Two Barefoot Boy Behind the Plough 1881

CHAPTER TWO

Barefoot Boy Behind the Plough

Nearly all the rural districts throughout the country had now been settled and farmed for some years but trading opportunities in the fast-developing province of Taranaki were seen by many, who had successfully cut their teeth elsewhere in New Zealand, as rich pickings. They came from far and wide, where farming and rural communities along with supporting agricultural enterprises had already been hard won and established. The New Zealand Co-operatives Association notes: ‘The earliest record of co-operatives in New Zealand reports the formation of farmer trading co-operatives in Timaru and Christchurch in 1881’. However, organised pastoral farming, with all the necessary supporting commercial infrastructure, was yet to arrive in the province of Taranaki.

A number of extremely able men and their families settled the small towns slowly becoming established. There was of course a contingent of local Taranaki entrepreneurs who had already entered the trading arena and were operating from New Plymouth and as the years progressed their enterprise and popularity made them household names. One such gentleman was Newton King, a native of New Plymouth and son of Thomas King, one of Taranaki’s early prominent settlers. On leaving school at the age of 16, Newton was employed in the offices of Webster Brothers, wine, spirit, coal and general merchants until 1879, where he gained considerable experience in the butter industry. In 1879 he went into business on his own account. He ‘auctioned everything and anything – land, goods, horses and stock’ and over the years his company Newton King Limited became one of Taranaki’s most successful proprietary businesses and the subject of this history’s main competitor. The two companies worked side by side in relative harmony, in many cases sharing saleyard facilities and interchanging stock and station personnel throughout the 1900s.

The year 1880 marked the dawn of a new age for South Taranaki. The first trains arrived in town from the north and a newspaper, the Hawera and Normanby Star, commenced publication and had a major impact on communications and transport. Many new businesses opened their doors as the district raced towards the beginning of the 20th century. Until now livestock were more often bought and sold privately between farmers. However, rural commerce was about to change dramatically, with experienced stock and station agents coming onto the scene and vying for business with panache and flair and courting the farming fraternity to acquire a slice of the new business in the district.

A highly successful ‘flourishing business – one of the largest in Taranaki’, so it was said, opened in 1880. Robert Howard Nolan (later Sir Robert) was born in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia in 1855, the son of well known Mr David Nolan, an Auckland stock and station auctioneer of Messrs Hunter and Nolan. Robert was educated at Wesley College and Auckland College and Grammar School. He ‘struck out for himself’ on the Thames goldfields, but like many others subsequently returned to Auckland and entered the warehouse of Messrs McArthur and Co. He later represented

the same firm in the ‘South Sea Islands’ and married the daughter of Major Durie of Wanganui and had three daughters and a son. His own establishment, R. H. Nolan, auctioneer and stock and station salesman, was opened in Hawera in 1880, two years later he was joined by Arthur Sydney Tonks as a junior partner, also the son of a well known Auckland auctioneer, the late Benjamin Tonks. Arthur married Miss Nolan, sister of his partner and they had two sons and a daughter. The partnership was very successful and continued until October 1907 when the business was sold to the well established New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Co. Ltd managed by A. R. Buchanan, although it appears that both partners continued to operate as auctioneers with the new company for ‘a year or two’. The firm held sales at Hawera, Manaia, Opunake, Eltham and Kakaramea and also conducted land and property sales at well-appointed premises in Regent Street, Hawera. A number of established companies in neighbouring towns and provinces recognised the opportunity to widen their net, including a stock and station R. H. Nolan, senior partner in the firm of Messrs Nolan, Tonks agency with over 15 years experience – New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company Ltd. On 17 April 1880 an advertisement appeared: and Co., Hawera, president of the Egmont Racing Club NEW ZEALAND LOAN AND MERCANTILE AGENCY CO. LIMITED and Opunake Racing Club, chairman of the Mokoia Domain Capital £3,000,000 Board, director of the Hawera The company makes advances on stations, on stock, on growing clips of wool and other Permanent Building Society, produce; and receives consignments of wool, hemp, grain, tallow, preserved meats, leather, and chairman of directors of the horns &c, for sale in London on commission, at rates that may be learned on application to Hawera Gas Company. the company’s office. CLIFFORD PHOTOGRAPHER. COURTESY OF COLLECTION PUKE ARIKI. PHO2006-207 Office and Warehouse, Victoria Street, Wanganui.

The Egmont Farmers’ Union Limited Horse Fair, Hawera 1897.

Further information may be obtained from the agents of the Bank of New Zealand at Normanby, Hawera, Carlyle [Patea] and Waverley.

