Orepuki Business & Industry - Bennett's Flax Mill, Waimeamea River Site

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Orepuki Business & Industry - Bennett's Flax Mill, Waimeamea River site: IMAGES: 1 - sepia tone photograph of the Bennett's Flax Mill, on the banks of the Waimeamea River, thought to be taken after fire 1920 and rebuild. No details and photograph carries the name "Brownridge" on the back of it. 2 - black and white photograph is labelled 1907 and carries the caption - "Richard Bennett's mill at Orepuki, 1907. The fences are covered with flax fibre. The road to Orepuki is in the background, with the sea on the left." Both photos are in the Public Domain, but the sepia tone one is donated by a descendant of the original owner of this photo, the Brownridge Family. BENNETT'S FLAXMILL HISTORY: The Flax Mill shown here was said to have been situated on the sea side of the Waimeamea River Bridge, along the main highway and between the townships of Orepuki and Tūātapere. No sign of this industry remains today. Flax was cut from the plants with scythe-like 'knives' and put into a waggon to take to the Flax Mill, initially with horse and cart. In later years early trucks were used. We are told that after flax was delivered to the Flax Mill site, the first job there was to put the raw flax through the 'stripper', which removed all of the green and left only the strings of raw fibre, which was of course damp. It was then hung over special fences to dry and finally it went off to the 'scutcher', which cleaned the fibre. Operators would enter the flax fibre into mill machinery twice, once to process it before drying and again, usually at the other end of the processing machinery, to be scutched. After this last step was complete, the remaining fibre was baled into huge 300cwt bales and railed to its destination. Most flax mills were nearby train stations. According to 'From Goldfield to Fields of Green' and 'Flaxmill's of the South' books on Orepuki, the Bennett's first Flax Mill was at Waihoaka, situated at the foot of Grindstone Creek Hill, and operated about 1900-1905. In 1903, five local Bennett brothers, Alfred, Bill, Jack, Richard and Tom (Thomas) were reportedly taking flax mostly from Mr Bungott's farm. They were also said to have offered £300 for the rights to flax at both Grindstone and the foreshore. This specific mill was then moved it to Waimatuku, and it operated there for about 2 years. The partnership was said to have been disestablished at this point, and Richard Bennett went back to Orepuki and re-started another mill there, which is the main subject of this photograph. The mill in the photo above, beside the Waimeamea River, was established we believe, in 1907. It was said to have been sadly consumed by fire some twelve years later. It was reported that on New Years Day, 1920 - just after WW1 had finished, that the Flax Mill of Richard's at Waimeamea River, was burned down. This was then rebuilt and at that time, Richard's six sons were also involved in helping out, as they left school and started to work. Other than just one year off during the depression, when it shut due to the price for flax products being too low, when it re-opened again, Richards sons became partners. It is said that operations continued at this Flax Mill until 1945, which was quite some feat. Some elderly ones still remember it. When Richard became ill sometime around 1939, son George took the mill over and continued to run it while WW2 raged, and finally lack of supplies of flax caused it to close. It had then been in operation for around 40 years! It is interesting to note that in news of the day, there is an article talking about the Bennett Bros of Waihoaka, who have erected a Water Wheel for their Flax Mill at the Grindstone Creek for scutching purposes, which has less danger of fire. This is just after the disastrous fire destroyed the mill. So it seems that while the mill property itself was at Waimeamea River, it is likely that some of the plant at least, was operated at Grindstone Creek still. Further recorded is the fact that around twenty men were usually employed at this Flax Mill, with comparable wages being paid to other local industries. A lot of local lads were said to have been employed here as a start to their working lives, where the dirty and heavy tasks involved saw them mostly move on to other occupations that did not require them to work so hard. As the story goes, Wattie Herrick of Orepuki would cart the flax required by this mill, from flax fields at Colac Bay and as far flung as Clifden. Wattie is said to have had great admiration for the Bennett boys, who he saw as being very hard workers in an industry which was not easy for most men. It is recorded in various history books on the subject, that early