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Cambridge People

Explore the history of the local people.

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Historic Cambridge residents with ‘G’ Surnames

GEORGE, GOODWIN, & GRAHAM are just some of those surnames whose living legacy still reside in our beautiful town.  All these residents are founders of our town.  Below is a list of our historic residents whose surnames start with the letter G.

 

GANE Gilbert Henry

Gilbert was born about 1872, the son of Joseph and Elizabeth Gane, at their farm ‘Pleasant Hill’, Pukerimu.

On 23 November 1898, at age 26, he joined the 3rd Company of the Waikato Mounted Rifles as sergeant.

When the South Africa War broke out he enlisted No. 43 in the 1st Contingent. He did another tour of duty as Lieutenant with the 7th Contingent and remained in Rhodesia buying 2,000 acres of land. He died there of malaria in 1904.

GANE Joseph

Joseph was born in Somerset in 1837 and brought up to country life. He married Elizabeth Sturgess in 1859 and they came to New Zealand in 1861. By 1875 he was farming 400 acres at Pukerimu called ‘Richmond Hill’.

Joseph and Elizabeth had ten children – Alfred, Ellen, Frank, Mary, Laura, Gilbert, Lawrence, Winnie, Oswald and Eileen.

Joseph took an active part in the progress of farming being a promotor and later president of the Waikato Farmers’ Club; Waikato A&P Association; NZ Dairy Association and Auckland

Farmers’ Freezing Company. He was a generous supporter of the Methodist church and committee member of the Pukerimu School.

Joseph died 8 November 1909 and Elizabeth (an invalid for a number of years) 4 July 1912. They are buried at the Pukerimu Cemetery.

GARBETT Joseph

Joseph was born about 1839 in Shropshire. He enlisted in the 3rd Waikato Militia as Private 613 on 26 September 1863 in Christchurch, his occupation a draper. He was promoted to Sergeant on 3 May 1865.

He was present at the inquest for Robert Wilson on 25 June 1866 when he confirmed that Dr Beale could not resuscitate Wilson.

Joseph was aged 31 when he enlisted in the Armed Constabulary No 1573 on 17 February 1871. He re-enlisted 23 February 1872 and was discharged 26 February 1874.

He was a Constable when he joined the Duke of Cambridge Lodge on 8 July 1871.

Henry Gardner was born on 24 October 1889. He joined the Duke of Cambridge Lodge 16 June 1908.

GARLAND Benjamin

Ben arrived in New Zealand on the ‘Excelsior‘ in 1869 and came to Cambridge to work under William and John Grice of Roto-o-rangi.

He became a member of the Cambridge Cavalry Volunteers in 1872 and served until the troop disbanded in October 1882.

When he and Sarah Kingdon married on 10 August 1873, they were the first couple to tie the knot in the original St Andrews Anglican church in Cambridge.

Ben was a farmer, a veterinarian and ran a butchery in Cambridge West (Leamington) until 1905, when they left to live in Matamata. They retired in 1918 and moved back to Leamington. Ben died in 1926 and Sarah in 1937.

GARLAND Cyril Frederick Tauroa

Cyril was born 27 June 1884 and a cleaner when he joined the Duke of Cambridge Lodge 20 January 1903. In 1909 he married Grace Ruckert Cochrane.

GARLAND John William

John was born 4 September 1877, the son of Ben and Sarah.

He enrolled in the Waikato Mounted Rifles in Cambridge 1897. On 20 January 1900 he left with the Second Contingent Hotchkiss Detachment as Sergeant 533, to serve in the South Africa War. The ‘Welcome Home’ flag waved as he returned in 1901 but when he sailed for South Africa again as Lieutenant with the 10th Contingent, the war had come to an end before he reached the South African shores.

In 1950, accompanied by his wife Anne, he attended the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Boer War in London.

John died 25 May 1961 and is buried in the Leamington Cemetery.

GARVEY Stephen

Stephen was born on 1 February 1883 and joined the Duke of Cambridge Lodge 19 September 1911.

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GATENBY George Harold

George was born 17 July 1887 and a baker when he joined the Duke of Cambridge Lodge on 24 July 1900

GEGAN Luke William

Luke was born about 1838 in Ireland. He enlisted in the 3rd Waikato Militia as Private 761 on 21 October 1863 in Dunedin, giving his occupation as a clerk.

