Page:Reminiscences of Earliest Canterbury 1915.pdf/158

 Island in 1845, and going direct to Riccarton filled the position Mr. Gebbie vacated when he took up land at Teddington. (Mr. Manson had also been engaged at Riccarton). Mr. Todd afterwards procured a block of land on Fendalton Road, and, selling it after a few years, purchased an excellent farm at Lincoln, which he conducted with great skill for many years.

Thomas Welch, Henry Welch (brothers), Mrs. Welch (their mother), who afterwards became Mrs. Hempelmann), 1840-50, arrived in Peraki on 29th January, 1844. Mr. Hempelmann married Mrs. Welch, who died a few years afterwards. George Welch, the now famous sculler, is a grandson of Thomas Welch.

Douglas Graham, 1852, arrived in New Zealand in the early ’fifties with Mr. and Mrs. John Deans, Senior. He was an exceptionally good farmer, and a man of mature judgment and sterling character. He took a deep interest in agricultural and pastoral shows, and his advice on farming questions was much sought after by all classes. His early death (by misadventure from chloroform whilst undergoing a small surgical operation) cast a deep gloom over the farming community.