WILLIAM WALLACE

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 15 November 1924, Page 16

WILLIAM WALLACE

WAR REMINISCENCES. EARLY NEW ZEALAND. The sen of settlers from the North of Ireland who arrived in Wellington ’ in 1846. where two years later he was born, Mr William Wallace has a memory stored full with incidents dating from those great times of the late forties through the exciting and troublous times- of the sixties right on •to the present day. Though he is now six years over man’s allotted span, his mind is as clear as a young man’s, and his memory is a thing of which to mar vel. It is a veritable storehouse of happenings during a long and, in the earlier part of his manhood especially, most adventurous and thrilling life. The more one talks to him—and he loves to talk over old times, as it were, like Goldsmith’s veteran, who “shouldered his crutch and showed how fields were won.’’ But. there is no need of such support for Mr Wallace —he i s still hale and hearty—the more one listens we repeat, the more is it matter for regret that all his recollections are not got together and permanently put on record. To return to the subject of our sketch. Mr Wallace first saw the light of day in Wellington in 1848, when the Land Company’s settlement was in its infancy. Wellington was a tiny place then, and he well recalls, though just a child, many incidents connected with, and many surrounding features of the

little Tlie Maoris had been troublesome, as everyone will remember—tales of, Te Bauparaha and his fighting men on their greats raids up and down the length and' Breadth of the two islands probably troubled and thrilled and, perhaps, frightened liis child mind. These, stories would Be endorsed By the presence of- soldiers in the military Barracks on Upper’ and Lower Mt. Cook —who that lias lived in Wellington does not know Mt. Cook Barracks, now, alas, at one end’ replaced By a prison, on one of , the. most gorgeous sites in the city? That barracks, once the home of regulars, was afterwards occupied by the Armed Constabulary, the • A.C. ’s as they were familiarly called. They were a fruit of the war in Taranaki, and many a settler now alive here served in that fine corps raised in the early part, of 1868 and is still living on the land he acquired in those strenuous times. “I was born in Wellington in 1848,” said Mr Wallace, “ and 3J quite well re: member the , great earthquake in January, 1855, which caused great dam-

age arid left vast cracks in the earth on the hills round the town. So far as I can recall the only person killed was a Baron Alsdorf, German Consul, I who was killed by the fall of a great pier glass in his own .house. Hardly 1 a chimney was left, standing; I left Wellington for Wanganui at the of I October, 1855, in a schooner called the Mary Jane. The trip took twelve days, In those early days money seemed very scarce in Wanganui, as a good many of the shopkeepers used to give 1.0.U.’s instead ■ of . change. Of course, other shops took the T.O.U. ’s the same as hcasli.,; There was great excitement when the Wonga Wonga, the first steamer to do so, steamed up the Wangaiiui river in the late ’sols. This was the. steamer that saw the Orpheus go down in the' Mamikau harbour in February, 1803. There were no banks, and these 11.0.U.’s formed a basis 'of! exchange and were a form of currency; taking a very .valuable part in business in those ■early days. Te Aro Flat, Johnny Martin’s shop (where as a kid lie went for sweets. jLuxford’s slaughterhouse on the beach, I the Anglican Church in Willi s street I (where he used to go to church and I Sunday School, and where he believed [he was' baptised), Rev. Father I O’Reilly’s little church, the races at I Birming Water, near Lyall or Island [Bay, to which the whole population [turned out in bullock drays, waggons, and other vehicles, one man riding a [white bullock, an old bricklayer named [Howell —these and many other ineiI dents and people were mirrored on his [child mind and recur to him as he looks [back over the mists of well nigh [seventy years. “I recall, too,” added Mr Wallace, “being taken to, a tea [party given bv Lady Grey just before [sir George left for .the Cape after his [first period as Governor and Com-|mander-in-Chief. 1 | Tlie great store in those days ■ in | Wanganui was Taylor and Watt’s, a [firm who had an emporium where everv- [ thing was kept from a needle to an [anchor, practically. They, bought, hides, [wool and other produce, and owned a [little vessel arid wharf. Later they nc[quired a brig, the Lady Denniston, [which .'used to • trade with Australia |and bring back, amongst other things, [Australian flour aud potatoes. She took [over baqon and butter, the latter in llcegs made of white tawa. It is a matIter of history that Taylor was washed loff the ship in a big blow near Kapiti land never seen again. Many old setItlers will recall the fine clipper ship ■the Avalanche, which was sunk in a ■collision in the English Channel, with ■great, loss of life. It is a matter of ■melancholy interest to know that Miss Taylor, Miss Watt and Mrs Shield, a sister of Mr Ewen Campbell, of Wa.nganui, were among those lost. There was also one whole family named Wilkin lost, all but one boy, who did not go. An incident connected with the Wanganui River which came to his mind 'will bear repeating. The Provincial Council decided that the river should be bridged, and after some negotiations let the contract to a' bridge builder named Mailman (a son of this man now liver, at Oliawe). Timber of the best kinds was collected and all made ready, some of the piles being actually driven, when a very, heavy flood swept it nearly all away. Dr. Featherston revoked the contract, and later, when as Superintendent he came up to open the fine steel bridge now existing, or to see the driving of the first pile, he said it was dreadful that one of the timbers should be left to haunt him in liis work as Minister.* In those days the Maoris would come down the river with potatoes, pigs, peaches, and other produce. They would put their favourite tobacco on floor and measure with a piece of print fur which they would barter, or they would put their favourite tobaeeon on the spuds and accept, this in exchange. After a few years more or Jess eventful, Mr Wallace, at the age of twelve went to work on a farm, Mr Wicksteed’s, near Kai Twi, and milked cows and did farm work until lie was sixteen. “Well do I remember the place,” said Mr Wallace, “and every time 1 go to Wellington T see oil- the left in the hills behind Kai Iwi the old farm, with, in those days, its eiay house, thatched with straw on top of interlaced nikau fronds, making an ideal residence.”. Mr Wicksteed was one of the old New Zealand Land Company’s emigrants, and had been many

