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Samuel Edward Grimstone. 1818 / 1872..

Samuel Edward was born in 1818 to Samuel Grimstone and his spouse by his second marriage, Elizabeth Hayatt, on the 10th of June 1818 he was christened at St Mary Magdalene Church Rotherhithe England.

He was the only son in the family, his two younger sisters Maria Elizabeth and Elizabeth Mary were also christened at St Mary Magdalene's Church, at this time they lived at Salisbury Place, Salisbury Street Rotherhithe Bermondsey, which is situated near London on the southern side of the Thames River.

St Mary Magdalene was in Old Fish Street London, now known as The United Parishes of St Martin Ludgate; St Gregory by St Paul and St Mary Magdalene, this came about following the Great Fire of 1666, the church was rebuilt in 1685 and then following another fire in 1886.

At the age of 18 years, on the 25th February 1836 Samuel Edward sailed aboard the ship " James Laird " bound for Australia, he arrived in Sydney NSW on the 12th July 1836, the first recorded account of his employment was on the 14th November 1837, when he was appointed a Clerk in the Registrar Generals Office, eventually he moved on to the staff of Sir George Gibbs, the then Governor of NSW, and by the 9th of February 1840 he was listed as a third Class Clerk.

On the 16th of January 1840 he married Charlotte Mary Burrowes of Surry Hills in Sydney the ceremony taking place at St Lawrence, three days later aboard the HMS Herald with Captain Hobson who later became Governor Hobson in New Zealand, they sailed to New Zealand, arriving at Kororareka on the 29th January 1840, the purpose of this trip was for the signing of the Waitangi Treaty which took place on the 6th of February 1840, it is rumoured that Samuel Edward was the Scribe for this Treaty.

Two months after the signing of the Treaty his wife Charlotte arrived in New Zealand aboard the ship Westminster, They lived on board ship for a couple of months, but moved ashore into a tent as Charlotte neared her time. At this time they decided to settle in New Zealand, and between 1840 and 1860 they had a family of 15 children, 10 of whom lived beyoond childhood, and 8 of which [ 5 male & 3 female ] survived their father.

Samuel Edward's caree was to remain in the Public Service, for in August 1840 he was appointed the second Postmaster of the first offical Post Office set up in Kororareka, his salary was based on 20% of the postal receips, he was transferred to Auckland as acting Postmaster in February 1841 under the control of the Postmaster General of NSW, by 1845 he was in Wellington, he wrote a book which he named "Southern Settlement of New Zealand" which was published in 1857, it covered various statistics on population and produce of the regions.

At the same time he was Secretary to his honour the Superintendent in Wellington, plus Registar of Deeds and Paymaster of the Wellington Battalion, In 1850 he also was Editor of the New Zealand Magazine and 1852/1853 Chief Clerk in the Colonial department as collectors Clerk and Accountant in the Wellington Customs up until 1862.

On the 1st October 1856 Samuel Edward was defeated in the Wellington Provincal Council, then on the 1st of September 1860 he was appointed Lieutenant in the Wellington Militia, after 22 years in New Zealand he decided to return to Australia, there he continued in the Public Service, for according to the Archives Office of NSW, Public Service list 1858 to 1870, which containes Index of Officers to Civil Establishments etc-1866, Samuel Edward Grimstone was appointed on the 22nd June 1863, by the Governor with the advice of executive council, under Act 30 vict No 12, as Examiner & Compiler of Vital Statistics, in the Registrar Generals office, with an annual Salary of 250 pounds.

At the age of 54 years in Glebe Sydney he died from heart disease, he is buried in the same grave as his mother-in-law Mary Burrowes, in the Catholic Cemetery, Botany Pioneer's Memorial Park Eastern Suburbs Cemetery.

Charlotte moved to Toowoomba in Queensland to live out her life with daughter Mary and son-in-law Charles, she died in 1912 at the age of 91 years. and she is buried in the Charles Redwood family plot at the Toowoomba Cemetry.

 

 

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