Wallingford/Jarlov Family Trees

Made the spinning wheel (solid wooden wheel) for his mother Christina. Averil Jarlov now has the wheel.

Levin Chronicle 1973
A man who knew this district with an intimacy that has been the experience of few, died in Palmerston North recently. From a pioneering background, the late Richard Allan Prouse was a true son of Levin, being brought up in the atmosphere that saw its development from bush to borough.

Among the Earliest Settlers

The late Mr Allan Prouse was the only son of Richard and Christina (Granny) Prouse who were among Levin's earliest settlers. They lived in a two-storey house behind the Prouse mill at Weraroa (where the Power Board depot now is), which was one of a number of Prouse Brothers' timber mills in the district.

Another Prouse brother, James and his wife Clara, were established in Queen Street East. This was also a two-storey dwelling built on identical lines to the one at Weraroa.

The house that Richard and Christina lived in was demolished in 1959. An account of this is in "The Chronicle" of February 14 of that year. It was cut into sections when demolished and the timber was used in other buildings, notably a block of flats in MacArthur Street. The Queen Street house still stands.

There was another brother, John, well-known as a singer, who it is understood stayed on in Wellington to look after a timber yard there after it was decided to establish a mill at Levin. Previously, they had mills at Whiteman's Valley and Wainuiomata.

This move to Levin took place in 1891. The late Mr Prouse was born in Levin on September 10, 1894 and was christened Richard Allen John McGregor Prouse. He was a descendant of Richard and Mary Prouse who arrived at Petone Beach in the barque Duke of Roxburgh. This ship (477 tons) left Plymouth on October 5, 1839. The skipper, Captain James Thompson, was lost overboard off St. Stephen's Island. A reunion of the Prouse family was held at Wainuiomata on February 8, 1965.

As was suggested at his funeral service in St Andrew's Presbyterian Church (conducted by Rev. R. A. G. Maddock) it was not surprising that the late Mr Prouse, raised in the environment of native bush, steam engines and logging camps, developed a close affinity for the wonders of nature.

A nephew, Mr F. W. (Winton) Parker, told "The Chronicle" these were the interests which stayed with him all his life. Mr Parker said: "He knew all the species of trees and flora of the bush and could identify timber by sight and smell."

Even the snails on the forest floor he could readily identify. He had what was probably the finest collection of specimens of hand snails and sea shells in the country, representing some 40 years of work. Many are from this district, but he travelled widely throughout the country in his search.

All are carefully indexed and displayed on trays in a cabinet made from a specially selected tree felled in the area of north Manakau Road. Mr Allan Prouse worked in close liaison with a cousin, the late Mr H. S. (Bert) Prouse and they found enthusiastic help from Mr A. W. P. Powell, acting director of the Auckland Museum. A species of snail discovered in the West Coast of Nelson province during one of the missions is named after Mr Prouse - Paryphanta Superba Prouserum - and is one of the prized specimens in the collection. The snail hunting activities of these three men in the Horowhenua area was the subject of an article in "The Chronicle" on December 31, 1945.

For Museum

It is not yet known what will happen to this magnificent collection but it is likely that it will ultimately end up in a museum. Mr Parker's son, Mark, a grand-nephew to the late Mr Prouse, also takes a keen interest in native snails and has his own collection, which was a delight to Mr Prouse who encouraged him greatly. Snail hunting was
only one interest, but it was an absorbing one. Even when unable to walk about, members of the family took him out and he directed them to remote areas, some of which he had not visited in 30 years, but where he would recall there had been colonies and he was always right. The last such field trip was only three months ago, Mr Parker recalled.

Membership of the Native Flora Club and Levin-Waiopehu Tramping Club were natural inclinations for a man who loved the outdoors but on tramping exhibitions [sic] into the Tararuas he used to recall he only made Waiopehu Hut once. There were too many things to interest him on the way and he would stop to pick specimens or photograph them while the main party pressed on.

Another collection which was accumulated by the late Mr Prouse were all the programmes from the various amateur musical shows, right up to present days.

Interest in Music

His wife, who predeceased him by just over a year, shared his interest in music. Mrs Prouse (nee Nessie Williamson) came from a pioneer district family. She also was very musical and played the piano. Mr Prouse played the double bass (more commonly known now as a slap bass) in all the local shows and in the days of the silent movies where orchestration was needed to give the necessary sound effects.

The Prouse families went over to farming after the bush was largely cut out. The late Mr Allan Prouse went into dairying and also sheep. He had a property on Tararua Road, but much of this land was taken over by the Government for the Air Force landing field during the war years and after the war, he never really returned to farming, Mr Parker recalled.

Always Busy

But, added Mr Parker, "I don't think you could say he ever really retired. He was always busy and never wasted a minute of his time." He was interested in the establishment of industry here and it is on much of the original Prouse land that many factories now stand. He had a financial interest in one factory and often "popped in"
to chat to the staff and was a very popular figure.

Gift was a typical act

One of the acts typical of the late Mr Allan Prouse was his donation of mill stones which he retrieved from a disused Maori flour mill at Poroutawhao for inclusion in the stonework of the entrance to the Lake Domain. They were rescued by Mr Prouse from the remains of the derelict mill which, it is said, was last operated by a group of
Catholic Monks. Reference to this mill is contained in the book Early Horowhenua.

The late Mr Allan Prouse was a very happy, good natured character, always with a good story readily at hand. He liked people and was interested in being in their company. Even in his last days, he craved knowledge of things around him. Information he gleaned from his studies of nature and the history of the district he was always ready to pass on. His memory was outstanding.

Although he could afford to be well-dressed, he preferred a pair of old leather boots, trousers with braces, and an open necked work shirt and old hat. Although there was a modern car in the garage of his home it was rarely used by Mr Prouse. He much preferred a little half-ton truck runabout.

That is how many Levin people privileged to know Richard Allan Prouse will remember him... a man who learnt much from the environment in which he grew up, accepted this knowledge humbly and set out to ensure that those who followed would benefit by his research and endeavours.

PHOTOS

A picture showing Mr Prouse (second from right) in the casual garb in which he was most at home. It is understood he was helping a friend, Mr W. W. Jamieson, clear a Bartholomew Road section.

A view of Prouse's Mill. The two-storey Prouse homestead is shown in the background at the right. Today, Beardsley and Pearce backs onto it. The Horowhenua Electric Power Board depot is where the mill once stood.

From a newspaper article:

Creator: Corrie Swanwick
Creation date: 18/08/1982
Publisher: The News

http://horowhenua.kete.net.nz/site/documents/show/884-prouse-home-had-first-electricity

Prouse Home had First Electricity

Number 48 Liverpool Street was built for Richard Allan Prouse by Bert Standen at least by 1924 if not earlier. The street was then named Mako Mako Rd. The house would have been the only one of the south side of the road then.

The Prouse history in New Zealand began in 1840 when Richard and Mary Prouse sailed from Plymouth in the Duke of Roxburgh and landed on Petone beach.

