File:Apology letter (13587531954).jpg

On 28 March 1868, 56 settlers of Makara wrote a letter to the Superintendent of the Province of Wellington. The letter was in response to an assassination attempt on Prince Alfred (1844-1900), the Duke of Edinburgh, during his visit to Sydney. The Duke was the second son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. At the time he was undertaking a world tour which included visits to Australia and New Zealand – the first ever visit to New Zealand by a member of the British royal family.

The tour was not uneventful. On 12 March 1868, while attending a function in Sydney, the Duke was shot in the back by an Irish political activist. The attack caused much embarrassment and outrage amongst the colonists of Australia and New Zealand. The letter from the Makara settlers reads:

‘We the settlers in the district of Makara in the province of Wellington having heard with the deepest regret and heartfelt sorrow of the vile and atrocious attempt to assassinate His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh in Sydney beg that you will forward our expressions of most sincere and hearty condolence with His Royal Highness and his Royal mother our beloved Queen, and our utter abhorrence and disgust at the dastard and cowardly action which has caused such pain to our noble Prince’

The Duke recovered from the assassination attempt after a two week period in hospital, and arrived in Wellington on 11 April 1869. He went on to visit New Zealand three times. The town of Alfredton, near Eketahuna, was named in honour of his visit.

This letter comes from the Wellington Province Government General Inwards Correspondence, Inward Letters from Commissioner of Crown Lands & the General Government record group. This series consists of inwards correspondence from officials of the General Government (Colonial Secretary, Commissioner of Crown Lands, etc.), the provincial governments and councils, private persons, and organisations.

File reference: ACIA 16195 WP3 23/ 68/124 WP3