Historical records matching William Palmer
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About William Palmer
William Palmer arrived Port Bunn (Preservation Inlet), NZ February 1832 on “Caroline”.
He was said to be the first European to sail up the Clutha, which he did in a shale-boat with a Maori crew, reaching Tuapeka Mouth.
His first wife was Titi, a Ngai Tahu Maori, she died 1846, he married Te Haukawe (Titi’s full sister) she died 1847, and in 1853 he married Ann Taimaraki Holmes who was Pakeha/Moriori. William died at Henley, NZ 27 March 1903.
William Palmer was the younger brother of the older edwin Palmer, both brothers
eventually settling at Maitapapa near the Taieri River, as did their nephew Ned.
Whaler on the Otago coast. Born in Sydney he came to New Zealand, 1832, where he worked at the Fort Bunn shore-whaling station in Fiordland. and younger brother of Edwin Palmer, husband of Patahi, who in 1834 went into partnership with Johnny Jones over the Preservation Inlet whaling station when its owner George Bunn died.
In 1837 William managed the Matua shore whaling station on the Clutha.
William was at the Tautuku whaling station 1839-1848 and assisted New Zealand Company surveyors mapping the coastline.
From 1848 he worked as a carpenter, boat-builder, farmer and fisherman at the Maori village of Henley on the Taiari.
it was with Richard Craigie and others of Taieri Ferry that he built boats including the 'Hope' and the 'Brothers' to trade on the Otago coast.
William married (1st) Titi the daughter of Te Rahui and Te Maukaimai, (2nd) Te Haukawe, sister of his first wife Titi,
Iin 1853 Ann Taimaraki Holmes, his 3rd wife, Father of more than 15 children. [Source: Southern people; a dictionary of Otago Southland biography, 1998]
The sea and sailing remained Williams first love. He built a 6 tonne boat mostly out of kauri and in the 1860's when the gold rush started on the west coast of the South Island William loaded his boat with bricks to build a bakers oven and flour to sell to the miners.
He left Taiari mouth and set sail north for Hokitika, at Cape Campbell he struck a strong Sou'westerly gale. The bricks had to go overboard while two of his hands had to work furiously baling water to prevent the boat from sinking.
Down the west coast to Hokitika then south again William struck another strong sou'westerly wind and under jib he rounded the west cape and proceeded onto Riverton.
There he picked up a prospecting party and headed back round the west cape to Jacksons Bay where they were going to try their luck gold mining.
William sold his boat there, which had proved its seaworthiness in stormy seas around the South Island.
As he grew older he was cared for by his second eldest daughter Mere Kui. It was at her home beside the Taiari River that William passed away on the 27th day of March 1903 aged 88 yrs old.
There is no stone to mark his grave in the cemetery located on Maori Kaik Road in Henley but a tree. The Maori graveyard (urupa) which includes the grave of John Hull is sited at the end of the 100 ha site which marks the Te Moua pa
http://www.familytreecircles.com/looking-for-any-info-on-richard-pa...
- William Palmer married three times
- First wife - Titi - died 1846 - Kati Mamoe and Kai Tahu Maori
- Second wife - Te Haukawe - died 1847 following childbirth - full sister to Titi. Te Haukawe & William had one child - Hana/Hannah
- Third wife - Ann Taimaraki Holmes - half Maori. Married William Palmer 20 October 1853 they had fifteen children
- He had no other wives
added by Christine Hogg 17/5/2018
Southern People: A Dictionary of Southern Biography.
Palmer, William McLuer (1815 - 1903). An early whaler on the Southern Coast, William was born on 18 July in Sydney, the seventh of eight children of Richard and Elizabeth Palmer.
Orphaned at four, his next seven years were spent in a Sydney orphanage, where conditions were harsh. At 12 he was apprenticed to a carpenter, and left at 16 to make his own way in the world. He followed his older brother, Edwin, to New Zealand on the schooner 'Caroline'. For the next five years William worked at the Port Bunn shore-whaling station in Fiordland, whaling, sealing, boat-building, and sawing Timber.
In 1837, William was installed as manager of the Matau shore whaling station at the mouth of the Clutha. He was said to be the first European to sail up the Clutha, which he did in a shale-boat with a Maori crew, reaching Tuapeka Mouth.
