Charles Astle was born in 1809 in ENG.
1 He died in 1855, at age ~46, in NZ.
2 Yes I have ancestors that arrived in Nelson 1842. Charles and Sarah ASTLE
arrived on board the "Bombay" with their four children, Thomas 9, Mary 7,
Harriet 4 and William 1.Harriet is my GGG Grandmother. I have a really
interesting write up on this pioneering ASTLE family that I obtained from a
distant cousin also a decendant of these ASTLE's. I only have it in paper form
so I will copy it and post it to you in the mail next week.
This ASTLE family is also on the Nelson city council early settler database,
www.ncc.govt.nz, also I found a little bit further back in England, just
Google charles astle nz and then click on the heading family 505- Charles
ASTLE and Elizabeth.
http://www.fsa.co.uk/gelsthorpe/astle/f505charlesandliz.htm
from GENI
Charles Astle worked as a carpenter in Derbyshire. He married in 1832 to Sarah Simpkin also of Derbyshire. They had 4 children born before they made the decision to emigrate to New Zealand. The family sailed on the ship 'Bombay' arriving in Nelson in December 1842 having left England in July. Charles' occupation was listed as wheelwright and carpenter. It's recorded that Charles was given only bread and water for falling asleep on watch between decks. He also gave blood to Mrs Cooke who had given birth on November 19th. The family settled at Nelson and Charles continued to work as a carpenter and worked on the first bridge over the Matai river. Charles was a contractor along with Reuben Bird, Hugh Young, Henry Flower, Cephas Goddard and William Jones. Work began on the bridge in April 1843. Two more children were born to Charles and Sarah, Elizabeth in 1845 and Hannah in 1849. Charles died by drowning in the Riwaka river on January 28 1856. His burial location is Motueka Cemetery, Marlborough Nelson. There was an inquest into his death. Source: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Astle-114. Charles Astle was baptized on 26 February 1809 in ENG. He immigrated to arrived Nelson 14 dec 1842 from Gravesend on the Bombay in 1842.
1,3 He was a wheelwright carpenter in 1842.
3