Interviewee: Lovat Hugh Fraser Interview Date: 17 October 2006

Interviewer: M. Forrester

Tape counter: Sony TCM 939

Tape 1 Side A

008: States he is LOVAT HUGH FRASER and that he was born in 1940 at LUMSDEN HOSPITAL. Adds that he was the second youngest of a family of six BOYS, one of whom (IAN) died in a TUSSOCK fire at the age of three.

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030: Replies that his FATHER was SIMON LOVAT who was commonly called SAM, a nickname acquired as a schoolboy but which stuck with him throughout his life.

054: His FATHER, he adds was born in 1897 in PALMERSTON, north of DUNEDIN andthat the FRASERS owned three rural properties - one at SHAG POINT, a (GRAZING) RUN near MIDDLEMARCH called STONEBURN, and a third property in the MAHENO VALLEY.

068: In 1907, he says his GRANDFATHER, HUGH FRASER, went solo in his late sixties and bought a DAIRY FARM at SEAWARD DOWNS.

075: Says HUGH FRASER was born the youngest of nine children in the 1840s in BEAULY, SCOTLAND and left at the age of seventeen bound for CANADA at first. Adds that his GRANDFATHER returned and left SCOTLAND a few times before eventually settling in NEW ZEALAND where he’d initially worked around the GOLD MINING areas of CENTRAL OTAGO and NELSON.

085: Continued that on his second visit to NEW ZEALAND, HUGH FRASER worked on a property in the PALMERSTON area for (SIR) JAMES MACKENZIE, eventually buying it from his employer.

100: Comments that he never knew his GRANDFATHER, who died in 1917.

105: His MOTHER, MARJORY ELLEN, he says, was born into a family named CALDER which owned a large SHEEP FARM at MORTON MAINS, SOUTHLAND. Nicknamed MADGE, he says she was also from quite a large family.

112: States that his MATERNAL GRANDMOTHER’S maiden name was JAGGERS a name linked with the early mayoralty of INVERCARGILL as well as families in the NIGHTCAPS area of SOUTHLAND.

129: Considers that his PARENTS probably were introduced to each other by being part of farming families living in the same locality where sporting interests (RUGBY, HOCKEY) factored strongly.

137: It was 1928, he says, that his PARENTS bought THE GORGE STATION which they eventually sold in 1966 to BILL (W.E.) HAZLETT not long after his neighbouring property, BURWOOD STATION, was bought up by the government through the DEPARTMENT of LANDS & SURVEY for its FARM DEVELOPMENT SCHEME throughout the TE ANAU BASIN.

146: States that his PARENTS bought the 7,500 acre property for 7000 pounds in 1928 from its previous owner whose surname was STEVENSON. Another former owner, he says, was CHEWINGS from MOSSBURN (GEORGE or his descendants?).

156: Mentions that one of the former owners had planted a variety of ENGLISH-style trees around the HOMESTEAD grounds which also included a tennis court and croquet lawns.

159: Also states that at one stage, THE GORGE STATION had been two separate properties. Explains that at the bottom of the GORGE HILL about 400 metres west of the road (from MOSSBURN), there had once been another house which was destroyed by fire in the early 1900s.

173: States there are remnants in that vicinity of the old SHEEP dip on the property, but nothing remains of the house or other buildings.

181: Discussing the STATION boundaries, its northern neighbour was THE PLAINS (now the sub-divided DAVAAR); while another boundary one was a straight line off the end of THE KEY straight (road).

183: Continues that the western boundary was a straight line from the WINLEY (CREEK) to the WAIAU (RIVER) which went diagonally across the road on the TE ANAU side of the STATION HOMESTEAD.

188: The south boundary was the treeline on top of the GORGE HILL, running under the face of MT HAMILTON. On the TE ANAU end, he mentions that the five prominent rocky outcrops on the left before DAVAAR have always been known locally as THE FINGERS, the THUMB being the hill closest to MOSSBURN. The boundary (with THE PLAINS) he goes on, was between the LITTLE FINGER and the one next to it, then over to the PRINCHESTER CREEK and from there back to the bush line on MT HAMILTON.

200: Explains further that at one stage there had been a group of three small GRAZING RUNS under the TAKITIMU MOUNTAINS – THE GORGE, WAITUNA and ELMWOOD. He adds that all three were about the same acreage (7,500) which was small considering they had very little cultivatable ground.

207: The pastoral leases on these properties, he continues, were commonly 99years in perpetuity. And, he says, when they were up for renewal in the 1950s, the government decided to make them more profitable by adding land from their neighbour – THE PLAINS STATION.

215: Continues that the government took about 1000 acres off each end of THE PLAINS to add onto WAITUNA and ELMWOOD.

220: At THE GORGE, about 280 acres was added on from BURWOOD STATION. At the same time, he says, the government took away 600 acres from THE GORGE and added it to BURWOOD STATION which at that time was already a substantial 200,000 acres. (Needs clarifying as it’s confusing)

244: Referring back to 1928, he replies that when his PARENTS took over the GORGE, there were probably only about 1000 SHEEP and 50 CATTLE.

