George Hempleman

George Hempleman with Elizabeth, his second wife

George Hempleman (in German probably Georg Hempelmann ) (* 1799 in Altona , then Schleswig-Holstein , Germany , † February 13, 1880 in Akaroa , Canterbury , New Zealand ) was a captain, whaler and the first settler of German origin in New Zealand.

Live and act

Nothing is known of Georg Hempelmann's German past, except that he was said to have been born in Altona in 1799. Sources about him do not begin until he first arrived in New Zealand in 1835 from Sydney . There is also only one reference to his first wife, who is said to be buried in Peraki Bay in New Zealand. His second wife was Elizabeth Delahay Whelch , née Price , who was born in 1784 and died before her husband on July 4, 1868 in Akaroa , Canterbury , aged 77. Both married a second time on January 4, 1842 in Akaroa . Howard Charles Jacobson suspected in his book Tales of Banks Peninsula that Hempleman had spoken German up to the age of 25 or 26 and from then on lived exclusively in English-speaking countries, as he later no longer spoke his mother tongue.

Hempleman must have been a seaman until 1835, because from November 1835 he commanded the brig Bee , which brought whalers from Sydney to New Zealand in Peraki Bay . In 1836 he built a house in Port Cooper for the whalers ashore. On February 5, 1837, Hempleman sailed with the schooner Dublin Packet from Sydney once more to Peraki Bay , this time to build a whaling station . On board were his first wife and Captain Clayton , with whom he had signed a contract for the recovery of the catch. They reached the bay on March 20, 1837. After a final voyage and arrival on September 20 of the same year, Hempleman stayed in Peraki Bay . This point in time can be regarded as the latest date for his settlement on the Banks Peninsula .

Hempleman that some Māori from Queen Charlotte Sound employed in his station, came on 31 October 1839 after the Māori - Chief Hone Tuhawaiki one of his Māori had killed boy's, in conflict with the Chief .

A little later, however, on November 2, 1839, he bought land from Hone Tuhawaiki , which comprised almost the entire Banks Peninsula . His consideration consisted of the small 10-ton merchant ship ( Mary Ann ), tobacco and a number of blankets, all of which were worth about £ 650 at the time  . But on August 2, 1838 had Captain Jean Langlois , a French whaler from Le Havre , already with some Māori - Chiefs for the sale of 30,000 acres of Banks Peninsula negotiated and came back in mid 1840 to complete the sale.

For Hempleman it suddenly became apparent that Hone Tuhawaiki had sold the land twice. He brought his case as a complaint to the New Zealand House of Representatives and tried to get his rights over it, especially since the signatures of Hone Tuhawaiki and eight other chiefs, including four witnesses, were under his contract. However, although the Commissioner of Crown Lands at Akaroa recommended that he be awarded at least 2,500  acres , he was unable to enforce his supposed right until his death.

In 1843 the whaling station in Peraki Bay was sold and Hempleman and his second wife moved to German Bay , now called Takamatua . In 1852 he initially accepted 500  acres of land, 250 of them in German Bay . The settlement, located about 3 km north of Akaroa , was created by twelve settlers of German origin who came to New Zealand with the French emigrants in 1840 and founded Akaroa . He lived there, in a hospital for the last few years until his death. George Hempleman died in an accident on February 13, 1880 and was buried in Akaroa .

In 1938 a memorial was erected in his honor in Peraki Bay .

The Peraki Log

George Hempleman kept a private diary. The book, which is kept in the Akaroa Museum and is called the Peraki Log , began in November 1835, the time when he brought whalers to New Zealand in Peraki Bay with the Brigg Bee . He continued the diary over the years of his life in the bay. The records became an important document that documented the whaling season, the beginning of settlement in the area and the contacts and disputes with the Māori .

literature

• Howard Charles Jacobson : Tales of Banks Peninsula . Ed .: Jacobson . Akaroa 1893 (English, online [accessed February 8, 2011] second edition of June 1893).
• PL Berry : Germans in New Zealand - 1840 to 1870 . Ed .: University of Canterbury . Christchurch 1964 (English, online PDF 7.3 MB [accessed February 8, 2011] A thesis presented for the degree of Master of Arts in History in the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand. ).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Piraki Bay . In: The Cyclopedia of New Zealand . Canterbury Provincial District - Volume III . Cyclopedia Company Ltd , Christchurch 1903, p.  640 (English, online [accessed February 8, 2011]).
2. ^ Howard Charles Jacobson : Tales of Banks Peninsula . Ed .: Jacobson . Akaroa 1893, p.  267 (English).
3. ↑ Wendy Leahy : CEMETERY PHOTOGRAPHS: Akaroa, New Zealand . Shadows of Time - Genealogical Service & Information , accessed February 8, 2011 .  
4. ↑ DEATHS . In: The Evening Post . Volume IV, Issue 133. Wellington July 18, 1868, S.  2 (English, online [accessed February 8, 2011]).
5. ^ Howard Charles Jacobson : Tales of Banks Peninsula . Ed .: Jacobson . Akaroa 1893, p.  78 (English).
6. ↑ The Old Whaling Days - 1837 . In: The Cyclopedia of New Zealand . Volume = Canterbury Provincial District - Volume III . Cyclopedia Company Ltd , Christchurch 1903, p.  640 (English, online [accessed February 8, 2011]).
7. ^ Bernard John Foster : Akaroa, French Settlement at . Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand , accessed February 8, 2011 .  
8. ^ Books . In: Otago Daily Times . Issue 10005. Dunedin March 24, 1894, p.  2 (English, online [accessed February 8, 2011]).
9. ^ Memorial at Peraki . In: The Evening Post . Volume CXXV, Issue 63. Wellington March 6, 1938, S.  14 (English, online [accessed February 8, 2011]).