The Wreck of the SS Tasman

Located off Matata, the low lying Rurima Islands or Rurima Rocks, were brought to the attention of Tauranga’s residents by the Bay of Plenty Times on 12 May 1921. At 4.25 a.m. on the 11th, the Northern Steamship Company steamer Tasman struck a reef near the south-western rock while steaming to Whakatane. The passengers and crew were saved, but the ship was lost along with all cargo and mail. The passengers and crew came ashore without their luggage and personal effects at Matata and Pikowai in three lifeboats, before being transported in trucks to Tauranga.[1]

The Northern Steamship Company vessel SS Tasman

Built in Auckland in 1903, the 179-ton kauri and iron steamer was 102 feet in length and powered by 280hp compound engines.[2] Placed on the Auckland to Whakatane run by the company, the SS Tasman was a regular sight at Tauranga’s Victoria Wharf between 1909 and 1921. There, it offloaded and took on new passengers, freight and mail, as well as coal for its boilers.

A Nautical Inquiry into the wreck of the SS Tasman held at the Auckland Magistrates Court the following month, expressed focused on four issues:

• The chief officer Mr. McManus was on watch and in charge of the Tasman with Captain William John Grigg also on the bridge when the vessel struck.
• Though the weather was squally, it was possible to see the higher points of the Rurima Group and also Whale Island. The vessel struck an island which could be seen at the time the accident occurred.
• When the steamer struck on the south-west point of the Rurima Group, there was about three miles of shore room between the shore and where the incident occurred.
• The course was a perfectly well-known one and had been run in perfect safety for the last 50 to 60 years and the Tasman was jammed for time to catch the bar at Whakatane.

The Rurima Islands
The SS Tasman struck a reef on the south-west corner of the Rurimu group

In evidence, Captain Grigg stated that he had been master of that steamer about three or four months before May 11. He had also been master of the Tasman at different periods and had originally been chief mate of the Tasman for close on three years. During that time the steamer had been wholly engaged in the Auckland to Whakatane trade. He had also been master of other vessels in the Northern Company’s fleet.

On the night of the disaster, he had kept a course close inside Mayor Island, which was passed at about 10 o'clock. He had followed his usual course, which he had always found a safe one, inside Whale Island. When passing Motiti Island the weather was clear, with no sea and just a medium breeze.

He was below when the mate called him at ten minutes to four, and told him they were close to Matata light, which was then just for'ard of the starboard beam. At this time, they were about two miles off Matata. As several other “objects” were in view, and Grigg "took a shot" at them over the steering compass, but took no other steps to place them accurately.

While the weather then was ‘fairly clear’ overhead, they were surrounded by black clouds. The wind was fresh, with squalls at times, from the S.S.W. Shortly after, the mate observed that the land was a little closer and altered the course half a point to the southward. A few minutes later the Tasman struck. The time was then within a few minutes of 4.25. He thought the vessel struck at the south-west corner of the Rurima Group.

According to the mate, the vessel did not seem to rest on the reef for any appreciable time, and backed her off, he steered straight for the mainland. SS Tasman sank scarcely a mile off Rurima.

Captain Grigg stated that he could have gone outside Whale Island that night, but there was smoother water on the inside. Mr. McManus, he said, had been his chief mate all the time he was on the run, and he had found him perfectly reliable as a navigator.[3]

A coastal steamer at Victoria wharf 1810s

On 9 June, the Nautical Court of Inquiry found that the SS Tasman was off her proper course when it struck one of the Rurima rocks and was wrecked. The first officer was adjudged negligent in not ascertaining his correct distance off' the land at Town Point (Maketu). The court also found that Captain Grigg, the ship’s master:

[D]id not exercise good judgment when deciding what distance the vessel was off the land at Matata. The court was further of the opinion that when the chief officer drew the master’s attention to the ship’s closeness to the Rurima rocks, the master, in sending a message to the officer on the bridge to alter the course a quarter of a point to the south, was not taking sufficient precautions for the safety of the vessel.[4]

Despite being found guilty of negligence and fined 20 and 10 pounds respectively towards the costs of the inquiry, Grigg and McManus did not lose their certificates.[3] Evidence had been put before the court that, in the vicinity of White Island, the needle of the compass would be liable to be deflected by the magnetic disturbance which existed at the time the grounding occurred.[5]

Sinking just 30 minutes after its initial grounding, the remains of the SS Tasman - the boiler, part of the hull and the engines - lie in 27 meters of water between the Rurimas and Matata.

End Notes
[1] Bay of Plenty Times, 12 May 1821: 3.
[2] Rurima Island, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Rurima Island
[3] Auckland Star, 6 June 1921: 7.
[4] New Zealand Times, 10 June 1921: 5.
[5] Ibid: 10 June 1921: 5.

