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Dairy farmers and Doyleston Creamery
Description
NameDairy farmers and Doyleston CreameryDescriptionIntensive dairy farming is now an important part our the district’s economy and this is evident with the recent establishment of two large local milk processing factories; Synlait’s near Dunsandel and Fonterra’s at Darfield. However, dairying has been a feature of the district since the pioneering days of the 1860s when marginal land was broken in by the early settlers.
The scale of dairy farming was much different then. Most farms had at least one ‘house’ cow to provide milk for the family. Cow herds were much smaller then as milking was done by hand and very labour intensive. Other problems farmers faced was how to preserve the milk in a time when refrigeration was in its infancy and expensive, and how to get their produce to markets when the main mode of transport was a horse and cart. It is hard for us to believe now, but during the colonial era in New Zealand it was only the cream of the milk that had any financial value for farmers. This was mainly used to produce butter and cheese which were staple foods in New Zealand society at the time that could easily be made by housewives as part of their daily chores.
By the late 19th century butter and cheese was being produced on an industrial scale for both domestic and foreign markets, with much of this being exported to the Britain. This led to the establishment of local creameries throughout the Selwyn district where farmers could easily deliver their milk for the separation process to sites which were only a short distance from their farms. One of the first creameries to be established in the Ellesmere area was that built by the Canterbury Central Co-operative Dairy Company on Drain Road, Doyleston. Details of the exact date this facility was opened are sketchy but it is believed to be sometime in 1892 when the company was first established.
According to an article in the Ellesmere Guardian in October 1893 initially there had been adverse criticism from a number of shareholders regarding the chosen location of the creamery, being two miles from the Doyleston railway station.
However, it appeared that the initial doubts of the practical success of the creamery were dispelled as it proved to be a central and convenient location: ‘With only a few exceptions the principal and good butter and cheese makers are now taking their milk to this creamery, from the Leeston, Doyleston, Killinchy and Brookside districts. Another practical fact demonstrated is that the factory system pays better than the old hand system.’
The success of the creamery was evident in the number of farmers who had their milk processed there. In 1893 there were 36 local farmers supplying the facility, with an average of 816 gallons of milk being processed daily by 346 cows. When separated, this produced around 75 gallons of cream for which the suppliers were being paid at a rate of 1 shilling and 3 pence per pound of butter. The cream was then transported by rail to the main Canterbury Central Co-operative Dairy Company butter factory in Addington. The company eventually built other creameries within the district at Springston, Lakeside, Irwell and Dunsandel.
At this time the suppliers had stated they were very satisfied with the newly established creamery in that, along with the reduced manual labour to the farmer’s wives and families compared to the old domestic system of making butter, the farmers were receiving an estimated 25 per cent greater profit by supplying the factory.
Activity at the creamery continued throughout the day. From 6.30 a.m. until as late as 8.30 p.m. farmers would continue to arrive by horse and cart to deliver metal cans full of milk and wait their turn for it to be separated and have the skim milk returned. This was then used to feed pigs, which most farmers kept for domestic meat.
There was keen competition to be the first arrival at the factory in the morning, and many tales were later told of certain local farmers who gathered their cows and milked them by candle light just so they could claim to the first to deliver their milk each morning. On one occasion two suppliers arrived at the creamery at the same time and their carts became stuck trying to race through the gates in an effort to be first.
Once at the creamery the farmers would drive the dray into a covered delivery loading bay in the centre of the building where the milk cans were taken and the milk placed into a separator. The cream was then stored a vat and the left over skim milk placed into cans and returned to the farmer before leaving. The whole process was quick and efficient, and once the benefits of supplying the creamery became well known, farmers from Irwell, Lakeside and as far as Southbridge became suppliers.
The Doyleston Creamery remained in operation until the end of the First World War, after which the building was turned into a domestic dwelling sometime between 1918 and 1920. In 1963 Peter and Jill Lemon purchased the property and over the years have extended and modernized the building. The only features of the original building still remaining are the concrete foundations of the separation tanks which are now part of the lounge. They have kept the history of the property alive by naming it ‘The Creamery’ and it remains a permanent local reminder of the importance dairying played in the early development of the Doyleston area.
