The discovery and settlement of the Wairarapa region is connected with several prominent figures of New Zealand’s history. Ancestral figures such as Hau-nui-a-nanaia, Kupe, Whatonga, Tara Ika and Toi have all been said to have connections with the region and are responsible for the naming of many of the Wairarapa’s features and places. It has been estimated that Rangitane settled in the region by about the sixteenth century. Marriage links with Rangitane saw a group of Ngati Kahungunu retreat to the Wairarapa in the subsequent century as the result of internal hapu conflict. The two groups cohabitated mostly in the south Wairarapa for a period, but then the Ngati Kahungunu newcomers negotiated several sections of land for themselves. This process was not seamless and instances of conflict continued between the two iwi over the centuries. The next significant period of change in the area was in the early nineteenth century with the progression of Te Rauparaha and others. This ushered in an era when many different iwi, including Ngati Whatua, Ngati Awa, Ngati Toa, Ngati Raukawa, Ngati Tama, and Ngati Mutunga, made advances into the region and some Ngati Kahungunu hapu withdrew.
European incursion into the Wairarapa only began after the New Zealand Company’s Port Nicholson settlement was established. Based on the reports of the exploring and surveying parties that the company sent out, the southern Wairarapa became one of the first extensive tracts of land to be occupied by Europeans, although the Crown titles, negotiated by Donald McLean, were not obtained until 1853. However, it took substantially longer for settlement to progress beyond Masterton, which was linked to Wellington by road in 1859. Further incursion was slow because the northern Wairarapa was heavily forested, as opposed to the south with its relatively clear and large grass plains. In particular, the forest north of Mount Bruce was dense with rimu, tawa, matai, maire, kahikatea, and rata, and was known as Forty Mile Bush, which was within the larger Seventy Mile Bush that also encompassed places such as Dannevirke and Norsewood. Maori referred to this forest as Te Tapere Nui o Whatonga (The great forest of Whatonga) and an abundance of birdlife resided there amongst giant ancient trees, some of which were large enough for groups of local Maori to shelter within their trunks.
The forest acted as a significant barrier and therefore, while there was some European settlement in the northern Wairarapa before the late nineteenth century, it was not until roads were extended further and the railway link to Wellington established that the area was opened up for substantive settlement. In preparation for the construction of the railway the government had an active role in the foundation of several places in the Wairarapa and Tararua regions. Towns such as Mauriceville, Eketahuna, Norsewood, and Dannevirke were all initially formed as bases for the railway labourers. Part of the preparation for the railway construction included building a road through the district which had progressed by the mid to late 1870s.
This increased, albeit rudimentary, access meant that land sales in the Pahiatua area earnestly began in the early 1880s. An initially slow sales market was boosted greatly by purchases made on behalf of Arthur James Balfour (1848-1930), who later went onto become British Prime Minister and Earl Balfour. In this way, when Pahiatua township was eventually established in 1881 it differed from most of the other settlements in the area because it was not created by the Crown, instead it resulted from private subdivisions of land. The site of Pahiatua had previously been a Maori village called Te Pohatu. It is thought that Pahiatua’s founder, Masterton nurseryman William Wilson McCardle (1844-1921), named the township after his friend and local Maori Chief, Koneke Pahiatua. Pahiatua, which means resting place, or camp, of the atua refers to a seventeenth century event when an atua rescued a Rangitane chief from invading forces to the south.
Once the subdivisions were made, Pahiatua quickly emerged as a frontrunner to become the main service centre of the area, which attracted further settlement and businesses to the town. By the mid 1880s local tenacity meant that the burgeoning town of about 500 people had shops, a hotel, and a road board, but had been by-passed by the railway despite Main Street having been specifically made unusually wide to compensate for the potential railway line down its centre. The fact that Main Street was prone to flooding was a valid reason for the government engineer to recommend the railway tracks be laid west of the town, but Pahiatua people saw this as a deliberate snub. Because it was a privately created town Pahiatua was slow to accrue many of the public facilities that were established comparatively early in other towns. However, the rapid growth of the town and wider area led to the creation of the Pahiatua County Council in 1888 and the Pahiatua Borough in 1892.
In 1908 Pahiatua was described as a ‘rising town.’ Although the timber industry was not as dominant as in the initial settlement period, it was still important locally. However, by the early years of the twentieth century the dairy industry was the major economic contributor to the area, and this was supplemented by sheep farming and fruit production and processing. Accordingly, in the early twentieth century the town also featured branches of several different banks, including the Bank of New Zealand and the Union Bank of Australia. The Bank of New Zealand had a relatively substantial and elegant Pahiatua branch building, which was a contemporary of that constructed by its competitor the Bank of New South Wales. However, this Bank of New Zealand building was demolished to make way for a new branch building in 1974.
