THE LATE J. NORTON.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXII, Issue 805, 29 January 1910, Page 3

THE LATE J. NORTON.

A FEW REMINISCENCES. [Contributed]. There passed away on January 19th, at Moutoa, an old Maori war veteran and Manawatu identity in the person of Mr J. Norton. The deceased, who was Si years of age, left England in a company of the 65th Regiment which was guarding a gang of convicts being sent to Norfolk Island. He saw active service against the Maoris around Porirua, Pahautinui and also at Wanganui. He came to the Manawatu district in the early fifties and engaged in many occupations, such as canoeing stores up the Manawatu river right through the Gorge. Many good stories he related of the adventures on the journey up-river. He acted as body guard for the late Dr. Featherstone, when he visited the Manawatu and canoed up the river and selected the site where now stands the thriving town of Palmerston. Mr Norton used to relate how the doctor and himsell climbed trees to get a view of the country, and nothing met their gaze but bush, manuka, and mobs of wild pigs. He was chaiuman for Mr J. T. Stuart, when he had charge of the Manawatu Survey District, and he could tell many a tale of the drunken orgies indulged in by some of the surveyors, when they used to foregather in Foxtou. His stories of the early pioneering days were iuteusly interesting, and it seems a pity that these old settlers are allowed to pass away without leaving some written record of their experiences.