The settlement of the Nelson region is said to have begun with the landing of the prominent early iwi, Waitaha, in the waka Uruao. This travelled from Hawaiki and the voyagers made landfall on the Boulder Bank circa 850, near what would become Nelson city. From there scouting parties set out to explore the interior while others continued their journey by sea down the east coast of the South Island. Maori later developed a series of trails inland around the Murchison and Nelson Lakes area, such as that through Tophouse Pass. For Maori, and eventually the Europeans who used it in the mid nineteenth century, this and other tracks in the area were vital passages providing access to the West Coast as well as eastern and southern districts.
A European association with the Nelson area was first established in 1642 when Abel Tasman anchored in what was to be called Murderer's, then Massacre, and now Golden Bay. The result of this first visit was a lethal exchange between the Dutch sailors and Ngati Tumatakokiri. It was centuries after this initial encounter that European interest in the area began in earnest with explorative visits from Captain James Cook and Dumont D'Urville and a few others. Then in the late 18th and early nineteenth centuries flax traders and sealers began to frequent the coast around Nelson. However, because there were few whaling stations in the immediate area there was no substantive European settlement until the New Zealand Company's establishment and settlement of Nelson from 1841.
The company explored the potential of several sites for its settlement but Nelson was chosen as the nucleus because of its harbour and the plentiful supplies of game and fish, despite the generally swampy nature of the low lying areas. It was then a matter of Captain Arthur Wakefield meeting with the various iwi of the region to persuade them to agree to the proposed settlement. This was essentially a confirmation and extension of a land sale organised by the Tory expedition in 1839. The meeting took place at Kaiteriteri and Wakefield eventually negotiated a deal with those in attendance. However, subsequent events demonstrate that in regard to this and some later transactions there were discrepancies in what each party believed they had agreed to. This led to several instances of conflict in the Nelson region during the 1840s, in particular. Perhaps the most well-known occurrence was the 'Wairau Affray' in 1843.
It was not until the 1850s that the Nelson community and its subsidiary towns began to coalesce. Provincial government was established in 1853, and most of the farm land from Wakapuaka to Brightwater was occupied by this date. Between 1853 and 1858 the European population of the district had risen from 4,587 to over 7,000 and continued to grow and prosper into the 1860s and 1870s with the aid of the local gold rushes and the nationwide demand for the area's produce. The gold rushes also saw the development of small trading and supply settlements further inland.
Early explorations into the Murchison area were undertaken in the 1840s by Charles Heaphy (1820-1881), Thomas Brunner (1821?-1874), and William Fox (1812?-1893). Until the discovery of gold in the proximity there was little to entice people into the area, but by 1865 there was sufficient interest in the area for Brunner to return and survey the town, which was initially called Hampden. This name was changed to Murchison in 1882 to forestall confusion with a town in Otago and also one in Hawke's Bay. However, at this time and indeed until the twentieth century, Murchison was considered a frontier settlement and its continuance relied on small-scale gold mining operations and its timber industry. Roads in the area were rudimentary, if they existed at all, and so access was minimal and difficult. This isolation did not foster commerce and as such the standard of living of most local residents in the late nineteenth century was barely above subsistence.
Murchison seems to have come of age in the early twentieth century, changing from a frontier settlement into an established support centre for the burgeoning dairy industry and other commercial enterprises. This transition was recognised in 1909 when the town became the centre of Murchison County, an area that was previously incorporated into the Inangahua County. This was a status symbol, but also a result of the growth of Murchison's identity as dairy farming area as opposed to that in Inangahua County which was characterised by mining and milling. The transition from frontier community to established town and seat of local governance was physically marked in Murchison by the building of the Council Chambers (1913) and other civic buildings. The presence of several large hotels in the town centre by 1900, complete with stables and often an associated hall, and enough patronage to ensure their ongoing viability, is also evidence of this early twentieth century change in the town's fortunes.
