THE FARM

1896 to Present Day

Henry Jones purchased Daisy Bank in 1896. In 1920 his son Francis Jones moved to Daisy Bank from the original family farm Strathelie in Broadmarsh. The old lorry he brought with him is still sitting in our shed. He farmed sheep and cereals, as depicted in the photos. His wife Jessie had a small dairy by the chook shed and would sell butter to the local store. 

Their son John Jones, along with his wife Libby, ran Daisy Bank primarily as a wool operation from the 1950s to the 1970s. These were golden years for growing wool, prior to the advent of synthetic clothing.

In the late 1970s, John and Libby’s son Andrew Jones moved back to Richmond and took over Daisy Bank. The wool prices had collapsed and Andrew diversified into growing vegetable seeds, opium poppies, peas and cereals. Drought and high interest rates in the 1980’s led Andrew and his wife Dinky to further diversify their business. They decided to convert the old sandstone barn into an accommodation. In 1991 they opened Daisy Bank Cottages. 

Ben and his wife Hana now run Daisy Bank and focus primarily on holiday accommodation and merino wool and meat production. A local vegetable seed company contract grows cauliflower, cabbage and carrot crops on the farm as well. A large portion of the river flats is leased for lettuce production.

The Cottages

Daisy Bank Cottages is within a converted sandstone barn that was build c1830. The building was originally a general purpose barn for animals and storing their feed.

When the Jones’ family bought the farm in 1895, the barn was used as a shearing shed. Silver tussock grass was cut from the bush and laid down to keep the sheep clean. Grating (wooden slats) were installed in 1916 and major repairs were carried out in 1932. They removed two layers of sandstone from the walls and the wooden shingles were replaced with the existing roofing iron. Most of the rear wall was rebuilt using the best of the removed stone for the princely sum of 14 pounds!

The barn was used for shearing until 1966.

Ben’s Great Grandmother Jessie Jones took a number of photographs around the farm in the early 1920’s. The photographs below are a selection of these.