Farquhar McLeod Waikopiro Farm Part D

Waikopiro

Farquhar and Jane sold the farm and left Feilding. After years of hard work the Feilding property must have been looking good and Feilding was easy access to other places. I wonder why Farquhar sold. The Obituary of Jane in 1904 hints that there was some sort of ‘trouble’ in Feilding that broke her health. I have no idea what that might have been. On the other hand the farm at Waikopiro had the opportunity to expand. However, it was isolated and a long way off other communities.

The map of the Takapau Survey District shows Farquhar’s farm at section 12. A few years later he bought the block next door owned by Mr Wills. Son John was able to buy the next block. By now Farquhar owned 545 acres and John owned 200 acres. Nothing short of years off very hard work would be required to farm these two properties successfully.

Bush Advocate, Volume XVIII, Issue 528, 26 September 1906, Page 4 

They would have been farming sheep and probably had a few cows for household milk.

Castle Dare

Farquhar built a house for the family that were still living at home.  He named it Castle Dare. There are some ‘legends’ about this house. Source: Dorothy Ropiha and Marion Cresswell

Mary and Hannah in front of the McLeod house

Farquhar seemed to have some interest in politics as the following clipping shows.

Bush Advocate, Volume XXI, Issue 105, 31 October 1908, Page 5 

The gate issue shows some of Farquhar’s character – he didn’t take a dispute quietly.

Bush Advocate, Volume XXI, Issue 109, 5 November 1908, Page 7

Jane’s Death 7 November 1904

Feilding Star, Volume XXVI, Issue 127, 19 November 1904, Page 2 

Jane’s death certificate states she died of Exhaustion and Senile Decay. She was only 70 years old. Jane certainly had a hard life.

Marriage of Jane Sutherland McLeod

On 23 May 1906 youngest daughter Jane McLeod married Albert Eggers. The marriage certificate states that the 'M[arriage] was in the house of Mr Farquhar McLeod of Whetukura'. Sadly her mother was not there. 

Letters

Here are some old copies of letters written by Farquhar to his brother-in-law in Scotland that were transcribed in the 1980s by Alan Roydhouse. 

Matamau

Farquhar sold the Waikopiro farm in 1919 and retired to Matamau.

Catherine's death

In 1921 Catherine died tragically in Matamau. She was 52 years old.

ASHBURTON GUARDIAN, VOLUME XLII, ISSUE 9583, 17 AUGUST 1921

Her probate shows that Catherine died intestate. Farquhar had to identify her body and apply to the High Court for probate. He had to leave a bond of £200 and stated that her estate would be worth less than £200. He was to get the bond money back when her affairs were all settled. It was clearly all very sad. 

Farquhar's Death

Farquhar died in Matamau in 1926. He was 87 years old. The following Obituary is incorrect of course when it states Farquhar worked for Mr George Hunter

MANAWATU TIMES, VOLUME XLIX, ISSUE 3316, 10 APRIL 1926

A Strange Story

I think some of the entries here show that Farquhar McLeod was a bit of a character and probably not easy for his family to live with. The story in this letter between Ivan McLeod and Alan Roydhouse is laughable.