My Account
It is pleasant to recall childhood memories of picnic outings to Martin’s Falls. The day would always include a ramble through the bush where lycopodium fern grew profusely, and rewarewa and lancewood grew tall to find the light. The falls would soon come into view and if there had been recent rain, they were a grand sight. The land near the falls was purchased jointly from the Crown in 1854, by Mathew Angove and his wife’s cousin John Trethowan, first wave Mahurangi settlers.
The Angove and Trethowen families can be traced back many generations to Constantine, a small Cornish village named after a Sixth Century saint. Mathew Angove and Ann Trethowen were married at Truro, Cornwall, in 1849. The following year, when their daughter Mary Ann Trethowan Angove was christened, a note was made in the parish register to the effect that the baby’s mother was a resident of Constantine but the father’s abode was unknown. In the 1851 Census, Ann and one-year-old Mary Ann lived on the farm belonging to Ann’s grandfather but Mathew was not with them. Perhaps he was already in New Zealand, but that is speculation. Certainly the family was reunited when they arrived in Auckland aboard the brig Algerine in July, 1853.
John Trethowan must have emigrated ahead of his family. His wife Maria and children, Emma and John, came on the Josephine Willis in 1855. On the Electoral Roll of 1857, Mathew Angove and John Trethowen are listed as freehold settlers, living near Brown’s Mill (Warkworth). They continued to acquire land and by 1867, the Angove farm covered 222 acres, while Parkvale, the home of the Trethowans, consisted of 173 acres.
Mathew Angove gave land for the first Wesleyan Methodist chapel built near Carran’s Road, in 1860. John Breese mentions in his diary that he had a contract to cut timber to enlarge the church. It was later moved to Warkworth and served until a new church was built in 1901. Early Agricultural Show records feature M Angove as a frequent prize winner with his dairy cows and he also gave lectures on such things as the making and curing of butter. Later in life, he was a Justice of the Peace, District Coroner and Registrar of Electors. John Trethowan ran the bone mill, situated on the riverbank, below the present main highway bridge. He advocated the use of bone dust to produce good pasture and crops. His fine singing voice and talent for humorous recitation were much in demand for concerts and soirees. Both the Cornishmen were members of the Upper Mahurangi Highway Board in its formative years and worked to promote the annual shows and race meetings. Mentioned in the early minutes of the highway board is the river crossing that became the little humpy bridge where later generations of children played. It was an important link to the town for the settlers. Now a peaceful oasis, as the landscape around it changes, it is a much-used access to Woodcocks Road. The pocket of native bush which remains is a treasure worth preserving for future generations to enjoy.
