Captain Thomas Hansen a Master Mariner

edmondsallan - Hi - Captain Thomas Hansen & Mrs Hannah Hansen were the parents of 22 year old son " Thomas " and 15 year old " Hannah " in July 1807 . On that date they arrived at Port Jackson - NSW Australia aboard the convict ship - " Duke of Portland " They were free settlers and were expecting to take up a land grant . 100 acres granted to him in the parish of ' Bankstown.' It was common practice in those days for newly arrived settlers to aquire more land , either by a further grant or by purchasing it from another settler . The " Hansen " land was very close to the Rev Samuel Marsden - Chief Chaplin for NSW. After 5 years in the convict colony , 20 year old ' " Hannah Hansen " married trainee missionary " John King " the date was 10th Nov 1812 in The Rev samuel Marsden's church .The following year he baptised their first child , a son " Philip Hansen King " -- John King ( his Father ) was a shoe maker by trade ,before becoming a missionary in the South Pacific. Of interest Marsden recruited a third recruit for his NZ Mission in Oct 1813 , a new arrival from England " Thomas Kendall " we will cover him in a later journal.and a " William Hall " his fourth ( 4 ) convert .
One of the things I asked myself , was , if " Marsden " was going to NZ , where only Whaler's had been before , How was he going to aquire land to build his mission stations ?. If he landed in NZ , it was 99% sure he would get his head cut off or worse for stealing some Tribal Grounds . !!!
The story sort of changes here , and shows us how long he had been planning this voyage , and the preparations he had gone to . Soon after arriving in Sydney , Australia , in 1794 he purposely went to many whaling ships & crews. On board one of those whaling ships over this ( 20 ) year period he met among the crew . He met the Bay of Island Chief ' Te Pahi " and took him home to his residence for a meal & yakity yak . After another 2 years , he met " Te Pahi's " nephew - " Ruatara " After a meal or two , a glass or two of vino to wash down the pork & potatoes they reached an understanding that
" Ruatara " would allow them Land & give them his protection . Time frame _ approx " 1805-7. Marsden then bought a small brig named
" Active " to use to go to NZ. The first trip the" Active " did was to see if it could be done and land secured & see if " Ruatara " could still give " Marsdens " followers / missionaries / settlers , protection . The " active on that voyage was captained by " Captain Peter Dillion " and returned safely. The next voyage Of the
" Active " was in November 1814 . " Captain Thomas Hansen " was in charge . On board were their families ( 35 passengers including some maori crew members ) , Rev Samuel Marsden ,Cattle , livestock , Poultry, goats, cats and dogs and supplies to start a " CMS Mission " in the Bay of Islands . NZ. They arrived at
" Rangihoua Bay" . The " Rangihoua pa " was there and " Ruatara and Whare Poaka " were both living their with their peoples . Ok - time . Till we meet again - regards - edmondsallan