Kumara Sketch Map

In January 2023 I spent time on the West Coast, and in particular, exploring around Kumara, Larrikins and Goldsborough where my Payn, Scettrini, and some of my Lalor ancestors lived.

I am a great mixer-upper of left and right, and whenever I had visited Kumara, I always found myself confused about directions. Cycling along parts of the West Coast Cycle Trail though, helped me put everything into the right place in my mind. Hopefully this sketch map will help me recall the lay of the land for any future trip.

 On the Cycle Trail, I emerged into Kumara from the Greymouth end, and found myself within a short distance from where my Lalor grandparents, and my Uncle Jack, lived. It reminded me that my Uncle Jack had told me once that the old Tramway had passed nearby- and I know that at least part of the cycle route traverses it.

Uncle Jack told me there used to be two Payn-Scettrini houses up at the top of Boundary Rd, and I knew that my Scettrini 2x-great-grandfather lived up there: family photos show him there as an old man. Now there is one house up the top there, fully renovated. Next door it is hard to tell if any of the old house is left, as there is a lot of bush on the section.

 I took the liberty of wandering through part of this second section though, and found myself coming out onto the Larrikins part of the cycle trail! That was a lightbulb moment of how things fitted together in the landscape. 

Next day when I cycled the Larrikins part of the route, from the old Theatre Royal Hotel up to the road leading to Callaghans and Goldsborough, I recognised when I was passing the back of the two Scettrini sections.

According to family stories, Scettrini sisters Johanna (Payn) and Nellie (Baretta) used to live up on Boundary Rd next door to each other. There is an architect’s sign outside the renovated house.  One of my cousins, a Baretta descendant, grew up in Kumara and has told me that Ellen Baretta née Scettrini lived in the house that is still standing.

Somehow I had also been confused as I knew that “Payn’s Track” near where Frank Payn was goldmining was on the other side of the main road, and I had thought that was Larrikins too. A more careful re-reading of some of the material the West Coast Historical Museum prepared for our Payn-Scettrini family reunion in the early 90s showed me he was in fact mining later in a different place from Larrikins. I had walked Payn’s Track on a previous West Coast visit- I must re-walk it next time I am in Kumara.

Next I took the road that led me to Goldsborough and Stafford. I am grateful to various people on the West Coast South Island history FB group, who helped me with information before my trip south. It helped me clarify where Larrikins was, and also where Big Dam was, near Goldsborough, the first place where the Scettrini family lived before they moved to Kumara.

I had hoped I might perhaps walk or even drive up a road I could see on a map for Big Dam Hill. But when I arrived I discovered there was current mining activity up there, and access wasn’t possible. At least I now have a clear idea of where it was in relation to the main Goldsborough settlement. It shouldn’t be surprising that Giuseppe Scettrini, from a mountain village in Ticino, should choose to live in such a wild and hilly place.

 

Joseph (Giuseppe) Scettrini

Joseph (Giuseppe) SCETTRINI

On September 20, 1834, John, son of Joseph Abondi Scitrini, and Maria Johanna, daughter of  Gugliermus Scilacci, were married at the Church of the Blessed Mary Virgin of Mt Carmel, in Corippo, Canton of Ticino, Southern Switzerland.

From Corippo parish register- via microfilm at Mormon FHC.

A year later, on the ninth of September, 1835, their infant son, Joseph, was baptised at the same church.

From microfilm of Corippo parish register, 1835,- with my translation.

               Joseph was one of many young men who left Corippo where there were many hardships, and he found his way to the goldfields in Victoria. In 1864 he was married at St Kilian's, Bendigo, to a young Irish woman named Catherine Heneberry. He described himself then as a 29 year old bachelor, resident at Sailor's Gully.

             

Their first child, Johanna, was born at Sandhurst on 29 December 1865,  and their second child, John, was born at Eaglehawk in 1867.

           

It wasn't long before the family moved across the Tasman to the West Coast goldfields, and settled first at Waimea, near the Big Dam, during the Goldsborough rush. Johanna is known to have gone to the school there.  At least four children were born at Waimea: the first was MaryAnne in December 1869, and the last seems to be Joseph Beneda, born in May 1876.           

The family is next known to be living at Kumara, where Joseph lived for the rest of his days in a house on Boundary Road. 

 

On 21 March, 1883, Joseph applied for naturalisation. He was described as a goldminer,  45 years old, who had been living in the colony of New Zealand for 15 years.

           

On 6 January, 1887, Catherine Heneberry died, leaving Joseph a widower with eleven living children (nine of them girls), ranging in age from two to twenty-one. He never re-married.