251: Mentions that later on, the property was overrun with RABBITS – a major problem throughout the district.

253: Recalls that as a child he saw a passing truck laden with thousands of (dead) RABBITS which would have been sold for their SKINS. Mentions the McAULEY family that lived at THE KEY, saying their livelihood was made from RABBITING. “At various times, they were probably the wealthiest people in the district.”

262: Affirms that THE GORGE STATION was really just a GRAZING RUN, adding that apart from the area around the HOUSE, there were three small cultivated blocks at the bottom of the hill which were named FAITH, HOPE and CHARITY.

266: Commenting on those titles he says: “They can’t have been very productive (laughs). They would have been in FESCUE.” FESCUE was a hardy ENGLISH grass seed which was cultivated for export, reaching its peak price during the 1940s and 50s. It was known throughout NEW ZEALAND as CHEWINGS FESCUE because GEORGE CHEWINGS of MOSSBURN introduced it on his 2000-acre property where an employee, MICHAEL GALLAGHER, was the first to thresh the crop in 1888.

270: Replies that the landscape has not changed much over the years being still mainly TUSSOCK country. “On THE GORGE there was really no scrub at all. There was no manuka…SILVER TUSSOCK right up to the edge of the bush…very clean country unlike in the TE ANAU area which has a lot of manuka.”

276: Goes on to say there were no WILD PIGS in the area although there were a few DEER. “It wasn’t uncommon to get young DEER in among the SHEEP when you were mustering.”

293: Discussing the whereabouts of the house his PARENTS moved into in 1928, he says it was about 400 metres behind the present dwelling, across the CREEK.

297: Says it consisted of two bedrooms and a lounge (used as a bedroom), a kitchen, bathroom, washhouse and pantry. Mentions it had originally been a two-room hut.

306: The present house, he says, was built about 1954, all from native timber cut from the bush on the STATION. The builder, he says, had the surname of BARNES and was from OTAUTAU.

316: Adds that initially they had contracted another builder but shortly after the foundations were laid, he was declared bankrupt in connection with a separate job. It was a year before the new builder started working on the house. With the delay, he continued, all the timber was bone dry but also very hard so in those pre-ELECTRICITY days; holes had to be hand-drilled into the timber to ensure the nails would not bend.

330: When the house was being built, it was wired up for ELECTRICITY “because that was on the way” but took another four years to do so.

332: Recalls that when it was first installed, his PARENTS had to sign a guarantee to pay 125 pounds a year for its use. “In the winter-time they just had heaters going 24 hours a day, they couldn’t use that amount of ELECTRICITY”

352: Remembers there was a “lit-up” ball in TE ANAU to celebrate the arrival of ELECTRIC POWER in the district in 1958.

359: However, it was not such a strange phenomenon for him as he had become used to using ELECTRICITY at his PARENTS’ house in INVERCARGILL where he lived during term-time at SCHOOL.

360: Explains further that, initially, the three younger BOYS were taught at home through the CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOL helped by their MOTHER. As their education progressed all four lived in INVERCARGILL and returned home to the GORGE during the school vacations.

372: Replies that the old house was never wired up for ELECTRICITY so they did not have diesel generated POWER. Lighting was “just candles and kerosene lanterns”.

381: In describing the layout of the old house and grounds, he says there was an orchard on one side of the building. There was also a CREEK that had been straightened and across it were the tennis and croquet courts. On the other side of the house, he says there were the outbuildings, stables and a single man’s hut.

388: Recalls again the introduced trees, especially three particularly large OAK trees with trunks of about 12ft in diameter which stood on the banks of the CREEK. Adds there were other species such as ELM and HORSECHESTNUT.

400: Affirms that in the earlier years, his FATHER employed FARMWORKERS, mostly young, single men. But he does not recall there being anyone there full-time when he was a child as his older BROTHERS, and himself when he was older, helped out during activities such as TAILING and SHEARING.

407: Doing CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOLING, he says, meant there were no set class times and there was no such thing as SCHOOL holidays and weekends.

414: Replies that his MOTHER only helped teach the three younger BOYS and possibly the eldest CHILD for a year or two before the SCHOOL at THE KEY was opened in 1935.

418: Her teaching experience, he mentions, was gained while being a TEACHER’S AIDE at MORTON MAINS before she MARRIED. The local SCHOOL, he says, was on the property.

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003: Continuing discussion about the SCHOOL at THE KEY, he says again that it opened in 1935 and closed in 1939 (at the start of WWII) and his two eldest BROTHERS, DAVID and GRAEME were pupils there.

009: As an aside, he explains further how the next CHILD, IAN, died: he’d suffered first degree burns as a result of a TUSSOCK fire and died later in hospital in INVERCARGILL. The fire was a burnoff of the TUSSOCKS being carried out on the FARM.

