In the grip of an island: Early Stewart Island history - Hardcover

Olga Sansom

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0908629001 ISBN 13: 9780908629008

Publisher: Craigs, 1982

Synopsis

Stewart Island lies at the toe of New Zealand. This is the story of some of its early settlers who lived in small communities away from the main settlement. Where did they come from? Mainly from other islands of Polynesia, Scandinavia, Britain and Europe. Most were seamen. Some were ship's deserters who jumped ship to escape intolerable conditions. Some were "remittance men", helped financially but otherwise rejected by their parents in "the old country". They had initiative and muscle. They were individualists, but quick to help each other if the need arose. The sea was their highway. Most communication was by word of mouth, although sign language had its place. Salty, sea-bitten tales are matched by pithy stories from the mills. Sawmilling began in earnest on Stewart Island in 1861 and continued until 1931, at mills which were remote from each other and wholly dependent on the sea for transport. The sawmillers were mainly single men without seafaring skills. They were more socially isolated than the fishermen and their families, whose boats were a means of getting together. Fishermen and sawmillers were often at loggerheads. Olga Sansom's knowledge of Stewart Island is unique. Her childhood days were spent in its bush, about the coast and in and out of boats. At night she was a "stick in the ashes", a small quiet listener to the rich fireside talk of people whose days were spent, mostly alone, on the sea or in the bush. She writes with verve and sparkle, and a deep affection for Stewart Island and its people. She knows her island: "I dare say a few plants and birds will edge in now and again, for we were brought up on first name terms with whatever grew or flew, from bush to sea's edge, under the sea and above it. But this is a book about people and their homes." She has amassed a fine collection of early photographs, most of them previously unpublished.

About this edition

• Publisher: Craigs
• Publication date: 1982
• ISBN 10: 0908629001
• ISBN 13: 9780908629008
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 172