Maritime Heritage is an integral part of the Peninsula Heritage. The reality is that with no
real roads across to the Eastern Seaboard coastline or into the hinterlands of Te Tara-o-te-Ika a Māui ( the Coromandel Peninsula) until
the 1900’s, Maritime Transport was the lifeline of settlers and main method of goods, machinery and
people movement. Associated also on the Peninsula – canoe and ship building, machinery and
boilers for the later steamers. The maritime heritage timeline is long - crossing the peninsula backwards and forwards and the shoreline and surrounding ocean.
Our maritime heritage further than that, reflected in place names - Te Tara-o-te-Ika a Māui, Te Whitianga-o-Kupe and Taputapuātea - from the polynesian explorers such as Kupe and Toi who first touched the peninsula shores. Te moana nui a kiwa ( Pacific Ocean ) on the eastern shores with Tikapa Moana-o-Hauraki ( Firth of Thames ) and Tīkapa Moana ( Hauraki Gulf ) on the western shores.
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Vaka - photo courtesy Te Ara - Cook Islands Museum of Cultural Enterprise, Muri Rarotonga, 2017 |
A Maritime Heritage timeline
Pre 1200 AD Whitianga
Polynesian navigators came to and from New Zealand over many voyages and many years. Their
navigation, a skilled science and art was passed on and learned from one
navigator to another. They navigated the pacific utilizing the sun, the moon, the stars, bird
flights, winds, clouds, ocean currents. Their stories are in the Archaeological
studies of experts, the oral stories and knowledge passed down from generation to generation and today in 2021 this video:
How did Polynesian wayfinders navigate the Pacific Ocean?
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| Te Tara-o-te-Ika a Māui ( the Coromandel Peninsula) from Google Maps 18/08/2021 |
Migration of Waka ( Canoe) Arawa and Tainui
The migration of the waka (canoe) Arawa and Tainui to New Zealand - Tamatekapua, Arawa and Hoturoa ,Tainui. Both these waka are said to gave landed firstly at Whangaparāoa together. Both waka are said to have journeyed along the Coromandel coast. Tamatekapua is said to have sighted the mountain Moehau, later settled there and when died was buried on the summit of Moehau.
Early to mid 1300's AD Tairua
Archaeological excavations undertaken by Professor Roger Green between 1959 and 1964 found a tropical pearl shell lure used in fishing - a significant find- one of the earliest found in New Zealand. Further subsequent research of this significant find confirmed an approximate date- 1300 - 1350 AD, that the lure came from Eastern Polynesia on a waka ( canoe), found in what has been described as a temporary camp typical of the Peninsula.
sign re fishing lure location at Tairua - photo Chris Ball August 2021
1769 Voyage of HMS Endeavour, Captain Cook - Coromandel Peninsula
The voyage 1768 -1771 of HMS Endeavour ( previously named Earl of Pembroke - collier bark ) was a combined Royal Navy and Royal Society expedition .Early November 1769, Captain Cook sailed up the Eastern Seaboard to Te Whitianga-o-Kupe - on 9 November observed the transit of Mercury. Continuing voyage on the other side of the Peninsula ,the Waihou river aboard two long boats, landing about 12 nautical miles from the sea before returning to HMS Endeavour.
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In Sherrin, R. A. (1890). Early History of New Zealand:
From earliest times to 1840. Auckland: H Brett Publishers.
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1794, 1795 ship Fancy, Captain Dell ship Fancy Waihou River, Waiau (Coromandel Harbour)
On a return journey from Sydney NSW headed for the Waihou
River. Fancy lay for three months some miles
up the Waihou River, gaining what was considered good timber spars. Captain Dell also attributed with entering the Waiau and leaving the name Brampton Harbour after ship Fancy owner William Brampton - the same Captain William Brampton who with Captain Dell, visited Dusky Sound 1895 on the East Indiaman Endeavour ( not to be confused with Captain Cooks ship Endeavour)
1798 – 1800 Java-built
scow Hunter, Captain James Fearn, Waihou River
10th June 1798, a Java-built scow of 300 tons , the Hunter
reached Port Jackson from Bengal, and on
20th September sailed for New Zealand to secure a cargo of spars for the China market. Captain James Fearn made for the
Waihou River, where cargo of timber
procured , transported to the water's
edge with the assistance of Maori, sailed for China about the middle of October.
1798 –1801 ship, Royal Admiral Captain William Wilson, Hauraki Gulf and Waihou River
The East Indiaman Royal Admiral, found a vessel to be the Plumier in sore straits. What help was required the Royal Admiral gave and was
directed to a forest about 20 miles distant where excellent timber could be procured. Captain Wilson is attributed with a hydrographic chart showing the track of the Royal Admiral into and exiting the River Waihou ( then called River Thames). Missionaries
also were onboard Royal Admiral - One Rev Youl was to find way to
Tasmania.
