Vintage Transport - Sailing Ships

Scow 'Lake Erie' - 4c
Built in 1873 in New Zealand by S Meiklejohn at Omaha.  The first scow to be built, the 'Lake Erie' introduced a new type of vessel to New Zealand waters; flat decked, square sterned, bluff bowed, and flat bottomed - capable of sailing up shallow creeks and remaining on an even keel when aground.  The 'Lake Erie' carried 80 tons cargo of logs and timber.

Schooner 'Herald' - 5c
Built in 1826 by H Williams & G Mair at Paihia.  The first vessel to be built for the Church Missionary Society by Rev Henry Williams and Gilbert Mair (chiefly known for his trading activities at Wahapu, and later Surveyor of Ships at Russell).  The 'Herald' traded around New Zealand and across the Tasman to Sydney, until wrecked at Hokianga in 1828.  "A gallant little schooner that had done much to promote good relationships between European and Maori."

Brigantine 'New Zealander' - 8c
Built in 1828 by Raine, Ramsay & Brown at Horeke.  Built at about the same time as the mission schooner 'Herald' but to the west on the Hokianga Harbour, the 'New Zealander' was described as one of the prettiest vessels of her class.  Granted Licence No 2 by the Colonial Secretary's Office in Sydney to trade between Australian and New Zealand, she was wrecked at Table Cape, Mahia Peninsula in 1836.

Topsail Schooner 'Jessie Kelly' - 10c
Built in 1866 by H Niccol at Devonport.  Niccol was for many years Auckland's foremost ship builder, his yard being at Mechanic's Bay, and later transferred to a patent slip he built at North Shore.  The 'Jessie Kelly' was the first vessel to be built and launched from the North Shore and proved to be "one that had never been outsailed".

Barque 'Tory' - 18c
Built in 1834 for Josephy Soames.  Purchased by the New Zealand Company in 1839, the 'Tory' left Plymouth on 12 May of the same year with 35 immigrants headed by Col Wakefield as the advance party for the first organised settlement of New Zealand.  She arrived in Queen Charlotte Sound on 17 September 1839 and entered Port Nicholson, Wellington three days later.

Full Rigged Clipper 'Rangitiki' - 23c
Built in 1863 by M Samuelson of Hull.  Tonnage - 1227 gross.  One of the original four ships bought by the newly formed New Zealand Shipping Company in 1873.  'Rangitiki' was in many ways the pride of their fleet of sailing ships, being one of the largest ever owned by the Company, and a record pace maker.  She also completed an astonishing career of some 60 years service, during which she played an important part in bringing immigrants to New Zealand.

Stamp bulletin

This stamp issue first appeared in New Zealand Post Stamp Bulletin No. 14 in September 1975.

Acknowledgments: Bulletin scanned and provided by John Biddlecombe of the New Zealand Society of Great Britain. Their web site offers further information useful to those interested in the stamps and postal history of New Zealand. Link: http://www.nzsgb.org.uk/