William Digby Harrod: From London to Ōkato

It sounds like the stuff of legend, except the link between Ōkato and the Harrods of London mega-store is more than just rumour. It's real. And it's not only the lush green of an Ōkato spring day, the same colour as the famous Harrods branding, that connects them, it's William Digby Harrod, the son of the man who founded Harrods, who once lived in Ōkato. Though no one precisely knows why, William turned up in the fledgling town in the mid-1860s, possibly via the Otago goldmines.

A highly educated man, with a love of poetry and reading, he seemed to survive on a private income, most likely supplied by his family. Born in 1842, William arrived in the district as a young private in the Taranaki Military Settlers Scheme, and was one of a contingent of men put into place to help stop the fighting between Māori and Pākehā. For his efforts, William earned the New Zealand medal. In 1867, Governor George Grey pinned it to his chest.

William's reasons for leaving London will probably never be known. Some said he might have been the black sheep of his family, a 'remittance man' paid to disappear. Somehow, it seems unlikely, because William was held in high esteem by people in Ōkato, and one of his closest friends, Fred Roebuck, thought highly enough of him to name his youngest son Stephen Digby Roebuck.

Once, many years on, when Stephen was interviewed at the age of 87, he was asked about his namesake. He said his parents were fond of the Englishman. "My parents were always talking about him. They enjoyed his company."

In 1867, with a soldier's grant in keeping with his rank, William bought two blocks of land - four hectares in the middle of town where Carthew Street is now, and a larger 23 hectare piece on the edge of town, which today makes up part of the Ōkato Domain.

On the smaller parcel of land, he built a two-roomed hut, laid a cobble-stoned courtyard and planted arum lilies. From there he moved to Oxford Road and built a more substantial house. When he was an old man, he moved into the Ashley house on Old South Road.

Though he is sometimes listed on records as a farmer, he considered himself 'a gardener'. From the late 1870s till the early 1880s, William served on the Ōkato District Roads Board, first holding the job of Secretary, then rising through the ranks to Chairman. Soon, he was appointed Justice of the Peace.

It's a long way to Taranaki from England, where William first worked for his father in London's impoverished East End, at the time when Queen Victoria first took the throne. It was 1835 when Charles Henry Harrod, tea merchant and grocery wholesaler, opened the doors to his first shop in Stepney, across the road from his house. But Charles had an acquaintance, another businessman, who fretted over the outbreak of cholera currently sweeping the city.

Desperate to escape his lease on a grocery shop in Knightsbridge, the merchant offered it to Charles. In 1849, Charles moved, lock, stock and barrel, to the almost pastoral setting of Brompton Road. As Knightsbridge prospered, so did Charles Henry, who lost no time in growing his business by employing both sons, Charles Digby and William Digby, who shared their middle name.

As his store spilled over into several adjoining buildings, Harrods grew to be one of the biggest, most fashionable stores in London. When Charles Henry retired in 1861, he handed the reins to Charles, who began a major transformation. Just two years later, William would sail for foreign shores.

After Harrods was gutted by fire in 1883, Charles Digby took the opportunity to rebuild in grander style. By 1884, Harrods was the premier store in London, filled with well-heeled, upper-crust patrons, and a staff of 200 on the payroll.

Today, Charles is considered an ambitious, hardworking man, whose efforts turned Harrods into the magnificent retail manor it's become.

Why William left England is still a mystery. Prior to departure, he had worked for his brother for five years. Perhaps, with his brother in charge of the store, he could see no place for himself, and sought his own adventure. Perhaps his family were happy to support him until he found his feet.

While whispers continued about William being a 'remittance' man, another one was added, that of fleeing London after getting a young woman 'in the family way'. But, if it was scandal that made William run, it can't have been a bad one. William lived a decent life, remained unmarried, and the good Ōkato folk, who knew him well, never had a bad word to say about him. Instead, they took him into the fold, where he was loved and respected until he died.

Today, the son of the visionary grocery who founded Harrods of London lies next to friends and colleagues in Ōkato's tidy cemetery, beneath expensive coffin-shaped grey marble.