Phyllis Harriet (Win) Moffatt (1868 - 1959)

Born 20 Oct 1868 in Motueka, Nelson, New Zealand

Ancestors

Wife of Percy George Moffatt — married about 1896 in Dovedale, Tasman, New Zealand

Descendants

Died 7 Feb 1959 at age 90 in Motueka, Nelson, New Zealand

Biography

Birth

Birth:

Date: 20 OCT 1868

Place: Motueka, Nelson, New Zealand^[1]

Death

Death:

Date: 7 FEB 1959

Place: Motueka, Nelson, New Zealand^[2]

Note

Note: The reason I have put this heading to these few pages with the two couples is because as partners they worked and lived until their children began to grow up, and then they wisely parted company, though to the end of their lives they lived next door to each other and there was something more than ordinary relationship underlying everything else, and though we had other aunts and uncles they were called by us uncle and aunt so and so, but with our next door relations we never thought to add their Christian name, they were just uncle and aunt.

When the two men [WIN] arrived in New Zealand they were just lads who came from Wales and who could talk little language but their own. Their mother and stepfather, sister and step-brother and sister comprised the family. Being of very independent nature the two lads John the older, being about fifteen, and the younger William started out in life, they were not long before they took up land, which one would work on and the other would take work to get money to use on the land. I do not remember hearing the particulars of these ventures but know that when they married the sisters Catherine and Harriet Humphreys they went to live in 88 Valley, here they lived in a double house and here one lost her first baby and they had their house burnt down.

After this they moved down to Ranzau where they farmed and where most of their large families were born. I often think those fine people who worked and stood up to conditions the farmers of today with their government assistance on all and every loss could not think of. Such as when all the sheep took that dreaded disease scab and all had to be destroyed, the fenced had all to be painted with some preparation I think tar. When the potatoes failed and were scarcely larger than marbles. When all the cattle, not many perhaps, but cows and working bullocks strayed and ate tutu and died, all except one cow and fortunately they had a pony. I wonder how today's farmer would face the position. Well this is what they did, they twined a collar (I think similar to the way they shackled bullocks together back then) on the upside of the cow and harnessed her up to the horse and thus in the mean time solved that problem for the time being.

I often wished that I had asked my mother more about these times only at times she would talk about the work they did, how they washed, baked, patched and contrived until there was little of the original garment left. I always remember the way mother used to put patches on the men's pants, not a wrinkle, or stitch anywhere to be seen and they stayed there, it was a real work of art.

In these days when the family were arriving about two years intervals Grandmother did her work, I think that for many years before the migration into the bush, the grandparents lived near, but that is before my time. What first turned the men's attention to the Dovedale Valley I do not know, it might have been the spirit of adventure or the same spirit that bought them to New Zealand. Whatever it was they went up into the bush and bought land, at first one family went up and stayed and the other stayed on the already settled farm. This went on for some years until they built two houses and the families took up their residence there permanently. This must have been well over 60 years ago as I do not remember it at all. I remember one house being built for it was a source of wonder and joy to my brother and myself. I also remember falling down there and breaking my collar bone which was promptly set by my father and I did feel so proud to have my arm in a sling, which was something to be proud about but was put in the shade when one of my cousins had his finger chopped almost off which was also doctored by father and apart from being a bit thick and a bit out of plumb was quite alright so also was my brother's toe which he had the misfortune to chop off.

A short time ago I attended a girl's tournament, the game were fast and during the progress of a game a girl fell. I saw her helped to her feet and assisted off held on each side by a man. I thought nothing short of a broken arm as they took her to the doctor but it transpired it was a finger out of joint. I remember putting one of my thumbs out of joint when I was a small child. Did I howl, I don't remember how I did it, but I do know that I looked at it and before it could hurt too much I took hold of it and pulled it into place before I went home. I expect we all did those things ourselves.

