From Shaky Ground : Caroline Fitzgerald spoke on Henry Williams

From Shaky Ground : Caroline Fitzgerald spoke on Henry Williams

Christchurch writer, Caroline Fitzgerald discussed her latest book Te Wiremu – Henry Williams: Early Years in the North.

The harrowing experiences of the latest Christchurch earthquakes have left Fitzgerald feeling a little ‘shaky’ to say the least, and she welcomed the opportunity to visit the heart of Hawke’s Bay to discuss historical interests with lovers of history and books.

Being the great-great-granddaughter of Henry Williams, Fitzgerald claims that writing this book has given her a greater insight into her family’s contribution to New Zealand history. Ever since Henry Williams (Te Wiremu) translated the Treaty of Waitangi into Māori in 1840, his name has been embroiled in controversy. Te Wiremu – Henry Williams: Early Years in the North gives readers another perspective of the life and commitment that Henry Williams made as a missionary and a friend to Māori people.

Fitzgerald gives an account of the personal trials and circumstances that Henry Williams endured as a missionary, teacher, surgeon and an advocate for Māori language. His involvement with local iwi in the North Island was renowned, and he often acted as a peacemaker, successfully saving thousands of lives.

Fitzgerald’s latest book is a companion to her first book, Letters from the Bay of Islands: The Story of Marianne Williams, which was highly successful. There are also whispers of a third book to come.

Te Wiremu – Henry Williams: Early Years in the North is available from Hastings District Libraries.

Synopsis as follows:

According to family information Henry Williams was born on 11 February 1792; he was baptised on 13 April at Gosport, Hampshire, England. He was the fifth child and third son of Thomas Williams, a lace manufacturer, and his wife, Mary Marsh. His parents were relatively well off until the death of his father in 1804. Two years later, at the age of 14, Henry entered the Royal Navy as a midshipman, with aspirations to be an officer. The nearly 10 years that he spent in the navy were far from easy; conditions on naval vessels were extremely harsh during the Napoleonic wars. Having seen active service in many parts of the world he was discharged from the navy in August 1815 as a lieutenant on half pay. The last captain under whom he served noted that he had behaved with diligence and sobriety.

With the end of the Napoleonic wars unemployment, particularly among halfpay lieutenants, was very high; Henry had to find a new vocation. He worked for a while as a drawing master, but at the same time began to prepare himself for the mission field. His parents were Dissenters, and like many missionaries who came from homes influenced by evangelical Christianity, he experienced a gradual conversion rather than a sudden illumination. From about 1816 he came under the tutelage of his evangelical brother-in-law, Edward Marsh, a member of the Church Missionary Society and later vicar of Aylesford. But his firm decision to become a missionary was probably made after his marriage to Marianne Coldham at Nuneham Courtenay, Oxfordshire, on 20 January 1818.

In 1819 Henry Williams offered his services to the CMS. He was accepted first as a lay settler, and then in 1820 as a missionary candidate. Although Marsh thought that he had no 'great proficiency in the Greek and Latin language', he was ordained a priest 'for the cure of souls in his majesty's foreign possessions' in 1822. Before leaving for New Zealand he also took instruction in the practical areas of medicine, weaving, twining, basket making, and, during the voyage out, shipbuilding. With Marianne and three children he arrived at the Bay of Islands on the Brampton on 3 August 1823.

Henry Williams was severely tested during the early months in the Bay of Islands, as he assumed the leadership of a mission beset by problems. The CMS mission to New Zealand was nearly 10 years old when he arrived, but not a single Maori had been converted. The missionaries were still largely dependent on the Maori for food and supplies; and under the leadership of Thomas Kendall and John Butler the mission had been torn apart by bitter personal disputes.

Having settled himself and his family at Paihia, Henry first attended to the secular side of the mission. He wanted to reduce the missionaries' involvement with the trading captains of Kororareka (Russell), to end their dependence on the Maori for supplies, and most of all he wanted to stop the musket trade in which the missionaries had been forced to engage. He quickly imposed regulations on the missionaries' trading, but it was the completion in 1826, under Henry's direction, of the 50 ton schooner Herald that really made the mission independent of local influences.

Meantime Henry had also put his mind to the spiritual aspect of missionary work. He soon concluded that the mission had placed too much emphasis on 'civilising' the Maori. In this he differed from Samuel Marsden, founder of the mission, who had emphasised teaching useful arts and agriculture as a prelude to conversion. Henry argued that the emphasis on secular instruction distracted the missionaries from the far more important task of bringing the Maori to Christianity. He began to reorganise the mission so that more time could be devoted to spiritual teaching.

