Esther McLeod Part C Pahaua

Sutherlands of Ngaipu

I am dependent on the book Sutherlands of Ngaipu for information about Esther McLeod after her arrival in New Zealand. Page references are from this book. There are a few date errors in that record so please inform me if any reader has more accurate information. 

Sutherlands of Ngaipu, Alex Sutherland, A H & A W Reed, Wellington 1947. 

I will use the spelling Pahaua as used by Alex Sutherland although Pahaoa is more correct.

The movement of family between the properties of Alexander (Sandy) Sutherland gets a bit complicated. James McLeod and his farm management activities will be blogged after the conclusion of the blogs on Esther McLeod but Esther and James spent many years working together.

1859: Some time after her arrival in Wellington in 1859 Esther went to Pahaua to house keep for her brother James.

Wool bales to be loaded from Pahaua beach

Wheat was packed from the coast and ground up at the homestead. From this they made their bread. A year or so later wheat was grown near the homestead, hand threshed and then ground. The first flour was delivered at the coast by boat and packed up to the station in 1859. Part of the old hand mill used for grinding the flour was sent to the Martinborough Museum. This hand mill was probably brought out from Scotland in 1840. Potatoes were frequently bought from the local Maoris, being delivered in flax kits and baskets. Pg 37

1861, 2 March: James McLeod married his cousin Catherine Sutherland (daughter of Alexander and Elizabeth) in Wellington and rode horseback to Pahaua. 

The homestead the McLeods lived in at this time was built of heavy rafters, all outside walls being made of clay, probably twelve inches thick. It consisted of several rooms, all of which had a door leading to the outside.  At one end there was a huge kitchen with a large fireplace, all cooking being done in camp ovens. In later years a colonial oven was put in. Several rooms were also added at one end with one or two smaller ones upstairs. These later additions were built of wood, the roof of the whole being white pine shingles. The house was built near the banks of the Pahaua River with permanent water from a creek on one side. Fogs were bad. Pgs 54 – 55.

For many years the Sutherland homestead was the only one in the valley. Pg 38.

Caption: Clay house built on Ngaipu 1855 – must be Pahaua – later known as Ngaipu.

So this must also be the house that Esther lived and worked in for many years.

1866, 3 August:  Elizabeth Sutherland died in Wellington.

1869, April: The existing house, yards, woolshed and men’s quarters was enlarged. Pg 59.

1869: William Sutherland, son of Alex and Elizabeth Sutherland, came to live permanently at Pahaua in 1869. He had often been up from Wellington with stock but did not remain any length of time. He was for several years in the Mounted Constabulary in Wellington, being a good rider and over six foot in height. Pg 59.

William Sutherland.
Source:http://bones.mstn.govt.nz/archives.html

1874, 28 January: Esther married her cousin William Sutherland. She had been for some years living at Pahaua with her brother Jim. Pg 72.

Esther Sutherland
Source:http://bones.mstn.govt.nz/archives.html

William Sutherland continued to work on the Pahaua property.

1874: Esther and William’s daughter Elizabeth was born.

1876: A lot of employees at Pahaua are listed, which presumably Esther cooked for when required.

1876: James McLeod left his job as manager of Pahaua and went to live in Martinborough. William Sutherland was now managing Pahaua.

1877: David Malcolm Sutherland (youngest son of Alexander and Elizabeth) married his cousin Helen Ross – Esther’s sister Mary’s daughter.

1877: Alexander Sutherland died in Wellington.

1878: William Sutherland continued to manage Pahaua which at that time was still in his father’s estate.  The management challenges and problems are written in Sutherlands of Ngaipu.

1879: David and Helen Sutherland moved to Pahaua. Pg 87.

1880: A new house was built for David and Helen Sutherland but the location of this house meant long rides back to the original homestead when sheep or cattle work was being done. Pg 90.

1882: Preparations began for a new house for William and Esther. Pit sawn timber to be cut. A brick kiln was built and bricks burnt. The house was to have been on higher ground above the old homestead which had been lived in for 25 years. It never got built because William died. Pg 95.

1883, 12 March: During the latter part of February,1883, Willie Sutherland was taken ill with rheumatic fever. His health had not been good for some time, and recently he had been in the Waitatuna superintending and working with timber for his new house. No doubt while there he often got wet through and this eventually brought on again the rheumatic fever, from which he had previously suffered. His wife [Esther] did much of the nursing, but as he had to be watched day and night, David Sutherland, W. Bird and Alex McLeod [employee - no relation] were called in to look after him during the night. Early in March he appeared much better, but one night Bill Bird, who was taking the night watch, fell asleep. Sometime during the night, the patient was thirsty and, seeing Bird asleep and knowing that he had done a big day’s work, got out of bed and got the water for himself. Unfortunately, he caught a chill and died suddenly on the 12 March, at the early age of forty-one years. He was born at Lyall’s Bay on March 12, 1842. 

