William Cone
After
the death of his father William Bullock Cone in 1852 on the Bridle Path,
William, his brothers and sister and step-mother Caroline lived on in the home
that their father had bought at Ferry Road. It would have been to 14 year
old William that his younger siblings looked to their lead, Fred 12 yrs,
George 10 and Sarah Ann 6. It was said that as a boy, William was a good swimmer
and once got into a row for paddling his sister across the Heathcote River in a
tub. Their step mother Caroline remarried in 1859, the three brothers moved out
and took a separate house on Ferry Road and 16 year old Sarah Ann kept
house for them and also at Ashley mid year 1860, until her own marriage in
1862. With the unsettled state of
Taranaki, anyone residing within 15 miles of Christchurch Land office and able
to serve was posted on the militia list of 1860 - William Cone,
Ferry Road, Farmer.As early as 1857 William
applied along with brother Fred for land and 25 acres were granted to him on 19
April, 1859 at Halswell and Fred bought 20 acres next to William. William Cone
and Mr George Bartrum, (brother-in-law of Thomas William Pursey who later
married Sarah Ann) were in partnership with 20 acres at Hoon Hay which they
bought for £93. William later sold out his half share to George Bartrum in 14th
October 1863. At the same time as his purchase at Halswell, William bought
another 25 acres at McTeague Road - this was sold in 16 September 1865 for £165.
He had purchased a further 25 acres for £130 and this was sold on 30
September 1864 for £275. All the land at Halswell was likely to have been very
wet and undrained so William would have been keen to purchase a drier place and
as land was being subdivided and sold for settlement he decided to move north.
He and brother George joined a number of early settlers who bought on the north
bank of the Ashley River. William bought 25 acres on 6 December 1860 from John
McFarlane who owned a large estate at Ashley - he paid £3.10s an acre.(Sect 2848
Ashley River, Mt Grey Downs) This was on the left side of the road which was
named after him, going north of the Ashley river, Cones Road and went to the
corner where you turn left to go to Loburn. At the point where the road crossed
the river, it became known as Cones Ford. William was possibly the first
to operate a threshing mill north of the Ashley River and among the first
settlers to farm in the area. Intentions to Marry - Christchurch District
Application dated Sept 24, 1861 - William Cone, Batchelor, Farmer aged 23,
dwelling at Ferry Road 4 days, intention to marry at St Andrews Presbyterian
Church, Christchurch to Isabella Parish of Ferry Road aged 21 years, daughter of William and Hannah Parish, living
there 10 years. Witnesses to the marriage which actually occurred on 30th
September were Ambrose Cant, a Christchurch carpenter and Esther Cant,
householder. The minister was Charles Fraser. On the 12th of August
/September 1864, William took possession of a further 40 acres paying
£130, on the right side of the road from the Ashley river bridge and
continuing on past the road turning off to the Ashley township, northwards. This
is where sister Sarah Ann and Thomas William Pursey first lived after
their marriage. It is thought very likely that William farmed the property for
some time before the sale was recorded (1862) as this was often done in those
days. The first owner of the property was Mr John McFarlane and after the
Purseys took possession of their own property across the road (Sect 2849)
in 1865 William Cone moved into the house they had vacated on the corner of the
road that leads to the Ashley township and continued farming there until 1894
when he retired to Wellington. He used to drive a threshing mill, one of the first to operate north of the Ashley. While William was doing
threshing for other farmers, Thomas Pursey, his brother-in-law looked after his
farm. Among those listed as having farms under
crop at the end of 1866 were both George and William Cone, and Thomas
Pursey, the husband of Sarah Ann. The Purseys lived closer to the
Ashley River on the opposite side of the road. William became a
member of the Ashley Road Board in 1870 - 74, largely as a result of his concern
over the Ashley crossing. By this time there were about 70 small farmers in the
area and the Ashley river bed crossing beside William was known as Cones
Ford. It was often washed out, leaving those living on the north bank
isolated. William was constantly called out to help people in difficulty.
Doctors could not get to patients, stock would become marooned on the wrong
bank, farmers attending Rangiora sales and the shops would get stranded there
and there were accidents with drays and horses. It was said that 16 people were
drowned along the stretch of the Ashley over the years and there was a growing
demand by the Loburn settlers under the chairmanship of James A Cunningham for a
dray bridge resulting in a public meeting being held at Flynns Hotel,
Ashley in 1877 to discuss feasibility and to approach
government. The river flowed
gently from its gorge near Oxford and it meandered for part of its twenty mile
course to the sea between terraced banks. However near Rangiora the ground
flattened and when the river rose, swollen by southerly rains, farmers
lost land, fences and tracks. The Ashley school in 1874 was threatened so the
building was moved and the area around Kowhai became
inundated. Another
meeting held in 1878 by Loburn farmers again aired their
dissatisfaction - the problems of access for priest and grain buyer, doctor
and drover, the many accidents at the ford and the need for a safe and regular
route to the Rangiora shops, agencies and market.
Other agencies refused to be involved
and so the Ashley Road Board decided to build a cart bridge in 1879. This was
opened on 20 October but by 1890 after flooding washed away one end and with
the constant cost of upkeep, it stood derelict and years of disputes
continued. Long suffering public were again forced to use the ford or to stable
their horses there and walk over a footbridge which was added to the railway
bridge. The Lyttleton Times reported in December
1886 that William Cone was brought before the Rangiora Court.
He was charged by the Ashley Roads Board under the Amended Public Works
Act, that he had allowed gorse to spread from his section onto the public road
bounding it. The clerk of the board stated that William not complied when
asked to grub it out - the fence was partly gorse and partly stakes and wire.
William successfully defended himself against this allegation stating he had
never planted gorse along his boundary and the gorse had spread from the road on
to his property. The case was dismissed.  On the
25th July 1874, William sold 27 acres, part of his Ashley land,
to brother George and here George built the sod hut. William had originally
purchased this land for £30 and was before Fawcetts Road - the corner used
to be known as Cones Corner. He and wife Isabella who died June 1889 and
later with his second wife Maria, lived on the corner (Cones Corner) of
the road north of the traffic bridge over the Ashley river above Rangiora.
William never had more than 87 acres in total and in 1892 he bought the section
in Ashley Street opposite the Salvation Army Hall from brother George for £75 -
George had paid £100 for it, and here he retired to in 1894. He bought land at
Kowai 23/10/1875 - this was sold 27/2/1901. He had bought another section
also in 1902 for £52.10s near his house but not touching Ashley or High
Street and here he kept his horse. William died 18th September 1905
aged 67 of peritonitus and is buried at the Presbyterian Cemetery, East Belt
Rangiora alongside his first wife Elizabeth. The graves are about 50 metres from the road
in the older part of the cemetery and has a headstone.
William and second wife Maria whom he married March 26th. 1890 at Christchurch, left Rangiora after his retirement. In the New Zealand Directory he is living at 8 Princes Street in Mount Victoria, Wellington in 1896. He
returned and was a witness/signatory on George's will dated 1/6/1898 with occupation
"Gentleman, Wellington". By 1901 he and Maria had returned to Rangiora where he died in 1905. William left his estate to
Maria, "Minnie" nee Walton, daughter of Richard Walton and Mary Ann Crane - she was known as the "little woman" who after Williams
death, sold the section and the house near it for £470 on 2 September,
1908 to W A Burt, father of Elsie Cone. The 87 acre farm at
Ashley was sold to Mr Whiteside for £1018 on the 17 February 1908
and Minnie went to live in Wellington where she put her money into house
property but it was said she lost the
lot.

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