From there to here shipping vessels / passengers to Coromandel / Hauraki Rohe Part I

             The Clipper Barque  Breadalbane from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia to Auckland NZ 1858 then purchased by                                                                         Henderson  and Macfarlane, Circular Saw shipping line.

“From there to here” Vessels relevant to passengers with Thames/ Ohinemuri / Waihi Links

“The master,

With a gesture of command,

Waved his hand

And at the word,

Loud and sudden there was heard,

All around them, and below,

The sound of hammers blow on blow,

Knocking away the shores and spurs.

And see ' she stirs!

The Bristol Mirror, November 5, 1859 In The Sydney Morning Herald, Monday 16 January 1860 P4

Maori arrived on the Coromandel shores way back. In about 1350 AD it was the waka Te Arawa and Tainui. The Tainui waka was commanded by the chief Hoturoa, with the first landfall of the waka being Whangaparaoa. The Te Arawa waka was commmanded  by Tama-te-kapua. Landfall of the waka Te Arawa  was also whangaparaoa and included  a tapu kōhatu (stone) left by Ngātoro-i-rangi also on the waka Te Arawa was left  on the island Te Poito o te Kupenga a Taramainuku just off the coast of Cape Colville. From the  these two waka have come in 2022 the generations of the iwi who trace these origins to the crew on these two  waka.

Passenger	Vessel	Type	Tonnage	Captain	Voyage Arrival NZ	Landfall	Notes
Hoturoa	Tainui	waka		Hoturoa	about 1350 AD	Whangaparaoa	Arrival of The Tainui Waka - Canoe (kawhia.maori.nz)
Tama-te-kapua	Te Arawa	waka		Tama-te-kapua	about 1350 AD	Whangaparaoa	Te Arawa history - Rotorua Library, Te Aka Mauri

Vaka - photo courtesy Te Ara - Cook Islands Museum of Cultural Enterprise, Muri Rarotonga,  2017

Fast forward eight  hundred years plus and there is another wave of settlers to the Coromandel/ Hauraki rohe shores. 

“The knocking away of the shores and spurs” of Constance  marked the launch of another new vessel from the Bristol ship yards of William Patterson. The barque Constance was bound for New Zealand, a new addition to the fleet of, the then, well known Henderson & Macfarlane Circular Saw Shipping line. Constance, as the bigger ships did, brought immigrants to New Zealand shores, some of them making their way to the Coromandel Peninsula, settlement and trying their luck at gold mining. The era of European settlement to this country and rohe already settled by Maori. This new wave of settlers finding the need to be multi tasked and doing a variety of occupation to survive.

Circular Saw Shipping line captains doing the San Francisco and Sydney run became well known household names – Captains Philip Jones Kate , Joseph Gerrish Barron of Breadalbane, John Butt  Constance and Elliott Constance . The Coromandel Peninsula was home for Captain Butt when he “cast his lot in” with Thames, having arrived there aboard on 1 August 1867, P.S. Enterprise (the small coastal steamer that bought passengers to the opening of the  Thames Goldfields ) Captain Butt ran what became the renown Butts Shortland hotel and teamed up for a short while with Captain Anderson ship chandler. The Circular Saw Shipping line bought many passengers seeking their luck, on firstly the Thames Goldfield and later the Ohinemuri Goldfields, Tairua Goldfields. 

The Thames Goldfields, opened in 1867 drew many to the area and a number of gold mining companies were formed. The Thames Goldfields also saw the involvement of the three owners of Circular Saw Shipping Company in the era 1967 -1986 involved as 1871 saw Gustav Von der Heyde  chairing a meeting of the Shotover No 1 Gold Mining Company of Thames.  (NZ Herald,30 January 1871, P 2 )  Thomas Macffarlane provincial trustee in bankruptcy  was a shareholder in the Tradesman Goldmine , The Lucky Hit GMC, Golden Bar GMC. 

