DEATH OF A VETERAN

Taranaki Daily News, 16 July 1929, Page 3

DEATH OF A VETERAN

MR. A. V. HARRISON, AGED 90. ORIGINAL TARANAKI SETTLER. A 90-years-old veteran of the Maori Wars, Mr. Alfred Valentine Harrison, died on Sunday at his son’s residence, Manurewa (says the New Zealand Herald). He was another of the fastdisappearing band of settlers who knew New Zealand in the early forties, having landed at New Plymouth in 1811 in the ship William Bryan. Mr. Harrison was born at Exeter, England, on December 10, 1838, and left for New Zealand two years later with his father and brothers. There were only three white men in Taranaki when they landed and the family lived for some time in raupo huts the Maoris built for them. In 1845 he came to Auckland in a little trading schooner. In those days the Waitemata extended up to Shortland Street and the stream running where Queen Street now is was boarded over at frequent intervals to enable the few settlers to cross from one side to the other. Toward the end of the forties news reached New Zealand of the discovery of rich goldfields in California, and when a ship arrived at Auckland from Sydney on her way to San Francisco Mr. Harrison’s father decided to go north to try his luck with his sons. The party was very successful on the goldfields and by 1852 had amassed nearly £2OOO, a very considerable sum in those days. They returned to New Zealand in 1852 after a disappointing visit td the Australian goldfields. Mr. Harrison then tried his hand at the goldfield at Gabriel’s Gully, Otago, earning an average of £l5 a day for three months. On August 1, 1802, Mr. Harrison married Miss Hannah Dean. With the outbreak of the Maori wars in 1863, he joined the militia and then followed seven years of strenuous campaigning. He took part in many skirmishes and was a member of the force which clashed with Te Kooti’s party near Napier. The only mishap that befel him during the period was a painful accident, resulting in both his legs being badly crushed. He was helping to build a culvert near Napier when a large log rolled over on him. At the conclusion of the Maori wars Mr. Harrison engaged in farming, first in the Taranaki district and later in Hawke’s Bay. Later, farming was varied with gum-digging in the North Auckland district.

He is survived by his widow, four daughters and five sons, while there are 14 grandchildren. The interment took placed at the Papakura cemetery on Monday afternoon.