The conditions of the young city in its earliest years were not enviable. The work of pioneering was exceedingly strenuous. Employment was difficult to obtain, for none of the settlers had much capital to work upon, and the Government had little enough in the Treasury, and none to spend on public works. Despite discouragements and disappointments, the settlers were patient, endured the hardships—and hoped. By 1844, with the advent of Governor Fitzroy (December 23), steps were taken to absorb those, who had not received private employment, upon road formation. Captain Rough, whose name we have already mentioned as Harbour Master and as Immigration Officer, might as well have borne the name of Pooh Bah, for to him was given charge of this work. In his reminiscences, he says: “As there was at that time no superintendent of works, I was asked to take the business [of road making] in hand, and though little acquainted with such matters, yet, by getting an intelligent and practical foreman, and letting out divisions of the work to be done by contract to parties of immigrants, we managed in the course of eight or ten months to cut down the upper part and fill up the lower part of Shortland Street, to form and metal Princes Street and Queen Street, which previously were almost impassable in wet weather; and also to clear and make the roads to the Tamaki and Onehunga districts, as well as to blast and to cut through a spur of Mount Eden, filling up an almost insatiable swamp, and thus opening and forming the road to Newmarket called the Khyber Pass, the terrible massacre of British troops in Afghanistan being much in mind at that time. The improvements executed in the course of twelve months found employment for the immigrants and were very cheering and satisfactory to the town people and to country settlers. To myself the superintendence was a somewhat arduous addition to my duties afloat, but still I look back at it as having been one of the most interesting and useful occupations of my life in New Zealand.”

In 1843, the first conflict with the Maoris took place at Wairau, and in the following year Hone Heke’s rebellion began. These events are outside the scope of this sketch, except in so far as they react upon the city’s history. The destruction of Kororareka by Heke’s followers caused many of the settlers to come to Auckland, and created consternation and panic in the town itself. It was feared that the rebels would follow up their success in the Bay of Islands by attacking the capital. The defences of the barracks were improved, and entrenchments made, while the citizens were prepared for eventualities by being drilled. As it happened, the tide of war swept northward, and did not reach the city. The consequence, however, as far as the capital was concerned, was to retard its progress. We do not need to enter into the details of the war, except to anticipate its results. Governor Fitzroy’s conduct of the crisis was unsatisfactory. He was recalled, and his successor, Captain George Grey,[18] arrived in Auckland on 14th November, 1845, and took steps which speedily ended the war in the north. As Governor of New Zealand and citizen of Auckland, he did much for both. He was twice Governor (1845-53 and 1861-68), Superintendent of the Auckland Province, 1875, and he is the only Governor who subsequently became a member of Parliament and Premier of the Colony over which he formerly governed. The greater part of his official and private life is associated with this city. On his retirement from the governorship, at the expiration of his second term, he acquired the island of Kawau, and there made his home. From then until 1894 he was closely identified with Auckland’s development, and it may be taken for granted that he held the former capital in high esteem when he chose to bequeath to it his collection of rare and valuable books and manuscripts, as well as his pictures and an ethnological collection of no little value. He is to be ranked as one of Auckland’s makers and benefactors. A statue erected to perpetuate his memory stands near the Town Hall. It was unveiled on December 21st, 1904, by the Governor, Lord Plunket. Mr. W. J. Speight, who was chairman of the Memorial Committee, presided at the ceremony.

The Maori Festival which took place in May, 1844, on the outskirts of the city, near Mount St. John, forms a contrast to the troubles which the Government was having with the natives in the North. This was a gathering of some two or three thousand Maoris collected “from various remote districts of the Island ... for the purpose of still more cementing that friendship and good feeling which their now superior knowledge teaches to be essential to their comfort and happiness.” The Governor (Captain Fitzroy) visited, on May 11th, the ground where the festival was held, and was well received by the natives, who danced hakas in his honour. The following note on the feeding of these thousands is taken from The Southern Cross of May 18th, 1844. “The preparations made for the feast were enormous. A wall of potatoes in baskets extended nearly for a quarter of a mile, covered on the top with several thousand dried sharks and dog fishes. Opposite to this potato wall was a shade of the same length, covered over with blankets, which were intended as presents to their guests. The number of the blankets could not be short of five hundred.” The correspondent adds: “Some of our English manufacturers would have relished such a sight.” From what we have learned from our investigations into those early days, almost any of the settlers would have relished the sight still more. At the time the population of Auckland was only 2754 persons, and such a gathering, while the native war in the North still continued, must have caused no little concern both to the authorities and the settlers.

