NEW ZEALAND
NEW ZEALAND SHEEPOWNERS ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF DEBT TO BRITISH SEAMAN
1918

The New Zealand Sheepowners Acknowledgment of Debt to British Seaman was established in 1918. Edward Newman, Member of Parliament for Rangitikei, proposed that sheep farmers in New Zealand should acknowledge a "debt" to the British Royal and Mercantile Navy. These seamen had kept the shipping lanes open enabling New Zealand's wool-clip to be sent to England.
The New Zealand Farmers Union established the "New Zealand Sheep Owners Acknowledgement of Debt to British Seamen Fund", from farmers' wool-clip earnings and from 1921 funds were distributed to dependents in England.
By 1924, the Fund purchased Flock House Farm in Bulls, Rangitikei, with the intention of bringing dependents to New Zealand, teaching them the basics of farming at Flock House, then placing them on farms around New Zealand.
Between 1924 and 1937 600 sons of British seamen that had been killed or wounded during World War I were brought over, trained at Flock House, and placed on farms in New Zealand, to start a new life.
From 1937 to 1987 New Zealand nationals were trained at the school. [Wikipedia]

The following is a list of the WEST COAST, NORTH ISLAND farmers who gave to the fund. They are from the Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXVI, Issue 17406, 17 October 1918, Page 6.