“So, between the sawdust heap, a little cricket, after doing 10 hour a day work, some training for local sports and dancing, we were I think as happy as people are today with ever so many more smaller things and knew no better”. – 29th December 1948
E.W. Coop (1870 – 1954)
* E.W Coop grew up around his father’s, William Coop, sawmill in Coopstown, Little River. The business was known by several names – the Forsyth Sawmill, Little River Mill and White’s Mill.
E.W. Coop grew up to become a farmer, going into business with his brother George. Together, they owned quite a bit of land, here and on the North Island. The family was so tight and in each others business that one Christchurch lawyer said, ‘The Coops were a difficult crowd to keep track of – they would make binding agreements amongst themselves with nothing written down in writing, just a handshake and on occasions not even that!’
* Image courtesy of Ed Coop*
