OLD TARANAKI.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 59, 18 June 1910, Page 9

OLD TARANAKI.

A PAGE FROM THE PAST. In the last issue of the TaTanaki Anglican Church Magazine appears a very interesting sketch of St. Mary's Church, New Plymouth, from the .pen of "W.H.S." The article, which is the first of a series, is of such historic interest that we make no apology for reprinting it. Says the writer:—

The story of St. Mary's Church is so bound up with the history of the i.niiulation of the settlement of New Plymouth that it will be necessary to give a brief sketch of the coming of the first British settlers to this part of New Zealand before entering upon the recital of the establishment of the Anglican Church in Taranaki. At a public meeting held in Plymouth, England, on the 25th January, 1840, was formed the "Plymouth Company of New Zealand," with the object of colonising ■New Zealand from the west of England. Land was purchased from the New Zealand Company, and in the following August they despatched Mr. P. A. Carrington, their, Chief Surveyor, with his staff to New Zealand to select the site of the "New Plymouth Settlement." No time was lost in carrying out the intentions of the Plymouth Company, and intense interest was shown throughout the west of England in their scheme for founding a colony in New Zealand. Mainly through the activity of Sir Wm. Molesworth (a director of the company, and after whom Molesworth street in this town is named), an exceptionally fine party of emigrants, morally as well as physically, was secured for the pioneer fehip. In September tenders were accepted for the charter of a ship to convey the first party to New Zealand. For the readers' information I will give a copy of the successful tender: "Tender for the hire of a ship to convey passengers and goods from Plymouth to New Zealand.— sve hereby offer the ship William Bryan, rated Al at Lloyd's, of 312 tons, now lying in London Docks (Alexander Mc--ILean, master) for a voyage from Plymouth to New Zealand at the rate of <£s 2s 6d per registered ton for the voyage. Height (between decks 6ft lin at stern, and sft llin at main hatchway. Length of lower deck 105 ft 3in. (Signed) Donnett and England, owners." Such was the gallant little caique that sailed' out of Plymouth Sound on the afternoon of 12th November, 1840. and the last pilot quitting the ship at Rame Head, these (bold hearts bade a last fa*ewell to the dear old land. This incident recalls how two hundred years earlier—l627—the Pilgrim Fathers had sped away fro.m the same port in the Mayflower of cherished memory, bound for* those "wild New England shores" where they might claim, and where they found in that new world, "freedom to worship God." Just think of it, my. friends, calmly and dispassionately, what this venture meant. The shattering of life-long ties, i\e farewells for ever to old friends and familar landmarks, and the graves of their ancestors, the breaking up of homes and the severing of family and social connections, the setting forth on a voyage of 16,000 miles to the uttermost bounds of the earth to

