Philip Randal WOODHOUSE Dr [31602]

  General Notes:

Philip Randal Woodhouse was born in Dunedin on 9 February 1886, the son of John Frederick Churton Woodhouse, a solicitor, and his wife, Edith Bathgate. Randal (as he was known) was educated at Otago Boys' High School and the University of Otago. After graduating in medicine in 1910 he joined the staff of Wellington Hospital, and was acting superintendent for part of 1913. He went to England later that year to study for his FRCS, but on the outbreak of war in 1914 he volunteered for the Royal Army Medical Corps and served in France until 1918. He was awarded the Military Cross in 1916 and a bar in 1917. In 1918 he was transferred to No 9 Field Ambulance of the Guards Division with the rank of acting major, and was made a DSO for service under fire. After the armistice he went to Germany with the British army of occupation, and was in Cologne when he heard that he had been appointed medical superintendent of Wellington Hospital.

Airini Elizabeth Rhodes was also born in Dunedin, on 8 November 1896. Her mother, Jessy, was the youngest daughter of Charles Robert Bidwill of Pihautea in Wairarapa. Her father was Robert Heaton Rhodes of Blue Cliffs station, South Canterbury. Although Airini was an only child, her parents' wealth and social position meant that there were many visitors at Blue Cliffs; holidays away included trips to England (1905'966 and 1910'9612). Educated at home by governesses, Airini showed an early aptitude for writing. In 1913 she attended Craighead Diocesan School in Timaru for one year as a weekly boarder. One of her childhood playmates was Ngita Woodhouse, Randal's younger sister, and Airini met Randal several times before his departure for England. During the First World War she was busy with various fund-raising activities and joined the Red Cross. Through helping her father with mustering and stock work she learned much about farm management.

Airini's father died unexpectedly from pneumonia on 11 August 1918. She and her mother then went to visit relatives in England on a trip that lasted for nearly two years, returning in January 1921. Though she had seen Randal Woodhouse only briefly in eight years, they had kept up a wartime correspondence, and in March he visited Blue Cliffs to propose marriage. They wed at Upper Otaio on 22 September 1921 and went to live in Wellington.

Her father's will had given Airini first option on Blue Cliffs, but the trustees insisted she employ a manager. Randal had apparently seen too much death and suffering in military hospitals to spend the rest of his life practising surgery, and suggested to the trustees that he might become Airini's station manager, after a year's trial. His resignation from Wellington Hospital was greeted with dismay. Randal's apprenticeship as a sheepfarmer began in January 1922 with the basics: sorting dags after crutching. He easily passed his trial year, and was appointed manager of Blue Cliffs in 1923 on a salary of £200. But Airini insisted on classing the wool clip, a skill learned from her father.

The Woodhouses had three children in the 1920s: Elizabeth, Carne and Heaton. Airini was elected to the Blue Cliffs parish vestry in 1927 '96 the first year women were admitted '96 and remained a member until 1961. Randal read all the books he could find about sheepfarming, and sought expert advice on soils and pasture from Professor R. G. Stapledon of Aberystwyth, Wales, when he visited Blue Cliffs in 1926. He abandoned tussock burning, fenced off remnants of native bush, began topdressing with lime, and planted large numbers of trees to control gorse on steeper slopes. He bought the district's first tractor in 1925, and a Morris truck in 1926. Mechanisation and smaller paddocks brought a steady improvement in pasture quality which set an example for other South Canterbury hill country farmers.

Besides raising a family and helping her husband manage Blue Cliffs, Airini developed a strong interest in breeding cattle. She had been a member of the council of the New Zealand Red Poll Cattle Breeders' Association since its foundation in 1921, and in 1932 her name was added to its list of judges and inspectors. She was one of the first women in New Zealand to judge stock at an agricultural show, at Palmerston North that same year. In the evenings she was busy with historical research, producing a biography of her maternal grandfather (with W. E. Bidwill) in 1927 and a parish history of Otaio and Blue Cliffs in 1930. The biography of her other grandfather, George Rhodes of the Levels and his brothers (1937), was highly praised and led to an invitation to edit Tales of pioneer women for the women's institutes of New Zealand.

