Firth Tower Museum manager Vicky Kelly outside the McCaw Homestead. Photo / Steve Edwards
A pioneer family home in rural Waikato is the centrepiece of a museum complex.
Dating back to 1902, the McCaw Homestead was once the headquarters of the 56,000-acre (22,700ha) Matamata Estate.
Since November 1978, the building has formed the nucleus of Firth Tower Museum on the outskirts of Matamata.
Manager Vicky Kelly said significant changes were made to the McCaw Homestead after it was first jointly bought in 1972 by the former Matamata Borough and Matamata County councils.
This included a complete rebuild of the kitchen, bedrooms and lounge, with a flat inside decommissioned.
The front rooms of the house, plus the laundry, have been furnished in the style of the late 1880s when the McCaws began their residence.
Kelly said the rooms in the homestead were representative of what it might have been in the late 19th century.
“It is in keeping with that era.”
With local government reorganisation in 1989, Matamata-Piako District Council took over ownership of the property, with Matamata Historic Society creating displays in the McCaw Homestead.
The society had accumulated material over the years, chiefly through donations by residents in and around the area.
Previously “staff only”, the kitchen has been opened for public view, with more usable display space.
Kelly said the laundry was “hands-on” rather than a display.
Some items have also been brought over from the adjacent Firth Tower, which has been closed since 2022 pending a structural assessment.
The Matamata Estate was established by Josiah Clifton Firth in 1865, and he built a country villa in 1879.
During his tenure, prior to the development of Matamata, a virtual village, including a school, church, equipment shed and apiary, occupied what is now the museum site.
In 1895, the Assets Realisation Board took control of the Matamata Estate, appointing John McCaw as manager.
McCaw and his family moved into Firth’s homestead, which subsequently burnt down in June 1902 after an accidental fire.
He immediately set about clearing the site and constructing a new house, said to have cost £450, which may have been completed within a few months.
The new dwelling was built in an almost identical position to the previous structure, but was slightly detached from the concrete tower from which Firth Tower Museum gets its name.
Shortly after the building’s construction, the estate was divided into 117 farms allocated by ballot in 1904.
John McCaw was himself exempted from the ballot process, being allocated the homestead farm of nearly 400ha by the government based on his “superior knowledge of farm economics and management”.
In the first season after the ballot, he was producing 12 cans of milk per day from 100 cows, while the average supplier produced only two cans from smaller herds.
As the largest homestead in the district and the oldest established farm in the area, the building was a place of social gathering.
The Cambridge Hunt met outside its door, and the then Premier Richard Seddon spent an afternoon there while on a visit to assess the progress of the balloted farms.
The McCaws occupied the farm until 1917, having made a few alterations to the building, including the creation of an office in a partly enclosed verandah, which was extended towards the rear of the house.
John McCaw retired to Hamilton and died on April 10, 1930.
In a brief autobiography for the benefit of his children in 1929, he recorded his satisfaction at knowing that he was the means of preparing a very large area of the Waikato for closer settlement.
Following the departure of the McCaw family, the Tower Rd farm was bought by a group of merchants from Wellington and elsewhere, after which the building was occupied by various tenants.
The land was further subdivided before being bought by A. W. Fowke in 1941, when the farm consisted of just under 100ha.
An additional 6000sq m of land behind the McCaw Homestead was donated by the Fowke family in 1985 to add to the museum site.
As the museum developed, the town jail was moved there, while the old Matamata Methodist Church still hosts weddings.
Kelly said groups could book to visit the museum and learn how lifestyles had developed since the mid-1800s through interactive displays or take part in facilitated activities.
These include silent movies, Victorian outdoor games, butter-making, washday the old-fashioned way, candle-making and a treasure hunt.
The museum also hosts displays for limited time periods and other special events.
Next up is Christmas at Firth Tower on December 6 at 6.30 pm, featuring the Matamata Brass Band and Matamata Community Choir.