Location 292
Location #292. Halfway House & Store.
Map 0
Address
Bannockburn Road

Area

Happy Valley

Description

Location #292. Halfway House & Store. Happy Valley (Tucker Gully), true left bank approx 100m from Bannockburn Road. Shown on the J T Thompson map of 1862/1863


Still Standing

No


There is no trace remaining, only broken glass and pottery, however black poplars, fruit trees and hawthorn bushes located the general area. The Halfway House & Store burnt down in 1882.

Construction Details

May have been pug with corrugated iron roof, or corrugated iron cladding with timber framing.

Location Type

Dwelling
Commercial Building


View Location on Map

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Interested Parties

The table below shows the groups of people that had an interest in this property, either as owners, residents, tenants or shareholders. Clicking on the 'Details' link will display a list of the individuals in the group along with any known historical information about them.

Group Date Description
1 1857 - c1863 Clement (first name unknown) Details
2 c1863 - 1866 Thomas White Details
3 1866 - 1882 William Richard Parcell (1) Details
Notes

The table below shows any historical notes about the location.

Note Date Short Description Note Text
3032 c1857 Notes on the name 'Clement' The name 'Clement' came from an early map (see next note) and the 'C' was smudged - so it is possible that the name is not 'Clement'
3033 c1857/58 Early maps of the area. Mr John Turnbull Thompson, the early surveyor and explorer produced a number of maps of the Otago interior district runs. Reconnaissance Survey 4 covers the Bannockburn area and was surveyed around 1857/58. The map was published about 1862/63. Shown on this map is a reference to '?lements accommodation house' * The location of this building is very close to the Parcells Halfway House and it may be that the Clements accommodation house and the 'Halfway House' are the same building. The author has been unable to discover any information about the name Clement, or the accommodation house, other than it being present on the Thompson map. * (the letter is smudged on the map, but may be a C, therefore the name may be Clement. See electoral roll 1867/68 where the only entry is George Clement, Camp Street, Queenstown - household)
3034 2015 Further information on the name 'Clement' Recently, the author has discovered mention in 'Papers Past' of the construction of the Nevis Road in which mention is made of 'Clements Hill'
3035 1866 Electoral roll record. Thomas White appears in the electoral roll. His place of residence is shown as the 'Halfway House - Nevis Road' The author is unsure whether this is location #292. It may have been at the 'Sisters Rocks on the Nevis -Duffers Saddle. (see location #497)
3045 1866 Wiliam Parcell and family moved to Happy Valley William Parcell and family moved to Happy Valley. Here he built, or brought the Halfway House, which included a store and a dwelling. The Halfway House was situated on the dray road between Clyde and the Nevis (and Cromwell). However, there was very little traffic to Cromwell until James Stewart installed the 'Bannockburn and Kawarau Ferry' in 1867. The only detail of dwelling #292 that has survived is that it had 7 rooms. William sold stores to miners an their way to the Nevis goldfield and would buy gold from the miners returning to Clyde. he farmed the land in Tuckers Gully, growing oats and potatoes. William also operated a taxi service with a two horse waggonette or express. Travellers could be fed and accommodated at the Halfway House.
3048 1882 On 23 May 1882 the Halfway House burnt down. On 23 May 1882 the Halfway House burnt down. Mrs Parcell had left her daughter Ellen at the house. Harry, her son, had driven his mother and family to the Quartzville shops in the waggonette
3049 1882 Report from the Cromwell Argus Report from the Cromwell Argus, 30 May 1882. " A seven roomed farm house of Mr W Parcell, on the road between Nevis and Cromwell was totally consumed by fire on Tuesday afternoon last, about half past two o'clock. On receiving information of the event, sergeant McLeod proceeded to the spot and instituted enquiries. It seems that Mr Parcell was at the time in the chaff house, some little distance from the dwelling. On observing the smoke he ran to the place, only to find that flames had got a firm hold beyond the power of extinguishment by one man, with no water or other assistance at hand. The owner managed to get out only some fourteen pound worth of property before the house was a smoldering ruin. The house was insured in the South British office for one hundred and fifty pound, and fifty pound on the furniture, but over and above this Mr Parcell estimates his loss at not less than one hundred and fifty pound. It is not known how the fire occurred."
3050 1882 Additional notes on the fire. On the day of the fire, Mr James Cowan, the manager of Kawarau Station was up the hill behind Halfway House working some sheep. He galloped down to help but all was lost, however Ellen Parcell escaped the flames. Mr Cowan took the whole family to the Kawarau Station homestead (dwelling #285) for the night. The next day the family moved to the Renshaws (dwelling #283) about 800m below the Kawarau homestead. Mr Parcell took his wagon and team to Invercargill, returning home with material and goods for a new house. For details of this new house, known as Rose Cottage, see dwelling #294.
Images

The table below shows a list of images related to the location. Click on 'View Image' to display more details about the image, and to view the image.

Image Id Source Date Short Description
1028 Paul Crump - Bannockburn 2004 Tucker Gully - looking north west. View Image
1784 Otago Daily Times 3 Jul 1865 Pack track from Clyde to Nevis upgrade to a dray road. View Image