EARLY
WOODCOCKS IN
NEW ZEALAND TIME LINE
1863 Jan 7th
Alfred Woodcock b 1845 – d 1935 arrived in N.Z. aboard the “Cairgorm.”
1863 Oct 1st
Enlists with the 2
nd Waikato Regiment at
Auckland
at age 19 serving approx. 12 months under Captain Rolls.
1863 Oct 1st
Thomas Woodcock b 1842 enlists with the 2
nd Waikato Regiment at
Auckland
at the age of 22.
1864
Sir George Edward Grey Governor of
New
Zealand.
1864 Apr 2nd
Orakau Pa
taken by British Troops. Excerpt from New Zealand Bulletin April 1864
"Orakau lies three miles from the settlement of Kihikihi which is some
four miles from the town of Te Awamutu in the Waikato and it was here that a
force of some 300 Maori warriors together with a handful of women and children
defied a vastly superior Imperial and Colonial force numbering some 1,500 to
2,000 troops. British losses were 16 dead and 52 wounded. The Maori death roll
will never be known but it is estimated that at least 160 natives, including 19
Chiefs perished and many more were wounded. Thirty three prisoners were taken.
1864
Henry Woodcock b 1850 d 1934 sailed from
England
on the "Rob Roy" arriving in
Auckland
in 1865 settling first in Warkworth and then in Kiapara Hills.
1864 Mar 11th
Alfred Woodcock deserted the military.
1864 Apr 6th
Tenders called for the construction of TWENTY FOUR MILES of RAILWAY between
Auckland
and Dury with a branch line to Onehunga.
1864 Apr 11th
Wedding Notice in the New Zealand Bulletin “Murry – Woodcock at St. Mathew's
church
Hobson Street on the
11
th instant by the Rev. D Jones, Nicholas Stow Murry to Jane second
daughter of Richard Woodcock Esq. St. Helliers Jersey Channel Islands. No
cards.”
1865 Aug 1st
Thomas Woodcock deserted the military.
1866 Dec 27th
Alfred Woodcock took up his father’s grant of 97 acres and lived on it, also
claiming Land War Grant of 40 acres part of
Lot 30.
1867 Jan 31st
Henry Woodcock obtained part of Lot 29 Ahuroa Crown Land sale.
1870
Frederick Woodcock b 1853 served as a midshipman on the
"Wiltshire" to receive 120 pounds for three voyages.
1871 Oct 11th
Frederick Woodcock passenger "Conflict" for
Sydney
Australia.
1875 Jan 29th
Thomas Woodcock receives his New Zealand War Medal in
Sydney
Australia.
1892 May 25th
Auckland Land District No 26 Plan of the sections in
the
Parish of Tauhoa and block X1 Tauhoa map of sections
for sale shows: H Woodcock Lot 176 below and to the right R Woodcock (probably
Alfred's under his fathers grant)
Lot 190 – 191 F
Woodcock
Lot 177 E Andrews adjoining bottom of
Lot
190.
1905
Woodcocks Railway Station opened.
Sources:
Copy of Maori War Records for Alfred and Thomas enlistment and Thomas's
receipt for New Zealand War Medal in author’s possession.
New Zealand Bulletin Apr 1864 Orakau
Pa excerpt (much more contained about the
battle in the Bulletin).
New Zealand Bulletin Jane Woodcock's wedding.
New Zealand Bulletin Tenders for rail extension.
Book "The Rock and The Sky" re land settlements (note this book
while having a lot of information regarding early Woodcocks contains errors.)
Copy of Frederick's midshipman
contract and passenger ticket in author’s possession.
A copy of 1892 plan of land settlement in Tauhoa in author’s possession.