021: Adds that probably it was the time taken to reach hospital that was the major contributing factor in his BROTHER’S death because the coroner’s verdict was that the three-year old had died of shock following severe burns. Person recorded: Lovat Fraser

026: Referring back to the SCHOOL at THE KEY, he says that after it was closed DAVID and GRAEME went to the WAITAKI SCHOOL for BOYS in OAMARU for a few years.

033: Recalls his BROTHERS talking about biking to SCHOOL from THE GORGE to THE KEY. And relates a tale about a teacher - JACK ISAACS - who stayed at their house and used the FRASERS’ CHEVROLET pickup for the journey to and from the SCHOOL.

040: Mentions that his nine-year old BROTHER, DAVID, would sometimes drive the same vehicle from their FARM gate to the SCHOOL while JACK ISAACS slept (in the passenger seat). “He never said he drove off it (the road)…(laughs).”

059: Replies that he probably started with the CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOL when he was about four years old. His younger BROTHER, TOM, he thinks began at the age of about three, probably because it was a way for his MOTHER to keep control of them all, including the older one, DONALD.

066: Remembers that when he first went to SCHOOL in INVERCARGILL, academically he was ahead of pupils who were the same age (about nine).

085: As an aside, he says it was not until he went to SCHOOL that he discovered his name was considered unusual. Says it was a name handed down from his FATHER and that traditionally, the head of the FRASER CLAN (in SCOTLAND) was given the title of LORD LOVAT.

101: Their education during the CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOL years, he says, consisted of the three “Rs” – READING, WRITING and ARITHMETIC.

119: Affirms he can recall his first day at SURREY PARK SCHOOL in INVERCARGILL. The FRASER house was only a few streets away in LORNE ST but he was overcome with the fear of getting lost on the way to SCHOOL.

126: “Always went to and from SCHOOL the same way for about two months in case we did get lost.”

135: What also struck him, he says, was being among so many CHILDREN who were the same age as he was. Although he had enjoyed meeting groups of other CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOL pupils at special events, they were of a wide age range. It was a novelty to be in a classroom of pupils who were all the same age and that some of them were girls (especially as he had grown up only with BROTHERS).

170: A major difference between the two systems, he recalls, was that at SCHOOL there were set times for instruction with small breaks between, whereas at home sometimes he was told to sit at his books from seven in the morning till lunchtime without a break.

187: From SURREY PARK, he says, he went to TWEEDSMUIR INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL. While there, one of the teachers he recalls was former ALL BLACK, BILL MCCAW.

196: After TWEEDSMUIR, he continues, he went on to SOUTHLAND BOYS HIGH SCHOOL following in the footsteps of his older BROTHERS as well as his MOTHER’S GRANDFATHER who he mentions had been a first day pupil at the SCHOOL.

209: Remembers the RECTOR, DON GRANT, was a man of “military bearing”. Use of the cane as a means of corporal punishment, he adds, was considered normal practice. “In a way it was preferable to getting 500 lines. It was over and done with quicker and you had something to show for it, generally… (laughs).”

221: Mentions that pupils would never answer back a teacher’s comment and never swore at any of them “like the kids do now”.

226: Considers the SCHOOL was strong on both academic and sports subjects and describes himself as an average student.

246: During the holidays, he replies, it was generally expected that he and his BROTHERS worked on the FARM. JANUARY was always the annual SHEARING time and explains that it was in connection with the growth of a weed called “biddy-bid”.

250: This plant, he says, has a small hook which lets it transmigrate its seeds. A SHEEP’S wool usually gets covered in those seeds which as a result downgrades the quality of the fleece. With JANUARY SHEARING, the problem is much reduced.

260: Replies that in the 1950s, there was an average of 1500 EWES to SHEAR, WOOL being the main income from the property. Mainly they were ROMNEYS, he says, although his FATHER had introduced the occasional MERINO breed into the STOCK which made the WOOL finer and the animals easier to MUSTER.

270: Recalls that in 1953, following the start of the KOREAN WAR, FARMERS were paid 1 pound/1lb for WOOL. “That was a phenomenal price then.” He adds that although the price was so high for only a few sales, it lifted the incomes of all the RUNHOLDERS who had their WOOL at the markets then.

277: For example, he remembers his FATHER bought a CHEVROLET car that year and it cost 1,040 pounds or just two and a half bales of WOOL.

300: Mentions that his UNCLE, JIM FRASER, also had a CHEVROLET which was bright green whereas SAM FRASER’S was “gun-barrel grey”.

318: Back to the FARM work, he says that by the time he left SCHOOL, his BROTHER, DONALD, was already working at the GORGE for their FATHER who had by then also bought another FARM at MOSSBURN (purchased in 1954).

323: Says that following the government’s re-distribution of the boundary between THE GORGE STATION and BURWOOD, adding the 280 acres of flat land near PRINCHESTER CREEK, DONALD worked at MOSSBURN and he (the participant) took over at THE GORGE.

