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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Canterbury Provincial District]

Levels

Levels.

The Levels district obtained its name from the headquarters of the Levels estate. It is situated in the Waimataitai riding of the Levels county. The railway station is seven miles from Timaru on the Timaru-Fairlie branch line, and stands at an elevation of 78 feet above sea level. There is a local post office, but the nearest school is at Seadown. As a county, Levels is an important and wealthy district, consisting principally of low rolling downs, most of which is good wheat growing land. There is a population of about 5500, all engaged in agricultural and pastoral pursuits, and the capital value of property within the county's limit is about £1,500,000. The main north line between the rivers Pareora and Opihi runs through part of the county, and also the Fairlie line. Pleasant Point and other flag stations are on this line. The Levels county adjoins the town of Timaru.

The Levels Post Office was established on the 14th of September, 1901, and is conducted at the homestead of Mr. Cornelius Sullivan, near the railway station. Mails are received and dispatched daily.

Mr. Cornelius Sullivan, Postmaster at the Levels, was born in Kerry, Ireland, in 1842. He arrived in New Zealand in 1876, and settled at Kerrytown, and has since been employed in country life, having been at the Levels since 1897.

Farmers.

Anderson, Robert, Farmer, Levels. Mr. Anderson, was born at Alloa, on the Firth of Forth, Scotland, in 1823, and brought up to farming. For fifteen years he lived in the Channel Islands, and was engaged in building the breakwater at Alderney. In 1865 he came out in the ship “Echunga,” and landed at Timaru. He rented a farm at the Washdyke for five years, and then bought 100 acres of Government land on the Levels at £2 an acre. This he has since. increased to 249 acres. In those days there were no roads formed, there were very few people in the district, and the country around was entirely devoid of trees. Mr. Anderson has planted all the trees on his property, and tastefully laid out a flower garden. His land has all been cultivated, and the wheat crops average over forty bushels per acre. Mr. Anderson has been a member of the Pleasant Point school committee, and was for many years an elder in the Presbyterian Church. He was married in the Old Country, and has a family of two sons and three daughters.

Brosnahan, John, Farmer, Levels. Mr. Brosnahan was born in County Kerry, Ireland, and came to New Zealand in 1862 by the ship “Exchange.” He engaged in various pursuits until 1865, when he became a farmer at the Levels, where he acquired 530 acres. Mr. Brosnahan is married and has twelve children.

Driscoll, Matthew, Farmer Levels. Mr. Driscoll was born in County Kerry, Ireland, in 1836, and was brought up to farming. He came to New Zealand in the ship “Ivanhoe,” in 1864, and landed at Lyttelton. After working some time in Christchurch he went to page 930 the West Coast diggings, but soon returned to Canterbury. In 1867 he went to Timaru, and two years later he took up forty-five acres of land at the Levels where his farm now consists of 500 acres, on which he grows wheat that yields over thirty bushels to the acre, and oats forty bushels. He also runs a number of half-bred sheep, which he finds most suitable for his purposes. Mr. Driscoll has been a director of the South Canterbury Farmers' Co-operative Association. In 1867 he married Miss Sarah Kane, of County Kerry, Ireland, and they have a family of five sons and six daughters.

Fitzgerald, William, Farmer, Derry Farm, Levels. Mr. Fitzgerald was born in County Cork, Ireland, in 1838, and came to New Zealand by the ship “Charger,” landing in Lyttelton in 1862. After being two years in Christchurch, and a like period on the West Coast, he removed to Temuka district in 1868, where he bought a farm of 300 acres, to which he has devoted his whole attention, and has brought it from its native wildness to a state of cultivation. He was married in 1883, and has seven children.

King, William, Farmer, “Spring Grove,” Levels. Mr. King was born in South Australia in 1838. His parents were farmers and he was brought up to like pursuits. He came to Otago in 1878, and twelve months afterwards settled in Seadown, working for two years on the Seadown station. For a time he undertook contracts at chaff-cutting, etc., ultimately taking up land of his own. Mr. King has 346 acres at the Levels, where he carries on mixed farming. He has also two fully-equipped steam plants for pressing and baling straw and chaff-cutting. The homestead is very comfortable, with substantial out-buildings and other necessary farm conveniences. He married Miss Dawe, daughter of Mr. Dawe, farmer, Seadown, and has seven children.

