The Conquerors

Southland Times, Issue 22009, 8 May 1933, Page 11

The Conquerors

Saga of the Stations

(By t

the Wanderer.)

3 n nun namm u u u liu uuiuiuiiß HEDDON BUSH. 1856-1870. MESSRS LEE AND McCLYMONT. I lie awake and think of quiet hills And many woods and waters, all asleep. All dreaming in the silver of the night; Of silent, empty spaces, of rivers deep And grassy meadows full of resting sheep. And over them the moon, with steadfast ligl (From the Westminster Review). From the Land Office it is learnt that Heddon Bush was first acquired on May 10, 1856, by Thomas Lee and James McClymont, who also had an interest in Hillend. Heddon Bush was bound in the north by runs 135 a and 154; south by land set aside for 2000 acres blocks under the Lands Sales and Leases Ordinances, passed in the year 1856; east by runs 135 a and 149; west by Jacobs River. They made an application for a lease to depasture stock for fourteen years at an annual rental of five pounds a year. Lee and McClymont grazed both sheep and cattle and passing through the good years between 1860-1870 seem to have succeeded in making money. It was the Golden Age, when all over both Otago and Southland people were discovering gold in payable quantities and trains of waggons and miners were passing through the country, paying from two pounds upwards for mutton and up to fifteen pounds a ton for oats and chaff for the horses. The oldest settlers say that Lee and McClymont were hard working men who quite understood their business, but all the same were never too busy to help a neighbour or entertain a passing guest. They received a very good offer for Heddon Bush and sold out for a handsome profit in 1870 to Spence Brothers and rumour hath said that both Mr Lee and McClymont retired to Australia. SPENCE BROTHERS. 1870-1880). Spence Brothers, Richard and David, afterwards joined by a younger brother, were North of Ireland men and cousins of Mrs Kenneth Mclvor, then of Centre Hill and Victoria Park estate. The Spences were first known as merchants in Invercargill doing a great trade and sending their goods as far away as Queenstown and the goldfields. Having had great success as merchants, they decided to sell their business and become run-holders and, looking around and hearing what a very good thing it was to be a squatter on the waggon route to the goldfields, they acquired iron? Messrs Lee and McClymont the lease of Heddon Bush. We hear of 1870 prices—Sheep at two pounds each and cattle at from eight to sixteen pounds each. Then the goldfields petered out and prices went down wtih a bump. The Spence Brothers found a wattle and daub hut or cottage and the first thing they did was to build what was considered in those days quite a big wooden house and stables. They also put in plantations and made a garden. However, they met with no luck for Southland passed through very cold wet seasons and they seem to have lost much stock through floods, disease and the wild dogs, which seemed to have abounded in and around that district. Rabbits had greatly increased, especially where hush was standing as a cover and these vermin reduced the sheep-carrying capacity of the land to a very great degree. When the 1878 flood came, the Old Man Flood, so called because it exceeded anything before or since, the Spences were almost completely ruined. The heavy snow and six weeks frost and then the waim wind melting the snow, on the mountains caused the Aparima, then known by the name of Jacobs River, to rise to such an extent that for miles around was a deep and raging sea of flood waters, wherein stock, sheep, cattle and horses, were drowned like flies on a stream. A great many deaths of farmers and settlers were also recorded, and 1878 was the beginning of the greatest slump and lean years for Southland people. Spence Brothers, however, struggled on for another year. They had made money as merchants and lost it all on the land. In the beginning of 1880 Heddon Bush was put up for public auction in Dunedin and was bought by John Tennant, of Adelaide. Spence Brothers went over to Melbourne and are reported to have again gone into city business to regain their fortunes, which through no fault of their own they had lost in their adventure as runholders in Southland.

