HISTORIC SPOT

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22544, 11 April 1935, Page 17

HISTORIC SPOT

WHERE NEW ZEALAND’S FOUNDERS SLEEP GRAVES OF THE GREAT Hardly two minutes’ walk from the hubbub of Parliament, and from the traffic of Latnbton quay, is the hillside cemetery at the top of Bolton street. This is no gloomy graveyard (says the Dominion); it is a cheerful, sunny place of flowers and green grass, shady trees, birds’ songs, and the laughter of children playing. It is a spot that should be dear to New Zealanders, for men who made the country’s early history are buried there-—Maori and pakeha, soldier, politician and early settler. New Zealand has no Westminster Abbey in which to house her own illustrious dead, but perhaps it is more appropriate that they should sleep in the open air, under the sky. ' Edward Gibbon Wakefield lies there. The originator of New Zealand colonisation, organiser of the New Zealand Company, he died at Wellington in 1862, and is commemorated by a simple recumbent slab of white marble, on which are carved the words: “In memory of Edward Gibbon Wakefield, who died on May 16, 1862, at the age of 66 years.” With him are three others of his family, and one of these is more elaborately remembered. Alongside the marble plaque that marks Colonel William Wakefield’s grave stands in an upright, wooden frame the original stone on which his biography is engraved. The stone is unfortunately cracked transversely, but is otherwise in good repair. The inscription states that the stone is dedicated to the memory of William Wakefield, the first principal agent of the New Zealand Company, colonel of the first Regiment of Lancers in the British Auxiliary Forces in Spain, Knight of the Tower and Sword of Portugal, and Knight of San Fernando of Spain. Colonel Wakefield, continues the inscription, was the fourth son of Edward Wakefield, esquire, of Burnham, in the County of Essex in England. In the year 1823 he acted as secretary to the English Minister at Turin. In 1828 he travelled through Austria, Russia and Lapland, and from 1832 to 1838 served with distinction in the English Regiment of Lancers engaged in the constitutional cause throughout the civil wars in Portugal and Spain. In 1839 he led the first body of English colonists to the shores of New Zealand. “ Colonel Wakefield conducted the affairs of the New Zealand Company through all their difficult and varying relations with the Government, _ the settlers and the Natives with eminent temper, moderation and prudence, with great sagacity, judgment and ability. In private life he was esteemed for urbanity of manners, and kindliness of disposition. He was hospitable, liberal and unassuming. His hand was ever open to assist the poorer colonists In the evil days of the infancy of the settlement, generously but judiciously, without ostentation as without indifference, “He died at Wellington on September 19, 1848, in the forty-eighth year of his age, and was followed to the grave by a large body of the settlers and of Natives from all the surrounding district.” A curious feature is that the horizontal marble, placed on the grave in recent years, states that William Wakefield “died on September 27, 1848, aged 47 years.” The Dictionary of National Biography, as well as the biographies of Edward Gibbon Wakefield, by Mies Irma O’Connor, and by Dr R. Garnett, agree that Colonel Wakefield died on September 19, and the Spectator of the following day confirms them. The upright stone was framed and set in its present position by the Old Settlers’ Association, but their secretary, Mr W. Toomath, stated that they had ha.l nothing to do with the newer stone, and attributed the error to the Department of Internal Affairs. Another interesting grave is that of Bugler William Allen, who died when the Maoris commanded by Te Karamu, acting at Rangihaeatu’s instigation, attacked Boulcott’s Farm at Taita. The Maoris rushed the picket at dawn; Bugler Allen, struck down by a blow that almost severed his right arm at the shoulder, picked up his bugle with his left hand and again attempted to sound the alarm; a second blow killed him before he could do so. Many of the early colonists seem to have died by violence. “Drowned when crossing Lake Wairarapa ” appears on several headstones. On a stone almost overgrown with moss is written the name of a youth of 19 years and 6 months who belonged to the band of his Majesty’s Sixty-fifth Regiment, and whose death was caused by the bite of a shark when bathing in Lambton Harbour. Another stone bears the sinister inserption “ Murdered.” Side by side with the pakeha graves are those of a number of Maoris. Such inscriptions as “ Tamate Te Matoha, E Mate Ki Pipitea Ite 80 Hanuere, 1870; Ona Tan E 80,” recall Natives who, before Waterloo was fought, were fighting and fishing and cooking in primitive ovens, in a village that is now otherwise forgotten. The student of history will find much that is interesting and much that is romantic among these weatherworn stones. The place has a charm of its own; there are many attractive views to be found there, not least the one when, looking uphill between the treetops, one sees the statue of Richard Seddon, looking out over Wellington.