DESCRIPTION:
"Hawthorn Farm" was owned and farmed consecutively by Robert Hattaway (b1827 - d1904) and three generations of his descendants also of the same name. The name "Hawthorn Dene" was given to the house by the late Rev Hattaway when he became the owner in 1968.

The house occupies a remnant of a 110 acre allotment which, along with an adjoining block of 71 acres, were Crown Grants secured in 1852 and 1853 respectively by Benjamin Lewis of Howick. Lewis was the owner/publican of the "Royal Hotel", now "Shamrock Cottage", which was established in 1848 within months of Howick's settlement. In 1854 Lewis conveyed both allotments to his son Francis Charles Lewis (Charles b1830 - d1898) who had that year purchased by Crown Grant a neighbouring block of 64 acres. The three allotments combined to give Charles Lewis a farm holding of 246 acres. Local history relates that the house now known as "Hawthorn Dene" was built around 1856 and is the only house to have occupied the property. It has not been possible to verify the date of the building. Charles Lewis was the owner of a house known as "Tamaki Grove" in 1851, however, this precedes the Crown Grant for the allotment upon which "Hawthorn Dene" stands by some ten months. Also, electoral rolls for the period July 1854 to June 1858 give Howick as Lewis' place of abode rather than East Tamaki. Notice of his marriage published in February 1860 describes him as being of East Tamaki. The house presumably occupied the property by then. It would not be unreasonable to suggest 1859 as the likely date of construction. Rev. Hattaway's account of the farm's history relates that Lewis was a stock inspector and grazed cattle on the property. Although Lewis did not sell his farm to Robert Hattaway until 1873 electoral rolls suggest that from 1866 he lived at Remuera. Suggestions that a sister of Prime Minister WF Massey (b1856 - d 1925) once lived at "Hawthorn Dene" have not been verified to date.

Robert Hattaway (c1827 - d1904), the great-grandfather of the late Rev. Hattaway, arrived at the Bay of Islands in 1845. A colour-sergeant in the 58th regiment he retired from the army and set up a general store/butchery/bakery in Howick in 1856. In 1863 he became a captain in the Auckland Militia, Howick being the headquarters of the 3rd Battalion. He built a two-storeyed house on his farm in Cascade Road in 1866 a short distance to the west of Hawthorn Farm. Ten years after purchasing Hawthorn Farm in 1873 Robert Hattaway gifted allotment 96 (110 acres being the "Hawthorn Dene" property) to his son Robert (b1852 - 1915) although for several years this continued to be worked in conjunction with the remainder of the Hawthorn and Cascade Farm properties. In 1894 and 1895 the remainder of the original 246 acre property was transferred to two of Captain Hattaway's other sons. Mainly wheat, oats and barley were grown on the property until the early 1920s when milk was produced for town supply. In 1953 the farm passed into the ownership of Rev Hattaway's father and then upon his death in 1967 to Rev. Hattaway. In 1972, 102 acres were taken by the Crown for state housing purposes reducing the property to 8 acres. This left the core of the farm (the house, orchards and outbuildings) remaining.

The early section of the building with carved numerals on its timbers is of considerable historical interest as an example of early colonial cottage construction. It is not known, however, whether the presence of numerals necessarily indicates that the building was prefabricated or pre-cut. Swainson records that "houses in frame" to the value of 1,600 pounds 10 shillings were exported from the port of Auckland during the year 1852, however, the availability of such structures on the local market is not well documented. Rev. Hattaway records houses similar in style to "Hawthorn Dene" in the Howick/East Tamaki area which along with historical photographs suggests it was a popular design.