The clock that was brought to New Zealand by missionary John Hobbs will soon be going back to Māngungu Mission in Horeke, Hokianga. Photo / Supplied
Historic clock heading back to Māngungu Mission
A wall clock with early links to New Zealand will return to the Hokianga more than 200 years after it first arrived in the country.
Brought out from England by Wesleyan missionary John Hobbs in 1823, the clock has been gifted to Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga by Hobbs’ descendant Susan Gill.
The clock will be taken to the Māngungu Mission house at Horeke in the Hokianga.
Built by John Hobbs in 1839, Māngungu Mission was the site of the third and largest signing of the Treaty of Waitangi on February 12, 1840. It was during this hui that Hobbs served as Governor Hobson’s translator.
“The clock is in very good condition and has a clear line of provenance from the original owner,” says Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga senior collections adviser Belinda Maingay.
“Susan Gill and other Hobbs descendants are keen to see the clock back at Māngungu Mission, and we are delighted to receive this beautiful taonga from the family and fulfil their wishes.”
Although a family tradition maintains that John Hobbs made the wooden clock case himself, when examined by a clock specialist recently it was found that the clock casing was likely to be the original from the manufacturer.
Hobbs probably had the skills to make a clock case, however. During the course of his life in New Zealand he managed to build at least two fully functioning pipe organs.
“The clock was probably one of the earliest to have arrived in New Zealand,” says Belinda.
“Made by John Blurton – a clockmaker who worked in Stourbridge between 1818 and 1823 – the likely date of manufacture ties in perfectly with Hobbs’ journey to New Zealand in 1823.”
The date of manufacture is also reinforced by the clock key which incorporates a coin bearing the features of George IV attached as the bow of the key. George IV ruled as sovereign over the United Kingdom and Ireland between 1820 and 1830.
If Hobbs’ life is anything to go by, the clock may have had a few adventures in its time.
“John Hobbs and other missionaries were instrumental in establishing the first Wesleyan mission at Kaeo in 1823, although according to Te Ara, the station was abandoned after a raid by warriors of Ngāpuhi chief Hongi Hika. The missionaries left and regrouped in Australia where John married Jane Broggref,” says Belinda.
“A few years later, the Hobbs served as missionaries in Tonga, although they were forced to leave when Jane became ill in early 1838.
It’s quite possible that the clock accompanied John and his family wherever they travelled.”
Speaking on behalf of the wider Williment family, Susan Gill said she and her relatives are pleased that the clock will go back to Māngungu Mission.
“It is the delight of us, the Williment family, to present Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga with this time-worn and well-travelled clock that belonged to our forebear Rev John Hobbs. The clock has had a significant place in our family’s history and we are grateful it will be repatriated to the Mission House at Māngungu where it will once again be among things that were personal to John and Jane, such as the antique linen bedsheets and other personal artefacts we remember being there,” she says.
“The clock has seen a lot in its time, including importantly, the largest signing of chiefs to Te Tiriti o Waitangi. While its ticking days are over, it endures as a part of John’s legacy, that of believing in the potential of Te Tiriti to protect tangata whenua and others in Aotearoa. We are happy it is able to go back home.
“We also appreciate the ways in which Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga work to preserve the legacy of John Hobbs and others in maintaining close relationships with Māori.”
Today Māngungu Mission is a Tohu Whenua open to the public and cared for by Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga and the clock is planned to be on display in the near future.
Exhibition of Pompallier Mission-inspired art
An exhibition of still life paintings by Auckland artist Peter Atkinson inspired by the botanical life of Pompallier Mission in Kororāreka-Russell is about to open in Auckland.
Pompallier Mission is the historic printery that was established by Bishop Pompallier as his mission headquarters to Western Oceania in 1839.
The building is a Tohu Whenua cared for by Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga, and is open to the public.
Entitled “12 Months in the Pompallier Mission Garden”, the series of paintings depict the constant cycle of the seasons juxtaposed against the busyness of a working heritage attraction with its own cycle of tours, cultures and traditions.
The exhibition runs at the Railway Street Gallery (8 Railway St, Newmarket) from July 31–August 16, Wednesday to Saturday, (10am-4pm). There will also be an Artist’s Talk and opening celebration on August 2 (3-5pm).
Stories and their continuity throughout generations is a recurring theme of these new works according to Peter.
“The botanicals are story-bearers in their own right. Different varieties of apples and pears in the garden for example – some English and some French – track back to previous generations of people who worked and lived here,” he says.
Life and light are also key themes central in his latest work.
“Objects can only reflect and refract the light that plants absorb and transform into foliage, flower and fruit before they die. These paintings explore this ‘tension’ while presenting them both as story bearers,” he says.
“Light then becomes a metaphor for the way stories travel through time; taonga passed from one generation to another to help illuminate the common human terrain every generation must face, and by which we chart our own courses.”