Koromiko.
Koromiko
is a dairy farming settlement on the Blenheim-Picton railway, and is situated twelve miles from Blenheim, and about six miles from Picton. It is surrounded by high and rugged ranges, which present some beautiful scenery, and between these the land is level and fertile. The district was first visited by sawmillers, who were soon succeeded by settlers, some of whom also took part in sawmilling until their farms were brought to a profitable condition. The first permanent residents in Koromiko, were the late Captain Dalton and Captain Baillie (now the Hon Captain Baillie), and Messrs George Freeth, N. Bragg, W. Bragg, J. Hart, and H. Hart, all of whom afterwards became successful farmers. The district is given up to sheep and cattle and dairy farming, but a little cropping is carried on, and the manufacture of grape wine is also conducted in the district. The township is scattered, and has a church, a public school, a railway station, and the business of the post, telegraph, and telephone office is conducted at the general store.
The Waitohi School
, at Koromiko, is one of the oldest public schools in the province, and was established in the early days when the timber industry in the neighbourhood attracted a considerable population. It occupies a site of two acres on the roadside, about the centre of the district, amongst well worked farms and pretty homesteads, and commands a fine prospect of rugged rural scenery. The building is of wood, and contains two class rooms with accommodation for about one hundred pupils. The master's residence adjoins the schoolgrounds. There are sixty-five names on the roll, and the average attendance is forty-eight. In this respect the school has fully doubled itself during the term of the present headmaster. The district is somewhat scattered, and several of the pupils travel a distance of five miles to the school. In the year 1903 one of the pupils gained second place, and another fourth place, for the colony in the Junior National Scholarship test, and all the sixth standard pupils became entitled to free places at the High School; and in 1904, one of the pupils gained the medal given by the member of Parliament for the district. At the Marlborough Exhibition the school obtained special commendation for artistic work.
Mr. David Robertson
, the Headmaster of the Waitohi public school, was born on the 2nd of November, 1875, in Dunedin, and is the youngest son of the late Mr. James Robertson, a blacksmith by trade. He was educated at the Union Street school, where at an early age he passed the pupil teachers' examination, and subsequently proceeded to the Normal School, where he matriculated, and
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gained the D certificate. He was then sent to open the public school at Sution, afterwards relieved the master of West Taieri for a time, and then took charge of the public school at the Lee stream. In 1900, Mr. Robertson was appointed by the Marlborough Education Board to the mastership of the Cullensville school, and, about two years later, was promoted to his present appointment, in which he has sustained the reputation established by his previous services. He holds a D 1
certifieate, and has recently gained his partial C. Mr. Robertson also holds the certificate presented by the London and South Kensington School of Art for proficiency in model and freehand drawing, and the diploma granted by the St. John's Ambulance Association for regular attendance at its medical classes. Whilst he was in Otago, Mr. Robertson was one of the promoters of the school cadet movement, and was for some time an officer in the Union Street school corps. Mr. Robertson is a member of the Teachers' Institute, of the Koromiko Brass Band, and of the local football and ericket clubs. In 1902, he married Miss J. Anderson, of Woodhaugh, Dunedin.
Bragg, Nathaniel,
Farmer, Koromiko. Mr. Bragg is a native of Wellington, New Zealand, and his father came to the colony in the year 1840. After receiving his education, Mr. Bragg was engaged in various ways previous to coming to Marlborough, where he decided to take up land. He has res[gap — reason: illegible]ded on his present property since 1864, and carries on sheep and dairy farming. The land is very hilly, and not suitable for agriculture. Mr. Bragg has at different times taken an interest in the local road board, of which he has been a member, but now leads a retired life.
Hart, John,
Farmer, Koromiko, Marlborough. Mr. Hart was born in Waimea West, Nelson, in November, 1844, and is a son of the late Mr. Abraham Hart, an early settler. He was educated at the Richmond public school, and brought up to farming. Mr. Hart then removed to the Wairau, and for about eight years found employment at general work in Blenheim. When twenty-three years of age, he settled at Koromiko, where he has gradually acquired a profitable farm of 200 acres of good freehold grazing land, on which he depastures 300 sheep and a dozen head of cattle. Mr. Hart is a member of the Pieton Road Board, and has been a member of the Koromiko school committee, and other local bodies. He married, and has four sons and one daughter.
