The Founder - Dynasty of Cricket
William’s broader family was practically the founding dynasty of English cricket.
The Rees, Pocock, Gilbert and Grace families produced no less than 12 cousins who were all first class cricketers.
Four played for England and others represented New South Wales, Victoria, and various provinces in New Zealand. William alone represented West Country, New South Wales, Otago, and Canterbury.
Most famous of them all was William’s godson, cousin and namesake, William Gilbert Grace.William gave young W.G. Grace his first cane-handled cricket bat and coached him in its use. The godson grew to be the legendary captain of England who dominated the world of cricket for an amazing 44 years.Godson and godfather corresponded regularly and there is a copy of W.G. Grace’s opinion of Australian cricket and Australian umpires in The Rees Library.
After School
By 1852, the young Rees had completed his education at the Royal Naval School, Camberwell, an engineering apprenticeship, and a spell as assistant master at Mount Radford College, Exeter. Now, he was setting out to seek his fortune – on the gold diggings at Turon in New South Wales.
It turned out to be farming not prospecting that fascinated W.G. in Australia. He quickly formed a partnership with two established Australian graziers, George Gammie and Colonel William Lewis Grant, to develop new runs on unmapped land being offered in New Zealand.But, first, W.G. was set on marrying his cousin and childhood sweetheart, Frances Gilbert.
He returned to England in 1858. The wedding took place mid-year, then W.G. and his new bride set sail for New Zealand. William and Frances were off to find “The Promised Land of Rees”.
Exploration
The newly-weds arrived in Port Chalmers in February 1859. W.G. went straight to work. He acquired an established sheep run at Dalvey, where Tapanui stands today.Mission accomplished, he hurried back to Dunedin to join Frances for the birth of their first child, Mary Rose.
While Frances recovered, W.G. rode north to the Shag River. At Coal Creek, he leased some more land to hold the stock that his partners would ship to him from New South Wales. Then, he returned to Dunedin to organise his expedition.
The Rees - Exploration. In January 1860, Rees set off – with a party of six on horses with packhorses to carry their supplies. They had a long rough ride ahead – and most of it through unmapped territory.
The Rough Ride
The riders headed northeast from Dunedin to the Waitaki river mouth, up the river to Omarama, to Ahuriri and through the Lindis to the upper reaches of the Clutha River. Then, it was southwest to Wilkins Station near the junction of the rivers draining Lakes Hawea and Wanaka, before heading along the Cardrona range. They climbed to the top of a ridge to scout the view.
Mountains, mountains, and more mountains – a grand but dismal sight for hopeful farmers. It was enough to make four of the six pack it in – but not W.G.and Nicholas von Tunzelmann. They pressed on further south along the Crown Range. On their next ride to a ridge top, they were rewarded with the first sight of what would become known as “The Promised Land of Rees”.
Discovery
For three weeks, WG and Von Tunzelmann probed the plains and peaks along the northern shores of the lake. It was an eventful journey – by horse, driftwood raft, and finally on foot. Along the way, they encountered quicksand, fought off wild dogs and rats, narrowly escaped a bushfire, and endured the pangs of hunger.
Six weeks after their departure from Dunedin, they returned – ragged and gaunt – to file sketch maps of what they had seen and to lodge their claims to grazing rights. Rees gained rights to graze more than 240,000 acres in the Wakatipu basin – provided he could stock the land quickly. That meant driving 3,000 merino sheep across the rugged mountain ranges and fast-flowing rivers that stood between Coal Creek and the Arrow River basin. It was a daunting task that WG had to accomplish before his grazing rights would be confirmed.
Settlement
The task of settling the land proved just as challenging. William and Frances travelled to Invercargill and purchased a whaleboat from the renowned southern pilot Captain Lewis Akkers. They named their boat the Undine, packed it with building supplies and stores and bought a bullock team to haul it overland to Lake Wakatipu.
