Elizabeth
In the 1820’s ships by the name of Elizabeth frequently sailed in New Zealand waters. Captains Kent, Wiseman, Young, Brown, and Stewart were all at times at the helm of a vessel called Elizabeth either whaling or trading. However it is Captain Stewart and his ship that remains one of the most talked about in New Zealand history after being directly involved in an infamous incident that had far reaching consequences for both European visitors and native Maori inhabitants of New Zealand.
By the late 1820’s it was becoming increasingly difficult to secure a cargo of flax from the Cook Strait region. Captains were frustrated by Maori chiefs who, realising the true value of their commodity, began to expect higher prices and refused to supply it for any less than what they asked. Captains were faced with returning to Sydney without profit and the prospect of very unhappy, potentially mutinous, crews on board their ships.
On 23 August 1830, Captain Stewart sailed Elizabeth out of Sydney bound for Cook Strait intending to fill his ship’s hold with flax. When they arrived in New Zealand several other ships were already there with the same goal in mind. Many of these ships were empty, having failed to negotiate a supply from local Maori.
During October, Captain Stewart in his eagerness to obtain flax, agreed to transport local war chief Te Rauparaha and 120 of his warriors from Kapiti to Akaroa on the South Island’s Banks Peninsula in return for a cargo load of flax. Elizabeth set sail for Akaroa on 29 October 1830. Eight days later Ngai Tahu’s paramount chief Te Maiharanui had been lured on board by the captain who claimed the desire to negotiate a flax deal with him. Once aboard the hidden northern warriors leaped out and captured him. While being held on board, apparently first secured by a European crewman, Te Maiharanui could do nothing but listen to the screams as his people were massacred ashore.
Mission accomplished, Captain Stewart sailed Elizabeth, the northern warriors and their chief, and the captured southern chief back to Kapiti where they arrived on 11 November 1830. Here, Te Maiharanui and his wife were tortured to death. On 14 January the following year, Captain Stewart arrived back at Sydney with his cargo of 30 tons of flax. Soon after Pere, a fifteen year old relative of the murdered southern chief, and survivor of the massacre, managed to tell his story to the Governor in Sydney.
The news of Europeans being involved in such an atrocity set in motion a court case in which Captain Stewart and his first mate where charged as being accessories to murder. However the case fell apart when the crown’s witnesses disappeared and it was argued that as the Maori chiefs were engaged in legitimate warfare, it could not have been murder. Captain Stewart is believed to have died on the home voyage to England, dropping dead on deck and his body was thrown overboard by his crew as they rounded Cape Horn.
By the late 1820’s it was becoming increasingly difficult to secure a cargo of flax from the Cook Strait region. Captains were frustrated by Maori chiefs who, realising the true value of their commodity, began to expect higher prices and refused to supply it for any less than what they asked. Captains were faced with returning to Sydney without profit and the prospect of very unhappy, potentially mutinous, crews on board their ships.
On 23 August 1830, Captain Stewart sailed Elizabeth out of Sydney bound for Cook Strait intending to fill his ship’s hold with flax. When they arrived in New Zealand several other ships were already there with the same goal in mind. Many of these ships were empty, having failed to negotiate a supply from local Maori.
During October, Captain Stewart in his eagerness to obtain flax, agreed to transport local war chief Te Rauparaha and 120 of his warriors from Kapiti to Akaroa on the South Island’s Banks Peninsula in return for a cargo load of flax. Elizabeth set sail for Akaroa on 29 October 1830. Eight days later Ngai Tahu’s paramount chief Te Maiharanui had been lured on board by the captain who claimed the desire to negotiate a flax deal with him. Once aboard the hidden northern warriors leaped out and captured him. While being held on board, apparently first secured by a European crewman, Te Maiharanui could do nothing but listen to the screams as his people were massacred ashore.
Mission accomplished, Captain Stewart sailed Elizabeth, the northern warriors and their chief, and the captured southern chief back to Kapiti where they arrived on 11 November 1830. Here, Te Maiharanui and his wife were tortured to death. On 14 January the following year, Captain Stewart arrived back at Sydney with his cargo of 30 tons of flax. Soon after Pere, a fifteen year old relative of the murdered southern chief, and survivor of the massacre, managed to tell his story to the Governor in Sydney.
The news of Europeans being involved in such an atrocity set in motion a court case in which Captain Stewart and his first mate where charged as being accessories to murder. However the case fell apart when the crown’s witnesses disappeared and it was argued that as the Maori chiefs were engaged in legitimate warfare, it could not have been murder. Captain Stewart is believed to have died on the home voyage to England, dropping dead on deck and his body was thrown overboard by his crew as they rounded Cape Horn.