THE FIRST SHIP

Taranaki Daily News, 18 February 1933, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE FIRST SHIP

THE WILLIAM BRYAN

(By

T.C.L.)

The first barque that left England under the company’s scheme was the William Bryan, 312 tons, Captain Maclean, which brought out 148 passengers, including 70 children. The barque had been engaged in the West Indian trade and chartered by her owners, Domett and England, of London, at the rate of £5 2s 6d per ton, which works out at just under £l6OO for the voyage. In addition the charterers were to allow the owners £6O a head for victualling the cabin passengers, £4O for intermediate or second cabin passengers, and £lB 15s for the steerage passengers. The ship was bound to carry a surgeon and the manning was on the scale of five men and one boy to every 100 tons registered. It is interesting to know that the lower deck, where the' emigrants lived, was only 105 ft. 3ins. long, and’ the headroom or height of the ceiling from the deck was just over 6ft. at the for’ard end, sft. Ilins, at the main hatchway, and 7ft. at the stem post Such was the room for 148 people, including 70 children! The William Bryan left Plymouth on November 19, 1840. Mr. George Cutfield, a naval architect, late of H.M. Dockyard, Devonport, Plymouth, was in charge of the expedition. On board were Mr. Richard Chihnan, of London, who acted on the voyage as clerk, and Mr. Cutfield; Mr. Thomas King, of London, and Mr. A. Aubrey, son of Colonel Aubrey, of the Horse Guards. Mr. Weeks was the ship's surgeon.

Prior to their departure the emigrants were entertained at a lunch, the Earl of Devout presiding, and at this historic gathering Mr. Gibbon Wakefield, of the New Zealand Land Company, announced that the previous day’s London Gazette contained a proclamation that Captain Hobson had taken possession of New Zealand in the name of the British Government. It is a significant fact .that when the New Zealand Land Company began its preparations for colonisation the country was not even British soil. The barque William Bryan ploughed her way through the sea southward, with her little body of pioneer settlers from England. After an uneventful voyage of nearly four months, Captain Maclean informed his passengers that they were within 120 miles from land. It is recorded that shortly after dinner that day Mr. Cutfield’s little terrier suddenly took to barking and running about the deck, repeatedly trying to jump ton or over the bulwarks. He had evidently smelt the breeze from the lahd, although it was computed that the vessel was then some 90 miles off. The passengers, however, soon began to perceive an odour of wood and fern—delightful indeed to those who had been on the ocean for four months. At about half past four the next morning the cry of “Land .on the starboard bowl”, aroused some of the emigrants, who hastened on deck to obtain a glimpse of the new home' they were approaching.

The scene that opened up is somewhat graphically described by one of the passengers:—“lt was early dawn, yet you could easily distinguish against thq eastern sky a long, knobby outline of cold, grey mountains. The morning was decidedly raw, but few passengers made their appearance to take,an early look at their new home, and some of these few soon returned to their warm'beds. Light gradually stole over the scene, the sky changing to a bright orange colour, contrasting effectively with the deep blue of the sea. In about an. hour the sun’s rays shot upwards from the horizon, and soon appeared in all his glory. The land became more elevated as we approached it, and separated into a chain of high blue mountains far in the interior, and an undulating line of brown hills, extending down to the water’s edge. A remarkable white cliff (produced by a landslip) could now be seen a little. This had been noticed by Colonel Wakefield as a good landmark for ships making Cape Farewell a little to the south. In another hour the trees were visible .to the ;naked eye; open patches of fern land were lit up by the morning’s sun; some white smoke rose calmly out of a small ravine; but no living thing could yet be seen. At eight o’clock we were seven miles from Cape Farewell. On entering Cook’s Strait the breeze died away. The sun’s rays felt warmer than they had for some time previously, and a sweet perfume of flowers seemed to be wafted to us from the woods. We went to breakfast in high spirits, conversing less on the past than on the probabilities and improbabilities of the future that awaited

Head winds and calms detained the vessel for three days in the Strait, and at last the .William Bryan anchored at Port Underwood on Saturday,. March 20, 1841. This perfectly land-locked harbour was visited in 1774 by Captain Cook, who named or, or rather the outer Roadstead, Cloudy Bay. Dark precipitous hills frowned down on the immigrants as the vessel glided to the anchorage, and those on board experienced a feeling of disappointment at seeing no land fit for cultivation, excepting some patches in small bays surrounding the harbour. “When the anchor splashed into the water, and the wheel was left without its man, the quiet became almost oppressive,” says one narrator. “We did not, however, forget our good fortune in having accomplished our voyage of four months so well in an-old West Indian. All who had embarked at Plymouth, including the 70 children, had arrived, not only. in safety, but in excellent health. Dr. Weeks, the ship’s surgeon, had strictly enforced cleanliness and order, and encouraged cheerful recreations during the passage; Captain Maclean had proved himself a good sailor; the company had put on board good, wholesome provisions; and here was the result. The emigrants had dined ‘al fresco’ for nearly two months on deck, as very little rain fell during the passage.” As the William Bryan was. entering Post Underwood, the barque Brougham was just taking her departure, and the immigrants learned from those on board that Taranaki had been .selected as their settlement. Many of the passengers expressed their disappointment at this choice of Colonel Wakefield, and appeared to think that their interests had been less consulted than those of the New Zealand Company’s immigrants, for they were told that Taranaki possessed no harboub whatever. They were comforted, however, by the assurance that the land chosen was “the Garden of New Zealand.”