The History of Wallingford
Historic Homesteads of Hawke’s Bay
by Angus Gordon
The original John Davies Ormond, son of Captain Francis Ormond of Wallingford, Berkshire, arrived in New Zealand in 1847 at the age of fifteen as the private secretary of EJ. Eyre, his future brother-in-law and the Lieutenant Governor designate of the southern part of the country. In 185t he accompanied Donald McLean, the Government Land Commissioner, on his trip to Hawke's Bay. By 1853 he had bought 4.000 acres of rolling hills and helped to drive sheep through the Wairarapa to his new property.
This energetic man had soon increased his holdings around Hawke's Bay and begun the development of Wallingford, all the while still participating in politics in Auckland where Parliament was held.
J.D. Ormond married Hannah Richardson, sister of G.E.G. Richardson, the founder of the Richardson and Co, shipping line, at Te Aute in 1859, and they then rode over sixty miles of hills to get to their small whare at Wallingford. Luckily, they also had a small cottage on Napier Hill where Hannah would live while J.D. was away in Auckland. By 1870 they had moved into Sir Donald McLean's house on Napier Hill, and as Parliament was now in Wellington and Ormond was an M.P, they now spent most of their time between these two towns. The station was managed for the family by Tom Midgley, who ran the property for thirty four years with help from his wife. By the time the second JD. Ormond took over in 1898 the station had increased to 24,000 acres, and by 1900 they had over 40,000 sheep on the block. The second J.D Ormond married Gladys Wilder, the daughter of Edmond Wilder of
Fernside Station in Canterbury, and they had twelve children: six girls and six boys. The original house having burnt down in 1895, they began a new homestead. It just kept on increasing in size as each new child was born until it had fifteen bedrooms and a hallway long enough to bowl a cricket ball down. It gained a reputation as being the largest single-storeyed house in the Southern Hemisphere. Jack Ormond, as J.D. was called continued the development of Wallingford as well as being heavily involved in local politics. He was an accomplished polo player being in the Hawke's Bay team, which won the Saville Cup for ten straight years. He also owned some very successful racehorses.
When he died in 1917, Wallingford had been reduced to 8,000 acres, and in 1935 it was further subdivided among family members. The homestead area of approximately 2,000 acres was inherited by the third J.D. Ormond, Sir John, who was knighted for services to the New Zealand Meat Board. in 1964. He married Judith Wall of Hinerangi, and they had six children, the eldest of whom, Johnny, also J.D. Ormond, ran the property, with his third wife, Jenny, until his death in 2017. The farm, including the homestead, was sold in 2018 to Gareth Dunkerley, who owned vet businesses in Auckland. He has continued what the Ormond’s began developing the homestead as a luxury retreat, the house is still full of Ormond memorabilia. including the old grand piano, which the Ormond family many of whom were enthusiastic singers, would gather around to sing with great gusto into the long winter evenings.