THE SOUTHERN RUNS

Southland Times, Issue 22915, 13 June 1936, Page 15

THE SOUTHERN RUNS

INFORMATION COLLECTED BY H, BEATTIE

(Specially Written for The Southland Times.) •

1 The Early Settlers And The Growth Of Officialdom

When the settlers sent out by the Free Church of Scotland arrived in Otago, in 1848 and succeeding years, they found waiting for their selection and occupation an oblong block of 144,600 acres along the eastern seaboard of Otago. This block’s boundaries ran from the coast above Port Chalmers inland along the hills and then down the crest of the Maungatua Range and straight along the hills, across the Clutha River and down to the coast again at The Nuggets. This line enclosed an area comprising the fertile plains of Taieri, Tokomairiro and InchClutha and was available for selection as farms. Outside this limited, surveyed block lay the great bulk of Southern New Zealand, a vast unsurveyed tract of Crown Land. It was not conceivable that men who had been enterprising enough to come across 13,000 miles of ocean to colonize this new land would be content to leave this extensive territory unoccupied and undeveloped, so in response to inquiries and solicitations, a Waste Lands Board was formed in Dunedin to consider applications for pastoral runs in the country outside the original Otago Block.

Waste Land Board. This board met at Dunedin and the chairman was the Chief Commissioner of Crown Lands, this office being held in succession by Walter Mantell (1853-54), Peter Proudfoot (1855-56), and Wm. Henry Cutten (1857 onward for some years). At first the Chief Commissioner seemed to be sufficient to undertake all the business required and in April, 1856, the board was constituted of four members (in addition of course, to the chairman), but in December, 1859, this was extended to 18 members, or commissioners. It is not the collector’s intention to go into the personnel of the board, but one official intimation on June 25, 1857, shows that it comprised citizens in various walks of life. We read, “Charles Logie, J.P. and William Pur-

die, M.D. are appointed Commissioners of the Waste Land Board vice John Cargill, resigned, and Edward Lee, sailed for England.” Like all public bodies the board had many difficulties to meet and sometimes its members differed on points of policy and administration, but it did good work and served a very useful purpose in the development of the South. Officialdom. The Otago Provincial Gazettes (begun on December 26, 1853) teem with official announcements such as these:— Alex Gordon was appointed inspector of sheep for the Clutha District on May 1, 1855. On October 14, 1856, “Alexander MacDonald was appointed inspector of sheep for the line of coast between the mouth of the Mataura and Jacob’s River.” From October 1, 1856, Wm. Pinkerton, esq. was appointed to be chief inspector of sheep for the Southern District, and William Logan, esq. to be chief inspector for the Northern District. Mr Robert Chapman, Dunedin, was appointed “Registrar of Marks and Brands” at the same time. In October, 1857 William Henry Cutten was appointed chief commissioner and treasurer of the Waste Land Board of Otago, and in the same month Walter Henry Pearson was appointed officer of the Waste Lands Board of Otago at Invercargill. This last intimation shows that Southland was becoming sufficiently important to have an official of its own, but, as far as the writer knows, his duties were confined to the township and farming lands of Murihiku, as it was then called. The runs had still to be applied for, allocated and numbered at the Dunedin office of the Waste Lands Board. Agriculture Versus Pastoralism.

An advertisement in the Otago Witness of March 15, 1856 reads:— Notice is hereby given that on and after April 14 next applications will be received at this office for lands within the late •purchase (Murihiku) to the South of the Otago Block. P. Proudfoot, Commissioner, Crown Land Office.” The “late purchase” referred to was the acquisition in 1854 from the Maoris of what is now Southland. The notice was too late either to influence or to retard -hose in search of runs, some of which were picked in 1854 and 1855, but it no doubt bore fruit in bringing the influx of settlers who started Invercargill in July, 1856. On December 31, 1857, the General Assembly of New Zealand passed an Act proclaiming the following hundreds:— Campbell Town, Invercargill, New River, Jacob’s River and Otaramika. This meant that the land in these districts was open for farming and

