Pilgrim Fathers Arrival into New Zealand
allycat
An Obituary of interest ... Samuel Gregory HARRIS born 1816 Plymouth, England, died 1897 New Zealand.
From newspapers, 15th August 1902.
By the Wanganui papers we see that this old colonist passed away in the 15th August at the good old age of 81 years. The late Mr Harris arrived in the colony - Wellington - by the ship 'Slaines Castle' in December 1840. He came out with the late Mr Octavius Carrington as one of the survey chainmen for the Plymouth Company, and in company with Messrs. F.A. and O. Carrington, Rogan, and Duppa, surveyors to the Plymouth Company, landed at Moturoa, Taranaki, from the ship 'Brougham' on the 11th February 1841. As Mr Harris was the last survivor of this band of pioneers we give the names of the others of the party, all of whom have proved the 'metal of their pasture' in the noble work of colonising and civilising this fair country:- Harcourt Aubrey, Paines, George Duppa, James Dingle, William Lakeman and Mrs Lakeman-Levitt, Charles Nairn, William Pote and Mrs Pote, and Sam Teague. Mrs F.A. Carrington was also a member of this band of 'Pilgrim Fathers', the forerunners of the many thousands who now occupy this district. The country was at this time a veritable wilderness, and in the graphic language of one of the chainmen ..."The surveyor turned his party loose into the fern like wild pigs". Here after a minute examination of about seven or eight hundred miles of coast, Mr Carrington fixed the site for the future town, to be called New Plymouth after the old town of that name, the headquarters of the Plymouth Company.
The late Mr Harris married soon after his arrival, a daughter of the late William Edgecombe and sister of Mr Chas Edgecumbe of this town, and some years since they celebrated their golden wedding. For many years Mr Harris has been settled in Wanganui where he was a highly respected citizen, and a prominent member of the Wesleyan and other bodies. There will be on view for a few days at Messrs. Bellrigner's shop, Devon Street, a fine old coloured picture a copy of view of "parts of the new Plymouth settlement in the district Taranaki from a drawing taken on board the ship 'Brougham' by George Duppa, Esq." This view shows the country around New Plymouth as it was in 1841.
[Source: From the records of the 'Taranaki Museum']
Comments
Ray on 2006-06-09 06:26:33Samuel Gregory Harris was born 17 July 1816, died 15 August 1902, not 1897. Mary Jane Harris (nee Brown) was born 4 November 1823, died 9 January 1898. Samuel, Mary and Harriet Anne Harding, their 11th child are all burried together in the same plot at the old Wanganui Cemetry. Harriet died 4 Oct 1897 aged 29. - Have photo of grave. Samuel and Mary had 12 children.
allycat on 2006-06-09 11:31:48Dear Ray, thank you for your reply. The above document was completely retyped from a crumbly old piece of paper that my mother-in-law had from the museum (none of the wording being mine).
To add to your information, I have Samuel Gregory HARRIS born Plymouth. Married 26 Jul 1841. My mother-in-law believes that Mary Jane BROWN was adopted by an EDGECOMBE.
Of definite interest to yourself will be the following website link to a family tree of an enormous undertaking going back to the 1500s.
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~scownancestry/sca.html
Just cut 'n paste into your browser. Click on INDEX OF NAMES, click on the letter H, cursor down to HARRIS, Mary Lett.
There is a book in the pipeline by others on the SCOWNs coming out in the future sometime.
Could you please post photo of HARRIS graves in a journal?
Thanks and regards, Al.
Ray on 2006-07-23 23:16:58
allycat on 2007-01-20 03:06:20This is for anyone searching for ancestors that emigrated through Plymouth, England. It is said that at least 100 or so ships went to Australia and 10 for Canada in just one year taking perhaps 15,000 emigrants to the Colonies.
The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History
Click on LINKS page, then AtoZ, then EMIGRATION THROUGH PLYMOUTH.
PeterCampbell on 2008-01-02 08:07:07William and Mrs (Martha) Lakeman mentioned in this report (the Levitt name is an error - Gardner Levitte was another survey assistant) are my gt-gt-gt-grandparents. They were married in Exeter two weeks before leaving for New Zealand, also on the Slain's Castle. While in New Plymouth they had six children; they all emigrated to Australia in 1859 where their eldest daughter, Katherine (my gt-gt-grandmother), married William Love in Melbourne in 1860.
I have gathered a fair amount about the family in New Plymouth, but am always on the lookout for information about them during those first 20 years of the settlement.
allycat on 2008-01-02 15:20:49Dear Peter, Thank you for the correction on the surname LEVITTE.
I have found that once data is shared, more can be obtained. Would you consider journalling your New Plymouth genealogy here? For instance, I know how you can find out about "...those first 20 years of the settlement...".
Alison
(Editor - Queensland, Australia).