Our Historical Scrap Book

1912 .           Whalers …. arrival of a Norwegian whaler in Paterson Inlet ODT Article,

1899 … SDT Article  Southland supplied Shackleton expedition dogs

1813         Flax harvesting at Port WilliamFlax in New Zealand, note :- I think that this is very suspect as as far as I know the first attempt to source flax commercially was the Snapper voyage in the mid 1822/23

1909      Otago Witness …..Maori Nomenclature … W.H.S. Roberts

1919           Port Pegasus plant dismantled      ODT Article, 13th June 2019 . The following  day the the following addressed the odd bird :-Kokako at Stewart Is. A resident of Invercargill, who has a fairly intimate knowledge of Stewart Island, stated to one of our reporters on Saturday that the pure black birds, between the size of a pigeon and a fowl, seen by Mr D. Scurr at Port Pegasus, would be orange wattle crows (Kokako). The crow is a rare bird, but has not a hood over its eyes, as described by Mr Scurr, who had probably been misled by the hanging wattles near the eyes from which the bird derives its name.

1921  Born of Early Stock  ODT Article 22nd June 2021 Mrs Maria Lee Baird, who died recently at Otautau, aged 82, was one of the first European children born on Stewart Island. Her father, Andrew Lee, was one of the adventurous spirits who, away back in the early part of the last century, followed the hazardous calling of a whaler. The late Mrs Baird (states the Otautau Standard) was born in 1839, and at the age of 15 years, with an elder and only sister (the late Mrs Newton, Riverton) came over to the mainland. After remaining a short time in Riverton, both sisters, in the service of the late Captain Howell, went to Burwood Station. Here Miss Lee met the late John Burroughs Baird, and at an early date the young couple were married. She is reported to have been the first woman to ride a horse on the shore of Lake Wakatipu and the first woman to row a boat on the lake.

— ODT, 22.6.1921

The main article should be read in conjunction with a DoC archaeological paper and this from NZ Geographic Magazine

 ODT, 26.9.1921. The Ketch “Waterlily” in the second paragraph was a “Leask” Boat. Built in Leask Bay. When I arrived on the Island in ’69 The Waterlily, a  “sister” ship was up on the Leask family ways. I think the last vessel to ever come out for servicing the “Old ” way. This involved timbers laid up the beach, greased with tallow. The vessel was beached parallel to the beach at high tide. Laying over onto her bilges onto the greased timbers as the tide receded. Then she would be slid up the timbers above high the water mark and then jacked upright to be worked on. The ways are still visible in Leask Bay.

Whale in Paterson Inlet (ODT, 4.7.1922)      Whale beaches on Stewart Island.

Southern Outpost Worth a Visit (ODT 13th Feb 1923 )   Southern outpost worth a visit

1930 .          Article 1885″

Up until the late 1940’s New Zealand Railways was very involved in Tourism, especially with Rails Excursions, and so publicised destinations

1930 .       NZ Rail, 1930

1933         Whale species discovery at Mason BaySDT Article,

1937 .       NZ Rail, 1937

Sealing was the first commercial activity by Europeans around Southern New Zealand Dept of Conservation paper”

In 1922 the Rosshavet Whaling Company whaler “Sir James Clarke Ross” arrived in Paterson Inlet en route to the Ross Sea. They set up a ship yard to repair and refurbish the steam chasers over the winter season, initially at Bravo Island, but then shifted to Prices Inlet.

Some years ago I was given a photo album put together by a New Zealander who did several seasons crewing. A couple of years ago I digitised the album and accompanying text.

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