found a new home in a practically un- , known land inhabited by the most ferocious and savage people, who were even at this time in parts given over to cannibalism. But the words failure and dismay- had no meaning for these sturdy, God-fearing pioneers, true men of Devon. They set out as their fathers had so often done before to subdue snd conquer, and well and nobly did they carry out this resolution. These lines are being written for the information principally of a generation who have grown up In the midst of conveniences ahd luxuries of a civilisation won, oh! how hardly, from the hands of nature, and in direct apposition, in Taranaki, at least, of a brave, noble and yet savage foeman. This vounger generation does not know —and I what in many instances is far more grievous, does not appreciate—the toil, hardship, and self-denying efforts undertaken by the early settlers. lam certain of this one fact, that had not the pioneer?, the Pilgrim Fathers of Taranaki, been of the best that Britain could send forth of her stalwart and indomitable sons, this settlement would nave been ibroken up and abandoned during i those dank years of 1844 to 1849. Inducements were held out by the Crown for the pioneers to abandon the isolated j and distracted settlement, but, true to i the best characteristics of the race, and a wonderful tenacity of purpose, combined with a genuine love of their adopted country, they battled on against tremendous odds and finally came through victorious. But, alas! how many paid the penalty of overstrain, mental and physical-, that such an effort exacted! How few lived to see the ultimate fruition of 1 heir,labors and privations! 'Some fewthere are, thank God, still with us, and to those few, the remnant of the gallant band to whom New Zealand owes so much, we offer a tribute of heartfelt gratitude that they, the founders of this «olony, laid so deeply and so well the, foundations of the moral, intellectual,. and industrial structures from which has been built up, as we find it, the New Zealand of to-day. Let us see to it that t - we worthily uphold the great trust, inherited, from the early settlers of the district. . The "William Bryan" arrived off the Sugar Loaves on the 30th March, 1841, and the following day landed her passengers, 148 in all. She was followed by the "Amelia Thompson," 477 tons, arriving on 3rd September, 1841', with 187 souls. The "Oriental," 506 tons, arrived on 7th November, 1841, with 129 all told. The "Timandria," 382 tons, arrived on 24th February, 1842, with 212 souls. The "Blenheim," 374 tons, arrived on 7th November, 1842, with 143 in all, and the "Essex," 392 tons, arrived on 23rd January, 1843, with 113, making a, grand total of all ages and sexes of 932. These, with the surveyors and assistants, twenty in aU> who landed at Moturoa from the "Brougham" on 12th February. 1841, constitute the pioneers proper of Taranaki. We will now pass on to consider trio establishing of the Church in the infant settlement. When the first settlers landed they found already a minister of the Gospel established on these shores. The jßev. Mr. Creed, a missionary of the Wesleyan Methodist Society, was living near Moturoa, on the sea shore, in what is now known as the Whiteley Township, and this good, earnest man officiated as the minister of the settlement until the coming of the Rev. Wm. Bollard. The little raupo chapel which stood about the present junction of Brougham ana towderham streets was the first Christian place of worship built for the use of white people in Taranaki. A few months after the William Bryan dropped ber anchor off Moturoa on 30th March, 1841; George Augustus Selwyn was consecrated the first Bishop of New Zealand, and on the 30th May, 1842, he and Mrs. Selwyn landed at Auckland. With characteristic energy the Bishop at once started upon the arduous work of visiting and organising his great diocese. On October 28th of the same year (1842) he made his first visit to New Plymouth, walkinff from Wellington, a distance of %ictit tl|9' : Bishop states:—"On the 28th

October, 1842, we reached New Plymouth, or Taranaki, where I was received by Mr. Wickstced, the company's agent. ... I was lodged in the house of Mr. Cooke, who most kindly placed his whole establishment at the disposal of the Chief Justice and myself." Mr. Cooke's house .stood on the'site of the present building known as the old parsonage at Te Henui. The Bishop, continuing, says: "At the foot of the grounds ran one of those beautiful, clear, and rapid streams (Henui) which abound throughout Taranaki, and all around the fresh foliage of a New Zealand spring tipping all the evergreens with a 'bright and sparkling verdure formed a base upon which the white peak of the mountain reposed. My favorite verse came into my mind, 'The lot is fallen unto me in a fair ground; yea, I have a goodly' heritage.' Taranaki is a lovely country, distinguished even among the many natural beauties which I have now seen." Continuing, he writes: "At 11 I performed the morning service and again at 3 the afternoon service (Sunday, October 30th, 1842), and preached to the English in a wooden building prepared for the purpose. I 'baptised several children and ended with the'nativc afternoon service. I am much satisfied by the disposal of the people of this settlement and the friendly and cordial manner in which 1 have been received. The New Plymouth settlement ipleases me much by its 'honest agricultural ana tij« absence of iittompt to appear what it is not. My impression is that an active and zealous clergyman will find a most hopeful fiei.i of usefulness among the Devonshire immigrants, who seem really desirous of such a privilege." On the following day .Monday, 31st tae Bishop, with the 1 Chief Justice, the Messrs Carrington and others selected sites for churches, and on Wednesday the Bishop's party left for Wellington on Government brig Victoria. (Note.—The first serviee taken by Bishop Selwyn in what is now the provincial district of Taranaki was conducted on Sunday, the 22rd October, 1842, at the native pa of Waokena, on the sea cliffs, two miles north of the Manawapou river, near Hawera. This was a native service).

