Lighthouses of Foveaux Strait — a History
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LIGHTHOUSES OF FOVEAUX STRAIT — A HISTORY Angela Bain MAY 2010 Published by Department of Conservation PO Bos 10-240 Wellington Lighthouses of Foveaux Strait — A History Angela Bain May 2010 Cover photograph: Waipapa Point by Nepturamus, April 2009 - flickr Back cover quote: ‘Puysegur Point Letter Book, 1932-1943’, 10 November 1937. ©Copyright New Zealand Department of Conservation Print ISBN: 978-0-478-14764-3 Web ISBN: 978-0-478-14765-0 TABLE OF CONTENTS Preamble Chapter one: Context 1 International Background 1 National Background 2 Brief History of Foveaux Strait 4 Chapter two: Lighthouse history summaries 7 Dog Island 7 Centre Island 15 Puysegur Point 22 Waipapa Point 31 Chapter three: Technologies 36 Chapter four: Marine Department 42 Chapter five: Keepers 48 Recruitment and Training 48 Hierachy and Promotion 49 Duties 53 Transfers 54 Wartime 55 Watches 56 Rules 57 Temporary Keepers 58 Social Dynamics 61 Chapter six: Families 64 Marital Status of Keepers 64 Wives 65 Health 70 Education 73 Leave 77 Recreation 78 Social Dynamics 80 Alcohol 82 The Marine Department and Keepers’ Families 83 Chapter seven: Dwellings 84 Chapter eight: Environment 90 Chapter nine: Supplies and self sufficiency 98 Chapter ten: Servicing and communications 105 Chapter eleven: Service vessels 109 Chapter twelve: Shipwrecks 117 Chapter thirteen: Disasters, tragedies and accidents 121 Chapter fourteen: Conclusion 125 Appendix one: Chronology of light station structures 127 Centre Island 127 Dog Island 127 Puysegur Point 128 Waipapa Point 128 Appendix two: Beacons and lights 130 Ackers Point 130 Pearl Island 130 St Anne’s Point 131 Stirling Point 131 Other Lights/Beacons Mentioned in AJHR 132 Appendix three: Keepers — a partial list 133 Centre Island 133 Dog Island 135 Puysegur Point 137 Waipapa Point 140 Bibliography 142 Secondary Sources: 142 Primary Sources: 143 Unpublished 143 Preamble The topic of Southland lighthouses was not one I had ever thought about before being approached by the Department of Conservation to write a history of the Foveaux Strait lights. As I delved into the available primary and secondary sources during the course of my research, I discovered that the world of lighthouses was a fascinating one, peopled with colourful characters, littered with complaints of hardship and privation (some justified, others not), and stories of a unique lifestyle, now consigned to former keepers’ memories and the history books. The aim of the project is to produce a history of the lighthouses located within the boundaries of the Southland Conservancy. It is to cover the history of the lights themselves as well as the life experiences of the keepers and their families who operated them. The purpose of the project is to give some context to the sites managed by Department of Conservation staff, to help enhance their understanding of individual sites, and to show each site’s relative significance to the history of New Zealand lighthouses as a whole. It is also hoped that the information will be able to be used to assist Department of Conservation staff in putting together interpretative displays such as panels, pamphlets, visitor centre displays, slide talks, exhibitions and information sheets for the public. This study refers only to Southland’s coastal lights (i.e. not harbour lights, which are another story entirely) and focuses on the previously-manned lighthouses at Centre Island, Dog Island, Puysegur Point and Waipapa Point, with other coastal lights mentioned briefly. As many aspects as possible of lighthouses and lighthouse life are intended to be covered, although obviously not every single angle can be included. This project was undertaken with the knowledge that the availability of time and money would place some limits on what could be achieved. Eight weeks were set aside for research purposes. Financial resources meant that research had to be based in Southland and Otago. While the Dunedin branch of Archives New Zealand has extensive records pertaining to Southland lighthouses, there are more held in Wellington which, unfortunately, could not be utilised in this study. Archives New Zealand in Dunedin does not generally hold records for the relevant lights after about 1945, and nearly all the lighthouse archives they hold are written by the keepers themselves. This means that there is a bias towards the history of the lights before about WWII and towards the experience of the keepers, to the detriment of the Marine Department’s side of the story, in most of the primary sources used in the study. While I have tried to balance this with information from other sources where possible, the bias should be borne in mind when reading the project. Time constraints also meant that only a small amount of oral history work could be undertaken for the project; there are many more people who could be interviewed on this topic. The project is constructed in such a way that each chapter is virtually a stand-alone unit which can be read independently of the other chapters, as and when