Story: Farming in the economy

Flaxbourne Station was the first great pastoral station in the South Island. Charles Clifford and Frederick Weld transferred their sheep flock from the Wairarapa to Flaxbourne in 1847. This 1869 painting shows the woolshed and station buildings, with the Flaxbourne River in the foreground. The surrounding dry, tussock-covered hills were ideal for grazing fine-woolled Merino sheep.