YACHTING.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 259, 3 November 1933, Page 12

YACHTING.

CAPTAIN HENRY PARKER. SMUGGLING DAYS RECALLED. 14FT TRIALS IN WELLINGTON. (By SPEEDWELL.) No one among the early boating men of Auckland was better known than the late Captain Henry Parker, of Devonport. First, as one of the crew of the Customs boat, he rose to be skipper of the Government revenue schooner Hawk, and later was tide surveyor and Customs official for the port. In this capacity he was in close contact with the seamen and ships of Auckland for a period of over GO years. He was always fond of the sea and spent his leisure hours in cruising and racing with his sons in various Naval cutters and yachts owned by him, and last of all in a motor boat.

Captain Parker was one of the foundation members of the North Shore Sailing Club, his sons, John and William, both joining the club in its first year. Their yacht was the Mavis, with which they won the first race for the Dunning Cup and many other prizes. He served on the committee of this club for a number of years, later filling the offices of rear-commodore, vice-commodore and commodore. He was also a member of the Auckland Yacht Club, later named the Yacht Squadron and now having the prefix "Royal." 'The captain was always a great oarsman and did much to encourage rowing, being the captain of the Waitemata Rowing Club for a number of years in the heyday of this club's prosperity.

Chairman of Regatta Committee. Another of Captain Parker's activities was the Auckland Anniversary Regatta. He was a member of this committee for over 40 years and for 15 or 10 years was its chairman and prime mover in collecting the necessary funds each year, together with his life-long friend Charles Dacre, whose period as secretary was longer than Captain Parker's term. Another branch of the late captain's work was in the Naval His connection with the Auckland Navals dates back to 1862, when he joined the company as a lad of 17, doing good service in the Maori War. One of his first duties was on the Manukau, where the Navals seized 20 war canoes, destroying them ail but one, which is now an exhibit at the Museum. Captain Daldy was in command at that tune of Mr. Parker's company, and they did good work relieving the militia garrisons at Drury and accompanying the Imperial troops in the warships Lsk and Miranda to the Thames district to intercept the Maoris making for the Waikato. They helped to build a number of redoubts from Miranda on the coast to Mercer. After the war Mr. Parker continued his interest in the Navals, later being elected captain, which office he retained until 1893. After this he helped to form the Devonport Navals and under his skiltul command they were keen rivals of bis old company, both on land and water. On his final retirement in 190(3 he was granted the rank of lieutenant-colonel.

Rows to Mahurangi and Back. As chairman of the Anniversary Regatta, or when speaking at yachting functions, the late skipper recounted many tales ot his younger days which "Speedwell" was privileged to hear. One referred to the time when, as a member of a whaleboat crew, he left Devonport before daylight one morning, rowed down to Mahurangi, competed in and won the whaleboat race at the local regatta, and with very little spell rowed back home the same afternoon. One of the crew of that exploit was Sir Edwin Mitchelson, the only one still with us. The others were Angus Nicholson, a boatbuilder, Charles Hopkins, later captain in the Northern Company, and Mr. Alex Alison, for many years manager of the Devonport Ferry Co.

In the sixties and seventies there was a lot of smuggling done here. Then Auckland owned a Meet of schooners trading to the South Pacific, and a few skippers added to their income by dropping spirits or tobacco before reaching port. Another favourite method was to load up at Auckland with "bonded" goods (i.e., goods held in bond duty free for re-shipment). These would often be transferred off the coast to a smaller vessel or landed at a rendezvous,' to be picked up and later sold in Auckland.

Captain of Revenue Schooner Hawk. To stop this practice, the Government schooner Hawk was in constant use in the eighties and later with Captain Parker in command, and he had many brushes with smugglers. Often a vessel that was suspected would be followed well out to sea. Hauls of dutiable goods were made at Little Omaha, Mahurangi, Kawau and Smugglers' Bay, Whangarei Heads. Captain Beckham, the magistrate of those days, was a terror to all smugglers, for, in addition to their vessel being confiscated if caught with contraband on board, they were invariably fined £100 or given twelve months'in gaol. In those days it was a common sight to see several small craft anchored in Commercial Bay (about the sight of the present railway station) with the Government mark of a broad arTOw on their masts, denoting their forfeiture to the Crown.

In at least one well-known case the caretaker was induced to get into the ship's boat, when the skipper and crew cleared out with her. One of the last cases of forfeiture in which Captain Parker was interested was the barque Gazelle. Her skipper was convicted of having 4501b of tobacco under his bunk, and the ship lay at anchor off Hobson Bay, while her skipper and owner unsuccessfully made appeals for her return. She was eventually sold as a coal hulk to the Northern Co., and finally left her ribs in Islington Bay.

Smuggling on the Coast. The Wade River and the hotel there, kept by a well-know Irishman, was a hot bed of smuggling. On one occasion Captain Parker and his men, from "information received," visited the hotel. They_ were received with every show of hospitality by the licensee, who persuaded them to sit down on an upturned boat by the river while he supplied them with free refreshment and kept them talking. One by one they left and scoured the district, but without result. Later they learned that the "stuff" they were after was concealed beneath the upturned boat on which, they sat.

His excise duties frequently took Captain Parker ashore into the Waitakeres or up the Waikato after private "stills." There was a standing reward of £100 for information leading to the finding of a still. There was one in the vicinity of Pirongia, which received rather closer attention than the owners liked. As the still was getting out of .repair the partners decided to quit, but before doing so they went after the reward. One partner cajne to Auckland and offered to lead an official to a secret "still." He did so, and as the still was found, minus the owner, in working order, he claimed and received the £100. Later the secret leaked out, but in those days there was not much sympathy with the officers of the law as far as smuggling was concerned.

On another occasion Captain Parker went to Te Awamutu after an illicit still, which a neighbour had given information about, after falling out with the owner of the still. As it happened, Captain Parker was recognised by a friend of the still owner, and while the Customs people were having a meal at the local hotel, the friend rode as fast as he could and warned the still owner, who removed all trace of it, greeting the Customs men with a shocked expression for being thought to be a lawbreaker. The informer, naturally, did not get his reward that time. Although there are cases where Captain Parker did not get his riian, they were the exceptions, and he was long known as a zealous and successful office^