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Nelson Lighthouse (at about the turn of the century), erected 1862 and still in use. The two houses were dismantled when the light was converted to an unwatched mechanism in 1915.
Beyond the left hand edge of the illustration stood a signal mast for indicating the state of the tides.
—Tyree Collection.
This volume of the Journal of the Nelson Historical Society deals with some of the well-known coastal features of the Nelson Province. It may be regarded as a special Maritime Issue!
Publication is inadvertently later than intended, but the Journal has not, since its beginning in 1955, been published annually but it would be desirable to do so. It is hoped to publish the next issue, No. 6 completing Volume 2, after Easter next year. Articles will be on Nelson historical topics of a general nature.
With the death of Leonard William Field on 4th July, 1970, the Nelson Historical Society lost one of its staunchest members who, since the formation of the society, had worked assiduously to fulfil the society's true aim—to record, preserve and disseminate those segments of our urban, provincial and national history which constitutes our heritage.
Bill Field had inherited an intense interest in Nelson's history, for his father, the late T. A. H. Field had conscientiously collected and recorded a wealth of biographical detail concerning Nelsonians from the founding of the province onwards. The scrapbooks of newspaper cuttings and notes which were compiled were carefully preserved and extended by Bill, and this mine of biographical information will prove to be of inestimable worth to research students of Nelson's history of the pioneering period. Bill's elder brother, the late A. N. Field, was also a conscientious researcher into Nelson's early history and his notable book "Nelson Province 1642–1842" has maintained its place as a standard reference book on our provincial history up to and including its establishment as the New Zealand Company's Second Colony.
It was with this background of family interest in local history that Bill carried the torch of enquiry, investigation and recording the tangled skeins of incident and action that form the vital substance of Nelson's past.
With the formation of the Nelson Historical Society, Bill became an enthusiastic committee member who devoted many of his leisure hours to recording, sifting and preserving the mass of material contained in diaries, papers, photographs and other records that came into the society's hands.
It was in the course of this work that his wealth of background knowledge of people, buildings, institutions and incidents connected with the first century of Nelson's provincial history proved of immense value to his colleagues in their task.
Although Bill has passed from the scene, his work remains as a lasting monument to his enthusiasm and a sub-committee of the Historical Society is endeavouring to carry on the work which he so conscientiously began by sorting, mounting and indexing the wealth of material which he so carefully preserved.
In this Captain Cook Bi-centennial year, 1970, New Zealanders have become more conscious of their history through the ways in which this great seaman's explorations have been drawn to their attention. New Zealand has developed a great deal since the days when Captain Cook sailed round our coasts and already New Zealand has a distinct history of its own.
It was appropriate that the talks given at the annual meeting (1970) of the Nelson Historical Society should deal with lighthouses and, as Cook named many of the features round the coasts where lighthouses have been built these form a definite historical link. His chart made during his 1769–70 visit was the only chart of the New Zealand coast for many years. Cook Strait carries his name and many of the lighthouses which guide ships safely through this passage are situated on prominences named by him. There are the lights at Castle Point, Cape Palliser and Cape Campell on the eastern approaches, while Farewell Spit, Stephens Island, Cape Jackson and The Brothers all carry lights to ensure a safe passage from the west. Other important lights to guide ships approaching our coast are those at Cape Farewell and at Kahurangi Point (north of Rocks Point, so named by Cook). Farewell Spit and Cape Campbell lighthouses were erected just a century ago.
When Cook left New Zealand in 1770 to cross to Australia he named Cape Farewell and he used this landmark as his fixed point as he plotted his course across the Tasman Sea and each day his log showed the ship's position in relation to Cape Farewell. Sailing up the eastern coast of Australia he named many of the geographical features, using, among others, the surnames of notable figures in the British Admiralty, following a pattern already set in New Zealand.
In addition to Admiralty Bay, near D'Urville Island, the coast of New Zealand is studded with the surnames of Secretaries of the Admiralty, Sea-Lords, and Admirals. We have, for example, Stephens Island, Cape Jackson, Cape Saunders, Hawkes Bay, Cape Campbell, Cape Colville, Point Rodney, Cape Brett, and Cape Egmont. Other names were also used—such as Bank's Island (Banks Peninsula), as well as those which recorded some happenings on the voyage round the coast. Hence we have Cape Kidnappers, Cape Turnagain, Cape Foulwind, Cape Runaway, and Doubtful Harbour. This is not a complete list of Cook's names but it is an interesting fact that many of the names that he bestowed have remained and a noticeable number of our New Zealand lighthouses have been erected on points which he named.
The first few lighthouses in the country were erected by the Provincial Councils, the one on the Boulder Bank at Nelson, set up in 1862, being the second lighthouse to be built in this country. From then on the central Government accepted the responsibility of
For our present purposes we will consider the lights at Kahurangi Point, Cape Farewell, Farewell Spit, Nelson Harbour and Stephens Island.
The distances across the Bay are not so great as one imagines. The trees on Farewell Spit are visible from the hills near French Pass while the hills on D'Urville Island are visible from the beach near the Farewell Spit lighthouse. The Stephens Island light, about 600 feet above sea level, with its range of 32 miles, is one of the most powerful of our lighthouses. (I have on a number of occasions seen it from Takaka Hill road).
In April 1859 a Select Committee of the Nelson Provincial Council advocated the provision of a harbour light on the Boulder Bank to lead vessels down the Bay and suggested that the Central Government be asked to consider lights and beacons for Farewell Spit and French Pass.