Richard was engaged in sawmilling in the Wainuiomata Valley by ... [unclear copy] …sawmilling in Whiteman’s Valley. One son Richard married Janet Gorrie in Australia and had three sons, James, Richard and John who bought land in the new settlement of Levin.

Richard had married Christina Mcillvride in 1879. Christina had travelled to New Zealand from Scotland with her parents John and Isabella in the Oliver Lang in 1858.

The couple had six girls and one boy born to them. Christina being born in 1860.

James and Richard bought 600 acres of land in the Horowhenua block of 4000 acres of which Levin is now the centre. Their land stretched from the now Bush St to Queen St from Cambridge St and back to Gladstone Rd. The bush on the land consisted mainly of matai and totara with some rimu, white-pine, rata, miri and puketa.

They brought the sawmill machinery from Whiteman’s Valley and set up the sawmill in 1891-92. This was sited about where the back of Horowhenua Electric Power substation is now in Cambridge St.

The two-storey homes were built in 1891 of timber brought form Whiteman’s Valley; one being built east of the railway station and about in line with it, just east of the now Totara St. Beardsley Pearce backs onto the site.

The other was built in Queen St East and still exists.

Coin tossed

Both were built to the same plan and the toss of a coin decided which brother got which.

Richard won the house by the mill. John remained in Wellington to run a large joinery business specialising in the then popular mouldings for verandah posts, etc.

A large garden and orchard was established around the house and was the show property of Levin for many years. This house was demolished in 1959 and the timber went into other buildings in Levin.

The mill had a railway siding from the Wellington Manawatu Railway Company’s line. The Prouses were shareholders in the company.

Sawmill

In 1894 they established a sawmill up the south branch of Hautere Rd operating it until 1904. They also had a sawmill at Kereru, now Koputaroa, at the back of the railway station cutting white pine. The logs there were cut into flitches up to 12”x12” and up to 50’ long. This mill was later shifted to the horse-shoe bend on the south side of the Manawatu River cutting white pine and rata. No dates are known but it must have been in the 1890-1905 period.

Flaxmill

Some time during this period the Prouse bothers operated a flaxmill at Karihana Bay, Plimmerton. At least some of the flax was cut in the area north of Plimmerton on the Main Highway. The flax was trolleyed through a tunnel said to have been built by prisoners, to Karihana Bay. It is said to have been used to convey ballast metal for the railway line.

Nurse

Christina (known as Tina) though she had no training, perforce became a nurse for the community especially to the mill. Many accidents occurred in the mills and the bush.

Remarkable figure

She was a remarkable figure in Levin and well known for her help to the community. She was also a midwife often known as Granny Prouse.

Richard and Tina had seven children born to them, but only one boy Richard Allan, known as Allan.

He recalled later in life that while ploughing at the corner of Bartholomew Rd and Liverpool St some very large roots were dragged up. James Parsons told him he had cut a large rimu tree there in 1900. It was 100’ without a limb and of 5’ diameter.

Bank counter

A board was milled from it 12’ long, 3’ thick and 4’ wide. This was installed as a counter in the Bank of NZ in Wellington. During renovations in 1935 people were amazed that there were no joins in the counter. Allan informed them where the board had come from. The counter was installed again and was still there in the 1960s.

The Levin sawmill was demolished about 1907 and the machinery shifted to a mill in the King Country by John Prouse. Some of the Prouse family had large areas of land in the Mangaraku area west of Collingwood and they operated a sawmill there, probably the same sawmill machinery used again.

Allan’s sister Jessie married Frank Parker. Allan married Agnes (Nessie) Williams and they had no children.

He was an avid collector of NZ snails and was considered the foremost expert on them, many gathered in the Mangaraki area and all over NZ. His collection of snails is now on permanent loan in the Dominion Museum. He also donated the glasshouse at the Levin War Veterans Home.

First Power

As said before, 48 Liverpool St was built about 1924. It probably had the first electric power in Levin. It was probably so favoured because the Power Board had bought the land for the substation from the Prouse estate. The blinds had to be down at night so the electric lights could not be seen from the road. The power probably came from the steam generator at Mangaori used for construction purposes. Levin’s street lights were lit up from this source for some weeks prior to the hydropower being generally available.

Solid Brick

The house is built of solid brick including internal walls. 27,800 bricks were used. The exterior walls are roughcast plaster with much larger pebbles used than usual. When the house was built, it was the only building on the south side of Mako Mako Rd East except perhaps for the substation on Cambridge St, which was finished in 1924.

The house, originally of six rooms, is unchanged except for a sunroom put on by Winton Parker and some fittings. Sub floor timber and flooring are of jarrah. The large front entrance porch is a feature.

There are three door less arches into rooms being what is called open living now. All the fan lights are of stained leadlight glass as also are the small windows and part of the front door.

The living room ceiling is of faceted plaster Carrara board with exposed beams of native honeysuckle wood with its distinctive grain. A bedroom is similar except for lighter beams in oak. Internal doors are of solid redwood.

Mill Stones

One feature is that a fireplace in a bedroom has pieces of stone (French) that came from the mill stones from the flour mill, built by a French priest about 1860-70 on the west side of the Foxton Rd, just before the hill up to the Waitarere Rd turnoff.

Waitarere means rushing water, so named by the Maoris because of the artificial race to the waterwheel.

Allan had rescued the broken mill stones before they were lost. He donated pieces which are incorporated in the Mau-Upoko Gates at the Lake Reserve.

Allan lived in the house surviving his wife until he died in 1975. A nephew Winton Parker bought the house then and lived in it with his wife, Ann, until 1979. Then their son Mark and his wife Cherylyn bought it and are now living in it.

Appreciation to Mr Winton Parker for help in research for this article and to Mark and Cherylyn Parker for their help is expressed by Mr Swanwick.

This is a general transcription of the tapes made by Allen Prouse by the Levin Rotary Club in 1963. It is not verbatim - I have simply summarised as best I can what was said on the tapes.

Originals are at http://horowhenua.kete.net.nz/site/topics/show/1473-rotary-club-oral-history-project

On 20 March 1889 a ballot was held at the Central Land Office in Customshouse Quay, Wellington, for 3000 acres of land, with Levin in the centre, which had been bought for 30 shillings per acre from the Maori owners. Richard ii, along with sons James, Richard iii and John attended. Richard and James Prouse obtained 600 acres of standing matai bush. The northern boundary was a survey line where Queen Street now runs from the railway crossing to approximately Gladstone Road. The southern boundary ran from Beach Road to Gladstone Road.

The family had a sawmill about 3 miles south of the current site of Wainuiomata, when at some point shifted up to Whiteman's Valley with the mill (they were there by May 1879 for certain, as Richard iii was married there.) When they moved to Levin, they moved the sawmill with them. Some of the men lived in tents while they were building a number of houses, including the two big houses for James and Richard iii. The families moved up once the two houses were finished, in August 1891. The mill in Levin was at the corner of Liverpool and Cambridge Streets and ran until about 1907. The mill was then sold and shifted by James up into the King Country. Most of the mill equipment was made from cast iron and had to be handled onto the railway wagons at the Levin railway station, which was at that time a few chains north of the Rosyln Road crossing, where Peter Bartholemew had his mill. He had been there about 2 years before the Prouses arrived in Levin.

