Historic Cambridge residents with ‘L’ Surnames
This is a list of our historic residents whose surnames start with the letter L. LAMB, LANG, LEE & LEWIS are just some of those family names whose living legacy still reside in our beautiful town. All these residents are founders of our town.
LAMB Henry
Harry enrolled with the Cambridge Cavalry Volunteers in November 1873 and served until May 1878. He is listed as a ploughman in the electoral rolls until 1896.
LAMB Joseph Richard
His 3rd Waikato Militia Regiment Number was 1650 and he enlisted in Cambridge, 16 February 1865, occupation cooper, as a substitute soldier. Joseph was born in Lincoln about 1847. On 29 July 1867 he was proposed for membership of the Duke of Cambridge Lodge – occupation carpenter. On the Cambridge rates assessment list for 1869-70 he paid 2 pence an acre on 51 acres – totalling eight shillings and sixpence. He is also noted in 1872 on a farm map drawn by Charles Chitty in a report on the district to the Armed Constabulary Commissioner’s Office.
Joseph enlisted as a trooper in the Cambridge Cavalry Volunteers on 12 March 1872 and served until May 1879. Being one of our versatile pioneers, the electoral rolls have Joseph’s occupations ranging from a labourer to engineer from 1879-1896.
He was interested in the Band and leased land from Cambridge Borough Council in 1895 for dressing waste products from flax.
LANEY James
James was born about 1834 in Wiltshire. He served with the 70th Regiment from 6 January 1852 to 21 January 1864 and had arrived in New Zealand on the ‘Daniel Rankin’. He then enlisted in the 3rd Waikato Militia as Private 1543 on 19 May 1864 in Otahuhu, giving his occupation as a soldier.
James was aged 34, a labourer when he joined the Duke of Cambridge Lodge on 14 May 1870.
Excerpt from ‘Plough of the Pakeha’ by Beer and Gascoigne –
“It was while ditching here [almost on the Aukati (Confiscation) Line at Roto-o-Rangi] on the 25th February 1873 that James Laney, one of Walker’s employees and working some distance from his workmates, saw two Maoris coming down from the scrub-covered hill before him. One of the two, Paora Tuhua, came up and struck Laney a blow with his taiaha, cutting him badly on his temple.”
James was given £2 7/- over 21 days from the Duke of Cambridge Lodge sickness fund.
Ten years later he is still trying to get compensation from the government but, as the Waikato Times reports on 23 August 1883 – “Jas Laney of Cambridge petitions on the ground that on 23 February 1873 he received a severe wound in the right temple from a native which incapacitated him from carrying out his contract, and in a great measure any other work up to the present time; that through the effects of the said wound he was not able to carry on his work, and was obliged to sell his land. He prays for favourable consideration. The Public Petitions Committee report that, having dealt with the case in 1873, and parliament having declined to affirm the responsibility of the colony for claims of this kind, and no fresh evidence being offered, they have no recommendation to make.”
James did have a little success with another petition – 8 February 1898 – “For many years Mr James Laney of Cambridge has been petitioning the War Office for a pension, due to him for having served in the Crimea. We are pleased to learn that his efforts have been rewarded at last and he will now be the recipient of 9d a day.”
From 1894 until his death on 7 September 1911 he received a quarterly sum from the Lodge. £25 was paid for his funeral and his headstone at the Cambridge Cemetery at Hautapu has been erected by the Trustees of the Duke of Cambridge Lodge.
LANG Hugh
Hugh was born in Paisley Scotland about 1828 and was a farm servant.
He enlisted in the 3rd Waikato Militia at Pukekura on 2 August 1864 as a substitute soldier, Private 1570.
On the Cambridge rates assessment list for 1869-70 he paid 2 pence an acre on 51 acres – totalling eight shillings and sixpence. He is also noted in 1872 on a farm map drawn by Charles Chitty in a report on the district to the Armed Constabulary Commissioner’s Office.
On 20 June 1880 at age 46 he was a settler farmer and remanded to Hamilton for a medical examination.