on when this Waimeamea Flax Mill opened, Bill, Richard's brother, also worked at the mill for him, while two other brothers - Jack and Tom (Thomas) were to help for a time, but they eventually went on to buy farms down the Waiau Mouth at Papatotara. And the last brother Alfred, was to move over to Gorge Road and work a farm there, as well as starting another flax mill. JACK BENNETT'S STORY: Many locals will fondly recall 'Jack' and 'Mattie' Bennett of Papatotara, who have had the Jack & Mattie Bennett Memorial Park where the Tūātapere Playground is, named after them. Jack was a son of the above Thomas Bennett, who was a partner in the early Flax Mill at Orepuki along with his five other brothers. He recalls in a fascinating account of his family memories, how his parents lived in tents alongwith the other Flax Mill workers when they moved the operation to Waimatuku for a time. He says he was born there on 19/9/1909 and we found his name was John Albert Bennett, Jack was a common nickname for John back in the day. But, this timeframe of his date and place of birth does not fit the other story of his father's and uncles Flax Mill as recorded above, and follows quite a different narrative. As we may never know which one is correct, we will be recording both versions here. Tom/Thomas is said to have shifted to Grindstone Creek Waihoaka, which is later than recorded earlier, then to Pahia about 1912. Jack his son, recalls that they lived in Orepuki and later they had a mill at Pukemaori about 1914. He believes it was near DT Kings Flax Mill on a side road. Jack also believes that Aitken's Flax Mill was where the Pukemāori Hall is now (2004). He thinks that the flax mill there was cut out from around 1917 and after this, his father Tom/Thomas went out to a new farm settlement which was created for men returning from the War (WW1) at the Waiau Mouth. This land was said to be in solid bush which was to require many years of hard labour to get to a point it could be cleared to work for farming. When his father died, Jack took over this same farm. As some of the farm owners here moved away, others bought and enlarged the farms to make them more economical. These farms are still being added to today. Marrying Mattie Simms (born Emily Martha) in 1930, Jack recalls that he was managing the farm here for just £2 per week. The couple had two children and in 1937 they were able to buy the farm out. It was their home for many decades, with Jack and Mattie continuing to farm there along with raising their children and undertaking many community activities as well, across 22 organizations, what dedication to the district! In 1998 they moved into Invercargill. 'Mattie' died on 5.12.1998 aged 91 and 'Jack' was to pass away just a few years later on 28.7.2001 also aged 91. The couple are now buried together in the Tūātapere Cemetery, and are in Plot 19, Block IX B. OTHER ACCOUNTS: Mary Wardle also has fabulous memories of growing up on the Flax Mill site of the Bennett Flax Mill in Orepuki, and these can be read in our CWArchive Library in our Community and Heritage Hub, situated in Tūātapere, Waiau. The story above is relayed in the fantastic publication, 'Flaxmills of the South' by Margaret Trotter, which we have a copy of and that we have used extensively in this entry on the Bennett's Flax Mills. We would also like to thank and acknowledge Marjory A Smith, author of 'From Goldfield to Fields of Green', the Orepuki Story, which she kindly donated to our history library. Hopefully this entry will be added to as more information comes to hand. If you or anyone you know has any more information or photos to share or accounts of the Bennett's Flaxmill's or this particular Bennett family during the years, please do share this with us in the comments section. You can do this by making a comment in the space provided under the image page. Or you can make contact with us as per the archive front page. Note: these entries are compiled with information provided by donors with the records, from locally reported news, from national and occasionally international reports in publications, from personal records made by the people themselves - such as their electoral enrollments, wills, war records etc., also from government and council held records such as births, deaths and marriages or cemetery information, and lastly, from community memories, such as those passed on by friends, family and contemporaries. It is not always possible to verify memories from others, so please let us know if you believe we have any incorrect information. If you believe that any public or personal record information quoted is wrong, if you can provide proof of any alternative fact to us in a document showing evidence of the correct details, that would be very helpful to us. Thank you.