History – From tent to timber

It is difficult to fathom the emotions of the early settlers as they arrived at the settlement of Albertland in 1862, only to find a complete lack of basic shelter. For the fortunate few, a tent provided some protection. Others made do with a tarpaulin stretched over a frame of ti-tree poles, while the less fortunate slept under the open sky on makeshift beds of springy bracken. This stark reality greeted the settlers after their gruelling journey through bush and muddy tracks from Auckland to the promised settlement.

Despite these challenges, the settlers worked tirelessly, felling kauri and totara, and cutting them into nine-foot lengths and reducing the timber to slabs using only wedges and splitting knives. They dug perimeter trenches, placed the slabs vertically, and rammed the earth back around them. Poles were lashed across the slabs with flax or rope to provide additional rigidity. Some huts had a ridge, others were ‘lean-to’ style, but almost all featured a solid thatch of nikau palm fronds for protection from heavy downpours. Some settlers added a bush chimney constructed from slabs and corrugated iron, while others made crude flues from tree fern cylinders plastered with clay, which eventually baked brick hard. Floors were a luxury and partitions rare. Suspended squares of sailcloth added a semblance of privacy.

Robert Nicholson and his wife Ann arrived on the Hanover with their children Mary Ann, George and Edwin. They made their way to the settlement via the east coast to Mangawhai, along with fellow settlers, John Houghton, Dr James Bell and others. The boat they travelled on, the Tay, tried unsuccessfully to cross the bar at Mangawhai and continued to head north to Whangarei Heads. Here, some of the passengers disembarked and walked back down the beach to Mangawhai. Robert and his family stayed on board, and on the return trip to Auckland, the captain made three more attempts to cross the bar with the last attempt being successful. The party of settlers were conveyed to the Te Hana Landing by Captain Moir’s dray, and finally pitched their tent on their own land 14 days after leaving Auckland.

It was Nicholson’s dream to build a sawmill, but the land he was allocated was not suitable for this venture, due to the river’s shallow waters. Determined, he purchased land at the junction of the Topuni and Te Hana creeks, and a further 40 acres from Henry Brett. On August 28, 1863, almost one year after their arrival, the Prince Consort arrived at Port Albert with the machinery needed to build Nicholson’s sawmill. The whole district heard the siren which heralded the mills opening on November 24, 1864, and this marked the beginning of the construction of sturdier houses made from weatherboards processed at the mill.

Nicholson’s mill, the first mill in Port Albert, operated for 24 years before Mander & Bradley’s mill opened at Raekau. Nicholson employed many local men, which created cash flow for the struggling district. The settlers had found it difficult to find a market for their produce and money was in short supply. To help his fellow settlers, Nicholson accepted cattle as payment and would ship the animals to Helensville, where they were sold to recoup his money.

For the settlers, having a roof that kept out rain, shelving, cupboards, and an inside fireplace for camp ovens was a significant advancement. In their humble new homes were treasures from England – tables, chairs, books and musical instruments. The settlement began to flourish with 10 houses built in Market Street by 1866, thanks to the perseverance and ingenuity of settlers like Robert Nicholson.