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Not since the publication in 1940 of John Brown’s History of Ashburton for the two Councils as a New Zealand Centennial Memorial has any attempt been made to write a Regional History of Mid-Canterbury.

Hence when in 1964 Mrs Ethel McQuilkin approached the Ashburton Borough Council and Ashburton County Council regarding compilation of such a history a joint decision was made and Dr Scotter engaged that year to commence writing as soon as he was free of other commitments.

A natural family interest in the activities, trials, tribulations and endeavours of our ancestors provides the author with the material with which to record History in book form.

Those hardy pioneers who settled in Mid-Canterbury in the early 1850s paved the way for the productive benefits that we enjoy today.

We have every reason to be proud of our courageous and hardy forbears, who risked the challenge of a new land in their desire to establish themselves and provide a heritage for their descendants.

On behalf of the Citizens of Ashburton I wish to thank all those people who have helped with historic records and photographs and to Dr Scotter our sincere thanks and appreciation for his untiring efforts in compiling this information on Mid-Canterbury History in book form.