Ellis and Burnand was a
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
sawmilling and timber retailing company, formed by businessman
John William Ellis
John William Ellis (1853 – 6 August 1918) was a New Zealand businessman and mayor of Hamilton from 1917 to 1918.
His progressive mother encouraged him to integrate with local Māori from an early age, which later facilitated his trading on the ...
and engineer
Harry Burnand in 1891.
Ellis and Burnand Ltd
was
incorporated in 1903.
They were responsible for
felling much of the native bush in the southern
Waikato
Waikato () is a Regions of New Zealand, local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipa District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton City ...
and northern
Manawatu-Whanganui regions. Their operations expanded initially to supply the timber needs of the
North Island Main Trunk railway
The North Island Main Trunk (NIMT) is the main railway line in the North Island of New Zealand, connecting the capital city Wellington with the country's largest city, Auckland. The line is long, built to the New Zealand rail gauge of and ser ...
as it was extended south. Once the railway opened, new mills were built to exploit previously hard to access areas.
Fletcher Holdings bought the company in 1990, rebranding it as
PlaceMakers
PlaceMakers is the trading name of Fletcher Distribution Limited, the retail trading arm of Fletcher Building in New Zealand. PlaceMakers also manufactures wall frames, roof trusses and structural components at various frame and truss operation ...
.
![Ellis_and_Burnand_location_diagram](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8b/Ellis_and_Burnand_location_diagram.jpg)
Ellis & Burnand's cutting sites were linked to their sawmills by
bush tramway
A bush tram and line-side log hauler owned by the Tamaki Sawmill Co., Raurimu. Photographed by Albert Percy Godber circa 1917.
In New Zealand railway terminology a bush tramway is an industrial tramway, most commonly used for logging. They are ...
s, one of which forms the southern end of the
Timber Trail
The Timber Trail, originally known as the Central North Island Rail Trail or Pureora Timber Trail, in the North Island of New Zealand is an cycleway (also used by walkers and hunters) in Pureora Forest Park, fully opened in 2013, with 35 bridges ...
cycleway, opened in 2013.
Origins
Ellis's first venture into timber milling seems to have started at
Ōrākau, near Kihikihi (where he ran a store) in 1884, though the sources differ on several dates in this period, some saying it wasn't until 1886.
He then employed 4 men on 2 saw benches, powered by an 8 hp
portable steam engine
A portable engine is an engine, either a steam engine or an internal combustion engine, that sits in one place while operating (providing power to machinery), but (unlike a stationary engine) is portable and thus can be easily moved from one wor ...
.
Having started in 1884, Ellis seems to have left further expansion in milling for a few years. Coulthard Bros had a mill at
Ohaupo, which they moved to Rahu,
Te Awamutu
Te Awamutu is a town in the Waikato region in the North Island of New Zealand. It is the council seat of the Waipa District and serves as a service town for the farming communities which surround it. Te Awamutu is located some south of Hamilto ...
in 1882. Graham joined the mill in 1883, Stephen N Westney in 1885, then Ellis seems to have joined them at
Rangiaohia from 1889 to 1890. 'Established 1889' was on the sign over the Ellis & Burnand Ltd head office in 1905 (see photo above).
In 1889 railway engineer, Harry Burnand, and local storekeeper, John Ellis, spent 6 days taking a canoe down the
Ongarue and
Whanganui River
The Whanganui River is a major river in the North Island of New Zealand. It is the country's third-longest river, and has special status owing to its importance to the region's Māori people. In March 2017 it became the world's second natura ...
s from
Poro-o-tarao tunnel, where Harry was inspector of works.
Sites
Otorohanga
Ellis and Henry Lewis started building a sawmill at
Otorohanga early in 1890, with a daily capacity of ,
milling
kahikatea
''Dacrycarpus dacrydioides'', commonly known as kahikatea (from Māori) and white pine, is a coniferous tree endemic to New Zealand. A podocarp, it is New Zealand's tallest tree, gaining heights of 60 m and a life span of 600 years. It was firs ...
and
rimu
''Dacrydium cupressinum'', commonly known as rimu, is a large evergreen coniferous tree endemic to the forests of New Zealand. It is a member of the southern conifer group, the podocarps.
The Māori name ''rimu'' comes from the Polynesian ...
, and probably including plant from Ellis's 1884 Kihikihi mill.
By the end of the year they were seeking tenders for a short tramway.
