History – To own their own land

To own their own land – this was the main reason that 83 emigrants left Bohemia to build a new life in New Zealand. They had come from the region of Chotieschau (Czech – Chotěšov). The 650-year-old convent there had been their feudal overlord, owning the majority of land, villages, forests, breweries, vineyards and brickworks in the area. The people were granted the use of some land. In return they had to pay homage, give military service, pay taxes, supply grain, cows, chickens and eggs, and use their horses to fetch firewood from the forests. Men were punished if they failed to fulfill the required number of days compulsory labour each week.

Austrian Army Captain Martin Krippner emigrated with his English wife Emily, nee Longdill, and family in 1861. Martin acquired land which was no use for farming at the north end of Orewa. The Pankratz and Scheidler families, who came with them as servants, moved to better land at Matakana.

The Auckland Waste Lands Act 1858 made provision for blocks of land be set apart for special settlements of groups of immigrants. Land was free: 40 acres for any person 18 years and upwards; 20 acres for any person upwards of five years and under 18 years of age. After five years working on the land the settler was entitled to a Crown Grant.

Captain Krippner told his brother in Bohemia, and 51 adults with 32 children were able to take advantage of the offer. Although the land was very different from the gently rolling, fertile hills that they knew, it was their own and they believed that with hard work they would be successful. They wrote glowing letters back to their relatives. Another 32 emigrants came under the same scheme in 1866.

The next group of 17 emigrants came by assisted passages in 1872. They were under the proposed Auckland Homestead Act, whereby they had to build a homestead, live on and cultivate the land for five years and repay their passage money before receiving the Crown Grant.

In 1888, a special Puhoi Settlers Act granted them their land. Emigrants who arrived later, and the sons of the first settlers, acquired their land under a deferred payment scheme. Tom Bayer, who died recently aged 101 years, remembers his family making more land their own each time they had accumulated some extra money. Tom generously supported the Puhoi Historical Society and we would like to record here our sincere gratitude for his help.