To better carry out this essential task, Henry argued that mission members needed to spend more time learning the Maori language, preaching to the tribes in the surrounding area, and teaching in the schools on the mission stations; to do all these things most of the personnel would have to be concentrated in one place. Paihia became the headquarters and there the missionaries began by devoting regular amounts of time to learning Maori together. The arrival of Henry's brother William, in 1826, gave a great impetus to this programme: all members benefited from William's talent for languages. Having more missionaries at one station meant that they were able to visit the surrounding villages more frequently and, as they became proficient in Maori, their preaching was more effective. Schooling for Maori children was revitalised under Henry and his wife, Marianne, and more students attended classes regularly. Working effectively together fostered harmonious relations among the missionaries themselves; Henry claimed that the Maori noticed their greater unity and purpose.

Henry Williams's forceful personality and discipline were perhaps as important as his policies in reorganising the mission, and these characteristics also contributed to his growing mana among the Maori. Although his capacity to comprehend the indigenous culture was severely constrained by his evangelical Christianity, his obduracy was in some ways an advantage in dealings with the Maori. From the time of his arrival he refused to be intimidated by the threats and boisterous actions of utu and muru plundering parties. By the late 1820s he felt confident enough to intervene in intertribal disputes and on several occasions was able to negotiate peace between hostile groups. Such peacemaking was both a cause and a consequence of his growing prestige among the Maori. Only a person who was held in regard would be invited to settle a conflict, and it required even greater mana to be successful. As his personal repute grew, so did the influence of the mission.

The 1830s were a decade of achievement and progress for Henry Williams and the CMS mission. Success could be measured in two ways: increasing numbers of Maori were baptised, and the Bay of Islands mission was secure enough to provide a base for expansion throughout the North Island. There had been occasional baptisms in earlier years, but, beginning in 1829–30, several Maori adults and children were baptised at Paihia. By 1842 over 3,000 Maori in the Bay of Islands area had been baptised. No doubt Maori motives for 'going missionary' were often mixed and there was considerable backsliding in later years, but, as Maori conversions increased, the missionaries were successful, at least in their own terms. Their growing confidence in the north enabled them to extend their operations to the south. Here, too, Henry Williams played a leading role. He made several trips to other parts of the North Island to explore the possibilities for expansion, and directed the establishment of new missions. He sent missionaries to begin work at several places in the Waikato during the 1830s, his brother William moved to Turanga, in Poverty Bay, at the end of the decade, and stations were founded as far south as Otaki. By 1840 Henry could look with considerable satisfaction on the achievements of the CMS mission since his arrival in 1823.

But 1840 was also a year of major changes, both for New Zealand and, although he did not appreciate it immediately, for Henry Williams. With the country's annexation by Britain and a growing population of settlers, Henry became embroiled in racial conflict and caught up by forces that were beyond his control. Rather than simply ministering to one race, he was drawn into the increasingly uncomfortable role of mediating between two races.

The ambiguity of his position was apparent at the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840. Henry translated the English draft of the treaty into Maori, and, at the meetings with the Crown's representative, William Hobson, at Waitangi, he explained its provisions to Maori leaders. Later he travelled to the west coast of the North Island, between Wellington and Wanganui, and to the Marlborough Sounds to persuade other Maori to sign the treaty. However, his Maori version of the treaty was not a literal translation from the English draft and did not convey clearly the cession of sovereignty. Moreover, in his discussions with Maori leaders Henry placed the treaty in the best possible light and this, and his mana, were major factors in the treaty's acceptance. Undoubtedly, therefore, he must bear some of the responsibility for the failure of the Treaty of Waitangi to provide the basis for peaceful settlement and a lasting understanding between Maori and European.

As Maori-European relations deteriorated in the north in the early 1840s, Henry Williams tried to maintain peace between the races, as he had done earlier between tribes. In spite of his efforts the conflict over land and sovereignty soon moved beyond the possibility of compromise. Having failed to prevent hostilities he assisted the wounded and helped evacuate the beleaguered settlers when Hone Heke launched a final attack on Kororareka in 1845. His close association with the Bay of Islands Maori produced accusations of disloyalty from Europeans, while the stationing of British troops at the Waimate mission created suspicion in the minds of some Maori. Other Maori accused him of misleading them in his explanations of the treaty. Throughout the conflict, as in later life, Henry asserted that his missionary vocation was paramount and that his primary concern was for the Maori, but it was difficult to be single-minded when he was assailed from all sides.

The arrival of George Grey to begin his first governorship in late 1845 soon led to Henry Williams's involvement in disputes of another kind. During the 1830s, mostly to provide some security for his growing family, Henry had purchased extensive tracts of land in the Tai-a-mai area, west of Paihia. In dispatches to the Colonial Office that later became public, Grey questioned the validity of Henry's title to the land and falsely claimed that the landholdings of the CMS missionaries were a cause of the war in the north. Henry was obliged to defend his land purchases and, much more important as far as he was concerned, his personal integrity against the governor's charges. But he was fighting a losing battle against a more powerful adversary. Henry's superior, Bishop G. A. Selwyn, sided with Grey, and in 1849 the CMS in London, persuaded by Henry Williams's critics, decided that Henry was too much of an embarrassment to remain a member of the organisation.

His dismissal from the CMS that he had served for so long was a bitter blow to Henry. Within a week of receiving the news in May 1850 he left Paihia and moved to Pakaraka, where his children were farming the land that was the source of so much trouble. He was still a priest in the Church of England and Selwyn had made him archdeacon of Waimate in 1844; he continued to minister and preach to the Maori in his locality and gathered a considerable congregation around him. The injustice against him was only partly assuaged when he was reinstated to the CMS in 1854.

Henry Williams's abiding concern for the Maori was apparent in his distress at the outbreak of warfare with the Pakeha again in 1860. In private correspondence he was critical of the government officials and their policies, but he remained largely aloof from the public debate about the war. In 1862 he wrote to his brother-in-law, Edward Marsh: 'I feel our work is drawing to a close; and were it not for the Maories, I should have relinquished all long since. But I feel bound to them'. After several years of deteriorating health, Henry Williams died on 16 July 1867. His passing was perhaps most keenly felt by the northern Maori among whom he had lived for most of his life.

Sibling Rivalry : Hastings v Napier - Michael Fowler

Sibling Rivalry : Hastings v Napier - Michael Fowler


Local historian Michael Fowler will talk on the long history of squabbling between Hastings and Napier.

For 130 years or so, the two communities have engaged in a relationship marked by competition and jealousy. From the establishment of the Hastings plant of the Napier Gas Co., through controversies around port facilities, hospitals, university (lost to Palmerston North), the airport, Michael contends that this troubled relationship has been to the disadvantage of the region.

Have we learnt any lessons from the past? What chance of amalgamation?

Clive a history by Gary Bains

Kurupo Te Moananui is the Rangitira that the first Europeans in the area would have dealt with. The paramount chef for the Heretaunga area, Moananui made his home at Waipureku Pa, situated on the then strategic joint river mouth of the Tuki Tuki and the Ngaruroro Rivers. Waipureku means “the meeting of the waters”.

After purchasing approximately 830,000 acres, around the East Coast of New Zealand in 1839, Barney Rhodes set up an early primitive trading post at Waipureku. This was before the Treaty of Waitangi and the government moved to stop these sorts of dealings and in doing so overturned the original deal. However in compensation he was granted 100,000 acres at Rissington, 4,500 acres at Clive Grange (Haumoana/Te Awanga) plus the Trading Post at Waipureku. Barney never settled in the area but his brother, Joseph, took up Clive Grange in 1855, plus the 200 acres at Waipureku (£130 to Moananui).

Prior to Joseph, in 1844, the Reverend William Colenso, through the Church Missionary Society, had set up the Ahuriri Mission on 10 acres of what was then swamp on land close to Takamoana’s Pa at the Te Awapuni north of the Ngaruroro River mouth, Waitangi.

With a thriving Maori trading centre already at Waipureku Rhode’s trading post was ideally situated to transport produce via the inland waterways to the large central Hawke’s Bay runs, and with Joseph Rhodes having consolidated his Clive Grange property, he commissioned surveyor Henry Tiffen to lay out the first settlement of Clive, alongside brother Barney’s Waipureku Trading Post. Six hundred quarter acre sections with many reserves, all interlaced with streets named after prominent politicians and other notables of the time were surveyed.

The town was given the name Clive, after the English Major-General Robert Clive, First Baron of Plassey (India) 1725-1774 and was to be the main centre of Hawke’s Bay. Napier was still a hill surrounded by swamp and Hastings not even thought of. However, the township, being between two rivers, was prone to flooding (severe flooding) and although the town sections were sold, settlement remained slow. Even so in the 1850’s and 1860’s Clive could boast two hotels, several stores, a bakery, post office, public school, police station, blacksmith shop, a ferry service over the Tuki Tuki River and inland, a horse race course complete with grandstand. What is now known as East Clive was then a flourishing township.

The building of a new bridge over the Ngaruroro River in 1867, thus by passing the Tuki Tuki route through East Clive, plus the new fangled railway passing from Napier through Frandon to the new township of Hastings in 1874 was the beginning of the decline for East Clive and the progress of West Clive, not only businesses were transferred but residents gradually moved towards the bridge and railway.

