2. My family on my
mothers side is
Irish. Ireland is a
country far from
here. It is a small
poor country.
3. My great grandad was
Frank Cathcart and
was born in Antrum,
Northern Ireland on
the 15 Nov 1907.
( Sorry for
poor quality )
4. He started his
working life with his
father as a
carpenter. The first
thing he built was a
outside toilet that fell
over.
5. When he was 17 he started
to think about travelling. He
originally planed on going
to Canada, but a friend said
he would pay the trip if he
went to New Zealand as
there were better
opportunities.
6. He had a choice of
travelling by plane or
boat. He had an
extreme fear of flying
and did not trust
planes. So he picked
boat.It was the SS
Samaria.
7. He suffered 3 months
of hell on that boat.
People caught the
scurvy and other
diseases, so they died.
He saw bodies being
thrown overboard.
( The shipping log )
8. He finally arrived here
with only 10 shillings
in his pocket ( in
today's currency that
is 1 dollar ).
9. He then travelled
to labor exchange
to get a job. They
gave him a job at
Tokanui as a
farmer.
10. He was riding down the road on a
horse and saw a woman with a
bicycle on the side of the road. He
stopped and she said it had a flat
tire so he helped her change it.
They got married in 1936 in
Wyndham.
11. During the next few years he
took jobs around South and
West Otago, then in 1944 he
purchased a bush section at
Otapin. It had been milled
and was covered stumps
and old logs ideal for rabbits.
12. Frank started trapping the
rabbits as sheep were
competing with rabbits for
feed. Rabbits were
winning. He got 10 pounds
for his first 100.
13. He brought a farm and
named it Rata Park. It was
named after the Rata trees
that appeared every 3
years. In the early 50's a
block just above it was for
sale so he bought it. 300
acres.
14. He did a lot of work for
Lora Station. It was an
hours ride on horseback
through the bush. They
used to breed their own
horses. Frank went to help
muster the horses as they
wanted to get rid of the
stallion.
15. He liked horses and broke
in lots. There was a black
mare that he liked. It had
not been handled before
so he tied it between 2
drafts and bought it home
that way.
16. After 25 years of hard work on his
farm he died suddenly in
December 1959 at the age of 57.
He was in the paddock with his son
John ( my Grandad ) and said he
didn't feel well. John told him to go
home but noticed he had stopped
half way.
17. John took him the rest
of the way. They
called the doctor but
he died before the
doctor got there.
18. Once he was buried, lots of
hard work and planing made
it possible for Mrs Cathcart
and the whole family ( 4
children ) to run the farm until
John could take over.
