A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20307, 15 July 1929, Page 13

A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

iIVAR oy SEA AND LAm EXPERIENCES AT THE CRIMEA NAVY IN CHINESE WATERS. PIONEER OF NEW ZEALAND. '• H the nee of 13 I went to sea. be'callP*o the doctor said that if I didn't got a. good long sea voyage I'd never live to he a man, but I think I've managed that all right," said Mr. F. .7. Lawrence, of Onphuuga, a hale pioneer of 88, who, with M ri s. Lawrence, will celebrate his diamond wedding on duty 25. In spito of his advanced age, Mr. Lawrence is a keen gardener, and i? a local authority on the cultivation of both flowers and vegetables. Mrs. Lawrence, who is five years his junior, is also of surprisingly youthful appearance, and both she and her husband enjoy the. best of health. Born at Southampton on Christmas Day, 1340, Mr. Lawrence was one of the 21 children of tho late Jonathan Lawrence, the owner of the "Barley Man" hotel and coach-house in the town of West Cowes, ]sje of Wight. At the age. of 15, liti was sent, to sea aboard a collier, as his father wished to dissuade him from becoming a

yailor, but the first taste cultivated in tho boy a strong desire to travel and see tho world.

At the time he went to sea, the Crimean War was in progress, and the Government chartered the collier on which young Lawrence was employed to take stores to ,<eba?topol and bring back prisoners. On arrival there, tho collier lay in tho roadstead out of range of the cutis, and tho prisoners were brought off to her by 11.M.5. Fury. Mr. Lawrence was present when the last shot was fired in tho Crimean War, and saw the, Russian flag pulled down from the fort at Sebasfopol and replaced by the Union Jack and tho French Tricolour. Service in tho Navy. "The sight, of the bombardment made, me long to be a sailor, and so I joined the Navy, where I served for over four rears," recalled Mr. Lawrence. "I received my training on Nelson's famous vessel, the Victory, joining her at Portsmouth in 1856. 1 was all through tho China War of 1857 8, in 11.M.5. Fury. Sailing to .Plymouth in H.M. steam sloop Inflexible, we joined 11.M.5. Fury, a sistership, which took rut to China, where 1 joined 11.M.5. Elk, the only sailing-ship in tho fleet. The Elk was at that time commanded by Captain Hamilton, who was later killed at the Gate Pa.

''l was in several engagements, including tho bombardment and capture of tho city of Canton, the second time the citywas taken. During the war there was very little sickness in the fleet, but, 110

sooner was peace proclaimed than cholera and various kinds of fever broke out. I missed it all, although there were only half a dozen men on the ship who did not become ill. We were then packed off to recuperate, and when we got to Amoy, in the northern part of China, cholera was \\orse than it had been at Canton. The natives were dying by the thousand, and so wo didn't stay there any longer than we could h"!p. We were ordered t" the Australian station, which included New Zealand, and when wo arrived at Auckland in 1359, I left the service." Mr. Lawrence has vivid memories of the early days in New Zealand. His first v.orl; hero was as a farm hand at Bit; Muddy Creek, on the property which was then owned by Mr. Henry Smithers, and is now known as "Laingholm." Ho spent three years there, partly on the farm but mostly on the river, with his cutter, the Water Lily. Maori War Experiences. "Then the war broke out and at, the first rumour I joined Captain F. M. P. Brookfield's company of Onehunga volunteers," said Mr. Lawrence. "A month later 1 joined tho Third Waikato Regim«nl. Our first share in the war was at Kennedy's farm at (~'levedort, where two of the sons of Mr. Trust, the manager of the farm, were shot and tomahawked by the Maoris."

Mr. Lawrence later joined a boat corps which had been formed for tho work of delivering supplies at the camps all the way up the river as far as Mercer, but after the fall of Orakau he returned to the forces, joining No. 6 Company, with headquarters at Cambridge. Colonel Lyons was then jn command and he was known

as "Wingie," having only one eye. It «as at pukekura Redoubt, that the company met with disaster. The redoubt was set on fire bv a soldier. It happened that the magazine was to windward, but the rest of the hutments were totally dest roved.

At the end of the war Mr. Lawrence settled down at what is now Cambridge, and shortly after married Mrs. Beresford, widow of another member of the same iet;imenK Mrs. Lawrence was the. second white woman married at Cambridge. Raids by the. Maoris. Shortly afterwards, the Maoris made a raid on the district ami the Lawrence familv was awakened at dead of night by ;i Mi ss O'N'eil. daughter ot a neighbour. The women and children were hurried into Cambridge, but. Mr. O'Xeil and Mr. Lawrence, in spite of orders to the contrary, i ut a tunnel into a. patch of gorse near the house and rigger] up a, tent. Every morning a party of cavalry rode round io make sure that there were no Maoris lurking in tho vicinity, and on one occasion a trooper fired at Mr. Lawrence where he was hidden near his tent, mistaking him for a Maori. The Maoris were eventually quietened by the late Mr. James Maekie, who entered into a pact with the famous Kewi Maniapoto, who guaranteed that there should be no more attacks. .After rnanv other exciting adventures with hostile Maoris in the Cambridge district. Mr. Lawrence moved to the 1 e Aroha golrlfielrl, where be opened dining moms. At the conclusion of the gold rush he spent eleven years on the land at Jlerekino arid during that period was three times elected as tho representative of the Wliangapehi riding on the Hokiantra I 'ounty ('onncil. Some 7,0 years ago the family came to Auckland, and after several years as s".xtnn at Purewa Mr. Lawrence established an orchard at Henderson. About ten years ago he went to Onehuuga, wheio lie and Mi's. Lawrence are now living with their daughter, Mrs. L. M. Brown, at. 3. Alfred Street. Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence have four children living, 16 grandchildren and eight great grandchildren.