AN OLD COLONIST

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 2153, 20 June 1889, Page 2

AN OLD COLONIST

»' _ f' A The " London Star " contains the tol* lowing ln referenoo to an old New Zealand resident, whose servioe* to tbe oolony are, however, ' aomewbat exaggerated. .Captain Bellalra lived for some time at Peliohet Bay, Duuedld, and was one of Sir George Grey's first nomlnaes to the brief -lived Legislative Couuoil of New Monster, ln whioh vapaoity only did he take psrtln the work cf colonial «dailnla-* tration or legislation, On hla return to Europe he for » thae aoted •• Paris correspondent for the "London Times" ;— •'Captain Bellalra, our Vioe-Oonsul et Biarritz, who received a visit from the Qaeen on Tuesday, belonga to an adventurous family. Amongst the tropbiee which he showed Her Majesty ie the sword jof an ancestor who fought at the siege of Gibraltar. Captain Bellalra' father, Sir William Bellalrs, waa In Spain With Wellington, and at Waterloo, He was offered a baronetoy by Lord Dorhim for hia servicer, m oonneotion with the remarkable enterprise whloh made -New Zealand British territory. The Govern* ment having disclaimed any responsibility for JNew Zealand, the French fitted out an expedition to take pee* session of that oountry. A number of enterprising Englishmen, lnoluding Lord Durham, Sir William Bellalrs, and Oolonel Gibbon Wakefield, formed themselves into what waa oalled .the New Zaaland Association, and Oolonel Wakefield set sail with some companions, Captain Bellalra amongst the number, -m a small vessel whioh reached New Zealand two days before the Frenoh. The British fi*g was promptly hoisted, and whan tha rival colonisers appeared, Oolonel Wakefield threatened to shoot any maa who ventured to land. Captain BeUatra **- malned In N?w goeland for soma yeajpi and filled important offices m the oqfonlal Administration. Many of the looal statutes by whioh tbe affaire of tht oolony are governed were framed, by hinf. Oolonel Wakefield, to whose energy Eof* land Is oaUg/ indebted for one of her most valuable possessions, ls<qo longer living. Probably few people remembai bia exploit, or that he waa perhaps the only man who had to leave the army fer tunning away with a ward ln Chancery,"