The growth of the Hodgson's family store business dates from the early twentieth century period of development in Murchison. Herbert John Hodgson of Murchison and his brother Edward William from Wakefield purchased a small store in Murchison in 1892. However, they soon outgrew these premises and therefore built a new, two storey store in 1905 next to Downie's Hotel. A devastating fire in the commercial area of Murchison in 1914 destroyed this building and Downie's Hall, as well as damaging the Hotel and threatening many other businesses. It was then a matter of rebuilding the Murchison store. The site for this new and significantly larger general store was acquired through familial ties as the Hodgsons had married into the Downie family by this time and were granted a section of the land next to Downie's Hotel for the business. The replacement store was constructed out of concrete instead of timber. This building was a two storey structure with a verandah in the front and extensive shop front glazing at street level. A manager's cottage, constructed in like material, adjoined the back of the shop,
As well as their large store in Murchison, the Hodgsons also had general stores in Wakefield, then Motupiko in 1914, and also Brightwater. There does not seem to have been regular traffic running between these sites, and the Murchison store's stables were mostly for the benefit of the teams of horses which were used to cart goods between Murchison and the railway station at Glenhope. The large turning circle around the stables enabled these teams to turn easily. It is unclear when the stables were constructed but they may predate the 1915 store and could originally have been connected with Downie's Hotel before the Hodgsons acquired the land. Part of the success of the Hodgsons businesses can be attributed to their function as country general stores. In the absence of the good roads and quick travel times of the mid to late twentieth century, people in rural areas were dependant on their local general stores for all manner of supplies. These stores were also important to their districts because they often included a Post office and were good places to catch up on local news.
Perhaps the biggest event in Murchison during the twentieth century was the Murchison Earthquake on the morning of 17 June, 1929. The earthquake was of a magnitude of 7.8, the same as that of the tragic Hawke's Bay earthquake of 1931. For those who experienced it in and around Murchison the earthquake was terrifying. A Glenhope resident, Jean McWha recalled everyone's relief when the initial reports that Murchison 'had disappeared completely under slips' were proven false by the streams of refugees who evacuated the town and headed for Nelson the next day.
One report of the destruction in Murchison after the earthquake of 17 June and the aftershocks which followed said that: 'Damage could be seen in every building. The only concrete building in the town, Hodgson's Store, was completely wrecked with the front of the building thrown out over the road.' The effect of the first earthquake on the structural integrity of the store could be seen in verandah posts which assumed a 60 degree angle and then, after several aftershocks, on the next day the front portion of the shop collapsed revealing its interior. Given the extent of damage the building incurred it is remarkable that no one was injured as a result. Meanwhile the cottage survived with little or no damage and was retained when the store was rebuilt.
This series of events, firstly the fire and then the earthquake, would have crippled many businesses but the Hodgson family seem to have taken it in their stride. The income from the various stores in the other towns may have insulated them somewhat from any financial losses caused by rebuilding and a temporary store, which is a close neighbour to the rebuilt Hodgson's store, enabled them to continue to trade to some extent. After the earthquake damaged shop had been demolished the family rebuilt the store on the same footprint as its predecessor, but on a single level using reinforced concrete, and in a style consistent with the architectural currents of the time.
As well as operating the store the family was also active within the Murchison district, and wider community. As well as establishing the store in Murchison, Herbert Hodgson acted as chairman for several years on the Nelson Hospital Board and had a long tenure as chairman of Murchison's Medical Association. Later during the 1930s, L.W. Hodgson was instrumental in the establishment and activities of the local Progress League. The purpose of this committee was to act as an intermediary between local residents and the Council regarding projects which were seen as being good for the progress of the district. Hodgson was president of this group until 1953 when it went into recess.
The Progress League headed by Hodgson failed in perhaps its most pressing task, which was to convince the government to continue work on the railway which had reached Glenhope on 1912, and was almost completed to Murchison when the earthquake struck. Until well into the twentieth century the road access to Murchison was rudimentary and if the construction of the railway had not been interrupted by World War One and had reached Murchison during that period it would have been tremendously beneficial to the town and its businesses including Hodgson's Store. Because the railway never reached Murchison, Hodgson's Store still needed to maintain its stables in the first decades of the twentieth century to facilitate trade and then, when it became economically viable and the roads improved, they turned to motor vehicles to fulfil the same tasks. The store no longer delivers, however they have been known to take telephone orders and then transport them using the local bus system.
With dwindling interest for the business within the family the branch stores in Wakefield, Motupiko and Brightwater were sold in the late twentieth century with only the Murchison shop retained. The country general store nature of the business, typical of the early to mid twentieth century, has been consciously maintained by the current owner and the shop still stocks a variety of products from grocery items to hardware, as well as being the location of the post office. With over one hundred years of commercial activity in Murchison, Hodgson's Store is considered a local institution and landmark.
