Stokes Valley
Encyclopedia
Stokes Valley is a major suburb of Lower Hutt
, in the North Island
of New Zealand
. It is located at the northeastern edge of the city seven kilometres northeast of the city centre, in the valley of a small tributary of the Hutt River
, called Stokes Valley stream which flows north to meet the main river close to the Taita Gorge. Stokes Valley was named after Robert Stokes who formed part of the original survey team of 1840 commissioned to plan the city at Thorndon in Wellington.
Stokes Valley is a suburb in its own valley. It is partially separated from the main part of the city of Lower Hutt and is surrounded on all sides by densely forested hills.
Its cultural identity
is very similar to that of the rest of Lower Hutt and has progressed [some would jokingly disagree] a long way from the "congregation of old sheelbacks and whalers, men-o'-wars men and seamen, lags and hard cases, living in tents and whares ... [a] heterogeneous mass of misguided humanity" that existed in 1855.
, but considering that the Hutt Valley and the greater Wellington area have experienced major tectonic uplifting it is possible that the valley was formed through major earthquakes and erosion.
According to tradition, Māori arrived in the Hutt Valley in about 1250 AD when the two sons of Whatonga, a Hawke's Bay
chief, settled in the area and named the Hutt River Heretaunga, after their old home
. Although Māori had lived in the Hutt Valley for almost 600 years prior to Europeans, there has been no evidence of Māori habitation in Stokes Valley and the closest iwi
(tribe), located at Waiwhetu
, say they never used the valley for any significant purpose before Europeans arrived. Stokes Valley was located at the junction of the claimed territory of three major Maori tribes, the Ngāti Awa
(who sold it to European settlers, but are no longer present at Wellington), Ngāti Toa
, and the Ngāti Kahungunu
, and for this reason it would have in all likelihood never have been inhabited. This partially explains an extreme willingness to include this land in the sale to the early settlers.
chief Te Puni gestured with his arms and pointed finger the areas of the Hutt Valley and Wellington
, that he was willing to sell to the New Zealand Land Company
through its agent Colonel William Wakefield
aboard the ship Tory. Stokes Valley, which at that time was simply an unnamed branch valley of the Hutt Valley, was included in this land.
The second of the New Zealand Company's ships to arrive in Wellington was the 273-ton Cuba on the 3 January 1840. It had on board 20 able-bodied men aged from 20 to 27. Among these was the Company's surveying party, whose duty was to plan the city at Thorndon
and survey the site in readiness for the arrival of the emigrants who already procured sections in London. The first emigrant ship, containing 85 adult settlers and their 42 children, arrived only 17 days later. At this stage there was no sections or shelters surveyed for most of the people, and many had to live in huts built by the Mãori, or simply shelter under karaka
trees. The Wellington and Hutt Valley area was hurriedly surveyed.
The original survey party that arrived in 1840 on the Cuba comprised Captain William Mein Smith
(Surveyor General) and Messrs. R. D. Hanson, W. Carrington, R. Park, R. Stokes, and K. Bethune, all well known personalities in the early history of Wellington. Robert Stokes, after whom the valley was named, left the employ of the New Zealand Company in early 1842 and went into business for himself. Stokes Street in Wellington was named in his honour in the 1841 map of Wellington. The first mention of the name Stokes Valley was made in January 1843 in the first plan of the valley, and it seems likely that Stokes Valley was named in honour of Robert Stokes as a member of the original surveying party.
Robert Stokes took a prominent part in Wellington affairs, including government. He published a work in 1844 on the Wairau Affray
, led the first European crossing of the Ruimutaka range to the Wairarapa, built the (now) oldest house in Wellington, "Saint Ruadhan", on Woolcombe Street. He was a keen gardener, known for his prize-winning vegetables and flowers, and was also a keen botanist, and was treasurer of the Horticultural and Botanical Society. He became a publisher and printer, his name appearing on The New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian as a printer He was a prominent speaker, and was instrumental in carrying a Bill to establish a municipal corporation for Wellington and a railway link to the Wairarapa
. Stokes stood as an elected member of the Wairarapa Council in 1867, and was a Member of the Victoria University of Wellington
Senate from 1871 to 1878. Stokes died at Clanricarde Gardens, London, on 20 January 1880.
George Spackman (a contender for first settler) was also known to reside in Stokes Valley as early as 3 April 1852 and is listed beside Mr Judd in the "Memorial of the Settlers...". Spackman is listed on the 1854 Electoral Roll as a settler residing on a leasehold in Stokes Valley, Spackman arrived with his wife on the ship Bolton on 21 April 1840, and a son was born to them three months later. George Spackman paraded with the "Old Identities" who attended the capital's Jubilee of Colonisation in 1890.