that the runholders affected, no matter how reluctant, would have to vacate their runs in favour of closer settlement. Official Regulations. On June 17, 1854, “An ordinance to prevent the spread of the diseases called scabb and catarrh in sheep or lambs” was passed by the Otago Provincial Council, and forms were drawn up to be filled in by flock-owners. The Otago land laws relating to pastoral runs provided that any person applying for a run had to lodge a description of the country, with its approximate boundaries (generally creeks, rivers and hills), and the estimated area and grazing capabilities, with the Commissioner of Crown Lands, accompanied by a deposit of £2O, which could be forfeited if the run were not sufficiently stocked within six months. No run was to be granted capable of grazing more than 25,000 sheep or 4100 cattle—six sheep being considered the equivalent of one head of cattle, or a horse. The Murihiku district was calculated to carry a sheep to two or three acres, except on the mountains, so that few runs could exceed 75,000 acres. The grazing licences were granted for fourteen years, provided the run was not wanted for farming land sooner, but if so required, the lease could be terminated at any time. Therefore there was no security of tenure except in the far back runs, and these suffered from drawbacks of distance, no roads or bridges, and taxation without representation. The Land Act gave the rvnholder a pre-emptive right to purchase at £1 an acre, eight acres at his homestead and 10 acres at each shepherd’s hut on the run. The rent of the runs was at first on the basis of £1 a thousand sheep, but this was later altered to a penny a head for sheep and sixpence for horses and cattle, payable in advance. The runholder had to make a return of the stock on his run each September.

An Official Report. Mr Alexander Garvie was an able young surveyor who appeared to have a useful career before him, but unfortunately he died right on the very threshold of it. His name is perpetuated in that impressive chain of heights known as the Garvie Mountains, which run northward from the Waimea Plains. In October and November, 1857, and in February, March and April, 1858, he executed a reconnaissance survey of the South-East Districts of Otago, and in his report he remarked:—“Much of the land is encumbered with Matakuru scrub. This, however, is always a sign of good land, and can be completely destroyed by fire in two or three years . . . The pasture about Waikaka, Pomahaka and Mataura is also generally good. In some few places, however, the flats and low spurs incline to retain wet during the winter in what are called ‘podge holes.’ The South-east slopes of the Umbrella Mountains are so steep as to be almost unavailable. ... A very great deal of mischief may be done by reckless and unseasonable burnings. A great part of the pasture in and around the Otago Block has been much deteriorated by this cause. The small patches of brush and Manuka scrub are also fast dwindling away. . . . Drays can now be taken from Dunedin to Popotunoa, whence there is a tolerable bridle-path to Tuturau, and onwards to Invercargill.” The whole report of Mr Garvie is worth reading as a plain and sensible description of the country at that time, but the above brief extracts are all that it is intended to quote in the meantime. Signs of Growth.

The order in which runs were taken up in Otago seems to have been in this sequence:—(l) East Coast, (2) North Otago, (3) Waitaki, (4) South Otago, (5) Southland, (6) Central Otago, (7) Mountainous areas in the more remote parts. Of course, there are exceptions to the rule, and a certain amount of overlapping, but that order given is sufficiently clear to indicate definitely the general trend. When Walter Mantell, the Commissioner for Crown Lands, gave a list of the money he had received between July 1 and September 30, 1853, all the names enumerated are those of runholders in east and north Otago. One of them, F. L. Mielville, cf Goodwood, came down and took up a run at Glenham in 1854. Three of the remaining squatters may be mentioned here because the names of their runs have been forgotten in the passage of time. This trio was Wm. Jones, “Lavant,” A. C. Strode, “Winterbourne,” and W. H. Mansford, “Motuamounu.” On March 1, 1855 a classified list of electors was given, but no name was

