"A Group of Non-Commd Officers"
Description
Photograph of a group of non-commissioned officers of the Taranaki Military Settlers. The soldiers are dressed in military uniform and holding rifles. Three men kneel in the front of the group while others stand in the back. The man on the far right has been identified as Sergeant William Henry Free, formerly of the 58th Regiment (1825-1919).
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Accession number
PHO2008-1859
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Public comments
Suspect quite strongly, the man on the furtherest right is Sergeant William Henry Free, formerly of 58th Regiment. He was of Irish descent and discharged from the Army in Wellington on 1850 and then settled in New Plymouth. He married twice, the second time to Mary Garde-Brown in 1874 (he was 47 years old) and then had four children - the descendants of which still live in NZ. Died in 1919 a few months after being interviewed James Cowan. W. H. Free is quoted in Cowan’s 1922 “The New Zealand Wars” and again in his 1935 “Hero Stories of New Zealand”.
- Austen Sinclair posted 8 months ago.
Hi the man kneeing at the front is Henry Anthony Jean, 1st Drill Instructor at the Prahan and Southern Rifles Corps, Melbourne, formerly, Colours Sergeant, 63rd West Suffolk Regiment, served in Madras, India, married Louisa Sturgess, recently widowed wife of Officer Patrick Molloy, who died (cholera) Bellary, India, formerly with 63rd Regiment tour of duty in Tasmania. Henry Jean and his wife came out to Melbourne in 1853. Henry Jean abandoned his land at Taranaki and returned to Melbourne. I think this right but his son Phillip Jean may also have been there as well. If you have any information I would be very grateful to receive it
- Mandy Jean posted 9 years ago.