Soon others were soliciting business through the Hawera and Normanby Star and on 1 May 1880 an advertisement appeared: Freeman R. Jackson Will hold his Sales for Stock – during the month of May, as follows:ST. HILL STREET – Wednesday 5th WAVERLEY – Friday 14th ST. HILL STREET – Wednesday 19th HAWERA – Friday 21st ST. HILL STREET – Wednesday 22nd June Settlers will kindly forward their entries FREEMAN. R. JACKSON – AUCTIONEER

A few years later, in 1884, Freeman R. Jackson sold his business north of the Waitotara River to the Taranaki firm Quinlan and Mander, and with the sale went the yards at Waverley.

The steady proliferation of stock and station agencies in South Taranaki sent a strong message to the farming community that this was indeed a very healthy and prosperous industry, yet the falling value of livestock around the coast was not reflected in the cost of disposing of them. There were no farming organisations to express concern over what appeared to be exceptionally high Freeman R. Jackson and Co., stock and station agency and auctioneering business, was sales commission rates. The New Zealand Farmers’ Union was still ten years established in Wanganui in 1874. away from inauguration. The only voices heard within the farming community The business operated in the were those of a number of small Farmers’ Clubs that met in local districts, with Wanganui, Manawatu, Horowhenua little or no affiliation. and Wellington districts, including In a growing desire for self-determination, farmers decided to use their collective strength to get equitable treatment and reduce overheads. The problem Hawera. It was merged with Newton King Ltd in 1971 and became part of the Crown Group.was there was no central body to organise and co-ordinate any action. One of COURTESY OF ALEXANDER TURNBULL LIBRARY, the few organisations to bring local farmers and residents of the town together WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND. B-K 82-1366 was Hawera-based Egmont District Agricultural & Pastoral Association, inaugurated in 1884. It had an extremely strong, vibrant membership, was forward thinking and well supported. The Association’s annual spring show was ‘recognised throughout New Zealand as the premier dairy show of the country’. The formation of the Association had first been mooted in 1882. Until then South Taranaki’s only annual shows had been held at Kakaramea, Patea and Waverley by the Patea Agricultural & Pastoral Association. The fact that the railway line had yet to be constructed between Manutahi and Hawera as well as some dissatisfaction within the ranks of Hawera farmers, dissuaded exhibitors from showing there. Efforts to change the location to a centre more convenient to South Taranaki settlers failed. It was only after considerable discussion and deputations to the Patea Association that a move was initiated by the Hawera Chamber of Commerce to establish an Agricultural & Pastoral Association at Hawera. The first show in 1884 attracted nearly 400 entries, with an estimated attendance of 1,500 people. The Star reported: But even more than the number of people present … the committee to be congratulated on the quality of the stock exhibited. We heard it remarked by old farmers that it was the best show they had ever seen on the coast between Wellington and Auckland. Over the years the Association’s initial membership of 144 grew and with it confidence to tackle some of the more difficult issues facing rural communities. Its older and more established neighbour, Patea Agricultural & Pastoral Association, had been in existence since 1875 and had promoted a

variety of farming-related enterprises to improve the well-being of the community and industry. These included West Coast Meat and Produce Export Co. and Patea Oil and Fibre Co. There was ‘a little jealousy’ between the two Associations as they competed for prominence and the idea of combining the two shows to provide more entries and better competition soon became a matter of hot debate. At an Egmont A & P Association luncheon, attended by judges and stewards, it was suggested in a toast that the two districts be united and that they present ‘an amalgamated show’. Such an amalgamation had been raised on a number of occasions but had not found favour with the Egmont A & P Association committee and negotiations had fallen through at the eleventh hour. The suggestion was immediately challenged by the vice-president of the Association.

Arthur Albert Fantham, a man of considerable presence, slowly rose to his feet to respond and propose the health of these ‘strangers’ who had finally dared to raise this rather delicate subject which had been quietly circulating behind closed doors between neighbouring societies. Although in the minority on the matter, he announced confidently that he favoured ‘a local show as against a central one’, and elaborated on his reasoning in a colourful and eloquent speech, declaring: The South Taranaki district was like a young and beautiful lady about 17 years of age, of great wealth who had quite a number of suitors. Wanganui wanted this district to join it, so did Patea and so did Taranaki.