LANGMUIR James
James was born 20 August 1870 and joined the Duke of Cambridge Lodge 8 August 1899 aged 29 years, his occupation a draper. His wife, Elizabeth, was aged 25 years.
In March 1905 Jas severed his 8½ years employment with Thos Wells and became a travelling agent for D.S.C in Auckland. They left the district in 1909.
LAWRENCE James Frederick
James was born on Christmas Day 1840 in Southampton and went to sea at the age of 13, seeing service in the Crimea War. He later served in the Royal Navy and came to New Zealand on the H.M.S. Elk. He enlisted in the 3rd Waikato Militia as Private 557 on 28 September 1863 in Auckland, giving his occupation as a farm labourer. James served in the Imperial Commissariat Transport Corps delivering supplies to the camps up the Waikato River to Mercer.
He was aged 25 years and a settler when he joined the Duke of Cambridge Lodge on 29 July 1867. He married Georgina Dalton 25 July 1869 at her mother’s house in Alpha Street and they had six children. One little chap died from the effects of sucking wax matches in 1872.
James was either the secretary or the Noble Grand of the Lodge and prosecuted Stuart for falsifying the Lodge books. Then in 1880 James was expelled for embezzlement. In 1871 he was in court on a drunk and disorderly charge and then in 1876 was to open a Temperance Hotel.
He remained on the electoral roll until 1888 then moved to the Te Aroha goldfields where he opened dining rooms. He then went farming at Herekino and Auckland in around 1900. When James died in 1932 it was thought he was the last survivor of the 3rd Waikato Militia.
LEE Walter
Walter was born 1827 and was a bushman, 5′ 3½” tall when he enlisted in the 3rd Waikato Militia on 15 October 1863 in Auckland. He was a Private, Regiment number 458 and was granted one acre of land section 524 in Cambridge East and a farm section 7 at Ohaupo.
LEEK Harold ‘Tiger’
Harold was born 23 June 1881 and joined the Duke of Cambridge Lodge 5 September 1899 aged 22 years his occupation a letter carrier.
LeSUEUR John
John was born in St Helliers Jersey England about 1843 and enlisted in the 3rd Waikato Militia, 3 September 1863, in Melbourne, Australia. His Regiment Number was Private 136 and occupation a tent/sail maker.
On 3 June 1867 he was proposed for the Duke of Cambridge Lodge, age 25, a military settler. Proposed again in 1872 when his occupation was given as a sail maker, age 30.
On the Cambridge rates assessment list for 1869-70 he paid 2 pence an acre on 51 acres – totalling eight shillings and sixpence.
LEVER George
George was born about 1848 and his occupation was a gardener when he joined the Duke of Cambridge Lodge, 19 September 1884. He sprained his ankle in 1885 and while in Hamilton in 1888 suffered from rheumatism in the knee joint. By 1895 he was suffering from nervous debility and received £19 over 49 days.
LEVIS James
Jim was born 20 May 1885 and employed as an engine cleaner (railway) when he joined the Duke of Cambridge Lodge on 24 October 1905.
LEWIS Matthew
Matt was born 1834 in Pembrocke, Wales. He was a miner, 5′ 6″ tall when he enlisted in the 3rd Waikato Militia on 26 October 1863 in Dunedin. He was a Private, Regiment number 721 and was granted one acre of land section 123 in Cambridge West and a farm section 6 at Ohaupo.
LEWIS Sam
Sam was born in Te Awamutu, 11 February 1878.
Trooper Sam Lewis paid his own fare to South Africa towards the end of 1900 and enlisted in the Colonial Light Horse – a fairly rough regiment composed of Australians, Canadians, British, New Zealanders and South Africans.
His regiment took part in no major engagement during the South Africa War but was kept busy in mopping-up operations. This involved long rides mainly in the Cape Province and the Orange Free State, with the length of the ride dictated by the distance between water holes.
Sam came through the war unscratched apart from minor ailments. On his discharge he had to work at odd jobs to pay his passage of £7 back to New Zealand.
Because the wharves at Table Bay were occupied with shipping, his boat had to lie in the stream and he recalled being hoisted on board in a rather undignified manner, along with several others, in a basket.
