Silver Stream Floods 18 January 1858
Extracts from The New Zealand Gazette
and Wellington Spectator
INQUESTS AT
THE HUTT
An Inquest
was held at Mr Robert Blade's, the Traveller's Rest Inn, Taitai in the Hutt
district, on Wednesday, 20th January, by Dr Buck, Coroner for the Hutt, upon the
bodies of Mrs Hagan and infant son, Mrs Price their nurse, Charles Sollars,
blacksmith, his wife and child, and two children named Fanny and Jane Stanaway,
residents of the Upper Hutt, who had been drowned by the flood on January 18th.
It was stated in evidence that on Monday
morning, 18th January, in consequence of the heavy rains of the previous day the
river rose rapidly, and soon overflowed the whole valley, and as the rain
continued to fall incessantly the same day, the water rose to an alarming
height. The greatest injury was done near the Silver Stream, where the deceased
parties resided, the water gradually rising in their houses until they had to
betake themselves to the roofs, the current being strong around them, and the
ground lower than where they were situated, their escape was cut off. Charles
Hartley, who was residing with Sollars, swam from one house to another, and
assisted the inmates in getting onto the roof, and as the water still rose, he
endeavoured to get them to land by means of a rope without success, and was at
last obliged to save himself by swimming, The houses were at length carried
away. On the roof of one was Mr Stanaway, a carpenter, his wife and five
children, and on the other Mr Sollars, blacksmith, his wife and one child, and
Mrs Hagan, her infant son, and the nurse Mrs Price.
The houses were carried down the stream
some distance before they broke up, and then all perished. The eight bodies were
found on the previous day, January 19th, between Mr Dew's and Mr Dalgety's.
An inquest was held at the same place on
January 21st, on the body of Mrs Stanaway, which had been found on the evening
of the previous day, January 20th. Verdict, accidental death by drowning.
The jury at the same time wished to
express the high opinion they had of the conduct of Charles Hartley in his
strenuous endeavours to save the sufferers at the risk of his life.
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FLOOD AT THE HUTT GREAT LOSS OF LIFE
In our last we gave such details of the
disastrous flood which had occurred at the Hutt as had reached us, we now
furnish the following particulars which we believe may be relied upon, as being
substantially correct.
The number of bodies at present actually
recovered is nine, Mrs Stanaway and two children, one 4 years old and the other
6 years, Mr Sollars, his wife and child; Mrs Hagan and infant, and Mrs Price;
the other persons known to be missing are the husband of Mrs Stanaway, and three
more of his children, who were all seen to be washed away together.
The particular locality where this
fearful loss of life occurred was near the "Barley Mow Inn", at the
Upper Valley of the Hutt. When the flood was at its highest [about 1 o'clock
a.m. Tuesday morning] the force of the water at this point is described by an
eyewitness as having been terrific. The water was seen rushing along like an
immense wave, crashing and roaring, carrying everything before it; huge trees,
portions of buildings, timber, furniture, and debris of every description, were
borne away by the force of the current. To witness the havoc and destruction
which the flood has caused is most painful and baffles all description. Many
acres of land, which only a few hours before to all appearances promised a
plentiful crop, are now covered with sand and shingle, and not a particle of
vegetation remains. The quantities of drift timber, in many instances large
solid trees, which have been deposited by the flood is perfectly incredible, and
will take many months to remove.
The unfortunate persons who have lost
their lives by this sad calamity are mostly late arrivals in the country, Mrs
Hagan [a daughter of Mr Dew, an old settler at the Hutt] was living in a small
wooden building near the first gorge; Mrs Price and a man named Charles Hartly
were also residing in the house. Upon seeing the water rising so rapidly some
fear was entertained for the safety of the building, and the survivor Hartly
proposed to go for a rope to secure the house; when he left the water was up to
the window, and the house was actually shaking. He almost immediately lost his
footing, and was swimming with the current for nearly half a mile, until he
succeeded in getting up a tree, where he remained for 14 hours until rescued by
some passers by on the following day. From the position he occupied he could see
everything around him; he states that he soon after saw the house borne away
with the current; the inmates Mrs Hagan [who was only confined that morning] and
the nurse Mrs Price, were climbing on to the roof of the house; they passed
close to where he was in the tree, and he describes the shrieks of the women as
fearful; a minute after, the house turned over nothing more was seen of them.
The bodies were recovered about a mile from the spot on Wednesday morning, the
infant was found firmly in the dying grasp of its poor mother, the nurse was
found close to her, the body was much mangled.