on the roll further south than “Inverclutha” in the Clutha District. Later in 1855 the new roll incorporated one southern name and that was “Alexander MacDonald of Toi Toies.” In the returns dated May 31, 1855, of flocks dipped or dressed, all the runs are East Coast or North Otago except Hindon (J. H. Harris), Manuka Island (J. P. Maitland), Waitahana River (R. A. Wright), Warepa (John Shaw), Toi Toi Grange (Augustus Peel), and Balmoral (William Dawson). The roll of 1856 gives the following southern voters: —Alfred Fuller, Addington; Alex MacDonald, Toi Toies; James Menzies, Mataura; William Gordon Rich, Wairuna. To these were added in 1857 the names of Robert Develing, Mataura Plains; George Peel, Mataura, and also the names of four settlers at Invercargill. The Free and Independent Electors. The list in 1858 contains the names, addresses and qualifications of the following runholders in the southern districts:— John Anderson, Sen., Wyndholm Station, flockowner. John Anderson, Jun., Wyndholm Station, flockowner. John Cubbin, Hockanui, stockowner. William Dalrymple, Isla Station, stockholder. Robert Develing, Mataura Plains, stockowner. Alfred Fuller, Addington, stockholder. Henry McCulloch, Birchwood, flockowner. Alex MacDonald, Toi Toies, stockholder. David MacKellar, Waimea Plains, flockowner. Peter MacKellar, Waimea Plains, stockowner. F. W. Mackenzie, Pomohawk, stockowner. Alexander Mac Nab, Knapdale, stockowner. James Menzies, Mataura, gentleman. Gqorge Peel, Mataura, stockowner. W. G. Rich, Wairuna, stockholder. Matthew Scott, Jacob’s River, flockowner. Robert Steel, Wairuna, stockowner. William Stephens, Jacob’s River, stockowner. Robert Stuart, Mataura Plains, stockowner. John Parken Taylor, Jacob’s River, stockowner. Charles de Vere Teschemaker, South Clutha, stockholder. The Necessary Sheep. While a few runholders went in for cattle, most stocked with sheep, and vessels bringing sheep from Australia came into Southland ports from 1853 or.ward. Other pioneers drove sheep down from Nelson, Marlborough and Canterbury, a long difficult trek in those bridgeless days. The difficulties of the overland route explain the reason for the following advertisement appearing in the Otago Witness on Feb- ' ruary 2, 1856:—“The undersigned is . prepared to make an arrangement for the delivery of cargoes of sheep. at the New River, Bluff, and Moeraki at 21/- per head. Delivery five days after landing. J. Jones, Dunedin, January 2, 1856.” Nor were the difficulties of getting the sheep on to the runs the only troubles of the runholders, for the poisonous tutu plants often worked havoc in flocks on the move. Another destructive agency was mentioned by

the Southern Stock Inspector, Mr William Pinkerton in his annual sheep report dated November 1859. He wrote:—“The wild dogs have done great damage, having on some stations destroyed nearly the whole of the increase; but this is only a temporary evil, as I am happy to observe that after the occupation of a run for two or three years they are seldom seen.” Mr Pinkerton ended in a happy strain:—“The sheep are working remarkably well, many individuals having had a large increase. .... The number of diseased sheep is very small.”

The sheep inspectors’ reports of other years are also instructive and interesting in a study of the growth of the pastoral industry, but space precludes quotation. The steady increase of sheep in Otago each year is noteworthy. In 1859, the flocks totalled a few short of 300,000, and next year the total was in round figures 440,000, of which the northern district had 303,— 000 and the southern 137,000. In September, 1863, the sheep were almost a million in number, and by 1868 they had increased to well over two millions. Difficulties of the Historian.

The collection and publication of these notes on the early runs is not at all a simple matter, and if anyone else is willing to undertake it they can have the collector’s thanks and best wishes. In Scotland there is a pleasant custom of familiarly calling a man by the name of his estate and a Scot who early came to Otaeo commented, “At Home we called the owners by the names of their properties; out here you call the properties by the names of their owners.” He was referring to the practice of saying “Howell’s run,” “Taylor’s run,” “McNab’s run,” and so on. If this practice had been adhered to the work of the historian would have been considerably simplified, and this would also have been the case if a specific' name like Oaklands, Isla, Reaby, Glenquoich, etc, had been given in each case and had been consistently used. But where the name of a district is used, only confusion can result as a rule to which there are but few exceptions. “I worked on the Waiau run”—There were half-a-dozen Waiau runs. “A run near Manapouri”—There were a number near there. “On a run at Te Anau”—There were several runs near that Lake. “His run was at Jacob’s River”—So were many others. . . As a consequence of this ambiguity, some mistakes might occur.

Then is duplication. We find a Fortification run at Strath-Taieri and one at Tokanui; a Hillend run at the Clutha and one on the Oreti; a Greenvale run at Kelso and another at Kingston and a Beaumont run near the

Clutha and another in Western Southland. Other difficulties also occur but will be dealt with in the series. [Note —Those interested are advised to cut out and preserve the articles they want, as it is not the collector’s present intention to put them in book form.]