OBITUARY
MR. EWEN CAMERON
55 YEARS AT BUSHMERE
Another old settler of Poverty Bay and a pioneer of the back block settlement in New Zealand passed away this morning, in the person of Mr. Ewen Cameron, of Toanga, Bushmere. The late Mr. Cameron had been resident at Toanga for 55 years, and for the first 50 years of that period had never once slept in Gisborne, except when undergoing hospital treatment. Until recently he had enjoyed robust health, but latterly the effects of his early active life appeared to take their toll, and during the past few weeks he had been confined to bed. His death occurred quietly at an early hour to-day.
The deceased was really a notable character in the district, for among his interests was a keen enthusiasm for ploughing, and for many years it was his practice to conduct contests among the ploughmen of the district, one of these drawing no less than 16 entries. Caledonian associations were another of Mr. Cameron's enthusiasms, and he was a foundation member of the A. and P. Association. He inherited his interest in stock from his father, Mr. John Cameron, of Corricholie, Inverness, in which city the late Mr. Cameron was born. Mr. John Cameron was a noted dealer in stock, and his son took a hand in his business when still quite young.
It was in 1860 that Mr. Ewen Cameron landed in New Zealand, and for 10 years thereafter he engaged in all classes of country work in the Auckland province, particularly in the Waikato. It was there that he took part in punitive expeditions against the Maori rebels, in the early 60's, and gained his experience of the bush. In 1870, he went to Hawke's Bay, and took employment with Sir Donald McLean, who at that time had not attained his knighthood. In the following year, he came to Gisborne with two bullock teams and drays, and he eventually settled on his property at Toanga, Bushmere, which he bought through the late Captain Read.
His first 25 years residence there were not without incident, for his title to the property was contested keenly by the original native owner to the land, Wi Haronga, who claimed that Captain Read had no authority to dispose of the property. After 25 years of fighting, Mr. Cameron secured his title, and in the meantime he had developed Toanga to a high state of cultivation. Always a believer in the efficacy of man-power, he worked early and late, and his property was one of the earliest on the fiats to reach what is now a fairly commonplace state of order. When Toanga first came into his hands, however, it was covered with dense scrub, and it. was not uncommon to put up wild pigs in the underbrush. A fine puriri bush drew nearby, and on one occasion Mr. Cameron and an assistant actually lost themselves in the course of a pig-hunt, reaching home at 3 o'clock in the morning after an all-night struggle through the bush.
It was with posts split from the puriri bush referred to above that Mr. Cameron built his first fences on Toanga, and some of the posts are standing to day, after over 50 years service. Cattle and sheep have passed on and off the land by the thousands since his advent there, and many pens of stock from Toanga have figured successfully in pastoral shows. Humorous interludes of the early days were Mr. Cameron's favourite conversational material in his later years, and one of his anecdotes concerned his unofficial position of traffic controller on the Bushmere road, when it was no more than a dirt track with many bad bogholes. one hole in paiticular was the bugbear of traffic, which at that time was fairly heavy on the Bushmere route; and after receiving many calls for assistance in extricating buggies and wagons from his quagmire, Mr. Cameron took the step of advertising publicly that he would be available for rescue purposes on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. On those days only, he undertook to give his best service in pulling "bullock, horse, man, woman, or child," out of the bog, but on other days he reserved his energies for the development of his land. It was not unusual for him to let his fences down in order to allow the passage of traffic when the road got too bad for use, or to wade thigh-deep into the mud to rescue lady passengers from bogged vehicles.
The older generation of Poverty Bay settlers will remember many more anecdotes of the dour Scot who built his first hut in the remains of a Maori redout, who surrounded it with a moat across which passage could only be obtained by way of a drawbridge. The late Mr. Cameron was twice married, and is survived by his second wife and seven sons and two daughters. The sons are Messrs. R. J. Cameron (Mangapapa), Angus Cameron (Bushmere), A. Cameron (Makaraka), C. Cameron and J. Cameron (Gisborne), and P. and K. Cameron (Harwera). The daughters are Mesdames H. White, of Hexton, and J. B. Clark, of Patutahi.
Source: Poverty Bay Herald, 26 February 1929, Page 7.
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Chris Korte's New Zealand Genealogy Project
1841 - 1929
Has 2 ancestors and 70 descendants in this family tree.
[1, 2, 3] 
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