Maori History
Ancient stories tell the origins of southern Maori, with the waka of Aoraki becoming Te Wai Pounamu (the South Island), and its sternpost, Te Taurapa a Te Waka o Aoraki becoming Bluff Hill (also known as Motupohue). The Maui traditions are told in the south, with Maui arriving in his waka Maahunui, and pulling up the stone to be used as an anchor - Te Puka o Te Waka a Maui (Rakiura). Maui's achievements are recognised in place names in the south, including Omaui near Bluff, and Te Tapuwae o Maui and Te Rereka o Maui in Fiordland (Maui's footstep and Maui's leap).
Stories of the original explorers of the south are also told. The explorer Rakaihautu journeyed through the south with place names recalling his journey.
After Rakaihautu came the Takitimu waka with Tamatea Pokai Whenua. The waka was overcome by three waves O-te-wao, O-roko and O-kaka, coming to rest near the mouth of the Waiau (Waimeha). The three waves continued across the low lying lands and ended up as features of the landscape.
The early generations learnt about the land and its resources: stone sources were found, and stone (especially pounamu) became an important trading item. Kaika were established close to resources. Rights and resources and places were established, and traditions established which protected the manawhenua.
When traditions were written down Kati Mamoe and Kai Tahu dominate the history after Waitaha, with stories of war and peace, and intermarriage that spread through the south. In the early 1820s there was further fighting, with muskets first being used at this time, with major sieges in the more northern area of the South Island leading a retreat to the south. Ruapuke Island became the centre of leadership in the south, its isolation giving a measure of security. The final fight with the northern taua of Te Puoho and his followers at Tuturau in 1835-1836, where Te Puoho was defeated, saw the end of warfare in the region.
According to the Ngai Tahu Statutory acknowledgments in the settlement important villages along the south coast included: Te Wae Wae (Waiau), Taunoa (Orepuki), Kawakaputaputa (Wakapatu), Oraka (Colac bay), Aparima, Turangiteuaru, Awarua (Bluff), Te Whera, Toe Toe (mouth of the Mataura River) and Waikawa. Mokamoka (also known as Mokemoke or Mokomoko) was a settlement at the Invercargill estuary sustained by the rich resources found there. Tauranga waka occur up and down the coast linking land and sea trails with mahinga kai resources. Whaling boats plied the waters from the 1820s leading to changes in settlement patterns and resource use.
1853 saw the Murihiku purchase which left Maori south of the Waitaki (excluding the Otakou Block) with only 4,630 acres, the start of a long quest by southern Maori for justice questioning the legality of the purchase as well as the inadequacy of the land reserved. It was soon after these land purchases that Invercargill township was laid out by chief surveyor John Turnbull Thomson (1821-1884) in 1856.
John Turnbull Thomson and family
Thomson was born in Northumberland in England and spent much of his youth in the north of England and in Scotland. His studies included mathematics at Aberdeen University and engineering at Newcastle upon Tyne. Thomson’s upbringing is reflected in many of the places that he named in the South Island, among which are Lindis Pass, named after Lindisfarne Island near his early home, Mount Earnslaw after his grandfather’s farm, as well as places such as Twizel River, Cardrona River, and Mount St. Bathans.
Although chiefly celebrated in New Zealand as a surveyor, Thomson was not exclusively so, also being noted as an engineer, architect, explorer, artist, and writer. This full range of talents was perhaps first appreciated when he was appointed Governor Surveyor of Singapore in 1841, after having worked in Malaysia for three years prior. Aside from survey duties he was also responsible for engineering roads and bridges, and Thomson designed key buildings such as hospitals, but also the Dalhousie Obelisk and the Horsburgh Lighthouse. Watercolour paintings he created of general scenes around Singapore are recognised as an important record of this period of settlement, as are his writings, such as Glimpses into Life in Malayan Lands. Later, one Otago commentator disparagingly described Thomson’s paintings as having ‘very little merit in their execution to commend them to notice.’ However, Thomson clearly enjoyed painting and was able enough to have one hung in the Dunedin Town Hall, and several are now in the collection of Hocken Library in Dunedin.
Thomson’s time in Singapore came to an end in 1853 when illness caused him to return to England to convalesce, after which he decided to immigrate to New Zealand. Upon arrival in Auckland in 1856, Thomson was quick to secure a prominent surveying position in his newly adopted country. It was in Auckland that William Cargill (1784-1860), Superintendent of Otago Province, approached him to become Chief Surveyor of the province. Soon after, Thomson made his way to Dunedin and launched into his new job.
Thomson’s first task as Chief Surveyor was to find a suitable location for the town of Invercargill. Unlike earlier European surveys of Southland, Thomson’s approach seems to have been more in-depth. In clarifying why he believed Invercargill to be the best sited capital for the area Thomson stated that:
‘An acquaintance with the interior, its topographical features and communications, as well as the completion of a careful survey of the rivers from their embouchures to the heads of their navigation, all combined to point out the head of the Waihopai navigation to be the position for the capital (now called Invercargill). At Invercargill the interior traffic can centre - to here the seaborne traffic can be brought. It is consequently here that the interchange of merchandise can take place, and people congregate for that purpose.’
