Capt. Charles Joseph Bryers

The Far North of New Zealand before becoming a British Colony attracted adventurers, fortune seekers, whaling men on leave from long voyages and most notoriously, escaped convicts from the penal settlements in Australia. The climate was clement, the indigenous people were friendly enough and resources, especially timber were abundant. This story is about Joseph Bryers, one of those settlers who was none of those but who has long proved an enigma as to his origins. This is the story of early years his birth to a French- speaking family in what is now Belgium and of his family and life before arriving in New Zealand circa 1835. Source: Finding Joseph Bryers of the Hokianga - Early New Zealand Settler by Kenneth M. Baker - great-great grandson of Joseph Bryers.

Three sons are assumed to have drowned at sea when the family trading ship KIWI went missing on a return voyage from the West Coast of New Zealand:

1. Joseph Bryers (b. 2 September 1840, d. 1866)
2. Matthew Bryers (b. 4 April 1843, d. 1866)
3. William Bryers (b. 5 December 1847, d. 1866)

Sources

1. Baker, Kenneth M (great-great grandson of Joseph Bryers). Finding Joseph Bryers of the Hokianga - Early New Zealand Settler.
2. Christiansen, Tony (2023) http://www.nzearlyhistory.com/mysitepre1846-o/g1/p859.htm#i21465
3. Residence: Bay of Islands, Northland, New Zealand - Between 1853 and 1864.