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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Wellington Provincial District]

Bideford

Bideford.

Bideford, a small farming settlement in the Wairarapa North County, is seventy-nine miles from Masterton. A coach runs from Masterton as far as Taueru, and the journey thence may be made on horseback, or by carriage or other conveyance. Most of the residents are engaged in farming and similar pursuits. For the education of the young there is a public school, at which the average attendance is about twenty. Mails for Bideford close at Wellington on Tuesdays and Saturdays at 6.45 a.m., arriving at Bideford at 5 p.m.; and close at Bideford on Tuesdays and Saturdays at 7.30 a.m., arriving at Wellington at 7.50 p.m.

Bollands, the well-known station of the late Mr. W. H. Levin, is a magnificent estate on the Taueru River of 12,600 acres. It is well fenced, subdivided into well-watered paddocks and carries 15,000 sheep and 800 head of cattle. The homestead is charmingly located, surrounded by beautiful clumps of trees in great profusion and is justly considered one of the loveliest spots in the Wairarapa.

Mr. John MacRae, J.P., Manager of Bollands, hails from Scotland, having been borne in Perthshire in 1857. He was educated at Inverness Academy, and, after gaining considerable experience in the management of stock, he came to the Colony in 1876. In Otago as overseer of one of the New Zealand and Australian Land Co.'s estates, and as manager for six years of Messrs. Handyside and Roberts' station, and of the Akitio and Glencoe stations in the North Island, Mr. Macrae had ample opportunities of adding to his knowledge. In 1887, after an enjoyable trip to Britain, he was appointed by Mr. Levin to the position he now holds. In public life Mr. MacRae sits as a Justice of the Peace and as a member of the local Road Board and School Committee. He is fond of hunting, and takes an interest in sport as a member of the Masterton Racing Club. Mr. MacRae is married to a daughter of Mr. H. S. Wardell, and has one son and two daughters.