Hicks Family Homestead, 208 Ngatimaru Road (circa 1870s)

This attractive cottage was likely constructed in the 1870s by/for Richard Thomas Hicks.

It has been said that Richard hastily emigrated to New Zealand about 1870 after an argument with a gamekeeper. He first purchased Section 9 of Tikorangi District on Inland North Road (immediately west of the Dairy Factory), in April 1870, and had a cottage constructed on that section soon after (he called for tenders for the construction of a cottage on Section 9, Tikorangi, in November 1870). Whilst Hicks sold part of this section in 1879, he retained ownership of most of this section until at least the 1920s (he is still listed as the owner on DP4464 surveyed in 1924).

Then, in April 1874 Hicks purchased Section 74, Waitara East District (this section), and the present house may have been constructed soon after. However, it is also possible he remained living on Inland North Road for several years, and didn’t immediately build on Ngatimaru Road; possibly building this house in 1879 in anticipation of his marriage to Mary Ann Jupp.

The home has been extended several times, probably in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, to accommodate a growing family. These additions are in a similar style to the original home.

See: Taranaki Land Deeds Index I11, page 366