Tauranga Sawmilling Company (1908-1915)

Sawmilling was a major industry in New Zealand and the Gamman Brothers were by far the largest operation of their kind in the Bay of Plenty. In 1908 they started construction of their mill at Ōropi, followed by another at Ōmanawa Falls in 1911 and later at Mamaku near Rotorua. Although workers came with them from their Hawke’s Bay mills, they still employed many local men, several who would later lose their lives during World War I. Story researched, written and published by Debbie McCauley.

Gamman’s Ōropi Sawmill, c. 1912. Boiler and hauler can be seen. George Parker (centre, behind barrel), Dick Hodges (with dog), Jack Rogers (on right with pipe) and Len Cubit (by grindstone). Image: Tauranga City Libraries Image 01-106.

The story of the Gamman family in New Zealand starts with Samuel John Gamman and his wife Eliza Gamman (née Woodcock) who married at Brompton in Kent, England on 22 February 1859. Samuel had been born at Sheldwich in Faversham, Kent, on 21 May 1834 and baptised at Folkestone the following month on 13 June 1834. His parents were John and Sarah Gamman (née Counley). Eliza was born at Knightsbridge in London on 23 June 1840. Her parents were George William Woodcock and Elizabeth Woodcock (née Gray).

Samuel was firstly a private and then a corporal with the Royal Engineers, stationed at Shorncliffe and Chatham in Kent as well as Port Louis in Mauritius. Six days after their marriage, Samuel emigrated to New Zealand from London, arriving on board the Cameo on 11 July 1859. It seems that Eliza was delayed somewhat, as she arrived at Lyttleton on board the Metropolis on 16 June 1863.

Samuel and Eliza’s first child, Henry Francis, was born at Akaroa in the Canterbury region of New Zealand’s South Island on 8 June 1864. The family stayed in the Canterbury region, settling at Oxford. Samuel and Eliza were to have 10 children together, but sadly, two of them died in 1874; Elizabeth at 10 months of age on 18 February 1874, and Thomas at 6 weeks of age on 9 October 1874.

The children of Samuel John Gamman and Eliza Gamman (née Woodcock)

1. Gamman, Henry Francis (1864-1958) ‘Frank’ Born at Akaroa in Canterbury, South Island, New Zealand on 8 June 1864. Henry married Ada Neilsen (1884-1954) on 16 October 1907, and they moved to Tauranga in 1909. Henry was a shareholder in the Tauranga Sawmilling Company, and when the sawmill closed, they moved to Pukahu in the Hawke’s Bay. He died at Hastings in Hawke’s Bay on 4 April 1958 at the age of 93.
2. Gamman, George Albert (1866-1932) Born at Akaroa in Canterbury, South Island, New Zealand, on 31 December 1866. George married Jessie Mary Murphy (1867-1919) at Woodville in Hawke’s Bay on 22 February 1890, divorcing in 1902. He managed sawmills at Ohakune and later Ōmanawa, then built a new mill at Mamaku. George died at King Street Hospital in Rotorua on 4 May 1932 and was buried in Rotorua Cemetery.
3. Gamman, William Alfred (1867-1939) Born at Akaroa in Canterbury, South Island, New Zealand on 6 October 1867. William married Annie Matilda Terry (1875-1958) in 1909. They lived at Hawke’s Bay where William worked as a sawmiller. William died in Napier on 19 August 1939 and was buried in Park Island Cemetery.
4. Gamman, Charles Walter (1870-1955) ‘Charlie’ Born at Akaroa in Canterbury, South Island, New Zealand in 1870. Charles married Flora Beatrice Broom (1875-1960) at Palmerston North in the Manawatū-Whanganui region on 30 April 1902. They moved to Ōropi in about 1910 where Charles worked at the Ōropi Mill to supplement the income from their farm. Charles died in Tauranga on 19 February 1955 and was buried in the Tauranga Methodist Cemetery.
5. Sergeant, Rosina (née Gamman) (1871-1958) Born at Oxford in Canterbury, South Island, New Zealand on 29 June 1871. Rosina married Samuel Sergeant (1859-1940) at the Woodville Registrar’s Office on 27 January 1891.They farmed at Matamau in the Hawke’s Bay. Rosina died at Dannevirke in the Manawatū-Whanganui region on 28 September 1958 and was buried in Matamau Cemetery.
6. Gamman, Elizabeth Jane (1873-1874) Born at Oxford in Canterbury, South Island, New Zealand on 6 April 1873, Elizabeth died there at 10 months of age on 18 February 1874.
7. Gamman, Thomas (1874-1874) Born at Oxford in Canterbury, South Island, New Zealand on 18 August 1874, Thomas died there at 6 weeks of age on 9 October 1874.
8. Gamman, Ernest Edward (1875-1935) Born at Oxford in Canterbury, South Island, New Zealand on 14 October 1875. Ernest married Mabel Alice Turner (1884-1983) at Dannevirke in the Manawatū-Whanganui region on 21 December 1906. They moved to Ōropi where he worked at the Ōropi Sawmill and later at Whakamārama. He died at his home in Edgecumbe Road, Tauranga on 8 October 1935 and was buried in the Tauranga Anglican Cemetery.
9. Carmichael, Laura (née Gamman) (1877-1966) Born at Oxford in Canterbury, South Island, New Zealand on 4 July 1877. Laura married Arthur William Carmichael (1878-1957) at Dannevirke in the Manawatū-Whanganui region on 16 April 1906. They moved to Tauranga and Arthur worked at the Ōmanawa Falls sawmill. Laura died at New Plymouth in Taranaki on 14 March 1966 but was buried with husband Arthur in the Tauranga Anglican Cemetery.
10. Gamman, Arthur Frederick (1881-1971) Born at Feilding in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand on 18 May 1881. Arthur married Delilah May Cole (1882-1963) at Levin on 20 December 1906. They moved to Ōropi in 1909, and Arthur joined his brothers as a shareholder of the Tauranga Sawmilling Company. He died in Tauranga on 4 January 1971 at the age of 89 and was buried in the Tauranga Anglican Cemetery.

