01.05 William Ayson 1840 - 1938

William Ayson, the third son of Peter Ayson, of Corydon, arrived at Dunedin with his par­ents when he was 12 years and four months of age.  Three weeks after landing he was en­gaged as a cowboy and general farmhand by Mr William Ferguson who had a farm on Inch Clutha near Balclutha.  In his book "Pioneer­ing in Otago'', published in 1937, William gives a very interesting account of his life, and we are indebted to this book for much of the ear­ly information on the Peter Ayson branch  of the family.   Astonishingly, William was 96 years of  age when he wrote it.

 

In the book William describes his journey to Inch Clutha carrying his swag, probably the youngest "swagger" in New Zealand .   He was accompanied by Andrew and John McNeil, the latter to become his brother-in-law in a few years.   After working for 13 months for Mr Ferguson he went to Corydon to help on his father's farm, they had no ploughs at that time and it took him and his brother James all winter to grub and hoe sufficient ground for one acre of potatoes and three acres of wheat.

 

William goes on to describe his employment as a shepherd by Mr C. H. Kettle on his property at Kaihiku (25,000 acres).    

 

After being there for three years William went to work on the Finegand farm of Mr John Shaw, an old friend of the Aysons, as a shepherd.  Soon af­ter taking up this work Mr Shaw secured a lease of 25,000 acres at the head of the Owaka River, known as Lochindorb and William had to shift a flock of 3000 sheep to the new lease.

 

William remained there until 1861, when he went to the gold rush at Gabriels Gully, with his brothers, James and Alexander. They met with only moderate success.  They returned to Corydon, and for three years William worked on his father's farm.  It was while there that he met his future wife, Miss Mary Giffen, a sis­ter of Mrs Borthwick, whose family owned Caterhope Station about one-and-a-half miles from Warepa.

 

In 1866 William went to Port Lincoln near Adelaide where Miss Giffen had gone to live with her sister. They were married on 9 May 1866 at Port Lincoln and returned to New Zealand.

 

In 1868 William was appointed manager of Hillend Station and later took over the management of Linburn.

 

William had an aptitude for the breeding of stud sheep and tried to get positions where he could improve his knowledge in this work with a view to establishing his own stud farm while he was at Carterhope Station he purchased the Southbrook  property  at Waikaka and leased this until such time as he could afford to un­dertake breeding on the lines he desired.

 

It was in 1891 that he settled on his property and for 41years built up his well-known flock of stud Corriedale sheep.

 

William's principal interest in the Waikaka District was the Presbyterian Church.   He was an elder from his arrival, superintendent of the Sunday School and lay preacher.   He also served on the school committee and Waikaka Road Board.

 

William and Mary had a family of five sons and three daughters.   Mary died on 25 August 1935 and William died at Dunedin on 7 March 1938, less than a year after the publication of his memoirs.

 

They had been married for 69 years.  They are buried at Warepa.

 

The Children of William and Mary Ayson.

 

William James Telfer Ayson

Adelaide Ayson

Douglas Hepburn Ayson

Sydney Wallace Ayson

Mary Bucephalus Ayson

Ernest Edwin Ayson

Hercules Ferniehurst Ayson

Sylvia Constance Ruby Ayson

Mildred Grace Ayson