The surname Grant might be familiar... The oldest brother Peter was the first to immigrate and his brothers William (of Elloughton Grange, Timaru) and Andrew (of Willowbank) later followed in 1864. They were some of the early European pioneers to the District.
William Grant (1843-1910) was a New Zealand shepherd, stock dealer and landowner. He was a substantial part of the frozen meat industry in Timaru, and one of the most successful meat operators in New Zealand.
He was married to Elizabeth Ellen (nee Allan) and together had four children — three sons and one daughter.
William Grant started out at the Orari Gorge station where he eventually became the stock dealer.
With his brother Andrew they bought a farm at Rangitata in the 1870s, and Richmond station at Lake Tekapo in 1880.
William sold his share and travelled to Scotland in 1882, and when he returned he bought Elloughton Grange(on the outskirts of Timaru) , 1010 acres, from Thomas Hall. In 1893 he built The Grange (two-storeyed, 17-roomed mansion) and lived there for the rest of his life until he died of a heart attack.
The Grange was later sold to become a rest home.
He also later held three stations; The Grampians, The Wolds, and Irishman's Creek.
Grant had new opportunities with the beginning of the frozen-meat trade in the early 1880s. In 1885 the South Canterbury Refrigerating Company, in which Grant had a substantial shareholding, began operating from its Smithfield freezing works at Timaru, a short distance from Elloughton Grange. The company did not buy in stock, but handled consignments on behalf of owners. Filling the need for an on-farm purchaser, Grant was soon buying and supplying large numbers of stock to the works, to the point where he was using its total capacity for four and even five days a week. For a time a substantial part of the frozen meat leaving Timaru, included at least one entire shipload owned by William Grant.
His business acumen and remarkable knowledge of stock made him one of New Zealand's most successful meat operators, and for a long time the country's leading buyer and shipper.
At the Timaru cemetery family plot:
William Grant 1845-1910
Elizabeth Helen Grant 1862-1942
Grant Donald 1885-1950
Jessie Grant 1887-1888 - 1yr 9mths
Joy Elizabeth aka Ivy Jamieson wife of James Jamieson 1187-1965
JFK Jamison 1887-1980
Robert Allan Grant 1890-1942
Grant Andrew 1954-1895. Husband of Stella Beatrice Grant.
Andrew Grant Husband of Stella Beatrice Grant 1895-1954
William Arthur Grant son of Donald and Clera 1924-1983
Donette Grant daughter of Donald Clera Grand 1928-1993
Donalda Richards (nee Grant) Twin sister of Donette Grant 1928-2017
Edward John Richards Husband of Donalda 1930-2007
Mt William Grant, 2556m / 8386ft, was named by T.D. Burnett. William was a firm friend of Andrew Burnett and son, T.D. and is remembered for mustering wild cattle in the Mt Cook, Lilybank, Balmoral, Glentanner gorges and driving them to Timaru with their stockmen -Elijah Smart, Frank Rossiter, Bill Burgess and others.
The land was sold to the Grants by Thomas Hall (1847-1895). Thomas named it Elloughton Grange aka The Grange, (1 Pages Rd) after his father's village in Yorkshire. He was a New Zealand commission agent, forger and murderer. Sir John Hall was his uncle. He married Kate Emily Espie in 1885, the stepdaughter of Captain Henry Cain, who was Timaru's second mayor and regarded as the city's father. Cain died at Hall's house The Woodlands on 29 January 1886. Thomas Hall Jr was convicted of murdering Captain Henry Cain by antimony poison in 1887. His wife, Kate, inherited the estate of her wealthy stepfather, Captain Henry Cain. He was on the brink of bankruptcy and stood to gain from his wife’s will and two insurance policies. Hall successfully appealed against the death sentence. Hall was released from Mount Eden prison, Auckland, in 1907. After his conviction Hall Rd was renamed Pages Rd.
I would love to know the connection between this family and the Grant of the Aigantighe. Alexander Grant (1832-1921) and Helen Grant (1854 -1955) had a station at Grays Hills and a retirement house the Aigantighe, where the Grant family lived for 50 years. The home is now a public Art Gallery.
