MR. HAVBITTLE STORY.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 728, 29 January 1910, Page 12

MR. HAVBITTLE STORY.

V ,; OLDEST, PIONEER. / •• Mr.. W. G. jHaybittle is. the'oldest. New Zealand pioneer;in Feilding. ; He arrived' in : tho Colony in 1853 'as; a : baby .in arms, but "it. was. 1874 .before he came; te Feilding.;/ He rodo over .frbm'Bulls, in crder to .establish -a business, for MrV; B.' R. Lowers.. When Mr. .Haybittle. arrived at .what is new.knpwn>as Sputh Street, he. asked an old lady,; Mrs. G. Hitchinah;'. who gave him a cup of tea, where the town was "and sho answered that he was; standing in'the middle of it. The town then comprisod / three, two-roomed, cottages: and ■: the . collection . of V-shaped weatherboard huts whioh .lined the place now, knpwn as .Manchester. Street,..between the .'Denbigh .Hotel, and Kinibolton •Road. The, residents of thpse' three'.:tworoomed .cottages are. still living..'; They are Messrs. Towler and Pleasants,V and Mrs.. Hitohings./; A family : whioh :.re-; sided on a Native .reserve, a.portion,;of which is the; present Feilding,racecourse, wasthe Whisker; family,- J. and W. "I arrived," said Mr. Haybittle; to a Dominion representative, "to''open' up a. now business with 24- yards double-width calico,: a;,hammer, and a saw.: It rained hard' all th'b' time, /and-1 was miserable; so I returned to 8u115,.; and- suggested to Mr. Lewers/that ho should buy a section nnd erect, a store; This suggestion. was carried out,' and I undertook, tho business. What was,Feilding. in thnse days? Well, it was certainly - not. inuch'. of: a place.. In addition to the buildings already'• referred to- there was Mr.' Peter ' Barthplpmew's sawmill '.working on what is. now known as Stafford Street. The bush .extended right/over to the railway lino. Tho present site.of the town was a Has' swamp. Many of tho".-emigrants were very disappointed. When "a start was made,to;build.houses. generally, .tho area bnilt upon .was, Warwick', -King, and Quejon. Streets. V The, contract .work was. oasy to those who understood the labour. .There'•■ were., not 'a- great number of, Maoris. .Colonel: Feilding received a vo'ry,' good reception when ho, visited the place' in 1870. ..He made a speccli,. and promised a /lot of;things. '". HisVreprcsenta-' tives, sueppssively Messrs. Halcombe and Macartliur, w<ire very ' good sprt of people, and' I bclievo they did what, they could to lighten the task of the pioneers. Goods were usually' brought in.on horso drays, but, all things considered (the roads at times being quite untro'fficable), food was not very dm, My place stood

where Gruer Thompson's stands now. It was a two-storied place, and was called the iron store. It was generally recognised that Feilding had a good future,', and those English pioneers, who took up their forty-acre sections in Makino, have done well. When things began to. go ahead a bit easily, a number of fairly, well-to-do' Englishmen cameont and toot up property. With theih came the farm oudet, or ; Jackeroo" as he is called in the,, colonies. '•" These young men were somewhat high-spirited/.. and '.. they used at times .to make a, practice' of racing their horses up and' down the Kimboftpn: Road and across the paddock and over the fences between the post office and Darragh's. These incidents ' were interesting, especially . on. Sundays, but. eventually they, became unduly, riotous,' and the \ business was .stopped -.-; by : the. constable/ Hastic's was the first hotel. The .first occupant, ■ 'J. .Cameron, died sixteen days:after,he assumed possession.. He was followed by I. Brown,'who sold to Mrs. Eiisti«.. When.the corporation .ended its existence it was selling.its town sections at £15 per 'fool.-,. Knvitcn'• Block was so'.d by the Gov? rniit'ent/. 20,000 acres-, at .£1 per acre..lt is very, valuable now."