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Story: Sheep farming

Take-up of Canterbury sheep stations

  • 1850 and earlier

  • 1851

  • 1852

  • 1853

  • 1854

  • 1855

  • 1856

  • 1857

  • 1858

  • 1859

  • 1860

  • 1861

  • 1862

  • 1863

  • 1864

  • 1865

The pastoral stations in Canterbury were taken up over a period of 19 years. Motunau, the oldest Canterbury station, was established in 1847. Birchhill Station, almost at the foot of Aoraki/Mt Cook, was applied for in 1865 and was the last station taken up in Canterbury. Click on the arrow (right) to see the annual take-up of Canterbury sheep stations from around 1850 to 1865.

Using this item

Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand

Source: Robert L. Peden, ‘Pastoralism and the transformation of the rangelands of the South Island of New Zealand 1841 to 1912: Mt Peel Station, a case study’ (PhD thesis, University of Otago, 2007), pp. 78–80

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How to cite this page

Hugh Stringleman and Robert Peden, Sheep farming – The establishment phase, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/interactive/16626/take-up-of-canterbury-sheep-stations (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Hugh Stringleman and Robert Peden, published 1 March 2009, updated 1 March 2015.

Comments

Lorraine
25 August 2022
Was Tipapa in North Canterbury a sheep station in the early 1900s?