Seymour Street sign. Mike Gooch. Word on the Street image collection.
Seymour Street sign. Mike Gooch. Word on the Street image collection.
Many of the street names of Waitara are named after men who served as part of the militia during the Taranaki Wars. British Naval Commander of the H.M.S. Pelorus, Captain Frederick Beauchamp Paget Seymour, was no exception.
He captained a 21 gun warship during the First Taranaki War (1860-61) and played a prominent role in one defining military campaign. On 27 June 1860, Captain Seymour led the naval brigade to attack Puketakuere pā. During this conflict between Imperial Forces and Māori, Seymour was quite badly wounded.
By December 1860, Captain Seymour was promoted to the rank of Commodore and put in sole charge of the naval forces in New Zealand. On his return to Britain, his efforts in the ‘Māori Wars’ were recognised. Seymour was awarded both the Companionship of the Bath and the New Zealand Medal for services to the Crown. In 1866 he was appointed personal aide-de-camp to Queen Victoria.
Seymour later went on to become the Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet in 1880, when British forces regained possession of the city of Alexandria, a port city in Egypt. His success in the bombardment of Alexandria was acknowledged on his return to Britain with his honorary title of Lord Alcester.
Seymour’s leadership and military record during the Taranaki Wars is commemorated in Waitara by the subsequent naming of this street.
This story was originally published in the Taranaki Daily News.
Related plan:
Town of Waitara East SO1153, ICS Pre 300,000 Cadastral Plan Index (Imaged by LINZ)
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