John King (1809-1862) by D Bush King
Regrettably, there remains a very great deal about our ancestors which cannot be recovered so any attempt to explain will be a snapshot, often based on inference and supposition. In this paper I seek to introduce John King, my first ancestor to settle in New Zealand and second Great-Grandfather on my paternal side. Relying on written records where they exist, and material which records contemporary events, I will build a picture which will hopefully give us some insight into how and why the family settled in Wellington, what challenges they had to contend with, and how they established themselves so that John’s descendants can better understand who they are and why.
Family Origins
John was the second son of James and Maria (nee Melliss) King, born in London 19 June 1809, twin brother to Richard. The boys were christened on 26 September 1809 in Old Church, St Pancras, London1. Richard unfortunately died in December 1810.2 James was a Civil Servant who worked for the Office of Woods and Forests and, at least in 1811, the family was living at 21 Tavistock Place, Bloomsbury3. By all accounts the family would have been reasonably well off.
An advertisement in 1820 listing the sale of the family home indicates it was located in a
well-to-do area. With five bedrooms and 6 children perhaps James and Maria were looking for larger accommodation. 4 No school records have been found but John must have had the advantage of a sound education which lead him into a position in the law. John is listed in the Court of Chancery Roll being admitted as a solicitor on 10 May 1836 at which time he was living in Pleasant Row, Pentonville5.
1 Parish Baptism Register, Old Church St Pancras, p 245 and also Pallot.s Christenings 1780-1837
John's Baptism record.jpg2 Richard died at 18 months old and was buried at Old Church, St Pancras on 18 December 1810. (Frederick Teague Cannick
Manuscripts Volume 3, page 38, Camden Library)
3 Holden.s 1811 London Directory records a James King Esq. Assumed to be equivalent to 36 Tavistock place in 2009 following renumbering in 1938 by Camden Borough Council.
4 Newspaper advertisement:
'Genteel Family Residence, Tavistock Place - By Rist and Croggin, at Garrayway's, on Wednesday, June 7, at 12, unless an acceptable offer should be in the mean time made by private contract. A Most excellent and substantial well -finished
Family Dwelling -house, situate No. 4 Tavistock-place, near Tavistock-square, the most desirable part of London, and in the immediate vicinity of the squares and the New-road, adapted to the reception of a family of respectability, and containing 6
bedrooms, 2 lofty drawing-rooms, hall, with stone staircase, spacious dining-room, morning parlour and every requisite domestic arrangement; a lease will be granted for 21 years, at a moderate rent. To be viewed, and particulars had by
application to Rist and Croggin, auctioneers and appraisers, 64, Cornhill.'
ref: The Times, 29 May 1820, p.3e (Times Digital Archive)
5 Court of Chancery Roll 1824-1836, fol 96, C216/24, National Archives, London. In a letter to Governor Grey, John states that he was articled in 1827 [Outwards Letters from the Colonial Secretary of New Munster 1846-47, NM 10/6, folio 91, Archives New Zealand, Wellington.]
Figure 1: Extract from St Pancras Parish Register of Baptisms 1802-1809
John married Sarah Maria Bush, daughter of James and Catherine Bush, on 4 November 1826 at Saint John Hackney Parish Church. The Intention to Marry record shows Sarah being of the parish, a spinster of 21 years or upwards. John, from the Parish of St Pancras was likewise noted as being 21 years or upwards when in fact he would have been around 17 years old.6 The reason for this “deception” may be explained by the birth of their first daughter Maria 6 months later on 21 May 1827. Maria was baptised at Saint John Hackney on 25 May 1827.
6 Intention to marry dated 4 November 1826 – Parish Register Saint John Hackney
"Appeared personally Sarah Bush of the Parish of Saint John Hackney in the County of Middlesex, a spinster of the age of twenty one and upwards and prayed a Licence for the solemnization of Matrimony in the Parish Church of Saint John
Hackney aforesaid between her and John King of the parish of Saint Pancras in the County of Middlesex, a bachelor also of the age of twenty one years and upwards and made Oath that she believeth there is no impediment of kindred or Alliance,
or of any other lawful cause nor any suit commenced in any Ecclesiastical Court to bar or hinder the proceeding of the said Matrimony, according to the tenor of such licence. And she further made Oath that she the appearer hath had her usual place of abode within the said Parish of Saint John Hackney for the space of fifteen days last past.
Signed X mark of Sarah Bush
7 General Record Office London, Births, Pancras, 1, p 217, Dec 1839 Qtr
8 General Record Office London, Deaths, Pancras, 1, p 198, Dec 1839 Qtr
9 The other intermediate passenger was Mr W(aring) Taylor
10 James had stocks which he sold in 1818 valued at £6,500 according to an article in the Times (26 August 1818) and again £4,900 in 1820 (The Times 17 November 1820).
11 1841 Census - HO107; Piece 686; Book: 14; Civil Parish: St Pancras; County: Middlesex; Enumeration District: 14; Folio: 11; Page: 17; GSU roll: 438802.
Eldest son James Alexander was born in 1832 and baptised at Saint James’ Church Clerkenwell on 9 December 1832. The following year on 8 October daughter Sarah was born and on 2 April 1835 daughter Catherine was born. Sarah and Catherine were both baptised at Saint James Clerkenwell on 27 December 1835. Second son John was born 30 June 1838 and baptised at Pentonville Chapel, still in the Parish of St Pancras, on 12 August 1838. Georgina was born sometime in 18397, was baptised at old Church Saint Pancras on 30 September 1839 but died that same year8.
By the time of the 1841 Census (held 6 June 1841) John and his family were living at 4 Weston Place, St Marylebone, London. Present were: John King, 30, Clerk, Sarah King, 35 Maria, 14 James, 9 Sarah, 8 Catherine, 6 John, 2 [listed as a female] N K, 1 week
Also resident in the house were three servants including a nurse. The youngest child was not named and listed as a female, but with the age of 1 week old it has to be son Thomas who was born 1 June 1841 (my Great-grandfather on my paternal side). On Thomas’ christening record on 4 July 1841 at Old Church St Pancras, John’s occupation was given as Solicitor’s Clerk.
Family Matters in Wellington, New Zealand
Within four months of Thomas’ christening John found himself on board the Martha Ridgeway with 234 other passengers bound for New Zealand. The ship was commanded by Capt. Henry W Webb. Departing from Liverpool at 3.00pm on 5 November 1841, John was travelling as an Intermediate cabin passenger meaning he had paid his own way.9 Was he lured by the exaggerated advertising by the New Zealand Company to start a new life in a new colony?
Were his prospects in London seen to be somewhat constrained? His father and mother were aging and his father had already cashed in investments.10 Still living at the family home in 1841 with James and Maria were John’s four surviving sisters, all unmarried, and two younger brothers (one, Edmund, was later described in the 1851 census record as a ‘lunatic’) along with three servants.11 Was the fact that John and Sarah’s daughter Georgina, born in 1839 and dying the same year, a factor in deciding to start a new life in a new country?
Whatever the reason, the decision to leave behind a wife with 6 children ranging from 14
years to 5 months old would not have been made lightly. Did Sarah have any say? Why did John’s father James write a new will in November 1841 making special provision for Sarah and her children?
Perhaps the excitement of exploration and travel to the southern hemisphere was an
attraction? John’s maternal grandparents had lived on the Island of St Helena, his grandfather John being an Assistant Surgeon with the East India Company from 1812 until his death on the Island in 1820, including during the time Napoleon Bonaparte was incacerated there.
The potential offer of land to new residents most probably would not have been significant for John even though the basis of the New Zealand Company, headed by Edward Gibbon Wakefield, was to encourage “moneyed gentlemen” to invest their wealth in land, to become gentleman farmers using the new settlers to work the land. With little or no farming experience, John’s main motive would have been to see if he could pursue a legal career in the fledgling colony and his later actions certainly attest to this.
John disembarked at Wellington on 30 March 1842 after nearly five months afloat.12 Having left the northern winter where the vessel was “detained for about a month in the Irish Channel by head winds and bad weather”, the Martha Ridgeway had to spend “a few days beating about Cook’s Straits (sic); but the inconvenience was trifling compared with that suffered on the English coast”.13 There were 21 deaths on the voyage, eleven of which were caused by dysentery.14
12 New Zealand Gazette and Spectator, Saturday April 2 1841. 13 Ibid.
14 In spite of the deaths, the voyage was a happy one going by a letter in The Nelson Examiner on 9 April 1841 recording the appreciation of passengers with an acknowledgement from Captain Webb printed in the same paper 23 April 1841
15 Attributed to Capt W Mein-Smith, New Zealand Company Surveyor
16 Ward, 1975, p 106
As a cabin passenger John would have had to arrange accommodation for himself on shore most probably in one of the Hotels like the Britannia or Barrett’s rather than using the New Zealand Company facilities. What provisions did he bring with him? Did he have a tent and did he know how to cook for himself – after all he did not have his servants now.
Wellington in 1842 was a small but well established settlement described as “having the best harbour, the best position, with more available and better land than any other part of New Zealand.”15 John would have been greeted by bush clad hills and a sparsely settled
community in distinct contrast to what he had been use to in London.
While the European population was about 3,000 in Wellington and the immediate
environment16 the presence of Maori at Te Aro and Pipitea Pa (in Thorndon) would have been another feature of Wellington which would have been new to John. Life would have been tough. Ward records that the winter weather in 1842, “when storms and tempests prevailed” meant people were often soaked to the skin and had to remain under cover “for weeks”.
People were “half starved” and some, who were in good circles in England, had parted with everything and were leading miserable and degrading lives, skulking in the bush and drowning their sorrows in drink when able. Gross immorality was reported and the prison population of Wellington, “huddled together in a wretched Maori building”, numbered 60 people.
18 John is recorded on the Roll of Barristers and Solicitors in the Supreme Court of New Zealand at No 3 behind Charles Baird Izard and Alfred de Bath Brandon. His date of admission was 10 Sep 1842 although enrollment on the roll was 10 January 1862
and rather than his signature there was a note that he died 5 June 1862
19 Ward, op. cit., p 376 20 New Zealand Gazette, 17 December 1842, p.3b.
21 Philip Haythornwaite writes in his book Wellington's Specialist Troops (Osprey Publishing Ltd, London, 1988) pages 35-36 of the English system of Commisaries:
The army's commissariat was run by the Treasury and commissaries were thus civilians outside military discipline, which in part explains the failings of the system. Totally untrained for active service and beset by countless clerical regulations, it is not surprising that many commissariat officers were inefficient, or that many were dismissed for peculation … Many were appointed through patronage by Treasury officials, leading to countless complaints.
22 New Zealand Colonist and Port Nicholson Advertiser, 24 January 1843, p.2.
23 Only John.s name is recorded but his daughter Maria.s death certificate would corroborate the family's arrival in New Zealand about this time also.
24 See Alice, Lady Lovat, 1914, p 14
John must have risen above these deprivations. He was listed on the 1842 Burgess Roll for Wellington Borough, established for an election on 3 October 1842. His profession was recorded as Solicitor from Te Aro. Court records show he was admitted to the Supreme Court on 10 September 184218, the first sitting of which took place on 4 October 1842.19 Te Aro Flat was the more commercial and seemingly lower class end of town with Thorndon being the ‘official’ end with the immigration and military barracks, Colonel William Wakefield’s house, and Barrett’s Hotel.
John was appointed Acting Commissary-General on 14 December 184220 a position which was confined to the legal profession; the notice in the Gazette records him being a ‘Solicitor of the Supreme Court.’ The Commissariat was not part of the army but under the control of the Treasury. Their job was to supply the army with what it needed. They were appointed to work with army units but were not subject to military discipline. This is the only record that would suggest John had any military inclination; perhaps it was an expedience on his part to ensure an income.21
John was absent from the 1843 Burgess Roll as he would have left New Zealand at some time during that year to go back to England. He was present at a meeting with the Governor at Barrett’s Hotel on 21 January 1843 along with 82 other “Gentlemen” from Wellington, including 6 “Native Chiefs”, one of whom, Pomare, was listed as being of the Chatham Islands.22
Records show John returned to New Zealand as a cabin passenger on board the "Theresa" on 23 April 1844, having departed from Gravesend, London on 27 November 1843. This would again suggest John paid his own way and one has to presume his family returned with him23 Frederick Weld (later Sir Frederick, a Prime Minister of New Zealand) and Frederick Jerningham were also passengers on this sailing.
The shipboard diary record of Frederick Weld is both illuminating and informative. Food,
especially after the sheep and pigs had been killed, was “not only not luxurious, but not even over plentiful”. Even fried porpoise liver was looked upon as a welcome addition to the bill of fare.24 Drinking water “could have been smelt a mile off” but was regarded by the Ship’s Master as wholesome. Off the Azores the ship was chased by a pirate brig flying Danish colours and on Christmas night fire broke out on board.
Calling in first to New Plymouth on 18 March 1844 the Theresa nearly ran onto rocks in a gale of wind. In the end the crew quarrelled with the Captain and passengers had to lend a hand. The ship then sailed on to Nelson reaching there on 21 March 1844. This community was still in a state of uproar and excitement over the Wairau Affair.25 As a result of the crew’s earlier rebellion most were sent to prison “or to such substitute for it as the place afforded”. This delayed the departure to Wellington.26
25 An attempt by Captain Arthur Wakefield to capture the powerful Maori chiefs Te Rauparaha and Te Rangihaeata
26 See Graham, 1983, p 1-3 and Alice, Lady Lovat ,1914, p 18
27 Alice, Lady Lovat, op cit., p 19 28 Ward, op cit., P129 29 Sykes, 1990, p 249
30 Of the first 150 property transactions recorded in Volume 1 of the Wellington Registry Deed records, 21 were handled by or on behalf of John King, Solicitor (ie 14%).
31 John King to George Grey, 8 August 1846, Inwards letters to Provincial Secretary of New Munster, NM 8 box 11 1846/407, Archives New Zealand, Wellington
Weld’s observation that of the thirty five cabin passengers “not above two or three were
successful. It was survival of the fittest”27 also confirms that pioneer life was not easy. As we shall see John was not immune from the difficulties facing settlers in early Wellington.
Arriving at the end of summer in March 1844 would have been John (33yrs), Sarah (40yrs), Maria (16yrs), James (12yrs), Sarah (10yrs), Catherine (9yrs), John (5yrs), and Thomas (3yrs).
Had John made arrangements for accommodating the family before he left Wellington
previously? What was the situation with regards to schooling the children; did the older
children have to look for work?
Did John have to reopen his legal business or was it looked after by someone during his
absence? There was certainly an opportunity as a couple of weeks prior, on 26 February
1844, Wellington witnessed a duel between two lawyers one of whom, Mr W.V. Brewer, died as a result of gunshot wounds a few days later. A legal difference was the cause!28
Relations with some local Maoris and disquiet between Maori and settlers over land and the treatment of Maori by New Zealand Company representatives soon descended to a point where on 25 March 1845 a Militia Ordinance was passed and arrangements to protect settlers were put in place, including the construction of stockades. All persons (presumably men), aged between 18 and 60 were liable, if fit, to attend drill for 28 days in every year. The Militia was stood down in 1846 but not until Governor Grey had increased the troop presence in Wellington and its surrounds to deal with the increasing tension between Maori and settlers.
By June 1845 Wellington’s settler population was estimated to be 4,998 people up from 3,811 in August 1843, a 31 percent increase.29 John and his family were part of this increase. But it also represents a growing population that needed houses, and where properties were bought and sold, may have needed the assistance of a lawyer.30
On 8 August 1846 John King wrote a letter to Governor George Grey requesting appointment to a Government position and which is transcribed in Figure 2.31 John was nothing but an opportunist because in reply, Matthew Richmond, Colonial Secretary for New Munster, on behalf of the Governor, said he could not respond as he had not been officially informed of the retirement of the incumbent and in any event “other arrangements which are contemplated would prevent him (the Governor) meeting your wishes”.32
32 Outwards Letters from the Colonial Secretary of New Munster 1846-47, NM 10/6, folio 91, Archives New Zealand, Wellington.
33 Cook Strait Almanack, 1847. In the 1851 edition John is one of 5 practicing solicitors listed.
34 Bethune and Hunter Ltd Invoice No 471, dated February 1847, MS Papers 81-034, Arthur Turnbull Library
35 New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume III, Issue 181, 24 April 1847, Page 2
Wellington
8 August 1846
Sir
I beg to offer myself as a Candidate for the appointment of
Commissioner of Court of Requests here vacant by the resignation of
Richard Davies Hanson Esq. the late Commissioner. I believe I am
as qualified for the appointment as my other professional Brethren. I
am the eldest Solicitor on the Roll practicing here and was admitted a
Solicitor of the Supreme Court upwards of four years ago. I was
articled in England in 1827 and have ever since been actively
engaged in the profession and I have to call your Excellency's
attention to the fact that at least £2000 has been necessarily
expended in my legal education £600 part thereof being for premium
and fees paid to Government. I have also to call your Excellency's
attention to my large family consisting of a wife and 6 children (the
eldest boy being only 14 and the youngest 4) and through the long
depressed State of the Colony the Expectations under which I came
out cannot for many years at least be realised even if at all. My
Father was upwards of 40 years in the Office of Woods and Forests
and has only lately retired therefrom and has a large family entirely
dependent on him.
I believe the other professional Gentlemen here have not so great a
claim as I have to the appointment and I therefore beg your
Excellency's kindness on behalf of myself and family and to confer
the same on me and I am quite sure in so doing you will give
satisfaction to the public.
John King
Figure 2: Transcript of Letter from John King
In 1847 John was one of six solicitors practicing in Wellington at that time.33 His financial
situation must have been improving for him to import, through Bethune and Hunter, items of furniture, including a pedestal side box at £13 and two tables. The import fee was £26.3s.3d, nearly as much as the cost of the furniture.34
In that same year, on 19 April 1847 35, John and Sarah’s eldest daughter Maria, namesake of John’s own mother, was married at St Paul’s Church in Wellington to Charles Everard Nicol Wright Esq.. At that time St Paul’s stood to the rear of Colonel Wakefield’s house where Parliament now stands on the government reserve near Bowen Street. Built in 1844 it was later moved in 1861 to Mulgrave Street to become what we know today as ‘Old St Paul’s’ (see Figure 3).
Figure 3: Saint Paul’s Anglican Pro-Cathedral, Thorndon, about 1847.
Alexander Turnbull Library Neg F81842
Maria was 19 years old and the marriage was by license with the consent of her parents. John was a witness to the marriage along with James Pullar (another solicitor from Wellington).
Charles was Acting Paymaster and Purser on H.M.S. Calliope which was at this time
permanently stationed with an attachment of Royal Marines in Port Nicholson, Wellington.
Unfortunately for the family Charles was court-martialled later in the year for
embezzlement.36 He was imprisoned but returned to their home in Ghuznee Street,
Wellington to father four children to Maria; Maria Elise (b. 27 June 1850), Charles William
Nicol (b. 20 October 1851), Marion Sarah Amelia (b. 11 March 1853 – she later married
William Barraud, son of well known early New Zealand artist Charles Decimus Barraud), and George Robert Nicol (b. 29 July 1854), before he deserted his wife and family.
St Pauls Wellington.jpg36 Court case reported in The Spectator, 1 September 1847
37 The Times, 16 Feb 1850, p 9, Issue 20414, Col A
38 National Archives (England), Probate No 11/2111, proved in London 11 April 1850
39 This is not intended to cast any aspersions on the family and relations must not have been affected because Catherine was in London in 1881 recorded as staying with her cousins at the time of the Census.
John’s father, James King, died in London on 15 February 1850 at the age of 76 years.37 How long it might have taken for John to find out about this is not known but it would have been a cause for concern to know that his mother and siblings were looked after.38 James’ will did provide that if Sarah was a widow and remained unmarried that an annual income was available for her and her children if over the age of twenty-one. No record has been found that any of this entitlement ever found its way to New Zealand.39
Home for John and Sarah and the family was set up at Town Acre 463 and 464 situated on Wellington Terrace40 around where 108 and 110 The Terrace would be today. John had bought Town Acre 464 on 20 December 1851 from Edward Catchpole and the Wellington Building Society for £10041 and Town Acre 463 from John Gibson in 185242 for £100, payable in instalments, even though the Deeds were not prepared until 1853. One reason for this is most likely to have been the investigations into land dealings in Wellington by the Land Claims Commissioner.
Figure 4: Title of Sections 463 and 464 to John King, dated 30 September 1853
Crown Grants Record Book 2, p 1322, Department of Land Information, Wellington
C:\My Documents\My Pictures\titlebook2.JPG40 Today known as The Terrace. The 1891 map of Wellington by Thomas Ward shows a house straddling the boundary of the
two lots. Descendants of John and his daughter Maria, owned this house through to 1950. John had contracted to buy Town Acre 464 as early as 21 April 1845 (LS-W, 68/2, No 139, Archives New Zealand), so one presumes this might indicate they were occupying the site at this time.
41 LS-W, 68/2, No. 139, Archives New Zealand, Wellington.
42 LS-W, 68/4, No. 352, Archives New Zealand, Wellington, payment completed 21 February 1856.
Figure 5: Plan of the City of Wellington, 1841 – enlargements show location of John
King’s properties
Compiled – original source Unknown
While many of the early houses in Wellington were wooden because of the abundance of timber, John and Sarah’s single storey house had bricks.On 16 October 1848 Wellington was shaken by an earthquake and the Parliamentary investigation records John King’s house as suffering damage to the brick facing and walls.43 The earthquake started at 1.30am on the Monday morning with aftershocks being felt through to Thursday 24 October 1848.44 A sergeant of the 65th Regiment and two of his children died being crushed by a falling building; the Colonial Hospital was severely damaged and patients had to be relocated to Government House. It was estimated that about 40 percent of the housing stock suffered damage to chimneys.
43 Cited also in Ward, ibid, p 147. 44 Ward, op cit., p 145
John and his family, like many, would have been extremely frightened and unnerved by these events and, while four years had passed since their arrival, this was certainly the worst earthquake known to the settlers and Maori alike. The barque Subaron was at anchor in the harbour and many people took advantage of an offer to sail to Sydney. Unfortunately the ship ran ashore and was wrecked as it left the Heads. All passengers were saved and returned to again take up residence in Wellington.45
45 Ward, op cit., p 146
46 John King to George Grey, 8 August 1846, Inwards letters to Provincial Secretary of New Munster, NM 8 box 34 1848/1338, Archives New Zealand, Wellington
47 Colonial Secretary of New Munster Outward Correspondence 1848, NM 10/9, folio 439, Archives New Zealand, Wellington
48 Ward, op cit., p 154
49 Letter from W B Rhodes to his brothers Robert and George Rhodes, Canterbury Museum, R H Rhodes Papers, 8 July 1852
50 Rice 2001, p30
51 James was granted lands in Timaru area including Crown Grant 5828 (on 20 July 1863) and Crown Grant 4447 (on 24 November 1863), both 20 acres (National Archives, ABWN 8090 C, 86, folio 231 and 233). In April 1864 the Rhodes brothers
sold 5,000 acres of the Levels Station adjoining Otipua to James which took in land in the Mount Horrible and Claremont districts. This seems to be a transaction of convenience because the Rhodes Bros were in control of too much land. [See Woodhouse, 1937]. Other areas named as properties purchased by James in Land Records were Pig Hunting Creek (374 acres), Raukapuka (20 acres). In the Inspector of Sheep's Return January 1864, James was listed as having 5,260 'clean' sheep (1864 Canterbury Gazette, Issue 5, p 22)
Wellington 4 December 1848
Sir,
Being unfortunately a sufferer to some extent by the late calamitous Earthquakes and not having the immediate means of repairing the damage done to my house and premises I venture to address to your Excellency on behalf of myself and others who are in the same situation to request that Her Majesty's Government will be pleased to render us assistance in the shape of Loans - and I beg to propose to your Excellency that the Loans be granted to such as may require them to an amount not exceeding their outlay
in repairs. Such amount to be verified by proper vouchers and to be repaid with interest by equal yearly payments as may be arranged at the time of obtaining the Loan or at such periods and manner as your Excellency may be pleased to direct.
I have the honor to remain
Your Excellency.s most
obedient and humble servant
John King
His Excellency
Sir George Grey
K.C.B.
Figure 6: Transcript of Letter from John King to
Governor Grey
John wrote to Governor Grey following the earthquake seeking financial assistance on his own behalf and that of others so affected - see Figure 646. The reply from Alfred Domett who was now Colonial Secretary for New Munster, on behalf of the Governor,
said that no funds were available to afford the assistance requested.47
On 24 May 1849 Wellington held a party in honour of Queen Victoria’s
Birthday. John (and presumably Sarah) was on the official guest list.
48 John and Sarah’s eldest son, James Alexander, in 1850 (and possibly
earlier) was at Purau Station on Banks Peninsula working on William Barnard
Rhodes’ farm with William’s brothers Robert and George49. As an 18 year
old James would have had a lot to learn about farming particularly given
his father’s ‘white collar’ profession. He was involved in 1851, along with
George Rhodes, in taking a flock of 5,000 sheep from Banks Peninsula to
settle in what is now the hinterland of Timaru.50 James eventually set up his
own farming operation at Otipua Station with help, directly or indirectly
one presumes, from his brother-in-law William.51
In 1851 John King made application to the Governor to become a Notary Public on the basis that it would be a matter of convenience for the public of Wellington and “that it would materially benefit and assist your Petitioner in the discharge of his professional duties”. In support of his application John stated that he had been admitted as Solicitor of Her Majesty’s High Court of Chancery at Westminster on 10 May 1836.52 In reply Alfred Domett advised that the Governor did not have the power to make such an appointment and that an ordinance would need to be passed.53 Whether this prompted the Government of the day to enact the appropriate ordinance has not been determined but a Bill was passed by the Legislative Council during the 1851 session. John later advertised his services as a Notary Public.
Sarah King and W Rhodes.jpg52 John King to George Grey, ? March 1851, Inwards letters to Provincial Secretary of New Munster, NM 8 box 45 1851/335, Archives New Zealand, Wellington. The High Court of Chancery was originally not a court of law but a court whose jurisdiction developed from the Lord Chancellor and was based on equity and fairness rather than the strict letter of the law.
53 Outwards Letters from the Colonial Secretary of New Munster 1851-52, NM 10/11, folios 13-14, and 107, Archives New Zealand, Wellington.
54 New Zealand Dictionary of Biography, URL: http://www.dnzb.govt.nz
55 Wellington Independent, 26 September 1857, p 2d
On 7 May 1852 the King family witnessed the marriage of daughter Sarah to William
Barnard Rhodes. William was 44 years old and Sarah only 18. William was one of the
wealthiest men in New Zealand having accumulated his wealth through whaling,
shipping, farming, and property deals (or was it shrewd land speculation). He owned
one of Wellington’s first wharves near what is today known as James Smith’s Corner,
across which much of the settlement’s early trade and cargo would have passed. The
New Zealand Dictionary of Biography notes that by 1853 he was referred to as the
“Millionaire of Wellington”.54 Figure 7 Sarah, nee King, with William and his
natural daughter Mary Ann.
Coloured ambrotype. c 1858
Alexander Turnbull Library
This was an important relationship for John. One can only speculate how it might have
grown over the years. William was, amongst his many achievements, instrumental in
setting up what became the New Zealand Shipping Company and John was the
solicitor to the company.55 William was also an executor to John’s will and several of
John and Sarah’s children were beneficiaries of William’s estate when he died in 1878.
The obvious age difference between William and Sarah may suggest an arranged marriage of convenience. William had fathered a child in 1851, Mary Ann Rhodes, to an unknown Maori woman a year before the marriage and perhaps he was looking to raise her within a family situation. Home for the family was Te Aro House located on what is today the corner of Cuba and Dixon Streets. Sarah died at home on 3 August 1862 at the age of 28 years and was buried in Bolton Street Cemetery.
Family and his legal practice were not the only things to take up John’s time. He was a
member of the Mechanics Institute in 1849 when £300 was raised towards building a hall and library and John’s subscription was £1.1s.0d.56 In 1852 at an Institute dinner John promoted a vote of thanks to Judge H.S. Chapman, the speaker and Judge of the Supreme Court, who was leaving New Zealand.57 He also made a “liberal donation” of £5 in 1853 for the “acquisition of some elementary apparatus” which together with other monies, went towards “the illustration of Hydrostatics and Pneumatics.”58 Did John have an interest in the sciences?
Overlooking te Aro Flat.jpg56 New Zealand Spectator, 7 July 1849, p 2
57 Ward, op. Cit p 341
58 New Zealand Spectator, 7 May 1853, p 2
59 Ward, ibid, p 405
60 LS-W, 68/2, No. 139, National Archives, Wellington and Crown Grant Record Book 2, p 1366, 27 September 1852, Land information New Zealand, Wellington
61 For example, in New Zealand Spectator, 1 September 1855
62 Henry Bunny (1823-91) played a significant part in turning Wellington from what was essentially a frontier town to a colonial capital. Bunny was an English solicitor who arrived in Wellington in the early 1850s. He held the critical posts of Provincial
Secretary and Treasurer during the early 1870s, a period when much of central Wellington – including the site of the present Bunny Street – began to take mature shape. Bunny was involved in setting up of the Patent Slip, sewerage systems for the city
and general city development works, including a significant involvement in reclamation of the inner harbour. Bunny was the last (acting) Superintendent of Wellington, overseeing the dissolution of the Provincial Government. He was also MP for the
Wairarapa between 1865-81 and also held the distinction of being the first solicitor struck off the roll for withholding information when he swore to become a solicitor. [New Zealand Spectator, 23 November 1859, p.3e-f and New Zealand Dictionary of
Biography].
63 The partnership with H Bunny was dissolved in 1859 (New Zealand Spectator, 16 November 1859, p 2f)
John was also involved with the Church of England Education Society, and was mentioned as being present in 1853 when Sir George Grey was visiting Wellington.59 There was a church school in Thorndon. Is this where the younger children gained an education?
On 20 August 1851 John King purchased for £60 part of Town Acre 207 in Manners Street60 which is where he set up his legal chambers. John regularly advertised his legal practice.61 He entered into partnership with Henry Bunny62 who later became Provincial Secretary and Treasurer.63
Figure 8: Overlooking Manners St and Te Aro Flat – c. 1860
(Alexander Turnbull Library Ref. 1/2-021186-F)
Wellington was shaken by another strong earthquake shortly after nine in the evening of
Tuesday, 23 January 1855. This followed an unusually high tide that brought logs and debris and threw boats up on to land, squally showers, and gale force winds, untypical for January. The earthquake would have rekindled memories and fears for those who had been resident in Wellington in 1848. Once again buildings and chimneys were damaged, much crockery would have fallen and been smashed, and there were five deaths. Aftershocks were felt through to Saturday, 4 (sic.) February 1855.64 Although terrifying, this earthquake was not considered to be as bad as in 1848 even though there was more uplift with swampy land around the shoreline being raised and drained. How the King house fared is not known although brick houses and those with chimneys did not fare the best.
64 William C Bennet – Journal entries relating to 1855 Wellington Earthquake, MS Papers 134 6-371B, Alexander Turnbull
Library, Wellington.
65 St Paul's Pro-Cathedral - Parish of Wellington Register of Marriages, Record No 7, 1856 66 Intention to Marry dated 16 April 1856, Archives New Zealand, Wellington.
67 Obituary from The New Zealander, 28 July 1858
Lieutenant Frederick Wemyss, 65th Foot - At Wanganui on 5th July 1858, W. Frederick Wemyss Esq., Lieut. H M 65th Regt, aged 26 yrs 8 months. Deeply regretted by his brother officers and numerous friends.
68 St. Paul's Church Burial Register, p.36/32, Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, Plot 0418 Grid M14 O2. 69 Pinnes, 1971
The New Zealand Spectator carried a full report of a public meeting on 10 February 1855 “to consider matters arising out of the recent Earthquake”. Everyone agreed to set a day aside for “official prayers of thanksgiving to the Creator of the Universe for his late mercies”. One speaker, Reverend Arthur Baker, of whom we shall learn more later, read aloud from writings of the scientist Alexander von Humbolt and declared to the people that earthquakes were a natural and recurring phenomena and that no-one should think that God had set a curse against Wellington. This was the impression of many but Rev. Baker said this view was erroneous. John’s friendship and support of Rev. Baker leads to wonder whether he shared his enlightened and scientific thoughts.
On 17 April 1856 John and Sarah’s third daughter, Catherine, married Lieutenant W. Frederick Wemyss at St Paul’s Pro-Cathedral, Wellington.65 Frederick was in the 65th Regiment (known as The Royal Tigers) which was at various times stationed in Wellington but he saw service in “Whanganui” (sic.) three days prior to the marriage.66 He was the third son of Lieut.-Gen. William Wemyss C.B., Colonel of H.M. 1st Regiment who at one time had been Equerry to Queen Victoria. The marriage was under license and witnessed by John King and Frances Jane Schrimpton of whom we will read more later. Catherine gave birth to a son on 30 May 1857 who died soon after without being named, and on 5 July 1858 her husband Frederick was killed in a skirmish with Maori at Wanganui.67
On 12 November 1856 John’s wife Sarah succumbed to cancer of the womb and died in
Wellington and was buried in Bolton St Cemetery.68 The funeral service was conducted by the Rev. Arthur Baker. John would have been 47 years old and sons John and Thomas would have still been living at home at this time.
On 12 October 1858 John and Sarah’s eldest son James married Frances Jane Schrimpton at St Bartholomew’s Anglican Church, Kaiapoi, with Bishop Harper officiating. The groom was resident of Timaru and the bride from Rangiora. Frances was eldest daughter of Ingram Schrimpton and his wife Jane. Ingram was a printer by trade and founded the Lyttleton Times and for a time was Manager of the Timaru Herald.69 John, co-incidentally perhaps, was in Christchurch at this time for a High Court case which we shall discuss later.
John took out a Life Insurance Policy on 15 October 1858 with The Liverpool and London Fire and Life Insurance Company in the sum of £1,000.70 His proposers were George Hunter (son of the first Mayor of Wellington and who, in his own right, later became a Member of Parliament) and John Varnham, a merchant in Wellington. This record reveals that John was 49 years old, that he had suffered from Small Pox or Cow Pox but that he was in good health.
His doctor, Dr George D. Montieth, who held the position of Provincial Surgeon, and a friend George Crawford, were referees in the application. When answering the question “When was he (John) last ill and what was the nature of his indisposition”, George Crawford stated that “Spirits make him (John) ill at any time”. And on another question, “Do you believe him (John) to be sober and temperate in his habits” Mr Crawford said “I do not”. Dr Monteith likewise stated that “Until recently he (John) has been very intemperate but has a good constitution and is likely to last if temperate”. So did John drink beyond moderation? He certainly had a lot to deal with; Sarah’s death two years prior, the fact that he by now had two dependant daughters (one with a family), there were other pressures of a financial and political nature involved, and his health, unsurprisingly, was not the best. Despite this testimony from his friends, John was successful in getting insurance cover.
70 Life Insurance Application for John King, Levin & Co. Papers, MS Papers 1347 6-1-10, Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington.
71 Wellington Registry Deeds Record book, Vol 1, Entry No 400.
72 Wellington Independent, 20 January 1860, p.2.
73 For instance William Fox, later to become Premier of New Zealand, could not find work in 1843 and resorted to journalism.
74 New Zealand Spectator, 17 May 1845, p.1
75 New Zealand Spectator, 31 January 1846, p.1.
On 27 April 1859 John purchased Pt Section 462 (one acre) adjoining his home on Wellington Terrace from George Hart for £52.6s.71 Less than one year later John’s financial position was much different for reasons that will be disclosed shortly. On 19 January 1860 “the extensive library of John King Esq., consisting of law and miscellaneous works” was sold by public auction at the rooms of Mr J.H. Wallace in Lambton Quay. There was a large attendance, “the bidding was spirited, and on the whole prices realised were considered satisfactory.”72
John’s mother, Mary Maria, died at her home at 4 Tavistock Place, London on 22 August 1860 at 70 years old. Again with a family death so far away we do not know how long it took for John to find out about this but this would have been another time for sadness but memories of times back in England.
John King at Law
John set up his legal practice upon arriving in Wellington and he was one of a small number of lawyers offering private legal services. Work must have been hard to come by but John, unlike others, managed to survive in his chosen profession.73 In 1845 his practice was located in a building in Te Aro Flat74 and in 1846 he was working in an office on Lambton Quay75 but later moved to Manners Street. His place at number three on the Supreme Court Roll of Barristers and Solicitors, and his involvement in early conveyancing transactions, support the claim that he was active in operating the legal system in New Zealand as it was being set up.
The Colonial Government took steps to establish the framework and Judges and Magistrates were appointed, often from New South Wales, to administer the law. But it was left to barristers and solicitors, and those lawyers employed by the Government, to make it work.
While property sales, leases, other commercial arrangements, and preparing wills would have been core business for John as he sought to establish himself, John was no stranger to appearing in Court and acted as counsel to both defendants and plaintiffs. The early Wellington newspapers often carried verbatim transcripts of Court proceedings and from these we can see that John was involved in the routine, but also several high profile cases.
In October 1846 John King sought, and was granted an injunction by the Supreme Court
restraining two shopkeepers from selling goods belonging to George Jones who it was
believed had left the country in debt to John’s clients, John Johnston and others.76
76 New Zealand Spectator, 24 October 1846, p.2
77 Carter, 1866, p 27-32
In 1852 Samuel Robinson, a draper and small trader, was summonsed to appear as a juror at the Supreme Court. He did not attend however because he had no-one to look after his shop. Judge Sydney Stephen fined him £10 which was later remitted to £5. Another juror, Mr (later Sir Charles) Clifford, was also summonsed and then went on a journey “into the country” but he was not fined. Mr Robinson, considering himself unfairly treated wrote an angry letter published in the Wellington Independent on 17 July 1852.
Judge Stephen took offence to the accusation of “partiality and corruption” and demanded that Robinson and the Wellington Independent publisher, Mr T. McKenzie, appear at the Supreme Court under a ‘Judge’s Order’ on 24 July 1852. Robinson and McKenzie’s lawyers, John King and Dr. Evans respectively showed up without their clients and a heated debate ensued between John King and Judge Stephen. When the proceedings reconvened on 27 July 1852 Robinson appeared and refused to answer any questions put by Judge Stephen, and the Judge sent him to gaol for a month for contempt of Court. On 2 August 1852 Mr Robinson reappeared and answered the questions, but John King was fined £20 for giving ‘bad advice’.
On 27 August 1852 Messers Robinson and McKenzie were imprisoned for their parts in the letter’s publication, and had to find substantial bail money and sureties for good behaviour. C.R. Carter wrote:
‘In consequence of this unprecedented occurrence, there was great excitement in our
small Wellington community, and on the evening of August 29th, a public meeting was
called at Barrett’s Hotel, Clay Point. It was a very crowded one. Mr. R. J. Duncan was
elected Chairman. A resolution to form a committee to report on the case was
proposed. … Several meetings were held after this; at one of which the Committee
brought up their Report, recommending that a memorial be presented to Sir George
Grey, requesting him to investigate the proceedings and conduct of Judge Stephen.
The finale to all this agitation really was, that subscriptions were raised to pay the two
fines inflicted on Mr. King and Mr. Robinson, and bail was ‘tendered and accepted for
Messrs McKenzie and Robinson, and they were released from goal (sic). As to our
Memorial to His Excellency the Governor, Sir George Grey, the receipt of it was politely
acknowledged, but no practical result attended it.’77
In August 1858 John, taking leave for a month from his Provincial Council duties, was involved in a high profile case involving the Reverend Arthur Baker who had been accused of a sexual assault on Mary Schroder, a schoolgirl at the Anglican Church’s Thorndon School. Rev. Baker had been horsewhipped by Mary’s father outside St Paul’s Church. Baker had been convicted at the Resident Magistrate’s Court but the conviction was set aside on appeal by the Supreme Court, John King acting as counsel. To clear his name however, Rev. Baker took a civil case to the Supreme Court which had to be held in Christchurch. John King, as senior counsel, defended Rev. Baker and was again intimately involved in the organisation of the case.
A full description of the case has been written by Associate Professor Jeremy Finn78 but the division of opinion within the Wellington community, the power of the fourth estate to
influence that public opinion, the publicity given to the way the jury members voted, and the undesirability of cross-examining, at length, a vulnerable witness, were features of the case.
The first instance hearing at the Magistrate’s Court was notable because it gave rise to
questions about using appointed Justices of the Peace to vote on the innocence or guilt of the defendant, verses a trial of fact by jury. William Fox, later to become Premier of New Zealand, was Editor of the Wellington Independent and was also one of the JPs who took part in the initial hearing. He used his editorial position to criticise Rev. Baker and John King. The civil case resulted in an award of costs of £50 in favour of Baker but not the £500 he was seeking. Was it pride and ego that gave rise to the civil action when the Supreme Court had already quashed the original the conviction? Was the decision made by Rev. Baker who, in October 1859, left the Colony, never to return, or did John’s advice push the matter to another hearing? While John won the case for his client it seems it was a hollow victory.
78 See Finn, 2005. Also found at
http://ir.canterbury.ac.nz/bitstream/10092/1817/1/12583943_schoolgirl%20and%20the%20horse-whipped%20parson.pdf
79 William Fox affidavit, 19 January 1859, J1 1859/250, Archives New Zealand, Wellington
80 William Allen in the 1870s was Manager of the Wellington Mutual Investment Society so it would appear Wellington society was very forgiving about financial indiscretions or that the originating proceedings against King and Allen may have been overstated?
In September 1858 John King himself was before the Supreme Court for failing to submit the accounts of the estate of William Frederick Christian who had died on 8 August 1851. The original claimants were creditors to the Christian estate, John Lloyd Wardell and William Wardell, but their case was taken over by William Fox and James Smith, political opponents of John King, through a document dated 13 July 1857.
John King had liquidated Christian’s goods through the auctioneer William Allen. When the Wardell’s asked John for the outstanding £2,000 still owed to the estate in February 1856, John told them he had no money to give them.79 John was ordered to pay the full amount of £1,859.2.6 but Henry Bunny, representing John, stated that John “was entirely unable to pay” but that if a release were given certain friends of John would pay. Such an offer was not then accepted and John was taken into custody, the Judge remarking that in John King’s own accounts, there were certain clear overcharges.
In the end, because John was technically insolvent, the plaintiffs accepted the compromise offer and on 7 October 1858, £1,900 was paid to the Court by son-in-law William Barnard Rhodes, William Bowler, George Hunter, and John Varnham on John King’s behalf. The Deed of Release was signed which exempted John King from further claims by Christian’s estate but John was obliged to assist Smith and Fox in retrieving the debt owed from Allen to the estate (another £2,781.12.1 plus interest)80.
John King signed a land deed to repay Rhodes, Bowler, Hunter, and Varnham. For £1,900, John transferred ‘All and singular the real and personal estate ... of whatever nature or kind soever and wherever ... Subject to the present encumbrances existing thereon’ to the four gentlemen ‘to recover and receive the debts due to the said John King and collect and get in
Voting advert.jpgsuch other of his personal estate hereby assigned.’ John appointed these men to be his ‘lawful attorney jointly or severally and in his name or otherwise to ask, demand, and by all lawful ways and means whatsoever ... and receive all debts and sums of money’ owed to John King. With this money they would be paid back the £1,900 lent to John. They were entitled to sell any of his property they wished to recover their money. Any surplus money was to be paid back to John King.81
81 Deeds Record Book 3, p. 96, LINZ Wellington
82 Wellington Independent, 23 September 1859, p.3e.
83 Wellington Independent, 8 October 1861, p.1.
84 Wellington Independent, 1 November 1861, p.4.
85 The Wellington Independent was a strident champion of Featherston; the New Zealand Spectator an equally vehement voice in favour of the opposition. See Mulgan, op. Cit pp 200-201 and Patterson, 1996
10th October 1861
I HEREBY GIVE NOTICE that Mr. Henry Bunny has no authority from me to act in any
manner whatever in or about closing any .pending matters of my business or otherwise
in or about my business of a Solicitor of the Supreme Court, and for the present my place
of business is at Mr. Carlyn's Office, Lambton Quay, Wellington, where all Papers and
Letters are requested to be left, or at my residence Wellington Terrace.
JOHN KING,
Solicitor of the Supreme Court, and Notary
Public.
Figure 9: Transcript of Notice to the Public
Wellington Independent, 5 November 1861, p 6
As an aftermath of the case on 14 February 1859, William Fox, as agent for Christian’s
executors, put forward a case in the Supreme Court that John King should be struck from the roll of solicitors for his part in the Christian case. A motion of Rule Nisi was passed, requesting that John King put forward reasons why he should not be disbarred. Eventually, on 14 September 1859, Robert Hart, John’s solicitor,
stated that John had been “negligent but not fraudulent”. The Judge let John off the
disbarring suit with a warning.82
In 1860 John’s properties were gradually disposed of the pay off his debts. He was still
advertising his legal practice in Manners Street in October 186183 using an advertisement dated March 1861. In the same month of October Henry Bunny was advertising himself as a notary public from the office “formerly owned by John King”.84 This prompted John to place a notice stating he was still in business working out of an office in Lambton Quay or from his residence in Wellington Terrace (see
Figure 9).
After October 1861 John’s advertisements disappeared. Had his annual subscription expired or was he seeking to wind up his business affairs and retire from legal practice and public life?
John King’s Political Career
Figure 10: Voting Advertisement
Alexander Turnbull Library
Eph-C-Politics-1853-07
The colonial settlement of Wellington was not only a relatively small community in the 1850s but it was marked by a number of divisions. There was the Maori and Pakeha division but there also emerged a marked split in the political factions and this was reflected in the newspapers of the time.85 Just how and why John entered
public life we can only surmise but he was educated, articulate, a professional man, and his writings and reported statements would indicate a desire to see the colony prosper and have good governance.
Wellington had established its first Borough Council in 1842 but this was overtaken in 1846 by the Colonial Government setting up the Provincial Councils of New Munster and New Ulster. This governance arrangement was short-lived with the New Munster Council meeting only once in 1849. The New Zealand Constitution Act was passed in England in 1852 paving the way for Provincial Government including the Wellington Provincial Council and this came about in part because of the agitation by Wellington settlers. John advertised in July 1853 his desire to be put forward as a member of the new Council but was not supported as a candidate (see Figure 11).
Figure 11: Advertisement from John King
New Zealand Spectator, 16 July 1853, p 2d
The political divide in Wellington was marked on one side by Isaac Featherston who
became the first Provincial Superintendent, whose faction drew support from the
working-class and smaller businessmen and from some of the liberal middle-class.86 On
the other, to which John was affiliated, was a somewhat strange coalition dominated by
large land-holders, the urban conservatives, and supporters of the Wakefield’s and the
New Zealand Company. One of the other differences was in regards to education. The
Featherston party insisted that education be secular while John, given his links with the
Church of England, and his supporters, welcomed the use of provincial funds for
Church-based schools.87
86 In referring to “working class”, it was still only those who owned land in freehold title to a value of £50 or leasehold land to a value of £10 that could actually cast a vote.
87 Mulgan, op cit., p 189
88 New Zealand Spectator, 1 September 1855, p 4c
John’s group became known as ‘the Reformists” and in August 1855 he was requisitioned to stand as a result of a vacancy for a City of Wellington electorate seat in the Provincial Council. In an open letter to John King published in the sympathetic New Zealand Spectator dated 30 August 1855, his supporters pointed out:
“Your long residence in the Province, and the interest which you have displayed in its
public affairs are an assurance to us of the experience and zeal with which you can
discharge your duties as a law-giver: while your legal knowledge qualifies you to
impose a salutary check in the Council on such hasty and ill-advised legislation as has
hitherto taken place.”88
John’s 32 named supporters included E. Jerningham Wakefield, W. Hickson, John Varnham, George Crawford, William Allen, and William Rhodes. While son-in-law William Rhodes supported John’s candidacy he was also a supporter of Isaac Featherston but perhaps this is an example of the nature of early Wellington politics where people often changed their allegiances.
John was to stand against Mr Jonas Woodward who was also the Provincial Auditor. Being a paid officer of the Provincial Council, John and his supporters thought this alone was reason why Mr Woodward should not be able to contest the election.
Wellington, August 31, 1855.
Gentlemen,
In answer to the very flattering Requisition from you that I would allow myself to be put in nomination for the Seat in the Provincial Council vacant by the resignation of Mr. John Wallace, I beg to state that I gratefully accede thereto, considering that it is part of my public duties to comply with a Requisition so influentially signed; but at the same time I wish it to be understood, that without such a requisition I should not have put myself forward upon the present occasion.
I entirely concur with the views expressed in the Requisition with regard to the enlargement of the Provincial Council and other public matters contained therein; and in allowing myself to be put in nomination, I do so from no personal feeling towards Mr. Jonas Woodward, for whom I feel great respect; but as he has accepted the office of one of the Auditors of the Province, I think he ought not to be a Member of the Provincial Council.
I beg to assure you and the other Electors of Wellington that, if elected, I shall faithfully discharge my duties in the Council, and at all times be ready not only to use such legal and other knowledge I possess, but also to concur in all measures which will really tend to and be for the benefit an advancement of the Province.
I have the honour to be,
Gentlemen,
Your obedient servant,
John King.
To Wm Hickson, Esq J.P.
W.M. Bannatyne, Esq, J.P.
John Varnham, Esq
and the other Electors signing the Requisition..
Figure 12: Transcript of Letter from John King
New Zealand Spectator, 1 September 1855, p 4d
John, also in an open letter published in the same edition of the New Zealand Spectator and transcribed in Figure 12, replied accepting the nomination. This prompted an open attack on John and his supporters in the Wellington Independent on 5 September 1855. John was accused of being self-serving, a “place hunter”, presumably in reference to the position of “Provincial Attorneyship”. The editorial went on
“For a Clique, therefore, who have lately proved themselves to be deadly enemies to
the best interests of the Province, as they were formerly known to be free institutions
– for a clique who have only a petty spite to gratify – a personal object to serve – a
pitiful ambition to indulge – a peevish vanity to satiate – who more fitting could be
found to represent than Mr. John King?”89
89 Wellington Independent, 5 September 1855, p.2.
John was described as a nominee of Jerningham Wakefield, a candidate put forward by the Spectator Clique, a champion of the Wellington Political Society, a grouping set up to counter Featherston’s Constitutional Association. Not intended as a compliment, it also responded to John’s motto of deeds and not words, and said it would be “words – words – words” and that John would hold forth on every conceivable subject “whether it were the election of a Provincial Councillor or the erection of a parish pump. ... In every debate he would contrive to be, by hook or by crook, to the edification of empty benches, and the daily consignment of the speaker to the arms of Morpheus, and Alpha and Omega, the beginning and end.”90
90 Ibid.
91 He was a carpenter in the early 1840s but had also been head clerk to a merchant and a minister of religion in a Congregational Chapel. See Wellington Independent, 8 September 1855, p 3.
92 New Zealand Spectator, 13 October 1855, p.2c-d.
93 Ibid.
94 New Zealand Spectator, 31 October 1855, p.3
95 See Wellington Provincial Gazette, 29 Dec 1857
In John’s defence, Jerningham Wakefield questioned why the editorial would ascribe “selfish and venal motives” to John’s candidacy and much of the contest focused on John’s professional standing verses Mr. Woodward’s alleged working class background.91
On Thursday 11 October 1855 before the Resident Magistrate’s Court electors assembled and on a show of hands John was declared the winner but Mr. Woodward demanded a poll which took place the next day, starting a 9.00am and finishing at 4.00pm. Mr. Woodward obtained 230 votes and John King 203 votes. The report in New Zealand Spectator tried to salvage some sense of victory in saying that John’s defeat was “a great step in advance on the part of his political associates”92 and the Provincial Government and legislature should be aware “that the ground is shaking under their feet”93 with an “approaching movement for thorough and radical reform” of the governance of Wellington.
Following the election John wrote a letter to the Editor of the New Zealand Spectator pointing out, in his view, how he thought Isaac Featherston had misled the electorate about John’s attitudes towards “working men”. Featherston had accused John of belittling the intelligence of Featherston’s support whereas John was trying to point out that Featherston’s lack of support from merchants and professional men was a reason for him to reconsider his candidacy. In what was to be a continuation of the tension between John and Isaac Featherston as Provincial Superintendent, John’s letter concluded by saying:
“If the working men will be but true to themselves, their votes will not be caught by
such unworthy means as the present Provincial Government have of late been using,
and as in the present instance, by attempting to create an ill feeling between the
working men and the other classes. Let the working men pause before they allow
themselves to be misled by gentlemen who have so little regard for political truth that
they consider any perversion of the statements of their political opponents, or casting
any ridicule or sarcasm upon them, as perfectly justifiable and fair.
I trust from the above explanation that the Electors of Wellington will see that I have
not been fairly dealt with by your informant.”94
John’s opportunity to enter the Provincial Council came when he was elected in November 1857.95 It was a hard fought election and John, along with William Allen, as Jerningham Wakefield’s ‘right hand men’ were subject to ridicule and accusations that showed Isaac Featherston as a ruthless political schemer intent on promoting the interests of his backers.96
The Reform Party secured 23 seats to the Constitutionalists seven. 96
Patterson (1996), op cit 97 Wellington Independent, 4 November 1857
98 1858 Session of Provincial Council of Wellington - Acts and Proceedings, National Library.
Featherston had won the Superintendency, but with the opposition, including John, in control of the Provincial Council, Featherston made it quite clear that if those elected opposed his views, then a deadlock would ensue. In a speech after the Poll was declared, Featherston said:
‘… Now they (the voters of Wellington) knew that under the present system he
(Featherston) was obliged to select his Executive officers from amongst the members
of the Provincial Council. They knew further that there were large funds at the
disposal of the Government, large sums of money in the Provincial chest, let them then
suppose for the sake of argument that the only men in the Council willing and eager to
accept office were men whose dishonesty was notorious, who had proved themselves
utterly untrustworthy in private affairs, that they were men deeply in debt, reckless,
gamblers, plunderer’s of dead men’s estates, defrauders of the widow and orphan,
would they consider him justified in calling such men to his Councils, in accepting such
men as his advisers. If he trusted the large funds at present in the chest to the keeping
of such men, would they hold him blameless, would they bear him harmless, for the
consequences. Unless they were prepared to do all this they were, he repeated all
above all things, bound to return as Members men of character, men of known
probity, of proved trustworthiness. He might have spoken rather more plainly than
some of them liked, but he recognized that a crisis was impending. …’97
John took up his seat on 19 March 1858 and served on the Administration of Justice, Standing Rules and Orders, Standing Library, and Land on Credit Committees.
The Provincial Executive, appointed by the Superintendent, was drawn from members of the Provincial Council. E. Jerningham Wakefield had proposed John as Provincial Solicitor but John had an "insuperable objection" – as we have already seen John, and another member of the Council, William Allen, had issued defamation proceedings against Featherston because of statements made during the election and considered it was a position he could not take up -see Figure 13.
On 24 March 1858 John presented a petition from William Hickson and others for leave to
bring a Bill for carrying on the business of the Wellington Steam Navigation Company, later to become the New Zealand Shipping Company. The Bill was introduced 1 April 1858 and passed under John's sponsorship on 25 May 1858. Whether he had resigned as Company Secretary to avoid a conflict of interest could be presumed but on the basis of other relationships that existed within political circles in early Wellington could not be guaranteed. John became the Chairman of Committee on 16 May 1858. 98
John King to E. Jerningham Wakefield
„Wellington Terrace
20 March 1858
My Dear Sir
At your request, in order that there may be no misunderstanding on the subject of our recent conversations, I now commit the substance of them to writing.
You have been good enough to ask me more than once whether I would accept the office of Provincial Solicitor in case you should be called upon by His Honor the Superintendent to construct a Reform Ministry – and I have always replied and must still repeat that I could not.
My reasons for declining this conditional proposal are as follows: –
I am labouring under a charge of felony publicly made against me by His Honor the
Superintendent on an Official Occasion in his Official Capacity – and in order to seek redress for this false and wicked accusation, I have commenced proceedings against him for defamation in such a form as to bring the question of truth or falsehood before a Jury; and this would have been ascertained by this time had it not been for the state of the Supreme Court; and I must now wait for some time until the trial can be had.
I have suffered much in my profession from the charge being still unrefuted; and though
according to British justice, every one is to be held innocent until proved to be guilty, yet the accusation by the head of a government of robbing dead men.s estates and defrauding the widow and orphan, has, besides the pecuniary injury, harassed and distressed me to a serious degree, - so much so that at times I feel quite incapable of attending to matters of business. I try to avoid this, but something or another occurs which shews that the accusation is still in operation. I therefore feel that I am incapable of becoming responsible to the Council as the Superintendent.s advisor and law
officer. How could I meet him continually whilst this charge is still pending? How could he meet me whilst I am plaintiff against him in an action for damages for the deepest personal wrong? He is familiar with me when we meet, and affects to be friendly and to make light of the affair which I cannot avoid; but I can and must avoid any deliberate connection with him for the reasons stated.
Besides, it has struck me, as a lawyer, that my acting under him would be construed to my prejudice on the trial of my action against him.
I trust that my unavoidable refusal of your conditional proposal will not damage the cause of those with whom I have been acting cordially in politics should it unhappily have that effect I deeply regret it.
I beg of you to accept of my warmest thanks for the offer made by you, conditionally, of the office notwithstanding the charge made against me by His Honor; and that charge is still unrefuted.
I remain, my dear Sir,
Yours very truly
John King
Figure 13: Transcript of Letter of John King to Edward Jerningham Wakefield
Acts and Proceedings of the Wellington Provincial Council, 1858, p 132,
Archives New Zealand, Wellington.
Featherston refused to accept the administration proposed by the majority in the Provincial Council and because of the omission of a Provincial Solicitor, and to make his point, resigned and stood for re-election.99 That election took place in June 1858 with Featherston defeating the opposition candidate for Provincial Superintendent, one Henry St Hill, the Resident Magistrate in Wellington.
99 Alan Mulgan, 1939, pp172-173. New Zealand Spectator, 3 April 1858, p3
100 Patterson (1996) op cit.
The tension that existed meant this session of the Provincial Council, when it was not in recess by Featherston’s manoeuvring or through the Reformers themselves agreeing not to sit, was relatively impotent and over time the Reform coalition weakened and, following the Taranaki War, disintegrated.100 In November 1859, through by-elections, the Reformist held 17 seats and the Constitutionalists had increased to 11. While the Council was in recess Featherston and his Executive were able to sell off public land at discounted prices to raise funds. This lead to more land owners when it came to the 1861 elections who had Featherston to thank for their new found wealth!
John did not stand in the 1861 election in February that year – many of his Reformists
colleagues lost their seat and Isaac Featherston and his team regained both the
Superintendency and control of the Provincial Council.
Death of a Pioneer
Having exited politics and wound down his legal practice towards the end of 1861 John’s time would have been taken up looking after his property and enjoying being a grandfather to four grandchildren.101 Whether his sons John and Thomas were still living at home is unknown but John died on 5 June 1862102 at the age of 52 years at his residence in Wellington. His funeral service was held at Old St Paul's and he was buried in Plot 418 at the Bolton Street Cemetery along with Sarah his wife on 7 June 1862.
John's Grave.jpg101 Maria.s four children; Maria Elise Wright (b 1850), Charles William Nicol Wright (b1851), Marion Sarah Amelia Wright (b 1853) and George Robert Nicol Wright (b 1854). He had two other grandchildren still living in 1861 but they were living in Timaru; John Ingram James King (b 1859) and William Walter King (b 1861), children of son James.
102 New Zealand Spectator on 7 Jun 1862 recorded his death and funeral notice. Old St Paul's Register gives date of death 5 August 1862, aged 52 years.
103 Dairy of John Evelyn Fortescue Wright, MS 4620-2, Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington.
104 Bolton Street Cemetery http://www.boltoncemetery.org.nz/index.htm. John.s daughter Sarah Rhodes died soon after on 3 August 1862 and was buried in the family plot.
An entry into the diary of John Evelyn Fortescue Wright for 5 June 1862 records
“.... poor King died at 7 o’c p.m. – a clever man”
His entry for 7 June records an intention to attend the funeral but it was “so wet”.103
As a result of the Wellington Motorway construction in the 1960s the King family grave was disinterred and the family tombstone relocated to Grid M14O2.104
Figure 14: John and Sarah’s Tombstone, Bolton Cemetery, Wellington
(Author’s Photo, 2007)
John’s last will had been prepared 29 May 1862105 where he bequeathed his property equally to his children except for Sarah who had married William Rhodes, “not for want of love for her but because she is amply provided for in other ways.” He also qualified the allocation to daughter Maria Wright that it should not be used to benefit her estranged husband Charles and then said that it was his wish, “but not imperative”, that if his sons James, John and Thomas were in a position to do so and were so inclined, that they would also share their inheritance to benefit Maria and Catherine who were without partners. The executors to the Will were William Rhodes and Robert Hart. His will was proved on 4 July 1862 with the executors requested to submit an inventory by 4 October 1862.106
105 Wellington Probates 160/1862, National Archives, Wellington
106 Ibid. it was still awaited at 25 August 1869.
107 Wellington Independent, 23 August 1862, p 4b
108 Ibid.,
109 Wellington Independent, 11 September 1862, p 4 and Wellington Independent, 21 October 1862, p 1. The first notice was inserted by C.B. Borlase Solicitor the second by William Rhodes who stated that being the sole executor, no other person was
empowered to grant legal receipt.
In August 1862 William Rhodes, as executor, advertised John's property for sale. Whether real estate advertisements in 1862 were like those we see today, accentuating the good and ignoring the bad features, the property was presented as a good buy. The site was described as beautifully laid out, a valuable property having a frontage to Wellington Terrace of 191 feet by a depth of 330 feet, commanding one of the finest views of the harbour and surrounding country. The grounds were “laid out in the most tasteful and scientific way, and planted with choice and valuable ornamental shrubs”107. John had developed an orchard which was well stocked with “choice fruit trees in full bearing, and there was a never failing stream of water running through the property”. The whole property was fenced with a thriving quick set hedge and there was obviously room for another villa residence.
Also in August 1862 the balance of John’s library, consisting of law books and “miscellaneous literature”, was put up for sale by private contract by William Rhodes. William’s advertisement asked that people who had borrowed “books or papers” to return them. How much was sold by this means is unknown but the balance was to be put up for public sale by Bethune & Hunter, Auctioneers in Wellington.108
The fact there were still people who owed John money at his death and were requested to pay these “several debts”109 might suggest John had traded his way back into solvency.
Epilogue
It can be concluded from the various events in John’s life in Wellington that he was well-
meaning, ambitious, articulate verging on the verbose, he was an aggressive advocate
sometimes resorting to unsubstantiated attacks on opponents in terms that, even by the
robust standards of the day, were considered intemperate.
His public life exposed him to a wide range of people and organisations which influenced the development of early Wellington. It can be fairly said that John too had an influence on the development of early Wellington through his legal work and political life. He also played a part, though perhaps not always for the right reasons, in the development and practice of the legal system in New Zealand.
As a husband and father it is hard to know what he was like. That he went back to England in 1843 to bring the family to New Zealand suggests he was a dedicated family man and that he was concerned to provide for his family and the welfare of his children, even as adults. He was a proud man, even stubborn to the point of defending his honour and those he associated with. He had a good work ethic in the sense that he managed to juggle a number of competing obligations even if his paperwork may not have always been up to scratch. His association with the Anglican Church would suggest religious convictions of some kind that may have influenced at least two of his grandchildren to enter the Ministry.110
110 Charles Bush-King and Ernest Bush
Was John content with his life in New Zealand? He breathed clean air, drank clean water, he could see the sun and stars. The Wellington landscape would have been a mixture of trees, the harbour waters, muddy roads, and a growing assemblage of buildings. A far cry from what he left behind in London.
In the end John presents as a tragic fellow, worn out by disappointment, loss, and defeat in the cut and thrust of politics in early Wellington. He was a man of ambition and talent which was not fully realised. Yet whatever his make up, good or not so good, John is responsible for 640 known direct descendants under the name KING, BUSH, and BUSH-KING as at October 2009, and more who at this stage have yet to emerge on the family tree.
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Sarah King - William Rhodes