1837 in New Zealand

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1837
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New Zealand
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The following lists events that happened during 1837 in New Zealand.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samuel Marsden</span> Church of England chaplain, missionary, agriculturalist, magistrate (1765–1838)

Samuel Marsden was an English-born priest of the Church of England in Australia and a prominent member of the Church Missionary Society. He played a leading role in bringing Christianity to New Zealand. Marsden was a prominent figure in early New South Wales and Australian history, partly through his ecclesiastical offices as the colony's senior Church of England cleric and as a pioneer of the Australian wool industry, but also for his employment of convicts for farming and his actions as a magistrate at Parramatta, both of which attracted contemporary criticism.

The history of the Canterbury Region of New Zealand dates back to settlement by the Māori people in about the 10th century.

The following lists events that happened during 1838 in New Zealand.

The following lists events that happened during 1835 in New Zealand.

The following lists events that happened during 1834 in New Zealand.

The following lists events that happened during 1831 in New Zealand.

The following lists events that happened during 1830 in New Zealand.

The following lists events that happened during 1827 in New Zealand.

The following lists events that happened during 1823 in New Zealand.

The first Christian mission is established at Rangihoua. The Hansen family, the first non-missionary family also settles there. Samuel Marsden explores the Hauraki Gulf and travels to within sight of Tauranga Harbour. The first book in Māori is published in Sydney. The first European is born in New Zealand.

With the purchase of a vessel by Samuel Marsden for use by the Church Missionary Society at the beginning of the year the establishment of a mission in New Zealand is at last possible. After a preliminary scouting trip Marsden and the missionaries arrive at the end of the year and the first mission is begun at Rangihoua Bay in the Bay of Islands.

By the end of the year reports from London regarding Napoleon's retreat from Moscow, and from the Bay of Islands regarding the hospitality of the Māori, encourage Samuel Marsden into thinking the time for the establishment of a Christian mission to New Zealand is now imminent.

There are still far fewer ships visiting New Zealand than before 1810. This is due to the economic depression which started in New South Wales in 1810 and continues until 1815. The concern that the Boyd massacre might be repeated abates somewhat as a number of reports that it was provoked reach Port Jackson. As more ships resume visits to the Bay of Islands they consistently report that they are well treated.

Foveaux Strait is the centre of attention for sealing ships. Sealing gangs are dropped along the coast from southern Fiordland to Otago Harbour and on Stewart Island/Rakiura. The Bay of Islands is sometimes on the journey to or from Port Jackson. The Chatham Islands are also visited. A few whalers also operate around New Zealand; some also collect timber from Bay of Islands.

As sealing at Bass Strait and the Antipodes Islands declines, Foveaux Strait becomes the focus for sealers from the middle of the year. The Bounty and Auckland Islands are also visited. Whaling is carried out on the east coast of New Zealand with the Bay of Islands being the usual port of call for provisioning. As many as nine ships whaling together for months at a time can occur. The behaviour of the whalers at the Bay of Islands is again commented on unfavourably, this time by a former missionary on one of the whaling ships. There are also a number of vessels collecting sandalwood from Tonga or Fiji; the majority call at the Bay of Islands en route.

There is a new sealing rush to the Bounty and Auckland Islands. Sealing also continues at Bass Strait and the Antipodes Islands. Foveaux Strait is a frequent stop for these sealing ships. 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 visiting ship's crew are sent to the Church Missionary Society in London.

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.

Sealing continues at Bass Strait but declines at Dusky Sound which is still used for provisioning. There is a new rush to the Antipodes Islands. The existence of Foveaux Strait is not reported in Port Jackson until early the following year so sealers are still travelling via the south of Stewart Island/Rakiura which some also visit. At Stewart Island/Rakiura, and its smaller surrounding islands, the sealers often encounter Māori which they have not done at all at Dusky Sound. As many as 16 whalers are operating around the north of New Zealand, occasionally visiting the Bay of Islands and taking an increasing number of Māori on board as crew.

There is a lessening of the sealing rush at Bass Strait as the rookeries become thinner, and as a result sealers return to Dusky Sound and explore the surrounding coast. Little of the movements of these ships is actually recorded as a veil of secrecy still surrounds their activities while the various ships try to make the most of any discoveries before the competition arrives. They occasionally meet local Māori but little information regarding these encounters survives. There are again around half a dozen whalers off the north-east coast of New Zealand, a few of which call into the Bay of Islands. The first Māori to join a whaling ship, and possibly the first to leave New Zealand in 10 years, does so early in the year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peraki</span>

References

  1. 1 2 New Zealand Encyclopaedia 1966: Marsden Biography
  2. Christchurch: a history
  3. Wises New Zealand Guide, 7th Edition, 1979. p. 343.
  4. New Zealand Encyclopaedia 1966: Colenso Biography
  5. Wises New Zealand Guide, 7th Edition, 1979. p. 422.
  6. Wises New Zealand Guide, 7th Edition, 1979. p. 441.