Mr. Hart Udy, after whom Udy Street in Petone
is named, was born in Cornwall
in 1808. In 1839 he left England for New Zealand with his wife and family on the New Zealand Company's ship Duke of Roxburgh
, arriving in Petone in February 1840. Hart worked for Sir Francis Molesworth on the building of the first cutter and house to be built from New Zealand timber. After working for three years in Wellington as a shipwright at the stream near Staples Brewery he moved to Waiwhetu
(now a suburb of Lower Hutt
), where he worked as a carpenter for many years. On 1 March 1845 his house was pillaged by local Mãori. In 1849 he built the first Anglican church in Lower Hutt near the Hutt Bridge . In May 24 1852 Mr Hart Udy by mutual consent dissolved a Saw Milling partnership which he had with William Corbett and Richard Blake that was based in Stokes Valley, so it is assumed he had worked in the valley for a significant time before then. Wellington Independent, Volume VIII, Issue 696, 12 June 1852, Page 1/> He moved to Stokes Valley in 1853, and resided there until 1857, when he took his family to Matarawa where he had access to valuable bush-clad land. A source says that Udy set up a sawmill at the valley mouth in 1858, but it doesn't make it clear whether this was the original one he dissolved in 1852 that he reactivated or an additional one.
He carried on the family sawmilling business until 1865, when he retired leaving it to his sons.Mr Hart Udy, Jr., who was five years old when his parents arrived in 1840, married Elizabeth Holland of Petone in 1855, their first home being in Stokes Valley. He was also involved in his father's sawmilling business and moved with him to Matarawa. Mr Hart, Jr. later became Mayor of the Borough of Greytown
. Mr Hart Udy Sr died in 27 November 1890 in Greytown aged 82 from complications from a bone he had accidentally swallowed, he had 90 direct descendants, and was Justice of the peace of Greytown & greatly missed.
For a long time many made their living by felling timber, splitting posts and rails, and timber production as the valley had a large amount of native bush, including birch
, rimu
, rata, totara, and white pine. The bush was populated with a considerable amount of wildlife, including weka
, California quail
, and wild pig
s. Once the bush was largely cleared, it was found that the valley's soil had little to offer for farm production and for a time Stokes Valley was known as "Starvation Valley" owing to the difficult times that many of the early settlers had in making a living in the remote valley. Their problems were not helped by floods, drought and snow storms. The Hutt Valley area experienced a major flood in the 1870s which caused considerable damage to the lower portion of Stokes Valley and swept away a large amount of cut timber.
The first recorded marriages in the valley were in 1865. On June 5, Thomas Sparks was married to Mary Ann Robinson (both residents of Stokes Valley) at the Primitive Methodist Church by Rev. Waters. Two further marriages are recorded from October, with the marriage of Isaac Sykes to Maria Ann Wyeth of Upper Hutt at St James' Church at Lower Hutt on the 8th, and the marriage of Stokes Valley farmer John Walker to Mary Brown of Kapiti, at the Anglican Church in Upper Hutt, by the Rev. Mr Abrahams on the 26th.
Other early incidents in Stokes Valley include the invention and patenting of an improved milk churn, by Ignatius Singer in 1900, and two local tragedies. The first of these occurred on 10 December 1883, when an elderly woman named Hamlin was shot at by a youth. There was no shot loaded in the gun, but gun powder lodged in her left arm above the wrist. Hamlin died during an operation to amputate the arm. Another account of this same incident claims it occurred in 1885 and that the woman was called Hamblin. According to this account the youth (Sinnox) was a friend and popped in to demonstrate his newly acquired shotgun after hunting rabbits. The Gun accidentally discharged, and Mrs. Hamblin was hit in the shoulder. A doctor was summoned, but when he arrived he ordered her to be taken to hospital because of loss of blood. By the time Hamblin arrived at Wellington hospital she was unconscious through loss of blood, and she died later that night. This account makes no mention of an amputation, but goes into greater detail about the people involved.
The second local tragedy, on 1 April 1897, made headlines in newspapers around the country. Mrs. Annetta Hope was killed with her infant child, Annetta, and 20-year-old step daughter Lillian, when the horse and carriage they were riding in slipped down the Taita (or Hutt) Gorge and into the Hutt River
. Mrs. Hope had decided to meet her husband Joseph William Hope from the Silverstream railway station (now a train museum) after his work, but he did not arrive. She was halfway back to Stokes Valley at a steep part of the gorge when she saw the next train coming and made an attempt to turn the horse and carriage around to go back to meet it. It is thought that the horse took fright and as Mrs. Hope was not experienced at controlling a carriage it slipped down into the ravine. The bodies were found about one hour later, drowned in about four feet of water. The horse was none the worse for wear. The husband did not find out what had happened to her until the following Thursday when he read it in The Evening Post. It was later decided at an inquest that the road was dangerous and needed to be fenced as bicycles were frequently on the road and could frighten horses. (It is not known whether any bicycles were involved in the Hope tragedy).
to service the valley, but this was destroyed by a flood in 1932 and replaced by a foot bridge that was later deemed unsafe. Before 1940 the upper valley was heavily populated with holiday bach
es and enjoyed a resort status. During the Second World War, the United States Marine Corps
established a base near the foot of the valley.
