Marion "Marie" Watson Stewart (1898-1983)

This is the first of a two-part series by a contributer who wishes to remain anonymous. It is about an English woman who adopted New Zealand as her home, and was instrumental in establishing an important avicultural enterprise in Tauranga.

Marie Stewart
Photo by Rupert Connell, Tauranga

Marie Stewart was a Birmingham girl who, along with many of the population of industrial England, developed bronchitis as a youngster. She nursed her ailing mother for her final seven years and then made a conscious choice to get into the country air and consequently specialised in raising and managing poultry.

In 1931 she travelled to New Zealand to visit her sister, Kathrine Bell of Townhead Farm, intending to stay for six months, but never used her return ticket. She worked at Massey Agricultural College in Palmerston North for three years as a researcher and lecturer, supplementing her income as a regular columnist for several agricultural papers and authoring three books on poultry keeping.

In the mid-1930s she came to Tauranga to be nearer to her sister and very soon needed to take over the management of the household due to Kathrine’s serious illness following the birth of her second child. To assist her in this unfamiliar role she consulted the Plunket nurse and soon became very involved in the running and support of the Society, a task she took seriously for 45 years.

Marie with niece Margaret and nephew Walter at the Kaimai summit

Once her domestic responsibilities had reduced, Marie turned her energies to purchasing about nine acres of land in Waihi Road, where she set up her own model poultry farm “Cheriton” on the site of the present day The Bayview (formerly Melrose Home and Hospital for the Elderly.)

Marie with a Black Orpington Rooster

She developed a large flock of layers and sent dressed birds to many Rotorua and Taupo Hotels. She won many prizes for her Black Orpingtons. Her birds were housed in sheds and a series of ‘arks’ which could be moved over the ground.

Scene at Cheriton

Marie belonged to a group of women who organised week-long ‘camps’ for selected country girls in the 1930s and she was responsible for the ‘physical jerks’ and a talk on ‘How to budget for buying clothes.’  She was also a member of the Health Stamp Committee which organised sales of stamps and first day covers to raise funds for much needed Health camps for sickly and underprivileged children. Other interests were the Lyceum Club and the Repertory Theatre. She was also a Justice of the Peace for many years.

Scene at Cheriton

During the 1940s she became the County Council’s representative on the Tauranga Hospital Board, a position she held for 33 years.

--- To be continued ---

Sources
Dictionary of Biography of NZ
Papers Past- BOP Times
Interview with niece Margaret
All images courtesy of the Mackersey Family