Akaroa’s French connection

Press, Volume CXVI, Issue 34045, 8 January 1976, Page 7

Akaroa’s French connection

Akaroa is one of the most historic and attractive places on Banks Peninsula. It is also unique in that it is the only French settlement in New Zealand. Akaroa lies on the harbour of the same name about 84 kilometres south-

east of Christchurch on State Highway 75. Its ■name, more properly Hakaroa in South Island Maori, means “long bay” or “Jong harbour”. It has a unique atmosphere, a blend of French and New Zealand customs that would not be found anywhere else in the country. Akaroa’s connections with France are generally

attributed to the enterprise of a French whaling captain, Jean Langlois, who, in 1838, bought 30,000 acres of Banks Peninsula from the Maoris with a small instalment of trading goods, to be supplemented later by a larger payment.

Langlois and the merchants secured the support of the French Admiralty,

which provided a ship for emigrants and also sent along the warship L’Aube for protection.

The Comte de Paris and the L’Aube left Rochefort on March 8, 1.840, with 63 emigrants. After a long and stormy voyage, they reached New Zealand only to be driven away from the entrance to Akaroa Harbour by unfavourable winds.

The ships temporarily anchored in Pigeon Bay on August 9. When the L’Aube finally entered Akaroa on August 12, the French found that they had been beaten by the British. At anchor in the harbour

lay H.M.S. Britomart, despatched earlier that year from the Bay of Islands by Lieutenant-Governor Hobson.

Captain Stanley, in the Britomart, had arrived at Akaroa on August 10 and had hoisted the British flag there. Formal British authority was asserted the following day when courts were held under a magistrate, Mr C. B. Robinson,

The British presence did not deter the French from landing. The Comte de Paris sailed into Akaroa on August 18. The settlers were lodged in tents until August 23, when land was allotted.

Under the terms of an agreement, each settler was to be granted five acres of land and provisions for 17 months. The settlers soon had their holdings cleared and it is recorded that they provided most of the fresh vegetables for the English residents.