1801 El Plumier, Thomas Fyshe Palmer , Waihou River
Thomas Fyshe Palmer (Scottish Martyr sent to NSW as a convict and served time, at
end bought El Plumier and sailed for the Waihou River Thames seeking a cargo of timber. El Plumier
stranded and rescued by Royal Admiral.
1815 Brig Active, Rev Samuel Marsden
Rev. Samuel Marsden and John Nicholas visited a large village on the western side of the Firth of Thames,
possibly Whakatiwai, where the wife of 'Shoupah' (Te Haupa) lived. There was a pa on the hill nearby. The India built brig Active was purchased by Marsden in 1814.
1820 HMS Coromandel , Captain Downie Coromandel Town
HMS Coromandel previously HMS Malabar and before that the East Indiaman Curvera called in for kauri wood for ships spars. Rev. Samuel Marsden was also
( CMS Missionary , Parramatta, NSW magistrate ,chaplain of the Penal Colony
of NSW ), was aboard HMS Coromandel, Captain James Downie)
Captain Downie did a sketch of the River Thames ( Te Waihou) entrance.
HMS Coromandel formerly THE EAST INDIAMAN “MALABAR.”
The Old East Indiamen
Edward Keble Chatterton Project Gutenberg https://www.gutenberg.org/files/54561/54561-h/54561-h.htm#i_b_330fp
1826 Rosanna, Captain James Herd, Thames
Herd spent a winter in the Firth of Thames in 1826. Herd's the first
chart the firth appears on is JW Norrie’s ‘A New Chart of Part of The Pacific
Ocean’ in 1829. Maps after this time use ‘Firth’ or ‘Frith’.
1830’s Whanganui or Beeson’s Island -Herekino Bay,- Waiau or Coromandel Harbour
-Bill Webster AKA “Big
Webster” the American trader, had his store, timber and shipbuilding on Whanganui AKA Beeson's Island - the largest among a number at the entrance of Coromandel Harbour.
1830's Barque Darling, Captain Dacre Whitianga
Captain Dacre of “Darling “ sent 1830- Browne
to Whitianga ( Mercury Bay) and 1831- Harris to East Coast. Browne sent again to Whitianga in 1836 to set up timber and trading
stations.
1831 - 1837 cutter, Joel Samuel Polack Whitianga
Polack - Merchant, Trader voyage Thames Whitianga ( Mercury Bay) Trading expedition aboard cutter
January 1832 brig Active, Henry Williams, William Fairburn missionaries, Mercury Islands, Tairua, Whangamata to Tauranga
Brig Active and Karere - Expedition to Tauranga - peacekeeping voyage
1833 brig Active, schooner Karere, Fortitude , Henry Williams & William Fairburn missionaries, Puriri & Waihou
A party of Williams, Fairburn, Brown and Morgan set off this year looking to establish a mission station at Thames. Puriri was decided on.
1837 HMS Buffalo at Kennedy’s Bay
HMS Buffalo previously Hindostan and in 1831 for a short time a quarantine ship. At Kennedy Bay Kauri Spars for British Navy - Kennedy's Bay named after John Kennedy who arrived in New Zealand aboard HMS Buffalo in 1836 to collect spars for the Admiralty.
1838 or 1839 Stone Wharf ,Browne, Whitianga
constructed by Gordon Browne , said to be oldest such
structure in NZ - for inward and outward goods.
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Stones taken from the old Maori fortress to build a rudiment
ar y wharf across the river at Whitianga. (Evening Post, 23 December 1939).
Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. /records/17186973 |
July 1840 HMS Buffalo, shipwreck, Whitianga
Shipwreck of H.M.S. Buffalo - this ship also has links with Adelaide having bought Governor
and immigrants to Adelaide 1836. Both Browne and Stewart, were attributed with assisting
Captain Wood and the crew of
HMS Buffalo, in the aftermath of the ship wreck. Gordon Browne of the timber
station, trader and Captain William Stewart sealer, trader and pilot for HMS Herald going south with Treaty of Waitangi to be signed and visiting Gordon Browne helped secure shipwreck.
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H. M. S. "Buffalo" [B 4263] [On back of photograph] 'H. M. S.
"Buffalo" / Copied from a pen and ink drawing by Lieutenant Y.B.