When I am asked how old I when I went for my first ride I don't remember how old but a few months I think, rolled in a shawl for when we went into the Dove Valley. There was no road and we went in from Waimea West over Gentle Annie. I'm afraid instead of keeping strictly to my mother and father I am writing about myself.

After our houses were established, for many years Grandfather and Grandmother lived in the old mud house, which I'm right I think in saying, was the first house built in Dovedale. Those days of farming I remember the boy worked as hard as their fathers and their work was so interesting to them as they began to think of marrying a farm was attracted thought to them, and they then and there began to work it. In the mean time the fathers had acquired a saw mill, also reapers and everything that was up to date at that the time, land was cleared, grass was sown, sheep and more sheep, cattle and more cattle, land and more land was added to the farms. I often think when I see articles in papers about the wickedness of the early settlers in the destruction of the bush that they do not know very much about the early settlers or how much of the bush was destroyed.

In the first place the bush had to be cut down before the farm became a farm and though trees and clumps of native bush was left for shelter and to protect the rivers and hill tops, either when the felled bush was being burnt or when there was a dry season a fire was started and away the bush went. Let me tell all sundry that the early settlers are not understood nor can they be by present day people who call vandals and destroyers.

One of the first institutions in Dovedale in fact I believe was a School, which was used as a School, a Church, a Dance Hall, Meeting House, Sunday School and later a Library. By this time the district was quite settled but I'm confining my remarks to those two homes which I know best, I suppose we all fared the same, which as I remember we never went short though the clothes problem must have caused grave anxiety. I do not remember that there was much said about it and no complaints. As for the food, it did not as far as I remember present any grave difficulty for no one went hungry, nor do I remember any person calling not being asked to sit down to a meal, our table held 12 grown up people of course when we were younger and sat on the form, father at the end the youngest next to him and then as we got older pushed further along the form, the next one put in the place of honour, it held more, perhaps 16. I do not think the table was ever less than full.

The women of the home had to scrub bare boards, wash out under the trees, hand line clothes, many of which was rubbed by hand, gathered and ironed with flat irons, cooked first in camp ovens, over open fires then in colonial ovens and then in the big bread oven, made of mud brick floor, but what bread. When I think of all the work they used to get through and that in almost as good time as the modern women does with all her conveniences I wonder how it was done.

I will here try to give you a resume of a week's work for a women in those days. Your household rose around about six, lit the fire, called the family, went to attend the horses, the family rose all together or a few at a time, one attended the cooking of breakfast, one set table, sweeping first. Breakfast might consist of fried bacon, fried potatoes, chops, stew or toasted toasting front of an open wood fire and lavishly buttered, or a half dozen other things but remember for twelve people and the school children's lunch to cut. Breakfast over before 8 o'clock including the skimming pans to wash, calves milk to get ready and a hundred other things. Also being Monday morning, washing sorted and started, beds, sweep and dust, vegetables to prepare, dinner to get on for 12 o'clock. It took an organiser of no mean ability, even with two or three grown up daughters, for one had to be pretty constantly at the sewing machine, also were often called on to go to get horses, sheep or a hundred other things.

Tuesday would mean a good morning ironing for two people as well as dinner, dinner might consist of a big leg of mutton, not what one offered as a leg nowadays but about twice as big, wither roast or boiled. A large saucepan of potatoes such saucepans are not now in everyday use, nor are the pie dishes, which might contain rice, sago, tapioca or pie of home grown fruit, if a rice, sago or tapioca is required it needed two large breakfast cups and fill your dish with milk, if a number of crusts were to be used, one put them into a bowl poured in enough milk to soak them, when thoroughly soaked one mashed them, stirred in fruit and spice, an egg or two if they could be spared, and cooked two or more hours. Once the meat and pudding were on one turned to potatoes, carrots, turnips or whatever was going but I promise there no time for sitting. Clothes aired, folded and put away if possible but often not, after washing up perhaps a breathing spell in which one changed into another dress or put on a clean apron and perhaps did gardening or mended socks or clothes until it became time to stop by which time was not long and tea, which might consist of cold meat, salad and bread, butter, jam, scones or jam tarts. Now as it is baking day tomorrow a potatoes have to be scrubbed and boiled after which they were mashed or left in a colander and the rest mixed in a batter with flour, salt, sugar and yeast and set for a hour on the hearth, not too near the open fire.

