William Halse

HALSE, WILLIAM (1816-82) Grew up in St James Palace where his father was the State Page to George IV) He came to New Plymouth NZ in the Amelia Thompson (1841) with his brother Henry.

(NB These young men perhaps are good examples of the havoc young single men could wreak in the new town. On 23 March 1843 William Halse was 'examined before the Magistrates for enticing away the wife of a maori native')

As a Solicitor, he was immediately appointed a Justice of the Peace.

In 1848 he succeeded Bell as Resident Agent for the New Zealand Company in New Plymouth (1848-52).

He was appointed Commissioner of Crown Lands in 1851 and held that office till 1863, when he entered into business.

In 1853 Halse contested the Superintendency of the Taranaki Provincial Government against C. W. Brown (Brown 173, Halse 138)

He acted as the Deputy Superintendent in 1858.

His law firm had a high profile, but by the 1880s his business dealings had turned sour. So much so that he committed suicide in his house at Waitara on 10 April, 1882, aged 65.

The obituary in the Taranaki Herald of 13 April, 1882 reported that

…As he was suffering from severe mental depression, owing, we believe, to distressing business affairs, fears were entertained yesterday by his friends that he had become a victim of temporary insanity; as while in that state, of course, the very worst result was to be apprehended.

A sad end to an otherwise very accomplished career.