Thomas Henderson, who was also first  chair of the New Zealand Insurance in 1859, was a shareholder in  The Princess Royal Gold Mining Company  (DSC 04/09/1869)

 "One of the New Zealand Insurance Company’s early marine covers was for £3000 on a cargo of gold sovereigns shipped from Auckland to Valparaiso" ( NZI, Bold Century 1959, p41)  

The ship transporting those sovereigns was Breadalbane. The barque Breadalbane bought the “Waipu Settlers” from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia to Auckland New Zealand in 1858. Henderson & Macfarlane of Circular Saw shipping line  purchased Breadalbane which gained popularity as one of their fast sailing clipper barques.

Captain Hugh Anderson, a foundation director of a company whose name and steamers were synonymous with transport and settlement in the Thames,  Ohinemuri and Waihi area. This was the  Northern Steamship Company – and numerous are the tales told and stories written of travel up the rivers or along and into the coastal harbours of the Coromandel. 

The names of the Captains bringing immigrants on the bigger ships were also popular with their passengers, some of them making a number of voyages – the Britain to New Zealand run. Amongst them Captain Sellars of the Bombay, Captain Reynolds of the Ida Ziegler , Captain Jenkins of Lady Jocelyn, Captain Gray of the s.s. Great Britain, Captain Watt of the Wanganui. Out of the Great Western Shipyards of William Patterson who built Constance, came the famous steamer  s.s. Great Britain, bringer of many immigrants to Australasian shores.

 Captains logs and newspaper accounts of the voyages out recorded the first arrivals to the Katikati Special Settlement aboard Carisbrooke Castle; the shipwreck of the Northumberland; maintenance of passenger discipline by the Captain aboard Duchess of Argyle; the arrival and entry into the Waitemata of the brave little brig Prince Edward; the shifted loads of the Ida Ziegler in a storm; the concerts aboard Joseph Fletcher on the voyage out; the demasting of the Bombay and the  welcome towing help given from Captain Elliot of Constance .

 Brett was to write (Brett, White Wings I p 5 – 8) of the dangers and rivalry faced by shipping reporters to “get the story.” Brett refers also to William Wilkinson, then shipping  reporter for the Daily Southern Cross. It was William Wilkinson who established one of the first newspapers of the Thames Goldfield – The Thames Advertiser - firstly with Claude Corlett and then in partnership (Wilkinson & Horton) with Henry Horton. Wilkinson arrived at Port of Auckland,  aboard the ship Nimroud in 1863.

Into the 1900's. Immigrants and  passengers were still being bought to Port of Auckland, along with all manner of goods to supply the industrial complexes of the goldfields of the rohe. The new technology of electrical wiring and equipment, the iron and steel rails for railway and the new electric tramways. 

Looking south towards Queen Street showing general activity on Queen Street Wharf with the New Zealand Shipping Company and Northern Roller Milling Company in Quay Street East (background), with Gladstone Buildings on the corner of Quay Street West and Queen Street, and Waverley and Thames Hotel's in Queen Street (centre right distance) Photo 02 August 1904 photo courtesy  Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections 1-W1090

The overseas ships still came around the North Cape to and from Port of Auckland , past the notorious Three kings Islands. In  1902 the ship Eligamite the sea  claimed 45 lives and silver and gold bullion. 

Beyond the white

Of Maria Light.

And the red on Columbia Shoal,

Where the long, clean seas come tramping in,

Tramping in, stamping in

With slow, resistless roll-

—Will Lawson

 When the passengers aboard the Duchess of Argyle waded ashore through ankle deep mud on the Waitemata, Auckland in 1842 there were neither roads nor railway to Waihi. Kauri spars were being loaded aboard H.M.S. Tortoise over on the east coast near Tairua.

 March 1865 saw the ship Bombay limping into the Port of Auckland, demasted, and in tow by H.M.S Curacao.  amongst the  passengers aboard Bombay were Collings and Tregoweth. Charles Alexander Collings found his way to Waitekauri where he was a butcher and battery hand at the Victoria Battery. During the 1860’s ships on the Britain – New Zealand run were beating regular voyages bringing immigrants to New Zealand. The coastal trade too was busy. Small schooners and cutters were beating a regular route along the eastern coasts near Waihi and Katikati with cargos of pork, wheat, gum and timber.

