Family History 4.36

Robinson story

Joanne Robinson picks up the account of Joshua Caleb's early life

After the War

The visit of the Maoris that Joshua Caleb relates and the first signs of trouble occurred in 1860. It was not loing after this that the families received word it would be dangerous to remin in the bush and the women and children in particular should be removed. They buried many of their possessions in the garden and had a hard time of it getting to Drury along the muddy road. This warning proved to be a false alarm and after three weeks the Governor issued a notice for 'the settlers to return to their homes.' So once more they set out for Pukekohe.

In May 1863 war was declared in Taranaki and by July the Waikato war had begun. The Robinsons and Morgans did not immediately leave their farms, however when another settler and his fourteen year old son were found murdered at Ramarama, word was circulated around the isolated homes and the Pukekohe settlers mustered at Runciman's property, three quarters of a mile north of the church.

They were refused a military escort by the army authorities and the Government did not seem interested in the settlers, so leaving their cattle and stores behind they once again made their way over the narrow bush track to Drury, where they took refuge in the Presbyterian Church.

 

Joshua and family along with Jane and family spent the rest of the war period in Auckland, with Joshua again working as a carpenter as there was no income from the bush property. It was probably during this period of time in town that the older girls met their prospective husbands through the Baptist Church.

 

[There is a story in our family that when the family arrived in Auckland from Pukekohe East in 1863 they stayed in the stone cottage in Mt Eden Road opposite Onslow Road. - FG]

 

Joshua seems to have remained impartial on the Maori question. He had often  attended to sick children and injured Maori people prior to hostilities commencing, and the nikau whare was used as a casualty station by both sides during the fighting. A taiaha along with a Maori mat was left across the doorstep as a sign of friendship and protection. This taiaha is still in the possession of the family. The house was never damaged and Joshua was indeed fortunate as most of the other settlers' houses were destroyed, and for many it meant starting again from scratch at the end of the war.

 

William Morgan did not return to his farm until January 1865 and it is assumed Joshua returned at much the same time. The families returned later that year, Elizabeth and the children to a new seven-roomed house. Its weatherboards were of pit-sawn totara and were morticed together instead of being nailed.

 

In front of the house are Watkin's wife: Mary Helen, and children: William, Archie, Helen, Colin and Ivan

Archie was killed in action in World War I; Colin became a teacher and was Deputy Principal at Takapuna Grammar School when I was on section there from Training College in 1955.

[Joanne, who compiled the book from which these extracts have been taken, married Alan Robinson, whose father, Stan, was the eldest son of Joshua William, whose father, Watkin, was Joshua Caleb's younger brother. Interesting from our family's point of view is that Alan's mother was a Barriball, a great-grand-daughter of Margaret's great-great-grandfather's brother. He settled in Auckland, and eventually in Waiuku. -FG]