Strathallan’s departure for Timaru celebrated

It is 161 years since the first shipload of immigrants from Britain set sail for Timaru aboard the Strathallan.

When the 105 passengers arrived after a gruelling and dangerous 90-day voyage, they were dismayed to find there were only five houses in Timaru and many of the newcomers had to sleep in a woolshed near the Landing Services Building.

It was October 12, 1858 when the first settlers boarded the ship to make their new home in Timaru and to mark the occasion, and the perilous journey, WuHoo Timaru founders Roselyn (pictured here with daughters Medinella, 4, and Annavelle, 1) and Chris Fauth have created a fun fact sheet about the trip and a colouring-in picture of the ship.

WuHoo, established by the Fauths in 2017 to celebrate the town’s heritage, culture and environment by showcasing fun

things to do in Timaru for free, has gleaned much of the Strathallan fact sheet from the book by Alan McKenzie titled Timaru at Last!

When the Strathallan eventually arrived in Timaru on January 13, 1859, there were 110 ready disembark. During the trip two babies were born but five children and two adults died.

The ship had made good time and the town was not ready for them with just five houses built, despite the destination being billed in the UK as a ‘‘thriving’’ town.

‘‘Some were bitterly disappointed with what they found – a barren, treeless coastal Timaru,’’ the sheet states.

At the time, Timaru was populated with several hundred Maori, a few early settlers and whalers.

The Strathallan was the first ship to sail directly from the UK to New Zealand. Some of the harrowing stories of the voyage include the top sail breaking in a storm when the ship was off the coast of South Africa.

‘‘The ship went on its side and all the beds got soaked. These people risked everything. It must have been terrifying,’’ Roselyn Fauth said.

They had left an England where wealth was unevenly distributed. The working class had to spend half their week’s wages on a loaf of bread and lived on a diet of potatoes and dried peas.

‘‘New Zealand really was a land of milk and honey,’’ she said.

But it was not a celebration for everyone, Ngai Tahu was probably not impressed with the influx of visitors, Fauth said, as this was the start of colonisation.

The Fauths spend a few hours every week on their WuHoo projects and hope their fact sheet helps residents learn about the history of the town and whets their appetite for more history.