Savell, (Tui)Huia George

  General Notes:

A selection from the book "Okoroa - a Wanganui River Diary" written by Harry Mason. It was written from the diaries of Edith Mason who with her husband Jack and family lived in the remote Mangataunoka Valley on the eastern side of the Wanganui River.

"Looking down the Wanganui River from Pipiriki House, one house could be seen away to the left belonging to Mr. Miles from Marton. Their Farm Manager, Mr. Savell (Fredrick Savell) and his wife and family lived there. Edith Mason was asked around to their home at times during her stay at Pipiriki House for 6 weeks in 1920, and had afternoon tea with Mrs. Savell (Jessie Savell). There I met the Savell boys who later grew up and eventually came to settle as neighbours two miles down the river track from the Mason farm at Taunoka." In 1928 a telephone line was installed built jointly by the Mason's, Savell's, and Pearce Punch. It started from the Mason house and followed the gorge track down to the Wanganui River, crossed the River then up to Pipiriki where it was connected to a bureau at the Pipiriki Store. All cost and work and maintenance was the responsibility of the owners. An annual switching fee was charged and all calls apart from between the 3 owners had to be paid for. Tommy Allen had been felling bush for Mr. Savell and had finished his contract. He was engaged jointly by the 3 owners and immediately began splitting totara poles which had to be sledged down the track and spaced, mostly out on the bends, and planted securely with an insulator on the top. Twenty poles had to be ferried across the river for the line up to Pipiriki. The cost of a call to Wanganui was one shilling for 3 minutes. In 1928 Jack Mason sledged Savell's wool to the River. It was wet and hard work and he got paid with two unbroken ponies. The Mason shearers in the same year were Huia Savell and Tuk Wright. In 1929 Huia Savell married and he and his bride set up home in their farm cottage some two and half miles nearer to the river than the Mason's. The Mason children had decided to give their Mother a surprise birthday party. The children did everything and banished their mother from the kitchen. Then a surprise for Mrs Mason, in walked Mr & Mrs Savell who had been invited. It was a wonderful birthday party. The Savell's of course had to leave early as they had a two and half mile walk home on a dark mid winter night. In 1930 during the great depression, construction of the road began. The road was carved out 12 feet wide following the watershed ridge as an extension of the Rangitatu Road from Kai Iwi township which is 10 miles north of Wanganui. There were 60 men on the project at its peak. In 1931 there was a major fire. The Savell boys had a great habit of dropping a match into anything dry on their way to clean up patches of dry fern and rubbish. On this occasion of whole side of the gorge was blazing. It was a hot dry summer so the fire had a fair chance of spreading further. Huia and Fred Savell came up by making a long detour up around the hills to get around the fires. With Ray Guildford and Jack Mason they spent the night protecting the Mason house and Woolshed. As sparks landed they would quickly as possible be put out. Fred was very good really, he kept calm and reassured all it was not so bad at night as it was possible to see where the sparks were landing. Mrs Savell was not very pleased to be home all alone. From her cottage deep down in the valley she was not able to see anything except a massive pale of smoke. The wind was blowing up the valley so she was not in any danger. She rang and pleaded for us to go to her place but to do so would have meant walking a narrow track with fire around. Everyone was thankful when it was all over and it certainly taught the Savell boys a never to be forgotten lesson. The first lorry to use the new road was in December 1931 when the first load of wool went out over the new Watershed Road and onto Kai Iwi. Once the road became an established fact, the Savell's shifted their cottage (must have been in 1932/3) and rebuilt on the hill opposite the Mason's but about a mile away. The Savell's also built a new Woolshed. The first Shearers names in this woolshed are dated 1934 so it would have been built 1933/4. The Savell's never used the new road for except for transport to town and for carting out wool and bringing in farm stores. The Savell's stayed with the river services for mail and played no part in the neighbourhood and new neighbours along the new road. This did not help in maintaining the new road. The County therefore considered it very expensive to maintain the 15 miles so over the winter the road was closed with slips for long periods. The County did clear the road for the wool season which meant the road only provided access during summer months.

In January 1996, Graham & Beryl Savell drove in on the very rough road/track to visit the former Savell home at Taunoka. The Taunoka Station station has been owned by Jock Turner since 1992. The woolshed built about 1933 still stands and is in good condition but unfortunately the house caught fire and was destroyed when hit by lightning on 6 February 1995. The following is a an extract from a letter Graham Savell wrote to Jock Turner a few days after that visit in 1996.

"My parents were Huia George and Doris Savell and they are mentioned many times in the "Okoroa" book. Originally, from 1927, they farmed the Burgess land which was two and half miles from the Mason house towards the river. In 1932, shortly after the Watershed Road was finished, they shifted their cottage to its new location. This was the same cottage that burnt down last Waitangi Day. I am not sure, but it seems that in 1932 they were able to farm the former McNabÆs and SimpsonÆs leaseholds as well as keeping the other leasehold two and half miles down the track. McNabÆs was north west of MasonÆs. I am not sure, but it seems that Taunoka now includes all of the former Mason, Savell, McNab, Simpson, and Chisholm leaseholds. We must call on Harry Mason one day as he will know all of this as he was there until 1940.

My parents always referred to the place as Taunoka. They walked off in 1939 and went to a property they purchased 4 miles north of Marton.

The day after we had called at your place, we drove up the River Road to Pipiriki. There we called on Trevor Soler, who has 2,000 acres just south around Pipiriki. He said he had met you at sales. The property Trevor has was farmed by my grandparents from 1919 to 1924. The house he lives in was built just before 1920 and he was very pleased to get a photo of it which we had. He had never seen the photo before".(This is the same house referred to by Edith Mason in 1920, the house she was able to see in the distance south of Pipiriki House. Frederick & Jessie Savell, Tui Savell's parents, lived in this house for about 8 years from 1918 to 1926. The house and woolshed are in good order and the woolshed still contains much evidence of the Savell occupation of the property)." Letter to Jock Turner concludes.

Tui and Doris farmed at Taunoka Valley, Pipiriki until the late 1930's. Being very isolated there, it was impossible to get a doctor when son Keith had peritonitis although they did not at that time know what was making him ill. He did have some time in hospital early 1937 and then returned home and following a further Hospital admission he died in May 1937. In 1939/40 they purchased a small property on corner of Jefferson and Tutaenui roads, Marton. Farmed 60 dairy cows and had a registered Southdown sheep stud. Tui used horses until 1947, when tired of them breaking gates, he bought a tractor. Moved to Waitarere Beach in 1963, then to Wanganui, 1982.

This interesting letter (edited) was written on Tui Savell's death by Kath Twiner, District Nurse and long time neighbour of Tui and Doris at Waitarere Beach. "Both Nancy Swan and Rex Mexted rang us today to tell us of the passing of your dad.By my calculations he must had been about 85 - I remember presenting him with with an 80th birthday cake, a good age, few regrets I would imagine. Your mother actually knew us when we called om them a year ago, and your Dad was delightfully frail and very deaf but so proud of his achievements - his little garden and even prouder of his tricycle. We were so impressed with his spirit. He'd been through so much and was aware of what could happen again. When we called Sheryl (granddaughter) was quietly living there to help them in coping - not every young person would do that - we were thrilled to find her there. Sheryl to us was the little red headed girl playing in granddad's drive, a few years younger than our red headed son. And then we found her grown up and so responsible. I find myself remembering so much. Tui's garden and the tractor and the whitebaiting with both of them well rigged up for the cold. Tui and his squaw the locals used to say as he set off with Doris tucked up behind the tractor. And Doris telling me one day of the farm up the Wanganui river - the isolation and the hard work - losing a son because of that isolation - and later having to walk off that farm. Life had not been easy for them. And I remember them feeding our old cat Cecil with whitebait till finally Cecil crossed the road for good and became their cat. And later the kitten he was so proud of. And taking him to Palmerston North for the x-ray that should have shown his trouble earlier and somehow didn't. And going over at 10 p.m. to give him his castor oil 'cos Doris could not understand he must have all that - one tablespoon would have done in her view. And lastly the day we shifted to Levin and he appeared with the van and insisted on helping all morning. he was not fit but I could not stop him. A grand old man - one of natures toilers and gentlemen all in one. We are glad we knew him. Yours very sincerely, Kath Twiner".

  Noted events in his life were:

• Occupation. Farmer

(Tui)Huia married Muriel Doris Ayton on 30 Jan 1929 in Res R Smith, 632 New North Rd, Auckland. (Muriel Doris Ayton was born on 22 Sep 1896 in Whananaki, New Zealand, died on 20 Jun 1986 in Wanganui, New Zealand and was buried on 23 Jun 1986 in Wanganui, New Zealand.)