Hatuma

Hatuma is on the south side of the Waipukurau Block, which extends as far as Lake Poukawa.[23] Henry Russell set up the Mount Herbert estate, to the east of Waipukurau, and his brother, Thomas Purvis Russell (baptised 16 December 1818 at Chirnside in the Scottish Borders[24] and normally known as Purvis; they were sons of lawyer Robert Russell and Elizabeth Purvis),[25] took the neighbouring block, which he named Woburn. It covered 26,655 acres (10,787 ha),[26] extending south from Waipukurau along the whole of the western side of the Ngahape valley, including Marakeke and the Turiri Range of hills[27] to within 4 mi (6.4 km) of Takapau.[28] Henry and Purvis also owned runs near the Turanganui River in southern Wairarapa.[29] Purvis arrived in Wellington from London on the New Zealand Company's 582 ton barque, Prince of Wales, on 3 January 1843,[30] with his first visit to Hatuma in 1847.[22] He was corresponding with the government agent, Donald McLean, in 1851.[31]

Until the Liberal government introduced a graduated land tax under the Land and Income Assessment Act 1891 and a Lands for Settlements Act 1894, Woburn and its neighbour, Oruawharo, were extensive sheep runs and their owners had returned to Britain.[32] Purvis Russell seems to have been at Woburn in 1858,[33] but to have returned to Britain by 1859, for he married Mary Glass Sainsbury in Bath[34][35] on 6 July. However, he returned in 1860[36] and their daughter, Mary Maud Russell,[37] was born at Woburn on 11 August 1862.[38] They left again in 1874[39] to live in their large house at Warroch[40] (a mile from Dalqueich, about 30 mi (48 km) north of Edinburgh and close to the Hattonburn family home of their son in law, Henry Montgomery).[41][42] They briefly returned in 1881,[43] but were back for the marriage of their daughter in Edinburgh in 1882,[44] There were clearly close personal and financial links between Warroch and Waipukurau, as shown in another marriage in 1883[45] and an advert.[46] In 1891 he exhibited one of his merino sheep at a Kinross show.[47]

The Liberal reforms induced them to return in 1893[48] and make changes.[49] The homestead, which had burnt down in 1877,[50] was rebuilt in 1893[51] for Purvis Russell and Henry Montgomery, by a local builder, W A Chambers, for £2,400[22] including a fireplace by a local cabinet maker, Mr Goudy,[52] or Condie.[22] The house was protected by a Category 2 listing on 7 April 1983[53] and is now a bed and breakfast business.[54]

Although a resolution urging the government to buy the land was passed in 1886[55] and the first hearing of the Board of Review took place in 1892,[56] the recommended purchase took much longer than the government expected.[57][58] It was controversial[59][60] and Purvis delayed it through appeals for as long as possible,[22][61] until the government paid £141,618 in 1900.[62] On 25 April 1901 some 25,737 acres (10,415 ha) were split into 54 sections on perpetual leases.[63] 221 acres (89 ha) were for the village of Hatuma, close to the railway siding.[28] Purvis Russell retained 700 acres (280 ha) near Waipukurau.[22] By 1904 there were 60 farmers, a post office and a school.[64] The former controversial owner died at Bath in 1906, leaving an estate of £257,677,[65] including £120,000 of personal estate in New Zealand.[66]

Hatuma about 1918 – a group welcoming Private John Baxter Rice, who returned in December 1918[67]

In 1874 G G Allan won a £14,100 contract for the 14 mi (23 km) extension of the Napier to Waipukurau railway south to Takapau.[68] It opened on 12 March 1877[69] and later had a siding for the Woburn estate. On Friday, 20 June 1884 Woburn opened as a flag station and on 16 August 1887 the private siding for the estate was opened to the public. In 1888 it was recommended that a platform and shelter shed should be built. On 26 July 1889 the name was changed from Woburn to Hatuma.[70]

Following pressure from the new settlers and their MP, Charles Hall,[71] Hatuma reopened as a flag station on 1 August 1901. Sheep yards followed in 1902.[72] Further improvements were pressed for in 1903.[73] By 1904 it had a shelter shed, platform, cart road, cattle and sheep yards, 40 ft (12 m) x 30 ft (9.1 m) goods shed, loading bank, urinals and a passing loop for 26 wagons, extended to 80 in 1940. On 16 March 1904 a new station was built[70] about 30 ch (600 m) from the original siding.[71] Improvements were made in 1915 and a railway house was built in 1937.[70] In the 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake a train was derailed near Hatuma.[74]

On 2 July 1977 the station closed.[75] A short platform and stockyards remain.[76]

5.4 km (3.4 mi) to the south of Hatuma,[77] there was a flag station at Marakeke from 16 April 1909.[75] It was recorded as having fixed signals in 1905 and had a shelter shed, loading bank, latrines and a passing loop for 30 wagons when the station opened. By 1911 it also had a platform, cart approach and loading bank. Sheep yards were added in 1929 and access for lorries provided in 1937. By 3 August 1978, when they closed, the stockyards were overgrown and had been disused for about two years. On 27 September 1981 Marakeke closed to all traffic but private siding traffic. In 1988 it was noted there was a small modern office building, but no platform.[70] It finally closed about 1993.[75] The station building was moved to Marton for use as an office by the lime company.[78][79] Only a single track and traces of a station yard remain.[80]

Maharakeke Settlement is an official name,[81] but the station was known as Marakeke[75] and it has been spelt Maharekeke.[22]

Hatuma in 1971

The school opened on 20 March 1903.[22] By 1904 it had 37 children.[83] Hatuma school closed and its students were moved to Flemington,[84] between 1962[85] and 1971.[86] The school was on Hatuma Road, opposite Hobson Road.[87]

Hatuma South School opened on 1 October 1906[88] and closed about 1917, probably due to wartime staff shortages.[89]

Marakeke School opened on 12 March 1912,[22] on the corner of Waiou Road.[90] In 1938 a proposal to close the school was withdrawn,[91] but between 1962[92] and 1979[93] its pupils also went to Flemington.[84]

A site for Hatuma Hall was allocated in 1906,[94] but it opened on 24 July 1932.[22] It was near the railway, to the west of Hobson Road. In 1998 the hall was also moved to Flemington.[95]