Shearer Drive

Ōākura’s Shearer Dr was named after Susie and Fred Shearer and is a symbol of the long association the Shearer, Mills and Mace families have had with this section of coastal land.

Susie Mills was born in 1907 and was the daughter of Francis and Ida Mills (nee Mace). Ida was the youngest of six children of Frank and Rachel Mace (nee Arden). Frank received the 300 acre portion of Oakura land (which ran from the main road down to the beach straddling the Wairau stream) as a crown grant in about 1865 due to his military service with the Taranaki Mounted Volunteers during the Taranaki Wars.

Frank and Rachel farmed the section of land most of their lives, built a comfortable family home and developed a well-known garden down by the beach, called Wairau. While this first home burnt down in 1926, the family rebuilt on the site and it was this house that was Susie’s home for most of her life.

Susie’s parents, Ida and Francis, lived with Ida’s parents in Ōakura so Wairau was Susie’s childhood home.  Susie was educated briefly for a time at Ōakura School but mainly at home by a governess. Susie married Fred Shearer in 1927 at St Mary’s Church in New Plymouth followed by a wedding reception in the gardens at Wairau. By 1929 Frank and Rachel Mace had died, and Susie, her husband and her mother, Ida, left Ōakura as Fred’s job as a Postmaster required him to live in various towns around the country. Wairau was leased to tenants during this time.

But in 1947 Susie and Fred, their sons and Ida returned to live at Wairau, re-connecting the family’s link with the district. Susie and Fred lived in Ōakura for the rest of their lives. Fred died in 1986 and Susie in 2000.  

Over the years the farmland and beachfront sections were sold off and in the early 2000s the Shearer family created the subdivision, of which Shearer Drive is part. In 2008 the second homestead was removed and a new home built on the site which includes features of the two homesteads that preceded it. Many of the notable trees from the original garden also remain as do some of Susie Shearer’s descendant’s still living on the same stunning section of Taranaki coastline.

Further reading:

The Gardenmakers of Taranaki, Susette Goldsmith, TRCT 712.6 GOL