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The New Zealand Company originated in 1839 in London with the aim of promoting the “systematic” colonisation of New Zealand. The Company intended to follow the colonising principles of Edward Gibbon Wakefield, who envisaged the creation of a new-model English society in the southern hemisphere. Wakefield’s emigration system professed higher, more noble aims than mere financial profit. The company established settlements at Wellington, Nelson, Wanganui and Dunedin and also became involved in the settling of New Plymouth and Christchurch. It reached the peak of efficiency about 1841, encountered financial problems from 1843 from which it never recovered, and wound up in 1858. |
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| During the 1841 period, new settlements sprang up on both islands of New Zealand. Three ships were dispatched from England to carry out a survey for the new settlement of Nelson. The barques “Whitby”, “Will Watch” and the brig “Arrow” left with 59 officials and labourers. The “Will Watch” carried 45 labourers, while the cargo hold of the “Arrow” was packed with stores of all kinds for the settlers. The first two vessels sailed on the 2nd May, 1841 from Gravesend but the Arrow did not get away until the 21st. All three vessels arrived at Port Nicholson when there was some argument over the site. The expedition crossed Cook Strait to explore the area, and it was finally agreed that the settlement would be located in the S.E. corner of Wakatu Bay. Late October 1841, saw a second migrant wave of ships heading for Nelson. The small brig “Lloyds” carried the wives and children of the men sent out in the first settlers. She was accompanied by the “Lord Auckland”, “Fifeshire” and “Mary Ann”, the four ships carrying some 764 people bound for the settlement. Quite a large number of the emigrants came from Alton and the surrounding villages. Henry Lunn from Froyle sailed on the “Whitby” on 27th April 1841 according to the passenger list (see link below), with the remainder of his family following on the “Lloyds” on September 11th of the same year. I have also added a link to a web page listing Shipping Arrivals in NZ at that time which is part of the quaintly named “Perth Dead Persons’ Society” which contains valuable information about emigrants to New Zealand and Australia. |
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| There are discrepancies in the sailing dates, as “Whitby” & “Will Watch” are reported as departing Gravesend, with much ceremony and a 21 gun salute, on Sunday, May 2nd., although the manifest above has the date as April 27th. Possibly the ships left the Port of London and stopped off at Gravesend - so far I haven’t found any reason. However, “Lloyds”, shown above as sailing on September 11th, was reported leaving The Downs, off the East Kent Coast, on October 2nd, so she may well have been either waiting a fair wind, or dealing with the death of eight week old Elizabeth Eves who “died on embarkation”. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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