Boat links to Bay of Islands past
New Zealand Historic Places Trust information release
28 December 2003
Next time people see the stately R.
Tucker Thompson (pictured at right) sailing near Russell, they'll
know they're looking at a tangible link with the Bay of Islands' past.
About 160 years ago, Bishop Pompallier was sailing exactly the same kind
of ship around the Bay - and much further afield.
"As leader of the French Catholic Mission to Western Oceania, Bishop
Pompallier established his headquarters in Russell in the late 1830s.
For his Mission to succeed, he needed a ship to travel around New Zealand
and the wider Pacific," says Kate Martin, the Historic Places Trust's
manager at Pompallier.
"In 1840 he bought the gaff-rigged square topsail schooner, on which
Pompallier made a number of trips around New Zealand and to Futuna and
Wallis north of Tonga. Unfortunately the Sancta Maria (pictured
at right), as he called the ship, proved too expensive and within a few
years was dispatched to Valparaiso for sale."
After some close perusal of archive photos and drawings, however, Kate
recently discovered that the R. Tucker Thompson is the spitting
image of Pompallier's mission schooner.
"Although the ships illustrated here are using different sail sets,
it's clear that they are essentially the same configuration and design,"
she says.
The R. Tucker Thompson - though only built in the last quarter
of the 20th Century - plies its trade today, giving visitors to the Bay
a unique heritage sailing experience.
"It's actually quite amazing that the Tucker is so historically
appropriate to the Bay. You really couldn't come up with a more fitting
vessel for heritage tourism if you tried," says Kate.
The ship also provides a very clear connection to Pompallier - New Zealand's
oldest industrial building, where visitors are also able to experience
for themselves pioneer mission technology in the restored printing house.
The R. Tucker Thompson will be pressed into service at a special
Festival of History that will
be held at Pompallier on April 4-6 2004. Historians and others will take
part in a cruise to retrace the steps of New Zealand's leading historical
figures - including Bishop Pompallier - in the Bay of Islands at the time
of Treaty-making and subsequent war.
Enjoy your heritage - visit Pompallier.
For more information:
Contact: Kate Martin, Property
Manager
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