The business expanded, and by the turn of the century Brown had logging interests at Opunake, Hawera, Pohokura, Ornata and Taihape
and in Manawatu. In 1893 Charles Ahier joined the firm as manager of
the New Plymouth yard and a year later became a partner of Henry
Brown and Company, which operated under that name until 1921 when
Edward Tribe became a director of the holding company, Tribe, Brown
and Company, which extended the firm's activities to include property,
land and building finance. Ahier and Tribe were the only persons outside
the Brown family to hold a financial interest in the company. Present
directors include Robert Brown, grandson of the founder, and two
great-grandsons, Donald and Ross. Since 1914 the firm's headquarters
have been centred in Morley Street, New Plymouth.
Other timber-milling and building firms which have played an
important part in the development of early New Plymouth, and which
are still in existence, include Boon Bros Ltd (Gill Street) founded in
1895; C. F. Millward and Co. Ltd (Devon Street West) which started as a
wholesale coal merchant in 1896, W. J. Cleland and Son (Strandon)
founded in 1915, and Jones and Sandford (South Road) established in
1918. For many years the firm of Sash and Door Ltd occupied premises
almost in the heart of the town, in Liardet Street. It ceased operations in
1974.
In 1866 John Bellringer (later to be mayor of the town) began business
in New Plymouth as a paper-hanger and painter. On his death in 1902 his
two sons, C. E. and F. C. J. Bellringer, opened a hardware store and five
years later the two firms amalgamated as Bellringer Bros Ltd. The
company occupied several premises in the town, and when, in 1963, it
was taken over by Hughson's Hardware, the Bellringer shop was on the
site now occupied by Air New Zealand offices in Devon Street.
One of the many firms closely associated with the building industry is
that of Hughson's Hardware Ltd, now in St Aubyn Street, founded by
Hugh Hughson in 1881. A versatile, energetic man, Hugh, who was born
in the Shetland Islands, was a descendant of a Norwegian prince, Hugh
Noble, who had sailed from Norway in 1637 to salvage a cargo of gold
from a ship wrecked on the Skerries Islands rocks. His grandson,
Geoffrey, unlike so many other representatives of pioneers, kept a
meticulous diary," in which he recorded not only the affairs of his own
immediate family, but also events which give an accurate picture of life
in Taranaki in the late 19th Century.
As a lad, he says, Hugh was 'apprenticed to the sailoring in colliers
trading between Shields and London. In his early years he had a
command of his own and sailed on windjammers round the world at least
four times.' While he was at sea his wife conducted a general store in the
front room oftheir boarding house and in 1871 he was granted a 'licence
to sell excisable liquors'. This wide experience stood him in good stead
when in 1879 he and his wife and family of six sailed in the Eastminster
for Wellington. Jobs were hard to find, and the family came to New Plymouth. An agreement, dated November 22, 1880, discloses that
Hugh bought 'one acre one rood' of land for $80 from William
Humphries, Frederick Lewis Webster and Henry Weston. It was
situated 'just opposite the hall in Westown' (Omata Road). The
following advertisement was published in the Taranaki Herald on
Monday, September 26,1881: 'Westown. Hugh Hughson has opened a
store at Westown with an assortment of groceries etc and also on sale,
lambs' wool shawls and socks direct from Shetlands. Teeth carefully
extracted. Agent for the Taranaki Herald and Budget. Omata Road,
Westown.' Business was conducted in the front room of a three-room
house, and a short time later he and his son, Thomas Pole Hughson,
opened another store at Parihaka, assisted by two other sons, Charles
and Tim. Geoffrey's diary recalls that Thomas became a member of the
Armed Constabulary in the 1880s, 'A lad of 17, Thomas found the
muzzle-loading guns of the army were too heavy for him to carry, so they
made him a cook.'
At the turn of the century the firm established the New Plymouth to
Opunake horse coach service, ajourney which took more than 12 hours
(in fine weather). A 30-horse-power team, with changes at Okato, was
the motive power. Subsequently the Hughsons opened stores at Okato,
Opunake, Rahotu, Pungarehu, Parihaka and Patea, dealing in general
groceries, books, milking machines, 'house mercery', general hardware
and building materials.
As more land was cleared, it was apparent one of the greatest needs
was farm fencing. But barbed wire was expensive, difficult to obtain,
and required frequent attention.
A young man, James Robertson Duncan, conceived the idea of
cultivating boxthorn and barberry in place or barbed wire. Evidence of
his success in this direction can still be seen in many parts of the
province, even in these days of electric fences.
Duncan established a one-man nursery on a one-acre section in Upper
Westown in 1880, and by the turn of the century such was the growth of
business that he took on a boy, Victor Caddy Davies, in 1902, who
became a partner in Duncan and Davies eight years later. Since then the
firm has grown into one of the largest horticultural establishments in
New Zealand, having achieved an international reputation in marketing
many native and exotic species. In the 1960s it exported Chinese
gooseberry plants (later officially named kiwifruit) to more than 20
countries, as well as supplying this profitable plant to many New
Zealand growers. By 1980 the company had more than 100haofnursery
plantations, with headquarters at Brixton, near Waitara.
