Cornthwaite John Hector (6 May 1835 – 1898) was the founder of

Melbourne, Florida Melbourne is a city in Brevard County, Florida, United States. It is located southeast of Orlando. As of th2020 Decennial Census there was a population of 84,678. The municipality is the second-largest in the county by both size and population. ...

, and its first postmaster.

Early life and family

Cornthwaite John Hector was born 6 May 1835, in

Van Diemen's Land Van Diemen's Land was the colonial name of the island of Tasmania used by the British during the European exploration of Australia in the 19th century. A British settlement was established in Van Diemen's Land in 1803 before it became a sep ...

(now

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

), though his application to start a post office lists his birthplace as

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. He was the son of Cornthwaite Hector and Elizabeth Budd. Cornthwaite and Elizabeth had emigrated from

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

to the British

penal colony A penal colony or exile colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general population by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory. Although the term can be used to refer to ...

of Van Diemen's Land, the southernmost of the Australian colonies, where they had been given a grant of land by the British government. They had arrived at Hobart on the ship ''Lang'' on Tuesday 23 December 1828. By 1840 the family had moved to

Kororāreka Russell, known as Kororāreka in the early 19th century, was the first permanent European settlement and seaport in New Zealand. It is situated in the Bay of Islands, in the far north of the North Island. History and culture Māori settl ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. At ten years of age, Hector was present at the

Battle of Kororāreka The Battle of Kororāreka, or the Burning of Kororāreka, on 11 March 1845, was an engagement of the Flagstaff War in New Zealand. Following the establishment of British control of the islands, war broke out with a small group of the native popul ...

. He became notable for his "gallant conduct" at that battle for "bringing up ammunition from the stockade during the heaviest fire", according to a newspaper report of the time. Hector, along with his brother, George Nelson Hector, worked for Bishop

George Augustus Selwyn George Augustus Selwyn (5 April 1809 – 11 April 1878) was the first Anglican Bishop of New Zealand. He was Bishop of New Zealand (which included Melanesia) from 1841 to 1869. His diocese was then subdivided and Selwyn was Metropolitan (later ...

, (the first Bishop of New Zealand) on board various vessels he used to travel among the islands of the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...

. The Maori Wars prompted many English people to leave New Zealand and the Hector family, with the exception of George Nelson Hector, moved to Australia. Hector's mother, Elizabeth, died at Victoria Street,

Surry Hills Surry Hills is an inner-city suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Surry Hills is immediately south-east of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Sydney. Surry Hills is surround ...

, Sydney, New South Wales, on Wednesday 22 September 1847, age 42.

Hector in America

Hector came to America in or before 1878. At the time, Melbourne was known as Crane Creek. Hector became the first postmaster and operated a general store. He was influential in the naming of the city of Melbourne, although there are several versions of the story. Mrs. R.W. Goode is credited with suggesting the name to honor Hector, although he is said to have favored a different name. Straws representing various names were drawn by Grace Goode, and the "Melbourne" straw was the one drawn. Hector was confirmed at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church on 21 April 1887, at the age of 51. He married Ida M. Gard on 10 October 1895, at Holy Trinity United. Hector died at Crescent City, Florida, on 6 January 1898, and was buried at the

Melbourne Cemetery The Melbourne Cemetery or City of Melbourne Cemetery is a cemetery in Melbourne, Florida, United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily lo ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hector, Cornthwaite John 1835 births 1898 deaths Flagstaff War American city founders Florida postmasters Florida pioneers People from Melbourne, Florida