In 1879 Clive became a town district and by 1887 there were at least three boning down works for rendering carcasses in the district, a flour mill (Mill Road), a large cooperage (barrel making establishment), two breweries, two hotels, a large sawmill, market gardens, a bustling main street, a large public school (in fact for a period two public schools) and the added bonus of a beautiful public park, 20 acres in extent, purchased in 1870 for £210.

However, until the wandering rivers were finally tamed Clive was to remain just an attractive rural village set on the banks of the Clive River. The rivers have been tamed (the Clive River is now basically a tidal estuary) and while Clive is still a small community it certainly has become a very desirable place to live, situated between the sister cities of Napier and Hastings, giving it access to all their facilities, but still keeping its rural advantages.

Gary Bains is a resident of Clive, historian and writer. He is currently writing a book on The History of Clive. The Clive Community Group is assisting him in seeking funding for its publication.

History Of Red Cross

Joan Cockburn spoke on the history of Red Cross in New Zealand
On 24 June 1859, during the War of Italian Unification, Franco-Sardinian forces clashed with Austrian troops near the small town of Solferino in northern Italy.

On that day, businessman Henry Dunant, of Switzerland, was travelling to the area to meet Napoleon III on personal matters. On the evening of the battle, Dunant arrived in the village of Castiglione, where more than 9,000 wounded had taken refuge. In the main church, the Chiesa Maggiore, where thousands were lying unattended, Dunant and the local women strove for several days and nights to give them water, wash and dress their wounds and hand out tobacco, tea and fruit.

In 1862 Dunant published a work entitled A Memory of Solferino. In it he proposed two ideas for alleviating the suffering of wounded soldiers - the creation of relief societies in each country that would act as auxiliaries to the army medical services, and a legal basis that would oblige armies to care for all wounded whichever side they were on.

The Geneva Public Welfare Society established a committee to consider ways of putting Dunants ideas into practice. It met for the first time on 17 February 1863, with Dunant as secretary. The other members were General Guillaume-Henri Dufour, the lawyer Gustave Moynier, and Drs Louis Appia and Theodore Maunoir.

In October of that year this committee, later to become the International Committee of the Red Cross, organised a conference, inviting governments, organisations and prominent individuals to attend. The conference led directly to the creation of the first national relief bodies whose members were to wear an armlet showing a red cross on a white ground.

At the urging of the Geneva Committee, the Swiss government hosted an official diplomatic conference in August 1864. This resulted in the adoption of the Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded in Armies in the Field.

In a relatively short time, both of Dunants proposals had been actioned. By 1914 the International Committee of the Red Cross had gained field experience and the Geneva Convention had been adapted to cover warfare at sea.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies was founded in 1919 in Paris in the aftermath of the First World War.

The war had shown a need for close cooperation between Red Cross Societies, which, through their humanitarian activities on behalf of prisoners of war and combatants, had attracted millions of volunteers and built a large body of expertise.
In 1931 when Hawke's Bay big earhquake struck, the Red Cross played a huge part in helping those injured, supplying food and temporary housing and even in the cleanup and rebuilding.

It was Henry Davison, president of the American Red Cross War Committee, who proposed forming a federation of these National Societies. An international medical conference initiated by Davison resulted in the birth of the League of Red Cross Societies, which was renamed in October 1983 to the League of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and then in November 1991 to become the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

The first objective of the Federation was to improve the health of people in countries that had suffered greatly during the four years of war. Its goals were to strengthen and unite, for health activities, already-existing Red Cross Societies and to promote the creation of new Societies.

The International Federation manages or supports programmes in more than 150 countries. These programmes assist millions of the worlds most vulnerable people, including victims of natural and other disasters, refugees and displaced people and those affected by socio-economic problems.


New Zealand Red Cross has been part of the fabric of our country for over 80 years.

Whether delivering meals on wheels, providing assistance in the aftermath of natural disasters at home and overseas, or training kiwis in first aid skills, New Zealand Red Cross works to assist communities in need.

In 1931, the New Zealand Red Cross Society was formed in the wake of the Napier earthquake and was officially recognised by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Even before 1931, Red Cross had a presence in New Zealand, as a branch of the British Red Cross Society.

Community groups raised money and sewing circles were formed to provide warm clothes and bandages for New Zealand and allied servicemen during the First World War. These early groups unified in 1914 to form the New Zealand Branch of the British Red Cross and Order of St John. These New Zealand Red Cross volunteers provided significant support and relief during the First World War, the 1918 influenza pandemic, the Napier earthquake, the Second World War and the Tangiwai disaster.

Since the first introduction of Red Cross to New Zealand the work of the organisation has come a long way and played an integral part in the history of our country.

