Business Rural North Winter 2021

8 | NZ CENTURY FARM » Drysdale Station: Hugh & Pru Lilburn The days were long and hard as the steep hill country was cleared of bush, regrassed, stocked and fenced. In those early days life was very harsh for the men who worked from daylight to dark six days a week, knocking off at 4pm on Saturdays. The country was still being broken in with bush and regrowth scrub being felled and infrastructure built with very limited capital. “With the steep terrain just getting the gear to the fence would have been challenging. They would have had to cut a tree down, hack it up to make fence posts and pack horse all the wire out.” With the wool boom of 1950 wool became the most valuable commodity on the planet, making a significant difference for the family. “A surplus of cash meant that much needed infra- structure of tracks, bridges, woolsheds, fences and houses could be built and most of the houses and bridges on the property today were built in this era.” After wool, horses were the next biggest income earner on the property with about 200 horses traded in a special sale in Hunterville each year and Jack was widely acclaimed for the Arab influence he had put through his stock. When Hugh’s grandmother died at the age of 57 in the 1950s his grief stricken grandfather left the farm and placed his son John in charge of opera- tions. “Around 1955 my father met his future wife, Jean, a lovely English girl who was staying with the Duncan family down the road and who hailed from Surrey. “Born in 1928 my mother was brought up with Victorian values in an aristocratic English House. She spent a year at school in France, spoke fluent French and joined the WRENS during the war years. She worked at Bletcheley Park, where with the help of the “Turin” machine they were cracking the German codes.” English bride worked on breaking code at Bletcheley Park • from page 6 “It would be akin to losing a spouse or child I think. Everyone in this valley is proud of their ancestry and what they have achieved.” AFFCO is proud to support Drysdale Station Scrubcutting • Planting & Thinning • Pruning • Innovation • Drysale, Ferndale & the Turakina Valley Scrubcutting for the Lilburn family for 45 years Ron McLean: 0800 549 433 T R A N S P O R T HUNTERVILLE 027 442 1161 Shortly after arriving in New Zealand Jean was called to Government House where she spent six months as Lady in Waiting to the Governor in General’s wife, Lady Willoughby Norrie, which Jean described as pretty much living like the Queen. In the mid ‘50s Jean returned to England and John’s Father told his Son that if he didn’t ‘go and chase that girl, then he would!’ “So my Father took the hint and journeyed to the United Kingdom where he married my mother in 1956, before they returned to Drysdale. By transfer- ring herself to the Turakina Valley my Mother could not have chosen a life more different from the one she knew. But survive she did and she was one of the most revered and respected women by all who met her and loved by thousands. She was awarded a Queens Service Medal for her services to com- munity.” After university, overseas travel and some outside work, Hugh returned to the family farm in 1988 and took over the running of Drysdale in 1999, taking ownership of it in recent years. Four generations of Lilburns have now farmed the property, and Hugh says he cannot comprehend what it would be like to lose Drysdale. “It would be akin to losing a spouse or child I think. Everyone in this valley is proud of their ancestry and what they have achieved. We have a son, William, who is likely to come back to the farm and take over eventually.” Hark the Drysdale Overture, for it tells of a love of the land and a family’s triumph. The New Zealand Century Farm and Station Awards programme aims to capture and preserve the stories of this country’s early farming pioneers. Eligible families can submit narratives of their farm history, to- gether with copies of related photographs and supporting documents which are then archived at the Alexander Turnbull Library in Wellington, ensuring all records are kept in perpetuity. Now in its 15th year, the awards claim over 500 families from throughout New Zealand as part of its exclusive group of centenar- ians and sesquicentenarians. A family snapshot of five generations of Lilburns at Drysdale. Current owners Pru and Hugh with children Penny and William at bottom right.