Military Stores Department (New Zealand)
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Britain
British Army| Military Store Department (New Zealand) | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1840–1870 |
| Country | Britain |
| Branch | British Army |
| Role | Supply of equipment, small arms and all stores required for British Imperial Forces |
| Garrison/HQ | Fort Britomart, Auckland, New Zealand Mount Cook, Wellington, New Zealand |
The Military Store Department (MSD) was a British army supply organisation that supplied the British Imperial Forces in the Colony of New Zealand from 1840 to 1870.
In the early days of the New Zealand Colony, Governor William Hobson established the position of the Colonial Storekeeper (1840–1844) to service the needs of the nascent Colony. Concurrently a detachment of the 80th Regiment arrived from Sydney in April 1840[1] with a representative of the Board of Ordnance to cater for their Logistical needs.
As with all the Imperial military activities in the Colony of New Zealand, Command and Control was exercised from Sydney in New South Wales, including the activities of the Board of Ordnance and by 1846 offices had been established in Auckland and Wellington;
- Auckland Office of Ordnance, Princes Street in Auckland[2] with Bombproof Magazine and Ordnance Store in the Mt Albert/Fort Britomart Complex[3] with Mr William Plummer, Officer in charge.
- Wellington Office of Ordnance, Magazine at Mount Cook and Stone Warehouse on Lambton Quay,[4] Mr Joseph Osbertus Hamley as Acting Ordnance Storekeeper.
On 25 December 1852 the following promotions and appointments were announced for the Ordnance Department for the Colony of New Zealand;[5]
- William Plummer, Esq, to be Deputy Ordnance Storekeeper and Barrack-Master at Auckland
- Joseph Osbertus Hamley, Esq, to be Deputy Ordnance Storekeeper and Barrack-Master at Wellington
Military Store Department
The Ordnance Boards performance in the Crimean War brought about the Board's demise in 1855 and the reformation of the British Army's administration, including the establishment of the Military Store Department in 1855.[6][7] given the distance and long communication times between Britain and the Australasian Colonies the change over from the Board of Ordnance to the new MSD would have taken some time, but by 1857 the reorganisation had been completed and the New Zealand Colonies Ordnance offices had transitioned into the new organisation.
On 4 March 1859, Plummer died at the age of 39 years, and was buried at the Symonds Street Cemetery in Auckland.[8] Hamley moved from Wellington and took up Plummers position and assumed charge of all the MSD operations in New Zealand.[9]
From a strength of a few hundred men in the early 1840s, the Imperial Governments troop contribution over the next decade, had grown by the end of 1865 to a force of 10,000, including ten Infantry Regiments,[10] two batteries of Field Artillery, Royal Engineers and Military Train, with garrisons at Auckland, Wellington, Napier, Wanganui, and New Plymouth. With the growth of this Military Force both the Ordnance and its successor the MSD, with the Commissariat[11][12] had kept pace and kept the force supplied and elicited the highest tributes and praise from General Sir Duncan Alexander Cameron GCB.[13]