AN OLD SETTLER

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 211, 25 May 1918, Page 7

AN OLD SETTLER

THE LATE MR, JOHN' -TELFORD.

A pioneer settlor, who at one time was ■ very well and popularly known through: out the 'Wellington district died on Sun-. ■ day last in the person of Ah. John Telford,'of 115 Owen. Street.. The late Mr. Telford was the son of- Mr. John Telford, of Stirling, Scotland, who was the manager of tne : Western Bank of Scotland, which had to close its doors through ,, the failure of its -financial .operations'at the time of and in connection with the- lay. Ing down of. the first railway lines, in the north of England and south of Scotland in. the early '30's.of tde : last century. Mr- Telford, sen., looking out for pastures new,' heard , of the' proposal to colonise New : Zealand in 1839 bythe com-; pany floated through- the -'efforts of llr. Edward Gibbon 'Wakefield.-.and. liking the venture enrolled himself as a settler, and arrived here in' 1810 by the ship Bengal Merchant. Later-he sent for his tfifo' and family, but in the meantimo .Mrs. Telford -had become bedridden, and she never few New Zealand. The tote Mr. John Telford- eventually arrived here in 1852' as a memte'r oi a.crew of a sailing vessel,, aiul, being .desirous of litaying-' in the oolony, took "Freuch ' leave" of the vessel which had been his home for six- months; and made silent tracks for the country. At that timo (1852-3) tho road over the Rimutakas was being made, and the runaway sailor obtained employment on those works until such tun?-te he judged his ship would have.sailed again. He then re . turned to Wellington .(where his father iind two brothers were - located), and' after a consultation young John v.is ad- " vised to-take'up work on a otation in the Marlboi'oiigh. district, and it is interesting, to relate that a fellow-passenger on his _twp across to the' Wairau in Captain, Guard's schooner' was Bishop" Kflwynot revered memory; In Marlborough Jlr.-Telford picked up*tho ways of sta-, tioii life (which, aftorwards. ; served lnini in l good stead), andnleo took a hand in the whaling 'operations out of Port Underwood.' Later,' on receipt of a legacy, he and his brother'acquired "Blairlogie" station , in the Wnirarapa (now the property of Mr.- Kuperi Monison), but (titer a few years the brothers, dissolved partnership,. and the late Mr. John Telford purchased the "Wharemoko" station, near- Paraparaijmu. Befove taking possfissipn, however, he decided on taking a trip to Auokland. Whilst en route the Maori trouble at, Waitara burst into open war, and when he went to board the vessel at New Plymouth for Onehunga he found that martial law had boen proclaimed in thef'district. He was--1 stopped by the guard, and after an. examination was drafted.into the auxiliary forces, and had to serve two years in the colonial army, so that conscription in Nbw Zealand is not a thing of yesterday. After obtaining his discharge he settled at "Wharomoko," remaining there for twenty Years,' esteemed by all veith wloin he came in contact. The late Mr. Telford, who. was'B6 years of-age, married when about GO, and leaves a widow and two adult children. It should be mentioned that Mr. John Telford's father was-a general merchant in Wellington, and was held in high rej.ute by the community. One of the close friends of the family was the Eov. Jnme3 Paterson (formerly of St. John's Church.!, who knew branches of the Telford family in . ■ . .