1801 in New Zealand

The ships visits to collect timber come to an end as the wood they have been taking, kahikatea and pohutakawa, is found to be unsuitable for ship building. With the end of this industry the Firth of Thames area ceases to be the main point of contact for pākehā and Māori. At the end of the year Governor King reports half a dozen whaling ships are operating off the north coast. [http://www.teara.govt.nz/EarthSeaAndSky/HarvestingTheSea/Whaling/1/mi Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand: Whaling] ] The first recorded sealing ship visit to Dusky Sound in 4 years takes place as most sealers visit the recently discovered Bass Strait rookeries instead.Salmond, Anne. Between Worlds. 1997. Penguin Books (NZ) Ltd. ISBN 0 670 87787 5.]

Incumbents

Regal and Vice Regal

*Head of State – King George III.
*Governor of New South Wales – Philip Gidley King

Events

*2 March – The "El Plumier", Captain William Reid arrives at Hauraki (the Waihou River between the Hauraki Plains and Coromandel Peninsula) to collect timber. There are women and children on board. In attempting to travel up the Waihou the ship runs aground causing some damaage. The crew meet Thomas Taylor, [See 1799] who acts as interpreter for the local Māori who help in unsuccessful attempts to refloat the ship and also provide the crew with food.
*20 April – The "Royal Admiral", Captain William Wilson, arrives at Hauraki to collect timber before taking several London Missionary Society Brothers to the mission in Tahiti. They encounter Māori who help with provisioning and inform them of a ship further up river. They send a boat several days later which soon finds the "El Plumier". Captain Wilson later encounters Thomas Taylor who had been staying with local Māori for 2 years. Captain Wilson and the LMS Brothers record some details of Māori life given to them by Taylor.
*15 June – The "Royal Admiral" leaves Hauraki. The Brothers from the LMS later write accounts of New Zealand and raise the possibility of sending a mission there. However the timber voyages end later in the year and nothing comes of these suggestions.
*20 August – The "El Plumier" leaves Hauraki. She is later captured by the Spanish at Guam and all records of her visit to New Zealand are lost.
*5 December – 21 December – The"Venusⁱⁱ", Captain George Bass, visits Dusky Sound. The crew investigates seal rookeries, cut timber and retrieve iron from the beached wreck of the "Endeavour" (see 1795-97). [Bass may have visited Dusky Sound in 1803 on his way to South America but he and the "Venusⁱⁱ" disappeared along with any records he made of his earlier visit. Only a few letters survive which do not record any encounters with any Māori.]

Undated

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 1801 not specifically related to New Zealand see": 1801

References