Acland and Tripp gave up their profession and emigrated to New Zealand in 1854 in the Royal Stuart to become sheep farmers.
 They arrived in Lyttelton on 4 January 1855.
 Both needed to obtain experience first and thus worked as cadets on established runs; Acland gained experience under Henry Tancred, whilst Tripp worked in Halswell and for one of the Brittan brothers.
On 30 July 1855, they applied for land in the foothills in an area that was unexplored and their choice was guesswork; whilst they arrived only four years after organised settlement of Canterbury began, all the suitable land on the Canterbury Plains had been taken up already.
 Established runholders did not take them seriously, and some laughed at them for wanting to take up high country land, but Acland's attitude was that "in the Colonies you always like to see for yourself, and the worse account you hear of unoccupied country, the greater the reason for going to look at it."
 In the spring and summer of 1855/56, they started exploring the area.
 Both had £2,000 of capital, which was insufficient to buy an established station.
 They took up land including Mount Somers, Mount Possession, Mount Peel, Orari Gorge and parts of Hakatere and Mesopotamia, and were the first who put sheep in the high country.
 The first station they worked on was Mount Peel from May 1856, and while they prepared the run, they left their sheep with Dr Moorhouse, a brother of William Sefton Moorhouse, on the other side of the Rangitata River.
 Their partnership was dissolved in 1862, and Acland retained Mount Peel, which then comprised over 100,000 acres (400 km²).

Between 1865 and 1867, Acland had the Mount Peel homestead built from locally fired bricks.
It was probably the first large house in South Canterbury built of permanent materials.
The architecture is unusual and it is assumed that Acland brought the plans with him on the return from a visit to England in 1861.
Acland's intention was for the house to form the nucleus of a village, but this did not happen.
Acland called the house 'Holnicote', after the family property in England.
 In September 1984, the homestead was registered with Heritage New Zealand as a Category I heritage item, with registration number 313.
In 2010, a recent restoration and structural upgrade won the Canterbury prize of the New Zealand Institute of Architects (NZIA) in the category 'Heritage and Conservation'.
The earthquake strengthening was timely, as it was carried out just prior to the 2010 Canterbury earthquake.
Acland and Tripp gave up their profession and emigrated to New Zealand in 1854 in the Royal Stuart to become sheep farmers.  They arrived in Lyttelton on 4 January 1855.  Both needed to obtain experience first and thus worked as cadets on established runs; Acland gained experience under Henry Tancred, whilst Tripp worked in Halswell and for one of the Brittan brothers. On 30 July 1855, they applied for land in the foothills in an area that was unexplored and their choice was guesswork; whilst they arrived only four years after organised settlement of Canterbury began, all the suitable land on the Canterbury Plains had been taken up already.  Established runholders did not take them seriously, and some laughed at them for wanting to take up high country land, but Acland's attitude was that "in the Colonies you always like to see for yourself, and the worse account you hear of unoccupied country, the greater the reason for going to look at it."  In the spring and summer of 1855/56, they started exploring the area.  Both had £2,000 of capital, which was insufficient to buy an established station.  They took up land including Mount Somers, Mount Possession, Mount Peel, Orari Gorge and parts of Hakatere and Mesopotamia, and were the first who put sheep in the high country.  The first station they worked on was Mount Peel from May 1856, and while they prepared the run, they left their sheep with Dr Moorhouse, a brother of William Sefton Moorhouse, on the other side of the Rangitata River.  Their partnership was dissolved in 1862, and Acland retained Mount Peel, which then comprised over 100,000 acres (400 km²).
Between 1865 and 1867, Acland had the Mount Peel homestead built from locally fired bricks. It was probably the first large house in South Canterbury built of permanent materials. The architecture is unusual and it is assumed that Acland brought the plans with him on the return from a visit to England in 1861. Acland's intention was for the house to form the nucleus of a village, but this did not happen. Acland called the house 'Holnicote', after the family property in England.  In September 1984, the homestead was registered with Heritage New Zealand as a Category I heritage item, with registration number 313. In 2010, a recent restoration and structural upgrade won the Canterbury prize of the New Zealand Institute of Architects (NZIA) in the category 'Heritage and Conservation'. The earthquake strengthening was timely, as it was carried out just prior to the 2010 Canterbury earthquake.
John Acland (runholder)