Auckland wharves and the Waitematā Harbour, 1870s Copy of a photograph looking north east from Queen Street Wharf showing Customs Street East (foreground), Commercial Bay, Gore Street Jetty, Railway Wharf and the premises of Thomas Richards, bootmaker (foreground  courtesy  Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections 1-W0965

When passengers bound for George Vesey Stewart’s Katikati Special Settlement arrived on board the ship Carisbrooke Castle in 1875, the Ohinemuri Goldfield had just been opened. Waihi was but a “glint of gold” in prospectors eyes. Certainly still no township then and tracks only to Katikati. For these passengers it was a first experience of the New Zealand “coasters” to reach their destination end. These were the steamers Rowena and Pretty Jane. Rowena was to be absorbed into the Northern Steamship Company in 1881.

 By the time Lady Jocelyn bought another group of passengers bound for the Katikati Special Settlement to Auckland in 1878, gold had been discovered on Pukewa Hill at Waihi by McCombie and Lee. One of the first European Settlers to the Waihi district – the Cumpston family - had made their home near Waihi. Settlers on the Eastern coasts of the Peninsula and Whangamata, Waihi Beach, Katikati, Tauranga, Maketu and Opotiki further down the coast were still heavily reliant on coastal transport to get supplies, cattle and passengers.

Into the 1880’s and the ships were becoming larger in tonnage and size. Immigration to New Zealand was certainly entering the steamer age. As passengers  arrived at Auckland  on board the Kaikoura in 1889 ,the Ohinemuri Waihi area was about to change and go through a period of rapid industrial and community settlement. The reason – successful trialing of the MacArthur & Forrest process at the Crown Mines by the Cassell Company.

 When the Durham docked at Lyttelton in 1897, work had begun on the Victoria Battery at Waikino. A road had opened Paeroa to Waihi and there was talk of a railway. Northern Steamship Company had launched the steamer Waimarie which was then on the regular Paeroa run on the Waihou River. Northern Steamship Company vessels also beat a regular track down the east coast of the Peninsula. Waihi’s first school had opened. The towns of the Ohinemuri Waihi area were beginning to flourish with new businesses, new houses and more settlers arriving.

The following are a small number of passengers who were to find their way to the Thames / Ohinemuri / Waihi Goldfields. Some were early settlers of the area and some have settled in the area for several generations. Some came because of occupation on the goldfields and others to join the Katikati Special Settlement. Some came as part of Vogel’s Immigration scheme, some part of the Waikato Immigration scheme.

