Charles Best

• Emigration: Arrived on the sailing ship Sir Charles Forbes - sponcered by the New Zealand Company - with his wife Ann and their son Daniel - also on the same ship was his brother Anthony Job - Aug 22 1842 - Nelson, New Zealand
• Residence: ApplebyNelson New Zealand
• Residence: ApplebyNelsonNZ
  • Reference: MyHeritage Family Trees - SmartCopy: Mar 23 2017, 1:19:07 UTC

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GEDCOM Note

Lived at pt sec 204 Waimea East

Charles would have been 7ư when his father died. Nothing is known of any of this family except Charles and William who came to New Zealand as young men.

Charles Best married Ann Withey in the Parish Church of Kingsbury Episcopi and both signed the Register with a cross. Ann was the daughter of John Withey who was a sawyer from East Lambrook. Charles was a labourer and Ann had learned the trade of glove making, for which the district was well-known. Their marriage certificate shows that the marriage was solemnised at Kingsbury Episcopi in the Diocese of Bath and Wells, County of Somerset on 18th November 1840. They were married by J.B. Lewis, Curate in the presence of Henry Quantock. Early in 1842 their son Daniel was born and he was three months old when they sailed from England on 1st May 1842 aboard the Sir Charles Forbes, as migrants under the New Zealand Company Scheme.

They arrived in Nelson on 22nd August 1842 after 3ư months at sea and were greeted by earlier arrivals who had been in the Colony a few weeks. Charles had three shillings and sixpence in his pocket (approx. 35c.), indomitable courage and immense strength with which to embark on his new life.

Initially they stayed at the Immigration Barracks at Nelson but by January 1843 they had gone to the Moutere where Charles was given work as a roadmaker.

Charles was discouraged from taking up land at the Moutere because of the poor quality of the sections. By 1844 he had saved enough money from his company wages to rent, with a purchase clause, a 50 acre swamp section on Lansdowne Road, Appleby. His first home there was built of sod. With his Somerset experience he set to work and was able to grow enough wheat to make his own bread and share with his less fortunate neighbours.

1844 was a bad year for the settlers and immigrants. Word arrived from England that the Company had suspended operations. The Union Bank undertook to find enough money to pay the wages of the Company's men for the current week, after which nine-tenths of the wage-earning population were left unemployed. At this time the usual trading vessels failed to arrive and times were very bad indeed. Those without gardens had not the means to feed their families. A loaf of bread was precious. Charles has been quoted as saying "during the week we ate taties and zalt. On Sundays we had a change and ate zalt and taties."

Charles had purchased a heifer calf and two steers and soon after the crash the heifer calved. Ann made 12ư pounds of butter from the cream. They sold the 12 pounds and kept the half for themselves and so could pay their rent without selling their steers they used for ploughing. Ann worked alongside Charles driving the bullocks, helping him to clear flax and cut sods for the fences, and together they went in and did the cooking and housework at night. During the early years Charles took outside work when it was available, leaving Ann to look after the farm and family. He was still working at the Moutere when the Germans arrived in 1850.

In 1845 their wheat yielded 50 bushels per acre and they were able to pay for their 50 acres and agree to buy three more sections. They also purchased more cows, bullocks and some sheep and from that time their prosperity never looked back.

Charles was noted as a fine Somerset labourer, more successful than most, and an extremely generous man. On many occasions he loaded himself with provisions and carried them on his back all the way to Nelson through a swampy, muddy road, often to give to someone less fortunate than himself. His wife was the mistress of one of the best provided and hospitable houses in the province, with a richly stored and brightly polished Somerset kitchen. Together they built a beautiful home and established one of the best farms in the Waimeas. As years went by, he became familiarly known as "Governor." Although he was very unpretentious he commanded widespread respect and influence. He was very fond of the "Old Country," its ways and customs, and he was a man of vast depth and feeling. At the Jubilee of the Province in 1892 he managed to gather his family around him, to the tune of 58, to be photographed. In his obituary it was said that he was no politician, though a very keen observer; of good sense and thoroughly practical. His advice was often sought and he was held in high esteem by all classes of people throughout the Colony.

Charles' first son Daniel was, unfortunately, drowned in the Appleby River during a crossing in 1844, but he was survived by five more sons and two daughters. Ann passed away on 21st January 1872 at the age of 52 years. Two years later, on 7th February 1874, Charles married Elizabeth, widow of the late Henry Boddington of Kaiapoi and eldest daughter of Edward Baigent, Wakefield. Elizabeth also predeceased him on 19th September 1885 at the age of 49 years. Charles reached the age of 75 and passed away in his own home on 3rd September 1892. He was buried beside his wives in the St Albans Anglican Churchyard, Appleby, Nelson.