The dead tell tales
Local historian Lyn Williams takes a look at who’s buried in our local cemeteries.
These two Yorkshiremen, father and son, were major contributors to the development of farming in the Waikato. Accounts vary as to which of the Josephs arrived in New Zealand in 1880 and began looking for land, but in February 1881, Joseph Sr bought Wartle at Tamahere, a property of about 800 acres, (323 hectares) adding to it later and farming it with his sons Joseph and Richard. Two daughters, Laura and Catherine, arrived in 1881. The farm, which was bounded by Matangi Rd, Tauwhare Rd and Mangaone Stream, produced large quantities of wheat and specialised in lincoln sheep and shorthorn cattle.
Back in Yorkshire, Joseph J Barugh (according to some, pronounced ‘‘barf’’) was the first to introduce steam threshing and reaping machinery; he made the first straw elevator in England and originated the seven-course system of cropping. According to the Cyclopedia of New Zealand, ‘‘He was one of the first men, if not the first man, in England to make superphosphate.’’ When he introduced topdressing with superphosphate into the Waikato, it was met with much scepticism and little success, until its application was managed to suit Waikato soils.
Within a few months of his arrival here, his importation of guano for use as a fertiliser embroiled him in a row with the railways department, which charged it as merchandise rather than the cheaper agricultural materials tariff. The railways eventually repaid him.
Joseph Sr was a member of the Tamahere Highway Board and the Waikato County Council, the Railway Reform League, a shareholder of the Waikato Cheese and Bacon Company and the Waikato representative on the Auckland Hospital and Charitable Aid Board.
Joseph Jr was similarly busy in farming and local affairs, particularly as a founder and director of the Auckland Farmers’ Freezing Company, Farmers Co-operative Auctioneering Company and the Farmers Union. He was closely associated with St Peter’s Anglican church in Hamilton, St Stephen’s at Tamahere and the local school.
After a period of ill health in late 1886, Joseph Sr retired and leased Wartle to Joseph Jr with part being split off and managed by Richard.
Later still, Joseph Jr bought 1000 acres (404 hectares) at Rototuna, then shifted to Hamilton in 1916.
Catherine and Laura remained in the Tamahere district: Catherine married Martin Pickering and Laura married George Way. Joseph married Ellen Lowish from Yorkshire in 1890. They are all buried in Tamahere cemetery.