HAY, EBENEZER (1814-68) was born at Midbuiston, Ayrshire. Brought up to farming, he was in business for some years in Glasgow as a grain and produce merchant. He was one of the committee which organised in Glasgow the early Scottish emigration to New Zealand (1839) and was a land purchaser in the New Zealand Company's settlement.

Having married a daughter of Thomas Orr, he sailed in the Bengal Merchant, arriving at Port Nicholson in Feb 1840. After exhaustively prospecting for suitable land in the North Island, Hay joined Captain Sinclair in examining the Port Cooper district in the schooner Richmond (1842). They visited Banks Peninsula and Otakou, and finally decided to settle at Pigeon Bay, the Sinclairs taking Holmes's bay. The schooner was then sold to Rhodes for ten head of horned cattle delivered at Pigeon Bay from Akaroa, a difficult and expensive condition. Hay steadily improved his holding, occasionally acquiring stock from Australia and also on occasion investing in the purchase of stock there for sale in Canterbury. He made butter and cheese on a large scale for the Wellington and Christchurch markets, and in 1852 introduced cocksfoot grass on the peninsula. One of the teachers whom Hay obtained from Scotland for his family was W. S. Fitzgerald (q.v.). The Hays had many vicissitudes from the Maori labourers whom they employed, from the rougher type of colonist, and from the ravages of bush fires, which involved him in heavy legal costs and damages. He died on 26 Nov 1868.

Cycl. N.Z., iii (p); Cant. O.N.; Guthrie Hay; Lyttelton Times, 16 Dec 1925; Godley, Letters; The Press, 16 Jun 1924; The Sun, 6 Aug 1927.

Reference: Volume 1, page 202

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