History of Surveying in New Zealand?
Surveying has been done in New Zealand since the
first visitors and settlers came. When Abel Tasman came in 1642 he mapped parts
of the West Coast as he went. Captain Cook did the same when he visited New
Zealand in the late 1760's and 1770's. Only in recent years has the New Zealand
Navy remapped parts of Fiordland that had last been surveyed by Captain Cook!
After the early explorers had mapped out the
basic outline of New Zealand it took visiting
sealers and whalers and others to fill in the
blanks on the last remaining uncertainties
during the remaining Regency years. In
1804 the American sealer Owen F Smith discovered
Foveaux Strait, disproving Cook's initial belief
that Stewart Island might be joined to the South
Island. In 1809 Captain Chase, while on board
the Pegasus discovered Banks Island was in fact
a peninsula attached to the South Island. After
Captain Chase the basic outline was confirmed
for New Zealand.
The surveying and exploration of New Zealand’s
interior proved to be a much more complex and a
time consuming process. Initially a lot of the
discovery of the interior of New Zealand was by
missionaries, such as Samuel Marsden, William
Colenso and George Selwyn.
The surveying and exploration of the inland
areas accelerated when European settlement
began. There was a need to identify prospective
settlements, define the boundaries of ownership,
and identify resources, useable land and access
routes.
The New Zealand Company played a key role in the
settlement of New Zealand. In its reconnaissance
for suitable settlement locations, large tracts
of land were explored; Frederick Tuckett's
selection of the Dunedin site led him to
investigate sites between Nelson and Bluff. The
lack of viable transport routes between many of
the Southern settlements and the northern
gateway posed major challenges, and by the late
1840s efforts were being made to identify new
routes.
The 1860s was also a busy period for surveyors,
who in the process of delineating boundaries and
confirming property rights, made discoveries
such as Arthur's Pass and Browning's Pass.
Some of New Zealand’s early surveyors are:
Frederick Tuckett
(1807-1876) - Principal surveyor of the New
Zealand Company and surveyor of the Company's
Otago settlement (Dunedin).
Frederick Carrington
(1808-1901) - Principal surveyor of the Plymouth
Company and also known as 'the founder of
Taranaki' (New Plymouth).
Captain Joseph Thomas
(1821-1874) - Surveyor of the site of the
Canterbury settlement (Christchurch).
William Mein Smith
(1799-1869) - Surveyor and artist. New Zealand
Company Surveyor-General, and surveyor of the
Wellington settlement.
John Rochford
(1832-1893) - Surveyor and engineer, surveyor of
the West Coast of the South Island.
Stephenson Percy Smith
(1840 - 1922) - Surveyor, ethnologist and
writer. Known as Percy Smith he is remembered
principally for his work around New Plymouth and
Auckland.
William Fox
(1812 - 1893) - Explorer, premier, painter,
social reformer. William Fox is remembered for
his 1843 journey into the Wairarapa, and his
1846 explorations of the Buller Gorge, Banks
Peninsula and Otago.
Johann Karl Ernst Dieffenbach
(1811-1855) - Explorer, naturalist, linguist. As
a surveyor for the New Zealand Company,
Dieffenbach made extensive journeys into the
interior of the North Island, exploring
Tongariro, Taupo, Waikato, and Whaingaroa.
Johann Franz Julius von Haast
(1822-1887) - Explorer, surveyor, writer,
geologist. Haast is principally remembered for
his extensive scientific explorations of the
Nelson, and later Canterbury districts in his
capacity as Provincial Geologist.
Edward Dobson (1816/1817? - 1908) and Arthur
Dobson
(1841 - 1934) - Surveyors, explorers,
engineers. As the Provincial Engineer for
Canterbury, Edward Dobson's contribution to
exploration principally took place during his
development of the Canterbury rail network. As
assistant and later Chief Surveyor for Nelson,
Edward’s son Arthur undertook extensive surveys
between Nelson and Westport, including Arthur’s
Pass.
Charles Heaphy
(1820-1881) - Explorer, surveyor, artist,
draughtsman. As draftsman and artist with the
New Zealand Company, Heaphy did a reconnaissance
survey up the west coast of the North Island and
investigations of a site for the establishment
of Nelson. As Chief Surveyor to the General
Government, at Auckland, his main task was the
surveying of land confiscated at the close of
the New Zealand Wars.
Thomas Brunner
(1821-1874) - Surveyor and explorer of the South
Island.
John Turnbull Thomson
(1821 - 1884) - Surveyor, engineer, explorer,
artist, writer. As Chief Surveyor of Otago,
Thomson was responsible for much of the survey
of the lower South Island. He was also
responsible for the establishment of a survey
bearing control system that was later copied by
other Land Districts. He also prepared a
complete scheme for the development of Otago
Harbour. He later became Surveyor General for
New Zealand and established the Department of
Lands and Survey.
James Mackay
(1831 - 1912) – Explorer and surveyor. As a
Commissioner in the Native Land Purchase
Department, Mackay was responsible for the
purchase and surveying of many areas of the
North and South Islands.
Other topics in
the Surveying section are:
