has farmed at Hautope since 1950 and Ewan McGregor has run the property since 1970. It is a 263 ha property with large areas now planted in woodlots. Ewan McGregor is now progressively handing over the property to a young sheep and beef farmer, and devoting his time on-farm to managing his trees for timber and aesthetics. He has also developed a tree consultancy business.

Pat Parson Maori Whakapa (Genealogy in HB)

Pat PARSONS is a great, great-grandson of John PARSONS who took up Rukumoana Station in 1862. Born in Napier, educated at Napier Boys High. After completing his teacher training, taught English in France and Italy.
Upon his return, taught English and French for five years at Hereworth School, Havelock North followed by ten years at Hastings Boys’ High. In 1990 a deep interest in traditional Maori history and genealogy let to a commission searching the Napier Inner Harbour Waitangi Tribunal Claim. His reputation in this field led to further commissions and today he is a full time historian. He has written many articles on Hawke’s Bay early history and the following publications; In the Shadow of the Waka—The History of the Pohue District, Waipukurai—The History of a Country
Town and was very involved with West to the Annie—Renata Kawepo’s Hawke’s Bay Legacy. He is a well respected historian and maori researcher.

Pat Parsons - Maori Genealogy

Pat PARSONS is a great, great-grandson of John PARSONS who took up Rukumoana Station in 1862. Born in Napier, educated at Napier Boys High. After completing his teacher training, taught English in France and Italy. Upon his return, taught English and French for five years at Hereworth School, Havelock North followed by ten years at Hastings Boys’ High. In 1990 a deep interest in traditional Maori history and genealogy let to a commission researching the Napier Inner Harbour Waitangi Tribunal Claim. His reputation in this field led to further commissions
and today he is a full time historian. He has written many articles on Hawke’s Bay early history and the following publications;
In the Shadow of the Waka—The History of the Pohue District,
Waipukurai—The History of a CountryTown
and was very involved with West to the Annie—Renata Kawepo’s Hawke’s Bay Legacy.
Pat will be talking about Maori Genealogy (Whakapapa.)

