Page:Reminiscences of Earliest Canterbury 1915.pdf/120

 William Gilbert, 1830-40, arrived in New Zealand in 1835, where he landed about Dunedin. He was a ship carpenter, and, being a splendid tradesman, built a good many whaleboats and even small vessels. He was also occupied in whaling, and lived alternately in Pigeon Bay and Okain’s Bay. Having married a Maori, he left a large family when he died at the advanced age of ninety-five years.

John Fleurty, 1830-40, arrived in New Zealand in the end of the ’thirties. He was a very powerful man. For some time he was occupied in Pigeon Bay sawing timber for the first Lyttelton wharf. Eventually he went to Okain’s Bay, where he sawed timber for many years, and where he, at length, acquired property. Like so many of the early settlers, he married a Maori, and left a large family behind him.

George Mason, 1830-40, arrived in New Zealand in 1837. He was a whaler. In company with Fleurty he was sawing timber in Pigeon Bay, and with him also moved to Okain’s Bay, where they together sawed timber for many years. He married a Maori, and by her had a large family. On her death he married Miss Betsy Rix, by whom