DOUG LAING
Bob Husheer seemed more interested in talking about cricket last night when he first heard the news of the planned closure of the huge tobacco factory site which was started by grandfather and New Zealand tobacco industry pioneer Gerhard Husheer 73 years ago.
He had heard several times that it was being closed, or sold, but yesterday's news was the first that the innings at what is commonly referred to as "Rothmans" was just about over.
It was built in 1932 for the National Tobacco Co, founded by Gerhard Husheer. The family sold to Rothmans in 1956, at which time Bob Husheer worked on the site for the Customs Department, starting as a 16-year-old just a year before the sale and earning more than his father, who had been factory leaf manager. Bob's brother, John, who is currently overseas, took up the position under an agreement that at least one Husheer would remain with the plant after its sale, and became general manager before ultimately working abroad for Rothmans International.
Gerhard Husheer was born in Germany in 1864, and pioneered the tobacco industry in New Zealand from 1910, trying to grow tobacco at Bridge Pa and Haumoana, and other sites throughout the country, before deciding on Motueka.
At its peak, after World War 2, more than 500 people worked on the site, in three shifts, and Bob Husheer said it was the hub of work and social life in Napier.
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