Sam came to Cambridge after the war and served in the territorials commanding the Cambridge platoon of the 16th Waikato’s with the rank of Captain.
He was president of the South African War Veterans’ Association on two occasions and at 96 years old, as the last president, handed the Bandolier (the Badge of Office) to the Cambridge RSA for safe keeping. (They, in turn, passed it on to the QE11 Army Museum at Waiouru in 1980.)
He came to Cambridge in 1905 as a Solicitor – later a Barrister in 1911 and married Sarah Hall Lukin.
Sam also served on the Borough Council from 1909 to 1915 and 1944 to 1953. He was Mayor from 1921 to 1923 and served on the committees of the Cambridge Club, Arboreal, Electricity, Cambridge Domain Board and Cambridge Bowls.
LIDDALL John Chapman
John Liddall was born on 10 November 1892 and he joined the Duke of Cambridge Lodge on June 29, 1909.
LITTLEJOHN Ernest Herbert
Ernest was born about 1866 and a book-keeper when he joined the Duke of Cambridge Lodge, 30 December 1884.
LLOYD Albert F
Albert was born 1835 in St Andrews London. He was a engineer, 5′ 5″ tall when he enlisted in the 3rd Waikato Militia on 20 October 1863 in Otahuhu. He was a Private, Regiment number 483 and was granted one acre of land section 27 in Cambridge East and a farm section 11 at Ohaupo.
LOCKLEY William
William was born about 1818 near Birmingham, son of gamekeeper John. As a young man William worked in a Birmingham cutlery factory. He enlisted as a regular soldier in the 65th Regiment and served in the Crimea and India. He came to New Zealand about 1844 and married Elizabeth Connell, who had a daughter Fanny, on 25 June 1852 in Wellington. William and Elizabeth had nine children – Mary, Sarah Helen (Ellen), Henry, Isabella, Basil, Caroline Emily, David, Eliza Alice and Jack.
William enlisted in the 3rd Waikato Militia on 23 November 1863 in Nelson. His Regiment Number was Private 945 and occupation a soldier.
William was allotted a section in Cambridge East (29 November 1866). They farmed on the Hamilton Road bordering the Town’s Green Belt and later lived in Bowen Street. From 1870 to 1888 William’s occupation was listed as a sawyer. He died 31 May 1890.
LONG Joseph
Joe lived at Rangiahoia near Te Awamutu; was 20 years old and a carpenter when he enrolled in the 3rd Company Waikato Mounted Rifles on 10 August 1898. He enlisted for the South Africa War with the 4th Contingent and sailed on the ‘Gymeric‘ in March 1900 as Sergeant No. 1402. He came back on sick leave in 1902.
LOOKER Isaac
Isaac joined the Cambridge Cavalry Volunteers in 1880 but never picked up a pay for drill or parades.
In 1895, when he married Betsy Vickers, he stated he had been in Cambridge for 20 years. He was a farmer at Pukekura and also did contracting work for Henry Pike. He and Betsy raised six children and ended their days in Papakura.
LOVEDAY Lambert William
William was born about 1845 in Darjeeling, India and was a labourer, 5’11” when he enlisted in the 3rd Regiment of the Waikato Militia in Dunedin on 25 November 1863 as a Private No 961. On 19 December 1864 he was a Sergeant, reduced again to Private.
His military land grant was one acre of land section 502 in Cambridge West and a farm section 20 at Ohaupo.
His marriage to Adelaide Vogel on 28 March 1865, was the first in Cambridge.
He joined the Alpha Waikato Lodge No 449 I.C. in 1866 and later joined The Lodge of Light, No 454 E.C., at Thames.
William stayed with the army and the Waikato Independent of 21 September 1905 reports –
“Lieutenant Colonel Loveday, Officer commanding the Cadet Corps of the colony, made an official inspection of the Cambridge District High School Cadet Corps (under Captain W R C Walker) this morning. There was a muster of about 45 lads, and the Colonel put them through various evolutions and manoeuvres. The Colonel expressed his satisfaction at the general appearance and progress of the corps. In a kindly way, he tendered some useful advice and instruction regarding the making of a true soldier. His words of counsel were attentively listened to, and will no doubt bear fruit when next parade day comes around.”