Passengers and vessels 1840 – 1920 arrival NZ

Passenger	Vessel	Type	Tonnage	Captain	Voyage Arrival NZ	Port of Arrival	Notes
Wilson, Robert	Aboukir	ship	889	Wilkie	1864	Port Chalmers	Otago Daily Times  28 Jan 1864  P 4
Spong, William	s.s. Airedale	steamer	363	Johns	1856	Lyttelton	Cyclopaedia NZ Auckland Province
Harvey, William Henry	s.s. Aotea	steamer	3702			Wellington	Cyclopaedia NZ Auckland Province
Ulph, William	Clipper steamer ship  Arawa	passenger cargo	5000	John Stuart	1884	Port Chalmers To Auckland on Wairarapa	NZ Herald 16 & 24/12/1884
Colebrook, George with family	Armstrong	ship	817	Albert Armstrong	1865	Auckland	Daily Southern Cross 17/02/1865
Quinn, Edward	Balaclava	ship	817	Stewart	1865	Auckland	Daily Southern Cross 30/06/1865
Dr. Callan, Patrick and family	Ben Nevis	ship	1069	Mackie	1880	Auckland	Auckland Star 12 Jan 1880  Pg 2
Collings, Charles Alexander	Bombay	ship	937	Sellars	1865	Auckland	Daily Southern Cross 20/03/1865
Tregoweth, William	Bombay	ship	937	Sellars	1865	Auckland	Daily Southern Cross 20/03/1865
McLaren, James, Monteith	Brechin Castle	ship	537	Parkinson	1864	Port Chalmers	Otago Witness Jan 30th 1864
Corbett, Edward Mann	British Trident	ship	1400	Wright	1864	Auckland	Daily Southern Cross  04/11/1864
Geddis, William J	British Trident	ship	1400	Wright	1864	Auckland	Daily Southern Cross 04/11/1864
Allom, Albert James	Brougham	barque	238	John Robertson	1842	Wellington	"Early Wellington" by Louis E. Ward
Slevin , Joseph	Carisbrooke Castle	Clipper ship	1415	J Freebody	1875	Auckland	Daily Southern Cross 9 Sep 1875 Pg 2
Hogg, Alexander	Chatham	barque	540	Cole	1856	Auckland	White Wings
Taylor, John Henry	Chile	ship	700	William Culbert	1871	Auckland	The Daily Southern Cross, 5 Dec 1871 p 2
Williams, Culpitt	Columbus	ship	1280	Adie	1864	Auckland	NZ Herald 11 Oct 1864
Hunt, John Edwin	Steamer Coptic	Steamer	4448	C H Kempton	1890	Wellington	Cyclopaedia nz Auckland Province
Waddell, David Gardner	Steamer Coptic	steamer	4448	C H Kempton	1894	Auckland	Press  4 Apr1894  Pg 6
Cotter ,Richard Joseph	Dorette	ship	848	Ayles	1874	Auckland	Archive New Zealand IM15/93
Thorburn, William Lang and family	Duchess of Argyle	ship	667	D Livingston	1842	Auckland	Archives New Zealand IA 1/46 - 45/2092
Snow, Harry Longueville	Durham	steamer			1897	Lyttelton	Cyclopaedia NZ
Molloy, Charles Joseph	Earl Granville	ship	900	Campbell	1880	Auckland	Archives New Zealand IM15/373
Jackson, Joshua	Electra	ship	668	Sellars	1869	Wellington	arrival 11/10/1869
McEnteer, James	Ernestina	ship	1048	W Fillan R.N	1865	Auckland	New Zealand Herald February 20th 1865
Menzies, Robert Robertson	Evening Star	Clipper ship	812	Frederick Stanley Ewan	1859	Auckland	New Zealander 22 December 1858 Page 3
Holmden ( m Murray) ,Sophie with family	Frenchman	ship	1156	Charles Renant	1860	Auckland	New Zealander 28 Mar 1860 Pg 6
Anderson, Captain Hugh Falconer	Gazelle	clipper schooner	165	Murdoch  McKenzie	1854	Auckland	Daily Southern Cross 9 May 1854 P 2

• 

DO NOT COPY 

Painting by Samuel H Fyfe, of Glasgow, depicting a clipper-type sailing ship Arawa I. The Press (Newspaper) :Negatives. Ref: 1/1-017887-G. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. /records/29942717