years in . the colony. Descendants of his still live in; Wanganui. Near by were ether farms —for many years the frontier- farms—Hewitt's, who was killed. By Maori fanatics, Peat’s, Trevveek’s at Bapanui, and the wellknown Mission Station. There, under AUsworth.- the 'schoolmaster, and several fine missionaries,: the young Maoris were taught the four B’s. and also farming. They had a flour mill,, a farm, and from the -Old -Country came many consignments of clothes from the Missionary Society. Among those educated there was-Kereopa, the Waitotara rebel, who was afterwards a ■ noted figure in the wars. ’ rln those days young Wallace used to read the Tara--1 naki papers ■ giving accounts of barj barities perpetrated by the natives and, i longing to have a shot at them, to wonder if he would Be drawn, into the conflict. ”1 recall, too,” said Mr Wallace, “that I milked cows on that farm 'which came from Omata, from stock imported from. Australia by Peter Imlay, bearing the Twofold Bay brand. ” It will be of interest to recall the fact

» that Mr Wieksteed, when first he ,came to Wellington, erected a house which he brought from England in sections, with I French windows. It must have been ! .an exceptional occurrence. ’ - Cattle during the war and the opening of the gold diggings, which events occqrred about the 'same' time, were very high, but soon after they fell away to a very low figure. “In March,' I 860,” continues Mr Wallace telling his story,) ‘ ‘ The Maori war started at Wait-ara, and caused a. lot of anxiety to the out-settlers of Wanganui) as it was not known which side: th;e Wanganui Maoris would take. All overland' communication between Taranaki "and-..Wanganui ■ was stopped far sonae years, for av.med parties. About 1860 the diggings started in the South Island, and a large number left Wanganui to’ try their luck.’ I never heard of anyone making a pile. However, there seemed to be more money in circulation, as all produce semed to take a rise; The settlers furthest out had a rough time, and would be- warned, sometimes late in the day to' get into town as soon as possible, as. alarming news had come through. This state of affairs went on for . a long time.. The Waitotara block of land was bought from the natives, I think about the year 1860, by the Provincial Government. In 1864. Wanganui people tried to “cut the-painter.” with Wellington and become a separate province, and they reckoned to get a lot of money from the sale of the Waitotara land, but Dr. Featherston,. the Superintendent, got in first and sold, and there was no more talk about a separate province. The land was sold at- 10s and ■ even. 5s per acre. The natives would not . allow tlie land to be . occupied for a long time after the .sale. It was on this land that the first clash between the troops and Maoris took plmce'on January 24, 1865 •at Nukumaru. Patea was reached by rtroops in February, and a camp established there, and there were several other posts as far as Waingongoro in March. About this time New ,Zealand started a self-reliant policy and let. the Imperial forces go. So they started to enrol their own army. Soldiering having been in his family for several generations—his father belonged to the gallant 65ths, his sons fought in the Great War, and he lost a son and a nephew, while a 'grandson also carries a reminder in the shape of a bullet in his lung—it was but natural that, when men were wanted in 1865. when he Avas barely seventeen, he should offer and be accepted. “In April. 