John and Marion Wither were from humble Scottish roots but a lifetime of hard work in the Wakatipu allowed them to enjoy a comfortable retirement in Dunedin. John Wither was from Stranraer in Wigtonshire. He came from farming stock but had trained as a watchmaker in Glasgow. His health suffered in the city environment, however, so in 1863 he set out for Otago to try his fortune in the colony. A fellow passenger from Stranraer owned sheep stations near Otematata. He offered John a job and soon after his arrival in Dunedin John set out for North Otago. By 1864 he was the head shepherd at Otematata Station. He was thus in a prime position to court a young Scots woman, Marion McHarg, who had come to work at a neighbouring station that year.
Marion was from Ballantrae in Ayrshire, Scotland, only 30 kilometres north of John’s home town. She came to New Zealand on the Ulcoats in 1864. Soon after she was employed to work in the children’s nursery of the Julius family at Rugged Ridges sheep station. Three years later she married John Wither. They immediately set off on a great journey across country to Moonlight Creek behind Queenstown, driving a mob of sheep before them. Their journey took three weeks and they arrived to find the Wakatipu basin covered in deep snow. Their first three months were spent in a tent. The Withers worked hard together planting and harvesting crops. While John looked after the sheep and made their house and its furniture, Marion made candles and kept the home fire burning.
In 1871 they moved across Lake Wakatipu to ‘Sunnyside’ on the slopes of Mount Cecil, with a depasturing licence for 2000 sheep. Here they were to remain for 36 years. Marion had three daughters and two sons who survived infancy. By 1881 the Withers were able to employ a teacher to live on the station and teach the children. Their substantial flock now required many paid employees, especially over the busy summer months of mustering and shearing. The family and their staff formed a lively little community amidst the splendid isolation of the Wakatipu basin.
The Withers retired from Sunnyside in 1903. They moved to Andersons Bay where they lived for the rest of their lives. After hard toil over many years, enduring the hardships and challenges of sheep farming in the remote high country of Central Otago, theirs was a retirement of well-earned ease and comfort. Marion died at Andersons Bay in 1913, aged 74, and John in 1920, aged 80.
John and Marion Wither (née McHarg)