Page:Reminiscences of Earliest Canterbury 1915.pdf/98

 in order to raise funds to fight for retention of their home at Riccarton. My father immediately went to Wellington, and interviewed Sir George Grey, who at once assured him that he remembered the compact with Mr. Wakefield, and promised that if my father waited in Wellington for a fortnight he would give him Crown grants. This my father did, and returned armed with these documents, by which, when he examined them, he was gratified to find that Sir George Grey had given him an additional twenty acres to recoup him for the annoyance, trouble, and expense to which he had been put in the matter. On his return, my father met Mr. Godley in Christchurch, and, producing the Crown grants, said, “Now, Mr. Godley, put me out if you can.” This incident, as well as the knowledge that by the sale of Dalethorpe the Deans Brothers were prepared with funds to defend their claim, induced Mr. Godley to abandon his project. He arranged that the Messrs. Deans should give up their Maori claim to all the land around Christchurch except the 400 acres at Riccarton, granting them, in exchange, a right to depasture over the Home Bush property. During this trying time