Jubilee Recalls Incidents In Building Of St. Mary's

Chronicle (Levin), 16 September 1949, Page 4

Jubilee Recalls Incidents In Building Of St. Mary's

* , WHen the contractors are engaged. td' demolish St. Mary's Anglicah Church, Levin, in, parishioners hope,- the not too far ;off future when..a peFrmit is sb'cufed for a new building, "the ghances are that they will disoover the oliginal docuiriehfs5 in eonnecfidh with its erectidfi. Accofdiiig fo one pf4thd persohswho helped build the ehurch 'way -back in 1896*, these papers are contained in a easket in a totara pile oh the ndfth-east corhef of the building.

Yqurjiewsman's informant is- Mr. Johri Gardener Speirs, of Foxton Rpad, who, with his father. built St. Mary's and the cost was £300.. Mr. Speirs was Hien a lad of 17. His fat-her was the late Alexander Speirs. Father and soh wdfe assisted i'h the project by a-nother man whom Mr, Speirs only recalls as being named "Darky." The overseer of the work was the late Mr. Walton Staff. Mr. Speirs was one of those- . inyit'ed to attend the chufch'a jubflee celebtations ahd he Was present at the banquet held last week. The late Mr. B.R. Gardener was chairman of the town board at the time and to celebrate the church's opfening he declared a public holi-: day . for the town, said Mr. Speirs in the coiirse of an interview. Everyone turned out and the weather was perfect, he added. Although the church was o'pened, it was not consecrated until April 16, 1869. ' When work first begah on. the church there was heavy bush on the north-east side of the section | and stumps and scrub in the front. As father and son resided in Foxton they had to travel backwards ahd forwards . at weekends, which was an arduous journe'y iri those days. Both ro'de over by frieahs o'f a sole aged mare. The father would ride on along a narrow bush track and after a distance he woUld dism'ount and tie the horse to a tree. Thb son, following on foot, would catch up with tfie horse, which Had by that time benefited from a rest, and a ride forward to another point, dismounting ahd leavihg the

horse for his father. And so it wehf on rlght thfougli the .bush for the 13-odd mhes to Levin. Passing through y' Poroutawhao they pfteh skirted Maori encampments, ahd Mr. Speirs related that. he received his biggest fright when in a dark, lonely - area- he camearound a bend to. be confronted with two aark.flgures holding guns at the alert. . They pfbved to be two Maori women. As he passed- he he'ard one of. them 'whisper to the other, .'•Pakehd.'' ifie , Maof tis&cT to ligfit fires tp keep thb devils away and he often saw . these glowlfig as He passed through the bush.* - The chufch' -was ' efectfd ih a period of six . months, the timber being .donated by the" late Mr. Bartholomew. All, the joinery work, se'ats, windows and' doors were niade on the spot. Mr. Speirs said that besides. the Levin church, '.he and h'fs father' were connected with the erection of se'vefal big buildings in Wellington, notably the General' Post Ofiice. They also built two hotels in Foxton and two churches, be-. sl'des many dweliirigs. In conclusion Mr. Speirs recalled that one man who had done much good work.in connection with the erection of the' St. Mary's Church was later the subject of a local "mystery." He was Mr.. Bail.ey, then - secretary of- the town board; who had suddeniy disappear'ed. There Jwas no apparent reason for his dis-, j appearance, all his books ' beihg in ! order, but strange to say he Was never seen again and no light was ® ever thrown on his disappearance.