George ARMSTRONG [33553]

  General Notes:

George Armstrong (1822 \endash 1 September 1905) was a 19th-century Member of Parliament in Canterbury, New Zealand.
Biography
New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate Party
1866\endash 1870 4th Akaroa Independent

He was born in St John's, Nova Scotia and first visited Banks Peninsula in command of a trading brig in the 1840s. He was in charge of the schooner Edwin Stanley during the New Zealand Wars, and was court-martialled for taking his vessel to the rescue of a settler attacked by Maori while carrying stores for troops at Wanganui. He settled in Akaroa on Banks Peninsula.

He represented the Akaroa electorate on the Canterbury Provincial Council from 1861 to 1862, and the Wainui electorate from 1862 to 1863.

He represented the Akaroa electorate in Parliament from 1866 to 1870 when he retired. He stood for Parliament again in the 1887 election. Of the six candidates, he came third.

Mr. George Armstrong
Among the early residents of the Peninsula, one of those who worked hard and built up a big land estate was Mr. George Armstrong, of Mt. Vernon, Akaroa. He was born at St. John's. New Brunswick, in 1820, and took to a seafaring life at an early age. He came to New Zealand first in the ship Phœnix in 1846, when he and the boat's crew received their discharges from that vessel at Hawke's Bay. Later, he was in charge of the. Edward Stanley, owned by Mr. Johnstone, of Wellington, a vessel trading up the coast and carrying stores to the troops at Wanganui. It was during this visit to Wanganui that Mr. Armstrong was courtmartialled for rescuing a settler named McGregor. The story is as follows: \emdash "Wanganui was then under martial law, and when Mr. Armstrong saw a settler named McGregor, who had crossed the river against orders and was chased by the Maoris, jump down the cliffs to escape from them, he and one of his crew, without waiting for orders, went to McGregor's rescue. The result of this adventure was that Mr. Armstrong was courtmartialled, but, of course, that was a matter of form only, and he was released shortly." This was not the only mishap which befell him on his visit to Wanganui, On coming alongside he found the wharf in a very rotten condition, and reported to the authorities that it was not capable of carrying the provisions he was to land. He was told that the complaint was a trivial one, and that the wharf was easily able to bear the flour and provisions. Mr. Armstrong proved correct, for the wharf collapsed entirely.

"It was about this time that Mr. Armstrong met his future wife, Miss Cummerfield, of Foxton, and he married her there, and came on down to Akaroa the next year. Here he started business in a building next to Bruce's Hotel. After a few years he took his wife and two eldest children to America and England. The visit was only a short one, and, on his return, he brought out with him his sister, afterwards Mrs. Daly. On the way out to New Zealand he called at Sydney, and purchased the vessel Mary Louisa, and traded in her from Wellington to Akaroa for some years. During this time he bought the old Commercial Hotel, which was situated where Messrs T., E. Taylor & Co.'s grocery shop new stands. He only held it for a few years, selling it to a Lyttelton firm, which afterwards went bankrupt. Mr. Armstrong then bought some of the furniture, and started business there again. During his holding of the license for the Commercial Hotel Mr. Armstrong employed the late Mr. A. Rodrigues. He then sold his vessel, and started business in a general store in partnership with the late Mr. Daly This store was at "The Willows," on the section adjoining Mrs. Fergus's boardinghouse on Beach road. It was while he was in partnership with Mr. Daly that they purchased the vessel Challenge, a top sailed schooner, Mr. Armstrong took command of this vessel, which plied between Akaroa and the Bays, carrying the timber from the sawmills, which were then in full swing on the Peninsula. After some years, the partnership between Messrs Daly and Armstrong was dissolved, Mr. Daly carrying on the store, and Mr. Armstrong taking up farming. It was during this time that Mr. Armstrong represented Akaroa in the Provincial Council and afterwards in the House of Representatives. In 1888 he stood again for Parliament, but was defeated by the late Mr. McGregor. He has taken no part in public matters of late, leading a very retired life. It was Mr. Armstrong who first cut a track from Barry's Bay to Little River. He rode with his sister, Mrs. Daly, from Barry's Bay, and, as the Peninsula was then covered with the virgin forest, the two pioneers rode through, Mr. Armstrong going in front with an axe and clearing the way as he went The story of Mr. Armstrong's purchase of the large land estate he held at his death is very identical with that of most of the early pioneers. He first bought 200 acres in German Bay, comprising the land now known as the Point. This would be in the fifties. Later he bought 150 acres where the homestead now stands. After the acquisition of the 150 acres he bought in the bulk of the land gradually from the Government at £2 per acre. One block of 50 acres, about the site of the sawmill which he used to work, he bought fair recently from Messrs Kedge and Wright at £10 an acre.
Title: Tales of Banks Peninsula
Author: H. C. Jacobson

George married CUMMERFIELD [33560] [MRIN: 11997] on 3 Apr 1851. (CUMMERFIELD [33560] was born circa 1831 and died in 1903 in Akaroa NZ.)