Te Popo
Dates: 1902-1944
Location: 592 Stanley Road, Te Popo, Taranaki (-39.273953, 174.362486)
Registration No: 162
Brand name: STANLEY
Google Maps - 2026
NZMS13 - TN21 - 1925
Stanley Road creamery - photographer unknown
NZMS13 - TN21 - 1934
From Midhirst to Independence and Back Again
Te Popo, meaning “the lullaby” was the name given to the Makara, Ackland and upper Stanley Road area when a telephone office opened in John Brooker’s home in March 1911. Settlement had spread inland from the main road by 1895 with portable sawmills helping process the timber being cleared from the bush.
By 1902, there was enough milk supply for the Midhirst Co-operative Dairy Company to open a creamery, providing a local collection point for dairy farmers in the district. Despite early promise, milk supplies soon proved disappointing, and by 1908 the creamery was considered at risk of closure due to the small quantity of cream being received.
A post office also opened in the creamery in October 1914 with the creamery manager also doubling as the post office manager before the post office eventually closed in August 1920 when replaced by rural delivery.
For years, local suppliers lobbied to have the creamery converted to cheese manufacture, believing it would provide better returns than butter production. When these requests were repeatedly declined, the farmers decided to take matters into their own hands. During the 1916–17 season they formed the Te Popo Co-operative Dairy Company and purchased the creamery from Midhirst for £216 8s 1d in shares and £50 in cash.
The independent company operated for about sixteen years, converting the factory to cheese production. Although small, it manufactured 72 tons of cheese from seven suppliers in 1928–29 and 84 tons from eight suppliers in 1930–31. Cheese was marketed under the STANLEY brand.
The company peaked at 10 suppliers in the 1923 and 1924 seasons but economic pressures eventually led the company to rejoin Midhirst during the 1931–32 season. The factory returned to creamery operations, with cream transported to Midhirst - first by horse-drawn wagons and later by motor vehicle.
The creamery finally closed in 1944 as wartime labour shortages and a shift from dairying to sheep and dry-stock farming reduced milk supplies. The closure marked the end of more than four decades of dairy processing at Te Popo.
Labour and Wartime Challenges
A hearing before the Wellington Military Service Appeal Board in June 1917 provides a revealing glimpse into the challenges facing small dairy factories during the First World War.
The case centred on John Cook, manager of the Te Popo cheese factory, whose exemption from military service was being sought by the company. Cook, an unmarried man, was the factory’s sole employee and was responsible for processing milk supplied by just eight local farmers.
Evidence presented to the board highlighted the difficulties of operating such a small factory with directors arguing that replacing Cook would be difficult, particularly during wartime when experienced dairy workers were scarce and given the position was badly paid. However, the Board countered this noting the high returns for suppliers and the opportunity to pay higher wages.
The appeal was ultimately dismissed, with the case highlighting the struggles of small factories to remain viable during the pressures of wartime.
Death of Factory Manager
On 24 October 1922, Taranaki newspapers reported the tragic death of Gerald Eustace O’Carroll, manager of the Stanley Road Creamery. O’Carroll, aged 46 and the son of the late Dr. O’Carroll of New Plymouth, suffered catastrophic injuries while attempting to adjust a belt on the creamery’s overhead shafting. As the machinery continued to run, his clothing became entangled in the moving equipment, pulling him violently into the mechanism.
Co‑workers rushed to his aid, but the accident left him with a fractured skull and a severely mangled leg. He was taken to Stratford Hospital, where surgeons amputated the leg below the knee in an effort to save his life. Despite their attempts, O’Carroll’s injuries proved too severe, and he died shortly afterward.
An inquest held the same day reconstructed the sequence of events through witness testimony. Workers described the layout of the machinery, the position of the belt and pulley system, and the moment O’Carroll was caught. Medical and police officials confirmed that the cause of death was directly related to the traumatic injuries sustained in the accident.
O’Carroll had managed the Stanley Road Creamery for several years and was well‑known in the district. He left behind a widow and three young children, the eldest only six. Local papers expressed deep sympathy for the bereaved family, noting the suddenness and severity of the tragedy.
Photographer unknown
Factory section - 1903
Factory foundations - Google Street View February 2010