Twenty miles south of Auckland, the Smith family took up residence at Wairoa Road (Ardmore) in the Papakura Rural District (Lots 50 and 51). The Wairoa River meandered through the Wairoa Valley to reach the Hauraki Gulf, and many Maoris lived along its banks. A great forest filled much of the valley, and beyond the forest stretched the dark form of the Hunua Ranges. At the very edge of the forest was the land purchased by Benjamin Smith.
He sold 46 acres, part of Lot 51, to Mr Webb on 4 March 1857. The remainder of the property stayed in the family hands until sold by Mr Samuel Jackson of Auckland, one of the two Executors to the Benjamin Smith Estate: part to Mr Burnside in 1882 and the remaining 57 acres to Mr Corbett in 1883, though a financial interest existed until 1891 by way of mortgage. Later conveyances were Corbett to Hope, Mrs Emma Hope to F G Mullins with various mortgage and probate transactions, until the land was finally brought into the Land Transfer System after 1924. It remained for many years in the possession of the Mullins family.
European neighbours were few. The first settlers of Wairoa South (Clevedon) had arrived only a short time prior to the Smiths. They were Mr Duncan McNichol, his wife, and his partner, Mr Hoye. From Auckland they had travelled by canoe past Waiheke Island and landed at the mouth of the Wairoa River. The Smith family also travelled down from Auckland by canoe, and then walked from Clevedon to their property, which was further up the valley towards Papakura. There were no roads in those days, merely Maori walking tracks to Papakura, which were later widened to allow the passing of bullock-carts. Other early arrivals were Messrs Golding, Hamlin, Wallis, Calvert, Cooper and Henry Hyde and his nephew, Mr Thomas Hyde. The Smith and Hyde families were to be connected by the marriage of Jane Smith to Edgar Bluck in 1881; the second Mrs Thomas Hyde was Edgar’s eldest sister, Ellen. Mary Anne Smith also married a near neighbour, Mr William Henderson.
The Maoris welcomed the settlers and built the Smiths a large two-roomed raupo whare. In this the family lived for the first three years – Ben and Martha and their six children, William Benjamin, Peter, Ezra, Walter, Mary Anne, and Priscilla. Later John and Jane were born. Jane’s birth was registered in Auckland by her eldest brother who forgot her baptismal name and registered her as Helen: throughout her life, though, she was always known as Jane, and as Jenny to her family, to her husband and to his relatives.
Life on the property became earnest indeed; there were trees to be felled, timber sawn, land cleared, crops planted, and stock fed and watered. Fifteen-year-old William Benjamin Smith and his younger brothers all played their parts, and Maori help with some of the heavier work was welcomed. The Maoris provided Kumara, maize, fruit and fish; Ben and Martha repaid them with money, but mostly flour, sugar and help in times of sickness. The tribe was that of Ihaka Takaanini (Isaacs) and occupied a pa at Kirikiri The Smiths and their neighbours were on very good terms with the local Maori population.
It took Ben Smith three years to clear most of the land, saw the timber, build a large timber house of two stores, and build stables and outbuildings. When all was complete the family moved in, and settled into farming life. The older boys worked both on the property and in the sawmills, felling and milling the kauris growing in the ranges. Here they gained experience in the bush and both Peter and Ezra became fitted for the roles they were to play in the 1863-64 wars. By the time Jane was born on 23 September 1857, it must have seemed that there would be few worries about the future.
The farm was becoming established and with more settlers in the district there was a pleasant social life. The Smiths’ home was on the main track to Papakura, and Martha welcomed the many callers. But, with the widening of the tracks and the formation of the roads, the number of travellers increased. Ben, having in mind the many changes of home he had inflicted on his own family, had named his home “The Travellers’ Rest”, and the many passers by always assumed it to be an inn. Their offers of recompense for food and shelter came to be accepted. A store opened.
Ben was a gregarious person; he liked people and wanted to know what was happening in the world around him and beyond. Also, he was not the sort of person to refuse “manna from Heaven”, and when the Licensing Act came into force he applied for and was granted a “Bush Licence”, which authorised him to sell liquor until 10pm. He was no stranger to this trade: his brother, John Smith, was the owner of “The Bricklayers Arms” in far away Longcot, and it was at that Public House that he and Martha had probably stayed after their return from California. With Officers and men of the Royal Irish Regiment stationed just two miles away from “The Travellers’ Rest”, and with the Local Volunteer Forces most active in the area, and military men living on his property, how could a prudent man not take advantage of the situation? Besides, he liked to be at the centre of events, the Land War between Europeans and Maori had moved to the locality, and as the Reverend Lush was to record of Ben Smith in his Journal: “He knows all that goes on for miles around!”
The house more than met the requirements of the Licensing Act, which laid down that a house for which a licence was sought “must contain at least two moderate sized sitting rooms and two sleeping rooms actually ready and fit for public accommodation, independent of the apartments occupied by the family of the Licence Holder, and also be provided with a place of accommodation on or near the premises to prevent nuisances or offences against decency”.
Ben provided stabling for between forty and fifty horses, and for a time during the War period a detachment of Cavalry was quartered there, as were the Forest Rangers. The Cavalry moved to Papakura and the stables became the usual stopping places for persons wishing to feed and water their horses: for the horse was then the main provider of transport, although for transporting produce bullock carts played their part.
The Rev. Vicesimus Lush in his Journal entry for 28 June 1860 gave a contemporary portrait of Ben. He wrote:
I left their hospitable house (Wheelers) and rode four miles to an Inn called The Travellers’ Rest kept by a “character” by name – Benjamin Smith – a short, stout, strong man with a great beard and bushy whiskers. He received me with great respect and soon placed before me a capital tea with very tempting hot beefsteak. Shortly after tea mine Host entered and entertained me for an hour and better, with some of his adventures in California among the gold diggers.
Ben Smith did indeed have a great, bushy beard as evidenced by his portrait, which, together with one of his wife, adorned the bedroom wall of his daughter Mrs Jane Bluck for most of her lifetime. After the death of her eldest daughter, Miss Lillian Bluck, Ben’s portrait disappeared; that of Martha Smith became the property of Jane’s second daughter, the former Beatrice Bluck, and hence to the writer. It is now with the National collection in the possession of the Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington.
Three years later, after the outbreak of hostilities between Maori and Pakeha in 1863, Ben fortified the house and provided shelter not only for his family and guests but also for many local families.
At this time, Vicesimus Lush was to write:
When I reached Ben Smith’s – The Travellers Rest – I pulled up to have a chat: his house is fortified after the fashion of the Kirk, the outside encased with 3 inch timber and where the windows are, loopholes left for firing through. This may give a feeling of security to the family but it makes the inside of the house monstrously dark and dismal.