OTAGO ANNIVERSARY

Evening Star, Issue 17926, 23 March 1922, Page 10

OTAGO ANNIVERSARY

SOBETHitIG ABOUT THE FIRST SHIPS. ALSO THE PIONEER SETTLERS. Examining the records in the possession ~f tho Otago Early Settlers’ Association, particularly Or Hocken's history, one finds much interesting matter concerning the founding of the Otago Settlement. No special sanctity attaches to the name of the vessel from which the first ot tho organised settlors landed scvcnty-foiu je.irs a"o to-day. John Wickliffe tho ship was not so saintly as John AVickliffe the man. It was by chance that tho early settlers had her to travel by. If a vessel named Beelzebub had offered at a lower charter she would have been chosen. As a tact, the directors of the Now Zealand 1 Company invited tenders for two vessels to Bail for Otago, and that was how the John Wicklifle and the I’hilip Laing were chartered. . The John Wickliffe was relatively a new vessel, having been built in .1841, _ She was of 662 tons measurement— quite a small thing—and was owned by John Sands, of Greenock, who received 2,000 gs for her services. The Philip Laing, only 547 tons, belonged to Laing and Ridley, of Liverpool, who wele paid something over £I,BOO for its charter.

The passage money was fixed at from 35gs to 60gs in tho cabin, 20gs in the forecabin, I6gs in the steerage. The John Wickliffo was primarily the store ship of the expedition. Being laden with all sorts of goods—implements, frames of houses, etc., in addition to food supplies for a period—she had room for only ninety-seven emigrants, headed by Captain Cargill, the Moses of the settlement. His salary was £6OO per year. The party on board may or may not have known, as a party, that their vessel also carried tho money, thlfe consisting of £SOO, made up of £IOO in gold mintage, £350 in general silver coins, and £SO worth of fourpenny pieces. There is no mention in the records of copper money. Probably it was assumed that the pioneers bad private stocks of that currency. Captain Bartholomew Daly, who had voyaged to tho East Indies, had command of tho John Wicklitfe.

The Philip Laing, commanded by Captain A, J. Elies, who afterwards married Clementina, Burns, eldest daughter of the pastor, carried 247 emigrants, of whom the chief was the Rev. Dr Thomas Burns, known as the Aaron of the- settlement. 11l luck attended both vessels at the outset of their voyages. The John Wicklilfo sailed from Gravesend on October 24, 1847; was buffeted for tluee weeks in the English Channel; being leaky and requiring the use of the pumps, she put into Portsmouth on December 8, and did net leave there until December 16. Going out of harbor she narrowly escaped collision with an ingoing barque. Before losing the Jandi she was nearly wrecked on the Scilly Islands. Subsequently she was saved by seamanship from being driven on to Kerguelen’s Land. It was an eventful not to say sensational voyage that ended when she anchored at Taiaroa Heads on Wednesday, March 22, 1848, and her people were devoutly thankful to get ashore at Port Chalmers the following day.

One of the first acta performed by the John Wickliffe’s party was to set up a school, with Henry Monson as master and Miss ’ Westland as matron. Their names ought to be held in reverence. Another civic duty, though of no particular importance at tho time, was to appoint a constable, William MoSfey, who afterwards settled at Inch Clutha, got that honor, and kept the peace for a gratuity of half a crown per week. The Philip Laing also had her bad luck early on the trip. She weighed anchor at Greenock on November. 27, 1847, and after putting out met with wild weather, causing her to shelter first in Lamlash Bay and then in Milford Haven, so that it was December 20 when she finally stood south, or four days after the John Wicklifife took her departure. Having tho spiritual chief on board, the Philip Laing’s people were disciplined. They rose, by regulation, at 6.30 every morning, were on deck by 7.30, and no breakfast was served until the berths were all scabbed out. No land was sighted on the voyage, and nothing special occurred. She entered Otago Harbor on Saturday, April 15. So that tho John Wickliffe proved to be the faster vessel by about ten days, or, rather,'the Philip Laing proved to be the slower. Neither could bo accused of impetuosity. As the Philip Laing was anchoring a child slipped from its mother’s arms into the harbor. Mr Blackie, tho ship’s schoolmaster, wont overboard without hesitation and saved tho youngster. Fixing wages was accomplished summarily. Captain Cargill called a meeting, and announced that ho had prepared a schedule of rates for public works. It was quite simple—all in one clause—3s a day for laborers and 5s for craftsmen. The Maoris showed much kindness to the settlers, and helped them to build bouses, also assisted in constructing the barracks, which extended from tho junction of High and Princes streets to Dowling street. Some of the early buildings leaked badly when the wet weather set in. Stores were sold by the company at reasonable rates—oatmeal 2a 6d, and flour 3s the stone; sugar, per lb; tea, Is 3d per lb; beef and mutton, 6d per lb. The 21st April was fixed for tho formal selecting of town sections by those who before leaving the Old Country had entitled themselves to become land purchasers. Julius Jeffreys, who according to the ballot had first choice, picked a section on tho water's edge at Port Chalmers'. Ho rndsaed his chanoo. So did tho men who had second and third pick. Tho shrewd pioneer, or the one who was lucky enough to foresee, was David Garrick, who selected fourth in order. He elected to have a section in Dunedin, and ho chose the quarter-acre on part of which the Bank of New Zealand now stands. Before long, however, ho made tho commercial mistake of selling out to one M’Donald for £IOO. M’Donald turned in a good profit by selling to George Smith for £300; he, in turn, lot tho section go toAV. 0. Young and Edward M'Glashan at £1,600; and in 1863 they sold portion of the area to the bank for £9,000.

