Owen was born in 1898 in Amberly. His parents ran a sheep farm, named Wai-iti in Waikari, north of Amberly. Owen wrote "I well remember" (OSM) that deals with his youth memories and has notes about his farming life. Owen of course followed his parents in their frequent moves (see lives of Edwin Stanford and Charlotte Menzies). About his years at Wai-iti he writes that the summers were full of hot NW winds, blowing very hard. These winds could be so strong, that on bad days the train from Amberly could not manage the slope up the valley into the wind and that the passengers were asked to get out (make the train less heavy) and help push. To open the gates on the path from the farm to the road father Edwin had to wait for the gusts to calm down. Winters could be very cold, again with winds from the mountain ranges.
In 1903 Wai-iti was sold and they moved to Christchurch.

The family had rented a "flea invested" (OSM) house on Pages Road in Aranui close to New Brighton. Here Owen had his first chance to play with other boys daily. They had adventures, e.g., with their "daisy car" on the rails of the tram that ran through Pages Road to New Brighton, or putting stones on the rails to collect the coloured powder for "paint", and many other games with the boys. Sometimes he got severely punished for "mischief", but on other times father Edwin, with tongue in cheek, indicated it had been sort of OK.
But soon Owen's father found a farm out west.

In 1903 they moved to "Erinwood", Seafield (east of Ashburton). There the house was considerably improved and extended by his father. Owen remembered that his father had the tank for rainwater built a bit higher than normal, so that his mother could have a "tap" right next to the back door. His mother Charlotte was very strict. She taught Owen to read and mistakes were "corrected" by slaps in the face. Under his breath he called her "cross-patch". But he acknowledges that later in school he could read as one of the best.

Owen recalls that his parents went once every two months to Christchurch (OSM Ch.5). They then stayed at a hotel occupying a suite, or at a Mrs Eastcote, first at the short end of Hereford Street (photo from 1885), later at Fitzgerald Avenue. He remembers seeing, from the tearoom "Broadstreet" on the central square, how masons were busy repairing the cathedral spire after the damage due to the 1901 Cheviot earthquake. The highest part was now being built with wood sheathed with copper, thought to be more stable. His description of Christchurch in those years and the ways of life then is very vivid.

In 1908 Owen lived at Glen-Weem, a farm on the sunny side of a steep slope near Little Akaloa on Banks Peninsula. The trips to Christchurch now were made by draught sledge (OSM Ch.6) to Outwood, the nearby farm of Constance Menzies and Francis Thorpe, then in a days drive with the "gig" (a light two-wheeled cart; see photo) along the Summit Road to Little River, and after a night in the hotel there along the coast (preferrably with, at low tides, a short-cut through the flats) into the city.

1913 saw again a move to Christchurch (OSM Ch.7). That move also fitted with Owen going to the prep-school "Dunhelm", together with cousin John Menzies (who had lived with Owen already on the farm, John was son of uncle William Menzies). With school in town, the boys could no longer go bare-foot but had to wear (and clean and polish) boots, as well as shirts with Eaton collar. Owen and John mostly went to school on bicycle. Later they went to Christ's college.

There is a charming story about Owen's health and the opinions of the family doctors (OSM Ch 7). The doctor assured my parents "I had outgrown my strength" (I was 6 ft at age 14) and had a weak heart, I was never allowed to play [wild] games. ..... As a boy of 4 or 5, another doctor had forbidden me raw fruit. As a concession when we were at Menzies Bay, I was allowed 5 ripe gooseberries per day. Thoroughly tested for ripeness, picked by my mother, they were presented to me in a rhubarb leaf. Just before leaving college the "weak heart" doctor was called when I had the flu. We were living at the top of Cashmere Hills. He mentioned my heart and the possible strain of pushing my bicycle up Dyers Pass Road. He nearly had a heart attack himself when I explained I never pushed the bike but rode it up Dyers Pass Road non-stop, from bottom to top. It was not many years after this that I passed the very exacting medical examination for entry as a pilot cadet in the R.F.C. Truly, I think like the woman in the Gospel, I "suffered many things of many physicians".  [The "top" was then near Cashmere school; the family lived at Whisby street.]

