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Story: Marlborough region

Sheep in the Wairau

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Sheep in the Wairau

After leasing land in the upper Wairau valley, John Cooper and Nathaniel Morse brought the first sheep into the valley via the Tophouse Saddle from Nelson, in November 1846. In August 1847 Frederick Weld and Charles Clifford shipped a flock across Cook Strait from Wairarapa to graze in the Flaxbourne River area behind Cape Campbell. This monument to Cooper and Morse is beside State Highway 63 in the upper Wairau valley.

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Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand

by Malcolm McKinnon

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How to cite this page

Malcolm McKinnon, Marlborough region – Grazing and farming, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/31764/sheep-in-the-wairau (accessed 24 June 2026).

Story by Malcolm McKinnon, published 9 May 2011, updated 1 November 2016.