Traditional History:
Oruawharo Homestead and station are set within the Takapau Plains of the Central Hawke’s Bay / Heretaunga. The name Oruawharo is associated with Ruawharo, the tohunga, high priest of the waka Takitimu, and ancestor to a number of iwi and hapu that settled the land. The name of the area may have originally been te maunga o Ruawharo and it has been shortened to Oruawharo.
In the vicinity to the south is the wahi tapu site of Te Pa Horehore. Te Pa Horehore was a Kauwhanga-whiri-a-riri (battle ground) that involved numerous tribes and war parties including Tangowhiti and Whata, Te Amiowhenua, Tangi te Ruru and others where blood was shed. Te Pa Horehore is also a pa tuwatawata (fortified pa); urupa (a place of burial); and a place of wananga (school of learning) and is valued by the local iwi in the traditional, ritual and spiritual senses.
European Settlement:
In 1851 Donald McLean (1820 - 1877) agent on behalf of Crown, negotiated with Te Hapuku (? - 1878), a leader of Ngati Te Whatu-i-apiti with kinship links to Ngati Kahungunu, Rangitane, Ngati Ira and other major tribal groups in Hawke's Bay, for the purchase of lands around Waipukurau consisting of 272,000 acres. By 1861 the Crown acquired over two million acres and changing land policy opened the way for the acquisition of large runs and the creation of land monopolies, ‘creating the foundation of a landed elite whose grip on the reins of power was not broken until after the Liberal land reforms of the 1890s.’
Wellington merchant John Johnston was an early run holder in the region, who held a Depasturing Licence from about 1850. Governor George Grey, in an effort to foster land holding throughout New Zealand, passed a regulation in 1852 that allowed for the freeholding of land at five shillings for pasture and 10 shillings for agricultural land. Pastoralists like Johnston began to buy up large blocks. Johnston, along with his cousin Alexander St Clair Inglis, had walked to Hawke’s Bay from Wellington to view the land he had invested in.
By the mid-1860s three Crown Grants had been made to Johnston, bringing the total area of the Oruawharo run to 11, 738 acres. St Clair Inglis and Charles Gully held the grazing rights for Johnston until his son Sydney, returned from his education at in Stonyhurst College, Lancashire, England, to manage his father’s properties at Oruawharo, Tamumu and Clive. Sydney moved to Oruawharo in 1861, initially living in a bark hut until a house was built on the station about a mile south of the present Homestead. Sydney married Sophia Marianne Lambert of Lambertford Station (also called Tangarewa Station) on 12 July 1873. The couple lived in the house until the completion of the Oruawharo Homestead in 1879.
The Johnston Family:
John Johnston (1809-1887) had married Henrietta Charlotte Hatton (? - 1878) in 1838. Henrietta was a devout Roman Catholic and came from a family of some means. The Johnstons arrived in Wellington in 1843. With capital at their disposal in the new colony the Johnstons acquired a number of town acres and country sections and John set himself up as a merchant trading in commodities and later shipping, founding the successful mercantile business Johnston & Co. John involved himself in public affairs and he went on to become a representative in the Provincial Government and later the Legislative Council. Johnston Street in Wellington City is named after him. The Johnston family were part of the economic and political élite of Wellington and the marriages of their children were indicative of their status and their class distinction. Like other elite families in Wellington who moved to the suburbs or Thorndon, the Johnstons moved to ‘Homewood’ in Karori in 1852. While business was conducted in the city, John Johnston acquired large tracts of land in the rural hinterland for farming enterprises and to enhance his prestige as a wealthy land owner with large country estates.
Johnston’s sons, Walter and Sydney, would go on to manage these rural properties with Charles taking care of the merchant business. In 1873 John and Henrietta moved to a new residence in Fitzherbert Terrace, Thorndon, ‘which for its size, outward appearance, internal convenience and beauty of finish, will not have a peer in the province...’ The architect has been identified as Charles Tringham, who would also be commissioned to design the Oruawharo Homestead.