325: The MOSSBURN property, he says, was across from ROCKY POINT and measured about 320 acres. Adds that it had been left derelict after its previous owner had “walked off” it during WWII. In their first year of ownership, he says, there was only a handful of SHEEP on it. There were no fences and it had to be completely re-grassed.

337: “All the profits from THE GORGE were ploughed into this FARM at MOSSBURN.”

344: Replies that although his MOTHER spent her time teaching when he was young, during her first years at THE GORGE she helped with some of the FARM work such as MUSTERING.

347: Relates a story about how GRAEME at the age of six was left in the house with the job of keeping the fire going and that “when the hands on the clock reached a certain point he had to put the potatoes on”.

356: Referring to what was locally known as the BIG SNOW of 1939, he says his FATHER did pass down memories of that event to his CHILDREN. Says that at THE GORGE, they had about six feet of snow that winter. “Only one COW survived and that was the MILKING COW. All the ones out on the RUN country died.” He is unsure whether the SHEEP losses were as bad.

365: Those other fifty cows, he says, died from starvation because the snow was so deep and lasted for so long (weeks). DAVE and GRAEME, he says, made tunnels through to the kennels so that they could feed the dogs and hens.

370: Although areas around roads and houses were cleared by bulldozer the problem was out on the RUN country, he says, so all the neighbouring FARMS suffered similar losses.

392: Referring to a question about the road alignment of SH94 past the property, he says the present one is the third different route up the GORGE HILL. Part of the original, he continues, still exists.

393: Heading towards MOSSBURN, he says, the present road veers off the original almost at the start of the incline. Says there is a willow tree near to which was an old bridge. From there the road went underneath the terracing of the present road and followed almost straight up onto the GORGE HILL. There is evidence of the original earthworks on the left-hand side (on the way to MOSSBURN). At the top, the old road crossed over the present one. (Might be an idea to draw a map showing the difference?)

407: The second road, he says, followed the original at first, then came round the terrace and abutted at right angles with the present route. This is after crossing the GORGE CREEK and the first piece of the GORGE HILL. There is a piece on the left, he says, which has been filled up with all the “spoil” taken off the HILL. The road took a route underneath that, crossed under the present road and on the right hand side, can be seen a loop of the old road. This second route crossed back under the present road a couple of times in a zigzag and finished up beside the airstrip on the top of the GORGE HILL and came out through the double gates that are currently in place and crossed again at right angles to the present road, went down to the left, took a sharp right, through the valley and back up on to the next terrace about 150 metres away from the present route. Then it turned left again and down round the next flat before taking another sharp right then straight on till it met up with the present road at the next WEYDEN BURN “which I still call the switchbacks because the road went over two little ridges which was quite good fun in a car.”

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002: Continues discussion of the road alignment saying that the present WEYDEN BURN used to be situated further back towards TE ANAU (in the direction of MOSSBURN) as it was this CREEK that created the GORGE.

018: Replies that a former gold prospector changed the course of the CREEK so that it flows into the ORETI RIVER instead of its original direction into the WAIAU RIVER. He also says that after the CREEK reaches the summit, there is no riverbed for it to follow so it just meanders through the RED TUSSOCKS.

028: Comments that his MOTHER, who told him about the prospector, was never sure whether any gold was ever found in the area.

032: At the top of the GORGE HILL, he says, there was also once a COALMINE. Until quite recently, he adds, it was possible to make out the line of the route taken by the COAL-carrying packhorses about halfway up the ridge on the HILL.

037: States that his FATHER once used some of its COAL in the old house at THE GORGE, but it burnt the grate out of the range.

058: At mention of the MINE at the PRINCHESTER CREEK, he explains that from the road at DAVAAR it is on the right following the course of the CREEK as far as the bushline.

066: There are small COAL seams throughout the area, he says, using the fact that COAL CREEK through THE GORGE STATION was so named because of outbreaks of shaly COAL at the head of the CREEK.

082: Discussion moves on to the occupants of the neighbouring properties to THE GORGE in the late 1920s. He says at BURWOOD there was the HAZLETT family; at THE PLAINS there was ANGUS MACDONALD and family; at WAITUNA was DICK ROBINSON and at ELMWOOD was REG CROSSAN. At MANAPOURI STATION, was a separate MCDONALD family from the one at THE PLAINS and at REDCLIFF STATION was the SPEIGHT (ALLAN) family.

102: Others his PARENTS knew in the district included JAMES MILNE and his family at the FREESTONE FARM and the BLATCH family at LYNWOOD STATION.

112: Comments that before the LANDS & SURVEY DEPARTMENT’S DEVEOPMENT SCHEME, there were not many families living in the district. Recalls there was also (JOHN) COCKBURN at MARAROA STATION.