JOHN TENNANT. 1880—1906. John Tennant came over from Adelaide for a trip; he already had friends who were ex-Australians settled in Waimea Plains and the Western District. He came to New Zealand when Southland was having an ideal summer and Australia was suffering from bush fires and droughts. He lilted the f ree - handed hospitality of the Southland squatters and marvelled at the greenness and fertility of the Southland soil, and, hearing that Heddon Bush was going to be put on the market, rode over and, after looking around, considered this run of rolling downs and fertile river flats a most desira bl e P l 3 • He travelled up to Dunedin and bought his property and returned to his friends as a Southland squatter. Mr Tennant was a great advocate of sport and was one of bers of the Birchwood Hunt Club, and also among the first supporters of the Riverton Racing Club. He was a fearless rider and a wonderfully keen judge of a good horse. He was also very sociable and excellent company and was in great request at the hunting house parties at Wantwood, Waimea House and Birchwood. He put great vigour and spirit into anything he did whether he was riding to the hounds or working on his run. He also had greyhounds and held many coursing matches at Heddon Bush, where came squatters, shepherds and settlers from all round the district, for John Tennant was essentially a man s man. He could talk hunting, racing and coursing with them all, and was very proud of his fine hunters and racehorses and he was always a great friend of Mr James Ritchie of Blythe, Mr Bell of Wantwood, Mr and Mrs Monte Spencer and Captain Gardner of Birchwood. He was also an experienced sheep man and did much to improve the standard of sheep and cattle after he took over the run. He also put in plenty of plantations as shelter for his stock against the cold winds and heavy snow m the Mr Tennant was a familiar figure at all the agricultural and pastoral shows at Invercargill, and all local fixtures. His tall figure in rough tweeds was seen at all the events which appeal to country men—dog trials, sheep sales, races, hunts and shows. In Mr Tennant s tenure Heddon Bush was. brought under cultivation and this rich land, when well-drained, produced heavy crops ot oats, wheat, grass-seed and turnips. In 1900 Mr Tennant went for a trip to Adelaide and married Miss Love, a cousin, who also hailed from Adelaide. Mrs John Tennant was both gifted and charming, and had travelled a great deal before she came to New Zealand, but she never complained of dullness or the quiet of Heddon Bush. When Mr Tennant went over to Adelaide to be married, his friends gave him a great send-off and he told them that he would bring along his bride to see them all, and when Mr and Mrs John returned to Southland they made a driving tour all over Southland, going from one station to another behind a rapid spanking pair. The station people all took Mrs Tennant to their hearts and homes and she soon became, a great favourite with all her new neighbours. She settled down wonderfully, never complaining of our weather, but . used to say that our country and our climate reminded her of England and that she was never in such good health in her life. At Heddon Bush her two children, Andrew and Margaret, were born and they stayed and throve in the pleasant garden and the plantations around the homestead. Mrs Tennant was a splendid housekeeper and both she and .Mr Tennant were very hospitable and kind, and many of the squatters and their wives made of Heddon Bush a half-way house on their journey to and from town. Many happy house parties after hunts or race meetings took place at the homestead, Mr and Mrs Tennant bfcing perfect as host and hostess—no fuss nor gush, but they put all at ease. Mr and Mrs Tennant were also interested supporters of the Anglican Church, and Mr Tennant gave generously towards the erection of of St. Andrew’s Anglican Church in Otautau and Mrs Tennant, who was an exquisite and skilled needlewoman, did much work for the very first bazaar to raise funds to build a church. In 1900 a measure went through Parliament called the Local Bodies Loan A t and the settlers around Heddon Bush took advantage of it and made an application to the Southland County Council for the erection of a bridge over the Oreti and they borrowed about £3OOO and let a contract under the supervision of the Southland County. They paid rates to the County Council for twenty-six years to liquidate it. This bridge made the Heddon Bush run much more accessible and as Mr Tennant had acquired runs in Australia, he desired to sell out. Therefore he had Heddon surveyed and subdivided and it was acquired by a syndicate and eventually Mr James Hanley took over the homestead block, having meanwhile married Miss Ford, belonging to the district. Mr Hanley came from Gore, and though he put both work and money into his new home, he did not make a success of the venture for the high prices that ruled at the time of the Boer War and immediately afterwards had dropped and Mr Hanley was up against , bad times. However, he found a buyer in Mr Taylor and shortly after the sale of Heddon Bush, Mr Hanley’s death is reported. Mr Taylor and his wife and family hailed from Victoria and he proved, a most progressive farmer. The rabbits were very bad on the river flat but with trapping and poison they were got almost completely under. Mr Taylor died many years ago; but some of the family still remain. Closer settlement proved a great success at Heddon Bush —the new owners drained the heavy swamps and limed the land and grew wonderful crops of wheat, oats and grass seed. When put under cultivation the land, instead of being spoken of as so many acres to a sheep, now shows fields of green grass, with so many sheep to the acre. Leave the hard heart ot the city with its povetry of pity, Leave the folly and the fashion wearing out the faith of men. Breathe the breath of life blown over upland meadows white wltu mover, And with childhood's clearer vision See the face of God again. (from Herbert Basilford.)