Le Bon's Bay was settled much later than most of the other bays of the Peninsula. It was about 1857 that the first settler—Mr. Cuff—arrived in the bay. The place was then covered with dense bush and heavy timber. Mr. Cuff established a sawmill—which afterwards fell into other hands—and the bush covered areas were gradually transformed into grass paddocks. Many of the people who worked in the mill are still living in or about the bay. About 1864 the Okain's, Little Akaloa and Le Bon's Road Board came into existence, and Mr. Henry Barnett was the first representative for Le Bon's Bay. When the bush was exhausted, and the mill stopped, farming was resorted to. The settlers keep sheep and cattle, cultivate grass seed, carry on dairyfarming, and maintain a butter factory. Le Bon's has a church and a public school, a tri-weekly mail service with Christchurch, sixty miles distant, and there is a public telephone at the local post office. A steamer plies, by way of Pigeon Bay, between Lyttelton and the district.

The Rev. William Barnett, J.P., formerly of Le Bon's Bay, was born in Monmouth, Wales, in 1845, and was educated for the church under the Rev. William Campbell, M.A. He began to preach at the age of seventeen years, but owing to failing health he was recommended to emigrate to New Zealand. It had been his intention to offer his services to the London Missionary Society, but he came to New Zealand with his parents in 1863 in the ship “Captain Cook.” In the following year he removed with his family to Le Bon's Bay, when he was appointed to the charge at Le Bon's, and subsequently to the Congregational Church at Akaroa. It was in 1869 that he was appointed to the charge of this wide district, and he laboured in it till 1880. During his pastorate he built the church at Le Bon's, and handed it over in trust to the Congregationalists. In 1886 he returned to occupy his old church, where he laboured till 1891, when he resigned and accepted the charge of the Baptist Church at Sydenham, where he remained about three years, during which his mind underwent a change, which induced him to join the Baptist Church, and he was afterwards engaged in preaching and conducting mission services in connection with the Canterbury Baptist Association. At one time Mr. Barnett owned the local store and the Le Bon's Dairy page 613 Factory. He took great interest in farming, and for some years was local postmaster and the agent for several Christchurch firms. Mr. Barnett was a member of the County Council, and of the High School Board of Governors, and also chairman of the school committee and the cemetery board. He was appointed to the Commission of the Peace in 1890. Mr. Barnett has been twice married; first, in 1874, to Miss Ballinger, by whom he had one son and one daughter; and, secondly, in 1889, to Miss Campbell, the daughter of the Rev. James Campbell, and grand-daughter of the late Admiral Bedford. During the year 1902 Mr. Barnett went to settle in the North Island.

Rev. W. Barnett.

Bailey, Charles, Farmer, Le Bon's Bay.—Mr. Bailey is the son of Mr. Henry Bailey, who arrived in New Zealand in October, 1860. He himself was born at Le Bon's Bay, on the 24th of January, 1864, and was the first white child born in the place. Mr. Bailey has a freehold of 100 acres; he also leases the old homestead, and grazes about 1400 sheep and cattle. He has for many years been chairman of the Le Bon's Bay school committee, and clerk of the local road board. Mr. Bailey was married, on the 7th of September, 1883, to Miss Caroline Amelia Johnson.

Mr. C. Bailey.

Crotty, Charles James, Farmer, Le Bon's Bay. Mr. Crotty is the youngest son of the late Mr. George Stephenson Crotty, of Le Bon's Bay, where he was born in 1879, and educated at the local public school. he commenced farming at an early age, and, at his father's death, he took over the management of the family property. Mr. Crotty is a member of the local Rifle Club, and, also, of other sporting bodies. He was married, in 1903, to Miss Oldridge, of Le Bon's Bay.

Standish and Preece, photo.
Mr. and Mrs C. J. Crotty.

Knight, R. J., Farmer, Seaview Farm, Le Bon's Bay.—Mr. Knight was born in Wellington, in 1843, and when thirteen months old he accompanied his parents to Akaroa, where his father died, when Mr. Knight was three years of age. His mother married again, and he went to Okain's Bay, and then to Laverick's, where he was brought up to bush and station work. He began to utilise the bush first by hand-saw, but he afterwards became partner in a sawmill, which he and his partner worked till the timber was exhausted, and the firm of Webb and Knight and Sons dissolved partnership. Mr. Knight then entered into the dairy industry at Akaroa, and continued in it for six years, when he turned his attention to commercial life. At the end of four years he had to dispose of his business owing to illness, and after travelling about for some time, chiefly in the North Island, he returned to Laverick's, where he stayed for a few years. Subsequently he settled at “Sea-view,” where he built a new house. Mr. Knight has acted as local postmaster, and been agent for the Charitable Aid Board. He was married, in 1898, to Miss Newbery.