After 80 years New Zealand Red Cross continues to help out around the world and across the street.

our emblem

The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement now recognises three emblems - the red cross, red crescent and the red crystal. The Red Crystal is the most recent emblem, having been accepted in December 2005 at the organisations International Conference in Geneva.

The three emblems are symbols of protection to both military and civilian medical services in wartime, conferred by the Geneva Conventions to protect against the violence and arbitrary behaviours of armed conflict. They indicate to combatants that individuals, infrastructure and modes of transportation engaged in the provision of medical assistance are protected under the Geneva Conventions.

When employed as a protective device, the emblems should evoke in combatants a reflex of restraint and respect. During peacetime the emblems act as the distinctive indicator of National Societies, individuals, objects or infrastructure linked to the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.

our Fundamental Principles
•Humanity
•Impartiality
•Neutrality
•Independence
•Voluntary Service
•Unity
•Universality

New Zealand Red Cross shares our Fundamental Principles with 185 other National Red Cross and Red Crescent societies. Across this vast geographic and cultural diversity, almost a hundred million members and volunteers share the seven common principles, which guide us in all that we do

McLeans of Duart house

The Macleans

The Clan

The Clan lands were, and are on the West Coast of Scotland and the islands of Mull, Coll, Tiree and Jura.

The Chieftains of the Clan Maclean had and still have lands on Morvern, Ardgour, Drimnin and at Dochgarroch on the mainland as well as on the islands. Those people living on these lands may, or may not have been related or they may have taken the name of Maclean for protection.

The spelling of Maclean is not important (McLean, MacClane, Maclain etc). There are other families who are also part of the Maclean family. The Rankins are a sept of the clan and traditionally provide a piper for the Chief.

Some of the names usually associated with the Macleans are Beath, Beaton, Black, Dewart, Macbeth, MacCormick, MacFadyen, Macvey, Patten and Paton.

The first recorded mention of the Macleans of Duart is in a papal dispensation of 1367 which allowed their Chief Lachlan Lubanach Maclean to marry the daughter of the Lord of the Isles, Mary Macdonald.

This it is said, was a love match, and her father was persuaded to to allow it only after he had been kidnapped by Lachlan (an incident in which the Chief of the Mackinnons was killed). Thus the Macleans came to own much of Mull, the Mackinnon lands being granted to them by the Macdonalds as a dowry. Almost certainly, Lachlan built the keep that stands today though the great curtain walls were probably of the previous century.

The Macleans continued to use Duart as their base but they were always fighting for one cause or another. They were part of the loose alliance of West Coast chiefs who supported the Lord of the Isles. Hector Mor, born in 1497, succeeded his father in 1527 and was described as good, kind and brave. The power of the Lord of the Isles was now broken, the Macleans were wholly independent and the King of Scotland, James Vth, was making himself felt in the islands. Hector Mor was kidnapped, with many other Chiefs, by the King's Lord Lieutenant at a dinner on board ship off Aros Castle. Hector was only released when he agreed to the destruction of all his galleys. Hector Mor was also a builder.

He strengthened the South East buildings in the courtyard and added the gatehouse.

Sir Lachlan, 16th Chief, was created a baronet by Charles I in 1631 and so began the century of unswerving loyalty to the House of Stewart which was to result in the Macleans losing all their lands.

Sir Lachlan joined Montrose and his Highland Army but when General Leslie invaded Mull in 1647, he was unable to hold Duart Castle against him. Sir Allan briefly recovered the castle after the restoration of Charles 2nd to the throne in 1660. Sir Allan remodelled the North East range of buildings in 1673 only to lose the castle to the duke of Argyll (pressing for repayment of considerable debts) in 1674.

The castle and lands were returned to Sir John (pictured on the left), son of Sir Allan, in 1681 when the Duke of Argyll fell out of favour with the King, only to lose it again in 1691 when Argyll was once more in favour with the Whigs.

The castle became ruinous and was purchased by Sir Fitzroy Maclean, 26th Chief, in 1910. He then began the enormous task of repairing the building.

McLean chose the Duart because it was the name of a castle owned by
McLeans in Scotland and, furthermore, specified a design which
incorporated a tower with crenulations, surmounted by a flagstaff,
to remind him of the country and people of his origins. In earlier
days when Duart stood alone on the slopes of the Havelock Hills its
tower was a landmark which could be seen from all directions.

The size of the McLean family necessitated a spacious house, but
the children also had some 150 acres of hill slopes upon which to
roam freely, as no other house existed between Duart and Te Mata.
The tiny village of Havelock with its few shops, two churches, and
a school was Duart's closest neighbour.

