Early Shipping in New Zealand

Vansittart
It was Christmas Day in 1819 when Bennet & Son’s ship Vansittart set sail from Gravesend for the whale fisheries. This wasn’t the ship’s first visit to the South Seas, in fact she had not long since returned, but with some new apprentices and new faces in her crew, she set out again under the captaincy of Thomas C Hunt. On 17 July 1820 Vansittart was spoken by HMS Cutter off the East Coast of New South Wales as she arrived in the colony. When the 297 ton ship arrived at Sydney a few weeks later her crew had already taken 100 barrels of oil for the London market. On 7 October Vansittart arrived at the Bay of Islands where she joined Cumberland, and ten days later the two ships sailed in company for the fishery. In 1821 Vansittart visited New Zealand twice, but when she was there again the following year, disaster struck her crew. Five of Vansittart’s men drowned when their boat capsized at Waitangi. Only one man survived by clinging to the upturned hull for several hours while a Maori girl who had been with them swam ashore and raised the alarm. When local Maori recognised the survivor, they delivered him back to Vansittart in their waka (canoe). Captain Hunt was at the Mission Station when he received news of the accident, and although he and others rushed to the scene, it was too late for his men. Two of these souls lie buried at Oihi cemetery in the Bay of Islands. On May 5 Vansittart sailed for Port Jackson, taking several men from the Mission, carpenters Bean and Fairburn, and Samuel Butler who had been sent to find a wife. By now Vansittart had 175 tons of oil onboard. After a month she headed out again for the fisheries to secure more of the lucrative cargo. In October while back in the Bay of Islands, missionary Thomas Kendall, who had fallen spectacularly from grace with the mission station, considered returning to England when Vansittart sailed but in the end chose to remain in New Zealand. A year later Vansittart returned to the Bay of Islands, now commanded by Captain Beacon. Beacon made a several more visits over the next couple of years before sailing for England for the final time in February 1826.

Venus
In 1806 Captain Samuel Chase was delivering stores and a small number of convicts, to Tasmania from Sydney oh his ship Venus. While he was ashore in Port Dalrymple, the convicts, including two women Catherine Haggerty and Charlotte Badger, with a penchant for alcohol and freedom, overthrew the soldiers and crew and mutineered the ship. Charlotte Badger had her small daughter with her. They set sail for the Bay of Islands where the ships' new master disembarked the women and a few of the crew who set about building a hut to live in. Venus sailed south and while off the East Cape, kidnapped the daughter of a chief who they later traded for supplies with a neighbouring enemy tribe. This coldblooded act lead to the death of many people twelve years later when the girl’s grief stricken relatives extracted revenge against the tribe that had received and killed her. Back in the Bay of Islands Catherine Haggerty died. Nga Puhi chief Te Pahi, having seen the punishment handed out to thieves in New South Wales, is said to have hung the crew members. Charlotte Badger remained with her child at the Bay of Islands, where she lived for several years with a chief. Eventually she and her child left on a vessel bound for Tonga. Venus was last seen, having left the Bay of Islands, in the hands of the few remaining crew and was reported to be in a distressed state. Speculation remains as to whether she managed to limp across the Pacific or sank with her inexperienced crew to the bottom of the ocean.

Vittoria
Vittoria arrived in Sydney in January 1829 as a convict ship with the 63rd regiment onboard. A year later, under Captain Southam, she sailed first from Hobart Town to Sydney, and then a few months later from Sydney to New Zealand to trade. In her hold were 10 cases of muskets, 10 cases of gunpowder, tobacco, gin, and brandy. While Vittoria was in the waters off Kapiti, a man by the name of Joseph Price stowed away on her. His story, recounted years later, is one of only a few that exists to offer us a glimpse into the lives of the adventurous European men that worked and lived in pre-colonial New Zealand. It tells us that between August 1 and 15, Vittoria made the voyage from Port Underwood south to Port Cooper on Banks Peninsula. Once there, the crew headed overland to Kaiapoi Pa, where they spent two nights. In the meantime, the remaining crew sailed from Vittoria to Purau to wait for their shipmates to return with the pigs and flax that they had traded for. Vittoria then headed south to Otago where she anchored for about two weeks, before returning to Port Cooper where Chief Momo was anticipating the arrival of the northern enemy warlord Te Rauparaha. A week later Vittoria made her way to the North Island where she struck rocks off Tauranga. Two ships, Guide and Prince of Denmark, came to her rescue and leant their tools so she could be repaired. On October 5 Vittoria left New Zealand for Sydney but by the time she arrived her cargo was somewhat depleted as the crew had been forced to eat the pigs. In 1832 Captain Ashmore was in command of Vittoria when she arrived in Sydney with a cargo of flax and whalebone, and most unfortunate news. While out, they had intended to collect Captain William Kinnard and his sealing gang from Rocky Point, only to discover they had been killed and eaten. In 1833, Captain Firth sailed Vittoria from Sydney delivering whaling stores to the whaling grounds.