The strength of his conviction is perhaps reflected in the fact that Thomson bought a significant amount of land in Invercargill and when he retired in 1879 he returned there. After establishing the site, Thomson planned Invercargill in a manner which almost a century later was credited with Invercargill having ‘few town-planning problems, for it was laid out with wide streets and generous areas of parks and reserves...’
Upon completing his work in Invercargill, Thomson did not rest upon his laurels, and soon began what has been described as ‘his marathon reconnaissance survey of Otago’ in 1857 and 1858. It was then that he named many features in Otago, giving many places a particular character. The barren landscape of the Maniototo is a veritable barnyard with Eweburn, Oxburn, Hogburn, Pigburn, and Sowburn, reflecting Thomson’s reaction to not being allowed to use Maori names in the area. Following this, in his role as Otago Provincial Engineer, Thomson was reasonable for establishing main roads out of Dunedin and others, such as the Dunstan Road which led to the Otago gold fields. Later he also designed accompanying bridges like the Waianakarua River Road Bridge. Thomson’s work in Otago was a recognised achievement, and when the provincial system was abolished in favour of centralised government he was appointed the first Surveyor-General of New Zealand.
The Thomson family benefitted from Thomson’s ‘life devoted to assiduous labor [sic], and the application of foresight and judgement when opportunity came,’ which led to his ‘accumulating a considerable and honourable fortune.’ Therefore, when he retired in 1879 he was able to build a commodious residence which he called Lennel (Category I, Record No. 389). Thomson’s busy retirement included him becoming a Borough Councillor, and also being elected Mayor of Gladstone. Thomson continued his interest in intellectual pursuits in his role as a founding member and President of the Southland Institute. He had earlier been among the founders of the Otago Institute.
Thomson’s retirement was only to last five years because he died at his home in Invercargill on 16 October 1884 after a serious illness of six months. As would be expected for such a high profile personality, news of Thomson’s death was published in newspapers all around New Zealand, with the Southland Times stating: ‘Mr Thomson was our most prominent citizen and had long been a man of mark in New Zealand.’ Correspondingly, Thomson’s funeral was a large one, with a cortege that reportedly consisting of ‘31 carriages, gentlemen on horseback, and a number on foot.’ Thomson was interred at the family vault in St. John’s Cemetery, in Waikiwi, a northern suburb of Invercargill. Thomson’s will directed that £200 be used ‘for a vault and monument for himself and such of his family as may rest therein.’
The legacy of Thomson and his immediate family is highly visible in Invercargill, with landmarks such as Thomson Bush and Turnbull Thomson Park. This latter large tract of land was donated to the city in 1935 by two of Thomson’s daughters, Miss P. O. Thomson of London and her sister, Miss N. E. Thomson, who lived in Christchurch. In the wider South Island landscape his prominence is also recognised: two mountains in the Southern Alps, Mounts Turnbull and Thomson, are named in recognition of his work in that region, as are the Turnbull Thomson Falls at the base of Mount Aspiring. Thomson’s descendants have continued to honour their illustrious ancestor through such avenues as the establishment of a University of Otago history scholarship in 2005.
As envisaged by Thomson, the mausoleum and family plot in St. John’s Cemetery has become the resting place for some of his immediate family and later relatives. These include his wife, Jane Williamson (1833-1908), who Thomson married in 1858, and was herself from a prominent Otago family who were among the pioneer settlers in the province. The couple’s eldest daughter, Janet Mackie Bush, is also interred in the plot.
Among other relatives buried within the family plot is Frederick George Hall-Jones (1891-1982). Hall-Jones married Thomson’s granddaughter, Marjorie Carlo Bush Thomson (1896-1967), in 1919 after he moved to Invercargill to practice law. In 1925 he purchased Lennel, and began to assert himself in the community through his profession, but also as a Borough and City Councillor, and by writing many histories as well as biographies of both John Turnbull Thomson and his father, former Prime Minister William Hall-Jones (1851-1936). As well as this, Hall-Jones was involved at a governance level in many local organisations, such as the Rotary Club of Invercargill and Invercargill Returned Services’ Association. Hall-Jones’ contribution to Southland’s historical record, and as a community leader, were recognised in 1958 when he was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE).
The most recent family member buried at John Turnbull Thomson Mausoleum and Family Plot was Patricia Hazel Hall-Jones (1923-2000) in 2000. By 2006 the vandalism and general deterioration of the mausoleum was cause for concern amongst the Hall-Jones family and also the Historic Cemeteries Conservation Trust of New Zealand. The original gates had even been removed for safe keeping by Invercargill City Council who administers St. John’s Cemetery. Eventually this led to a restoration project at the site in 2009, funded by the David Hall-Jones, which saw the monuments surrounding the mausoleum repaired, and the vault sealed in order to prevent further graffiti and vandalism inside. In 2011 the restored John Turnbull Thomson Mausoleum and the Family Plot sits in its prominent site in the corner of St. John’s Cemetery in Invercargill.