Hart, Henry,
Farmer, Koromiko. Mr. Hart is the second surviving son of the late Mr. Abraham Hart, of Nelson, and was born at Richmond, on the 6th of February, 1847. He was educated at the local public school, afterwards assisted his father for a few years at farming, and in June. 1864, he went to Marlborough. For two or three years, Mr. Hart was engaged at general farm work at Spring Creek, and then removed to Koromiko, where he was employed for a while roadmaking and bushfelling. In the year 1868, Mr. Hart bought his section, and he gradually added to it until he now farms an area of 750 aeres. This property is divided into two blocks, and comprises both level agricultural land, and hillv sheep grazing country. A permanent flock of about 800 sheep is depastured. Mr. Hart married Miss Laura Taylor, in May, 1877, and has four sons and three daughters.
Randall, George,
Farmer, Koromiko. Mr. Randall was born in the year 1845, at Waimea West, in the province of Nelson, where his father farmed for many years, having landed in Nelson by the ship “Bolton,” in 1842. He learned farming, and in 1857 went to Marlborough, where he was employed for several years in various kinds of work. At the outbreak of the Wakamarina rush. Mr. Randall went to try his luck on the goldfields A little later he returned to the Wairau; he was engaged at timber carting until the advent of the railway, was then employed at general work for a time, and in 1872 he took up his present farm on the Picton Road, near Koromiko, His farm consists of nearly 900 acres, of leasehold and freehold land. It is for the greater part broken and hilly, and is admirably adapted as a sheep-grazig run. About 800 sheep are permenently
depastured, and a considerable herd of dairy cows is also kept in order to supply milk to the Waitohi Cheese Factory. Mr. Randall has been for many years a member of the Pieton Road Board, the Marlborough Agricultural and Pastoral Association, the Blenheim branch of the Farmers' Union, and of the Waitohi school committee. He married Miss Hart, of Nelson, sister to Messrs John and Henry Hart, of Picton Road, in the year 1881, and has four sons and two daughters.
Williams, John Trengrove,
Farmer, Mount Pleasant, Koromiko. Mr. Williams was born near Adelaide, in South Australia, on the 16th of June, 1850; he was educated at a public school at Ballarat, and at an early age came to New Zealand. For some time he lived at Tuapeka Creek, not far from Gabriel's Gully, in Otago, where his step-father, Mr. Isaac Parfitt, was mining and afterwards carting. A little later, Mr. Williams went to Christchurch, and then to Hawke's Bay, and in the year 1866 he removed to Picton. In the following year he went to work at Captain Dalton's
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sawmill, and nine years later engaged in carting on his own account. Mr. Williams was afterwards employed at Mr. John Hornby's sawmill, and subsequently worked for about eighteen years on the railway line, prior to taking up his present farm, which has an area of about 900 acres, chiefly
leasehold. He also carries on general contracting work. Mr. Williams has been connected for over thirty years with the Picton Court of the Ancient Order of Foresters. He is married, and has five sons and five daughters.
Captain John Henry Dalton,
sometime of Koromiko, was born on the 8th of March, 1826, in London, England, where his father, the late Mr. W. T. Dalton, was a timber merchant. He was educated at the public schools in London, and at Latter's boarding school, at Bexley, and afterwards went to sea in the ship “Earl Grey” (of Messrs Duncan Dunbar and Sons, London), at sixteen years of age. Captain Dalton followed a seafaring life for twenty years. Before completing his indentures he gained his second officers' certificate, and soon after, his first officer's certificate. For several years he was first officer on some of the firm's largest ships, trading principally to India, and was then appointed commander of his first ship, the “Earl Grey.” Later on, he was captain of other vessels in the company's service, and in 1861 resigned his commission to come to New Zealand with a sawmilling plant. Soon after landing, he acquired the timber rights over an extensive area in the Koromiko Valley, and for fifteen years conducted a large sawmill which gave permanent employment to a number of persons, and was a source of great assistance to the early settlers, who were thus enabled to supplement what they earned on their holdings. In 1877, however, the workable timber was exhausted, and Captain Dalton closed the mill, and devoted his attention to sheepfarming. The run consists of 1162 acres of hill and valley, highly suitable for grazing purposes; and the homestead, surrounded by a good orchard, is situated near the main road, not far from the local public school. Captain Dalton was chairman of the local school committee for several years. He married
Miss Louisa Kelson, at St. Ann's Church, Limehouse, Middlesex, England, in November, 1855. Captain Dalton died in August, 1905, and his wife survives him.
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