When Owen was 15, his parents bought a farm near Oaro between Cheviot and Kaikōura. Owen suggested to name it "Puke Puke" (little hills) and no one having a better suggestion, this was agreed to (OSM). Owen now left school.
The farm needed a lot of "vamping up", shifting manure, making paddocks and gardens, tree planting.
In 1918, Owen finds time to apply for a training as a pilot; he passed the exam (see The Press of 19180617).

Owens bull Hawkeswood, Owen in Napier, schorn Ewes (photos 1920, from pAJnS).

There are two photo books (in pAJnS) from the early days on Puke Puke.  One starts in 1917 and the photos deal mostly with the farm itself (e.g., Heifers Puke Puke), some of the surroundings (snow, beach road, Blenheim). The explaining handwriting is upright. The second (larger) photobook is with slanted writing and has photos of Owen and other young people. The inside cover says "O.B.Stanford" so it is Owens own photobook, the former being that of father Edwin.
Owens book starts in 1920 with a photo of a young woman, "F. Farmer", on a horse. Then follow sheep at Puke Puke in 1920, "O.B.Stanfords Calves 1920", O.B.Stanford Napier 1920, some of Christchurch, a photo of the interior of Puke Puke, of a bull: "Hawkeswood property of O.B.Stanford", all of 1920 and 1921. Then in 1924 three photos with "F.Farmer or F. F.". Was this a woman to Owens liking?
Owen had embarked in 1922 with his niece Elsie Menzies on a voyage of almost a year (March to December) to England and the European continent. This trip explains the date gap in the photobook.
But there is, after 1924, no follow up with F. Farmer....

Before that, in 1921, he published two "Letters to the Editor" of the newspaper "The Press". The second deals with a physics problem related with water and flotsam in the Waimakariri, getting extensive reactions (see the clippings).
In 1922, father Edwin had transferred ownership of some of the sheep to Owen: 215 out of 1030.

Work on Puke Puke continues. Here follow tidbits from newspaper items (for details see the clippings).
1925: he sells sheep at the Kaikōura Fair.  1926: Owen does his first sale of sheep on the Addington market.
New Year in 1926 and 1927 he hosts in Puke Puke some 18 children from the St. Faith's church in New Brighton (uncle Clifford Stanford is choirmaster there). In 1929 Owen helps supervising a camp in New Brighton.
In 1926 he also writes to the newspaper about stray cattle on the roads. Council says to pay attention.

With his father, Owen invested a great deal of time in making the farm nice, planting trees (mostly natives, many grown from seedlings), hedges, making gardens and so on. His father expanded on the technical improvements (as he had done on earlier farms), like a hydro dam, hot and cold streaming water, electricity. In 1932, Owen started rearing ponies.
The photo (at left; ~1937) shows Owen bringing in the hay. On the hay is Peter Stanford, in his teens, the boy adopted by Owens parents. Peter left later for a farm in Karamea.

The photo (at right) is probably from the 1960s. It is taken from the "Cow paddock". At the far rioght one sees the Oaro river. Near the tall poplar trees was the tennis court where the wash was hung out. The hen house is in the fore ground. At left, as well as behind the two tall poplar trees, are huge walnut trees. All these were planted by Owen.

This farm, Puke Puke (little hills), became so much the one of Owen, that it was left to him to run. In 1935, Owens parents moved away to a farm near Cheviot.
Owen became a proficient sheep farmer, he experimented with many varieties and sought to maximize profit with the best possible wool. He also had ponies: Shetland Tymore cross.

Margret Foster-Barham went to an anthroposophical school in England. Then the Foster-Barhams moved to Nelson, and Margaret went to Nelson Girls College. She played basketball in the college team. When she had become an adult, she was allowed to ride her fathers motorbike, a quite unusual thing for a woman at that time.

Margarets parental home (photo 2000)

The photo (from pAJnS) was taken in about 1938, in front of the garage of her home The Pines in Nelson.
Most of the information on Margaret has been adapted from HSM.

Her uncle Alfred Cameron, who was very fond of Margaret, had suggested that she train as a Home Science teacher at Otago [college of education in Dunedin]. After graduation in 1931 (Uncle Alfred had died a year earlier) she indeed went there. For that, she rode all the way down [almost 800 km] on the motor-bike over the winding shingle roads, including the first stretch by the Whangamoa and Rai Valley [now State Highway 6 from Nelson via the NE to Blenheim].
After her university eduation, Margaret taught home science in Dunedin and as of June 1935 at the Diocesan school Craighead in Timaru. At the next Christmas time she was in Australia (info from her diary).

