James Hair Young 1838-1899

Cleughead in 1976
(N.B. these pics look great when saved and viewed in a imager, or when printed)

James Hair & Harriet Lillias

Harriet Lillias Aitken-Young

Tom, Willam, Jim, Irven
Harry, Jessie, Harriet
Stanley, Elsie, Ettie, Ernest

James Hair, William, James, Jessie, Irven, Thomas, Ernest Harry (front), Stanley in Harriet Lillias' (mother) arms

Tom, Jim, Irven, Ernest
William, Elsie, Harriet (& Ettie), Jessie
Stanley, Harry

Footnote

There are three persons named William Young in this family tree. We use the following convention:

1) the man who married Irvine Hair in 1838 is 'William Young snr';

2) James Hair Young's half brother born 1851 to William Young snr's second marriage to Margaret Hamilton is 'William Young mdl'

3) the son born on 16 November 1880 to James Hair Young and Harriet Lillias Aitken is 'William Young jnr'

William Young snr married Irvine Hair who was born 4 August 1811 at Douglas, the daughter of James Hair and Jean Wilson, on 19 May 1838 at Douglas. James and Jean also had another child Janet who was born on 1 August 1813 at Douglas.

The son James Hair Young (the ultimate origin of this story) was born on 26 December 1838 and he was baptized on 6 January 1839.

Irvine also gave birth to two daughters - Jean Shearer was born 9 August 1840 and Agnes was born 22 December 1842. Tragically, Irvine died on 24 December 1843 leaving her husband with three small children. She was buried in the old Lesmahagow Churchyard, in the second row in from the West Wall.

The next we learn of William Young snr is from parish records, when he and Margaret Hamilton (his second wife-to-be) were booked for proclamation of banns, on 14 November 1846. They subsequently had two daughters Christina (born in 1849) and Margaret (born in 1853) - and two sons - William mdl (born in 1851) and Andrew (born 16 March1856) - bringing the number of children in the family to seven.

In October 1862, James Hair Young said goodbye to his family on the farm at 'Cleughhead' in the parish of Lesmahagow in Lanarkshire, Scotland. He was never to see his father, his sisters, his stepmother , half-sisters and half-brothers, or his homeland again.

He took passage on the 'Ben Lomond' out of Glasgow, bound for New Zealand, with his good friend Matthew Fallow and Matthew's brother-in--law, John B. McLean. They were three of the thirteen cabin passengers on that voyage.

James received a thorough grounding in good farming practice from his father, but for some reason, in 1862, decided to seek his fortune on the other side of the world, and so it was that he came to be aboard the 'Ben Lomond', bound for New Zealand.

An account of the voyage, taken from the Otago Daily Times 20 January 1863, follows, the vessel having arrived in port the previous day:

"The ship 'Ben Lomond', which arrived at the Heads on Sunday afternoon, was towed up in the morning by the 'Sampson', Preceded by the ship 'Bruce', which had also arrived during the night with a large freight of passengers from Melbourne.

"The 'Ben Lomond' has made one of the best passages that have ever yet been made to this province, having completed the passage from land to land in 74 days. By letters received in the province, prior to arrival, it was understood that she had been compelled to put back to Lamlash Bay, somewhat disabled by stress of weather; but Captain Smart reports that except for some trifling accident to the windlass the vessel had suffered a short detention in starting from the land, by the prevalence of some very heavy weather. On the weather moderating, she left Lamlash Bay at 5 p.m. on 25th October; and on the 31st, the Fastnet Light bore 10 miles N.W., strong gales, heavy weather and a heavy sea having been experienced in the interval. Here a Cork pilot cutter was spoken; and from this point the passage is calculated.

"With variable weather at first, she got into good N.E. Trades, which lasted until the 18th November. On that day she signalized the ships 'Chariot of Fame' and 'City of Calcutta'. On the day following sprung her jib boom. On the 22nd gained the S.E. Trades.

"On the 26th signalized the ship 'Blue Jacket' from Liverpool to Melbourne. On the 27th sighted the coast of Brazil; and on the 29th signalled a steamer steering for Pernambuco.

"On the 17th December, the only death, from natural causes occurred, Robert Cranstoun, a young man in the steerage aged 21, having died of consumption. On the 30th of the same month during some squally weather, a boy belonging to the ship, named George Grant, fell from the main royal yard, struck the bulwarks and dropped into the sea evidently killed before he reached the water.

"Apart from these circumstances, the voyage was to the passengers a very pleasant one and they all arrived in good health and spirits. Of the male portion, the majority were workmen of different trades, and among the female passengers there is a large number of Scotch and Irish single women, all a very useful class of immigrant. In testimonials to Captain Smart and his officers, and to the surgeon they express every satisfaction with their treatment throughout the passage which was completed as far as the Snares at 8 a.m. on the 14th inst. From that time the vessel was baffled in her approach to the Port by calms and hazy weather up till Sunday, when she made the 'Heads' before a fine breeze from the S.W.

