Manuwai Waikato bound
This was one of the last big transactions of the Waikato Shipping Company, the purchase of the paddle steamer Manuwai. This was at home on the Wanganui River under the ownership of Messrs Hatrick & Co. it was built in Poplar, a London Borough just to the north of The Isle Of Dogs. On completion, the whole of the boat was then dismantled and sent in eighty-seven cases to Wanganui where it was reassembled – old time flat pack. In 1922, when things were looking a bit bad for the Waikato Shipping Co, they bought the boat. In 1923, when that company closed down Caesar Roose, who had a debenture over Waikato, took the Manuwai and other boats in settlement. The Roose Shipping Co was formed and carried on business for over fifty years. This is the Manuwai on an excursion near Ngaruawahia about 1924.