By the foregoing quotations <we find that the first Church of England service held by the British settlers in Taranaki took place on Sunday, 30th October, 1842. The wooden building in which the service was held stood on an allotment of the "Store-house reserve," on the north side of the lane connecting Brougham streets, and close to the present site of the Jubilee '(Boardinghouse in Currie street. The building was erected by the Plymouth Company as a depot and hospital for the young settlement. It was afterwards removed to the north-east corner at the junction of Devon and Brougham streets, where it stood for many years as a general store, occupied by Messrs T. Ibbotson, W. R. King, ana others. As stated above, the Bishop ■• n his first visit selected the site for the future church—now occupied by St. Mary's. How wise the choice was, we now, after an interval of 68 years, can fully appreciate. At that time the ground was partly occupied by an old Maori garden, the" remainder was covered' with a luxuriant growth of native 'shrubs and trees, the slopes of Pukaka. or Marslaria. Hill, being clothed to its summit by the beautiful verdure of the New Zealand bush.

The next event of interest that presents itself is the ordination of the Rev. William Boliand, who was admitted to deacon's orders at Waimate, Bay of Islands, on Sunday. September 24th, 1843. (Mr. Boliand was ordained priest on Sunday, September 21, 1845). The dayfollowing—September 25th—the Bishop left Waimate for Auckland ana tne Thames'by the schooner Union. From the Thames he walked across the island to New Plymouth to meet the Rev. Win. Boliand, who, with Mrs. Boliand, was to sail for this settlement, via the North Cape, in the Government brig Victoria. In this eventful journey the Bishop walked and canoed a distance oi 850 miles; they were detained five days on the Upper Wanganui by floods, and had to subsist on fern root and a few wood-hens that they were fortunate enough to snare. Eventually he had to send two of his Maoris for assistance down the river on his air mattress, fitted up as a raft' or canoe. After great hardships and danger, such as can only be understood by those who have helped to lay the foundations of our colony, this truly great Bishop arrived in New Plymouth for the second time on the 25th November, 1843. Four days after the Victoria came in sight, but the wind being contrary, it was not until early on the morning of Sunday, 3rd December, that the brig came to an anchor in the roadstead. In the Bishop's diary we find this entry:—"December 3rd (1843), Sunday. —A 9 a.m. J»at : landed Mr. and Mrs. Boliand, and Mr. and Mrs. Butt. Went to church with my two deacons, who divided the service with me. . . . Very thankful for the successful completion of the second point of my journey, the establishment of a clergy at New -Plymouth." From this service, held in a temporary rush building, plain, yet dignified, conducted by one of the noblest sons of the Church—assisted by two youthful deacons—dates the foundation of the Church of England in Taranaki. From that celebration onward tne regular services haye been maintained. ° This service, from which the foundation of our Church in Taranaki dates, was held in a raupo building which stood on the south side of Currie lane, some 25 yards from Currie street. Here services were held for a/bout six months, but on assembling to worship one winter's morning in 1844, the congregation found themselves without a church—a furious gale raging during the previous night had flattened out the flimsy structure. Fresh arrangements had to be made, and the Courthouse was fitted up in July as a .temporary church, and here remilar services were held up to the opening of St. Mary's. It was in this building that the late Miss Allen started our first Sunday school, some time during 1844. This temporary church was a raupo building standing on the western slope of Pukeariki, or Mount Eliot. It was originally (built as a dwelling-house by Captain King and Mr. Cut-field, and upon their removal to Brooklands it was occupied as a Courthouse. Here Viceroyaltv in the form of Governor Fitzroy, with members of his staff, used to join in worship with the regular members of the congregation during the disastrous year of 1844.