The Kahurangi lighthouse was built early in 1903 and one of the first reports concerning the building states that a man engaged in the preliminary work broke a leg. His mates carried him to Parkeston (Mangarakau) a distance of 25 miles, and as quite a number of rivers had to be crossed, some of these only at low tide, this was a considerable undertaking. They arrived at midnight and it was possible to use a conveyance to get him to Collingwood, again across mudflats and streams which were only usable at low tide. Fortunately the S.S. "Lady Barkly" was in port and made an emergency trip to Nelson.
All the heavy ironwork and timber for the project was brought in by scows to the mouth of the Big River about two miles north of the building site. It was necessary to bring the boats in at high tide but there was a good anchorage beside a flat outcrop of rock which provided ideal conditions for unloading. From there everything had to be carted along the beach. The steel framework had a bolt every four inches along the sections of 3/4 inch plate steel with the result that there were tons of bolts, and a heap of these in the bed of a dray probably weighed threequarters of a ton or more, a heavy load to cart along the beach. A light tramway was erected from the beach up the steep slope to the level where the buildings were to be, all the materials being winched up and then sledged to the site.
The completed tower was 59 feet high and the light 155 feet above sea level. Two sectors round the light showed red beams to warn shipping of reefs which extended 7 miles out to sea. Three
A former keeper at Kahurangi for a period of three years stated that stores and supplies were brought in from Wellington every six months or so. The surf boats landed everything on the natural wharf in the Big River, and from there they were transported by horse and cart to the lighthouse. He could not recall any difficulties in landing the supplies though some were encountered when the building materials were landed.
The small steamer "Te Kapu" missed the channel and was stranded high and dry between tides, and on another occasion the scow "Ngaru" was holed against the rocks while tied at the landing site. Possibly there were further troubles as the Marine Department's annual report in 1907 stated that owing to "the impossibility of landing at Kahurangi Lighthouse when there was a sea on, the Department had arranged for the lighthouse to be tended by the Karamea-Westport steamer, instead of the "Hinemoa." In the early days of the lighthouse a keeper rode out once a month to collect the mail and this was the only contact that the keepers had with the outside world.
Sheep for mutton were kept at the Lighthouse Reserve. Later packhorses were used to bring in stores and eventually all transport was over land. Even this was not without its difficulties. The tides always had to be studied but an even greater obstacle had to be faced when a property owner closed the road through his property and stopped all transport. The wife of one keeper was in Collingwood and could not return home until the dispute was settled.
In the 1929 earthquake a slip wrecked buildings and smashed the base of the lighthouse itself. Fortunately nobody was injured. The light was out for about two months while repairs were being made. A new four-roomed cottage was built on a flat about half a mile further north but as this site was threatened by sea erosion it had to be moved to a sheltered site on higher ground.
An automatic light was installed in 1926 and this was in turn changed to acetylene gas, and later to electricity.
No keepers live at Kahurangi now and overland parties service the light.
The Cape Farewell lighthouse is set at an elevation of 546 feet on Pillar Point and has a range of twelve miles. This can be classed as a recent light having been established in 1951, firstly on battery operation.
From the earliest days of European settlement Farewell Spit had been a great danger to shipping and the number of strandings and wrecks was such that the provision of a lighthouse became an important issue. Since similar conditions applied to other parts of the New Zealand coastline (although a light was suggested by the Nelson Provincial Council in 1859) it was some years before action was taken.
In 1865 the Central Government provided lighthouses at several locations in urgent need, and one of the early activities of the Marine Department when established in 1877, was to press on with this work. In 1866, when a number of lights had been erected round New Zealand, Farewell Spit was under consideration. Richard Aylmer, an expert brought to the country to erect lighthouses, did not regard the Spit as a suitable place to erect a light owing to the instability of the sand and the engineering difficulties in providing a firm foundation for a tall tower. His suggestion was for a lightship anchored two miles off the tongue of sand. The controversy ended with the provision of a lighthouse which came into use four years later. This was one of a number designed by J. M. Balfour, Colonial Marine Engineer and Superintendent of Lighthouses.
Farewell Spit lighthouse came into service on June 17, 1870. The tower, a few feet higher than the present one (eighty-eight feet high and 97 feet above sea level), was built of hardwood timber on the open lattice-work principle. As was usual at that time an oil burning light was fitted. The revolving mechanism was operated by the keeper winding up the centre pole from the ground a weight and as this gradually fell it wound the gear round. The light, flashing each sixty seconds, was visible for 17 miles and showed a red sector over the end of the Spit.
It is understood that Samuel Brown of Wellington was the successful contractor for the erection of the buildings for a sum of £2,496. Lacking information about the delivery of the materials and equipment I can only conclude that these were landed on the site from the sea in much the same way as was done for the later lighthouse. After about 25 years' use it became evident that the life of the wooden tower was limited owing to deterioration of the timber caused by the weather and abrasive action of the sand blown against it.
Because of this a new steel tower was built nearby and the light and mechanism was transferred to it in January, 1897, and firsthand accounts of the work involved in the building of the new lighthouse have come to us from two men who were on the spot. The "Hinemoa," Captain Fairchild, stood off the Spit and surf boats, two strapped together, brought building materials ashore including timber for three houses, as well as everything for the lighthouse. The procedure was to stack timber across the two boats and build
One of the difficulties in building both the first and the second lighthouses was the lack of shingle for making concrete foundations, but shells were used and the concrete has lasted well. There were no beds of shells but when found in sufficient quantities they were hand raked into heaps and shovelled into drays. If too much sand was not shovelled up, about 2½ cubic yards made a dray load for a three-horse team, two trips per day being possible if the distance was not too great.
