Katikati in 1876 by Ellen Mc Cormack

1 March 1876: Bay of Plenty Times:  Your Katikati settlers will appreciate the advantage of steam communication with Tauranga. Mr. H. Farnall has purchased a little steam launch, capable of conveying 30 passengers, especially to run between those places, and it is to start tomorrow from here. (Bay of Plenty Times, 1 March 1876)

4 March 1876: Bay of Plenty Times [Advertisement]:

Regular Steam Communication Between Tauranga and Katikati.

The Screw Steam Launch.

 ‘ELSIE’

WILL RUN BI-WEEKLY between TAURANGA  and  KATIKATI, connecting with the Screw Steamer ‘Rowena’ commencing on the 1st March.

Full particulars in future issue.                   

4 March 1876: Bay of Plenty Times: The special settlers residing on the Katikati Block are busily at work preparing the ground for the reception of grass seed, and, we understand, that about two thousand acres will this season be laid down in artificial grasses. ‘The gods help those who help themselves;’ and as a spirit of self-reliance apparently pervades the settlement, we have every reason to predict success in the not distant future for our Katikati neighbours. (Bay of Plenty Times, 4 March 1876)

8 March 1876: Bay of Plenty Times: We are glad to be able to notice that an overland mail to the Katikati settlement will be Uretira [Uretara] where Mr. Joseph Wyllie is postmaster, and the return mail will be brought back on Tuesday, in time for the Auckland steamer.  The mail to Bowentown is now being taken by boat, but it is expected that eventually an overland service between Tauranga and Bowentown will be instituted in lieu of the present arrangement. (Bay of Plenty Times, 8 March 1876). 

6 May 1876: Bay of Plenty Times: It is pleasing to notify our friends at Katikati are altering the appearance of the country around their several holdings; what was a barren waste nine months since, now has the appearance of a thriving farming district, and there is every prospect that the settlers will be well rewarded for their toil. A brick- field has been opened in the centre of the Katikati settlement on the banks of the Uretara river, where there is splendid clay. The mould etc, went up to Katikati this morning. (Bay of Plenty Times, 6 May 1876) 

10 May 1876: Bay of Plenty Times: Captain Marks, harbourmaster, proceeded yesterday morning to Katikati, taking with him part of the necessary gear for staking the Katikati channel. (Bay of Plenty Times, 10 May 1876) 

11 May 1876: Bay of Plenty Times: On the lawn in front of the Leader’s half- finished house [Mt Stewart. Ōngare Point ]. The election of Trustees for the School Board and the Highway Board was held and sites for three schools discussed. The Chairman of the meeting was G.V.S. Township to be at Kauri Point and streets are planned. (Bay of Plenty Times, 11 May 1876) 

13 May 1876: Bay of Plenty Times: Captain Marks and the crew of the pilot boat returned from their first work at marking out the Katikati channel on Thursday afternoon. Captain Marks informs us that he has staked off about a mile and a quarter of the channel approaching the mangroves. Altogether there are about four miles of shallow channel approaching and skirting the mangroves  which have to be marked off, and as fast as his duties will allow him, and as far as the money advanced for the purpose will permit, Captain Marks intends proceeding with the work without delay. (Bay of Plenty Times, 13 May 1876)

31 May 1876: Bay of Plenty Times [extract only]: It is with very considerable regret that we have come to the conclusion that the screw launch “Elsie” is a complete failure. (Bay of Plenty Times 31 May 1876)

19 July 1876: New Zealand Herald: We have heard from a reliable source that efforts are being made to erect and open a public-house in the Stewart Settlement at Katikati. Unless a hotel is required for the accommodation of travellers, we would advise the settlers to seriously consider the matter before offering any inducement to anyone to open such a place. We do not go the length of the Good Templars in their opinions about public-houses, but probably the settlers at Katikati, of whose progress we hear such good accounts, will find that, to say the least of it, their progress will be as steady without a hotel. (New Zealand Herald, 19 July 1876).

