Interview with Jill Blennerhassett

Interview with Jill Stewart Blennerhassett, born at Prospect House, Dunedin in 1933, younger of two daughters of Stewart Dalrymple MacPherson and Gulielma (Billy) MacPherson, nee Sargood. Backgrounds paternal grandparents Jeannie Sinclair MacPherson, nee Trotter, and John MacPherson, Surveyor and manager of Totara Estate, and their children Bill, Sheila and Eva. Talks about maternal family background in Melbourne, Australia, and her great grandfather Sir Frederick Thomas Sargood, Mayor of Prahran 1856-1858, and her great great grandfather Frederick James Sargood, Chairman Prahran Municipal Council 1856-1858.

Talks about her close knit family childhood in Dunedin with older half brother Rolfe Sargood Mills at their home Piccadilly, Maori Hill, and at Marinoto, home of maternal grandparents philanthropists Sir Percy Sargood and Lady Lucy Sargood, nee Ormond, who bought Wanaka Station in 1912. Talks about growing up as a boy, gardening, horse riding, shooting. Refers to parties, fetes and dances held at Piccadilly, Marinoto and Wanaka Station. Talks about Ukrainian immigrant workers at home and on Wanaka Station farm, and the family relationships with the nanny and house staff.

Talks about her mother's first marriage to Lesley Pilkington Mills, her strong character, artistic abilities, being a socialite and a crack shot. Discusses her father's service in World War One, her own relationship with him, cleaning tools together and visiting the Dunedin Club and Dunedin factories with him as director of Sargood Son and Ewen business.

Refers to her parents' service in World War Two in the Home Guard and Women's Army Auxiliary Corp, her brother Rolfe Mills being in the Navy, and hosting their British cousins and nanny at home during wartime.

Discusses school holidays at Kartitane crib. Details her holidays on Wanaka Station in mid 1940s to 1950s, doing farmwork and attending local dances, Upper Clutha A&P shows, and going water-skiing. Talks about the Station homesteads which burnt down in 1913 and 1931, and living in the renovated stables. Talks about contact with relatives the MacKillops and MacPhersons. Refers to Sir Percy Sargood and uncle Bill MacPherson, who became farm manager in 1946, generating their own power supply and establishing farm and flood irrigation systems near Ripponvale, Cromwell Flats and Kawarau River. Mentions Wanaka Station shifting from running mainly cattle to sheep. Says her parents and Bill MacPherson managed the farm well together. Details life on the farm, food preservation, accidents, haymaking, horse riding, the farm managers and farm workers, the rabbit problems, shearing, the fruit orchards, crop growing. Mentions that James K Baxter worked on the farm. Talks about small town life of Wanaka in 1940s to 1950s. Says after her father died in 1965, her mother took responsibility for the farm, selling land blocks to the Gordons family.

Talks about attending St Hilda's Collegiate, Dunedin and Nga Tawa Diocesan boarding school, being keen on sports and later studying physical education at University of Otago. Refers to socialising at university and meeting her husband Doctor John Blennerhassett whom she married in 1956.

Discusses raising a family of four, including twins, in Wellington. Talks about John Blennerhassett winning a BNZ Bank scholarship to train and study medicine in United States where they had two more children. Discusses making networks and raising her family in Boston and in Montreal, Canada during the forment of the 1960s. Talks about a 9000 mile camping trip with her children in North America before they returned to Dunedin, so John Blennerhassett could take up his appointment as Head of Pathology at Otago University School of Medicine.

Discusses formation of Wanaka Station Trust in 1970s to look after the farm and development of Rippon Lea subdivision. Refers to splitting the Station land with Rolfe Mills after Bill MacPherson died in 1970s, donating land to the community in 1977, and site of original homestead to be Wanaka Station Park in 1997, and giving farmland to be the lakefront and golf course. Refers to development of Rippon Vineyard by Rolfe Mills. Mentions subdividing her farmland between her children. Talks about retiring in 2003 to Barn Pinch Farm, part of the Station, and her interest in photography, 70th birthday present of a tractor, and her involvement with tennis and rowing clubs. Refers to putting land into QEII Trust as Blennerhassett Kanuka Reserve. Refers to land inheritance going down female line, mentioning maternal great great grandmother Emma Rippon who married Frederick James Sargood, and her paternal great aunt suffragette Learmonth White Dalrymple.

Talks about her ten years chairing the Sargood Bequest, growth of its charitable work, wise investments and sponsoring Te Kakano Aotearoa Trust, and her continuing interest in the management of Wanaka Station Park.

Interviewer(s) - Helen Frizzell

Accompanying material - Three printouts of website biographies of Sir Percy Sargood and John MacPherson, scanned photographs with captions, scanned letter by John MacPherson from 1918 about Stewart MacPherson and Bill (Willy) MacPherson's service in World War One, and newspapers clippings on Wanaka Station and Barn Pinch Farm.

Arrangement: Tape numbers - OHDL-001810

Quantity: 1 interview(s). 1 digital sound recording(s) digital sound recording(s). 3 Electronic document(s) (abstract and forms). 2 digital photograph(s). 27 electronic scan(s) of original black and white photographic print(s) (incl. scanned letter). 6 electronic scan(s) of original colour photographic print(s). 13.23 Hours and minutes Duration.

Physical Description: Sound files - wave files; Textual files - Microsoft Word; Image files - Jpeg, Tiff

Finding Aids: Abstract Available - abstracting complete OHA-7626, OHDL-001808.

Printed scans of black and white photographs of family, friends and the second Wanaka Station homestead, scan of homestead floor plan, scans of colour photographs of the Station woolshed and Jill Blennerhassett at Barn Pinch Farm.

Search dates: 1933 - 2011

Number of interviews/events: 1

Original recordings not available for playback. Surrogate copies will be provided.

Alternative form available: Both printed and digital copies of the abstract are available

Copy of the interview is also held at the Hocken Library, Dunedin