Events In History
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21 December 1964New Zealand whalers harpoon their last victim
More than 170 years of New Zealand whaling history ended when J.A. Perano and Company caught its last whale off the Kaikōura coast. Read more...
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22 January 1863Slave trader competes in Wellington Anniversary Regatta
Slave trader Captain Thomas McGrath skippered the winning whaleboat in a race on Lambton Harbour which carried a £10 prize Read more...
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17 April 1820General Gates sent to Sydney under guard
The American sealer General Gates – named for a War of Independence general and commanded by Captain Abimileck Riggs – had sailed from Boston in October 1818. Read more...
Articles
A frontier of chaos?
In the years before the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, relations between Māori and Europeans were marred by a number of high-profile incidents.
- Page 2 - OverviewThe experiences of the explorers Abel Tasman, James Cook and Marion du Fresne convinced many Europeans that New Zealand was a dangerous
Sealers and whalers
A European population explosion first impacted on New Zealand in the closing decade of the 18th century when sealers and whalers began to arrive in their hundreds seeking to exploit local resources.
- Page 1 - Sealers and whalersA European population explosion first impacted on New Zealand in the closing decade of the 18th century when sealers and whalers began to arrive in their hundreds seeking to
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Main image: Perano Whaling Station
This whaling station in Tory Channel in the Marlborough Sounds was New Zealand's last to be operational.