The section on which the Government Insurance building is now erected) was not deemed worth flocking at in those early days, because it lay in a hollow. The present site of the Grand Hotel was also despised. There were rare bargains in land privately for a while after this. It is commonly believed that the Princes and Rattray street frontages from Sagar’s shop round to the D.I.C. were bought for £6OO on account of a lady who never saw Now Zealand. The two years after the founding of the settlement were mostly given over to individual betterment. The interests of the community played second fiddle. In the ‘Otago News’ of date March, 1850, appears a summary of the progress made. It aaya that “ beyond making one or two small drains and covering a piece of Prinoeo street with metal, and laying out a private footpath or so, nothing has been done to meet the wants of the inhabitants,” In a succeeding sentence reference is made to the fact that a footpath to Anderson Bay is now passable to pedestrians.

The European population of the Otago Settlement was counted on April 1, 1860, and found to number 1,220. The record adds: “ Some of the married males have Maori wives, and they are not reckoned in the list of married females.” No reason is given for the discrimination. The number of, buildings in Dunedin, Port Chalmers, and suburbs was at the same date 202, and their total value was assessed at from £l,lOO to £1,200. Ruling wages then were i Day laborers, i 3a to 3s 6d; domestic servants; £8 to £lB a year j carpenters, 5s to 6s 6d per day. Cows were valued at from £l4 to £18; flour, £2O per ton; bread, 9d per 41b loaf; meat, about 6|d per lb; milk, 4d par quail; tea, 2s 6d per lb.

Fast Day was an institution. _ It was tho Thursday before the Communion, and was kept as a holy day even up to the seventies.

Of tho passengers by the two first ships but few survive, '[’hero are only six of tho John Wickliffo’s party—viz., Mrs J. R. Johnston (Marion Cargill), of Dunedin ; Mrs Thos. Porens (Margaret Westland), of Westport; Thos. H. Blatcli, of West Taieri; Mrs Elizabeth Titchcner (Miss Finch), of Caveraham ; Miss Mosley, of Stirling; Mrs Mosley (Elizabeth Griffiths), of Balelutha.

Sixteen of the Philip Laing’s people are still alive: Mrs Wm. Bannerman (Miss Burns), of Roslyn; Mrs Henry Livingstone (Miss Burns), of Christchurch ; Miss Agnes Burns, of Dunedin: Air George Mackio Williamson, of Gisborne; Mrs Wm. Allan (Marion Seaton), of Dunedin; Mrs Charles Findlay,, of Dunedin; Mr David Buchanan, of Kelso; Airs James Stevenson (Jeannie Buchanan), of Ternuka; Air Robert Dalziel, of Brockvillc; Air Adam Robert Duff, of Waihola; Airs J. L. Son ter (Alarion Duff), of Sydney; Airs Wm. Churchill (Annie Hair), of Dunedin ; Air Walter Watson, of Invercargill : Air John Gillies, of Perth ; Air Thos. AlTvav. of AYingatm, and his brother Air Wm. AFKay.