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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Canterbury Provincial District]

Sefton

Sefton.

Sefton, the headquarters of the Sefton Dairy Factory Company, Limited, and the centre of a flourishing settlement, is twenty-six miles from Christchurch on the northern railway. The station stands only twenty-one feet above the level of the sea. There are churches, a school, a library, a hotel, a town hall, and several stores and blacksmiths' shops in the township. The district is noted for dairy farming. Postal and telegraphic business is conducted at the railway station. Sefton is in the Kowai riding of the county of Ashley. At the census of 1901 the town and district had a population of 620 persons

Sefton Public School was established in 1884. The building is of wood, contains two class rooms and two porches, and has accommodation for 100 scholars. In the first quarter of 1902 there were ninety-four on the roll, with an average attendance of eighty. The headmaster is assisted by a mistress. The schoolhouse adjoins the building, and the premises stand upon two acres of land. Close to the school there is the recreation reserve, of some fifteen acres in extent, which is very useful as a playground.

Mr. Hugh Fleming Thomson, Headmaster of Sefton Public School, was born at Greta, Victoria, in 1869, and arrived in New Zealand with his parents in 1877. He was educated at East Christchurch School, where he also served his pupil-teachership. After a year at the Normal Training College, Mr. Thomson was appointed to Mount Grey Downs, where he remained for six years. For six months subsequently, he was in charge at Mandeville Plains, and was transferred to Sefton at the end of 1895. Mr. Thomson was married, in 1895, to a daughter of Mr. G. W. Pickering.

St. Michael's Anglican Church, Sefton, was built about the year 1880. It stands on part of a quarter-acre section, and has seating accommodation for 100 persons. A Sunday school is held in the church.

The Wesleyan Methodist Church, Sefton, dates from about 1887. It is a small building of wood and iron, and has seating accommodation for eighty worshippers. The building was previously erected in Leithfield, from which it was removed in 1887. The minister at Rangiora is in charge.

Sefton Dairy Factory. This factory was established in 1888, and comprises a boiler-house, separator, churning, butter, and refrigerating rooms. It has a Scott Bros.' boiler, two De Laval separators, a Tangye engine, and at the busiest time four men are employed. The output of the factory in 1900 was 126,000 pounds of butter. Since 1901 a creamery has been established at Woodend, and one at Leithfield, and about 100 suppliers send milk daily.

Mr Frank McGowan, Manager of the Sefton Dairy Factory, was born at Long Bush, Southland, in 1870. He attended school at Mataura, and has followed a country life. In 1895 he started as a factory hand, and soon after was appointed manager, succeeding his brother, who is now Government Dairy Expert for New Zealand. Mr. McGowan has been a member of the Sefton Morris-Tube Club since 1898, and sub-captain since 1900, and was for two years a member of the Sefton school committee.
Wrigglesworth and Binns, photo. Mr. F. McGowan.

Wrigglesworth and Binns, photo.
Mr. F. McGowan.

page 524 He was married, in 1895, to a daughter of Mr. James Mitchell, of Mataura, and has two sons and two daughters.

Farmers.

Boyce, David, Farmer, Gleniti Farm, Sefton. Mr. Boyce was born in 1861 at Sefton, and brought up to farming by his father. He leases 346 acres, and works the property as a sheep and agricultural farm. Since 1896 he has been chairman of the Mount Grey Downs school committee. Mr. Boyce was a member of the Kowai Rifle Club for three years, and has been secretary of the Sefton Orange Lodge since 1885. He was married, in 1894, to a daughter of the late Mr Thomas Prosser, of Sefton, and has five sons. Mrs Boyce was born and educated in Christchurch. She had charge of the school at Balcairn from 1883 to 1893, and was held in great esteem there. Mrs Boyce has since been for four years sewing mistress at Mount Grey Downs school.

Tolputt, photo. Mr. and Mrs D. Boyce.

Tolputt, photo.
Mr. and Mrs D. Boyce.

D'Auvergne, Edward C., Farmer, Gadesbunden Farm, Sefton. Mr. D'Auvergne was born at Rangiora, in 1860, and was brought up on his father's farm, which he afterwards managed. In 1894 he began farming on his own account on 200 acres of leasehold land at Sefton. Mr. D'Auvergne has been very prominent as a volunteer and in football circles, and was sergeant of the Rangiora Rifles. He holds a number of prizes for good shooting, and was several times picked in the “first twenty” of the New Zealand Rifle Association. Mr. D'Auvergne has been a member of the Sefton Morris-Tube Club since 1896, and has been captain since 1899. He holds Messrs Brown and Co.'s Challenge Cup for 1901, and lead for the Cup in 1902. As a footballer, Mr. D'Auvergne represented Canterbury province for a number of years, and was picked as a representative of New Zealand in the first team to Australia. He has been chairman of the Sefton district school committee since 1900, and a director of the Sefton Dairy Factory since 1895. Mr. D'Auvergne was married, in 1893, to a daughter of Mr. T. Mollet, of Christchurch, and has one son and four daughters.