This fine old wooden house was built for Allan and Hannah McLean. Allan was a Scot who took up land on the banks of the Tuki Tuki River and accordingly became known as "Tuki" McLean to distinguish him from other McLeans in Hawke's Bay. He married The names of the builders of Duart are not known, but it is possible that George Bee, the builder of St. Lukes Church, Havelock North and Henry Liley another of Havelock's earliest carpenters were involved. McLean chose the Duart because it was the name of a castle owned by McLeans in Scotland and, furthermore, specified a design which incorporated a tower with crenellations, surmounted by a flagstaff, to remind him of the country and people of his origins. In earlier days when Duart stood alone on the slopes of the Havelock Hills its tower was a landmark which could be seen from all directions.
It was thought originally that Duart was built about 1875, but further research has revealed that building began in 1882 and that "Tuki" and Hannah moved in with seven children early in 1883. Their last child, Nigel, was born at Duart.
The size of the McLean family necessitated a spacious house, but the children also had some 150 acres of hill slopes upon which to roam freely, as no other house existed between Duart and Te Mata. The tiny village of Havelock with its few shops, two churches, and a school was Duart's closest neighbour.
"Tuki" a rumbustious character, did not believe in the cultivation of gardens and insisted on allowing his sheep and horses to roam at will, browsing as close to the house as they chose.
It was not until after her husband's death that Hannah McLean, assisted by her children, was able to create a garden from the grassy slopes around the house.
Before she died in 1914 Hannah had planted flowers and trees, many of which still survive. The Coronation Oak, planted on the occasion of the accession to the throne of King EdwardVII, is a notable example.
After Hannah McLean's death Duart House was leased by Mr and Mrs Crompton Smith who established a co-educational school for children of primary school age in 1915. Obviously some internal modifications were involved but, apart from the necessity of adding partitions, the house served well as a school. It was about this time, too, that the word "House" was added and since then the building has always been known as Duart House.
The school, named St. George's, remained in Duart until the end of 1921 and was then conducted in another locality.
In 1926 the property was leased by Roger Greenwood and occupied by Mr and Mrs Greenwood and their family and eventually bought by them 1936. During their ownership some alterations were made to Duart House, the most substantial being the addition of a new kitchen, but otherwise the house remained as it was built.
After the death of Mr & Mrs Greenwood the property was offered by their family in 1972 to the Havelock North Borough Council at a purely nominal price for the use by the people of Havelock North for purposes deemed suitable by the Council. The Council accepted this generous offer and has since maintained the house and gardens, the building itself being used for a variety of purposes, but mostly as a meeting place.
In 1985 a new development took place in the history of Duart House, the formation of the Duart House Society whose aims are to care for the property along the lines adopted by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust in its care of Trust property.
The ground floor is used for meetings, receptions and exhibitions, while the second floor has a display of pre-1920 furniture.
The laundry and outbuildings have many interesting items on display, ranging from a 1919 butter churn to a kerosene engine.
Hannah, the eldest daughter of John and Margaret Chambers of Te Mata.

FOUR GENERATIONS BACON CURING IN HASTINGS

FOUR GENERATIONS BACON CURING IN HASTINGS
Early in the 1900‟s an uncle of my grandfather’s, Mr. Martin, who owned
the original Kiwi Bacon Co in Palmerston North, invited my grandfather,
and his Family to emigrate to New Zealand , to eventually take over the
Kiwi Bacon Co.
When this did not come to fruition, Carl Vogtherr was paid a sum of 1000
pounds, not to start in business within 25 miles of Palmerston North for
five years.


Consequently, the Family moved the Hastings and purchased the Lowe
Brothers Cool store at Stortford Lodge, consisting of fruit cool store, an
ice factory, butchers shop, and bacon factory, named the Elite Bacon
Company.

Gordon read a newspaper cutting.

A delicatessen was opened in Heretaunga street next to the State
Theatre, just along from Otto Shattky, hair dresser, opposite Millar &
Giorgi, on the day war broke put. August 4th 1914.
At that time, my Father, Ernest, worked with his Father, and several
other people including Bill Marven, Jack McCormick, and Bill Wilkins.
Across the road, was W.G. Lynch. The grocer, the Stortlord Lodge Hotel,
and next to that Sawyers Furniture store.
Things carried on as most family businesses do until early in 1931, when
my Father had a row with Carl, and he left the business to chip weeds
on the railway, and sell refrigerators , when the earthquake came,
creating the mess that you can see. All the brickwork on the building
collapsed but left the wooden sections virtually undamaged. After the
quake the building was rebuilt.

