Richard Barton - Arrival in New Zealand

Arrival in New Zealand

He arrived in Wellington in 1840 on the "Oriental", the second of four early settler ships, and in 1841 purchased 100-acres for a farm in the Upper Hutt Valley. He named his estate Trentham in honour of the Duke of Sutherland, one of whose subsidiary titles is Viscount Trentham, of Trentham in the County of Stafford. (Before emigrating to New Zealand, Barton had been Supervisor at the then Trentham Hall.) Much of his former estate is now Trentham Memorial Park, which includes the native bush remnant known as Barton's Bush. The surrounding suburb of Trentham also takes its name from his estate. Exactly when Barton and his family began living on the Trentham estate is unclear from various historical sources. Although he appears to have built a slab house on his purchase around 1841, the Trentham Parish histories indicate that he and his third wife, Hannah, whom he married about 1843, only settled on the estate in 1846. During the intervening 5 years it seems Barton may have assisted, perhaps supervised, the surveying the surrounding country for the Wellington Company. The Barton homestead was located near the corner of the Main Road (now Fergusson Drive) and Camp Road (now Camp Street) and overlooked what is now Trentham Memorial Park. Barton appears to have acquired more land, as his estate is described as lying to the west of the Main Road from Quinn's Post to Silverstream on both sides of the river. By 27 December 1861, Barton is described as the chief landowner and magistrate of the district. This being when arrangements were being made to establish an Anglican church mission at Trentham. Early in 1862 it appears that Barton extended his own house to accommodate the church missionaries as well as donating land for the establishment of a church.