Richard Cock Senior (1817 - 1885) was a crewman on board the Regina - a Plymouth Company supply ship - which was wrecked on Kawaroa Reef in 1841. Cock became the signalman at the station on Mt Eliot (Puke Ariki) and also worked as a coxswain on the surf boats which lightered cargo and passengers to and from vessels standing off the New Plymouth settlement.
The four seats (likely just the metal parts) are reputed to have been recovered from the wreck of the Regina. It is not clear whether they were cargo or deck fittings. The decoration of the seat ends includes the floral icons of the United Kingdom - rose, thistle, shamrock and leek.
Richard Cock's son - also Richard Cock (1851 - 1936) was a successful New Plymouth businessman who served as mayor from 1903 -06. He was also involved in the Crown Dairy Company, Port Taranaki, Taranaki Farmers' Coolstores and several sporting clubs.
Richard Cock Jnr's obituary in May 1936 has the following statement:
Four seats salvaged from the wreck of the Regina are still serving a useful function in front of the Taranaki Club overlooking the cenotaph. They bear the inscription "Richard Cock, Regina, 1841" and were always kept painted and repaired by the old signalman's distinguished son.
The rock walls and gardens between the street and the former Taranaki Club were constructed from the stones remaining from the cenotaph by Park's Superintendent , Thomas Horton in 1927 (Taranaki Daily News 15 September 1927). The Cock seats were, presumably, added later.
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