In 1875 Thomas bought the
500 acre property later known as 'Woodland Grange', Woodbury where
he kept half-bred sheep, and his oat crops averaged forty bushels
per acre. His success in life was due to his untiring energy.Pioneer
Thomas Percival Wooding Snr. died 11 Aug 1900 and his wife,
Hephzibah, d: 16 Aug 1903; Bur: Woodbury Cemetery
His sons followed in their father's
footsteps and much of the breaking in of the farm was done by
eldest son, Joseph and later with the assistance of brother
Tom, who was eight years his junior. Later, together, they became
partners in a well-known Canterbury threshing and contracting
business, Wooding Bros. of Woodbury. Joseph had been one of the
first pupils at the Woodend school and Tom jnr. was
educated at Woodbury. Having experience working on their
father's property, in 1888 they started in partnership on a
farm near Woodbury. They owned two threshing combines, clover
shellers, and chaff cutters, which they work throughout the
Geraldine and Orari districts, and during the season of 1899, they
threshed 233,000 bushels of grain.
Mr. Joseph Wooding (b: 1861 d: 09 Sep 1933) was a
member of the Woodbury Domain Board for many years. He married 1892
Sarah Elizabeth, daughter of Francis and William
Hawke, Geraldine,(b: 1865 d: 28 Mar 1955) Their children:
1 Anne Percival Wooding (b:
1894; d: 2 Sep.1919) mar 1913 John Hollis Rice
2 SBC Wooding b: 1895
3 Joseph Arthur Wooding (b: 1896 d: 1960) mar
1926 Chloe Ruth Withers
4 Thomas Percival Wooding (b: 15 Sep 1897; d:
1987)
5 Frances Alice Wooding (b: 28 Jan 1899; d:
1987) mar 1927 Scott Shuttleworth Roberts
6 Wilfred Russell Wooding (b: 11 Jan 1901 d
1990)
6 Gladys May Wooding (b: 1902 d:
1924)
7 Beatrice Jean Wooding (b: 4 August 1903; d:
2000)
8 Doris Fay Wooding (b: 9 Dec 1904; d 1990)
mar: 1928 George Malcolm Arthur
9 Kenneth William Wooding (b: 20 Sep 1907; d:
1982) mar: 1939 May Reta
Cochrane
Mr. T. P. Wooding Jnr (b: 1868 d: 06 Jul 1933 in
Woodbury) mar: 1892 Rachel, b 1868 a daughter of Mary Anne
and Robert Ray of Geraldine - she d: 03 Aug 1943 in
Woodbury. Their family:
1 George Robert Wooding (b: 28 Sep 1893 d:
1981) mar 1920 Clara Bedford nee Hills
2 Edith Mary Wooding (b: 18 Jul 1895 d:
1976) Mar 1920 Aubrey William Scott
3 Thomas Percival Wooding (b: 15 Sep 1897 d:
11 Mar 1987) mar: 1925 Dorothy Clara
Hardcastle
4 Lucy Hephzibah Wooding (b: 1898 d: 6 May
1922) mar 1920 Joseph Robinson
5 Cecil Thomas Wooding (b: 11 Feb 1900; d:
1984) mar: 1928 Freda Ellen Easterbrook
6 Richard Arthur Wooding b: 2 Oct 1902 d: 14
Sep 1994) mar: 1929 Irene Maud Easterbrook
7 Harold James Wooding (b: 10 Dec 1905; d: 26
Feb 1993) mar: 1936 Ngaire Amelia Evans
8 Maurice Lancelot Wooding (b: 18 Sep 1911 d:
14 Jul 1978 in Woodbury Geraldine) mar: 1936 to
Dorothy Trumper (b: 19 Mar 1914 in Temuka d: 20 Nov 1982
)
Pioneer Thomas Percival Wooding Snr. died 12
Aug 1900 and his wife, Hephzibah, d: 16 Aug 1903; Bur: Woodbury
Cemetery
