Freda Urquhart (nee Hydes) 86, of Christchurch, moved to Erewhon Station at the head of the Rangitata river in the spring of 1943. She had married Arthur Urquhart of Springburn near the Ashburton Forks district 18 months earlier.
Arthur was excited about the move because when he was young, his parents had managed part of Erewhon Station in conjunction with Mesopotamia Station across the Rangitata River. Freda took the move in her stride because “in those days where the husband went the wife went although I enjoyed it all the same.”
The day of the move Arthur set out on his horse at 5am. Freda followed in the truck with a menagerie of hens, ducks and the furniture on the back. Freda caught up with Arthur at Lake Clearwater at about midday and found him sitting in the tussock having his lunch while the dogs and the horse had a spell.
Life on Erewhon lacked many conveniences but Freda believed herself to be very lucky and described herself as “very contented”. The old house was clad in corrugated iron and consisted of four cob rooms with adzed doorways and assorted other additions including a kitchen, another bedroom, a bathroom and a veranda.
There was running water but no electricity so all the cooking was done on the coal range. Washing was done in a copper. Candles and kerosene lanterns were used for lighting. The wetback on the coal range provided hot water over the sink and to the bath for the weekly bath. In due course a power plant was installed.
“It was a wonderful thing but I had to manage the load. The powerhouse was located a quarter of a mile from our house so when the water supply got short in the creek we needed to make a quick dash up there and turn off the generator to let the water build up.”
The plant generated DC current so anything with a motor had to be converted from AC to DC. This couldn’t be done for a fridge so Freda continued to use a drum in a hole in the side of the hill to keep her butter cool.
Arthur and Freda had three children—Bev, Colin and Alasdair. They were all keen on merinos and at times it seemed they couldn’t talk about anything else.
“At meal times we got merino, on and off our plates.”
Arthur started the Erewhon stud with 27 mixed aged ewes and 17 hoggets bought from the late Colin Urquhart Estate in 1947. The ewes were in lamb to a Richmond Brook ram. Later Lawloit blood from Victoria Australia was extensively used. Bev and Graham Black started their Awapiri stud with ewes from the Erewhon stud in 1975. When the Urquharts left Erewhon in 1995, Colin Urquhart took the stud with him to Sheffield.
Horses were used to ride out to mustering camps and the rest of the work was done on foot. Due to the steepness of the country, the musterers could only do one block a day. Shearing took about three weeks. Blades were used because it was too cold for machines.
“The shearers didn’t have cars so Arthur used to go out and get them, their swags and a good supply of food.”
Excluding the children, there were usually six people to feed (including single men) for every meal which happened on the dot at 7am, 10 am, 12.30 pm, 3pm and 6.30pm.
“We used to have a gong fairly near the back door and the men wouldn’t start a job if it meant they weren’t ready for the meals on time. I had to have a pretty good routine to get through everything in the day because I also taught the children correspondence lessons.”
The nearest neighbour was five miles away so the children were sent away to boarding school from the age of 11. There was no telephone until 1972 and even when it was installed Freda didn’t use it much.
“I was never a great conversationalist and I didn’t get lonely. Even the children didn’t yearn for other children’s company.”
As well as being a keen farmer and stud master, Arthur was also a visionary. From the first day we went to Erewhon he thought it would be good for tourism. He pioneered live deer capture from the wild to stock his property for trophy deer hunters. He also established the nearby Mount Potts ski field. Freda ended up entertaining visitors from all over the world.
“That’s when I really had to work and keep my mind on everything. He hated anything to do with a piece of paper so I had to do that too, writing by hand and doing the bookings although we did get a typewriter which made it a bit quicker. They were often 16 hour days.”
Arthur died in 1981 at aged 62 years. Freda stayed on at Erewhon until 1990 when she moved to Christchurch where she still lives. Freda has nine grand children and six great grand children. The back country farming connection continues to run through the family.
Colin’s daughter Di has her own flock of sheep and block of land. She does wool classing in her spare time. The other daughter Susan has her own team of dogs and does casual mustering around backcountry places. Bev’s son Duncan works on Awapiri while daughters Sally and Nicky are farming on Mt Arrowsmith Station and in the Waiatoa Valley, North Island respectively.
“It’s the breeding coming out. They have taken after Arthur. He was always thinking about breeding, whether it was people or sheep, hens or chickens.”
Freda passed away on 4 October 2008 aged 87 years.
-- By Robin Major
>> Click here to read about Arthur's life at Erewhon.
