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A group interview conducted in the Maniototo Country Office by the Mobile Recording unit with Mr Alex Cromb, Mr R.J. Black, Mr J.I. Fraser and Mr Moses Hanrahan, all residents of Ranfurly in 1948. They discuss the settlement of Ranfurly and the establishment of farming after the railway was built. Includes discussion of waggoning, road conditions, climate, advances in farming, rabbit control, the funding of the local hospital, and the previously high degree of illiteracy in the area - attributed to Irish immigration.
Notes on the speakers: Mr R J Black was born in 1892 and works for the Maniototo County Council as an engineer in their roading department. Recalls boyhood events there so probably native to the region, possibly Ranfurly itself.
Mr Alex Cromb, speaks with a Scots accent, is a farmer who took up his present property in the Maniototo in 1892.
Mr Moses H Hanrahan, a retired tobacconist, born in St Bathans circa 1872 to Irish parents, and married there. Came to Ranfurly in 1907. Speaks mostly in the first part of the interview.
Mr J. I. Fraser came to Naseby in 1913 when about 24 or 25 years old so was born c. 1887. Moved his solicitor's business to Ranfurly in 1920s. Speaks mosly in the latter part of the interview.
The interview begins with Mr Cromb and Mr Fraser. Mr Cromb who says he came to New Zealand in 1884 with just a swag. He started on Linnburn Station and lists the other stations in the region. Ranfurly as such didn't exist at that time. Naseby was the main town. He talks about the problem of rabbits and remembers being called up and fined for failing to control rabbits on his property. He says Mr Brown's store was the first at Ranfurly.
He says Glimmerburn was settled about 1883 and other stations were just being settled when he came out (in1884)
Mr Black talks about the problems faced in establishing roads in the region in the early days. Mining tailings would wash off the hills and block roads and streams. He started working in the country in 1925. He talks about a type of rock found in the region which was almost impossible to drill and therefore difficult to move even by gelignite.