Standish and Preece, photo.
Mr. R. J. Knight.

Laverick's Bay Estate, Le Bon's Bay. This property belongs to Mr. J. T. Knight, but was originally taken up by Mr. William Webb, in 1858. Mr. Knight, Mr. Webb's stepson, carried out many of the improvements begun by his stepfather. The bush has been cleared, and the run covered with a good thick sward of grass, from which a large quantity of seed is annually saved. The property now comprises 2100 acres; it is divided into eighteen paddocks, and carries a large herd of Shorthorn cattle and a flock of English Leicester sheep, and Mr. Knight has lately been experimenting with sheep of the Wensleydale breed. The homestead is beautifully situated near the beach, and is surrounded by the largest elder trees in New Zealand.

Mr. J. T. Knight was born at Akaroa in 1849, and was educated at Okain's Bay. At the age of twelve years he began to deal in live stock, and by the time he was twenty he dealt in all kinds of animals, and is still dealing. He visited Westland in 1864, when there were no houses in that part of the Colony, and he obtained a fair share of gold at Hokitika and the Grey.

Mr. J. T. Knight.

Leonardo, Antonio Frank, Farmer, Le Bon's Bay. Mr Leonardo was born in Portugal, and took to a seafaring life. In 1862 he came to New Zealand in the American whaler “Olive Crocker,” Captain Cochrane, and made his way to Akaroa, where he did bush work. He, however, returned to the sea and sailed the coasts of New Zealand for several years, but finally settled in Le Bon's Bay, where he took up his first section of forty acres, and where he now has a freehold of 372 acres. At first Mr. Leonardo stocked his land with cattle, and milked as many as sixty-five cows; but he now devotes a great deal of his land to the cultivation of cocksfoot. Mr. Leonardo has served on the road board, school committee, and has acted as postmaster for the district. He married Miss Barnett, who made the first cheese in Le Bon's Bay, and has three sons and three daughters.

Mr. A. F. Leonardo.

McCullough, Edward, Farmer, Le Bon's Bay. Mr. McCullough is the third son of the late Mr. William McCullough. He was born in Le Bon's Bay, in 1880, and educated at the local public school. Afterwards he assisted his father on the farm, a portion of which he now cultivates on his own account. Mr. McCullough has been a member of the local football and cricket clubs for three or four years. He was a member of the Sixth New Zealand Contingent, saw active service in the South African war, and returned to New Zealand in May, 1902.

Mr. Henry Bailey, Old Colonist, was born in 1823, in Nottingham, England, and was apprenticed to a trade in Sheffield. This he followed till he came out to New Zealand in 1860, in the ship “Roman Empire.” He landed at Lyttelton, but went shortly afterwards in a whaleboat to Le Bon's Bay, where he found work. His chief object, however, was the purchase of a small section of land to build a home upon, but the land was so locked up that not less than twenty acres could be bought from the Crown. This was found to be a great injustice to persons with limited capital. Mr. Bailey's present house stands on the site of his first selection, which was originally covered with dense bush. Mr Bailey has served on the road board; he is chairman of the school committee, and one of the trustees for the recreation ground. He was married, in 1856, to Miss Cornwall, and has four sons and two daughters.

Mr. H. Bailey.

Mr. George Stephenson Crotty, sometime of Le Bon's Bay, was born, in 1841, in London. He arrived at Lyttelton at the age of sixteen, and spent some years in the saw-milling industry. Subsequently he took up land in Le Bon's Bay, and farmed there till his death in 1900. Mr. Crotty was married, and had a family of nine children.

The late Mr. G. S. Crotty.

Mr. William McCullough, sometime of Le Bon's Bay, was born in County Antrim, Ireland, in 1846. He landed in Port Chalmers, Otago, in 1862, but shortly afterwards removed to the Ellesmere district, Canterbury. For some years he was employed by the late Mr. White, then engaged in the timber industry on the shores of Lakes Ellesmere and Forsyth. In 1875 Mr. McCullough removed to Le Bon's Bay, where he worked for about nine years at the local sawmill. He then took up land in the upper part of the bay, and commenced farming; his first section was a small one, but he gradually acquired more property in other pants of the bay, and at his death, in July, 1902, he was the owner of 350 acres. Mr. McCullough was married, in 1875, to Miss Robinson, of Christchurch, and was survived by his wife and five sons.

The late Mr. W. McCullough.