57th Regiment NZ Wars memorial

The memorial to the 57th Regiment at Te Henui Cemetery in New Plymouth.

New Zealand’s first recorded association with the 57th Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge’s Own) – the ‘Die Hards’ – was inauspicious. In 1830, a regimental detachment on convict duty was overpowered and brought to New Zealand. The ship was subsequently recaptured by whalers, and the detachment returned to Sydney with the convicts.

1st Battalion, known as the 57th (West Middlesex) Regiment, served in New Zealand in the 1860s. It was commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Henry James Warre and Major Robert Abraham Logan.

The regiment landed in New Zealand from India on 25 January 1861. Three days later, HMSS Cordelia arrived at Waitara from Manukau with a detachment of the regiment.

After campaigning in Taranaki, the 57th was transferred to Waikato in 1866. Regimental headquarters was at Te Awamutu, with companies stationed at Ngāruawāhia and Te Rore.

The 57th (West Middlesex) Regiment returned to England in early 1867 after a 13-year absence. Before they left New Zealand, this obelisk memorial was supplied by a London mason and erected by members of the regiment in New Plymouth’s Te Henui Cemetery. It is dedicated to the memory of the officers and men who had been killed in action or died of disease during the New Zealand Wars.

On 16 April 1938, the Taranaki Herald reported a proposal to move the monument to a different site in Te Henui cemetery. It is unclear whether this was done.

Additional images

Transcript

Front (south) face:

LVII Albuhera [in wreath above plaque]

In Memory of / the /Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers / and Men/ 57th Regiment / Who have been killed in New Zealand

Murdered at the Wairau / on the 4th May 1863
Lieutenant T.H. Tragett
Assistant Surgeon W.A. Hope
Color Sergeant S. Ellers
Sergeant S. Hill
Private J. Flynn
[Private] B. McCarthy
Private W. Banks
[Private] E. Kelly
[Private] P. Ryan

West face:

DIED

Surgeon W.A. Mac Andrew 24 September 1861
Ensign A.B. Duncan 4 June 1864

C[olou]r. Sergeant R. Meredith (drowned)
Sergeant W. Ashworth
Sergeant T. Traynor

Corporal J. McLouglin
Drummer J. McChristal
Drummer R. Robertson

Lieut J.T. Down, V.C. 27th April 1866

KILLED IN ACTION

Sergeant F. Day 19 Jan 1866 at the Otapawa Pah
[Sergeant] J. Sullivan [19 Jan 1866 at the Otapawa Pah]
Privates H. McGregor, M. Moran, J. Manning, R. Doake / C. King, H. Nixon 13 March 1865 at Kakaramea

North face:

Thie monument has been erected / by their comrades / of the 57th Regiment

The 57th Regiment landed / in New Zealand, from India, on the / 25th January 1861

East face:

KILLED IN ACTION

Captain T.W.J. Lloyd 6 April 1864 at Ahu Ahu Taranaki

Private[:]
E. Martin 4 June 1863 at Katikara River Taranaki
M. Kennedy 11 March 1864 near Kaitake Taranaki
J. Dooley 6 April 1864 at Ahu Ahu [Taranaki]
G. Sadler 6 April 1864 [at Ahu Ahu Taranaki]

DIED OF WOUNDS

Private [:]
G. Brown 28 Feby 1861
J. Osborne 5 June 1863
H. Shipman 5 June 1863
T. Finn 3 Oct 1863
H. Cain 31 Oct 1863
M. McCarthy 1 April 1866

Captn and B[reve]t Lieut Col J. Hassard 15 Jany 1866

Further information

• ‘Arrived’, Taranaki Herald, 2 February 1861
• Richard Barber, ‘Regiments that had served in New Zealand and were not amalgamated’, from A.H. McLintock (ed.), An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, 1966, in Te Ara – the encyclopedia of New Zealand, updated 22-Apr-09
• E. Bezar (Sgt. Major), Some reminiscences of the ‘die hards’ (57th West Middlesex Regiment), Mills, Dick & Co., Dunedin, 1891
• James Cowan, ‘The 57th Regiment’, in The New Zealand Wars: A History of the Maori Campaigns and the Pioneering Period: Volume II: The Hauhau Wars, 1864–72, R.E. Owen, Wellington, 1956, p. 505 (appendices)
• Extract from ‘Shipping intelligence’, Wellington Independent, 8 February 1861,
• ‘Her Majesty’s 57th Regiment’, Daily Southern Cross, 30 April 1866
• Ron Lambert. ‘Taranaki region’, in Te Ara - the encyclopedia of New Zealand, updated 23-Feb-10