But I was going to tell you about baking day. In the morning as soon as breakfast was over the bread trough was bought in a box on legs with a lid. I remember it would accommodate two large milk pans full of flour, into which you put a handful of salt and about half a cup of sugar, get a large jug of warm water, turn up your sleeves, put on a large white apron, see that your hands were clean, bring out the pastry board and begin. You mixed until the whole mixture was a good consistency and then cut off large pieces, put it on a well floured board and knead and punch and turn until the dough comes of with a smack. Then you put it back and take another piece and repeat, you then covered the top and leave until it rises, when you punch it down again and let rise again. In the mean time you get tins greased, light the fire in the oven, see that there is plenty of good wood, then when your oven is ready and bread ready for the tins, cut enough dough, form into loaves, put into tins, place on hearth and let it rise once again for a while, pull the tray out of the oven, wipe with a wet mop, and push the loaves in, I forgot one tested the oven by throwing a little flour on the tray, and if it browned nicely you put the bread straight in, if it burnt of course you didn't put in in for a while. At time other forms of loaves were made some fancy or what was called cottage loaves, if you wanted to cook a cake of course it went in a little later after the bread and remained in after the bread was removed, meat in the same way. I think we left the bread for two hours, when it was put on the table upside down out of the tins and covered to cool slowly after which it was stored in a cupboard, but what bread, the slices would make our largest slices look very silly today.

Cleaning day was also a very busy day and as often as not was done the same day as ironing.

Twice a day those large pans of milk were skimmed, in my younger days I remember it was usually six. The cream was put into kerosene tins and usually stick, broom stick I think, was in it and it was well stirred every day. The churns is a large barrel, was half filled and a lid fitted firmly on and clamped there, then one of you took the handle and turned steadily until the butter was beginning to form, when perhaps someone came and gave you a hand for a while, after the butter formed into a mass one let out the butter mild and put in cold clear water and turn again, which you repeated. Meanwhile the table in the dairy was scrubbed with hot water and then with cold as also was the butter pats or moulds. The butter when taken out was worked with well scrubbed hands until all water is out, then salted to taste, weighed, formed into smooth lumps, pressed into mould or patted into pounds. The cleaning up after butter making was no mean job as everything had to be rinsed with cold water then scrubbed with boiling water, and I would have to know that after emptying the pans they were treated in the same way as well as the mild buckets, nothing was left to chance in a well conducted farm house.

Thursday was a day not quite so full of jobs, often window cleaning, sewing, mending etc was the order of the day, sewing was not taught in the school in those days so we had to learn at home, that meant making underwear by hand, trimming we made by crocheting in our spare time when we had any n was well filled, along with types of Needlework. In the evening the young people made their own fun sometimes fancy work of a kind or another, sometimes but rarely a party, but as our families were readers it was books. I remember when we got the mail once a week when you had to go four miles for it, so papers were read from beginning to end.

Friday was a day in which bedrooms were scrubbed and quite a number of preliminaries to Saturday were done. Saturday was full scrubbing and cleaning, in my younger days I remember all chairs were put out into the yard and we as children were set to scrub them. How we hated that job. But were told the we could be thankful that we had not to beeswax them as mother had had to do in her youth. We cleaned boots and a joint and pudding or pie was prepared for Sunday.

Bathing was preformed in the winter in big tubs or later sit bath, in summer one went to the river, if one could manage it one went every day, or at least as often as one could.

