"It's In The Blood" - Family History

Notes by Douglas Hutchinson - Retired Engineer

How come Ayla Hutchinson, just a young teenager, is already a prize winning inventor?   Well, this is because she was born into the family of Hutchinson many of whom are engineers who encourage and enthuse their children to be free thinkers.  

You see Ayla’s Father, Vaughan Hutchinson is an engineer and has patented several startling inventions and now has a successful business selling and exporting these.  He works on the principle that quality and reliability counts and no item is released for sale unless it is thoroughly proven.  He in turn has learnt this principle from his father Graeme Hutchinson, who has worked all his life as an engineer for the petrochemical industry where standards are strictly applied otherwise lives would be put a risk.  

Ayla’s Great Grand Father, William Hutchinson also had a successful engineering business in Hawera, manufacturing and installing his revolutionary invention called the Hutchinson Individual Milker and he encouraged and passed on his work ethics and free thinking to his sons.  

However, by far the greatest Hutchinson Inventor was Ayla’s Great Great Great Grand Uncle George Fell Hutchinson who was a prolific inventor of ideas.  His two key inventions changed the lives of many Taranaki farmers in those early pioneering days.  These were the, “G. F. Hutchinson Water Ram” that pumped river water to farm storage tanks and the “Hutchinson Vacuum Pump” that provided vacuum for farm milking equipment.  Both these machines were able to operate by harnessing water power that was plentiful in Taranaki and George was the hero of the times.

George’s family came from the English Lakes District and related to the Fells Family who owned the great engineering works of Fell’s Foundry in Windermere.  This Hutchinson family of seven migrated to New Zealand in 1880 with George just 13 years of age at that time, much the same age as Ayla.  That family brought good land in Taranaki and the challenges that faced those early Taranaki settlers often elicited examples of genius like George as they strived to cope with life in an unfamiliar territory.

George’s father and mother William and Mary Hutchinson are listed in the emigration records as being School Teachers so one can only think that home teaching for this family was the order of the day and along with that pioneering ethic has built that enthusiastic free thinking in the generations that followed and so it is with Ayla. 



Ayla's Dad Vaughan Hutchinson

StoA Cable and Hose Management systems  http://www.stoaproducts.com


Ayla’s Great Granddad William Hutchinson;

Hutchinson Individual Milkers

Hutchinson Individual Milkers Promo

Hutchinson Vacum Pump (Free energy)