Chertsey is a small township on the main south line, between Rakaia and Ashburton, five miles from Rakaia and twelve from Ashburton. It has one hotel, and two general stores, a post, telegraph and money order office, an Anglican church, and a public school. The surrounding district contains some very fine cropping land—in fact some of the finest in the Rakaia district—but towards the sea the soil is of lighter quality, and is devoted chiefly to sheepfarming. There is a thriving special village settlement close to Chertsey, and the main south road, which passes through the township, is very good for cycling. Chertsey has a population of 100 persons.

Chertsey Railway Station. This station is on the main south line of railway, at a distance of forty-one miles from Christchurch, and twelve from Ashburton. As it is in the centre of a rich agricultural district, a large amount of grain is despatched from it every year. Mr. J. H. White is the present stationmaster.

Mr. John Harold White, Stationmaster at Chertsey, was born at Milton, Otago, in 1874, and educated at the Tokomairiro High School. He is the second son of Mr. Henry White, storekeeper, Milton. In May, 1890, he entered the railway department, at Christchurch, as a cadet, and has steadily gained promotion year by year. In 1892 he was transferred to Lyttelton, whence he was removed in 1893 to Oamaru, and, having completed his apprenticeship in 1896, he was appointed booking clerk. He is a member of the Order of Foresters, and is attached to the Court Star of Canterbury. During his residence in Oamaru, Mr. White was closely connected with the various organisations of the Wesleyan church. He held office as secretary of the Sunday school, and acted as a local preacher and as vice-president of the Christian Endeavour Society, and up till 1897 he acted as secretary of the North Otago Christian Endeavour Union. Mr. White was appointed chief clerk at the Milton railway station in January, 1899, and has since then been promoted to his present position at Chertsey.

Mr. J. H. White.

Copland, James, Tillyfour Farm, Chertsey. Mr. Copland was born in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, in 1839, and was brought up to agriculture. He came to New Zealand in 1866 by the ship “Blue Jacket,” and landed in Lyttelton. Shortly after his arrival he went to Cheviot, and for two years worked for the Hon. W. Robinson. Subsequently he bought a threshing machine, and worked it for some years, and then settled down to farming at Weedons. Eighteen months later he took up his present farm, which comprises 1030 acres. Mr. Copland also owns another farm in the Chertsey district, and another at Rakaia. His wheat crops sometimes average thirty bushels per acre. Mr. Copland is a member of the Ashburton Agricultural and Pastoral Association, the Rakaia Road Board, Domain and Cemetery Boards, and of the Chersey school committee. He was the first to interview Mr. F. Waymouth, the manager of the Canterbury Frozen Meat Company, to suggest that the Company should start a branch at Ashburton, page 805 and Mr. Waymouth placed the suggestion before the directors, with the result that the proposed branch was established, and the Ashburton County supplied with a necessary industrial adjunct. In 1876 Mr. Copland married a daughter of the late Mr. Gardner, of Cust, and has seven sons and five daughters living; one son and one daughter are dead.

Mr J. Copland.

Mrs J. Copland.

Doig, Peter, Farmer, Kenmuir Farm, Chertsey. Mr. Doig is a highly respected old colonist, and was born in Scotland in 1838. He has been identified with farming from his boyhood. In 1861 he arrived at Lyttelton by the ship “Chrysolite.” After working at Home Bush station for about three years, he bought a farm on the Moeraki Downs, and worked it for eleven years. He then sold it and went to Chertsey, where he took up another farm. At the present time he owns four farms in the district, with a total acreage of 3600 acres. The whole of the properties have been under cultivation, and wheat crops average sixteen bushels, and oats thirty bushels per acre. Mr. Doig thinks very highly of New Zealand, and has never regretted coming to it. He has been a member of the Chertsey school committee for some years, and was formerly a member of the Moeraki school committee. Mr. Doig was married in Scotland, and has a family of six sons and six daughters.

Mr. and Mrs P. Doig.

