1806 in New Zealand
Encyclopedia
Sealing continues at Bass Strait
and the Antipodes Islands
. At the end of the year there is a new sealing rush to the Bounty
and Auckland Islands
. Few sealers, if any, are known to have visited the Foveaux Strait
area at this time, although this may be due in part to the secrecy of the captains and owners in reporting where they operate and/or the existence of the Strait not yet being widely known. Whaling continues off the east coast of the North Island
. Ships are now visiting the Bay of Islands
on a reasonably regular basis. The first reports about the poor behaviour of ships crews are sent to the Church Missionary Society in London
.
Between 1800 and 1806, £200,000 worth of whale oil is taken from the New Zealand area by British whaling ships operating from Sydney
.
Undated
For world events and topics in 1806 not specifically related to New Zealand see: 1806
Bass Strait
Bass Strait is a sea strait separating Tasmania from the south of the Australian mainland, specifically the state of Victoria.-Extent:The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Bass Strait as follows:...
and the Antipodes Islands
Antipodes Islands
The Antipodes Islands are inhospitable volcanic islands to the south of—and territorially part of—New Zealand...
. At the end of the year there is a new sealing rush to the Bounty
Bounty Islands
The Bounty Islands at are a small group of 13 granite islets and numerous rocks, with a combined area of , in the south Pacific Ocean that are territorially part of New Zealand. They are located between 47°44'35" and 47°46'10" S, and 179°01' and 179°04'20" E, southeast of the South Island of New...
and Auckland Islands
Auckland Islands
The Auckland Islands are an archipelago of the New Zealand Sub-Antarctic Islands and include Auckland Island, Adams Island, Enderby Island, Disappointment Island, Ewing Island, Rose Island, Dundas Island and Green Island, with a combined area of...
. Few sealers, if any, are known to have visited the Foveaux Strait
Foveaux Strait
Foveaux Strait separates Stewart Island/Rakiura, New Zealand's third largest island, from the South Island. Three large bays, Te Waewae Bay, Oreti Beach and Toetoes Bay, sweep along the strait's northern coast, which also hosts Bluff township and harbour. Across the strait lie the Solander...
area at this time, although this may be due in part to the secrecy of the captains and owners in reporting where they operate and/or the existence of the Strait not yet being widely known. Whaling continues off the east coast of the North Island
North Island
The North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the much less populous South Island by Cook Strait. The island is in area, making it the world's 14th-largest island...
. Ships are now visiting the Bay of Islands
Bay of Islands
The Bay of Islands is an area in the Northland Region of the North Island of New Zealand. Located 60 km north-west of Whangarei, it is close to the northern tip of the country....
on a reasonably regular basis. The first reports about the poor behaviour of ships crews are sent to the Church Missionary Society in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
Between 1800 and 1806, £200,000 worth of whale oil is taken from the New Zealand area by British whaling ships operating from Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
.
Regal and Vice Regal
- Head of StateHead of StateA head of state is the individual that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchy, republic, federation, commonwealth or other kind of state. His or her role generally includes legitimizing the state and exercising the political powers, functions, and duties granted to the head of...
– King George IIIGeorge III of the United KingdomGeorge III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...
. - Governor of New South Wales – William BlighWilliam BlighVice Admiral William Bligh FRS RN was an officer of the British Royal Navy and a colonial administrator. A notorious mutiny occurred during his command of HMAV Bounty in 1789; Bligh and his loyal men made a remarkable voyage to Timor, after being set adrift in the Bounty's launch by the mutineers...
arrives on 6 August to take over from Philip Gidley KingPhilip Gidley KingCaptain Philip Gidley King RN was a British naval officer and colonial administrator. He is best known as the official founder of the first European settlement on Norfolk Island and as the third Governor of New South Wales.-Early years and establishment of Norfolk Island settlement:King was born...
. King does not leave until 10 February the following year.
