Beatson, Robert, “Clovernook,” Blenheim. Mr. Beatson has a pleasantly picturesque little homestead of 150 acres in extent, on the banks of the Wairau river, within five miles of Blenheim. The land is so fertile that the farm occasionally carries seven sheep to the acre. Mr. Beatson was born in Camberwell, near London, in 1839, and came to Nelson in 1851, by the ship “Midlothian. After spending a few years at Stoke, he removed to Marlborough as a cadet in 1858, and in 1860, pitched camp at the very spot where his house now stands. The whole of the flats were then covered with fern, flax, and scrub, but by dint of intelligent energy, the land has been converted into a most fertile farm. For some years there was no flood of any consequence, but in 1868, the Wairau and the Opawa overflowed and caused the largest flood ever known in the district. Since then banks have been built to keep the water back, and, so far, they have been tolerably successful. Mr. Beatson was married, in 1874, and has a family of eight.