In 1937, she was with a friend (who had her little daughter along) on a trip back from Dunedin to Nelson. The motor broke down and they stopped for a meal; the girl ordered a "lion" chop. A man started talking to them, inviting them to call in at Puke Puke to ride his pony..... Later, Owen went to Synod in Nelson to look for Margaret there, but had difficulty tracing her because he thought her name was "Foster Brown". But they did meet up. Owen also visited her at Craighead where she was teaching, taking a hive of bees for the children to see.
Then (from Margarets diary): on a ride from Nelson to Craighead she stopped at Puke Puke, stayed 2 nights, and Owen declared his love. Then the two went on a trip to Christchurch and

New Zealand "Weekly News", 7 Feb. 1938: BRIDE'S GOWN OF BLUE AND SILVER A Wedding at the Nelson Cathedral Last Thursday at the Cathedral, Nelson, Miss Margaret Foster Barham, third daughter of Mr. and Mrs. H.G. Foster Barham, "The Pines", Queen's Drive, was married to Mr. Owen Stanford, of the East Coast, South Marlborough. The bride looked charming in a soft powder-blue crepe frock with folds of silver tissue finishing the corsage, and with it was worn a large blue hat with a posy of flowers in front. .... After the service Mr. and Mrs. Foster Barham held a reception at their home, Queen's Drive.

in New Brighton they made decisions!

On the 3rd of February, 1938, Owen and Margaret married in the cathedral in Nelson.
One of the flower girls was her niece Helen Aroha Foster Barham. 
During the service, the "Sacred Song" was performed by her sister Williamina (text at left)
 
The wedding reception was at her parents home, which has a wide view over Tasman Bay.
 
June 1938, Bishop Hilliard and Sister Meredith from Nelson visit Kaikōura. They are also hosted by Owen. 
In that year, Owen donates money to help procure Maori objects for the Christchurch museum. He later donates objects.

Children: in Christchurch 12-04-1939 Aprilla Margaret Harriet, 15-02-1941 Prudence Muriel; at Cheviot 07-10-1942 the twins Isobel Anne and Helen Charlotte; in Kaikōura 04-11-1946 Michael Edwin Bedell, 23-08-1948 Judith Allison, 05-09-1958 David Kenneth.

With time gaps of about 1.5 year, children were born.

Margaret, Prue and Aprilla, late 1941. (Photos pAJnS.)

Granda with grandson Michael, ca. 1948.   Left: near front gate of Puke Puke with Michael, Prue and Isobel (~1948).

After the birth of the twins in October 1942, it was a very busy time for Margaret. Owen's father Edwin lived on the farm Manuka Bush near Cheviot and Aprilla often went there to make life easier for Margaret and Owen. But Aprilla soon helped Owen with work on the farm. Later, also the other children had their tasks.
Sheep rearing went well. In 1938 Owen sold 300 halfbred ewes, in the years following the announcement at the Addington market gives "3 trucks", in 1942 even "4 trucks".

For the life on the farm one can turn to the further recollections of daughter Helen (HSM2).
Aprilla did not go to school until she was seven, partly because the help was needed but perhaps also because Margaret had antroposophical ideas. There was lots to do on the farm which we did largely as a family. There were cows to milk (mostly by Isobel), chicks to feed (Aprilla), the hen house to clean out, tend the pig (Ermintrude), while Aprilla soon helped with the sheep. The orchard was large, with 4 satsuma and other plums, several sorts of pears and apples. The apples were stored under the Macrocarpa hedge covered in straw; they lasted well all winter. There were peaches and wonderful "Roxburg red" apricots just dripping with juice. My mother made junket Beryls pudding and poored cream on. Then she would say "Food for the Gods".
My mother was a very good cook. She had been a Home Science teacher and could deal with just about anything: pana crayfish, all kinds of meat or a lovely roast dinner.
When my father killed a sheep he gave half to the neighboors, the Patons. They did the same next time. We ate the soft things first, like the brains, the liver, the tongue, the head. The roast last. We had no fridge but it kept all right outside in the meat safe up in the walnut tree.
There was also a nursery with a sliding/folding window. One night, a morepork (native owl) was just there. We imitated its sound and it came right up close. One came into the nursery and ended up on the top bunk. Dad caught it (being careful of its claws) and took it out on the veranda in the dark. He said "listen to this". He let the morepork go and it glided so silently out into the cabbage tree!