Sunday no one did any more than they could help, which gave us a rest to meet our work for the week to come. If there was a service we went as a matter of course, we did not always hear a minister, some of the local preachers came many miles and did their best, I remember one so Scotchman that we could not understand a word he said and one so English that he was worse, but they kept the bible open. Then there was always Sunday School with its devoted teachers and remembering that the teachers gave up the few hours of the week in which they could have rested to try to carry the message of truth to the children, good men they were and also good women, sometimes tired to exhaustion, but determined not to let the children down.

I must here pay a tribute to the good mothers who were never to busy to go to the help of each other and whose homes were always open day or night to take in wanderers or sick people, who were ever ready if awakened in the night to get up and go to a neighbour who was ill. When one remembers that the nearest doctor was twenty miles or more away and a nurse was out of the question, I have known my father and mother going in their little sulkey for over twenty miles in all sorts of weather to attend a man with a broken thigh, they used to go every other day for weeks , also remember they could not have charged if they had a wished to, but that did not deter then going from going. On one occasion we had a man whose leg was smashed by a tree, a complete stranger in our home for about two months who occupied our sitting room, when he was on crutches he robbed my father of about twenty pounds and the men who were working for us of five pound each. When it was found out he was sent packing as it only meant getting him jailed and this did not appeal to the parents.

About the year 1882 I think it was, the residents of Dovedale and surrounding district presented my father with a silver tea and coffee service for his help in rending first aid to injured, I might say here that doctors had taught him to set limbs also stitch up wounds and stop bleeding, which no doubt often saved suffering and at times death, the knowledge he had gained and a steady hand and good nerve was an asset to the community.

I'm afraid I've told you more about the women's work rather than the men's but that is because I am a women and later took my share of it, but remember how tired the men used to look when they came in, but how they rallied after a wash and tea, in the evenings table games were sometimes the order, draughts etc and cards, after when we grew older and had an instrument we sang, two of my brother played violin and we sung a bit so used to spend some of our evening that way.

If I have mentioned my own father and mother more than that of my uncle and aunt (John & Catherine Win) it is not because I wish to underrate them but that I consider that their mode of life was much alike that that which applied to one does also to the other, these two families grew up next door to each other and the fathers and mothers were always there when wanted. I always remember that the men called each other mate and that was there attitude to each other. My father was the first to go, then my mother. I remember going to see my uncle after my father's death. He seemed like the last leaf on the tree, he went before aunt, who lived to a great age.

This is information written by Phyllis Harriet Moffatt (nee Win)

Event

Event:

Type: Electoral roll

Date: 1895

Place: Dovedale, Tasman, New Zealand

Sources

• WikiTree profile Win-2 created through the import of Salmon tree.ged on May 31, 2011 by Rena Brewin. See the Changes page for the details of edits by Rena and others.

• Source: S42 Abbreviation: Ancestry.com Title: Ancestry.com (www.Ancestry.com) Subsequent Source Citation Format: Ancestry.com BIBL Ancestry.com. www.Ancestry.com. TMPLT TID 0 FIELD Name: Footnote VALUE Ancestry.com (www.Ancestry.com) FIELD Name: ShortFootnote VALUE Ancestry.com FIELD Name: Bibliography VALUE Ancestry.com. www.Ancestry.com. TMPLT FIELD Name: Page
• Source: S429 Abbreviation: Aroha Moffatt Title: Aroha Moffatt (ancestry.com) Subsequent Source Citation Format: Aroha Moffatt BIBL Aroha Moffatt (ancestry.com) TMPLT TID 0 FIELD Name: Footnote VALUE Aroha Moffatt (ancestry.com) FIELD Name: ShortFootnote VALUE Aroha Moffatt FIELD Name: Bibliography VALUE Aroha Moffatt (ancestry.com) Repository: #R6 TMPLT FIELD Name: Page9

1. ↑ Source: #S429 TMPLT FIELD Name: Page
2. ↑ Source: #S429 TMPLT FIELD Name: Page