Past Christchurch/Canterbury Personalities 2
Colonel De Renzie James BRETT M.L.C 1809 - 1889 Her Majestys 108th Foot Regiment His age on his headstone is wrong. Should read 80 years. LINWOOD CEMETERY, CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND I took the photos of Colonel BRETT's grave because i felt it had a story to tell and it most surely does! I find it sad that such prominent people of the past have passed in to history and the origins of their legacies are not taught or talked about in our schools. We take for granted we have the city or country we do today but too often don't stop to think [nor educate others] about those brave, entrepreneurial people who have walked and worked our soils [and other countries as well] to become the productive places they are. De Renzie James BRETT is one of those men. He was one of 25 children. This probably gave him his tenacious abilities and proclivity to fight for his rights! His military service from the age of 16 reads like a novel! It's a must read...see his obituary below. He arrived in...