Kimball Bent (24 August 1837 – 22 May 1916), also known as Kimble Bent, was a soldier and adventurer, who deserted from the British Army during the

New Zealand Wars The New Zealand Wars took place from 1845 to 1872 between the New Zealand colonial government and allied Māori on one side and Māori and Māori-allied settlers on the other. They were previously commonly referred to as the Land Wars or the M ...

and lived for several years among the Maori people of New Zealand.

Biography

Bent was born in Eastport, Maine USA. He ran away to sea at 17 and spent three years travelling the Atlantic seaboard as a sailor/ gunner in the US Navy. He returned to Eastport but was restless and sailed to Liverpool, England. Penniless and seeking adventure on 18 October 1859 he enlisted in the

57th (West Middlesex) Regiment of Foot The 57th (West Middlesex) Regiment of Foot was a regiment of line infantry in the British Army, raised in 1755. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 77th (East Middlesex) Regiment of Foot to form the Middlesex Regiment in 1881. ...

in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

. He served in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and his unit was posted to

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 ...

in 1861. His record was dubious, and he was repeatedly disciplined for various military infractions including disobedience and drunkenness. This discipline included a prison sentence in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

, and receiving lashes in front of his company. Bent accordingly decided to desert in June 1865 while serving in

Taranaki Taranaki is a region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano of Mount Taranaki, also known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the city of New Plymouth. The New Plymouth Dist ...

. Bent was found by a local

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

chief of the Ngāti Ruanui

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, an ...

in South Taranaki and eventually became accepted as a part of the local tribe. He fell in with Titokowaru's followers in 1867 and fought with them against the colonists in what has become known as Titokowaru's War until their eventual defeat in 1869. Bent then went into hiding first in the backblocks of Taranaki and later in Wairau, Blenheim. He spent his remaining years working in several trades including as a builder, fisherman, horticulturist, tattooist, traditional healer using Maori medicine and even a confectioner. He remained a wanted deserter with a reward on his head for many years, but eventually the authorities stopped looking for him. In 1903 he was rediscovered, and a book was written about his life by James Cowan. Entitled ''The adventures of Kimble Bent: a story of wild life in the New Zealand bush'', it was something of sensation at the time. He died in Wairau Hospital on 22 May 1916. and was buried in an unmarked grave in the

Omaka Cemetery Omaka Cemetery (also known as Blenheim Omaka Public Cemetery) is a historic cemetery in Blenheim, New Zealand founded in the 1850s. It consists of over 10,000 burials and is the largest cemetery in Marlborough due to its proximity to the region's ...

. The location of his grave in this cemetery is only known to descendants of the family whom he lived with in his final years. More recently, his tale has been fictionalised by New Zealand author

Maurice Shadbolt Maurice Francis Richard Shadbolt (4 June 1932 – 10 October 2004) was a New Zealand writerRobinson and Wattie 1998 and occasional playwright. Biography Shadbolt was born in Auckland, and was the eldest of three children. He had a younger bro ...

in his 1990 historical novel ''

Monday's Warriors ''Monday's Warriors'' is a 1990 historical novel by New Zealand author Maurice Shadbolt. Part two of his New Zealand Wars trilogy. Set in mid-nineteenth century New Zealand, the story is a semi-fictionalized account of Titokowaru's War, told f ...

'' and in the 2011 graphic novel, ''Kimble Bent Malcontent: The Wild Adventures of a Runaway Soldier in Old-Time New Zealand'' by Chris Grosz.

References

External link

Find a grave
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bent, Kimball 1837 births 1916 deaths People from Eastport, Maine People of the New Zealand Wars New Zealand military personnel Burials at Omaka Cemetery

Biography

References

Further reading

External link