Archibald Milne’s unsolved murder - Grave Story #1
 
It was an argument with his father that caused Archibald Milne to sail to the other side of the world, arriving in Wellington aboard the Lady Nugent on March 17, 1841. Within nine months he would be dead. His death remains one of New Zealand’s earliest unsolved murders and sparked conflict between Māori and settlers.
 
Archibald and his fellow “intermediate-class” passengers were filled with optimism on their journey to New Zealand, but optimism soon turned to despair when they found the land they had been promised and purchased from the New Zealand Company was not forthcoming. In a letter dated 26 August 1841 to Colonel William Wakefield, the New Zealand Company’s principal agent, Archibald and other settlers complained about the lack of surveyed sections in Wellington available to them. Archibald, who was a magistrate in England, was unhappy with Wellington and had planned to return to his homeland. He never made the journey.
 
On Wednesday, 15 December 1841, Archibald’s body was found partly submerged on the beach just over a kilometre south of Petone. He was 35 years old. He had been beaten around the head and face and his skull had been fractured. He was partly-clothed; his blue jacket, cap, white moleskin trousers, one sock and his watch were missing. There were two suspects, one was Archibald’s friend John Osborne, with whom he had argued in the days before the murder, and the other a young Maori man named Awaho. At the inquest into Archibald’s death, several witnesses described seeing a Maori man following Archibald along the beach shortly before his death. At the inquest they identified Awaho as the man, however, Awaho testified that he had not been on the beach and they were mistaken. The Coroner gave the jury a stern warning about the need to avoid bringing Maori and settlers into “collision by an imprudent or injudicious act” as the result might be “melancholy and disastrous”. The jury found a verdict of “wilful murder against some person or persons unknown”.
 
With the case unsolved, the chief police magistrate, Michael Murphy, offered a reward of fifty pounds for information that would lead to the conviction of the guilty party. No one came forward. The case created some disagreement among the settlers, some of who felt police had failed in their investigation of the case and failed to charge Awaho with the murders, while others felt that Awaho was implicated simply because he was Maori.
 
In February 1842, there appeared to be a breakthrough in the case. Osborne was arrested as he left Wellington for Nelson and charged with the theft of a coat and tablecloth belonging to Archibald. Osborne came up for trial on the theft charges but was acquitted as there was no proof that he had actually stolen the items. And there the case remained until December 1843 when Awaho became the prime suspect in the theft of a gown and cape, two nightgowns, a waist coat and two silk handkerchiefs the property of Emma Stutfield. Efforts to arrest Awaho resulted in conflict between police, soldiers and Maori. The New Zealand Gazette and Wellington Spectator reported that when the clothes take from Mrs Stutfield were retrieved from a box belonging to Awaho, Archibald’s stolen clothing was also seen in the box, but when it was searched again several days later by police and Archibald’s cousin James Smith the clothing was not found. Awaho was found guilty of the theft of Mrs Stutfield’s property and sentenced to two months’ imprisonment.
 
Archibald’s murder gradually faded from memory, until 2 January 1845 when Awaho tragically committed suicide. Shortly before, Awaho had again been charged with theft, this time of “some biscuits”. Writing two years later, Edmund Halswell, the Magistrate who had sentenced Awaho to imprisonment for the theft of Mrs Stutfield’s clothing, stated Awaho had been banished from Ngauranga and Petone by his relatives because of those thefts and had found refuge at Pipitea Pa. Halswell went on to say that Awaho had shot himself through the heart as he was “ashamed” of being charged with another theft.
 
Archibald was buried in the Public Cemetery in Wellington (now Bolton Street Memorial Park) on 17 December 1841. He has no headstone. The records do not state where Awaho was interred.
 
The Milne family were dogged by tragedy. Archibald, who reached the age of 35 was one of the longest-lived of his at least 10 siblings. Check below to find out more about the Milne family and find out if you might be related to Archibald and others from his family who came to New Zealand.
 
Archibald Milne and his twin brother John were born on 17 August 1807 in Kirktown of Alvah in Banffshire, Scotland to John Milne and Jean, whose maiden name was also Milne. The Milnes were a noted family and considered British gentry. The Milne family had owned and operated the large Mill of Boyndie for more than 200 years.
 
Many of Archibald’s brothers died very young:

• Twin John, a surgeon, died at the age of 25 when he fell from a horse
• James, born in 1798 died in infancy
• Robert died in 1833 aged 23
• Abercromby died in 1848 aged 30
• William, a customs collector in Jamaica, died in 1850 aged 36

 
None of Archibald’s siblings came to New Zealand, but his cousin James Smith was one of Wellington’s earliest settlers, having arrived in 1840 aboard the sailing ship Coromandel. James had a successful career as an auctioneer and general storekeeper in Wellington. He married his business partner’s sister Marian Rollason Wallace in 1846 and had six children. Marian died in 1858 in England and James died in 1876 aged 58 and is buried in Bolton Street Memorial Cemetery.
Their children and grandchildren, many of whom lived in Wellington and the Wairarapa, were:

