Wreck of the Fifeshire 1842

The Fifeshire was one of the first New Zealand Company immigrant ships to arrive in the Nelson region; on its maiden voyage from London it carried 159 immigrants to New Zealand, 17 died in transit from fever on board the ship.¹ The Fifeshire carried many famous Nelson names, such as the Poynter family.

The Fifeshire, wrecked on Fifeshire/Arrow Rock.
http://freepages.genealogy.
rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ourstuff/Fifeshire.htm
Click to enlarge

The Fifeshire was the first of the four New Zealand Company settler ships to arrive in Nelson; Lord Auckland, Mary Ann and The Lloyds, along with the Fifeshire, all left England on the same day.² The day the Fifeshire arrived, through the original entrance to the Nelson harbour, is the day celebrated as Nelson Anniversary Day, 1 February 1842.³

The ship arrived in Nelson on the 1 February 1842⁴ and discharged its passengers and cargo, before being cleared to leave for China on 27 February 1842.⁵ Captain F.G Moore oversaw the departure from port as James Cross, the regular pilot, was unwell.  The wind was very light, so the Fifeshire did not reach the entrance till the tide had been ebbing for some time. The Fifeshire had almost passed through the narrow entrance when the wind failed and the tide carried her onto the Arrow Rock.⁶

The Fifeshire lay right across the Rock, the Fore being dry, and the aft in dead low water. It was a disaster for the new colony.  It rested on two ledges at her fore and main chains (the broad thick planks projecting horizontally from a ship's side at her mast.)⁷

The ship could not withstand the strain on her back, and it was badly broken. On Tuesday May 10 1842 J.W Saxton remarked in his diary "We could see under some rocks near the entrance [to the Haven] The Fifeshire, a vessel which had just been lost there" ⁸. J.W Saxton was a famous painter, and came on the ship Clifford to Nelson.

Men scavenged the Fifeshire for materials to establish the new colony. On 12 October 1842, J.W Saxton remarked in his diary "Authorized Mr Fox to buy from a blacksmith an iron bolt from the Fifeshire as an axle." ⁹, and on 30 June 1845 he remarked "saw men at work on the Fifeshire which is said still to contain enough iron to build a brig."¹⁰

The new colony had problems finding raw materials, such as iron, with which to make the tools needed for construction, and wagons. Pieces of the Fifeshire were sold piecemeal to the settlers.¹¹ To finally lift the Fifeshire from Arrow rock Mr Poynter, an important member of the Colony, brought floats for 10 pounds apiece.¹²

On 3 September 1846, the Fifeshire was lifted by the tide and the tanks from the Arrow Rock.¹³ It was then broken up on what is now called Haulashore Island and stripped for useful materials. For many years Arrow Rock wore the chains of the Fifeshire and the colonists looked on the rock and remembered the Fifeshire's fate. ¹⁴

Childs chair, made by Samuel Bryan Johnson. Broadgreen House Archives (Chair in Collection)
Click to enlarge

The Fifeshire provided a lot of resources for the new colony. Mr Poynter, afterwards a magistrate, was the purchaser and he is said to have done very well out of the venture.¹⁵ The early colonists were great recyclers of the materials from the Fifeshire: some timbers being used for firewood¹⁶ others for the use of furniture. Broadgreen House has one such piece of furniture made from the Fifeshire timber. 

All the iron was stripped from the Fifeshire and used to make practical things for the colony. The Fifeshire's mainmast was used to construct the font for the St Thomas's Church in Motueka.

The Fifeshire also provided a point of contention for the new colony. On Friday 3 February 1846 J.W Saxton remarked in his diary "[Captain Wakefield] said he was not very prudent to put in the wreck of the Fifeshire but it could be taken out in England if they pleased." The above quote is what he wrote about a painting of the Nelson Haven in 1846, with the Fifeshire of course, still being stuck on Arrow Rock at the time.¹⁷ Captain Wakefield did not want such a blemish on the settlement, so a decision was made not to paint the Fifeshire in.

The name of the Rock

Arrow Rock was named by European settlers after the storeship Arrow, which arrived on November 1 1841, the first New Zealand Company ship to arrive in what was to become Nelson. It was captained by Arthur Wakefield.¹⁸ However, following the wreck of the Fifeshire on the Rock, it became known colloquially as Fifeshire Rock. In 1958, a painting by M.Cooke titled "Fifeshire Rock and Bay" caused much argument. Many declared the rock's correct name was "Arrow,"¹⁹ but the the rock continued to be referred to as Fifeshire Rock. In 2013, the name of the rock was officially confirmed as Arrow Rock, when a new public information panel was installed by Nelson City Council on the waterfront.²⁰

The original Māori name of Urenui, was considered inappropriate for the new settlement.

Andrew Marriott, Nayland College, 2010.
Updated May 2020

Sources used in this story

Want to find out more about the Wreck of the Fifeshire 1842 ? View Further Sources here.

Related Stories

Do you have a story about this subject? Find out how to add one here.