William Tooley

Tooley, William, Farmer, Tooley's Field, St. Andrews. Mr. Tooley was born in Norfolk, England, in 1846, and came to Port Chalmers in the ship “Nourmahal” in 1858. After spending three months in Dunedin he went to Oamaru, where for over six years he worked for the late Mr. Teschemacher, and he was then for thirty-one years shepherding for the New Zealand and Australian Land Company. In the early days Mr. Tooley had to hunt wild pigs for rations, and on one occasion one of his companions lost his life in the hunt and was devoured by the pigs. Mr. Tooley took up his present property in 1895, and he has also sixty acres in the Levels riding. He keeps a market garden and dairy factory, with which he supplies the local demand. Mr. Tooley has been a member of the St. Andrews school committee, and is sub-chief ranger of the St. Andrews Foresters' Lodge. In 1877 he married Miss M. A. Ely, who was born in England, and they have four sons and three daughters.

Source: The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Canterbury Provincial District]