The Mystery of the Monmouth Cannons Part 3: The Return of Captain Black

From Tauranga City Library’s archives

A monthly blog about interesting items in our collections.

This post follows on from The Mystery of the Monmouth Cannons Part 1 and Part 2, so be sure to check them out for the full backstory.

Te Tapihana cannon, Monmouth Redoubt, 2024.
Private Collection, Te Ao Mārama - Tauranga City Libraries.

While transcribing Private George Crabbe's manuscript (see August's blog post on George Crabbe) we uncovered a crucial missing puzzle piece concerning the history of the Te Tapihana cannon, and its connection to the early Danish trader Phillip (Hans) Tapsell. 

George A Crabbe, (1840 - 1905).
Image courtesy of N. Wilson, Crabbe Collection, Tauranga Heritage Collection.

According to Crabbe's account, in early January of 1868, a schooner named Fortune arrived in Ōpōtiki carrying one of the old cannons belonging to Hans Tapsell of Maketū. The militia promptly got their hands on the gun and brought it ashore, where it was used for many years. Later, the gun was taken to Tauranga by a Captain Turner, though Crabbe does not provide a date for this.

Excerpt from Scrapbook compiled by Crabbe family (p. 21). George Alfred Crabbe, date unknown.
Te Ao Mārama - Tauranga City Libraries, ref Ms 112/3.

This story accords with what we already know of Te Tapihana’s history, in which Captain Archibald Campbell Turner had acquired the cannon from a military officer in Ōpōtiki during the New Zealand Wars (BOPT, April 6th, 1914, p. 4). But Crabbe’s account provides us with more than just the connection to Captain Turner.

Captain A. C. Turner N.Z.M.. c. 1900.
Puke Ariki Heritage Collection, ref PHO2011-2311.

In Part 2 we talked about the sale of two Tapsell cannons by Retreat Tapsell to a ‘Mr. Black’ of Tauranga (likely early trader Thomas Black), in early May of 1864. As it happens, the name of Black’s vessel was the Fortune (DSC, 12 May 1864, p. 4).

Could this be the same Fortune that arrived in Ōpōtiki with the Tapsell gun nearly four years later? It certainly seems so, as shipping records place Captain Black onboard the schooner Fortune in Ōpōtiki at the time (NZ Herald, Jan 18th, 1868, p. 2). 

View, Waioeka River and Wharves, Ōpōtiki. Creator and date unknown.
Te Whare Taonga ō Taketake, Whakatāne Museum Collections and Research, ref 42434. 

Since Black had reportedly purchased the cannons as ballast for his vessel, it is very plausible that Te Tapihana had remained onboard the Fortune from the time of it's purchase in 1864, until it's reappearance in Ōpōtiki in 1868. If our theory is correct, it would support the long-held belief that Te Tapihana was part of Phillip Tapsell's battery of 'big guns' at Maketū Pā.

Maketū Pā, Bay of Plenty. Watercolour by Major General Horatio Robley, 1865.
Collection of Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, ref 1992-0035-826.

To learn more about Tapsell's battery of big guns, click here.

For more about George Crabbe and his first-hand account of the New Zealand Wars, click here.

Sources:   

 'Local and General'. (1914, 6 April). Bay of Plenty Times, 42(6097), p. 4.

'Maketū. (From our own Correspondent.) May 5'. (published 1864, 12 May). Daily Southern Cross, p. 4.

'Shipping Intelligence'. (1868, 18 January). New Zealand Herald, 5(1303), p. 2.

Crabbe, George Alfred. (n.d.). Scrapbook relating to Aotearoa land wars history, Māori culture, fauna/ flora/ reptiles, and sketch of Orākau pā. Collection of Te Ao Mārama - Tauranga City Libraries, ref Ms 112/3, pp. 21-22.

This archival collection has been digitised and is available to view on Pae Korokī. For more information about this and other items in our collection, visit Pae Korokī or email the Heritage & Research Team: research@tauranga.govt.nz

Written by Rose Chalklen, Heritage and Research Specialist at Te Ao Mārama - Tauranga City Libraries.