Gorrie, Daniel, Farmer, Bengal Hill Farm, Sefton. Mr. Gorrie was born in Perthshire, Scotland, in 1837, and brought up on his father' sfarm, which he afterwards managed, as well as a farm of his own of 150 acres. He arrived at Lyttelton, in 1866, in the ship “Mermaid,” and was shepherding for two years at “Coldstream,” and also for two years at Cheviot. In 1870 Mr. Gorrie commenced farming on 100 acres, and has since increased his property to 450 acres, on which he conducts mixed farming. A portion of his land in Sefton township is well planted, and nicely laid out, and his residence is situated among the trees, and beyond a garden of flowers and shrubs. Mr. Gorrie has served about ten years on the Kowai Road Board, and is a director of the Sefton Dairy Factory, of which he was the first promoter. He was married, in 1874, to a daughter of the late Mr. William Hunter, of Ayrshire, Scotland. Mrs Gorrie died in 1902, leaving three sons and three daughters.

Tolputt, photo. Mr. D. Gorrie.

Tolputt, photo.
Mr. D. Gorrie.

Bush Scene, Canterbury.

Bush Scene, Canterbury.

Hanna, Michael, Farmer, Sefton. Mr. Hanna was born in County Down, Ireland, in 1842, and was brought up to farming. He came to Lyttelton in the ship “Chariot of Fame,” in 1863, and was engaged in bush work at Kaiapoi for two years. In 1865 he bought thirty acres of land, and has since acquired 130 acres of freehold, and 140 acres of leasehold, on which he conducts mixed farming. He has bred horses of all descriptions, among them many prize-winners and fast trotters Mr. Hanna has served three years on the local school committee, and is a member of the Sefton Presbyterian Church committee. He was married, in 1862, to a daughter of the late Mr. J. Croskery, of County Down, Ireland, and has five sons and three daughters, and fourteen grandchildren.

Hanna, Robert W., Farmer, Roseville Farm, Sefton. Mr. Hanna was born in 1871 at Sefton. After leaving school he followed farming, and in 1892 went to Stratford, Taranaki, and started a dairy farm on eighty-eight acres of freehold land. He sold his farm in 1899, and returned to Sefton, where he leases 230 acres, and carries on mixed farming. While in Stratford Mr. Hanna took an active part in the dairy factory and the co-operative store, and was a director of both. Since 1899 he has been a director of the Sefton Dairy Factory, a member of the Sefton Morris-Tube Club, and since 1902 a member of the Amberley Lodge of Oddfellows. Mr. Hanna was married, in 1892, to a daughter of Mr. W. Thompson, of Saltwater Creek, and has two sons and three daughters.

Lilly, George, Farmer, Sefton. Mr. Lilly was born in Suffolk, England, in 1854, and came with his parents to Lyttelton in the ship “Clontarf,” in 1859. He was brought up to farming, and started for himself in 1895 on fifty acres of freehold. He leases another forty acres, and carries on sheep and agricultural farming. For nine years Mr. Lilly was a member of the Mount Grey Downs school committee, and has been a member of the Rangiora Lodge of Oddfellows since 1875. He was married, in 1880, to a daughter of Mr. John Vallance, of Mount Grey Downs, and has two sons and two daughters.

Robertson, John A., Farmer, Sefton. Mr. Robertson was born at Mount Grey Downs in 1870, and attended school at Ashley. He has always been engaged in general farm work throughout the district, and spent five years on a sheep farm in North Loburn. In 1902 Mr. Robertson leased eighty-two acres at Sefton, where he carries on dairy farming. Since 1890 he has been a member of the Ashley Good Templar Lodge. He was married, in 1899, to page 525 a daughter of the late Mr. John Sutherland, and has one son.

Topp, Benjamin, Farmer, Sefton. Mr. Topp was born in 1862 at Woodend, where he was educated. He has always followed a country life, and was for six years working in Kaikoura. In 1892 he went to the North Island, but returned after three years to Sefton, and managed his mother's farm of ninety acres freehold. Since 1901 Mr. Topp has taken over his mother's property, and carries on mixed farming.

Vallance, Hugh, Farmer, Sefton. Mr. Vallance was born in Sefton in 1871, and attended the Sefton and Mount Grey Downs schools. He has always worked on his father's farm, and in 1887 took over the management of the property, on which he keeps sheep and grows crops.

Wrigglesworth and Binns, photo. Mr. H. Vallance.

Wrigglesworth and Binns, photo.
Mr. H. Vallance.

