Today in History

1893 Liberals 'burst up' Cheviot Estate

In the 1890s the Liberal government, under Minister of Lands John McKenzie, was determined to ‘burst up’ (subdivide) the so-called big estates for closer settlement by small farmers. The first major purchase under this policy was the 34,300-ha Cheviot Estate in north Canterbury.

The Liberal Party had come to power after the 1890 general election on a platform which included promoting closer settlement by selling Crown land only to genuine farmers, extending state leasehold rather than offering land freehold, purchasing large estates for subdivision by the Crown, introducing a graduated land tax to force subdivision, and providing cheap finance for the development of new farms.

In general, the Liberals’ land policy was a success. Between 1892 and 1911 the Crown offered 3.4 million ha of land for settlement, subdivided into 33,000 holdings. Of this area, the government had purchased 209 estates totalling 486,000 ha for £6 million (worth about $1 billion in 2010), and subdivided these into 4800 holdings. Compulsory purchase provisions were used in only 13 cases, the prices offered generally being generous.

Image: Cheviot station house (Timeframes)