The carved butt of the 1800s hoe (paddle) at Whangārei Museum (1964_6_34).
The carved butt of the 1800s hoe (paddle) at Whangārei Museum (1964_6_34).
OUR TREASURES
With easy access to Whangārei Heads via sealed roads, it is difficult to imagine needing to paddle there by hand to visit friends and family. However, in the early days of Whangārei, as a town, settlements along the harbour edges were best accessed by water.
In the 1800s, Whangārei Harbourwould have been a hub of canoes, sail boats and steamers. Our very name is based on the quality of the harbour as a meeting point - Whangārei Te Terenga Parāoa - for sperm whales and for chiefs.
In the Whangārei Museum collection we have a very special hoe (paddle) which was gifted as part of the Douglas family collection. Its body is carved from wood, rendered smooth and shiny with age, and the handle flares wide towards the end of the paddle.
A beautiful and detailed face with moko (tattoos) is carved on a knob at the end of the handle, with spiral designs on the sides.
Originally from Wanganui, this hoe was gifted to Sir Robert Douglas by a (unnamed) Whanganui chief as a thank you for Sir Douglas helping the chief's daughter to attend an English girl's college.
Sir Douglas used the hoe travelling by canoe between Whangārei and the 'Heads' to visit the Aubrey and Urquhart families. He also paddled to Mr and Mrs P. S. Brown at Ngunguru and Kiripaka. At some point the hoe was left to Mr Brown to look after until he gave it to the oldest Douglas grandson, R. M. Douglas, in 1920.
Captain Sir Robert Douglas came to New Zealand from a station in India in 1861 to be a commander of Britain's 58th Regiment during the Taranaki Wars. Following many battles, he retired in 1867 and bought land in Whangārei, which he named Glenbervie after his home in Scotland.
The hoe (paddle) gifted to Sir Robert Douglas in the Whangārei Museum (1964/6/34)11/08/2021).
Sir Robert Douglas' cattle brand marking on the back of his hoe (1964_6_34).
Despite his involvement in the land wars, Douglas was known as a kind and generous man "of high character". He made family connections in Wanganui while stationed there in the 60s, by meeting his wife to be, Eleanor Lifferton, and he returned in 1884 but passed away there soon after.
From these events we can date the hoe to at least the 1860s-1880s, when Sir Douglas was in Wanganui.
Looking at the hoe now we can appreciate its excellent condition having been dipped into the salty waters of Whangārei Harbour on many an occasion. This taonga was treasured by the family until they gifted it to the museum in 1964.
• Georgia Kerby is exhibitions curator , Whangārei Museum at Kiwi North.
