CHAMBERS, JOHN (1819-93) belonged to a family of Quakers. He married the daughter of a Presbyterian minister of Burntisland, Fifeshire, and about 1840 left for Australia, where he gained much experience of station life, mainly in South Australia. He is said to have driven one of the first wagons across the continent.

Chambers came to Hawkes Bay in the fifties and erected a home at Taradale. In 1855 he took up the Te Mata block, which he carried on successfully for many years and then cut up amongst his three sons. He was a strong supporter of the Presbyterian Church, and with his wife assisted in establishing regular services at Havelock North (1865) and a church (1869) of which he was a trustee. Chambers was of a retiring disposition and took little part in public life. He was, however, a member of the first Napier harbour board (1875) and of the waste land board (1861). He died on 11 Jul 1893 and his widow on 23 Feb 1904.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), 16 Oct 1925; Hawkes Bay Herald, 13 Jul 1893, 1 Mar 1904.

Reference: Volume 1, page 91

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