The bodies were removed to the house of
Mr Dew, and an inquest held on them, when a verdict of accidentally drowned was returned. The husband of Mrs Hagan is
absent in the country and of course is ignorant of the desolation of his home.
Mrs Price who was much respected, and who arrived here by the `ANN WILSON',
leaves a family of young children behind her, her husband was absent from home
at the time. The other family, Mr Stanaway, wife and five children, were all
seen together on the roof of their house, the water rose rapidly and submerged
the whole of them, and they were seen to sink one after the other. The
Blacksmith Sollars with his wife and infant perished in a similar manner, they
imagined themselves secure, but the house was borne away with the current, and
he was heard by persons on the hill to say "good bye." The bodies were
found together, one completely buried in the sand. A man and his wife named
Smith living near to Mr Dew were saved after remaining on the top of a building
for many hours whilst nearly all around them was borne away.
To give anything like a detailed account
of the losses sustained by the residents at the Hutt would be impossible, we may
however state a few of the more important particulars of individual losses of
which we have been informed, Mr Riddiford had lost about 100 sheep, Mr Barton
has also lost a large number of sheep; Mr Thomas Mason a number of cattle; Mr
Arnott cattle and sheep; Mr John Leverton has lost entirely 50 acres of crops,
and a large number of cattle; Mr C. Mabey lost a number of sheep, and also a
large quantity of fenced and cropped land; Mr Buckridge of the Albion Hotel, has
had his crops destroyed and the river has taken a course completely through his
property; at Mr Wm. Tandy's, the river now runs through his ground and has
destroyed a large amount of property; Mrs Speedy's land is completely cut up in
all directions by the different channels the rain has made, in many cases large
fissures 12 feet deep have been formed; Mr Still has lost a number of sheep; Mr
John Russell 10 head of cattle; Mr Dew, an old settler, estimates his loss at
not less than 500 Pound; a property which a week ago was worth many hundreds of
pounds is now comparatively worthless, five acres of grass land have been
completely swept away. A large number of men had volunteered to assist in
removing a shingle bed which had been thrown up, and which prevents the River
from taking its old channel, and nearly all residents at the Hutt were
endeavouring to contribute either in labour or otherwise to this project.
The destruction of the roads between Poad's
public house and the Taitai is almost incredible, scarcely a vestige remains at
some places of the original road, at one place [a bridge near McDonald's creek]
the river runs right through the road making it very dangerous for passengers at
night; the banks descend abruptly to the depth of 15 feet; other dangerous
places occur along the whole line of road. The Waiwetu and Second River bridges
have been carried away. It is to be hoped that the Provincial authorities will
lose no time in moving the large quantity of drift timber lying along the roads,
and in making it again passable.
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Jan. 25th. -The body of Richard Stanaway
was found this morning near Mr Ebden's, leaving now three bodies unfound, viz.,
Mr Stanaway and two more of the children.
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THE HUTT FLOODS.
A Public meeting, called by notices
posted in the most public places within the District was held at the Hutt
Mechanics Institute last night, to consider the best steps to be taken under the
circumstances. About 200 people were present at one time during the evening. Mr
Braithwaite was in the Chair. Great regret was expressed at the non-attendance
of any person to represent the Provincial Government. Mr Ludlam, as one of those
who had signed the notice calling the meeting, opened the proceedings by
explaining his objectives in so doing. The following Resolutions were
unanimously carried, after considerable discussion, in which, beside the movers
and the seconders, Messrs. Lynch, McHardie, McDowall, Corbett, W.Milne, Jillett,
Renall, Bruce, and D.Hughey took part. The meeting ended at about eleven
o'clock.
Moved by Mr Ludlam, seconded by Mr
Hart,-That this meeting is of the opinion that immediate and energetic action is
required in order to repair the serious public damage done by the recent
inundation of this valley, and in order also to guard against the recurrence of
the attendant calamities as far as human means can avail.
Moved by Mr Wakefield, seconded by Mr
Jillett, That the following gentlemen be requested to act as a Committee for the
purpose of communicating with the Government on the subject, of obtaining
accurate information as to the causes of the damage and means of remedy, and of
collecting the subscriptions towards the necessary expenses, viz: - Messrs.
Ludlam, Hart, Corbett, Phillips, Wilcock, David Hughey, Lynch, Mason, and
Wakefield.
Moved by Mr Hart, seconded by Mr
Riddiford, -That the committee is requested to open a separate Subscription List
for the purpose of relieving serious cases of private distress among the
sufferers by the recent inundation.
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