                            

In September of 1890, Joseph discovered gold in a swampy area near Whiskey Creek, and a small rush occurred. He applied for a 6 acre claim and had constructed a 30ft tunnel. A newspaper reporter on Sept 15, 1890, found only one person working on the prospector's claim (assumed to be his son) and states that "I understand that Scetterini is not well at present and is consequently not working." He continues later: "I think we should all be desirous of rewarding a prospector and the storekeepers who had the courage to back him, for months, and though I consider six acres rather too large a slice for a very small party of men, I think the area should be in proportion to the labour expended.” 

Mr Seddon gave notice in Parliament on Sept 16, 1890, that this rush had occurred, and named the prospector as J. Sceterini. He sought Government aid to improve the access track.

Joseph is believed to have buried some of his gold, but when his section was dug up after his death, none was found. 

           

At the family reunion in 1992, Elizabeth Payn's wedding photograph from 1912 was reproduced on the front page of The Greymouth Evening Star. It shows Joseph Scettrini seated in the front row, complete with walking stick and large white beard.

 

           

Joseph lived until 4 October 1928, when he died, at 94 years of age, at his daughter's residence in Boundary Rd, Kumara. He was survived by seven children and thirty grandchildren. His obituary says: "Deceased followed alluvial mining practically all his life, and was for some time employed on Government Roads in and about Kumara. He was one of Kumara's oldest identities, as well as being one of the longest lived of Kumara's citizens."  

Note on SPELLING of Joseph Scettrini's name.

Joseph's original first name in Italian was Giuseppe. On the Latin baptismal entry it is written as josephus. The original spelling in Italian (in Corippo) of the surname is SCETTRINI, though on the Latin Church entries it appears as scitrini.

The surname is OFTEN misspelled, and when searching for information about the family in indexes, it is necessary to think quite laterally!  Some of the variations in spelling that I have detected include Scetrini, Sectrini, Scetrina, Seitrina, Sechini, Seitrino, Scetrim, Setrini, Citrini.

Frank PAYN & Johanna SCETTRINI

Now it is time to briefly introduce my great-grandparents from Kumara, my maternal grandmother's parents- Francis Davis Payn, and Johanna Scettrini.

(Originals of these photos are presently held by Joe Payn, Kumara.)

Francis Davis PAYN was born in November 1854 in St Martin's Parish on the island of Jersey in the Channel Islands. His parents were Thomas Payn and Elizabeth MOURANT. (Their headstone is in French, so I assume Francis Davis was probably able to speak French.) Originally some of us thought he was born in 1851, but it turns out he had an older brother of the same name who died aged 3. Our Francis Davis was born the very next day, and given the same name.

Johanna SCETTRINI was born in 1865 in Australia. She was baptised in St Kilian's (Catholic) Church in Bendigo, and her residence was given as Sailor's Gully. Her parents were Giuseppe Scettrini from Corippo, Ticino, in southern Switzerland, and Catherine HENEBERRY from Ballyporeen in Co Tipperary, Ireland. When she was young, Johanna's parents moved to follow the goldmining on the West Coast, and settled first at Big Dam/ Waimea/ Goldsborough. They later moved to Kumara.

Francis and Johanna married in Kumara in 1886 at the Registrar's Office. He was a goldminer, and she had been doing some domestic duties for the Seddons, who presented the couple with a large clock on their marriage. Frank's residence was given as "Dillmans", and Johanna's as Kumara.
(The spelling of Johanna's surname appears to be written as Scetrini at her wedding- one of many spellings that differ from the original name of Scettrini back in Corippo.)

Frank and Johanna had 11 children that I am aware of:- Thomas- 1886; Catherine (Kate)-1888; Elizabeth (Lizzie) -1890; Mary Ann- 1891; Rose (my grandmother)- 1893; John Francis (Jack)- 1895; Hilda Selina- 1897; Joseph Helier (Joe)- 1899; Matilda (Tilly)- 1901; Albert Edward- 1903; Francis Davis (Frank)- 1908. (I am grateful to cousins Patricia Milne (nee Lalor), Pat Wallace, and Maurice Payn for help researching the details for these children.)

Frank Payn was very involved in the local community. In Papers Past there are references to him as a goldminer, and he was also  one of the Kumara Hospital trustees. Payn's Gully is named after him, and there is a track that Joe Payn has been very involved with creating (at the Boundary Rd/ Londonderry Rock end of Kumara township.)

Frank Payn died in 1929 in the hospital in Hokitika, aged 74. Johanna lived to be 93 and died in November 1957 in Tasman Home, Greymouth.

Greymouth Evening Star 22/11/57

Frank and Johanna are both buried in the cemetery in Hokitika.