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In 1838 George Duxbury, a constable of Langcliffe, married Alice Yates of Giggleswick,; there were nine of a family, four sons and six daughters. The oldest son John worked for a grocer in Padiham and was a Sunday school secretary and teacher in Blackburn, where he was presented with an address dated August 18th 1862 (a fortnight before his 21st birthday), which said 'he was departing to a far and distant land’.
November 10th 1862 John Duxbury arrived at Port Chalmers New Zealand off the barque ‘Chili’, a 768 ton emigrant ship carrying 160 passengers. The report said ,’ a fast trip of 83 days’. John soon found out that there was no future in the Otago gold fields and settled for a plot of scrub land on the Banks Peninsula. He had to travel there on a coastal boat which dropped the emigrants off at their appointed plots which, we are told, consisted of about 20 acres but which were added to by working on the new road to Christchurch. The workers were paid in land and John’s little plot grew to be a sizeable farm and he named it Langcliffe.
In the early days the growing of Cocksfoot grass was most profitable. The large seedhead provided seed to develop new pasture land where the scrub had been cleared so there was a good market for this. John, or as he is referred to in the accounts, ‘Grandpa’, used to say that he landed with just a bob and a penknife, but in fact all emigrants were required to have:-
2 blankets 6 sheets a coverlet 6 towels 3lbs soap
Knife, fork ,spoon and a tin or pewter mug and plate.
Each male had to have 6 shirts, 2pr shoes, 6pr hose and 2 complete sets of outer clothing.
Each female had to have 2 shifts 2 pr stockings 2 gowns, 2 flannel petticoats and 2pr shoes.
Each emigrant had to produce a clergyman’s certificate attesting him sober, industrious, honest and stating that he and his family were the most respectable of the parish.
When they left England there was no earthly expectation whatever of earthly reunion, and frequently no land would be sighted until port was reached. John did return to Langcliffe , but not to stay, it was only a visit to buy stock, this time by steam, not sail (SS Athenic). Not only did he buy a good Ribblesdale bull from Winskill but he returned to New Zealand with a flush toilet said to be the first in that part of the world.
There are no longer any Duxburys left here but the name Wm. Duxbury, (the youngest brother) is still to be seen on Sidwell’s shop door – my grandfather.
Jim Nelson
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