Airini managed Blue Cliffs during the Second World War, and again worked hard for the Red Cross. She was president of the Blue Cliffs sub-centre of the Red Cross during both world wars, and was awarded a Voluntary Aid Detachment medal for service 1939'9645. Randal served from 1941 as deputy director of medical services, then as acting director, Southern Military District (1942'9643) based at Riccarton Racecourse; he reached the rank of lieutenant colonel.

When catchment boards were being organised throughout New Zealand in the 1940s, Randal Woodhouse was asked to stand as the Waimate member on the South Canterbury board and was its first chairman (1944'9658), later becoming president of the New Zealand Catchment Authorities Association (1956'9658). He was awarded Queen Elizabeth II's Coronation Medal in 1953 for services to farming, and was made an OBE in 1958.

By the late 1950s the Woodhouses had become interested in the Maori rock drawings found in South Canterbury, and with advice from H. D. Skinner and Roger Duff campaigned for their preservation. Airini was on the committee of the South Canterbury Historical Society from its inception, and chair of the South Canterbury Centennial History Committee (1954'9660). She continued her literary work, compiling New Zealand farm and station verse 1850'961950 and publishing a biography, Guthrie-Smith of Tutira (1959). She also chaired the South Canterbury Regional Committee of the New Zealand Historic Places Trust from 1959 to 1975. Rather to her embarrassment, this committee named a peak in the Hunters Hills range after her in 1965 (Mt Airini). In 1969 she became the first woman in New Zealand to be granted registration as an owner-classer by the New Zealand Wool Handling Committee, with the right to put the Kiwi brand on her bales.

Randal Woodhouse died at Timaru on 1 October 1970, and Airini moved to the house in Timaru where her mother had lived until her death. There she completed her fifth book, a detailed history of Blue Cliffs station, published in 1982. She was awarded the Queen's Service Medal in 1981 and was working on a biography of her husband when she died on 13 April 1989.

Airini Woodhouse was undoubtedly South Canterbury's outstanding countrywoman in this century, combining an active farm life and service on numerous voluntary organisations with her chosen vocation as a local historian. Short, serious and exacting, she was a fearsomely efficient organiser, yet to her friends and family she was generous and loyal, with a good sense of humour. As for Randal, the surgeon who married the sheepfarmer's daughter not only mastered his second vocation but proved himself a pioneer in hill country conservation. They were a devoted couple, and a formidable partnership, making Blue Cliffs a focal point for rural society in South Canterbury for half a century, as well as forming a direct link with the district's earliest European settlers.

  Research Notes:

Bluecliffs
This and that
Posted 14 Dec 2014 by harvoid
Biography




Philip Randal Woodhouse was born in Dunedin on 9 February 1886, the son of John Frederick Churton Woodhouse, a solicitor, and his wife, Edith Bathgate. Randal (as he was known) was educated at Otago Boys' High School and the University of Otago. After graduating in medicine in 1910 he joined the staff of Wellington Hospital, and was acting superintendent for part of 1913. He went to England later that year to study for his FRCS, but on the outbreak of war in 1914 he volunteered for the Royal Army Medical Corps and served in France until 1918. He was awarded the Military Cross in 1916 and a bar in 1917. In 1918 he was transferred to No 9 Field Ambulance of the Guards Division with the rank of acting major, and was made a DSO for service under fire. After the armistice he went to Germany with the British army of occupation, and was in Cologne when he heard that he had been appointed medical superintendent of Wellington Hospital.

Airini Elizabeth Rhodes was also born in Dunedin, on 8 November 1896. Her mother, Jessy, was the youngest daughter of Charles Robert Bidwill of Pihautea in Wairarapa. Her father was Robert Heaton Rhodes of Blue Cliffs station, South Canterbury. Although Airini was an only child, her parents' wealth and social position meant that there were many visitors at Blue Cliffs; holidays away included trips to England (1905\endash 6 and 1910\endash 12). Educated at home by governesses, Airini showed an early aptitude for writing. In 1913 she attended Craighead Diocesan School in Timaru for one year as a weekly boarder. One of her childhood playmates was Ngita Woodhouse, Randal's younger sister, and Airini met Randal several times before his departure for England. During the First World War she was busy with various fund-raising activities and joined the Red Cross. Through helping her father with mustering and stock work she learned much about farm management.