The original houses provided for the keepers were only small cottages but much better ones were erected after the new light came into service. When the building programme was under way the "Hinemoa" came in late one day and proceeded to unload bricks on to the surf boats. Several drays and drivers had been waiting and their job was to drive out into the water to the boats, throw a load of bricks aboard, and then drive up on the beach and tip them in a heap. At night the only directions the drivers had to go by were the light from the lighthouse and the light from the "Hinemoa". During that night a storm blew up and the heaps of bricks were covered by sand. The men went round with crowbars prospecting where they thought that the bricks might be, but they were lost.
During the Russian Invasion scare in the 1880's telegraph lines were erected to the Farewell Spit lighthouse. At Takaka, totara poles sawn square were prepared, and these were shipped into the area round Pakawau and Puponga. The intention was to sail in as far as possible on high tide and unload the ship while the tide was out near where they were required.
One of the great problems for the early keepers was the continual drift of sand and the seemingly never-ending job of shovelling it away from their cottages. Sand was in everything.
First attempts to get trees established at the lighthouse reserve were unsuccessful and it was only by the arduous task of carrying soil back after a trip to Puponga for the mail that trees were given a good start and became established. This largely overcame the nuisance of sand in the homes, and the plantation became a well known landmark, at times being of great assistance to mariners.
Until recent years transport was a real problem but about every three months a ship from Nelson would land goods. At one time there was an anchorage on the inside of the Spit about a mile from the lighthouse and goods were carted from there.
Before 1906 the entrance to Nelson Haven lay between the Arrow Rock and the southern tip of the Boulder Bank or Haulashore Island as it was called. It was always a difficult entrance—the narrow curving approach bordered by rocks and sandbanks was further aggravated by a rise and fall in tide of about twelve feet and the furious outflow of water from the Haven as the tide ebbed. The current racing through the entrance is said to have reached a speed of seven knots.
No wonder Captain Wakefield recognised the difficulties of the entrance from the very first and his guiding buoys and beacons show us that he had made an early appraisal of the steps necessary to make it safe. Even then the danger remained, as many shipwrecks here show us, and it was a melancholy fact that one of the earliest emigrant ships, the Fifeshire, failed to navigate the outward passage and lay a total wreck on the Arrow Rock before the startled gaze of the passengers on the newly-arrived Bolton.
If the entrance was a trap to unwary ships by day, how much more so was it at night when ships arrived at the harbour entrance in the dark. The best advice which was followed by most captains, was to anchor well away from the shore and wait for daylight.
This was not always possible or convenient and some provision had to be made to show the entrance channel at night time. In 1848, when Major Richmond was the Superintendent of Nelson, a large beacon with a powerful reflector was erected on the Boulder Bank near the Harbour entrance. The Major probably gazed down on it from the Cliffs with a feeling of satisfaction as it was visible for twelve miles and cost a mere £3/6/- — quite a bargain.
After the Acheron's visit in 1849 Captain Stokes suggestion that a red light be added was carried out—as the harbour light of 1851 is described as an "oil and wick lantern, coloured red and placed 160 feet above sea level"—presumably on the Cliffs.
The first idea of a real lighthouse came from the Nelson Provincial Council which appointed a select committee to go into the question in the session of 1859. The Committee suggested the building of a lighthouse on the Boulder Bank "to lead vessels down the Bay" as well as the provision of other lighthouses on Farewell Spit and at French Pass.
The Council opened negotiations with Mr. Tytler of Edinburgh, a former Nelson resident, who made arrangements in England whereby Messrs. Stothert and Pitt, Engineers, of Bath, were to build a suitable lighthouse. This lighthouse of cast iron plates, octagonal in shape and painted white, was completed and placed on the "Glenshee" for carriage to Nelson, where it arrived on August 2nd, 1861, after a journey of 151 days. The various parts of the lighthouse and its 'appurtances' were ferried across to the Boulder Bank and by July
Before the lighthouse came into operation the public of Nelson were given another opportunity to become familiar with its working and build. The Superintendent invited all those interested to inspect the lighthouse from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. any day, tickets to the Boulder Bank being available from Mr. T. Allan, the Government Wharf, or from the driver of the railway omnibus to the Port.
After all the novelty and excitement had died down the Superintendent notified the people of Nelson that "on the night of Monday, 4th August, (1862) inst and every night thereafter from the going away of daylight in the evening to the return of daylight in the morning a light will be exhibited from the undermentioned light-house." It sounds rather like the writing of Alfred Domett. Then followed the details of the lighthouse—as set out in the Gazette by John Blackett Esq., Engineer, and John Smith Cross, Harbour Master of the Province of Nelson. The light was set on the South West end of the Boulder Bank ten miles SSW of Pepin Island and half a mile N & by East of the Powder Magazine. It was a catadioptric light of the fourth order and was visible in clear weather at a distance of about 12 nautical miles. The name catadioptric seems rather a mouthful, but a perusal of the Encyclopedia gives the impression that it means the light had a mirror of glass prisms behind it, which both reflected and refracted the light so that the total light emitted from the burner was directed out the front window—which was also of glass prisms. The effect of all this was that all the light emerged from the front
In 1876, when Provincial Councils were abolished, a scheme of local government consisting of Borough Councils, County Councils, Town Boards and so on was set up and Nelson City Council was entitled to become the harbour authority of the district. However, the lighthouse remained under the control of the Crown until 1924 when it was handed over to the control of Nelson Harbour Board formed in 1901. Presumably this was mainly due to the fact that the Marine Board now regarded the light as a harbour light only and not part of the national system of lighthouses.
