EARLY HISTORY

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21328, 22 November 1934, Page 8

EARLY HISTORY

FREEHOLD ACQUIRED IN 1853 HOLDING THEN COMPRISED 84,000 ACRES The block of country which was eventually known as the Cheviot Estate first attracted Mr J. S. Caverhill, who in 1848, after looking over Nelson and Marlborough, saw the land and determined to take it up on a pastoral lease. He selected a site for the homestead, and built there early in 1849. In 1853 the Hon. William Robinson, ( the celebrated "Ready Money" Robin- ; son of the early days, saw the country and was so pleased with it that he applied to the Provincial Lands Office in Nelson to purchase a portion of the block, and succeeded gradually in acquiring the freehold of the whole area of 84,000 acres, Mr Caverhill's tenure ceasing as soon as the freehold was bought. The estate then was bounded on the north by the Waiau-ua river, on the east by the sea, on the south by the Hurunui, and on the west by the Kaiwara stream and a line along the eastern slope of Lowry Peaks to the Waiau-ua. As soon as he took possession Mr Robinson set to work to improve the property, and at the time it was acquired by the Government there were few properties in New Zealand as, well developed. Bought by Government In April, 1893, the estate was bought by the Government after long negotiation under the Land and Income Assessment Act. The Government assessment of the value was £304,826, the improvements being valued at £54,300. The value was returned by the trustees of the estate at £260,220, including improvements at £60,150. The trustees objected to the assessed value, but the objection was disallowed, and the dispute was referred to the Board of Reviewers, which upheld the assessed value. Under the Land and Income Assessment Act, the trustees had the right to ask the Government to take over the property at the trustees' valuation, or else to reduce the value to that figure. The Commissioner of Taxes refused to make an adjustment, and recommended that the Government purchase the property. Special valuations were therefore made, ranging from £285,000 to £304,826, and after these had been considered by the Government, it was decided to buy Cheviot for the trustees' valuation of £260,220. The Subdivision As soop as the Minister for Lands took over the property* arrangements were made to subdivide into pastoral blocks, agricultural blocks, and town and village lots. Part of the land was offered as freehold for cash, and part was offered on 999 years' lease. The disposal of the land, in November, 1893, attracted a great deal of interest, and as the subdivision of land was then a burning political question, there was a good deal of disapproval. The Government had for some time followed the policy of cutting up the bigger properties, but the opponents of this idea claimed that a sale such as that of the Cheviot block benefited speculators more than genuine investors and farmers. Mr Robinson himself realised for many years that he would not be allowed to keep his big holding, and frequently remarked to his family that it was only a "matter of "time before the place was cut up.