Whaling was on the decline by 1840 & whaling was tough ,hard life
William in his dealing with many people thru whaling met up with a fella named Johnny Jones
In 1838 he bought a whaling station and land near Waikouaiti, and also purchased a large area of land from Ngai Tahu chief "Bloody Jack" Tuhawaiki, amounting to a considerable part of what is now North and Central Otago. Much of this purchase was later annulled when South Island lands were ceded to the Crown. After long wrangling, Jones was eventually allowed to keep some 11,000 acres (45 km2). He established Cherry Farm also knows as Hawksbury Farm in 1838, He concentrated on food production at Cherry Farm (where in 1862 he built a flour mill), to supply not only the Waikouaiti community but also Dunedin
In 1840, Jones' Waikouaiti station became the organised settlement in the eastern South Island known as Matanaka Farm. About a dozen families from Sydney were settled close to the station as a farming community, providing food for the station, growing crops and raising sheep and cattle.
Are the oldest farm buildings in New Zealand take a look here
William worked for Johnny Jones on his farm, this type of work would be more up William's ally than whaling, being he already had skills from life back in England and while in Van Dieman's land.
Johnny Jones was having financial issues and could not pay his workers he paid William with a cow,which William had shipped from Waikouaiti to Otago Heads.
In the booklet "Tangled Threads"written by Celia Geary it states this " according to his grandson(William's grandson) James Geary, William leased a piece of land from Karatai Te Uaite and cleared bush.
Afterwards he purchased 100 acres from Tairoa." Apparently Henry Crooks drew up this agreement.
Pilot Boatman Henry Crooks
copied from Hardwick Knights book on Otago Peninsula