Skip to main content

Thomas Lowther Barnhill of Castlerock Station, Lumsden

 Record Group
Identifier: A0067

Dates

  • Majority of material found within 1871 - 1911

Thomas Lowther Barnhill and Castlerock Station

Castle Rock Station was originally a leasehold property of 65,000 acres and was first stocked and occupied in 1857 by J.P. Taylor. It was managed by Henry Rogers. Taylor sold to Thomas Lowther Barnhill and Matthew Holmes in 1862. Barnhill spent some years away at Blackmount Station but returned in 1881 to manage Castle Rock when Mr Holmes purchased the freehold.

The station employed more than 60 men at this time and had about 40,000 sheep. When Holmes died in 1901 the property was divided with Barnhill taking 14,000 acres and the homestead.

Thomas Lowther Barnhill was an early Southland Pioneer. He came to New Zealand in 1859 and worked on a sheep station near Oamaru before managing Castlerock Station where he built the homestead. He loved trees, planting many around the property. It's said he was the first runholder of Northern Southland to profit from selling rabbit skins and he had great success with his Romney Marsh sheep breeding. He had a sister Maria Barnhill who married Alexander Adamson. Thomas himself never married and died in 1914.

See Bibliography for References

Extent

1 box(es) (Box 1)

Language of Materials

English

Bibliography

'Run 181 : a history of Castlerock Station' by Gillian M. Bulling
Reference: LC 929.2 BAR
'History of Northern Southland' by G.A. Hamilton
Reference: LC 993.96 HAM
Title
Thomas Lowther Barnhill of Castlerock Station, Lumsden
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the Invercargill City Libraries and Archives Repository

Contact:
50 Dee Street
Invercargill Southland 9810 New Zealand