127: Says the FRASERS helped out at MUSTERING time on MARAROA STATION so they got to know the COCKBURNS quite well. Also mentions that JOHN COCKBURN would bring over the MARAROA FESCUE MILL and CHAFF CUTTER to THE GORGE to help out during the short-lived annual FESCUE harvest.

145: Replies that it was about 1950 when SAM FRASER bought the STATION’S first tractor, mainly because there was very little agricultural work on the property. Previously, any tractor work was done using equipment borrowed from SAM’S brother who owned BEAUMONT STATION in the OHAI district.

190: Affirms that during and immediately after WWII, when labourers were not available the FARMERS turned to their neighbours for help: “Because of the 2nd war and the shortage of manpower, MUSTERING was a job that was basically get anyone you could.”

192: Relates a tale about JOHN COCKBURN at MARAROA saying that one year he had been helped out by a LAND GIRL and two schoolchildren during the annual SHEEP MUSTER and it was the only year on record at the STATION that they did not have any stragglers (usually after the main MUSTER, a second round-up would have to be done to catch all those that had strayed from the main group).

203: “He used to skite about this to the SHEPHERDS that would come in to do the MUSTERING…because they couldn’t beat the previous one - of being no SHEEP left so they reckoned they’d equal it, which they were quite proud of. But that night the gate was left open (laughs)…course you can guess who left the gate open. Then he could still say the best MUSTER, not equal best.”

212: Mentions his FATHER used to help the MUSTER at FREESTONE for JIMMY MILNE and for the MURRELLS at DUNCRAIGEN as well as MARAROA. BURWOOD, he adds, employed permanent staff such as SHEPHERDS and TEAMSTERS.

223: Referring to TE ANAU DOWNS STATION, (where the pastoral lease had been held by the CHARTRES family since the mid-1920s until it freeholded part of the property in the early 1990s), he says that although he’s uncertain as to whether SAM FRASER helped out during the annual MUSTERS there, both families knew each other well because during WWI, (1914-1918) JOHN CHARTRES and JIM FRASER (SAM’S BROTHER) fought alongside each other in the same regiment.

236: As young adults (late 1950s) he says he and his BROTHERS socialised at MOSSBURN not TE ANAU because the former had established sports teams such as for rugby and tennis.

240: However, in the early 1950s he recalls visiting TE ANAU occasionally when they would go to the “pictures” that were held in the TE ANAU HOTEL.

246: Describes how there was only one projector and that whenever the reels had to be changed, they were also rewound so there were lengthy intermissions. Calculates that about 40 people would turn out to watch the movies.

285: Referring to the CENTRE HILL STATION near MOSSBURN, he says the pastoral lease was held by JACK HAZLETT (BROTHER of BILL (W.E.) HAZLETT) but died in WWII. Mentions a third brother, LOU HAZLETT, who had been appointed as HIGH COMMISSIONER of AUSTRALIA.

293: Says the HAZLETTS’ father, also named BILL (W.T.) held the MOVARA RUN and that he took over BURWOOD when its incumbent family, KING, went broke. As a result, the HAZLETTS held the pastoral leases to all three RUNS (BURWOOD, MAVORA and CENTRE HILL).

297: Recalls being told by one of the HAZLETT family members that from the CENTRE HILL homestead to the back of the property was further than from the homestead to INVERCARGILL. Adds that that was when the RUN went into the GREENSTONE VALLEY, past the MAVORA LAKES.

306: States that during the 1950s/60s the LANDS & SURVEY DEPARTMENT redrew the boundaries on the properties around there so that MT NICHOLAS and WALTER PEAK STATIONS were given pieces that had originally been part of MAVORA.

317: As for the TE ANAU BASIN’S L&S FARM DEVELOPMENT SCHEME (begun in 1953), he says it first bought LYNWOOD STATION and as pastoral leases expired, they bought the lessees out.

322: At the FREESTONE, he says he thinks L&S paid the lessee (JIMMY MILNE) 52,000 pounds. Mentions that SAM FRASER had been keen to buy the property but because L&S (the CROWN) owned the lease it got first refusal.

334: Goes on to list a few of the other properties that were bought out, including HILLSIDE (the RIORDANS), half of MANAPOURI STATION (HAROLD CHARTRES) and a large section of MARAROA (the COCKBURNS) as well as BURWOOD, CENTRE HILL, MAVORA and SO BIG.

339: At BURWOOD, he says, L&S left the (HAZLETT) family with less than1500 acres whereas at LYNWOOD (J.H.ANDERSON), FREESTONE and HILLSIDE it bought the entire properties.

345: Comments that as a result of the SCHEME, many more families have come into the district. “It’s made an enormous difference to the area.”

358: Affirms that his FATHER (SAM FRASER) sold the GORGE STATION to BILL HAZLETT, adding that L&S was not interested in taking it over because the land was not suitable for development. “There was no flat land.”

363: Similarly, at WAITUNA and ELMWOOD, he says all the flat land had already been cultivated so those properties were of no interest to L&S either.

