WAKANUI LAND

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 53, Issue 255, 9 August 1933, Page 3

WAKANUI LAND

SALE OF LONG AGO. THOUSANDS OF ACRES SOLD. PROCEEDS EXCEEDED £33,000. AVben the population of Ashburton County began to grow at any appreciable rate in the early days of settlement, and the demand for land set in, the holders of large areas seized the opportunity to cut up their estates and dispose of them. One of .the most notable of these sales was that of Glenmark Moore’s Wakanni estate, which realised £29,615 12s 6d on the day of the sale and a, further £3529' 10s 6d at subsequent private sales.

The estate was not fenced, the boundary on the north, west and south sides being marked by three furrows ploughed round the land and on the east by the coast. None of those avlc took up sections are now holding the land. The north-west section was purchased by Air G. AA r . Leadley, of Elgin, who took up his holding on October 1, 56 years ago. He, with others, disposed of his sections soon afterwards. The sale of the complete subdivision took place 56 years ago to-day. The estate originally comprised upward of 12,000 acres, bounded on the west by a line bordering on the old Hampstead Town Board district, south by the Ashburton River, north by Elgin-Seaview district, and east by the sea coast.

The offering included some of the finest cereal-growing land in Canterbury, and during the past half-century some heavy crops have been garnered from the area. Ryegrass seed, peas, and clovers raised have also produced some prolific returns. The first portion of the estate offered was on October 10, 1876, but in the absence of a newsprint in Ashburton at that date, no returns are available. The second and main sale was conducted by Messrs X. Bullock and Co., on Thursday, August 9, 1877. There tvas a large attendance of prospective buyers from Canterbury districts, and also some from Otago. The area offered exceeded 6000 acres, and bidding was fairly brisk, competition in several instances of the better quality land being particularly keen. The Homestead block, of 1053 acres, failed to reach the reserve, and was passed in at £l4 an acre. Sales were as follow:

Lots unsold at the sale on October 10, 1876, Av'cre sold as follows:

Lot. Acres. Per acre £ s. d. Buyer. 1 71 ii. 0 0 1)/ Butteriek 3 192 7 10 0 G. W. Lead ley 4 230 i 10 0 G. W. Leadley 5 213 9 10 0 15 Madden 10 170 9 17 0 D. Fitzgerald 12 116 10 0 0 J'as. Brown 13 170 9 0 0 G. Coe 14 174 6 5 0 ]>. Fitzgerald 15 83 11 5 0 G. Causland 16 134 11 0 0 Jas. Cameron 17 158 11 5 0 W. Wright IS 98 12 7 6 W. Wright 19 72 12 i 6 W. Wright 20 137 11 5 0 W. Wright 23 128 9 10 0 IV. Wright 25 163 12 2 6 Thos. Welsh 20 182 10 0 6 Jos. Grigg 27 319 9 10 0 Jos. Grigg 29 412 5 0 0 T. Atkinson

Per acre Lot. Acres. £ K. <1. Buyer. 2 30 it 5 0 E. McGan 4 27 14. 0 0 .] ohir Cochrane S ■JO s 0 0 Wm. Reeves G 43 4 •J 0 Win. Beeves L(J 70 i 5 0 T. Cavil 1 11 87 9 12 0 1>. Lemon 17 37' 14 0 0 1). Buttericlc IS 01 o 10 0 1). Buttericlc