BEDINGFIELD’S ANTECEDENTS.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1233, 30 August 1884, Page 3

BEDINGFIELD’S ANTECEDENTS.

The Christchurch correspondent of the Wellington Post gives the following : The story of “ Captain” Bedingfield is by uo means uotinged with romance. He first came to this colony about seven years ago, and went to the Waikato district, where he worked at his trade, that of a compositor. During his residence there, he was seized with rheumatic fever, and was laid up for a considerable time. Then be moved to Napier, where be was unfortunate enough to bo seized again with the fever. After working through the North Island, moving from one printing office to another, he determined about five years ago upon :clnraiug to England, and in order to do this he worked his passage before the mast. The inducement for this trip, was that in consequence of the death of his father he had become the possessor of a moderate sum of money, and, as a man of property, he of course felt justified in taking unto himself a wife. The lady upon whom his elm?'— fell is understood to have been dstai. related to him (a second cousin v. ’ clieve.) He came out to New Zealand again, and at first settled in Napier, where his mother, and some other relatives are now living, i Having worked at his trade for a considerable time in Napier, he went for a short, period into the Government Printing Office, Wellington, and in June, 1882, he came down to Christchurch. Bedingfield was a Unitarian, and indeed his father was a minister of that persuasion. He seems to have been most respectably connected. He claimed very close relationship with William Makepeace Thackeray, and there is no question that Thackeray used to correspond with members of the family. Bedingfield had one of these precious letters in his possession. While in London he indulged in the luxury of a consultation with the famous physician, Sir William Jenner. When a mere child the terrible fright occasioned by the visitation of a burglar induced incipient heart disease, and the double attack of rheumatic fever in New Zealand, converted the disease into an unmistakably dangerous one, so Sir William Jenner told him ; and that the physician’s warning was well-founded was evidenced by th6i fact that Bedingfield became subject to fits of unconsciousness, which caused his friends serious alarm. He was a general favorite with all who knew him. Everybody regarded him as a man of energy and earnestness of purpose. Three weeks after tbe Salvation Army opened fire in Christchurch he announced his “ real conversion" by thtir agency, and about two months afterwards he joined their ranks. At that time he was one of the night staff of compositors of one of the morning journals, and was earning good wages, so that in throwing up his ordinary occupation he made considerable pecuniary sacrifice. From the moment he joined the “ Army” his career was very anxiously watched by some of his old companions, and his apparently thorough devotedne*s to his new calling won their respect. His character seemed so blameless and his zeal so marked that he fairly jumped to the rank of captain, and to the “ Little Wonder” he became a sort of guardian. This guardianship, however, had its bitterness. Sydenham folks, we believe, used sometimes to wag their heads with an air of wisdom, and hint that Bedingfield and the “ Little Wonder” were very fond of one another. As events have provsd, the gossips -ere right. Everybody feels sorry for Mrs Bedingfield, so heartlessly left with her two chddren. “She was,” says one who knew her very well, “ a good, kind-hearted woman.” The same informant adds, “I thought more of Bedingfield than of all the rest I have seen with the Salvation Army. I believed him to be a strictly conscientious man." It is understood to be due to certain little unpleasantness respecting tbe apparent “ fondness” before spoken, of, that Bedingfield’s scene of operations was changed from Christchurch to Ashburton, and ultimately to Dunedin.