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The Early Canterbury Runs: Containing the First, Second and Third (new) Series

Grasmere — (Run 216)

Grasmere
(Run 216)

Grasmere lies between the Cass and Waimakariri rivers, and now consists of nine hundred and fifty acres of freehold, and fourteen thousand acres of College reserve leasehold.

It was taken up by Joseph Hawdon in October, 1857, at the same time as Craigieburn. For many years his son, Arthur Hawdon, managed Grasmere for him, and after his death, Arthur Hawdon became the owner. At one time a man named Williams was Arthur Hawdon's manager.

About 1876 Dalgety and Co. took the station over from Hawdon. Until 1882, they ran it in the name of H. H. Hennah, the manager of their Christchurch branch, but he had no financial interest in it.

When Dalgety and Co. took over Grasmere J. S. Caverhill, who had been a cadet at Grasmere, managed it for them for several years. He afterwards managed Hawkswood and some stations in the North Island. He was a son of the well known J. S. Caverhill and died at Otorohanga in 1939. After Caverhill Fortesque Dalgety, a nephew of the founder of the firm, managed Grasmere for many years until it was sold in 1898 to John S. Sim, who had previously managed the Clarence Reserve.

Sim sold the station in 1903 to S. E. Rutherford. Sim was very well known as an able sheepman. He came to New Zealand from Scotland about 1860, and was head shepherd at both Benmore (Otago) and Lag page 216mhor. He afterwards managed Tarndale for Acton-Adams, and St. Helens for McArthur, and finally the Clarence Reserve, which he left to buy Grasmere. After he sold Grasmere, he did well with several good freehold properties in Canterbury. He died in 1918.

The leases of the Canterbury College runs were put up to auction in 1917 and Studholme and McAlpine, of Craigieburn, obtained the lease of Grasmere which they then worked with their Craigieburn and Mt. White country.

Rutherford kept the Grasmere freehold, from which he worked his other run—Cora Lynn. He sold this freehold with Cora Lynn to Taylor and Faulkner in 1922, and in 1927 Taylor and Faulkner bought the Grasmere leasehold and sheep back from Studholme and McAlpine.

Later Taylor and Faulkner sold both Grasmere and Cora Lynn to McLeod and Orbell, the present [1945] owners.