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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Taranaki, Hawke's Bay & Wellington Provincial Districts]

Kaponga

Kaponga.

Kaponga is on the Kaupokonui river, on the Eltham-Opunake road, and is the centre of a large dairy-farming district. Its affairs are managed by a Town Board. The settlement is nine miles west of Eltham, and sixteen miles east of Opunake, on a good coach road. It is part of the Kaponga survey district of the Taranaki land district, and is in the Waimate riding of the county of Hawera. There are three churches in Kaponga, and the Anglican church has a resident clergyman; the township also has a resident medical man, a solicitor, a dentist and a chemist. Kaponga has a hotel, as well as a large accommodation house, and many firms including several branches of Eltham establishments, do business in the place. The Banks of New Zealand, Australasia and New South Wales have visiting agencies in the settlement, which has a Horticultural Society, an Oddfellows' Lodge, a brass band, a public hall, and a public school.

The Kaponga Town Board was constituted in the year 1905, with Messrs W. Swadling, F. J. E. Gapper, C. E. Betts, R. H. Campbell, and R. Law as its first members. It has jurisdiction over an area of 640 acres. The town district has fifty-four householders, and there are two miles and a-half of metalled roads; the rateable value of the property of the district is £21,839. The Board's offices are situated in the main street of Kaponga. Members of the Board for the year 1906: Messrs W. Swadling, F. J. E. Gapper, C. E. Betts, R. H. Campbell, and A. H. Guy. Mr. James McVeagh, of the firm of Malone, Mc-Veagh, and Anderson, is solicitor to the Board; Mr. F. J. Cowern is clerk and treasurer, and Mr. N. Eccleston, foreman of works.

Mr. William Swadling, J.P., Chairman of the Kaponga Town Board, was born at Bix, Oxfordshire, England, in the year 1859, and brought up to farming. In 1879 he came to New Zealand, and worked for some time in the Manawatu and Ran-gitikei districts, and in Taranaki. In 1882 he took up land at Kaponga, erected the first house, and cleared the first bush in the township. Mr. Swadling owns one farm of 185 acres, on which he conducts dairying, and another of 100 acres situated on the Palmer road, is devoted to grazing. Mr. Swadling is the first chairman of the Kaponga Town Board. He is a member of the Kaponga school committee, of which he has been secretary; he was a director of the Kaponga Dairy Factory, is a member of the Waimate Poad Board, and of the Horticultural Society, and a vestryman of St. Mark's Anglican church. Mr. Swadling takes a keen interest in the progress of the district. He is a widower, and has one daughter. His wife died on the 26th of May, 1906.

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Mr. Charles Edward Betts, a member of the Kaponga Town Board, was born in Brighton, Kent, England, in the year 1868. He came to New Zealand with his parents in the year 1874; was educated in Canterbury, brought up to farming, gained experience in Canterbury and Taranaki, and was farming for some years in the Okaiawa district. In 1900 he started in business on his own account at Kaponga as a seedsman, etc. He was elected to the first Town Board of Kaponga, is a member of the local cricket club, a vice-president of the Horticultural Society, and is interested in all matters affecting the welfare of the district. Mr. Betts is further referred to as a grain and produce merchant, and cycle agent.

Mr. Frederick John Ernest Gapper is a member of the Kaponga Town Board, and was born in the year 1868, in Nelson, where he was educated and brought up to commercial life. He subsequently started a store in the Nelson district, and then went to Australia, where he gained five years experience of business life in Sydney. He afterwards returned to New Zealand, and in 1894 settled in the Kaponga district, where he was employed successively by Messrs Harwood and Co., and Messrs W. Gruar and Co. Mr. Gapper acquired the business of W. Gruar and Co., in 1904. He was elected a member of the first Kaponga Town Board, and at one time held fourteen separate secretaryships. He is chairman of the Athenaeum Committee, and the Tradesmen's Association, and is secretary of the Kaponga Rifle Club. Mr. Gapper is married, and has two children. He is further referred to as a general merchant in Kaponga.