Stringfellow, James, Farmer, Chertsey. Mr. Stringfellow is the second son of the late Mr. H. Stringfellow, a member of an old English family who had lived for generations on the Arundel estate. Mr. H. Stringfellow was agent to Squire Plowden, of Plowden Hall, Shropshire, and died in 1894, at the advanced age of eighty-three. The subject of this article was born in Wiltshire, and followed farming in England, until he came to New Zealand in 1874, by the ship “Eastern Monarch,” accompanied by his wife and a family of six children. Mr. Stringfellow went to Port Levy, where he was employed by the late Mr. Charles Cholmondeley and Mr. Fleming, until he leased a dairy farm, on which he milked about fifty-five cows, and fifteen on his own freehold, and made cheese. He worked this farm for about seven years. However owing to the low price of cheese, he left Port Levy in 1881, and went to Chertsey, where he rented a farm from Mr. George King. Three years subsequently he bought the freehold of the estate, which comprises 1094 acres of some of the finest land in the district. Mr. Stringfellow is known as a most successful breeder of the well known Corriedale strain of sheep, a cross between the Lincoln ram and Merino ewe, which yields good flesh and fine wool. This system of breeding he has pursued since 1888, with great success, and has now a stud flock of seventy, and 450 flock ewes. Mr Stringfellow has obtained over 100 first prizes with his sheep, at the Ashburton, Timaru, Christchurch, and Dunedin shows. At Christchurch in 1902, he took first prize for aged rams out of a class of seventeen entries, besides first prize and highly commended certificates for ewes and lambs; and he took first prize for five Corriedale wethers in the same years, at Ashburton. He has been a member of the Rakaia Road Board for eleven years; he is also a member of the Cemetery and Domain Board, and a member of the Agricultural and Pastoral Associations of Christchurch, Timaru, and Ashburton, and is on the committee of the last named association. Mr. Stringfellow has been a Justice of the Peace for a number of years. He married before leaving England and has a family of seven, of whom four sons and one daughter are married.

Standish and Preece, photo.
Mr. and Mrs J. Stringfellow.

Wilkinson, Thomas Walter, Higham Farm, Chertsey. Mr. Wilkinson is the eldest son of the late Mr. T. W. Wilkinson and was born at Lincoln Road, in 1856, and brought up to farming by his father. The late Mr. Wilkinson first took up the leasehold of Higham Farm, which then consisted of about 2700 acres. The land was then in tussock, and for some years, owing to bad seasons, the prospects of making it pay were not very bright. However, the present owner took control of the property, and in 1888, he bought the freehold. Mr. Wilkinson, like his late father, takes a keen interest in all affairs relating to the progress of the district. He is chairman of the Chertsey school committee, and has been a Justice of the Peace for several years. He is also a total abstainer and an ardent prohibitionist. Mr. Wilkinson is a member page 806 of the Ashburton Agricultural and Pastoral Association and a successful breeder of sheep and fat lambs. He married Miss Annie McCormack, formerly of Hobart, Tasmania, and four children have been born of the union.

Mitchell, photo.
Mr. and Mrs T. W. Wilkinson and Family.

Mr. Thomas Walker Wilkinson, sometime of Chertsey, arrived in Canterbury in 1852, by the ship “Samarang.” Before coming to the colony he had bought land on Lincoln Road from the Canterbury Association. He resided on it for some years, and the Mount Magdala Asylum now stands upon it. In 1865, having sold his farm, he went to the West Coast goldfields. He walked overland from Canterbury, and worked for about a year on the diggings, but without success. He therefore returned to Canterbury, and was appointed manager of the estate of Mr. John Milne, at Southbridge. Later on he was cropping on the Acton and Highbank stations. In 1877 he took up the property now owned by his son and lived there until his death in 1902. Mr. Wilkinson, who was a man of culture, always took an intelligent interest in local and general affairs, and was for a time a member of the Canterbury Provincial Council. He was one of the first to lease the southern portion of Hagley Park. He married Miss Reeve, of Leicestershire, who, with her sister Miss S. Reeve, arrived in 1852, by the ship “Mermaid,” and opened the first ladies' school in Christchurch. Mrs Wilkinson died in 1880, leaving a family of four sons and two daughters. The youngest daughter, Dr. Ada Wilkinson, was lately appointed medical officer of the Asylum on the Isle of Wight, England.

The late Mr. T. W. Wilkinson.