Community Contributed

Pioneers of Foxton : Book Four.

Kete Horowhenua2020-03-23T16:53:54+00:00
Foxton Historical Society compiled a set of books - there are now five of them - containing biographies of early Foxton residents.

Foreword.

For more than eighty years flax was the life – blood of Foxton but for many a flaxmill owner it brought disaster and bankruptcy. Many local businessman invested in flax in the hopes of making a fortune. The mills themselves were no more than rough sheds and the workers had to endure cold, wet conditions with machinery that was dangerous for the unwary or careless. Workers found their jobs insecure at times when there was a glut of hemp on the world market.. those were the days when many households had a cow, a few pigs, and fowls and the thrifty housewife sold any surplus to the local stores to provide the bare essentials in food and clothing for her family, there being no unemployment or family benefits then. In times of slump families were forced to move on to districts where work was available. For many life was a struggle for existence.

From 1896 when the Foxton-Palmerston North railway was converted to iron rails trade boomed through the little port. The extension of the railway to Wanganui meant another port was available to back country districts so Foxton got a smaller share of the trade.
The biggest blow came with the opening of the Wellington-Palmerston North railway allowing traffic from the south to go by land rather than by sea. Foxton became a “backwater” almost overnight.


Our thanks once again to descendants who have provided so much information on the early families of the district.



Contents

1. Alexander Gray
2. Samuel Howan
3. John Henry HIllary
4. Andrew Seabury
5. Andrew Jonson
6. George Hughes
7. Abraham King



Acknowledgments

We thank those people who have shared their family story with us and permitted publication.

We thank members of our society who have helped with research.

Other sources

Files of “Manawatu Herald”

Cyclopedia of New Zealand 1897 & 1908

Foxton Borough Records

Foxton Historical Society files.


Referencing:

When referencing this book please use the following:

Pioneers of Foxton : Book Four. [Foxton, N.Z.] : Foxton Historical Society, 1990.