Airini's father died unexpectedly from pneumonia on 11 August 1918. She and her mother then went to visit relatives in England on a trip that lasted for nearly two years, returning in January 1921. Though she had seen Randal Woodhouse only briefly in eight years, they had kept up a wartime correspondence, and in March he visited Blue Cliffs to propose marriage. They wed at Upper Otaio on 22 September 1921 and went to live in Wellington.

Her father's will had given Airini first option on Blue Cliffs, but the trustees insisted she employ a manager. Randal had apparently seen too much death and suffering in military hospitals to spend the rest of his life practising surgery, and suggested to the trustees that he might become Airini's station manager, after a year's trial. His resignation from Wellington Hospital was greeted with dismay. Randal's apprenticeship as a sheepfarmer began in January 1922 with the basics: sorting dags after crutching. He easily passed his trial year, and was appointed manager of Blue Cliffs in 1923 on a salary of £200. But Airini insisted on classing the wool clip, a skill learned from her father.

The Woodhouses had three children in the 1920s: Elizabeth, Carne and Heaton. Airini was elected to the Blue Cliffs parish vestry in 1927 \endash the first year women were admitted \endash and remained a member until 1961. Randal read all the books he could find about sheepfarming, and sought expert advice on soils and pasture from Professor R. G. Stapledon of Aberystwyth, Wales, when he visited Blue Cliffs in 1926. He abandoned tussock burning, fenced off remnants of native bush, began topdressing with lime, and planted large numbers of trees to control gorse on steeper slopes. He bought the district's first tractor in 1925, and a Morris truck in 1926. Mechanisation and smaller paddocks brought a steady improvement in pasture quality which set an example for other South Canterbury hill country farmers.

Besides raising a family and helping her husband manage Blue Cliffs, Airini developed a strong interest in breeding cattle. She had been a member of the council of the New Zealand Red Poll Cattle Breeders' Association since its foundation in 1921, and in 1932 her name was added to its list of judges and inspectors. She was one of the first women in New Zealand to judge stock at an agricultural show, at Palmerston North that same year. In the evenings she was busy with historical research, producing a biography of her maternal grandfather (with W. E. Bidwill) in 1927 and a parish history of Otaio and Blue Cliffs in 1930. The biography of her other grandfather, George Rhodes of the Levels and his brothers (1937), was highly praised and led to an invitation to edit Tales of pioneer women for the women's institutes of New Zealand.

Airini managed Blue Cliffs during the Second World War, and again worked hard for the Red Cross. She was president of the Blue Cliffs sub-centre of the Red Cross during both world wars, and was awarded a Voluntary Aid Detachment medal for service 1939\endash 45. Randal served from 1941 as deputy director of medical services, then as acting director, Southern Military District (1942\endash 43) based at Riccarton Racecourse; he reached the rank of lieutenant colonel.

When catchment boards were being organised throughout New Zealand in the 1940s, Randal Woodhouse was asked to stand as the Waimate member on the South Canterbury board and was its first chairman (1944\endash 58), later becoming president of the New Zealand Catchment Authorities Association (1956\endash 58). He was awarded Queen Elizabeth II's Coronation Medal in 1953 for services to farming, and was made an OBE in 1958.

By the late 1950s the Woodhouses had become interested in the Maori rock drawings found in South Canterbury, and with advice from H. D. Skinner and Roger Duff campaigned for their preservation. Airini was on the committee of the South Canterbury Historical Society from its inception, and chair of the South Canterbury Centennial History Committee (1954\endash 60). She continued her literary work, compiling New Zealand farm and station verse 1850\endash 1950 and publishing a biography, Guthrie-Smith of Tutira (1959). She also chaired the South Canterbury Regional Committee of the New Zealand Historic Places Trust from 1959 to 1975. Rather to her embarrassment, this committee named a peak in the Hunters Hills range after her in 1965 (Mt Airini). In 1969 she became the first woman in New Zealand to be granted registration as an owner-classer by the New Zealand Wool Handling Committee, with the right to put the Kiwi brand on her bales.

