Henry Kenneth Walton

Served on the ship "HMS Powerful" from 20 Jan 1855 to 7 Oct 1859 as a 'chop boy".

Was in the Crimean War that finished 1856, Indian Mutiny 1857 (Lucknow 1858), and the Clutha Gold Rush which he wrote the autobiography of, was 1861, so he must have arrived in NZ sometime between late 1859 and 1861.

Wise's PO Directory list him in 1878 and 1883/4 as a fellmonger at Johnsonville, and in the 1882 Return of Freeholds of New Zealand he is listed as a woolscourer, Ngahauranga with lane in Manawatu County worth £45, Wairarapa West County worth £1 and Palmerston North Borough woth £150, by 1887/8 as Storekeeper, Waikanae, 1892/3 as Settler, Waikanae, 1896/7 and 1898/9 as Gardener, Waikanae.

Information from his obituaries from Waikanae and Otago says "He was one of the very few remaining soliders who took part in the great crimean Campaigne, and also participated in the fighting connected with the Indian Mutiny. He was for years a man-o'-warsman, travelling all over the world and having exciting experiences in many lands. He fought in the Baltic Sea and also in China." Myrtle Wilcox, his granddaughter remembers a framed acknowledgement of Honours for Service by Queen Victoria hanging in the hall of his home.