18 Transactions. 



Karori Stockade. 



The site of this post has been fixed on the map. It was erected on 

 Mr. Chapman's land at Karori in the " forties," as a rallying-place and 

 refuge for the surrounding settlers. It was erected under the supervision 

 of Mr. A. C. Strode, on the high ground south of the main road and about 

 opposite the English Church. It was apparently never utilized as a refuge. 



Colonel Mundy wrote of Karori in 1847, " Here are several hundred 

 acres partially cleared, and the remains of a stockade built for the defence 

 of the rural community." 



Hutt Posts of the " Forties." 

 Fort Richmond.* 



This was the principal defensive post in the Hutt district during the 

 troubled " forties," and was situated near the old bridge, which was some- 

 what down-stream from the present bridge. 



Brees tells us that Fort Richmond " was constructed under the direction 

 of Captain Compton, an enterprising settler of the Hutt. It is planned on 

 the model of those in the United States of America to guard against incur- 

 sions of the Indians. The stockade is arranged in the form of a square of 

 95 ft., with towers of defence, or blockhouses, at two of the opposite angles, 

 which command the bridge and river on both sides. It is composed of slabs 

 of wood 9 ft. 6 in. high, and 5 in. to 6 in. thick, and is musket-proof. One 

 of the blockhouses is 15 ft., and the other 12 ft. square. The fort was 

 erected at a cost of £124, independent of the value of the timber, which 

 was presented by Mr. Compton, and voluntary labour to the amount of 

 £54 10s. is included in the above statement of the cost. 



" The excitement which was felt at the Hutt when a party of the 58th 

 Regiment took up their quarters in the fortress on the morning of the 24th 

 April, 1845, will not soon be forgotten. The settlers having brought all 

 their energies to their assistance in the erection of the stockade, had just 

 completed it on the evening of the previous day (Sunday), when an attack 

 was expected from the natives. The settlers accordingly determined to 

 hold possession until the arrival of the military, which took place at about 

 3 o'clock in the morning, amid the acclamations of the settlers." 



This post was named after Major Richmond, who was then in command 

 of the district. A woodcut of the fort appeared in an early number of the 

 Wellington Independent (now known as the Neiv Zealand Times). A con- 

 temporary remarks of those crude woodcuts, "They are apparently the 

 work of no trained artist. The ground is black and the delineation white, 

 reversing the usual process." Brees gives a good illustration of the fortress. 



Wellington papers of October, 1846, state that " We are informed that 

 the late flood in the Hutt has done considerable damage in the district. 

 The south-western corner of Fort Richmond, where a detachment of the 

 58th Regiment is stationed, has been thrown down." Ere long the river 

 had swallowed the site of Fort Richmond, which fortunately was no longer 

 needed. 



Colonel Mundy, in Our Antipodes, made the following remark on Fort 

 Richmond : " It is a small baby-house kind of fortress built of timber, 

 with a couple of carronades on corner turrets, one of which, impinging on 

 the river, has been carried away by a freshet." This writer visited the 

 Hutc in 1847. 



* Not shown on map, but situated on the opposite side of the river to the block- 

 house above Hikoikoi pa. 



