Precise book-keeping

A piece of Warkworth’s history is enclosed in the covers of a day book dated April 1860 to October 1862 belonging to John Baxter, first storekeeper in the town. Each sale is recorded in a neat cursive script giving the name of the customer, the item purchased and the price paid.

Early settlers shopped at Baxter’s store for every day necessities such as lamp oil, bar soap and clothes lines, as well as sugar, spices and condiments. A straw hat cost a shilling, flannel and calico were available by the yard, and sales of a more private and personal nature were recorded in French. A young man bought moleskins for four shillings and nine-pence and a shirt with a fancy front for four shillings. He also purchased a pipe and eight pence worth of tobacco.

Hardware items such as nails, hinges and axe handles feature frequently in the pages of the day book. Each month John Baxter added the columns to show a turnover around £60. His time as a storekeeper was relatively short and by November 1865 an Auckland solicitor advertised that as trustee he was winding up the estate.

Storekeepers who followed him did not always please those struggling to make a living from the land. Dissatisfaction with the high price of goods led to the founding of the Mahurangi Co-operative Co in 1872. The aim was to market settlers’ produce more effectively and purchase goods at cheaper rates.

After some difficulties finding suitable premises the business thrived and showed a profit to shareholders. William Bowen, who had arrived in 1864 as part of the Church of England Special Settlement, was given full charge of running the store and, at the first annual meeting, received commendation for his efforts. Before long he had built his own store on the site of the present Stubbs Butchery.

His early death left his wife Isabella with nine children to raise and the store to manage. Other 19th Century Warkworth storekeepers included Henry Bradnam, James Byrt Jordon, Harrison & Son and George Guest.