The Waipukurau Press circa 1905, owned by G W Venables and Robert Wilson.
This is the last ever edition of the CHB Mail.
The CHB Mail’s pedigree goes back to the district’s first newspaper, the Waipawa Mail, which printed its first edition on September 14, 1878.
It was the first of the southern Hawke’s Bay newspapers, and was published by Hugh Thomson, who said “A settlement without a newspaper is like a dumb man; it has no voice.”
The Waipawa Mail had a turbulent first few years ... In 1879 it was sold, and sold again in 1884 to Samuel Johnson.
But Johnson, described as a “sturdy old radical” found the farming community hostile to his point of view - so he sold the paper to a local company and became the town’s coroner instead.
The new owners appointed Daniel Chamier as editor, until 1887 when John T Marryat Hornsby took the paper over.
Hornsby resigned in 1889, the result of a libel case brought by Dr Von Mirbach. The Mail had published that Mirbach was not entitled to call himself a doctor of medicine, and implied he was a quack. Mirbach showed he held degrees in medicine, surgery and midwifery and the court found in his favour.
Mirbach also sued the next editor of the Mail, Henry Ellison, for libel in 1891, claiming £1000 in damages. This claim was settled in June 1892, with the newspaper withdrawing all insinuations. Ellison resigned the same month and was replaced by Charles Mitchell Whittington.
The newspaper company went into liquidation in 1900 and it was purchased by Whittington who remained with the paper until he died in 1914.
The Mail was then purchased by Charles H Critchley, and continued under his ownership until 1941.
Staff and paper shortages during the Second World War made it impossible for the newspaper to stay afloat. However, the printing side of the business continued and was eventually purchased by Howard Francis (Joe) Franks.
Franks decided to restart a community newspaper and the first issue of the new Waipawa Mail came out on July 25, 1946. It was eventually sold to the Hawke’s Bay Herald Tribune in 1978.
In the meantime, the Waipukurau Press was in operation, started by James Claridge in 1905, then owned by G W Venables and Robert Wilson.
The four-page paper was published on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, with copies selling at 1d.
In 1911, Ernest Urwin bought out one of the partners, upgraded the equipment and moved the paper to a two-storeyed building in Ruataniwha St. By 1925 the Press routinely published six-page issues, with another two pages added in 1927.
The paper was by then published on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, with two editions a day.
In 1931, the Press became a daily, and in 1936 there was a name change to Central Hawke’s Bay Press.
In 1977, Hawke’s Bay Newspapers, publishers of the Hawke’s Bay Herald Tribune, purchased a 50% share in the Press company; the next year it bought the weekly Waipawa Mail.
The Central Hawke’s Bay Press was merged with the Waipawa Mail in 1980. Soon after it became the weekly CHB Mail.
And so it remained until this week.
The CHB Mail has been here through fires, floods, droughts, boom times and bad times.
The Mail reported the closure of the Waipukurau Hospital and the building of the new medical centre. Its pages have carried news from earthquakes to arts, schools to businesses opening and closing, and all manner of sports.
The CHB Mail was the instigator and longtime sponsor of the CHB Sports Awards.
The Mail was a presence at the long-gone saleyards, and at court.
Successive reporters and editors have developed a close relationship with their community.
It was nothing for reporters to work long days, including evenings and weekends - covering show reviews, public meetings, community events, school and sports events. Every CHB A&P Show has been covered, every Duck Day, every Anzac Day and many 100th birthdays.
Mayors and MPs have had their say in the pages of the CHB Mail, keeping the community informed.
Reporters have also been privileged to have a close relationship with emergency services. The CHB Mail has had unprecedented access to local police and volunteer fire brigades, allowing not only coverage of accidents, crashes and fires, but a chance to push road and fire safety messages and boost the profile of these essential services in rural towns.
The CHB Mail was there when the district marched to keep our St John Ambulance services in Waipukurau - and we still have them today.
It’s with heavy hearts we farewell our CHB Mail.
There have been many good times - Christmas parades and festivals, shows, market days. This community does a lot and has a lot, and is a lot.
Thank you to our readers and our loyal advertisers.
And a massive thank you to those we have had the immense privilege of writing about.
Thank you for inviting us in, talking to us, and allowing us to share your stories with our readers.
It’s the end of a long era.
Past staff of the CHB Mail are planning to get together in late January to share some tall tales ... anyone interested in coming along can contact past editor Owen Jones, owenjones@xtra.co.nz or phone 0274 8532 185.
