John Lees Faulkner (1807-1882)

John Lees Faulkner (1807-1882)
Photo Tauranga City Libraries Image Collection, Ref. 00-208

John Lees Faulkner was an early trader, ship builder and farmer and he and his thousands of descendants have left an indelible mark on the fabric of our society.

Because of the digital age in which we now live new information has come to light in recent times. It appears that John was the son of a Nottinghamshire storeman and a seamstress, not a Yorkshire farmer as was previously believed, and that his date of birth was 1807, not 1811. Apprenticed to a shoemaker, in his early teens he was arrested and charged as being an accomplice (i.e.lookout) for two known pick pockets. After spending time in a prison hulk he was transported to New South Wales, Australia on the Princess Royal arriving on the 26th March, 1821. He was set to work in a Port MacQuarie dockyard and taught the art of ship building. His certificate of freedom was dated 22nd October, 1828.

It does not seem to be known how or when he reached New Zealand but the following extract from Papers Past seems to indicate that he may have fathered a child around that time.

The Bay of Plenty Times extract, March 3rd, 1913
Courtesy of Papers Past

After reaching the Bay of Islands he met and began a family with Ruawahine, their son Joseph was baptised in Kororakea (Russell) by Henry Williams in 1835. Several trips were made to Tauranga Moana and they lived for a short time with her people in Maungatapu. They established a trading post and later built their 4 room homestead, Okorore, on her family land near the large Otumoetai Pa.

In 1842 Rev. Alfred Brown at Te Papa Mission Station was pleased to marry them in the chapel at the Te Papa Mission Station and the two families became lifelong friends.

The Faulkners thrived in many senses of the word, John built many small ships and several larger ones and they had at least 13 children.* There were 6 sons, 5 daughters and 2 infants who died. John (Jnr) passed on at 13 and Alfred never married but Joseph, Jarvis, George and Christopher had 31 children between them.

Headstone for Daniel and Jane Sellars, Cliff Road Cemetery, Tauranga
Photo Julie Green

Captains Daniel Sellars and Christopher Faulkner became very involved in local and coastal shipping and the Faulkner family were the tribal trading agents, and flax, pigs, kumara, maize and wheat were exchanged for blankets, clothing, iron tools and farming implements. John Lees owned a four horse threshing machine used by local Maori for over 20 years. In 1860 he was commissioned as the first Tauranga postmaster for 5 pounds annually, a role he had been filling for several years anyway.

Headstone for Faulkner family, Cliff Road Cemetery, Tauranga
Photo Julie Green

Ruawahine’s daughters were Elizabeth Beazley, Maria Maxwell, Jane Sellars, Eliza Bush and Isabella Neighbour. These marriages eventually resulted in another couple of dozen grandchildren. Ruawahine (also so known as Elizabeth at times) died aged 44 in 1855 and was interred in the Mission Cemetery, John Lees died in 1882 aged 75 and is buried there also. He passed on suddenly while resting at his son’s Yorkshire Grey Hotel after a visit to his oldest friend Alfred Brown.

Elizabeth Faulkner who lived to be 91 and was buried in the Tauranga Anglican Cemetery
Photo Tauranga City Libraries Image Collection, Ref. 00-210

In 1857 John L. had married a second time, an old acquaintance from England, 35 year-old Elizabeth Humphries. She produced one more son, John Daniel, who in middle age commenced a ferry service to the Mount. He was tragically killed in 1917 on his boat Farina, but his sons George and Barley and grandson Charlie carried on. Faulkners Ferries were faithful and famous for 60 years and prior to 1960 acted as tugboats for the shipping when required.

Faulkners' store, c. 1920
Photo Tauranga City Libraries Image Collection, Ref. 99-730

Another of John Daniel’s sons, Arthur, set up his own store at 11th Ave (MacDonalds site) in 1921 and this area became known as Faulkners Corner. Arthur’s middle son Eric became Mayor of Tauranga in 1977 and Faulkner Park in Judea is named for him.

The homestead Okorore was moved from Beach Rd to 17th Ave Historic Village in 1990, and is presently in use as an art studio by another descendant, Aroha Matthews. Faulkner’s eldest son Joseph is her great great grandfather and is part of the huge Pirirakau iwi from Te Puna. Joseph’s 6 daughters married into the Tangitu, Bidois, Borell, Heke, Smith and Nicholas families.

Memorial, Cliff Road Cemetery, Tauranga
Photo Julie Green

In 2004/5 there was a reunion and an attempt to break the world record of more than 2,600 descendants in one place together. It is believed that about 800 attended this event.

In March 2020 there is to be another, I wonder how many will be there ...

*I note that there is an extra child recorded on the Tauranga Kete as Porina (Pauline) being born c1855, possibly shortly before the death of Ruawahine in Sept 1855. I assume this may be recent information as she is not recorded in any other sources that I have read.


References

Tauranga 1882-1982 The Centennial of Gazetting Tauranga as a Borough—Alan Bellamy for TCC 1982
Maritime Tauranga-Max Avery 2013. (quotes on page 8 from Faulkner Book by Jackie Lloyd, 2004)
Papers Past — Bay of Plenty Times, March 3rd 1913
Tauranga Historical Society Journal Nos. 16 and 36.
Faulkner File in Heritage and Research Collection, Tauranga City Library.
Jinty Rorke, "Faulkner, John Lees," Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1990.
Te Ara — the Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/1f2/faulkner-john-lees
tauranga.kete.net.nz/tauranga_local_history/topics/show/1300 (updated Nov 7th, 2017 by Debbie McCauley)
Informants: Patrick Nicholas, Graham Faulkner, Ngaiiti Faulkner