Illustrations
[1] H. Winkelmann, SS Tasman 1903-1921, Auckland Weekly News, 19 May 1921, Auckland Council Libraries - Kura AWNS-19210519-43-01
[2] Photographer unknown, Rurima Islands, Wai 46 # A3, Te Rangahau Whenua Raupatu O Ngati Awa Report to Department of Conservation, 25 July 1992: 15.
[3] Frederick Radcliffe, Postcard, Tauranga, Victoria Wharf, 1910s. Accession number 0846/08. Tauranga Heritage Collection

John Macquarters (1869-1915)

Representatives of the Tauranga Mounted Rifles selected to form part of the Royal escort to Rotorua
Toned silver gelatin print on album page, by John Macquarters, Tauranga, May 1901
Courtesy of Tauranga Heritage Collection, Ref. 0299/08 (Gifted by V. Simon)

This group portrait of eight members of the Tauranga Mounted Rifles was captured in May 1901 on the eve of their departure for Rotorua, where they were to form a guard of honour to the Duke of Cornwall during his Royal visit to the Hot Lakes District. The photograph was taken – as evidenced from the byline of the same image published in the Auckland Weekly News Supplement on 31 May (Auckland Libraries Heritage Images Ref. AWNS-19010531-11-3) – by John Macquarters. A somewhat disgruntled member of the unit later calculated that, since “the only duty this force performed was to present arms at the railway station for about five minutes, each man must have cost the country at least 4/6 per minute for the trip.”

The Tauranga Mounted Rifles were part of a country-wide effort to recruit and train militias, from which volunteers could be drawn to serve in the ten contingents of mounted riflemen that New Zealand sent to fight in the Boer War.

Te Puna School and pupils, with teacher Winnie Morley, c1900
Copy print of original mounted silver gelatin print, by John Macquarters
Courtesy of Tauranga Library, Pae Koroki Ref. 06-175

Macquarters was present at a company parade in Te Puke in December 1900, where he took photos of players of the Lawn Tennis Club. He had joined the ranks of the Tauranga Mounted Rifles by April 1901, when he was among those who met to form the Tauranga Football Club. In mid-September that year he attended a meeting of the organizing committee for a fundraising Grand Volunteer Ball to be given by the T.M.R. at the Theatre Royal two weeks later. Although he was active photographically, few photographs have survived from this period. The portrait of pupils and teacher at Te Puna School (above) is a copy print, and therefore difficult to date accurately, but was presumably taken around this time.

Sergeant Allan Bell, Opotiki Mounted Rifles, c. late 1902 - 1903
Copy film negative of original mounted silver gelatin print, by John Macquarters, Opotiki
Image courtesy of Whakatāne Museum, Ref. F277-1

Macquarters moved to Opotiki between late 1901 and late 1902. His portrait of Sergeant Allan Bell shows the latter wearing the typical uniform of a mounted rifleman, with slouch hat, 1896 pattern bandolier and two silver fern collar badges issued to troops serving in the South African (Boer) War. Allan Bell went overseas with the 9th Contingent in March 1902, and presumably returned soon after the end of the war in June-July that year. Bell participated in a shooting match between the O.M.R. and the T.M.R. in November 1902, when he may have posed for this portrait. Macquarters was settled enough in Opotiki by then to have had personalized card mounts printed.

McGowan child, c. 1890s
Glass plate copy negative by Tyree Studios, Nelson,
of a carte de visite portrait taken by Macquarters and Ray, Waimate
Courtesy of Nelson Provincial Museum, Ref. 51400

John Thomas Macquarters was born c. 1869 in Manchester, England and emigrated to New Zealand on board the RMS Coptic – arriving in December 1891 – following his father Joseph (1838-1926) and an elder brother William Henry (1862-1928). Although he was a glass salesman in England, like his father, he was working as a photographer in Fairlie, Canterbury by 1896. It is conceivable that he was one half of the partnership of “Macquarters & Ray” of Waimate, who produced the carte de visite portrait of an unidentified child shown above.

By May 1895 he was in Poverty Bay. He is listed as a photographer in Gisborne in 1896, although clearly struggling, as evidenced by the court claims for goods delivered and work done by fellow cameraman John Robb - £8 in September 1898, more than £18 a year later. It seems unsurprising that he moved on to the Bay of Plenty soon after.

Opening up the East Coast Country: A Settler’s Camp in the Waioeka Block
Photographed by John Macquarters, Published in the Auckland Weekly News, 5 Sep 1907
Image courtesy of Auckland Libraries Heritage Images, Ref. AWNS-19070912-3-2

His sojourn in the Eastern Bay of Plenty was the most productive period of his career, if not entirely economically successful. Creditors continued to pursue him through the courts, many related to bills from photographic suppliers. Between May 1903 and September 1907 he made several contributions to the Auckland Weekly News and New Zealand Graphic depicting pakeha settlers “opening up” the bush for sawmilling and farming activities in the Motu and Waioeka valleys. He also photographed the settlers engaged in leisure time pursuits, such as pheasant shooting (June 1905) and visiting the active volcano Whakaari (March 1906).

