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The Early Canterbury Runs: Containing the First, Second and Third (new) Series

View Hill — (Run 6)

View Hill
(Run 6)

View Hill, the station above Burnt Hill on the Waimakariri, brings us to the foot of the hills. It was twenty thousand and odd acres, and was taken by John Cristie Aitken in September, 1852. Pearson of Burnt Hill managed the run on shares for Aitken from 1854 till 1858. The sheep increased from 2700 in 1854 to 6000 in 1858.

Some time about 1860 Aitken sold View Hill to Captain Millton, an account of whom will be found in my notes on Birch Hill. Millton sold to Edwin Barnes Walker in 1865, and Walker sold to John Richard Gorton in 1873. In those days View Hill carried 13,000 sheep.

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Gorton was born in Suffolk and educated at Marlborough. Before he came to New Zealand he had spent twenty years managing and owning stations in Victoria and New South Wales.

In 1889 Gorton lost the leasehold country, but he had enough freehold left with the station to carry nearly 5000 sheep. He died in 1900 and since his death much of the land has been sold, but his son still has the homestead and land adjoining, and also the lease of the Mt. Oxford country which was originally part of Snowdale.

Aitken, who with his brother J. H. R. Aitken owned several other Canterbury runs in the early days, arrived here at the beginning of 1851 with a ship-load of cattle which he brought in partnership with Hawdon. He sold all his station property in the 'sixties and invested in town land. About 1870 he went home to England with a fortune. General F. Aitken is his son.

Before coming to New Zealand the Aitkens had had stations on the Murrumbidgee in Australia.