Naming our property - Cheslyn Rise

May 03, 2012by Liz Beavis

I realised that I can't keep calling our new property "the new property" forever! It needs a name, and this is the story of naming the new property.

Mustering cattle at Cheslyn Rise

We decided to name our new property after a property that was in my family a few generations ago. It was the property that my grannie grew up on in Horowhenua, New Zealand. It was owned by her grandfather William and Annie Adkin, who won it in a ballot in 1889 (if anyone has worked out the the number of "greats" separating me and William, let me know!).

The property was 100 acres near Levin, and it was named Cheslyn Rise. "Cheslyn" after an area in Britain that William liked, and "Rise" because it was on a hill. My grannie's uncle Leslie Adkin was a well-known photographer and naturalist, and there is a book about his life and the property, which is even on google books, so I guess that makes it world famous in NZ! Unfortunately the property didn't stay our family as my grannie's father died soon after returning from WWI, and I'm a little fuzzy on the details, but I think the property was sold to the Apple and Pear Board at some stage and the property has since been sub-divided (but I could have that mixed up, I'm sure a relative will fill me in), so as far as I know the name is no longer used.

clearing Cheslyn Rise

We couldn't think of a suitable name for our property (Green Acres, Kingaroy Veiws, it all sounded so cheesy and like subdivision names!), so finally we decided that it would be nice to name it after my family's property, and bring a little bit (more) of NZ to Kumbia, Australia.

Our place is also on a rise, but I doubt that its anything like Cheslyn, UK. My ancestors spent an awful lot of time and effort clearing their block by hand (which was required by the government at the time), and we certainly won't be doing the same, but I hope that we will have the same hardworking and pioneering spirit in trying to establish a new property and doing things a little differently.

Calling our property Cheslyn Rise makes me feel connected to my NZ farming heritage and I feel so privileged to know so much about my ancestors' lives on the land. I hope we can build a house half as nice as their's too!