Days of future past
As the duck-shooting draws to a close, it is timely to have a moment of reflection for all the human fatalities that have occurred in relation to this pursuit. Most fatalities are the result of firearm incidents, but the deaths of 25-yearold Matthew Turbott and his mate
26-year-old (Walter) George Turley on April 30, 1906, were due to drowning, the day before the duckshooting season started.
The men and their two companions, Walter Cole and George’s brother Wilfred, set off across Lake Waikare in a shallowbottomed skiff to set up camp for the night in order to have an early start with shooting the next morning. The boat was overloaded, the water choppy, and when a sudden squall overturned the boat, all four went into the water. Matthew and George sank after a few minutes, but the other two managed to hang on to the boat. Later that day, another hunting party found the two survivors, cold and exhausted, and got them to shore. Wilfred Turley took some time to revive.
The lake was dragged almost continuously, but the bodies were not retrieved until May 3.
Both men were from Tu¯ a¯ kau, and it was to the Tu¯ a¯ kau Cemetery that their bodies were taken by train from Rangiriri to Tu¯ a¯ kau station, then carried by friends and family to a conveyance. A large group of people attended.
George Turley was married with children; he was the youngest son of Samuel and Louisa Turley of
Tu¯ a¯ kau. Matthew Turbott was single but engaged to be married – to George’s sister. Just a few weeks later, two other duck-shooters, cousins James and Thomas Foote, also drowned in the lake, at much the same spot.
Matthew Turbott was the fifth son of Harrisville farmers James and Catherine Turbott. The couple had 11 children, two born before they arrived from Ireland on the Ganges in 1865. They were some of the 2000 immigrants brought from the United Kingdom as part of the Waikato Immigration Scheme and eventually settled on land in the Franklin district. James was given 10 acres [4 hectares], and later bought more land. He soon became active in the community, being on the Tu¯ a¯ kau Town Board and chairman of the Harrisville School. James and Catherine had little schooling, but ensured their children had a good education. The eldest three children attended Pukekohe East School and the others Harrisville School, which James helped to build in the mid1870s.
Several of James and Catherine’s descendants had distinguished careers, one being zoologist Graham Turbott, who was director of Canterbury and Auckland museums; John, who developed the Pukekohe Long Keeper Onion and a successful associated business; Ian, who was awarded a knighthood when governor of Grenada; several were schoolteachers or principals; others were farmers, builders, a landscape architect. Son Harry, a carpenter, married Alice Dillicar of Hamilton; their son became a doctor and broadcaster.
James (died 1923), Catherine (died 1919), and daughter Mary Jane (died 1955), were buried with Matthew in the same family plot at Tu¯ a¯ kau Cemetery. A pity this young man didn’t survive long enough to contribute to the great achievements of his family.
Note: After his death, the
printed a photograph of Matthew Turbott, now available online in Auckland Libraries Heritage Images. In 1928, Leopold Hodgkins, farmer of Horsham Downs, had a serious crush on the local schoolteacher. Not having the courage, the wit, or perhaps the time to court the object of his affection face to face, he communicated via letter.
His first missive got to the point quickly. He understood that the teacher was in the market for matrimony, ‘‘that she was willing and that she was only waiting to be asked’’. He then did the asking, in as romantic a manner as he was capable: ‘‘The reason I am anxious to marry you is that you are so strong. I have often admired the way you push your bicycle along the road the way you do, and when I heard you could swim the Waikato River, I said to myself, ‘you will do me for a wife’.’’
To sweeten the deal, Leopold assured his brideto-be that ‘‘you would not have to milk cows’’.
The teacher was not swept off her feet. She offered no reply.
Hodgkins wrote again, alluding to an incident where the young lady had supposedly defended him in public, declaring her love. He expressed confusion as to why, then, she was playing hard to get. After all, he argued, ‘‘there are not many girls who have the chance of marrying a man worth 1,000 pounds’’.
Moreover, she would have no need of being ashamed of him in public, for ‘‘when I am dressed up there are not many finer looking men in Hamilton than me’’.
He confessed that he had already told several people that they were betrothed and thus would be ‘‘terribly disappointed’’ if the nuptials had to be cancelled.
Now seriously worried as to her suitor’s delusions, the teacher sought a champion, another local framer, Reginald Chibnall.
When Chibnall confronted Hodgkins about the letters things turned violent.
Two benzine-tins were hurled at the would-be lover, followed by a can of that day’s milk. Subsequently, Hodgkins confronted Chibnall on the road and fisticuffs ensued.
The pair found themselves in court, where, in his defence, Chibnall had the letters read out. He was duly acquitted.