Stokes Valley is sometimes referred to as Koraunui, a Māori
name meaning "big ferns", which is possibly a reference to the lush bush
which once covered the entire valley and which still exists in some areas, especially on the hills surrounding Stokes Valley. It is not known whether local Māori ever used this name, but the minutes of a Hutt County Council meeting in 1926–27 provide the first recorded mention of this name. The minutes record an attempt to officially change the name of the valley to Koraunui, prompted by a request to do so from the Stokes Valley Progressive Association. The new name was accepted and moves to change the name were undertaken. A petition was submitted to the Department of Internal Affairs, awaiting the Ministers objection to a change of name. It was resolved to wait for the results of a postal ballot of ratepayers concerned before proceeding. It was finally decided not to change the name, though exactly why is unclear.
In 2005 the original Stokes Valley School, established over 100 years earlier, changed its name to Koraunui School, after its merger with Kamahi School. It was decided to changed the school's name as a sign of respect to Kamahi School (which closed after the merger on the 28 January 2005), and because the new entity essentially became a new school, its roll approximately doubling overnight with the merger. the roll for Koraunui School is around 330 pupils. The name Koraunui is also used for the Koraunui Marae
in Stokes Valley, the Koraunui Kindergarten in Stokes Valley Road, the Koraunui Sports Club, and the Koraunui Hall (which was a major event centre for Stokes Valley society functions, including mayoral dinners, and is used by clubs and for fundraising events).
Since the late 1990s Stokes Valley has been affectionately known by some locals (both past and present) and those living within the greater Wellington area as Snakes Gully. The origin of this nickname is not known.
In common with several other New Zealand towns stereotypically seen as largely consisting of working class people with little access to nightlife, Stokes Valley is now ironically referred to on many internet forums and discussion groups as Stokes Vegas. In keeping with this theme, the Stokes Valley Cosmopolitan Club has a gambling casino called "Stokes Vegas Gaming Room"
and Dave Hiscock
were both internationally famous motorcycle racers who lived in Stokes Valley. Dave Hiscock dominated the New Zealand racing scene in the late 1970s and early 1980s, winning 40 consecutive races. He won the New Zealand Castrol Six Hour race five times and was placed five times in the Australian Castrol Six Hour Race in the 1970s and 1980s.
His brother Neville Hiscock won the Australian Castrol Six Hour Race in 1981, and teamed with his brother to win the New Zealand Castrol Six Hour Race in 1982. Neville was killed in February 1983 while racing in Killarney, near Cape Town
in South Africa. Dave retired from competitive racing shortly after this, and now lives in Australia.
Notable artist Guy Ngan
has been a resident of Stokes Valley for over 50 years. Ngan, born to Chinese parents in 1926, has produced a range of work across a large range of media, including sculpture, painting, drawing, design, and architecture. One of his sculptures is located at the entrance to Stokes Valley and has become the defacto symbol of Stokes Valley since about 1980 appearing on such things as the logo of local news papers and school reports etc. He has been commissioned to design and build another large sculpture for the Stokes Valley shopping centre; this project is currently awaiting funding. Ngan was director of the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts
from 1976 to 1986. In 2006 a major retrospective of his work was held at the Wellington City Art Gallery.
Several notable sportspeople call Stokes Valley their home. These include three representative association footballers: Craig Henderson
, who plays professionally for Mjällby AIF
in Sweden; New Zealand international Cole Peverley
; and Dan Keat
, who has played with Dartmouth College
in the United States. All three have represented New Zealand at age-group level, with Peverley playing once for the national team (the All Whites) in 2008. Craig Bradshaw
, New Zealand international basketball player, also grew up in Stokes Valley. Bradshaw represented the country as a member of the Tall Blacks during the 2004 Summer Olympics
campaign and the 2006 FIBA World Championships.
Lower Hutt
Lower Hutt is a city in the Wellington region of New Zealand. Its council has adopted the name Hutt City Council, but neither the New Zealand Geographic Board nor the Local Government Act recognise the name Hutt City. This alternative name can lead to confusion, as there are two cities in the...
, in the North Island
North Island
The North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the much less populous South Island by Cook Strait. The island is in area, making it the world's 14th-largest island...
of New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. It is located at the northeastern edge of the city seven kilometres northeast of the city centre, in the valley of a small tributary of the Hutt River
Hutt River, New Zealand
thumb|300px|The Hutt River looking downstream.The Hutt River flows through the southern North Island of New Zealand...
, called Stokes Valley stream which flows north to meet the main river close to the Taita Gorge. Stokes Valley was named after Robert Stokes who formed part of the original survey team of 1840 commissioned to plan the city at Thorndon in Wellington.
Stokes Valley is a suburb in its own valley. It is partially separated from the main part of the city of Lower Hutt and is surrounded on all sides by densely forested hills.
Its cultural identity
Cultural identity
Cultural identity is the identity of a group or culture, or of an individual as far as one is influenced by one's belonging to a group or culture. Cultural identity is similar to and has overlaps with, but is not synonymous with, identity politics....
is very similar to that of the rest of Lower Hutt and has progressed [some would jokingly disagree] a long way from the "congregation of old sheelbacks and whalers, men-o'-wars men and seamen, lags and hard cases, living in tents and whares ... [a] heterogeneous mass of misguided humanity" that existed in 1855.