"The total number of passengers who shipped by the 'Ben Lomond', was 338, and with one birth having occurred during the passage, the number of arrivals is the same."

With his travelling companions, James headed straight for the Dunstan diggings in search of gold, and for the next eight or nine years he was an energetic and successful digger on the Otago, Picton and West Coast goldfields.

According to his obituary, he came from the West Coast to Southland early in 1870 or 71 via Martin's Bay and Queenstown.

In August 1874 he bought his first farm at Flints Bush. What he did in the intervening three or four years, we do not know. Maybe it was later than 1871 when he finished with gold digging.

It is also possible that he leased the land at Flints Bush for a few years before actually buying it, because this was the pattern he followed later.

In July 1876, he sold this first farm and moved to Heddon Bush - or as it was then called - Oreti Plains, where he leased another farm. He proceeded to plough, fence and improve it, and also build a home there. Having completed the home he married Harriet Lillias Aitken, second daughter of James Aitken of Liddell Street, Invercargill.

By this time, James was a mature man of 40 years and his bride was only 19. Seemingly James thought the age gap was too great, and so he chopped 6 years off his age. He never told his wife what he had done, so that when he died his age was given as 54. This white lie must have caused him some problems at times because his age varies on the children's birth registrations.

Their first son (William) was born at Heddon Bush in November 1880. In February 1881 James became the first Post Master at Heddon Bush, a position he held until March 1883, when it was taken over by S.R. Girle, the school master. During James's time as Post Master, the Post Office was located in the family home.

The children continued to arrive at more or less regular intervals until by 1886, they had a family of one daughter and four sons. In 1885, James acquired the leases on 3 adjoining sections of land at Koromiko, five miles west of Orepuki near Te Wae Wae bay. A large block of land, still in its virgin state, it was made up of sections 4, 5, and 6, block 1 of the Longwood Survey District.

In contrast to the Heddon Bush property which required extensive drainage and was lacking in lime, (this being the age before lime was used for top dressing), the Koromiko land was free draining and naturally fertile. In 1886, having disposed of the Heddon Bush farm, James along with his wife and children made a third and final move to Koromiko to the farm he was to call "Hopedale".

William Young was 5 years old at the time, and the journey to Orepuki was made by train, and then onto to Koromiko, by bullock wagon. There was no gravel road, only a rough track often through dense bush. The Young family either travelled light, or had a speedy team of bullocks, as they broke the Orepuki - Koromiko record by covering the distance at an average rate of just over a mile an hour. The road in those days extended only about 2 miles past Koromiko, and Tuatapere was a comparatively unknown region. James was one of the early settlers responsible for the founding of the Waihoaka School. The poor road to Orepuki, the distance, and often inclement weather, frequently precluded the children's attendance at school. Several of the family, became first day pupils of the Waihoaka School when it opened in 1894.

It may be helpful to explain that when the Railway was eventually extended from Orepuki in 1903, the terminus (which happened to be in the centre of the farm), was named Waihoaka, presumably because of another Railway Station in Marlborough called Koromiko. The district from that time was more commonly referred to as Waihoaka. With the closing of the school in 1946, and the demise of the Railway in 1976, the name Waihoaka like its neighbour Te Tumutu is now little more than a memory. More recently the farm now owned by descendants of James Hair Young has been called Koromiko keeping the name alive.

Most of the original farm has been worked by members of the family since its acquisition, but in 1888 Section 6 was transferred to J.P. Young (not related). Three years later it was transferred to William Armstrong snr, who lived there until his retirement to Riverton during World War One.

He leased it initially to a William Munro, then when he moved his family to Duneam, the lease was transferred to Dr Gow of Winton, who relinquished the lease in 1937 to settle his son Robert at Mangapiri, near Blackmount. William Cook and William Muirhead were the last lessee's but they were also given a right of purchase. This right was later exercised by William Cook who after farming for a time sold out to W.A. Richards in 1956. In 1969 the farm, which by that time had been extended in area by the purchase of Sheridan's farm and fully developed, was repurchased by M.W. Young, a grandson of the original lessee, adding it back to the portion of the original farm that he now owned.

With the capital accrued from his gold mining and farming in other areas, James Hair Young applied himself diligently to developing his new property. A substantial house had been built before the move from Heddon Bush and farm buildings were soon to follow. The land bordering the sea-coast was the first to be cultivated as it was easily cleared of the flax and light bush. The rest of the farm was generally covered in fuschia, broadleaf and supplejack. The soil was a fertile loam, covering 20-30 feet of porous clay, therefore being free draining. With poor roads and initially no railway, the range of produce for sale was mainly limited to beef cattle and oats.

After spending most of his lifetime working on the land, first on his father's farm at 'Cleughhead' in Scotland and finally at Waihoaka, apart from a period 1863-1871, when he was gold mining, James Hair Young died on 24 February 1899 and was buried at the Orepuki cemetery leaving his widow Harriet and ten children (seven boys and three girls).

