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whales) were at a peak, the station taking about 300 southern right whales on the first season, as was the resident
European population. Anticipating British annexation the Wellers started buying land and settling it. But a sudden decline in whales saw Edward's exit at the end of 1840 followed by the
124:
The
Wellers continued to trade in flax and spars, maintaining operations at the Hokianga even as they developed Otago. At that time and throughout the decade they were the only merchants regularly trading from one end of New Zealand to the other. A fire soon destroyed the Otago station, but it was
175:
firm's bankruptcy. He and George lived out their lives in New South Wales. The management of Otakou whaling operations was taken over in 1840 by
Charles Schultze (1818–1879), who had married the Weller brothers' sister Ann Weller, and an employee, Octavius Harwood (1816–1900).
252:(often erroneously referred to as a sea shanty) that refers to the wellermen, the supply ships owned by the trading company set up by the Weller Brothers. The song was originally collected around 1966 by the New Zealand-based music teacher and
74:. After 18 months he returned to England, and left there for good on 1 January 1827 accompanied by Edward. In the meantime George had already left England and arrived in Australia in March 1826, where he bought a 479 ton vessel, the
78:
By 1830 Joseph Brooks, Edward, George and his new wife, Elizabeth (formerly
Barwise), their parents, Joseph (1766–1857) and Mary (née Brooks) (b.1779), and two sisters, Fanny (1812–1896) and Ann (1822–1887), were all in Sydney.
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New fisheries were established inside the harbour and up and down the coast. The
Wellers' ships sailed beyond Australasia and they tested the tax regime preventing direct shipment of whale products to Britain.
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At 21 Edward became the resident manager while George maintained the Sydney end of the business. At this time there were 80 Europeans at Otago which had become a trading,
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Relations with Maori were often tense, the establishment being ransacked and the
Wellers keeping Māori hostages in Sydney, reverberations from earlier conflicts (
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The settlement of Otago reached a nadir in 1842 but ultimately revived, remaining the centre of port operations in the area until after the establishment of
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compiler, Neil
Colquhoun. The song has been performed and remixed, with over ten recorded renditions between 1967 and 2005, including by British band
129:
in the far north and ransomed. Whale products started flowing from Otago in 1833 where Joseph Brooks based himself and
European women went to settle.
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with goods and gear to establish a whaling station, (it is believed with Edward) in
November. George and his wife came too, or arrived soon after.
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The brothers, Joseph Brooks (1802–1835), George (1805–1875) and Edward (1814–1893), founded their establishment at
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and ship service centre as well as a whaling station. A measles epidemic greatly reduced the Māori population.
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The Weller's whaling station : the social and economic formation of an Otakou community, 1817-1850
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136:). Joseph Brooks died at Otago in 1835, and his brother Edward shipped his remains to Sydney in a
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Edward made strategic marriages to a daughter of Tahatu, Paparu, and after her death to
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163:'s daughter, Nikuru. There were daughters, Fanny and Nani, by each alliance.
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in 1831, the first enduring
European settlement in what is now the City of
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Behold the Moon the European Occupation of the Dunedin District 1770–1848
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and New Zealand's most substantial merchant traders in the 1830s.
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joined forces in a project to protect the site from degradation.
99:. In 1831 he called at William Cook's shipbuilding settlement at
66:. Joseph Brooks left England on 20 October 1823. He arrived in
470:"Everyone's Singing Sea Shanties (or Are They Whaling Songs?)"
506:"The true story behind the viral TikTok sea shanty hit"
224:), is named after the Weller brothers. In January 2020
186:" it is now a suburb within the boundaries of Dunedin.
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By the end of the 1830s, exports of whale products (
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to commission a vessel before visiting Otago in the
189:Weller's Rock, also known as Te Umu Kuri, near
58:Members of a wealthy land-owning family from
8:
87:Joseph Brooks Weller interested himself in
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604:(BA(Hons)). Dunedin: University of Otago.
575:Entwisle, P. in Griffiths G. (ed) (1974)
577:The Advance Guard Series 3 Edward Weller
335:Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand
273:
310:"Chapter V - The decline of the Maori"
31:, New Zealand, were the founders of a
441:"Neil Colquhoun: Talking Swag (1972)"
7:
70:on 4 February 1824 and then went to
546:Dictionary of New Zealand Biography
330:Dictionary of New Zealand Biography
639:1831 establishments in New Zealand
14:
551:Ministry for Culture and Heritage
413:Archer, John (9 September 2002).
382:Hudson, Daisy (20 January 2020).
286:Weller Family Tree: Joseph Brooks
125:rebuilt. Edward was kidnapped by
586:Dunedin, NZ: Port Daniel Press.
579:Dunedin, NZ: Otago Daily Times.
439:Reid, Graham (2 October 2012).
504:Hunt, Elle (15 January 2021).
384:"Wellers Rock to be protected"
1:
634:New Zealand people in whaling
415:"Soon May The Wellerman Come"
107:, reaching an agreement with
16:Merchant traders in the 1830s
644:Australian people in whaling
571:Encyclopaedia of New Zealand
260:in 2018 and Scottish singer
619:People from Otago Peninsula
541:"Weller, Edward 1814?–1893"
361:Toitū Otago Settlers Museum
193:on the Otago Peninsula (at
111:and claiming territory for
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297:Weller Family Tree: George
234:Department of Conservation
598:King, Alexandra (2010).
323:Entwisle, Peter (1990).
659:19th century in Dunedin
649:Australian ship owners
212:45.79778°S 170.71500°E
101:Stewart Island/Rakiura
83:Development of trading
115:. He returned in the
582:Entwisle, P. (1998)
230:Dunedin City Council
217:-45.79778; 170.71500
151:Further developments
566:The Weller Brothers
468:(13 January 2021).
226:Te Runanga o Otakou
208: /
629:History of Dunedin
475:The New York Times
356:"Octavius Harwood"
624:Settlers of Otago
389:Otago Daily Times
258:The Longest Johns
182:and Dunedin. As "
105:Sir George Murray
27:, Australia, and
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664:Otago Harbour
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569:in the 1966
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511:The Guardian
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419:NZ Folk Song
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393:. Retrieved
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308:Pybus, T.A.
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262:Nathan Evans
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134:Sealers' War
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97:the Hokianga
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64:tuberculosis
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215: /
203:170°42′54″E
95:trading at
49:Otago Heads
43:Immigration
613:Categories
530:References
517:15 January
489:15 January
450:15 January
424:15 January
200:45°47′52″S
113:William IV
484:0362-4331
445:Elsewhere
395:8 January
367:9 January
340:9 January
264:in 2020.
254:folk song
246:Wellerman
312:. NZETC.
240:Folklore
232:and the
172:humpback
140:of rum.
138:puncheon
118:Lucy Ann
556:9 April
248:" is a
161:Taiaroa
53:Dunedin
590:
482:
250:ballad
228:, the
184:Otakou
109:Tahatu
93:timber
76:Albion
72:Sydney
68:Hobart
25:Sydney
268:Notes
127:Māori
29:Otago
588:ISBN
558:2011
519:2021
491:2021
480:ISSN
452:2021
426:2021
397:2021
369:2021
342:2021
91:and
89:flax
19:The
170:or
35:on
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