He recounted that when he settled in the district he had found a stretch of country extending 20 miles inland and for some 50 or 60 miles east and west. Describing the Arthur A. Fantham 1842–1904. Arthur was widely known for his pedigree herd area he said, ‘from any place a couple of hundred feet high one could look over a vast area of fertile land, altogether different from Patea where the level land was only a strip a few miles in width’. He believed it was absurd to expect people in the Hawera district to of Shorthorn cattle. He was take stock to a Patea show and he went on to explain that one day he expected Hawera to manager and Auctioneer become the central show, just as Christchurch was for central Canterbury. He proffered of The Egmont Farmers’ the idea that: Union Ltd, Hawera, chairman of the Hawera it was better for the Hawera district to remain an old maid than to be bamboozled by any Road Board, member of of the other districts that now wooed her. the Egmont Agricultural & Pastoral Society and the Masonic Order. In proposing the toast he could not have guessed how true his remarks would be and that 125 years later the Egmont A & P Association show would still be held annually and COURTESY OF G. N. (NEIL) FANTHAM recognised as one of the most successful agricultural & pastoral shows in New Zealand. In 1885 the New Plymouth and Patea Associations entered into negotiations with the Egmont Association regarding amalgamation, with an annual show to rotate among the three centres. At Hawera the majority of A & P supporters were against the amalgamation proposal, believing that the Egmont venture would succeed through the advantage of the town’s central position so there was nothing to be gained from joining with the other two ailing organisations. Over the following years there was disenchantment among the Patea settlers as their show wilted away, to finally cease in 1889. At the same time Hawera prospered and although New Plymouth continued for many years, the Egmont Agricultural & Pastoral Society annual agricultural show in Hawera became the most popular in the province. The man central to this early history had now made his entrance onto the scene. Arthur A. Fantham was born in 1842, son of Joseph, innkeeper of the Russells Arms, Aylesbury, England. The family arrived in New Zealand on the Duke of Portland in 1851 after a 123-day voyage and Joseph with his family settled in Canterbury working as a farm labourer. Arthur had a special yet natural gift when it came to working with stock, and following his schooling went to work on a farm at Spreydon, now a suburb of Christchurch. He is described by an authority on the Fantham family,

Arthur Fryer of Hawera, as ‘the barefoot boy behind the plough’, yet what happened during his formative years is a mystery. Arthur very quickly set about establishing ‘a purebred stud, eventually earning him nationwide respect’. This energetic and likeable young man joined the Canterbury Agricultural & Pastoral Association and, as Arthur Fryer explains: … not something a humble farm worker’s offspring would do in those days. Here’s a barefoot boy behind the plough joining an organisation of Christchurch’s gentlemen … he had gumption. … Arthur went on to win numerous prizes for his stock – and developed a name for himself as a breeder of quality Shorthorn cattle. The farm worker’s boy had set a foot into the world of the gentry and liked what he saw – he spent the rest of his life moving in circles above his station.

Cambridge became the home of Arthur and his wife Mary (née McWilliam) and family. They had married in 1865 at Christchurch and in 1877 moved to the Waikato to farm the property ‘Gwynnelands’ on the banks of the Waikato river, where they quickly settled into the community. Arthur developed a racecourse on his property and patrons would arrive to meetings by paddle steamer and horse and gig. The property was also used by the hunt club and on one occasion the Pakuranga Hunt Club from Auckland visited for three days. A new grandstand attracted large crowds of people, ‘bustles, parasols, hats and suits were the order of the day’, and through these public gatherings Arthur Fantham ‘succeeded in getting his foot in the door of the Waikato élite’. In 1880 a lengthy, flowery testimonial of appreciation and the gift of a piano was presented to Fantham by a group of gentlemen from the South Auckland Cattle Board of which he was a member for the part he played with his outstanding ‘animal husbandry skills’ in the managing of an outbreak of pleuro-pneumonia amongst cattle in the district.

His distinguished reputation preceded him when in 1881/2, with wife Mary and 11 children (six sons and five daughters), Arthur arrived in Hawera to farm a property of 600 acres. The homestead stood adjacent to the present Egmont Racing Club grandstand on Waihi Road. He was a stockman by nature and it was in this profession that he would apply his exceptional qualities and knowledge for the rest of his life in the town of Hawera. As well as being involved with the Egmont A & P Association he became chairman of the Road Board, which eventually became the Hawera County Council. Being associated with several local bodies, he devoted much of his time to public issues. He also ‘dabbled’ in politics when in 1884, for want of an opposition candidate, he stood against the sitting Member of Parliament Major Harry Atkinson without success. Atkinson was a popular man and ex Premier ‘winning every booth hands down’. In later years they became great friends. Other than that he never took public office in South Taranaki although was always on the fringe of local politics and organisations that were associated with the development of the district. It was, however, the stock industry that received the main share of his attention. His congenial nature and flamboyant personality made him a public figure and he has remained a part of South Taranaki’s folklore throughout the past century. His daughter Fanny found her place in history when in March 1887, at the tender age of 19 and with a party of six ladies and nine gentlemen, she became the first woman to ascend Mount Egmont’s subsidiary peak. It took six hours to complete the climb and although Maori called the peak Panitahi, it was decided then to give it a new European name – Fantham’s Peak.

A charismatic protagonist on many issues, Arthur Fantham left his mark on the town of Hawera and was without doubt a driving force behind what became a campaign to unite farmers in their quest for self-determination in the stock and station industry. The curtain closes on act one with a leading character in place. The second act opens with new players in the early days of an organisation that would grow to become what we now know as Allied Farmers Limited.