Sir Victor Davies (he was knighted in 1977 shortly before his death)
was a founder member of the Barrett Domain Board and of the Taranaki
Scenic Board, and a member of the New Zealand Historic Places Trust.
He has many memorials in the shape of trees and shrubs planted in
public places and at schools, and the lovely stand of California redwoods
in Lucy's Gully, near Oakura. His 'official' memorial is the Sir Victor
Davies Memorial Park, established in 1978 largely through the efforts of
the New Plymouth West and the New Plymouth Rotary Clubs (Sir
Victor was a Rotarian for 52 years). Its garden-like surroundings on the
banks of the Huatoki Stream below the Radio Taranaki building
provides a relaxation for city workers as well as for visitors.
Another company, of more recent vintage, which has close association
with all branches of farming, horticulture and industry, is I von
Watkins-Dow Ltd. Formed in 1944 by three brothers, Ivon, Harry and
Dan Watkins, its initial object was the supply of plants, seed and
agricultural chemicals to local growers. The first dramatic growth of this
small concern began following the importation of an American weed
killer, 2,4-D. This resulted in Harry and Ivon establishing their
individual plant and seed businesses, and a new firm, Ivon Watkins
Limited, with Dan as its head, concentrated on producing agricultural
chemicals. In 1964 the multi-million-dollar concern, Dow Chemicals of
Michigan, acquired equal partnership and the company name was
changed to Ivon Watkins-Dow Limited. It produces agricultural chemicals
such as pesticides, weedicides, veterinarian and animal health
produces; polyethylene resins, detergents, plastics and spraying equipment.
In addition to stimulating sales on a world wide basis, the
American partnership provided New Plymouth staff with great opportunities
to develop their skills and experience.
The firm's phenomenal rise to an international reputation was not
unaccompanied by public concern and controversy. The factory is sited
in an area near Centennial Park, beneath the historic rock Paritutu, and
many townspeople expressed opposition to such an industry being
placed close to a recreational area. These fears were increased in 1972,
by which time surrounding farmland had been developed into a
residential area: A powerful explosion lit up the evening sky and was
heard and felt in many parts of the city. No injuries were reported,
although there was considerable damage to the plant's buildings.
The universal concern for the effects of chemicals on human health
was strongly evident in New Zealand during 1977, when one of Ivon
Watkins-Dow's products 2,4,5-T, which had been the subject of
controversy over its use as a defoliant in the Vietnam war came under
attack by groups of environmentalists, following suggestions that this
could have caused foetus deformations.
Exhaustive tests and research by company and independent overseas scientists and a study by the NewZealand Department of Health proved these allegations unfounded.
In spite of-or indeed perhaps because of-the threat, real or
imagined, of having such a complex close to a city the size of New
Plymouth, the firm has what has been termed a 'hypersensitive'
approach to industrial safety. In this respect 'we were more than ten times better than the national average for the total New Zealand
manufacturing sector', said the company's 1977 annual report.
In 1977 Ivon Watkins-Dow disposed of its spraying manufacturing
plant to Atlas Industries Limited, one of the many industrial firms
which, since the 1960s, has been established on the other side of the
town at Bell Block. Prominent among the wide variety of industrial
complexes in this area, planned explicitly for the purpose, is the
McKechnie Bros. (N.Z.) Ltd metal extrusion plant.
McKechnie Bros is a long established British company, founded in St
Helen's, Lancashire, in 1871. In 1949, in view of the post-war
development in New Zealand of secondary or manufacturing industries,
it was decided to investigate building a brass-extrusion factory in this
country. Careful consideration was given to the location of the plant,
and New Plymouth was chosen because of its situation midway between
the Auckland and Wellington markets and because of the availability of
suitable labour: the labour turnover has, in fact, been relatively small
compared with that in the main industrial centres. 6 A subsidiary
company, McKechnie Brothers (N .Z.) Ltd was incorporated on February
27, 1951, with a capital of $400,000, and with W. Hayes
(chairman), P. J. Ayckbourn and C. H. Wynyard as directors. Property
was bought in Carrington Road on the then city boundary, buildings
were erected and plant ordered. But a prolonged shipping strike in New
Zealand delayed progress, and it was not until August 8, 1953, that the
first brass billet was extruded. Output increased each year and with the
start of aluminium extrusion in 1959 more land was bought and the
factory was enlarged. It was still not large enough and in 1963 25ha of
land was bought at Bell Block where a new complex was built. It
produces a wide range of aluminium, brass and copper extrusions, for an
equally wide range of markets in New Zealand and overseas.