Randal Woodhouse died at Timaru on 1 October 1970, and Airini moved to the house in Timaru where her mother had lived until her death. There she completed her fifth book, a detailed history of Blue Cliffs station, published in 1982. She was awarded the Queen's Service Medal in 1981 and was working on a biography of her husband when she died on 13 April 1989.

Airini Woodhouse was undoubtedly South Canterbury's outstanding countrywoman in this century, combining an active farm life and service on numerous voluntary organisations with her chosen vocation as a local historian. Short, serious and exacting, she was a fearsomely efficient organiser, yet to her friends and family she was generous and loyal, with a good sense of humour. As for Randal, the surgeon who married the sheepfarmer's daughter not only mastered his second vocation but proved himself a pioneer in hill country conservation. They were a devoted couple, and a formidable partnership, making Blue Cliffs a focal point for rural society in South Canterbury for half a century, as well as forming a direct link with the district's earliest European settlers.
Biography
Posted 14 Dec 2014 by harvoid

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Philip Randal Woodhouse was born in Dunedin on 9 February 1886, the son of John Frederick Churton Woodhouse, a solicitor, and his wife, Edith Bathgate. Randal (as he was known) was educated at Otago Boys' High School and the University of Otago. After graduating in medicine in 1910 he joined the staff of Wellington Hospital, and was acting superintendent for part of 1913. He went to England later that year to study for his FRCS, but on the outbreak of war in 1914 he volunteered for the Royal Army Medical Corps and served in France until 1918. He was awarded the Military Cross in 1916 and a bar in 1917. In 1918 he was transferred to No 9 Field Ambulance of the Guards Division with the rank of acting major, and was made a DSO for service under fire. After the armistice he went to Germany with the British army of occupation, and was in Cologne when he heard that he had been appointed medical superintendent of Wellington Hospital.

Airini Elizabeth Rhodes was also born in Dunedin, on 8 November 1896. Her mother, Jessy, was the youngest daughter of Charles Robert Bidwill of Pihautea in Wairarapa. Her father was Robert Heaton Rhodes of Blue Cliffs station, South Canterbury. Although Airini was an only child, her parents' wealth and social position meant that there were many visitors at Blue Cliffs; holidays away included trips to England (1905\endash 6 and 1910\endash 12). Educated at home by governesses, Airini showed an early aptitude for writing. In 1913 she attended Craighead Diocesan School in Timaru for one year as a weekly boarder. One of her childhood playmates was Ngita Woodhouse, Randal's younger sister, and Airini met Randal several times before his departure for England. During the First World War she was busy with various fund-raising activities and joined the Red Cross. Through helping her father with mustering and stock work she learned much about farm management.

Airini's father died unexpectedly from pneumonia on 11 August 1918. She and her mother then went to visit relatives in England on a trip that lasted for nearly two years, returning in January 1921. Though she had seen Randal Woodhouse only briefly in eight years, they had kept up a wartime correspondence, and in March he visited Blue Cliffs to propose marriage. They wed at Upper Otaio on 22 September 1921 and went to live in Wellington.

Her father's will had given Airini first option on Blue Cliffs, but the trustees insisted she employ a manager. Randal had apparently seen too much death and suffering in military hospitals to spend the rest of his life practising surgery, and suggested to the trustees that he might become Airini's station manager, after a year's trial. His resignation from Wellington Hospital was greeted with dismay. Randal's apprenticeship as a sheepfarmer began in January 1922 with the basics: sorting dags after crutching. He easily passed his trial year, and was appointed manager of Blue Cliffs in 1923 on a salary of £200. But Airini insisted on classing the wool clip, a skill learned from her father.

The Woodhouses had three children in the 1920s: Elizabeth, Carne and Heaton. Airini was elected to the Blue Cliffs parish vestry in 1927 \endash the first year women were admitted \endash and remained a member until 1961. Randal read all the books he could find about sheepfarming, and sought expert advice on soils and pasture from Professor R. G. Stapledon of Aberystwyth, Wales, when he visited Blue Cliffs in 1926. He abandoned tussock burning, fenced off remnants of native bush, began topdressing with lime, and planted large numbers of trees to control gorse on steeper slopes. He bought the district's first tractor in 1925, and a Morris truck in 1926. Mechanisation and smaller paddocks brought a steady improvement in pasture quality which set an example for other South Canterbury hill country farmers.

