George Cooper, New Zealand's First Treasurer And Collector Of Customs, Was Also An Early Auckland Beekeeper

George Cooper, New Zealand’s first Treasurer and Collector of Customs, was one of Auckland’s early beekeepers, 1842-45; and a few of his contemporaries ! During 1996-97 while researching my book William Charles Cotton, Grand Bee Master of New Zealand, 1842 to 1847 at the Mitchell Library in Sydney I came across the following entry in one of Cotton’s original diaries written at the Bay of Islands, dated Monday 24 October 1842. He noted the arrival of the Bristolian after a stormy passage of 10 days. “Saw Mr Cooper the Collector of Customs, who has come down by the Bristolian, a hive of Bees, which he brought down were seemingly dead. I have many stocks, from kind friends of Sydney, ready to come the first opportunity.” At the time I assumed Cooper had arrived from Sydney. In reviewing Cotton’s note I found he’d also used the term “came down” close by in describing the Bishop’s voyage in the Bristolian, presumably when he and the Bishop sailed to Auckland from Sydney in May 1842. My first impression was correct. Cotton noted another passenger’s arrival on the same ship: “Whytehead came in the Bristolian, the same brig by which the Bishop came down, he had a stormy passage of 10.ays.” The rough voyage may have been the cause of the bees demise. Corroborating Cotton’s diary entry, the Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser for Thursday 13 October 1842 (p.2) reported in its shipping news “The brig Bristolian, 1 Captain Thomas, for Auckland, with sundries. Passengers, Rev Mr. Whitehead, … Mr. Cooper …” Also on board were seven other cabin passengers and nine in steerage. Accounting for a 10 day passage the Bristolian’s arrival in Auckland would have been on or around 23rd October. Cotton’s diary for the following day recorded he’d ridden down to Paihia, so the Bristolian must have first visited the Bay of Islands where Whytehead would have disembarked before the brig proceeded to Auckland. Cooper would not have wasted time and energy in “carrying coal to Newcastle”, so I can only presume that Eliza Hobson’s hives, brought from Sydney in 1840 to the Bay of Islands, did not survive, either in situ, or following any attempt by the Hobson entourage to bring them south to Auckland when they relocated there in March 1841. Cooper’s return from Sydney provided an opportunity to fill the void – presumably no bees at Auckland, and by inference, none at the Bay of Islands either. Cotton should have referred to Cooper as the previous Collector for by then the colony’s first Treasurer and Collector of Customs had not been in office for some five months. From Malcolm McKinnon’s Treasury: the New Zealand Treasury, 1840-2000, George Cooper was noted as New Zealand's first Treasurer. Cooper shipped from Port Jackson to the Bay of Islands "to set up an administration for the new colony under Captain (soon to be LieutenantGovernor) Hobson. ... [who] "hired [his officials] in Sydney, presumably with Governor George Gipps helping by pointing out - or hiding from view - the able amongst his own officials. Cooper was an Irishman, 'a middle aged man of reputable and serious countenance and deportment', ... He spent his working life in the United Kingdom's Customs, apart from three years in the same employ in New South Wales, although at the time of his appointment to New Zealand his official position was given as 'Superintendent of Distilleries'. Being appointed to the offices of both Treasurer, who looked after the money, and Collector of Customs, who collected it, made sense. At £600 per annum for the two jobs, he wasn't badly off, earning more than any other officer of the government aside from the Chief Commissioner of Land Claims - and, of course, the Lieutenant-Governor himself." (p.23) The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser for Tuesday 11 October 1842 (p.4) listed the Bristolian, a brig of 160 tons, under master Thomas, then at Queens Wharf, Drake & Co agents. 1

