Farm at Tawa

In 1850, John and Mary Mitchell with two of their grown-up children: Joseph (23) and Henry (18) moved out to Porirua Road at Tawa Flat to farm. Records show that James Mitchell purchased a 25 acre block of land from Henry Gilbert who had subdivided his 100-acre country section number 41. The Mitchells lived in a house on the Main Road adjoining what is now Tawa School.

An early settler whose family travelled out to Tawa flat in a bullock dray to live in 1851 described what life was like:

"It was all heavy bush then but very pretty, full of treeferns, and it was with this class of material that my father build his first house out of, and it proved to be very warm and cosy in those days." Horses and cows were rare. When someone imported two sheep "the residents all went to see them, they were such an unusual sight". They had plenty of wild pork, fish and 'Maori' cabbage. The forest was full of native birds and 'clouds' of green parakeets and pigeons. Mosquitoes were very troublesome.

[Ref: Carman, Arthur H Tawa Flat and the Old Porirua Road 1840 - 1970, revised edition Nov 1970, pg 171]

The main occupation among the first settlers in the area was bush-felling, driving the timber wagons into Wellington, fencing - post and rail  - and a little gardening and farming. The 1851 and 1852 Jury Lists record John as a farmer and Joseph as a labourer. Henry is also recorded in 1852 as a labourer. The Electoral Roll of 1854-55 records John as the head of a household residing in Porirua Road as a farmer.

"Many men who had taken up small bush sections spent part of their time clearing and improving them, but also went out to work for other settlers and occasionally at road forming. The cash so earned was a welcome aid."

[Ref: 'The Bush Settlers of Wellington District' unpublished M S by Elsdon Best, in Alexander Turnbull Library quoted in Carman, Arthur H (1955) Tawa Flat and the Old Porirua Road 1840-1970, pg 172]

Examples of wages in those days were: Bush-feller ₤2 per acre Farmhand 10/- per week Day labourers 4/- to 5/- a day Shingle splitters 10/- per 1,000 (usually white pine) Sawyers 10/- per 100 feet (33 m) of timber Pit sawyers 10/- per 100 feet (33 m) of timber.  

Women and girls assisted with farm work such as milking, making cheese, and attending to the pigs. Produce carted into town for sale included: firewood, shingles, butter, eggs, bacon, hay, potatoes, milk and vegetables.

As well as farming, the Mitchells cut timber using the 'pit sawing' method. Logs were rolled on to a pit, squared, and then cut into boards by two men - one standing on the top and lifting the three metre long rip saw and the other standing below in the pit and pulling it down. They worked their way along the full length of the log sawing off planks at the required thickness. It was heavy, skilled and well-paid work. The planks were then carted in wagons down to Wellington. The section of the road down the Kaiwarra hill was extremely steep and the wood had to be well secured to stop it tumbling out. Totara was the most popular wood for building along with kahikatea, rimu, pukatea, and rata. 

Wheat and flour were often hard to obtain and expensive. Shipping from Adelaide was slow and subject to the vagaries of the weather. The Mitchells grew their own wheat sowing it among the fallen logs and burnt-off forest. Because of the numerous stumps and roots, the land could not be ploughed. Wheat seeds would be scattered over the ground and then - before it could be eaten by the kukariki green bush parrot - chipped into the soil with English grubbers. This was a slow and tedious task. The wheat was cut with reap hooks and carted down to a mill at Kaiwarra for grinding. The men would wait until the flour was ready and then cart it home again.

Church services were held in the Mitchells' house by the Primitive Methodist Minister, Rev H Green, in 1850. The first school in the area was also held in the same house.  An early history of Primitive Methodism reports:

"Tawa Flat, a settlement ten miles in the bush, was missioned by Mr Green in 1850, and Sabbath afternoon services were established which were held in the house of Mr John Mitchell, one of the first settlers in that district who joined our church. The following March, the friends had permission to fit up a room in which to hold Sabbath Sunday School and services, providing they incurred no debt."

[Ref: Fifty Years of Primitive Methodism in New Zealand, published 1893, pg 224]

 

 

Polhill Gully

In 1854 the family moved back to Wellington - to Polhill Gully, now known as Mitchelltown, not far from where they had previously lived in Nairn Street. James and Eliza's fifth child, Jonathan, was born on 4 May 1854. Seventeen days later two of their other children - Mary (4) and Eliza (1) - died of scarlet fever.

In December 1855 the Mitchell brothers William, James, Joseph, and Henry, and Eli Allen the husband of their only sister Elizabeth, jointly purchased Section 1 Upper Kaiwarra District, a 100 acre country section in Polhill Gully for ₤300. Eighteen months later (July 1857), they purchased Section 10 Ohiro District, a neighbouring 100 acre country section for ₤500. The land was covered in bush and tree ferns. Most of the wood was unsuitable for building red and white pines being comparatively few and ratas abundant.

1915 map showing Section 1 Upper Kaiwarra District and Section 10 Ohiro District

Much earlier in 1842, a previous occupier of part of the Ohiro section, Mr W Bridges, wrote to the editor of the New Zealand Journal (23 October): "We have had a great deal of trouble with the natives who say they never sold this part of Port Nicholson to the Company. I have had many rows with them ... I have a spot of 20 acres which commands the whole of Port Nicholson and Petone and the Straits; very beautifully timbered, worth ₤30 an acre, which has all been burnt by the natives."

Bullocks had been used to transport heavy rata and other trees from the forest. The track became known as Old Bullock Road.

There was only one house in the gully when the Mitchells bought the land. With James as "top sawyer" and chief carpenter, the men cut the timber for, and erected, other houses for their growing families.

 

[Photo of the Mitchell house in Polhill Gully kindly provided by Diane Young]

 

 

Firewood

Firewood cutting and selling became the family's main business operating under the trade name 'W. Mitchell, Brothers, & Co'. Coal was unknown in those days in New Zealand. The Mitchell business won contracts to supply firewood to Wellington Gaol and the Lunatic Asylum. The family also negotiated a contract for supplying firewood to troops stationed in Wellington.

"In addition to Europeans, [the Mitchells] employed a large body of Maoris, while soldiers from the barracks were allowed to supplement their small pay taking occasional work in moving the firewood to where it could be reached by the bullock teams. All this was, however, changed when the war of 1860 broke out in Taranaki. The troops were called to 'the front', and the whole of the natives left to join their respective tribes, the affectionate parting that took place between them and their employers affording eloquent testimony of the kindly treatment that had been accorded on the one hand and the heartfelt appreciation of it on the other."

[Ref: Obituary of James Mitchell from the New Zealand Primitive Methodist, June 1, 1908, pg 126] 

William is recorded on the Jury Lists as being a carter living in Te Aro Flat (1851) and in Taranaki Street (1852-1858). He was the carter for the family's firewood business. From 1854-58, James, Joseph and Henry were in the Electoral Roll as being labourers residing in Polhill Gully on leasehold land. John was listed as a prayer leader in the 1855 Wellington Mission Primitive Methodist Preacher's Plan. The Electoral Roll of 1856, records him as residing in Polhill Gully, occupation 'settler'. He presumably would have retired by then as he was 69. He and Mary continued there for the next few years until they died in 1862, Mary (68) in February and John (75) in November.

The price of firewood dropped considerably over the period 1857 to 1863. That, along with lack of success during tendering rounds, an ever increasing number of new Mitchells and Allens being born, and a dwindling supply of firewood on the Polhill Gully site meant the firewood business was no longer able to support the wider Mitchell family. One by one, over that period various brothers were bought out and set up other businesses.