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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Auckland Provincial District]

Mr. Charles Mcdonald

Mr. Charles Mcdonald was born at Halifax, Yorkshire, England, in 1845. He is a son of Mr. John McDonald, and was educated at Park Place Academy, Halifax. In 1859 he came out to Auckland in the ship “Shalimahr” and early in 1860 he left Auckland with his father and the rest of the family for Wairoa South (now known as Clevedon), where his father had purchased a block of land. The roads then were very primative and the journey had to be made in a bullock waggon. By dint of energy and perseverance the family succeeded in spite of almost unsurmountable obstacles, in founding a very comfortable and picturesque home. On the breaking out of hostilities with the Maoris in July, 1863, it had, however, to be abandoned, and the subject of this sketch, then only seventeen years of age, joined the Wairoa Rifle Volunteers, one of the first volunteer corps raised in the Colony. He was at once placed on active service with his company, which after serving in different parts of the district was stationed in the stockade built by the volunteers on McNicol's farm on the right bank of the Wairoa river, whilst the Galloway Redoubt occupied by a detachment of the 65th Regiment and about 200 of the Auckland Volunteers and militia were opposite on the left bank, the whole under the command of the late Colonel Lyons. During the progress of the war he saw a great deal of active service in the field, and was frequently under fire On the 24th of July, when a settler named Cooper went to his homestead from the camp to milk his cows, firing was heard and young McDonald was oue of a party who were sent out to Cooper's assistance, and was also the first to find his body. The Wairoa Rifles lost another of their number the same morning in the person of young Calvert who was shot near his father's house, and died as he was being carried into the Redoubt by a party of Captain Ring's 18th Royal Irish. He was present at the attack by the Maoris on the Stockade on the 13th of September, when they fired into Mr. McNicol's house, which was occupied by some of the family, including women and children. Hearing shots fired, McDonald, though unarmed, proceeded to ascertain the cause and was met at McNicol's by the inmates rushing out in great terror, one little boy having a bullet hole in his cap Taking an infant from one of the women, he told them to run to the Stockade, about 300 yards off, when a Maori appeared at the end of the house and levelled his gun at McDonald. For a few seconds the two stood looking at each other, and then the Maori fired, the bullet just grazing McDonald's head. McDonald succeeded in reaching the Stockade in safety with the baby, though he had to pass through a shower of bullets; and he was afterwards complimented by Colonel Lyons for his coolness on the occasion. He was also with
The Late Mr. C. Mcdonald.

The Late Mr. C. Mcdonald.

his company at the attack on the Otau Native Settlement on the 19th of September, when the Maoris were driven into the bush and one of their head chiefs was killed. On the 12th of August he formed one of an expedition, which, under Captain Steele, went from Wairoa through the dense bush of the Hunua Ranges and emerged at Drury; and on the 20th of November he was one of the storming party composed of a detachment of the 18th Royal Irish, under Captain Ring (afterwards killed at Orakau) and a party of the Wairoa Rifles under Captain Steele, at the attack and destruction of the Maori Pa situated in the ranges near the mouth of the Wairoa river, where the rebels sustained a crushing defeat, which practically closed the fighting in the Wairoa district. At the close of the war he was awarded the New Zealand war medal and other distinctions and also received a grant of land for his services. Mr. McDonald continued his connection with the Wairoa Rifles, was elected ensign of the company, and received his commission as lieutenant in November, 1872. In connection with the corps he founded a Rifle Association, which was the means of greatly improving the efficiency of the members as marksmen; after thirteen years of service, he resigned his commission and was unanimously elected an honorary member of the company with the rank of captain. In 1872 Mr. McDonald became one of the first settlers in the Piako district, where his father had acquired a thousand acre block of land known as Pakarau. In those days travelling to and from the Piako district was a matter of extreme difficulty and very considerable danger, and Mr. McDonald had many grim and stirring experiences in that connection. page 435 However under his management the farm was rapidly brought under cultivation and large areas were annually ploughed, harrowed, and laid down in grass, and fat cattle were sent down to the Auckland market, where they always commanded good prices on account of the high quality of the beef. Mr. McDonald was for some time a member of the Wairoa Highway Board and rendered good service in that capacity in connection with the laying off and formation of roads, etc. Eventually his youngest brother succeeded him in the management of Pakarau, and in January, 1882, he himself took up his residence in Auckland, where he received an appointment as accountant in one of the leading manufacturing businesses in that City. He remained in that position for over eight years, and then he joined the staff of the firm of J. T. Arundel and Co., trading in the Pacific Islands. On the death of his father he became the owner of the family homestead at Wairoa. Mr. McDonald was a member of the Beresford Street Congregational Church and was married in 1881 to Miss Edith Rowe, daughter of Mr. James Rowe, who arrived in the Colony in 1853, and was one of the first settlers in the Pakuranga district, Auckland. Three sons were born of the union. Mr. McDonald died at Baker Island, in the South Pacific, on the 1st of April, 1900.