Howell's Cottage or Te Whare Kohikohi began life as a small four-roomed cottage built in timber. It was erected (for/by) Captain John Howell [1810?-1874], who ran away to sea at around 12 years of age and worked as a whaler in Australia until he was 18. He then moved to Kapiti Island around [1827-1828] and then worked for whaler Johnny Jones at Waikouaiti. Jones sent Howell to establish another whaling station in Fouveaux Strait around 1834. The first shore whaling station in Southland was established in Fiordland in 1829. Others followed around the coast during the 1830s. Howell decided the most suitable site was by the Aparima River (Jacobs River) at what became Riverton. The date Howell established a station here varies - oral traditions say it was 1834 but other sources suggest it was in 1836-1837. Like many whalers Howell developed friendly relationships with local Maori, in this case Ngati Mamoe and settled nearby an existing settlement. It is said, however, that his initial refusal to take a Maori wife, was received as a insult by the local people and after some 'difficulty?' Howell married Kohikohi, daughter of Horomona Patu, from Centre Island. She brought as a dowry a large area of land between Waimatuku Stream and Jacobs River. They built this cottage in the middle of what was the local kaik. The cottage is now the sole remaining structure that marks the site of the kaik. It is said that the timber for the cottage was Australian hardwood. Simple four-roomed cottage, two bedrooms, a parlour and a kitchen Hipped roof over the front two rooms and a lean-to roof covering the other two. originally covered in shingles and a verandah running across the front with concave rafters which give the verandah roof a flared appearance. The couple had two children, George (1838) and Sarah Ann (1840). As manager and later owner of the whaling station (he bought out Jones in ???) Howell was an important figure in the growing Pakeha settlement. Noted for his parties at which he fiddled he also ensured the Sabbath was observed and created a settlement which early visitors described as orderly, and 'pretty'. He gave the largest contribution to a fund established to petition the government for Southland to be declared a separate province from Otago, which occurred in 1861 and was elected onto the newly established Southland Provincial Council in 1862. Kohikohi had died in 1842?1841 and was buried on Centre Island. In 1843 Howell brought his step-brother, William Stevens, and his half-sisters over from Australia. Stevens managed the farm developing on Howell's land holdings from Kohikohi. Howell remarried in 1845, to a part- Maori woman, Caroline Brown (?-1899), also known as Koronaki, from Codfish Island, and they had 17 children. He built a new house for Caroline in what became Riverton's main street. The downturn in whaling, which affected all whaling operations in New Zealand, led to the closure of the station in 1850.or 1858??? Howell began to develop a port in the area and established himself with a 130 ton ship, the 'Amazon', which traded between New Zealand, Tahiti and California. Howell and his crew apparently spent time successfully at the California gold-diggings in 1850. He is noted for importing the first sheep to Southland, in 1853 and, less productively, rabbits. He became one of the major pastoralists in Southland and in the Wakatipu, where he eventually owned 1,000 acres and leased 100,000. Around 1853 he had built a house, Eastbourne, on his land and moved there from Riverton. Tired of struggling with the Southland Provincial Council Howell resigned and moved with his family to Garston in 1869.His homestead on Fairlight Station at Garston, near Kingston in the Wakatipu is also registered with Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga. The cottage at Riverton remained in Howell's ownership until his death in Sydney in 1874, although he did not live there. It then passed to his eldest son George and from George to his son? (or Howell's from second marriage?) Edmund in 1938 (6?). From 1952 the house passed out of Howell family ownership until 19?? when Eva Wilson (great grand-daughter of John Howell) purchased the property in 1972. house museum The cottage then passed to her son in 1991. Corrugated iron now covers the shingles and a further lean-to has been added to the south side off the kitchen which houses the toilet and bathroom and a wall which once divided the pantry from the second bedroom has been removed. Most of the windows have been replaced and a concrete slab has replaced the original wooden floor of the verandah. Howell's Cottage is particularly significant as one of the few New Zealand buildings still extant that pre-date 1840. A simple cottage, typical of many built during New Zealand's colonial period, it reminds us of the early beginnings of Southland. "A neighbouring Maori settlement, known as the Kaike, was originally the home of about 300 natives; and though this number has been considerably reduced, there are still in the district some well-to-do natives, who engage in fishing, seal-hunting, and mutton-birding in their seasons." (1905 Cyc of NZ) "Howell, John, d. 25 May 1874 Sydney, NSW, Australia, age: 64yr, Sacred to the Memory of Capt. John Howell who landed at Jacob's River in the year 1837 Died at Sydney. May 25th 1874 Aged 64yr, [PA: http://interment.net/data/nz/southland/riverton/riverton.htm]