The Bartholemew's mill was shifted to a site near the corner of Oxford Street South and Beach Road. The railways had trouble stopping at the Roslyn Road crossing where the original station as it was half the way up a hill, so they decided to move the station down to Weraroa. It was just where the water tank was standing (recording made in middle 1960s?), just a few chains north of the present day location of the railway station. The shift from Roslyn Road to Weraroa was in 1894. The railway was a private company, the Wellington Manawatu Railway Company. Many of the locals had shares in the company, and it paid a dividend each year. When the Bartholemews and Prouses (both shareholders) applied for a siding for their mills, it was promptly put in free of charge. On 7 December 1908 the railways was taken over by the government - the purchase price was 933,000 pounds, and the shareholders were all paid out.

The bush in that milling area was great - matai and totara were predominant, with a few rimus, white pines and others. The matai was so dense that Allen remembers seeing three trees joined together, each with 2 foot to 3 foot 6 inch diameters, with sap area only an inch thick in each as they had reached maturity and milling age. Heart timber in those days really was heart, and clean, selling for 8 shillings per hundred feet. Timber was used for most everything in the mill (much of which is still solid after 70 years), and he had seen timber put into the boiler for mild defects. He has never seen heart matai with a bug in it, but the sap would get eaten to dust. He said his father believed that heart timber milled from a dead tree would get eaten by borer, because the resistance to borer died with the tree.

(Audio is not clear - not sure why/how the tree was still there, or when it was milled???) Next door to the new hospital grounds there was a giant rimu tree on a clay bank. In 1920 Allen dug away at the roots. Working with him was James Parsons, who said he had felled the tree which was 108 feet high without a limb and over 5 feet in diameter. Some time in 1935 the Bank of New Zealand in Wellington was redoing the inside of their bank, and when the counters were taken out, no one could find a plank that was 12 feet long 3 inches thick and 4 feet wide. Allen was able to tell them where to get it, and believes it is still there to this day.

The Prouse Brothers cut a lot of white pine timber at the mill behind the railway station that was sent to Australia. Allen remembers seeing the railway wagons loaded with 10 by 10 and 12 by 12, forty to fifty foot long, the length of those railway wagons. The manager of the mill was a tall thin man named Bill Rogers. Timber from that mill was sent to t ....

This is a general transcription of the tapes made by Allen Prouse by the Levin Rotary Club in 1963. It is not verbatim - I have simply summarised as best I can what was said on the tapes.

Originals are at http://horowhenua.kete.net.nz/site/topics/show/1473-rotary-club-oral-history-project

On 20 March 1889 a ballot was held at the Central Land Office in Customshouse Quay, Wellington, for 3000 acres of land, with Levin in the centre, which had been bought for 30 shillings per acre from the Maori owners. Richard ii, along with sons James, Richard iii and John attended. Richard and James Prouse obtained 600 acres of standing matai bush. The northern boundary was a survey line where Queen Street now runs from the railway crossing to approximately Gladstone Road. The southern boundary ran from Beach Road to Gladstone Road.

The family had a sawmill about 3 miles south of the current site of Wainuiomata, when at some point shifted up to Whiteman's Valley with the mill (they were there by May 1879 for certain, as Richard iii was married there.) When they moved to Levin, they moved the sawmill with them. Some of the men lived in tents while they were building a number of houses, including the two big houses for James and Richard iii. The families moved up once the two houses were finished, in August 1891. The mill in Levin was at the corner of Liverpool and Cambridge Streets and ran until about 1907. The mill was then sold and shifted by James up into the King Country. Most of the mill equipment was made from cast iron and had to be handled onto the railway wagons at the Levin railway station, which was at that time a few chains north of the Rosyln Road crossing, where Peter Bartholemew had his mill. He had been there about 2 years before the Prouses arrived in Levin.

The Bartholemew's mill was shifted to a site near the corner of Oxford Street South and Beach Road. The railways had trouble stopping at the Roslyn Road crossing where the original station as it was half the way up a hill, so they decided to move the station down to Weraroa. It was just where the water tank was standing (recording made in middle 1960s?), just a few chains north of the present day location of the railway station. The shift from Roslyn Road to Weraroa was in 1894. The railway was a private company, the Wellington Manawatu Railway Company. Many of the locals had shares in the company, and it paid a dividend each year. When the Bartholemews and Prouses (both shareholders) applied for a siding for their mills, it was promptly put in free of charge. On 7 December 1908 the railways was taken over by the government - the purchase price was 933,000 pounds, and the shareholders were all paid out.

The bush in that milling area was great - matai and totara were predominant, with a few rimus, white pines and others. The matai was so dense that Allen remembers seeing three trees joined together, each with 2 foot to 3 foot 6 inch diameters, with sap area only an inch thick in each as they had reached maturity and milling age. Heart timber in those days really was heart, and clean, selling for 8 shillings per hundred feet. Timber was used for most everything in the mill (much of which is still solid after 70 years), and he had seen timber put into the boiler for mild defects. He has never seen heart matai with a bug in it, but the sap would get eaten to dust. He said his father believed that heart timber milled from a dead tree would get eaten by borer, because the resistance to borer died with the tree.

(Audio is not clear - not sure why/how the tree was still there, or when it was milled???) Next door to the new hospital grounds there was a giant rimu tree on a clay bank. In 1920 Allen dug away at the roots. Working with him was James Parsons, who said he had felled the tree which was 108 feet high without a limb and over 5 feet in diameter. Some time in 1935 the Bank of New Zealand in Wellington was redoing the inside of their bank, and when the counters were taken out, no one could find a plank that was 12 feet long 3 inches thick and 4 feet wide. Allen was able to tell them where to get it, and believes it is still there to this day.

The Prouse Brothers cut a lot of white pine timber at the mill behind the railway station that was sent to Australia. Allen remembers seeing the railway wagons loaded with 10 by 10 and 12 by 12, forty to fifty foot long, the length of those railway wagons. The manager of the mill was a tall thin man named Bill Rogers. Timber from that mill was sent to the Horseshoe Lake on the Manawatu River. The road was on the southern end of the Shannon railway station running in a westerly direction to the Manawatu River by the Saunders old homestead. Rata and white pine was cut there for about three years. Allen remembers seeing big trout in the backwash of the river where the sawdust was being dumped. The rata sawdust was killing the fish.

