Stokes Valley History

We continue with the eighth in our series of short articles on the history of Stokes Valley. This month we feature the second of our articles in which we get to know a little about some of Stokes Valley's earliest residents and families.

Appreciation and thanks is extended to Poppy Watts from whose book Stokes Valley Through the Years this information has been lifted with only slight modifications. If you would like to purchase either or both of Poppy's books, please e-mail editor@svn.co.nz for details as to how you may do so:

Stokes Valley Through the Years [1953] by Milton and Poppy Watts $10.00
This Was Speldhurst (The Story of an Early Stokes Valley Family) [2001] by Poppy Watts $16.00

Early Residents (Part 2)

The Walker Story

Mr John Walker arrived from England in the late 1850s and immediately took up residence in Upper Hutt. he later met and married Miss Mary Brown, who, with her sister Matilda, had a dress-making and millinery business, one of the first of its kind in Wellington. Mary had been deaf and unable to speak since birth.

Mr and Mrs Walker purchased Section 69 in Stokes Valley from G T Pollard on 25 February 1865. They built their home from pit-sawn Stokes Valley timber.

Mary Jane Walker

The Walkers' first two children, a boy and a girl, died at birth and their little graves, all signs of which have now disappeared, are in the orchard to the north of the house. In 1868 Mary Jane was born and grew to be a particularly beautiful girl. In her teens she was known as the prettiest girl in the Upper Hutt district.

In 1874 the Walkers purchased Section 68, the farm then extending from opposite Glen Road corner to opposite Kennedy Road corner. At first this property, heavily clad in manuka and birch, was used for sheep and dairy, but later the Walkers built a house there, directly opposite Glen Road. the house was demolished in 1908 to build stables for Dr Knight.

When Mary reached school age, there being no school in Stokes Valley, she road a horse to Naenae daily to attend a private school run by Elizabeth Weston, who later became Mrs John Russell of Stokes Valley. Later Mary attended Wellington Girls' College, riding each day to Silverstream Station where she caught the train to Wellington. At the completion of her education, Mary started a private school herself, the first school in Stokes Valley. She ran it for a while in the old Methodist chapel, and later in a room in a house on the property of Mr T Mitchell.

When Mary was 14, her father died. He was 72 and was buried in the Trentham Anglican Church graveyard.

In 1886 Mr Charles Gardner, having come from England two years previously, opened a store at Fortunes Lane, Upper Hutt. he carried out a delivery service from there to outlying districts. Some of these trips to Mangaroa and Whitemans Valley took two days by horse and cart. It was while delivering stores to Stokes Valley that Mr Gardner first met Mary Walker and in 1888, when Mary was 20, they were married. They went to live in Wellington, Mr Gardner being employed by the Manawatu Railway Company.

Shortly after the marriage Mary's mother died and the Stokes Valley properties came into Mary's hands. The greater portion of the block owned by the Walkers was sold to Rev F Sherriff in 1896.

The Gardners, after years of saw-milling in the Manakau district, settled in Hastings, and during the influenza epidemic, on 18 November 1918, Mary died, leaving a family of four.

Hart Udy Jnr

One-time mayor of the Borough of Greytown, Mr Hart Udy came to New Zealand with his parents at the age of five. When nine years old, he went assist his father in the business of builder and wheelwright. In 1855 he married Elizabeth, second daughter of Mr C Holland of Petone, their first home being in Stokes Valley. Late they moved to a block of 400 acres at Matarawa. Mr Udy and his father were engaged in saw-milling.

George Young Drummond

George Young Drummond was born in Paisley, Scotland, on 29 September 1835. he made his first trip to New Zealand in 1859 on the Shalimar on its first voyage to New Zealand. Attracted by the Australian gold rush, he went to Sydney to try his luck, but meeting with no success, he returned to Scotland where he married Jessie Fergus of Glasgow in 1865. He returned to New Zealand a few years later with his wife and one son, leaving behind a daughter who died shortly after their departure. Coming to Wellington he took up residence in Tinakori Road, being employed as a shipwright. His next move was to bring his family to Stokes Valley in 1882, where he operated a mixed farm at the north end of the valley. Mr Drummond left the valley in 1900 and moved to Masterton where he died at the age of 93.

Dr G S Sharp

Dr G S Sharp was relieving sole teacher at the Stokes Valley School for a period in 1909 and during his term there was preparing for his medical training. While boarding in the valley, he found the lack of distractions to be of great assistance to his study. At the weekends he enjoyed shooting wild pigs in the valley hills. He can well remember the vicious magpies that nested in the pines he had to pass on his way to school. On one occasion, while he was riding his bicycle, one of these disagreeable birds swept down from the trees and sent his hat flying in an attack. These magpies so terrified children during nesting season that many refused to walk to school unless accompanied by an adult.

Rev D C Bates

Rev D C Bates was born at Spalding, England, in 1968. He was ordained in the Church of England in 1891 and was chaplain to the Ninth New Zealand Contingent in South Africa. In 1903 he entered the Meteorological Office and in 1906, when that office was amalgamated with the Weather Bureau he became Assistant Director. Rev Bates was also the originator of the Wellington Zoo in 1905.

Mr S D Thomson

Mr S D Thomson (pictured left) was born in Yorkshire in 1864 and came with his brother to New Zealand at the age of 17. On arrival in Wellington he went to Silverstream as a cadet on the farm of Mr Seager. After his marriage he purchased a farm at Eketahuna. He later owned a large run at Akitio, and lived in his town house in Masterton. In 1920 Mr Thomson came to Stokes Valley with his family, and began the development of the Kamahi Estate. Mr Thomson died in 1936, his wife having predeceased him two years earlier.

Rev Robert Ward

The Rev Robert Ward was the first Methodist to arrive in New Zealand other than a Wesleyan. To him belongs the honour of being the pioneer of Primitive Methodism in the Southern World. He arrived in New Plymouth in 1844, and in 1868 took over the Sydney Street Church in Wellington from the Rev henry Green. During his term in Wellington Rev Ward held services in Stokes Valley in the Wesleyan Chapel. he performed the first marriage ceremonies and baptisms in the valley.

Mr H J Hawthorn

Mr H J Hawthorn, born in Thames in 1871, was educated in Christchurch. he entered the Treasury as a cadet, retiring as Accountant. He came to Stokes Valley with his wife and family at the end of 1922, purchasing a property of 20 acres on which he built his home. During 1926-7 he was chairman of the School Committee and was later on the Committee of the Progressive Association. he took an interest in the Rifle Club having himself represented New Zealand at Bisley in 1897 and 1903. In 1945 Mr Hawthorn subdivided his property, through which now runs the crescent bearing his name. In 1946 he left the valley to reside in Lower Hutt.