Early Shipping in New Zealand waters

Daphne
Daphne made her first appearance in New Zealand waters at the end of 1812 when Captain Folger sailed her into the Bay of Islands from Sydney. The purpose of her visit was to take on provisions, namely pork, for her crew who were on route to Tahiti on a trading voyage. It wasn't until four years later, on January 3 1817 that Daphne was reported as being at the Bay again. This time her captain was William Campbell and his ship had sailed from Sydney. By now the Christian Mission station was established in the Bay of Islands and Missionary Thomas Kendall went onboard Daphne to introduce several Maori chief to her captain. This was the first time that the chiefs had been on a ship since the massacre and burning of Boyd and subsequent attack on Te Pahi's pa. Since that event trust had evaporated between Maori and Europeans, but now several years on and with the help of the mission station, friendly relations were once again restored.

Deveron
Whaling in Cook Strait in 1830 and commanded by Captain Lovett, Deveron lost an entire boat's crew on September 28 when two whaleboats got into trouble and one capsized, drowning all onboard. Despite working and living on the sea, many men onboard ships could not swim to save themselves and as a result a huge amount of men lost their lives. One theory on why sailors were discouraged from learning to swim was that a sailor who could swim was also a sailor who could desert when close enough to shore.
Deveron arrived back in Hobart Town on November 2 1830 at the close of the whaling season having taken 200 tons of oil and 20 tons of whalebone but with one less boatcrew to reap the benefits of their arduous labour.

Dragon
On 23 October 1823 Captain R.S. Walker sailed Dragon into the Bay of Islands from Sydney, on a trading voyage. Although now in the safety of a harbour, Captain Walker had sailed into a storm at the Christian Mission station. Reverend Samuel Marsden was at the Bay and was organising for missionary John Butler to leave his post. The mission was in turmoil with power struggles and infighting and Henry Williams had been brought in to settle the mission and its disputes. The Reverend's first attempt to leave the bay had been halted when Brampton, Captain Moore, had foundered on a reef in September. Now Marsden was able to arrange passage for himself, Captain Moore and those of the Brampton, and John Butler and his family, onboard Dragon for her return trip to Sydney. On October 27 Samuel Marsden wrote to John Butler accusing him of being drunk onboard Dragon. Butler believed this was an attempt to slur his name and justify his removal from the mission. Butler had been onboard Dragon at the time in question but insisted later that he was there seeking a chief from whom land was being purchased. According to Butler he joined Captain Walker in one small glass of Hollands and water, remaining on the ship for less than an hour. James Spencer who was a survivor of the wreck of the Cossack and had been staying with Butler came forward as a witness to Butler's side of the story. His character was then called into question by Marsden, and Captain Walker promptly refused the man passage on Dragon. Spencer offered to take enough provisions onboard for his passage and said the men were more than happy to accommodate him, however Captain Walker ordered that no man should let him onboard the ship. Butler later claimed this was an attempt to stop Spencer from testifying on his behalf in Sydney. Desperate and alone, James Spencer slept on the beach near Dragon until some of her crew sneaked him onto the ship in the night and when Dragon sailed from the Bay, Spencer was stowed away below decks. During the voyage Captain Walker got wind of the hidden passenger and called for him to come forward, which Spencer immediately did. Captain's Walker and Moore then began abusing him and threatening him with jail on arrival in Sydney. Spencer could only reply that he was a victim of two shipwrecks. Butler and his family were forced to sleep in cramped conditions in the company of people with whom Butler's wife and his very ill daughter were not used to keeping. Their distress continued when they reached Sydney and they were abandoned onboard the ship by Samuel Marsden. Not knowing anyone in Sydney and with nowhere to go, there they remained until Captain Beveridge of St Michael offered them accommodation on his ship. James Spencer was taken off Dragon by the crew and Captain Walker made no attemtp to keep him from disembarking. In March the following year Captain Walker was back at the Bay of Islands on Dragon but after that it wasn't until 1830 that she reappeared with Captain Stein in the whaling grounds of Cook Strait. There she worked and sailed between Hobart Town and Cloudy Bay transporting cargoes of whale oil.

HMS Dromedary
On 9 February 1820 Reverend Samuel Marsden set sail from Sydney for his third visit to the Christion Mission station in the Bay of Islands. On this occassion he sailed on HMS Dromedary, Captain Skinner, the first official visit of a Royal Navy ship to New Zealand. The colonial built schooner Prince Regent, Captain J.R.Kent sailed as the ship's tender. Onboard HMS Dromedary with Marsden were nine Maori chiefs who had been at Marsden's seminary in Parramata, including a fifteen year old son of Hongi Hika. The naval ship arrived in the Bay of Islands on February 27 and anchored off Paroa. The whaleships Indian, Martha, Catherine, New Zealander and Echo were all in the Bay at the time and after HMS Dromedary came to a standstill, several boats crew from the whalers rowed over to meet her. Captain Skinner visited Hokianga during March in search of a good supply of timber and when he arrived back at the Bay of Islands in April he was called upon to make an arrest. Captain Riggs of the American ship General Gates was apprehended for having convicts onboard his vessel who were being brutally treated. General Gates left the Bay of Islands for Sydney on April 17, Captain Skinner having put a naval crew in charge of her. In late May the daughter of Sargent Brown of HMS Dromedary died and was buried at Oihi cemetary. In June HMS Dromedary sailed to Whangaroa Harbour, her tender Prince Regent returned to Sydney in September and HMS Dromedary with Samuel Marsden onboard sailed on 5 December 1820 having been in New Zealand ten months.

Dublin Packet
In 1836 Captain Leathart was Master of Dublin Packet when she was transporting oil and stores between Sydney and New Zealand. In 1838 George Weller bought the 108 ton schooner to service his shore station at Otago but while working off the coast in June 1839 Dublin Packet, Captain Wells, got into difficulty in heavy seas at Taieri Mouth and was blown onto rocks with such a force that the ship and her crew were immediately in great danger. Dublin Packet's crew clambered up the rigging and remained there until the mast too was swallowed up by ferocious seas. In the struggle to get ashore three crewmen drowned including the steward, the second mate and a crewman from the American whaler Favourite who had lost his mind and was being taken to Sydney to be committed. Bystanders on the shore made a frantic attempt to rescue the stricken crew but couldn't reach them and in the morning there was nothing left of the Dublin Packet other than wreckage strewn across the beach.

Denmark Hill
Denmark Hill worked in New Zealand waters in the 1830’s. At the beginning of 1831 the Sydney Gazette reported her as being in the harbour with several other bay whaling ships that were regular visitors to the Cook Strait whaling fisheries. In March 1833 Denmark Hill was back in Sydney with a cargo of 190 tons of sperm whale oil procured in the South Seas. Three years later Denmark Hill was at Bluff in Foveaux Strait with Captain Findley as her master. She had been out from Sidney since December 1835 and on 13 March 1836 was on her way back to Sydney to deliver her cargo of oil. After one month in port Denmark Hill returned to New Zealand and again stationed herself around the south coast instead of the crowded waters of Cook Strait’s Cloudy Bay. At the end of the 1836 whaling season, Denmark Hill returned to Sydney with 160 tons of whale oil.