Thomas Bassett descends from William Bassett of West Bromwich, Staffordshire, England as follows:
William Bassett (b. 1798) and wife Hannah Garrett
Thomas Bassett (b. 1829) and wife Harriet Maria Whitehall Sutton
Wairarapa Daily Times, 30 April 1906
Obituary
The death is announced of Mr. T.H. Bassett, of Ohariu, at the advanced age of 77 years. The late Mr. Bassett had been a resident of the Ohariu district for thirty-nine years. He always took a keen interest in local affairs, and was the founder of the Ohariu public library some twenty-five years ago. He came to the colony in 1856 in the ship Oliver Lang, and has been a resident of the Wellington district ever since. His death came quite unexpectedly, as he had only been ailing for a few days. He leaves a widow and seven children, thirty-one-grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren.
Thomas Bassett photo from ancestry.com
Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1825, 11 August 1913, Page 2
Obituary, Mrs. Thomas Bassett
The death of Mrs. Bassett, relict of the late Thomas Bassett, Ohariu, removed from our midst another of the fast-diminishing band of Wellington’s pioneers. The deceased lady, who passed away on Saturday afternoon, was born in Devonshire, England, 82 years ago. Her childhood days were spent in the Tower of London, in which her father held an official position. She knew the Tower from attic to dungeon, and this acquaintance laid within her the foundations of her love and knowledge of England’s history. As a historian and genealogist she had few equals. Possessing a voice of rare merit, she was often selected as a soloist at Westminster, and her parents, removing to the Black Country, her musical services were much in request at churches in Walsall, Wednesbury, and Birmingham. She married in 1850 and six years later she and her husband landed in New Zealand from the ship Oliver Lang. One of the first to greet them on arrival was the late Mr. John Plimmer, who received then in his “ark”. For some years she lived at Johnsonville, where her husband was engaged in Government works, afterwards removing to Wodestown, where she resided on the site now known as Whitton’s farm. Forty-six years ago she settled in Ohariu, the only means of communication at that time being a track over Kau Kau. For 35 years she held the position of postmistress for the district, and her intelligent recitation of the vicissitudes of early Wellington always provided a fund of information and entertainment. The respect and esteem in which deceased was held is evidenced by the numerous inquiries concerning her that were made during her recent illness. Her husband predeceased her by seven years. She had a family of four sons and seven daughters, of whom she is survived by two sons and four daughters.