William's father was Henry Ludemann who immigrated from Hanover to Tai Tapu on the Port Hills of Canterbury and found early employment pitsawing in the bush and later, the conversion of swamp into fertile farmland. An original family to settle here in 1855 was Johann Gerken from Hanover  and he was directly responsible for bringing out a number of his countrymen to join him at Tai Tapu which he named "Hanover Valley". Many early settlers also associated with this settlement and names still remembered in this settlement were Arnst, Ellmers, Mehlhopt, Recken, Schaffer, Schroeder, Ridder and Heinzmanns and here Henry Ludemann married Maria Thompson in 1868 (Henry's name was registered as "Lillyman"). William, their son, moved north and first farmed at Tauriko before leasing land at Tarata. In the initial subdivision, many of those original settlers found that the subdivision into 70 to 90 acre blocks were too small to be economical. The access in was difficult and found the ground after clearing, had low fertility and the new grass would become swamped with thistles after the bush burn.