Murdoch Munro
Widowhood 1898-1908

"When ... my mother died, my father seemed to have gone to pieces. He left Paeroa and during the next ten years he took upon himself any job which would keep his family from want.

And somehow we struggled through, gathering a fair education, and experiences of hard times, as far as material/finance advantages were concerned. It was for us children in our young years a life of material deprivation, but rich in adventure, experience, varied and interesting friends, and a capacity to enjoy life for its own sake."
(Edie's notes written in the late 1950s)

I wish you had written more, Edie! We know nothing of these adventures.

But we can imagine the hardships for the 36 year-old widow with 7 children aged 13 years to 18 months. In fact it was decided that Murdoch's sister Maggie should raise the youngest, Might Murdoch.

Murdoch with his children and his sister Maggie ca. 1898
The children clockwise from top right:
Alberta, Isabel (Dolly), Millie, Might Murdoch, Edith, Colin, Alan (in white)

We don't know the degree of contact Murdoch had with his parents and other siblings. Had the family effectively disowned him after his marriage to Emily? We know they strongly disapproved. Or was it he who was determined to survive on his own?

According to his entry in the Cyclopedia of New Zealand (1902), Murdoch "sold out" of his carting business in 1898 and went to Thames. But a year later he became employed by the Ohinemuri Coaching Company as their Karangahake Branch Manager, where he was still employed in 1902.

The children's school records contradict this slightly but show a transient existence during these years. In July 1897, 3 months after Emily's death, the girls were enrolled at Kauaeranga Girls School in Thames. Their home address was given as the Wharf Hotel, Thames. But a week later they were moved to nearby Waiokaraka School where brother Colin had just been enrolled. In June the following year Colin, now aged 13, left school, while Alberta and Dolly were moved back to Kauaeranga. By this time their address was Hill St, Thames. During August/September that year (1898) they were being removed from school with their intended destination recorded as Paeroa. In November they were duly enrolled in Paeroa School, but a month later Dolly (aged 12) and Millie (aged 9) were removed with their destination recorded as Auckland.

Were the girls sent to live with relatives in Auckland when Murdoch decided to take up the position as Branch Manager of the Ohinemuri Coaching Company in the rough mining town of Karangahake? If so what about 7 year old Edie and 6 year old Alan?

Alan's records show he was enrolled at Karangahake School in April 1901 (aged 7) and that his previous school had been Devonport (Auckland). He only stayed at Karangahake for 4 months before being enrolled at Paeroa School in August 1901. After a year he left (in August 1902) "destination Auckland".

So it seems that after Emily's death Murdoch tried hard but found it difficult to keep his family together. There must have been a relative or close friend in Auckland who looked after some of the children while Murdoch looked for a steady job and residence. It seems he tried to reunite the family at Karangahake and then Paeroa, but some of the children at least had to be sent back to Auckland for a time.

The Ohinemuri Coaching Company was situated on Main St, Karangahake and

" comprises a stable of twenty stalls, an office, and a waiting-room. The office serves as the Paeroa-Karangahake terminus, and as the changing place for the Waihi and Tauranga coaches. Ten coaches leave and arrive daily, and there are extra ones on Saturday. The company has a large and complete plant of buggies and saddle horses, which are available for hire at any time." (Cyclopedia of NZ, p 907)

We also have a family story that Murdoch spent some time working in a pub in Waitekauri (Coromandel) around this time.

Waitekauri was only a few miles from Paeroa, but it lay at the end of a difficult often dangerous trek up the Karangahake Gorge. It was at the centre of Coromandel's boom/bust goldmining industry, and in the late 1890's was quickly developing from a shanty town for miners working the nearby mine. It was just as quickly to die as hopes of riches faded.

Waitekauri 1900

Edie writes:

"Our grandmother (Isabella), coming near her death, began to be troubled in her mind with thoughts of our plight and expressed a wish that something should be done for Murdy and his children. As the old farm at Hawkes Bay had prospered, it was decided that something could be done. It was agreed that we, that is, Papa, we younger girls, and Alan, should go with Uncle Duncan to a farm at Pollok."

Murdoch must have felt that fate continually conspired against him in his bid to be independent. His coaching experience no longer counted for anything as the railroads took over. By 1905 even the difficult Karangahake Gorge had been conquered, with the opening of the Paeroa to Waihi line. By the early 1900s the goldmining boom was over with prospects for employment shrinking as quickly as they had grown 10 years earlier. The mining towns of Waitekauri, Karangahake and Mackaytown were emptying, and even bar work was drying up as prohibition loomed!

According to family stories, Murdoch was in fact desperate to get away from the open-all-hours pub life, and must have felt grateful for a chance to return to farming.

Pollok

We are not sure of the financial arrangements, but it appears the farm at Cochrane Rd, Pollok, South Auckland was always intended to be brother Duncan's, with Murdoch and his children Millicent, Edith and Alan "helping out". By this time Alberta, Colin and Dolly were living and working in Auckland, and the youngest, Might Murdoch was living withhis Aunt Maggie.

The contrast with the "wild west" atmosphere at Waitekauri could not have been greater.

Pollok had been established in the 1850's as a settlement of Presbytarians from Pollokshaw near Glasgow. Although only a short distance from Auckland by boat across the Manukau Harbour, its geography makes it feel far removed from the world outside the small enclosed valleys that make up the Awhitu peninsula.

Cochrane Rd itself is a short road running west from the central ridge towards the Tasman Sea. It contains only 2 farms, Wonwondah (built by Duncan and Murdoch and named after Murdoch's birthplace in Victoria), and the Cochrane farm. The view from Wonwondah is of ridges all around, except for a glimpse of the Tasman to the west.

Wonwandah soon after it was built. The Tasman Seas is visible top right

At first they lived in temporary acommodation, building throughout 1907 and 1908 from wood salvaged from the wreck of the ship "Reliance". Wonwondah (still so named) has been preserved largely as the Munro brothers built it.

Wonwandah today

Millie (aged 17) and Edie(15) had all the domestic responsibilities (very reluctantly), while Alan (14), Murdoch and Duncan worked day and night building Wonwandah and breaking in the dairy farm.

Millie and Edie both complain continually in letters to their sister about the isolation, boredom and drudgery of their existence, and the "straightlaced" community they now inhabited. They yearned for any chance to escape to visit Dolly in Auckland. One of their great treats was being allowed to walk the half mile to the beach to watch the sunset over the Tasman.

Murdoch was hospitalised after a farm accident in April 1908. This, together with Duncan's engagement (and Colin senior's death?) brought matters to a head. In Edie's words:

"It turned out to be a most unhappy arrangement and when after two years, Uncle declared his intention to marry we were glad to break up this connection and leave for a farm of our own."

Te Hapua