Ellis and Burnand became business partners in 1890
(or, more probably, in 1891), when Burnand bought Lewis's interest in the Otorohanga mill and left his railway job.
Ellis's partnership with Lewis was dissolved on 12 August 1891, the first reference to 'Ellis and Burnand' being later that month. The tramway was mentioned in 1892. The Otorohanga bush was exhausted and the mill closed in 1912.
Though the mill had closed by then, the 1919 Railways Authorisation Bill included a, "''branch line from Otorohanga, along right bank of the Waipa River, to the south boundary of Block VI, Mangaoronga survey district. Length about 7½ miles''." The Railway Atlas indicates the line was horse worked, served the Ellis and
Burnand Mill, as well as the Rangitoto Colliery, and existed by 1921.
Mangapehi
![Mangapehi_Sawmill,_Ellis_and_Burnand_Ltd_(21499027915)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/Mangapehi_Sawmill%2C_Ellis_and_Burnand_Ltd_%2821499027915%29.jpg)
Ellis became the confidential adviser of
King Tāwhiao, which helped him acquire timber rights over large areas of bush near
Manunui, Otorohanga and
Mangapehi,
so that he focussed on the timber trade and sold his stores about 1897.
Next year, in 1898, Ellis secured further timber rights over at
Rangitoto Tuhua, also known as Te Tiroa. By 1901, they had a small portable mill at Tiroa, with some of the timber used for building the larger Mangapehi mill.
This allowed the company to expand, saying in 1909, "''My company hold no Crown land for sawmilling purposes other than the sawmillsites at Manunui and Mangapeehi. Our timber-rights are all in the form of agreements with Natives''." Other mills established in the 1900s found themselves in difficulties due to more restricted access to native bush. Expansion was also assisted by development the
steam hauler, which replaced
bullock teams
A bullock cart or ox cart (sometimes called a bullock carriage when carrying people in particular) is a two-wheeled or four-wheeled vehicle pulled by oxen. It is a means of transportation used since ancient times in many parts of the world. Th ...
and increased the area of millable bush that could be worked profitably.
The Mangapehi site was about south of
Te Kuiti on the newly-opened NIMT railway, near
totara
''Podocarpus totara'' (; from the Maori-language ; the spelling "totara" is also common in English) is a species of podocarp tree endemic to New Zealand. It grows throughout the North Island and northeastern South Island in lowland, montane and ...
and
rimu
''Dacrydium cupressinum'', commonly known as rimu, is a large evergreen coniferous tree endemic to the forests of New Zealand. It is a member of the southern conifer group, the podocarps.
The Māori name ''rimu'' comes from the Polynesian ...
bush. The railway needed many
totara
''Podocarpus totara'' (; from the Maori-language ; the spelling "totara" is also common in English) is a species of podocarp tree endemic to New Zealand. It grows throughout the North Island and northeastern South Island in lowland, montane and ...
sleepers. In 1900 10,000 were delivered to Mangapehi, in 1901 20,000 to Ongarue and 5,000 to Mangapehi and another 3,000 to Ongarue in 1903.
![C1922_Mangapehi_sawmill_log_train](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3c/C1922_Mangapehi_sawmill_log_train.jpg)
Work started in 1902 and Mangapehi mill opened in 1903,
or 1904,
after lengthy construction, including of tramway. The tramway was still being built in 1904. In 1905 a
Climax loco, able to cope with the 1 in 15 grades, replaced horses. By 1909 Mangapehi mill had over of tramway, built at an average cost of over £1,000 per mile.
In 1903, the capital value of Ellis and Burnand's operations was about £30,000. To meet these development costs the company negotiated with the Melbourne-based
Kauri Timber Company, which bought a 47.5% stake in Ellis and Burnand in 1904. From then to 1907, the Mangapehi mill did not return a profit, but from 1908 to 1911 the company made net profits of around £10,000 to £18,000 a year.
By 1909 the capital of the company had risen to £75,000. That was represented by 4
King-country sawmills and a sash, door, and butter-box factory at Hamilton, the total capacity of the mills being about a month, employing 3 to 400 men.
As Mangapehi was remote, the development costs included a public hall, social club, billiard rooms, bowling and croquet greens, tennis courts, football and cricket fields, a post office, a school, stores, medical services, ambulance, public library, a railway station and roads.
