Rare Revolver

Whether he needed a revolver or a rifle this weapon gave Harry Atkinson some serious punch. The wooden skeleton stock is designed to be clipped on to the accompanying Adam’s patent five shot double action .44 calibre percussion revolver, allowing it to be converted to a rifle of sorts. The extremely rare weapon, which is perhaps the only one of its kind in New Zealand, is thought to have been used by Atkinson while he was a Major in the Taranaki Bush Rangers during the Taranaki Wars. Atkinson, an energetic Taranaki settler, used his local successes as a springboard to high political office, becoming New Zealand’s Premier four times. Gavin McLean, writing for New Zealand History online, describes him as cautious and pragmatic. “Thus he supported votes for women, abolished plural voting and sought a progressive national insurance scheme.” After being beaten by John Ballance  in 1890, Atkinson became Speaker of the Legislative Council, a position he still held when he died in 1892. According to his biographer Judith Bassett his obituaries stressed his honest simple approach to life, with one terming him "the most perfect type of an old settler".