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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Auckland Provincial District]

Captain Dacre

Captain Dacre, one of the earliest pioneers of New Zealand, was born in England in 1795, at Marwell Hall, Hampshire, the residence of his father, Colonel Dacre, of the Hampshire Light Fencibles, and High Sheriff of the county. He entered the navy as a mid-shipman at the age of twelve, and had for a fellow “middy” Captain Marryatt, the celebrated novelist. During the American war of 1812 he served on board a man-of-war, and assisted to blockade the American ports. About 1815 he resigned his commission to enter the mercantile marine. Whilst trading to the West Indies, he was chased and captured by a privateer and condemned to be thrown overboard. During the confusion he secreted a cutlass under his cloak, and determined to sell his life dearly; but the discovery of his naval pap rs by the privateer caused that person to release him. Captain Dacre made his first trip to New Zealand in 18£0, when he visited Whangaroa, in charge of a mission schooner. He then entered into a contract with the British naval authorities to supply them with spars and took his first cargo of these from Hokianga in 1827. About five years later he returned to Hokianga, where he started in the timber trade. In 1828 he retired from the sea, and opened a business in Sydney under the title of Dacre and Wiks. When the Union Bank of Australia was established in Sydney, Captain Dacre was one of its first directors. During his residence in Sydney, Captain Dacre developed the sandalwood trade, and obtained the timber from the Isle of Pines, where the natives were still in a savage state. The timber was brought in its rough state to Sydney, where it was shipped and forwarded to China and Manilla. Captain Dacre was also engaged in procuring greenstone for the Chinese markets, where it was then valued at about three times its weight in gold. This business venture, however, did not succeed, owing to the extreme hardness of the stone and the want of proper tools. Only about two tons were procured at Milford Sound, and in the blasting operations Captain Anglin, the master of Captain Dacre's vessel, lost his eyesight. Besides his business transactions in connection with whaling and sandalwood, Captain Dacre was engaged generally in the South Sea Island trade, and was one of the first to develop it. He was considerably interested in cattle and sheep in New South Wales, but owing to the great depression in 1842 he left Sydney to visit the South Sea Islands and New Zealand, where large sums of money were owing to him. This trip led to his settling in Auckland, where he went into partnership with Mr. Thomas Macky, now of Fort Street. The firm was then the largest in Auckland. Captain Dacre afterwards purchased about 4000 acres of land at Omaha, and while in the district he had an experience, which is worth mentioning as an illustration of the risks which had to be faced by pioneer settlers. A stalwart Maori endeavoured to cut off his head with a tomahawk, but the bravery and resource of Captain Dacre were more than a match for the impetuosity and strength of the truculent savage. As a citizen of Auckland, Captain Dacre took an earnest interest in social and religious affairs. It was through the exertions of himself and Colonel Moule, of the Royal Engineers, that St. Paul's Church was enlarged by the additions of the eastern and western wings. He was a member of the Auckland Synod, and a good friend to the Orphan Home. His wife, to whom he was married fifty-five years, was his companion in many of the trials of early colonisation. Captain Dacre died in 1882, and eleven months afterwards his widow followed him to his last resting place.

The Late Captain Dacre.

The Late Captain Dacre.