Gisborne, New Zealand 🌍

Gisborne (#nz50)

Primary evidence about both of the windmills constructed by Fred Ottaway on the beach at Gisborne is hard to come by - they were constructed without permission, for private use of essentially a squatter, and so were not officially documented.

However a number of magazine articles etc. have tried to pull together some of the history of the mills, relying often on unattributed memories from locals.

Of recent articles, one that pulled together useful information appeared in BeachLife Issue 3, Autumn 2009

• Shows a photo of each of the mills, supplied by Gisborne Museum - the smaller mill illustration is the one by G E Havell
• Describes the mills as having been built by "eccentric Dutchman, George Ottway" [He was English, called Fred or Frederick, not George, and his surname was Ottaway].
• Location given as "on the dunes overlooking Wainui Beach, half way along Wairere Road"
• Dated as built "before the first world war, possibly as early as 1906"
• Used for "many suggestions", including grinding seashells to produce fowl grit for his own chickens, and for the local market. Most commonly accepted usage was to drive the circular saw to cut up driftwood.
• Gave Ottaway's age as 71 in the picture [Which is what it said in the caption when the photo appeared in the Auckland Weekly News in 1918. Note this caption is also the source of the missed "a" from the surname]
• Says that Ottaway kept a cockatoo and other pet animals.
• Stated that later photos of the mill from about 1926 show it as an out of use ruin - since the given photos came from Gisborne museum, I assume that this info was also supplied by them.
• States, and thankfully dismisses, a story that the miller was a German spy who used the angle of the windmill sails to send coded messages to German warships
• The second windmill is illustrated by an unattributed photo, showing a bearded old man and his dog.
  • location: likely opposite the Chalet along Moana Road

The same information, with the name George altered to Frederick Charles, but otherwise uncorrected, is given on the Beach Life website.

There is a follow up article in the next issue: BeachLife Issue 4, Spring 2009

• Now uses the name Frederick Ottaway as the builder of the mills
• Quotes the caption an unnamed and undated national magazine used alongside the photo of the early mill:

  One of New Zealand's first recyclers is how Mrs D. Goodhue of Auckland describes her grandfather, Frederick Ottaway. Frederick built this windmill out of flattened kerosene tins on Wainui beach, near Gisborne. The photograph was taken in 1895 although the windmill remained a landmark for many years after that. When times were lean Frederick would cut up driftwood to sell for firewood and grind maize into flour.

  [If, as implied, this is the same photo as published in 1918 whern Ottaway was 71, then it is unlikely to have been taken in 1895 as told here]
• Fills in some useful background that the Wairere Road dunes were subdivided for development by William Cooper in 1903, but baches only started to appear in the 1930's.
• Repeats a cropped version of the G. E. Havell photo
• Adds a presumably later photo (judging by the fashions of the woman and child shown), of the windmill showing the wind break without it's metal cladding, and the sails without sailcloth.
• There is also a photo and some information on the later mill, which are given in the entry for that.

The next issue also gave more details on Fred Ottaway: Beach Life, Summer 2010

• It starts by reiterating the dates of his two mills as the (somewhat dubious) 1895 and 1917
• It mentions the kerosene can cladding, adding new details (not sure where this was sourced from) that they were tar painted, and sand coated
• Relates how descendents of Ottaway still live nearby
• Fred and his wife Elizabeth are buried in Taruheru cemetery (gravestone illustrated)
• A possible Norwegian origin for Ottaway is mentioned
The accompanying photo of Fred and Elizabeth (and the impressive cemetery plot) suggests wealth [which does not particularly fit with the squatter and reclaimed material vibe - but fortunes can be lost as well as gained].

A great photo of the mill also appeared in: Gisborne Photo News, No 77 : November 3, 1960

How many people remember the windmill on Wainui Beach? It was adjacent to a house in which a "squatter" lived, and this "squatter" built the mill to provide power for a number of uses, among which was to saw wood (the saw can be seen at left), and to grind up sea shells for poultry food. Mr Chas. S. Platten, 231 Stout Street, who appears on horseback in the picture, sent in this interesting print, which was probably taken about 1916. Ultimately the mill and the house, being on Crown land, were removed, and a quaint landmark became just a memory.

Ian Jonson's Notes

Whilst it's not clear which of the 2 Gisborne windmills is being described, Ian Jonson's notes include the following, probably derived from the caption of a photo from Gisborne Museum:

Mr Ottaway worked in the bush in the Manawatu then came to Matawai. Imported millstones from England, and set up a primitive flour mill. When flour was imported in bulk and no further wheat grown here he converted the mill into making poultry grit. Photo 302.5-8 from E Millar & C. Oman, Wainui Beach.

The following information is contained in a letter written in 1990 from Greta Watson, research assistant at the museum:

• The windmill was built by a Mr Ottaway, reputed to be either Dutch or German, pre 1918
• The earliest dated photo that we have is 1924, and it was in place until the 1940's
• It was situated at the Okitu end of Wainui Beach in what was then open country and sand hills
• Made of flattened kerosene tins
• Apparently first used as a flourmill, until wheat no longer grown here, then converted to grinding sea shells for poultry. [That seems to be relating the photo caption above!]
• Later, as seen in the photo, a circular saw was attached for sawing up driftwood
• Mr. Ottaway lived in a small building nearby, made of the same materials, which was later enlarged by new occupants.
• One source of information has it that Mr Ottaway was suspected of being a spy during the war, and using his windmill to send signals to enemy ships.

Associated people

• Fred Ottaway