Charles Bayley and the Wallaby at Kāpiti
Historian Rhys Richards describes Charles Bayley’s 1842 Wallaby voyage through Kāpiti, Mana and southern New Zealand ports. Three men reportedly deserted the vessel at Kāpiti on 12 May 1842; the spellings of their names need checking against the scanned page. The account also describes whaling around Mana and the challenge of pursuing humpbacks in open boats. Richards reports a catch of twelve right whales in New Zealand waters over five months, yielding approximately 50 tuns of oil.
The Wallaby in a working coastal network
Captain Charles Bayley’s association with the Wallaby connects Kāpiti to the movement of whaling vessels and crews between Cook Strait and southern ports. A vessel’s presence off the coast is evidence of a voyage or trading contact, not automatically of a shore station owned by its master. The library’s shipping-register books and Bayley source trail are essential companions because vessel names, dates, cargoes and masters can be checked against individual newspaper notices.
Explore connected books
Explore connected history
- Charles Bayley and Wallaby at Kāpiti in 1842
- Bayley primary-source trail
- Wallaby voyage production and trade
- Captain Charles Bayley: Whaling Master 1813–1875
- Captain Charles Bayley Whaling Master 1813 1875
- Eleven ships off Kāpiti in 1837
- Alexander Fraser 1840 station accounts
- Wallaby crew absconded at Kāpiti
- Wallaby travelled between Kāpiti and southern ports
- Wallaby 1842 right-whale catch
- Fortitude 1843 return
Follow this history into other books
Continue with these connected accounts. Each opens a separate book with its own evidence and perspective.