James Taine & Shopping in Petone
Before the Hutt Road 1840
James Taine arrived in Wellington on the New Zealand Company ship Adelaide, on 7th March 1840. He was a young man of 23 with mercantile ambitions and had bought with him numerous household goods to sell. Taine opened a general store from his two-roomed whare on Lambton Beach, and his neighbours would drop in to purchase various things they found themselves in need of. The business prospered, and by June he was able to ask for Mary Oliveira’s hand in marriage (a fellow passenger from the Adelaide).
The engagement spurred Taine to ‘spruce up’ his whare, in anticipation of his bride’s arrival. The box that served as a dinner table and the bare earth floor were not making a good first impression. Noone was selling furniture or floor boards on the Wellington side of the harbour, so Taine walked to Petone, as he heard there were goods for sale there.
‘It was no joke walking on the loose shingle and over the boulders and rocks, while in some places where the water was up to the base of the hills the promontories had to be ascended and the high ground kept to until the beach was again accessible.’
Once he reached Petone, Taine purchased a few chairs, a table, some bedroom furniture, flooring boards and ‘other requisites, which as a single man I had not thought necessary to bring out with me for a bachelor’s establishment.’ The only practical way to get these back to his whare was to hire a ship’s boat and a boatman to row his new goods across the harbour.
After arranging the rooms with his purchases, the Evan’s arrived to inspect his efforts, as the guardians of his future bride. He received many compliments.
The couple were married on 28th June 1840 at the home of the Rev. John Churton. Dr and Mrs Evan’s hosted the wedding breakfast. Mrs Daniell (wife of Captain Edward Daniell) made the wedding cake out of stores she had bought with her from England.
‘We then sauntered leisurely towards the water front and along Thorndon Beach to our future home, enjoying the beauty of New Zealand.’
Reference:
qMS-1974-1976 Taine, James John, 1817-1914: Reminiscences of James John Taine, a Wellington and New Zealand pioneer settler of 1839 / compiled by H E M Fildes
Description:
Shows the Hutt Road (as a cart track) at the bottom of the steep bush-clad Western Hills on the right. There is a Maori canoe near the road, and three figures on the road, as well as one man in the foreground, possibly fishing. The suggestion of a settlement (Kaiwharawhara) can be seen at the water's edge in the distance.
Connell, B, active 1840-1843. Connell, B, fl 1840-1843. Attributed works :Petoni Road, Wellington. 1841. Various artists :[Album of watercolours, cards and published pictures, including scenes in New Zealand and European countries, belonging to Cherie Templer (nee Connell)]. 1830-1890. Ref: E-943-q-007-1. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. /records/31982769