372: Replies that (in 1966) HAZLETT paid SAM FRASER 70,000 pounds for the lease on THE GORGE STATION, which he says was twice the value of the property at that time.

378: His PARENTS, he continues, bought a house in MOSSBURN while his BROTHER, DONALD, carried on as manager at their FARM on the outskirts of that town.

380: Mentions it was the same year that he got MARRIED and says he and his WIFE, (SHIRLEY) worked as a ‘married couple’ on a property in the MANDEVILLE area before returning to MOSSBURN where he was employed at HAMILTON BURN.

390: Interview closes. Tape stopped and runs on to end.

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A second recording took place at LOVAT FRASER’S home in TE ANAU on 19 OCTOBER 2006.

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009: Replies that he did not have to undertake COMPULSORY MILITARY TRAINING (CMT) although he complied with the regulation to register his name for recruitment. CMT was introduced in NEW ZEALAND following WWII to ensure the youth population was fit and able in the event of another outbreak of war. It was scrapped in the early 1970s.

021: Explains that not long after he registered the system changed and the selection was based on ballot of dates of birth for each year until the whole programme ceased.

024: Recalls his BROTHERS, DONALD and GRAEME, had both done CMT but the eldest DAVE did not and is unsure if he won an exemption because he worked for the government at its LANDS & SURVEY DEPARTMENT.

043: Returning to the social life for young people in the district in the 1950s and 60s, he says it centred around sports activities in MOSSBURN.“We were probably down at MOSSBURN at least three times a week…outside the FARM work”

068: At the age of eighteen, he says, he bought his first car – a VOLKSWAGON BEETLE which gave him more freedom than driving his FATHER’S car which he had previously relied on.

073: Replies that his WIFE, SHIRLEY (née FLETCHER) worked at the POST OFFICE in MOSSBURN before they MARRIED.

077: Her family, he continues, lived in the THORNBURY district and her FATHER worked for the WALLACE COUNTY COUNCIL.

085: It was through their respective sports activities that they met each other, he says, adding that it was probably the most common way that couples met up particularly for anyone aged under twenty-one because of stricter licensing laws in hotels and pubs than nowadays.

112: He and SHIRLEY were dating each other for about three years, he says, before they decided to get MARRIED. The wedding took place at ST STEPHEN’S CHURCH in INVERCARGILL on 28 JUNE 1966.

129: Their honeymoon, he says was a tour round the SOUTH ISLAND and he mentions again that their first home was in the MANDEVILLE area where they were employed as a married couple on a large property owned by BERT HORRELL

137: Mentions again that in 1968, they moved back to MOSSBURN where he worked for RALPH HEANAN until 1970 when they were BALLOTED a LANDS & SURVEY FARM in the TE ANAU BASIN.

]Under the government’s FARM DEVELOPMENT SCHEME in the TE ANAU (and MOSSBURN) districts, more than 350,000 acres of land had been acquired between 1953 and 1966 with the aim of creating 300 privately-owned FARMS. The first area to come under the SCHEME was LYNWOOD STATION which was bought from the lessee, J.H. ANDERSON, in 1953. It covered an area more than 60,000 acres. As mentioned earlier by the participant, other properties were added as their leases expired, including FREESTONE STATION which later was subdivided into three L&S DEVELOPMENT BLOCKS – MT YORK, KEPLER and FREESTONE. An earlier version of the SCHEME began in 1941 across SOUTHLAND and other rural areas as a means of re-settling ex-servicemen returned from WWII. First refusals in the BALLOT system still went to this group, but as time passed and almost all were settled, civilians were allowed to submit an application for a FARM once its development had been completed. This involved L&S cultivating pasture, using fertiliser by traditional method and widespread topdressing, laying drainage tiles and putting up fences to form workable paddocks. A BALLOT-ready FARM included not only the land but also a house, outbuildings and STOCK. In summary, the BALLOT involved several hundred names being put into a BALLOT BOX (like a LOTTERY) and applicants waiting in hope for their name to be selected usually by the COMMISSIONER of CROWN LANDS. A BALLOT was held when a few FARMS were available for settlement. If an applicant’s name was not pulled out of the BOX, there was always the next lot of FARMS due in a few months time when he/she went through the same process until his/her name eventually was BALLOTED.]

160: Applicants for an upcoming FARM, he says, had to fulfil certain requirements such as sufficient FARMING experience (at least five years). A deposit was also essential, he adds (10-20%) and recalls it being about $10,000 for the FARM he was BALLOTTED which was valued at $52,000.

173: The FARM was titled “Z”, he thinks, and it was his first preference in a selection he had been allowed to list – four in the MANAPOURI area, four in the TAKITIMU district.

195: Originally the FARM was 450 acres which he considers was smaller than it should have been in terms of being a productive unit. Explaining this further, he says that his and neighbouring properties that had been BALLOTED in 1970 had only been “bulldozed out of manuka eight years before” and the soil was unable to hold moisture.

