New Zealand Company ships

The New Zealand Company was a 19th-century English company that played a key role in the colonisation of New Zealand. The company was formed to carry out the principles of systematic colonisation devised by Edward Gibbon Wakefield, who envisaged the creation of a new-model English society in the southern hemisphere. Under Wakefield’s model, the colony would attract capitalists who would then have a ready supply of labour—migrant labourers who could not initially afford to be property owners, but who would have the expectation of one day buying land with their savings.

The New Zealand Company established settlements at Wellington, Nelson, Wanganui and Dunedin and also became involved in the settling of New Plymouth and Christchurch. It reached the peak of efficiency about 1841, encountered financial problems from 1843 from which it never recovered, and wound up in 1858.

This list details the various ships used by the Company in establishing its settlements in New Zealand.

The Adelaide was a 640 ton teak sailing ship built in Calcutta in 1832. The owner was J Somes of London. In 1839 it sailed to New Zealand under Captain William Campbell. It was among a group of ships carrying settlers which were to rendezvous at Port Hardy on d'Urville Island on 10 January 1840. They were sent after the Oriental. The others in the group were the Aurora, Duke of Roxburgh and Bengal Merchant, plus a freight vessel, the Glenbervie. At the rendezvous they were be told of their final destination. The Adelaide had 176 settlers on board. It sailed from London on 18 September 1839 and arrived at Port Nicholson on 7 March 1840. She arrived at about 4pm in the company of the Tory and Glenbervie.

She made three voyages bringing convicts arriving on 8 August 1849 (300 to Port Phillip, Tasmania), 16 April 1855 (260 to Western Australia), and 13 May 1863 (210 to Gibraltar, Australia).

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