MAORI WAR VETERAN

Taranaki Daily News, 12 November 1929, Page 15

MAORI WAR VETERAN

GRAND OLD MAN OF 90 SURVIVOR OF A MASSACRE. MURDERS AT WHITE CLIFFS. LAST TO SEE REV. J. WHITELEY. Exciting tales of the troublous times in Taranaki during the Maori wars are related by Mr. Edward y/illiam James Gregory, of 3 Seymour Street, Ponsonby, who attained the age of 90 on Saturday (says the Auckland Herald). This grand old pioneer settler and soldier, who, in spite of his advanced years, retains a surprising memory and an active physique, was one of the famous band of military settlers who were recruited in Australia and brought to New Zealand in the ’sixties. He helped to build the historic Sentry Hill redoubt in Taranaki, which was the'scene of a sanguinary action in 1864, and was one of the few survivors of the White Cliffs massacre in 1869. Of Quaker ancestry, Mr. Gregory was born at Y atton, near Bristol, on November 9, 1839. As a young man he joined the First Somerset Volunteer Artillery Corps, but finding the even tenor of life in peaceful England too monotonous for his adventurous nature, he took passage in the ship Devonshire - for Australia. Melbourne was then flooded with disappointed gold-seekers, and when the New Zealand Government sent Colonel Pitt over to recruit 4000 or 5000"•‘soldier-set-r.i tiers,” with the promise of receiving‘free grants of land after three years’ service, young Gregory jumped at the chance..: BUILDER OF REDOUBT.

Mr. Gregory, then a sergeant, landed with a force of soldier-settlers at Sentry ’Hill, on the north Taranaki coast, in 1863, and two days later the historic redoubt was built. Shortly after he had left the district the Hauhau attack was repulsed. Mr. Gregory also helped to build the White Cliffs redoubt at this time, and he relates how a party of 30 men were ambuscaded on the beach by a large force of Maoris ensconced on the cliffs, which gave the place its name. “It was a pretty hot corner,” he said, “but we got off without a casualty by dashing in parties of five to the ‘lee of the cliffs, where the enemy could not reach us with their rifles, and there we waited until Ensign von Rotter arrived with relief.” The massacre at White Cliffs was described by Mr. Gregory as though it had happened yesterday. “It was after I had received my discharge, and I had taken up the land granted me in terms of the soldier-settler scheme. My place was about five miles from the redoubt, and I was living there with a friend, not being married at that time. There were only two Europeans in the redoubt, John

Milne and Edward Richards, the rest raving been withdrawn by the order of Colonel Haultain, who was then Minister of Defence. It was a great mistake, because if only a handful of armed men had been left behind the massacre could never have happened. A GRUESOME MASSACRE. “Of the actual murders I was not a witness. The Maoris came down from Mokau, some 18 miles aw-ay, where we could always see their fires burning, on the morning of February 28, and lured Milne and Richards down to the beach, on the pretext that they had some pigs there for sale. Both men were tomahawked on the way. Going back to the settlement they met Lieutenant Gascoigne, who was also farming in the place, and walked with him to the fort. As he was opening the door he was struck down from behind, and his wife and three children were similarly dis-' patched. :

- “This happened on Saturday morning,” said Mr. Gregory. “On Saturday afternoon my mate and I received a visit from the Rev. John Whiteley, who was destined to be the last victim. He came to our house on the way to service at White Cliffs, and had afternoon tea, leaving about six o’clock in the evening for the settlement, with the assurance that he would be back the "next morning for breakfast. That was the last I or anyone else saw of him. In fact, I was the last living person to shake hands with him, and I held his horse while he mounted. Twenty minutes later he was killed. The story was that on reaching the redoubt and finding the people massacred, he denounced the perpetrators of the deed in unmeasured terms, and was murdered for his pains.

GOVERNMENT HELD TO BLAME. “Strange to say, my companion and I remained in ignorance of the tragedy for two whole days. Saturday night and all Sunday it rained, and for the most part we kept indoors, as it was too miserable out of doors. Neighbours told us of the massacre on Monday morning, and my ehum went out and saw the bodies. The stockade and the whares nearby were burned to the ground, and nothing but the charred remains were to be seen. I gave evidence at the inquest, and, with the other settlers, left White Cliffs for the next settlement. Colonel Staff then came out from New Plymouth with 400 men to protect the settlers.”

At the inquest Mr. Gregory stated that if 25 men had been stationed at the block-house it would have been a check upon the natives,., and the murders would never have been committed. The jury concurred in this view, and in a rider condemned the Government for failing to provide adequate protection. During the two years following the White Cliffs murders, Mr. Gregory served in the native contingent at Urenui, under Captain T. Good, and subsequently acted as colour-sergeant in the militia under Captain (later Colonel) Messenger, after whom Mount Messenger is named. When the war w'as over he married and took up land at Drury, which he subsequently sold to the late Mr. Arthur Yates. The property is now the seed farm of Arthur Yates and Company. He retired 25 years ago, and came to live in Seymour Street, where he has remained ever since.

Mr. Gregory on Friday was busy mowing his lawn. His garden is neatly kept, and he grows all the vegetables required for household use. Mrs. Gregory is 82 years of age, and there are three daughters, Mrs. H. J. Beeche, of Hamilton, Mrs. J. S. Millar, and Mrs. S. Maddaford, of Auckland-