New Zealand 1845-66, undated reverse (Capt. W. A. Eyton, 96th Foot) good very fine and scarce £400-500

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, A Collection of Medals to the Manchester Regiment.

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Only 3 officers and 24 men of the 96th Foot were eligible for the medal for service in the New Zealand War of 1845-47.

William Archibald Eyton entered the 96th Regiment as an Ensign on 14 February 1834; Lieutenant, 30 June 1837; Captain, 22 July 1842. He sailed in command of a company of the 96th, acting as convict guards, on board the Asia on 17 April, 1841, for New South Wales. He was subsequently attached to the Grenadier Company in Auckland and witnessed the first shots of the Hutt War in 1846. The following extract is taken from ‘The New Zealand Wars’ by James Cowan:

‘The first shots in the campaign were fired on the morning of Tuesday, the 3rd March, 1846. A party of natives under cover of the bush and felled trees fired on Captain Eyton’s company of the 96th, who were stationed some distance in advance of the camp at Boulcott’s Farm, two miles above Fort Richmond. Several volleys were fired into the camp. The fire was returned effectively, and the Maoris were obliged to retreat. When the news of the definite outbreak of war reached the Governor in Wellington he ordered H.M.S. Driver to weigh anchor and steam to Pito-one with troops.’

Captain Eyton returned with the expeditionary force to Headquarters in Hobart Town, Van Dieman’s Land, on 18 January 1847, and embarked for Calcutta in February 1849. He retired on 6 July 1852.