Overview Farm development was a major government policy in the 1950s and 1960s and the Te Anau Basin underwent the largest South Island scheme across four decades. Although a new kid on the Long Valley Block in 1968, Phil had previously gained stock management experience on a stud farm in Mid-Canterbury. Before that, he had worked on farms across Southland and in Canterbury as a shearer as well as a general hand. In this profile, Phil talks about some of that work experience and focuses on the...

Overview Hunter's first encounter with the forests and lakes of Fiordland occurred when his parents shifted south from Auckland bringing him and his younger brother with them. From an early age the allure of the bush stayed with him and by his late teens he knew it was where he wanted to live and work. For the next twenty-five years, Hunter became a professional deer hunter setting up his own base in the Back Valley of Manapouri. Taking knowledge from older bushmen and hunters, he rebuilt former cattle...

Abstract Interviewee: Phil Denny Date: 17 November 2005Interviewer and abstracter: Morag ForresterTape counter: TCM 939Tape 1 Side A005: States he is PHILIP JOHN DENNY and that he was born in 1940 at the HOME STREET MATERNITY UNIT in WINTON.025: Describes WINTON as a town that services the RURAL SECTOR with branchoffices of the major banks and stock firms. 032: Replies that his FATHER was HUBERT DENNY and that he...

Abstract Interviewee: Hunter Shaw Date: 15 August 2005Interviewer and Abstracter: Morag ForresterTape counter: Sony TCM 939Tape 1 Side A007: Opens discussion saying his full name is HUNTER JOHN DOUGLAS SHAW and that he was born in 1942 in AUCKLAND.012: Replies that both his PARENTS came from ENGLAND and that his FATHER was JOHN HENRY (SHAW) although he was better known as LUCKY. 035: States his FATHER was born in 1918...

Overview Forty years ago the Te Anau Basin underwent dramatic change as a result of some large government projects. The country's biggest farm development scheme had begun in the Te Anau Basin the previous decade, but its real effects on the landscape and community was not apparent until the 1960s and 1970s. As a farm manager and field officer for the Department of Lands & Survey during that time, Tom recalls what was involved in the development of the area he was appointed to oversee - the...

Abstract Interviewee: Thomas Steadman (Tom) Kirkwood Date: 25 September 2006Interviewer: Morag Forrester Tape counter: Sony TCM 939Tape 1 Side A008: States he is THOMAS STEADMAN KIRKWOOD and that he was born in 1932 in a maternity home at MILTON, SOUTH OTAGO.019: Says his early years were spent in WAIKOUAITI, on the coast north of DUNEDIN adding that he was one of a family of five BOYS and two GIRLS. (Mentions...