Herald (1826 ship)
| History | |
|---|---|
| New Zealand | |
| Name: | Herald |
| Owner: | Church Missionary Society (CMS) |
| Builder: | CMS personnel |
| Laid down: | 31 August 1824 |
| Launched: | 24 January 1826 |
| Completed: | 16 February 1826 |
| Maiden voyage: | Bay of Islands to Sydney, Australia February 1826 |
| Fate: | Wrecked on 6 May 1828 while trying to enter Hokianga Harbour. |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Schooner |
| Tons burthen: | 55 (bm) |
| Sail plan: | fore-and-aft sails |
| Crew: | 3 Māori men and 3 boys, 2 English seamen, the mate and the captain |
Herald was a 55-ton schooner that was launched on 24 January 1826 at Paihia in the Bay of Islands, New Zealand. While the Herald was first sailing ship build in New Zealand, a small vessel named Providence was constructed in Dusky Sound in 1792-93 by the crew of a sealing ship and it was completed in January 1796 by the crew of another sealing ship that had been wrecked at Dusky Sound in the previous year. In October 1827, the 40-ton schooner Enterprise was completed in the Horeke shipyard (also known as Deptford) in the Hokianga Harbour. The Enterprise was wrecked in a storm north of Hokianga heads on 4 May 1828 with the loss of all hands. Two days later the Herald was wreaked on the Hokianga bar.
The vessel was built on the authority of the Revd. Samuel Marsden. The plans were drawn by William Hall. The Revd. Henry Williams, the leader of the Church Missionary Society (CMS) mission in New Zealand, laid the keel for the vessel on 31 August 1824. He had received training in ship-building prior to being sent to New Zealand. Williams needed a ship to provision the Paihia Mission and to visit the more remote areas of New Zealand to bring the Gospel to the Māori people. When Captain Gilbert Mair, visited New Zealand for the third time, Williams asked him to assist in building the Herald. The ship-builders were:
The timber came from the forests at Kawakawa, with the Brampton, which was wrecked in the Bay of Islands in 1823, also providing some timber.
The Herald went to Sydney, Australia four times; the Bay of Plenty four times; and sailed three times around the North Cape, to Hokianga Harbour on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand.
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