Story: Taxes

Breaking up the estates

This 1907 poster advertises the sale of the Mount Herbert estate near Waipukurau in central Hawke’s Bay. Such auctions became common in the late 1890s and early 1900s as the Liberal government (in power from 1890 to 1912) sought to break up the large estates and encourage smaller farms suitable for families. The Liberal party’s ordinary land tax and their graduated land tax for large estates were aimed at freeing up the land.

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Alexander Turnbull Library
Reference: MapColl 832.3gbbd/1907/Acc.36801

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:

Paul Goldsmith, 'Taxes - Liberal Party taxes – 1890 to 1912', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/zoomify/21530/breaking-up-the-estates (accessed 25 April 2024)

Story by Paul Goldsmith, published 11 Mar 2010, updated 2 Sep 2016