LUCKMAN Walter
Walter was born about 1836 in St David, Tasmania. He enlisted in the 3rd Waikato Militia as Private 690 on 24 October 1863 in Hobarton.
He was aged 35 years and a farmer when he joined the Duke of Cambridge Lodge on 7 August 1875.
Walter suffered for six weeks with sciatica in 1877. He was Noble Grand for the first quarter of that year when he found that Stuart had falsified the books to the sum of £7 1/8d.
In 1879 Walter’s occupation was a gardener when he was remanded to Hamilton for medical assessment of ‘unsound mind’. Again in 1890 he was found wandering in a state of unsound mind and spent two months in prison with hard labour.
In January 1891 he was found drowned in the back garden of the National Hotel.
LYLE Quintin
Quinton Lyle was born on 12 March 1881. He joined the Duke of Cambridge Lodge 10 March 1908
LYNDS Lionel
Lionel was born on 4 September 1882 and he joined the Duke of Cambridge Lodge on 20 October 1908.
LYNDS Philip
Philip was born about 1853, the son of William and Louisa Lynds. He was a labourer when he joined the Duke of Cambridge Lodge, 6 May 1884 and his wife was Agnes nee Marshall. In December 1885 Philip got pleurisy which occurred annually for a further two years and by this time they had moved to Onehunga.
LYON John Scott Elliott
John was born 1837 in London, England. He was a sawyer, 5′ 8″ tall when he enlisted in the 3rd Waikato Militia on 9 January 1864 in Waiuku. He was a Private, Regiment number 1315 and was granted one acre of land section 208 in Cambridge West and a farm section 49 at Ohaupo.
LYON William Charles
Born 1825 – the only son of General Sir James Lyon K.C.B., G.C.V., sometime Governor of Barbados.
William was an Imperial veteran, and began his military career as an officer in the Coldstream Guards. In order to see active service he exchanged into the 92nd Highlanders as a Captain, and served with that regiment for ten months in the Crimea.
He lost an arm through a shooting accident in England after the war, and left the army to take up farming in New Zealand, in 1858.
With the Land Wars breaking out soon after his arrival, he was appointed Adjutant of a battalion of volunteers. He first distinguished himself while in command of the Gallway Redoubt, at Wairoa South (Clevedon) in 1863, where he led his force successfully in a series of skirmishes with the Maori. For this service he was mentioned in dispatches.
He became a Major in 1863 and on 16 October of the same year was appointed Lieutenant Colonel and given command of the 3rd Regiment of the Waikato Militia which founded Cambridge as a military outpost at the close of the Waikato War in 1864. As well as serving throughout the Waikato campaign, he saw service in the wars both on the West and East coasts.
He married Sophia Rawlinson from Ireland on 10 March 1865.
He took command at Opotiki in 1865 and later in 1869, at the East Coast and Wanganui before returning to Waikato as Acting Under Secretary for Defence and Commissioner for the Armed Constabulary during Colonel Moule’s absence.
During the critical days of the seventies, Colonel Lyon commanded the Armed Constabulary and Volunteer forces in the Waikato, having his headquarters at Cambridge, for some time living on Hamilton Road.
He was in charge of the Auckland Volunteers District from 1884 during the Russian scare and lived in Auckland until his death on 16 November 1887.
His military land grant was one acre of land section 36 in Cambridge East and farm sections 93, 95 and 96 at Ohaupo.
Henry Wily records in the Waikato Independent newspaper 2 May 1940 that he had first met Colonel Lyon in 1885. “He was a singularly lovable man, quiet and gentle mannered, and the most modest person in existence. He was by no means averse to speaking of episodes of the Waikato War, but it was always about the exploits of someone else, never of his own.”
He was known as ‘Wingy’ and the Dictionary of NZ Biography says, “Lyon was brusque and blunt in manner, but courteous and considerate and most popular with the rank and file.”