Tom the ostler had caught a cold and although it knocked him round a bit for the next 10 days, by Sunday 19 December 1897, the 61-year-old was up and about his usual work. Tom was the Ōhaupō Hotel ostler – a groom who took care of traveller’s horses.
Ōhaupō had been a military post during the Waikato War and around 1865 was settled by the Bohemians and other nationalities that had been recruited to the Third Waikato Regiment on the promise of land grants for their service.
The land allotments, though, were swamp, and there was not a square yard on which a house could be built, or a man even sit down. Despite this Hamlet Orum, a Danish military settler built the Ōhaupō Hotel on his 50 acres, originally calling it the Halfway House.
It was an unpretentious shanty built of slabs, but the traveller was always sure of a good feed for both man and beast, and a good nobbler – literally something that nobbled or got hold of you – of military rum.
On a board in front of this travellers’ rest written in large letters was ‘If you want rum, Cooee,’ and in answer to the call, up came the landlord from the swamp where he was working to attend to the travellers’ wants.
The hotel changed hands and appearance several times over the years, the ostler of its livery and bait stables a constant part of its service. Goods were carted by wagon, a laborious process and a long and weary journey for horse and man until 1880 when the railway from Ōhaupō to Te Awamutu was opened, signaling a change on the transport horizon.
In 1887 Matthew Laurie became the Ōhaupō Hotel publican and was a kindly employer to Tom. Now, despite attempting to work, Tom took a turn for the worse. The next day he was taken to Waikato Hospital, his cold having developed into acute bronchitis which he succumbed to the following day.
“The many farmers and travellers who have frequented and stayed at the Ōhaupō Hotel will regret to hear of the death of poor old Tom, the ostler,” said the Waikato Argus, adding “Yes, old Tom will be missed. Those who handed over their horses to his care could be sure they would be well looked after.”
The funeral of Tom – whose name was Thomas Edwards – took place on a Wednesday evening at Ōhaupō cemetery. Very few people attended, due to an unfortunate rumour that the burial would take place at Hamilton. Matthew Laurie undertook the organising and expense and had his faithful servant laid to rest. Tom’s final resting place, though, did not seem fitting to the Waikato Argus which observed “Poor old Tom, he now lies sleeping under a canopy of fern that is a disgrace to the people of Ōhaupō.”
A sad end for Tom, but perhaps he avoided something worse. The demise of another ostler was seen as a ‘tragedy of the motor age’. Horses were gradually replaced by motor vehicles and finally all that was left in his stable was one horse and one dog, which were lovingly tended by the aging ostler who had spent his life looking after animals. These too had to be sent away, and the poor old ostler pined from that day, took to his bed, and did not recover.
Horse and buggy Ohaupo
