Stephen Roebuck Memorial (after 1904)

The Stephen Roebuck Memorial in Ōkato Cemetery carries the following inscription:

IN LOVING MEMORY OF

Mary Ann Roebuck

Died 11th September 1904

Aged 86

Also

Stephen Johnson Roebuck

Killed at Matitawa [sic]

23rd January 1865

At Rest

Stephen Johnson Roebuck (c1828-1865) enrolled with No. 9 Company Taranaki Military Settlers as Francis Johnson but was also known as Frank Roebuck. He was serving at Mataitawa Redoubt near Lepperton when he was shot and killed by fellow soldier John Harris on 23 January 1865. 

Harris, rumoured to be a convict from Australia, was charged with murder and although evidence from some witnesses indicated a deliberate shooting, he was eventually convicted only of manslaughter and given three years' hard labour. He escaped from custody in August 1865 but was recaptured and four months added to his sentence.

Roebuck was buried in Te Hēnui Cemetery on 25 January 1865 (burial #123 Te Henui Cemetery Register). The plot is unlocated and unmarked. His memorial was added to the headstone of his wife Mary Ann Roebuck (nee Saint) (1818-1904) in Okato Cemetery.

A subscription for Mary Ann, who was left destitute by her husband's death with six children aged between 4 and 17, raised £191 from other Taranaki Military Settler companies. In 1867 she petitioned the Defence Department for a pension but was declined. In 1868 she applied to the courts for her husband's allocation of land (or monetary equivalent) as part of his service agreement, privates in the Taranaki Military Settlers being due 50 acres (about 20 hectares) of rural land and a town section in one of the military settlements in Taranaki.

Under the Military Settlers Crown Grants, Stephen Roebuck was allocated one town section (#114) and one rural section (#150) in the Patea Survey District in South Taranaki by the Taranaki Provincial Government in 1871. It is not known if the sections were ever delivered to his wife.