In 1866 Luke joined the Lodge Alpha-Waikato, No 449 I.C., Cambridge from the Lodge Otago Kilwinning. He was aged 28 years, married and a butcher when he joined the Duke of Cambridge Lodge on 15 July 1867.

GEMMILL John Robert

John was born in Cambridge on 15 September 1876, the son of Thomas and Catherine nee Izzett. At age 14 years he started working in his father’s blacksmith shop on the corner of Duke and Chapel Streets. John joined the Duke of Cambridge Lodge 7 September 1897 aged 19 years. At St Stephens church Tamahere he married Emily Louisa Care on 19 February 1902 and they had three daughters Dorothy, Elsie and Myrlie. Louisa died 1 April 1936.

John was recognised as an outstanding maker of horse shoes and although small in statue he had a great capacity for work. He got to know horses well and was often called upon to perform veterinary work. He enjoyed football and was a member of the Cambridge Volunteer Fire Brigade. When he died in July 1957 he was the oldest living member of the Duke of Cambridge Lodge.

GEMMILL Thomas

Born in Fenwick, Ayrshire in 1838 Tom arrived in New Zealand in the ‘Lord Ashley’ in 1857. After several years he returned to Scotland and married Catherine Izzett. They settled in Cambridge in 1866 having bought the Crown Grant of William Gillespie for £12.

Tom and Catherine had one son and four daughters before Catherine died 10 March 1886 aged 40 years.

Tom’s first blacksmith shop was situated at the corner of Duke and Chapel (Anzac) Streets and he continued in this building until a new one was built in 1886. Adjoining the new shop was John Ferguson’s wheelwright shop and for many years these two shops were among the chief industries of Cambridge. In 1872 Tom joined the Cambridge Cavalry Volunteers as the farrier and he stayed until 1879. He established another two blacksmiths at Tirau and Waotu in 1884. Tom died in 1903.

Son John worked in the blacksmith from age fourteen in 1891. At that time five men were employed in the smithy, their work ranging from making and mending farm implements to shoeing horses. John became an expert horse shoer and, with two other men, could put on as many as 23½ sets of shoes in one day. After 55 years of strenuous work (when his assistant was called up for military service in World War Two) the smithy was sold.

GEORGE Frederick Nelson

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Major George enlisted in the 3rd Waikato Militia on 27 October 1863 and also served in the 2nd Waikato Militia in Hamilton.

He received his one acre section number 572 in Cambridge East and this he sold in 1906. His 200 acre farm section was in Cambridge North, plus he received an additional 100 acres for being a Field Officer. In the Cambridge rates assessment list for 1869-70 Fred paid 2 pence an acre on 300 acres – totalling £2 10/-.

He died in England on 23 October 1914 .

GERRANS Thomas

Tom was a member of the Cambridge & Waikato Reed Band and in the Cambridge rates assessment list for 1869-70 he paid 2 pence an acre on 100 acres – totalling sixteen shillings and eight pence.

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GERRISH Samuel Isaac

Sam was born about 1855, married Elizabeth in 1875 and came to New Zealand in 1878. They came to Cambridge to take care of Major John Wilson’s property and Sam was a gardener when he joined the Duke of Cambridge Lodge, 20 May 1884. Nine months later they established ‘Gerrish’s Private Boarding House’ in Duke Street west. It had ten bedrooms, bathroom and all modern conveniences. An article in the Waikato Advocate of 1895 states that, “The place is embowered with trees, and the grounds tastefully laid out in flower beds, where most Old World favourites may be found blooming. Mr Gerrish is an expert gardener, and his plots devoted to vegetables and fruit trees indicate that Mrs Gerrish’s boarders will not want for fresh vegetables and fruit in season.” Sam had to call on his Lodge sickness benefit when he suffered a rupture from June 1893 to March 1894. He died 5 May 1897 and Elizabeth married a second time to Tom Payson Smith in 1899. Tom died 1903 and Elizabeth died 5 August 1949.

GILLELAND/GILLIBRAND Samuel

Enlisted in the 3rd Waikato Militia in Penrose, November 1863 – Regiment Number 663. In the Cambridge rates assessment list for 1869-70 Sam paid 2 pence an acre on 51 acres – totalling eight shillings and sixpence.

GLANFIELD J

In the Cambridge rates assessment list for 1869-70, Mr Glanfield paid 2 pence an acre on 60 acres – totalling ten shillings.

GLEESON James

On the 1899 electoral roll Jas was described as a groom, resident in Cambridge. When he joined the 3rd Company of the Waikato Mounted Rifles in Cambridge on 13 January 1900 he was a blacksmith, aged 22 years and 10 months.

