William Mein Smith
Encyclopedia
William Mein Smith was a key actor in the early settlement of New Zealand
's capital city, Wellington
. As the Surveyor General for the Wakefield's New Zealand Company
at Port Nicholson from 1840 to 1843, he and his team surveyed the town of Wellington, after finding the land on the Petone
foreshore unsuitable, laying out the town belt and other features and making provision for the much debated "tenth" share of the land for local Māori.
, South Africa
, he was raised in Devon
and the Scottish Borders
, served in the Royal Artillery
from 1814, in Ireland
, Canada
(where he met his wife Louisa and was married at Kingston) in Gibraltar
, including being part of a diplomatic visit to Marrakech
in 1829-30, and at the Royal Artillery Academy at Woolwich
where he taught as Master of Line Drawing, before being approached to assist the Wakefield
's New Zealand Company
in 1839. He and his team of surveyors sailed to New Zealand on the New Zealand Company barque Cuba, arriving on 3 January 1840 in the harbour of Te Whanganui-a-Tara
(Port Nicholson). His wife and older children arrived two months later.
and Wanganui
. He was gazetted as a magistrate. He also served on the short-lived (and controversial) Wellington Town Council established by the Company. His name survives today however only indirectly, in Mein Street, Wellington. His other contributions included helping to form the first library, designing the first light at the entrance to the harbour, exploring the route to Porirua
and the Kapiti Coast
, and founding the Horticultural Society.
Though getting on the wrong side of Colonel Wakefield, the Company's Principal Agent, and being dismissed as Surveyor General from early 1842, when he was replaced without warning by Samuel Charles Brees, he was commissioned to sail down the East Coast of the South Island
in September 1842 to help locate another site for settlement by the New Zealand Company. He was thus an early visitor to what is now Christchurch
, Akaroa
, Port Chalmers
and Bluff
, but was shipwrecked in the course of the return trip. He still had the opportunity to visit and name Quail Island in Lyttelton Harbour
, after crossing the peninsula
on foot, visiting whalers and Māori alike. Later he surveyed a number of other parts of the lower North Island
, including some townships in Wairarapa
(Featherston
and Masterton
in particular), the coastline as far north as Castlepoint
, and the Taratahi plain. He also spent time in the 1850s seeking a better route through the mountains to Wellington.
He was involved in operating a farming venture near Wellington at Terawhiti
until 1846.
At about this time, he was responsible for establishing one of the earliest cattle and sheep runs in the Wairarapa, at Huangarua, near modern Martinborough
, with his friend Samuel Revans
in about 1845, when he seems to have left his first home under what is now Tinakori Hill
, Wellington, driving some of the first cattle round the rocky coastline. They were among the first half dozen settlers in the valley. There he and Louisa raised their five children. He also carried on surveying and was a local magistrate and politician. He also had close dealings with local Māori, and his image is said to be preserved in one of the celebrated carved perimeter posts at Papawai marae
, near Greytown
.
from 1851, and then represented Wairarapa on the Wellington Provincial Council
from 1858 to 1865.
.
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
's capital city, Wellington
Wellington
Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...
. As the Surveyor General for the Wakefield's New Zealand Company
New Zealand Company
The New Zealand Company originated in London in 1837 as the New Zealand Association with the aim of promoting the "systematic" colonisation of New Zealand. The association, and later the company, intended to follow the colonising principles of Edward Gibbon Wakefield, who envisaged the creation of...
at Port Nicholson from 1840 to 1843, he and his team surveyed the town of Wellington, after finding the land on the Petone
Petone
Petone is a major suburb of the city of Lower Hutt in New Zealand. It is located at the southern end of the narrow triangular plain of the Hutt River, on the northern shore of Wellington Harbour...
foreshore unsuitable, laying out the town belt and other features and making provision for the much debated "tenth" share of the land for local Māori.
Early life
Born in 1798 in Cape TownCape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, he was raised in Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
and the Scottish Borders
Scottish Borders
The Scottish Borders is one of 32 local government council areas of Scotland. It is bordered by Dumfries and Galloway in the west, South Lanarkshire and West Lothian in the north west, City of Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian to the north; and the non-metropolitan counties of Northumberland...
