George? George who?
Learning who George was should be compulsory reading for any student of the history of the Upper Clutha. Twentieth century writers of our history such as the well-known Irvine Roxburgh, John Angus, and FWG Miller, owe much to this pioneer, teacher, entrepreneur, sawmiller, ferryman, sailor, shopkeeper, father, husband and prolific writer. Persons of such stature often have places or streets named after them, but I know of none in the Upper Clutha.
George Magnus Hassing was born on 16 March 1837 in Denmark, just before Queen Victoria ascended to the British Crown.
After completing his education, he became a sailor and sailed the ‘seven seas’ until he arrived in Lyttleton in February 1859, after a voyage from London. There he and two other sailors “jumped ship”. Whilst the officers wined and dined late into the night, the sailors quickly proceeded over the Port Hills bridle track to Christchurch. They successfully travelled on to Wellington even though the “men in blue” were on the lookout for them.
In 1860, George obtained a contract with Stewart and Kinross to supply timber for posts, rails, and shingles for the Wānaka West Station and so started a remarkable association with the Upper Clutha. He lived a very full and active life, so much so, that it is impossible to record within the confines of this newsletter, all that he occupied his life with – he was still working up to age 85.
George and his partner, Bill Atkin, completed the timber contract in the summer of 1861 and then he teamed up with William Ellacott. The Arrow Goldrush led to the establishment of a ferry across the Clutha where the old Albertown was situated near the confluence of the Hāwea and Clutha Rivers. This was in January 1863, but he saw a greater profit in selling that ferry and establishing a new one and a store at Sandypoint, which he sold to the Māori Chief Patu in 1865. George also purchased the ferry at Rockypoint just before the Bendigo goldfield became well-known.
In 1867 George tried his luck chasing gold on the Buller River, but this goldrush proved to be a bit of a fizzer for many men, including George, and he returned two years later to “… my first love, Wanaka Lake, Otago …” where he joined his friend Alfred Pinn on Pigeon Island (now Mou Waho). There they built the lake vessels Eureka and Nun.
The Cardrona goldrush attracted George and he became the main owner of the Empire Gold-Mining claim. He married Elizabeth Lavinia Agnes Wilson Price on 23 February 1876 but eight months later, he filed for bankruptcy on 17 October 1876, unable to pay his debts. George was discharged from bankruptcy on 15 October 1878 and good fortune smiled a week later when, on 24 October 1878, their daughter, Christina Margaret Agnes was born. Coincidentally, this was the week of the Great Flood that ruined many Cardrona miners. George also busied himself as secretary of the Miners Association and taught the many Chinese miners to learn some English. He was known by them as “Mr Ah Sing”.
George with his grand-daughter Petrina
Good fortune smiled again and in 1878 George applied to the Southland Education Board for the vacant position of teacher at the Cardrona School. He was successful and he remained in this position until 1885. He also involved himself in the town’s community affairs helping to obtain £6,000 for a “mountain traffic road”, a cemetery, library and a large public commonage. He also set up a miner’s orchestra in the town.
His time in Cardrona ended after considerable disagreement with local clergy who wished to impose religious teaching etc during school hours. George could not continue to teach under those conditions, so he moved to Hokonui and then in 1888 to Hedgehope. The salary there was supposed to be £42 per annum but because of poor attendances, it reportedly cost George £1-5-0 in the first 3 months to teach the 35 children.
His grand-daughter, Petrina Georgina Elizabeth Hassing, was born in 1899 and his wife died in 1906 when he retired.
It is reported he was known to partake of a nip of whisky and on one occasion at the local hall had hidden a bottle in the hedge nearby. When retiring at intervals with friends for a nip, he discovered the bottle gone. He promptly stormed back into the hall and let the attendees know what he thought! It is believed a replacement bottle was later purchased for him, such was his standing in the community.
But George found that he was not suited to retirement and offered himself as a relieving teacher until he was 85 years of age. He spent his final years at Riverton with his grand-daughter and died in the local hospital on 25 December 1928. He and his wife are buried in the Old Winton Cemetery.
Thus, the life of a valuable citizen of the Upper Clutha ended but his detailed memoirs are still available for us all to read. He was a prolific writer of history, especially to the Otago Witness and other local newspapers. His articles are very valuable sources of information about the early days of Upper Clutha settlement. A number of his articles were printed in a book called “Pages From the Memory Log of G. M. Hassing” (published in 1930). Copies can occasionally be found in local libraries or for sale in second-hand bookshops. But do not forget the Paperspast website mentioned in our last newsletter. Just search on “George Magnus Hassing” (or even just Hassing) from say 1860 onwards and the resulting list will be substantial.
References for this article has been sourced from Paperspast, “The Memory Log”, “Aspiring Settlers” by John Angus, “Wānaka Story” by Irvine Roxburgh, and the Lothians blog (in two parts):