Besides raising a family and helping her husband manage Blue Cliffs, Airini developed a strong interest in breeding cattle. She had been a member of the council of the New Zealand Red Poll Cattle Breeders' Association since its foundation in 1921, and in 1932 her name was added to its list of judges and inspectors. She was one of the first women in New Zealand to judge stock at an agricultural show, at Palmerston North that same year. In the evenings she was busy with historical research, producing a biography of her maternal grandfather (with W. E. Bidwill) in 1927 and a parish history of Otaio and Blue Cliffs in 1930. The biography of her other grandfather, George Rhodes of the Levels and his brothers (1937), was highly praised and led to an invitation to edit Tales of pioneer women for the women's institutes of New Zealand.

Airini managed Blue Cliffs during the Second World War, and again worked hard for the Red Cross. She was president of the Blue Cliffs sub-centre of the Red Cross during both world wars, and was awarded a Voluntary Aid Detachment medal for service 1939\endash 45. Randal served from 1941 as deputy director of medical services, then as acting director, Southern Military District (1942\endash 43) based at Riccarton Racecourse; he reached the rank of lieutenant colonel.

When catchment boards were being organised throughout New Zealand in the 1940s, Randal Woodhouse was asked to stand as the Waimate member on the South Canterbury board and was its first chairman (1944\endash 58), later becoming president of the New Zealand Catchment Authorities Association (1956\endash 58). He was awarded Queen Elizabeth II's Coronation Medal in 1953 for services to farming, and was made an OBE in 1958.

By the late 1950s the Woodhouses had become interested in the Maori rock drawings found in South Canterbury, and with advice from H. D. Skinner and Roger Duff campaigned for their preservation. Airini was on the committee of the South Canterbury Historical Society from its inception, and chair of the South Canterbury Centennial History Committee (1954\endash 60). She continued her literary work, compiling New Zealand farm and station verse 1850\endash 1950 and publishing a biography, Guthrie-Smith of Tutira (1959). She also chaired the South Canterbury Regional Committee of the New Zealand Historic Places Trust from 1959 to 1975. Rather to her embarrassment, this committee named a peak in the Hunters Hills range after her in 1965 (Mt Airini). In 1969 she became the first woman in New Zealand to be granted registration as an owner-classer by the New Zealand Wool Handling Committee, with the right to put the Kiwi brand on her bales.

Randal Woodhouse died at Timaru on 1 October 1970, and Airini moved to the house in Timaru where her mother had lived until her death. There she completed her fifth book, a detailed history of Blue Cliffs station, published in 1982. She was awarded the Queen's Service Medal in 1981 and was working on a biography of her husband when she died on 13 April 1989.

Airini Woodhouse was undoubtedly South Canterbury's outstanding countrywoman in this century, combining an active farm life and service on numerous voluntary organisations with her chosen vocation as a local historian. Short, serious and exacting, she was a fearsomely efficient organiser, yet to her friends and family she was generous and loyal, with a good sense of humour. As for Randal, the surgeon who married the sheepfarmer's daughter not only mastered his second vocation but proved himself a pioneer in hill country conservation. They were a devoted couple, and a formidable partnership, making Blue Cliffs a focal point for rural society in South Canterbury for half a century, as well as forming a direct link with the district's earliest European settlers.
Blue Cliffs History
Posted 14 Dec 2014 by harvoid


BLUECLIFFS HISTORY.

Registration Type Historic Place Category 2

Register Number7691

Date Registered30-Mar-2007

Location DescriptionRapid Number: 2894, Waimate (Rural Address Property Identification)

Legal DescriptionRS No. 10510 (CT CB8F/790), Canterbury Land District

Extent of RegistrationRegistration includes the Homestead, Stables/Carriage Shed, Laundry/Dairy/Apple Shed, and generator shed with their fixtures and fittings, and the part of Rural Section 10510 Canterbury Land District on which they stand. The garden, which forms the immediate environs on the homestead, is included within the boundary of the registered place.