Events
- 25 February – The Lady Nelson leaves Port JacksonPort JacksonPort Jackson, containing Sydney Harbour, is the natural harbour of Sydney, Australia. It is known for its beauty, and in particular, as the location of the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge...
to return Te Pahi and his sons to the Bay of IslandsBay of IslandsThe Bay of Islands is an area in the Northland Region of the North Island of New Zealand. Located 60 km north-west of Whangarei, it is close to the northern tip of the country....
. Te Pahi has been given bricks and a frame for a European house, and other goods. During the journey Te Pahi becomes ill and is nursed by ex-convict George Bruce. - 18 March – The Argo, CaptainCaptain (nautical)A sea captain is a licensed mariner in ultimate command of the vessel. The captain is responsible for its safe and efficient operation, including cargo operations, navigation, crew management and ensuring that the vessel complies with local and international laws, as well as company and flag...
John Bader, again visits the Bay of IslandsBay of IslandsThe Bay of Islands is an area in the Northland Region of the North Island of New Zealand. Located 60 km north-west of Whangarei, it is close to the northern tip of the country....
but Te Pahi is still absent. RuataraRuatara (chief)Ruatara, was a chief of the Ngāpuhi iwi in New Zealand. He introduced European crops to New Zealand and was host to the first Christian missionary, Samuel Marsden....
(and possibly the two other Māori) remain with the ship. (see 1805) - 20 April – The Lady Nelson stops near North CapeNorth Cape, New ZealandNorth Cape is located at the northern end of the North Auckland Peninsula in the North Island of New Zealand . It is the northeastern tip of the Aupouri Peninsula and lies 30 km east of Cape Reinga. The name is sometimes used to refer just to the cape which is known in Māori as Otou and which...
where George Bruce jumps ship after being flogged a week earlier. He begins to make his way south to the Bay of IslandsBay of IslandsThe Bay of Islands is an area in the Northland Region of the North Island of New Zealand. Located 60 km north-west of Whangarei, it is close to the northern tip of the country....
. - 27 April – The Ferret arrives in LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
with Te Mahanga (Moehanga) aboard. He is the first Māori known to have visited EnglandEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. In London he is rejoined by John Savage who left the ship at CorkCork (city)Cork is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the island of Ireland's third most populous city. It is the principal city and administrative centre of County Cork and the largest city in the province of Munster. Cork has a population of 119,418, while the addition of the suburban...
. While in London Te Mahanga meets King George IIIGeorge III of the United KingdomGeorge III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...
and Queen CharlotteCharlotte of Mecklenburg-StrelitzCharlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was the Queen consort of the United Kingdom as the wife of King George III...
. - Late April – The Lady Nelson arrives in the Bay of IslandsBay of IslandsThe Bay of Islands is an area in the Northland Region of the North Island of New Zealand. Located 60 km north-west of Whangarei, it is close to the northern tip of the country....
returning Te Pahi and his sons. The ship’s carpenter begins (and finishes?) erecting Te Pahi’s house. - 12 June – The Alexander arrives at PortsmouthPortsmouthPortsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
with Teina and Maki aboard. - 13 June – The Ferret leaves LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
for Port JacksonPort JacksonPort Jackson, containing Sydney Harbour, is the natural harbour of Sydney, Australia. It is known for its beauty, and in particular, as the location of the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge...
with Te Mahanga aboard. - 17 June – The Venus , CaptainCaptain (nautical)A sea captain is a licensed mariner in ultimate command of the vessel. The captain is responsible for its safe and efficient operation, including cargo operations, navigation, crew management and ensuring that the vessel complies with local and international laws, as well as company and flag...
Samuel Chace, is taken piratically at Port Dalrymple (LauncestonLaunceston, TasmaniaLaunceston is a city in the north of the state of Tasmania, Australia at the junction of the North Esk and South Esk rivers where they become the Tamar River. Launceston is the second largest city in Tasmania after the state capital Hobart...