1865, I joined the Wanganui Yeomanry Cavalrv for three year* or until legally discharged, and wa* on active service from the start on this and also on the East coast. In June, 1866. the surveyors started to survey the land taken from the Maoris under the Confiscation Act. Early in August. 1866, the Colonial forces under Colonel McDonnell, took up a post at Hawera. better known to tlie pakelia as the Kourid Bush. It is some distance’ from the *'ttoAA r n of BaAvera, on the , ManaAvnnou road. 'ln September the same vear Woihi , av-s established. A redoubt Avas built there and became headouarters. At this time the best fighting unit of the, force, the Patea Bano'ers. left, as their time Avas up, and the Government refused to give a further grant of ten of land to stay on. Tn October Sir G. GreA- arriA'ed in camp, and there was a good maiiA- skirmishes round Norinanby, the last at Tirinioana with natiA r es from Eraser road. TheA’ Avent. back and started a new settlement across the Ngaere sAvamp. Seine of* the Hapns took the oath of allegiance, but only to break it again the first opportunity. The Imperial troops Avere AvithdraAvn from the coast in April, 1867, and things Avere fairly quiet for some time. The Colonial furees got their land, but most of the men sold and left the district. Although there were no roads or bridges a great number of people from Wanganui came and made a start, only to be driven off in .Tune, 1868, Avhen the natives Avere once more on the warpath, and the game was all in their own hands for some wonths. We had lest two hundred men in four months, killed, Abounded and missing) and nothing to show on our side. In November the main body of Colonial trqops had withdrawn to the other side of the Kai lAvi stream, 10 miles from Wanganui. There was a small garrison of settlers left in the. Wnverley redoubt Avith three , months ’ supplies. There Avere also a few men left at Patea. Te

Kooti was uoav playing havoc on the East Coast, Tavo divisions of the A.C. Avere sent from Wanganui, to Poverty Bay; so what were left von this coast could only v act on the defensive. Colonel Whitmore -was noAv in coni; mand,. and during the Tavo months he Avas at Poverty Bay a. great number of recruits arrn r ed from Australia and the South Island. We had a camp at Westmere, four miles from Wanganui, and putting the new lands into shape was the order of tlie day. On January 19, 1869. camp AA-as struck, and'Ave re- - crossed the Kai Iwi, on. our wav. back to retake the coast, On February .1 the whole force, about 1000 strong, camped close to l TitokoAvaru’s. stronghold, Taurangaiaka, near Nukumaru - . A fe%v men came out of the pa 1 and gave us a real Maori Avelcome and hoped we would send on the fat ones , in front. The. force moved up next morning in readiness to. storm . the place, but, as luck would have’it, the natives had left. The pa was very strong, and would have cost a lot bf lives. We had no big guns to make a breach. Tito noiv crossed.-the Waitotara and Avas getting back to his own country, when lie was surprised at Otauto, on the left bank of the Patea riA r er some distance up, on March- 13, 1869, and, 1 it may be noted, it Avqs the last engagement in the Taranaki Maori AA'ar, which, had been going an for nine years. There Avere. twenty Avhite' men killed and Avounded in! this

