The Island Bay Whaling Station
The Island Bay Whaling Station which had originally been established by the tree men, William Green, Charles Brown, and Matthew Hall in 1852, had then passed into the hands of the Greenwoods at Purau by 1846.
The Greenwoods made an agreement with John Moles and Samuel Williams to whale from the bay. The agreement had the Greenwoods supplying the whaling gear and. in return, they received half of the value of the oil and bone until the gear was paid off. By October of 1846 twenty men were working on two boats and had taken eighteen tuns, (or barrels), of oil and a ton of bone. But at the end of that year, the American Samuel Williams, (also known as "Yankee Sam"), had packed up to travel down to Timaru where he established the first pub there.
In May of 1847 the Greenwoods sold Purau apparently with the Island Bay Station as part of a package deal to the Rhodes Brothers. George Rhodes ran the whaling operation from his Red House Bay base but then he too abandoned the station when he went south in 1851.
The Canterbury Block
In 1848, Governor Grey himself initiated negotiations with Ngai Tahu for the purchase of the Canterbury Block, a vast area of eight million hectares for two thousand pounds. A verbal agreement to the sale was made by Ngai Tahu chiefs on the condition that adequate reserves should be set aside for the use of their people. Grey then appointed Tacy Kemp to negotiate the details of the sale but Commissioner Kemp was not to be remembered for his scrupulosity. The boundaries of the purchase were not properly defined and his tactics could only be described as bullying, threatening to pay Ngati Toa to attack or to use troops to drive them Ngai Tahu people out. The promised large reserves were diminished in Kemp's deed of sale to only the Ngai Tahu cultivations and dwelling places. One Walter Mantell was appointed to establish these reserves and, following Grey's instructions, 2,543 hectares was allocated to 637 people or four hectares a head.
Banks Peninsula
In 1849 Mantell applied these same principals and coercive tactics to purchase three land blocks on Banks Peninsula. As the reserves of residential and garden land were insufficient for subsistence the chiefs refused to sign the deed of sale. This obstacle the government overcame by simply passing the Canterbury Settlement Act to make the land available for European settlement.
Baron of Whakamoa
The commanding presence, already noted as part of James' personality at Port
Nicholson, did not diminish over the years, so that, after he acquired the Whakamoa land in 1852, friends and neighbours dubbed him "Baron of Whakamoa".
In 1852 James took over the Island Bay Whaling Station and, employing mainly local Maori people as workers, he continued the whaling operation there until 1863 when on the 26th January, a maliciously lit fire destroyed the worker's houses and much of the whaling gear at the bay.
The previous season had been considered a good one with four whales successfully taken from the sea. The resulting whale oil was shipped around to Lyttelton via a coastal boat.
James clearly enjoyed the adrenalin involved in whale chasing. Despite the loss of the gear at Island Bay, he continued to go out whaling whenever the opportunity presented itself. He is known to have still been out whaling as late as 1870, by which time he would have been fifty-four.
The "Baron" also had quite a reputation of being a very generous man to his friends, and was never adverse to throwing parties at Akaroa for his whaling mates. The parties were strictly "men only" affairs featuring plenty of food and drink. A story passed down is about at one of these parties, when something or someone so enraged him that he lifted his legs under the table tipping it and all its contents onto the floor.
Hannah wound up paying for the damages from her cheesemaking proceeds.
Another time James had taken stock to sell at the Addington Saleyards. The stock sold well but unfortunately James went on a "bender" which did not finish until all of the money, (their supposed income for the following year), was gone.
This was not the first time that something like this had happened, but it was probably the last. Hannah took over the financial management of the farm at this point and the Baron received an allowance.
PB: I have to say, I have enjoyed reading these blogs. How amazing is man for settling in a new area, to begin their life and family....The strength, and will power...Wonderful blogs....looking forward to the next one... Friday 6 July 2007 - 01:01AM (CEST)
Just Jane: Perhaps Hannah was in fact the backbone of the family - but of course in those male dominated days all the credit would have gone to the man. I wonder how much input she had into the decisions that steered them through this far? Guess we'll never know.
Saturday 7 July 2007 - 12:10AM (PDT)
TB: catching up Iri
Tuesday 10 July 2007 - 02:49AM (CEST)
Beau Brummell2006: it is why we men give you women the money....we are hopeless with it Monday 13 August 2007 - 03:19AM (BST)
 | Ok, answered al the other blogs, now I'm here, best for last....
hand me a vegemite sandwich please........
yup, a coffee would be nice too.............. |
 | we only have marmite here... |
| hmmmmmm...nope...ya better go get some vegemite then.......... |
| this is a good story....to be still whaling at 54...wow..that man was made of carbon fibre...........
but, typical seaman of the times, drink was his undoing.............sad............... |
| lmao @ out of Africa with whales! |
| Heck the saleyards are looking tacky now Rizz, are they going to do something with this site? |
 | You can understand the drinking, life must have been so harsh back then. |
 | there is talk and much controversy about making it into car parking.....watch this space. It's been in that sorry state for some time now |
 | just like men! and it's always the wives have to pick up the pieces. |
| thats a bit unfair....I'm a single dad because a mother couldnt get her shit together and be a part of a family.......................................................... |
| yeah well, I gave a man a house, there's not a lot of fairness in life. |
| oookk, wheres the que start then...I want a free house too...lmao...... |
 | One staunch vegemite eater in my house and one equally as staunch marmite supporter....the stand off was as bad as the pre-game Wallaby/All Black rivalry.
I sent out those small sachets of vegemite/marmite to 25 of our mutual internet friends...mainly in the States & Canada & asked them to taste test and vote on my 360 blog which they preferred. Unfortunately an overwhelming 85% voted that they were both revolting lol
Vegemite won the remaining vote by a narrow margin....only because the colours of the packaging were preferred. Most pple couldn't taste any difference. |
| I don't blame them. I'm a kiwi and I wouldn't eat either of them!
|
| Oh yair??
well, MY mum said..........................
Lmao......... |
| Mr Rizz spreads it thickly. He made toast and marmite for our French friends who were here at Christmas.
He slathers on the butter (yum) and slathers on just about as much marmite! Ewwww
Which is exactly what they said |
| |
In 1849 Mantell applied these same principals and coercive tactics to purchase three land blocks on Banks Peninsula. As the reserves of residential and garden land were insufficient for subsistence the chiefs refused to sign the deed of sale. This obstacle the government overcame by simply passing the Canterbury Settlement Act to make the land available for European settlement. 
