Marton, New Zealand

For three years the small village was known as Tutaenui, named after the stream running through its centre. In 1869 local citizens changed the name to Marton to honour the birthplace of Captain James Cook in Middlesbrough, marking his landing in New Zealand exactly 100 years earlier. It is not known if this change of name was influenced by the mistranslation of 'tutae' (meaning 'dung') and 'nui' (meaning 'large').[3] (Actual translation: 'tu' -stand, 'tae' -arrive, 'nui' big; i.e., a 'big gathering').[4]

From the start Marton was an ideal supply centre for district farmers, who first began arriving in the early 1850s. From butter and wool they moved on to growing wheat in 1863, and big crops led to three flourmills being launched in the area in 1864.

After the town itself opened up in 1866, general stores, two hotels and several blacksmiths soon started. Marton became a home base for the horse industry, with saddlers, wheelwrights, livery stables and coachbuilders competing for business, while Clydesdale and Suffolk Punch sires toured the district to build up the population of plough horses needed as new farms sprang into being.

Marton was extended to its new junction station from 1907. The original Pukepapa station is on the far left of the plan, neither being convenient for the original town

The opening of the railway line joining Wanganui to Palmerston North in 1878, now part of the North Island Main Trunk railway (towards Palmerston North and Auckland) and the Marton - New Plymouth Line (towards Wanganui), turned Marton Railway Station into a thriving railway junction, and it held that position for the next 100 years. The move of the railway station in 1898 was followed by a large development of 'Marton Extension', to the south east, from 1907.[5]

Timber from Rangitikei forests served the town's two timbermills, the first from 1889 onwards.

Main Street in Marton circa 1924

Industry developed quietly at first in Marton, starting with flourmilling, brickmaking and wool presses. By the late 1950s there was an incredible array of industries and factories in action. They turned out products as diverse as men's shirts, tractor safety cabs, soft drinks, vegetable salads, readymix concrete, field tiles, dog biscuits, knitwear, dried peas, electronic petrol pumps, vegetable digging machinery.

9 km from Marton was the large Lake Alice Hospital for psychiatric patients, which opened in 1950 and closed in 1999. It included a maximum security unit, and housed hundreds of patients during its 49 years of operation.

Marton has four co-educational state primary schools for Year 1 to 8 students: Marton School,[13] with a roll of 176;[14] Marton Junction School,[15] with a roll of 83;[16] James Cook School,[17] with a roll of 206;[18] and South Makirikiri School,[19][20] with a roll of 147,[21]

There are also two other primary schools. St Matthew's School is a state-integrated Catholic primary school,[22] with a roll of 29.[23] Huntley School is a private Anglican boarding school,[24][25] with a roll of 132.[26]

Rangitikei College is a co-educational state primary school,[27][28] with a roll of 300.[29]

Nga Tawa Diocesan School is a state-integrated girls' boarding school for Year 9 to 13 students,[30][31] with a roll of 169.[32]

Until 2016 there was a third secondary schools, Turakina Māori Girls' College.[33][34]

Marton had a population of 4,548 according to the 2013 New Zealand census. This is a decrease of 132, or 2.8 percent, since the 2006 census. There were 1,920 occupied dwellings, 198 unoccupied dwellings, and 3 dwellings under construction.[35]

Of the residential population, 2,169 (47.7%) were male compared to 48.7% nationally, and 2,376 (52.2%) were female, compared to 51.3% nationally. The town had a median age of 44.0 years, 6.0 years above the national median age of 38.0 years. People aged 65 and over made up 22.5% of the population, compared to 14.3% nationally, and people under 15 years made up 20.2%, compared to 20.4% nationally.[35]

Marton's ethnicity is made up of (national figures in brackets): 76.5% European (74.0%), 22.8% Māori (14.9%), 1.9% Asian (11.8%), 7.8% Pacific Islanders (7.4%), 0.1% Middle Eastern, Latin American or African (1.2%), and 2.0% Other (2.5%).[35]

Marton had an unemployment rate of 8.9% of people 15 years and over, compared to 7.4% nationally. The median annual income of all people 15 years and over was $21,500, compared to $28,500 nationally. Of those, 46.8% earned under $20,000, compared to 38.2% nationally, while 13.8% earned over $50,000, compared to 26.7% nationally.[35]

The nearest airports to the town are Whanganui Airport, located 37 km west, and Palmerston North Airport, located 44 km southeast. Both airports are domestic only.

Marton is on the North Island Main Trunk Line; and on the Marton-New Plymouth Line which leaves the NIMT at Marton. However although the Overlander on the NIMT used to stop at Marton railway station, the replacement Northern Explorer introduced in 2012 has fewer stops and does not stop at Marton.

Marton's climate is temperate and has few extremes compared to many parts of New Zealand. Summers are warm with average temperatures in the low 20s. The most settled weather occurs in summer and early autumn. Winters are mild and annual rainfall is moderate. Annual hours of bright sunshine can average over 2,000.[37]

• Francis Arkwright, politician
• Bruce Beetham, Social Credit politician
• Iris Crooke, Nurse, Florence Nightingale Medal, Volunteer
• Israel Dagg, All Black
• Sir Michael Fowler, Architect, former Mayor of Wellington
• James Laurenson, actor
• Launcelot Eric Richdale, former ornithologist
• Norman Shelton, National MP

• Melody, Paul (1981) [1979]. They called it Marton: The Life and Times of Marton, 1866-1979. Palmerston North: G.P.H. Print.

• List of schools in Manawatū-Whanganui
• Mayor of Rangitikei
• 2013 Rangitikei local elections

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Marton, New Zealand.

• Rangitikei Mail