.jpg)
The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Taranaki, Hawke's Bay & Wellington Provincial Districts]
Major Frederick John William Gascoyne
Major Frederick John William Gascoyne, formerly Stipendiary Magistrate at the Chatham Islands, was born in the year 1838 at Cawnpore, India, and is the third son of the late Major Charles Manners Gascoyne, of the East India Company's service, who served throughout the Sutlej campaign (medal and three clasps). Major Gascoyne came to New Zealand in 1853 with his father, and settled in Motueka, Nelson. In 1863 he joined the Colonial Defence Force, and in 1865 was attached to the East Coast expeditionary force, under Captain Fraser, serving throughout the Waiapu campaign, and subsequent operations on that coast. After the Poverty Bay massacre in 1868, Major (then Lieutenant) Gascoyne, with some friendly natives and a few white volunteers, went in pursuit of the murderers, overtaking and defeating them at Mangakaretu, with heavy loss to the enemy. Subsequently he was present at the capture of Ngatapa, and the operations on the West Coast against Titokowaru. The next year found him again on the East Coast, with the force operating on the Uriwera country against Te Kooti. In 1868 Major Gascoyne volunteered to carry despatches across sixty miles of country covered by the enemy's scouts, and returned the same way, meeting a second messenger (Paku Parone) who was killed a few minutes after they had parted. Major Gascoyne was twice mentioned in the despatches during the war, and was recommended by Major Westrup (commanding the Poverty Bay district) for the New Zealand Cross. He remained in the Permanent Force until he was appointed Sheriff of Auckland in 1888, and in 1890 he received the appointment of Stipendiary Magistrate at the Chatham Islands, which post he resigned in 1897. Major Gascoyne now lives in retirement at Hastings. He is a Freemanson of many years' standing. He married the only daughter of Mr. Henry Ward Carr, formerly of Liverpool, in the year 1872.
.jpg)
Major F. J. W. Gascoyne.