Geology and early history
It has been suggested that the valley was formed during the ice age 10,000–20,000 years ago by glacial scouringGlacier
A glacier is a large persistent body of ice that forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. At least 0.1 km² in area and 50 m thick, but often much larger, a glacier slowly deforms and flows due to stresses induced by its weight...
, but considering that the Hutt Valley and the greater Wellington area have experienced major tectonic uplifting it is possible that the valley was formed through major earthquakes and erosion.
According to tradition, Māori arrived in the Hutt Valley in about 1250 AD when the two sons of Whatonga, a Hawke's Bay
Hawke's Bay
Hawke's Bay is a region of New Zealand. Hawke's Bay is recognised on the world stage for its award-winning wines. The regional council sits in both the cities of Napier and Hastings.-Geography:...
chief, settled in the area and named the Hutt River Heretaunga, after their old home
Heretaunga Plains
There are two places in New Zealand called Heretaunga. For the suburb of Upper Hutt see Heretaunga.The Heretaunga Plains are an area of flat land in the eastern North Island of New Zealand....
. Although Māori had lived in the Hutt Valley for almost 600 years prior to Europeans, there has been no evidence of Māori habitation in Stokes Valley and the closest iwi
Iwi
In New Zealand society, iwi form the largest everyday social units in Māori culture. The word iwi means "'peoples' or 'nations'. In "the work of European writers which treat iwi and hapū as parts of a hierarchical structure", it has been used to mean "tribe" , or confederation of tribes,...
(tribe), located at Waiwhetu
Waiwhetu
Waiwhetū is a suburb of Lower Hutt, Wellington situated at the bottom of the North Island of New Zealand.Waiwhetū is largely built on land that set aside as a native reserve for the Te Āti Awa tribe in the 1840s. In the 1930s the land was compulsorily acquired by the government, with new homes...
, say they never used the valley for any significant purpose before Europeans arrived. Stokes Valley was located at the junction of the claimed territory of three major Maori tribes, the Ngāti Awa
Ngati Awa
Ngāti Awa is a Māori iwi centred in the eastern Bay of Plenty Region of New Zealand.Ngāti Awa comprises 22 hapu , with 15,258 people claiming affiliation to the iwi in 2006. The Ngāti Awa people are primarily located in towns on the Rangitaiki Plain, including Whakatane, Kawerau, Edgecumbe, Te...
(who sold it to European settlers, but are no longer present at Wellington), Ngāti Toa
Ngati Toa
Ngāti Toa , an iwi , traces its descent from the eponymous ancestor Toarangatira. The Ngāti Toa region extends from Miria-te-kakara at Rangitikei to Wellington, and across Cook Strait to Wairau and Nelson....
, and the Ngāti Kahungunu
Ngati Kahungunu
Ngāti Kahungunu is a Māori iwi located along the eastern coast of the North Island of New Zealand. The iwi is traditionally centred in the Hawke’s Bay and Tararua and Wairārapa regions....
, and for this reason it would have in all likelihood never have been inhabited. This partially explains an extreme willingness to include this land in the sale to the early settlers.
Modern history
The modern history of the area, as far as European settlement is concerned, began on 21 September 1839, when local Ngāti AwaNgati Awa
Ngāti Awa is a Māori iwi centred in the eastern Bay of Plenty Region of New Zealand.Ngāti Awa comprises 22 hapu , with 15,258 people claiming affiliation to the iwi in 2006. The Ngāti Awa people are primarily located in towns on the Rangitaiki Plain, including Whakatane, Kawerau, Edgecumbe, Te...
chief Te Puni gestured with his arms and pointed finger the areas of the Hutt Valley and Wellington
Wellington
Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...
, that he was willing to sell to the New Zealand Land Company
New Zealand Company
The New Zealand Company originated in London in 1837 as the New Zealand Association with the aim of promoting the "systematic" colonisation of New Zealand. The association, and later the company, intended to follow the colonising principles of Edward Gibbon Wakefield, who envisaged the creation of...
through its agent Colonel William Wakefield
William Wakefield
William Hayward Wakefield was an English colonel, the leader of the first colonizing expedition to New Zealand and one of the founders of Wellington. In 1826, he married Emily Sidney, a daughter of Sir John Sidney.-Early life:...
aboard the ship Tory. Stokes Valley, which at that time was simply an unnamed branch valley of the Hutt Valley, was included in this land.
The second of the New Zealand Company's ships to arrive in Wellington was the 273-ton Cuba on the 3 January 1840. It had on board 20 able-bodied men aged from 20 to 27. Among these was the Company's surveying party, whose duty was to plan the city at Thorndon
Thorndon
Thorndon is an inner suburb of Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand. It combines residential accommodation and the home of government, and is located at the northern end of the Central Business District...
and survey the site in readiness for the arrival of the emigrants who already procured sections in London. The first emigrant ship, containing 85 adult settlers and their 42 children, arrived only 17 days later. At this stage there was no sections or shelters surveyed for most of the people, and many had to live in huts built by the Mãori, or simply shelter under karaka
Karaka (tree)
Karaka , is an evergreen laurifolia tree, of the family Corynocarpaceae, with large glossy leaves endemic to New Zealand, where it is widespread in mainly coastal situations, often forming a major component of coastal forest, although it is rarely a dominant tree...
trees. The Wellington and Hutt Valley area was hurriedly surveyed.
