Man who founded capital city on other side of the world

Felton Mathews was born, in Seaford in 1801. Although not much is known of his early life he moved to, and maybe studied at, Bath where he took a keen interest in the architecture of the city.

In December 1829 Felton found himself stationed in New South Wales as an assistant surveyor of roads and bridges. At Christmas time he was alone in Sydney preparing for a journey into the bush to survey the vast tracts of Australia. He obviously did not like Sydney saying that there was a complete lack of hospitality, the local people being divided into two sorts; 'the elite' who were stiff and formal and 'the rabble' who were drunk and riotous. Felton corresponded with his cousin, Sarah, from London. She was well educated and was a friend of the poet John Keats. In 1831 she sailed to Australia and they were married on January 21, 1832. Tragically, all of their children were stillborn.

By 1835 Felton had been appointed the New South Wales Town Surveyor.

His diary shows how he loved camping out in the wilderness. He enjoyed meeting the local tribesmen and noting the unique flora and fauna. 'Nature in Australia,' he wrote, 'has indulged in the most extraordinary fancies.' He often risked his life clambering up rock-faces in order to set up his theodolite. When he surveyed the interior of Australia in 1830 he had a team of four oxen and was accompanied by six convicts to assist him. He was armed with two muskets and four pistols although it is not recorded if he ever had to use them. Felton explored extensively and produced many maps and plans of previously uncharted land. His wife usually travelled with him, a remarkable feat for such a genteel Victorian Englishwoman. She was kept busy not only by transcribing all his reports but also entertaining when they were at home.

In January 1840, Felton sailed to New Zealand on board HMS Herald being joined three months later by his wife. He had been tasked to determine a site for the capital city and chose the location which was to become Auckland. A ceremony took place on September 18 when local Ngati Whatua tribal leaders formally signed an agreement to sell their land. This event was attended by Felton, government officials and a group of sailors. The only woman present was the redoubtable Mrs Mathews. Her husband was soon appointed the Assistant Surveyor General of the Country and they settled in the embryonic city. Their first home was a tent but a house was soon built and the Mathews were the centre of the social scene. Sarah and Felton made friends with the local Maoris who provided their food and even built a native raupo '“ a thatched house '“ in their garden.

Felton was not only a surveyor but also an architect and he is credited with making the first town plans of Auckland. The influence of Bath is quite evident with his designs of several Georgian-style crescents. His desire was to become the Surveyor General but he felt that he was being prevented by the London appointed New Zealand governor, George Grey. In 1845 Felton and Sarah sailed back to England to appeal to the authorities for promotion. Felton was not successful but was instead appointed to the role of Deputy Postmaster-General and a Police Magistrate. He returned to Auckland but was continually in dispute with the governor. By 1847 he had decided that his position was untenable and sold all their possessions and booked their passage back to England. Already ill at the start of the voyage, Felton died en-route in Lima, Peru, on November 26, 1847. His wife continued to England where she settled in Seaford, living at 7 Clinton Place with her servant, Mary Read. She went back to New Zealand between 1858 and 1861 but when she returned to Seaford she was keen to have her husband remembered. In the 1880s she commissioned a stained glass window at St Leonard's church. Of the five windows behind the altar, it is the left hand one and depicts St Paul. Both Felton and Sarah are mentioned on this window.

In the last years of her life Sarah wrote an autobiography and she died at Tonbridge in 1890.

How strange that our parish church contains a memorial to a man who founded a capital city on the other side of the world.

KEVIN GORDON