Although the lighthouse stands out alone on the Boulder Bank today, it was not always so. At first it was a manned light with one or two keepers and early photographs show their houses as well as other buildings grouped round the base of the lighthouse. It was not until 1915 that the light was superseded by a new unwatched acetone acetylene flashing beam and keepers were dispensed with. But for fifty years this little settlement was a part of Nelson and the names of several keepers are still known. The first keeper was W. E. Cross the brother of John Cross, the Harbour Master, but in 1862 came the keeper whom most Nelsonians identify with the lighthouse, John Kidson, who was the keeper for 30 years, probably from 1862–1892. We know quite a lot about the Kidsons as one of the daughters (who became Mrs. Coleman of Richmond) gave a vivid account of their early life there. John Kidson, a boatman before he became the lighthouse keeper, was a strong robust man and Mrs. Coleman recalls how his uniforms were always too small and had to be remade by his wife. Their house was separate from the tower on the north side and a smaller house on the other side of the lighthouse was for the assistant keeper. The houses were repaired in 1875 and 1895 and after being dismantled in 1915 one of them was carried to Tahuna where it is still in good order today.
Mrs. Coleman was the youngest of twelve children of whom ten lived. One of the events of their lives was being rowed across the harbour to school each schoolday with the possibility of being unable to return if the weather deteriorated in the afternoon. Sometimes it was pleasant as when the tide allowed the boat to reach Saltwater Bridge but at other times according to one of the children, Russell Kidson, it was an awful way to travel. Russell remembered his first visit to Haven Road School—it was a big room and very cold| At times the children were allowed to ask a friend to visit them at the lighthouse where they found conditions very different from the home
After John Kidson's death at the age of 55 the family moved from the lighthouse and other keepers followed. A report on the lighthouse by an Evening Mail representative in 1902 mentions the good work being done by Keepers Arnold and Champion but apart from these names I do not know any others.
In 1915 the new unwatched flashing light was installed and the keepers were not required. The houses and other features of the lighthouse were dismantled and removed. All the houses and buildings were shipped across to the shore. The flagstaff which appears in early photographs of the lighthouse which was used to signal the state of the tides was not needed any longer. The telephone and telegraphic connections with the shore was also outdated now as there were no keepers to use them.
In 1924 the Harbour Board took over the light from the Marine Department and eventually had to find the cost of running it entirely as the contributions from the Department were stopped.
The characteristics of the light were again altered on the 18th August, 1950, when it changed to group flashing every ten seconds—a flash of 3/4 second, then an eclipse for 2 seconds, another flash for 3/4 second and an eclipse of 6½ seconds.
The light still stands there—well into its second hundred years.
This article was to be concerned with the Stephens Island lighthouse, but first of all, and especially for any historical journal, much must be said about the island itself.
Stephens Island is not very large, being somewhat over one mile by one half mile. It is high, rising over 900 feet and therefore easily recognised at great distances. It lies about two miles north east of D'Urville Island, between Admiralty Bay and the Tasman Sea, and is generally taken to mark the western end of Cook Strait.
There are steep cliff faces on all sides, but at higher altitudes the bare rock gives way to easier grass, and some patches of scraggy bush.
The Maoris knew it as Takaporewa and knew it clothed in forest and loud with birds.
Tasman recorded his sighting of it. After his sad rencontre in Murderers Bay he sailed well into Cook Strait—his journal for the 20th December, 1642, records—"at noon we tacked to northward
Captain Cook entered in his journal for Saturday, 31st March, 1770. "The Bay I have named Admiralty Bay, the N.W. point Cape Stephens, and the S.E. Cape Jackson after the two Secretaries (of the Admiralty). It may always be known by the island which is pretty high and lies N.E. 2 miles from Cape Stephens".
He then refers to Nelson. "Between this island and Cape Farewell the shores form a large deep bay the bottom of which we could hardly see."
As for the lighthouse itself, it was first mooted in 1854. On the grounds that other than New Zealand ships would use its services, the Imperial Government was asked to provide it!
After the bark "Weathersfield" became a total loss in 1888, the matter was again pressed; work was started in 1892 and finished in 1894, by Beabey and Sons of Auckland. The major difficulty in the construction was, of course, the landing of stores and materials at the foot of the cliffs, and getting them to the site of the lighthouse some 600 feet up.
There is here a link with early Nelson, and with Nelson College—one David Scott, born in Tasmania in 1842, one of the first pupils of Nelson College, during 31 years service supervised the construction of many New Zealand lighthouses, including Stephens Island, East Cape, Portland Island, Cuvier Island, Cape Brett, Jacksons Head.
Then in 1892, it was the most powerful New Zealand lighthouse, with five wick paraffin lamps. Today it is still among the most powerful, and because of its great height, visible for 32 miles at sea level, flashing twice every thirty seconds. Today, of course, the original weight operated driving mechanism has been replaced, and both this operation and the lamps themselves are powered electrically (since 1938).
