Family, wealth and inheritance in a settler society: the South Island of New Zealand c. 1865-c. 1930

This paper discusses inheritance patterns among rich farmers in the South I sland of New Zealand with particular reference to the connections between t he family and farming properly. While sources such as letters and family pa pers highlight individuals, probate inventories are used here to give an im portant quantitative perspective. Although ownership records reflect an ove rwhelming concentration of land in the hands of male settlers, probates dis close an important, although subordinate, role for women, not only domestic production but also, when widows, as custodians of estates. These inherita nce patterns have something in common with other regions of recent settleme nt, and suggest that farming women's space extended beyond the domestic sph ere. (C) 1999 Academic Press.