![Maraeroa_mill_in_1953](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/Maraeroa_mill_in_1953.jpg)
Ellis & Burnand's profits benefitted from inflation from 1908 to 1924, when royalties for timber were increased, with a new agreement signed in 1925. Almost 200 were then working at Mangapehi. The mill closed in 1968.
In 1936 3 mills and bush areas were bought from Hayward Timber Company at Waimiha, but were exhausted by 1945 and the cottages, mill and most of the staff were transferred to Mangapehi.
Although most of the logs from Maraeroa (in the centre of
Pureora forest) were milled at Mangapehi, Ellis & Burnand had a large mill at Maraeroa from 1945 to at least 1965.
Hamilton
Ellis and Burnand's headquarters were transferred from Otorohanga to Hamilton
in 1905
(or 1906)
after they bought Coyle & Jolly's Hamilton sash and door factory in 1904
and then expanded it. A tramway and Grey St West were built to the works in 1904 and plans made for a
drying kiln, offices and workers housing. By January 1905 the factory had begun production and was employing 40 staff. By 1906 it was producing barrels, furniture and 1,100 butter boxes a day, employing 53. The Hamilton factory was burnt down in 1916 but a larger one replaced it,
though box making was transferred to Manunui, leaving joinery, doors, planing, resawing and retailing of timber at Hamilton.
A new head office was started in 1924 on the corner of Bryce and Victoria Streets.
It was sold in 1953 and replaced by a new office at the Bryce St yard. By then the Hamilton yard also had an
pre-fabricated house factory able to build over 100 houses a year, and a
block board factory with three
drying kilns.
The houses had been produced for some years prior to 1953,
probably about 1934. A seaside cottage was being sold for £55 in 1925. Houses were displayed at Waikato Winter Shows, including a 4-room 'Economy Cottage' in 1932. The former yard is now the site of
Hamilton Transport Centre Hamilton may refer to:
People
* Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname
** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland
** Lord Hamilt ...
.
Manunui
After extension of the railway to
Taumarunui
Taumarunui is a small town in the King Country of the central North Island of New Zealand. It is on an alluvial plain set within rugged terrain on the upper reaches of the Whanganui River, 65 km south of Te Kuiti and 55 km west of ...
in 1903, the
Waimarino (renamed
Manunui) to Ohotaka tramway was built, with a bridge over the
Whanganui River
The Whanganui River is a major river in the North Island of New Zealand. It is the country's third-longest river, and has special status owing to its importance to the region's Māori people. In March 2017 it became the world's second natura ...
in 1905, though it had only been put out to tender at the beginning of the year. By 1909 Manunui had over of steel tramway.
The timber mill and box factory opened at Manunui in 1907 and a plywood
and veneer factory in 1911.
Manunui became a mill village, with mill workers' houses on acre blocks.
During the
depression work for all 270 staff was cut to 4 days a week. The main work then was milling kahikatea for butter boxes and strawberry baskets.
The mill closed in 1942, when the bush had been felled.
A fire burnt down the sawmill in 1949, but the Ellis Veneer works and offices were saved. In 1953 they were producing about of
plywood
Plywood is a material manufactured from thin layers or "plies" of wood veneer that are glued together with adjacent layers having their wood grain rotated up to 90 degrees to one another. It is an engineered wood from the family of manufactured ...
a year.
Ongarue
![Price locomotives of Ellis and Burnand Tramway on spiral (true to side)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7e/Price_locomotives_of_Ellis_and_Burnand_Tramway_on_spiral_%28true_to_side%29.png)
Ellis & Burnand bought the Taumarunui Totara Co mill and started to replace it with a much larger one at
Ongarue in 1913. Ongarue mill closed in 1914 and reopened in 1920
with of tramway. By 1953 the tramway extended from the mill and had 2 locomotives.
During the period of maximum output the annual production was 16m feet of native timber.
The mill was still registered in 1961. Since 2011 part of the
old tramway has formed the
Timber Trail
The Timber Trail, originally known as the Central North Island Rail Trail or Pureora Timber Trail, in the North Island of New Zealand is an cycleway (also used by walkers and hunters) in Pureora Forest Park, fully opened in 2013, with 35 bridges ...
.
Waihou and Herriesville
Ellis & Burnand began its first milling of plantation grown ''
Pinus radiata
''Pinus radiata'' ( syn. ''Pinus insignis''), the Monterey pine, insignis pine or radiata pine, is a species of pine native to the Central Coast of California and Mexico (Guadalupe Island and Cedros island). It is an evergreen conifer in the fa ...