The Stephens Island that the Maori called Takaporewa, that Tasman and Cook sailed by, was noted for many wonders—its forests included the kohekohe or native mahogany tree; its birdlife—tuis, bellbirds, saddle back, native crow, kaka, parakeets, and the very famous semi-nocturnal Stephens Island wren; its sea birds—shearwaters, gulls, shags, the fairy prions or "doveys"; its tuataras; even a rare frog, discovered in 1918; paryphanta or land snails; and a unique weta.
After the lighthouse was established in 1888 much of this passed for ever. The bush was cleared, and sheep and cattle introduced. There are few trees now to attract tuis and kakas. The sea birds, and their friends the tuataras remain, together with some frogs, but the paryphanta are gone.
Finally, the first keeper's cat caught and killed the entire population of Stephens Island wrens, destroying an entire species, and thereby achieving for itself doubtful immortality.
General Manager, Nelson Harbour Board.
This article is adapted from a lecture given to the Nelson Historical Society on 24th November, 1970.
The number of historic places in and around Port Nelson is impressive and the way in which the significance of each of these places blends into the whole forms an interesting story. (In order to simplify this story, places are described as if seen when approached from south to north).
It is strange to recall that this beautiful beach has been formed within the period of memory of some people who are still with us today.
The Waimea River used to flow past the site of the motor camp and the channel there was deep enough for ships to shelter in bad weather particularly during north-westerly gales. The river ran parallel to Rocks Road but was diverted by the rock formation and by the outgoing tides, at the old entrance. It swerved westwards, and out behind the Waimea Bank—a giant sandbank—well out to sea. Over the years this sandbank was washed in towards the land and gradually, the beach was formed. Until this consolidated, patches of quick-sands were traps to the unwary. There were warning notices up—this was around the 1890's—but these all added to the spice of danger which invariably accompanied a picnic on the sands.
This road is literally "chained" in history. In 1892 a Rocks Road Committee was formed by members of the City Council, the Waimea County Council and the Richmond Borough Council, and this Committee raised £4000 by means of debentures. Prison labour was used extensively on this work and gangs of prisoners under armed guards were marched to work every day from the town and over Washington Valley. The road was metalled for traffic in 1897. The chains, stanchions and coping were the gift of Mr. John Tinline, one of the pioneers of Nelson. However, Thomas Cawthron later made a donation of £668 in order to finish the chains.
This is part of Nelson's profile, and has been the subject for artists and photographers since settlement began. It has two names, both dating from the early days, and both are still used.
When Arthur Wakefield's ship "Arrow" sailed into Nelson Haven on the 1st November, 1841, through the narrow channel between the Rock and Haulashore Island, the Rock was then named "Arrow Rock". But when the immigrant ship "Fifeshire" endeavoured to leave port on the 27th February, 1842, she was wrecked on the rock which has been popularly known as the Fifeshire Rock ever since.
Both names are still important to early history; and Nelsonians will always have a particular affection for their Rock.
The Fifeshire Rock, the narrow channel between it and Haulashore Island, and the movement of the sandbanks sea-wards, made the navigation of the port extremely hazardous, and a number of vessels were either stranded or wrecked. This series of events led to the public agitation which culminated with the dredging of the entrance cut—still called the "New Entrance"—just to distinguish it from the "Old Entrance" about which I have been speaking.
The Nelson City Council took the first important steps when it asked Captain F. W. Cox (Harbourmaster) to report on the harbour. Captain Cox said that the entrance had changed little, but the rapid inshore travel of the bar interfered seriously with the sailing course in the outer fairway. Whereas in 1884 there was a width of 1800 feet between the sandbank and the Boulder Bank, there was—in 1898—only 900 feet. Captain Cox added "If there is no improvements, it will be only practicable for the smaller class of vessels to work the port".
Further reports were called for; and two notable engineers, Leslie Reynolds and C. Napier Bell, were consulted. The Government considered these reports and agreed in principle that the Cut should be made through the Boulder Bank, provided firstly that a Harbour Board had to be constituted, and secondly that the ratepayers had to approve a loan for the work.
The first Harbour Board for Nelson was elected on the 20th February, 1901, to rescue the port from imminent ruin. Mr. John Graham, Member of the House of Representatives, became the first Chairman, Captain Cox (the Harbourmaster) became Secretary, and Mr. Leslie Reynolds was appointed Consutling Engineer. The Cut was opened on 30th July, 1906.
In his "Jubilee History of Nelson" (1892) Judge Broad refers to Haulashore Island as the Fifeshire Island (3). However, the practice of early captains in hauling their boats up for cleaning and then floating them off again on the tide gave a good reason for naming the Island as "Haulashore".
The first person to die in the new settlement was Thomas Cress-well who arrived in the "Whitby" of Wakefield's expedition, and he was buried on Haulashore. Judge Broad, even in 1892, reports that all efforts to find the grave had been unsuccessful.
There are a lot of stories about Haulashore Island but one interesting fact is that the City Council at one time obtained gravel from the Island for the city streets. The gravel was loaded on to a barge by the old shovel and barrow method and then the men would hoist a large square sail which, assisted by south-west winds, propelled the barge past the wharves to the old gasworks wharf (where Vickerman Street now joins Haven Road). This journey from the Island sometimes took half a day—depending on the tide and wind.
The simple memorial at the foot of Richardson Street is probably the most historic spot in Nelson. When Captain Arthur Wakefield, R.N., landed there on the 1st November, 1841, he was looking for "a good safe harbour" and "sufficient flat land". Wakefield came, looked and was conquered.
Unfortunately, Wakefield's leadership of the newly found settlement was to be short, for he was one of the victims of the Wairau Massacre on June 17th, 1843. This was 19 months after the landing. Judge Broad described Wakefield thus—"Wise, temperate and firm; unassuming, with self-confidence…. always the active servant of duty—he was by nature cut out for the founder of a colony, for a leader of men". The name of Wakefield will always be remembered in the history of Nelson; and particularly in the history of Port Nelson.
The foot of Richardson Street marks the beginning of the only route into Nelson in early days. The settlers had to toil up Stafford Walk—as steep then as now—over the hill and down into Washington Valley, across a muddy swamp and on to Church Hill. The famous Heaphy print shows the large tent which served as the New Zealand Company's Depot near what was the landing place for some time. The property on the northern corner, at the foot of Richardson Street, was later to become the site of the leading beacons for vessels entering the port through the "Old Entrance".
Mention of Stafford Walk prompts the recollection that Edward William Stafford landed in Nelson in 1843 to take up farming. In 1846 he married the only daughter of Colonel William Wakefield, Chief Agent of the New Zealand Company. Stafford became interested in the politics of the day and became Superintendent of the Province of Nelson in 1853. He represented Nelson in the General Assembly in 1855 and became Premier in 1856. The link between Stafford Walk and Wakefield Quay is, therefore, more real than nominal.
By the end of 1843 Port Nelson had under construction the three main jetties which were to handle most of the shipping until the late 50's. At Green Point (the hilly outcrop at the Junction of Haven Road and Wakefield Quay) were the Company wharf and Beit's wharf. Both of these had stone breastworks from which jetties ran out into deep water. Beit's wharf had a frontage of 120 feet with a private bonded store. At Auckland Point was Otterson's Jetty, about 200 feet long, running out to the channel of the Maitai River.
Between 1850–60 there was much activity around Green Point, the original Customhouse being built near the site now occupied by
The Queen's Wharf (alias Customhouse Wharf) is recorded as being in existence in 1854. In 1855, William Akersten (who was to open a ship chandlery opposite the Customhouse in the old building demolished recently), was allowed to lease this wharf on the significant condition that if the wharf fell down he was not liable, but if heavy goods fell through it, he was! Akersten built many wharves at Port Nelson and in 1857 he built the Albion Wharf opposite where the Tasman Tavern now stands.
There is an interesting connection between the Albion wharf and Thomas Cawthron who had a shipping business at Port Nelson for nearly thirty years, being the agent for most of the shipping lines trading to the port. When the old vessel "Albion" was condemned she was beached next to the old wharf site and her bowsprit extended across the land to where the Pier Hotel once stood, there being no road past at that time. Later on, around 1860, for some time Cawthron used the old ship as an office and store (4). By the 1870's the Albion Hotel stood on piles alongside the wharf.
A new Government wharf was built during 1859–60 (5) by Akersten and Turner near Green Point for about £4000. It was just west of the wharf leased by Akersten and commenced about where the Port post office now stands, and was angle-shaped. The main pier extended 380 feet seaward and was bounded by an arm 280 feet long and 40 feet wide, and vessels drawing 16 feet could lie alongside at low water spring tide. But alas! the black birch piles on which this wharf was built were soon eaten through and by 1874 the whole structure was rotten and beyond repair.
The provincial government passed a Loan Act of 1874, to raise £27,000 for a new public wharf. This time, the province built well and work was commenced in 1876, also under the supervision of William Akersten. This was to be the commencement of the main wharf as we know it today but originally L shaped. The extension to the north—to form the T shape of the present structure—came a long time later (1911). However, back in 1876 work included some reclamation, and a long sea wall was built from the Albion Wharf to the Customhouse, and (still in the 1870's) the third of these three was "Franzens" just east of Green Point on the site now occupied by the Nelson Reliance Engineering Company. Franzen was a sail-maker and ship-chandler, who serviced and even owned some of the Blind Bay hookers—the little ships which served the outlying settlements of Tasman and Golden Bay for so many years before the roads were built. It is also on record that Franzen was a part owner of a small screw steamer of 110 tons built in 1880 and named "Wakatu". The Harbour Board had to demolish Franzen's wharf in 1929 although the building remained for another few years.
Licenses for private wharves had been granted by the Railways Department, which still controlled the foreshore long after the Harbour Board was formed. Lukins had built a lime wharf off Haven Road, just where Collins Street commences, and this was later let to Mr. F. W. Greenslade. The old Gasworks Wharf, mentioned briefly earlier, was where Vickerman Street now joins Haven Road and had been leased to the City Council at a peppercorn rental since 1912.
It is appropriate, at this stage, to mention the oval marine baths which were built on a site leased to the City Council in 1876. This site is now occupied by Associated Fishermen Ltd. for a fish processing factory, but the building this Company is in was originally Nelson's coal fired Power Station. It is significant to record the fact that the supply of electric power from this steam plant at the port commenced in October, 1923. This plant became redundant with the advance of hydro-electricity.
The oldest building (probably early in the 1860's) in the Port area is what was once the bond store next to the Customhouse Hotel. This is now part of Nalder and Biddle's showroom and the original cast iron columns and bolted frame can still be seen.