Sawmilling (1873-1908)

By 1873, Samuel had entered the sawmilling business as Messres Gamman and Davis. Massive trees were felled and sawn into logs in the forest by bushmen before being hauled to the mill by teams of bullocks or horses. A terrible accident at the mill in November 1873 saw an employee lose his left hand. By 1875 Samuel was running a store at Oxford, but life was difficult, and Samuel was declared bankrupt in 1879.

Jack Rodgers’ Horse Team by Robert Walter Meers, c. 1912. Team of horses belonging to Jack Rodgers at Gamman’s Ōropi Mill about to pull logs on the tramway. Jack was proud of his horses and two of his Clydesdales, Flower and Duke, won many prizes at A & P shows. Note the wooden rails of the tramline. Image: Tauranga City Libraries Image 01-108.

The Gamman family relocated to the North Island, and by 1884 Samuel was advertising for a bushman for his sawmilling operation at Bunnythorpe in the Manawatū-Whanganui region. He was in financial difficulties again, being bankrupt in 1884, but reopening his mill in 1885, and then becoming bankrupt again by 1886.

Staying in the Manawatū-Whanganui region, Samuel, Eliza, and family moved to Dannevirke. By 1891 Samuel was successful in tendering to supply tōtara sleepers for the Napier section of the railway, but in May 1895 was in court for misstating the quantity of timber loaded onto the railway trucks.

In March 1897 he was operating as Messrs Gamman & Co., and preparing to export timber to Sydney in Australia from a sawmill at Foxton via their own schooner, the ‘Whangaroa’. In March 1899 Messrs Gamman and Simons are in the news with their mill about to supply 30,000ft of timber to Sydney for a second time. Three months later, they were preparing to move their mill from Kopua to Prescott’s bush and open another on the Ormondville side of Takapau.

Soon, Samuel and six of his sons were working together in the sawmilling industry. In September of 1899 George Albert Gamman & Co., purchased a timber business in Palmerston North. They erected a sawmill on the Piripiri flat. In February 1900 George invented and patented a ‘cutter heads’ machine for planning machines, adapted to tongue and grooving seasoned flooring. Manufactured at the Vulcan Foundry in Napier, they were installed in the Gamman & Co., mills at Tahoraite, Kopua and Takapau. The machine could apparently run for 12 hours without requiring sharpening, and the clever invention was soon used in many other mills throughout the country.