Wilson, William John, Farmer, Sefton. Mr. Wilson was born in County Down, Ireland, in 1864, and brought up to farming. He came to Lyttelton in 1873 in the ship “Rakaia.” For about twelve years he was engaged in general farm work at Belfast, and in 1894 started his present farm of seventy-seven acres of freehold land. Mr. Wilson has been a member of the Sefton Morris-Tube Club since 1899. He was married, in 1894, to a daughter of the late Mr. T. Hanna, of Sefton, and has three sons and two daughters.

Wyllie Bros. (John Wyllie and James Wyllie), Farmers, Newfields Farm, Sefton.

Mr. John Wyllie, the Senior Partner, was born at Camside in 1867, and brought up to farming. He has always worked on his father's farm, and when his father died, in 1895, he and his brother became joint owners of the property. He is a member of the committee of the Northern Agricultural and Pastorsi Association, and was for some years a member of the Sefton Presbyterian Church committee.

Mr. James Wyllie was born at Saltwater Creek, in 1870, and attended school at Waikuku and Rangiora. He was brought up on his father's farm. Mr. Wyllie has been a member of Saltwater Creek school committee since 1880, and a member of the Presbyterian Church committee since 1898.

Tolputt, photo. Messrs Wyllie Bros.

Tolputt, photo.
Messrs Wyllie Bros.

Old Colonists.

Mr. Charles Ffrench Pemberton, C.E., youngest and only surviving son of the late Robert Pemberton, F.R.S.L., of Chelsea, England, is a very old Canterbury settler. He was born at Chelsea, London, and was educated as a civil engineer. In 1857 Mr. Pemberton landed in Wellington from the ship “Gleaner.” He joined the Government service, and was appointed assistant-surveyor, and subsequently district surveyor for the Ashley district, Canterbury. After ten years' service he entered into private practice as a surveyor. Mr. Pemberton surveyed the borough of Rangiora, and prepared a scheme of drainage for the borough council, and also the townships of Oxford, Leithfield, Amberley, Aylesbury, and Sefton besides many other places. He retired from active work in 1896. Mr. Pemberton settled at Sefton in 1864. For nine years he served as a member of the Kowai Road Board, and occupied the chair for five years of that period. He also served for a number of years as lieutenant and captain of No. 3 and 4 Companies of the Canterbury Rifle Volunteers. Mr. Pemberton was married, in 1856, to the youngest daughter of the late Mr. J. Buss, of Harrindge Court, Scllendge, Kent, sister of Mr. W. Buss, of Rangiora, and has had seven sons and six daughters.

Mr. John Vallance was born in 1815, in Ayrshire, Scotland, where he was brought up to an outdoor life. In 1867 ne came to Lyttelton in the ship “Caroline,” and settled at Mount Grey Downs, in the Sefton district. He was married, in 1851, to a daughter of the late Mr Robet, of Scotland. Mrs Vallance died in 1854, leaving one son and two daughters. In 1856 Mr. Vallance was married to a daughter of the late Mr. J. Kirk, of Scotland, and when he died, in 1902, left six sons and three daughters, besides numerous grandchildren.

Tolputt, photo. Mr. and Mrs John Vallance.

Tolputt, photo.
Mr. and Mrs John Vallance.

Mr. James Vallance was born in Perfhshire, Scotland, in 1819, and was brought up to farming. After being five years in Australia, where he took part in the rush to the Bendigo goldfields, he came to Lyttelton
Tolputt, photo. Mr. and Mrs James Vallance.

Tolputt, photo.
Mr. and Mrs James Vallance.

page 526 in 1855 by the ship “Oncaparinga.” Mr. Vallance took up a small farm at Addington, and after carrying it on for five years, went to Sefton, where he bought seventy acres, and, later on, seventeen additional acres. He was on the first school committee at Saltwater Greek, and was one of the promoters of the Mount Grey Downs school. Mr. Vallance was married, in 1849, to a daughter of the late Mr. John Patrick, of Ayrshire, and has five sons, six daughters, and fifty-two grandchildren. Mr. and Mrs Vallance celebrated their golden wedding on the 2nd of March, 1899.

Mr. John Wyllie, sometime of “Newfields,” Sefton, was born in Ayrshire, Scotland, in 1828, and came out to the Colony in 1863 in the ship “Captain Cook,” under engagement to Mr. Dunlop, with whom he remained for a number of years. His first farm, near Saltwater Creek, is now occupied by his eldest son. Mr. Thomas Wyllie. In 1878 he purchased the first portion of “Newfields,” and subsequently increased his area to 400 acres. This property is one of the best farms in the district. Mr. Wyllie was a successful breeder of Clydesdale horses, with which first prizes have been regularly taken since 1878, and high prices have been refused for more than one well-known mare. He was a staunch adherent of the Presbyterian Church and held office as an elder for many years. Mr. Wyllie was married in 1865 to Miss Bryden, who survives him with three sons and a daughter.

Mr. J. Wyllie.

Mr. J. Wyllie.