AnExtractfromLouisaWorsfoldbook-pg14

Life in the far North
An extract from Louisa Worsfold book
(pgs 97-102 which is not the title above)

At the point of the inside of the entrance to the river was a house among a forest of Lombardy poplars and old fruit-trees, where the first Captain Irving had lived and built boats - I don't know his origin - that is his ship, but he had a wife who was a Sydney-side Saxon of those early days. This is as I heard her described, and certainly his son Walter, who lived at the head of the river, known as the Falls was of predatory habits. He had a maori wife - a very beautiful woman, I was told - She was a daughter of Kemara (Campbell), a chief of Inland at Kaikohe. This Walter was quite a handsome fellow himself, and there was a large and good-looking family. There means of livelihood was a carrying service, across the Bay to Russell.

The cutter was named "The Brothers" and was a fine sailing-boat, and prominent at the regattas that were held annually then. This boat was often sailed by the two boys Sid and Chris, when they were hardly more than children, such fine boatmen they were. There was a landing stage, and goods for the Inland places, that did not go by way of Kawa Kawa river, went this way. Waggons, drawn by bullocks of horses, would meet the boat, which often ran several tips across the Bay to get full cargoes for the bullock-drays. The little cutter did not go to the Falls - I suppose the channel did not suit her draft.

Much later than the time I am now speaking of, a steamer did come and take up this trade.
If, in those days, there came an easterly gale and with it much rain, it interfered greatly with the storing of the goods, if that same weather had made the road trasport difficult - There was also extra water coming over the Falls which are not very high, and I have been told that the whole of that basin of water, where the boats were anchored was almost on a level with the Falls itself - All had to be covered with tarpaulins until the weather abated. Accommodation could be had at Haruru, - that was the name of the place above the Falls, and it was kept by Mr. Louis Clifford Goffe Senior. He gave fare to man and beast and kept a general store and traded in Kauri-gum. Mr.Goffe was an American who had left a ship at Russell, and with him a man named Budlong. Both men married locally - daughters of the original Edmonds, who came to the Church Missions as stone masons, and who built the store at Keri Keri - Mr. Budlong returned to America - they left their ship because they said that Captain use them "like thunder? and they would not go back in the ship and they came to Uncle Hamlyn Greenway to help them - when the Captain was looking for them they were hiding in a culvert in a drain pipe - I don't know where it can have been for I never saw a drain-pipe as big as that.

Ever after, at the opening of the shooting season a brace of Pheasants was sent to uncle, with a card and "with" the compliments of L.C. Goffe. I stayed with Mrs. Goffe, for one night about 1885. I had been visiting at Waimate North with Mrs Williams Davis. I had come down with Mr William Davis - (he was not our uncle but was uncle to our cousins, the Puckeys of Kaitaia) - It was in winter and late in the afternoon and he had come to meet a passenger, so I was left there till next day when someone else was going to Russell in the cutter. All these things had to be pre-arranged, and some times they came out right! Telephones did not exist.

Keri Keri

Well, Walter Irving had this cutter and carried many parcels, because there was no parcels post, and unless friends were going to town, and would shop for you, and bring the goods back with them, this was the way goods had to travel. Mrs. Davis came to Russell to stay with us, as she said in that very boat that carried her parcel of black silk that went astray - He was not on the cutter when she went over the Bay, and she wondered if he stayed behind on purpose. But he must have had an idea that he had better show some concern about a missing parcel, and he called at our house to see her - He had a very smooth tongue and quite gallant wasys and he took off his hat to shade for her face from the sun, and his own head was partly bald - (as she said this added to his manners). He was SO concerned for her loss and promised to do his best to recover it - Of course he didn't - Afterwards she said "I believe the old rascal knows all about it", and she had to leave it at that - or did. Mother did not think that Mrs. Davis had the humour to be amused over such a serious loss. Quite a long while afterwards, Mrs. Mountain, one of Walter Irving's favourites appeared in a new black silk dress. Mrs Hansen had made it, but she would not know its origin. Everyone 'walked out' on a fine Sunday, and this parade excited some comment - the gold watch and long chain which was worn with it, was not - so rare - most people had a goldwatch. Besides there was alot of communications with Sydney even then, and if you had relatives there, well, what of it.
A family like these of Walter Irving, who had that sort of a living to make, and lived at a cross-roads of traffic, made a big difference to any district,as to how they 'ran it' - It reads like a book written out of smuggling days of the English Coasts; and it really was, only the things that disappeared, were not barrels of rum. A bundle of fruit-trees would go to the wrong address - you might hear sometimes thats 'so and so' had such a nice lot of fruit, different to our local sort. And some one in an obscure place, might have a rare breed of fowls - not the kind of people who would import things - These people were not accustomed to being honest, so they did not understand that it might pay better - But times were very hard; how could girls get pretty things when there wasno credit given? Even carriers like they were may have had money for transporting goods owing to them, so why not level things up a bit by taking an odd parcel?

