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| Early Migrants to Australia and New Zealand - Part II Before continuing the story of European
migration to the Antipodes, we should perhaps be reminded that other humans had
migrated to Australia and New Zealand, at a time before the white man had learned
that the world he lived in was round. Experts tell us that during the last Ice Age (around 100,000 years ago), other migrants had almost "walked" into Australia via south-east Asia. This was possible due to the lower sea levels of the period. The descendants of these people, by strange British "orginality" of thought, came to be universally styled Aborigines. Current estimates put their presence in Australia in excess of 50,000 years. In New Zealand it is told that Kupe, a Tahitian chief led the first Maori migration around AD950. Some two-hundred years later, a second Maori expedition, led by Chief Toi, made landfall near Auckland, but the real Maori migration took place during the mid-14th century, due to overcrowding in Tahiti. The first "Pakeha" (White Man) appears to have arrived in Aotearoa (New Zealand) in 1642. This was the noted Dutch navigator, Abel Janzoon Tasman, who sailed up the west coast, but Maori attacks prevented him from lingering. Then in 1767 Captain Cook made his appearnce by sailing his ship "Endeavour" into Poverty Bay to make a landing and claim "Nova Zeelanda" for King George III. He later circumnavigated South Island (1770) before moving on to the eastern shores of Australia...the rest is well documented history. Before the British government had made up its mind over what to do with New Zealand, other Europeans began to exploit the island group, setting up sealing and whaling stations, others meanwhile searched for timber and flax. Possibly the first of these settlers came in November 1792 on board the "Britannia" which, having brought convicts to New South Wales, moved on to Dusky Sound on the west coast of South Island for seal skins to trade with in China. Those seal hunters left behind may rightly be claimed as the first real European settlers. During the early period of British involvement, New Zealand was administrated from New South Wales, and in 1814, the Rev Samuel Marsen, chaplain to the Port Jackson penal colony went to Bay of Islands, where a mission was set up. Other Wesleyan and Roman Catholic missions followed, and in no time at all violence erupted between Maoris and Whites. It seems that wherever the British went in the world, they were forever confronted by ungrateful "savages" in need of moral "enlightenment", two words greatly overplayed in our official history books. In 1833 one James Busby, a native of Glasgow, arrived in New Zealand as the first official British government "Resident". Although having no real legal authority or military support, he negotiated with the native chiefs and persuaded them to accept British protection, and he did his best to arbitrate between natives and settlers. He is credited with drafting out the Treaty of Waitangi which, in 1840, led to some five-hundred Maori chiefs bowing to Queen Victoria's sovereignty in return for certain guarantees over their cultural and territorial rights. In the following year New Zealand was officially proclaimed a Crown colony. Meanwhile, in Britain the financial entrepreneurs were being aroused by the scent of lucrative enterprise. In 1839, at the instigation of Edward Gibbon Wakefield, the New Zealand Company was formed for the purpose of buying land for British settlements. However, the greater part of their operations were directed at migrants from England, and of the eighteen vessels which subsequently sailed during 1838-1840 under the Company's flag, only two left from Scotland. First of the Company's ships to sail from Gravesend to what became Wellington (named after the Iron Duke) was the "Tory" carrying the initial Company exploratory expedition made up of thirty-five key personnel. This group was led by Colonel Arthur Wakefield, brother of the aforementioned Edward. She sailed on the 5th of May 1839, and after a landfall at Cape Farewell on the 16th of August, she sailed on to Port Nicholson where land agrrement was reached with the Maoris in September. A surveying party arrived at Port Nicholson on board the "Cuba" on the 4th of January 1840, bringing with it some 30 probable settlers. The two Company ships which left Scotland were "Bengal Merchant" which left the Clyde on the 30th of October, 1839 with 160 passengers, one of whom was the Rev John MacFarlane, sponsored by the Church of Scotland, who became the first Presbyterian minister to preach in New Zealand. The "Blenheim" sailed from Greenock on the 25th of August 1840, carrying 197 passengers. On board were MacDonalds and other Highlanders from the Fort William area (Lochaber); it arrived on the 27th of December at Kaiwharawhara, sometimes known as "The Scotch Settlement". The first real emigrant ship to arrive at Port Nicholas (Wellington) was the "Aurora" under Captain T. Heale. She left London on the 18th of September 1839 carrying 148 passengers. This was on the same day as the "Adelaide", with another 178 souls on board, and three days after the "Oriental", carrying 155 (all chartered by the New Zealand Company). Surprisingly, the "Aurora" covered the 12,000 mile voyage in just 126 days, arriving on the 22nd of January 1840, nine days ahead of the others. Indeed, the "Adelaide" did not make landfall until March. Sadly, this was the last voyage for the "Aurora" which was totally wrecked off Kaipara Harbour in April of that year. The settlement of Auckland was founded after the arrival of the barque "Platina", one of the New Zealand Company's chartered ships. She sailed from Gravesend on the 24th of February 1840, carrying a few emigrants and stores for the Wellington settlement. Among other items of cargo were sections of a prefabricated house which was intended as a residence for the Lieutenant Governor of the new colony, Captain William Hobson. She sailed on to the Waitemata, where the seat of government was to be sited, arriving on the 12th of September. Three days later, she was joined by the barque "Anna Watson" carrying the colony's surveyor-general, Felton Matthew and some 32 engineers and their families. Due to rising unemployment during the early 1840s, the British government encouraged emigration to New Zealand, by introducing free passage schemes. Thus, in 1842, two vessels, "The Duchess of Argyll", and the "Jane Gifford" sailed from Greenock in June with a total of 552 passengers. Together, they carried the first Scots to Auckland. By this time emigration societies appeared to be springing up everywhere. Likewise, the churches were not slow to get in on the act. The Free Church of Scotland sponsored the "John Wickliffe" and the "Phillip Laing", both of which sailed on the 24th of November 1847, carrying stores and a total of 344 passengers. Retired army officer, Captain William Cargill was in charge of the group, whilst representing the kirk was the Rev. Thomas Burns (nephew of Scotland's Bard). Both vessels arrived at Otago Harbour in mid-April 1858, which later became Dunedin (Gaelic for Edinburgh). Not all Scots migrants to New Zealand came directly from the old country. The Rev Norman MacLeod led an organised group of Highland families out of Lochbroom, Wester Ross-shire to Nova Scotia, Canada, in 1817. However, it seems that many of them found difficulty in settling and decided to move to Australia. It was some twenty years later before they had the wherewithal to set out for the Antipodes during which time they built no less than seven sturdy vessels for the voyage. The first of these was the "Gazelle" on which the Rev Norman MacLeod led the first contingent, setting out some time in 1851 followed, in October that year, by the "Margaret" arriving in Australia in April 1852. Next came the "Highland Lass" (sailed May, 1852); the "Gertrude" (sailed June 1856, and may have gone direct to Auckland, arriving in December); the "Spray" and "Breadalbane" (both sailed in 1857); lastly came the "Ellen Lewis" (sailed December 1859). It was intended that Australia would be their new homeland, but second thoughts urged them on to New Zealand, the first arriving in 1853, where they founded a settlement at Waipu, North Island. One reason given for their rejection of Australia suggests that, having found themselves caught up in the gold rush, their piety was shocked by what they saw. Some strange stories have been passed on from those hardy voyages. Conditions on board varied from ship to ship. The more affluent passengers had the benefit of cabin accommodation, which offered a modicum of extra comfort. Steerage passage, by which the majority of ordinary folk travelled, was generally organised in a fair manner on most ships depending largely on the skill and integrity of the captain and discipline of his crew. A not-so-happy ship was the "Palmyra", which left the Thames on the 28th of October 1857. By prevailing travel standards of the perios, the 105-day voyage was judged "generally fine", in spite of the nine deaths en route. But the vessel was commanded by Captain John Tierney, by all accounts a man whose moral ethics, like his ship, sailed close to the wind - a trait which brought him under legal scrutiny at the end of the voyage. The "Palmyra" arrived at Otago harbour, South Island on the 19th of February 1858. Of the total passengers, 180 disembarked, the remainder destined for Canterbury, Nelson and Wellington. As a result of complaints from passengers, Captain Tierney was charged with committing a breach of seven clauses in the Passenger Act, 1855, during the passage from London. Particulars of the charges include: (1) berths of male and female passengers not properly divided off from those of married couples; (2) the ships lifeboat wrongly positioned on board as prescribed in regulations; (3) the re-use of stores previously condemned; (4) short measure of water to passengers; (5) cooked provisions not provided on time daily; (6) that the steward employed to serve passengers was not a skilled seafaring man; (7) the illegal sale of spirits on board. Of the foregoing charges, number (4) deserves special mention since it provides unique insight into conditions suffered by emigrants on board old sailing ships. Second-class passenger, Henry Popham, gave evidence to the effect that each person received three quarts (3.24 litres) of fresh water daily. Thereafter, came the curious ritual whereby two-thirds of this amount had to be returned to the cook for cooking purposes. The passenger then receive back one pint of boiling water for tea, both morning and evening: the remaining pint being kep by the cook for other purposes. Popham alleged that the passengers' contract ticket allowed for such items as rice, peas and potatoes to be cooked with "the ship's water" but were, in fact, cooked in water deducted from the passengers' rations. He further stated that his complaint to the Captain went unheeded, and that he (Popham) was obliged to carry water to the cook for pea soup, potatoes, etc., and that water for tea "came down" in short measure. Passenger Murdoch MacLennan, gave evidence concerning the sale of liquor on board although he claimed ignorance of the rules, presuming that sales were sanctioned by the Captain, and managed by the Steward. It seems Murdoch was partial to a dram whenever circumstances permitted. He testified to buying at least six bottles of spirit during the voyage at three shillings and sixpence a bottle. The trial ended with Tierney being exonerated on all but two of the charges. He was fined £5 for non-compliance of certain articles relating to provision of fresh water, and fined a further £20 for selling spirits on board. Volumes could be written concerning the hardships endured by early settlers to Australia and New Zealand. We tend to judge those times by our own modern conception, but it has to be realised that during the 18th century, life in general was much more severe, and that ordinary folk were conditioned to a more rugged lifestyle. Each generation becomes adapted to its own environment. But it does not prevent us from looking back in admiration at those hardy trailblazers who, in effect, laid the foundations of modern Australia and New Zealand. Reference
Source: Copyright (September 2001) - Malcolm Lobban Published in The Scots Link, Issue No. 60 - February 2002 Footnote: While every effort was made to maintain accuracy throughout the foregoing article, it should be realised that certain 19th century reference sources frequently contain discrepancies over what is regarded as factual evidence. This is particularly so in reference to actual dates and movements of migration vessels. Similarly, details concerning the financing of many migration schemes are often more complex than they appear in contemporary reports. Therefore, wherever inaccuracy is found, the author alone accepts full responsibility. And in the words of Scottish poet Alexander Wardrop, he rests his case. "There's mony flaws that need correction, There's mony fauts that need protection, Indeed, whaever wrote perfection It ne'er was seen, An' ne'er till speeritual inspection Gets ither een." In other words, it is probably God alone who holds the real truth over the actions of mankind. - Malcolm Lobban See also Early Migrants to Australia and New Zealand - Part I
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