Horsley Down is the name of the large pastoral property which was worked for many years by the late Mr. J. D. Lance. The Government bought about 4000 acres of the estate for closer settlement. This land has been subdivided, and is now held under leases in perpetuity. It is being rapidly cultivated, and pretty homesteads are springing up in all directions. A public school has recently been built at the settlement, which is three miles from Hawarden, a postal village. Sheep farming is the principal industry at Horsley Down, which is in the Waipara riding of the county of Ashley. At the census of 1901 there was a population of sixty-six.

The Horsley Down Public School was opened on the 1st of July, 1902. It stands on a section of three-quarters of an acre, is built of wood and iron, and consists of a porch, and a class room, with accommodation for thirty scholars. There are eighteen names on the roll, and the average attendance is fifteen.

Horsley Down, formerly known as Messrs Mallock and Lance's property, comprises 120,000 acres, and is situated between Waikari and the Hurunui river. The whole property has been much improved by treeplanting, and the erection of about 300 miles of fencing. In 1896 and 1897 the greater part of the estate was sold in small blocks; and the homestead block, comprising about 4000 acres was—with the exception of the house and station buildings and 100 acres of land, which were retained by Mrs Lance—bought by the Government, and cut up into small farms and let by ballot on the lease in perpetuity system.

Mr. James Dupre Lance, sometime Proprietor of Horsley Down, was born at Boulogne, in the south of France, in 1828. When very young he was taken to Somersetshire, England, where his father, the Rev. John Edwin Lance, had the living of Buckland, St. Mary. Mr. Lane was educated at the Addiscombe Military College. In 1825 he went to India as ensign in the service of the Honourable East India Company, and was afterwards appointed a lieutenant in the 8th Native Infantry. Mr. Lance was sent to New Zealand on sick leave in 1856. He, however, returned to India at the time of the Mutiny, and acted as Native Interpreter to the 42nd Highlanders. After the Mutiny Mr. Lance retired from the Army, and returned to New Zealand, where, in partnership with Mr. John W. Mallock, he took up the land since known as Horsley Down and “Heathstock,” comprising 100,000 acres of leasehold land and 20,000 acres of freehold. Mr. Lance was at one time a member of the Provincial Council of Canterbury, and was a member of the Legislative Council of New Zealand from 1865 till 1868, when his seat became vacant through his absence in England. He resided for eleven years at Dinan in France, and returned to New Zealand in 1879. In 1884 he entered the House of Representatives as member for Cheviot, for which he sat till 1890, when changes were made in the electoral boundaries. Mr. Lance lived at “Heathstock,” until the house was burned down in 1889. He subsequently lived at Horsley Down, the homestead of which occupies an elevated and beautiful position amidst a small forest of shelter and ornamental trees. Mr. Lance was married, in 1862, at Torquay, in Devonsihre, England, to a daughter of the late Captain Thomas Mallock, R.N. He died on the 28th of March, 1897, leaving two sons and one daughter. Mr. Lance is further referred to at page 87 of this volume as having been a member of the Legislative Council of New Zealand.

Mrs Lance, Widow of the late Mr. J. D. Lance, and daughter of the late Captain T. Mallock, R.N., was born in Devonshire, England, where she was brought up. She was married to Mr. Lance, at Torquay, in 1862, and came to New Zealand with her husband in the same year. Mrs Lance resides at the Horsley Down homestead.

Standish and Preece, photo.
Mrs A. E. Lance.