McKinnon implies Cooper, along with other officials, voyaged with Hobson on the Herald under Captain Nias in January 1840. In the hold were freshly transferred strong boxes of gold coins worth £2000. "Cooper did not stay long in the job. In March he went back to Sydney on 'personal business', and it was only [Governor] Gipps' inability to find a competent replacement for New Zealand that led him to returning there in the middle of the year, with the desire to assure himself of a pension probably an incentive. He stayed another two years, long enough to participate in the move to Auckland and the establishment of the government offices on the high ground above the waterfront ...” (pp.25-26) Cooper’s return is documented in the New Zealand Advertiser for July 2 1840 “Arrived. July 28 - The ship Chelydra, 349 tons, Captain David Smale, from Sydney the 4th June, with goods and passengers. - Agents, Messrs Henry Thompson & Co. Cabin Passengers - Mr George Cooper and Mrs Cooper and eight children, Miss Kennear, governess, and three servants, …” (p.4) As part of Hobson’s shift of government officials from Russell to Auckland in 1841, Cooper too probably removed there in late February, presumably on the government brig Victoria .2 The Governor and his family relocated, arriving at Waitemata harbour on 12 March 1841. Again from Mckinnon: “Alexander Shepherd took over from Cooper as Treasurer in 1842.” (p.33) The Cyclopedia of New Zealand (1897) gives Cooper’s date of resignation as 9th May. I presume Cooper’s attempt to ship a hive of bees from Sydney in October 1842 was made to satisfy his own requirements. By inference, hives of bees must have been difficult or even impossible to obtain in Auckland, if the effort and expense of sourcing bees in Sydney and transporting them across the Tasman is considered. Around this time others were attempting the same feat.

William Brown, two hives imported from Sydney to the Bay of Islands, Feb. 1840, thence to Auckland in Feb. 1841 In 1995 I visited octogenarian beekeeper and historiographer, Chris Dawson of Christchurch. He gave me a copy of an unpublished manuscript written by Robert Sylvan Walsh, a c1970 Lincoln University staff member. Titled Historical – Bee Strains in New Zealand. It read, in part: “In 1840 two hives of bees were imported from Sydney together with many varieties of fruit trees by William Brown of Brown’s Island, in Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf.” Unfortunately, Walsh provided no prime source substantiating Brown’s imported hives. In Brown’s 1845 book titled New Zealand and its aborigines: being an account of the aborigines, trade, and resources of the colony, and the advantages it now presents as a field for emigration and the investment of capital, he wrote, under the section titled Rapid Increase in Bees: “In addition to the main sources of revenue of the New Zealand settler, - though at first sight of trifling import, - it is proper to mention, as I am not aware of the circumstance having previously been brought before the public, that New Zealand, in an extraordinary degree, seems adapted for bees, and large exports of honey and wax may yet be expected from it. To give some idea of the rapidity of increase, I may mention that a friend of mine, in January 1844, received one hive from Sydney, which by the 20th of December following had increased to twelve swarms, all very vigorous, and being rapidly filled with honey, and additional swarms were expected before the end of the season. In another instance, one hive in ten months produced six swarms; and within the same period one of these also swarmed, thus converting the original hive into seven, within ten months. Two of these yielded twentysix pounds of honey. In another case, a hive of seven months old swarmed, and a fortnight afterwards swarmed a second time. …” Brown made no mention in his book of any personal attempt to import bees in 1840. The online Dictionary of New Zealand Biography 3 describes 2 3

Stone, R.C.J (2001) From Tāmaki-makau-rau to Auckland. Auckland University Press (p.295) www.dnzb.govt.nz

William Brown (1809-98) as “Merchant, writer, newspaper proprietor, politician and provincial superintendent. … He arrived at the Bay of Islands on 2 February 1840.” He may well have brought the hives with him on this voyage from Sydney. Again from the online Dictionary of New Zealand Biography “… with John Logan Campbell … the two Scots joined forces, and on 22 May 1840 bought Motukorea, or Browns Island … On 13 August they shifted to their island. When Auckland was proclaimed capital, as they had expected, they decided to become merchants there. Thus began a partnership which lasted for over three decades, though based on no more than an informal handshake on a shingle beach at Motukorea. Just before Christmas 1840 Brown dropped Campbell, as junior partner, with a tent and a few stores, on the southern shore of the Waitemata Harbour. Two months later the Browns followed. At the first Crown land sale, on 19 April 1841, the partners bought an allotment in Shortland Crescent, and built Acacia Cottage, the Browns' home. On the street frontage a store was erected. The firm of Brown and Campbell soon prospered, with the partners acting as auctioneers, shipping agents, importers, and (most remunerative) traders with the Maori. …” Whether Brown’s bees prospered or not, either initially at the Bay of islands, or possibly in Auckland if they were removed there in February 1841, bees were certainly firmly established in Auckland by 1846. The following advertisement appeared in The New Zealand Journal for June 6th & 14th 1846: “To be let or sold – The beautiful villa, situated near Epsom, the property of J. Scott, Shortland Street. The ground contains 3 ½ acres, substantially fenced in with new palings, & consists of a superior clover paddock in front of the house – a garden & well stocked orchard in the rear – and a 3 acre field, newly sewn with grass & clover. The dwelling house consists of 4 spacious rooms & a handsome verandah front … stabling for 4 horses, a well of water, and 16 double beehives, with every other requisite for a gentleman’s family.

