Cameron Street (Waitara)

Duncan Alexander Cameron was a distinguished soldier in the British army, who succeeded General Pratt as commander in New Zealand in April, 1861.

Born on 19 December, 1808, he joined the British army in 1825 where he served in the 42nd regiment (the Black Watch), attaining the rank of colonel by 1854. With the onset of the Crimean War, he was given the local rank of major-general and commanded the 42nd at the Alma. He also served at Balaclava, Kertch and Sebastopol.

Promoted to major-general in 1860, he was given command in Scotland before coming to New Zealand.

His first engagement in Taranaki was to advance a mixed force of the 57th and 70th regiments towards Katikara in June 1863 in response to hostilities over the Tātaraimaka Block.

He then spent much of his time in the Waikato with campaigns suppressing the Māori King movement, pushing them out of Meremere and Rangiriri in October, 1863 and entering Ngāruawāhia in early December. The Waikato campaign ended with the assault of Gate pā (Tauranga) in April 1864 and Te Ranga in June.

Cameron then turned his attention to Taranaki and the possession of the Waitōtara Block early in 1865. He was reluctant to commit troops to the campaign as he felt it would require many more soldiers and probably two years to complete. His reticence brought him into conflict with Governor Grey who found him "ill-tempered, impatient and injudicious". Cameron did manage to advance across the Waitōtara River in February 1865 and onto the Waingongoro River by March. However, his outspoken opinion on the course of the war and the developing tension with the Colonial Government meant he tended his resignation to the War Office and was given permission to return to England in June 1865. (Leaving General Chute to perform his scorched-earth policy in south Taranaki, see Chute Street).

Cameron was a career soldier and didn't have much time for settler volunteers. He preferred disciplined regular troops and traditional methods of siege, sap and garrison. His great ally was the British Government who gave him equal authority for operations in the confiscation of land with the Colonial Government. He also held the view that the benefits of the war didn't warrant the expenditure and ran contrary to the long-term interests of both the settlers and Māori. Given this view, the British Government had little motivation to continue funding a military presence in New Zealand. This helped precipitate the "policy of self-reliance" of the Colonial Government in 1867, which led to the formation of a local New Zealand defence force.

Back in England, Cameron became Governor of the Royal Military College at Sandhurst, married Louisa Maclean in 1873 and died childless on 7 June 1888 at Blackheath.

This story was originally published in the Taranaki Daily News.

Related plan:

Taranaki SO1152 Sheet 3 (1899) Town of Waitara, ICS Pre 300,000 Cadastral Plan Index (Imaged by LINZ)