At Ohau James and Richard had a sawmill just at the back of the railway station on the eastern side of the line. Some of the old mill houses were still standing and used by the Maoris until a very recent date. The Gorries were related to the Prouses and used to work together. The mills needed to be fed with logs, which required miles of tramways. The trees were selected for size and quality by the bushmen who would fell them as required. They were hauled either by bullock or steam to the tramway. The tramways were mostly hauled by horses. One main line went east and the other south, meeting at the corner of Prouse and Matai street. The one to the east went via Queen Street to Gladstone Road. Logs were moved to be closer to the mill to speed work. There was no animosity between the Bartholemews and the Prouses. Each had their own tramway tracks, but they crossed each other. The companies cooperated in many ways in production and sales of timber.

The employees worked together in harmony for 44 hours per week, from 7:30 to 4:30. The wages were 8 shillings a day. The foreman got 8 and 6. All these men had families. Costs were all in line with that income. A week's rent of a house was a day's wages of 8 shillings. Saturday afternoons and Sundays were spent filling the larder with a few extras such as wild pigs. There were also most of the game birds, and rabbits, hares and pigeons.

In both the Bartholemew and Prouse mill there was a night watchman, with an imporant duty to let all know if a fire breaks out, letting the mill whistle sound. Every available man would turn out, day or night, to fight fires. The only water available was from wells, 50 to 80 foot deep, hand pumped. Fires were not so common in the mills where the night watchmen were on guard, but more in the bush where the trees had been felled but not burned off, fed by strong winds generally from the east.

There is a picture in the jubilee publication showing the mill hands at work in the Weraroa mill. There was no bank in Levin, and Christina Prouse would travel to Wellington by train once a fortnight and would do the banking for the men. She only had 21 minutes to get to the Bank of New Zealand and back to the Thorndon railway station, and she had a standing order with a taxi. It was about 1895 when Palmerston North opened a branch of the bank. It wasn't until 1897 that the Bank of New Zealand had a branch in Levin. The nearest doctor was in Foxton, and no telephones. You had to ride over to get him, and there was no bridge over the Manawatu River - just just had to swim it. It was some years before a doctor came to Otaki. Christina did most of the medical work until the men could be sent to the nearest hospital which was in Wellington.

Christina took care of one man who had nearly chopped off his toe. She also removed steel particles from men's eyes with a magnetised pocket knife blade. She also delivered many children into the world. he Horseshoe Lake on the Manawatu River. The road was on the southern end of the Shannon railway station running in a westerly direction toThis is a general transcription of the tapes made by Allen Prouse by the Levin Rotary Club in 1963. It is not verbatim - I have simply summarised as best I can what was said on the tapes.

Originals are at http://horowhenua.kete.net.nz/site/topics/show/1473-rotary-club-oral-history-project

On 20 March 1889 a ballot was held at the Central Land Office in Customshouse Quay, Wellington, for 3000 acres of land, with Levin in the centre, which had been bought for 30 shillings per acre from the Maori owners. Richard ii, along with sons James, Richard iii and John attended. Richard and James Prouse obtained 600 acres of standing matai bush. The northern boundary was a survey line where Queen Street now runs from the railway crossing to approximately Gladstone Road. The southern boundary ran from Beach Road to Gladstone Road.

The family had a sawmill about 3 miles south of the current site of Wainuiomata, when at some point shifted up to Whiteman's Valley with the mill (they were there by May 1879 for certain, as Richard iii was married there.) When they moved to Levin, they moved the sawmill with them. Some of the men lived in tents while they were building a number of houses, including the two big houses for James and Richard iii. The families moved up once the two houses were finished, in August 1891. The mill in Levin was at the corner of Liverpool and Cambridge Streets and ran until about 1907. The mill was then sold and shifted by James up into the King Country. Most of the mill equipment was made from cast iron and had to be handled onto the railway wagons at the Levin railway station, which was at that time a few chains north of the Rosyln Road crossing, where Peter Bartholemew had his mill. He had been there about 2 years before the Prouses arrived in Levin.

The Bartholemew's mill was shifted to a site near the corner of Oxford Street South and Beach Road. The railways had trouble stopping at the Roslyn Road crossing where the original station as it was half the way up a hill, so they decided to move the station down to Weraroa. It was just where the water tank was standing (recording made in middle 1960s?), just a few chains north of the present day location of the railway station. The shift from Roslyn Road to Weraroa was in 1894. The railway was a private company, the Wellington Manawatu Railway Company. Many of the locals had shares in the company, and it paid a dividend each year. When the Bartholemews and Prouses (both shareholders) applied for a siding for their mills, it was promptly put in free of charge. On 7 December 1908 the railways was taken over by the government - the purchase price was 933,000 pounds, and the shareholders were all paid out.

The bush in that milling area was great - matai and totara were predominant, with a few rimus, white pines and others. The matai was so dense that Allen remembers seeing three trees joined together, each with 2 foot to 3 foot 6 inch diameters, with sap area only an inch thick in each as they had reached maturity and milling age. Heart timber in those days really was heart, and clean, selling for 8 shillings per hundred feet. Timber was used for most everything in the mill (much of which is still solid after 70 years), and he had seen timber put into the boiler for mild defects. He has never seen heart matai with a bug in it, but the sap would get eaten to dust. He said his father believed that heart timber milled from a dead tree would get eaten by borer, because the resistance to borer died with the tree.

(Audio is not clear - not sure why/how the tree was still there, or when it was milled???) Next door to the new hospital grounds there was a giant rimu tree on a clay bank. In 1920 Allen dug away at the roots. Working with him was James Parsons, who said he had felled the tree which was 108 feet high without a limb and over 5 feet in diameter. Some time in 1935 the Bank of New Zealand in Wellington was redoing the inside of their bank, and when the counters were taken out, no one could find a plank that was 12 feet long 3 inches thick and 4 feet wide. Allen was able to tell them where to get it, and believes it is still there to this day.

The Prouse Brothers cut a lot of white pine timber at the mill behind the railway station that was sent to Australia. Allen remembers seeing the railway wagons loaded with 10 by 10 and 12 by 12, forty to fifty foot long, the length of those railway wagons. The manager of the mill was a tall thin man named Bill Rogers. Timber from that mill was sent to the Horseshoe Lake on the Manawatu River. The road was on the southern end of the Shannon railway station running in a westerly direction to the Manawatu River by the Saunders old homestead. Rata and white pine was cut there for about three years. Allen remembers seeing big trout in the backwash of the river where the sawdust was being dumped. The rata sawdust was killing the fish.

At Ohau James and Richard had a sawmill just at the back of the railway station on the eastern side of the line. Some of the old mill houses were still standing and used by the Maoris until a very recent date. The Gorries were related to the Prouses and used to work together. The mills needed to be fed with logs, which required miles of tramways. The trees were selected for size and quality by the bushmen who would fell them as required. They were hauled either by bullock or steam to the tramway. The tramways were mostly hauled by horses. One main line went east and the other south, meeting at the corner of Prouse and Matai street. The one to the east went via Queen Street to Gladstone Road. Logs were moved to be closer to the mill to speed work. There was no animosity between the Bartholemews and the Prouses. Each had their own tramway tracks, but they crossed each other. The companies cooperated in many ways in production and sales of timber.

