PIONEER FARMER

Timaru Herald, Volume CLVIII, Issue 23317, 28 September 1945, Page 3

PIONEER FARMER

Late Mr William McCully Mr William McCully, w’ho died recently at Seadown in his ninetyfourth year, was born in County Down, Ulster, on October 14. 1851. He obtained his secondary education at the Model School, Belfast, and then farmed long enough to realise that opportunities on the land in Ireland were not good. Accordingly, he emigrated to New Zealand, arriving at Lyttelton in January, 1872. One of his first tasks was ploughing a track for the north-south railway across the Canterbury Plains. On another occasion he took a contract for forming roads in the Mackenzie Country. In 1882 Mr McCully bought a farm at Raincliff, but after improving this he sold out and acquired land near Temuka. At this time and at short intervals afterwards, his father, mother and nine brothers and sisters came out from Ulster and settled in the Temuka district. Mr William McCully developed large farms at Ciandeboye. Fairview and Seadown, always combining agriculture with dealing in cattle, in true Ulster fashion. In both these pursuits he showed such ability that his advice was freely ask'-d and freely given. It was he who named Ciandeboye, after Lord Dufferin’s estate on which he had been a tenant farmer. Mr McCully will be remembered tor different things, such as his fondness for gardening, his zest for travel—he crossed the Equator seven times in his voyages to and from New 7 Zealand—his shrewd common sense, and an almost unique gift for making friends. He was proud of the fact that he Was the oldest man in New Zealand with a licence to drive a car; every year he passed his special examination for this purpose until he reached the age of ninety-two. Besides being wonderfully active until a few months ago, he had a remarkable memory, and had many interesting stories to tell of the early days on land and sea. He was fond of relating how he ploughed the Temuka Park for the first time, and how the boys used to follow him with bags and baskets to carry away the Maori tools which he turned up. He leased the Park for grazing, but on at least one occasion the authorities were annoyed because his sheep had pulled up some of the young poplars and pines planted along the road leading to the cemetery. In 1888 Mr McCully returned to Belfast and married Miss Margaret McDonald, who died on August 13. after more than a year’s illness. Of their three children, there is only one surviving—Mr James R McCully of Seadown—but there are nine grandchildren and several great-grand-children.