Author(s): Anthony G. Flude

NZ History

In 1844 the Auckland firm Henderson & Macfarlane swapped a ship for some 18,000 acres of land in the Whau in West Auckland. Thomas Maxwell Henderson, the senior partner and a hard-nosed Scotsmen, then proceeded to tear out the tall kauri timber from the Waitakere ranges and mill it at Henderson's Mill on Henderson Creek. After the mill closed in 1868, many came and left, but some stayed behind to build a life and eventually even a town. And that town became known as Henderson. These are their stories. Exploring the period 1840 to 1939, in this book you will meet Thomas Henderson himself; the Macfarlanes; William Swanson; the McLeod's who founded Helensville; the Corban family; the colourful Portugese Don Buck; the strange recluse Henry Swan; Claude Brookes and his Tui Glen playground; the Henderson Mill Turf Club; the Henderson Football Club; The Henderson School; the Henderson Library; the Henderson Fire Brigade; the Falls Hotel; and many of the individuals, families and institutions of the west. Henderson's Mill is a must-have reference work of both the history and the family names that contributed to the early district and town of Henderson.