Mr George King who began breeding ostriches for their feathers on his Burwood property in 1893 [189-?].
George King was born in 1850 to Irish immigrant parents at Richmond, Sydney. Around 1872 he arrived in Christchurch and started the auctioneering firm Geo. King and Co. Ostrich farming is what Mr King was most well known for and ostrich farming didn’t always run smoothly. During the reproducing season when it rained, many nests became flooded and the birds drowned due to the retentive land the farm was on. Containing the birds was also a problem as most fences failed to hold them and they often ran amok onto the roads. Mr King was a good rider who kept horses and would set off after them. When a bird made a break for freedom it took a fast horse to catch up with it.
In 1907 Mr King took the birds to the International Exhibition in Hagley Park. The ostriches were sold in 1908.
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Mr George King Who Began Breeding Ostriches For Their Feathers On His Burwood Property In 1893
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