Since working with my
father on his first book, Many Roads from Hauiti – a
Tolaga Bay memoir, in 2001, I have been collecting information on the
Wigan Settlement, a Liberal Government “lands for the people” initiative of
1903. I received a research grant in 2002 from the Margaret Spencer Writer’s
Encouragement Trust to continue this work, which to date (May 2005) is now
nearing completion.
In January 2004, over fifty
descendants of the original 1903 settlers, subsequent landowners, former pupils
of Wigan School and other interested people, met to commemorate 100 years since
the first leases were taken up. The following is a transcript of the item
published in the Gisborne Herald
some days later:
“The Wigan Sports
Grounds at Takapau, inland from Tolaga Bay, resounded on Saturday [24th
January] to reminiscences spanning nearly 90 years. Over fifty people connected
with the area gathered to commemorate the centennial of land being selected in
the Wigan Settlement in late 1903.
Among those
attending the picnic were three members of the James family; Oswald James
(Hamilton), Lois Mossman (Gisborne) and Audrey Finch (Gold Coast, Queensland).
They attended Wigan School in the 1920s and 1930s.
"Our father, O.G. James, came as a cadet from
Liverpool to work for Thomas Utting, one of the original Wigan settlers, and
went to the First World War from there," said Mr. James. "Dad later
leased a farm known as Te Parae, on the adjacent Mangaheia No.2 block. Whilst
times were tough, we value our upbringing in this district, and take every
opportunity we can to return to Tolaga Bay."
Descendants of many of the original
seventeen selectors in the Wigan Settlement, along with subsequent owners,
were represented at the gathering. There were messages of greeting
from descendants of James
MacFarlane, who sold 10,400 acres of freehold land from Takapau Station to the
Crown in early 1903.
"Takapau Station, which carried 22,000 sheep
and 1500 cattle in 1900, was one of the largest properties in the Tolaga
Bay area at the time," says Stephen Donald, who is researching the history
of the Settlement. "Once subdivided, the carrying capacity of the farms
was little different from surrounding large properties. But the social and
economic effects for the immediate area and Tolaga Bay were considerable, and
in terms of the Liberal Government's aims, the settlement was considered a
success."
In recent years, an annual horse sports has been
held at the Wigan grounds, on the farm owned by Stuart (Boydie) Donald,
a great-grandson of Robert McNeil, the original selector of the Takapau
homestead block. Two successful Wigan
sales of locally-bred horses have taken place, the next sale scheduled for
early April this year [2004].”
I am still looking for
photographs and information on the people and properties in this settlement. If
you can help I would much appreciate it. Please email me at [email protected]
or write P.O. Box 14, Tolaga Bay, 3854, New Zealand.
In particular, I am after
PICNIC BOOKLET
I produced a booklet
outlining “research in progress” for the picnic in 2004, which can be
downloaded in PDF format from http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~nztolagabay/res/wigan-picnic-booklet-2004.pdf
In addition to an outline
of the history of the area, this booklet contains some details of Wigan and
Mangaheia schools, and other land subdivisions in the district.
Hard copies are also held
in the H.B. Williams Memorial Library and
at the National Library, Wellington. If
you are quoting from this booklet, please acknowledge the source.