Fredrick Samuel Spinks

   

   

In 1863 my great great grandfather (whose life story I have just discovered), a gunner with the Royal Artillery, after serving in the Crimea and elsewhere, was sent to New Zealand to take part in what was then called the Maori wars.

Maori had been in New Zealand since the 14th century at least, arriving from Polynesia in giant canoes. They rapidly spread over much of the territory, benefitting from the temperate climate, fertile soils and abundant wildlife. But disputes over land soon gave way to tribal warfare.

In the early 1830s European settlers moved in, lured by promises of large plots of land. The outcome was inevitable.

The 1840 Treaty of Waitangi aimed at pacifying matters, but was obviously skewed in the Europeans’ favour (not least because of translation problems).

Violence towards the pakeha (non-Maori) broke out again, using muskets obtained by various means. Forces were sent in from Britain, including my great great gandfather, who set off with his wife Ann and two small children in tow.

According to (Auntie) Jue, one of their children born after their return to Britain (and who used to live at 22 Havelock), Ann's parents (farmers) had been opposed to the wedding. A soldier was not a good catch: poor pay and conditions, and likely to die young leaving his wife and family with nothing.

We were intrigued and decided to abandon our classical tourist itinerary through North Island. We re-routed through New Plymouth, in the Taranaki region, where he was stationed "at the foot of Mt Egmont”, a  2500m snow capped volcano.

The only clues we had were that their son Alfred, aged 2, was buried in Te Henui cemetery in New Plymouth, so we supposed they must have been stationed there.

Thanks to photos and maps from the wonderful Puke Ariki library/museum we located both cemetery and barracks, and had a glimpse of what their life was like in this still very small settlement.

Unfortunately Alfred's grave was no longer visible in the beautifully tended old cemetery.  A poor soldier would not have been able to afford imported stone, and the simple wooden cross would not have survived the rain and wind or recent vandalism (proof that grievances have still not been settled).

The corrugated iron barracks, erected on a flattened hill, the site of a Maori ‘pa’, or palissaded village, have also been dismantled.

Frederick survived several skirmishes and battles, for which he received recognition on his return to Britain in 1867, when locally formed militias took over.

Did they consider settling there ?