the last fight. By the end of March we Avere back to Waihi, and not -a ■Maori - '’.betweenWanganui, and Waingongoro to be seen. ” . ' It is interesting to. recall , that l at 'one time there Avere ten thousand Imperial troops in the. Dominion', ,ari.d many Avere brought to the country ,i'n or around "Wanganui., . They included some of the most fambus 12th, 14th, 38th, 50th, 43rd, 57th, 40th, 68t.h, 6.5 th, 70th, and others. ,Mr: Wallace took part iq many his-, toric engagements—Otauto, Moturoa, Taurangaika, Fraser Boad, Te Ngutu-o-te-Manu—these readily occur to one’s mind—on the West Coast; and Opotiki on the East Coast, avli ere. he; as a young trooper, rode in the famous charge, one of the few cavalry charges ill the Maori Avar. When men. were being selected for the campaign -to Waitotara, nearly all liis company Ayere taken, and lie, being father below middle height and slim built; was at first overlooked by the commanding officer. Then up spoke Sergt.Majbr Kenrick (an uncle, it may be added, of Magistrate Kenrick). “What about Wallace, Sir? ; He is a capital horseman ‘and. almost the only . one not taken. ” The result ‘was that Wallace ■ was taken, and that seemingly unimportant incident Avas perhaps a turfiing point,in liis life. . ■ ’ ’ One little actibn in Avhicli he Avas is worth recounting because of; it s proxr ■ iniity to HaAvera. -There .-was a Maori fortified Afillage, named Popohi, on the Fraser road, just about yliere. Mr Bic.hard Thompson’s homestead noAV stands. Capt. McDonnell had gone, out '-'with; the: force .in the darkness of an October morning, but had retired with? out attempting capture. Governor Grey) Avho was then in the. district, ordered a force t.o assemble at, Waihi. This was done, and they stormed the place , and burnt, the. village; “B> B. Hamilton and I,” said My Wallace, “Avere with the Wanganui Cavalry, with whom also Avete the; Bangers and friendly natives. - Colonel Bock decided to give the Begulars the post, of honour to oyer the-top first. W:e were standing aAvaiting the order to go Avhen Hamilton said, Ho not -let them go without us. ’ We', too,’"therefore AA’ent over with .them; and'were absolutely up with the Tommies at the palisades of the fort. Actually only one man, Handley, .was killed. "-When the Maoris heard .the rush they fired a volley, and the column opened'like a book in tAVO sections and 1 stood hesitating. Then Q ’Callaghan, of the Wanganui Bangers, called “Charge,” and the line went on to capture -the I place in a feAv minutes. The Maoris retired to Tiritirimoana (Sea View). They stayed in ‘there, heaf the Ngaere SAvamp until 1869. This little engagement Avas the ; last ini which British troops took, part in New Zealand. In ' October, 1866, the Colonial troops took ■ p?rt: in a series of small engagements Avith the object of harrying the Maoris and giving them no,rest. A nuniber of men were lost, including those whose names are on the cairn erected by the late James Livingston at Olva Ave, and in addition T. Sheahan, drowned in the Waingongoro, Higgirison, died of typhoid,:Wright, Duff, and Green killed in action. Of the Greek, Oeconaemodos, Mr Wallace said:“He was a brave man if ever there was one, and died fighting for his adopted country.” j .. In Mareli, 3869, the Armed Constabulary, under Whitmore, Avith Avliom Wallace AA r as sei-Aung, rooted out the Maoris aa'lio had retired to the Ngaere swamp, and found that Titokowaru was there. The force rtruck in from Te Both: “We followed the Maoris,” says Mr Wallace, “to Tirinioana, where there was a settlement —this, it may be added, was the reason for erecting the Turuturumokai Bedoubt, the last built by the Eoval Irish in 1866. We had great difficulty in getting across, the swamp. For three days and nights Ave were making fascines to get over, but they capsized pretty easily. After some trouble, lioA\ T ever, Ave got across and surprised tlie Maoris, avlio Avere from Fraser Boad and had formed a new settlement. These natives had a plantation Avith crops, maize just forming into milk in the cobs. We Avere short of food, and greedily ate the maize raw. Tito and his braves Avere on another spur, , and Ave were unable to fire on them because of the danger of hitting some of the Avomenfolk.” Mr Wallace had a great opinion, of Sir George Grey, and says he was a tactician who believed in avoiding frontal attacks oii fortified places. This strategy he put into action on seA r eral occasions A\ T ith excellent results. Sir George, too, adopted and folloAved out the policy “Don’t fire on the Maoris if they allow you to take possession of the disputed land.” Unfortunately this did not often happen, and more’ often than not the natives fired first. This policy no doubt it Avas that led to the opinion so often expressed that Grey Avas partial to the Maoris. Mr Wallace said also that the correct method of fighting the Maoris Avas not adopted for a long time. He belie\ r ed the secret Avas to attack as soon as opportunity demanded and follow up closely, not allowing them to get aAvay., This they did not like, and the policy proved A-ery successful in the later stages. Talking of the men Avho Avere Avith the volunteers Avhen he joined as a youth of seventeen, Mr Wallace said they were a. splendid crowd of caA T alrv men. Among' them Avere younger sons of good family, Avell educated, and many others in similar circumstances, including two who had studied for medicine and got partially through. One man, lie remembered, had gone through tAvo fortunes. Another Avas a gon of

