Hermit of Pipitea Point 1905

Charlie’s father was a shipowner and so it seemed that Charlie too was destined for a life working at the sea. Charles Pressman came to Wellington in 1862. Born in London about 1820, he first went to Australia to try his luck at the gold diggings and then came to Wellington where he was reunited with his sister Sarah, now Mrs Tandy.

In Wellington, Charlie went into partnership with his brother-in-law, George Tandy, as lightermen in Wellington Harbour. Lightermen typically moved goods from larger ships to the shore in flat-bottomed barges. Over time as improvements were made to Wellington’s shipping facilities, the demand for lightermen waned.

To replace his lost earnings, Charlie purchased a boat he named the ‘Maori’ which he traded for 17 years to Picton, White Rock and other places around the New Zealand coast. He acted as his own carpenter, rigger, sail-maker and navigator. In 1888, the ‘Maori’ broke from her moorings in Wellington harbour, drifted, and then hit a submerged punt which caused the boat to sink. The loss of the ‘Maori’ ended Charlie’s sea going career. He did seek compensation from the Harbour Board but he was unsuccessful in winning his claim.

The ‘Maori’ was towed ashore at Pipitea Point. Once high and dry on the sand, the hulk became Charlie’s home.

‘The parched and weather-beaten timbers of the old craft suggest that a long interval has elapsed since she ploughed the briny, but the thin curls of smoke which issue from a rudely-improvised funnel, and occasionally the flutter of some modest articles of wearing apparel in the breeze, indicate that her sphere of usefulness is not altogether ended.’

Children would to gather around the hulk to play and gamble - and no doubt hear ‘Old Charlie’s’ tales of his seafaring adventures. The hulk became an attraction for those who enjoyed a constitutional walk along Thorndon Esplanade. It was a picturesque scene for artists who frequently came down to the beach to paint her. Because of its rustic and characterful nature, the hulk was nicknamed Peggotty’s by a ‘local crony of the Hermit’s’ who thought it resembled Mrs Peggotty’s boat from Charles Dicken’s novel ‘David Copperfield.’ To this Charlie replied:

‘Um yes but there ain’t no Little Em’ly and there ain’t no Mrs Gummidge – glory be to God!’

Charlie retained his sharpness of mind into old age, although he suffered from a series of unlucky accidents in his working life. Twice he fell into the holds of ships from a height of 40ft. In 1901, aged 80, he was knocked down by a passing train while going to fetch water for his home. After a five month hospital stay, he had fully recovered. For the next few years he could still be seen ‘regularly bringing home necessaries for his frugal board with an alertness that is surprising.’ (NZ Times, 11 November 1903).

When interviewed by the newspaper in 1903, Charlie said he felt lonely. Although he shared the hulk with a young companion, his sister Sarah had recently died and he had few relatives in New Zealand. Charlie awaited ‘the end of his long “watch” with cheerfulness and resignation.’

But the hulk needed to make way for progress. With a planned extension to the reclamation in 1905, Charlie was served notice to quit the shore once and for all. Before the scheme could be carried out, he was found dead in his bunk on the hulk. Death was certified the result of ‘old age’. He was 85 years old. Charlie was buried at Karori Cemetery in the same plot as his sister Sarah Tandy (plot Ch Eng/M/12).

References:

https://ndhadeliver.natlib.govt.nz/webarchive/20260905001041/https://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/WarEarl-fig-WarEarl309a.html

Newspapers:

All Sorts of People. (1905, May 27). Free Lance, 3.

An Ancient Mariner. (1903, November 11). New Zealand Mail, 12.

An Ancient Mariner. (1905, May 24). New Zealand Mail, 22.

Deaths. (1905, May 22). Evening Post, 1.

Fading Memories of Pipitea Point. (1962, December 15). Evening Post, 31.

Personal Matters. (1905, May 22). Evening Post, 5.