Undine’s first lake voyage took WG and Frances to see work start on their new homestead at Queenstown and then back to Kingston so they could return to Dunedin via Dalvey. This was the route WG planned to use regularly to bring in his supplies and pack out his wool. In fact, Undine would be the first of a fleet of ferries that WG would soon be operating on Lake Wakatipu – though he didn’t know it at the time.
The Great Sheep Drive
With the homestead building under way at Queenstown, Rees could start his great sheep drive. His young shepherd Alfred Duncan thought he knew a short cut. He would jump the sheep across what was almost a natural bridge across the thundering water of the Kawarau Gorge. But the sheep baulked at the jump.
So WG and Duncan decided to try rafting the sheep to the other side of the gorge instead. WG swam a rope across the river to haul the raft back and forth. On the first crossing, the raft overturned, trapping Duncan beneath it. A swimmer sent to free him also became trapped. WG saw that the only chance of a rescue lay in cutting the rope on one side of the gorge and to let the raft swing to the other. It worked – but the idea of rafting the flock over the wild Kawarau obviously would not.
There was no alternative now but to back track for miles and then take the long northern trail that WG and Von Tunzelmann had blazed over the Crown Range. So much for short cuts.
Trying Times
It took four weeks to complete the great sheep drive. When it was done, Frances joined WG at Queenstown. By now she was in an advanced state of pregnancy with their second child. George Manning Rees was born two weeks after her arrival and died less than two months later. Tragedy would strike again, within a month. Frances’s brother John Gilbert, who had traveled to New Zealand with the newly-weds, was drowned trying to cross the Clutha River. Then, there was another drowning.
The Rees ferry boat over-turned in a storm on the lake. One passenger, William Rogers, was swept away and lost. Another, John Mitchell, was saved by WG’s boat master Jack Tewa. For his bravery, Jack Tewa was awarded the Royal Humane Society medal, on WG’s recommendation. Jack was about to trigger a dramatic change in the fortunes of The Promised Land of Rees…
William’s broader family was practically the founding dynasty of English cricket.
The Rees, Pocock, Gilbert and Grace families produced no less than 12 cousins who were all first class cricketers.
Four played for England and others represented New South Wales, Victoria, and various provinces in New Zealand. William alone represented West Country, New South Wales, Otago, and Canterbury.
Most famous of them all was William’s godson, cousin and namesake, William Gilbert Grace.William gave young W.G. Grace his first cane-handled cricket bat and coached him in its use. The godson grew to be the legendary captain of England who dominated the world of cricket for an amazing 44 years.Godson and godfather corresponded regularly and there is a copy of W.G. Grace’s opinion of Australian cricket and Australian umpires in The Rees Library.
After School
By 1852, the young Rees had completed his education at the Royal Naval School, Camberwell, an engineering apprenticeship, and a spell as assistant master at Mount Radford College, Exeter. Now, he was setting out to seek his fortune – on the gold diggings at Turon in New South Wales.
It turned out to be farming not prospecting that fascinated W.G. in Australia. He quickly formed a partnership with two established Australian graziers, George Gammie and Colonel William Lewis Grant, to develop new runs on unmapped land being offered in New Zealand.But, first, W.G. was set on marrying his cousin and childhood sweetheart, Frances Gilbert.
He returned to England in 1858. The wedding took place mid-year, then W.G. and his new bride set sail for New Zealand. William and Frances were off to find “The Promised Land of Rees”.
Exploration
The newly-weds arrived in Port Chalmers in February 1859. W.G. went straight to work. He acquired an established sheep run at Dalvey, where Tapanui stands today.Mission accomplished, he hurried back to Dunedin to join Frances for the birth of their first child, Mary Rose.
While Frances recovered, W.G. rode north to the Shag River. At Coal Creek, he leased some more land to hold the stock that his partners would ship to him from New South Wales. Then, he returned to Dunedin to organise his expedition.
