WhaleLIBRARY · Maritime histories
Ships in the Pictures: Brees, Heaphy and the Whaling Settlements
When the shore was drawn
Artists and surveyors visiting Cook Strait in the 1830s and 1840s left views of working settlements that written accounts alone cannot supply. The buildings, boats, shores and anchorages in their drawings provide a bridge between the ship register and the physical places where crews and families lived.
Samuel Charles Brees at Paremata
Samuel Charles Brees depicted the whaling settlement associated with Joseph Toms at Paremata, Porirua Harbour. His drawings show how the station belonged to a lived coastal landscape rather than an isolated industrial yard. The National Library collection includes material associated with the reference C-126-021, a useful starting point for examining the original work and its publication history.
Charles Heaphy at Te Awaiti
Charles Heaphy’s views of Tory Channel and Te Awaiti are particularly important for the Barrett and Love stories. The collected research points to National Library reference C-025-006. The picture places shore dwellings, boats and the anchorage in relation to the steep surrounding country, revealing how geography shaped the working settlement.
Kāpiti and the post-whaling coast
The later drawings associated with Mary Marshall and William Swainson offer another perspective on Kāpiti Island as its landscape changed. They belong alongside archaeological accounts of tryworks, stone hearths, land use and later homesteads. Together the sources make it possible to follow the coast through several generations.
Looking closely, reading carefully
The library should present a historical illustration at sufficient resolution to inspect details, with its artist, title and collection credit close by. A single carefully chosen picture on a page is more effective than repeating the same image in multiple galleries. The original image files and collection references remain part of the Master Archive.
Continue exploring
Whalers, Whānau and Coastal Homes: From Waiorua to Te Awaiti · Te Uruhi In Historic Illustrations And Maps
Historical collection
Whale Song maritime research; Kāpiti – Blood, Oil and Bone; Cook Strait historical accounts, shipping notices, family histories and National Library collections.