A very versatile man


When the SHALIMAR left Liverpool bound for Auckland in September 1859, there were probably as many reasons for facing the perils of the 100+-day voyage and the uncertainties of settling in a new land as there were adult passengers on board. Undoubtedly, the occupations with which the passengers embarked weren’t necessarily what they would end up doing when they reached New Zealand.
Edward Leyland is an intriguing example. Born in Yorkshire in 1828 or 1830, he was one of 4 sons employed by their father in his prosperous woollen mill in Halifax. In the English census of 1851, Edward is a ‘worsted spinner and manufacturer’. He married Emma Hughes in 1855 and they had two sons before Edward decided to come to New Zealand. As often happened, he came alone, presumably to check out the best place to settle and to get established. Emma and the children arrived on the Queen of the North in July 1862. I wonder if he took his family to where he was living in Hunua when he had registered to vote in the up-coming elections in 1861. If he did, Emma would no doubt have been stunned: the husband she had waved good bye to in England was certainly no longer the well-to-do industrialist. Perhaps realising that rural life wasn’t for them, the Leylands shifted to Auckland. I don’t know where they lived at this time, but within a year Edward had established himself as a broker and shipping agent in Queen Street.

And it was nearby, in Wyndham Street that Edward’s son was severley bitten in the upper leg by a ferocious dog in July 1865. Tellingly, although the owner admitted that his dog had bitten the child, he denied that the dog was savage and failed to have it put down. Luckily, especially as the doctor admitted to never having treated a case of hydrophobia, the little boy didn’t develop any symptoms of rabies and was recovering well by the time the case came to court in September.

Edward went on to become an inspector of weights and measures. His duties included enforcing the 1863 Auckland Province’s Sale of Bread Act and he seems to have worked zealously at this.

Before long however, the family left Auckland for Great Barrier Island. In 1867 Edward was granted a bush licence for the Tryphena Hotel. The masters of a number of vessels had supported his licence application as they were in the habit of sheltering at Tryphena in rough weather. I’m still trying to find out how Edward supported Emma and their by now five children when the weather was calm. It must have been a precarious existence.
In the early 1870s the Leylands moved to Thames where Edward was the publican of the Court House Hotel for a couple of years before moving yet again to Clive, Hawke’s Bay, where he died in 1891. Interestingly, when the Leylands left Thames, the Court House Hotel was taken over by a Samuel YOUNG. I would love to know if this is the same Samuel YOUNG who was Edward’s fellow passenger on the Shalimar.
Please contact me if you would like to share some more information about the Leyland family or Samuel Young
This article was researched using www.paperspast.natlib.govt.nz and www.familysearch.org 

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