The plough was, for the first time, put into the ground here on Wednesday the 25th of May. Mr. John Kerr (who, by the bye, is a first-rate ploughman) had the honour to hold the plough and turn the first furrow in the Nelson settlement. This essay was made on the acre purchased to be the site of the Bank. The ground, after the rains, turns up beautifully, and with no greater difficulty than an ordinary clover lay. We expect that many of the acres in the outskirts of the town will be broken up shortly by the plough, to be used as gardens. Digging, at colonial wages, is rather too expensive. -Nelson Examiner, 5/6/1842.
Local Intelligence
Harvest. — Harvest was commenced in the Waimea on Tuesday last, by Mr. John Kerr cutting a field of barley. -Nelson Examiner, 11/1/1845.
MARRIED.
On the 31st ult., by the rev. (text missing) John Kerr, son of Mr. John Kerr, of Waimea, to Miss Margaret Smith. -Nelson Examiner, 9/11/1850.
Rough and ready alike, in dress, manner and speech, Mr John Kerr of Nelson has a host of friends in Wellington. At time of writing (Wednesday morning) a report of his having been drowned in Lake Rotoiti comes to hand from Nelson. If the report be true there will be sincere regret in Nelson, for “Jock," as he was so universally called, was a fine settler. He imported some splendid blood stock from America some years ago and was a man of progressive ideas in many ways. When a member of the House, he was a staunch Liberal and fought shoulder to shoulder with Mr Seddon in more than one famous “stonewall." He was a rough diamond but his boisterous, uncultured speech and manner notwithstanding, had a warm heart for a friend in distress. -NZ Mail, 5/5/1898.
A telegram has been received at Nelson from Lake Rotoiti station stating that Mr John Kerr, formerly M.H.R. for Waimea, went out boating on the lake on the 3rd, and that as he was not home by dark his son went to look for him and found the boat capsized, but he could find no sign of his father. The body was found next day; it appears Mr Kerr had been out on the lake two days laying nets for fish, and on the 2nd went out in a punt to attend to the nets, when he evidently stood up, overturned the punt, and was struck on the forehead by the punt. His body was found in 9ft of water 50ft from the shore. -Otago Witness, 12/5/1898.
THE LATE MR. JOHN KERR.
It is sad to contemplate that one who, to an extraordinary extent, suffered the trials and privations of the early settlers, should, in his old age, lose his life by a simple accident. The late Mr John Kerr, when quite a lad, left the Scottish Borders with his parents, who had determined to settle in a new country, and with them he ultimately found himself located at Waimea West, where Mrs Kerr, senior, was regarded by the early settlers with the highest esteem. Such was her kindliness of heart that her sympathy and good services were as an anchor to the oldest settlers of the district, and implicit reliance was placed upon her kindliness by all sorts and conditions of people. It was, perhaps, the most complete proof of the good that was hidden behind his own rough exterior that John Kerr always honored his mother, and was ever ready to show esteem for her memory. In the very early days Mr John Kerr played many parts. He is said to have hell the first plough that was used in the settlement, and to have turned up the soil near the junction of Trafalgar and Hardy streets, somewhere near the present site of the offices occupied by Messrs Adams & Kingdon. After that he left his home and served on the Government brig. Still later he engaged in whaling at Port Underwood and the mouth of Tory Channel, and he then became acquainted with Maori life, and met with experiences the recording of which could not but prove of interest. Subsequently be settled down to a more staid existence, he opened a store and made money, and he became married. Still his aim seemed to be to tackle difficulties. He became a partner in the proprietorship of the Tarndale Run, and withstood the hardships of arctic winters amongst the mountains, but he also secured the Lake Run, in the vicinity of Lake Rotoiti, which he gradually improved till it brought him in a considerable profit. He was a man of natural abilities, and a mechanical genius, able to manage a steam saw mill or a steam launch with equal facility. In the earlier days he became a member of the Provincial Council and though he was then regarded as a radical, his efforts were in the general good. Still later he aspired to represent his old friends in Parliament, and he secured the Motueka and Waimea seats. As a representative of the people he accomplished good, and some of his speeches were marked by sound common sense and ability to see beyond the present. When he stood for the city, he was defeated, and for a few years past, he suffered from a sickness that curtailed his power of usefulness. Mr Kerr had the faults of a persistent man, and in some respects he was handicapped, but he was a man of very considerable natural abilities, and there were times when he used them to the advantage of his fellows. -The Colonist, 5/5/1898.
No comments:
Post a Comment