A Polish Prince

In a Dunedin cemetery is a member of an Eastern European royal family who lived his last days in New Zealand.
Prince Alois Konstantin Drucki-Lubecki was born in 1801 in Warsaw, Poland, a descendant of the Norman Prince Ruric who was once invited to govern Russia. His forefathers became Lithuanian princes. His grandfather had married a Polish noblewoman and a cousin was Prince Xavier Drucki-Lubecki, a minister of finance in the Polish government.
Lech Paszkowski in his book, Poles in Australia and Oceania 1790-1940, said Alois was an officer in the Polish National Army and took part in the Polish-Russian War, a failed revolution called the November Uprising seeking to create an independent state. When the movement collapsed he got away, but his estates were forfeited.
He left to live in Germany, then France before going to England.
There he married Laura Duffus in 1836.
With Laura’s brother, the Reverend John Duffus and his family, the group emigrated to Australia where he and his family were the first known settlers in New South Wales.
Unable to get a job, Alois and his new wife opened a school in Parramatta for young ladies.
But as the area became economically depressed, the school failed and Alois became ill.
After his recovery, the couple moved to Sydney then to Melbourne where Alois became a confectioner while Laura continued to teach.
In 1863 with Laura and his two daughters, Alois came to Dunedin where they settled.
The old prince named his Dunedin residence Koldano after the battle he had fought in an engagement with the Russians.
He was often called the talking general, liking to talk about those times. It is believed he became a bank manager in New Zealand.
During the Polish insurrection against Russia in 1863, Alois Lubecki contributed to the press campaign on behalf of Poles, writing to New Zealand newspapers.
Unfortunately, he was not to enjoy his life in New Zealand for long, he died on 7 October 1864. His wife lived until 1901 in Nelson and was then buried with Alois in Dunedin’s Southern Cemetery.
The Prince’s grave was restored in 2019.​