On 30 January 1901 he sailed on the ‘Cornwall‘ for the South Africa War. He joined the 6th Contingent as Private 3233. His father was Thomas who lived at Henderson’s Mill, Waitakerei.

GOODWIN John Alfred

John was born about 1846 in Kent, England. He enlisted in the 3rd Waikato Militia as Private 61 on 31 August 1864, in Melbourne, his occupation a labourer/stockman.

He was aged 22 years and a labourer when he joined the Duke of Cambridge Lodge on 15 July 1867.

John was mentioned in the Waikato Times of 10 June 1872, when his rates were due for section 251 in Cambridge.

GORRIE Keith

Keith was a farmer at Maungatautari when he enrolled with the Waikato Mounted Rifles in Cambridge 28 August 1899. He then joined the No 1 Company, 1st Contingent, as Trooper 70 and left for the South Africa War on 21 October 1899.

His medals are listed as “Queens South Africa Medal with three clasps – Relief of Kimberly, Drifontein and Transvaal”. Keith died of fever in Transvaal 11 July 1900 and is listed on the Cambridge Returned Services Association Wall of Memories at the Cambridge Cemetery.

GRAHAM Samuel

In the Cambridge rates assessment list for 1869-70 Sam paid 2 pence an acre on 1550 acres – totalling £12 10/4d. He and wife Caroline lived at Tamahere where they offered the site for the St Stephens Anglican church.

Sam was on the Cambridge Road Board from 1865 to 1870, the Narrows Bridge Committee and the Farmers’ Association. From 1872 until 1878 Sam was also a member of the Cambridge Cavalry Volunteers.

GRANT Thomas

Tom was born 1830 in Kilkenny, Ireland. He was a draper, 5′ 11½” tall when he enlisted in the 3rd Waikato Militia on 19 February 1864 in Papakura. He was a Private, Regiment No. 1477 and was granted one acre of land section 261 in Cambridge West and a farm section 43 at Ohaupo. In 1887 he is on the electoral roll at Bushmans with freehold section 247

GREGSON Archer K

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Arthur Knopwood GREYSON enlisted in the 3rd Regiment of the Waikato Militia on 24 October 1863 as Lieutenant.

Archer K Gregson joined the Alpha Waikato Lodge No 449 I.C. in 1866.

His one acre section number 334 was in Cambridge West (Leamington) and his farm sections just north of Cambridge.

GRIFFIN Charles

Chas was born about 1827 in Cardiff, Glamorgan and became a blacksmith. He arrived in New Zealand on the ‘Kennelworth‘ in 1857 and enlisted in the 3rd Regiment of the Waikato Militia in Auckland on 1 October 1863 as a Staff Sergeant No 432.

When Chas married in February 1864 at Papakura he was a widower and a Quartermaster. His bride was Margaret Webster, a widow.

He joined the Alpha Waikato Lodge No 449 I.C. in 1866.

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GRIFFIN William

Bill was a Private, Regiment Number 780, having enlisted in the 3rd Waikato Militia in Lyttleton on 10 November 1863. He was born about 1837 in Warrington Lancashire and was a farmer.
In the Cambridge rates assessment list for 1869-70, Bill paid 2 pence an acre on 51 acres – totalling eight shillings and sixpence.

William also served in the 4th Division of the Armed Constabulary and still had his town acre into the 20th century.

GRIGSBY Charles

Charles was born 26 August 1876 and joined the Duke of Cambridge Lodge 13 July 1897 aged 23 years his occupation a farmer. He was married but his wife was not registered. He is listed on the 1902 electoral roll as a farmer

GUBEL (GEIBEL) Claus

Claus was born 1840 in Esksladh, Holsein, Germany. He was a farmer, 5′ 11½” tall when he enlisted in the 3rd Waikato Militia on 22 September 1863 in Brisbane. He was a Private, Regiment number 510 and was granted one acre of land section 244 in Cambridge West and a farm section 37 at Ohaupo.

GUINEY Charles Hack

Charles enrolled in the 3rd Waikato Militia at Dunedin on Christmas Eve 1863 as Private 1238. The Land Register has Lucas Stack Guiney getting a one acre grant at Cambridge West and 50 acres in the Cambridge survey. A L GUINEY is the name on the Cambridge rates assessment list for 1869-70 with 2 pence an acre on 51 acres to be paid – totalling eight shillings and sixpence.

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