Mr McElwaine, Mrs Hobson’s gardener, March 1840, Sydney to the Bay of Islands Marianne Williams of Paihia, wife of Archdeacon Henry Williams, wrote in her journal on 28 March 1840 “We heard of the bees brought down by the Governor. The natives called them biting flies.” The bees were not Governor Hobson’s but belonged to his wife 4 Elizabeth. Neither of the Hobsons accompanied the bees from New South Wales. Eliza voyaged to the Bay of Islands from Sydney on HMS Buffalo which left Sydney 5 on 5 April 1840, arriving at the Bay of Islands on the 16th April. Amongst others on board were Major Bunbury, soldiers of the 80th Regiment and Eliza’s children. Eliza’s two straw hives of bees, wrapped in blankets and overseen by the Governor’s gardener, Mr McElwaine, had arrived previously at the Bay of islands on 17th March 1840 aboard the Westminster.

Refer William Mason’s 1882 letter to Isaac Hopkins which is detailed further on. Scholefield, Guy (1934), Captain William Hobson, First Governor of New Zealand Oxford University Press, (p.111). Refer also The Commercial Journal, 8 Apr 1840 4

5

HMS Buffalo in 1836, State Library of South Australia

Governor Hobson had preceded his wife, children and the bees to New Zealand, having arrived 6 at Kororareka, Bay of Islands, on the Herald under Captain Nias 7 on 29 January 1840. It’s unclear whether Mrs Hobson was a “hands on” beekeeper or left such tasks to her gardener.

Henry and Marianne Williams’ house and beehives at Paihia. 8

From the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, http://www.dnzb.govt.nz Before departing for NZ, Hobson and his family spent three weeks in Sydney from 24th Dec. 1839. Hobson left his family in Sydney, sailing on 19th Jan. 7 Scholefield (1934), p.81 8 This image of a sketch by Henry Williams appears in The Early Journals of Henry Williams. Note the bee hive shelter running to the right below window level. The editor suggests the drawing was made soon after Sept. 1830, however, given the extensive bee shelter in the view, it could only have been done after March 1840 when Eliza Hobson’s bees (of which Rev. Taylor said “they did not increase”) were introduced into the Bay of Islands, or, more likely, after August 1843 when James Busby returned from Sydney with hives for himself and Cotton. These would have provided the source of the row of bee hives to be seen under the bee shelter. Mrs Gittos recalled in 1897 that Cotton “brought some bees to the Bay of Islands, and liberated them in the garden of Mrs (Archdeacon) Williams at the mission station at Paihia ...” (BBJ, 4 Feb. 1897, p.43) Pasted into one of Cotton’s journals is a letter from Rev Henry Williams dated Paihia, 13 October 1845 “... We began the present season with 6 hives and have already had 7 swarms this month in addition 3 swarms from 2 of Mrs Busby’s hives. So we have a show of nearly 20 hives at Paihia. …” The source of the Williams’ drawing was not identified. Refer nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/RogEarl-fig-RogEarlP007a.html 6

Marianne Williams (1793-1879), a lady beekeeper, Paihia Mission Station

Isaac Hopkins stated in his 1886 Australasian Bee Manual “Dieffenbach, 9 in his Travels in New Zealand, mentions having seen (in December, 1840) a hive of bees, thriving remarkably well, with the Rev. Richard Taylor at Waimate, but says ‘the bees had been introduced into New Zealand from New South Wales.’ This may be an error. It is not improbable that the hives referred to may have been stocked with some of Lady Hobson’s bees, but it is also quite possible that they may have been brought from New South Wales …” In Hopkins’ earlier 1882 New Zealand Bee Manual, he provided correspondence from a reader, William Mason: “Shortly after the first edition was published ... I received a letter from a gentleman calling my attention to the fact that … the first bees arrived in the ship Westminster in the early part of 1840 … These bees belonged to Lady Hobson, wife of the first Governor, and were watched over on board the vessel by Mr. McElwaine, the Governor’s gardener. They were landed in the Bay of Islands.” Mason could speak with authority for in 1840 he was a thirty year old eye witness – he’d voyaged to New Zealand aboard the same ship as the bees. 10

William Mason (1810-97), Isaac Hopkins’ correspondent

9

p.143. From dnzb.govt.nz/dnzb - the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, Dieffenbach sailed aboard the Tory in May 1839 along with William Wakefield and Edward Jerningham Wakefield. Dieffenbach returned to England in October 1841. His book, Travels in New Zealand was published in London in 1843. 10 From the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography “William Hobson, before leaving Sydney to take up his lieutenant governorship in New Zealand, offered [William] Mason the position of superintendent of public works under Felton Mathew … Mason arrived at the Bay of Islands on 17 March 1840. He was a member of the founding party which arrived at the site of Auckland on 16 September 1840.”

Ernest Dieffenbach’s 11 document on his travels in New Zealand was published in 1843 wherein he commented upon its geography, geology, botany and natural history: “The cryptogamous plants, ferns, jungermanmas, and mosses, bear in New Zealand rather an undue proportion to the phanerogomous -- a circumstance which is unfavourable to the rearing of bees. I am not aware that there is any native bee in New Zealand, but in certain seasons the European bee would find a great quantity of honey and wax in the Phormium tenax. Bees have been introduced into New Zealand from New South Wales: my excellent friend, the Rev. Richard Taylor, at Waimate, had a hive, and they were thriving remarkably well; but in that neighbourhood many European plants had been introduced.”

Rev. Richard Taylor 12

From Rev. Taylor’s diary 13 for December 1840, page 345: "10th. Dr Dieffenbach returned to the bay. 12th. I went down to Paihia to preach for Mr Williams. 13th. We had a good congregation in which was Mr Busby. … 15th. I set off home 14 taking a hive of bees with me. I nearly got bogged in passing the Wawaroa. 15 " Rev. Richard Taylor made it clear his hive failed. In The Past and Present of New Zealand (1868) 16 he wrote “Captain Hobson brought the first hive of bees to the island, but they did not increase. … ” 17 (p.292) Given Taylor’s visit to Paihia on 12 December 1840, it seems likely he acquired there one of the hives, or a swarm therfrom, originally belonging to Mrs Hobson. Dieffenbach, Ernest (1843) Travels in New Zealand :with contributions to the geography, geology, botany, and natural history of that country, London, Murray 12 Image located on rosarosam.com/articles/waimate/roses_for_waimate.htm 13 Ref. MS 302, vol. 2, 1838 - 1844, typescript pp. 220-1 14 From Wikipedia: “Waimate North is a small settlement in Northland, New Zealand. It is situated between Kerikeri and Lake Omapere, west of the Bay of Islands.” Also: “The Waimate Mission established one of the earliest settlements in NZ, at Waimate North in the Bay of Islands.” From Web site www.nram.govt.nz “Richard Taylor … was appointed a missionary for NZ by the CMS and the family set sail on the Prince Regent, arriving in Sydney in June 1836. They were detained in Australia for 3 years before arriving at the Bay of Islands in Sept 1839. Taylor spent the next 4 years at Waimate North in charge of the Mission School before being transferred to Wanganui in 1843 …” 15 From the Birkenhead Historical Society web site: “Present-day Chelsea was known by its Maori name of Wawaroa.” 16 Taylor, Reverend Richard (1868) The Past and Present of New Zealand with its Prospects for the Future, William Macintosh, London 17 I’ve often thought whether a single, geographically isolated hive, could survive and successfully reproduce after arrival in Australia or New Zealand. To this end I wrote to Ben Oldroyd, School of Biological Sciences, University of Sydney. His reply explained the likelihood (or lack) of success of such a hive, subject to some significant limitations. 11

George Graham, two hives imported from Hobart, 1841 The Beekeeping Notes section of the New Zealand Farmer for October 1885 stated: “Mr George Graham, in a letter to his son, states that the first bees that came to New Zealand were brought at his request from Hobart in 1841, not 1840. The bees did very well. A swarm from the hive settled near Government House. Mr Cleghorn took it, and it did very well. The vessel’s name in which the bees (two swarms) came was The Sisters; captain’s name, Clark. 18 One swarm died, but the other one, as above mentioned, did well. Mr. Graham gave Bishop Selwyn the swarms as they multiplied. The cost of the two swarms was £5.”

Government House, Auckland, c1842-43 Alexander Turnbull Library

Thomas Cleghorn was one of New Zealand’s early founders 19 – he’s simply described [as an early settler in] Auckland, c1843. From the Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand 1868-1961, Vol. 18, 1885 20 “Of our English trees, oak claims precedence. The oaks in the Government House grounds are the oldest in the Provincial District. The acorns were sent from Sydney, and sown by Mr. Cleghorn, Superintendent of Public Works, in the Government Gardens in 1841 or 1842.” John Adam states in the New Zealand Garden Journal, 2007 “Dr David Monro described the [Government] garden [in his journal for 1842] in the summer of 1842: ‘In this garden there was to be seen a large variety of vegetable, flower, young vines and fruit trees and several plants and seeds of which Mr. C. [sic.] Cleghorn, Government Gardener had bought from Rio Janeiro.’ ” 21 It’s uncertain if the Hobart sourced bees were received at Government House, Russell, preMarch 1841, or after this to Government House, Auckland. I think the latter more likely. On 13 March 1841 Lt.Gov. Hobson made his official landing in Auckland, 22 signifying the removal of authority there from Russell. Preparations for the move were already in play. From the Auckland Museum web site 23 “In September 1840, the barque Anna Watson arrived in Auckland from the Bay of Islands to establish the new capital. On board were geocities.com/wlorac/arrvauck.txt gives the following 1842-43 arrivals of the brig Sisters in Auckland from Hobart, 27 Dec 1842; under master Hugh Clarke, 4 May, 6 Aug and 13 Dec 1843; 19 shadowsoftime.co.nz/settlersb.html New Zealand’s early founders, Jan. 1840 to Dec. 1845 20 (p.312) rsnz.natlib.govt.nz/volume/rsnz_18/rsnz_18_00_003160.html 21 MS 210. P29. Auckland Institute Museum. Referenced in Adam, John P. New Zealand Garden Journal, 2007, Vol. 10(1) “Archaeological infrastructure of Wai-te-mata (Auckland) 1820–1850” 22 Stone, R.C.J (2001) From Tāmaki-makau-rau to Auckland. Auckland University Press (p.266) 23 aucklandmuseum.com/site_resources/library/Education/Teachers_Guide/Teacher_Resources_Librar y/Social_Science/BoomOrBustBN.pdf 18

approximately 75 people including government officials and skilled workmen. Several wives and children accompanied their husbands. The barque Platina, carrying pre-cut timbers for Government House was anchored in the harbour too. …” Might one of the skilled workmen have been Cleghorn? Or did he come later? From New Zealand’s John Adam, a noted landscape and horticultural historian, the “first Superintendent of Domain [was] followed in close succession by Edinburgh born and professional gardener, Thomas Cleghorn, (Appointed in September 1841 on 130 pounds 17 shillings and five pence.) … Thomas Cleghorn was the second and the last ‘Supt. of Domain’. 24 From one perspective, the year 1841 is problematic with respect to Graham’s reference to Bishop Selwyn. The Bishop reached the Bay of Islands for the first time in June 1842, from which time Cotton was desperate to get his first bees from friends in Sydney. Some hives finally arrived under the care of James Busby in early August 1843. Selwyn and entourage did not relocate from the Bay of Islands to Auckland, and from the latter to accept swarms of bees, for another three and a half years, when, in mid November 1844, the Selwyns and Cotton with his bees arrived in Auckland aboard the brig Victoria. 25 Once there Bishop Selwyn would have had no need of donated swarms, either from Graham or anyone else. There were various opportunities for a Sisters visit to Auckland, New Zealand in 1841. The Hobart newspaper Colonial Times for Tuesday 12 January 1841, reported “New Zealand. The fine new colonial schooner Sisters, belonging to Mr. Lucas, and built by Mr. Watson, sailed on Sunday last for New Zealand, having on board Mr. John Moses, the charterer …” (p.2) The Shipping News section announced “Jan. 10. Sailed the schooner Sisters, Clarke master, for New Zealand, with a general cargo, two passengers, and Mr. John Moses supercargo.” The New Zealand Gazette and Wellington Spectator for 30 January announced the arrival on 27 January of the “schooner, the Sisters, Clark, from Hobart Town; cargo, merchandize.” The same newspaper recorded the Sisters, Clark, in port, on 6 February and again on the 13th that month. The issue for 20 February announced in its Shipping Intelligence section “SAILED. Feb. 16, schooner Sisters, Clark, for Auckland. Passenger - Mr. Moses.”

From the New Zealand Gazette and Wellington Spectator, 30 January 1841

Posted 14 Aug. 2009 http://timespanner.blogspot.com/2009/08/domain-stories-note-from-john-adam.html 25 WCC, Grand Bee Master, p.75 24

Another advertisement in the New Zealand Gazette and Wellington Spectator, 30 January 1841

The New Zealand Gazette and Wellington Spectator for 27 March 1841 listed the Sisters at the Thames. In that port again, The Port Nicholson Gazette for 17 May 1841 (p.3) listed the Sisters at the Thames on 27th March 1841. 26 Four months later, in the New Zealand Gazette and Wellington Spectator for 31 July 1841 “Vessels loading for New Zealand, from Sydney Herald, of 5th July: - … Schooner Sisters, 130 [tons], Clarke, master.” The Sisters shared its destinations between Hobart / Launceston, Sydney and New Zealand ports throughout 1841. Several voyages between Hobart and Sydney for the Sisters/Clark combination were recorded in 1841 Hobart newspapers: 9th to 19th July, 15th August, 12th to 28th September. The Colonial Times for Tuesday 16 November 1841, reported the Sisters for New Zealand with Clark as master on the 14th. Variously in The Courier and the Colonial Times, numerous sailings and arrivals under Clark(e) to/from New Zealand were reported between January 1842 and December 1844. Graham was emphatic about the year 1841. It’s unlikely the bees came out on the Sisters maiden voyage, so any of its subsequent voyages from Hobart are candidates, however the November embarkation matched to Cleghorn’s appointment only two months previously sits well.

… and back to George Cooper, Nov. 1845 For Cooper another opportunity to get some bees presented itself only two months on from October 1842, but whether he capitalised upon it remains unknown. The Auckland news 26

This instance found in http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nzbound/launceston.htm Searching of the Port Nicholson Gazette within the National Library of New Zealand’s paperspast web site was not supported.

section of the Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle for 24 December 1842 (p.168) reported “Mr. Cooper has returned from Sydney, where it is believed he succeeded in getting a loan for the Government.” Cooper eventually acquired some hives of bees for his farm, Eden Park. 27 William Charles Cotton wrote in his diary three years later: “Monday Nov 17th, 1845: Walked over to Epsom to pay a visit to Mr & Mrs Cooper and to give them a lesson on Bee management. Their garden and bees seem very flourishing. It was my first visit to them ... and a lovely place it is, such clover paddocks, and a wind mill.” In Cotton’s absence his ten part series Hints on the Management of Bees, which began in the 13 February 1847 issue of the New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, must have been avidly consumed by other early Auckland beekeepers, Cooper amongst them.

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Web page http://www.art-newzealand.com/Issues21to30/mitford.htm lists art work by topographical painter of the 1840s, John Guise Mitford, one of which depicts Cooper’s farm. Mitford “came to New Zealand with his brother G.M.S. Mitford and at first (by April 1841) settled in Auckland. Worked as minor customs official, then appointed 1843 Sub-Collector of Customs in the Bay of Islands. Painted in Auckland and in the Waikato 1842-44. …”