History of The Canterbury Region - The French at Akaroa

The French At Akaroa

French writers and politicians had for years been urging that Britain should not be left to monopolise New Zealand. Some had suggested that even if Britain took the North Island, there was no reason why France should not colonise the South. When news of the success of the French whaling fleet in New Zealand waters in the 1838 season reached France in 1839, a solid commercial project was added to all the others — a project which its promoters who had land to sell, hoped would develop into a scheme for effective French colonisation.

Leaving France towards the end of 1837 and sailing by way of the Cape of Good Hope, the French vessel Cachalot reached New Zealand waters in April 1838. For some time she was whaling off-shore, near the Chatham Islands, but in May came to Banks Peninsula. With them, to protect their interests, and to act as arbiter in any disputes, was the French corvette Héroine, commanded by captain Jean-Baptiste Cécille, which reached Akaroa in June. Cécille occupied much of the time of his officers and crew in making accurate charts of the harbours, first of all of Akaroa and then of Port Cooper (which he named Tokolabo) and Port Levy. At Port Cooper he established an observatory on shore in the bay just inside the heads, now called Little Port Cooper, but for which his name was ‘Waita’.

Little Port Cooper was used as an anchorage by most of the French ships working from Port Cooper in 1838 and in subsequent years, and it was apparently there that Langlois anchored when the Cachalot came into harbour in July 1838. While at Port Cooper, Langlois negotiated with the Māori for the purchase of the whole of Banks Peninsula, and a deed of sale was entered into on 2 August. The deed was signed by 11 Māori who claimed to be the owners of the whole of Banks Peninsula, although they lived at Port Cooper. Their leader was the chief Taikare, known as King Chigary. The total payment was to be 1000 Francs (then equivalent to 40 Pounds), a first installment of goods to the value of 150 Francs to be paid immediately and the balance when Langlois took possession of the property. This first instalment comprised a woollen overcoat, six pairs of linen trousers, a dozen waterproof hats, two pairs of shoes, a pistol, two woollen shirts, and a waterproof coat.

The territory transferred was defined as ‘Banks Peninsula and its dependencies’, only burial grounds being reserved for the Māori. Langlois considered that he had purchased 30,000 acres (120 km2) but the total area is nearer 300,000 acres (1,200 km2). At the time of the execution of the deed, Captain Cécille subsequently and enthusiastically hoisted the French Flag on shore and issued a declaration of French sovereignty over Banks Peninsula. At the end of the 1838 whaling season Langlois left New Zealand waters, and on arriving in France some time after June 1839, set to work to market the property which he had bought from the Māori. He succeeded in interesting the marquis de las Marismas Aguado, a financier who had considerable influence with the Government. The Marquis set out to enlist support in Bordeaux for the formation of a company to exploit the property represented by Langlois's deed: the purpose of that settlement would be to establish on Banks Peninsula a settlement to serve as a base for French whaleships and other vessels in the Pacific. The difficulties of this first stage of the negotiations, in which rather too much dependency was placed on government action and aid, caused the Marquis to withdraw from the project.

On 13 October, Langlois also approached Admiral Duperré and Marshall Soult (President of the Council), stating that he had promises of support from Le Havre and that he would be able to make an offer acceptable to the Government. Almost at the same time, another influential financier, the Ducs Decazes, informed that the Bordeaux group was prepared to support the project. Finally the members of the Bordeaux group, joined with others from Nantes reached an agreement with Langlois, and on 8 November 1839, ‘La Compagnie de Bordeaux et de nantes pour la Colonisation de l’Île du Sud de la Nouvelle Zélande et ses Dépendances’ presented its petition to the Government. The company had a capital of one million Francs. Langlois received one-fifth interest in the company in return for transferring to it all rights deriving from his deed of purchase.

The proposals were then examined by a commission of the Ministry of Marine, comprising Captains Petit-Thouars, J-B Cécille, and Roy, all of whom had special experience of the Pacific and of the supervision of French whaling interests. A draft agreement was worked out by the commissioners and the company's representatives which was approved on 11 December by the King, and by Marshall Soult, Admiral Duperré, and the Minister of Agriculture and Commerce.

Port Louis-Philippe (Akaroa) was named as the site of the settlement proposed in this agreement, in terms of which the Government undertook to make available to the Company the 550-ton storeship Mahé, renamed Comte-de-Paris to provide 17 months rations for 80 men; to consider the properties of the French colonists as French properties and the colonists themselves as French subjects, and to treat the produce of their crops as if they were of French origin. To protect the colonists, a warship would be sent out in advance of the emigrant ship, and its commander would exercise the powers of ‘Commissaire du Roi’. The ports of the settlement were to be free to French ships for a term of 15 years. One-fourth of all the lands acquired were to be reserved to the Crown for the building of ports, hospitals and shipyards. The functions of the company as finally announced on 5 February 1840, were to buy land in New Zealand, to colonise the lands already bought in 1838 by Langlois, and to engage in the whale fishery.

