Dashwood Run No. 15

This run does not appear to have had any particular name, but was taken up by Edwin Hare Dashwood in 1848 and a depasturage licence was granted the following year — No. 20, by the New Zealand Land Company in Nelson. When the fourteen year licences were issued in 1854 by the Commissioner of Crown Lands at Nelson, this run became No. 15.

The boundaries of the run were: eastwards by the Flaxie Stream from near the Vernon Lagoons to its source, then through Redwood Pass to a stream on the other side called Boundary Stream and down that stream to surveyed sections. (Wakefield Downs Survey District — Budge's), southward by surveyed sections to Stafford Creek, to its source, to Maxwell Pass, over this and down Seventeen Valley Stream to surveyed sections (Opawa District — Budge's), northward by surveyed sections to Flaxie Stream. This took in about 14,000 acres at first, but soon others started buying up parts of it from the Crown. Dashwood, himself, soon seemed to lose interest in running the property and let others run stock on it for shares of wool and natural increase.

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Dashwood was Crown granted a homestead section near the Flaxie Stream and also a section on the Stafford Creek for an outstation in 1853 and 1854. Others started buying up parts of the run from 1854 onwards. John Poynter, solicitor of Nelson, later magistrate of that city, bought several sections out of the run from the Crown in 1854 and 1855 and soon after conveyed them to Douglas Brown of England and Alexander Taylor, M.D., of Pau in France. Brown and Taylor also bought land out of the Dashwood Run in a gridiron pattern and when they sold their holdings to trustees of Henry Redwood they had 6,576 acres.

William Atkinson, who had established himself on a small section at Burtergill, bought 1736 acres adjoining, out of Dashwood Run on the Awatere side. Dr Ralph Richardson, M.D., of Nelson, started buying land on the northern side of Dashwood run in 1854 and 1855, as well as some land already surveyed for closer settlement by Budge and had, by 1859, about 1500 acres in this area, perhaps half of it out of Dashwood run.

That same year (1859) Redwood leased the freehold land owned by Brown and Taylor on similar terms with a right of purchase after 19 years. Included in the lease and sale of Dashwood's run to Redwood was a flock of 2,400 sheep, presumably there was also a flock of sheep in the lease and sale from Brown and Taylor.

In 1853 Dashwood married Roberta Henrietta Abercromby who, by a certain contract of marriage dated 14th October, 1853, received a share in this property. This is mentioned in a lease with right of purchase for 8,000 pounds after the expiry of a nineteen year lease commencing 1st February, 1859, between the above couple and Henry Redwood the Elder of Waimea West.

For further history of this run see article on Run No. 16, The Bluffs.