The original survey party that arrived in 1840 on the Cuba comprised Captain William Mein Smith
William Mein Smith
William Mein Smith was a key actor in the early settlement of New Zealand's capital city, Wellington. As the Surveyor General for the Wakefield's New Zealand Company at Port Nicholson from 1840 to 1843, he and his team surveyed the town of Wellington, after finding the land on the Petone foreshore...
(Surveyor General) and Messrs. R. D. Hanson, W. Carrington, R. Park, R. Stokes, and K. Bethune, all well known personalities in the early history of Wellington. Robert Stokes, after whom the valley was named, left the employ of the New Zealand Company in early 1842 and went into business for himself. Stokes Street in Wellington was named in his honour in the 1841 map of Wellington. The first mention of the name Stokes Valley was made in January 1843 in the first plan of the valley, and it seems likely that Stokes Valley was named in honour of Robert Stokes as a member of the original surveying party.
Robert Stokes took a prominent part in Wellington affairs, including government. He published a work in 1844 on the Wairau Affray
Wairau Affray
In New Zealand history, the Wairau Affray on 17 June 1843 was the first serious clash of arms between Māori and the British settlers after the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, and the only one to take place in the South Island...
, led the first European crossing of the Ruimutaka range to the Wairarapa, built the (now) oldest house in Wellington, "Saint Ruadhan", on Woolcombe Street. He was a keen gardener, known for his prize-winning vegetables and flowers, and was also a keen botanist, and was treasurer of the Horticultural and Botanical Society. He became a publisher and printer, his name appearing on The New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian as a printer He was a prominent speaker, and was instrumental in carrying a Bill to establish a municipal corporation for Wellington and a railway link to the Wairarapa
Wairarapa
Wairarapa is a geographical region of New Zealand. It occupies the south-eastern corner of the North Island, east of metropolitan Wellington and south-west of the Hawke's Bay region. It is lightly populated, having several rural service towns, with Masterton being the largest...
. Stokes stood as an elected member of the Wairarapa Council in 1867, and was a Member of the Victoria University of Wellington
Victoria University of Wellington
Victoria University of Wellington was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a former constituent college of the University of New Zealand. It is particularly well known for its programmes in law, the humanities, and some scientific disciplines, but offers a broad range of other courses...
Senate from 1871 to 1878. Stokes died at Clanricarde Gardens, London, on 20 January 1880.
Crown Grants
The first Crown Land Grants in Stokes Valley were made from 18 January 1853. Section 74 was granted to Robert Henry Wood and Section 73 to George Hart. Wood never settled in the valley, even though he received another land grant of section 67. There is no known evidence that he ever left England, and it was common to have absentee ownership of Crown grants in those days, but it is known that he served on the Committee of the First Colony formed in London. Hart who was born in London, also never settled in the valley, but he did leave England after receiving the land grant, arriving on the ship Mary in 1843. In 1863 he was appointed Commissioner of Thorndon for the Thorndon Ward of the Wellington Town Board. The first person to actually settle in Stokes Valley after the making of Crown Grants was Mr. Hart Udy who immediately set up a saw mill on his property at the entrance to the Valley on the north East side of the main road. His property was plot or Section 65 of the original Crown land grant.Early settlement
Mr. William Judd, Sr. was known as the first resident of Stokes Valley. Judd arrived at Port Nicholson on the ship Martha Ridgway in July 1840 along with his wife Anne and their sons John, George, and Stephen. The Judds initially lived at Lower Hutt after arriving, but after the birth of his fourth son and upon securing a contract to make a road through the Taita Gorge, Judd moved with his family to the entrance of Stokes Valley. He constructed a home on a leasehold title on the southern side of the present Stokes Valley main road. The exact date of his move to the valley is unknown, but his name is listed in the "Memorial of the Settlers of Wellington and the Neighbouring Districts..." published in the local newspaper of the time in April 1852. His house was recorded as severely damaged in the earthquake of 23 February 1855 and he most likely lived in the valley for several years before 1852. It was in this house that the last three members of his family were born. This possibly puts his settlement in the valley in the late 1840s.George Spackman (a contender for first settler) was also known to reside in Stokes Valley as early as 3 April 1852 and is listed beside Mr Judd in the "Memorial of the Settlers...". Spackman is listed on the 1854 Electoral Roll as a settler residing on a leasehold in Stokes Valley, Spackman arrived with his wife on the ship Bolton on 21 April 1840, and a son was born to them three months later. George Spackman paraded with the "Old Identities" who attended the capital's Jubilee of Colonisation in 1890.
Mr. Hart Udy, after whom Udy Street in Petone
Petone
Petone is a major suburb of the city of Lower Hutt in New Zealand. It is located at the southern end of the narrow triangular plain of the Hutt River, on the northern shore of Wellington Harbour...
is named, was born in Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
in 1808. In 1839 he left England for New Zealand with his wife and family on the New Zealand Company's ship Duke of Roxburgh
Duke of Roxburgh (ship)
The Duke of Roxburgh was a mid 19th century timber hulled merchant barque of 498 tons registered in London and sailing between Great Britain and the Australasian Colonies...