Not long after the end of WW II, Owen bought a new car for the family. With it they made outings. More children were born. Life together was good and the children must have had a happy youth.

Later, Owen's father Edwin (Granda) lived near Puke Puke, in his own cottage "Pinecroft". There he kept bees, some 10 hives.  Granda bought the first generator for Puke Puke which gave the family much needed electricity. It was by the back door of the house and needed to be cranked. The noise the generator made was as if it said "Thank you Granda, Thank you Granda". He also bought the children bikes.

When Michael was about 2 years old, he contracted polio. His right arm withered but he learned to be adept with it nevertheless. He later drove a huge bulldozer. He once, as a child, filed down a key to fit the school when they lost their key (HSM2).

Margaret was reasonably tall (about 5' 6") with lovely golden-brown hair she had plaited up and put in a bun with hair-pins. Her hair was, in the early 1950s, 39 inches long.

HSM: Margaret was a happy person. She said she had "joie de vivre". She enjoyed a joke. We would all chat and enjoy stories after lunch, then sometimes, to get us moving, she would say "On with the dance!" quoting George Byron's "On with the dance, let joy be unconfin'd".

To characterise Owen and Margaret, two entries from the Visitors Book, that was kept by Margaret the moment she arrived at Puke Puke. As transcribed from ASM: 
= My parents always looked after any one who needed help and they often stayed a couple of nights. July 1st 1938 my mother has written in the guest book "Two tramps" when there was the big depression. Puke was one of the farms that the swaggers knew would give them meals and let them stay until they were ready to move on. They would arrive with all their belongings in a sugar sack with binder twine tied to the top and bottom which was used to sling the sack over their shoulder. We had many men who called. They did not eat with us but in the kitchen and they used to sleep in the little cottage nearby called Pukiti. They were often given some paid work to do as well.
= [In the period between 1945 and 1955 the State Highway 1 was improved.] Until then it was a quite narrow, 2 lane, windy shingle road. There were often slips and cars breaking down. On one day a slip came down very near our other cottage Pinecroft, completely blocking the road, and the Newman bus stranded. The Newman's bus passengers were on their way to Nelson. They all had breakfast. We used the drawing room and they sat around the large Maori Carved table being served large plates of porridge covered in thick cream followed by scrambled egg on home made bread. Our mother was always very out going and enjoyed a good laugh. She was delighted that the bus driver was so nice!!

Aroha Foster Barham recalls (HAP): Margaret and Owen were both very keen Anglicans. Though health issues were always a problem from time to time, they persevered with fortitude and their love of their family. Owen was a lay reader in the church.

After many years on the farm, Owen and Margaret retired to Kaikōura. The photo of the house of Puke Puke was perhaps taken at that time. [The house perished in the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake.]
In Kaikōura they lived at 22 Deal Street. They had their share in outings (Hanmer Springs, for snow and swims; etc.) and visits from the, by then married, children.
Owen died in 1975, aged 77.

Margaret was always steady and non-dramatic. One time, after Owen had died, she heard rattling at about 3 a.m., and went out to the kitchen. There was a young man there, probably looking for money. All she said was: "David is not here at the moment: come back in the morning", and went back to bed (see HSM).
Margaret died in 1980 at the age of 67.

OSM: "I well remember", memoirs of Owen Stanford; in Jacometti-Stanford archive.
HAP:  Helen Aroha Pasley née Foster Barham, letters to KSdB of 15 March and 5 April 2016.
HSM: Helen Perry née Stanford, "My memories of Margaret Moore Stanford" (2013).
HSM2: Helen Perry née Stanford, "Recollections of my youth at Puke Puke" (2017).
ASM: Aprilla Jacometti née Stanford memories; in Jacometti-Stanford archive.
pAJnS: photoarchive of Aprilla Jacometti née Stanford.

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