City/District CouncilWaimate District

RegionCanterbury Region

SummaryBlue Cliffs Station is notable as one of the earliest runs taken up in South Canterbury. It has seen over 150 years of farming development with changes from the earliest years when pasturage licenses required an initial stocking of the extensive acres, achieved by some of the area's key pioneering figures. During the nineteenth century more intensive stocking, breeding and cultivation followed, with progressive improvements that continued in the twentieth century through to all the modern changes in techniques and a differing focus on new markets.

In 1855 Jeannie Collier, the first woman to acquire South Canterbury land, took up the vast Otaio Run, from which 10,120 hectares (25,000 acres) granted to Henry Poindestre in 1856, formed the original core of Blue Cliffs. For ten years the property was well managed by Poindestre with increased sheep numbers and good production that made it a fine investment for John Hayhurst who owned it from 1866 to 1870. It was Hayhurst who chose a site for a homestead at the foot of the Hunter Hills and this was where the Station's nucleus has continued to be centred. Charles Meyer was the next owner from 1870 to 1879. He might have continued with his dreams for the property's development had his young wife not died suddenly, causing him to abandon life in New Zealand.

It was in 1879 that Blue Cliffs was purchased by Robert Heaton Rhodes, beginning the distinguished family's association. The notable Rhodes brothers, Robert, William and George, had been pioneering farmers on Banks peninsula in the 1840s and then expanded their land holdings after the formal foundation of the Canterbury province in 1850. Robert Heaton Rhodes (Bob) was the son of George Rhodes who had established the first South Canterbury Sheep Station at the Levels in 1851. Rhodes farmed the Blue Cliffs property very effectively and was succeeded by his equally competent daughter Airini, who managed the Station with her husband Dr Philip Randall Woodhouse. As well as being recognized for their proficiency in many aspects of farming, all the owners of the property have demonstrated their civic consciousness, playing a prominent role in community affairs.

The Blue Cliffs Homestead (1890) is the dominating building of this early South Canterbury sheep station complex. It was the third to serve as the home of the Station owner. In its size, planning and appearance it is a typical example of the life style which the province's pioneering families had achieved within the first four decades of settlement. Its historic values are enhanced by its near intact condition and collection of original furnishings. The large garden environs featuring mature trees have been retained and combine with the homestead to indicate the status of a successful nineteenth century pastoralist in Canterbury. Included in the group which forms the historic residential heart of Blue Cliff Station are the stables/carriage shed (1870s), the former laundry/dairy/apple shed (1870s) and the generator shed (1907).

The Station, which now consists of 4,050 hectares, has been owned by the Rhodes/Woodhouse/Rolleston family since 1879, an unbroken link of 127 years. The historic domestic group that comprises the Blue Cliffs Station Homestead Complex illustrates the lifestyle of a late Victorian household as well as the status of a successful second generation pioneering farming family.

Historical SignificanceThe Blue Cliffs Station Homestead Complex has historic vales as an example of the life style achieved by early run holders in Canterbury and New Zealand. Canterbury's economic development was founded on the success of pastoralism and the Blue Cliff Station's farming history demonstrates how this developed. As the productivity of the land was increased to bring more profit from greater numbers of stock, the Station's owners improved their life style and living accommodation. The present Blue Cliffs homestead's scale and appearance demonstrates the success and status of its owner. In this regard it is typical of many built at this date by first or second generation settlers, confident of their future in a new colony.

While the first three owners of the vast Blue Cliffs Station are of historic interest, it is the connection with the Rhodes family that has the greatest significance. The Rhodes brothers were responsible for many farming 'firsts' after they settled at Purau on Banks Peninsula in the 1840s. Because of his involvement in public life and local affairs Robert Rhodes of Blue Cliffs from the second generation became a notable figure in his own right. His daughter Airini and her husband Dr Woodhouse were also prominent in the South Canterbury community, serving similar public spirited lives of achievement.

The buildings which are included in the domestic complex also demonstrate the history of the era, when horses were a necessity for carriages and riding. The laundry, separate from the main house, illustrates the role of servants, the apple house reflects the self sufficiency of those living on rural properties and the generator shed is indicative of the owner's eagerness to provide electric light to his home at an early date.