An old photograph of the port taken in that year shows the old Customhouse Hotel as well as the little wooden building where the Anchor Company's office now stands. This was the office of the Union Steam Ship Company where Thomas Cawthron then served as Nelson agent until his retirement in 1884. Away to the right (alongside the railway line) is a small rectangled building which served at that time as a railway goods shed. This later became the Fruit Inspection Shed and served in that capacity for many years until the Apple and Pear Board's present cool store area on the reclamation was established. This building is nearly 100 years old, the oldest owned by the Harbour Board, and may shortly be demolished. If you have a look today, on the north-eastern side of the building, you can still see a bollard on one corner. Also in that picture is a small hexagonal building which served as the pilot station, about where the No. 3 cargo shed now stands.
There have been many interesting building changes in the old port area. Alongside the present Anchor Company's offices was the tin shed which served as the watersiders waiting room until the present Assembly Hall was erected in 1947. Alongside that tin shed (also demolished), was the building which served for many years as the office and warehouse of the N.Z. Fruitgrowers Federation. Beyond that there now stands the Harbour Board workshops, the site on which an old warehouse and bond store once stood. In 1947 this warehouse was operated by Levin & Co., but originally it belonged to Sclanders & Co. a name which went right back to the first arrivals. Mr Sclanders built his first warehouse at Auckland Point and
Just past the Harbour Board workshops and near the wharf is a small wooden office building still used by the Board. This was originally a Railway building and was handed over to the Board when it purchased the wharves, and took over the working thereof from the Railways Department in 1921. From 1901 the Board had its offices on Wakefield Quay, and these consisted of the board room, a passage and two small offices. In 1921 this building was dragged on skids from Wakefield Quay and joined up to the old Railway building. It was from this group of buildings that the Board carried out its business until the present building was opened in 1963.
On the eastern side of the old Power Station (i.e. Associated Fishermen Ltd.) one can see at low tide the grid-iron built in front of the Anchor Foundry, in 1913, for vessels not over 150 tons. This was the site of the old ship's cradle once used by all Anchor vessels and other small craft. This grid-iron was discarded for the better slipway facilities built by Nalder & Biddle Ltd. in 1936. Now in 1970 that slipway has given way to the Calwell slipway built by the Harbour Board on the reclamation.
Mention of slipways brings to mind an industry which the port has never lost, although its character has changed somewhat—ship building. When Nelson was first settled there was immediate demand for small craft, particularly cutters and schooners, to trade round the Bay. These were the well-known Blind Bay hookers and records show that in 1843 at least four small craft were built in Nelson. The names of Ricketts, Jacobsen, Freeman and Strong were prominent among shipbuilders of the day.
Some of the more famous ship-building events at Port Nelson have included:
Negotiations for the present lighthouse on the Boulder Bank began in 1859. In 1861, this cast iron structure was shipped out from England in the barque "Glenshee." This was to be New Zealand's second lighthouse. A casting above the door reads "Stothert and Pitt, Bath, England". This firm is renowned still as builders of dockside cranes and now they are building container cranes. The light was first lit on 4th August, 1862. The cottages of the light keepers were rebuilt in 1875 and 1895; but they have long since disappeared.
A final reference to historic places at Port Nelson, must be the spot on Haven Road where the first pakehas who discovered Nelson Haven landed in October, 1841. Wakefield had anchored his expedition off Kaiteriteri and sent off a party in a Deal boat to explore the coastline. This party consisted of Captain F. G. Moore, the surveyor Brown, with J. S. Cross as coxswain, McDonald a boatman and a Maori Pito. The story goes that this party had slept at White Bluffs (presumably Ruby Bay) on the first night and then they rowed down as far as Mackays Bluff on the following day. They were quite unaware of the haven behind the Boulder Bank. They were returning cold and tired when they decided to land on the boulders. Moore jumped out, climbed the Boulder Bank and saw "a sheet of water considerable in extent and to all appearances a good harbour". Later, they found the "old entrance" and the Arrow Rock and they entered the Haven, pulling in at the spot which is now appropriately marked by the Historic Places Trust.
—A History of the Area from the Earliest Days to 1912.
J. N. W. Newport (1971), 26 chapters, 26 illustrations, 3 local maps, many references. 297 pages. (Caxton Press, Christchurch).
That indefatigable recorder of the history of Nelson back country, Mr. Jeff Newport, and author of "Footprints" describing the southern part of the province, has now produced a companion volume describing its northern tip, the delectable area of Collingwood.
The immediate charm of this area abides in its scenery, a wide range of coastal features, rugged mountains and bush, which are derived from its unusual geological and geographical formations. Appreciation of these natural attractions pervades the writing in this book.
Early occupation by Maoris and the unfortunate visit of Tasman resulting in the original name of Massacre Bay serve as an introduction but the main theme of this history is the exploraiton and settlement of the Collingwood area—its sudden importance when gold was discovered, its long term development of mineral (including coal) and timber production, and its subsequent organisation of farming under rather discouraging conditions. Roads were few, so local shipping services were operated, requiring landing places and ports, lighthouses and other navigational aids, all of which are interestingly described.
The history is amply supplied with references, contemporary photographs and three local maps, and though primarily a factual historical record, it is enlivened with ancedotes and local legends. Since the history is taken only to 1912 we look forward to its continuation before long.
