The auction of the Kingsdown Estate
Timaru, New Zealand 1876

Kingsdown, named after T. King who on 16th January 1862 purchased Rural Section 3753. Thomas King had discovered that the Messrs Rhodes's licenses did not cover all the country they had been supposed to refer to, so he snapped up the splendid piece of country now known as Kingsdown, on the north side of the Pareora River. The 10,000 acre Kingsdown estate, two miles south of Timaru, and extending to the Pareora River, was advertised for sale in the Timaru Herald 6th January 1876 in 50 acre lots and upwards.  The auction was held at Timaru on 27th April 1876, in Richard Turnbull's new hall.  Turnbull conducted the sale.  Only 1,250 acres of the 5,000 offered were disposed of, the balance being withdrawn, as the prices did not meet the reserve price. The lowest price was for Lot 44, 142 acres, facing the Main South Road, for which Patrick Cunningham paid at £6 10s an acre. The highest price obtained was for Lot 15, 30 acres, close to Normanby Railway Station (a railway siding, four miles south of Timaru built in 1876) for which C. Bowker paid £17 10s.  The average price was £9 25s 9d.  The second sale was on 17th July 1876, and a further 2,000 acres were disposed of and the prices were about 50% higher. Lot 1, 118 acres, £27 an acre to E.G. Kerr; and lot 9, 244 acres  £16 an acre to G. Gabites.

Block Acres 	Price of Purchaser 	Location
Lot  1 50 	£12 	Mr Pringle 	Fronting Main South Rd
Lot  2 50 	£11 6s 	Mr Pringle 	Fronting Main South Rd
Lot  3 50 	£11 5s 	Mr Pringle 	Adjoining township of Scarborough
Lot  4 35 	£9 	Mr D. Ross 	Fronting railway line and near Scarborough
Lot  5 59 	£10 15s 	Mr D. Ross 	Fronting railway line 
Lot  6 50 	£10 5s 	Mr D. Ross 	Running along the sea beach and fronting the railway line
Lot  7 50 	£8 	Mr D. Ross 	Bounded by the railway line and the sea
Lot  8 70 	£8  10s 	Mr D. Ross 	Bounded by the railway line and Main South Rd
Lot  9 50 	£8 	Mr A. Hart 	Near Main South Rd 
Lot 10 50 	£8  5s 	Mr A. Hart 	Near Main South Rd 
Lot 11 50 	£10 	Mr A. Hart 	Near Main South Rd
Lot 12 50 	£10 10s 	Mr Ralph Dimes 	A large frontage to the main road and adjoining the railway station at the township of Normanby
Lot 13 50 	£10 	Mr John Thomson Part of the township of Normanby
Lot 15 30 	£17 10s 	Mr Bowker 	Close to the railway station of Normanby
Lot 16 121 	£8 	Mr Craigie 	Near railway station at Normanby
Lot 18 100 	£7 10s 	Mr Pringle 	Fronting the railway line
Lot 20 150 	£8  8s 	Mr Pringle 	Facing the Main South Rd
Lot 21 150 	£7  5s 	Mr Parsons 	Facing the Main South Rd
Lot 44 142 	£6 10s 	Mr Cunningham 	Fronting line of railway

Timaru Herald 28 April 1876 pg 3 Newspapers clipping image from Timaru Herald   1864 -1900    Population of Kingsdown Year Souls 1878 1886 1891 1901 1906 1911 1946   67 170 175 114 216 467 267 Today Kingsdown remains a farming district. South CanterburyGenWeb Project Home Page

Timaru Herald January 6 1874 Editorial