Barry Smith wrote on 23 November last year:
... On my mothers side her grandfather was an American seaman, Charles Franklin Smith Burt, known in the family as 'Yankee Harry'. Yankee Harry was born in Northampton, Massachucetts. He was said to have fought in the American Civil War and made his way to New Orleans where he saw slaves bought and sold. He became associated with the shipping of cotton to Europe and eventually made his way to Australia on an American ship. Here his ship?s company became bankrupt and he was effectively stranded in Australia. He signed on to the Betty Parlback to sail to New Zealand and he and a Negro were said to have had the captain and first mate under lock and key when they arrived in Port Nicholson, Wellington in 1863. The captain, apparently, had been knocking the cabin boy about. They didn?t like their chances as mutineers however and swam ashore and hid in the hills above Naenae. They were searched for by the police for a while but, after the ship sailed on, he and his Negro shipmate came out of the bush and he started building houses in the Hutt Valley. He was a ships carpenter and his tool chest is still in the family

this is on the site Nautical Ancestors and has a large photo of Charles

Thank you Ngairedith. Barry Smith is my cousin, family members have attempted to trace his origins in USA over the years . We have a record of him and his family in the 1850 census Northampton, Hampton, also a map of Northampton 1860 with the family property marked on North Street (since renamed). There is a certificate signed by James S Whitney ,Collector of the District of Boston and Charlestown, certifying him as an American seaman dated 24 September 1860. From Paperspast Shipping Intelligence I learned the 'Betty Perlbach' arrived in Wellington 23 April 1863.
Charles Franklin Smith BURT married Elizabeth Ann Avery, daughter of George and Charlotte Avery. Taita, Wellington.