Murray Roberts & Co
Murray Roberts & Co was a New Zealand wool, pastoral, stock and station agency that became one of the country's largest wool exporters before being absorbed by National Mortgage & Agency Company.
Last updated October 14, 2026
AI crawler reads
No AI crawler has read this profile since Oct 28, 2026.
Overview
Murray Roberts & Co was a major New Zealand pastoral, wool and stock-and-station business whose activities extended from rural property investment and sheep breeding to wool broking, livestock sales, farm merchandise, insurance and shipping agencies. Its origins lay in a fellmongery at Green Island, near Dunedin, operated for the Melbourne- and London-connected Sanderson Murray interests. In 1864 George Roberts, a Selkirk woollen manufacturer, sent his nineteen-year-old son John Roberts to Australia to learn the colonial wool trade and obtain supplies for the family’s textile interests. Restrictions on land acquisition in Victoria helped prompt John Roberts’s move to Dunedin in 1867, where he was placed in charge of the Green Island operation. The business formally developed as a partnership in June 1868. Sanderson Murray & Co held two-thirds and John Roberts one-third, with an office and store in Stafford Street, Dunedin. The firm initially combined wool and skin dealing, wool scouring, classing and fellmongering with general merchandising. Its early emphasis was not small-farmer finance but investment in pastoral land and management of sheep stations in Otago and Hawke’s Bay. Through selective sheep breeding and pastoral operations, interests associated with the firm contributed to the development of the Corriedale sheep breed. The company also became involved in the wider New Zealand agricultural export economy, including an early shipment of frozen meat in 1882. Murray Roberts expanded geographically during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. A Wellington partnership, Murray, Common and Company, was established in 1875, followed by operations in Napier, Gisborne, Hawke’s Bay, Southland and other centres. The Wellington business became increasingly important, and the company moved its headquarters there when it was incorporated in 1910. By then it had evolved into a broad stock-and-station agency offering wool auctioneering, livestock services, farm supplies, grain and seed operations, rural merchandising and commercial agencies. Its associated company Stronach Morris & Co provided a major platform for wool broking and livestock auctioneering in Otago and Southland. Wool remained central to the business. The company bought wool on commission for British, American and other overseas clients, sold wool at local auctions on behalf of farmers, and operated substantial wool stores in Wellington. It also handled thousands of bales annually through its Wellington and Hawke’s Bay branches. Other activities included agricultural merchandise, fencing wire, sheep dip, tyres, batteries, groceries, liquor, insurance and shipping-related agencies. Its pastoral holdings and investments in stations gave the business direct exposure to sheep farming as well as intermediary income from rural clients. Incorporation in 1910 replaced a complex structure of regional partnerships. Initial share ownership was divided broadly among the Murray and Roberts families and senior manager A. H. Miles, with a smaller holding belonging to G. M. Morris. Later share issues to managers diluted the founding families’ interests. The company benefited temporarily from the stable prices created by First World War bulk-purchase arrangements for wool and frozen meat, but the end of those agreements in 1920 contributed to a difficult postwar adjustment. Branches were opened, closed and revived in response to changing agricultural conditions and the Great Depression. Murray Roberts remained an important New Zealand rural business into the postwar period. Its Hawke’s Bay branch became particularly profitable during the 1950s, while its associated Otago and Southland operations maintained a wide auction and agency network. National Mortgage & Agency Company, another Dunedin-based rural enterprise, purchased Murray Roberts & Co in 1961. The business lost most of its separate identity when integrated with National Mortgage’s operations in 1963, although some activities continued under the name until about 1965.
History
The firm’s history began with the migration of a Scottish wool-trade model into colonial New Zealand. George Roberts of Selkirk sent his son John to Australia to gain practical experience and secure wool for the family’s woollen manufacturing interests. After working on pastoral runs and encountering limits on land acquisition in Victoria, John moved to Dunedin in 1867. There he was placed in charge of a small fellmongery at Green Island belonging to Sanderson Murray & Co, a business linked to woolbroking and import-export interests in London and Australia. In June 1868 Sanderson Murray & Co and John Roberts created the Murray Roberts partnership. Its initial activities included wool buying, skin dealing, scouring, classing, fellmongering and general merchandise, but the business soon became strongly involved in rural property and station management. Early pastoral investments were made in Otago and later Hawke’s Bay. These holdings supplied wool and gave the partners experience in sheep breeding, while the firm’s commercial operations connected New Zealand producers with British, American and other overseas buyers. The enterprise gradually became a national rural network. Wellington operations began in 1875 under the name Murray, Common and Company, and branches or agencies followed in Napier, Gisborne, Invercargill, Masterton, Feilding, Dannevirke, Hāwera, Wanganui and other centres. Hawke’s Bay ultimately became one of the company’s strongest regions. The Dunedin office remained historically important but was comparatively modest, while Stronach Morris & Co handled much of the associated Otago wool and livestock business after Murray Roberts acquired a controlling interest in that company in 1905. Wool auctioneering was introduced around the turn of the century, with Wellington auctions beginning in 1897 and Hawke’s Bay activity following in 1905. The company also expanded livestock dealing, acquired interests in sale yards, and developed the broad range of services characteristic of New Zealand stock-and-station agencies. These included farm supplies, grain and seeds, insurance, shipping agencies, wholesale groceries and other merchandise. The company’s participation in the cargo of the Dunedin, associated with New Zealand’s first successful frozen-meat shipment in 1882, reflected its connection to the emerging refrigerated export economy. The complicated partnership structure was replaced in 1910 by Murray Roberts & Co Limited. At incorporation, the Murray and Roberts families each held substantial interests, A. H. Miles held a comparable block, and G. M. Morris held a smaller stake. New share issues to managers later reduced the founding families’ relative control. The firm’s wool and agricultural businesses benefited from wartime government purchasing arrangements, but the return to open markets in 1920 brought a sharp adjustment and contributed to financial pressure across the rural sector. Depression-era branch closures were followed by selective postwar reconstruction. By the 1950s Murray Roberts was a substantial rural intermediary, with especially strong operations in Hawke’s Bay and a broad Otago and Southland network through Stronach Morris. Its scale and regional position made it attractive to National Mortgage & Agency Company, which acquired it in 1961. Integration with National Mortgage from 1963 ended most of Murray Roberts & Co’s independent corporate identity, although residual operations continued for several years.
