Charles George Tripp (1 July 1826 – 6 July 1897) was a pioneering
sheep farmer
Sheep farming or sheep husbandry is the raising and breeding of domestic sheep. It is a branch of animal husbandry. Sheep are raised principally for their meat (lamb and mutton), milk ( sheep's milk), and fiber ( wool). They also yield sheepsk ...
in
South Canterbury
South Canterbury is the area of the Canterbury Region of the South Island of New Zealand bounded by the Rangitata River in the north and the Waitaki River (the border with the Otago Region) to the south. The Pacific Ocean and ridge of the Southe ...
, New Zealand. Together with his friend and business partner
John Acland, he was the first to use the Canterbury
high country for sheep farming.
Early life
Tripp was born in
Kentisbeare
Kentisbeare is a village and civil parish in the Mid Devon district of Devon, England. Its nearest town is Cullompton.
Descent of the manor
In the 17th century the manor of Kentisbeare was owned by Sir John Wyndham (1558–1645) of Orchard Wyn ...
,
Mid Devon, England in 1826. His parents were the rector Rev. Charles Tripp and Frances Tripp (née Owen). He received his education at the
Merchant Taylors' School in London before studying law.
He was called to the bar on 30 April 1853
and introduced his friend,
John Acland,
to members of the
Canterbury Association
The Canterbury Association was formed in 1848 in England by members of parliament, peers, and Anglican church leaders, to establish a colony in New Zealand. The settlement was to be called Canterbury, with its capital to be known as Christchurch ...
, who proposed the organised settlement of
Canterbury
Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour.
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...
in New Zealand with
Anglican ideals; introductions included those to
James FitzGerald and
John Robert Godley
John Robert Godley (29 May 1814 – 17 November 1861) was an Anglo-Irish statesman and bureaucrat. Godley is considered to be the founder of Canterbury, New Zealand, although he lived there for only two years.
Early life
Godley was born in Dubl ...
. Acland also worked in law.
Sheep farming
Acland and Tripp gave up their profession and emigrated to New Zealand in 1854 in the ''Royal Stuart'' to become sheep farmers.
They arrived in
Lyttelton on 4 January 1855. Both needed to obtain experience first and thus worked as cadets on established runs;
Acland gained experience under
Henry Tancred,
whilst Tripp worked in Halswell and for one of the Brittan brothers.
On 30 July 1855, they applied for land in the foothills in an area that was unexplored and their choice was guesswork; all the suitable land on the
Canterbury Plains
The Canterbury Plains () are an area in New Zealand centred in the Mid Canterbury, to the south of the city of Christchurch in the Canterbury region. Their northern extremes are at the foot of the Hundalee Hills in the Hurunui District, and in t ...
had been taken up already.
Established
runholders did not take them seriously,
and some laughed at them for wanting to take up high country land, but Acland's attitude was that "in the Colonies you always like to see for yourself, and the worse account you hear of unoccupied country, the greater the reason for going to look at it."
In the spring and summer of 1855/56, they started exploring the area.
Both had £2,000 of capital, which was insufficient to buy an established station.
They took up land including
Mount Somers
Mount Somers ( mi, Te Kiekie) is a small town in Canterbury, New Zealand, nestled in the foothills of the Southern Alps. The population in the 2001 census was 2,307. Due to its scenic location, it has seen growth in the number of holiday homes ...
,
Mount Possession,
Mount Peel
Mount Peel is a mountain located in South Canterbury, New Zealand. It consists of three peaks, Mount Peel (often referred to as Big Mt Peel), Middle Mt Peel () and Little Mt Peel/Huatekerekere (). Mt Peel is tall and is owned by the Department ...
,
Orari Gorge and parts of
Hakatere and
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the ...
,
and were the first who put sheep in the high country.
The first station they worked on was Mount Peel from May 1856, and while they prepared the run, they left their sheep with Dr Moorhouse, a brother of
William Sefton Moorhouse
William Sefton Moorhouse ( 1825 – 15 September 1881) was a British-born New Zealand politician. He was the second Superintendent of Canterbury Province.
Early life
Moorhouse was born in Yorkshire, England, and baptised on 18 December 1825; th ...
, on the other side of the
Rangitata River
The Rangitata River is one of the braided rivers that helped form the Canterbury Plains in southern New Zealand. It flows southeast for from the Southern Alps, entering the Pacific Ocean northeast of Timaru. The river has a catchment area of , ...
.
Their partnership was dissolved in October 1862, and Tripp retained Orari Gorge and Mount Somers.
Family
In 1858, Charles Tripp married Ellen Shephard Harper, the third daughter of
Bishop Harper.
In the same ceremony, the Bishop's second daughter, Mary Anna Harper, married
Charles Blakiston. The Tripps went to
Akaroa for their honeymoon, riding there on horseback.
On 17 January 1860, Acland married
Emily Weddell Harper, the eldest daughter of Bishop Harper, at
St Michael's Church. The Bishop's fifth daughter, Sarah Shephard Harper, was married at the same ceremony.
With Acland's marriage, the former business partners became brothers in law.
In 1862, Tripp and his wife went to visit England. His ailing father did not believe the stories of success, so Tripp instructed his agent to sell Orari Gorge Station and transfer the money to England as proof. When they returned to New Zealand, he bought the station back.
Death
After an illness of the liver lasting several months, Tripp died at
Timaru
Timaru (; mi, Te Tihi-o-Maru) is a port city in the southern Canterbury Region of New Zealand, located southwest of Christchurch and about northeast of Dunedin on the eastern Pacific coast of the South Island. The Timaru urban area is home to ...
on 6 July 1897.
He was buried at
Woodbury Cemetery (near
Geraldine) three days later.
References
*
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
public domain
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:
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tripp, Charles
1826 births
1897 deaths
People from Mid Devon District
New Zealand farmers
English emigrants to New Zealand
People from South Canterbury
Harper family