Langlois also received two sets of instructions, one from Soult as Minister of Foreign Affairs, and one from Duperré as Minister of Marine. The texts read: "You will see to it that possession is taken in the name of France of all establishments formed in the Southern Island of New Zealand, and that the flag is flown upon them. You should also win over the chief Te Rauparaha and induce him to sell the lands under his control in the northern part of the South Island. There is great advantage in setting up establishments in various parts of the Island for acquisitions will only go unchallenged where there is effective act of possession."

The colony at Akaroa was to be merely the starting point of the acquisition for France of a much larger portion of the South Island. This letter also made it clear that an extension of the proposed colony to include a penal settlement at the Chatham Islands was envisaged: ‘The King is still preoccupied with the idea and with the necessity of a place of deportation. He has strongly urged me not to leave his Ministers in peace until they have introduced a bill for the expedition to Chatham Island.’, Lavaud stated in reply that he thought it better for the penal settlement to be at Banks Peninsula, because of the remoteness of the Chathams and the lack of suitable anchorage there.

Meanwhile a small body of emigrants ‘of the peasant and labouring classes’ were enrolled. Each man was promised a grant of 5 acres (20,000 m2) of land, with half that area for boys between the age of ten and 15 years. They were to be provided with their rations for a period of about a year after their arrival in the colony, and were to be furnished with arms. By January 1840, 63 emigrants were assembled at Rochefort. Six were described as Germans. The total comprised 14 married men and their families and 19 single men and youths. Even after the emigrants were assembled there were considerable delays in getting the ships away. Lavaud sailed on the corvette Aube on 19 February 1840; the Comte-de-Paris, commanded by Langlois, and with the French immigrants on board, made a false start on 6 March and after going aground, finally got away on 20 March. Because of the late departure of the ships, the French expedition was doomed to failure from the outset.

The reason why the Aube sailed ahead of the Comte-de-Paris was to ‘gain time for fear the British might get the start of them’ Yet the New Zealand Company's survey ship Tory had sailed from Plymouth on 12 May 1839, before Langlois and his associates had made their first approach to the French government, and as early as June the British Government was considering sending Captain William Hobson to act as Lieutenant-Governor over such parts of New Zealand as might be acquired from the Māori. Hobson was notified of his appointment in August. He arrived at the Bay of Islands on 29 January 1840, and on 6 February the first signatures were placed on the Treaty of Waitangi. At that date, neither of the French ships had left France. While they were still on the high seas, in May 1840 Hobson proclaimed British sovereignty over the South Island by virtue of Captain Cook's discovery. The same month the H.M.S. Herald arrived at Akaroa, bringing Major T. Bunbury, who was carrying a copy of the Treaty of Waitangi for signature by the southern chiefs. At Akaroa it was signed by two chiefs, Iwikau and Tikao. Three weeks later at Cloudy Bay, Bunbury made a declaration of British sovereignty over the whole of the South Island, based upon the cession by the chiefs as signatories to the Treaty of Waitangi. It was not until 19 August that the French colonists were landed at Akaroa.

Much was done in getting the French settlers established. Allotments were laid out for them to the West of the stream where they had landed, in what is now known as the French town. As enough open land on the foreshore could not be found at all, the six Germans were alloted sections on the next bay to the west, now known as Takamatua, but until 1915 was called German Bay. The total area of the land taken up under the Nanto-Bordelaise Company at this time was 107 acres (0.43 km2). Although they had no animals, the colonists were able to plant and prepare their gardens. In the following year de Belligny obtained four working Bullocks from Sydney. Vegetable seeds and a number of young fruit trees — apples, pears, mulberry and nuts — as well as grape vines, had survived the voyage from France. Although Lavaud mentions that the ‘menagerie’ placed on board the Aube at Brest included not only the cattle, but geese, turkey cocks and hens, pigeons and even rabbits, it is not clear whether any of these survived.

The colonists arrived at a good time of the year to begin cultivation wherever the ground was cleared of timber, and within the first six weeks most of them had started their gardens. It was too late to sow grain, but they got their potatoes in, and sowed their vegetable seeds. Lavaud started at French Farm a larger garden to supply the needs of his crew. The colonists built their first rough huts, either of rough timber, or of wattle-and-daub. The spiritual needs of the settlement were cared for by the priests of the Catholic Mission, Fathers Comte and Tripe, one ministering to Maori and the other to Europeans.