Sunday 5 September 2021

Coromandel Maritime Heritage Trail - Te Tara-o-te-Ika a Māui ( Coromandel Peninsula )

Sailing ships and steamers at wooden wharves - p41 Bold Century 1859 - 1959 New Zealand Insurance Company 1959

Beyond all outer charting
We sailed where none have sailed,
And saw the land-lights burning
On islands none have hailed;
Our hair stood up for wonder,
But, when the night was done,
There danced the deep to windward
Blue-empty 'neath the sun!
                                                The Merchantmen, Rudyard Kipling 

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. 



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?   


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 202

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.

In Sherrin, R. A. (1890). Early History of New Zealand: From earliest times to 1840. Auckland: H Brett Publishers.



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 

WAR CANOES AND MISSION BOAT From a lithograph, based on a sketch by Henry Williams, 

Carleton, H. (1874). The Life of Henry Williams: Archdeacon of Waimate. Auckland : Upton & Co 1874. Also in  ENZB books The University of Auckland Libraries and Learning Services

1833  brig Active, schooner KarereFortitude , 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.

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    


1838 or 1839  Stone Wharf ,Browne, Whitianga

constructed by Gordon Browne , said to be oldest such structure in NZ - for inward and outward goods. 

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. 

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." 

The type of boat which overturned in the surf at Te Karo - Ship's Jolly

Robert Pollard, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Types_of_boats.jpg accessed 03/09/2021

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.


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.

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.
                          
s.s. Waiotahi in supplement 1 December 1898 pg 15
Papers Past National Library NZ 


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.

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.

SUCCESSFUL DEEP- SEA FISHING WITH ROD AND LINE OFF MERCURY BAY, COROMANDEL PENINSULA: FURTHER PICTURES SHOWING MR. ZANE GREY'S ACTIVITIES.  Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections AWNS-19330125-32-2


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. 


Reference Source:

  •          McNab, R. (1914). From Tasman To Marsden: A History of Northern New Zealand from 1642 to 1818. Dunedin: J. Wilkie & Company. The New Zealand Provincial Histories Collection   New Zealand Texts Collection
  •          Polack, J.S. (1838). New Zealand: being a narrative of travels and adventures during a residence in that country between the years 1831 and 1837 [Vols. I and II]
  •         Project Gutenberg's The Old East Indiamen, by Lieutenant R.N.V.R. Edward Keble Chatterton LONDON  T. WERNER LAURIE LTD. P330 https://www.gutenberg.org/files/54561/54561-h/54561-h.htm
  •         Green, R. C. (1967). 'Sources of New Zealand’s East Polynesian culture: the evidence of a pearl shell lure shank'. Archaeology and Physical Anthropology in Oceania 2: 81-90
  •      Smart, C. and Green, R. C. (1962). 'A stratified dune site at Tairua, Coromandel'. Dominion Museum Records in Ethnology 1 (7): 243-266
  •           Te Ahukaramū Charles Royal, 'First peoples in Māori tradition', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/first-peoples-in-maori-tradition/print (accessed 16 August 2021)
  •          G. S. Parsonson. 'Marsden, Samuel', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1990, updated May, 2013. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/1m16/marsden-samuel (accessed 19 August 2021)
  • COMPILED BY CAPTAIN G. H. RICHARDS and MR. F. J. EVANS, R. (1856). THE NEW ZEALAND PILOT. FROM SURVEYS MADE IN H.M. SHIPS ACHERON AND PANDORA, CAPTAIN J. LORT STOKES AND COMMANDER BYRON DRURY. London: PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF THE LORDS COMMISSIONERS OF THEADMIRALTY. http://www.enzb.auckland.ac.nz/document/?wid=1719&action=null accessed 05/09/2021 

  •          Daily Southern Cross  3 January 1854  Page 2

  •            Daily Southern Cross,  9 October 1869, Page 4 
  •               Bay of Plenty Times  20 May 1880  Page 5       By NORTON WATSON  By Way of Puriri Mission  Ohinemuri Regional History Journal 14, October 1970

             

                           


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