ŌTOROHANGA’S June Ferguson (left) and Don Ferguson on the doorstep to their home with Her Majesty the Queen. PHOTOS BY RICHARD WALLACE/FERGUSON FAMILY ALBUM
IT was on a warm February day in 1990 that the townspeople of Ōtorohanga lined the sides of Ouruwhero Rd, hoping for a glimpse of Queen Elizabeth II as she arrived in town on personal business. She was in the country to mark 150 years since the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi and to close out the Commonwealth Games, but she made a special note that she wanted to visit ‘Ferdon’ where Don and June Ferguson lived breeding and milking Jersey cows.
FOURTH VISIT It was to be the first time Her Majesty visited the farm which supplied cattle to her royal herd – which some 15 years earlier had been criticised by Don. The 100 friends and family invited to the garden party donned their best frocks and suits. The Queen wore green. As she stood with Don looking at his cows she slid one heel out of a white shoe, returned it, and did the same with the other. Don’s mother bought a new dress ready to meet the Queen but was in hospital and couldn’t attend. From the highest high to an extreme low, Don’s mother passed the next day.
FLOWERS June said Her Majesty knew Don’s mum was unwell and had been looking forward to meeting her again, as they had once before in England. Following the party, her lady-in-waiting phoned Don to arrange flowers to be delivered to the hospital, at which point June said they had to share the sad news. Don and June’s friendship with the Queen had its roots in a trip to England in 1975. They were attending the royal show in Leamington when Don made a fateful and frank comment about the quality of the Jersey herd to the herdsman, which filtered back to the Queen.
APPRECIATED HONESTY People tended to be polite when it came to making comments about the cattle in front of the herdsman, June said, and she thought the Queen appreciated the honesty. Don knew he had good cattle back home because he’d won big in the All Breeds class of the Waikato A&P Show the year prior in front of an English judge. “[The judge] was so impressed he wanted to come down to the farm to see the rest of the cattle and he wrote in the visitor’s book ‘perfection,’” June said. When tested about the quality of his cattle by the royal herdsman – “well, you don’t have any better down under” – Don told him to check what the judge had to say about that.
INVITE It wasn’t until two years later, on her 25th Jubilee Tour of New Zealand that the Fergusons would meet the Queen. They were invited to a meeting at the Te Rapa racetrack, on which day the Queen suggested a trade. Two of her heifers for two of Don’s. “Our heifers really did very well over there and established really good families. “Theirs didn’t over here,” June said. “We went for dinner at Government House after she’d been here, and she asked Don if he would show her cows for her at an international jersey show in Melbourne and England. “We spent four months preparing.” During the show the Queen would visit and chat with Don, June said. As Don and June were leaving after the show, Her Majesty asked them to keep in touch – which Don did. And so began a friendship. COUNTRY ORIENTATED He won a championship in New Zealand and thought who better to ring than the Queen? “From then he used to ring quite often.” They didn’t always talk cows, they discussed family and sometimes Don would tell June he had no idea what they were talking about, the conversation just flowed. Her Majesty enjoyed when people were honest, June thought. “She appreciated someone who just was natural. “She was just like you and I. When we’d have an audience at Windsor we’d just talk generally about things, and the corgis were pushing on your legs.” Queen Elizabeth II was very country-oriented, June said, with a good eye for cattle and horses. “She’d see if there was a cow with a snuffle. “In general, she knew a good animal just naturally, like Don. “Cows were cows to me, but I could remember we’d go out and he’d calve a cow then tell me ‘that one is going to be a champion.’ “He just knew. He just had that ability. “I think that’s why they got on so well together, they just sort of clicked.” Just days before his death in 2017, Don was on the phone to Her Majesty. “I remember when Don passed away, that morning I rang the Queen to tell her. “She said ‘I was expecting that, I could tell by his voice.’ “I didn’t notice any change in his voice but there you are, that’s the sort of person she was.” June said Queen Elizabeth II had been a wonderful role model and she was sad she was gone.