- 1963
Separate identity largely disappears
[1]Most operations were integrated into National Mortgage & Agency Company, with some activities surviving until about 1965.
- 1961
Acquired by National Mortgage & Agency Company
[1]National Mortgage & Agency Company purchased the business.
- 1910
Limited company incorporated
[1]Murray Roberts & Co Limited replaced the former partnership structure, and the headquarters moved to Wellington.
- 1905
Investment in Stronach Morris & Co
[1]John Roberts and his family acquired a controlling interest in Stronach Morris & Co, strengthening the company’s Otago and Southland stock and station presence.
- 1897
Wellington wool auctioneering begins
[1]The company began auctioneering wool in Wellington, complementing its commission buying and export activities.
- 1882
Frozen-meat export participation
[1]The company supplied part of the cargo for the Dunedin’s pioneering successful shipment of frozen meat from New Zealand.
- 1875
Wellington operation established
[1]A Wellington partnership, Murray, Common and Company, extended the business into the lower North Island.
- 1868
Murray Roberts partnership formed
[1]Sanderson Murray & Co and John Roberts established the partnership that developed into Murray Roberts & Co.
- 1867
John Roberts moves to Dunedin
[1]John Roberts crossed from Australia to Dunedin and took charge of the Green Island fellmongery that became the first base of the business.
Products and positioning
A vertically connected New Zealand rural-services enterprise linking pastoral production, wool marketing, livestock markets, agricultural merchandise and overseas trade.
Agricultural commodity services · 1871
Wool services
Wool was the company’s defining business. Murray Roberts bought wool on commission for overseas clients, marketed wool from its own pastoral interests, operated wool stores and conducted auctions on behalf of farmers, particularly in Wellington and Hawke’s Bay. By the late 1950s those branches handled large annual volumes and the company ranked among New Zealand’s leading wool exporters.
Rural business services
Stock and station agency services
The company provided rural agency services including livestock buying and selling, auctioneering, station management, rural representation and farm-related finance and merchandising. Its branch network covered parts of Otago, Southland, Hawke’s Bay and the lower North Island, with Stronach Morris supporting livestock and wool activity in the southern districts.
Agriculture · 1868
Pastoral stations and sheep breeding
Murray Roberts invested in and managed extensive pastoral properties in Otago and Hawke’s Bay. These operations were important sources of wool and sites for sheep-breeding experiments. The company’s pastoral partnerships contributed to the development and spread of the Corriedale type of sheep.
Agricultural supplies
Rural merchandise
Merchandise operations supplied rural communities with fencing wire, sheep dip, tyres, batteries, groceries, liquor and other farm requirements. The company also handled grain and seeds, including seed dressing, and acted as a wholesaler for retailers in larger rural towns.
Brand decisions
1961
Accept acquisition by National Mortgage & Agency CompanyM&ABackground
National Mortgage & Agency Company sought to strengthen its position in regions including Hawke’s Bay, where Murray Roberts had a particularly strong operation.
Action taken
National Mortgage & Agency Company purchased Murray Roberts & Co.
Aftermath
The acquired business was progressively integrated, and its separate identity largely disappeared in 1963.
1910
Convert the partnership network into a limited companyStrategyBackground
The business had grown through a complex collection of regional partnerships and subsidiary arrangements.
Action taken
Murray Roberts & Co Limited was incorporated, with ownership allocated among the Murray and Roberts families, A. H. Miles and G. M. Morris. The headquarters moved from Dunedin to Wellington.
Aftermath
The new structure supported a more integrated national stock-and-station operation, although subsequent share issues diluted the founding families’ interests.
Sources1 sources
Cite this profile: Cite the canonical profile. /brand-wiki/murray-roberts-and-co · Editorial policy · How profiles are compiled