The history of Godley Peaks.
Tom Hall selected what he thought looked like a good run of land off a map in Christchurch in 1858. When he arrived at Godley Peaks he found he’d made a mistake and selected the wrong block of land. He kept the land and he kept the name. That’s what we call the Mistake Valley today and runs to the west of the Hall range of mountains. George Hayhurst was the first manager and eventually in 1868, the Hall brothers sold the station to Alexander Smith and William Saunders.
These were tough times with drownings in the Cass river happening on more than one occasion. The winters were cold and the men and women were hardy. By 1875 the two owners sold to Nicolo Radove known as ‘Big Mick’. He married Ellen Fleming in 1879 and made a home near the station. Sadly, both of their two daughters died within a year of being born and are both buried, together, at the Burkes Pass cemetery.
By 1885 a tough financial climate, the loss of their daughters, and substantial stock losses had forced the couple to move to Timaru. Big Mick died three years later in 1888, aged just 54.
The next owners were three brothers; John, Edmund, and Robert Rutherford. They purchased the station in 1887 and farmed it themselves, with shearers and other stock hands coming in to help during busy times. In 1895 winter hit with a particular ferocity and the brothers lost 7000 sheep—almost all of their stock. Edmund and Robert moved away and John bought out their share in the station. He continued to farm until 1912 when he sold the farm to Alec (Sandy) McRae.
Sandy McRae farmed for just under ten years and then sold to George Murray and his son Bruce, who were on the nearby Braemar station. They lived on the station and were often cut off for weeks at a time during winter or when the Cass river was up. Many farms in the Mackenzie passed between the same families; it became a tight community with musterers and shepherds who loved the land saving funds and rising through the ranks to be in a position to club together and purchase their own station.
In 1937, Bruce Murray sold godley Peaks to Donald burnett, John Ballantyne, and John Simpson. T.D Burnett of Mt Cook Station acted as guarantaur to get them onto the station. The three men were shepherds, and Jack Scott f Mt Hay station also acquired an interest. By 1941 the men had exchanged their shares and bought out remaining partners with Jack Scott taking full ownership of Godley Peaks and Jack Simpson taking on Mt Hay.
The Scott family.
From 1937 to 1995 Godley Peaks was continuously farmed by the Scott family. Jack Scott arrived from England as a boy of eight in 1910 and by 1915 he was working the land at Aorangi Farm near Cave, owned by T.D. Burnett. Within ten years he secured an interest in Mt Hay Station, working for himself by 1925. He continued to work with fellow shepherds and by 1941 had the complete lease of Godley Peaks Station. Jack married Connie Lister in 1933, and they had their first two children, David and Anne within two years of marrying. Twins followed in 1938; Bruce and Catherine Scott.
The eldest Scott, David, tried shepherding for two years but his heart wasn’t in it and he spoke with his brother Bruce, to see if he would like a life on the land. Bruce wasn’t too fussed with school, loved running, and loved being outdoors. He leapt at the offer. For his first few years as a full-time shepherd, he was a boundary keeper, living up country at Sutherlands Hut from May to August of every year. They lived on a subsistence diet with dried goods forming a base and trout, geese, rabbits, deer, and the occasional sheep supplementing their diet. When the snows came, the sheep would need to be brought down, and if the weather was milder they could be driven higher to protect the feed on the lower slopes for tougher ties.
Bruce Scott is a bit of a legend in the Mackenzie. He lived far up country and worked hard as a farmer but he was also very involved with the community. I was the chairman of the Tekapo Rabbit Board, a Mackenzie Country Councillor for 26 years, and also became chairman of the Waitaki Catchment Commission. He did, after all, live at the very head of the river. Bruce married Liz Newton in 1966 and together they farmed with Jack for many years.
In 1967, to ensure succession, Bruce and Liz purchased the station. Two weeks later, over a metre of snow fell and the newly purchased stock were all wiped out. Bruce and Liz purchased 900 lambs in the Tekapo sale to rebuild numbers and then lost 100 of these in April 1968 when a spring storm laid half a metre of snow on the high country. By 1970, Bruce took over the station and Jack and Connie retired to Christchurch, while the next generation of Scotts moved from their small cottage into the main homestead.
The hydroelectric scheme and plan to raise the level of Lake Pukaki was the catalyst for Bruce becoming more involved in local politics. He went to bat for the farmers around Pukaki and then ran for Mayor on the platform of ‘Save Twizel’, the ‘temporary’ town that had been built to house the workers and was slated for destruction. Bruce became the first mayor of the Mackenzie District Council and served for two terms. As a guardian, he felt a great responsibility for the land.
In later years, Bruce’s health began to fail and in 1995 he and Liz sold the farm to a young couple of farmers called the Scotts. They were no relation, but it was time for the next generation to take over. They lasted five years and then sold to the Sturgess family. In 2023, Warren Lewis purchased the station. Warren’s godparents were Bruce and Liz Scott. He grew up helping Bruce as a young lad and always held great affection for the land. Liz was blown away when Warren bought the land and knew that Bruce would have been delighted.
