Akaroa
Encyclopedia
Akaroa is a village on Banks Peninsula
Banks Peninsula
Banks Peninsula is a peninsula of volcanic origin on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It has an area of approximately and encompasses two large harbours and many smaller bays and coves...
in the Canterbury
Canterbury, New Zealand
The New Zealand region of Canterbury is mainly composed of the Canterbury Plains and the surrounding mountains. Its main city, Christchurch, hosts the main office of the Christchurch City Council, the Canterbury Regional Council - called Environment Canterbury - and the University of Canterbury.-...
region of the South Island
South Island
The South Island is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean...
of New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, situated within a harbour of the same name—the name Akaroa is Kāi Tahu
Ngāi Tahu
Ngāi Tahu, or Kāi Tahu, is the principal Māori iwi of the southern region of New Zealand, with the tribal authority, Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu, being based in Christchurch and Invercargill. The iwi combines three groups, Kāi Tahu itself, and Waitaha and Kāti Mamoe who lived in the South Island prior...
Māori
Maori language
Māori or te reo Māori , commonly te reo , is the language of the indigenous population of New Zealand, the Māori. It has the status of an official language in New Zealand...
for 'Long Harbour'.
Overview
Akaroa is 84 km by road from ChristchurchChristchurch
Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...
and is the terminus of State Highway 75. At the March 2001 New Zealand census of population and dwellings
New Zealand Census of Population and Dwellings
The New Zealand government department Statistics New Zealand conducts a census of population and dwellings every five years. The census scheduled for 2011 was cancelled due to circumstances surrounding the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake, however, and legislation introduced to hold the next...
, the permanent population was 576, a decrease of 69 since 1996. The village has a high (31%) ratio of residents aged over 65.
Set on a beautiful, sheltered harbour and overlooked by craggy volcanic hills, Akaroa is a popular resort village and in summer the temporary population can reach 7,000 which places stress on the summer water supply, which is entirely dependent upon rainfall on the hills.
Many Hector's Dolphin
Hector's Dolphin
Hector's dolphin is the best-known of the four dolphins in the genus Cephalorhynchus and is found only in New Zealand. At about 1.4 m in length, it is one of the smallest cetaceans....
s may be found within Akaroa harbour, and 'swim with the dolphins' boat tours are a major tourist attraction.
History
In 1830 the Māori settlement at Takapuneke, just east of the current village of Akaroa, became the scene of a notorious incident. The Captain of the British brig Elizabeth, John Stewart, helped North Island Ngāti ToaNgati Toa
Ngāti Toa , an iwi , traces its descent from the eponymous ancestor Toarangatira. The Ngāti Toa region extends from Miria-te-kakara at Rangitikei to Wellington, and across Cook Strait to Wairau and Nelson....
chief, Te Rauparaha
Te Rauparaha
Te Rauparaha was a Māori rangatira and war leader of the Ngāti Toa tribe who took a leading part in the Musket Wars. He was influential in the original sale of conquered Rangitane land to the New Zealand Company and was a participant in the Wairau Incident in Marlborough...
, to capture the local Ngai Tahu chief, Te Maiharanui, his wife Te Whe and his young daughter, Roi Mata. The settlement of Takapuneke was sacked. Concern over the complicity of John Stewart, amongst other lawlessness among Europeans in New Zealand, led to the appointment of an official British Resident James Busby
James Busby
James Busby is widely regarded as the "father" of the Australian wine industry, as he took the first collection of vine stock from Spain and France to Australia. Later he become a British Resident who traveled to New Zealand, involved in the drafting of the Declaration of the Independence of New...
to New Zealand in 1832 - the first step in the British involvement that led to the Treaty of Waitangi
Treaty of Waitangi
The Treaty of Waitangi is a treaty first signed on 6 February 1840 by representatives of the British Crown and various Māori chiefs from the North Island of New Zealand....
.
