John Edwin Frederick Daniel Bentley (1840 - abt. 1919)

Born 15 Apr 1840 in Huncoat, Lancashire, England, United Kingdom

Husband of Eliza Harriet (Stillwell) Bentley — married 15 Jun 1866 in Missionary Chapel, Tauranga, New Zealand

Descendants

Died about 27 Jul 1919 at about age 79 in Auckland, North Island, New Zealand

John Bentley migrated from England to New Zealand.

Biography

John was born in 1840. He was the son of John Bentley and Ellen Taylor.

He was Christened on 24 May 1840 at Altham, Lancashire, England^[1].

UK Census Date 1851: Living with his parents and brother Barrowclough in Huncoat, Lancashire, England. Aged 11 and a scholar. His father was a Coal Miner.

He was also known as John Daniel Bently.

He joined the Military and attained the rank of Major. Somehow he ended up in Melbourne, Australia, where he signed on for service as a volunteer in the Waikato Regiment during the Maori Wars in New Zealand. He travelled aboard the "Star of India", departing Melbourne on 31st August 1863 under the command of Master P. Duncan bound for Callao via Auckland, arriving 14 September 1863.

Taranaki Herald, 3 October 1863, Page 3

The first detachment of volunteer military settlers from Victoria, consisting of four officers and 403 men, under the command of Captain Goldsmith, arrived by the Star of India, on Saturday night, after a passage of twelve days. They are a fine lot of men, of all trades and callings : and we need hardly say that they will be a valuable acquisition to our volunteer force here. Our readers will be glad to learn that the recruiting movement in Melbourne, and on the gold-fields of Victoria has been a complete success. The total number enrolled up to Saturday, the 29th — one weeks work only — was 620.^[2]

The invasion of the Waikato took place over 10 months between July 1863 and April 1864. It was one of the major campaigns of the New Zealand Wars, occurring about midway through the series of conflicts. It involved over 12,000 British and Colonial forces against Maori forces unlikely to have numbered more than 2000 at any one time.^[3]

John married Eliza Harriet Stillwell in 1866:

BENTLEY — STILLWELL John Edwin Frederick Daniel Bentley of Tauranga to Eliza Harriet Stillwell of Tauranga by A N Brown on 15 Jun 1866 at the Missionary Chapel, Tauranga. [Brown, Alfred Nesbitt Papers, Reel 11]

They had at least 10 children.

John passed away in 1919 at the age of 79. Because he had been a Major in the English Army, he was accorded a military funeral. His coffin was carried on a gun carriage, draped with a British flag and drawn by 4 horses. A volley was fired over the grave, which is in the Birkenhead English Cemetery.

Burial

29 July 1919 - Birkenhead Anglican Parish Cemetery, Anglican Area, Block D, Plot 035^[4]

There is no headstone.

Sources

1. ↑ "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:ND5J-1Z9 : 30 December 2014), John Daniel Bentley, 24 May 1840; citing , reference item 13 p 86; FHL microfilm 1,278,856.
2. ↑ http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nzbound/starindia.htm
3. ↑ http://www.doc.govt.nz/documents/conservation/historic/by-region/waikato/waikato-war-of-1863-64.pdf
4. ↑ https://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/cemeteries/Pages/RecordDetails.aspx?recordId=71AD8FF3472236DAEE6D38ED4FA7B8C8

• NZ BDM Marriage Records Online: Registration No: 1866/5947| Bride's Family Name: Stillwell | Bride's Given Name(s): Eliza Harriet | Groom's Family Name: Bentley | Groom's Given Name(s): John Edward Frederic Daniel | https://www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/

• NZ BDM Death Records Online: Registration No: 1919/5261 | Family Name: Bentley | Given Name(s): John Daniel | Age at Death: 85Y | https://www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/

• http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~sooty/BOPXMarriagesAG.html

Census Records

• "England and Wales Census, 1851," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:SGTM-JF3 : 24 July 2016), John Daniel Bentley in household of John Bentley, Huncoat, Lancashire, England; citing Huncoat, Lancashire, England, p. 5, from "1851 England, Scotland and Wales census,"