The Fairhall district is several kilometres west of the township of Blenheim, in the Marlborough Region on the South Island of New Zealand.
According to the book 'Marlborough Place Names' by H A H Insull, the district was "named after one of the chainmen in Joseph Ward's survey party" about 1849 in Marlborough district, New Zealand.
In the opinion of the Marlborough Historical Society, William Fairhall, eldest son of Edward and Ann, was believed to be the 'Fairhall' working for surveyors Mr C. Goulter and Mr Joseph Ward, who fell into a river which was then named the Fairhall River in memory of that event, and gave its name to the district around it as settlement developed.
Edward Fairhall (1794-1872) and his wife Ann (née Bishop) (1802-1882) had migrated under the 'Wakefield Scheme' on board the "Mary Ann", arriving in the South Island town of Nelson on 5 February 1842 with seven of their children: William (1822), Ann (1824), Eliza (1827), Edward jnr (1829), Elizabeth (1831), George (1836) and Benjamin (1838).
I believe it is very likely that this family, for which I have so far recorded over 360 descendants, is related to my family, as Edward was baptised in my ancestral home village of Brede, East Sussex. With help from family members we are searching for more clues as to the family's ancestry.
As a part of the Marlborough Region, the district has many vineyards and wineries, from the large Montana Estate to smaller boutique and family businesses.
The Fairhall River, which crosses new Renwick Road not far from the school, is quite ephemeral. When we visited it was not flowing at all, but we were told it had flooded many of the vineyards just six months earlier.
The Fairhall name is of course everywhere, on a school, a community hall, a cemetery, a resort and vineyards.
The Fairhall School opened in 1877 and is located on New Renwick Road, catering for children from 5 to 13 years of age.
School facilities include eight classrooms and a multi-purpose room used for a variety of indoor activities. Outside, the schol has two multipurpose courts, a large playing field, junior and senior playground areas and an award-winning edible garden.
The sauvignon grape, synonymous with the Marlborough region, features on the school logo, as shown above left.
The Fairhall House Bed and Breakfast is located in the heart of MARLBOROUGH wine country. It is the ideal place to stay while visiting Blenheim. The house is part of the Marlborough Ridge rural subdivision so you can enjoy beautiful views of the Marlborough countryside, the peaceful surroundings and access to walking tracks and conservation reserves with fantastic birdlife.
Fairhall House is five minutes drive from the airport, ten minutes drive to the town of Blenheim, ten minutes walk to the prestigious Villa Maria Winery and also situated next to an 18-hole GOLF COURSE for golf enthusiasts.
Extract from an article by Steve Austin, Chief Executive of the Marlborough Museum and published in Wild Tomato, 2009, regarding the historic flight from the Fairhall farm "Woodbourne", to Australia in 1828.
When the Southern Cross touched down at Christchurch's Wigram Airfield at 9.30 a.m. on 11 September 1928, about 35,000 people were there to greet the four aviation heroes. Australians, Charles Kingsford-Smith (a former RAF pilot), Charles Ulm and navigator Harry Litchfield were household names in 1928. The New Zealand Government provided radio operator, Tom McWilliams, for the historic trans-Tasman flight.
The photo at right shows (L to R) Woodbourne's owners Louis and George Fairhall, Charles Kingsford-Smith, Charles Ulm, Tom McWilliams and Harry Litchfield. (Image supplied by John Walsh of Woodbourne Farm 2025)
The return flight of the Southern Cross - the first flight from New Zealand to Australia - was scheduled to take off from Marlborough, as a longer runway could be created for the fuel-laden plane's return flight. Preparations saw the landing field at Woodbourne filled and rolled flat, and a massive temporary hanger built.
Excitement grew in Blenheim on 27 September, 1928, until just after 4pm, a small speck appeared in the south over the Wither Hills. "There she is!" roared the crowd in an exuberant crescendo. When the flying heroes landed and stepped to the ground, they were greeted by a cheering crowd.
Image at left: Southern Cross plane at Woodbourne (1928) -courtesy of Marlborough Historical Society (Image 0000.900.0561)
That evening, crowds of people thronged to the brilliantly lit aerodrome for a close-up view of the Southern Cross. Squadron-Leader Kingsford Smith and his party attended a concert at the Masonic Hall organized by the Marlborough Officers' Association, Marlborough Aero Club and the Returned Servicemen's Association (R.S.A.). The ‘no speeches' rule was apparently strictly enforced throughout the informal evening where Kingsford Smith and Ulm performed several songs on the ukele and sang a memorable duet.
About 4,500 people turned out at Woodbourne Farm to farewell the plane and crew in the early dawn of 13 October.
The Southern Cross returned to New Zealand in January 1933 and again in early 1934. During the 1933 visit, thousands of New Zealanders enjoyed the new experience of flying. In Auckland, the plane took 416 passengers on joyrides in one day. While only licensed to carry ten passengers, there were usually 12 or 14 people onboard - each paying £1! The aircraft, its crew and their achievements, created a massive wave of enthusiasm among the general public for aviation and the aero-club movement.
"We flew here to link two countries which have, hitherto, been outposts of the Empire - and little known outposts at that." - Charles Kingsford Smith, 1928
Flight-Lieutenant Ulm was lost on a flight attempting to break a speed record across the Pacific in 1934. Sir Charles Kingsford Smith, the dashing and inspirational aviator, who proved to the world that air travel was possible, vanished during a flight from England to Australia in 1935. Today the "Southern Cross" can be seen at Brisbane Airport.
Ken Small and Stuart Smith were grape growers in the Marlborough Region since 1982, supplying Montana and Villa Maria from their 20 Hectare vineyard at the top of the Brancott Valley Road. In 1996 they launched their own Fairhall Downs label. As can be seen in the photo at left, the family home and vines are along the Fairhall River, as it flows through the Estate.
In 2008, our Fairhall Family Reunion, held at Morpeth NSW, was a weekend of fun, sharing and learning for 200 family members, and we purchased some cases of Fairhall Downs wine to use as "door prizes" and appreciation gifts for our guest speakers.
Heather and I visited the winery in 2010 while holidaying on the South Island, met owner Ken Small (picture at right), tasted the range of fine wines and purchased a few bottles to sustain us during our travels.
Brendon Bray and family purchased Fairhall Downs in 2014, with a strong focus on vineyard improvement and the introduction of sustainable management. There does not appear to be a current retailer of Fairhall Downs wines in Australia, but I hope to provide that information here once we locate one.