The funeral was to take place in Martinborough, twenty miles away over rough roadless country. The neighbours and men in the district responded splendidly, with William McLaren taking a leading part. Heavy rain setting in, McLaren advised and early morning start. With difficulty the body was taken over the Pahaua River, which was rising rapidly, the horse and cart being almost afloat. Crossing safely the coffin was carried on a stretcher over the hills. Willie Sutherland being a big man, it took thirty men acting in relays….After many hours over hills and gullies covered in thick manuka, they were met a few miles from Martinborough by horse teams and buggies. 

I have been told that the health of Willie Sutherland was affected through the hunting and shooting of wild cattle, the heavy skins of which he often carried for long distances. He would often be wet through for long periods. Money was scarce, and skins often brought up to two pound or three pound each. His death was a great loss to the district as he was well liked and respected by all who knew him. Pg 96.

So while we have the details of getting William’s body to Martinborough no mention is made of Esther and daughter Elizabeth’s trip to the cemetery. They must have gone on horseback with presumably support from such as James and Catherine McLeod.

Waihenga Cemetery, Martinborough

1883: After several months Esther and her daughter Elizabeth, then about eight years of age, vacated the old homestead and went to live in Martinborough.Pg 96.

Esther’s brother-in-law David Sutherland was managing the estate – no small task for a young man whose father and close brother were now dead. 

Suddenly and unexpectedly, being a widow, Esther is to become the owner of a large property which will be surveyed off half each for her and David.

1883: Esther also came into possession of an acre property in Wellington which she sold to James McLeod for four hundred pounds. Pg 87.

1885: David had a choice of which property he would keep. He decided to retain the old homestead block which meant building another new homestead as the old one that William and Esther had lived in would not last much longer. Esther came to an agreement with David in 1885 which came into effect in 1887. David Sutherland renamed his part of the Pahaua property Ngaipu. Surveyors were engaged and fencing materials cut, boundary lines laid out and erected over the next 3 or 4 years. Pg 96.

1885, July:  David’s new house was ready and he moved in with his family.

Esther and Elizabeth Sutherland left Martinborough and went to the house just vacated by David Sutherland. Pg 98.

James McLeod was called in from retirement in Martinborough and with his sons went to manage Esther’s estate. Pg 98.

1898: Esther’s part of the Pahaua property was known as Big Flat but was renamed Moeraki. Pg 99.

1890s: New buildings - wool shed and cook houses etc were built on both properties. Pg 99

1898: Elizabeth, daughter of William and Esther Sutherland, married Donald Cameron from the Lower Pahaua Station. On the marriage of her daughter Esther returned to her other home in Martinborough. Moeraki until then did not have the carrying capacity of Ngaipu. …Mr Cameron concentrated on getting bush cut, and by 1912 Moeraki was carrying several thousand more sheep and cattle. Pg 101

While there is not a lot of information about Esther’s life at Pahaua, Ngaipu has some references to other women that would also describe the conditions Esther lived with. Alex Sutherland, referring to his own mother Helen Sutherland (Ross) who lived for many years at Ngaipu says:

• Living in the country, where for many years there were no roads. Any help was hard to get, and she was often left with all the work to do, but always made the best of the situation. I remember when a boy and all the roads here were unmetalled, with mud in the winter often up to the horses’ knees, mother’s only relaxation when she would be free for a few hours would be to ride to some of the neighbours, perhaps miles away. When a holiday was taken she had to ride over roadless country through thick manuka and flax to Martinborough, twenty miles away, usually carrying one of the children in front of. Later a road was built which made it easier, but it was many years before a buggy could be taken over the road on account of the mud and slips. Pg 129. 

• From the time she first arrived in this district in 1868 until a year after her husband came to Glendryneoch, a period of 13 years, Mrs McLeod (no relation to the McLeods of this story but she lived in the district) had never been to the nearest township. This was typical of what the pioneer women of those days had to put up with in the back blocks. Pg 59.

• Pain and Meenkin had pack horses laden with clothing etc and travelled from station to station. They sold clothes and other goods. Records show they sold from 20 pounds to 50 pounds at any one station. Pg 95.

Extract from Esther’s Obit: 

She bravely faced the hardships of this early day, riding over roadless spur and valley for thirty miles, and swam swollen rivers to obtain household necessities. In those times parties of Maoris frequently called at the settlers’ houses and wanted to help themselves to what was in the pot, cupboard, or even purse but Miss Macleod would assert her rights against such liberties, and the Maori, who always appreciated bravery, would no further interfere.

To be continued.