, arriving in Petone in February 1840. Hart worked for Sir Francis Molesworth on the building of the first cutter and house to be built from New Zealand timber. After working for three years in Wellington as a shipwright at the stream near Staples Brewery he moved to Waiwhetu
Waiwhetu
Waiwhetū is a suburb of Lower Hutt, Wellington situated at the bottom of the North Island of New Zealand.Waiwhetū is largely built on land that set aside as a native reserve for the Te Āti Awa tribe in the 1840s. In the 1930s the land was compulsorily acquired by the government, with new homes...
(now a suburb of Lower Hutt
Lower Hutt
Lower Hutt is a city in the Wellington region of New Zealand. Its council has adopted the name Hutt City Council, but neither the New Zealand Geographic Board nor the Local Government Act recognise the name Hutt City. This alternative name can lead to confusion, as there are two cities in the...
), where he worked as a carpenter for many years. On 1 March 1845 his house was pillaged by local Mãori. In 1849 he built the first Anglican church in Lower Hutt near the Hutt Bridge . In May 24 1852 Mr Hart Udy by mutual consent dissolved a Saw Milling partnership which he had with William Corbett and Richard Blake that was based in Stokes Valley, so it is assumed he had worked in the valley for a significant time before then. Wellington Independent, Volume VIII, Issue 696, 12 June 1852, Page 1/> He moved to Stokes Valley in 1853, and resided there until 1857, when he took his family to Matarawa where he had access to valuable bush-clad land. A source says that Udy set up a sawmill at the valley mouth in 1858, but it doesn't make it clear whether this was the original one he dissolved in 1852 that he reactivated or an additional one.
He carried on the family sawmilling business until 1865, when he retired leaving it to his sons.Mr Hart Udy, Jr., who was five years old when his parents arrived in 1840, married Elizabeth Holland of Petone in 1855, their first home being in Stokes Valley. He was also involved in his father's sawmilling business and moved with him to Matarawa. Mr Hart, Jr. later became Mayor of the Borough of Greytown
Greytown, New Zealand
Greytown or Te Hupenui, population 2,001 , is a town in the Wellington region of New Zealand. It lies in the Wairarapa, in the lower North Island...
. Mr Hart Udy Sr died in 27 November 1890 in Greytown aged 82 from complications from a bone he had accidentally swallowed, he had 90 direct descendants, and was Justice of the peace of Greytown & greatly missed.
For a long time many made their living by felling timber, splitting posts and rails, and timber production as the valley had a large amount of native bush, including birch
Birch
Birch is a tree or shrub of the genus Betula , in the family Betulaceae, closely related to the beech/oak family, Fagaceae. The Betula genus contains 30–60 known taxa...
, rimu
Rimu
Rimu can mean the following:*Dacrydium cupressinum, also rimu, a tree endemic to New Zealand*Rimu, Southland, a locality in Southland, New Zealand*Rimu, West Coast, a locality in the West Coast region of New Zealand...
, rata, totara, and white pine. The bush was populated with a considerable amount of wildlife, including weka
Weka
The Weka or woodhen is a flightless bird species of the rail family. It is endemic to New Zealand, where four subspecies are recognized. Weka are sturdy brown birds, about the size of a chicken. As omnivores, they feed mainly on invertebrates and fruit...
, California quail
California Quail
The California Quail, Callipepla californica, also known as the California Valley Quail or Valley Quail, is a small ground-dwelling bird in the New World quail family...
, and wild pig
Boar
Wild boar, also wild pig, is a species of the pig genus Sus, part of the biological family Suidae. The species includes many subspecies. It is the wild ancestor of the domestic pig, an animal with which it freely hybridises...
s. Once the bush was largely cleared, it was found that the valley's soil had little to offer for farm production and for a time Stokes Valley was known as "Starvation Valley" owing to the difficult times that many of the early settlers had in making a living in the remote valley. Their problems were not helped by floods, drought and snow storms. The Hutt Valley area experienced a major flood in the 1870s which caused considerable damage to the lower portion of Stokes Valley and swept away a large amount of cut timber.
The first recorded marriages in the valley were in 1865. On June 5, Thomas Sparks was married to Mary Ann Robinson (both residents of Stokes Valley) at the Primitive Methodist Church by Rev. Waters. Two further marriages are recorded from October, with the marriage of Isaac Sykes to Maria Ann Wyeth of Upper Hutt at St James' Church at Lower Hutt on the 8th, and the marriage of Stokes Valley farmer John Walker to Mary Brown of Kapiti, at the Anglican Church in Upper Hutt, by the Rev. Mr Abrahams on the 26th.