Hutchinson, R.N. (One of the passengers, 1836)'. Courtesy State Library, South
Australia |
1840 Schooner Russell Coromandel
Built at Coromandel Harbour
1841 Schooner Terror, Coromandel
The schooner Terror was built at Coromandel Harbour, made throughout with local product of New Zealand, independent of her rigging.
1842 HMS Tortoise, commander James Wood, Te Karo Bay (Sailor’s Grave)
Young sailor- able bodied seaman ( AB) William Samson of HMS Tortoise - lost his life in an incident with a ship’s
jolly overturning in the surf. HMS Tortoise spent several weeks loading timber spars bound for England. Onshore at Te Karo was a "timber camp."
1840 - 1860 Coastal Trading East Cape, Coromandel Peninsula - Auckland
By 1858 ownership shipping registered to Auckland recorded 53 belonging to Maori owners. Small schooners and cutters were responsible for a large freight business taking goods, food and produce to the fast growing township of Auckland. Shipping belonging to Maori owners also voyaged to Australia.
1852 Stop over for trading vessels Harataunga ( Kennedy Bay), Ahuahu (Great Mercury Island)
originally belonging to Ngati Huarere ,who gave to Ngāti Tamaterā of Hauraki who gifted land at Harataunga to Ngāti
Porou. For a shipping vessel stop over on trading voyages to Auckland.
Also, the great
ancestor of Ngāti Porou, Paikea, made landfall at Ahuahu (Great Mercury Island)
from Hawaiki, and is said to have left descendants at Harataunga ( Kennedy's Bay) This gift was
later recognised by the Native Land Court.
Eastwood, William 12
June 1868 Showing a watercolour sketch of a sailing ship
in Kennedy Bay, Coromandel, with a small rowboat in the foreground. Auckland
Libraries Heritage Collections 3-698-74a PLEASE BO NOT COPY
October 1852 HMS Pandora, Captain Drury, Mercury Bay - Bay of Plenty/East Cape
Captain Drury moved operations to Mercury Bay for surveys of harbours, rivers, coast. Coast
from Cape Colville to Mercury bay; Channel islet; Cuvier island; Charles cove;
Kennedy bay; Wangapoa river; Mercury islands. Richard's rock; Koruenga islets;
Mercury bay Cook's bay, and Mangrove
river Castle island; Alderman islands; Mayor island; Tairua river; Slipper
island, Whangamata river.
1853 schooner Ngahuia ,Nicholas Waihou River, Hikutaia
Albert John Nicholas is attributed with building the schooner Ngahuia on the Waihou River ( then called the Thames ) Nicholas is said to have bought produce down the Waihou to be sold and was also owner of the cutters Nimrod and William.
1865 Cutter Ringdove, Captain Poulgrain, Tairua
brings several cargoes to Tairua – including sawmill plant and
machinery opened 1865. Tairua harbour. Next few decades many shipping vessels visit both the newly opened Tairua sawmill and the Mercury Bay Sawmill.
1867 PS Enterprise No 2 Thames
bought first prospectors and others to Thames – opening of Thames Goldfield
February 1867 p.s. Sturt, Captain Fairchild Otahu, Whangamata, Tairua
p,s, Sturt Captain Fairchild, made a trip along the coast to northward as far as Mercuries, calling at Tairua, Otahu and other places. Everything said to be quiet in the rivers where she visited.
1868 Shortland Wharf, Thames
oldest wharf in Thames
1868 Holdship Wharf, George Holdship, Thames
Holdship Wharf at what is now Cochrane Street – George Holdship being a timber
merchant and eventually NZ Manager of the giant northern octopus - NZ Kauri Timber Company Ltd.
(Incidently if one does the Maritime shipwreck trail, and Maritime Heritage of Victoria, Australia can
find a number of links to Coromandel.)
Same with Sydney – For NZ Dacre, Burns & Phelps, Craigs, P & N Russell Co and Hague Smith’s
steamers Royal Alfred and Duke of Edinburgh. Of these the former was built at North Shore,
Auckland, her machinery being taken from the Prince Alfred, and her boiler manufactured by
Messrs. P. N. Russell and Company of Sydney from plans prepared by Mr. James Stewart, civil engineer,
of Auckland. The Duke of Edinburgh came over from Australia to enter the Thames-Auckland trade. The same P & N Russell who manufactured gold mining machinery and gave a very large bequeath to start
Engineering School Sydney University.
October 1869 Thames declared a Port of Entry
The first entry inwards of note since the declaration of the
Port of Thames was the schooner Dancing Wave, Captain
Brown, from Picton, entered with a large cargo of white pine, shipped at
Pelorus Sound, consigned to W. S. Laurie.
