Harriet and John WILMSHURST:
With his 15-year-old sister Harriet, John Thomas Wilmshurst sailed to New Zealand at age 17 aboard the 444-ton Lord William Bentinck, leaving London on 8 January 1841 and arriving Wellington, New Zealand on 19 May 1841. If you have a connection with this family or would like to know more please contact Lynda Gear or visit her excellent website at Lyndas Genealogy

CAINES family:
Mary Blake was born 21 January 1815 in Yeovil, Somerset, England, the daughter of Charles Blake and Ann Brooke of Yeovil. Mary's first husband, William Caines was born 17 February 1815 in Yeovil, the son of Samuel and Sarah Caines. William was an Agricultural Labourer and Gardener. In 1841 William Caines (27yrs), his wife Mary Blake (26yrs) and their three young sons, Alfred (7yrs), Hubert (3yrs) and Robert (1yr) emigrated to New Zealand aboard the barque "Lord William Bentinck", which sailed from the Port of Gravesend on 8 January 1841 via the Downs, finally arriving in the Port of Wellington, New Zealand on 19 May 1841. For whatever reason the marriage did not survive long afterwards and Mary remarried Frederick Augustus Mason 1884 in Wellington. Frederick had earlier joined the King's Navy sailing aboard the "HMS Favourite" and then the "HMS Rattlesnake" which brought him from England to Sydney, Australia. He later arrived in the Bay of Islands on the "HMS Britomart" on 2 July 1840, only a few months after Govenor William Hobson had been sworn in as Lieut Governor for the new colony of New Zealand. He also later served in the force against Hone Heke's Pah in 1845. Mary and Frederick had two children in Wellington, Henry Frederick Mason and Elizabeth Jane Mason. By Dec 1850, just 2 days before the famous "First Four Ships" arrived, they had made the move to Lyttleton, Christchurch where they had their son Charles Blake Mason, where for 16 years Frederick was a Baker working out of a shop in Lyttleton. The family also later lived in the areas of Leithfield, Amberley and Waiau, except for eldest son Henry Frederick who married Mary McAlinden 1866 in Wanganui and raised a family there. It is believed that Mary Blake's former husband William Caines remarried also, to a Maori lady by the name of Poite Te Ngarue about 1852 in Pikopiko, Wanganui. If you are connected to or would like more information on the above family or their descendents or have information you can also share, then please contact Liz Larsen.

FARMER family:
Alexander Farmer [53] and his family of Cupar, Fife, Scotland, left Gravesend on January 8 1841 on the Lord William Bentinck. His family comprised Euphemia, his wife [45], and five children - Alexander Jnr [22] with his wife Elizabeth Taylor, also of Cupar, Fife and their daughter, Elizabeth, aged 4 months; Elizabeth [18] a sempstress, George [15] a labourer, James aged [12] and Robert aged [9]. The Farmer family arrived in Wellington on May 24 1841. They took up land in Belmont in The Hutt, where Alexander farmed until he died in 1874 aged 87. The daughter of Alexander Jnr, baby Elizabeth, died in Wellington in 1845 aged 3 years. He and Elizabeth had four other children – Euphemia born 1843, Isabel born 1847, Alexander born 1849 and George born in 1851. Euphemia married William James in 1862 in Wellington. He arrived on the "Wild Duck" in 1839. Euphemia and William James had a large family of 13 children of whom six were still living in 1939. The elder of the James daughters, Elizabeth born 1863, later married W C Fitzgerald in 1882, while Euphemia, born 1865, married Charles Graham Houghton in 1890. Charles G Houghton was the eldest of 12 children of Charles Solly Houghton and Elizabeth Graham. Charles Solly Houghton had sailed from Gravesend on the "Midlothian" on October 10th 1858, arriving in Nelson 29 January 1859. He was awarded a Crown Grant of land in 1862. If you have a connection with this family or would like to learn more please contact Susan Simmons.