Woodlands Estate, Waiau - farmed by the Mouat family (1893-2008), Blade Shearing the Sheep

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Woodlands Estate, Waiau - farmed by the Mouat family (1893-2008), Blade Shearing the Sheep Photo of a group of men, blade shearing sheep in the Mouat's Woodland's Estate Shearing Shed. The person closest to the front appears to be Magnus Mouat, Malcolm Mouat snr's son, who appears in many of our collection photos from the Woodlands Estate. Records kept from the past show that Malcolm Mouat of Woodlands had no sheep numbers registered in 1890, but around 1,500 sheep on this property in the 1909/1910 years, which was reduced to around 1,200 by 1927/1928. But that is still an awful lot of sheep to shear by hand! Blade shearing sheep by hand was a real work of art and required a lot of physical effort. It was also a very slow process. Some in the industry still keep this old skill alive today, but more as a competition these days. Shearing is now highly mechanized with handpieces run off electricity, which has hugely sped up the process. However, it appears from the photographic record and captions, that some early sheds, such as this one at Woodlands and another at neighbouring Sunnyside Estate, later got their own rigged up power sources earlier on, before the Southland Electric Power Board built Monowai and electrified Murihiku Southland. More photos of this shearing shed will be put up online in our community archives soon. WOODLANDS ESTATE HISTORY: Woodlands Estate, was situated at Motumote, between Motu Bush and the Waiau River, Murihiku Southland. It is believed that this run was originally taken up by Captain John Howell of Aparima Riverton c1860. Following on from him was Donald Manson (1865-1878), Daniel Sinclair (1878-1883) and Robert Dodd (1883-1893). Malcolm Mouat was then to acquire the lease and the Station remained in Mouat family hands from 1893-2008. These details have been kindly given to us from descendants of Malcolm Mouat, Snr, but they have not been checked. Until 1958, the Mouat family lived in a house with no electricity or running water, on the Woodlands property. In December 1996 this house was finally demolished. The wash house, which had been situated over the back fence in the back yard, used to house the copper and bath tub. In December 2011 it was still standing. We are hoping to get more photos of the Woodlands Estate digitised soon. MOUAT FAMILY HISTORY: The first Mouat to live and work in the Waiau, was Malcolm Snr. He was alive 1851-1932. He was also one of the earliest people in that district, according to much of the history we have seen written. In his early days, Malcolm Mouat Snr. was reportedly an intrepid explorer of the Western Murihiku and Fiordland areas, and even has a lake named after him, Mouat Lake, which is west of Lake Poteriteri, nesting between the Princess and Cameron Mountain Ranges. See under 'Place Notes' below for a map link to this. Recorded by FWG Miller in his “West to the Fiords” book (which he used notes by WJ Mouat – Malcolm’s son, to write up some history on the family at Woodlands, Clifden and Eastern Bush), Malcolm Mouat Snr. was a Shetland Islander, who arrived at Murihiku Bluff in 1869 and then proceeded by bullock wagon to Clifden, on the bullock track which was the only ‘road’. As Malcolm was an expert seaman, there he was tasked with the job of boating people, stock and supplies across the Waiau River. In Miller’s book, he states that Malcolm ferried sheep on the boat with their legs tied (presumably so they did not try to escape!), but cattle and horses swam behind the boat. Being made head shepherd about a year after arriving there, it is said Malcolm remained in this position for another nineteen years. Peter Begg’s recollections of the area as quoted in Miller’s book, cover the following points: “My first recollection of ‘Woodlands’ was that it was occupied by a Mr Manson, father of the well-known athlete and shearer, D Manson. Malcolm Mouat, a hardy Shetland Islander and for many years head shepherd on Clifden, married Miss Scobie and took over Woodlands, and a son owns the property.” Another record of a journey through Western Southland from 1889 by HW Potter, also mentions Malcolm Mouat Snr., and this below is his own personal observations. Stating that after calling for the boat, “In due course it reaches us and we are soon afloat and the way in which the boatman, Malcolm Mouat, handles the craft in the dark deserves commendation. We go some considerable distance down the stream; a vigorous pull across into an eddy brings us back almost opposite from where we embarked. Here we are cordially received by the manager, Mr Robert Tapper, Jnr.” When the land there was taken up by the Government for closer settlement, Malcolm Snr. also entered the ballot for land there, but missed out, as apparently that land was drawn out by another local settler, Scott. So as the story goes, according to other local history accounts, Malcolm then purchased J Woods property ‘Woodlands’ off him instead, the year is said in some reports to have been 1891. But in the family information given at the start of this entry, that says it was in 1893. Further research is needed to determine the exact correct date. Upon marrying Anna Bella Scobie, the daughter of the Eastern Bush Accommodation House/Hotel, Store and Post Office owner William Scobie (and wife) the following year, Malcolm Snr. purchased this above property himself in 1905, (a fact which I have verified against legal land records) and the following year in 1906, Malcolm was to transfer this property into the name of his wife. In the intervening years, as the ‘Woodlands’ property was on the other side of the Waiau, the family had to get across the river to get to and from their home, which made travel to and from the homestead a rather arduous affair. A family descendant informs us that, because there was no road through the Motu Bush until 1954, until then boats, punts and finally a swing bridge from the Otahu Flat were used. So the Clifden bridge (opened 1899) was really of no help until the road through the bush was built. When Malcolm died in 1932, his wife continued on at the Eastern Bush property with her sons, until Anna Bella herself, died in 1950. She left the property in the hands of her three sons, William J (whose diary FWG Miller has listed as a reference for the family’s story), Malcolm Jnr., both of Eastern Bush, and Magnus Mouat at the ‘Woodlands’ property. We have been told by family descendants that Magnus Mouat, son of Malcolm Mouat snr., didn’t inherit Woodlands. Dick Pearce from Otahu, put in a good word for him with the bank manager at Tūātapere and also went guarantor, enabling him to raise the finance for the property. Other information we received from a Mouat family descendant, says the Woodlands property left the hands of the Mouat family in 2008, which is not yet that long ago. If you or anyone you know has any more photos, records, information or accounts of Woodlands Estate or the Mouat families during the years, on any aspects of their business, farming or community life in the local area, please let us know in the comments section. You can do this by making a comment in the space provided under the image page. Please let us know if you have more records to add, they will add the heritage of the property.