My Account
Farmer, builder and minister, W.E. Vickery moved to Wellsford to farm his father’s land-holding on what is now Wellsford Valley Rd, following some years spent at Glorit where he had a lease on a bush block. The boating disaster on the Kaipara Harbour, near Glorit, in 1896, which claimed the lives of 10 of those onboard and decimated the settlement, led to his decision to move north. The land he was to farm had been owned by the Oldfield family who had built a small four roomed dwelling. William later extend the house by adding two further rooms.
He spent is early years helping his father William Snr, an Albertlander who arrived on the Hanover. Although from a farming background in North Devon, William Snr had learned to build in London. Working in Auckland, he taught his son the skills needed to be able to turn his hand to most things. This gave W.E. and his young family a much-needed extra income as their land could not sustain them in the early years.
During his time in Wellsford, between 1897 and 1929, he built the following houses which are still in existence today – Len Bennett’s at Port Albert, W.O. Gubb’s and J.V. Grant’s. Many other houses were added to including Archie Becroft’s at Te Hana, Arthur Prictor’s and Grant’s at Wayby which has since been shifted to Prictor Rd. For work on the Port Albert Dairy Factory manager’s house, he earned the princely sum of 12s 6d per week. He built a stately home for Forrest Reid but unfortunately, this has since been demolished.
The store at Port Albert built for the Bennett family, which burnt down in 1924, was another of his landmarks, as was the Wellsford Church of Christ originally built on the site of ‘Old Wellsford’ in 1909. This building was moved in 1927 to its present site in Rodney St, opposite Batten St. The present Port Albert Temperance Hall is another of his achievements. This was built after the original, sited at the Port Albert Crossroads, burned down.
Others he worked for included W. Underwood – he had to alter the doors to allow the passage of a wheeled-bed when Mr Underwood was unable to walk. Names in his work diary include Max Becroft, W.K. Becroft, Mrs P. Becroft, P. Treadwell, Mr Lipanovic, Mr Little, F. Curel, Mr Ward, Roy Becroft and Mr Farrand. He also served on the Wellsford School board and ministered to the Churches of Christ in the district. He spent several years travelling to Auckland regularly to minister to two churches, making the journey by train. After leaving the district in 1929, William ministered in churches thoughout NZ until retiring in 1940 to Wellington where he died in 1949.
