Aged 69 at death in 1915 so 1846 seems about right https://s3.amazonaws.com/bg.ami.com/headstones/images/20160106/15495918.jpg
There's a Joseph Squire in the 1861 census in Bedford, in lodgings. Aged 14. Born America, a US citizen.
If he was a US citizen it would be easier for him to settle in New Zealand if he said that he was Canadian.