As the author states in his introduction "Naturally there will be many gaps in a history such as this and the writer does not regard it as a definitive work, but it is his wish that the reading of this record will encourage others to take an interest in local history and see that any information available is preserved for the future." Such a local history is
—Five Generations at Golden Bay.
Enga Washbourn (1970), 21 chapters, many illustrations and sketches (by the author), maps, bibliography. 223 pages. (A.H. & A.W. Reed Ltd., Wellington).
which appeared last year after the previous issue of this Journal had been published, but has since been fully and well reviewed in the press.
This unusual book describes the adventures of two interesting and closely linked families—the Washbourns and Caldwells—and other settlers in the Massacre (now Golden) Bay area in the 1850's.
The ups-and-downs and later careers of these versatile and high-spirited people and their descendants are recorded in this local history, making interesting and pleasurable reading.
On the opposite page banner headlines, about one third original size, and descriptive text are reproduced from a prospectus of sections offered for sale in the Glen area by a local syndicate in 1904. The prospectus measures 35 by 22 inches and is well covered with illustrations and information on conditions of sale. Near the corners are four rather murky photographs, and occupying the main portion of the prospectus are maps, a large tinted one showing locations and details of the sections and a smaller locality map which includes the Boulder Bank. There is no indication that work on the Cut (New Entrance) was already under way.
The four corner illustrations depict pleasant fertile farming land backed by scrub covered hills; also a weatherbeaten stony beach with driftwood, tough looking shrubs, and (in one of them) a foreground dominated by a broken paling fence. The most interesting photo is entitled "'Penguin' passing Glenduan on her way to Wellington. On the beach is to be seen the commencement of the Boulder Bank, and Tasman Bay and the Mountains in the distance." Owing to poor reproduction the mountains are now invisible but the U.S.S. Co.'s "Penguin," a regular visitor to Wellington, is steaming past gaily in an easterly direction, only to be wrecked under such tragic circumstances five years later on the Wellington coast.
Many of the sections, averaging about one quarter acre in area and practically undeveloped, were bought by local residents at reasonable prices, about £20 upwards. So far as can be ascertained, no staging for boats (as described in the advertisement) was ever erected, and the business section of Glenduan township appears never to have grown beyond tea-rooms in occasional use some years ago.
This Nelson resort did not seem to have attracted many Wellingtonians, local residents buying up most of the properties where many of them and their descendants have followed rural pursuits on the neighbouring low hillside or reclaimed mudflats enjoying "a most charming outlook", details of which are so vividly described in the 1904 prospectus of the would-be developers of Glenduan.
Ships still pass impressively, and indeed, majestically along the Boulder Bank "to and fro from Wellington and elsewhere," and in increasing numbers. Many are of great size and of unusual appearance, being designed for special commercial purposes undreamt of by Nelsonians of nearly seventy years ago.
This interesting and little-known prospectus was kindly introduced to my notice by Mr. Len Kain who has farmed in Glen Road since 1918. He acquired in 1921 two sections, on a remote area of the map, to round off his property. More than half the sections had by then been sold.
The map on the opposite page shows the course of the Waimea River in 1850 from information on a chart of Nelson anchorage surveyed by Captain Stokes R.N. (H.M.S. Acheron). Superimposed on this is a simplified modern map of part of the Tahunanui-Nelson present day shoreline.
In 1850 the Waimea Bank extended from Rabbit Island to opposite the dressing sheds, and tide water from the Waimea River entrance (shown on the 1850 chart near where the Hounsell Circle is now situated) sounded about 25 feet at low water.
The sketch made in 1843, on the cover of the November 1968 issue of this journal (Vol. 2. No. 3) shows deep water and cliffs at the site of the present day junction of Rocks Road and Tahuna Beach.
Bolton Hole, between Haulashore Island and the Waimea Bank, then about 53 feet deep at low water, is still deeper than the sea bed being about 35 feet lower than the surrounding shoals. During northwest gales vessels used to take refuge about a mile upstream from the river mouth behind the Waimea Bank. The Tahuna Beach sand-spit now occupying part of the area formerly covered by the Bank, has built up notably during the last two or three decades.
Reports of the City and Harbour Board Engineers made ten years ago emphasise the tendency for the beach to build up towards the north, there being evidence of at least five beaches formed northwards from about Quarantine Road.
By about 1875 the Harbourmaster (Captain J. S. Cross) had observed heavy shoaling in the channel and a breach cut itself through the Waimea Bank so that the estuary emptied out to sea just to the east of Rabbit Island. This led to the formation of the Tahuna Beach, its mudflats (including the Back Beach) replacing the river bed and covered nowadays only at spring tide. Many Nelsonians remember the swampy nature of the present playing fields, their filling up at high tides, and the large sandhill, Tahunanui meaning large sandhill or sandbank.
As is the habit of rivers in wide, low beds the main tidal stream of the Waimea River meanders from side to side, in this case apparently about once every 150 years, or more. Whether or not the outflowing river will complete its present meander and return to flow along the Beach and Rocks Road, possibly cutting off the sand-spit, or whether the Waimea Bank will reform or rearrange in some other formation is unpredictable. Present day conditions governing the tidal flow are quite different from those of 120 years ago—the Boulder Bank has a wide cut through it and there has been extensive shoaling outside the Haven; and bush has disappeared from the ranges allowing erosion and flooding, while the watertable of the Waimea Plains has been systematically lowered by drainage, and more recently by irrigation, reducing the normal flow of the river.
The effect of these unknown and variable factors on the