Family History Stories - John Clark Lidiard

Almost all ships trading off the coast of New Zealand called at the Bay, so word quickly spread of developments in other areas of the country. The latest news was the value of flax, and in Sydney vessels were preparing to head for Cook Strait between the North and South Islands in search of the new commodity. John may have acted as an interpreter on a trading ship as after so long living amongst Maori, his knowledge of their culture and language would have been invaluable to captains seeking flax. However he moved south, if he was hoping to find a more peaceful place to settle, he sailed right into the wrong place.

In 1829 former sealer Jacky Guard was living in the South Island’s Marlborough Sounds selling whalebone to passing ships, of which there were plenty, all in search of flax. Guard’s life was not made easy by local Maori harrassing him but it was a chief from the Kapiti region who would turn everyone’s world upside down. For several years the South Island's Ngai Tahu people were embroiled in their own revenge fuelled inter-tribal war, which came to be known as the Kai Huanga Feud. The war had almost decimated the feuding relatives, but they quickly set aside their differences when northern warlord Te Rauparaha made his intentions clear.

With one eye on Ngai Tahu’s precious greenstone, Te Rauparaha annihilated the sub-tribe Ngati Kuri at Kaikoura, then set his sights on Ngai Tahu’s main fortified Pa at Kaiapoi, just north of where Christchurch city stands today.

Te Rauparaha visited Kaiapoi Pa and while there an event occurred that would have dire ramifications for the entire southern tribe. Several of Te Rauparaha’s Ngati Toa chiefs were killed when fighting broke out inside the pa during trade negotiations. It was a bitter blow for him.

He gathered his men and returned home filled with rage to plot his revenge and wait until the time was right to strike. That time soon came with the help of a European captain and his ship. What happened would become one of the darkest events in New Zealand history.

By 1830 Guard had established one of the first shore whaling stations in New Zealand. Migrating whales came into Cloudy Bay and were close enough in for men to take to their whale boats, frantically row out to the whale, kill it, and tow it back to shore. Whalers settled at Cloudy Bay for the whale season where they worked hard and played hard.

Several trading ships were in the area seeking flax but finding it increasingly difficult to secure a cargo. The Maori either refused to trade or had upped the price expected in return. Captains become frustrated at the prospect of returning to Sydney empty with no profit and the prospect of a mutinous crew. Into the mix of difficulty acquiring flax and a warrior chief bent on revenge, sailed Captain John Stewart and his brig Elizabeth. In return for a cargo of flax, Captain Stewart agreed to transport Te Rauparaha and 100 warriors to the South Island.

"In 1820, the Nantucket whaleship Essex, thousands of miles from home in the South Pacific, was rammed by an angry sperm whale. The Essex sank, leaving twenty crew members floating in three small boats for ninety days."