The Dominion 25/11/1939 - Sanson 67 Years Ago

Eighty-seven years old and still reading the newspapers without the aid of glasses and taking an active interest in current affairs, is Mr J.H. Gibbs now living in retirement in Marton.  Mr Gibbs is well qualified to speak of the birth of the Manawatu, for he was one of the first settlers at Sanson, when that district was opened up.  Despite his age, Mr Gibbs is still very active and till recently milked two or three cows and drove a motor-car.  An accident in which he broke a hip handicaps him somewhat, but he is able to move about with the aid of a stick.  Nearly all his contemporaries have died, but he still retains lively recollections of Sanson as he first knew it 67 years ago.

Mr Gibbs was born in Nelson and as a young man was attracted to the North Island.  He was single then, but after a few months went back to Nelson for his bride.  Before he married he was living in a whare built of raupo, toi-toi and manuka, but it was destroyed by fire.

A lot of the land at Sanson was taken up by the early residents under the Hutt Valley Farm Settlement Scheme and was occupied by old soldiers said Mr Gibbs.  It was sold on a deferred payment system - 45 to 200 acres at one pound an acre.  People did not value the land very much, and much of it was resold.  There was no market for the produce; he had seen good lambs sold at ninepence and cattle at one pound to one pound ten shillings.

Life in those days consisted mostly of work, wet or dry, daylight to dark.  There was a certain amount of cropping and the settlers kept a few cows.  Their pleasures were simple but they were happy.  Mr Gibs cut his first crop with a sickle and for a time ground his own wheat and oats.  Later, there were mills at Sanson, Palmerston North and Feilding.  Often he sold his wheat for the price of the seed.  

Labour was cheap and efficient in those days.  Mr Gibbs said the wages of men he employed on the farm were 1/- an hour.  The first season he supplied cream to a factory at Feilding he got 1/7 or 1/8 a pound for butterfat, a good price in those days, but next year it was down to 5d.  Meat cost about 3d. a pound and the price of groceries were much the same as now, except that sugar cost 6d. a pound.

Of roads there were none, and there was standing bush between Awahuri and Marton.  The nearest town was Wanganui, about 50 miles away, and much of their goods was landed by schooner at Castlecliff (Wanganui) or Scotts Ferry (Tangimoana).

Mr Gibbs had some narrow escapes in the early days on one occasion being nearly drowned in the Rangitikei River.  He was washed away and spent a long time on a small island in the river before he was rescued.

Now Mr Gibbs is spending the autumn of his days quietly attending to his farmlet and visiting his many relations.  He has a large number of descendants including several grandchildren, who are now grown up, and a number of great-grandchildren.