Thomas Brydone

Thomas Brydone was one of the great Scottish entrepreneurs who was responsible for much of the agricultural and pastoral development of Otago. Thomas was born in West Linton, Scotland, in 1837, the son of a shepherd. As a young man he was educated at the Perth Academy and then worked for various major Scottish landowners on estate management.

In 1868 he was sent out to New Zealand to superintend the Otago landholdings of a Scottish conglomerate, the New Zealand and Australian Land Company. These had not been farmed profitably before but Brydone soon turned things around to the satisfaction of shareholders in Scotland. Nine years later, the company amalgamated with its rival the Canterbury and Otago Association, managed by William Soltau Davidson. Their vast estates dominated much of the southern landscape in the 19th century. In 1878 Brydone was appointed superintendent of the new combined entity while Davidson became its general manager in Britain. The two men were to prove a formidable partnership.

In 1881 they pioneered the shipment of frozen meat from New Zealand to Britain. Brydone was responsible for preparing the stock in New Zealand, building slaughtering facilities at ‘Totara’ estate near Oamaru, and then freighting the carcasses to Port Chalmers by rail. The inaugural shipment was transported successfully to London on the Dunedin in early 1882. A bold and risky experiment had paid off.

This watershed event transformed the outlook for farming in New Zealand by creating a market for sheep meat. It established an economic pathway for the country based on primary produce that was followed for decades. In the same year Brydone was also responsible for the establishment of New Zealand’s first dairy factory at Edendale in Southland. The Company’s extensive estate there had hitherto been unprofitable. By adding lime and other fertilisers to the soil, Brydone transformed it into some of the best pastureland in New Zealand and showed the potential for large-scale dairy production.

Brydone never married, devoting himself to business and the agricultural and pastoral development of his adopted country. He became ill in 1904 and returned to Britain for expert medical advice. He died soon after arrival. His lifelong dedication and industriousness is well summarised by a memorial plaque at Edendale: ‘He filled every unforgiving minute with sixty seconds.’