Farm and Orchard scene
Maker and Role
Photographer: Walter Guy (b.1887, d.1918)
Photo Collection Reference Number
315127
Description
View of a flock of sheep in a paddock with two men on horseback and another two horses. An orchard is behind, and a farmhouse in the background.
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Public comments
This property, known locally as “Middlebank”, was at the time this photograph was taken the home of Ernest Robinson (b. 1867) and his wife Emma (nee Lines). It was sited in Lloyd’s Valley, on the left-hand side, close to the junction of the Thorpe-Orinoco Road. Ernest’s parents, Robert and Mary Hannah (nee Butler) Robinson, bought it in 1882 after moving from the Waimeas. They sold the property to Ernest in 1887, just before his marriage, and then moved to another farm just up the road. Emma was a daughter of Orinoco pioneers, George and Sarah (nee Thomason) Lines, who settled at Orinoco c. 1867. She married Ernest in 1888, and they went on to have six children. Ernest and his brother Alfred were part of a group of concerned parents instrumental in establishing the Orinoco School, which opened in 1893. Miss Esther Eves, Orinoco School’s first teacher and later mother of Prime Minister Keith Holyoake, boarded with the elder Robinsons. As well as running his own and his parents’ farms, Ernest (known as Ern) was in partnership with fellow Ngatimoti farmers John E. Salisbury and “Greenhill Tom” Grooby, who for many years ran a sheep droving business. Sheep were bought and collected from Takaka, Motueka, and surrounding districts, culminating at Ngatimoti. The partners held the stock on their various properties until there were sufficient numbers to begin the long journey to the Addington Saleyards in Christchurch. A minimum of 4000 sheep were required to make a trip to Christchurch economic. The route followed went over Tophouse through the Howard, Rainbow, Tarndale and St James Stations to Hamner, Culverden and then Christchurch. Various local men also took part in these expeditions. There was hardship and sometimes danger, but also adventure, the freedom of the road and comradeship. Places on these droves were sought after, and their passing was lamented. Ernest sold his land in 1894 and at some point moved from Lloyd’s Valley to Richmond, though his parents stayed on in their cottage until ill health compelled them to retire to Richmond. Both had died by 1911, and the remaining block of Robinson land up Lloyd’s Valley was then sold to Frank Hobson, who a few years later was killed in action at Gallipoli. Ernest spent many years on a farm called “Fairbrook” at 88 Valley, where he ran a butchery business. Two of his sons, Robert and Melville, served during WWI and returned home. Ernest died in 1930 and his wife Emma in 1939.
- Anne McFadgen posted 9 years ago.