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Story: Land ownership

South Island land tenures, 1950

In the South Island the extent of freehold land was more limited than in the North Island, because much of the high country east of the main divide remained in leasehold. The West Coast was mainly owned by the Crown as state forests, reserves or parks.

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Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: MapColl 830ed 1950 6115

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 – Consolidation of land settlement, 1912–1950s, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/zoomify/18210/south-island-land-tenures-1950 (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Jim McAloon, published 1 March 2009.