Open/Close Toolbox
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 New Zealand License
Format: Collection
Linked To
Collection
Copyright
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 New Zealand LicenseThis licence lets you remix, tweak, and build upon our work noncommercially and although your new works must also acknowledge us and be noncommercial, you do not have to license the derivative works on the same terms.
Menu
Freeholding of Land and Intensification of Production in Ellesmere
Description
NameFreeholding of Land and Intensification of Production
Description"The Canterbury Association came to an end in 1853 with the establishment of the Canterbury Provincial Council.
All leasehold land now belonged to the Crown.
In that year, George Grey passed his ‘Cheap Land Ordinance’, which made land outside the original Canterbury Block (bounded by the Waipara River in the north and the Ashburton River in the south) either ten or five shillings an acre — something which the Shagroons took advantage of. In 1856, the provincial council reduced the purchase price of land (out of a pastoral run) from £3 an acre to £2 an acre.
In addition, the smallest size of holding able to be purchased, reduced from 50 acres to 20 acres. Thus, a purchaser only needed to find £40 instead of £150 to purchase a holding.
The process of breaking up the runs was a gradual one.
One of the contributing factors was the demand for land.
During the 1860s and 1870s, labourers (both farming and non-farming), through savings, were increasingly in a position to buy land of their own.
The runs closer to Christchurch were being freeholded during the 1850s and, by the early 1860s, the quest for land was driving many further out to what had, only a short time earlier, been regarded as the ‘outlying districts ’.
Some who had acquired land close to Christchurch sought larger holdings further out.
New immigrants fueled the demand for land and, in the Ellesmere and Springs districts, the freeholding of land continued at a remarkable rate into the 1870s.
Many of the early settlers were very hard working - seeking other opportunities for building up their capital in the early days (e.g. road contracting), while at the same time developing their farms.
In time, quite a number of them had built up very large holdings.
There was a wide variation in the underlying land types.
The rise in arable farming was very pronounced in Ellesmere and this, in turn, was a key factor in the development that took place.
Gold was discovered on the West Coast in 1864 and brought an immediate demand for food - particularly bread — which meant wheat growing became more attractive.
Together with the increasing supply of labour due to a rising population, the increasing availability and improvement of farm machinery, and the use of introduced pasture grasses, more intensive livestock farming became possible over large areas."
Singleton (2007)
Description"The Canterbury Association came to an end in 1853 with the establishment of the Canterbury Provincial Council. All leasehold land now belonged to the Crown.
In that year, George Grey passed his ‘Cheap Land Ordinance’, which made land outside the original Canterbury Block (bounded by the Waipara River in the north and the Ashburton River in the south) either ten or five shillings an acre — something which the Shagroons took advantage of. In 1856, the provincial council reduced the purchase price of land (out of a pastoral run) from £3 an acre to £2 an acre.
In addition, the smallest size of holding able to be purchased, reduced from 50 acres to 20 acres. Thus, a purchaser only needed to find £40 instead of £150 to purchase a holding.
The process of breaking up the runs was a gradual one.
One of the contributing factors was the demand for land.
During the 1860s and 1870s, labourers (both farming and non-farming), through savings, were increasingly in a position to buy land of their own.
The runs closer to Christchurch were being freeholded during the 1850s and, by the early 1860s, the quest for land was driving many further out to what had, only a short time earlier, been regarded as the ‘outlying districts ’.
Some who had acquired land close to Christchurch sought larger holdings further out.
New immigrants fueled the demand for land and, in the Ellesmere and Springs districts, the freeholding of land continued at a remarkable rate into the 1870s.
Many of the early settlers were very hard working - seeking other opportunities for building up their capital in the early days (e.g. road contracting), while at the same time developing their farms.
In time, quite a number of them had built up very large holdings.
There was a wide variation in the underlying land types.
The rise in arable farming was very pronounced in Ellesmere and this, in turn, was a key factor in the development that took place.
Gold was discovered on the West Coast in 1864 and brought an immediate demand for food - particularly bread — which meant wheat growing became more attractive.
Together with the increasing supply of labour due to a rising population, the increasing availability and improvement of farm machinery, and the use of introduced pasture grasses, more intensive livestock farming became possible over large areas."
Singleton (2007)
Collection
Connections
CollectionTimeline of Food Gathering and Production in EllesmereOrganisationEllesmere Historical Society
OrganisationEllesmere Historical SocietyFreeholding of Land and Intensification of Production in Ellesmere. Selwyn Stories, accessed 21/06/2026, https://selwynstories.selwynlibraries.co.nz/nodes/view/6457