Northland Age
  • Northland Age home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Rural
  • Opinion
  • Kaitaia weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Far North
  • Kaitaia
  • Kaikohe
  • Bay of Islands
  • Whangārei

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whangārei
  • Dargaville

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Northland Age

Historic anchor to officially be Kaitaia's

By Peter Jackson
Northland Age·
30 Oct, 2019 10:50 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

The de Surville anchor has pride of place at Kaitaia's Museum @ Te Ahu. Picture / Supplied

The de Surville anchor has pride of place at Kaitaia's Museum @ Te Ahu. Picture / Supplied

No one who has visited Kaitaia's Museum @ Te Ahu could possibly have missed the largest exhibit, an anchor from the French ship St Jean Baptiste, commanded by Jean Francois Marie de Surville (1717-70), one of three that were cut adrift from the ship in 1769 when it was caught in a storm off Tokerau, in Doubtless Bay.

Museum trustee Sarah Wale said the anchors, which were discovered in 1974, were almost certainly the oldest authentic European objects found in New Zealand, and were implicated in one of the earliest encounters between Māori and Europeans.

However, in all the years since its discovery and preservation, the anchor in Kaitaia had been on loan to the Far North Regional Museum (now Museum @ Te Ahu) courtesy of its owner, the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.

That was about to change though, with ownership to be passed to Museum @ Te Ahu on Saturday next week (November 9).

"The trustees and staff of Museum @ Te Ahu will be honoured to accept the gift of this important taonga, and are especially delighted that it should occur during the museum's 50th anniversary year," Ms Wale said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The ceremony would begin in the atrium at Te Ahu at 10.30am, followed by the handing-over, signing of the Deed of Gift and speeches in the museum, "in the presence of the anchor."

Anyone who would like to be part of the occasion, and learn more about the history of a very important artefact, would be most welcome, she added.

Discover more

Gifting of Surville anchor 'huge honour' for Te Ahu

12 Nov 08:04 PM
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Northland Age

Northland Age

Far North news briefs: Foodbank closes, focus on vape harm, and kai resilience boost

02 Jul 05:00 PM
Northland Age

On The Up: Youth gym transforms lives, offers more than just exercise

02 Jul 12:00 AM
Northland Age

'Planting a future': Whānau unite for river restoration project

02 Jul 12:00 AM

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Northland Age

Far North news briefs: Foodbank closes, focus on vape harm, and kai resilience boost

Far North news briefs: Foodbank closes, focus on vape harm, and kai resilience boost

02 Jul 05:00 PM

News snippets from the Far North.

On The Up: Youth gym transforms lives, offers more than just exercise

On The Up: Youth gym transforms lives, offers more than just exercise

02 Jul 12:00 AM
'Planting a future': Whānau unite for river restoration project

'Planting a future': Whānau unite for river restoration project

02 Jul 12:00 AM
‘Heart and soul’: Miss NZ finalist champions mental health journey

‘Heart and soul’: Miss NZ finalist champions mental health journey

01 Jul 12:00 AM
From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • The Northland Age e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to The Northland Age
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The Northland Age
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP