George Cooper, New Zealand’s first Treasurer and Collector of

Customs, was one of Auckland’s early beekeepers, 1842-45; and a

few of his contemporaries !
During 1996-97 while researching my book William Charles Cotton, Grand Bee Master of
New Zealand, 1842 to 1847 at the Mitchell Library in Sydney I came across the following
entry in one of Cotton’s original diaries written at the Bay of Islands, dated Monday 24
October 1842. He noted the arrival of the Bristolian after a stormy passage of 10 days. “Saw
Mr Cooper the Collector of Customs, who has come down by the Bristolian, a hive of Bees,
which he brought down were seemingly dead. I have many stocks, from kind friends of
Sydney, ready to come the first opportunity.” At the time I assumed Cooper had arrived from
Sydney. In reviewing Cotton’s note I found he’d also used the term “came down” close by in
describing the Bishop’s voyage in the Bristolian, presumably when he and the Bishop sailed
to Auckland from Sydney in May 1842. My first impression was correct.
Cotton noted another passenger’s arrival on the same ship: “Whytehead came in the
Bristolian, the same brig by which the Bishop came down, he had a stormy passage of
10.ays.” The rough voyage may have been the cause of the bees demise. Corroborating
Cotton’s diary entry, the Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser for Thursday 13
October 1842 (p.2) reported in its shipping news “The brig Bristolian, 1 Captain Thomas, for
Auckland, with sundries. Passengers, Rev Mr. Whitehead, … Mr. Cooper …” Also on board
were seven other cabin passengers and nine in steerage. Accounting for a 10 day passage the
Bristolian’s arrival in Auckland would have been on or around 23rd October. Cotton’s diary
for the following day recorded he’d ridden down to Paihia, so the Bristolian must have first
visited the Bay of Islands where Whytehead would have disembarked before the brig
proceeded to Auckland.
Cooper would not have wasted time and energy in “carrying coal to Newcastle”, so I can only
presume that Eliza Hobson’s hives, brought from Sydney in 1840 to the Bay of Islands, did
not survive, either in situ, or following any attempt by the Hobson entourage to bring them
south to Auckland when they relocated there in March 1841. Cooper’s return from Sydney
provided an opportunity to fill the void – presumably no bees at Auckland, and by inference,
none at the Bay of Islands either. Cotton should have referred to Cooper as the previous
Collector for by then the colony’s first Treasurer and Collector of Customs had not been in
office for some five months.
From Malcolm McKinnon’s Treasury: the New Zealand Treasury, 1840-2000, George Cooper
was noted as New Zealand's first Treasurer. Cooper shipped from Port Jackson to the Bay of
Islands "to set up an administration for the new colony under Captain (soon to be Lieutenant-
Governor) Hobson. ... [who] "hired [his officials] in Sydney, presumably with Governor
George Gipps helping by pointing out - or hiding from view - the able amongst his own
officials. Cooper was an Irishman, 'a middle aged man of reputable and serious countenance
and deportment', ... He spent his working life in the United Kingdom's Customs, apart from
three years in the same employ in New South Wales, although at the time of his appointment
to New Zealand his official position was given as 'Superintendent of Distilleries'. Being
appointed to the offices of both Treasurer, who looked after the money, and Collector of
Customs, who collected it, made sense. At £600 per annum for the two jobs, he wasn't badly
off, earning more than any other officer of the government aside from the Chief
Commissioner of Land Claims - and, of course, the Lieutenant-Governor himself." (p.23)
1
The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser for Tuesday 11 October 1842 (p.4) listed the
Bristolian, a brig of 160 tons, under master Thomas, then at Queens Wharf, Drake & Co agents.
McKinnon implies Cooper, along with other officials, voyaged with Hobson on the Herald
under Captain Nias in January 1840. In the hold were freshly transferred strong boxes of gold
coins worth £2000. "Cooper did not stay long in the job. In March he went back to Sydney on
'personal business', and it was only [Governor] Gipps' inability to find a competent
replacement for New Zealand that led him to returning there in the middle of the year, with
the desire to assure himself of a pension probably an incentive. He stayed another two years,
long enough to participate in the move to Auckland and the establishment of the government
offices on the high ground above the waterfront ...” (pp.25-26) Cooper’s return is
documented in the New Zealand Advertiser for July 2 1840 “Arrived. July 28 - The ship
Chelydra, 349 tons, Captain David Smale, from Sydney the 4th June, with goods and
passengers. - Agents, Messrs Henry Thompson & Co. Cabin Passengers - Mr George Cooper
and Mrs Cooper and eight children, Miss Kennear, governess, and three servants, …” (p.4)
As part of Hobson’s shift of government officials from Russell to Auckland in 1841, Cooper
too probably removed there in late February, presumably on the government brig Victoria .2
The Governor and his family relocated, arriving at Waitemata harbour on 12 March 1841.
Again from Mckinnon: “Alexander Shepherd took over from Cooper as Treasurer in 1842.”
(p.33) The Cyclopedia of New Zealand (1897) gives Cooper’s date of resignation as 9th May. I
presume Cooper’s attempt to ship a hive of bees from Sydney in October 1842 was made to
satisfy his own requirements. By inference, hives of bees must have been difficult or even
impossible to obtain in Auckland, if the effort and expense of sourcing bees in Sydney and
transporting them across the Tasman is considered. Around this time others were attempting
the same feat.
William Brown, two hives imported from Sydney to the Bay of Islands,
Feb. 1840, thence to Auckland in Feb. 1841
In 1995 I visited octogenarian beekeeper and historiographer, Chris Dawson of Christchurch.
He gave me a copy of an unpublished manuscript written by Robert Sylvan Walsh, a c1970
Lincoln University staff member. Titled Historical – Bee Strains in New Zealand. It read, in
part: “In 1840 two hives of bees were imported from Sydney together with many varieties of
fruit trees by William Brown of Brown’s Island, in Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf.” Unfortunately,
Walsh provided no prime source substantiating Brown’s imported hives.
In Brown’s 1845 book titled New Zealand and its aborigines: being an account of the
aborigines, trade, and resources of the colony, and the advantages it now presents as a field
for emigration and the investment of capital, he wrote, under the section titled Rapid Increase
in Bees: “In addition to the main sources of revenue of the New Zealand settler, - though at
first sight of trifling import, - it is proper to mention, as I am not aware of the circumstance
having previously been brought before the public, that New Zealand, in an extraordinary
degree, seems adapted for bees, and large exports of honey and wax may yet be expected
from it. To give some idea of the rapidity of increase, I may mention that a friend of mine, in
January 1844, received one hive from Sydney, which by the 20th of December following had
increased to twelve swarms, all very vigorous, and being rapidly filled with honey, and
additional swarms were expected before the end of the season. In another instance, one hive
in ten months produced six swarms; and within the same period one of these also swarmed,
thus converting the original hive into seven, within ten months. Two of these yielded twenty-
six pounds of honey. In another case, a hive of seven months old swarmed, and a fortnight
afterwards swarmed a second time. …” Brown made no mention in his book of any personal
attempt to import bees in 1840. The online Dictionary of New Zealand Biography 3 describes
2
Stone, R.C.J (2001) From Tāmaki-makau-rau to Auckland. Auckland University Press (p.295)
3
www.dnzb.govt.nz
William Brown (1809-98) as “Merchant, writer, newspaper proprietor, politician and
provincial superintendent. … He arrived at the Bay of Islands on 2 February 1840.” He may
well have brought the hives with him on this voyage from Sydney.
Again from the online Dictionary of New Zealand Biography “… with John Logan Campbell
… the two Scots joined forces, and on 22 May 1840 bought Motukorea, or Browns Island …
On 13 August they shifted to their island. When Auckland was proclaimed capital, as they
had expected, they decided to become merchants there. Thus began a partnership which
lasted for over three decades, though based on no more than an informal handshake on a
shingle beach at Motukorea. Just before Christmas 1840 Brown dropped Campbell, as junior
partner, with a tent and a few stores, on the southern shore of the Waitemata Harbour. Two
months later the Browns followed. At the first Crown land sale, on 19 April 1841, the
partners bought an allotment in Shortland Crescent, and built Acacia Cottage, the Browns'
home. On the street frontage a store was erected. The firm of Brown and Campbell soon
prospered, with the partners acting as auctioneers, shipping agents, importers, and (most
remunerative) traders with the Maori. …”
Whether Brown’s bees prospered or not, either initially at the Bay of islands, or possibly in
Auckland if they were removed there in February 1841, bees were certainly firmly
established in Auckland by 1846. The following advertisement appeared in The New Zealand
Journal for June 6th & 14th 1846: “To be let or sold – The beautiful villa, situated near Epsom,
the property of J. Scott, Shortland Street. The ground contains 3 ½ acres, substantially fenced
in with new palings, & consists of a superior clover paddock in front of the house – a garden
& well stocked orchard in the rear – and a 3 acre field, newly sewn with grass & clover. The
dwelling house consists of 4 spacious rooms & a handsome verandah front … stabling for 4
horses, a well of water, and 16 double beehives, with every other requisite for a gentleman’s
family.
Mr McElwaine, Mrs Hobson’s gardener, March 1840, Sydney to the Bay
of Islands
Marianne Williams of Paihia, wife of Archdeacon Henry Williams, wrote in her journal on 28
March 1840 “We heard of the bees brought down by the Governor. The natives called them
biting flies.” The bees were not Governor Hobson’s but belonged to his wife 4 Elizabeth.
Neither of the Hobsons accompanied the bees from New South Wales. Eliza voyaged to the
Bay of Islands from Sydney on HMS Buffalo which left Sydney 5 on 5 April 1840, arriving at
the Bay of Islands on the 16th April. Amongst others on board were Major Bunbury, soldiers
of the 80th Regiment and Eliza’s children. Eliza’s two straw hives of bees, wrapped in
blankets and overseen by the Governor’s gardener, Mr McElwaine, had arrived previously at
the Bay of islands on 17th March 1840 aboard the Westminster.

4
Refer William Mason’s 1882 letter to Isaac Hopkins which is detailed further on.
5
Scholefield, Guy (1934), Captain William Hobson, First Governor of New Zealand Oxford
University Press, (p.111). Refer also The Commercial Journal, 8 Apr 1840
 HMS Buffalo in 1836, State Library of South Australia
Governor Hobson had preceded his wife, children and the bees to New Zealand, having
arrived 6 at Kororareka, Bay of Islands, on the Herald under Captain Nias 7 on 29 January
1840. It’s unclear whether Mrs Hobson was a “hands on” beekeeper or left such tasks to her
gardener.

Henry and Marianne Williams’ house and beehives at Paihia. 8

6
From the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, http://www.dnzb.govt.nz
Before departing for NZ, Hobson and his family spent three weeks in Sydney from 24th Dec. 1839.
Hobson left his family in Sydney, sailing on 19th Jan.
7
Scholefield (1934), p.81
8
This image of a sketch by Henry Williams appears in The Early Journals of Henry Williams. Note
the bee hive shelter running to the right below window level. The editor suggests the drawing was
made soon after Sept. 1830, however, given the extensive bee shelter in the view, it could only have
been done after March 1840 when Eliza Hobson’s bees (of which Rev. Taylor said “they did not
increase”) were introduced into the Bay of Islands, or, more likely, after August 1843 when James
Busby returned from Sydney with hives for himself and Cotton. These would have provided the
source of the row of bee hives to be seen under the bee shelter. Mrs Gittos recalled in 1897 that
Cotton “brought some bees to the Bay of Islands, and liberated them in the garden of Mrs
(Archdeacon) Williams at the mission station at Paihia ...” (BBJ, 4 Feb. 1897, p.43) Pasted into one of
Cotton’s journals is a letter from Rev Henry Williams dated Paihia, 13 October 1845 “... We began the
present season with 6 hives and have already had 7 swarms this month in addition 3 swarms from 2 of
Mrs Busby’s hives. So we have a show of nearly 20 hives at Paihia. …” The source of the Williams’
drawing was not identified. Refer nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/RogEarl-fig-RogEarlP007a.html
 Marianne Williams (1793-1879), a lady beekeeper, Paihia Mission Station
Isaac Hopkins stated in his 1886 Australasian Bee Manual “Dieffenbach, 9 in his Travels in New
Zealand, mentions having seen (in December, 1840) a hive of bees, thriving remarkably well,
with the Rev. Richard Taylor at Waimate, but says ‘the bees had been introduced into New
Zealand from New South Wales.’ This may be an error. It is not improbable that the hives
referred to may have been stocked with some of Lady Hobson’s bees, but it is also quite possible
that they may have been brought from New South Wales …” In Hopkins’ earlier 1882 New
Zealand Bee Manual, he provided correspondence from a reader, William Mason: “Shortly after
the first edition was published ... I received a letter from a gentleman calling my attention to
the fact that … the first bees arrived in the ship Westminster in the early part of 1840 …
These bees belonged to Lady Hobson, wife of the first Governor, and were watched over on
board the vessel by Mr. McElwaine, the Governor’s gardener. They were landed in the Bay of
Islands.” Mason could speak with authority for in 1840 he was a thirty year old eye witness –
he’d voyaged to New Zealand aboard the same ship as the bees. 10

William Mason (1810-97), Isaac Hopkins’ correspondent

9
p.143. From dnzb.govt.nz/dnzb - the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, Dieffenbach sailed
aboard the Tory in May 1839 along with William Wakefield and Edward Jerningham Wakefield.
Dieffenbach returned to England in October 1841. His book, Travels in New Zealand was published in
London in 1843.
10
From the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography “William Hobson, before leaving Sydney to take
up his lieutenant governorship in New Zealand, offered [William] Mason the position of
superintendent of public works under Felton Mathew … Mason arrived at the Bay of Islands on 17
March 1840. He was a member of the founding party which arrived at the site of Auckland on 16
September 1840.”
Ernest Dieffenbach’s 11 document on his travels in New Zealand was published in 1843
wherein he commented upon its geography, geology, botany and natural history: “The
cryptogamous plants, ferns, jungermanmas, and mosses, bear in New Zealand rather an undue
proportion to the phanerogomous -- a circumstance which is unfavourable to the rearing of
bees. I am not aware that there is any native bee in New Zealand, but in certain seasons the
European bee would find a great quantity of honey and wax in the Phormium tenax. Bees
have been introduced into New Zealand from New South Wales: my excellent friend, the Rev.
Richard Taylor, at Waimate, had a hive, and they were thriving remarkably well; but in that
neighbourhood many European plants had been introduced.”

Rev. Richard Taylor 12

From Rev. Taylor’s diary 13 for December 1840, page 345: "10th. Dr Dieffenbach returned to
the bay. 12th. I went down to Paihia to preach for Mr Williams. 13th. We had a good
congregation in which was Mr Busby. … 15th. I set off home 14 taking a hive of bees with me.
I nearly got bogged in passing the Wawaroa. 15 " Rev. Richard Taylor made it clear his hive
failed. In The Past and Present of New Zealand (1868) 16 he wrote “Captain Hobson brought the
first hive of bees to the island, but they did not increase. … ” 17 (p.292) Given Taylor’s visit to
Paihia on 12 December 1840, it seems likely he acquired there one of the hives, or a swarm
therfrom, originally belonging to Mrs Hobson.
11
Dieffenbach, Ernest (1843) Travels in New Zealand :with contributions to the geography, geology,
botany, and natural history of that country, London, Murray
12
Image located on rosarosam.com/articles/waimate/roses_for_waimate.htm
13
Ref. MS 302, vol. 2, 1838 - 1844, typescript pp. 220-1
14
From Wikipedia: “Waimate North is a small settlement in Northland, New Zealand. It is situated
between Kerikeri and Lake Omapere, west of the Bay of Islands.” Also: “The Waimate Mission
established one of the earliest settlements in NZ, at Waimate North in the Bay of Islands.” From Web
site www.nram.govt.nz “Richard Taylor … was appointed a missionary for NZ by the CMS and the
family set sail on the Prince Regent, arriving in Sydney in June 1836. They were detained in Australia
for 3 years before arriving at the Bay of Islands in Sept 1839. Taylor spent the next 4 years at Waimate
North in charge of the Mission School before being transferred to Wanganui in 1843 …”
15
From the Birkenhead Historical Society web site: “Present-day Chelsea was known by its Maori
name of Wawaroa.”
16
Taylor, Reverend Richard (1868) The Past and Present of New Zealand with its Prospects for the
Future, William Macintosh, London
17
I’ve often thought whether a single, geographically isolated hive, could survive and successfully
reproduce after arrival in Australia or New Zealand. To this end I wrote to Ben Oldroyd, School of
Biological Sciences, University of Sydney. His reply explained the likelihood (or lack) of success of
such a hive, subject to some significant limitations.
 George Graham, two hives imported from Hobart, 1841
The Beekeeping Notes section of the New Zealand Farmer for October 1885 stated: “Mr
George Graham, in a letter to his son, states that the first bees that came to New Zealand were
brought at his request from Hobart in 1841, not 1840. The bees did very well. A swarm from
the hive settled near Government House. Mr Cleghorn took it, and it did very well. The
vessel’s name in which the bees (two swarms) came was The Sisters; captain’s name, Clark. 18
One swarm died, but the other one, as above mentioned, did well. Mr. Graham gave Bishop
Selwyn the swarms as they multiplied. The cost of the two swarms was £5.”

Government House, Auckland, c1842-43

Alexander Turnbull Library
Thomas Cleghorn was one of New Zealand’s early founders 19 – he’s simply described [as an
early settler in] Auckland, c1843. From the Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society
of New Zealand 1868-1961, Vol. 18, 1885 20 “Of our English trees, oak claims precedence.
The oaks in the Government House grounds are the oldest in the Provincial District. The
acorns were sent from Sydney, and sown by Mr. Cleghorn, Superintendent of Public Works,
in the Government Gardens in 1841 or 1842.” John Adam states in the New Zealand Garden
Journal, 2007 “Dr David Monro described the [Government] garden [in his journal for 1842]
in the summer of 1842: ‘In this garden there was to be seen a large variety of vegetable,
flower, young vines and fruit trees and several plants and seeds of which Mr. C. [sic.]
Cleghorn, Government Gardener had bought from Rio Janeiro.’ ” 21
It’s uncertain if the Hobart sourced bees were received at Government House, Russell, pre-
March 1841, or after this to Government House, Auckland. I think the latter more likely. On
13 March 1841 Lt.Gov. Hobson made his official landing in Auckland, 22 signifying the
removal of authority there from Russell. Preparations for the move were already in play.
From the Auckland Museum web site 23 “In September 1840, the barque Anna Watson arrived
in Auckland from the Bay of Islands to establish the new capital. On board were
18
geocities.com/wlorac/arrvauck.txt gives the following 1842-43 arrivals of the brig Sisters in
Auckland from Hobart, 27 Dec 1842; under master Hugh Clarke, 4 May, 6 Aug and 13 Dec 1843;
19
shadowsoftime.co.nz/settlersb.html
New Zealand’s early founders, Jan. 1840 to Dec. 1845
20
(p.312) rsnz.natlib.govt.nz/volume/rsnz_18/rsnz_18_00_003160.html
21
MS 210. P29. Auckland Institute Museum. Referenced in Adam, John P. New Zealand Garden
Journal, 2007, Vol. 10(1) “Archaeological infrastructure of Wai-te-mata (Auckland) 1820–1850”
22
Stone, R.C.J (2001) From Tāmaki-makau-rau to Auckland. Auckland University Press (p.266)
23
aucklandmuseum.com/site_resources/library/Education/Teachers_Guide/Teacher_Resources_Librar
y/Social_Science/BoomOrBustBN.pdf
approximately 75 people including government officials and skilled workmen. Several wives
and children accompanied their husbands. The barque Platina, carrying pre-cut timbers for
Government House was anchored in the harbour too. …” Might one of the skilled workmen
have been Cleghorn? Or did he come later? From New Zealand’s John Adam, a noted
landscape and horticultural historian, the “first Superintendent of Domain [was] followed in
close succession by Edinburgh born and professional gardener, Thomas Cleghorn,
(Appointed in September 1841 on 130 pounds 17 shillings and five pence.) … Thomas
Cleghorn was the second and the last ‘Supt. of Domain’. 24
From one perspective, the year 1841 is problematic with respect to Graham’s reference to
Bishop Selwyn. The Bishop reached the Bay of Islands for the first time in June 1842, from
which time Cotton was desperate to get his first bees from friends in Sydney. Some hives
finally arrived under the care of James Busby in early August 1843. Selwyn and entourage
did not relocate from the Bay of Islands to Auckland, and from the latter to accept swarms of
bees, for another three and a half years, when, in mid November 1844, the Selwyns and
Cotton with his bees arrived in Auckland aboard the brig Victoria. 25 Once there Bishop
Selwyn would have had no need of donated swarms, either from Graham or anyone else.
There were various opportunities for a Sisters visit to Auckland, New Zealand in 1841. The
Hobart newspaper Colonial Times for Tuesday 12 January 1841, reported “New Zealand. -
The fine new colonial schooner Sisters, belonging to Mr. Lucas, and built by Mr. Watson,
sailed on Sunday last for New Zealand, having on board Mr. John Moses, the charterer …”
(p.2) The Shipping News section announced “Jan. 10. Sailed the schooner Sisters, Clarke
master, for New Zealand, with a general cargo, two passengers, and Mr. John Moses
supercargo.” The New Zealand Gazette and Wellington Spectator for 30 January announced
the arrival on 27 January of the “schooner, the Sisters, Clark, from Hobart Town; cargo,
merchandize.” The same newspaper recorded the Sisters, Clark, in port, on 6 February and
again on the 13th that month. The issue for 20 February announced in its Shipping Intelligence
section “SAILED. Feb. 16, schooner Sisters, Clark, for Auckland. Passenger - Mr. Moses.”

From the New Zealand Gazette and Wellington Spectator, 30 January 1841

24
Posted 14 Aug. 2009
http://timespanner.blogspot.com/2009/08/domain-stories-note-from-john-adam.html
25
WCC, Grand Bee Master, p.75
 Another advertisement in the New Zealand Gazette and Wellington Spectator, 30 January 1841
The New Zealand Gazette and Wellington Spectator for 27 March 1841 listed the Sisters at
the Thames. In that port again, The Port Nicholson Gazette for 17 May 1841 (p.3) listed the
Sisters at the Thames on 27th March 1841. 26 Four months later, in the New Zealand Gazette
and Wellington Spectator for 31 July 1841 “Vessels loading for New Zealand, from Sydney
Herald, of 5th July: - … Schooner Sisters, 130 [tons], Clarke, master.” The Sisters shared its
destinations between Hobart / Launceston, Sydney and New Zealand ports throughout 1841.
Several voyages between Hobart and Sydney for the Sisters/Clark combination were recorded
in 1841 Hobart newspapers: 9th to 19th July, 15th August, 12th to 28th September.
The Colonial Times for Tuesday 16 November 1841, reported the Sisters for New Zealand
with Clark as master on the 14th. Variously in The Courier and the Colonial Times, numerous
sailings and arrivals under Clark(e) to/from New Zealand were reported between January
1842 and December 1844. Graham was emphatic about the year 1841. It’s unlikely the bees
came out on the Sisters maiden voyage, so any of its subsequent voyages from Hobart are
candidates, however the November embarkation matched to Cleghorn’s appointment only
two months previously sits well.
… and back to George Cooper, Nov. 1845
For Cooper another opportunity to get some bees presented itself only two months on from
October 1842, but whether he capitalised upon it remains unknown. The Auckland news

26
This instance found in http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nzbound/launceston.htm
Searching of the Port Nicholson Gazette within the National Library of New Zealand’s paperspast
web site was not supported.
section of the Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle for 24 December 1842 (p.168)
reported “Mr. Cooper has returned from Sydney, where it is believed he succeeded in getting
a loan for the Government.” Cooper eventually acquired some hives of bees for his farm,
Eden Park. 27 William Charles Cotton wrote in his diary three years later: “Monday Nov 17th,
1845: Walked over to Epsom to pay a visit to Mr & Mrs Cooper and to give them a lesson on
Bee management. Their garden and bees seem very flourishing. It was my first visit to them
... and a lovely place it is, such clover paddocks, and a wind mill.” In Cotton’s absence his ten
part series Hints on the Management of Bees, which began in the 13 February 1847 issue of
the New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, must have been avidly consumed by
other early Auckland beekeepers, Cooper amongst them.

27
Web page http://www.art-newzealand.com/Issues21to30/mitford.htm lists art work by
topographical painter of the 1840s, John Guise Mitford, one of which depicts Cooper’s farm. Mitford
“came to New Zealand with his brother G.M.S. Mitford and at first (by April 1841) settled in
Auckland. Worked as minor customs official, then appointed 1843 Sub-Collector of Customs in the
Bay of Islands. Painted in Auckland and in the Waikato 1842-44. …”