RICHARD (DICK) O'DONNELL came to Tainui in 1880's.
Born 1861 died 1932 aged 71. Buried Te Henui
Married Elizabeth Ann Barrett died 1947 aged 84 buried at Te Henui.
Children:
Harold O'Donnell b 5-Oct-1882
Richard O'Donnell b 18-Jan-1885
James O'Donnell b 1-Nov-1893
Annie O'Donnell b 14-Mar-1887
Nellie O'Donnell b 25-Aug-1895
William O'Donnell b 8-Jul-1889
Leonard O'Donnell b 4-Feb-1895
Michael O'Donnell b 12-Dec-1897
Arthur O'Donnell b 1-Apr-1900
Herbert O'Donnell b 26-Jul-1902
Bessie O'Donnell b 20-May-1908
Richard and Elizabeth O'Donnell and Dick's father Richard came from
Christchurch in the 1880's. (see footnotes by
Warwick Hughes) Blacksmith in New Plymouth was first job
on their arrival. Elizabeth started a boarding house and Post Office
at Tongaporutu. In 1907 Dick O'Donnell was the first person to use
corrugated iron on the boarding house roof. The furniture for the
boarding house was made from honeysuckle by Harold O'Donnell and Bill James.
Elizabeth would provide accomodation for all the north-bound travellers
while mary Jane McKoy who owned the boarding house on the north side of
the river provided for those travelling south.
Richard O'Donnell Snr. was an old Irishman who went to the Crimean
War and was 102 when he died. (in 1920)
( photos of family members also in 1890, 1900,
1910 and 1940 decades).
JOSEPH ARTHUR O'DONNELL Born in Tongaporutu 1900 Died 1992
Born
1/4/1900
Married MAVIS VERA WELCH Born 1914
Married 1933
Children: Trevor Arthur O'Donnell
Born: 1934
Faye Betty O'Donnell Born:
1945
Dennis John O'Donnell Born:
1965
Arty, as he was always known was born at Tongaporutu and never lived
anywhere else. Leaving school at the age of 14 he went to work
for Harry Bavistock bushfelling and sometimes doing the cooking and scrubbing.
They built a punga whare for themselves to sleep in, thatching it with
bullrushes. After leaving Bavistock's employ he went with Alan
Waters to survey 16,000 acres up the Hutiwai. The government built
a road 16 miles in with the intention of subdividing the land into farms
but they decided to leave it in reserve. After that he went to work
for Bill Lovell milking cows in the summer and felling bush in the winter.
In 1932 he leased 275 acres from Bill Lovell and started farming on his
own account. That year he married Mavis Vera Welch and they lived
there for over 20 years milking a mob of jersey cows.
Their children all went to Ahititi School. The family all played
an active part in the social life of the district.
In 1954 Artie and Mavis retired to the O'Donnell family homestead on
the banks of the Tongaporutu River. Artie had no wish to leave the
district and died in 1992.
Memories of Artie O'Donnell
Those settlers living in Tongaporutu lived very isolated lives and were
very dependent on each other to a great extent.
Mr Arthur O'Donnell was born in Tongaporutu in 1900 and has lived in
the same area all his life. He and his wife Mavis have just celebrated
their golden wedding. Mr O'Donnell tells his story of those
early days.
My parents were Dick and Elizabeth O'Donnell and with Dick's father
Richard they had come up from Christchurch in the 1880's.
Boarding House: On their arrival Elizabeth O'Donnell started
a boarding house on the south side of the Tongaporutu River. A midwife,
she was the only nurse in the district for forty years.
Pilot: Dick O'Donnell was the warfenage pilot for the
river traffic during this time. Farms in that area were allocated in 100
acres blocks and Father Richard milked 24 cows on the partly cleared land.
Dick also ran the Post Office.
Other settlers there then were, Albert Waters, Teddy Laing, Bill Lovell
and Mr Bavistock on their 100 acre blocks.
My fathers duty as pilot meant he would go along the river at night
lighting lanterns to lead the boats in.
Houses: The first houses were built from pitsawn timber,
trees cut from the bush and also punga slabs. My father was
the first to use corrugated iron in 1907 as roofing for the boarding house.
This had been brought from kaitara by packhorses, being rolled to get it
through the tunnel along the Pukearuhe Beach at White Cliffs, mainly used
as a stock route.
I was 8th in a family of eleven, and when I first went to school, I
went three days at Tongaporutu, and three days up the Tongaporutu river
to the Ahititi School. My older brother Harold would row us up in
a canoe, that he had carved from a tree. That school is now situated
on the main road at Ahititi.
During my parents time at the boarding house and Post Office, they
entertained hundreds of travellers going north. There was another
boarding house on the opposite side of the river run by Mrs. McKoy and
she would have the south bound people. We used to see hundreds of
Maoris as they came south to visit Urenui and Kaitara. They would
bring mobs of wild horses to sell, accompanied by a crowd of fierce
dogs. The dogs were used to hunt wild pigs, and they would camp at
Tongaporutu and have a big feed.
As well as using bush timber for housing Bill James and my brother......
Page two
We had regattas on the river and mother would always cater for the
crowds attending. The boats were all carved from bush timber
and were a great sight when they were rowed over the hurdles in the
river.
Work: I left school when I was fourteen and went
bush felling. I worked for Harry Bavistock, sometimes I cooked and
scrubbed. We built punga whares to sleep in, and thatched with bullrushes.
When the Great War started this job ceased and I went to work for Bill
Lovell up the Hutiwai. When I left Bavistock I went with Alan Waters
to survey 16,000 acres up the Hutiwai valley. The government built
a road 16 miles in and the intention was to divide it for farming but then
it was decided to leave it as a reserve.
Farming: Then I went to work for Bill Lovell, milking
in the summer and bush felling in the winter. About 1930 I leased
275 acres from him and set up on my own account. I married Mavis
Vera Welch that year and we were to live there for over twenty years milking
Jersey cows.
When Mt Messenger was opened up the boarding house was closed and also
the post office, although this later opened again when a shop and post
office was built be Albert Waters in 1908-1909.
In 1954 we retired to the O'Donnell homestead on the bank of the Tongaporutu River with our children making the fourth generation. I have no wish to leave the district. My eldest son Trevor lives at Taumaranui with his wife and three children, my daughter Mrs. Faye Innes lives at Tongaporutu with her husband David and son on the site of the old boarding house, and younger son Dennis still returns to us at weekends.
Note by Warwick Hughes: Mrs. Jean Smithson also talks of the O'Donnell's as living some time in Christchurch. Was that their port of arrival ? We know that Richard O'Donnell was born in Poona, India 1861, a date which fits with his father Michael b 1818 transferring to India after the Crimean War. I have looked in shipping lists on the internet but have not yet traced the arrival of the O'Donnell family in New Zealand. It is interesting that the above memoirs say Richard and Elizabeth came from Christchurch in the 1880's. We have shipping list records on the www that Elizabeth Barrett arrived in New Plymouth on the sailing ship "Avalanche" with her family in 1875 when she was 13. Did she move to Christchurch at some time ? We have a little to learn yet to understand the outline of the O'Donnell family arrival in NZ and movements. Any information gratefully received.
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