On Tuesday 5th of April, Mr La Roche from Howick came to tell us about the olden times around 1840 and told us what they did in 1840. People sailed to New Zealand and settled in Howick, Auckland. The people who lived there had to dig wells to get water, and when they dug the wells,they had to use bricks to stop the dirt from dirtying the water.
The well was either 9 metres deep or 30 feet deep. The wells were probably dug by the children because he said that only children could dig that deep. When they have a shower, they have to get the water from the well, but when they have to get a bath, they have to wash in cold water. The people usually dry by the fire so they won’t get too cold. The washing order is that the dad goes first and then the children go second and then the mother washes last in the dirty water left by father and children. The people wash and shave on Saturday so that they could arrive at the church clean on Sunday. They only take a shower every 6 weeks because the water was really cold and they would freeze to death in winter if they took a shower every day.
In the hot sunny days, they put their milk and cheese or butter, whatever goes in the fridge, they put the food in the cold water from the well to keep cool. They didn’t have fridges in those years, so they just had to keep the things cool that way. When they had a meal, they usually cooked a whole pot of something and the family share the same pot, and they pass it around for each other and they all have a spoon. So after the meal, there was only a couple of things to wash. When they go to camp, they have to save water, so they use ash to wash their hands
When it rains, people don’t use the water from the roof because there are yellow things on there and when you drink the water, the water tastes very bad. Each person used about 20 litres of water each day so they didn’t waste water. Things were too expensive at that time, so they had to make their own things. When they drank tea, they used loose leaves and then put it in a bottle and then poured boiling water down and then poured the tea out.
The people in Howick threw their bucket down the well so the bucket filled up with water. By doing this, they had to have their bucket facing down so it floated upwards with a bucketful of water. When they actually throw their bucket down, they had to be real careful because if they’d break the buckets, they will get into trouble.
The percentage of the people who had cows was higher than the people who had horses because cows costs about £5 and horses cost about £15. People make their pencils by themselves by putting graphites in the inside and wood outside.
When the people needed something, they couldn’t use cellphones. Cellphones were not invented that time. Even if cellphones were invented, they would be massive. The first well took them about 1 week to dig and the last well took them about 1 day to dig. To tell the time in Howick, they had pocket watches and watches, but they usually had a pocket watch.
Also they use charcoal to make toothpaste. For safety reasons, people put compasses in every ship. In the olden days, people didn’t have toilet paper, so they use newspaper to wipe, folded in little squares, just like toilet paper. Men sometimes went on trips by ship, so they brought goats with them so they could get goat cheese and milk. The milk tasted the same as cow’s milk.
In those days, people didn’t have TV, so when they get bored, they just chatted or made soap or made pencils. The people there died at the age of 60. When it’s their birthday, they didn’t get many birthday presents. They get 1 birthday present maximum and sometimes none. When people dug wells, people used 150 bricks with no cement because they wanted to make the water flow. They ate corn, potatoes and stewed food because people were really poor at that time. Outside Howick Countdown, is a well in front of the door that was dug by naughty children. Sometimes, they even got water from the stream. When they dug a well, it is not easy to dig on the surface of the ground. Then it gets easier and easier underground because it gots softer and softer and easier to dig. In the olden days, if people broke their buckets, they would get into deep deep trouble.
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