Memorial to Lieutenants Brooke and Jackson and the 40th Regiment (c1860-61)

This horizontal sandstone block cenotaph (meaning "empty grave") dedicated to Lieutenant Charles Francis Brooke is located in the military cemetery on McLean Street in Waitara. The original lettering has been almost completely eroded but the text was copied onto a black granite tablet later (c1915) which was then set into the sandstone top. 

Many of the bodies of 30 members of the 40^th Regiment who were killed during the First Taranaki War were not recovered from the Puketakauere battlefield (27 June 1860). A number were buried by Māori and a few others retrieved later in 1860 after the military occupied the site and erected a blockhouse. Notwithstanding his popular reputation, Lieutenant Charles Brooke is not reported to have been recovered or buried here. However, his sword, which was taken at the time of his death, was given to surveyor William Henry Skinner (1857-1946) at Purangi in the 1890s and is now held by Puke Ariki Museum. 

The original 1860s inscription on sandstone is now unreadable. Lieutenant Denis Jackson's text was likely added later - his body is buried at St Mary's in New Plymouth.

In memory of / Charles Francis Brooke / for some time Aid-de-Camp to / Major General Sir Thomas S. Pratt K.C.B. / commanding the forces / also of the non-commissioned officers / and men of the 40th Regt. who fell bravely / performing their duty during the war of / 1860–61, some of whom lie interred in this / spot and others in the Waitara District. / Also of Lieut. Denis Jackson 40th Regt. / who fell in action in front of Huirangi / 25th Jan. 1861.

In a letter to the Taranaki Herald dated 13 March 1882 the correspondent F.R.S. notes the unkempt appearance of the cemetery and records two additional burials:

"ALFRED BROME, Naval Brigade, 23 December 1861, Who fell mortally wounded whilst attacking the enemy's rifle pits at Matarikoriko, Aged 22 years" and "In Memory of MATT CORBETT, No 10 Company, 65th Regiment, Who fell mortally wounded at the attack on the Waitara Pah, [Te Kohia]Waitara 1860. Aged 32 years."