Physical SignificanceThe homestead is of architectural interest and significance as a fine example of the many domestic designs by architects Collins and Harman and also as an illustration of the type of home considered appropriate for the owner of a large New Zealand sheep station at the end of the nineteenth century. Though less opulent in appearance than Meadowbank, (1891), designed by Collins and Harman for R.H. Rhodes' cousin George at Irwell, the Blue Cliffs homestead clearly indicates the owner's social standing. In plan it has features typical of the period. From the large entrance foyer one can immediately enter the imposing drawing room while the dining room is directly opposite, with a serving room separating it from the adjacent kitchen. The ground floor office at the north-west corner has external access for both the owner's convenience and for workers to approach him here with enquiries or to receive their wages. Beside the office was the "smoking room", later re-designated as the library. Overall, the house presents a suitably impressive but not ostentatious appearance, enhanced by its surroundings, the tree-lined drive and garden. The form, decorative detailing and finish of the interior and exterior ensured that the house was identifiable as the home of a man of status and good taste.

The architect of the auxiliary buildings is not known. Simple, functional structures, they were probably planned by a local builder engaged for the project. The form and detailing, typical of timber utility buildings of the 1870s, adds distinction to their design.

The early usage of an electrical lighting system in the house is a special feature of the homestead's history, and an aspect of technological importance. This is enhanced by the retention of the dynamo and the Hornsby oil engine in the purpose built generator shed.

The homestead and the associated buildings in their attractive environs have aesthetic values. The carefully maintained weatherboard homestead is well proportioned and features handsome detailing which particularly enhance the two principal facades. The setting contributes much to the total visual appeal of the property. The expansive lawn area to the north of the house and the surrounding garden with its many trees, shrubs and plants complement the house itself. The nearby auxiliary buildings, though simpler in appearance, also have appeal and are key components of the buildings which make up the Complex.

Cultural SignificanceThe Blue Cliffs Homestead Complex has social significance as a representative example of the lifestyle of a late nineteenth century sheep station owner. In the form and appearance of the main house and the nature of the associated buildings it is also typical of the properties owned and occupied by other major rural landowners at this time. The house has a fine appearance and quality of construction, finish and furnishing to reflect the owner's status.

The formal dining room is sufficiently separated from the potential noises and smells of the kitchen, the necessary servants were provided for, there are many bedrooms to accommodate a large family and visitors, and the externally accessed office was a typical feature of rural homesteads.

Despite its construction over a century ago, only minor changes have been necessary to keep this house suitable for contemporary living. The fact that it has remained in the ownership of the same family over this time has meant that the furniture and contents of the house provide a special insight into the house's history and the various lifestyle changes of its occupants.

The nearby stables were an important accessory facility for the larger homes at this time, essential in rural areas and very frequently included on urban properties. At Blue Cliffs the owners were especially interested in riding for work and pleasure, with hunting as a major pastime. The stables here make a particular addition to an understanding of the life they led. They remain as an illustration of the use of horses by the family for general transport and leisure activities.

The separation of the laundry from the homestead was an 1870's decision, reflecting attitudes regarding convenience and the use of servants at the time. This was changed by Jessy Rhodes in 1910 when the new wing incorporated a laundry to ease the work load for her servants. Apple sheds were a very common addition to farm complexes, large and small, to ensure that families could have the crop from their orchard stored for their use through the winter. This example typifies that practice. The generator shed is an instance of a forward-thinking owner making his own provision of electric lighting for his home, to enhance the family's comfort.

Summary of Assessed Criteria(a) The extent to which the place reflects important or representative aspects of New Zealand history

The group of buildings at Blue Cliffs is representative of the era of farming in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Pastoralism on large blocks of land like the Blue Cliffs Station was a major feature of New Zealand's economic development through this period. By this date, homesteads and associated buildings were often occupied by second generation settlers, now prospering as a result of the pioneering efforts of their fathers. The houses they built demonstrate, through their size and grandeur, their owners' status as principal figures in rural communities. All the necessary associated facilities were part of the homestead itself or in nearby structures as in this example. With a large staff to work the property and house servants and gardeners to maintain the requisite, planned 'English' environs, such homes typically demonstrate the life style of the farming elite through Canterbury.

