Donald Sutherland (settlers)

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Donald Sutherland about 1878

Donald Sutherland (* 1835 in Wick , County Caithness , Scotland ; † October 24, 1919 in Milford Sound , New Zealand ), known as the Hermit of Milford Sound , was a Scottish- born New Zealand sailor, soldier, prospector, settler and first European explorer the Sutherland Falls , the second tallest waterfall in New Zealand.

Early years

Donald Sutherland was born in 1835 as the son of Isabella Strachan and her husband Donald Sutherland , a rope maker from Wick , high up in the north-east of Scotland by the sea. Like many his age, he worked in the fishing industry in his hometown after graduating from school. When he was 16, he had enough of it, joined the Scottish Army and was stationed at Fort George . In 1860 he joined the Italian freedom fighter Giuseppe Garibaldi in the war of independence against the kingdoms of the two Sicilies .

Arrival in New Zealand

Esperance Chalet , Donald Sutherland's hostel on Milford Sound

After some time at sea, he reached Auckland in 1862 and worked on the Prince Alfred for British sea trade on New Zealand's coasts. In Dunedin arrived he disembarked in order during the Gold Rush in Otago in the search for gold in Gabriel's Gully try. After this failed, he enlisted in December 1863 3.  Waikato regiment to the Waikato -Krieg against the Māori participate. After the end of the war he tried to gain a foothold as a settler, but lost the rights to his promised land because he had deserted from the army. He joined an expedition to hunt seals in Fiordland and later went looking for gold again in Hokitika . In October 1868 he went back to the army, fought in various places, reached the rank of corporal and was finally awarded the order of the New Zealand Medal .

Back at sea, he worked for the New Zealand Government's coastal shipping service under Captain John Fairchild . In search of a different life, in 1877 he sailed his own small boat from Dunedin south through the Foveaux Strait to Fiordland .

Life as a "hermit" on Milford Sound

On December 3, 1879, Sutherland reached the banks of the Milford Sound and settled near Bowen Falls . Sutherland explored the area partly alone and partly with two other explorers and adventurers. On November 10, 1880, he discovered the 680 m high waterfalls near the Arthur River , which would later bear his name in his honor. In 1883 he discovered Sutherland Sound, named after him, and in 1888 the government paid him to build an entrance to Sutherland Falls . In between he earned u. a. with diamond hunt and as a tourist guide.

Sutherland lived alone in Milford Sound for all these years until he married Elizabeth Samuels on August 7, 1890 and went back with her in 1891 and built a small hostel on the banks of Milford Sound and took tourists around the area. Sutherland's nephew William Sutherland and his wife later moved in with them so that they could run the inn together.

For the last three years of his life, Sutherland suffered from asthma and a weak heart. He died on October 24, 1919, but could not be picked up by ship until five weeks later and buried under a waterfall, as he had wished. Sutherland's wife Elizabeth stayed and ran the hostel until 1922, but then sold it to the government. She herself died on December 10, 1923. She was buried next to her husband. The tomb was later destroyed by a storm and the remains washed to the bottom of the Milford Sound .

The place where Sutherland's house originally stood on Milford Sound is now the mooring for tourist boats. The hostel, however, was replaced by a government-built hostel in 1928 .

Memorial stone in memory of Donald Sutherland and his wife Elizabeth

Commemoration

Donald Sutherland and his wife Elizabeth were well known among tourists of the day and their hostel, built in 1891, was the first of its kind on the way to Milford Sound for the next 30 years.

literature

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ Different sources give different information about his age and year of birth. Depending on the source, the year of birth would be 1834, 1835, 1839, 1843 and 1844. The most credible seem to be the Biographical Dictionary of 1626 Notable Scots by John Geddes and the various newspaper articles from 1919 that reported his death and stated his age as 84, 84 and over 80 years.
  2. ↑ The year of his wife's death is given in all sources as 1923, but the memorial stone at Milford Sound says 1924. The latter can be assumed to be incorrect, as newspaper articles in December 1923 report her death.

For note 1 see and; for note 2 see.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c John Geddes : Donald Sutherland . In: Ye Ken Noo !: Biographical Dictionary of 1626 Notable Scots . The Pentland Press , Durham 1993, ISBN 1-85821-094-1 (English).
  2. ↑ a b The Hermit of Milford Sound . In: James FitzGerald (Ed.): The Press . Volume LV, Issue 16694 . Christchurch December 1, 1919, p.  6 (English, online [accessed January 21, 2015]).
  3. ↑ a b c Passing of a Pioneer . In: Otago Daily Times . Issue 17796 . Dunedin December 1, 1919, p.  9 (English, online [accessed January 21, 2015]).
  4. ↑ a b c Donald Sutherland . (PDF 4.1 MB) Dunedin Family History Group , accessed on January 21, 2015 (English, Newsletter Issue 42 , June 2011, page 11).
  5. ↑ a b Obituary . In: Auckland Star . Volume LIV, Issue 297 . Auckland December 13, 1923, p.  8 (English, online [accessed January 21, 2015]).
  6. ^ Sutherland Falls 'discovered' . New Zealand History , October 16, 2014, accessed January 21, 2015 .
  7. ↑ 100 Years Pure Progress 1901-2001 . (PDF 2.0 MB) Tourism New Zealand , archived from the original ; accessed on February 22, 2016 (English, original website no longer available).
personal data
SURNAME Sutherland, Donald
BRIEF DESCRIPTION New Zealand sailor, soldier, prospector, settler and explorer of Sutherland Falls
DATE OF BIRTH 1835
PLACE OF BIRTH Wick , County Caithness , Scotland
DATE OF DEATH October 24, 1919
Place of death Milford Sound , New Zealand