Newspaper Article 2017 – Butchery still brings home bacon

Butchery still brings home bacon

This year marks the 90th anniversary of the Havelock North butchery business now known as The Village Butcher and owned by Paul Greaney.

It is the oldest continuous business in Havelock North, dating to 1927.

Havelock North’s first butcher was John Joll (1838-1878) who began his store about 1865.

In August 1868, he closed his business and advertised for those who owed him money to pay up otherwise legal proceedings would be taken.

However, his move to Pukahu (south of Havelock) from his Clive residence may have prompted him to start his Havelock business again because in the 1870s he operated a butchery in the village.

Unfortunately, a serious accident occurred on his Pukahu property in 1876 when a bull gouged him.

That led him to sell his business to John Hague in August that year.

John Hague was a Napier butcher who sold his two stores to take over John Joll’s business.

However, by the beginning of 1878, John Joll was advertising that he had a butcher shop for rent in Havelock.

On November 2 that year, John Joll died aged 40 after a “long and painful illness”.

His ledger entries on February 1, 1868, record some interesting sales from his Havelock (and Clive butchery).

Each person’s name was listed, the quantity of meat purchased and the price involved.

He sold 14.5 pounds (6.5kg) of mutton to the future founder of Hastings, Francis Hicks, for $23 in today’s terms.

Most sales were for chops, mutton and roast beef.

Thomas David Hoy (1862-1868) began his butchery in Havelock in 1927, on the corner of Joll and Middle roads.

His building was purpose-built for him, and he occupied it until the 1931 Hawke’s Bay Earthquake did some major damage to the premises.

The butchery then shifted temporarily to a Middle Rd building while repair while repair work was carried out.

H J Lewis appears to have been the next owner of the butchery after Thomas Hoy.

The business has had a variety of owners over the years.

At one stage, as Delmiso’s, it combined the butchery with a delicatessen.

In addition to meat, Delmiso’s also sold croissants, pizzas and fresh bread.

When the butchery building site on the corner of Joll and Middle roads was demolished to build the present building, the Havelock North Butchery as it was then shifted in 1989 to its present site further up Joll Rd.

Paul Greaney bought the The Village Butchery in June 2012.

He had success in 2013 when his Village Pork sausage came first out of 450 entries to win the Supreme Award at the Devro New Zealand Sausage Competition.

His store went from selling 15kg of the sausages a week to three tonnes of them in the three months leading up to Christmas 2013.

In days gone by many butcheries existed in the main streets of towns and in suburbs, but stiff competition from supermarkets led many to close.

Last year I wrote an article in Hawke’s Bay Today on the sinking of the launch Doris in 1932 at Port Ahuriri following an accident, with the loss of 10 men’s lives.

I suggested in the article that a memorial to the victims be placed near the site of the tragedy.

The Napier City Council has taken this suggestion on board and produced a brief for artists to design a suitable memorial. The brief can be found at www. napier. govt. nz/assets/Documents/Doris-Tragedy-Artist-Brief.pdf

Michael Fowler ([email protected]) is the heritage officer at the Art Deco Trust.

“A serious accident occurred on his Pukahu property in 1876 when a bull gouged him. It led him to sell.”

Photo caption – BUSINESS SURVIVOR: Havelock North Village in the 1970s. The Village Butchery was then situated on the corner of Joll and Middle roads.
PHOTO: MICHAEL FOWLER COLLECTION