Fearless and Outspoken

This is the story of Alfred W. Renall, an early settler in the Hutt Valley and then in the Wairarapa, who was a successful miller, father of 16 children and at various times a Provincial Council member. Elected to the first Parliament, he was also a Masterton borough councillor and twice the mayor as well as a leading figure in the Small Farms Association and subsequent Masterton Trust Lands Trust.

Born in Heybridge, Essex, England in 1813, he travelled with his family to Port Nicholson aboard the Martha Ridgway late in 1840. There followed a rich, varied and sometimes controversial life during the next six decades. 'Fearless and Outspoken' provides a fascinating portrait of a pioneer and how he and his family succeeded in a very different land at the bottom of the world.