a colonel, and yet another/had a brother in the Regular forces. His own captain was a fine man, named.'Percy, and he was the first wounded at Opotiki. The wound eventually proved fatal. The first lieutenant was Macpherson, an uncle of the Macplterson who was manager of the Loan. Company here some years ago. He it was who ,was in command of the famous cavalry charge at Opotiki. The second lieutenant or coronet, as he was called, was Richard Kenrick. Orlando Kenrick was his sergeant-major, a fine looking man, who left New Zealand afterwards and settled in North Australia, where he died.

Another little stunt Mr Wallace was engaged in was the expedition to Pipiriki to relieve Major Brassey, the officer 'who sent down a message couched in Latin, and so escaped the. sharp notice of the natives. Later Major Brassey was replaced by Major Stapp, an officer well known in New Plymouth and Hawera.

It is somewhat surprising, to know that , the Waimate Plains were crossed only once by Mr Wallace, in 1867. He 'vas '.with - a company of volunteer militia-—so called because they were under the regulations for six months. They got. the munificent sum ,of 2s Gd per day. When the Imperial troops: were ordered to evacuate Warea, these volunteers had to go to Warea to relieve them. They left behind half their number and tramped back from Opunake to Waihi in one day in heavy marching order. There was no settlement at all between the two plaees. When they got there they wanted to go.no further. On the,return journey from Warea they expected trouble and were sent out in skirmishing order through heavy, tall fern, which, had the Maoris b£en : hostile, would have given excellent chances for ambushing. No hostile move was seen, and they came baek unmolested.

Another good forced march in heavv order was put up by a force of Patea Rifles under Major Blake, when they had to reach Wanganui in a short time if they were to catch the boat at Wanganui to go to the East Coast. It was heavy going/mostly Over sandhills, but -they were equal to the job and reached their destination in good time. Concluding his thrilling story, told ro- modestly; Mr Wallace said: “It was; not long after - the ■ last shot was- fired when the settlers began to flock back oil .to their, ruined farms, the only consolation being that there seemed no chance of having to ,clear out from the Maoris again. The military were now put on to make /roads, and .'some of the streams were bridged, so that settlement has gone ahead ever Since. Hawera was not laid out for a town; it was cut up in teu-acre blocks and sold for £4 per acre early in 1870 only to settlers who had land .in the district. Patea was the centre for; a long time, a.<s all supplies came through there or overland from . Wanganui. Sheep arnle cattle were very low, in price, best fat bullocks sellihg at £5 per head, and sheep boiled down for the fat. : In 1873 the Provincial Council struck ii rate of- one peimy per acre on all land in South Taranaki. There was a lot of growling at/first over it..

*‘Cobb’s coaches started to run soon after the war, .in fact, .before the main road was'finished. Messrs Peacock and. Heslop • brought over some fine stock from Napierj and no doubt had a lotito do with starting the' first A. and P. Show in the Pdtea district. It was only a : ohfe;day ,show. The good, old Shorthorn was ; in ’the front row iir those days. The show was held at Waverley on one occasion, but was not a’success; it was hot .much of a turnout.., After being held in Hawera for the first few we little thought in those days that it would become one of the best shows in New Zealand.”

These are some of the war time ex> periences of our good friend, Mr W. Wallace, got from him in a friendly tallc. It was all most interesting, and its. recital will, it is hoped, not- be with-: out interest to the people of to-day, who owe so much, and in many cases everything, to the pioneers who faced hardship and danger, fought and toiled in those strenuous days, that posterity might enjoy the blessings of peace.