Mr. David Herd , sometime of Auntsfield Farm, Blenheim, was born on the 17th of November, 1829, in Dundee, Scotland, where he was educated. He worked for many years in a soft goods' factory, and in the year 1852 emigrated to Australia. For two or three years, he was employed as a shepherd, and then, finding the climate uncongenial, he came to New Zealand in 1855. Mr. Herd landed in Nelson, and in the following year went to the Wairau, where he was employed for a time as a shepherd on large runs. Subsequently, for nearly twenty years, he managed Meadowbank station for Mr. A. P. Seymour. He resigned that position in 1884 in order to farm a property of 300 acres on Doctor's Flat, which he had previously bought from Mr. A. P. Seymour, and which afterwards became known as Auntsfield Farm. This Mr. Herd systematically worked till 1898, when he let it to his son-in-law, Mr. J. W. Paynter, retaining the homestead with a few acres immediately surrounding it. During the remaining years of his life, Mr. Herd devoted his whole time to his extensive orchard, to the cultivation of grapes, and the making of wine. His grape wine won nearly all the prizes awarded in that section at local exhibitions, gained a high reputation all over the province, and was recommended by many medical men for its excellent quality. Mr. Herd died in June, 1905, leaving a widow now (1905) seventy-seven years of age, five son and three daughters.

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