Thomas Montgomery ²

  General Notes:

He spent his early days in New Zealand on the goldfields of both the North and South Islands. He was at some time in charge of a section of the rail-way between Christchurch and Dunedin and as a pioneer of the Northern Wairoa, spent more than forty years in the district.

  Birth Notes:

Thomas emigrated to NZ on the ship 'Dauntless" arriving on 15 May 1865

  Death Notes:

Obituary - Auckland Star om 29 January 1921
Mr T Montgomery
Dargaville, Friday
Mr. Thomas Montgomery, age 76, died at his residence, Mititai, last night.
He arrived at Auckland 56 years ago on the ship Dauntless. He was born at Enniskillen in 1845 and was on the goldfields in the early days of goldmining in the North and South Islands. He was in charge of a section of the railway between Christchurch and Dunedin when the line was being built. He was a pioneer of the Northern Wairoa, and for 40 years he had been farming at Mititai. He leaves a widow and a family of eleven, all living in the district, whilst he lost two sons in the war.

  Noted events in his life were:

• Military: Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers - 27th & 108th Foot, 7 Nov 1860, , , Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. First name(s)Thomas
Last nameMontgomery
Birth year1842
Birth parishAughalogher
Birth townLisnaskea
Birth countyFermanagh
Birth countryIreland
Service number1599
RegimentRoyal Inniskilling Fusiliers - 27th & 108th Foot
Year1860
Attestation date07 Nov 1860
Attestation age years18
Attestation age months6
Attestation service number1599
Attestation corps27th Foot
Discharge corps27th Foot
Document typeAttestation
Archive referenceWO 97
SeriesWo 97 - Chelsea Pensioners British Army Service Records 1760-1913
Box2054
Box record number21
ArchiveThe National Archives
CountryIreland
Record setBritish Army Service Records

• Immigration: on the "Dauntless", 1868, , , , New Zealand. There was also a Robert Montgomerie on the same voyage, possibly a brother but this is unknown.

• Occupation: Farmer, 1880/1920, Arapohue, Northern Wairoa, Northland, New Zealand. The farm was named 'Bloomfield'.

Thomas married Alice Ann Vincent, daughter of Robert Vincent and Fanny Millis, on 9 Mar 1881 in , Northern Wairoa, Northland, New Zealand.¹ (Alice Ann Vincent was born on 16 Jan 1864 in Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand,⁵ died on 13 Apr 1945 in Mititai, Northern Wairoa, Northland, New Zealand ⁶ and was buried in Apr 1945 in Arapohue, Northern Wairoa, Northland, New Zealand ⁷.)

  Noted events in their marriage were:

• Land: Bloomfield Farm, 1893, Arapohue, Northern Wairoa, Northland, New Zealand. Thomas and Alice Ann purchased their land at Arapohue in 1893.
The farm remained in the Montgomery family until Richard died in 1974 and the farm was sold to him nephew, Mervyn Hilliam, who sold the farm in 2005 and it passed out of the family.

  Marriage Notes:

Alice Ann and Thomas were married from the home of Alice's parents and the witnesses were Thomas and Maude Bapett. The minister was F. Thomas Baker.
They purchased a farm at Arapohue and this land is still owned by their descendants today.
A letter dated 1893 mentions that Robert Vincent snr. was away from home for six months while helping to build a six room house and a sixty foot cowshed with the help of Thomas Montgomery.

All the family were keen sports-persons and took an active part in the A & P shows in the area.

At the turn of the century, a bush-working was established to mill the kauri, kahikatea and matai from his Thomas's property at Arapohue to the river at Mititai. This is where William gained his experience as a kauri bushman. The logs were winched and dragged by bullocks to be loaded off the skids on to the tramline which had been built to take the timber down to the river at Mititai. A locomotive was used to haul the timber to the river where it was rafted across to the mills at Te Kopuru and Aratapu.
A small pocket of bush was owned by Miss Karmody of Auckland, next to Thomas Montgomery's property, and on her death the bush was sold to the Kauri Timber Company and the land to Thomas Montgomery. The smaller trees were left and this land was never cleared by the Montgomery family for farming. The small kauri trees thrived in this small reserve, and many years later the Montgomery family donated this land to the district of Northern Wairoa as a native bush public reserve.

Both Alice Ann and Thomas were buried at the Arapohue Cemetery when they died.