Quins Road (Eltham)

In the mid-1800s, when the Great Famine struck Ireland, more than two million people left the country in search of better lives. Two of them were Charles and Jane Quin.

They went to Australia first, arriving in New Zealand in about 1863. Here, the couple accumulated a significant agricultural property portfolio. Moving to Taranaki in 1873, Charles eventually leased land on Fraser Road, north of Hawera.

Charles and Jane had nine surviving children and they slowly spread themselves throughout south Taranaki. One recent family member describes them as “a large and stroppy clan.” Charles was no exception. He was once physically ejected from a church service, after engaging in a stand-up argument with the priest.

Unfortunately, the following years weren’t good economically. Likely in despair over his business situation, Charles lapsed into depression. In November 1887, aged 54, he shot himself.

His children would go on to operate several family businesses, usually in the timber industry and under the name ‘Quin Brothers’. They were also a prominent golfing family, and for many years the Eltham golf course was on land owned by a Quin.

One son, William, wrote a book in 1904 on the history of Hāwera. He also wrote many provocative letters to newspaper editors.

The Quins, a farming family, were no supporters of Liberal prime minister Richard Seddon. When Seddon visited Eltham to speak in a local hall, one of the Quin boys and his friend, correctly anticipating his exit from a rear door, lay in wait with a rope across his dimly lit path and, at the right time, stretched it tight. As Seddon sprawled on the ground, the boys ran off giggling. The elite among Eltham’s citizenry were aghast.

Jane Quin died in 1903. Much of Quins Road, usually spelt incorrectly on maps, remains a paper road only.

This story was originally published in the Taranaki Daily News.

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