Jessie Rose was born on 26 May 1878;

William was born on 16 November 1880;

James Aitken was born on 2 October 1883;

Thomas Hudson was born on 9 June 1884;

Irven Hair was born on 11 July 1886;

Ernest John was born on 4 August 1888;

Harry Septimus was born on 19 January 1891;

Robert Stanley was born on 29 December 1893;

Elizabeth Walker was born on 18 February 1895;

Harriet (Ettie) Lillias was born on (date ?) April 1898.

The greater part of the farm was by this time cleared of bush and in production, all within the space of 13 years. This was a major achievement for those days when the only aids to man-power and horse-power were stumping jacks and gelignite.

During his lifetime in Southland he served his community well firstly his Church and then public bodies, but he was perhaps best know as an accomplished ploughman and Ploughing Judge. He participated in many ploughing matches to which he often travelled long distances. This interest in horses led to the establishment of the 'Hopedale' Clydesdale stud, shortly before his death. The stud was successfully carried on by his family until 1919, when it was dispersed.

Although he had generations of farming in his blood, his newly found interest in gold mining never left him, and the remains of two shafts in the banks of Deep Creek, on his farm are visible to this day.

After her husband's death, Harriet Young, to her great credit and with the help of her growing sons, notably William and James, carried on the farming operation for a period of twenty years, until the farm was subdivided for three of the sons.

Early in this century, Harriet instigated the building of a new home to house the family of ten. A large six bedroom home was built soon to be followed by a new stable, gig-shed and barn. The barn had a loft that measured 110 feet long and was 25 feet wide. This was used as the local hall for many years until a public hall was built in 1929.

A feature of the farm in the early days, was the extensive garden and orchard, which was a target for much schoolboy poaching.

In 1902, a cheese factory was opened at Te Tua (the site was actually directly opposite the present Te Wae Wae hall), so the opportunity was taken by the Young family to engage in what was at that time, large scale, dairying, with a herd of 100 plus cows. A new milking shed, holding 16 cows aside, with a tramway through the centre was constructed. One of the first milking machines to come to the province was then installed. It was what was known as a bucket plant with two sets of teat-cups per bucket. When the two cows had finished milking the bucket was emptied into a ten-gallon can carried on a trolley on the tramway and two more cows were fitted with the cups. These machines were used until 1933 when a more modem plant was installed by Irven Young who then farmed the property.

The milk was sold in the first year (1902) for 2 1/2 pence per gallon and was carted by four-wheeled horse-drawn wagon to the factory. At the height of the season extra horses were needed to pull the wagon up the Grindstone hill, being left there and collected on the return journey.

In the early 1900s, the sheep numbers were increased and a new shearing shed for blade shearers was built, as were sheep yards and a unique swim--through dip with wooden sides. This wooden dip served the farm and adjacent farms for many years, until a concrete dip was built. The breed of sheep fanned at that time were Leicester cross.

Another major source of income at that time was potato growing. The work of planting, digging and grading was all done by hand. For a time several hundred tons were grown each year, being dug about May for sale. If the demand was slack, the potatoes were put into what was known as 'pits'. These were in fact long rows of loose potatoes piled about 5 feet high and covered in oat straw. It was not unknown in years of poor demand, for the pits to be left to rot and waste. The job of digging by hand was a time consuming task and each year men would travel over from Tasmania to help. Some of these men eventually settled in the district and the names of their descendants remain to this day, for example - Buckingham, Wolfe, Gould and Dudfield.

About this time, further land was bought from a Mr Graham at Te Tumutu, some two miles east of the home farm. This was farmed in conjunction with the main farm until after World War One.

An important event was the opening in 1903 of the Railway Station at Waihoaka following the extension of the Railway line from Orepuki. Although this caused a permanent scar across the property, it provided a very welcome passenger and freight service to Invercargill, until it was closed in 1976. The land was integrated into the farm.

Immediately after World War One, the home farm was divided into two with Thomas Hudson Young and Irven Hair Young taking half each. The more recently acquired block at Te Turnutu was taken over by Robert Stanley Young. A two day clearing sale was held for the stock and plant, with most of it going to the three brothers.

Their mother, who had in 1903 married again, retired to Orepuki in 1917 where she lived until her death in 1931.

Her second husband David died in 1936. The house where they spent their retirement in still in use and well cared for by Mrs Dulcie Lennon.

The original farm (except for approximately 60 acres of section 6) now forms part of a 2000 acre property owned by Geoffrey Alan Young, a great-grandson of the original owner. The block that Stanley owned was sold on his retirement and was split up between neighbouring farmers. The main -income earner today is wool and meat from Romney sheep along with a Hereford cattle Stud. A commercial herd of Hereford cattle and red deer are also farmed.

Unfortunately, none of the early buildings remain. The big homestead was demolished in 1964, and the last room of the first house, which had been used as a tool-shed for a considerable time, was demolished about 1970.

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