Fareham’s History

Early Māori

Pae Tū Mōkai, Featherston, has a great climate to grow food. Māori settled in South Wairarapa 800 years ago and found the area abundant with wildlife. Large populations of tuna (eel) passed through Lake Wairarapa on their migration to Pacific Islands breeding grounds, and the birds were friendly and well-fed, making them an easy catch.

There was a Māori settlement here called Pae-O-Tu-Mokai. Some say it means ‘the snare that caught my pet bird’, and named by the local chief after he found his pet bird caught in a snare. Another story about the name was that Kupe walked the area with his pet dog called Tauira, admiring the plentiful food in the area, when his dog became snared in a trap.

The whenua at Pae Tū Mōkai, Featherston, provided many food sources for the Māori tribes living in the area and passing through South Wairarapa on their way to the South Island. The tribes of Ngāti Kahungunu ki te Wairarapa and Rangitāne o Wairarapa settled in the Wairarapa and intermarried freely.

Early European Settlers

Following the arrival of early European settlers to New Zealand, Henry Burling opened ‘Burlings‘ in 1847. This was an accommodation house near the Māori settlement of Pae-O-Tu-Mokai. In 1856 the provincial government officially created a town at the Burlings sute, and named it after their superintendent, Isaac Featherston.

The Historic Fareham House

The Barton Family Home

Fareham House was built in 1896 by William and Lucy Barton to raise their family closer to town than their remote White Rock Station (a sheep farm). William was a justice of the peace and had worked as a solicitor in Wellington and the UK before moving to the Wairarapa. He built the 15-bedroom home for his family and ran the sheep farm there with his wife, raising five daughters.

A Government-run Child Welfare Home

After the deaths of William and Lucy, the New Zealand government bought the property in 1944 and opened a child welfare home for Māori girls the following year. The intention was to teach good manners and life skills to girls whose parents were struggling to get them to go to school.

By the 1960s, the house was expanded to provide support to girls who had come from troubled backgrounds. The aim being to teach them life skills and provide support for their working lives. But this was a dark period in the history of Fareham House, just as it was at many institutionalised care residences across New Zealand during the 60s and 70s. 

We acknowledge the findings of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care released in 2024. This Inquiry found that during the 60s and 70s, the management and staff at Fareham House made decisions that led to the harm of girls living there as wards of the state. Our hearts go out to the people affected by this and their families for the pain and suffering they endured. 

A Change in Owners for Fareham

The Wycliffe Bible Translators bought the property in 1982, and moved to Fareham House. They are an American organisation that translates the Bible into different languages. They were interested in Fareham House history and in 1995 the Wycliffe Bible Translators published a booklet called ‘Into the Second Century! A History of Fareham House, Featherston’. 

Recognised as Historic Place

In 1983 Fareham House was listed as a Historic Place Category 2, recognising its historic importance. Then new owners bought the house in 1997 and ran a small bed and breakfast.

Present Day

The current kaitiaki, custodians of the land,  bought the property in 2016 and began sharing Fareham with the community with initiatives such as:

• Sharing food grown in the organic garden and orchards. 
• Registering the Fareham Journey Trust charity to design a supportive cohousing community with intentional neighbourhoods and built with sustainable homes.
• Creating the Fareham Creative Space (FCS), an independent charitable trust, that supports hauora and wellbeing through the art and pottery studios and workshops in the old school classrooms.  
• Providing a public gallery space in the Fareham House atrium where local artists can exhibit their work.