The Kaponga Public School was opened in June, 1891. It is a wooden building with two class rooms. The grounds, on which there also stands a teacher's six-roomed residence, are seven acres in extent. There is an average attendance of eighty-eight, and the headmaster, Mr. Peter Matheson, is assisted by a mistress.

The Waimate Plains Parochial District, in the Wellington Diocese of the Anglican Church, takes in the district lying between the Waingongoro stream near Manaia, and the Tipoka stream near Parihaka. Churches have been erected at Kaponga, Manaia, Opunake, and Otakcho, and services are also held in eight different halls in various parts of the district. The Rev. Henry Thomas Rawnsley, Vicar of the Waimate Plains parish, arrived in New Zealand in 1875. He was educated in England, studied for Holy Orders at Selwyn College, Dunedin, was ordained deacon in 1898, and priest in 1900. Mr. Rawnsley subsequently became curate of St. Matthew's church, Dunedin, and afterwards vicar of Waitara, before accepting his present appointment in 1901.

The Kaponga Brass Band was established in the year 1900. Instruments were obtained in the first place at a cost of £100, and uniforms, three years later, at a cost of £70. The band property is vested in trustees, and the affairs of the band are administered by a committee, consisting of the secretary, two trustees, and two band members. The Kaponga band won the contest at the Stratford Carnival. When the band was formed one member paid £20, which was refunded later on, but the public gave no support to the founders.

Mr. Norman Eccleston was appointed Bandmaster and Conductor of the Kaponga Brass Band in the year 1902. He was born in Haslingden, near Manchester, England, in 1880, and at the age of ten years went to Tasmania with his parents. He was afterwards employed at farm work, general work and roadmaking. Mr. Eccleston came to New Zealand in 1900, and worked for a while at Mangauoki. He was subsequently appointed foreman of works for the Kaponga Town Board. Mr. Eccleston, who is practically self-taught, was a member of the Scottsdale and Mathinna Bands in Tasmania.

Mr. N. Ecclestion.

Mr. N. Ecclestion.

Malone, McVeagh, and Anderson (William George Malone, James McVeagh, and William David Anderson), Barristers and Solicitors, Kaponga. The Kaponga office of this well known legal firm is in charge of Mr. James McVeagh, the resident partner, who is more fully referred to on page 845 of the Auckland volume of the Cyclopedia of New Zealand.

Maclagan, David Whiteside, M.B., Ch.B. (Edin.), and M.R.C.P. (Edin.), Manaia Road, Kaponga. Dr. page 200 Maclagan was born in Leith, Scotland, in the year 1875. He was educated at Edinburgh Academy, graduated from Edinburgh University, and gained experience in hospitals and private practice. Dr. Maclagan subsequently came to New Zealand, and in 1903 began to practise in Kaponga. He is president of the Kaponga Horticultural Society, and a member of the Kaponga Rifle Club. Dr. Maclagan is married.

Commercial Hotel (Frederick John Northcott, proprietor), corner of Manaia Road and Main Street, Kaponga. The Commercial Hotel has been established for many years, and is a two-storied building, of twenty-four rooms, with good accommodation, and every convenience for travellers. The best brands of liquor are stocked, the tariff is moderate, and a good table is kept. There are also stables in connection with the establishment.

Mr. Frederick John Northcott, Proprietor of the Commercial Hotel, was born in Huirangi in the year 1877. He afterwards went to Australia, and was educated in Melbourne. Mr. Northcott returned to New Zealand, and learned his trade as a blacksmith and farrier in New Plymouth and Auckland. He carried on business on his own account in New Plymouth for three years, and then acquired the Oeo Hotel, which he conducted for two years. He sub-sequently took over the Whangamomo-na Hotel for eighteen months, and became proprietor of the Commercial Hotel in March, 1906. He is a member of Lodge Loyal Good Intent, Auck-land. Manchester Unity, Independent Order of Oddfellows, and was for some time a member of No. 2 Company, New Zealand Native Rifles. Mr. Northcott is married, and has one daughter.

