John was born in 1836. John Polwart was the son of Joseph and Jane Polwart and was baptised on 27 November 1836 in Tweedmouth, Northumberland.
The 1851 Census shows him as about 14 and living in Tweedmouth, his father a Master mariner and his three older brothers were all engaged in trade - as a Millwright, Ironmonger's apprentice and Butcher's apprentice.
Quite when John emigrated to New Zealand is currently unclear, and requires more research. He was the recipient of a Crown Grant [1] of land in 1868 so it is presumed he arrived in New Zealand between 1865 and 1868. He would therefore have settled in the Rangiriri area after the turbulence of the New Zealand Wars.
Once in New Zealand he married at the age of 39 to Mary McMahon. They married in 1875 and had several children.
CHILDREN:
The following list of children has been obtained from BDM Online. Note that the registration year does not always equate to the birth year, and there may be name variances in the transcribed record in the BDM Online database.
Registration No. | Family Name | Given Name(s) | Mother's Given Name(s) | Father's Given Name(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
1876/4812 | Polwart | Maggie Lambert | Mary | John Lambert |
1879/472 | Polwart | Mary Ales | Mary | John Lambert |
1880/19288 | Polwart | Jane Annie | Mary | John Lambert |
1882/1865 | Polwart | John Lambert | Mary | John Lambert |
1884/1357 | Polwart | Francis William Lambert | Mary Lambert | John |
1885/16737 | Polwart | James Charles | Mary | John Lambert |
1887/13738 | Polwart | Vincent Lambert | Mary | John Lambert |
1889/12182 | Polwart | Bertha Sweny | Mary | John Lambert |
1891/18559 | Polwart | Millie | Mary | John Lambert |
1905/16864 | Polwart | Joanna | Mary | John Lambert |
He was a settler farmer in Rangiriri, and with the railway running through the area, had losses due to trains passing through. Once a horse lost it's legs, having been a casualty of one of the trains. A neighbour wrote to the Editor of the paper concerning the "slaughter" of cattle, which seemed to be becoming a regular occurrence. [2]
John Polwart had a quarry, known as Polwart's Quarry, in Waerenga, which was instrumental in providing material for roading for the newly settled country. Without proper roads areas such as Waerenga were very cut-off, and supplies were difficult, if not impossible, to deliver due to the impassibility of unformed tracks.
He passed away in May 1911 when he was 74. Even before his death, he was still active in the community. He was on the Committee of the Rangiriri Athletic Club in February 1911. [3] [4].
John's last known will was signed in 1909. In this he excluded his eldest son, John Lambert Polwart (junior), from the provisions and his estate was left to his other sons (one of whom had already been provided for) and his daughters. He stated in reference to his eldest son that "his general conduct has not been such as it should have been". The nature of that conduct was not specified.
John Lambert Polwart is buried in Hamilton West Cemetery in Plot A2A-U-18 (Hamilton, Waikato, New Zealand).
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Categories: Waikato, Immigrants from England | New Zealand Colonists | Hamilton West Cemetery, Hamilton, Waikato | Rangiriri, Waikato