Other early incidents in Stokes Valley include the invention and patenting of an improved milk churn, by Ignatius Singer in 1900, and two local tragedies. The first of these occurred on 10 December 1883, when an elderly woman named Hamlin was shot at by a youth. There was no shot loaded in the gun, but gun powder lodged in her left arm above the wrist. Hamlin died during an operation to amputate the arm. Another account of this same incident claims it occurred in 1885 and that the woman was called Hamblin. According to this account the youth (Sinnox) was a friend and popped in to demonstrate his newly acquired shotgun after hunting rabbits. The Gun accidentally discharged, and Mrs. Hamblin was hit in the shoulder. A doctor was summoned, but when he arrived he ordered her to be taken to hospital because of loss of blood. By the time Hamblin arrived at Wellington hospital she was unconscious through loss of blood, and she died later that night. This account makes no mention of an amputation, but goes into greater detail about the people involved.
The second local tragedy, on 1 April 1897, made headlines in newspapers around the country. Mrs. Annetta Hope was killed with her infant child, Annetta, and 20-year-old step daughter Lillian, when the horse and carriage they were riding in slipped down the Taita (or Hutt) Gorge and into the Hutt River
Hutt River, New Zealand
thumb|300px|The Hutt River looking downstream.The Hutt River flows through the southern North Island of New Zealand...
. Mrs. Hope had decided to meet her husband Joseph William Hope from the Silverstream railway station (now a train museum) after his work, but he did not arrive. She was halfway back to Stokes Valley at a steep part of the gorge when she saw the next train coming and made an attempt to turn the horse and carriage around to go back to meet it. It is thought that the horse took fright and as Mrs. Hope was not experienced at controlling a carriage it slipped down into the ravine. The bodies were found about one hour later, drowned in about four feet of water. The horse was none the worse for wear. The husband did not find out what had happened to her until the following Thursday when he read it in The Evening Post. It was later decided at an inquest that the road was dangerous and needed to be fenced as bicycles were frequently on the road and could frighten horses. (It is not known whether any bicycles were involved in the Hope tragedy).
Natural Disasters & Early Charactor of the Valley
The Otago witness in 1899 recounts an interesting story of the reminiscences of one of the early inhabitants of the valley and the early charactors (including the "Rev." Udy) during the "great" Wellington earthquake (presummably 1855 and NOT 1849). This earthquake apparently lasted a long time and was exceedingly frightful for even the most hardened soul as the story below relates:- "...will never forget the big earthquake which shook hundreds of green pine trees out by the roots, split asunder rocks, tore up great rents in the ground, sent mighty slips down from mountains and hill, overturned houses and so twisted others that doors would neither open nor close, and several times threw Maoris canoeing over the Hutt River out into the waters.
- "The day before the disturbance, I and my brothers were at work hewing wood in the bush; the earthquake, which came in the night, had uprooted hundreds of trees all around the spot of our previous day's labour, and blocked up all the roads and tracks in the neighbourhood. Away over in Stokes's Valley there was at that time a congregation of old sheelbacks and whalers, men-o'-wars men and seamen, lags and hard cases, living in tents and whares but when the earthquake was in its worst throes and they found that it had come to stay sometime this heterogeneous mass of misguided humanity assembled with one accord, and under the guidance of the Rev. Mr Udy, a gentleman of the Wesleyan persuasion, prayed in the open air, harder than ever they blasphemed night and day, for deliverance."
Early 20th-century history
In 1927 a toll bridge was erected across the Hutt RiverHutt River, New Zealand
thumb|300px|The Hutt River looking downstream.The Hutt River flows through the southern North Island of New Zealand...
to service the valley, but this was destroyed by a flood in 1932 and replaced by a foot bridge that was later deemed unsafe. Before 1940 the upper valley was heavily populated with holiday bach
Bach (New Zealand)
A bach is a small, often very modest holiday home or beach house. Alternatively called a crib, they are an iconic part of New Zealand history and culture, especially in the middle of the 20th century, where they symbolized the beach holiday lifestyle that was becoming more accessible to the...
es and enjoyed a resort status. During the Second World War, the United States Marine Corps
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
established a base near the foot of the valley.
Alternative names and nicknames
Stokes valley was often referred in print as "Stokes's Valley".Stokes Valley is sometimes referred to as Koraunui, a Māori
Maori language
Māori or te reo Māori , commonly te reo , is the language of the indigenous population of New Zealand, the Māori. It has the status of an official language in New Zealand...
name meaning "big ferns", which is possibly a reference to the lush bush
The Bush
"The bush" is a term used for rural, undeveloped land or country areas in certain countries.-Australia:The term is iconic in Australia. In reference to the landscape, "bush" describes a wooded area, intermediate between a shrubland and a forest, generally of dry and nitrogen-poor soil, mostly...
which once covered the entire valley and which still exists in some areas, especially on the hills surrounding Stokes Valley. It is not known whether local Māori ever used this name, but the minutes of a Hutt County Council meeting in 1926–27 provide the first recorded mention of this name. The minutes record an attempt to officially change the name of the valley to Koraunui, prompted by a request to do so from the Stokes Valley Progressive Association. The new name was accepted and moves to change the name were undertaken. A petition was submitted to the Department of Internal Affairs, awaiting the Ministers objection to a change of name. It was resolved to wait for the results of a postal ballot of ratepayers concerned before proceeding. It was finally decided not to change the name, though exactly why is unclear.
