On Tuesday 5th of April, Mr La Roche came to BBPS. He told us about water in the 1800s. He told us that early New Zealand settlers used to make naughty children dig wells outside people’s houses. The wells would be small and dark so it would be very scary. Some children got stuck in the wells or drowned in the water! The inside of the wells would be covered in bricks to prevent the walls from falling in the water. To get water out of the wells people would tie a bucket to the top of a well and throw it down then haul it back up. “Why didn’t they just attach a brick to the bottom of the bucket and lower it down gently?” Asked Callum. “Because it would be hard to get it back up” answer Mr La Roche. Next we learned about baths. We learned that the water was freezing, so people would bath next to the fire (and very briefly). First the father would bath, then the children and finally the mother. They didn’t bath as often as we do,only once every six weeks. There was no such thing as showers. (Today we use about 300 litres of water per person per day. Back then they used 20 litres per person). They would bath on Saturday night so they were ready for church on Sundays. Men would shave with a cut throat razor. Soap was so expensive that women used to make their own out of wood ash! Since the water was so cold people used to put their cheese,milk and butter into a bucket and lower it down the well to keep it cool! Mr la Roche is a historian who helped set up the Howick Historical Village. He wrote many books and used to be Mrs Wilshire’s dentist.

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