Remembering Alexander McMaster

Remembering Alexander McMaster

Alexander McMaster was an early European settler in North Otago. His family was closely linked to the Reid’s of Elderslie Estate and he owned land at Maerewhenua, Tokarahi and Otematata. Like many of the people who called North Otago their home in the early days of European settlement, he is buried in the Oamaru cemetery.

McMaster was born in Stranraer, Scotland in 1823; it is believed he trained in law then immigrated to Australia in 1842. He arrived in New South Wales and took employment as a clerk for a wealthy farmer in Twofold Bay by the name of Benjamin Boyd. He later moved on to Melbourne where he spent time as a writer for The Argus newspaper, then as a bank teller for a local financial institution. He also went back and forth between the goldfields of the region.

In 1857 McMaster left Australia for Dunedin. It is not clear why he moved on to New Zealand and what he initially did when he arrived, but he eventually took up residence in North Otago where he purchased a share of the Maerewhenua run, joining in partnership with John Borton who also owned a share of the run. A third partner, James Gardiner, also came on board to manage the land.

The land owned by Borton, Gardiner and McMaster eventually expanded to include that surrounding the Upper Maerewhenua river up to the top of the Kakanui mountains, back down towards Danseys Pass and into Kyeburn. McMaster was also in partnership with William Henry Teschemaker in the Otematata run.

When the Maerewhenua run was subdivided for sale by the Crown in 1865, Borton and McMaster protected their interests by purchasing the freehold rights for all of their land within the subdivided sections. Gardiner died not long after this happened and Borton and McMaster went their separate ways in 1878. The freehold land was divided between them; Borton took Maerewhenua and McMaster Tokarahi, McMaster also bought Borton’s share of the remaining run land.

The freehold land at Tokarahi was close to 13,000 acres, although McMaster owned other land in the Waitaki Plains, Hilderthorpe and Boundary Creek, bringing his totally freehold property up to approximately 17,000 acres. In the 1880s McMaster had Architects Forrester and Lemon design a large wooden home to be constructed at Boundary Creek. The house was later destroyed by fire; although fortunately McMaster also had a stone homestead at Tokarahi, which was added to by Forrester and Lemon in the 1890s. It is believed the extensions were paid for by the Reid family of Elderslie, as McMaster’s son, Alexander A McMaster, married a daughter of the Reid’s.

McMaster was a member of the Provincial Council from 1861 to 1863 and was also elected vice-president of the A & P Association when it was formed in 1863. Like many of his peers, McMaster was also a member of the Oamaru Harbour Board and the Dock Trust.

Alexander McMaster passed away in Dunedin in 1885 while visiting the city to seek medical advice for an ailment, he was 62 years old. The land at Tokarahi was taken over by his son Alexander A McMaster; however, in 1897 a large amount of the freehold property was sold to the New Zealand Government for subdivision, the homestead block was retained.

All information in this article comes from the Waitaki Museum and Archive.

Sources for this article:

• McCarthy, C (2002). ‘Forrester and Lemon of Oamaru, Architects’.
• McDonald, K C (12 July 1962) ‘They Once Lived Here, People of the Past’ Oamaru Mail article, North Otago Museum Archive, n. 17270.
• Oamaru Mail (11 Sept 1885) ‘The Late Mr Alex McMaster’, p. 3.
• The Cyclopedia of New Zealand, Vol. 4, Otago and Southland (1905). ‘Tokarahi Station’, p. 488.

Shanann Carr, Curator of Archives, June 2009