Home of Sydney & Sophia Johnston:
The Wellington architect, Charles Tringham, was engaged to design a grand homestead at Oruawharo. Tenders notices for the construction of the house were called for in December 1878 and noted that building was for a residence for the Hon. John Johnston. Completion of the Homestead in 1879 and a description of some of its features were recorded in an article in the Waipawa Mail, August 1879:
‘Mr Sydney Johnston’s new house at Takapau, now almost completed, is a spacious, solid, elegant building. It is sixty feet by seventy feet with a twenty-five foot stud. The front is beautifully set off with large bay windows and a balustrade in level with the upper storey. On the side facing the railway there is a large balcony with a floor three inches thick, and tightly chalked. A brick stair overlaid with concrete, and having a splendid rail, leads the entrance to the vestibule, next to which there is a large hall. The building comprises twenty-one rooms, all firmly plastered. The nurseries are dadoed, as precautionary measures against juvenile tendencies to scratch plaster. To the upper storey there is access by three different stairs. The culinary departments are fitted with apparatus of the most approved kind. Baths of warm water apparatus are also provided. In short, everything that tends to administer to domestic comfort and convenience is provided. The whole structure combines elegance of design with masterly workmanship and solidity. Mr Tringham of Wellington was the architect and Mr D. McLeod of Waipukaurau the contractor for all the work, the plastering being sub-let to Mr McGuire of Wellington. The workmanship reflects the highest credit to Mr McLeod and all others associated with him. The house is situated about quarter of a mile from the railway line at the base of a gentle undulating ridge planted with trees. The situation can be made both beautiful and picturesque.’
The Sydney Johnston family moved into the house on 2 October 1879. Sydney leased Oruawharo from his father for £3,500 per year, and on the death of his father in 1887 he bought the station under the terms of the will. At this time the station consisted of 17, 726 acres and carried 22,000 sheep, 100 head of cattle and 30 horses.
Takapau and the Johnstons - Life at Oruawharo Homestead:
As with many of the large run holders of the time, Sydney Johnston was involved in politics and local affairs and he was elected as a member of the Provincial Council in 1875 and elected to the County Council in 1876. The township of Takapau was surveyed out of the Oruawharo Station land on 19 September 1876 by John Rochfort, under the instructions of Sydney Johnston. The name was taken from Te Takapau pa, which was located in the area. The streets bear the names of Sydney and his wife and children. The first sections were advertised for sale in August 1877. The Johnstons were great benefactors to the town of Takapau and land was set aside for a school and churches. They made donations for the construction of both the Catholic (St Vincent’s) and Anglican (St Mark’s) churches, the town hall and library, and gifted the section for the Plunket rooms.
The Sydney Johnstons, like other wealthy landowners in New Zealand, ‘became the colony’s nearest equivalent to Britain’s landed gentry and aristocracy’. Their link to the ‘Mother’ land had not been extinguished and the Johnstons took frequent and long holidays back to England and their children were sent to Europe and England for their education. Sydney Johnston’s daughter Jessie (known by her second name Meta) was educated at the Convent of Sacred Heart at Roehampton, England and a finishing school at Rue de Varennes in Paris.
The servants, nannies, station managers and farm workers were important to the life of the homestead and the station. The cultural traditions of the English upper class were maintained at Oruawharo, with many of the servants coming directly from England. At one point Oruawharo had twelve servants and the linen was put on the train to Palmerston North every week.
In 1903 Worrall, the station manager, left for England due to poor health. On 14 October of that year Sydney received a cable from Freemantle saying Worrall had died at sea, and wrote ‘I received this news with deep regret. He was in my employment for over 25 years and was a most valuable servant and good friend.’ A number of employee cottages were built on the property but have since been removed. Close to the coach house is a grave site marked with a wooden fence. It has been noted that two employees were buried near the old homestead, one being C. Austin (buried 24 February 1876) who was injured in a fall from his horse. The first son of Sydney and Sophia, Robert Quentin Johnston, died on 14 October 1877. He was buried on the property and later reinterred in Takapau Cemetery.