) and sails for New Zealand. There are two women, Charlotte BadgerCharlotte BadgerCharlotte Badger is widely considered to be the first Australian female pirate despite being from Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, England...
and convict Catherine Hagerty, among those who take over the ship. - 27 June – The Alexander arrives in LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. Teina and Maki come under the care of Reverend Joseph Hardcastle of the London Missionary SocietyLondon Missionary SocietyThe London Missionary Society was a non-denominational missionary society formed in England in 1795 by evangelical Anglicans and Nonconformists, largely Congregationalist in outlook, with missions in the islands of the South Pacific and Africa...
who tries to arrange for their return to New South WalesNew South WalesNew South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
. However, before he can do so Teina dies and Maki is kidnapped by a crimpShanghaiingShanghaiing refers to the practice of conscripting men as sailors by coercive techniques such as trickery, intimidation, or violence. Those engaged in this form of kidnapping were known as crimps. Until 1915, unfree labor was widely used aboard American merchant ships...
, his later fate unknown. - July/August – The Venus arrives at the Bay of IslandsBay of IslandsThe Bay of Islands is an area in the Northland Region of the North Island of New Zealand. Located 60 km north-west of Whangarei, it is close to the northern tip of the country....
. Two men, convicts Richard Evans and John Lancashire, the two women Badger and Hagerty, and two children, Badger’s young daughter and possibly the aboriginal cabin boy William Evans, are left at Rangihoua BayRangihoua BayRangihoua Bay is a bay on the north-west shore of the Bay of Islands in Northland, New Zealand. It is 10 km north across the Bay of Islands from Russell and 12 km north from Paihia. By road it is 32 km from Kerikeri....
. Hegarty and Badger are the first pākehāPakehaPākehā is a Māori language word for New Zealanders who are "of European descent". They are mostly descended from British and to a lesser extent Irish settlers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, although some Pākehā have Dutch, Scandinavian, German, Yugoslav or other ancestry...
women to stay voluntarily in New Zealand. The two men are returned to Port JacksonPort JacksonPort Jackson, containing Sydney Harbour, is the natural harbour of Sydney, Australia. It is known for its beauty, and in particular, as the location of the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge...
by visiting ships, possibly before the end of the year. The Venus with its six remaining crew then travels down the east coast of the North IslandNorth IslandThe North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the much less populous South Island by Cook Strait. The island is in area, making it the world's 14th-largest island...
, kidnapping several Māori women along the way and selling them to rival tribes who eventually killed them. These women included the sister and niece of Te Morenga and a relative of Hongi HikaHongi HikaHongi Hika was a New Zealand Māori rangatira and war leader of the Ngāpuhi iwi . Hongi Hika used European weapons to overrun much of northern New Zealand in the first of the Musket Wars...
’s, and their deaths were the cause of the retaliatory raids by these two chiefs in 1818. - 6 August – The new Governor of New South Wales, William BlighWilliam BlighVice Admiral William Bligh FRS RN was an officer of the British Royal Navy and a colonial administrator. A notorious mutiny occurred during his command of HMAV Bounty in 1789; Bligh and his loyal men made a remarkable voyage to Timor, after being set adrift in the Bounty's launch by the mutineers...
, arrives. - 18 August – The Ocean, CaptainCaptain (nautical)A sea captain is a licensed mariner in ultimate command of the vessel. The captain is responsible for its safe and efficient operation, including cargo operations, navigation, crew management and ensuring that the vessel complies with local and international laws, as well as company and flag...
Abraham Bristow, discovers the Auckland IslandsAuckland IslandsThe Auckland Islands are an archipelago of the New Zealand Sub-Antarctic Islands and include Auckland Island, Adams Island, Enderby Island, Disappointment Island, Ewing Island, Rose Island, Dundas Island and Green Island, with a combined area of...
. - August/September - November/December
- – Te Aara (George) joins the Star on a sealing voyage to the Antipodes IslandsAntipodes IslandsThe Antipodes Islands are inhospitable volcanic islands to the south of—and territorially part of—New Zealand...
and is returned again to WhangaroaWhangaroaWhangaroa is a locality on the harbour of the same name in Northland, New Zealand.Whangaroa is 8km north-west from Kaeo and 45km north from Okaihau. The harbour is almost landlocked and is popular both as a fishing spot in its own right and as a base for deep-sea fishing.The harbour was the scene...
