NZ Timeline
1814 - 1815
1814
1815
Trading ships began to call at the Bay of Islands again, having stayed away in the wake of the Boyd attack. Among those was Cumberland, Captain Philip Goodenough, who stopped at the Bay on his way from Sydney to Rarotonga where he was headed to get sandlewood. Another was Spring, captained by Brooks, also trading. This ship was bound for Sydney
On June 10, 1814, the brig Active sailed into the Bay of Islands. At the helm was Captain Peter Dillon, and onboard were Thomas Kendall and William Hall. The two men were visiting to assess if it was safe enough to bring a large party including their wives and children to live there. The dream of establishing a Christian Mission Station in New Zealand belonged to Reverand Samuel Marsden Chief Chaplain in New South Wales, who had been recruiting missionaires to carry out his work in the Bay of islands under the protection of Rangihoua chief Ruatara.
Another ship to sail into the Bay in June of 1814 was James Hay, Captain Folger. Unlike the Active that brought men seeking to spread Christian values, James Hay was considered a privateer trader and was bound for London.
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December 22 1814, the brig Active anchored in Rangihoua Bay. Onboard were the first Christian settlers in New Zealand, Thomas Kendall and his family, William Hall, his wife and son, the Hansen Family, John King and his family, three convict labourers, several Maori returning to New Zealand including three chiefs, Reverand Samuel Marsden and his friend John Liddiard Nicholas. On December 25 Samuel Marsden held the first Christian service on New Zealand soil at Oihi.
After a short trading voyage south to Thames in January of 1815, Thomas Hansen sailed Active back to Sydney with John Liddiard Nicholas onboard. Nicholas's narrative of his voyage and time spent in New Zealand were later published.
Narrative of a voyage to New Zealand, performed in the years 1814 and 1815, in company with the Rev. Samuel Marsden, principal chaplain of New South Wales.
John Liddiard Nicholas
Pigs were by now well established in the Bay of Islands, having been brought from Norfolk Island on whaling ships.
They were killed by first being stunned by a severe blow to the skull before being held under water until they drowned.
Scurvy claimed the lives of two of Captain Philip Goodenough's crew onboard Betsy while at Auckland Islands.
One was a European named Thomas Wilman, the other a lascar, an East Indian sailor.
February 20 - the first European child was born in New Zealand. Hannah King (nee Hansen) gave birth to Thomas Hansen King in the Bay of Islands.
March 3 - Nga Puhi Chief and protector of the Christian Mission station, Ruatara died after some time of deteriorating health. The protection of the mission passed onto another Nga Puhi chief Hongi Hika who was to become one of the most significant men in New Zealand history.
The whalers Phoenix, Captain William Parker, and Catherine made visits to the Bay of Islands during 1815, as did the traders Trial, Captain William Hovell, and Brothers, Captain William Bennet. On August 20 five of Trial's crew were killed during a confrontation with Maori between Thames and Mercury Bay. The Sydney Gazette reported in November that several crewmen from Brothers were also killed in the same incident.
William Hall and his wife moved into their new residence, a house at Waitangi. Waitangi was considered a better option for the location of the mission station than Rangihoua, but the wishes of the mission were over ruled by Marsden.
Later in the year the whalers Phoenix and Cretan arrived for another visit to the Bay. Captain William Parker of Phoenix requested that he leave a man under the care of Thomas Kendall at the Bay of Islands. With no provisions to feed the man and no official record of his clearance to leave Sydney, Kendall declined the request. Incensed, Captain Parker sent his men ashore, including first mate Thomas Hunt, who set about abusing and intimidating the missionary. Kendall locked himself inside his house, but when they started to tear down the small dwelliing, it was soon the aggressive sailors that feared for their lives. Alerted by the commotion, up to a hundred native New Zealanders, most of them armed, surrounded the sailors who made a fast retreat to their whaleboat, and were fortunate to escape with their lives.
Sailors from the sealing ship Governor Bligh were the first Europeans to set foot on Banks Peninsula. Their captain was John Gronno.
Native Village and Cowdie Forest by Augustus Earle. Image courtesy of www.prints.co.nz
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Robley, Horatio Gordon, 1840-1930 :Hongi Hika. 1923.
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1816
Still only a few ships called at the Bay of Islands during the early days of the mission station. One regular visitor was the whaler Catherine, Captain Robert Graham, which made her first visit of 1816 on January 7, after which she sailed back to London, left Deal for the South Seas again on July 12 and arrived back in New Zealand on November 24. The experience of her captain, the relationship he forged with local Maori and missionaries, along with the quick turnarounds to London, saw Catherine become one of the success stories of early whaling ventures to New Zealand.
The other ships to visit the Bay of Islands in 1816 were mainly trading vessels. Captain Hansen sailed in on Active in February before continuing on a trading venture to Tahiti and Marquesas. Queen Charlotte, Captain Powell, and King George, Captain R.S. Walker did the same early in the year and all three vessels arrived back from the Pacific Islands
later in the year. Once at the Bay they took on cargos of spars and pork before returning to Sydney. These ships were a lifeline for the mission station and the sight of a sail coming into the bay brought great relief to the fledgeling Christian community.
On March 4 Captain Thomas Hammond arrived at the Bay of Islands in his ship Endeavour. On board were five men who had fled Sydney and Captain Hammond approached Thomas Kendall with a view to leaving them at the Bay, rather than have them amongst his crew. Hammond was unable to leave provisions for the men, and as the mission were barely able to feed themselves, Kendall insisted that the captain return the runaways to Sydney.
Arguably the first legend of New Zealand European history began in March 1816 when Englishman John Rutherford's American ship Agnes, Captain Coffin, was attacked at a bay he called Tokamardu. Rutherford's account of events has it that all but twelve of the ship's crew were murdered and the ship burnt in an attack by Maori. Of those surviving men, only Rutherford's life was spared, the rest were killed and eaten. Rutherford says he was then taken inland from the coast where, while in captivity, he was tattooed, married two of daughters of a chief and went on to become a chief himself. He was rescued in 1826 by another American brig and eventually made his way back to England where he made a brief living displaying his tattooed body in a travelling caravan show. John Rutherford's story caught the attention of publishers then as it does historians today, but some doubt its authenticity. With his tattooed body and indepth knowledge of Maori culture and society, there is no debating that he spent time among a tribe. However there is no record of the brig Agnes or the chief he resided with and some believe he may have been resident at the Bay of Islands rather than on the East Coast of the North Island. The mystery of his adventurous life continues today as after 1830 the existance of John Rutherford simply disappears from all records.
Pakeha Maori : the extraordinary story of the Europeans who lived as Maori in early New Zealand. By Trevor Bentley. Penguin, 1999.
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"A comprehensive description of all major aspects of Polynesian culture, from the common ancestral culture to unique island adaptations."
On August 12 1816 the first school in New Zealand was opened by Thomas Kendall for young Maori. The sense of pride and achievement at the school's opening was however shortlived, as it soon became apparent it would be no easy task. Students needed to be coaxed to attend school with the promise of food, their attention span was incredibly short with bordeom quickly setting in and at the first hint of something happening within their people, pupils scurried from the classroom to join in whatever form of excitement was taking place.
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Suggested Reading
The Legacy of Guilt: a life of Thomas Kendall. By Judith Binney, (new edition) 2005
