Mr Henry Powning Stark, a politician and insurance agent in the Hawkes Bay. Described as both a clerk and a gentleman, his careers ranged from auctioneer, to grocer, land speculator, and land agent. He was the first to subdivide in the gully to form the fledgling town of Newtown in 1858. In the same year he subdivided another Block between Avondale and Blockhouse Bay. 

As a land speculator he also co-owned timbered land with Thomas Russell, Minister of Defence in1863 and business partner in Whitaker’s law firm.