Jane Swale was one of the pioneers of rural Southland, widely esteemed in the Limehills district where she spent most of her life. She was born at Inverurie in the Scottish Highlands in 1838, the eldest daughter in the large family of James and Barbara Shand. The Shands came to Otago on the Phoebe Dunbar in 1850. Her mother’s portrait (Barbara Shand) is just to the left, as is her brother James’s, and her younger sister’s – Mrs Isabella Watt – is to her right.
Jane was 12 years old when she left Scotland and she helped her mother develop their farm at Green Island following her father’s untimely death soon after arrival. In 1865 she married Ralph Swale and moved to Southland. After two years at Longbush, the Swales moved to Centre Bush and developed a large area of farmland there in partnership with two of Jane’s brothers. The Swales later farmed part of the Centre Bush land in their own right as ‘Meadow Bank’ at Limehills. They reared a family of three sons and one daughter.
Jane’s obituary recorded her role in making ‘Meadow Bank’ one of the model farms of the district as well as her other notable qualities:
‘[A] woman of large heart and wide understanding, guided by wisdom and prudence, Mrs Swale was a pioneer worthy of the name. Her hospitable doors were ever open. The waggoners of the early days and the settlers who preceded the roads, speak of her numerous acts of kindness. To many she was a friend in need. Her wide reading, active intelligence and marvellous memory made her a most entertaining companion.’
After Ralph’s death in 1898, Jane remained on the farm. She died there in 1917, aged 79.
Mrs Ralph Swale (née Jane Shand)