WESTENRA, RICHARD (1794-1880) was a grandson of Lord Rossmore. He entered the army as an ensign in the 7th Regiment (Royal Fusiliers), and saw a good deal of service in the later stage of the Peninsular war. The active battalions of his regiment then went in turn to North America, the Ionian islands, the West Indies, and Ireland. In the early thirties Westenra was stationed in the south of Ireland, where he married (1831) Isabella M., daughter of Parker Rock, of Kilpurnam, Carberry, county Cork.

In the early forties he retired from the army and went to live with his family in southern Germany, where the elder children were educated for the most part at Mannheim. While there Captain Wilkinson, R.N., persuaded Westenra to come to New Zealand, and they sailed in the Midlothian, arriving in Lyttelton in Oct 1851. Surrounded by sons approaching manhood, Westenra took up a run on the Selwyn river, to which he gave the name of one of Lord Rossmore's seats, Camla. At first he had a place farther south, but he disliked the dangerous river crossings and exchanged it for Camla. The original homestead was on the riverbed, but the flood of 1868 washed most of the flat away and drowned 3,000 sheep. A new house was built on the site of the present homestead at Dunsandel. Westenra was disposed to live quietly, but in 1855 was persuaded to stand for the City of Christchurch, which he represented in the Provincial Council 1855-57 and again 1860-66. For part of this time he was chairman of committees. He was a justice of the peace and often sat on the bench. A soldier and a gentleman of the old school, his unimpeachable integrity shone in all his doings. His wife died in 1865 and himself on 2 Feb 1880.

War Office records; Canterbury P.C. Proc; Godley, Letters; The Press, 20 Sep 1930 (P)

Reference: Volume 2, page 244

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