Around the world in 121 days

My family history originates in England. In this story I will write about the journey to New Zealand by Henry. He is from my mother’s side and is my great, great, great, great grandfather. Henry was trained as a typesetter, a job that involved placing the stamps in printing presses.

On the 13th August 1840, Henry left London for Wellington New Zealand. The sailing ship he travelled on was a 700 ton frigate class called The London. Its captain was Henry Shuttleworth. The Journey took four months to complete (121 days). Including Henry and Cpt. Shuttleworth, there were 228 people on board. The route took them south-west down the North Atlantic and close to Brazil. They then went South-East to Cape Town. Going around The Cape of Good Hope they met with the “roaring 40s”. (Strong Westerly winds that propel ships at great speeds.) They then turned south for New Zealand.

I discovered this piece of information by researching the 1840’s shipping route from England to New Zealand.

When The London got to Wellington my family knows very little about what Henry did, except that he walked up through Taranaki to Auckland. During this trek he noted the relationships between Pakeha and Maori on land claims and colonial life. He lived in and owned No. 10-25 of section 24 Wynyardton, Coromandel. Henry was one of the founding directors of the Auckland Bank. He was a great entrepreneur and at one time made a claim on a gold mine. He died aged 82 in Auckland.

That is how my family got to New Zealand and made a place for ourselves here.

By James