A year after the capture of Ruapekapeka, on January 11th, 1846, which ended the war in the North, an attempt was made by Hone Heke to instigate an attack on Auckland, and for this purpose invited the Kaipara and Waikato chiefs to join him. He sent messengers to Mangere, where they met the Waikato chiefs, including Potatau (Te Wherowhero), Kati, Te Wherepu, Taka-anini, Tutere, Ngapora, and others. After conveying the presents which Hone Heke had sent, and having stated the object of their mission, Potatau consulted with the assembled chiefs, and on the following day returned a bag of bullets, which had formed part of the gift Hone Heke had sent to him, and declined to take part in the suggested attack upon the Pakeha, stating that the chief of Ngapuhi would have to dispose of his shadows first. Tuhaere agreed with Potatau, saying, “My word is one with thine, O Potatau.” The messengers returned home, but Heke did not venture to attack with the other tribes hostile, and so the project failed.

Commercial Bay, 1844
Showing Shortland Street and St. Paul’s Church
After a drawing by Lieut. Godfrey, R.N., M.R.C.S. (H.M.S. Urgent) in the Old Colonists’ Museum

Among the earliest events of a domestic character in the development of the city, the newspaper must take a prominent place. The first newspaper was born on 10th July, 1841, and was named the New Zealand Herald and Auckland Gazette. It consisted of four pages of very much smaller size than a newspaper of to-day, and cost a shilling a copy. Its circulation was 250 copies. Its career was brief, the last issue being April 2nd, 1842. The editors of the Herald were successively Charles Terry, William Corbett, and Dr. Samuel McDonald Martin, a fiery Highlander, whose trenchant articles brought about the demise of the paper. It was succeeded in a week’s time by the Auckland Standard, which had even a shorter career, four months (April to August) being the extent of its vitality. Its editor was William Swainson, who had come to New Zealand to fill the position of Attorney-General. The Auckland Chronicle and New Zealand Colonist made its initial appearance on 8th November, 1841, but after a month’s run it was suspended. It revived in November of the following year, and continued to appear until July, 1843. After another suspension of two months it again appeared and survived until 1845, when it finally disappeared. Messrs. Kitchen and Barrow were the editors, and Mr. John Moore was the printer. On September 5th, 1842, the Auckland Times made its début. On its first appearance it was printed by Mr. Moore from type which had been used by the printer of the New Zealand Herald and Auckland Gazette. This type had been purchased by the Government on the winding-up of that paper. For some reason the Government forbade the use of the type to Mr. Henry Falwasser, the editor and proprietor of the Times. Mr. Falwasser was not deterred by this refusal, and collecting all sorts and sizes of types, and with the aid of a mangle, he continued to bring out his paper under such unique conditions for about thirty successive issues. Dr. T. M. Hocken, whose researches in the byways of New Zealand bibliography are of such value to students, and to whom I am indebted for much information, remarks that if the production was “not a confusion of tongues, it was certainly a confusion of letters.” The last of these curious issues appeared on the 13th April, 1843. It reappeared on November 7th in conventional form, and continued until its one hundred and fifty-ninth number, 17th January, 1846.

With the Southern Cross and the New Zealander we arrive at something like stability. The promoter and first editor of the former was Dr. Martin, whose association with the first Auckland paper has been mentioned. The proprietors were Messrs. Brown and Campbell, who as business men were pre-eminent, being interested in practically every local commercial venture. The Southern Cross, New Zealand Guardian, and Auckland, Thames, and Bay of Islands Advertiser, to give the paper its full title, appeared on April 22nd, 1843, and continued regularly until its one hundred and sixth number (April 26th, 1845), when it was suspended because it proved unprofitable. It resumed publication in July, 1847, with the title shortened to The Southern Cross and New Zealand Guardian. In June, 1851 (No. 415), it was enlarged, and in May, 1862, it appeared daily. Shortly after its change to a daily it was sold to Mr. (afterwards Sir) Julius Vogel, and again resold, in 1876, to Mr. Horton, who amalgamated it with the New Zealand Herald, which had been founded in 1863.

Auckland, Circa 1852
P. J. Hogan, delt.