Arthur Wellesley Manning (1837 - 1911)

Born 1837 in Corballis, County Dublin, Ireland

Died 8 Sep 1911 at about age 74 in Awhitu, Auckland, New Zealand

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Biography

Arthur was born in 1837 in Ireland. He was the son of Thomas Manning and grandson of Lieutenant Robert Manning. (No birth record yet located.) He was educated at a private school in County Wicklow.

Records show Arthur Manning came from the United Kingdom to Melbourne, on his own account, at the age 20 in 1858. His occupation listed as labourer, from Wicklow, Ireland. A 1902 biography shows this was to join his brother who had a horse and cattle farm in Victoria. He then went on to Dunedin, New Zealand.

Arthur married Maria Marshall who was the daughter of flax trader Charles Marshall (reputed to be one of the first white traders in the Colony) and a Maori woman Trimate. He likely met Maria when he took over management of a trading store near the mouth of the Waikato river. The Marshalls lived at Port Waikato and were involved in trading down the Waikato River.

He was in charge of the Mounted Rifles in Waiuku (the Cavalry) and had the rank of Captain. He was also a Justice of the Peace and on several committees and boards in the Waiuku area and surrounding districts.

He passed away in 1911 and is buried in Waiuku Cemetery.

BIOGRAPHY IN THE CYCLOPEDIA OF NEW ZEALAND 1902
CAPTAIN ARTHUR WELLESLEY MANNING, J.P., Taurangaruru, Waiuku, is the son of Mr. Thomas Manning, of Corballis Castle, and grandson of Lieutenant Robert Manning, of Mount Corballis, Wicklow, Ireland. He was born in 1837, and educated at a private school at Rathdrum, in County Wicklow. In 1857, attracted by the accounts from Australia, he left his native land, and joined his brother, Mr. Edwin Manning, who was the owner of a cattle and horse farm near Mount Alexander, Victoria. About 1862 Mr. Manning arrived in Dunedin with a team of horses and a regular outfit for a store, and went carting, packing, and gold-buying in company with a cousin, Mr. William Manning. Mr. Manning was one of the first to erect a store at Fox's, and later on he built another at Stoney Creek. He was one of those who promoted the project of turning the Arrow river, near Fox's, so as to make a new water course for the purpose of getting gold from the river bed.

On selling his interest in the stores Mr. Manning took charge of a lot of horse teams and had them shipped at Port Chalmers for Auckland. Later on he had charge of and an interest in a number of horses which had been brought from Sydney. The owner of the shipment became ill, and went back and died, and some of the horses were sold to the Government for the Land Transport Corps. The horses were a fine lot, eighty in number, and some of them sold as high as £120 per head. Later on Mr. Manning went to Waiuku, where he joined the late Mr. Constable, and took charge of a large store on the Awaroa, near the Waikato river. After that Mr. Manning bought the land on which he now lives.

In 1866 he joined the Waiuku Volunteer Cavalry, and was connected with that corps for about thirty years, during twelve of which he held a commission, and was captain for the last five of the period. He was presented with the long service medal.

Captain Manning has held the commission of a Justice of the Peace for over nine years. He has long been connected with the Waippi Road Board, and was for several years its chairman. While he held that position he and Major Hamlin, M.H.R., and Mr. J. T. Mellsop, the Board's secretary, promoted the draining and roading of the now famous swamp land near Waiuku, and was the first to prove its grass-growing value, even in its wettest parts.

Captain Manning has been a member of the Manukau Licensing Committee for twenty-five years, and he is a trustee and one of the original promoters of the Waiuku recreation ground. Captain Manning has always taken a great interest in the local sports, of which he has generally been either chairman or promoter. As a Freemason he belongs to the Grand Lodge of New Zealand, and is a member of Lodge Waiuku, No. 90. In the year 1900 he was the means of forming the present Waiuku Mounted Rifles. Captain Manning is married, but has no family. (Creative Commons Licence applies for this excerpt)

Sources

• Biography in Cyclopedia of New Zealand -Entry for Arthur Manning
• Victoria, Australia Passenger Lists - Source Citation: Series: VPRS 14; Series Title: Register of Assisted Immigrants from the United Kindom (refer to microform copy, VPRS 3502); Source Information: Ancestry.com. Victoria, Australia, Assisted and Unassisted Passenger Lists, 1839-1923 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc., 2009. Name: Arthur Manning; Estimated birth year: abt 1838; Age: 20; Arrival Date: 19 Feb 1858; Arrival Port: Melbourne, Australia; Departure Port: Liverpool; Ship: Caractacus; Nationality: Irish and Scottish
• New Zealand Death Index - Ancestry.com. New Zealand, Death Index, 1848-1966 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Name: Arthur Wellesley Manning; Death Date: Jul-Aug-Sep 1911; Registration Place: Awhitu, Auckland, New Zealand; Folio Number: 1599
• New Zealand Cemetery Records - Ancestry.com. New Zealand, Cemetery Records, 1800-2007 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Name: Arthur Wellesley Manning; Birth Date: abt 1838; Death Age: 73; Death Date: 8 Sep 1911; Burial Place: Auckland, New Zealand; Cemetery: Waiuku; Spouse Name: Maria Manning; Spouse Death Age: 90; Spouse Death Date: 22 Jun 1932