The scale of dairy farming was much different then. Most farms had at least one ‘house’ cow to provide milk for the family. Cow herds were much smaller then as milking was done by hand and very labour intensive. Other problems farmers faced was how to preserve the milk in a time when refrigeration was in its infancy and expensive, and how to get their produce to markets when the main mode of transport was a horse and cart. It is hard for us to believe now, but during the colonial era in New Zealand it was only the cream of the milk that had any financial value for farmers. This was mainly used to produce butter and cheese which were staple foods in New Zealand society at the time that could easily be made by housewives as part of their daily chores.
By the late 19th century butter and cheese was being produced on an industrial scale for both domestic and foreign markets, with much of this being exported to the Britain. This led to the establishment of local creameries throughout the Selwyn district where farmers could easily deliver their milk for the separation process to sites which were only a short distance from their farms. One of the first creameries to be established in the Ellesmere area was that built by the Canterbury Central Co-operative Dairy Company on Drain Road, Doyleston. Details of the exact date this facility was opened are sketchy but it is believed to be sometime in 1892 when the company was first established.
According to an article in the Ellesmere Guardian in October 1893 initially there had been adverse criticism from a number of shareholders regarding the chosen location of the creamery, being two miles from the Doyleston railway station.
However, it appeared that the initial doubts of the practical success of the creamery were dispelled as it proved to be a central and convenient location: ‘With only a few exceptions the principal and good butter and cheese makers are now taking their milk to this creamery, from the Leeston, Doyleston, Killinchy and Brookside districts. Another practical fact demonstrated is that the factory system pays better than the old hand system.’
The success of the creamery was evident in the number of farmers who had their milk processed there. In 1893 there were 36 local farmers supplying the facility, with an average of 816 gallons of milk being processed daily by 346 cows. When separated, this produced around 75 gallons of cream for which the suppliers were being paid at a rate of 1 shilling and 3 pence per pound of butter. The cream was then transported by rail to the main Canterbury Central Co-operative Dairy Company butter factory in Addington. The company eventually built other creameries within the district at Springston, Lakeside, Irwell and Dunsandel.
At this time the suppliers had stated they were very satisfied with the newly established creamery in that, along with the reduced manual labour to the farmer’s wives and families compared to the old domestic system of making butter, the farmers were receiving an estimated 25 per cent greater profit by supplying the factory.
Activity at the creamery continued throughout the day. From 6.30 a.m. until as late as 8.30 p.m. farmers would continue to arrive by horse and cart to deliver metal cans full of milk and wait their turn for it to be separated and have the skim milk returned. This was then used to feed pigs, which most farmers kept for domestic meat.
There was keen competition to be the first arrival at the factory in the morning, and many tales were later told of certain local farmers who gathered their cows and milked them by candle light just so they could claim to the first to deliver their milk each morning. On one occasion two suppliers arrived at the creamery at the same time and their carts became stuck trying to race through the gates in an effort to be first.
Once at the creamery the farmers would drive the dray into a covered delivery loading bay in the centre of the building where the milk cans were taken and the milk placed into a separator. The cream was then stored a vat and the left over skim milk placed into cans and returned to the farmer before leaving. The whole process was quick and efficient, and once the benefits of supplying the creamery became well known, farmers from Irwell, Lakeside and as far as Southbridge became suppliers.
The Doyleston Creamery remained in operation until the end of the First World War, after which the building was turned into a domestic dwelling sometime between 1918 and 1920. In 1963 Peter and Jill Lemon purchased the property and over the years have extended and modernized the building. The only features of the original building still remaining are the concrete foundations of the separation tanks which are now part of the lounge. They have kept the history of the property alive by naming it ‘The Creamery’ and it remains a permanent local reminder of the importance dairying played in the early development of the Doyleston area.
Collection
Attribution
Dairy farmers and Doyleston Creamery. Selwyn Stories, accessed 07/03/2026, https://selwynstories.selwynlibraries.co.nz/nodes/view/4709