On 27 May 1901 Samuel died suddenly at the Makotuku Hotel at Ormondville in the Manawatū-Whanganui region. He was aged 67. Samuel was buried in the Ormondville Cemetery. An inquest was held into his death which was found to be from heart failure, hurried on by drink and insufficient nourishment. Evidence was given by his son Henry Francis Gamman, Dr. Ferdinand Henry Halse Francis, the Police, the licensee of the Makotuku Hotel Benjamin Geddes, and Arthur Henry Clayton from the Beaconsfield Hotel. Eliza would die at Dannevirke Hospital in the Manawatū-Whanganui region on 23 May 1930 and was buried next to Samuel in the Ormondville Cemetery.

Sawmilling was dangerous work. In 1904 brothers George Albert Gamman and William Alfred Gamman, sawmillers of Dannevirke, were ordered to pay compensation for an employee who suffered crushed fingers when oiling an engine on 9 May 1903. A sawmill was established at Ohakune by 1906, which was a big year for matrimony amongst the Gamman siblings, with three of their number marrying; Laura, Arthur Frederick and Ernest Edward.

In February 1908 the Gamman’s were involved in a case about disputed timber leases in Ratihi. An entry in the Cyclopedia of New Zealand that same year provides a good background to the Gamman’s operation:

Wood Trade – Gamman, G. A., and Company (G. A. Gamman, W. A. Gamman, and H. M. Simmonds, proprietors), Sawmillers, Timber and Coal Merchants, Dannevirke. Messrs G. A. Gamman first started business as proprietors of a mill at Kumeroa, gradually extended their operations, and now (1907) conduct four mills, situated respectively at Makotuku, Matamau, and Piripiri. The mills at Makotuku are situated at Smith’s siding, and are fitted with first-class machinery. One is driven by a thirty horse-power engine, and the other by two portable twenty horse-power engines. They employ seventy persons, and cut about 18,000 feet of timber daily. The Matamau mill is driven by a twenty-five horse-power stationary engine, and turns out 9,000 feet of sawn timber daily, employing thirty persons. The mill at Piripiri is a re-cutting, planing, and moulding concern, possessing four planes and a complete plant of the latest moulding machinery, and employs about sixteen persons. The timbers cut are chiefly totara, rimu, white pine, and matai, which find a ready market. At Palmerston North the firm have established a large sash and door factory, which is fitted with the latest machinery, and employs fifteen persons. The firm also hold cutting rights over 6,000 acres in the King Country. Besides a large local and New Zealand trade, Messrs Gamman and Company export largely to Australia. Source: Cyclopedia of New Zealand: Taranaki, Hawke’s Bay & Wellington Provincial Districts (1908).

Tauranga Sawmilling Company Limited (1908-1915): Ōropi Sawmill

By 1908 the Gamman Brothers saw an opportunity for their sawmilling business in the Bay of Plenty and later that year started the construction of their mill at Ōropi. Three Gamman brothers were shareholders in the Tauranga Sawmilling Co. Ltd., Henry Francis Gamman, Ernest Edward Gamman and Arthur Frederick Gamman, along with two other private investors.

Horse drawn tram taking logs to Gamman’s Ōropi Mill, c. 1912. Driver Ardrie(?) Hardy. Image: Tauranga City Libraries Image 99-1378.

Equipment was moved from Dannevirke, including boilers that were landed at The Strand in Tauranga. Bricks were required for the boilers to be installed so the Gamman’s quickly learnt how to make them, and then made them by the thousands. Bungalows were also built to house their employees.

The site of the mill was opposite Ōropi School and remembered via the nearby Gamman Mill Road. The Ōropi Mill processed mainly rimu, but there was also tōtara, kahikatea (white pine), and mataī (black pine) on the land they purchased at Ngawara. At this time Gamman’s Ōropi Mill employed around 25 men, with an extra 15 working in the bush. Axemen from the mill often won prizes at competitions throughout the district and the company ran a telephone line through to Tauranga for their business, which was fantastic for the local settlers.