William was by now a family man, married (according to Maori law) to Titi the daughter of Te Rahui and Te Maukaimai, and they had a daughter, Elizabeth.
From 1839 tp 1848 William was at Tautuku whaling station - whaling, fishing, and assisting New Zealand Company suveyors as they mapped the coastline. Whaling dwindled, and in 1848 William moved to the Maori village at henley, on the Taieri, with his four little daughters. In the last 19 years he had lost two wives and four daughters who did not survive infancy. Te Rahui, the mother of his first wife, now helped him with his family while he worked as a carpenter, boat-builder, farmer and fisherman. With Richard Craigie and others of Taiery Ferry, he built several boats, including the 'Hope' and the 'Brothers' which were used as traders around the Otago coast.
In 1853, already a grandfather, William married 17-year-old Ann Taimaraki Holmes. To everyone's amazement, William became the father of a further 15 children, the eldest being his first son - named William.
During these years William built a six-ton boat, mainly of kauri, and sailed around the coasts of the South Island with supplies for goldminers.
In 1886, Ann died when her youngest child was just nine. William died 27 March 1903 at Henley, where he is buried in the Maori Cemetery. His adventures had helped in the colonisation of the area and his progeny certainly boosted the population. His brother Edwin also left a large number of descendants, and both lines of the Palmer family are intertwined with the region's life.
Coral Beattie.
Gaining a Foothold by Ian Church.
Chapter 39 pages 343, 344.
1838-39: Whaling Stations in Southern Otago
Item 5. Reminiscences of William (Bill) Palmer in the Dunedin 'Evening Star, 4 July 1891, recorded by 'I.M.I.' [James McIndoe], and included in Richards, 'Murihiku' Re-Viewed, p. 108:
'William, or as he is familiarly called, Bill Palmer, was born in New South Wales on 10th June [actually 18 July], 1815 [he lost both parents at age four], and landed at Preservation Inlet, the first white settlement in the South Island, in 1832, arriving by the schooner 'Caroline' on a whaling expedition.' Palmers account deals with teh events there, and at Tautuku [q.v.]. and the ground why he should be remunerated by the government, which included the following. Though it is undated, the expedition described is likely to have occurred while he was running the Molyneux Whaling Staion in 1838.
"He was the first white man to sail up the Clutha River in a whaleboat, and reached near Tuapeka Mouth. On this occasion Palmers did not feel very well, and the Maori during his sickness employed themselves in making karak nets for catching eels in the river. Starting for the expedition, he [had] equipped himself with a gun and sufficient powder and shot to bring down pigeons and kakas. The natives, however, objected to be so armed, preferring their own accoutrement of pointed kalladies (korari, souther 'koradi' or flax stalks], which they threw at the birds with almost unerring aim. The birds were, however, very tame and remained quiet until a short distance was reached; and, as the missile made no noise like the gun in its deadly work, a goodly number were knocked over; and what with fish, fowl, and potatoes, with a very small proportion of flour and a sprinkling of salf, the solitary explorers found themselves better than well off.
The Maori had, however, a strong objection to Palmer going on his adventurous voyage, as they reported a tribe up the river who would rejoice in the taste of a bit of white man. He was in no way frightened, however, as he knew his companions well, and that they would stand between him and trouble, as he was looked on by them as their rangatira, or chief. So he told them, as they did not kill and cook him at home, there was little chance of this happening inland. Finding him determined to proceed on his journey, they told him not to let his heart jump up, he was too good to kill, and that as he was never before in any of their in-country expeditions, not to go at the head, but keep behind. The voyage proved satisfactory, no accident happened, no Native enemy was seen, and all arrived home again in safety.
He experience of the Maori character was certainly favorable. They would share everything with him. Tobacco was the great attraction for them. For grog they did not care very much; but rather it was their wont to put their allowance of two glasses a day.
William Palmer died 27 March 1903, aged 97.
Otago Witness, 15 April 1903. Page 29.
The Old Whaling Station on Taieri Island.
The Last of the Old Whalers
(by F. A Joseph)
There died at Henley the other day (March 27, 1903) at the age of 90 years, William Palmer, the last of the hardy race of early whalers whose prowess helped to make the name of New Zealand famous long ago, and whose name is connected with the whaling station on Taieri Island. - added by Michelle Johnson 27/10/2022
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