, served in the Royal Artillery
Royal Artillery
The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery , is the artillery arm of the British Army. Despite its name, it comprises a number of regiments.-History:...
from 1814, in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
(where he met his wife Louisa and was married at Kingston) in Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
, including being part of a diplomatic visit to Marrakech
Marrakech
Marrakech or Marrakesh , known as the "Ochre city", is the most important former imperial city in Morocco's history...
in 1829-30, and at the Royal Artillery Academy at Woolwich
Woolwich
Woolwich is a district in south London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.Woolwich formed part of Kent until 1889 when the County of London was created...
where he taught as Master of Line Drawing, before being approached to assist the Wakefield
Edward Gibbon Wakefield
Edward Gibbon Wakefield was a British politician, the driving force behind much of the early colonisation of South Australia, and later New Zealand....
's New Zealand Company
New Zealand Company
The New Zealand Company originated in London in 1837 as the New Zealand Association with the aim of promoting the "systematic" colonisation of New Zealand. The association, and later the company, intended to follow the colonising principles of Edward Gibbon Wakefield, who envisaged the creation of...
in 1839. He and his team of surveyors sailed to New Zealand on the New Zealand Company barque Cuba, arriving on 3 January 1840 in the harbour of Te Whanganui-a-Tara
Te Whanganui-a-Tara
Te Whanganui a Tara is a Māori name for Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand. Originally it described the actual harbour , but the term has come to be accepted as the name of the city as well...
(Port Nicholson). His wife and older children arrived two months later.
Professional life
He was instrumental in the Wellington colony's early administration, the setting out of the town (including reservation of one tenth for Māori owners), and country acres, and later oversaw work in the ManawatuManawatu District
The Manawatu District is a district in the Manawatu-Wanganui Region in the North Island of New Zealand.-Location:"The Manawatu", as it is usually called, is located in the southwest of the island, close to the river which shares its name...
and Wanganui
Whanganui District
Whanganui District is one of the districts of New Zealand.Wanganui District Council resulted from amalgamation of Wanganui and Waitotara county councils and Wanganui City Council....
. He was gazetted as a magistrate. He also served on the short-lived (and controversial) Wellington Town Council established by the Company. His name survives today however only indirectly, in Mein Street, Wellington. His other contributions included helping to form the first library, designing the first light at the entrance to the harbour, exploring the route to Porirua
Porirua
Porirua is a city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand, immediately north of the city of Wellington, with their central business districts 20 km apart. A large proportion of the population commutes to Wellington, so it may be considered a satellite city. It almost completely surrounds...
and the Kapiti Coast
Kapiti Coast
The Kapiti Coast is the name of the section of the coast of the south-western North Island of New Zealand that is north of Wellington and opposite Kapiti Island. It falls under the jurisdiction of the Wellington Regional Council...
, and founding the Horticultural Society.
Though getting on the wrong side of Colonel Wakefield, the Company's Principal Agent, and being dismissed as Surveyor General from early 1842, when he was replaced without warning by Samuel Charles Brees, he was commissioned to sail down the East Coast of the South Island
South Island
The South Island is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean...
in September 1842 to help locate another site for settlement by the New Zealand Company. He was thus an early visitor to what is now Christchurch
Christchurch
Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...
, Akaroa
Akaroa
Akaroa is a village on Banks Peninsula in the Canterbury region of the South Island of New Zealand, situated within a harbour of the same name—the name Akaroa is Kāi Tahu Māori for 'Long Harbour'.- Overview :...
, Port Chalmers
Port Chalmers
Port Chalmers is a suburb and the main port of the city of Dunedin, New Zealand, with a population of 3,000. Port Chalmers lies ten kilometres inside Otago Harbour, some 15 kilometres northeast from Dunedin's city centre....
and Bluff
Bluff, New Zealand
Bluff is a town and seaport in the Southland region, on the southern coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It is the southern-most town in New Zealand and, despite Slope Point being further to the south, is colloquially used to refer to the southern extremity of the country...
, but was shipwrecked in the course of the return trip. He still had the opportunity to visit and name Quail Island in Lyttelton Harbour
Lyttelton Harbour
Lyttelton Harbour is one of two major inlets in Banks Peninsula, on the coast of Canterbury, New Zealand. The other is Akaroa Harbour.Approximately 15 km in length from its mouth to Teddington, the harbour was formed from a series of ancient volcanic eruptions that created a caldera, the...
