1806 in New Zealand

Sealing continues at Bass Strait and the Antipodes Islands. At the end of the year there is a new sealing rush to the Bounty and Auckland Islands. Few sealers, if any, are known to have visited the Foveaux Strait area at this time, although this may be due in part to the secrecy of the captains and owners in reporting where they operate and/or the existence of the Strait not yet being widely known. Whaling continues off the east coast of the North Island. Ships are now visiting the Bay of Islands on a reasonably regular basis. The first reports about the poor behaviour of ships crews are sent to the Church Missionary Society in London.Salmond, Anne. Between Worlds. 1997. Penguin Books (NZ) Ltd. ISBN 0 670 87787 5.]

Between 1800 and 1806, £200,000 worth of whale oil was taken from the New Zealand area by British whaling ships operating from Sydney. [cite web|url=http://www.gov-gen.govt.nz/utilities/printspeech.asp?ID=205|title=Speeches by Sir Paul Reeves - Trafalgar Night Dinner, HMNZS Philomel, Auckland|date=20 October 1989]

Incumbents

Regal and Vice Regal

*Head of State – King George III.
*Governor of New South Wales – William Bligh arrives on 6 August to take over from Philip Gidley King. King does not leave until 10 February the following year. [http://gutenberg.net.au/dictbiog/0-dict-biogBe-Bo.html#bligh1 Dictionary of Australian Biography: William Bligh] ] [http://gutenberg.net.au/dictbiog/0-dict-biogI-K.html#king2 Dictionary of Australian Biography: Philip Gidley King] ]

Events

*25 February – The "Lady Nelson" leaves Port Jackson to return Te Pahi and his sons to the Bay of Islands. Te Pahi has been given bricks and a frame for a European house, and other goods. During the journey Te Pahi becomes ill and is nursed by ex-convict George Bruce.
*18 March – The "Argo", Captain John Bader, again visits the Bay of Islands but Te Pahi is still absent. Ruatara (and possibly the 2 other Maori) remain with the ship. (see 1805)
*20 April – The "Lady Nelson" stops near North Cape where George Bruce jumps ship after being flogged a week earlier. He begins to make his way south to the Bay of Islands.
*27 April – The "Ferret" arrives in London with Te Mahanga aboard. He is the first Maori known to have visited England. In London he is rejoined by John Savage who left the ship at Cork. While in London Te Mahanga meets King George III and Queen Charlotte.
*Late April – The Lady Nelson arrives in the Bay of Islands returning Te Pahi and his sons. The ship’s carpenter begins (and finishes?) erecting Te Pahi’s house. [http://www.dnzb.govt.nz/dnzb/default.asp?Find_Quick.asp?PersonEssay=1T53 Dictionary of New Zealand Biography: Te Pahi] ]
*12 June – The "Alexander" arrives at Portsmouth with Teina and Maki aboard.
*13 June – The "Ferret" leaves London for Port Jackson with Te Mahanga aboard.
*17 June – The "Venus" , Captain Samuel Chace, is taken piratically at Port Dalrymple (Launceston) and sails for New Zealand. There are 2 women, Charlotte Badger and convict Catherine Hagerty, among those that take over the ship. [http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~tonyf/venus/venus1.html Mutiny Aboard the Venus] ]
*27 June – The "Alexander" arrives in London. Teina and Maki come under the care of Reverend Joseph Hardcastle of the London Missionary Society who tries to arrange for their return to New South Wales. However, before he can do so Teina dies and Maki is kidnapped by a crimp, his later fate unknown.
*July/August – The "Venus" arrives at the Bay of Islands. Two men, convicts Richard Evans and John Lancashire, the two women, Charlotte Badger and Catherine Hagerty, and two children, Charlotte Badger’s young daughter and possibly the aboriginal cabin boy William Evans, are left at Rangihoua Bay. Hegarty and Badger are the first pākehā women to stay voluntarily in New Zealand. [See also 1795-97 in New Zealand.] The two men are returned to Port Jackson by visiting ships, possibly before the end of the year. The Venus with it’s 6 remaining crew then travels down the east coast of the North Island kidnapping several Māori women along the way and selling them to rival tribes who eventually killed them. These women included the sister and niece of Te Morenga and a relative of Hongi Hika’s and their deaths were the cause of the retaliatory raids by these two chiefs in 1818. [http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~teecee/1846table.htm Early European Visits to NZ] ] [http://www.dnzb.govt.nz/dnzb/default.asp?Find_Quick.asp?PersonEssay=1B1 Dictionary of New Zealand Biography: Charlotte Badger] ] [http://www.teara.govt.nz/1966/M/TeMorenga/TeMorenga/en New Zealand Encyclopaedia 1966: Te Morenga Biography] ]
*6 August - The new Governor of New South Wales, William Bligh, arrives.
*18 August – The "Ocean", Captain Abraham Bristow, discovers the Auckland Islands.Wises New Zealand Guide, 7th Edition, 1979. p.18.]
*August/September - November/December - Te Aara (George) joins the "Star" on a sealing voyage to the Antipodes and is returned again to Whangaroa.
*8 September – The "Richard and Mary", Captain Leikins leaves Port Jackson for England with (Maa-)Tara, son of Te Pahi, aboard.
*September – The "Argo" returns to Port Jackson. Captain Bader discharges Ruatara without pay. Ruatara meets Samuel Marsden for the first time. [http://www.teara.govt.nz/1966/R/Ruatara/Ruatara/en New Zealand Encyclopaedia 1966: Ruatara Biography] ]
*12 October – The whaling ship "Albion", Cuthbert Robertson, leaves Port Jackson. Ruatara joins the crew.
*December – The "Ferret" returns to Port Jackson from England with Te Mahanga.

Undated

*In the latter half of the year George Bruce marries Te Pahi’s youngest daughter, Te Atahoe, and is tattooed as a warrior. He later (his memoirs are dictated in England about 1818) becomes one of the earliest sources for insight into Māori culture at this time.

Births

Deaths

ee also

*List of years in New Zealand
*Timeline of New Zealand history
*History of New Zealand
*Military history of New Zealand
*Timeline of environmental history of New Zealand
*Timeline of New Zealand's links with Antarctica

"For world events and topics in 1806 not specifically related to New Zealand see": 1806

References