You had hardly anything left to buy boots or anything else with. Then I used to do a lot of fancy work and I used to sell that and made a bit of money that way to help me with my little ones. Oh I have had a good struggle in life.

Do you remember any of the people that were in the gold rush? Do you remember any of the people that were here when Te Aroha first started?

They are all dead and gone.

But you would remember a lot of them wouldn't you?

Some of them.

Who were they? Who were the very first people that were here?

I don't know, I forget.

Who were the Maori couple that you went to see?

That were Mr and Mrs Morgan - that was a Maori Chief. They lived in a whare when Te Aroha just opened. They lived in a where there where the Hot Springs are now and they used to have one room as a bar. They used to sell drink. They sold that for a while and then at last they got a house down where Herries Memorial Park is and they built a little house there and it is still there. The ? have it down there. They shifted from there and then the whare was gone from them.

Didn't you go and pay them a visit at one time, in the beginning when you first came here?

Yes I used to go often and visit.

What was she like?

Very nice. She was a tattooed woman but very nice, just like a white woman to talk to and if you went in she would make you a cup of tea and a bit of cake. The cake she would make herself.

How did you get on with your dressmaking?

You would had to judge yourself.

All by hand?

Yes.

What were the fashions like in those days?

Old-fashioned! Long dresses and big hats. There were crinolines still and there were bustles.

Did you wear a crinoline?

No I did not. I wasn't allowed to wear one at first and then I wouldn't wear one. My husband didn't like them.

Did you wear a bustle?

No I didn't wear neither of them things. I was a very curious woman to tell you the truth, I like everything plain and nice but I didn't like any of these falderals.

What about this farm that you took on?

After the top went off the whare, I came down to the township, I knew a friend and she said to me "What's the matter?" and I said "Oh, the top's gone off the whare" "Come on in with me, we've plenty of room" So I went and stayed with her a while and then I got a house up the top end - a little house it was with three rooms in, but very comfortable. I lived there then till my husband came back from the ? He went across the river to buy a piece of land and he went across and got a piece of Government land next to 2-3 neighbours over there and then he got a bit of timber and built me a house.

Would that be over where Harrysville is now?

Yes.

What did he pay for it, do you know?