The family mixed with other landed, mercantile and professional elites, and politicians of the day. Frequent receptions, balls and entertainments happened at Oruawharo. The house was used as a vice-regal residence by the Governor Lord Plunket for three months in 1906 while the Johnston family were visiting England. Governor-General Lord Jellicoe and his wife also summered there in 1923. There were links to other pastoral farming elites, including the marriage of Sydney and Sophia’s daughter J. Meta Johnston (1883-1963) to Daniel Henry Riddiford of the Wairarapa at Takapau. On 17 February 1911 John Riddiford was born in the blue room at Oruawharo.
Oruawharo Homestead:
Additions to the house began in December 1899. Theses comprised of a two-storeyed wing with angled bay windows that included new bedrooms and a billiards room. This addition is noted for its use of native wood panelling, and ornate wood carving for the ceiling and large mantelpiece in the billiards room. It matches the carving of the grand staircase and it is said to be the work of Bavarian artisans.
The Interior:
Furnishings and antiques collected by three generations of Johnstons formed the holdings of the homestead and included silverware, family portraits and prints, a library that included a New Zealand collection, and heavy curtains consisting of corded silk and pink embroidered velvet, made in France. A notable feature in the bedroom in the north east corner is the inside of the door that is painted in spring blooms and signed N.J. (Nancy Johnston); a tangible reminder of the family that occupied this home for over 100 years.
The Garden:
The Oruawharo Homestead was a showplace of Hawke’s Bay and the grounds were developed with tennis courts, croquet lawn, ha ha, rose garden and shady walks under the many exotic trees planted by the Johnston family and notable visitors. The Station Diary records the first trees being planted by Sydney in 1874 prior to the construction of the homestead.
Lady Jellicoe planted a pine tree that had been grown from a seedling of the Lone Pine at Gallipoli. Harry Hall, who was head gardener at the time, remembered preparing the ground for the tree.
The Stables and Coach House:
The stables and coach house were constructed in the 1880s. The coach house would have housed carriages first before the advent of the motorcar.
Catholic connections:
The Johnston family was a well-known Catholic family who made generous donations to the church including the construction of St Vincent’s in Takapau. Mother Suzanne Aubert (1835-1926, in religion known as Mary Joseph Aubert) visited Oruawharo during her fundraising for the rebuilding of St Joseph’s Church at Jerusalem. She stayed at the homestead in 1889 and again in 1913 before her departure to Rome to gain pontifical approval of the Congregation of the Daughters of Our Lady of Compassion which she had founded. Mother Aubert carried on correspondence with Nancy Johnston and with the birth of Nancy’s son Sydney Christopher in 1923, she asked Mother Aubert to be his god-mother.
World War I:
Preparation for the New Zealand’s participation in World War I saw a section of the Orawharo Station surveyed out for a Territorial Army Camp, thought to be the largest in New Zealand, that would hold 6,500 men under canvas. The camp was constructed in early 1914 and the troops arrived by train and marched to the site in April of that year. Colonel E.W. Chaytor was in charge of the camp that included mounted, infantry and artillery brigade. The officers were stationed at the Homestead with the Johnston family and a bout of bad weather caused considerable unrest among the troops that ended in a riot. Captain Powles led the mounted police which restored order.
On 6 May 1914 Sir Ian Hamilton (1853-1947), Inspector of Overseas Forces and Commander in Chief of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force during the Gallipoli campaign, was present to see the staging of the ‘Battle of Oruawharo’ and the exercise gained much publicity in the local media.
The family travelled to England during the war and it was there that Sydney Johnston passed away on 29 June 1917. He was buried in England and memorial gates were erected at Takapau cemetery in his memory. The family returned after the war to take up residence at the Homestead.
The Rollestons:
Sydney and Sophia’s daughter, Agnes Beatrice (Nancy) Johnston, married John Christopher Rolleston on 5 July 1922. The service was held at the St Vincent de Paul’s Church, Takapau. A dance was held at Oruawharo that night and another dance at the Takapau Hall on 7 July. John Rolleston was the son of the late Hon. William Rolleston, notable public administrator, politician and provincial superintendent. John was also engaged in politics and was elected Member of Parliament for the Waitomo Electorate in 1922 and was a member of the Reform Party in 1928.
