John Edwin Fountaine 1841 - 1901
John Fountaine was born in Wing, Bedfordshire, where his family had owned land since the fifteenth century.
Fountaine started working for John Hall on 23 March 1863, as a General Hand at £40 per annum. He was living in the nearby Glenroy area where he had a small holding. He moved to Rakaia Terrace Station and remained in this employment until his retirement due to ill health in 1899. The station journal records that, as well as being skilled with animals, he could turn his hand at different times to being cook, butcher, builder and chimney sweep. From the early 1870s he took over the role of manager and the success of the farming operation was as much due to his skills as to the property ownership of John Hall. Such was John Fountaine’s ability that in later years he was invited to make a report on the running of another station which was in difficulties. When it was contemplated to sell Rakaia Terrace Station in 1882 an auctioneer noted that a potential buyer ‘... was considering Fountaine as part of or at any rate a valuable adjunct to the property’. As well as his practical skills, was his ability to deal with large numbers of men. The daily entry in the station journal for Fountaine is most likely to read: ‘Fountain round work.’ This kept him in continual contact with the other men employed and kept him informed about the jobs in hand and those requiring to be done. He was firm but compassionate and did not dismiss men out of hand. One married shepherd was ill for ten weeks, but Fountaine sought Hall’s advice before terminating his employment. His reputation for being a ‘considerate’ boss also rested on decisions such as ‘allowing the men to work in the sheds on wet days’ and was appreciated enough to be commented upon in a local history. John Fountaine married Lucy Roskruge in 1873. Lucy had been nurse maid for Rose Hall and the Hall children would spend time staying with the Fountaines who had no children of their own. There was certainly a very close relationship between the two families, as at the bottom of letters between the men often a comment, ‘Lucy writing to Mrs Hall’, and vice versa. Sadly, these letters are not known to have survived. Initially Fountaine’s house was a small wood and cob cottage, but this was enlarged first by extending the sitting room, adding a larger bedroom and an office. In 1890 two more rooms were added, making a comfortable manager’s house. The Fountaines brought up their nieces whose parents, James and Julia Fountaine, died at young ages. In 1866, as storeman, Fountaine’s wages were £80 per annum but within a few years he was receiving £250 as his salary, and this was augmented with a 2½ per cent commission on stock sales which in 1876 was worth £27.0s.9d. From 1883, for the rest of his working life, his salary was £300 per annum with additional commissions. On his retirement in May 1899, John Hall’s trusted manager was presented with a gold watch. Following the death of Rose Hall in 1900, John Hall lived mainly in Park Terrace, Christchurch. Lucy Fountaine was the housekeeper and John Fountaine died there in 1901. John Fountaine was a man highly regarded in the Hororata district, having taken an active part in local affairs. In the St John’s churchyard at Hororata there is a memorial to him and Lucy. Also, a prayer desk in the stone church has a plaque in remembrance of John Fountaine. He and Lucy are buried in the Linwood cemetery in Christchurch. Return to The People of Terrace Station page |