The employees worked together in harmony for 44 hours per week, from 7:30 to 4:30. The wages were 8 shillings a day. The foreman got 8 and 6. All these men had families. Costs were all in line with that income. A week's rent of a house was a day's wages of 8 shillings. Saturday afternoons and Sundays were spent filling the larder with a few extras such as wild pigs. There were also most of the game birds, and rabbits, hares and pigeons.

In both the Bartholemew and Prouse mill there was a night watchman, with an imporant duty to let all know if a fire breaks out, letting the mill whistle sound. Every available man would turn out, day or night, to fight fires. The only water available was from wells, 50 to 80 foot deep, hand pumped. Fires were not so common in the mills where the night watchmen were on guard, but more in the bush where the trees had been felled but not burned off, fed by strong winds generally from the east.

There is a picture in the jubilee publication showing the mill hands at work in the Weraroa mill. There was no bank in Levin, and Christina Prouse would travel to Wellington by train once a fortnight and would do the banking for the men. She only had 21 minutes to get to the Bank of New Zealand and back to the Thorndon railway station, and she had a standing order with a taxi. It was about 1895 when Palmerston North opened a branch of the bank. It wasn't until 1897 that the Bank of New Zealand had a branch in Levin. The nearest doctor was in Foxton, and no telephones. You had to ride over to get him, and there was no bridge over the Manawatu River - just just had to swim it. It was some years before a doctor came to Otaki. Christina did most of the medical work until the men could be sent to the nearest hospital which was in Wellington.

Christina took care of one man who had nearly chopped off his toe. She also removed steel particles from men's eyes with a magnetised pocket knife blade. She also delivered many children into the world. the Manawatu River by the Saunders old homestead. Rata and white pine was cut there for about three years. Allen remembers seeing big trout in the backwash of the river where the sawdust was being dumped. The rata sawdust was killing the fish.

At Ohau James and Richard had a sawmill just at the back of the railway station on the eastern side of the line. Some of the old mill houses were still standing and used by the Maoris until a very recent date. The Gorries were related to the Prouses and used to work together. The mills needed to be fed with logs, which required miles of tramways. The trees were selected for size and quality by the bushmen who would fell them as required. They were hauled either by bullock or steam to the tramway. The tramways were mostly hauled by horses. One main line went east and the other south, meeting at the corner of Prouse and Matai street. The one to the east went via Queen Street to Gladstone Road. Logs were moved to be closer to the mill to speed work. There was no animosity between the Bartholemews and the Prouses. Each had their own tramway tracks, but they crossed each other. The companies cooperated in many ways in production and sales of timber.

The employees worked together in harmony for 44 hours per week, from 7:30 to 4:30. The wages were 8 shillings a day. The foreman got 8 and 6. All these men had families. Costs were all in line with that income. A week's rent of a house was a day's wages of 8 shillings. Saturday afternoons and Sundays were spent filling the larder with a few extras such as wild pigs. There were also most of the game birds, and rabbits, hares and pigeons.

In both the Bartholemew and Prouse mill there was a night watchman, with an imporant duty to let all know if a fire breaks out, letting the mill whistle sound. Every available man would turn out, day or night, to fight fires. The only water available was from wells, 50 to 80 foot deep, hand pumped. Fires were not so common in the mills where the night watchmen were on guard, but more in the bush where the trees had been felled but not burned off, fed by strong winds generally from the east.

There is a picture in the jubilee publication showing the mill hands at work in the Weraroa mill. There was no bank in Levin, and Christina Prouse wouThis is a general transcription of the tapes made by Allen Prouse by the Levin Rotary Club in 1963. It is not verbatim - I have simply summarised as best I can what was said on the tapes.

Originals are at http://horowhenua.kete.net.nz/site/topics/show/1473-rotary-club-oral-history-project

On 20 March 1889 a ballot was held at the Central Land Office in Customshouse Quay, Wellington, for 3000 acres of land, with Levin in the centre, which had been bought for 30 shillings per acre from the Maori owners. Richard ii, along with sons James, Richard iii and John attended. Richard and James Prouse obtained 600 acres of standing matai bush. The northern boundary was a survey line where Queen Street now runs from the railway crossing to approximately Gladstone Road. The southern boundary ran from Beach Road to Gladstone Road.

The family had a sawmill about 3 miles south of the current site of Wainuiomata, when at some point shifted up to Whiteman's Valley with the mill (they were there by May 1879 for certain, as Richard iii was married there.) When they moved to Levin, they moved the sawmill with them. Some of the men lived in tents while they were building a number of houses, including the two big houses for James and Richard iii. The families moved up once the two houses were finished, in August 1891. The mill in Levin was at the corner of Liverpool and Cambridge Streets and ran until about 1907. The mill was then sold and shifted by James up into the King Country. Most of the mill equipment was made from cast iron and had to be handled onto the railway wagons at the Levin railway station, which was at that time a few chains north of the Rosyln Road crossing, where Peter Bartholemew had his mill. He had been there about 2 years before the Prouses arrived in Levin.

The Bartholemew's mill was shifted to a site near the corner of Oxford Street South and Beach Road. The railways had trouble stopping at the Roslyn Road crossing where the original station as it was half the way up a hill, so they decided to move the station down to Weraroa. It was just where the water tank was standing (recording made in middle 1960s?), just a few chains north of the present day location of the railway station. The shift from Roslyn Road to Weraroa was in 1894. The railway was a private company, the Wellington Manawatu Railway Company. Many of the locals had shares in the company, and it paid a dividend each year. When the Bartholemews and Prouses (both shareholders) applied for a siding for their mills, it was promptly put in free of charge. On 7 December 1908 the railways was taken over by the government - the purchase price was 933,000 pounds, and the shareholders were all paid out.

The bush in that milling area was great - matai and totara were predominant, with a few rimus, white pines and others. The matai was so dense that Allen remembers seeing three trees joined together, each with 2 foot to 3 foot 6 inch diameters, with sap area only an inch thick in each as they had reached maturity and milling age. Heart timber in those days really was heart, and clean, selling for 8 shillings per hundred feet. Timber was used for most everything in the mill (much of which is still solid after 70 years), and he had seen timber put into the boiler for mild defects. He has never seen heart matai with a bug in it, but the sap would get eaten to dust. He said his father believed that heart timber milled from a dead tree would get eaten by borer, because the resistance to borer died with the tree.

(Audio is not clear - not sure why/how the tree was still there, or when it was milled???) Next door to the new hospital grounds there was a giant rimu tree on a clay bank. In 1920 Allen dug away at the roots. Working with him was James Parsons, who said he had felled the tree which was 108 feet high without a limb and over 5 feet in diameter. Some time in 1935 the Bank of New Zealand in Wellington was redoing the inside of their bank, and when the counters were taken out, no one could find a plank that was 12 feet long 3 inches thick and 4 feet wide. Allen was able to tell them where to get it, and believes it is still there to this day.