Steam Ploughing on Mr. W. King's Farm.

Steam Ploughing on Mr. W. King's Farm.

Levels Station (New Zealand and Australian Land Company, proprietors; Manager, Mr. C. N. Orbell, the Levels). This large run, which contains nearly 50,000 acres of freehold land, includes portions of the districts now known as Seadown, Cave, Albury, Washdyke, Pleasant Point, Sutherlands, and Totara Valley, and has its northern boundary at the Opihi river. It was originally of very much greater extent, but considerable areas of the land have been taken up for closer settlement, and the process is still going on About 50,000 sheep are depastured on the property, besides 250 head of cattle. Every year about 2500 acres are put down in turnips, from 1200 to 1300 acres in wheat, and about 1000 acres in oats. (Since the foregoing was written the property has been bought by the Government for close settlement.)

The Levels Homestead.

The Levels Homestead.

Mr. C. N. Orbell, General Manager of the Levels Estate, is referred to in another page 931 article as chairman of the Levels County Council.

Mr. William Philip Lane, formerly Chief Cook at the Levels Station, was born at Maidstone, Kent, England, in 1870, and accompanied his parents to Lyttelton in the ship “Crusader” in 1874. He was educated at Timaru, learned the business of a baker and pastrycook, and worked at his rade till the maritime strike in 1890, when he was appointed chief cook at the Levels estate, and, except for a year, held the position continuously until the estate was sold to the Government in 1903. Mr. Lane resides on a nice little property in the Seadown district. He was married in July, 1896, to a daughter of Mr. S. Cain, of Seadown, and has one son and two daughters.

Stevenson, William, Farmer, “Carsewell,” the Levels. Mr. Stevenson was born in Renfrewshire, Scotland, in 1842, and brought up to farming. He arrived at the Bluff in 1863 by the ship “Sir William Eyre,” and after four years in Southland on one of the New Zealand Land Company's stations, he removed to Oamaru, where he was on another of the Company's stations for seven years. On settling in the Timaru district, Mr. Stevenson bought land at Washdyke, and farmed 340 acres for some years. In 1881 he sold his interest in the Washdyke property, and bought his farm of 400 acres at the Levels, where he carries on mixed farming. Mr. Stevenson was for twelve years a member of the Washdyke school committee. He has long been associated with the South Canterbury Agricultural and Pastoral Association, having been on the committee for over twenty years. Mr. Stevenson was married, in 1869, to Miss Leonard, of Galway, Ireland, and has four sons and two daughters.

Sullivan, James, Farmer, “Guirteen,” Levels. Mr. Sullivan was born on the borders of Kings County, Ireland, in July, 1836. He was brought up as a carpenter and mechanic, and spent two years at the Cape of Good Hope before coming to Lyttelton in 1862. After a short goldmining experience at the Shotover, in Otago, he settled in the Timaru district, where he has resided ever since. Mr. Sullivan began to farm 800 acres of land in the Levels Valley. This property he increased to 1650 acres, but it was sold to the Government for close settlement in 1900. For twenty-five years he was farming 2100 acres, at Kakahu. But in 1901 the Government acquired this also, at £4 per acre. Mr. Sullivan then took up his present property of 142 acres, in the Levels district, upon which he has erected a fine brick residence. He also owns 500 acres in the Levels and Pleasant Point district. As a sheep-farmer Mr. Sullivan has gone in mostly for the English Leicester and Lincoln broads. He was for seven years a member of the Timaru Harbour Board, but retired from the position in 1899; he was also a member of the Levels Road Board for many years before the establishment of the County Council. Mr. Sullivan was married, in 1871, to Miss Alexander, of King's County, Ireland, and has had four daughters and two sons. One son has died.

A Pioneer's Home: D. Seaton, Waitohi. See page 917.

A Pioneer's Home: D. Seaton, Waitohi. See page 917.

Ferrier, photo.Mr. J. Sullivan.

Ferrier, photo.
Mr. J. Sullivan.