This group of five Chinese fan or Chusan palms is now in Cheviot Hills Reserve, but was originally part of the homestead grounds of Cheviot Hills Estate, a massive farm of 38,000 hectares run by William ‘Ready Money’ Robinson from 1856 to 1889. Robinson was a lover of trees and surrounded his house with gardens and plantations, also having a glasshouse attached to the mansion house where tropical plants and fruit trees were grown [1]. With his death in 1889 the farm was sold, its subsequent subdivision being a ‘turning point in New Zealand land settlement history’ [1]. Today three of the palms are found proudly standing outside the boundary of the well-tended cricket pitch, just before the cricket clubrooms, which stand where the entrance to the old mansion house was (it burnt down in 1936). The historic photo [2] taken circa 1880s to 1890s shows two of the palms, already at about two metres high, suggesting the palms were planted circa 1875. Two of the group of five are found beyond the cricket field, somewhat overgrown by other trees, nevertheless all are in very good health. The cricketers who play here are probably unaware of the age of the palms that grace the outfield, however the size of the other trees surrounding the area (see photos) clearly indicate how old the trees are here: it must be one of New Zealand’s most well-treed cricket grounds (Lloyd, M., 2024).

1. W.J. Gardner, ‘Robinson, William’, Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1990, updated January 2011. Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/1r14/robinson-william (accessed 24 November 2024).

2. Homestead at Cheviot Station, Canterbury. Johnston, C: Photographs of the Bell, Featherston, Johnston and Robinson families. Ref: PICT-000135 Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington/records/22380779