“Six Months in a Leaky Boat” was what this tin-lined wooden chest was designed to stand up to when it made the passage from England to New Zealand, specifically the Kerikeri Mission Station, sometime in the mid 19th century.
Mission Storekeeper James Kemp (1797–1872) was most particular in letters he sent to English suppliers about how goods he ordered were to be shipped – stressing that the chests were to be lined with tin to counter the corrosive effects of sea air. With “J Kemp/No. 9” carved into the lid, this wooden chest formed a shipment of at least nine boxes of stores and after it was emptied of its precious cargo was put to good use by the Kemp family for generations.
The tradition of receiving goods from England for sale at the Stone Store continues today but the goods come air-freight in cardboard boxes which are then promptly recycled. To view the latest merchandise for sale – ranging from heritage, historic, Kiwiana, modern and quirky - please visit our On-line Shop.
This heavy writing slate was discovered under the floorboards of the lean-to at the rear of the Kerikeri Mission House while work was underway on repairing rotten ground beams.
Inscribed on the artefact, in flowing copperplate hand, are the words “Na Rongo Hongi C. 16” which translates as “This belongs to Rongo Hongi”. The “C. 16” is believed to refer to age. This is possibly the first instance of written te reo Maori - the language was previously spoken only.
Rongo Hongi was the daughter of Ngapuhi chief Hongi Hika and his wife Turikatuku. Rongo tended her dying father in 1827-28 and was later the wife of chief Hone Heke Pokai. Known for her forceful character and independent nature, Rongo acted as Hone Heke’s secretary and scribe and participated in the Northern War of 1845-46. She cared for her husband as he was dying of tuberculosis, just as she had cared for her father as he slowly died from a battle wound. She later remarried and remained an important figure in Ngapuhi life.
The slate confirms that Rongo attended the school for Maori girls which the missionary wife Martha Clarke started at Kerikeri in the late 1820s. The slate is presumed to have been under the floorboards since the lean-to was built in 1831 and is now a prized exhibit on display at the Mission House.