Charles Henry Piper
Clerk to Mr W. B. Rhodes
Charles was born in Dorking, Surrey, England in 1817, the son of Thomas Piper (a banker) and his wife Mary (nee Curling). He was their only surviving son, three older brothers having died as infants.
Charles arrived in Wellington on the ‘Olympus’ in 1841. He had the relative comfort of cabin accommodation for the voyage. There were a total of 14 cabin passengers and 129 in steerage.
Charles first appears in New Zealand record in 1843 where he testified on behalf of his employer Mr Rhodes who was suing Mr George Smith to recover the sum of £100, the value of five tons of colonial flour. He appears to have only worked for Messrs. W. B. Rhodes & Co throughout his time in Wellington.
In 1843 Charles was the secretary of the Ancient Order of Druids who met at the South Sea Hotel. In 1849 he gifted 10s 6d to the fund for the erection of a clock on St Peter’s Church. In 1850 he assisted with one organising one of the events for the Anniversary Fete: the greasy pole competition! The prize was 15s.
Charles’ father died in 1851, leaving Charles £5 in his will. The rest of his property was left to Charles’ two surviving siblings, his sisters Mary and Sarah and a Piper nephew. Mary pre-deceased her father in 1850.
Charles died at his residence in Cuba Street on 17th March 1854 after a short illness and was buried in Bolton Street Cemetery. He was 36 years old. In October 1854, the ‘Wellington Independent’ published Charles’ name in a list of unclaimed letters. Could this have been from his sister, Sarah?
Mr W B. Rhodes was executor of Charles’ will. In November, he put Charles’ house up for sale:
‘That most desirable and centrally located Dwelling-house in Cuba Street, (directly opposite the Market-place), with Garden attached … There is also a very large Stable and Hay-loft, which might easily be converted into a commodious warehouse or store, being capable of stowing 150 ton of goods ….. There is an excellent well of water upon the Premises’.
The house sold for £400. The estate also included a herd of about 70 cattle which were sold the following year.
This image was painted in 1856 by Alfred Chapman. Charles’ plot was not affected by the construction of the urban motorway. His headstone remains standing with his plot and it reads ‘erected by his affectionate sister’. At what point after 1856 the headstone was erected is not known, or whether Sarah ever visited New Zealand. In 1866 she benefitted in part from her Uncle Curling’s will which was worth a total of £120,000. Last record is of her living as a lodger in Devon, England on the 1881 census and so we presume there are no other near descendants of Charles Henry Piper.
Wellington seen from Bolton Street cemetery with fenced graves in the foreground, the flagpole at Government House visible lower down the hill and the houses of Thorndon to the left. The view looks north across Wellington Harbour with Somes Island and the Hutt Valley and Tararua Range in the distance. 1856. By Alfred Chapman (1828-1874).
Credit: Chapman, Alfred, 1829-1874 :The site of the late Mr C H Piper's grave at Wellington drawn by Mr Chapman. March 1856. Ref: A-090-013. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. /records/23183843