ROBYN PARKES
Quail Valley, named for its plentiful supply of quail, was first settled by a handful of hardy families who lived in isolation until tracks were opened. Among the few who carved out a good life on the land was Henry John Louis Augarde.
Henry was born around 1820 to Henry and Janet Augarde in Westminster. He married Lucy Ann Unwin in London in 1840, and the couple had nine children, though four were either stillborn or died soon after birth.
In 1852, the family immigrated to Nelson aboard the ship Stately. Henry quickly became a gentleman freeholder, leaseholder and householder at Quail Valley.
Daily life revolved around raising their brood of children and farming the land, but they soon integrated into the wider settlement. Musically gifted, Henry and Lucy entertained the public of Richmond in early 1854 with the first of many concerts.
Between 1854 and 1868, nine more children were born, though three were stillborn or died very young.
Henry was outspoken in public meetings and newspapers, and in an 1857 editorial he expressed frustration with politicians, writing:
“How long will it be here before working classes awake to the species of humbug which is daily in your paper. The elections are over. What then? Shall we be better off than the last four years? What has been done for the colony? Nil! What has it cost the colony? A few thousand pounds…... I fear another four years of stormy debate, enormous waste of time, a fearful waste of our money will take place…... One thing is certain, there are two parties struggling for power; what one puts up, the other knocks down; thus, the noble game of see-saw goes on to our detriment.”
In July 1858, Henry drove sheep to Canterbury but was caught in a snowstorm at Jollies Pass on his return. Forced to hunker down overnight with his travelling companions, he suffered frostbite that cost him part of his foot and hand.
Despite this disability, Henry and Lucy continued to provide entertainment through concerts and musical events.
Tragedy struck in July 1861 when their eldest son, Henry, drowned while crossing the Motueka River.
Henry Snr joined the search and found the body several miles downstream.
Around 1866, Henry left the valley and moved to Stoke to take over the Turf Hotel.
Another tragedy followed in February 1868 when son Ivanhoe died by suicide.
Ivanhoe, an overseer on St Helens Run, had written a letter to a young Renwick woman he was courting and entrusted it to German Charlie, a worker at neighbouring Tarndale Station, asking him to deliver it to her.
Ivanhoe and Charlie had a troublesome relationship, having fallen out on several occasions and he was angered and humiliated on learning that Charlie had opened the letter and shared its contents with others.
Ivanhoe confronted him, borrowed a gun and fatally shot him. Distraught, Ivanhoe rode to the junction of the Severn and Acheron rivers and took his own life.
Lucy died in 1880.
Eight years later, Henry married Mercy Pettit. The couple moved to Wellington for a time before returning to Nelson, where Henry died in September 1901.