At this time my Father was offered a job in Nelson, which he took
allowing his parent to occupy our house.
Managing a new Factory in primitive conditions was a challenge, which
lasted for three years when Dad threw the keys across the table and
walked out
We then moved to Marton where Ernest started up his own business,
The Rangitikei Bacon Go, using for the first time “HOLLY” brand, taken
from the Buchanans Flour Mills advertisement in the old Edmonds
Cookery book.
Three years there, and the bank wanted Dad to return to take over the
Elite Bacon Go, in Hastings, but he refused, but returned to Hastings
where a Mr. Harry Mossman, built a new factory in Karamu road, next to
the Public Trust building starting up in February 1938..At this time,
I was starting high school working to help, before and after school. Again
it was “HOLLY” brand bacon and ham. It was, and is today, a quality
product, which soon found a ready market.
!942, I decide to leave New Plymouth Boys‟ High School , and
wondering what to do, was told by my Father, “People always have to
eat” How true. So started the third generation in the business.
During the war years, we were kept very busy supplying both army and
civilian bacon and ham requirements. In our small business we
remember Frank Donnelly who served us very well. During this period, I
was involved with the Hastings Harrier Club, being successful in
provincial terms, having won six out of seven Provincial cross country
titles from 1945-1952.
By the time 1962 came along, we were having trouble with truck access
to the Factory, in Karamu road and new trustees to the Mossman estate
doubled the rent. So, my Dad said, „Time to get out‟ and he purchased a
property on the corner of St. Aubyn street, and Warren street, where we
still are. Here we built a new factory, with good water supply, drainage,
and access.
We had a good business, my Father had retired due to ill health, and the
business continued, successfully.
We had good staff, whom we regarded as Family, remembering Jim
Beattie, Dick Berry, and particularly Judy Jude, who is still with us, these
two having been with us for over twenty years. In the office we
remember Kitty Wishart, Heather Mime, and Gwen Vernon, all of whom
served the Company well.
By 1988 it was time for me to retire, and our third daughter, Claire,
asked if she could join the firm having spent a number of years nursing.
Today, it is still a Family business, there are about six staff there whom
we regard as Family, but stringent Health laws may compel Claire to
move or rebuild.
Our four generations of Bacon curing in Hastings have been exciting,
producing a high quality product for 95 years now, with 100 years not too
far away.
Years ago, we used to get our pigs locally, but gradually the local supply
dried up, and our present pork supplies are mainly transported up from
Canterbury, quickly, in modern refrigerated trucks.
All our pork is from New Zealand grown pigs. No imported product Our
product today is still dry stacked curing with no water added, takes three
to four weeks to mature, ensuring a mild flavoured product. Things have
changed over the years, .Whereas in my years we could not supply
businesses out of Hawke‟s Bay because of no suitable transport, today
there is ample refrigerated transport, which enables us to send our
quality product almost to any part of the North Island overnight, to high
quality restaurants as far away as Auckland and Wellington, which was
not possible previously.
In the early days of my involvement in the business, I used to deliver
orders on a butchers bike round town. We had numerous customers,
such as Coupers store, in Grays road, later R.C. Bauld. Ted Kelly
grocery in Heretaunga street, across the road from Bill Marr. Windsor
Park store and McDonalds Grocery in Taradale, Harold Bush, and
Norman Donkin in Te Mata road Havelock North, together with White &
Glenny, later Bourgeois Bros. And Wilsons Bakery in St Aubyn street,
We are jealous of our association with Hastings and Hawke‟s Bay. My
Mother and father gave two stained glass windows to the new Cathedral
in
Napier in 1960, and in 1964, in celebration of 50 years trading in
Hastings donated a large stained glass window in St.Matthew‟s Anglican
Church in Hastings.
In 1989 we completed the large stained glass window in memory of
canon Button to celebrate 75 years of business in Hastings
Today, Claire runs the business of Holly Bacon Co. Ltd producing a high
quality range of bacon, ham, sausages and other small goods.

Gordon vogtherr : Almost 100 years of Bacon and Ham curing in Hastings

FOUR GENERATIONS BACON CURING IN HASTINGS
Early in the 1900‟s an uncle of my grandfather’s, Mr. Martin, who owned
the original Kiwi Bacon Co in Palmerston North, invited my grandfather,
and his Family to emigrate to New Zealand , to eventually take over the
Kiwi Bacon Co.