Paihia

The Irving boys, Sid and Chris, were great boatmen when quite young and could sail the cutter across the Bay when quite children - schooling was so scarce that these boys never learnt to read print, but could read addresses on parcels without fail - Sid told me that when he was a middle aged man. I had taken his wife some English illustrated papers, because she was an English immigrant from Surrey, and Sid said he would 'read the pictures' - This girl came to the Bay of Islands as house-keeper to Walter Irving - the daughters wanted to go to work and get money for doing it - then Sid and his father Walter, fought for the possessioin of the house-keeper and Sid won.

    In later times, when there was a considerable family of Sid's, I knew his wife very well - He was doing fishing and she was very sick and I often stayed up with her at night while he was out. I shared vigil with another, night about, for a time. She told me many stories of that time - she was quite honest herself, but she saw alot of pilfering that was not her business to report. Also some funny stories about the people of that area - that is round about the Waitangi Falls. More people lived about in spots than I had any idea of - A little 'oasis' in otherwise poor soil, would have some one living there - ekeing out some sort of a sustenance life but at that time there were may re-mittance men about - whenever there were gumfields or bush-work, there were some of them.
     I heard of a local case when the men were in the port, as they always were for the arrival of English mail. He was evidently expecting a letter with an "enclosure". He got the letter but no "enclosure", so he tore it up saying "there are no guts to it". In the Kaipara district there was a famous case of a remittance man, no one knew that he was a person of title, till he came into a Baronetcy and married Flossie Norton, a pretty girl and the daughter of the local doctor there, (there was in the 1880's). It was said that she was engaged to Frank Dargaville, and there was jealousy enough over that, but that she should capture Sir Edwin Dashwood and go to England with him was TOO much. I was quite young at the time and did not know them personally, but I used to go to my relatives at Whangarei, the Robert Mairs, and there was alot of horse-back communication's with Kaipara.
     Back to Waitangi - How I do digress! but I can't see how these little episodes come in otherwise: they are not worth a chapter ro themselves. I learnt from Mrs Sid Irving many things - small in themselves, about some family connections that had only been conjucture, some of them old then and they have no place here, but no one took notice of her; she was just strange and came from England - too far away to matter. Then she told me - a descendant of 'old tiimers', already 'in the know' in some of the old stories.

Russell

Walter Irving's wife was a Maori - a daughter of Kemara (Campbell), a chief of inland, Kaikohe way - a beautiful women they said, and Kemara disaproved of the match, because all these were just of the 'beach comber' class - and there was quite a family, all with these little 'addictions'. There was one story about 'M - Ms" - I had never heard of this so I think it must have been a sort of 'code-word' - It meant 'missionary - maori', and referred to all mannner of strange progeny - Haruru Waitangi was a halting-place by road and river - for all who did not go to on Paihia - The Missionary element would protest of course, but the alliances were there alright.

All classes of Missionaries were thought mean. So they were in some ways - certainly in the way of money, and in their condecensions to thowe who were not the mission - it was quite comic-opera too, the was they put themselves into classes and behaved to the others - patronage - rather clumsily bestowed - but there was no money, andit was funny too, the way they each took their poverty.
Regattas too were a great feature in those days. A Steamer of one of those companies running into the Bay would be lent as a flagship and the little 'Ida' would ply between it and the wharf at stated times - Some band would play at intervals, though I don't remember where it came from, - but the whole affair was a great gala-time for the port. There were some good boats, locally owned, and some would come from Auckland and 'way-ports', to compete. The Irving's owned a real little 'clipper' named "The Brothers", and those two fine little sailors would be crew and be dressed in sailor suits made of flour-bags, with navy-blue drill collars. The flour-bags at that time were made of linen wasted - that is, uneven strands, but it laundered well, and was much sought after for fancy-work and table-cloths - it had a wonderful gloss when ironed.

Paihia

Personal note: The Pictures did not come out of Louisa Worsfold Book.