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Story: Inheritance

Primogeniture

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Primogeniture

Primogeniture means inheritance of the major assets of an estate by the eldest son, to the exclusion of other siblings. John Manson, one of the men sitting in the horse-drawn gig in this photo taken around 1894, was the eldest of nine siblings. He inherited the Cluny Park Station homestead in Manawatū when his father William Manson (standing on the verandah) died.

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Palmerston North City Library

Reference: 2008N_Bur88_Bui_1856

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How to cite this page

Ann Dupuis, Inheritance – Inheritance matters, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/31049/primogeniture (accessed 11 June 2026).

Story by Ann Dupuis, published 21 April 2011.