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CONTINUING the 1888 Who's Who in the Bega Valley from the Centennial History of New South Wales.
YARRANUNG:
Peter A Wood, JP. Farmer and Grazier, was born at Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England in 1840. He came to this colony in 1861, and at once settled in the Bega district, where for a number of years was a tenant-holder of a farming property.
He was successful in his speculations, and eventually selected under government a piece of land which formed the corner-stone of his present estate of 1000 acres.
The manufacture of cheese is carried on extensively and an average 130 cows are milked every day, supplying milk for an output of about 250 pounds of cheese daily throughout the year.
Mr Wood was entrusted with a commission of peace about 12 years since, and he is likewise one of the trustees of the local hospital, as well as of the Bega Pastoral and Agricultural Society.
AYRDALE:
John Marshall Black was born at Airdrie, by Glasgow, Scotland, in 1845. He came with his father, William Black, to the colonies in 1860, and after a short business career in Melbourne, crossed over to NSW, making Eden, Twofold Bay, his point of destination where, during the great Kiandra Rush, he opened business as a general storekeeper.
Here he was unsuccessful, losing all he possessed. He then turned his attention to agriculture, and became a settler under Government at Wolumla, but the legality of his title to the selections on more than one occasion was disputed, and he lost whatever right he had to them.
He entered the wattlebark trade in 1867, and in this undertaking was so successful that he was enabled to purchase the first portion, 320 acres, of the Ayrdale Estate, where he opened a store and a dairy, and commenced the manufacture of butter.
By perseverance he has managed to increase the property to 937 acres, which is worked in conjunction with 981 acres of other land in the famed Bega district.
In 1880 he started a cheese factory, milking daily from 60 to 180 cows, from which he makes about 24 tons of cheese yearly, and obtains the highest market price.
There are at present 250 milk cows on the estate at Ayrdale.