Green Thumbed Prisoners

Hamner Springs Tree Planting Camp 1903.

Excerpt from “THE WAY IT WAS, STORIES FROM NEW ZEALAND” by Colin Townsend

During NZ’s history of Prison Reform prisoners have been set many varied tasks while completing their sentences. One of these earlier challenges after due process was followed with the clearing of land and the planting trees in conjunction with The Department of Lands and their project of ‘State a forestation in NZ’ in response to the results of deforestation as thousands of acres had been cut out and not replaced.

Four ‘Tree planting camps’ were established. The first such camp was 25 kilometres from Rotorua at Waiotapu and this opened on the 1st of February 1901.

Hamner Springs (famous mineral water resort) 80 kilometres from Christchurch opened on the 5th of September 1902.

Dumgree (Marlborough District) opened 1st of May 1903 and operated for five years closing in 1908.

Waipa (also in the Rotorua District) opened 1st August 1903.

Hamner Springs today is a Mecca for tourists who come in their thousands to bath in the various mineral pools and walk the bush tracks. A far cry from 1903 when under the supervision of Mr. A.W. Roberts (Principal Warder and acting Gaoler) the first prisoners were used to build the camp, blacksmith’s shop, boot makers shop, and place the cooking and sleeping huts in position. This took from the 5th of September until the 21st of September when the planting 128,560 trees began. The prisoners also formed a road to the tree nursery and five miles of fire breaks.

In September of 1904 Colonel Hume, Government Inspector of Prisons, inspected the Camp at Hamner Springs and was most impressed. The prisoners conduct overall had been good as well as their health. This was because the majority of the prisoners had asked to be sent to the camp. The men had not been treated any better at Hamner than they would have had they been any where else. The food was the same as in a city prison; the only difference the prisoners got an additional four marks a week remission for industry which equalled two days a month.

The next four years saw the prisoners (average 30) planting thousands of trees, acorns and clearing hundreds of acres of land.

During February/March 1908 prison labour was used to establish a new site and camp to hold sixty prisoners. Again buildings had to be erected and huts from Dumgree were repaired, painted in official white and placed. Roads were again formed as well as flower and vegetable gardens. July saw snow stopping planting for that month and the weekly Clergy was kept busy as the prisoners had little they could do.

It was reported in December 1909 that; Tree planting by prison hard labour had now passed the experimental stage. “It is a humane and rational method of giving prisoners (those who could cope) a chance to alter their lives. At the three tree planting camps over 3,000,000 trees have been planted with only one prisoner death.”

All huts had been altered from double to be single cells. Prison recreation was on Saturday afternoons when in summer cricket was played against any team. Sundays was church and a day of rest when clothes were washed and repaired and the library room being well attended.

1910 under the supervision of Acting Gaoler W. Ayling saw a common room built and heated by a boiler with hot water pipes this being a great comfort during the winter months.

In 1911 many work days were lost due to bad weather consisting of many frosts and falls of heavy snow. The winter of 1912 was no better with seven weeks lost. This was also when the Rev. Campbell retired. He was very well thought of by the prisoners for he seldom missed visiting on a Sunday no matter how bad the weather. He was a true friend to his charges, meeting them on their discharge and assisting with a little money and finding employment.

D. Blain was the last Acting Gaoler at Hamner Springs for the Camp closed on the 4th November 1913.

History records that an average of 51 prisoners from 1901 to March 1915 cleared 9,726 acres of hill and valleys and planted more than 31,000,000 trees changing the face of this part of the country forever.