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Story: Land ownership

South Island lands purchased for settlement

This map shows in red the 119 properties in the South Island purchased before 1912 under the Land for Settlement Act 1894 and subsequently broken up into smaller farms. Most of the properties were on the east coast and were mainly sheep farms. Many were in South Canterbury and North Otago. The properties in purple were Crown lands available for settlement.

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Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: MapColl 830gbbd/1911-12/Acc.51764

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Jim McAloon, Land ownership – The Liberals and land policy, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/zoomify/17998/south-island-lands-purchased-for-settlement (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Jim McAloon, published 1 March 2009.