In 1832 Te Rauparaha
Te Rauparaha
Te Rauparaha was a Māori rangatira and war leader of the Ngāti Toa tribe who took a leading part in the Musket Wars. He was influential in the original sale of conquered Rangitane land to the New Zealand Company and was a participant in the Wairau Incident in Marlborough...
, fresh from his successful three month siege of Kaiapoi
Kaiapoi
Kaiapoi is a town in the Canterbury region of the South Island of New Zealand, located close to the mouth of the Waimakariri River, and approximately 17 kilometres north of Christchurch....
, took the pa on the Onawe Peninsula
Onawe
The Ōnawe Peninsula is inside Akaroa harbour, on Banks Peninsula in Canterbury, New Zealand.It was the site of a Ngāi Tahu pā captured by Te Rauparaha, chief of the Ngāti Toa in 1831. Up to 1,200 people were killed here, and the land is sacred to Ngāi Tahu so "is deemed to be vested in Te Runanga o...
at the head of Akaroa Harbour.
English settlement
After constantly refusing to recognise New Zealand as a British colony the Crown issued an Imperial Proclamation on 15 June 1839, which cited New Zealand as part of the British Realm.After being informed of the French intent to colonise Akaroa and use further as a whaling port, the English ship the "Britomart" was despatched in order to proclaim sovereignty for the Crown.
The "Britomart" arrived in Akaroa on the 16th of August (although the captains' log shows this arrival date as the 11th of August in 1840 ),Captain Stanley raised the British flag and held a court at each of the occupied settlements.
James Robinson Clough, also known as Jimmy Robinson, had arrived at Akaroa several years before. He acted as interpreter for Captain Owen Stanley at the flag-raising of 1840, and was the first Pakeha to travel up the river Avon in 1843. Mr Robinson Clough's descendants are still prominent on the Peninsula today.
The following English emigrants settled in both Akaroa and German Bay (Takamatua) along with many German farmers who set up dairy, sheep and cocksfoot farms.
The great majority of the artifacts currently held at Akaroa Museum are of the early farming community and their lifestyle of the time.
French settlement
In 1838 Captain Jean François L'Anglois made a provisional purchase of land in "the greater Banks Peninsula" from Tuaanau. A deposit of commodities in the value of ₤6 was paid and a further ₤234 worth of commodities was to be paid at a later period. On his return to France, he advertised for settlers to come to New Zealand and ceded his interest in the land to the Nanto-Bordelaise Company, of which he became a part owner. On 9 March 1840, 63 emigrants left from RochefortRochefort, Charente-Maritime
Rochefort is a commune in southwestern France, a port on the Charente estuary. It is a sub-prefecture of the Charente-Maritime department.-History:...
. The settlers embarked on the "Comté de Paris" — an old man-of-war ship given to them by the French government — for New Zealand.
The "Comté de Paris" and its companion ship the "Aube" captained by Commodore Charles François Lavaud arrived in the Bay of Islands
Bay of Islands
The Bay of Islands is an area in the Northland Region of the North Island of New Zealand. Located 60 km north-west of Whangarei, it is close to the northern tip of the country....
in the North Island on 11 July 1840, where they discovered that the Banks Peninsula had been claimed by the British. The French arrived in Akaroa on 18 August and established a settlement.
The area still has a French influence, reflected in many local placenames.
Before 1840, the area of the current Akaroa village was also known as Wangaloa, and the subsequent French settlement was known as Port Louis-Philippe.
See also
- Frank WorsleyFrank WorsleyFrank Arthur Worsley DSO and Bar, OBE, RD was a New Zealand sailor and explorer.After serving in the Pacific, and especially in the New Zealand Post Office's South Pacific service he joined Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of...
, born in Akaroa on 22 February 1872, captain of the EnduranceEndurance (1912 ship)The Endurance was the three-masted barquentine in which Sir Ernest Shackleton sailed for the Antarctic on the 1914 Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition...