The history of Hurleyville: illegal activities to dairy factories

One hundred and forty-one years ago the first piece of land was sold at the Otoia Opaku Block. By: JANE MATTHEWS
Share on twitter
Share on facebook
Share on linkedin
Share on whatsapp
Share on email

In the years that followed the settlement was renamed, a school opened, the South Taranaki district’s first dairy factory, locals sell alcohol illegally, men went away to war and returned and a school closed.
Today, the settlement is better known as Hurleyville and Jacq Dwyer has written a book about its standout events and everything in between.
One character featured in the book is Patrick McCarthy was one of the first settlers on the land in January 1878.
«He was a really interesting fellow, hard-working,» Dwyer said. «He loved whisky.»
Dwyer would drink whisky to «get in the zone» while writing the Hurleyville School & District 125 Jubilee 1892-2017 book.
«I had a lot of cups of tea with people, and whiskies too,» she said. «You just get immersed in what it was like back then, you just get carried away actually.
«It was just like stepping back into another world.»
By September 1891 the Otoia Opaku Block was renamed Hurleyville, inspired by the large number of Hurleys living in the area. One of which, Patrick Hurley, requested to open the Hurleyville School, which sadly closed at the end of last year.
Dwyer discovered a rip-roaring yarn about an event that happened not long after that; there was an illegal distillery operating in the early 1900s.
The local store owner was caught selling liquor under the counter, and the police later raided the farm where they were making it.
During Dwyer’s research she also found photographs of the original Hurleyville dairy factor that no one knew still existed – and plenty of information about it too.
«Even though Hurleyville was such a remote settlement, it had the first dairy factory,» she said.
«It certainly did big production – at one stage it had 28 farmers supplying milk, so that’s a lot of farmers for one little dairy factory.»
As for the school, which was founded in 1892, it was at its largest in 1907 with 71 pupils.
However that dropped in the years that followed and Dwyer said Hurleyville was probably a third of the population it used to be.
«When the school closed last year, it had five children,» she said. «It had just run itself down It’s the sad reality of life, isn’t it?»
Dwyer thinks she’s painted a picture of how it was back then, the time that has gone, leaving only memories and fragments.
Books can be purchased through Jacq by phoning 027 2415595.
 
 
Source: Stuff
Link: https://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/96801511/The-history-of-Hurleyville-illegal-activities-to-dairy-factories

Mirá También

Así lo expresó Domingo Possetto, secretario de la seccional Rafaela, quien además, afirmó que a los productores «habitualmente los ignoran los gobiernos». Además, reconoció la labor de los empresarios de las firmas locales y aseguró que están «esperanzados» con la negociación entre SanCor y Adecoagro.

Te puede interesar

Notas
Relacionadas