The Rees - Exploration. In January 1860, Rees set off – with a party of six on horses with packhorses to carry their supplies. They had a long rough ride ahead – and most of it through unmapped territory.
The Rough Ride
The riders headed northeast from Dunedin to the Waitaki river mouth, up the river to Omarama, to Ahuriri and through the Lindis to the upper reaches of the Clutha River. Then, it was southwest to Wilkins Station near the junction of the rivers draining Lakes Hawea and Wanaka, before heading along the Cardrona range. They climbed to the top of a ridge to scout the view.
Mountains, mountains, and more mountains – a grand but dismal sight for hopeful farmers. It was enough to make four of the six pack it in – but not W.G.and Nicholas von Tunzelmann. They pressed on further south along the Crown Range. On their next ride to a ridge top, they were rewarded with the first sight of what would become known as “The Promised Land of Rees”.
Discovery
For three weeks, WG and Von Tunzelmann probed the plains and peaks along the northern shores of the lake. It was an eventful journey – by horse, driftwood raft, and finally on foot. Along the way, they encountered quicksand, fought off wild dogs and rats, narrowly escaped a bushfire, and endured the pangs of hunger.
Six weeks after their departure from Dunedin, they returned – ragged and gaunt – to file sketch maps of what they had seen and to lodge their claims to grazing rights. Rees gained rights to graze more than 240,000 acres in the Wakatipu basin – provided he could stock the land quickly. That meant driving 3,000 merino sheep across the rugged mountain ranges and fast-flowing rivers that stood between Coal Creek and the Arrow River basin. It was a daunting task that WG had to accomplish before his grazing rights would be confirmed.
Settlement
The task of settling the land proved just as challenging. William and Frances travelled to Invercargill and purchased a whaleboat from the renowned southern pilot Captain Lewis Akkers. They named their boat the Undine, packed it with building supplies and stores and bought a bullock team to haul it overland to Lake Wakatipu.
Undine’s first lake voyage took WG and Frances to see work start on their new homestead at Queenstown and then back to Kingston so they could return to Dunedin via Dalvey. This was the route WG planned to use regularly to bring in his supplies and pack out his wool. In fact, Undine would be the first of a fleet of ferries that WG would soon be operating on Lake Wakatipu – though he didn’t know it at the time.
The Great Sheep Drive
With the homestead building under way at Queenstown, Rees could start his great sheep drive. His young shepherd Alfred Duncan thought he knew a short cut. He would jump the sheep across what was almost a natural bridge across the thundering water of the Kawarau Gorge. But the sheep baulked at the jump.
So WG and Duncan decided to try rafting the sheep to the other side of the gorge instead. WG swam a rope across the river to haul the raft back and forth. On the first crossing, the raft overturned, trapping Duncan beneath it. A swimmer sent to free him also became trapped. WG saw that the only chance of a rescue lay in cutting the rope on one side of the gorge and to let the raft swing to the other. It worked – but the idea of rafting the flock over the wild Kawarau obviously would not.
There was no alternative now but to back track for miles and then take the long northern trail that WG and Von Tunzelmann had blazed over the Crown Range. So much for short cuts.
Trying Times
It took four weeks to complete the great sheep drive. When it was done, Frances joined WG at Queenstown. By now she was in an advanced state of pregnancy with their second child. George Manning Rees was born two weeks after her arrival and died less than two months later. Tragedy would strike again, within a month. Frances’s brother John Gilbert, who had traveled to New Zealand with the newly-weds, was drowned trying to cross the Clutha River. Then, there was another drowning.
The Rees ferry boat over-turned in a storm on the lake. One passenger, William Rogers, was swept away and lost. Another, John Mitchell, was saved by WG’s boat master Jack Tewa. For his bravery, Jack Tewa was awarded the Royal Humane Society medal, on WG’s recommendation. Jack was about to trigger a dramatic change in the fortunes of The Promised Land of Rees…