The Prouse Brothers cut a lot of white pine timber at the mill behind the railway station that was sent to Australia. Allen remembers seeing the railway wagons loaded with 10 by 10 and 12 by 12, forty to fifty foot long, the length of those railway wagons. The manager of the mill was a tall thin man named Bill Rogers. Timber from that mill was sent to the Horseshoe Lake on the Manawatu River. The road was on the southern end of the Shannon railway station running in a westerly direction to the Manawatu River by the Saunders old homestead. Rata and white pine was cut there for about three years. Allen remembers seeing big trout in the backwash of the river where the sawdust was being dumped. The rata sawdust was killing the fish.

At Ohau James and Richard had a sawmill just at the back of the railway station on the eastern side of the line. Some of the old mill houses were still standing and used by the Maoris until a very recent date. The Gorries were related to the Prouses and used to work together. The mills needed to be fed with logs, which required miles of tramways. The trees were selected for size and quality by the bushmen who would fell them as required. They were hauled either by bullock or steam to the tramway. The tramways were mostly hauled by horses. One main line went east and the other south, meeting at the corner of Prouse and Matai street. The one to the east went via Queen Street to Gladstone Road. Logs were moved to be closer to the mill to speed work. There was no animosity between the Bartholemews and the Prouses. Each had their own tramway tracks, but they crossed each other. The companies cooperated in many ways in production and sales of timber.

The employees worked together in harmony for 44 hours per week, from 7:30 to 4:30. The wages were 8 shillings a day. The foreman got 8 and 6. All these men had families. Costs were all in line with that income. A week's rent of a house was a day's wages of 8 shillings. Saturday afternoons and Sundays were spent filling the larder with a few extras such as wild pigs. There were also most of the game birds, and rabbits, hares and pigeons.

In both the Bartholemew and Prouse mill there was a night watchman, with an imporant duty to let all know if a fire breaks out, letting the mill whistle sound. Every available man would turn out, day or night, to fight fires. The only water available was from wells, 50 to 80 foot deep, hand pumped. Fires were not so common in the mills where the night watchmen were on guard, but more in the bush where the trees had been felled but not burned off, fed by strong winds generally from the east.

There is a picture in the jubilee publication showing the mill hands at work in the Weraroa mill. There was no bank in Levin, and Christina Prouse would travel to Wellington by train once a fortnight and would do the banking for the men. She only had 21 minutes to get to the Bank of New Zealand and back to the Thorndon railway station, and she had a standing order with a taxi. It was about 1895 when Palmerston North opened a branch of the bank. It wasn't until 1897 that the Bank of New Zealand had a branch in Levin. The nearest doctor was in Foxton, and no telephones. You had to ride over to get him, and there was no bridge over the Manawatu River - just just had to swim it. It was some years before a doctor came to Otaki. Christina did most of the medical work until the men could be sent to the nearest hospital which was in Wellington.

Christina took care of one man who had nearly chopped off his toe. She also removed steel particles from men's eyes with a magnetised pocket knife blade. She also delivered many children into the world. ld travel to Wellington by train once a fortnight and would do the banking for the men. She only had 21 minutes to get to the Bank of New Zealand and back to the Thorndon railway station, and she had a standing order with a taxi. It was about 1895 when Palmerston North opened a branch of the bank. It wasn't until 1897 that the Bank of New Zealand had a branch in Levin. The nearest doctor was in Foxton, and no telephones. You had to ride over to get him, and there was no bridge over the Manawatu River - just just had to swim it. It was some years before a doctor came to Otaki. Christina did most of the medical work until the men could be sent to the nearest hospital which was in Wellington.

Christina took care of one man who had nearly chopped off his toe. She also removed steel particles from men's eyes with a magnetised pocket knife blade. She also delivered many children into the world. This is a general transcription of the tapes made by Allen Prouse by the Levin Rotary Club in 1963. It is not verbatim - I have simply summarised as best I can what was said on the tapes.

Originals are at http://horowhenua.kete.net.nz/site/topics/show/1473-rotary-club-oral-history-project

On 20 March 1889 a ballot was held at the Central Land Office in Customshouse Quay, Wellington, for 3000 acres of land, with Levin in the centre, which had been bought for 30 shillings per acre from the Maori owners. Richard ii, along with sons James, Richard iii and John attended. Richard and James Prouse obtained 600 acres of standing matai bush. The northern boundary was a survey line where Queen Street now runs from the railway crossing to approximately Gladstone Road. The southern boundary ran from Beach Road to Gladstone Road.

The family had a sawmill about 3 miles south of the current site of Wainuiomata, when at some point shifted up to Whiteman's Valley with the mill (they were there by May 1879 for certain, as Richard iii was married there.) When they moved to Levin, they moved the sawmill with them. Some of the men lived in tents while they were building a number of houses, including the two big houses for James and Richard iii. The families moved up once the two houses were finished, in August 1891. The mill in Levin was at the corner of Liverpool and Cambridge Streets and ran until about 1907. The mill was then sold and shifted by James up into the King Country. Most of the mill equipment was made from cast iron and had to be handled onto the railway wagons at the Levin railway station, which was at that time a few chains north of the Rosyln Road crossing, where Peter Bartholemew had his mill. He had been there about 2 years before the Prouses arrived in Levin.

The Bartholemew's mill was shifted to a site near the corner of Oxford Street South and Beach Road. The railways had trouble stopping at the Roslyn Road crossing where the original station as it was half the way up a hill, so they decided to move the station down to Weraroa. It was just where the water tank was standing (recording made in middle 1960s?), just a few chains north of the present day location of the railway station. The shift from Roslyn Road to Weraroa was in 1894. The railway was a private company, the Wellington Manawatu Railway Company. Many of the locals had shares in the company, and it paid a dividend each year. When the Bartholemews and Prouses (both shareholders) applied for a siding for their mills, it was promptly put in free of charge. On 7 December 1908 the railways was taken over by the government - the purchase price was 933,000 pounds, and the shareholders were all paid out.

The bush in that milling area was great - matai and totara were predominant, with a few rimus, white pines and others. The matai was so dense that Allen remembers seeing three trees joined together, each with 2 foot to 3 foot 6 inch diameters, with sap area only an inch thick in each as they had reached maturity and milling age. Heart timber in those days really was heart, and clean, selling for 8 shillings per hundred feet. Timber was used for most everything in the mill (much of which is still solid after 70 years), and he had seen timber put into the boiler for mild defects. He has never seen heart matai with a bug in it, but the sap would get eaten to dust. He said his father believed that heart timber milled from a dead tree would get eaten by borer, because the resistance to borer died with the tree.

(Audio is not clear - not sure why/how the tree was still there, or when it was milled???) Next door to the new hospital grounds there was a giant rimu tree on a clay bank. In 1920 Allen dug away at the roots. Working with him was James Parsons, who said he had felled the tree which was 108 feet high without a limb and over 5 feet in diameter. Some time in 1935 the Bank of New Zealand in Wellington was redoing the inside of their bank, and when the counters were taken out, no one could find a plank that was 12 feet long 3 inches thick and 4 feet wide. Allen was able to tell them where to get it, and believes it is still there to this day.

