Story: Inheritance

Family farms are usually passed down to sons and their spouses or partners. Gladbrook Station, near Middlemarch in Otago, has instead passed down the female line. Elizabeth Wilkie (middle) inherited the station from her father in the 1970s and farmed it with her husband. When he left, their daughter Pip (right) took over the management of the station. She was determined to keep it in the family. Sister Emma (left) helped on the farm on visits home from Melbourne, where she was based.