204: In a dry year “you could plough a PADDOCK and just put HARROWS over it and you could RIDGE it, you didn’t have to DISC it at all…it just crumbled up”. Adds that it’s very different now, thirty years later.

212: When they took it over from L&S, he says the purchase included the STOCK of 1750 EWES, 450 HOGGETS, and 50 CALVES, as well as the FARMHOUSE, WOOLSHED, HAYBARN. In addition, an area had been sown with SWEDES and there were some BALES of HAY left on the property.

232: Says the L&S FIELD OFFICER in charge of that BLOCK before it was sold was BOB YATES.

238: Mentions that the financing of the property (apart from the deposit) was done through L&S (i.e.; a government loan rather than a bank mortgage). As a result, he says, quite a strict budget was imposed on all new SETTLERS.

250: Considers the first years on the newly-made FARM were difficult. In the first ten years, he recalls, they had seven droughts. Mentions there were two PADDOCKS under MT YORK on the FARM which, wet or dry, were always green but during the droughts, there was no moisture in the soil even though they were the only green PADDOCKS throughout a sun-browned district.

272: On whether the FARMS had been SETTLED too soon, he takes the view that due to government policy, L&S was committed to develop and sell-off the land. He also considers that the biggest error was making the FARMS too small.

281: Says that originally when L&S bought the MT YORK land from MILNE, the aim was to subdivide it into FARMS of about 1500 acres but in the end they were only 500 acres or less.

300: Mentions that as part of the original intention, each 1500 acre BLOCK was not to be sold fully developed. Perhaps only half was to be developed and the remainder left uncleared of vegetation so that it was up to each SETTLER to decide whether to develop or not.

307: In those first years, he admits, it was impossible to make a living off the FARM so increasing STOCK numbers was not viable.

322: Yet whenever there was a good year between the droughts, he says, it would have been possible to STOCK the FARM with twice as many animals.

329: Time, he maintains, was the main factor in improving the land quality; years of TOPDRESSING (aerial spraying of fertiliser), manure, better GRASSES and the creation of SHELTERBELTS to prevent DUST STORMS.

343: Replies that some of the SETTLERS gave up trying to combat the problems they encountered in the BASIN.

355: Affirms that the government’s FARM DEVELOPMENT SCHEME across the BASIN would have been too big a job for any private individual to take on.

356: As an example, he says, even in the early days L&S had a lot of trouble trying to grow CLOVER before discovering the need to inoculate it to get it to germinate. Another problem was “ill-thrift”in LAMBS which was due to a lack of SILENIUM in the local soil. Private individuals trying to FARM the district would not have been able to afford conducting trials to find the solution to these problems.

363: Before L&S came into the district, he adds, the MACHINERY for working the land did not exist for a private individual. Probably he/she would have been able to cultivate 50 to 100 acres a year. “At the rate they could’ve done it (it) was going to take two or three lifetimes. In that respect, only the L&S could’ve done it.”

369: Affirms that large sums of money were spent on the SCHEME even after L&S began making an income prior to the stage at which various SETTLEMENT BLOCKS were completed.

380: From 1970 for the following twenty-seven years, he says he and his FAMILY lived on the FARM which they called YORK DOWNS because part of MT YORK (hill) was on the property.

386: His neighbours were L&S on two sides (across the road and directly behind), LES TINDALL was on the MARAROA RIVER side, ALAN TAYLOR on the MANAPOURI side and DAVID TAYLOR (not related) on the flat.

394: Mentions that later, two further areas were SETTLED on the FREESTONE BLOCK.

398: Of the FARMS on which the SETTLERS were in fact quite unsettled, he says, they were sold again to private individuals with one returned to L&S. Mentions there is only one original SETTLER still in that immediate area (DAVID TAYLOR).

419: Comments that FARMING at YORK DOWNS was different from THE GORGE because the latter was a grazing property only and could withstand the drought years. (Off tape, he said being at MOSSBURN was different again because it was an area that had been cultivated for quite a number of years already.)

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004: Continuing discussion about the FARM at MOSSBURN, he says that in late 1990s he helped his BROTHER, DONALD, by working on the property which was when he was made fully aware of the difference between that area and the MANAPOURI district.

012: “I’d come up, back up here and I’d look at the area and I’d think ‘and we’re trying to FARM up here’. Down at MOSSBURN, they’d have at least twice as much GRASS and in reality they had probably no more rain than we had. But the fertility down there was just naturally so much higher.”

027: Admits that some of the FARMERS in the TE ANAU BASIN have made some big improvements with better GRASSES and higher TOPDRESSING rates and better FERTILISER.

039: Of the earlier history of MT YORK and the FREESTONE area, he says that after they bought YORK DOWNS, his FATHER was keen to locate the SCOBIE HOMESTEAD. ROBERT SCOBIE, a widower with eight children took up the pastoral lease of the 3000-acre FREESTONE (a small grazine run) – SGR 19) in 1893. It was later taken up by BOB MURRELL (JNR) whose sons worked the property along with DUNCRAIGEN further down the WAIAU RIVER. JAMES MILNE took over the lease in the1940s before it was purchased by the government for the LANDS & SURVEY FARM DEVELOPMENT SCHEME.