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| shipping at a Thames wharf - the goldmining years |
1869 Tararu Wharf, Thames
1870 Ship building, William White, Whitianga
1873 the fine yacht Contrabantiere was launched with proper ceremony
1872 Ponui Passage lighthouse, on maritime route Auckland - Thames
one of two wave washed lighthouses – this one built by Heron of Thames – can
see area from Tararu – Both this and Bean Rock lighthouse essential for maritime goldfields traffic to Thames.
1874 Ship building, George Sharp, Tairua
cutters Coralie and top sail schooner Belle Brandon built for Captain William Benjamin Jackson– Belle Brandon was eventually owned by one of New Zealands first major shipping lines ( Circular Saw Line – Henderson & Macfarlane – who also had many links with the Coromandel Peninsula)
December 1876 s.s Rotomahana, Captain A Farquhar, Auckland - Thames run
Following steam trials - a regular run Auckland - Thames
1877 - Shipping out of Port of Thames
Bagnall, Stone, Gibbons – “Timber Hey Deys” Many brigs and brigantines found their way to Thames and the Waihou River for timber which was transported to other parts of New Zealand, overseas to Australia and to the Pacific. This included the Auckland built brigantine Defiance.
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Munro, John Alexander,
1872-1947. Munro, John Alexander 1872-1947 :Brigantine "Defiance" built
in Auckland 1883. [n.d.]. Ref: A-103-009. Alexander Turnbull Library,
Wellington, New Zealand. /records/23051399 |
1880 Waka arrives Thames from Whangamata
The arrival of a very large, ornately decorated waka canoe, paddled around the coastline from
Whangamata to Thames. A gift to Hohepe Paronere, a “native “minister at Parawai, from the
“native” settlement at Whangamata.
1881 May 11th Northern Steam Ship Company formed.
Thomas Morrin, David Cruickshank,
Alexander McGregor, Thomas Ball, James Macfarlane and James McCosh Clark were appointed as
the first directors. Northern Steam Ship Company was to become well known on the Coromandel
Peninsula – a lifeline to the small settlements. The directors were those who had links to the
Coromandel Peninsula via Gum, Gold, Timber and shipping. Northern Steamship regular runs to
Thames, Paeroa, Ngatea, Mercury Bay, Tairua, Whangamata by 1900.
1881 - 1888 , ship building, John Alfred Murray AKA Alfred John Boradale , Boat Harbour / Te Karo
These were the cutters Half Caste built at Boat Harbour, near Tairua in 1881 The Tararawa AKA Te Rarawa was built in 1885, also at Boat Harbour.
1889 Cuvier Island lighthouse lit
first cast iron light tower manufactured in New Zealand – by Charles Judd, Engineering firm at Thames.
1894 Junction Wharf Paeroa
this was an important Wharf for was where goods, machinery and
equipment delivered for Ohinemuri Goldfields Goldmining and Waihi companies.
1897 Wharf , Coromandel
Renewed “anticipation “goldmining bought transport to at Wharf Coromandel
1918 granite wharf , Paritu
constructed from large blocks of granite worked at Moehau
Quarries on name Cape Colville Road. ( note need to be specific where this Paritu is for also other of this on
Peninsula.)
1919 Steamer Wairoa , Tairua Bar and Pauanui
The steamer Wairoa severely damaged when she ran aground on Tairua Bar. (Relics at
Royal Billy Goat Reserve, Pauanui) The relics are a reflection and reminder of the dangers of the
Tairua Bar - Plenty of ship wrecks along this Eastern Seaboard of the coast. Eg biggest vessel of all s.s.
Manaia.
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Engine Block of s.s. Wairoa wrecked on Tairua Bar 3 Feb 1919
Photo courtesy Chris Ball 2014 |
May 1928 Old Kopu Bridge across River Waihou opened
Sole remaining example of a swing span bridge in New Zealand.
Allowed vessels to pass underneath when opened including river steamers.
1928 Recreation Fishing , Zane Grey , Mercury Bay
American western writer Zane Grey, Mercury Bay companion Captain Laurie Mitchell arrived to sample the
abundant Mercury Bay waters before heading to Tahiti. Such were the fish numbers they vowed to
return. It was Zane Grey who introduced ‘proper’ game fishing to New Zealand.
March 1992 Clio celebrates 100 years old at Whangamata Wharf
Not always does a vessel reach 100 years old and still be working.
In 1992 ,by then a fishing boat , Clio originally built by Edwards Brothers as a top sail cutter in 1892 turned 100 years old. Fisher folk from up and down the coast between Whangarei and Whangamata came to the celebration. Many had either owned or been with this " boat called lucky". Many were the tales of this kauri boat that worked the coast for 100 years.
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