LUDLAM, ALFRED (1810-77) seems to have been born in County Down, Ireland. Nothing is known of his early life, but he was a man of culture, with the tastes of a country gentleman. He spent some time in the West Indies before coming to New Zealand in the London (which arrived on 12 Dec 1840). He was then unmarried.

He had a section in Ghuznee Street, Wellington, and established his farm, Newry, at the Waiwetu. Ludlam soon achieved a reputation by his farming methods, and his steady selection of good class stock. His sheep had a New Zealand reputation, and at the Dunedin Exhibition (1865) he received a silver medal for information on his exhibits of fine and crossbred wools. He was an enterprising gardener, and experimented with many imported plants. When the Horticultural and Botanical Society was founded (1842) he was a member of the committee, and years later he co-operated with Travers, Hector and Mantell in securing for Wellington the botanical gardens, which he endowed with gifts of plants from his own property. Ludlam and Molesworth's windmill at Newry began grinding flour in Sep 1845. The barn was often used for public events (such as the dinner to Sir George Grey in 1851). The house was almost completed when the earthquake of 1848 caused considerable damage. In the earthquake of 1855 Ludlam and his wife (a daughter of Lieutenant-colonel Gibbes) were caught inside the house and were in danger of being killed by the fall of a chimney.

Ludlam was appointed by Grey a member of the nominated Legislative Council of New Munster (1849), but he resigned in the following year. He had a disposition for public affairs, and when the new constitution came into force he was elected to the Wellington Provincial Council for one of the Hutt seats, which he represented 1853-61 and 1865-75. He sided with the Hutt members (led by Wakefield) against Featherston in the political feud of 1857-61, and after the election in 1858 was elected Speaker. It was an unenviable position, since he was required to register decisions of the Wakefield majority of which he obviously did not approve. As Speaker he was called upon in emergencies to act as Superintendent. Such an emergency arose when Featherston resigned (1858), and Ludlam had to appeal to the courts to assert his rights against the ex-superintendent. Eventually Featherston handed over the keys, but only for a few days until he was re-elected Superintendent. Ludlam escaped from his unpleasant position by resigning the speakership (Sep 1859). He was too outspoken to be politically successful, and it is said that he spoke too often to be a strong man. In any case, his interests were those of a country gentleman rather than a man of affairs. He was one of the first members of the General Assembly, in which he represented the Hutt (1853-56 and 1866-70). Twice in the first period he resigned his seat. Between the first meeting of the Provincial Council and the assembling of Parliament in 1854 he changed his opinions regarding responsible government, and when Parliament met he moved the address-in-reply as a convert to the principle. He never appeared as a parliamentary candidate after 1870, but he was at the head of the poll at the provincial election in 1873.

In 1867 Ludlam was appointed a governor of the newly created New Zealand Institute, and a member of the reception committee for the Duke of Edinburgh's visit. He was an enthusiastic volunteer, and attained the rank of major in the Hutt militia in 1868. In 1870 he was a pallbearer at the funeral of Te Puni. Ludlam's last days were spent, we are told, in a summer of golden charity: so that 'wherever his name was known there will be mourning for the honest, somewhat impractical, but outspoken and enterprising man.' A year or two before his death he visited England for the health of his wife, who died while away. Ludlam died on 8 Nov 1877. Ludlam's Gardens were afterwards called 'McNab's' from a gardener (James McNab, 1831-90) who acquired them after his death.

App. H.R. 1874 H24, 1875 H35; Wellington P.C. Proc.; Ward; Wakelin; Carter; Wellington Independent (notably 22 Apr 1872) and Spectator, 1854-56; Evening Post, 15 Nov 1929.

Reference: Volume 1, page 270

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