Rescuers and the Rescued by Michael Fowler

On February 3, 1931, at 10.47am an earthquake centred near coastal Aropaoanui, 12km north of Napier, turned Hawkes Bay into a virtual war zone. The shock brought down buildings between Gisborne and Waipawa and toppled chimneys from Taupo to Wellington. On a per capita basis it was New Zealand's most lethal single calamity. Historian Matthew Wright's book, Quake - Hawkes Bay 1931 pieces together the day's shattering events and the community response which followed, using first person accounts, newspaper and official records. Completely demolished shops and buildings lay in ruins after Napier's earthquake; rescue teams, navy personnel, nurses and members of the public are amongst those trying to assist in rescue operations etc. On morning of Tuesday, 3 February 1931 dawned like any other midsummer day, a little still and sultry, but warm, fine and with a promise of a sleepy afternoon and long balmy evening to follow. The sea was spray-swept but calm, a contrast to the terribly rough conditions of the previous two days. As the sun climbed, people perhaps started their day with porridge, eggs, toast and a cup of tea. Some men and women - more men than women in those days - left their flats, bungalows and villas to go to work. Others left in the hope of finding any kind of miserable job to keep the wolf from the door. This was the second summer of the Depression. Unemployment had soared to levels not exceeded until the 1990s, and many families faced unprecedented hardship. In some households the day began with a turfing of sleepy children from their beds. It was the first day of term after the summer holidays. Mothers across Hawkes Bay packed reluctant youngsters off before beginning their own day's chores, perhaps boiling the copper for the laundry or getting out the carbolic soap to give the floors another scrubbing. For Napier harbourmaster Captain H. White Parsons the day started with an unexpected surprise. He had been expecting the sloop HMS Veronica with her crew of 104 to arrive that afternoon, but was told she would arrive early at 7am. The warship was safely berthed in the inner harbour before eight. ... A few people felt uneasy as the morning wore on. Havelock North resident Wilf Leicester, recovering at home from a broken leg, noticed that the air "became very still and there wasn't a sound, not even a bird singing". At Waimarama, Dorothy Campbell saw the sea was now "so calm and still that Brother Frank ... remarked on it". The air "had grown still and oppressive". Most people felt the first sledgehammer blows at 10.46am as an uplift. Dogs howled, cats ran screeching, and horses - still hauling suburban milk carts and trade wagons in 1931 - reared and tried to bolt. All went unheard amid a tremendous noise that Llewellyn Mitchell des Landes, working in the meter repair shop of the Napier Gas Company, compared to an express train. Buildings lurched violently, many shedding outer walls or decorative pediments. People inside were hurled this way and that, some injured by furniture and debris, or pinned by collapsing ceilings and roofs. Others, caught on footpaths, were injured or killed by debris crashing from walls and buildings. Chimneys in the housing districts bent like reeds in a gale, then cracked and broke, sending debris tumbling. Telephone and lighting poles swayed abruptly, some remaining canted at crazy angles. Vehicles skittered on roads as the carriageway surged and rippled. About 30 seconds passed. Suddenly the ground heaved again, a different kind of movement that some felt as a downwards jolt. This time the effect was completely devastating, mind-numbing waves of destruction that swept across the province, smashing weakened buildings and walls. Rubble poured into the streets, and many who had rushed outside after the primary shock died as shattered masonry crashed on and around them. Avalanches of bricks and debris slammed into vehicles, a few with their occupants still inside. The tortured earth rumbled, a massive sound punctured by the crisp treble of shattering glass, the bullet-like cracking of buildings, the thuds and thumps of falling furniture, the crash of glassware and crockery, and the sliding rush of collapsing masonry. At last the shock waves rolled by, leaving a terrible trembling in the ground that some observers compared to boiling water. For a few moments afterwards the silence seemed complete. Dust from crumbled mortar and shattered concrete in the business districts of Napier and Hastings rose into the air, thickening to a white powdery fog that briefly obscured vision even a block away. Everyone who lived through it experienced the earthquake differently. W.H. Ashcroft was sitting in his office in Napier's business district when he felt the uplift, which he compared to a terrier shaking a jack rabbit. His office fell apart around him; he looked up and saw blue sky. Eighteen-year-old Jessie Atkinson, staying in a house on Napier Terrace near the hospital, "watched a piano lurch from one side of the room to the other and back again". In the Napier Technical School on Munro Street, teacher W. Olphert yelled at the boys to dive under their desks as the earthquake slammed the building; however, "several dashed into a narrow corridor, where they were buried under the fallen walls". Havelock North resident W.H. Ashcroft was working in Napier when the quake struck: "The earthquake continued for about 2 1/2 minutes, during this time we could only hold on to one another and wait for what would come next ... "The wall of the Ford Garage, a new building, took on the most extraordinary contortions, a convulsion would come and the wall would wriggle from the bottom to the top like a snake, sometimes it would bend over and very nearly hit the Post Office ... The peculiar thing was that I felt all this was happening to others, not to me, and I was merely a spectator; others have told me since that they had exactly the same feeling ... We all felt we were certain to be killed and just wondered how soon it would be." Ashcroft's son, Bill, drove into Napier mid-afternoon to look for him. "Napier was burning and looked worse as I approached. From miles away you could see the smoke and flames streaming inland on a strong sea breeze. As I went up the Parade I passed people carting their furniture from their houses to the beach which was crowded with people surrounded by their possessions. Everyone seemed quite cheerful and curiously indifferent. "All the way along brick fronts had fallen out exposing the interiors of rooms ... The Masonic Hotel was a blazing ruin. "There seemed every prospect of the fire sweeping the whole area. Not seeing Dad, I went home to find him there, having arrived just after I left." Trapped and pinned – Rescuers and the rescuedAs the quaking subsided ... people from Waipukurau to Wairoa - but mainly in Napier and Hastings - lay trapped and pinned by fallen debris, crushed, bruised and in many cases critically injured. Others had been hit by flying bricks, glass, wood, furniture or other objects. Among the first to react were old soldiers, servicemen who had fought on the western front a decade and a half earlier. For them the wreckage of Napier and Hastings was an all too familiar sight. They knew what to do. Former British soldier F.C. Wright ... compared the destruction in Napier to what he had seen in French villages bombarded by shellfire. Doctors seemed to spring from nowhere, rushing from their surgeries and private hospitals to help. Rescuers quickly organised trucks to take the casualties to the hilltop hospital. However, the commandeered vehicles reached Napier Terrace to find another calamity unfolding. Horrified rescuers were swarming over the ruined nurses' home in the hope of extracting survivors, while a steady stream of doctors, nurses and orderlies were wheeling patients from the ruins of the hospital beyond. Parts of the only base hospital in the district were no more than wreckage - including the new Jellicoe Ward. Other wards were upright but clearly unsafe. Although evacuation had to proceed past the dusty ruins of the home where nurses lay dead or dying, hospital pharmacist J.S. Peel noted a "complete absence of panic". Criton Smith was very admiring of the nurse who had run from the collapsing home less than an hour before. "Although temporarily dazed by her experience, she quickly went to the aid of the other nurses brought out from the home and she has not been to bed yet", Smith told reporters later in the day. The servicemen worked hard sifting through the rubble looking for survivors and bodies of those who had died.Dr A.G. Clark organised an emergency surgical station in the Botanical Gardens. An operating table was put under an archway at the top of the gardens, and within an hour life-saving operations were being conducted with full sterilisation and anaesthetic procedures. Aftershocks rocked the ground as the doctors worked. Rows of tents were erected to cater for the urgent needs of Napier and Hastings community’s, affected by the disaster.Clark had a nurse alert him while he worked: when she called "Stop" he lifted his hands and waited for the shock to pass. Casualties far exceeded the capacity of emergency facilities. "All we could do was to lie them on the lawns to wait their turn for treatment," Sister Mary Eames later wrote. Off-duty doctors and nurses who had been in town quickly returned, among them one nurse who tried to help schoolchildren during the earthquake itself. Later she recalled: "by degrees surgical stores, drugs, etc were extricated from the ruins ... all Tuesday we worked like war nurses ... We were washing wounds and dressing them and pumping in injections." Local residents pitched in to help. George Brown arrived at his Napier hilltop home to find his wife, Jean, and two daughters safe. When doctors came looking for sterilised water he "kept kettles going for tea, of which large numbers of people gratefully partook". A major rescue effort focused around the nurses' home. There was no hope for the three clerical staff on the lower floor, but the nurses "were placed in a slightly better position and it was thought that some at least might be saved". Two were found trapped by a fallen slab of wall and collapsed staircase. A dozen rescuers spent three hours trying to free them. Every effort proved fruitless, and in the end the slab had to be broken with sledgehammers. Six nurses were pulled from the debris, seriously injured but alive. Plans for an emergency field hospital [at the Napier racecourse] were quickly dusted off ... because it had water and was far enough inland to be out of reach of a tsunami. Four surgical teams were on site by mid-afternoon on February 3, though it was the next day before the hospital was fully set up. That did not stop emergency surgery. Doctors worked under the stark glare of car headlamps until 2am. A dressing station was also established in McLean Park. A total of 454 wounded were tended in Napier and Hastings. Some 333 patients were subsequently evacuated to Wanganui and Palmerston North.