GOLDEN JUBILEE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27267, 19 December 1949, Page 3

GOLDEN JUBILEE

Waikakahi Estate Subdivision

LARGE CROWD ATTENDS Special to the Daily Times WAIMATE, Dec. 18.

Celebrations te to mark the golden jubilee of the subdivision and settlement of the Waikakahi estate were concluded today when a special church service was held. More than 600 persons, members of the original settlers and their families, revisited the Morven district for the celebrations, and the pioneers' day function was"attended by a little short of 1000 people. A sports gathering at the Morven Domain on Saturday also drew a large attendance.

The estate, comprising an area of 48000 acres, extended inland from the sea a distance of 15 miles along the fertile Waihao Valley, and reaching in part southward to Waitaki. When the Government acquired the property from Mr Alan McLean in 1898,. a ballot took place for 126 farms, ranging in size from 45 to 1473 acres. While some of the properties are now held by descendants of those who were successful at the ballot, six of the original settlers remain on the block. They are Messrs A. W. Barnett, C. D. Fleming, J. H. Fleming, R. Geddes, J. McLean and J. Matheson.

The early days of settlement were recalled by speakers at the pioneer day function, which was held on the Morven Domain. Those present included not only many of the original settlers but also a few' men and women who had been employed by Mr McLean on the estate prior to the subdivision. During the afternoon a plaque to the memory of the pioneers was unveiled by Mr Farquhar Mcßae, son of an original settler. The unveiling was performed by Mr J. H. Fleming, one of the six original settlers still farming on the Waikakahi block.