Gamman’s Ōropi Sawmill, c. 1912. George Parker standing at the back beside his hauler. Image: Tauranga City Libraries Image 01-107.

Gamman’s built a tramline from the Ngawara bush, nine miles to the Waimapu River. The rails were wooden, but in difficult areas steel rails were installed. A 16-ton steam locomotive hauled the dressed timber to the Waimpau Landing where it was left to season. This was located just south of Yatton Park at the east end of Chadwick Road in Greerton. Once seasoned, the timber was taken to town by Turner’s launch and barge.

In around 1910 Charles Walter Gamman purchased a 49-acre section at Ōropi which he farmed with wife Flora, working with his brothers at the sawmill in Ōropi to supplement his income.

Gamman’s Ōropi Mill, c. 1910. Image: Tauranga City Libraries Image 06-050.

During the years the mill was in operation, the timber sawn and dressed at the Ōropi Mill, “had supplied many local builders with all the timber they required for house building, in the form of stud timbers, plants, windowsills and other sections” (Journal of the Tauranga Historical Society, 1970, p. 37).

Ōmanawa Falls Sawmill (1911-1915)

Gamman’s Ōmanawa Sawmill by L. R. Young, c. 1912. Image: Tauranga City Libraries Image 99-1368.

In 1911, G A Gamman and Co. (George Albert Gamman) purchased around 17,500 acres of bush near Ōmanawa Falls. On 14 June 1911, the Bay of Plenty Times reported that a consignment of 30 tons of machinery had arrived in Tauranga via the SS Aupouri and been transferred to the firm’s big punt, to be towed to Ōmanawa by Mr C. Smith’s launch.

Locomotive at Gamman’s Ōmanawa Mill, 1913. Built by Johnston & Sons, Invercargill, the locomotive had 16 wheels. Image: Tauranga City Libraries Image 06-051.

Another tramline was built into the bush to haul out logs for their newly built mill. From Whakamārama the Gamman’s tramline ran to the banks of the Wairoa River, near the area known from 1915 as Tauriko (Tauranga Rimu Timber Company – acronym Tau-Ri-Co). It is said that when the company when to register the name it was disallowed as there is no ‘co’ in te reo Māori, and so ‘ko’ was used instead, hence Tau-Ri-Ko. Dressed timber from the mill was transported by scow to Tauranga and then on to Auckland and other main centres.

Gamman’s Ōmanawa Sawmill, c. 1910. Tauranga City Libraries Image 99-1367.

In 1913 a fire at the Ōmanawa Falls Mill completely destroyed it. The loss was around £3,000, but insurance only covered £1500. The 100 people employed at the mill had gone on strike the previous day, but still pitched in and saved around 1,000,000 feet of timber.

World War I (1914-1918)

World War I was to have a huge impact on the staffing of the Gamman’s sawmills. Many employees were drafted into the army, demand for timber dropped, and the company went into liquidation. Some of the men who enlisted while employed by Gamman’s Mill were:

1. Baikie, Robert Sherer (1895-1918) (blacksmith, Tauranga Sawmilling Co.) Killed in Action: France
2. Baker, Raymond John (1890-1915) (millhand, Ōmanawa Falls) Killed in Action: Gallipoli
3. Bannatyne, Charles Ebenezer (1882-1917) (bushman, Ōmanawa Falls) Killed in Action: Belgium
4. Cantwell, George Davis (millhand) WW1 39020
5. Ellison, John (1881-1918) (bushman, Ōmanawa Falls) Killed in Action: France
6. Lilley, Charles Walter Allan (1897-1918) (millhand, Ōmanawa Falls) Killed in Action: France
7. Nicholas, George Puhi (1895-1988) (bushman, Ōmanawa Falls)
8. Rikihana, Harry Dickson (1894-1918) (labourer, Ōmanawa Falls) 1918 Influenza Pandemic
9. Simpson, William (1878-1916) (bushman, Ōmanawa Falls) Killed in Action: France
10. Skellern, Sydney Elliott (1895-1915) (millhand, Ōmanawa Falls) Died of Wounds: Gallipoli

In 1919 the Bay of Plenty Times reported that a fierce fern fired had destroyed the road and tram bridges over the gully at Grassick’s cutting which had transported timber from the Ōropi Mill to Waimpau Landing.

