Bismillah Assalamu Alaikum
Port Ligar was named after an early surveyor. The first owner in the 1880s was George Crichton. The highest peak of 443m on the farm is named in his honour. He sold it to Henry Harris in 1900 who continued to clear the bush, fence and sow grasses. In 1915 Ted Tosswill, a sea captain, bought Ligar, selling it in 1924 to Philip Shand. According to family tales he bought it to retire to because of the grouper ground off West Entry point.
His two sons, Anson & Jack took over in 1935 and on the death of Anson during WW2 Jack assumed full control. In 1970 Jack and Constance purchased Maud Island in the Pelorus Sound and handed Port Ligar over to his 2 sons Martin and Tim. They farmed the 3000 acres in partnership
until the mid 80¹s when due to varying family demands they decided to farm their own blocks separately. Martin sold his farm Te Kopi in 2000 and has retired to Nelson.
Tim and his wife Raewyn continue to farm the remaining 580 hectares along with their 10 children who are now 4th generation of the Shand family to live at Port Ligar. To ensure continuity and stability of the family the farm is now owned and operated by family trusts.
Port Ligar (rhymes with cigar) lies at the entrance to Pelorus Sound and fronts both Cook Strait and Admiralty Bay. It is best described as a nautical sheep station as no portion of its 580 hectares is out of sight of the sea. The land rises abruptly from the ocean and keeps going that way. Precipitous bluffs have led to a watery grave for many unwary animals. Once covered in native bush the land is now largely cleared for grazing although a beautiful stand of 65 hectares of virgin bush has been retained and is named the Sir Bernard Fergusson Private Scenic Reserve after one of our previous Governor Generals who was privileged to visit here and experience the rugged beauty of the place.
The original station ran 5000 Romneys and 200 Black Polls, however due to the farming climate we now only run 1000 Romneys and 100 head of cattle. We have diversified into marine farming in the latter years which now reaps the bigger percentage of our income.
Life at Port Ligar has always been very dependant on the weather and tide. Large punts would bring in supplies and fuel and take out stock. Nowadays with the advent of the road we mainly use trucking for transporting stock and fuel and the 4 wheel drive vehicle which has made town far more accessible and less dependant on the tide.
Waterfall Bay is tucked into a southern corner of Port Ligar adjacent to the Bernard Fergusson Reserve and was developed into a tourism entity during the 1980¹s. We were offered the opportunity of purchasing the property at the beginning of 2002 and are excited at the chance to expand our family's enterprises.
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