Baigent, Leon Hern, Butcher, Main Street, Kaponga. This well established business is conducted in suitable premises and gives employment to three persons. Two delivery carts are employed.

Mr. Leon Hern Baigent was born in 1879, in Wakefield, Nelson, where he was educated, and was for many years engaged in sheepfarming with his father. In 1901 he removed to Kaponga, and entered into partnership with Mr. Currin in a butchery business. Mr. Baigent bought out his partner's interest in 1906. He is a member of Lodge Mansion of Peace, Manchester Unity, Independent Order of Oddfellows, Wakefield, and is a member of the Kaponga Hall and Library Committees, the Kaponga Rifle Club. Athletic Association, Horticultural Society, and Cricket Club, and is an honorary member of the Kaponga Band. Mr. Baigent was a member of the Waimea Rifles in the Nelson district.

Gapper, Frederick John Ernest, General Merchant, Main Street, Kaponga. This business is conducted in commodious premises, and full stocks are carried in grocery, drapery, ironmongery, boots and shoes, and in general country requisites. There is also a bakery in connection with the establishment. Mr. Gapper manages the business, and employs eight persons and two delivery carts. He is more fully referred to as a member of the Kaponga Town Board.

Mills and Adlam (Edmund Mills and Alfred John Adlam), General Merchants, Main Street, Kaponga. The business of Messrs Mills and Adlam is conducted in freehold premises. Full stocks of groceries, drapery, ironmongery, boots and shoes, seeds and produce are carried. Messrs Mills and Adlam are agents for the Phoenix Insurance Company, the New Zealand Accident Insurance, the Auckland Weekly News, the Press, Budget, and Hawera Star newspapers. Two persons are employed. Goods are delivered by the firm's carts.

Mr. Edmund Mills, of the firm of Mills and Adlam, was born in the year 1878, in the Hutt district. He was educated at Greytown in the Wairarapa, and brought up to the grocery business. In 1903, in conjunction with Mr. Adlam, he started the present business. Mr. Mills is married, and has two children.

Mr. Alfred John Adlam, of the firm of Mills and Adlam, was born in Oakura, in the year 1870, and is a son of Mr. Adlam, J.P., a well known settler in Taranaki. He was brought up on his father's farm, and afterwards entered a storekeeping business in Stratford, and was engaged in packing goods when all the country round was covered with standing bush. Later, Mr. Adlam was for five years with Curtis Brothers, and was then for a short time in a general store at Eltham. He started the Kaponga business in 1903, in partnership with Mr. Mills. Mr. Adlam is a member of Loyal Excelsior Lodge, Manchester Unity, Independent Order of Oddfellows, New Plymouth; is a member of the Kaponga school committee, Horticultural Society and Rifle Club, and was for three years a member of the Eltham Rifles. Mr. Adlam is married, and has six children.

Betts, Charles Edward, Seedsman, Grain and Produce Merchant and Cycle Agent, Manaia Road, Kaponga. This business was established in the year 1900 by Mr. Betts, in suitable premises near the centre of the township. Full stocks of seeds, grain and produce of all kinds are carried, and there is a cycle repairing department. Mr. Betts is agent for the Massey-Harris bicycle, and other makes are also stocked. He is further referred to as a member of the Kaponga Town Board.

Mr. C. E. Betts' Premises.

Mr. C. E. Betts' Premises.

Frethey, John Henry . Farmer, “Roseneath,” Kaponga. “Roseneath” is a freehold property of 375 acres, the greater part of which is let for dairying purposes. The homestead is a fine two-storied building with well laid out grounds planted with a fine selection of native and imported shrubs. Mr. Frethey was born in the year 1866, at the Lower Hutt, where he was edu page 201 cated and brought up to farming. In 1886 he settled in the Kaponga district, where his father had taken up land. In the year 1904, he paid a visit to England, and travelled through part of Europe and America.

Mr. Frethey is chairman of the Kanga school committee, a member of the Victoria Park Board, and the Public Hall Committee. He is married, and has one daughter.