In around 1922, and with the bush around the Ōmanawa Falls Mill felled, the mill was moved from Ōmanawa to Mamaku where George Albert Gamman and brother William Alfred Gamman became shareholders in the Mamaku Sawmill. The Gamman’s tramline at Mamaku operated up until 1955.

It was not until the 1940s that people realised that native forests were not regenerating as expected, and today we lament the loss of the great forests and centuries old trees. Some native trees have been threatened with extinction due to milling, and deforestation has seen conflict between conservationists and people who depend on nearby sawmills for work. There are efforts toward sustainable forest management, but still, the forest cloak of Tāne Mahuta that once enfolded 80% of Aotearoa New Zealand, has been reduced by human activity to just 21% coverage, leaving our unique biodiversity and supporting ecosystem vulnerable.

Sources

1. Bay of Plenty Times (1911, June 14). 30 tons of machinery (p. 2).
2. Bay of Plenty Times (5 May 1932). Obituary: Mr George Albert Gamman.
3. Birth Registration. (reg. 1864/15474). Henry Francis Gamman.
4. Birth Registration. (reg. 1866/8671). George Albert Gamman.
5. Birth Registration. (reg. 1867/25911). William Alfred Gamman.
6. Birth Registration. (reg. 1871/27554). Rosina Gamman.
7. Birth Registration. (reg. 1873/24793). Elizabeth Jane Gamman.
8. Birth Registration (reg. 1874/45019). Thomas Gamman.
9. Birth Registration. (reg. 1875/13942). Ernest Edward Gamman.
10. Birth Registration. (reg. 1881/6722). Arthur Frederick Gamman.
11. Death Registration. (reg. 1932/12989). George Albert Gamman.
12. Death Registration. (reg. 1939/17539). William Alfred Gamman.
13. Death Registration (reg. 1955/21282). Charles Walter Gamman.
14. Death Registration. (reg. 1958/25127). Francis Henry Gamman.
15. Marriage Registration. (reg. 1902/1496). Charles Walter Gamman to Flora Beatrice Broom.
16. Marriage Registration. (reg. 1906/4976). Laura Gamman to Arthur William Carmichael.
17. Marriage Registration. (reg. 1906/6185). Arthur Frederick Gamman to Delilah May Cole.
18. Marriage Registration. (reg. 1906/7498). Ernest Edward Gamman to Mabel Alice Turner.
19. Marriage Registration. (reg. 1907/7128). Henry Francis Gamman to Ada Neilson.
20. Marriage Registration. (reg. 1909/2074). William Alfred Gamman to Annie Matilda Terry.
21. Cyclopedia of New Zealand (1908): Wood Trade – Gamman, G.A., and Company. Taranaki, Hawke’s Bay & Wellington Provincial Districts.
22. Geni Profile: Samuel John Gamman.
23. Geni Profile: Eliza Gamman (Woodcock).
24. Harvard Law Library (1908). Decisions Under the Workers’ Compensation for Accidents Act, Filed for the Year 1904 (Vol. 3)
25. Journal of the Tauranga Historical Society, no. 41 (December 1970) (pp. 36-27).
26. Journal of the Tauranga Historical Society, no. 46 (December 1972).
27. Journal of the Tauranga Historical Society, no. 48 (August 1973).
28. Journal of the Tauranga Historical Society, no. 63 (August 1979).
29. Journal of the Tauranga Historical Society, no. 65 (March 1981).
30. Journal of the Tauranga Historical Society, no. 66 (June 1982).
31. Manawatu Standard (1904, March 8). Arbitration Court (p. 4).
32. New Zealand Herald (1909, February 4). Saw-Milling Industry. A Big Undertaking. New Mills near Tauranga (p. 6).
33. Oamaru Mail (1913, November 14) Timber Mill Destroyed (p. 8).
34. Scott, Robert Craig (2018). Oropi: The 100 Years Following the Confiscation of the Land.
35. Stokes, Evelyn (1980). A History of Tauranga County (pp. 273-274).
36. Waipawa Mail (1901, May 30). Inquests (p. 4).
37. Whanganui Herald (1908, February 21). Disputed Timber Leases (p. 2).

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