.
- – Te Aara (George) joins the Star on a sealing voyage to the Antipodes Islands
- 8 September – The Richard and Mary, CaptainCaptain (nautical)A sea captain is a licensed mariner in ultimate command of the vessel. The captain is responsible for its safe and efficient operation, including cargo operations, navigation, crew management and ensuring that the vessel complies with local and international laws, as well as company and flag...
Leikins leaves Port JacksonPort JacksonPort Jackson, containing Sydney Harbour, is the natural harbour of Sydney, Australia. It is known for its beauty, and in particular, as the location of the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge...
for England with (Maa-)Tara, son of Te Pahi, aboard. - September – The Argo returns to Port JacksonPort JacksonPort Jackson, containing Sydney Harbour, is the natural harbour of Sydney, Australia. It is known for its beauty, and in particular, as the location of the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge...
. Captain Bader discharges RuataraRuatara (chief)Ruatara, was a chief of the Ngāpuhi iwi in New Zealand. He introduced European crops to New Zealand and was host to the first Christian missionary, Samuel Marsden....
without pay. Ruatara meets Samuel MarsdenSamuel MarsdenSamuel Marsden was an English born Anglican cleric and a prominent member of the Church Missionary Society, believed to have introduced Christianity to New Zealand...
for the first time. - 12 October – The whaling ship Albion, Cuthbert Robertson, leaves Port JacksonPort JacksonPort Jackson, containing Sydney Harbour, is the natural harbour of Sydney, Australia. It is known for its beauty, and in particular, as the location of the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge...
. Ruatara joins the crew. - December – The Ferret returns to Port JacksonPort JacksonPort Jackson, containing Sydney Harbour, is the natural harbour of Sydney, Australia. It is known for its beauty, and in particular, as the location of the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge...
from England with Te Mahanga.
Undated
- In the latter half of the year the Pākehā MāoriPakeha MaoriPākehā Māori is a term used to describe early European settlers in New Zealand who lived among the Māori. Some were kept by the Māori as slaves, while others settled in Māori communities by choice, many being runaway seamen or escaped convicts...
George Bruce marries Te Pahi’s youngest daughter, Te Atahoe, and is tattooed as a warrior. He later (his memoirs are dictated in England about 1818) becomes one of the earliest sources of insight into Māori culture at that time.
See also
- List of years in New Zealand
- Timeline of New Zealand historyTimeline of New Zealand historyThis is a timeline of the history of New Zealand and only includes events deemed to be of principal importance - for more detailed information click the year heading or refer to List of years in New Zealand.- Prehistory :...
- History of New ZealandHistory of New ZealandThe history of New Zealand dates back at least 700 years to when it was discovered and settled by Polynesians, who developed a distinct Māori culture centred on kinship links and land. The first European explorer to discover New Zealand was Abel Janszoon Tasman on 13 December 1642...
- Military history of New ZealandMilitary history of New ZealandThe military history of New Zealand is an aspect of the history of New Zealand that spans several hundred years. When first settled by Māori almost a millennium ago, there was much land and resources, but war began to break out as the country's carrying capacity was approached...
- Timeline of environmental history of New ZealandTimeline of environmental history of New ZealandThis is a timeline of environmental history of New Zealand. These events relate to the more notable events affecting the natural environment of New Zealand as a result of human activity.-Pre 1800s:...
- Timeline of New Zealand's links with AntarcticaTimeline of New Zealand's links with AntarcticaThis is a timeline of the history of New Zealand's involvement with Antarctica.-Eighteenth and nineteenth centuries:1773*17 January Captain James Cook and the crews of his expedition's ships, Resolution and Adventure, become the first explorers to cross the Antarctic Circle1770s – 1830s*Sealers and...
For world events and topics in 1806 not specifically related to New Zealand see: 1806