In 2005 the original Stokes Valley School, established over 100 years earlier, changed its name to Koraunui School, after its merger with Kamahi School. It was decided to changed the school's name as a sign of respect to Kamahi School (which closed after the merger on the 28 January 2005), and because the new entity essentially became a new school, its roll approximately doubling overnight with the merger. the roll for Koraunui School is around 330 pupils. The name Koraunui is also used for the Koraunui Marae
Marae
A marae malae , malae , is a communal or sacred place which serves religious and social purposes in Polynesian societies...
in Stokes Valley, the Koraunui Kindergarten in Stokes Valley Road, the Koraunui Sports Club, and the Koraunui Hall (which was a major event centre for Stokes Valley society functions, including mayoral dinners, and is used by clubs and for fundraising events).
Since the late 1990s Stokes Valley has been affectionately known by some locals (both past and present) and those living within the greater Wellington area as Snakes Gully. The origin of this nickname is not known.
In common with several other New Zealand towns stereotypically seen as largely consisting of working class people with little access to nightlife, Stokes Valley is now ironically referred to on many internet forums and discussion groups as Stokes Vegas. In keeping with this theme, the Stokes Valley Cosmopolitan Club has a gambling casino called "Stokes Vegas Gaming Room"
Notable residents
Brothers NevilleNeville Hiscock
Neville Hiscock was a New Zealand motorcycle racer in the 1970s and 1980s. He raced competitively in New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa....
and Dave Hiscock
Dave Hiscock
Dave Hiscock , and is a prominent New Zealand competitive motorcycle rider.-Early life :Dave and elder brother Neville Hiscock grew up in Stokes Valley, a suburb of Lower Hutt in Greater Wellington, where the pair rode an old BSA Bantam in grass paddocks and later perfected their skills on the...
were both internationally famous motorcycle racers who lived in Stokes Valley. Dave Hiscock dominated the New Zealand racing scene in the late 1970s and early 1980s, winning 40 consecutive races. He won the New Zealand Castrol Six Hour race five times and was placed five times in the Australian Castrol Six Hour Race in the 1970s and 1980s.
His brother Neville Hiscock won the Australian Castrol Six Hour Race in 1981, and teamed with his brother to win the New Zealand Castrol Six Hour Race in 1982. Neville was killed in February 1983 while racing in Killarney, near Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
in South Africa. Dave retired from competitive racing shortly after this, and now lives in Australia.
Notable artist Guy Ngan
Guy Ngan
Guy Ngan is a significant New Zealand artist, and has a range of work across a large range of media, including sculpture, painting, drawing, design and architecture. He is known for his incorporation of Māori motifs such as the tiki...
has been a resident of Stokes Valley for over 50 years. Ngan, born to Chinese parents in 1926, has produced a range of work across a large range of media, including sculpture, painting, drawing, design, and architecture. One of his sculptures is located at the entrance to Stokes Valley and has become the defacto symbol of Stokes Valley since about 1980 appearing on such things as the logo of local news papers and school reports etc. He has been commissioned to design and build another large sculpture for the Stokes Valley shopping centre; this project is currently awaiting funding. Ngan was director of the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts
New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts
The New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts galleries were opened as a free public gallery on Whitmore Street in 1892...
from 1976 to 1986. In 2006 a major retrospective of his work was held at the Wellington City Art Gallery.
Several notable sportspeople call Stokes Valley their home. These include three representative association footballers: Craig Henderson
Craig Henderson
Craig Henderson is a New Zealander football player who plays for Mjällby AIF. His hometown is Stokes Valley, Lower Hutt. He attended Taita College, Lower Hutt where he was Head Boy, Dux and Sportsman of the Year in 2004.-Dartmouth College:...
, who plays professionally for Mjällby AIF
Mjällby AIF
Mjällby AIF is a Swedish football club located in Mjällby. The club, formed in 1939, won the title of Sweden's second-level of football Superettan in the 2009 season and thus gained promotion to the highest Swedish league, Allsvenskan...
in Sweden; New Zealand international Cole Peverley
Cole Peverley
Cole Peverley is a New Zealander professional footballer who currently plays for Charleston Battery in USL Professional Division.He has earned national representation honours at Under-20, Under-23 and All Whites level.-Club:...
; and Dan Keat
Dan Keat
Daniel Keat is a New Zealand association football player who currently plays for the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer .-Amateur career:...
, who has played with Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...
in the United States. All three have represented New Zealand at age-group level, with Peverley playing once for the national team (the All Whites) in 2008. Craig Bradshaw
Craig Bradshaw
Craig Bradshaw is a New Zealand professional basketball player who last played with the NZL NBL team Otago Nuggets....
, New Zealand international basketball player, also grew up in Stokes Valley. Bradshaw represented the country as a member of the Tall Blacks during the 2004 Summer Olympics
2004 Summer Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, was a premier international multi-sport event held in Athens, Greece from August 13 to August 29, 2004 with the motto Welcome Home. 10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team...
campaign and the 2006 FIBA World Championships.