The Prouse Brothers cut a lot of white pine timber at the mill behind the railway station that was sent to Australia. Allen remembers seeing the railway wagons loaded with 10 by 10 and 12 by 12, forty to fifty foot long, the length of those railway wagons. The manager of the mill was a tall thin man named Bill Rogers. Timber from that mill was sent to the Horseshoe Lake on the Manawatu River. The road was on the southern end of the Shannon railway station running in a westerly direction to the Manawatu River by the Saunders old homestead. Rata and white pine was cut there for about three years. Allen remembers seeing big trout in the backwash of the river where the sawdust was being dumped. The rata sawdust was killing the fish.

At Ohau James and Richard had a sawmill just at the back of the railway station on the eastern side of the line. Some of the old mill houses were still standing and used by the Maoris until a very recent date. The Gorries were related to the Prouses and used to work together. The mills needed to be fed with logs, which required miles of tramways. The trees were selected for size and quality by the bushmen who would fell them as required. They were hauled either by bullock or steam to the tramway. The tramways were mostly hauled by horses. One main line went east and the other south, meeting at the corner of Prouse and Matai street. The one to the east went via Queen Street to Gladstone Road. Logs were moved to be closer to the mill to speed work. There was no animosity between the Bartholemews and the Prouses. Each had their own tramway tracks, but they crossed each other. The companies cooperated in many ways in production and sales of timber.

The employees worked together in harmony for 44 hours per week, from 7:30 to 4:30. The wages were 8 shillings a day. The foreman got 8 and 6. All these men had families. Costs were all in line with that income. A week's rent of a house was a day's wages of 8 shillings. Saturday afternoons and Sundays were spent filling the larder with a few extras such as wild pigs. There were also most of the game birds, and rabbits, hares and pigeons.

In both the Bartholemew and Prouse mill there was a night watchman, with an imporant duty to let all know if a fire breaks out, letting the mill whistle sound. Every available man would turn out, day or night, to fight fires. The only water available was from wells, 50 to 80 foot deep, hand pumped. Fires were not so common in the mills where the night watchmen were on guard, but more in the bush where the trees had been felled but not burned off, fed by strong winds generally from the east.

There is a picture in the jubilee publication showing the mill hands at work in the Weraroa mill. There was no bank in Levin, and Christina Prouse would travel to Wellington by train once a fortnight and would do the banking for the men. She only had 21 minutes to get to the Bank of New Zealand and back to the Thorndon railway station, and she had a standing order with a taxi. It was about 1895 when Palmerston North opened a branch of the bank. It wasn't until 1897 that the Bank of New Zealand had a branch in Levin. The nearest doctor was in Foxton, and no telephones. You had to ride over to get him, and there was no bridge over the Manawatu River - just just had to swim it. It was some years before a doctor came to Otaki. Christina did most of the medical work until the men could be sent to the nearest hospital which was in Wellington.

Christina took care of one man who had nearly chopped off his toe. She also removed steel particles from men's eyes with a magnetised pocket knife blade. She also delivered many children into the world. This is a general transcription of the tapes made by Allen Prouse by the Levin Rotary Club in 1963. It is not verbatim - I have simply summarised as best I can what was said on the tapes.

Originals are at http://horowhenua.kete.net.nz/site/topics/show/1473-rotary-club-oral-history-project

On 20 March 1889 a ballot was held at the Central Land Office in Customshouse Quay, Wellington, for 3000 acres of land, with Levin in the centre, which had been bought for 30 shillings per acre from the Maori owners. Richard ii, along with sons James, Richard iii and John attended. Richard and James Prouse obtained 600 acres of standing matai bush. The northern boundary was a survey line where Queen Street now runs from the railway crossing to approximately Gladstone Road. The southern boundary ran from Beach Road to Gladstone Road.

The family had a sawmill about 3 miles south of the current site of Wainuiomata, when at some point shifted up to Whiteman's Valley with the mill (they were there by May 1879 for certain, as Richard iii was married there.) When they moved to Levin, they moved the sawmill with them. Some of the men lived in tents while they were building a number of houses, including the two big houses for James and Richard iii. The families moved up once the two houses were finished, in August 1891. The mill in Levin was at the corner of Liverpool and Cambridge Streets and ran until about 1907. The mill was then sold and shifted by James up into the King Country. Most of the mill equipment was made from cast iron and had to be handled onto the railway wagons at the Levin railway station, which was at that time a few chains north of the Rosyln Road crossing, where Peter Bartholemew had his mill. He had been there about 2 years before the Prouses arrived in Levin.

The Bartholemew's mill was shifted to a site near the corner of Oxford Street South and Beach Road. The railways had trouble stopping at the Roslyn Road crossing where the original station as it was half the way up a hill, so they decided to move the station down to Weraroa. It was just where the water tank was standing (recording made in middle 1960s?), just a few chains north of the present day location of the railway station. The shift from Roslyn Road to Weraroa was in 1894. The railway was a private company, the Wellington Manawatu Railway Company. Many of the locals had shares in the company, and it paid a dividend each year. When the Bartholemews and Prouses (both shareholders) applied for a siding for their mills, it was promptly put in free of charge. On 7 December 1908 the railways was taken over by the government - the purchase price was 933,000 pounds, and the shareholders were all paid out.

The bush in that milling area was great - matai and totara were predominant, with a few rimus, white pines and others. The matai was so dense that Allen remembers seeing three trees joined together, each with 2 foot to 3 foot 6 inch diameters, with sap area only an inch thick in each as they had reached maturity and milling age. Heart timber in those days really was heart, and clean, selling for 8 shillings per hundred feet. Timber was used for most everything in the mill (much of which is still solid after 70 years), and he had seen timber put into the boiler for mild defects. He has never seen heart matai with a bug in it, but the sap would get eaten to dust. He said his father believed that heart timber milled from a dead tree would get eaten by borer, because the resistance to borer died with the tree.

(Audio is not clear - not sure why/how the tree was still there, or when it was milled???) Next door to the new hospital grounds there was a giant rimu tree on a clay bank. In 1920 Allen dug away at the roots. Working with him was James Parsons, who said he had felled the tree which was 108 feet high without a limb and over 5 feet in diameter. Some time in 1935 the Bank of New Zealand in Wellington was redoing the inside of their bank, and when the counters were taken out, no one could find a plank that was 12 feet long 3 inches thick and 4 feet wide. Allen was able to tell them where to get it, and believes it is still there to this day.

The Prouse Brothers cut a lot of white pine timber at the mill behind the railway station that was sent to Australia. Allen remembers seeing the railway wagons loaded with 10 by 10 and 12 by 12, forty to fifty foot long, the length of those railway wagons. The manager of the mill was a tall thin man named Bill Rogers. Timber from that mill was sent to the Horseshoe Lake on the Manawatu River. The road was on the southern end of the Shannon railway station running in a westerly direction to the Manawatu River by the Saunders old homestead. Rata and white pine was cut there for about three years. Allen remembers seeing big trout in the backwash of the river where the sawdust was being dumped. The rata sawdust was killing the fish.

