Malvern’s spirit of independence

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32565, 26 March 1971, Page 13

Malvern’s spirit of independence

It was a spirit of independence and the urge of necessity which inspired the first small farmers in the Malvern district.

The task of the small farmer was much more arduous than that of the runholder. Hie latter found a K ready for his flock, small settler’s first difficulty was to render his land fit for agriculture. Land could be purchased out of any of the runs provided that the runholder did not choose to use his pre-emptive rights to freehold that portion of his run.

The price originally fixed for the purchase of such land was £3 per acre, but it was soon realised that the desired closer settlement of the province was not being achieved at that figure, and the price was reduced in 1856 to £2 per acre. In choosing a piece of land the essential requirement was water. The best land was along the south bank of the Waimakariri and adjoining the Hawkins,

Waireka, and Selwyn rivers. It was not long, therefore, before small freeholders, known as “cockatoos,” sought out and purchased the better land on the river side of The Desert and Ledard runs. Apart from the availability of water, one of the advantages of this locality was the fact that access was provided by way of the road known as the Coal Track, and most of the first selections of land, extend-

ing as far as Upper Courtenay (now Kimberley), were made along it Equally attractive was the good land on Hill and Bray’s run at the forks of the Selwyn near the present Greendale, which was quickly bought up. Very soon afterwards, freeholds were purchased higher up the Hawkins near Creyke’s road.

In the Malvern Hills district some small freeholds were purchased towards the end of the 1860 s but this locality being more remote, the land there was not taken up so closely for small farms as it was in other places. The prospecting fanner judged the land by its vegetation. Land covered with flax and cabbagetrees was greatly favoured, and the spade soon showed the texture of the soil.

Many old residents have stated that their prospects were denied than by rivals who first reached the land office to enter the appropriate claim. Thus, James Gough built a hut on the Hawkins near the present

Nesslea, planted broom and gorse for shelter, and hoped that his claim would be successful. And there were many others in similar circumstances. The early land laws in Canterbury permitted the selector to choose his land before survey; the conditions being that it must run back 40 chains from some road—even if only 20 acres were bought, that being the minimum area purchasable after 1856. The minimum before that was 50 acres.

Any odd pieces of land smaller than 20 acres were disposed of by auction, and this led to a system of what was called “gridironing” whereby a person secured the control of a much larger area than he had bought. He would buy two sections of the minimum of 20 acres and leave 19 acres between them, so covering a greater area of good land than he had actually bought, and as the 19 acres could be bought only by auction, he was in a strong position when that piece of land was put up for sale. Few of the first settlers were blessed with much capital. If the settler was not in a position to pay cash for the land he had selected, the common practice was to take a tracing of the map to an agent or backer.

If the agent approved the selection, he would buy the land, giving the applicant an agreement, such as, for example, the right of purchase in five years at £5 per acre, plus a percentage of somewhere between 10 and 15 per cent on the purchase money. Individuals, as well as firms, acted as backers. Such men as Rhodes, H. B. Johnstone, Gould, Luck and Clark, Harman and Stevens, Travers, and others, are mentioned as backing many of the first freeholders. Acknowledgement is made of extracts from “Malvern County," by G. L. Popple, 1953.