A WELLINGTON PIONEER.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 630, 6 October 1909, Page 8

A WELLINGTON PIONEER.

■ ";; DEATH; OP ME. BOBEET HUNTEE. ; ; Thefe.is' a residence' in upper Willis:Street made:conspicuous by, it structure in' the !grounds that resembles a watch-tower:' From i the'glazed apartment perched on'the-top' a magnificent view of Te Aro flat'and' the.harbour is ■ obtainablet-a" : view ' only;'' enjoyed-' by those redding/on the 'slopes of the' hills well '' in.' the ..background. ;. 'This' '■' unconventional. structure-stands in-the' groundsi'of Mr. Robert ;Hunter, 'one'"'of 'WeUirigton's"'earliest-''6ettler's; : who died'on Mflnday evening;- 'and' whose ire-. jcreation>it -yias latter■ year's ito, mount to ' the- eyrie,: and. with 'glass- in : hand gaze on. the scene: familiar to him-ih'-its: varying 'phases' seventy yearsi';Mr; Hunter Arrived in-Wellington by the''ship Bnke 'of-RoxDufgh ;inMB4O, being 'then but seven years' of 1 age, the 'youngest '-sbn'of- a 'fattilv; of .''twelve-: who' ar-'.rived.-'by_:that -vessel. His. fither was' Mr.' . George ■ 'Hunter,'"' agent' lin', those'-ld'ays '■■ for'. .the •Willis; line • of- ships, and one 'of- the ' Advisqry Council!'to the New 'Zealand Land- Company, | initiated by ;■ Mr; Edward Gibbon Wakefield, of which he'was- also'; a'business-agent. At the ■ outset ! he, in' common ■ with" others' who ■'' arrived in 1840, established : himself-'at Petone (then known' as Britannia), erecting close :o" the beach five stores and; &■ landing stage. 'When, after, several stormy meetings; it was decided'to'shift the'settlement to the'southern shores of the'harbour, Mr. Hunter /established his .place of business at-day''Point, now 'occupied by. -Messrs., Stewart Dawson' and 'Col's block' corner of.• lambton and Willis -Street;-- In-1842 adisastrons.'fire swbpt away ■ the . line;, of •primitive ■ structures' 'which overlooked "the beach,"' and ■ • amongst 'them went ;the premises of Messrs. Bethnne aid Hunter. They-then shifted their quarters to t building .which' had been erected "on what as then the To Aro beach; but'is now known 'as Old Customhouse Quay, at the rear of the ppera House, and it says something for'' the builders of those remote days when it is noted'that the building still exists,' and is'iri use by the- firm. Mf. George ■ Hunter - became the first-Mayor of Wellington, during such time 1 as his son ' was attending Einnimore's School.- Fori a'time Mr. Eobort Hunter lived at New Plymouth .(where his sister:'married Archdeacon Govett);' and'on-'his return to Wellington ho joined- his father's'firm, becoming a.partner.somo thirty.'years ago. ■ His'wifo, a daughter-of the late, Major Paul, died many years ago; He leaves two sons, both of- whom have been conneotcd with the old firm-(whiah represented. Lloyd's from the genesis of Wellington) for .some, years, The deceased gentle™n. was for somo years a member of the vestry of St. Peters.-*;."