MEMOIRS OF THE EARLY DAYS

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXV, Issue 49, 5 December 1907, Page 11

MEMOIRS OF THE EARLY DAYS

: £ (Contributed.) (Continued from last week.)

- - Nelson. \ - ,*' , ■ ' .' "The settlement of Nelson, was commenced' in 1841,' under the auspices of Captain Edward Gibbon Wakefield, chairman -of ~ the New Zealand Company — a cor- . porajtioa formed in London, having for its object ' the settling of portions of, Britain's .newly acquired -territory. The first expedition, in the ship ' Tory,' 400 tons, under command of Colonel" William Wakefield, brother of the founder of -the colonising .scheme, landed at Port Nicholson (Wellington) in 1839, just ' at' the conclusion of Te JRaupara<ha's' triumphant marauding ex-ploits,--in the course of which he had practically annihilated, the^igfotful aboriginal owners- of the lands.;ad- " jacent, as lie had . also done over other wide areas in boiih the North and South Islands, and over which, by right of conquest, he assumed possession.. Colonel. Wake- - fi.eld proposed to buy, and, after most, strenuous objections, Te Rauparaha yielded, and finally agreed, for a ' few trumpery presents, to sell all the'Ngatitoa' possessions on both sides of Cook's Strait. , Colonel ' Wakefield claimed that -these negotiations put the New Zealand^ Company in possession of all ,the lands now known as Wellington, Auckland, Taranaki, - Hawke's Bay, Nel--son, and Marlborough. In the -same year the- Governor , announced that the Company's title would not be ack- - nowledgedv outside the original block of 110,000 acre's around Port Nicholson, "and. warned Captain Wakefield - that the lands Blind Bay were claimed by^- persons having native (titles, prior to his. However,""Captain Wakefield was determined, .and accordingly with his three ships-- proceeded to Blind Bay. The little fleet first anchored at Astrolabe, and the first ' choice" of settlement was made at Kaiteretere, towards Riwaka. Subsequently " the present site^vas chosen where it was decided to build the town. when the strangers reach-. cd' the shore they were met by a number of Maoris, who seemed- not to understand -their purpose. However, the natives welcomed them, helping the pioneers about the construction of their homes," and,' £he site of the town was soon pegged "out. ' The first emigrant ship 'to reach -the new settlement*- was the ' Fifeshire,' (557 tons), which arrived on February 1, 1842. In the same ' montli the ' Lloyds ' (450 tons) arrived with the wives and .children of the first emigrants. Other vessels followed, and between November, 1841, and July, 1842, sixty-seven vessels of various kinds visited Nelson ; the population meanwhile had increased to 2T)00-. It is recorded --that the total value of this deal in lands amounted to- about £9000. Amongst the articles given in exchange were 300 red , -blankets, '200 muskets, 60 tomahawks, 320 fish s hooks, ,100 steel axes, 276 pocket -knives, 480 pocket handkerchiefs, -144 jew'-s-horps, ,36 razors, 24 combs, and 12 -sticks of sealing-wax. , 'For a . time all went well with" the Company's projects. " Tne settlement- at Wellington was _ established on what appeared favorable conditions, and the Company * determined to extend their field of operationsr The Nelson Expedition ~*~ left England in 1841, and consisted of three vessels, the "barques ' Whitby ' .(437 tons), ' Will Watch, ' - (216 tons),* and "' Arrow ' (250 tons). The expedition was in charge of 'Captain Arthur Wakefield (another brother of ,Capta,in Edward Gibbon Wakefield), and brought out" surveyors, laborers, " and stores for the' formation of the new settlement. One incident in the early history of Nelson was the attempt at forming a German .settlement. Several ' allotments were purchased by a Hamburg firm -from' the New Zealand Company, and' the emigrants arrived in the c *St. Pauli,' settling first at Moutere. A heavy flood caused many of them to trove into Nelson. A second detachment of about' 200 arrived in the ' Skiold ' in 1844, but owing to the ' hardships ana trials of the new life nearly all, with -the exception of about half the second batch/ left in the salne year for Australia^ From . the authorities quoted in the foregoing narrative 'an interesting sidelight is thrown on the methods whereby the accumulation of large landed estates wds brought abouT. Between 1843 and 1850, owing to constant trouble arising between the settJers and the Land Company, on account, of iailure of employment and delay "in allotting the lands, Governor Grey, before leaving at the end of his first term of office, passed land regulations throwing open large areas at five and ten shillings an acre. The runholders,

afraid of being encroached on, purchased as much land as possible around their pastoral runs. »