29 July 1876: Bay of Plenty Times: One of the settlers at Katikati, a Mr. Preston, meditates putting up an accommodation house at the Uritara [Uretara] on the Katikati block. He informs us that he is going to build at once a house to consist of sitting room, bar, and three bedrooms, and that he will apply for a license at the next sitting of the Licensing Court. We are not aware if he has yet obtained the requisite number of signatures of the settlers in the vicinity, though we believe the feeling among the settlers is adverse to the erection of an hotel on the block. There are however, two sides to the question; to travellers an accommodation house would doubtless be a boon, wheras by the settlers themselves it is anticipated it will only be a place of resort for drinking; the difficulty is to decide whether the necessity for the hotel is sufficient to put other interests in the background. As far as choice in the matter is concerned, we think it probable, however, that under ordinary circumstances and in a regular course of events, an hotel would be sure to be put up by someone before very long, as there is a long stretch of country between Bowen Town and Tauranga, and midway between these places seems a proper place for an accommodation house to be erected. An important consideration also is what sort of house will be the one proposed ? If an “inn” bone fide, then well and good, but if likely to become the mere drinking shanty that so many country hotels descend to, then it will undoubtedly be bad for someone. Not withstanding what we have said, however, any decision in the matter must rest to a great extent with the settlers themselves, and we feel sure their own good sense will best teach them how to act. (Bay of Plenty Times, 29 July 1876)

30 August 1876: Bay of Plenty Times: An application made by Mr. Preston for a license for an hotel at Katikati was not recommended, as it was thought the house was not required, and the Katikati settlers as a body were opposed to the license being granted. (Bay of Plenty Times, 30 August 1876)

1876:  Birth, Death and Marriage Indexes

During the latter part of 1876 the first child was born to one of the new settlers. Parents: Sarah [nee Turner, daughter of Alexander [Sandy] Turner] and William Stewart who arrived on the Carisbrooke Castle in 1875. [Sarah married William Turner shortly before the ship sailed so she is listed on the Passenger list as both Sarah Turner and Sarah Stewart.] The child is named George Vesey Stewart. [This child was named after but not related to G.V.S.] N.B. There are now three people with the name of George Vesey Stewart in Katikati.

Later a grand daughter of G.V.S. married a Turner but neither family of either Stewarts or Turners were related to each other.

21 October 1876: Bay of Plenty Times: At the recent meetings of the School and Highway Boards very little business of importance has been transacted. Mr Alex. Turner and Mr Andrew Wilson have each given an acre as sites for schools. The Highway Board has applied to the Superintendent for power to grant licenses for cutting timber in the bush adjacent to the block. (Bay of Plenty Times, 21 October 1876)

21 October 1876: Bay of Plenty Times: A few of our settlers have found a cheap way of getting luxuries by periodically pillaging Egg Island. On one occasion a party got no less than seven dozen eggs. I conclude in the colony there is no act for preserving sea-birds during the breeding season, as there is in the old country. (Bay of Plenty Times, 21 October 1876)

21 October 1876: Bay of Plenty Times: The block generally is looking well; the grass is making a good show, whilst a great deal of fencing has been done. Now, as before, a spirit of contentment for the past and hope for the future pervades all. (Bay of Plenty Times, 21 October 1876)

21 October 1876: Bay of Plenty Times: The new hotel at the Uritara [Uretara] is now nearly completed; its neatness and finish reflects the greatest credit on the builder, Mr. Vicary. There is, however, a strong feeling against granting a license for such a house. (Bay of Plenty Times, 21 October 1876)

15 November 1876. Bay of Plenty Times [A lengthy item regarding George Vesey Stewart and his wife Margaret Stewart]: George Vesey Stewart filed for divorce against his wife Margaret Torrens Stewart. Claim. Adultery with Cecil Gledstanes  [nephew to George Vesey Stewart]. [No mention of Decree Nisi or Absolute being filed or granted]. [Several years later Margaret Stewart later left the district to live in Auckland]. (Bay of Plenty Times, 15 November 1876)

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