Rua Kenana’s Visit to Taneauta, 1907
Mounted silver gelatin print by John Macquarters, Opotiki
Courtesy of Whakatāne Museum, Ref. P10736

Macquarters documented important local events, such as the unveiling of a memorial at Maraenui on 23 March 1905 by Native Minister James Carroll – dedicated to 16 boys and girls and two adults of Te Whanau-a-Apanui drowned whilst crossing the Motu River in August 1900 – the visit of Tuhoe prophet Rua Kenana to Taneatua in 1907 (shown above), and the stranding of the coastal steamer Ngatiawa on the Opotiki Bar between 1 and 6 January 1909.

James Edward Durand (1869-1913) and Fortunita Haua (1886-1974) on their wedding day, 1904
Mounted silver gelatin print by John Macquarters, Opotiki
Image courtesy of Tauranga City Library, Pae Koroki Ref. 04-169

He also undertook regular commissions, including portraits of individuals, couples and groups. The bulk of the photos mounted on his printed cardstock surviving in institutional collections around the country are of this type. Although the portrait shown above is a studio portrait, others using this painted backdrop of an idyllic rural scene are more hastily arranged, revealing floors of bare earth or rough wooden fences, indicating that they were taken outdoors. Other examples of group portraits include a class of girls at Opotiki School (c.1907) and a men’s cricket team (c.1911).

St Mary’s Convent and Church, Opotiki, c.1910-1915
Hand-coloured postcard published by The Price Photo Co., Auckland, W.A.P. Series, 2202D
Image courtesy of Whakatāne Museum, Ref. P1818

No postcards imprinted with his name have been found during this study. However, there were a number of postcards of Opotiki street views taken during the time that he was the only resident photographer, and some of these may be attributable to him. It is conceivable, for example, that he took at least some of the views of Opotiki published by The Price Photo Co. of Auckland as the W.A.P. Series (for William Arthur Price). Perhaps the “Newell Series” of postcards sold by Opotiki stationer William Jabez Newell could also have been taken by Macquarters. He may well have decided that selling the glass plate negatives of his scenes for quick money was a better option, considering his straightened circumstances, than the long-term proposition of printing and selling them himself.

As the photographer Charles Henry Harris had discovered before him in the late 1890s, the small settlement of Opotiki just could not provide sufficient trade for a full-time photographic business to thrive. He ventured further afield, attempting a partnership with C. James in Taneatua in 1911, but even that was short-lived. When a fire burnt down an entire Opotiki block, including his studio, on the night of Sunday 9 November 1913, and with suppliers still pursuing him for payment of photographic materials that had presumably been lost in the conflagration, that was possibly the last straw, and Macquarters moved on.

By August 1914 John Macquarters was in Morrinsville, where his father was living; his elder brother lived in Te Aroha by then. His latest debt, to G.W. Bennett & Co. photographic suppliers of Auckland had grown to over £31, equivalent to roughly $10,000 today. He died nine months later in Hamilton, on 19 May 1915, of asphyxia (pneumonia) and was buried in Hamilton West cemetery. Joseph Macquarters advertised the sale of his late son’s photographic business for £100 in the New Zealand Herald three weeks later. John Macquarters did not marry, and left no known issue.

Acknowledgements

I’m very grateful for assistance from staff of the Tauranga Library’s Ngā Wāhi Rangahau and Fiona Kean of the Tauranga Heritage Collection for their assistance in researching this article. An article of this breadth could not have even been contemplated without access to the following online collections: Alexander Turnbull Library, Auckland Library Heritage Images, Auckland Museum, Nelson Provincial Museum, Tauranga Library (Pae Korokī) and Tauranga Heritage Collection. I’d like to acknowledge my employer, Whakatāne Museum, for permission to reproduce images of photographs from their collection, for which an online portal is currently planned. Maree Fagan’s family tree including her great-great-grandfather William Henry Macquarters also proved very useful.

References

Auckland Library Photographers Database
Bradford Bandolier, New Zealand History, URL: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/media/photo/bradford-bandolier, (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 18-Aug-2014
Death Certificate for John Macquarters, New Zealand Registrar of Births, Deaths & Marriages
Embarkation Database, New History, URL: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/soldier/allan-bell (Ministry for Culture and Heritage)
Fagan Family Tree by Maree Fagan on Ancestry
Hamilton Cemetery interment records from Hamilton City Council
Hamilton West Cemetery Memorials from FindaGrave
Censuses, Parish Registers, Electoral Rolls, Directories and other databases from Ancestry
Papers Past Newspapers from National Library of New Zealand
New Zealand, Archives New Zealand, Passenger Lists, 1839-1973 from Family Search
Reserve Bank of New Zealand Te Pūtea Matua Inflation Calculator
South African War Service Records on Archway from Archives New Zealand