'' near
Te Aroha
Te Aroha ( mi, Te Aroha-a-uta) is a rural town in the Waikato region of New Zealand with a population of 3,906 people in the 2013 census, an increase of 138 people since 2006. It is northeast of Hamilton and south of Thames. It sits at the f ...
, at Herriesville and
Waihou,
both on the former
East Coast Main Trunk railway
The East Coast Main Trunk (ECMT) is a railway line in the North Island of New Zealand, originally running between Hamilton and Taneatua via Tauranga, connecting the Waikato with the Bay of Plenty. The ECMT now runs between Hamilton and Kawerau ...
, from at least 1919 to 1923.
Waimiha
2 mills were bought at Waimiha in 1936.
Putaruru
By 1953 ''Pinus radiata'' formed over 40% of Ellis & Burnand's total timber production of from its Mangapehi, Ongarue and Putaruru mills,
which represented about 3% of the national milling output of . Sawmills were established at Putaruru, producing in the aggregate, after they bought a block of pines at Lichfield and a mill site in 1951. Cutting started in May 1952.
This was their last mill cutting about 6m feet of pine annually.
Raglan
From 1957 to 1980 there was a timber yard in
Raglan, between Bankart and Stewart Streets. A 1964 advert listed sawn and dressed timbers, hardware, paints, wallboards, joinery, doors and plywood, under the slogan "E. & B's are a veritable Aladdin's treasure house".
Directors
The company was originally run by Ellis and Burnand. In 1903
Henry Valder
Henry Valder (14 August 1862 – 12 February 1950) was a New Zealand storekeeper, sawmiller and business reformer.
Early life
Valder was born in Southampton, Hampshire, England, in 1862, the son of Mary Collingridge and George Valder, a corn ...
went into partnership with them as the company became the largest sawmiller in the King Country. Valder became managing director from 1908
until 1932, was chairman of the board from 1918 until 1942, and a long-time district representative and vice president (1917–26) on the Dominion Federated Sawmillers' Association.
Other managing directors were H Holder in 1919, C V Valder in 1920, S Valder in 1928, Henry Valder in 1931, A B Collier 1932–1944,
Arthur E McCracken in 1945 and A H Delaney in 1953.
Remnants
Fletcher Holdings proposed to take over in 1979. Purchase was completed in 1980 and branches were converted to the PlaceMakers brand. In Huntly the Ellis & Burnand name was last in the phone book in 1994. $1.96m was paid by the Forestry Service to end Pureora contracts in 1981.
The Hamilton head office and yard site were used for
Hamilton Transport Centre Hamilton may refer to:
People
* Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname
** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland
** Lord Hamilt ...
in 2001.
Houses, furniture and fittings made by the company remain, as do parts of their tramways, the Timber Trail being especially accessible. A station building remains at Mangapehi, an
NZR F class 230 was donated in 1957 for static display at
Lake Rotoroa Lake Rotoroa (Māori: "long lake") may refer to the following New Zealand lakes:
* Lake Rotoroa (Northland)
* Lake Rotoroa (Tasman)
* Lake Rotoroa (Hamilton, New Zealand) (or "Hamilton Lake"), Hamilton City, Waikato, New Zealand
* Lake Rotoroa (W ...
after use as a yard engine at Mangapehi
and 5 locomotives are at the
Bush Tramway Club
The Bush Tramway Club is a heritage railway west of Huntly along the Rotowaro Road, in the Waikato region of New Zealand. It regularly operates restored locomotives along a Rotowaro-Glen Afton section of the former Glen Afton Branch. Open day ...
.
References
{{Reflist
External links
Photos –
1905 Mangapehi* [http://www.aucklandcity.govt.nz/dbtw-wpd/exec/dbtwpub.dll?BU=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aucklandcity.govt.nz%2Fdbtw-wpd%2FHeritageImages%2Findex.htm&AC=QBE_QUERY&TN=heritageimages&QF0=ID&NP=2&MR=5&RF=HIORecordSearch&QI0=%3D%22AWNS-19150311-44-9%22 1915 Mananui Mill after fire]
1930 Victoria St head office, beside railway crossing*
ttp://www.mapspast.org.nz/?zoom=14&x=1805584&y=5732369&layerid=NZMS1%201959 1956 one inch map of Mangapehi and tramway1976 Bryce St head office
Manufacturing companies of New Zealand
Companies based in Hamilton, New Zealand
Logging railways in New Zealand