• Alexander Smith, 1847-1935, married Jessie Isabella Robinson
  • Isabella Marion Smith 1876-1907
  • Charles Edward Walmsley Smith, married Catherine McNamara
    • Walmsley James Smith 1904-1989
  • Ida May Smith 1880-1973, married Robert Patterson
    • Keith Wallace Patterson 1907-1977
    • Lorna Isabel Patterson 1911-2003
    • Vera Margaret Patterson 1912-2004
  • Violet Helen Smith 1884-1980, married Neville Bead Newland
    • Marjorie Helen Newland 1915-1980
  • Daisy Wallace Smith 1884-1975, married Dennis Drew
    • Catherine Margaret Drew
  • Daisy Wallace Smith 1884-1975 second husband Alfred Ernest Grant
    • Ellen Jessie Grant-Drew 1903-1969
    • Martan Elsie Grant-Drew 1907-
    • Lewis Thomas Drew 1910-1982
  • Norah Hunt Smith 1891-1978, married Raymond Wallace Smith

• James Wallace Smith 1852-1927, married (1884) Martha Shiell Scott -1863-1905
  • Raymond Wallace Smith 1885-1970, married 1915 Norah Hunt 1891-1978
    • Kenrick Raymond Wallace Smith 1918-1995
  • Isbel Catherine Smith 1889-1959
  • Athol Wallace Smith 1891-1917

• Marian Rollason Smith, 1855-1945, married (1884) Spencer Francis Beard 1853-1917
  • Constance Muriel Beard 1885-1949, married (1922) Edward Yates Bolton 1885-1941, married Frederick Charles Renyard 1888-1948
  • Hugh Spencer Beard 1886-1915, married (1913) Winnifred Amy Parr
  • Ruth Mildred Beard 1888-1960, married (1915) Thomas Martin Miller 1886-1970
  • Doris Elinor Beard 1892-,

• Mary Elizabeth Smith 1849-1868

• Helen Garden Smith, 1853-1938, married (1872) Frederick Moore 1845-1929
  • Catherine Lena Moore 1874-1966, married (1901) Edward William Broad
  • John Leonard Moore 1875-
  • Leonard John Moore 1876-1910 married (1905) Lillian Frances Beard
  • Norman Frederic Moore 1878-1935, married (1908) Eleanor Beatrice Baird
  • Wyverne or Wysome George Moore 1885-1941, married (1915) Kathleen Iole Wendorff Thompson
  • James Rorio Moore 1888-1918, married (1917) Anne Rachel Cameron

• Henry Milne Smith, 1857-1859

Death. Nobody likes to think about their own demise, but it is 100 percent guaranteed to happen to you one day and unfortunately for some it happens sooner than they expected. One of our recent cases involved a young woman who left her home one wintery afternoon to run some errands. She never made it back, instead she was fatally injured in a car accident. She had no will, and why would she? She was young, had no husband or children, and had not expected to die that afternoon. This young lady, let’s call her Amanda, had, however, planned for her future children, having taken out a life insurance policy some time earlier. Whoever it was that tidied up her affairs after her death must not have known that she had taken out life insurance, and why would they? She had not left a will. By the time Amanda’s file landed on our desk, she had been dead for several years and the money in her insurance policy was at risk of being given to the State because no one could find who her next of kin were. At this point some explanation is needed of what happens to your estate (your stuff and money) if you die without a will. There is quite a complex formula for who gets what, which I will simplify for the sake of brevity (and sanity). Basically, your first heir is your spouse, then your children. If you have no children, then your parents share your estate with your spouse. If you have no living parents, spouse or children, then it gets a little more complex. Your heirs will then be your brothers and sisters and their children, but if you have no living siblings and there are no nieces and nephews then your estate goes to your grandparents and your parents’ brothers and sisters and if they are not living, then to their children. Confusing huh? The simplest way to avoid this situation for your heirs is to make a will, and once you have done this, keep it up to date. There’s no point, for example, leaving your prized gold leaf tea set to your Aunty Betty if she died 10 years before you. It is also a good idea to keep addresses and contact details for those who are named as beneficiaries in your will, written down and stored with your important papers. Having a will helps your executors and your family know what your wishes are and usually helps avoid arguments over who gets what. While dying is probably going to be tough for you, it might be even tougher for those who you leave behind if you have not left them with instructions about what you would like to happen to your money and personal items after you have gone.
 
What happened in Amanda's case...

Sadly, Amanda’s death barely made the news, and unfortunately the police officers who had dealt with the case could no longer remember, who from her family they had been in touch with. Both of Amanda’s parents had died, but fortunately, from their headstone, we found out that Amanda had two siblings. Unfortunately, we only had their first names. New Zealand’s privacy laws are quite strict and finding information about people other than yourself is pretty much impossible if you don’t know where to look. The situation with Amanda’s estate is surprisingly common, and if you take a look at the IRD’s money owed website you will see a large amount of money which has come from deceased estates. In many of these the heirs have not been able to be located and in some cases the rightful heirs have no idea that they are even related to the deceased person and that they are entitled to benefit from the estate. Fortunately for Amanda’s two siblings we managed to locate contact details for them. Both were married and living overseas, and each received half of Amanda’s life insurance policy, but not without a lot of thinking outside the box and effort on the part of the team at GI.