Passenger	Vessel	Type	Tonnage	Captain	Voyage Arrival NZ	Port of Arrival	Notes
Murray, Thomas Leitch	Gertrude	ship	1300	J C Congdon	1863	Auckland	Daily Southern Cross 28 Feb 1863 Pg 12
Adams, Ernest Feltus	s.s. Great Britain	steamer	3270 gross	John Gray	1871	Auckland	s.s. Great Britain passenger lists
Lever, John	Hastings	ship	500	Carew	1856	Wellington	Lyttleton Times October 29th 1856
Clark, Archibald Hugh	Harp	brig	200	Clark	1856	Nelson
Carnachan, William	Helenslee	ship	900	Brown	1864	Auckland	Archives New Zealand Micro 5019
Savage, Henry Charles	Hindostan	ship	1300	Gregory	1875	Wellington	Archives New Zealand  IM15/201
Jansen, John Marcus	Humboldt	ship	741	H D Busch	1876	Wellington
Montgomery, William Shore	Hydaspes	ship	2092	Babot	1874	Auckland	Auckland Star 6 Nov 1874  Pg 2
Cornes family	Ida Zeigler	ship	860	Abraham L Reynolds	1861	Onehunga, Auckland 90 days	Daily `Southern Cross 23/08/1861
Morton , William Henry & family	Ida Zeigler	ship	860	Abraham L Reynolds	1861	Onehunga Auckland	Daily Southern Cross 23 Aug 1861 p2
Buttle, George Alfred returning NZ with family	Ida Ziegler	ship	860	Abraham L Reynolds	1862	Auckland	Daily Southern Cross, 22 Nov 1862, Pg 3
Marsh, William and Henry	Ida Zeigler	ship	860	Abraham L Reynolds	1863	Auckland	arrival 06/10/1863
Farrelly, Robert Goodfellow	Indiana	Clipper barque	900	James McKirdy	1859	Port Chalmers
Taylor, John Ede	s.s. Ionic	steamer	4750	J G Cameron	1885	Auckland	arrival29/10/1885
Scott, Robert	Jane Gifford	barque	488	Robert Paul	1842	Auckland	New Zealand National Archives Reference IA 1/46 45/2092
Kilgour, Thomas	Jane Gifford	barque	488	Robert Paul	1842	Auckland	New Zealand National Archives Reference IA 1/4645/2092
Graham, Robert	Jane Gifford	barque	488	Robert Paul	1842	Auckland	New Zealand National Archives Reference IA 1/46 45/2092

McMillan, Finlay and Ann ( m Gillan)

Jane Gifford

barque

488

Robert Paul

1842

Auckland

New Zealand National Archives Reference IA 1/46 - 45/2092

Do not copy

Painting of the ship 'Hydaspes'. Kinnear, James Hutchings, 1877-1946 :Negatives of Auckland shipping, boating and scenery. Ref: 1/2-014668-G. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. /records/22735920

Passenger	Vessel	Type	Tonnage	Captain	Voyage Arrival NZ	Port of Arrival	Notes
Howard, Samuel	Jessie Readman	clipper ship	962	Strachan	1870	Port Chalmers Dunedin	11/03/1870 Otago Daily Times 12/03/1870
Heard, George St. Clair	Jessie Readman	clipper ship	962	Mitchell	1874	Port Chalmers Dunedin	arrival 26/10/1874 Otago Witness 31/10/1874
Whitehouse, Samuel Thomas	John Duncan	ship	974	R Rogie	1864	Auckland	Daily Southern Cross 1 Feb 1864 Pg10
Stewart, James	Joseph Fletcher	clipper barque	672	John Pook	1859	Auckland	Daily Southern Cross 19/08/1859
Steedman, James Bramwell	Joseph Fletcher	clipper barque	672	John Pook	1859	Auckland	Daily Southern Cross 19/08/1859
Clarke, Thomas Plummer with family	RMS s  Kaikoura	passenger cargo	4474	W C Crutchley	1886	Port Chalmers	New Zealand Herald  4 Jan 1886  Pg 4
Forbes, Dr. Francis Courtney Sutherland	RMS s Kaikoura	passenger cargo	4474	W C Crutchley	1889	Auckland	New Zealand Herald 24/06/1889 pg 4
Shotbolt, Walter	RMS s  Kaikoura	passenger cargo	4474		?	Wellington
Alexander, George Erskine	Lady Jocelyn	ship	2100	Geo Jenkins	1878	Auckland	Auckland Star 17 Aug 1878  Pg 2
Marsdon, William Henry Pasco	Lady Jocelyn	ship	2100	Geo Jenkins	1878	Auckland	New Zealand Herald 19 Aug 1878  Pg 4
Wylie, William Smyth	Lady Jocelyn	ship	2100	Geo Jenkins	1881	Auckland	New Zealand Herald 19 Aug 1878  Pg 4
Hague, Smith, John	Matoaka	ship	1092	Stevens	1859	Auckland	The New Zealander, 28 Sep 1859 pg 3
Allom, Albert James	Mermaid	Clipper ship	1326	Henry Rose	1861	Auckland	Daily Southern Cross  17 Dec 1861  Pg 3
Balydon, Captain Thomas C.	Mermaid	Clipper ship	1326	Henry Rose	1866	Lyttelton	Lyttelton Times 2 January 1866  Pg 2
Aspinall, John	Northumberland	ship	2095	Richard Todd	1884	Auckland	Auckland Star 18 Mar 1884 Pg 3
Wilkinson, William	Nimroud	ship	1022	J Edmonds	1863	Auckland	Daily Southern Cross Apr 29th 1863
Pyne, Charles, Stuart	Nourmahal	ship	884	L C Brayley	1858	Port Chalmers	Otago Witness May 8, 1858, pg 6

