Otakau.
In The Year 1882 the Government opened a block of bush land on deferred payment on the southern side of the Waimatuku Bush, and this district has since been known as Otakau. It lies to the west of Wallacetown, and to the south of Waianiwa, from which it is about four miles distant, and extends towards the Waimatuku beach. The settlers are making considerable progress in winning their holdings from their original condition, and dairy farming is successfully carried on. Otakau has a public school, but no church, but the district's requirements in this respect are met in the surrounding settlements. The district is in the Awarua electorate, and in the Wallacetown riding of the county of Southland. Its population was not separately counted at the census of 1901, but Waimatuku Bush, of which it is part, had 150 inhabitants.
The Otakau Public School
stands on a section of five acres of land, the gift of Mr Thomas Pert. The school building is of wood and iron, has a class-room and porch, and provides accommodation for twenty-five children. In 1904, there were forty names on the roll, with an average attendance of thirty-four; which showed a need for increased accommodation. The playground has a shelter-shed, and there is a four-roomed residence for the teacher.
Mr. Henry Charles Hewlett
, Headmaster of the Otakau Public School, was born in 1875, at Invercargill, and was educated at the South Invercargill public school, and the Southland High School. He became a pupil teacher at the Bluff, where he served for five years and a-half, and obtained his present appointment in 1898. Mr Hewlett is connected with the Shamrock, Rose and Thistle Lodge
of Oddfellows. He was married, in December. 1901, to a daughter of Mr Andrew Burns, of Otakau.
Burns, Andrew
, Farmer and Carpenter, Otakau. Mr Burns was born in 1852, in Fifeshire, Scotland, where he was educated and brought up as a carpenter. He arrived at Lyttelton in
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1870, and worked at his trade in Dune-din and elsewhere In 1890, he settled at Otakau, where he secured ninety-two acres of perpetual-lease land, and erected his homestead. The land was originally covered with bush, but most of it has since been cleared. Mr Burns served for a time in the Dunedin Rifles and is now a member of the Otakau school committee. He was married, in Riverton, in 1880, to a daughter of Mr Robert McDowall, of Riverton and Ore-puki, and has five daughters and three sons.
Nunn, James
, Otakau. Mr Nunn was born in 1857, in Suffolk, England, where he was educated, and brought up to farming. He came to the Bluff at the age of nineteen by the ship “Waitara.” and in 1882, took up 11 acres at Otakau, where he acquired a further 108 acres in 1899. The land was in a rough state, full of timber and very wet. but about half has
already been cleared. Mr Nunn engages largely in dairying, and milks over twenty cows. In the season of 1903 he was successful in gaining the highest test for butter-fat, 4.4, His actual receipts for the season of 1903 were £211 16s Id, the weight of milk supplied being 12,769 pounds, and the average price per gallon 5.3 pence. This was the product of twenty-two cows, and was exclusive of the butter, cheese and milk used by his family. Mr Nunn has been a member of the Otakau and Waianiwa school committees. He was married, in October, 1885, to a daughter of the late Mr John McLeod, of Mabel Bush, and has two sons and four daughters.
Pert. Thomas
, Farmer, “Wood-lea,” Otakau. “Woodlea” consists of 324 acres of freehold, extending from the main road to the Otakau creek. One hundred and seventy-two acres of the property were taken up by the proprietor, in 1882. in its natural condition, and fully sixty acres have already been cleared. Eighteen cows
were in milk in the season of 1904. Mr Pert was born in Berkshire, England, on the 17th of November, 1851, and arrived at Port Chalmers by the ship “Buckinghamshire” in 1874. He transhipped to the Bluff, and for some years was employed at Invercargill, and at Oreti Plains, near Drummond. He served for several years in the Invercargill Rifles, and, as an Oddfellow, is connected with Court Star of the South. Mr Pert has been a member of the Otakau school committee since 1897, and presented five acres of land as a site for the school. He was married, in July, 1886, to a daughter of the late Mr John Stanier, of Wolverhampton. England, and Otakau, New Zealand, and has one daughter.
Wilson, John
, Farmer, “Glen-field,” Otakau. Mr Wilson was born in 1829, in Kent, England, where he was brought up to a country life He arrived in Tasmania in 1873, and came to the Bluff in the following year. After residing for some time at Wright's Bush, Mr Wilson leased a farm at Waimatuku, and in July, 1885, purchased 313 acres of freehold land at Otakau. The property was in its virgin condition, and about fifty acres have already been cleared. Mr Wilson was married, in 1858, to a daughter of Mr G. Moore, of Leicester,
England, and has two sons and one daughter.
Wilson, John, Junior
, Farmer, Otakau. Mr Wilson is a son of Mr John Wilson, of “Glenfield,” Otakau, and was born, in 1862, at Dover, England. He was brought up to farming at Waimatuku, and took up his property at Otakau in May, 1888. The land was then in rough bush, but about half of it has now been cleared. Mr Wilson was married, in 1888, to a daughter of Mr Robert Flowers, of Riverton, and has three sons and four daughters.
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