At Ohau James and Richard had a sawmill just at the back of the railway station on the eastern side of the line. Some of the old mill houses were still standing and used by the Maoris until a very recent date. The Gorries were related to the Prouses and used to work together. The mills needed to be fed with logs, which required miles of tramways. The trees were selected for size and quality by the bushmen who would fell them as required. They were hauled either by bullock or steam to the tramway. The tramways were mostly hauled by horses. One main line went east and the other south, meeting at the corner of Prouse and Matai street. The one to the east went via Queen Street to Gladstone Road. Logs were moved to be closer to the mill to speed work. There was no animosity between the Bartholemews and the Prouses. Each had their own tramway tracks, but they crossed each other. The companies cooperated in many ways in production and sales of timber.

The employees worked together in harmony for 44 hours per week, from 7:30 to 4:30. The wages were 8 shillings a day. The foreman got 8 and 6. All these men had families. Costs were all in line with that income. A week's rent of a house was a day's wages of 8 shillings. Saturday afternoons and Sundays were spent filling the larder with a few extras such as wild pigs. There were also most of the game birds, and rabbits, hares and pigeons.

In both the Bartholemew and Prouse mill there was a night watchman, with an imporant duty to let all know if a fire breaks out, letting the mill whistle sound. Every available man would turn out, day or night, to fight fires. The only water available was from wells, 50 to 80 foot deep, hand pumped. Fires were not so common in the mills where the night watchmen were on guard, but more in the bush where the trees had been felled but not burned off, fed by strong winds generally from the east.

There is a picture in the jubilee publication showing the mill hands at work in the Weraroa mill. There was no bank in Levin, and Christina Prouse would travel to Wellington by train once a fortnight and would do the banking for the men. She only had 21 minutes to get to the Bank of New Zealand and back to the Thorndon railway station, and she had a standing order with a taxi. It was about 1895 when Palmerston North opened a branch of the bank. It wasn't until 1897 that the Bank of New Zealand had a branch in Levin. The nearest doctor was in Foxton, and no telephones. You had to ride over to get him, and there was no bridge over the Manawatu River - just just had to swim it. It was some years before a doctor came to Otaki. Christina did most of the medical work until the men could be sent to the nearest hospital which was in Wellington.

Christina took care of one man who had nearly chopped off his toe. She also removed steel particles from men's eyes with a magnetised pocket knife blade. She also delivered many children into the world.

Letter from Phyllis Prouse Taylor to Christobel Nation Tunnington, 22 May 1973:

Phyllis remembered a watch that Allan had that was possibly given to him on his 21st birthday by his mother, which would have been 1915.

It was a fairly ordinary looking silver watch but it had a small lever concealed on the side (lower right, she thought) which, when pushed back with the thumbnail, would chime the hours and the quarter hours, with two bell sounds. Phyllis described it as a 'honey'. A later letter said the chime was 'sweet and a high soprano'.

She asked Allan about it "about the time of the Parker wedding" and Allan was pleased she remembered it, and that he had it around in a drawer somewhere.

It was not a wristwatch.

In a later letter, she described that Cuffie now has the watch. Jewellers in Levin in 1915 were Warren Williams, Tom Sherlaw and E.W.J. Smith. Warren Williams left Levin later, and she thinks that Tom Sherlaw sold his business to E.W.J. Smith (Smith had married Amy Lancaster). Phyllis believes that Tina would have gotten the watch from E.W.J. Smith, where another friend, Mary Kelleher, had worked for a time.

Watches and other novelties such as this would came on the market, but quickly disappeared with the coming of the War.

Letter from Phyllis Prouse Taylor to Christobel Nation Tunnington, 9 August 1979:

Allan told Phyllis one time that he had hidden £2000 somewhere in his house where no one could find it. Beryl Taylor Jarlov told Phyllis that she had a good idea where it might be...

Colonist, Volume LXII, Issue 15295, 7 February 1920, Page 4

PERSONAL.

The engagement is announced of Miss Florence Kearns, youngest daughter of Mrs E. Kearns, of Nelson, to Mr Allan Prouse, only son of Mr Richard Prouse, of "Weraroa," Levin.

1919, Otaki: Richard Allan Prouse, Weraroa. Farmer.
1928, Manawatu: Richard Allan John McGregor Prouse, Mako Mako Rd, Levin. Farmer.
1935, Manawatu: Richard Allan John McGregor Prouse, Mako Mako Rd, Levin. Farmer.
1938, Manawatu: Richard Allan John McGregor Prouse, Mako Mako Rd, Weraroa. Farmer.
1946, Otaki: Richard Alla (sic) John McGregor Prouse, Liverpool St, Weraroa. Farmer.
1949, Otaki: Richard Allan John McGregor Prouse, Liverpool St, Levin. Farmer.
1954, Otaki: Richard Allan John McGregor Prouse, Liverpool St, Levin. Farmer.
1957, Otaki: Richard Allan John McGregor Prouse, 48 Liverpool St, Levin. Farmer.
1963, Otaki: Richard Allan J. M., 48 Liverpool St, Levin. Retired.
1969, Otaki: Richard Allan J. McG Prouse, 48 Liverpool St, Levin. Retired.

From Averil Jarlov

When they visited Alan and Nessie on the way to Wellington, the kids would always get lemonade and Malopuffs, which was really amazing to them.

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 116, 17 May 1926, Page 13

A marriage which caused much local interest was that of Miss Agnes Margaret Williamson, daughter of Mrs. M. A. Williamson, of Levin, to Mr. Richard Allan Prouse, only son of Mrs. R. Prouse, of Weraroa. The ceremony took place at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Levin, which was charmingly decorated for the occasion. The Rev. R. Crockett performed the ceremony, and Mrs. T. Devine played the Wedding March. The bride was in a handsome gown of ivory georgette, with flared flounce of silver lace, and court train of charmeuse, lined with cyclamen georgette. The beautiful bridal veil was embroidered in silver and worn with orange blossom. She carried a shower bouquet and was presented with a horseshoe by little Peggy Fraser. Miss E. Walton as bridesmaid, wore a smart frock of petunia georgette with a flared skirt, the low waistline being embroidered in gold. The headdress was a gold tissue swathe, and the bouquet was of daisies and heather. The bridegroom's present to her was a parl ring. Chrystabel Nation was train-bearer, in a dainty frock of peach crepe-de-chine, with godets of deep cream Valenciennes lace, her headdress being of pleated peach tulle with ribbon streamers. She also wore a gold armlet, the gift of the bridegroom, and carried a basket of gerberas and roses. Mr. L. Williamson was the best man. The reception was held at the Century Hall, when there were many guests. The bride's travelling costume was an ensemble suit of blue face cloth, the under frock being of shaded georgette, and a hat to match was worn. She also wore a marmot fur coat, the gift of tho bridegroom.