This is Where the Story Ends

In the story of our first settlers we often focus on the arrival in November 1839, their subsequent settlement at the Beach and those early years during the establishment of Sandridge but what of their later life?

By 1853 Wilbraham and Caroline Liardet were living at the Chusan Hotel in Bay Street, which was owned by their sons, Frank and Hector. A decade later, however, they had left Australia and joined other family members in New Zealand.

1874 saw them back in Sandridge for a short time before they moved to Emerald Hill (South Melbourne) until 1877 when they, again, returned to New Zealand where Wilbraham died on 21 March 1878 followed by Caroline on 30 April 1882.

This headstone at the Bolton Street Memorial Garden in Wellington marks their gravesite.