Thomas Lochhead married wife Elizabeth at Dunsandel south of Christchurch. He was born in Canterbury and brought up in an atmosphere where Church and School were important institutions. This ideal of a christian community was translated throughout his life in his work in the Te Puna district.

Thomas had the wish to own his own land and with his wife and family came to the Bay of Plenty in 1893. Confiscated land was being made available to settlers and he walked from Tauranga to Whakatane but the portion that took his eye was owned by absentee owners and it took him 6 months a acquire ownership. The only other European families at Te Puna were the Armstrongs and the Davidsons.

The property was the area opposite the present Te Puna School and having come from Canterbury, Thomas was an agriculturist, growing and harvesting crops. He had five sons and four daughters. As well as farming the 600 acres, Thomas Lochhead gave service to the district. First chairman of the school committee, a school commissioner, hall committee and local affairs he ensured the progress of his home district. When the Post Office was in danger of discontinuing, he arranged for its transfer to a hut on his property with members of his family staffing it. He gave much enjoyment at local dances playing his Stradivarius violin.

In a wider sphere, he was Chairman of the Hospital Board and of the Power Board from 1923 to 1932; a strong advocate of the farmer's Union and the establishment of the Dairy Factory in Tauranga and was a Justice of the Peace.

Thomas Lochhead gave 55 years of public service to both Te Puna and Tauranga with the able support of wife and sons working the farm.      

Ref. Tauranga Historical Society