 

Shaw, Savill & Albion Company Ltd. Shaw Savill & Albion Coy Ltd :New Zealand to England by the most direct route, no transshipping. For schedules of fares & literature apply to agents for Shaw Savill & Albion Coy Ltd throughout New Zealand & Australia. Whitcombe & Tombs Limited, printers, [ca 1930].. Ref: Eph-E-SHIP-1930-03. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. /records/22723493

 Anne Stewart Ball April 2011 updated 2022 Part I Looking back now in 2022 it could be said that for the towns slightly inland, shipping certainly played a relevant part for those who came “from there to here” and found their way to Thames, Ohinemuri and Waihi. It could also be said that these towns in the early days before roads and railways relied on coastal shipping.

Acknowledgement

It is thanks to my Godmother known to me as “Aunty Spider” who nutured my passion for transport history, research and writing. “Aunty Spider” – official name known as Wilma Marryatt Latter, nee Wilkinson, grand daughter of William Wilkinson shipping reporter - passed on 24/04/2010.

This article has been researched, compiled and written referring to many records of the past, left by her forebears and others for us of the now and the future. Appropriate that it is of the area so well loved by “Aunty Spider”, who also followed in family footsteps with writing and of course a love of the sea.

Reference Source

• ·         The Cyclopaedia of New Zealand, Vol 2, Auckland Province. Christchurch: Cyclopaedia Company Limited, 1902.
•       Brett, Henry. White Wings ( Volume I). Auckland: The Brett Printing Company Limited, 1924. White Wings (volume II) . Auckland : The Brett Printing Company Limited, 1928.
•       Lawson, Will. Steam in the Southern Pacific. Wellington, N.Z.: Gordon & Gotch, 1909.
•   TAURANGA. 15th September. Evening Post, 15 September 1875, P 2
•   New Zealand Herald,30 January 1871, P 2   
•    Mr C. Corlett's Death. Thames Star, 16 May 1906, P 2
•  THE PRESS. Thames Star, , 1 August 1917, P 4
•  Auckland Area Passenger Arrivals https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/passengers
• Clydebuilt shipping database https://www.clydeships.co.uk
• Rootsweb Nelson New Zealand Bound Nelson  - New Zealand Bound (rootsweb.com)
•  New Zealand National Maritime Index http://www.nzmaritimeindex.org.nz/index.htm
• National Library New Zealand – Papers Past http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast
•     s.s. Great Britain passengers and voyages http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~drnew/gb1.htm
• Poems   LAUNCH OF THE CONSTANCE – in The Bristol Mirror, November 5, 1859 and In The Sydney Morning Herald, Monday 16 January 1860 P4 
• Poem of Will Lawson in Lawson, Will. Steam in the Southern Pacific. Wellington, N.Z.: Gordon & Gotch, 1909. and in LITTLE POEMS, GRAVE AND GAY.
• Poverty Bay Herald, 3 August 1907 p3