When this did not come to fruition, Carl Vogtherr was paid a sum of 1000
pounds, not to start in business within 25 miles of Palmerston North for
five years.
Consequently, the Family moved the Hastings and purchased the Lowe
Brothers Cool store at Stortford Lodge, consisting of fruit cool store, an
ice factory, butchers shop, and bacon factory, named the Elite Bacon
Company.
Read paper cutting.
A delicatessen was opened in Heretaunga street next to the State
Theatre, just along from Otto Shattky, hair dresser, opposite Millar &
Giorgi, on the day war broke put. August 4th 1914.
At that time, my Father, Ernest, worked with his Father, and several
other people including Bill Marven, Jack McCormick, and Bill Wilkins.
Across the road, was W.G. Lynch. The grocer, the Stortlord Lodge Hotel,
and next to that Sawyers Furniture store.
Things carried on as most family businesses do until early in 1931, when
my Father had a row with Carl, and he left the business to chip weeds
on the railway, and sell refrigerators , when the earthquake came,
creating the mess that you can see. All the brickwork on the building
collapsed but left the wooden sections virtually undamaged. After the
quake the building was rebuilt.
At this time my Father was offered a job in Nelson, which he took
allowing his parent to occupy our house.
Managing a new Factory in primitive conditions was a challenge, which
lasted for three years when Dad threw the keys across the table and
walked out
We then moved to Marton where Ernest started up his own business,
The Rangitikei Bacon Go, using for the first time “HOLLY” brand, taken
from the Buchanans Flour Mills advertisement in the old Edmonds
Cookery book.
Three years there, and the bank wanted Dad to return to take over the
Elite Bacon Go, in Hastings, but he refused, but returned to Hastings
where a Mr. Harry Mossman, built a new factory in Karamu road, next to
the Public Trust building starting up in February 1938..At this time,
I was starting high school working to help, before and after school. Again
it was “HOLLY” brand bacon and ham. It was, and is today, a quality
product, which soon found a ready market.
!942, I decide to leave New Plymouth Boys‟ High School , and
wondering what to do, was told by my Father, “People always have to
eat” How true. So started the third generation in the business.
During the war years, we were kept very busy supplying both army and
civilian bacon and ham requirements. In our small business we
remember Frank Donnelly who served us very well. During this period, I
was involved with the Hastings Harrier Club, being successful in
provincial terms, having won six out of seven Provincial cross country
titles from 1945-1952.
By the time 1962 came along, we were having trouble with truck access
to the Factory, in Karamu road and new trustees to the Mossman estate
doubled the rent. So, my Dad said, „Time to get out‟ and he purchased a
property on the corner of St. Aubyn street, and Warren street, where we
still are. Here we built a new factory, with good water supply, drainage,
and access.
We had a good business, my Father had retired due to ill health, and the
business continued, successfully.
We had good staff, whom we regarded as Family, remembering Jim
Beattie, Dick Berry, and particularly Judy Jude, who is still with us, these
two having been with us for over twenty years. In the office we
remember Kitty Wishart, Heather Mime, and Gwen Vernon, all of whom
served the Company well.
By 1988 it was time for me to retire, and our third daughter, Claire,
asked if she could join the firm having spent a number of years nursing.
Today, it is still a Family business, there are about six staff there whom
we regard as Family, but stringent Health laws may compel Claire to
move or rebuild.
Our four generations of Bacon curing in Hastings have been exciting,
producing a high quality product for 95 years now, with 100 years not too
far away.
Years ago, we used to get our pigs locally, but gradually the local supply
dried up, and our present pork supplies are mainly transported up from
Canterbury, quickly, in modern refrigerated trucks.
All our pork is from New Zealand grown pigs. No imported product Our
product today is still dry stacked curing with no water added, takes three
to four weeks to mature, ensuring a mild flavoured product. Things have
changed over the years, .Whereas in my years we could not supply
businesses out of Hawke‟s Bay because of no suitable transport, today
there is ample refrigerated transport, which enables us to send our
quality product almost to any part of the North Island overnight, to high
quality restaurants as far away as Auckland and Wellington, which was
not possible previously.
In the early days of my involvement in the business, I used to deliver
orders on a butchers bike round town. We had numerous customers,
such as Coupers store, in Grays road, later R.C. Bauld. Ted Kelly
grocery in Heretaunga street, across the road from Bill Marr. Windsor
Park store and McDonalds Grocery in Taradale, Harold Bush, and
Norman Donkin in Te Mata road Havelock North, together with White &
Glenny, later Bourgeois Bros. And Wilsons Bakery in St Aubyn street,
We are jealous of our association with Hastings and Hawke‟s Bay. My
Mother and father gave two stained glass windows to the new Cathedral
in
Napier in 1960, and in 1964, in celebration of 50 years trading in
Hastings donated a large stained glass window in St.Matthew‟s Anglican
Church in Hastings.
In 1989 we completed the large stained glass window in memory of
canon Button to celebrate 75 years of business in Hastings
Today, Claire runs the business of Holly Bacon Co. Ltd producing a high
quality range of bacon, ham, sausages and other small goods.