HERE BEFORE PILGRIMS

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22432, 20 June 1938, Page 10

HERE BEFORE PILGRIMS

ROMANTIC STORY OF x GILBERT FAMILY BANKS PENINSULA 100 YEARS AGO . s iWiW. ■ > OLDEST NATIVE-BORN INHABITANTS Of the small company already in Canterbury when the First Four Ships brought the pilgrims to Lyttelton in 1850, only two remain. Sons of a Maori princess and an English adventurer from aboard an American whaler, they are two of the most colourful figures living in Canterbury, carrying within their memory all the years of history lying behind the Canterbury settlement to-day. The elder of the two is Mr William Gilbert, of Prebbleton, who was born at Peraki' in 1843 and is now 95. The other is his younger brother Robert, of Christchurch, who was born at Tikau Bay in 1848, and is now in his ninetieth year. A thrilling tale of adventure in which lives were in peril on land and sea is told in the story of the two brothers and their parents. The original William Gilbert, their father, was a runaway English apprentice, who went to America and joined a whaling vessel bound for New Zealand,

After a fierce dispute aboard, in which he nearly lost his life, William Gilbert landed at Port Chalmers and soon afterwards fell in love With - the beautiful Maori princess Te Marino, from. Onawe, sister of the Wairewa chief Takatahara, of Little River. They

married and came north to Banks Peninsula, where they founded one of the earliest of peninsula families-. Messrs William and Robert Gilbert living to-day are, according to the records of the Canterbury Pilgrims' and Early Settlers’ Association, the eldest native-born inhabitants of Canterbury.

Dispute Aboard Whaler William Gilbert, sen., first arrived in Nqw' Zealand in 1835 aboard the American whaler Ajax. Akaroa was made the vessel’s base for a three years’ cruise. The ship left again with a cargo of whalebone and oil for New York and it was on the second, voyage out in 1838 that dramatic incidents aboard led to a strange landing at Port Chalmers. Gilbert and the captain—Captain Middleton—disputed fiercely over the sending of a miscreant apprentice up into the foretop in a freezing atmosphere. Strong words were exchanged and Middleton threatened to put Gilbert in irons. The boy was S sent up, and an hour and a half ; later was unable to come down at • the captain’s order. The boy was brought down in agony. Gilbert became so infuriated that he swore at the captain and took up a broad axe with which he, defied Middleton and his crew. One of the sailors crept behind him and might have overpowered him but a friend, a huge half-caste Indian from Jamaica, known as Jimmy Apes, came to his assistance at a dramatic moment. Gilbert and Apes seized three ancient Queen Anne pieces from the captain’s cabin and took charge of the vessel, acofding to the story retold by Mr Robert Gilbert. Maori Princess The two brought the ship into Port Chalmers, put off a boat with their possessions in it, and ordered two men to take them ashore. They reached land safely and scuttled the boat, leaving the two men to get back to the ship as best they could. The scuttled boat they were later to repair and put to very good use. The natives at the Puketeraki settlement not far from their landing point received the two adventurers warmly, ; but were puzzled to tell what might ibe the nationality of the half-caste (Indian, Apes. Two of the Maoris asj sisted the men to bring the. Scuttled ) boat to the settlement and Mr Gilbert patched it up for use. It was at Puketeraki that Gilbert met Te Marino, sister of the chief Takatahara, of Little River. Takatahara was chief of the defenders of t Onawe. Just before the famous raid ' of Te Rauparaha and his North Island [forces, Te Marino left Onawe to visit i friends in the far south. They stayed [for some time at Arowhenua (Teimuka) and then travelled on to Puke- ’ teraki.

Te Marino after her marriage to William Gilbert came with him back to the north. He repaired the scuttled boat, and they sailed up the coast to the mouth of the Rakaia river. There | the sea travelling ended. They made ' across land on foot to Lake Ellesmere jand then to Peraki and the whaling station. '

The whaler and his Maori wife stayed at Peraki for six or seven years and there William Gilbert, who lives at Prebbleton to-day, was born in 1843. The family later moved to Opukutahi now known as Tikau Bay, where Mr Robert Gilbert was bom. Mr Gilbert, sen., worked vrith Mr Ebenezer Hay. of Pigeon Bay, and a few years later went to live at Pigeon Bay. Early Years at Okain’s In 1853 the family moved to Okaln’s Bay, whore Mr Gilbert built houses lor himself and Mr Thacker. Mr Thacker Obtained a contract from the Ppovin•lal Council to form a bridle track from Okain’s Bay to Robinson’s Bay. work was'-given to Mr Gilbert,

and with the assistance of his two sons, William,and Robert, he did it, and received 20 acres of land as payment.

Mr Gilbert, sen., lived the remainder of his life at Okain’s Ray, and there built many boats, used for transport of goods and passengers from the peninsula to Lyttelton. Mr Robert Gilbert worked in the bush and became an expert axeman. In 1872 he made a journey to Christchurch, travelling to Sumner in one of the boats the family built, and swimming ashore there to walk to the township of Christchurch. He came to Christchurch to live in 1910, and has lived here ever since.

Mr William Gilbert travelled to the West Coast gold diggings and later to the' North Island. Later he traded between the peninsula bays and Lyttelton. The two brothers are still enjoying remarkably good health. Mir Robert Gilbert is particularly active and still travels about a good deal. There are also living in Christchurch another brother,. Mr Daniel Gilbert, and a sister. Mrs T. Steele, both of whom are more than 80 years old and are living at Papanui. They were born after the arrival of the First Four Ships.