044: The remnants of original SCOBIE HOMESTEAD, he explains were situated (in the early 1970s) by a copse of MACROCARPA trees about 1km on the left along the WEIR RD (in the direction of MANAPOURI).

050: Recalls there was evidence of a doorstep and a hearth and under a hedge there was a midden containing old bottles with the maker’s name moulded into the glass. Quite a few, he says, came from GLASGOW (SCOTLAND).

064: Remembers his FATHER saying that the SCOBIES were the first to grow GRAIN in the area and had sown 7½ acres of OATS around which they’d built a SOD fence. Says that in the 1970s, evidence of that fence was still visible.

072: Mentions his FATHER saying that the SCOBIES must have pulled the OATS by hand as they had no other means of harvesting it at that time (late 1890s).

106: Of his own FAMILY, he and SHIRLEY have three DAUGHTERS named CAROLYN, TRACEY and MELANIE, all of whom attended SCHOOL in TE ANAU (both PRIMARY and HIGH SCHOOL).

113: Two DAUGHTERS, he says, still live in TE ANAU as their respective husbands work in the district and they each have CHILDREN of their own. The third DAUGHTER lives with her CHILDREN in AUSTRALIA.

139: Reflecting on his own youth, he considers his CHILDREN had it relatively easy in terms of finding and maintaining an active social life as they were growing up in TE ANAU in the 1970s and 80s. He discusses this further referring to their interest in sports.

171: Mentions the youngest, MELANIE, has represented NEW ZEALAND in competitive events in ATHLETICS, adding that she also is one of the few CAUCASIAN women sprinters to beat AUSTRALIAN OLYMPICS WINNER, KATHY FREEMAN, in the 100m sprint in MELBOURNE,1985.

181: Replies that during their first years of living at YORK DOWNS, his WIFE, SHIRLEY, did not work outside of the home but in later years was employed as HOUSEKEEPER for QUALITY HOTELS in TE ANAU.

195: Responding to question, he affirms that among many of the FARM SETTLERS, it was an unwritten expectation that the WIVES helped with some of the FARM work as the “unpaid helper because in most cases the husbands thought they were the unpaid worker anyhow”.

214: On their FARM, he says, he did not employ any workers apart from the contract SHEARING gangs whenever they were required.

224: Of local clubs and committees, he was a member of the TE ANAU PRIMARY SCHOOL committee in 1976 and was appointed CHAIRMAN in 1979. He adds that it was during those years that the SCHOOL swimming pool had a permanent cover built over it.

230: States he was on the BOARD of GOVERNORS at FIORDLAND COLLEGE, a committee member of the TE ANAU GOLF CLUB and also a PAST-PRESIDENT. Says that between 1973 and 1977 he was also the TE ANAU ATHLETICS TEAM COACH.

251: Affirms that he sold YORK DOWNS in 1997 and moved to TE ANAU. However, retirement did not suit him, so he worked part-time as a TRUCK DRIVER for SOUTHERN SEAFOODS, a STEWART ISLAND-based company that transported LIVE CRAYFISH from TE ANAU (MILFORD SOUND) to CHRISTCHURCH.

270: Discusses the life of the CRAYFISH from their capture at sea to their eventual export destination of GERMANY, ASIA and the US.

315: Referring back to the trip in the 1950s in his FATHER’S CHEVROLET on the MILFORD ROAD to the HOMER TUNNEL, he replies that it took a full day to get there and back as it was not long after the TUNNEL had been opened and the road was still gravel-surfaced.

321: Recalls that a few years earlier, when his FATHER owned a CHEV (pick-up) TRUCK, it took three days for the family to go from THE GORGE to INVERCARGILL and back, partly because they stayed overnight at relatives in RYAL BUSH, but also because it was a long journey on a gravel surface.

337: Mentions that when the road between MOSSBURN and TE ANAU was tar-sealed, the biggest re-alignment was made at the section from the bottom of the GORGE HILL for the next two or three miles in the MOSSBURN direction.

363: Considers that the government’s FARM DEVELOPMENT SCHEME was probably the biggest creator of change in the TE ANAU BASIN compared with other major schemes that occurred in the district during the same period (1950s and 1960s). By this, he refers to the HYDRO POWER PROJECT at DOUBTFUL SOUND, harnessing energy from the waters of LAKES MANAPOURI and TE ANAU and the WAIAU RIVER.

371: Among the biggest changes it wrought has been the increase in population in the district, particularly the much greater number of families.

381: Says that if the LYNWOOD STATION had been developed privately, there might now be five or six families living within its original area (about 63000 acres) whereas now there are several dozen families on it.

392: Interview closes

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