(b) The association of the place with events, persons, or ideas of importance in New Zealand history

Miss Jeannie Collier was the first woman to take up a Pasturage License in South Canterbury in 1855. It was from her Otaio Run that the Blue Cliffs Run was formed and though she never occupied the area where the present buildings stand, her association with the property is significant. The history of this remarkable early woman settler, aged 62 when she arrived in Canterbury, is an important feature of South Canterbury's past.

Henry Poingdestre who first took up the 25,000 acre run and named it Blue Cliffs and his successors, John Hayhurst and Charles Meyer were also notable early South Canterbury pioneers. Robert Rhodes, the owner who made the greatest nineteenth and early twentieth century contribution to the property's development, was an important figure himself as well as being part of the Rhodes family who had begun farming on banks Peninsula in the 1840s. The Rhodes connection is the most notable of the associations of this place with people of importance in New Zealand history, especially as the family has retained the property for 127 years.

Rhodes' daughter Airini and her husband Dr Randal Woodhouse, who continued at Blue Cliffs from 1922 to 1970, were further people whose lives have been important not only for the continued development of the farm but also in South Canterbury's and New Zealand's history.

(e) The community association with, or public esteem for, the place

The Blue Cliffs Station is identified by the people of South Canterbury as one of the significant properties of the province. From its earliest days the rather scattered rural population in the area regarded the Station as a place of central importance, its owner always being a man of influence and social status. Blue Cliffs has had a succession of owners who were committed to supporting local activities and the provision of community amenities. Through the nineteenth century local perception of station owners was similar to that of an English squire and the community had a close association with the property and its owners. This association continued and Blue Cliffs is still held in high esteem by everyone aware of its history and present usage.

Knowledge of the property and its history was spread with the publication in 1982 of Airini Woodhouse's book, Blue Cliffs: the Biography of a South Canterbury Sheep Station 1865 to 1970. . The popularity of this widely read book is evidence of the public's high regard for the place. It continues to reinforce people's appreciation of Blue Cliffs' place in New Zealand's past.

(g) The technical accomplishment or value, or design of the place

The survival of the Hornsby oil engine and dynamo which it drove in their 1907 building is a significant feature of the property, demonstrating the technical accomplishments of the period when electricity was not universally available. Use of privately generated electricity was first largely restricted to lighting and many of those in the higher income brackets installed generating systems for their homes early in the twentieth century. The Blue Cliffs example is an early and important one.

The architectural design of the homestead is important as an example of the work by prominent Christchurch architects, Collins and Harman. It is also significant as a representative example of the scale, plan and design of the grander houses built in the latter part of the nineteenth century. The homesteads on the great rural properties were of varied design but were usually large, imposing structures, often quite ostentatious in appearance and finish. The Blue Cliffs example is a handsome, dignified structure, built of the best materials and finished with well designed detailing demonstrating the skills of the craftsmen of the period. The preservation of many of the homestead's original finishes and the continued use of the furniture which was first purchased for it in 1891 enhances its special, historic character.

Summary

The Blue Cliffs Station Homestead Complex merits Category II (Two) registration as an example of the buildings constructed for the owners of large farm properties towards the end of the nineteenth century. Its heritage values from the group's special historic, architectural, aesthetic and social significance. These well preserved buildings demonstrate the life style of the second generation settlers who had made a success of their farming practices and relates to the economic developments achieved in New Zealand by pastoralists. A special feature of the property is the continued ownership by one distinguished family and the retention in the homestead of original finishes and furniture.


Blue Cliffs History

tim_anderson1 originally shared this on 21 Jan 2013

Bluecliffs https://www.pressreader.com/

Philip married Airini Elizabeth RHODES [31603] [MRIN: 11214], daughter of Robert Heaton RHODES of Bluecliffs Station. [31604] and Jessie BIDWELL [31605], on 22 Sep 1921 in Otago New Zealand. (Airini Elizabeth RHODES [31603] was born on 8 Nov 1896 in Dunedin New Zealand and died on 13 Apr 1989 in Timaru N.Z..)