, after crossing the peninsula
Banks Peninsula
Banks Peninsula is a peninsula of volcanic origin on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It has an area of approximately and encompasses two large harbours and many smaller bays and coves...
on foot, visiting whalers and Māori alike. Later he surveyed a number of other parts of the lower North Island
North Island
The North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the much less populous South Island by Cook Strait. The island is in area, making it the world's 14th-largest island...
, including some townships in Wairarapa
Wairarapa
Wairarapa is a geographical region of New Zealand. It occupies the south-eastern corner of the North Island, east of metropolitan Wellington and south-west of the Hawke's Bay region. It is lightly populated, having several rural service towns, with Masterton being the largest...
(Featherston
Featherston, New Zealand
Featherston is a town in the north of the Wellington Region region of New Zealand. It lies in the Wairarapa, just north of the Rimutaka Tunnel, in the South Wairarapa District. The population was 2,340 in the 2006 Census....
and Masterton
Masterton
Masterton is a large town and local government district in the Wellington Region of New Zealand. It is the largest town in the Wairarapa, a region separated from Wellington by the Rimutaka ranges...
in particular), the coastline as far north as Castlepoint
Castlepoint
Castlepoint is a small beachside town on the Wairarapa coast of the Wellington Region of New Zealand. It is home to a lighthouse which stands near the top of the northern end of a reef. The reef is about one kilometer long. At the southern end of the reef, there is an island known locally as "bird...
, and the Taratahi plain. He also spent time in the 1850s seeking a better route through the mountains to Wellington.
He was involved in operating a farming venture near Wellington at Terawhiti
Terawhiti Station
Terawhiti Station is one of New Zealand's oldest and largest sheep stations, located along the south coast of Wellington. Terawhiti Station has seen a diverse range of land uses over the past 160 years. Originally a cattle station, Terawhiti grew into one of New Zealand's largest sheep stations...
until 1846.
At about this time, he was responsible for establishing one of the earliest cattle and sheep runs in the Wairarapa, at Huangarua, near modern Martinborough
Martinborough
Martinborough is a town in South Wairarapa, a district in the Wellington region on the North Island of New Zealand. It is 65 kilometres east of Wellington and 35 kilometres south-west of Masterton...
, with his friend Samuel Revans
Samuel Revans
Samuel Revans was a notable New Zealand newspaper owner, entrepreneur and politician. He was the Father of Journalism in New Zealand.-Early life:...
in about 1845, when he seems to have left his first home under what is now Tinakori Hill
Tinakori Hill
Tinakori Hill is a hill running for 38 hectares through the Town belt of Wellington, New Zealand. It was renamed Te Ahumairangi Hill by the Port Nicholson Block Claims Settlement Act 2009.-History:...
, Wellington, driving some of the first cattle round the rocky coastline. They were among the first half dozen settlers in the valley. There he and Louisa raised their five children. He also carried on surveying and was a local magistrate and politician. He also had close dealings with local Māori, and his image is said to be preserved in one of the celebrated carved perimeter posts at Papawai marae
Marae
A marae malae , malae , is a communal or sacred place which serves religious and social purposes in Polynesian societies...
, near Greytown
Greytown, New Zealand
Greytown or Te Hupenui, population 2,001 , is a town in the Wellington region of New Zealand. It lies in the Wairarapa, in the lower North Island...
.
Political career
He was a member of the Legislative CouncilNew Zealand Legislative Council
The Legislative Council of New Zealand was the upper house of the New Zealand Parliament from 1853 until 1951. Unlike the lower house, the New Zealand House of Representatives, the Legislative Council was appointed.-Role:...
from 1851, and then represented Wairarapa on the Wellington Provincial Council
Wellington Province
The Wellington Province was a province of New Zealand until the abolition of provincial government in 1876.-Area:...
from 1858 to 1865.
Art
He is probably as well known for his many water colours and sketches of early Wellington and Wairarapa, many of which are held by Wellington's Alexander Turnbull LibraryNational Library of New Zealand
The National Library of New Zealand is New Zealand's legal deposit library charged with the obligation to "enrich the cultural and economic life of New Zealand and its interchanges with other nations"...
.