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'HENRY TUCKER: COLONIAL STOREKEEPER'

Wherever British Imperial troops were stationed, staff of the Board_of_Ordnance were to be found. When Captain Hobson was sent from New South Wales to administer the Colony of New Zealand in January 1840, he was followed a few weeks later by a detachment of the 80th Regiment and a Staff Sergeant from the Board of Ordnance. In February 1842 Royal Engineers arrived in New Zealand with orders to procure land and erect a building for the Board of Ordnance. Five acres was granted on Mt Britomart in Auckland for officers and Storehouses.

The office of the Board of Ordnance in New Zealand was directed from Sydney, with a Mr William Plummer acting as the Board's representative in New Zealand.

On 23 August 1841 Henry Tucker was appointed as the Colonial Storekeeper in Auckland. His duty was to store and issue arms to settlers should the occasion arise.

By December 1842, Tucker had in store:

46 Bayonets, 53 Muskets, 2 18pr Cannonades, 3 Canons,and 3 Camp Ovens.

Tucker's appointment was canceled in 1844, but his name lives on in the RNZALR Supply Technician Trade, in the form of the "Henry Tucker Club".

Henry Tucker Club meetings are held in each New Zealand Army establishments and are used by the senior military storekeepers to discuss matters of mutual interest.


References

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<A History of the Royal New Zealand Army Ordnance Corps, Major J.S. Bolton ISBN 0-477-01581-6>

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