270 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. XI. 
At the top of the poll, and therefore first Mayor of 
Wellington, was Mr. George Hunter, one of the early 
colonists from England. He was of advanced years, 
with a large family, and a merchant of the first stand- 
ing in the place. He was also a Justice of the 
Peace. 
The other eleven Aldermen were elected in the fol- 
lowing order : — Mr. William Lyon, the shopkeeper of 
whom I have spoken as having so extensive a trade 
with the natives ; Mr. Fitzherbert, a merchant and 
auctioneer from England, who had been some time in 
the colony ; Johnny Wade, the auctioneer and man of 
the people ; George Scott, a thriving, industrious, 
and well-educated carpenter ; Mr. Molesworth ; Dr. 
Dorset, who had been in our early expedition ; Robert 
Waitt, William Guyton, and Abraham Hort, the 
three principal merchants of the town; Edward 
Johnson, a wholesale and retail shopkeeper; and 
Robert Jenkins, a publican from New South Wales. 
The next six on the list formed a reserve list to 
supply vacancies. They consisted of the Crown Pro- 
secutor, Captain Edward Daniell, a carpenter, and 
three shopkeepers and shipping agents. 
The most extraordinary elevation was perhaps that 
of Robert Jenkins. He had come in one of the vessels 
from Sydney at the same time as the first colonists 
from England. Soon after the move to Thorndon, he 
bought a barrel of beer, and set it on tap in a miserable 
little hut on the beach. He had then crept on from 
one thing to the other, until he had a pretty neat grog- 
shop, with the sign of the " New Zealander." When 
the town sections were given out, he took a lease of 
part of one of the most valuable sections near Te Aro, 
and built on it a large brick house, which quite looked 
down upon the wooden cottage beside it in which the 
