SEVENTY YEARS BACK

Waikato Times, Volume 121, Issue 20278, 21 August 1937, Page 9

SEVENTY YEARS BACK

THE BIRTH OF HAMILTON

ANNIVERSARY ON TUESDAY. PROGRESS FROM EARLY DAYS. It is a far cry to an August day 7 years ago, but the events on th£ occasion laid the foundation of tli town of Hamilton which so prospere in after years. Captain William Steel heading the Fourth Waikato Regimen landed from the gunboat Ranglrirl * a point on the Waikato River in th vicinity of Memorial Park, 73 year *go next Tuesday. Even In Its name Hamilton had heritage, as it was bestowed to com memorate the exploits of a naval com mander. Captain John Fane Charle Hamilton, of H.M.S. Esk, who fell 1: the assault on Gate Pa on April 25 1864. Despite controversies whicl raged over a long period of years, th truth of this, as the origin of th town's name, appears to be unshaken Not the most optimistic settler 1 those early days could have regardei the rough bush and sorub-covere< areas which surrounded the Infan settlement as hospitable, but th< pioneers were men of high hopes nnc boundless energy, and they tacklec the Job of hewing out a home witt 1 courage which Is becoming legendary. There could have been little “ready cash" available, and fev settlers had any capital to develop thel holdings. One of the first projects was the establishment of a sawmil by Messrs Gibbons brothers, and the pioneers were each granted by the Government 1000 feet of timber foi building hutments. Prior to this families had to live In tents. In this connection it 1s interesting to not< that the first house in the town wa: erected in what Is now Naylor Stree by Mr K. J. Pearson. His daughter Mrs E. M. Williamson, who had vlvlc recollections of those early days, diec recently. Maoris Still a Threat. Up to 1865 the Fourth Waikatoa continued on duty as the activities of the Maoris were still a threat to land settlement. Soldier’s pay amounted to 2s 6d a day with biscuit, meat, tea ind sugar rations. In the following year the Government commenced disbanding the regiment, members of which were allotted 50-aore sections. However, the attractions of Waikato land were not realised until a much later generation, and few of the men kept their holdings. The lure of gold, commencing with the first strike fit Thames In 1867, proved an lrroslstJhle magnet to many, and others migrated to the more fortlle fields of the South Island. During the course of the next two decades. Hamilton’s future was moulded by the great land companies which endeavoured to exploit most of the vast tracts of arable land whloh radiated from the town. Operations " • "•* <■ ! very wide scale and naturally Hamilton prospered as the farming progressed. But thore oamo a day when the big land projects became unwieldy, and many fell under the caption of “failure." Those were lean times for the steadily growing town, and temporarily It was a “forgotten land.” Hamilton a Borough. If Hamilton’s development were retarded commercially it had Its olvlo pride, and, with Its proclamation as a borough in October, 1877, its position as a town of future Importance was assured. The following February Mr 1- R. Vlalou was elected the first Mayor of Hamilton. I-n the years that followed to the present day, the fortunes of Hamilton were bound up with the advance of the greatest Industry of the Dominion—dairying. Practically from the time that an overseas market was rendered .available through the Introduction of refrigeration, Iho dairying Industry has never looked back, and probably no town in .New Zealand has benefited so much in consequence as Hamilton. Later came the artificial fertiliser and the transformation of Hie Waikato's pastures. Hamilton was again forced on by the impetus of growing Industry. Later the spectre of slump times again reared its boad, but the confidence of Its founders In the future of Hamilton never wavered. Great Dairying Centre. To-day It appears as the centre of one of the greatest dairying districts In the world, as a vindication of the unshaken confidence of those who laboured through the vicissitudes of its seventy-odd years. The little band of those who know Hamilton In Its Infancy becomes smaller each year, and in the last twelve months two of Its most revered pioneers, Mr Philip l.e Oucsno and Mrs K. M. Williamson. passed away. Mrs Williamson, who was a daughter or the lute Mr E. J. Pearson, landed with Iho Fourth Walkatos, and Mr l.e Oucsne saw the town for the first time two Nears later. Now approaching the status of •> (Continued In next column. >

city, Hamilton owes much to the handful of pioneers who stopped on lo the rlverbank on August 2-4, Ist', i and though In their early struggles these hardy settlors had few worldly were aide to see before the end th.it Iheir oft oris had been rewarded.