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From issue: November 2001

Pompallier's Prized Possession

by Kate Martin

The Gaveaux press at Pompallier is one of the country's most interesting and important historic artefacts.

Teneei te kakano ka ruia neei
Morimoritia kia puawai ai
Hei maunga ringa ma ngaa whakatupuranga,
Kia kaha, kia manawanui, kia u,
Kia mau hoki ki te whakapono,
Te tumanako me te aroha
This is the seed that was sown
Then nurtured to blossom forth
To be held as a prized possession
for the generations to follow
Be strong, be patient, be steadfast
Retain your faith, your hope, and your love

Caring for historic properties means treasuring their contents as well as sites and surroundings. There is nothing more powerful than an artefact found in its context. At Pompallier, visitors invariably respond with awe as they hear how the press here was brought across two oceans and set up in this building. More than 30,000 books were printed on it between 1842 and 1850. These were some of the first books made in New Zealand and some of the first books in the Maori
language.

The repaired Gaveaux press in Pompallier Picture: Kate Martin

Sending a copy of the first page printed at the Catholic mission headquarters in the Bay of Islands to his superiors in Europe, Bishop Pompallier wrote on 6 November 1842: "The printing press was bought in France in 1840 and the printers are members of the Society of Mary to the number of three. Before giving my writings to the press I give them to one of my missionaries, helped by two intelligent native converts to be examined. I recommend to them great severity in the matter of my use of language, so that if anything is encountered which is not grammatical or intelligible in their tongue, they should take care to let me know about it. The priest whom I employ for this work notes down the observations of the natives as well as his own, when there is something to be done. Then the whole is examined finally in my presence and then I deliver the book to the press." The Bishop's letter also describes how Maori pressured him for books so much that he decided to print a preliminary forty-eight-page brochure to be circulated amongst them "thus to encourage patience".

John Brebner (see foonote) working on the press. Picture: Kate Martin

The press continued to pour out Catholic literature until the Northern War broke out in March 1845, literally on the neighbouring property. The missionaries' letters describe bullets flying around them as they raced for the
safety of a small boat. Although these staunch Catholics chose to stay in the North for the duration of that war, it was deemed prudent to remove the printing equipment to outstations. After all, lead printing type was easily melted into musket shot and paper quickly converted into cartridges for shotguns. Hence printing was halted for a year. On 14 September 1845, printer Brother Emery wrote: "The press went to Wangaroa (Whangaroa) … I was sent
to Terawiti (Te Rawhiti, Cape Brett) to look after our belongings … We are in a reed hut; it takes in water like a bucket. It is 5 feet high, about 20 feet long, and 30 wide. Inside are 60 cases, all the printing paper…and many other things". As peace was re-established in the North in 1846, so was the press at the Kororareka/Russell printery. Nevertheless, in 1850 the missionaries were relocated to the new colonial towns of Wellington and Auckland. The printing equipment was packed up and eventually sold off or given away.

In 1857, Waikato Maori asked Bishop Pompallier to send them a printing press. The Gaveaux press was despatched, but exactly when and how is not yet known. It may well have been around August 1862 when Pompallier wrote to the Maori King Tawhiao: "Now this is a token of my love: I send a new Priest of mine for thee and for the tribes of Waikato." The new priest, Father Garavel, possibly took the press with him. The next year hostilities broke out and travel and transport would have been difficult.

When Tawhiao began publication of Te Paki o Matariki, in 1891, it was the Gaveaux press that went to work. After 1933, when commercial printing of this newspaper began, the press remained in the Waikato as a taonga. From 1950 it was stored in a special building on the Turangawaewae Marae. In 1967 Queen Te Atairangikaahu gave permission for the Gaveaux to return to its own turangawaewae at Kororareka/Russell. Ngaa mihi ki to tatou Ariki Atairangikaahu mo to whakaaro aroha.

Toi te kupu, toi te mana, toi te whenua
The permanence of the language, the prestige and the land

Caring for historic properties means treasuring their contents as well as sites and surroundings. There is nothing more powerful than an artefact found in its context. At Pompallier, visitors invariably respond with awe as they hear how the press here was brought across two oceans and set up in this building. More than 30,000 books were printed on it between 1842 and 1850. These were some of the first books made in New Zealand and some of the first books in the Maori
language.

Sending a copy of the first page printed at the Catholic mission headquarters in the Bay of Islands to his superiors in Europe, Bishop Pompallier wrote on 6 November 1842: "The printing press was bought in France in 1840 and the printers are members of the Society of Mary to the number of three. Before giving my writings to the press I give them to one of my missionaries, helped by two intelligent native converts to be examined. I recommend to them great severity in the matter of my use of language, so that if anything is encountered which is not grammatical or intelligible in their tongue, they should take care to let me know about it. The priest whom I employ for this work notes down the observations of the natives as well as his own, when there is something to be done. Then the whole is examined finally in my presence and then I deliver the book to the press." The Bishop's letter also describes how Maori pressured him for books so much that he decided to print a preliminary forty-eight-page brochure to be circulated amongst them "thus to encourage patience".

The press continued to pour out Catholic literature until the Northern War broke out in March 1845, literally on the neighbouring property. The missionaries' letters describe bullets flying around them as they raced for the
safety of a small boat. Although these staunch Catholics chose to stay in the North for the duration of that war, it was deemed prudent to remove the printing equipment to outstations. After all, lead printing type was easily melted into musket shot and paper quickly converted into cartridges for shotguns. Hence printing was halted for a year. On 14 September 1845, printer Brother Emery wrote: "The press went to Wangaroa (Whangaroa) … I was sent
to Terawiti (Te Rawhiti, Cape Brett) to look after our belongings … We are in a reed hut; it takes in water like a bucket. It is 5 feet high, about 20 feet long, and 30 wide. Inside are 60 cases, all the printing paper…and many other things". As peace was re-established in the North in 1846, so was the press at the Kororareka/Russell printery. Nevertheless, in 1850 the missionaries were relocated to the new colonial towns of Wellington and Auckland. The printing equipment was packed up and eventually sold off or given away.

In 1857, Waikato Maori asked Bishop Pompallier to send them a printing press. The Gaveaux press was despatched, but exactly when and how is not yet known. It may well have been around August 1862 when Pompallier wrote to the Maori King Tawhiao: "Now this is a token of my love: I send a new Priest of mine for thee and for the tribes of Waikato." The new priest, Father Garavel, possibly took the press with him. The next year hostilities broke out and travel and transport would have been difficult.

When Tawhiao began publication of Te Paki o Matariki, in 1891, it was the Gaveaux press that went to work. After 1933, when commercial printing of this newspaper began, the press remained in the Waikato as a taonga. From 1950 it was stored in a special building on the Turangawaewae Marae. In 1967 Queen Te Atairangikaahu gave permission for the Gaveaux to return to its own turangawaewae at Kororareka/Russell. Ngaa mihi ki to tatou Ariki Atairangikaahu mo to whakaaro aroha.

Toi te kupu, toi te mana, toi te whenua
The permanence of the language, the prestige and the land

Pompallier has been registered by the Historic Places Trust as a category 1 historic place.

Kate Martin is Manager at Pompallier.

Footnote: Recently, John Brebner of HomePrint, Feilding, helped reset the Gaveaux press' printing arm at its proper angle. For years, the handle pointed upwards and backwards. Since it was still possible to use the press with it in this strange head-height position, people must have wondered at the size of the printers who operated the Gaveaux. With the handle positioned correctly, the printer pulled it across the bed of the press, working with a partner who did the dirty work of inking the plates. The pair could produce up to 250 prints an hour.