information on a certain aspect of lighthouse life is required. Inevitably, this leads to some repetition of information within different chapters when it is read as a whole. The topics covered are wide-ranging and include chapters on the technical side of lighthouse operation, family life on light stations, the vessels which serviced the stations, the lighthouse environment, and summaries of the history of each lighthouse. Angela Bain September 1999 CHAPTER ONE: Context INTERNATIONAL BACKGROUND John Ross defines a ‘ lighthouse’ as ‘ a visual navigational aid, visible both by day and by night ’.1 Based on this definition, lighthouses, in varying forms, can be found in historical records dating back over two thousand years. For example, the Alexandria lighthouse consisted of a fire burning at the top of a 120 metre tall white marble tower during the night, and a mirror used to reflect the sun during the day. Built by Ptolemy II in circa 280 BC, it was one of the ‘ seven wonders of the ancient world ’. As trade and colonisation contributed to an increasing amount of sea traffic, lighthouses like the one at Alexandria harbour (known as Pharos) were erected throughout Europe and the Mediterranean.2 Many of the early lights were unreliable or not sited in the most useful positions. There were even cases of false lights being deliberately displayed by wreckers to ‘ guide’ ships onto rocks to be ‘ relieved’ of their cargo.3 Formal organisation of lighthouses began in the sixteenth century. In Great Britain, the Corporation of Trinity House was appointed in 1566 to try to regulate the disorder on the coasts of England and Wales. An Act of Parliament instructed Trinity House to — …make erecte and set up such and so many Beakons Markes and Signes of the Sea ... as to them shall seeme most meete needeful and requisyte, whereby the Daungers maye be avoyded and escaped, and shippes the better coome into their Portes without Peryll.4 The Commission of Northern Lights was established in 1736 to administer the Scottish Light Service.5 Scotland’s Light Service later became the basic model for those running the early New Zealand Light Service. As technology advanced, so too did navigational aids. Fires on beaches and cliff tops were replaced first with large candles mounted in candelabra, then with oil wick lanterns fuelled by sperm whale or colza oil. During the eighteenth century, reflectors began to be used to enhance the lights and, eventually, the first revolving light was invented.6 Lighthouse technology continued to develop and gradually lighthouses came to be automated and required little human intervention. New Zealand relied upon overseas technological innovation and basically followed international trends in lighthouse development.7 1 J.O’C. Ross, The Lighthouses of New Zealand, Palmerston North, 1975, p.12. 2 Maritime Safety Authority of New Zealand, ‘ Lighthouses of New Zealand: a brief history’, p.1. 3 Ross, p.15. 4 C. Nicholson, Rock Lighthouses of Britain, Cambridge, 1983, pp.12-13. 5 Ross, p.15. 6 Ibid, p.16. 7 For more detailed information about the development of lighthouse technology, see chapter on Technologies. Chapter one: Context 1 New Zealand’s role in the international system of lights came about through its obligation to provide lights on its coasts for the safe navigation of its waters, not only for its own vessels, but for ships belonging to other nations as well. New Zealand relied on other countries to make their waters navigable for its trading ships travelling to and from Britain. Likewise, other countries required a safe route past New Zealand’s coastline. Thus, the world’s seafarers came to be aided in their travels by a system of lights and beacons. This system had gradually evolved from a crude, relatively disorganised series of fires dotting the coast to eventually become a comprehensive, centrally regulated service of lights and keepers. NATIONAL BACKGROUND As an island nation, New Zealand has always depended upon the sea for trade and, particularly in the nineteenth century, communication purposes. The safe navigation of New Zealand waters was a concern from early on in the country’s colonial history. This was particularly so as New Zealand’s road and rail network was limited at the time, which meant that internal trade, as well as trans-Tasman and international trade, relied heavily on shipping. According to Rear Admiral Ross’s research, New Zealand’s first recorded navigational light was a lighted beacon erected in 1831-32 to mark the entrance to the port of Maketu in the Bay of Plenty. Other coastal settlements also established navigational aids on an informal basis, some consisting of lights, others simply day-mark beacons which were not visible at night.8 Governor Hobson’s Legislative Council passed the Municipal Corporation Ordinance in December 1841 which officially gave local bodies the power to erect their own beacons and lighthouses.9 However, the Ordinance was almost immediately disallowed by Lord Stanley, Secretary of State for the Colonies, who wrote from London that “the power of establishing beacons and lighthouses ..