Ardagh Estate (Arthur Ingham Dent and William James Dickie, proprietors), Lyndhurst. This estate consists of 2550 acres, and was bought by the present owners in 1902 from Mr. Friedlander. It fattens annually about 2000 sheep and between 2000 and 3000 lambs. About 1000 acres are in wheat, oats and turnips. Wheat averages forty, and oats fifty bushels per acre, and five reapers are employed in the harvesting season. Messrs Dent and Dickie bought Mr. Friedlander's flock of Hampshire sheep, with which they have taken numerous prizes at the Christchurch and Ashburton shows. Horses born of draught mares and thoroughbred sires are bred on the estate with excellent results. Good roads surround the property, and large plantations of full grown trees give shelter from the nor'-westers.

Mr. Arthur Ingham Dent is the fourth son of the late Mr. James Dent and was born at Cobden near Greymouth, in 1872. He was educated at Lauriston, and was brought up to farming by his father. In 1892 he commenced farming on his own account on 500 acres, which he successfully cultivated till 1902, when he sold out, and, in conjunction with Mr. Dickie, bought the Ardagh estate. Mr. Dent has always taken an intelligent interest in the public affairs of the district. He was for two years a member of the Mount Hutt Road Board, is at present a member of the Marawhiti school committee, and was for a page 796 considerable time connected with the Ashburton Mounted Rifles. In his younger days he was well known as an athlete and footballer, and is still an ardent angler and sportsman. He married a daughter of Mr. James Moore, of Ashburton, and four children have been born of the union.

Mr. William James Dickie is a grandson of the late Mr. James Dent, one of the earliest settlers in Lauriston, and was born at Cobden, near Greymouth. For a time he worked for the firm of Messrs Thomas and McBeth, who had one of the leading businesses on the West Coast. Owing to ill health, he was compelled to leave business. It was then he came to Canterbury and started farming, an occupation which has contributed to the restoration of his health, and to his material success. Mr. Dickie began with land at Charlton, Somerton. After seven years he sold the property, and, in partnership with Mr. Dent, bought the Ardagh estate, Lyndhurst, formerly the property of Mr. Murdoch. Since his arrival in the district he has taken no part in public affairs, but he is a member of the Ashburton Agricultural and Pastoral Association, and of the Masonic Lodge at Rakaia. He married Miss Peyman, niece of Mr. James Peyman, one of the early settlers of Greymouth, and there is a family of two sons.

Mitchell, photo. Mr. W. J. Dickie and Child.

Thompson, George, Farmer, Lyndhurst. Mr. Thompson is the son of Mr. A. Thompson, who for many years shod the Marquis of Waterford's horses. Mr. A. Thompson came to the Colony with his family in the ship “William Miles,” in 1860, and started in business as a blacksmith at Mount Peel and Alford Forest stations. In 1860 he took up land at Ashburton, where the mill now stands, and at Lyndhurst he selected a further area in the following year. He was born in 1818, and died in 1893. Mr. George Thompson was born in 1845 at Waterford, Ireland, and came to the Colony with his parents. He drove the first bullock team across the plains, with the Port Hills as his guiding landmark. The route he took was followed by others, and became known as Thompson's track. Mr. Thompson's well cultivated farm is systematically worked on the principle of rotation, by which means he grows good crops of grain and rears and fattens a number of sheep. Mr. Thompson was married, in 1872, to Miss Baker, and has four sons and four daughters.

Mr. and Mrs G. Thompson.