The Bank of New South Wales was among these early banks to set-up in Pahiatua. The Bank of New South Wales had previously established its presence in the wider area through branches in Dannevirke (1891) and Masterton (1895). A Pahiatua branch was opened a few years later in 1899 in leased rooms, becoming the 35th Bank of New South Wales branch opened in New Zealand since its first in 1861. It may have been a report from the Masterton branch manager that motivated the bank to consider opening the Pahiatua branch. He believed that ‘the land is of first quality and is rapidly being broken in and I am confident [that Pahiatua] would be a desirable place to open.’
After establishing themselves in the leased office space on Pahiatua’s Main Street, the Bank of New South Wales soon started looking for a permanent home in this economically promising area. In 1902 it purchased a site on Main Street, however this seems to have not been in an ideal location and was eventually sold when the property which the Bank of New South Wales (Former) was to be constructed upon came up for sale. Now in possession of land in the central business area of town, the bank set about building the chambers most likely designed by its Wellington architects Crichton & McKay, complete with manager’s residence.
Crichton & McKay, and the subsequent forms of this firm, were the Bank of New South Wales’ architects from 1901 until 1979, and was a reputable and well-established Wellington firm. As well as being the bank’s architects they were also responsible for a range of residential, commercial and public buildings, such as Braemar Flats (Former) in 1924, the Fever Hospital (1918-19), and the Dominion Building (1928), all in Wellington. Their Pahiatua Bank of New South Wales was completed in March 1912 and was overdue as prior to this the Bank of New South Wales still operated from rented offices, which were not centrally located, and which the bank had long outgrown. In comparison Mr Lea, the branch manager, described the new premises as ‘well situated, and very suitable for our requirements.’
After its building’s construction the business at the Bank of New South Wales in Pahiatua was subject to the ebbs and flows of the economy. It was another event beyond the control of the bank, an earthquake, which necessitated the only significant changes to the building. The lower North Island is known for its history of large earthquakes, particularly along the Wairarapa fault. Large quakes included those in Wellington in 1855 and the Wairarapa earthquake of 1942. There was also a 7.6 magnitude earthquake in Pahiatua in 1934. This period seems to have had a concentration of seismic activity, with the Murchison earthquake in 1929, the devastating Hawke’s Bay earthquake of 1931, and the Wairoa quake in 1932. Loss of life during the Pahiatua earthquake was restricted to one person probably because the quake occurred close to midnight when most people were asleep. However, the effect of the terrifying earthquake was said to have been ‘apparent in all homes.’ Aside from chimneys falling down all over the area, many businesses in the town centre were also affected.
Although the Bank of New South Wales building was designed to be relatively secure against theft, it was not immune to the effects of the 1934 Pahiatua earthquake. Its masonry construction meant that some of the exterior walls sustained bad cracks, and like other places around the area, it also lost both of its chimneys. As such, there was a reasonable amount of rebuilding and alteration that was necessary in the aftermath of the earthquake, although this did not include interior alterations as this part of the building sustained no damage. Among the works over the following six months was the rebuilding of upper sections of the southwest walls, and also the original parapet was removed and replaced with a smaller concrete equivalent to reduce the risk of the masonry falling on people in the event of another large earthquake.
The plans for the repairs and alterations seem to have been designed by William Mair, a junior in Crichton, McKay & Haughton. This is most likely the same person who went onto to be a partner in the later incarnation of the architecture firm, Haughton, Son & Mair, which practiced from 1954. It is not surprising that the firm’s partners did not take the lead on this project because at the time they were busy designing replacement buildings in Napier after the 1931 Hawke’s Bay earthquake, such as the former Bank of New Zealand building (1933-34).
Later in the twentieth century, C.B. Horsnell, who had begun his banking career in the Pahiatua branch, returned to become the Bank of New South Wales’ manager in 1967 and seems to have been the motivating force behind the upgrading of the Pahiatua branch in this period. By this time Horsnell and his predecessor lived in an off-site manager’s residence. Over the preceding 55 years the interior of the bank does not appear to have undergone many changes other than upgrading electrical systems and the integration of other technologies. Indeed by this time staff felt that the interior was ‘shabby and antiquated.’ Obviously, the head office in Wellington agreed because in 1969 they decided to tidy up the interior of the Pahiatua branch, modernise some of the internal partitions and spaces, and remove original elements like the large double hearth fireplace and chimney that was a feature of the staff work area, and also the timber panelling around this and the public space.
In the late twentieth century it was the business operations of the bank which underwent the major changes. After over 80 years of service in Pahiatua, in 1982 the Bank of New South Wales merged with the Commercial Bank of Australia, and in doing so created Westpac. In 1997 the business of the Pahiatua branch of Trust Bank was integrated into Westpac’s Pahiatua branch, while the previous year the business of the Eketahuna Westpac had also been transferred to Pahiatua.
