OLD WHALING DAYS

Stratford Evening Post, Volume I, Issue 258, 9 October 1931, Page 3

OLD WHALING DAYS

HUNDRED YEARS AGO COMING OTAGO CENTENARY PROPOSED COMMEMORATION An interesting chapter from the earliest history of Otago was quoted by tlie Mayor of* Dunedin, Mr. R. S. Black, at a meeting of the City Council last week, when lie urged councillors to consider the advisability of commemoiating the establishment of a whaling base at Otago Heads in 1831, 17 years before the arrival of the “first foui ships.” While much prominence was given to the settlement in IS4S, said the Mayor; little was known of the first settlement of Otago by the Weller brothers, who had laid the foundations for the later settlers. He asked councillors to consider his proposal before the next meeting of the conncil, as- the anniversary of the establishment of the Whaling base fell in November. The following interesting account of (he century-old establishment, compiled by the Early Settlers’ Association, was read by the Mayor:

“Towards the end of 1831 the Weller brothers, of Sydney, decided to form a whaling establishment at Otago Harbour, and purchased the Lucy Ann from the New South Wales Government, sending her across under the command of Captain Owen to Otago, then called Otakou. ( • Disastrous Fire “The Lucy Ann carried six cases of muskets, 10 barrels and 104 half-bar-rels of gunpowder, 1 case axes, 2 iroh. boilers, 5 casks of beef, 1 case of whaling gear, 1 case of whaling line,: 1 pipe of gin, 2 puncheons of rum," 5 kegs of tobacco and stores. After landing the settlers the Lucy Ann returned to Sydney on February 29, 1832, with a largo of 100 spars,, 10,649 feet of planks, 1,200 tre'nnails and .half a ton of flax.

“The results of the first year'£ jyhaling were completely lost by' a 'fire which occurred in the beginning’’ of April, 1832, burning down about. ,80 houses and totally destroying the whaling’ establishments. The 'fjrst oil from the Otago settlement arrived in Sydney by the Lucy Ann on November 7, 1833. Captain William Wof til’s cargo consisted of 130 tons of -oil,' 7 tons of whalebone, 1 ton of flax, 8 tons of potatoes; 1 cask of sealskins. The ship also brought five Maoris. “As the islands of New Zealand were not a British possession, the Lucy Ann had great difficulty in landing her cargo, heavy foreign duty being charged.

“The Wellers, in the meantime, had built another vessel, the Joseph Weller, at Stewart Island —the first ship to be built there —and were refused British registration of the ship on Mbveraber 19, 1833, by the New South Wales authorities. A license,' however, was granted by the Home authorities'on June 12, 1834, to the Joseph Weller. Charges Against Maoris “A letter published by the Sydney Herald of October H 5, 1834, dated September 28, 1831, from Captain Hayward, asked for warships to be sent to help the settlers aaginst the Maoris, who had plundered the ships and stolen clothes, food and oil. The settlers were afraid to sleep in their beds, and several houses were burned down. The Maoris were prevented by the relatives of the Maori chiefs who were in Sydney at the time from commencing a massacre. The settlers went about armed every day. “In 1835 Joseph Weller died oi consumption. His remains were preserved in a puncheon of rum and shipped on board the Sushannah (Captain Ridley) on September 6, 1535. She reached Sydney on September 27.”