Sefton, the headquarters of the Sefton Dairy Factory Company, Limited, and the centre of a flourishing settlement, is twenty-six miles from Christchurch on the northern railway. The station stands only twenty-one feet above the level of the sea. There are churches, a school, a library, a hotel, a town hall, and several stores and blacksmiths' shops in the township. The district is noted for dairy farming. Postal and telegraphic business is conducted at the railway station. Sefton is in the Kowai riding of the county of Ashley. At the census of 1901 the town and district had a population of 620 persons

Sefton Public School was established in 1884. The building is of wood, contains two class rooms and two porches, and has accommodation for 100 scholars. In the first quarter of 1902 there were ninety-four on the roll, with an average attendance of eighty. The headmaster is assisted by a mistress. The schoolhouse adjoins the building, and the premises stand upon two acres of land. Close to the school there is the recreation reserve, of some fifteen acres in extent, which is very useful as a playground.

Mr. Hugh Fleming Thomson, Headmaster of Sefton Public School, was born at Greta, Victoria, in 1869, and arrived in New Zealand with his parents in 1877. He was educated at East Christchurch School, where he also served his pupil-teachership. After a year at the Normal Training College, Mr. Thomson was appointed to Mount Grey Downs, where he remained for six years. For six months subsequently, he was in charge at Mandeville Plains, and was transferred to Sefton at the end of 1895. Mr. Thomson was married, in 1895, to a daughter of Mr. G. W. Pickering.

St. Michael's Anglican Church, Sefton, was built about the year 1880. It stands on part of a quarter-acre section, and has seating accommodation for 100 persons. A Sunday school is held in the church.

The Wesleyan Methodist Church, Sefton, dates from about 1887. It is a small building of wood and iron, and has seating accommodation for eighty worshippers. The building was previously erected in Leithfield, from which it was removed in 1887. The minister at Rangiora is in charge.

Sefton Dairy Factory. This factory was established in 1888, and comprises a boiler-house, separator, churning, butter, and refrigerating rooms. It has a Scott Bros.' boiler, two De Laval separators, a Tangye engine, and at the busiest time four men are employed. The output of the factory in 1900 was 126,000 pounds of butter. Since 1901 a creamery has been established at Woodend, and one at Leithfield, and about 100 suppliers send milk daily.