Book review
“Historic Homesteads of Hawkes Bay” by Angus Gordon, published by Mary Egan Publishing, Price $50.
Reviewed by Tony Orman
Hawkes Bay has a rich rural history of early European farming settlement. Often gracious homesteads were built on the initial settlement of sheep stations and farms and trees planted so that today, homesteads often have settings of giant trees such as enormous oaks, gums or Norfolk pines. Hawkes Bay was prominent in the establishment of the country’s early pastoral farming development.
Author Angus Gordon has lived all his life – on and off – at Clifton Station, on the Hawkes Bay coast, near Cape Kidnappers. As a former Hawkes Bay resident many names were very familiar for me, i.e. Matapiro, Ashcott, Akitio, Glenross, Guavas, Matapiro, Tutira, Rissington and quite a few others. But I was perplexed with other names as to little or no indication of the locality of others. Also the book lacks an index, very much needed in a book of this nature.
However this is a well researched and presented book, a credit to the author and publisher.
