Edward Robert Tregear

Edward Robert Tregear was a New Zealand public servant and scholar.

He was born in Southampton, England, onMay 1846, the son of Captain William Henry Tregear, a descendant of an old Cornish family. Tregear was educated in private schools and trained as a civil engineer. He arrived in Auckland in June 1863 and took a position as a surveyor. This work brought him into close contact with the Mori, and he began to study their language and culture. Poverty forced Tregear to enlist in the Auckland Engineer Volunteers. He saw action against the Mori in the Tauranga area and was awarded the New Zealand War Medal. Between 1869 and 1873 he worked as a surveyor on the goldfields at Thames and Coromandel and on Mori lands near Tokoroa. His investments in gold mining and saw milling ventures proved disastrous, and he lost what little money he had, setting a pattern for the rest of his life in financial matters. In 1877 he moved to Patea, working privately until 1881 as a surveyor for roads boards. He also captained the Patea Rifle Volunteers.

Source: Wikipedia