Home in a land of promise: Wellington in 1841-42

Turnbull Library Record, Volume XIV, Issue 1, 1 May 1981, Page 40

Home in a land of promise: Wellington in 1841-42

JUNE STARKE

John Plimmer, 1812-1905, merchant and self-designated ‘Father of Wellington’ recalled in old age his thoughts and experiences l on his arrival on 31 October 1841 in Port Nicholson on the brig Gertrude when 216 New Zealand Company settlers were landed at Kaiwharawhara and lodged in raupo huts there. He remembered happy shipboard days for a group of ‘young and healthy’ immigrants drawn by the representations of the Company’s agents to a ‘Land of Promise’ and noted that:

. . . [we] often calculated what pleasant homes we would build in this modern Goshen, the land ‘flowing with milk and honey’. . . . But, alas, how grieviously were we disappointed on our arrival. There were beautiful trees descending to the water’s edge, the hills were green, the climate delightful, and the bay a splendid sheet of water. But the hills and valleys were covered with primeval forest. What little level land there was, was overgrown with fern and flax, except here and there where the Maoris had cleared a spot to plant their corn and potatoes. Instead of the Eden of our imagination, the wild and stern reality lay before us, and we were here to do the best we could with it. On board the ship we were all associated together, as it were, and could speak freely to each other of our gilded hopes; all was provided for us and we had no thought for the morrow. But no sooner were we landed than all was changed, and our bright prospects vanished into thin air. We became isolated, and everyone had to provide in the best way he could for himself and those dependent upon him. There were many families without a penny, with no knowledge of work, or the means of obtaining a livelihood. They soon found out that not only had they no homes in this new land, but that their occupation was gone; and that they had to commence life again under very different circumstances. 2

The situation was aggravated for the Gertrude immigrants as Port Nicholson’s first settlers were moving from their first insecure settlement at Petone round the harbour to Wellington. Almost the only work available was with pick and shovel or barrow or felling and carrying timber out of the bush. But Plimmer, a builder and contractor, was able to turn youthful forestry experience to practical use. ‘The first thing I did was to build a wood collier’s cabin, and to make some charcoal burn in it. In this place, which I was only one day in building, we lived pretty comfortably for a year.’

William Swainson, 1759-1856, arrived at Port Nicholson in June 1841 and sketched this raupo cottage at Petone. Thatched raupo structures were the most common form of temporary dwelling but differ radically from the home that John Plimmer built for his family. For the benefit of future emigrants Plimmer described the construction of the building in detail:

First choose a place for your building that is dry, and, if possible, where there is a good strong turf, then strike a circle on the turf of about 12 feet in diameter; cut out 4 poles, each about 15 feet long, with forks at the upper ends; place these at regular distances, the lower ends in the circle, locking the forks together in the centre at the top, then fill in between these 7 principals with other straight poles, keeping the lower end ofeach on the circle and resting the other end on the principals at the top, continue thus until you have the whole circle filled in and closely packed together, leaving only an opening six feet by three and a half feet for the door, tying a short piece of wood across about six feet from the ground. This forms the top of the door. Be careful to place the door away from the prevailing winds. When the timbering is finished the thatching commences, which is done in the following manner: —Take a sharp spade and cut the turf within a foot of the circle, and continue so all round; cut the edges of the turf thin, and the middle about one and a half inches thick, lay these on the foot of the timbers all round, the lower edge resting on the ground, then lay the next row above these, overlapping them as if you were tileing, and so on to the top. This kind of thatching, if well done, will keep watertight for two years. The sleeping places were made by a large pole or log on each side, about two feet six inches from the centre inside, and another along the end of these about eight feet from the doorway. The beds are made inside these logs, which also form seats all round. I filled the bed places with a layer of ti-tree, keeping the feathery end uppermost, then laid our bed on top of that. This makes a luxurious, a very sweet

and clean bed. The fire is made in the centre, of charcoal, which is quite safe, as the gases rise through the apex and permeate through the turf. You can thus sit all round your fire, and cook in a clean and wholesome manner, without smoke or anything to annoy you.

John Plimmer’s sod-covered ‘tepee’ was built in Ingestre Street (now Vivian Street) on a town acre leased for 21 years at an annual rental of £42. He lived there with his wife Eliza (Roden) whom he married in Birmingham in 1834, three young children and perhaps his ‘apprentice’ and namesake John Plimmer, aged 17, until a six-roomed house was built. In 1846, now resident on Lambton Quay, Plimmer was advertising to let a ‘convenient eight-roomed cottage situated in Ingestre Street with a garden attached’. 3 A garden now cultivated where there was ‘a good strong turf where once had stood ‘a wood collier’s cabin’.

REFERENCES 1 The Life of John Plimmer ‘Father of Wellington’ with Selections from his Writings, by John Young, was printed in Wellington, 1901, for private circulation only by the New Zealand Times Co., Ltd. However, in the Library’s copy, above the dedication to Right Hon. R.J. Seddon on the leaf following the title page there is a note‘Mr A.H. Turnbull from the author, John Plimmer, Sept 26th, 190 T. At least one other presentation copy is known to have the same inscription which indicates that Mr Young’s role was that of compiler or ghost writer. 2 Quotations in the text are to be found in The Life of John Plimmer, p. 7-12. 3 New Zealand Spectator and Cook’s Straits Guardian, vol. 3 no. 126, 14 October 1846, p. 2 column 1.