Wade family reunites in Whitford

Among the first settlers in nearby Whitford, the Wade family celebrated a proud local history recently, as Sharon Fieten (nee Wade) reveals.

The well-known Wade family of Whitford held a reunion recently with 130 in attendance, some having travelled from as far away as Australia and the South Island.

At the Whitford Hall, the day started with a viewing of Dale Bradley’s Whitford Stories documentary featuring Isaac and Eve Wade and informing of their early days in the area.

Isaac and Eve arrived in Auckland from Somerset in England on May 16, 1842, on the St George ship with two small daughters, Hannah and Sarah.

Their fare was paid for by Mr Sampson Kempthorne and in return Isaac would work for him as a farm labourer until their fares were paid off in full.

In 1845, they then settled on a small holding of 10 acres in Point England in Tamaki where Charles their son was born in 1846 and said to have been one of the first children to be baptised in the old St Thomas Church in Tamaki.

Isaac sold his property for 125 pounds and purchased 101 acres on February 24, 1853, on what is now known as Wade’s Road.

Nine months later he purchased an additional 40 acres adjacent. Wade’s Walkway is situated on the property.

The Wades were among the first settlers in Whitford along with their friends the Churches who also came out from Somerset on the same boat.

Isaac and Eve’s two daughters Hannah and Sarah married the Kelly brothers.

Charles remained the only boy, after his brother Abel died young. Charles worked with his father Isaac, clearing the land of tea tree and bracken and ploughing the fields.

Charles Wade married Georgina Doidge in 1869, and they raised 12 children, six boys and six girls.

During the reunion, family members heard from descendants of the different lines including information about the LD Nathan ostrich farm where Mr Will Buchan, married to Clara Wade, worked.

Clara and her sisters Louisa and May Wade also worked there in the feather room.

There were also stories about Harry Wade, who with his father Charles and brother Tom Wade, built The Standard boat that transported a range of products to and from Auckland.

The cargo included iron, maize, chaff, oats, manure, seed potatoes and timber, as well as tiles and bricks, from the Grangers Brick and Tile Works.

Joe and Tom Wade also worked there.

The Standard boat could carry up to 9000 bricks at a time and transported them to Auckland and were used in the construction of the Auckland Blind Institute, the Ferry buildings, and King’s College.

The Standard allegedly sank off St Heliers Bay with 9000 bricks aboard during rough weather.

Another relative spoke of her grandfather Constable Gerald Wade, who was shot by a union striker whilst on duty, during the Waihi Mine Strike in 1912 and the story that surrounded that incident.

Gerald lived to an old age with the bullet still lodged near his spine.

The family also shared stories about the Church of St Thomas in Whitford that was built by Tom Wade’s son, Baden Wade.

Two vintage vehicles owned by Nelson’s grandsons, Barry and Graham Wade, were on show – a restored 1909 Rover, the engine of which was used to drive the milking machine before power arrived in the district; and a 1954 Commer truck that was owned and operated on the farm in the early days.

Today, families of Nelson Wade and Joe Wade still farm the large majority of land first purchased by some of Whitford’s earliest settlers, Isaac and Eve Wade.