Daysh House History

Daysh House is listed as a heritage resource with the New Zealand Historic Places Trust. The property was originally a dairy farm. Most of the land has now been incorporated into neighbouring farms, leaving just two hectares. The house was built in the mod 1860s; with an addition in 1900. It was occupied for most of its history by the Daysh family after whom the property has been named.

The Daysh family in the Wairarapa is descended from John Ings Daysh (1805 – 1902) of Wickham, Fareham Hampshire England. John Ings married Eliza Clark at St. Nicholas church in Wickham in 1832 and came to New Zealand on the ship ‘Gertrude’ a 560 ton sailing ship in 1841. They left Gravesend on June 19 arriving in Petone on October 28th. They brought with them their six children and a further eight were born in the Hutt. There are many stories of John Ings making long arduous walks over the Rimutaka range to see his many children who had settled in the Wairarapa. He is buried in the Masterton cemetery alongside his daughter Elizabeth (Betsy) and her husband John Rayner. The fourth and youngest son of John Ings was Alfred who was born in Taita in 1854. He came to the Wairarapa in 1870 and acquired 130 acres of land at Taratahi West in 1872. Alfred married Elizabeth Ann Sage in 1876 and came to live in the house built by Ann’s father. It was Ann who planted the gingko tree all those years ago.