John and Nancy’s son, Sydney Christopher Rolleston (known as Christopher), was born in the blue room at Oruawharo on 3 December 1923. Sophia Johnston died on 9 October 1931 and was buried at Takapau Cemetery where her children Robert and Henrietta were also buried. In the grounds of Oruawharo Homestead are two wooden crosses with inscribed copper plaques that mark the passing of Henrietta and Sophia.
On 15 July 1933 Nancy Rolleston took over her mother’s and sister’s shares in Oruawharo and in December she and her family took up residence at the Homestead. In June 1936 the Rolleston family left for England, returning in 1938 after leaving Christopher at Ampleforth College. Christopher later attended the Royal Military College Sandhurst and left in 1943 to join the Grenadier Guards. Christopher undertook military service and was posted to the 4th Tank Battalion. He served in North-West Europe, was wounded in Holland and awarded a Military Cross for his conduct in action. Christopher returned to New Zealand in 1947 and on the 4 July that year a ball was held in the billiard room to celebrate Christopher’s return and the Rollestons’ silver wedding anniversary.
In 1951 John Rolleston commissioned Gray Young, Morton & Calder to design alterations and additions to the homestead. Plans and specifications were drawn up and work undertaken to demolish the back wing, and create an apartment on the second floor above the billiard room. Other minor internal additions and alterations were also made at the time.
Christopher Rolleston worked as a rouseabout and shepherd on nearby properties before becoming manager of Oruawharo in January 1951. On 19 January 1952 Christopher Rolleston married Jenifer Mary Hinde, only daughter of Mr and Mrs Douglas Hinde of Kenya. The ceremony was held in a Catholic Church in Kenya and a daughter, Caroline Jane Rolleston was born in 1952.
As preparations were being made for the centennial celebration of Oruawharo Station, tragedy stuck when Christopher Rolleston was killed in a tractor accident at Oruawharo on 19 March 1953. The centennial celebrations were cancelled and the incident was a turning point in the fortunes of the station and the homestead.
The decline of Oruawharo:
Christopher’s wife and daughter moved to England and Nancy Rolleston had the homestead surveyed out from the station land and gifted to the Catholic Church upon her death in 1965. For several years Oruawharo was used as a Novitiate for nuns, the order Sisters of the Presentation was housed there and the Billiards room used as a chapel. In 1972 the Church could no longer afford the upkeep of the large homestead and a large auction of the chattels was held at Oruawharo with up to 1,000 people coming to the viewing.
The administrators of the Oruawharo Estate regained control of the homestead and land from the Catholic Church for the benefit of Caroline Rolleston, who resided in England at the time. In 1973 the Trustees leased the homestead to Diane Brooker and Colin Baxter who had the intention of restoring Oruawharo and turning it into a country club, but the financial strains of maintaining a huge homestead and its grounds proved difficult and featured in a Television One program ‘Good Day’. In 1978 the lease was transferred to Orua Wharo Country Homestead Limited and Dennis Hall took over the management. It was during this time that the NZHPT facilitated the painting of the Oruawharo with the help of the District Office of the Ministry of Works and Development. Financial difficulties continued for the homestead and a long running legal battle between the Trustees and the Lessee was finally resolved in the High Court with the termination of the lease.
The restoration and future for Oruawharo:
For the first time the Oruawharo Homestead, grounds and associated buildings were put up for sale - the surrounding Oruawharo Station land remaining under family administration. In December 2000 Peter and Dianne Harris bought the property and invested much time, labour and money into the restoration of the Oruawharo Homestead, ancillary buildings and grounds. The homestead is still a residence but with a commercial use to help fund its maintenance and ongoing repair. The Harris’ have added their own extensive colonial native timber furniture collection to the homestead and a number of Johnston chattels, photographs and ephemera have made their way back to their original home. The Johnston and Rolleston connections to Oruawharo are maintained by the Harris’ who characterise themselves as ‘caretakers’, not just of buildings but the history of the place. The homestead receives thousands of visitors per year and is a popular and much frequented wedding and function venue, as well as the site for large gatherings such as hunts and motor home conventions, whose enthusiasts are more than happy to contribute to the upkeep of the property through working bees.
