56-572: The Northern Steam Ship Company Ltd (NSS) served the northern half of the North Island of New Zealand from 1881 to 1974. Its headquarters, the Northern Steam Ship Company Building, remains in use on Quay Street , Auckland as a bar and is listed by Heritage New Zealand as a Category I Historic Place . Initially there were very few roads and they were muddy and narrow, so a constant theme in early papers
112-428: A boardroom. It had high ceilings and on each level the floor above was supported by cast iron columns. On Quay St a central door, gave access to the main office and floor above, and an eastern door accessed the wharves (now Marsden Wharf) and warehouse to the rear of the building. A boardwalk allowed passengers to cross to the steamers without walking through mud. A third floor was added in 1921 to provide accommodation and
168-585: A boy in Westport in 1898 and finished his accountancy exams in 1906. In 1910 he was put in charge of the cargoes and movements of Union's 65-strong fleet. Falla volunteered immediately for service in the 1914—1918 first world war. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1916 and returned to his former post in 1919. He succeeded David Aiken as general manager in March 1934 and was appointed chairman in January 1936 on
224-608: A few years after a bus service had started on the upgraded State Highway 3 (SH 3). Rail competition was also cited as the reason to end the passenger service to Russell in 1931. In 1932 dairy company shareholders at Whakatāne responded to a threat to close the railway by instructing the company to transfer its freight from NSS to the railway. In 1933 'truck rates' were introduced on the North Auckland railway , which undercut NSS's charges. The 70 mi (110 km) Auckland- Paeroa passenger service lasted until 1937, despite
280-870: A jointly owned repair company, United Repairing Co Ltd, at Quay Street, Auckland, which was next door to the NSS offices until 1962. Senior Foundry was bought by NSS in 1927 to repair plates and boilers. Charles was also a steward of the Auckland Racing Club , an enthusiastic bowler, keenly interested in regattas and a church warden. He lived in Bassett Rd, Remuera, where he died on 13 January 1925. Capt. Hammond took over as manager in 1921, having formerly been manager of Kaipara Steamship Company. Charles Ranson commissioned Arthur Pollard Wilson (who also designed Strand Arcade , Naval and Family Hotel , A H Nathan Warehouse and Isaacs’ Bonded Stores ) to design
336-529: A laundry. In the 1940s many of the original features were lost. Originally the building stood alone. The land on the other side the building was their yard until the 1950s when AHB roofed it over as a garage in an attempt to compete with trucking firms. When NSS ceased trading, the building reverted to AHB. In July 1988 the Historic Places Trust listed it as "Category 1". It is now a bar. NSS gradually succumbed to rail and road competition. When
392-427: A partner in the venture which was renamed Australian National Airways the following year. Union took up a 20% interest on the formation of Australian National Airways in 1936. In 1935 Union Airways of New Zealand was formed by Union Steam Ship and it built an air service through New Zealand. Union Airways was nationalised by the government in 1947 and renamed National Airways Corporation . Union Travel remained
448-697: A ship for the Fiji trade, the SS Llewellyn . On 10 January 1878 ASP had sold Southern Cross for £7000, Go-Ahead for £2500, Pretty Jane for £2350 and the Cantera hulk and her coal for £384, to what was described as a newly formed Auckland company. On 11 May 1881 nineteen businessmen, including some of the syndicate, formed NSS, buying the ASP's ships. Thomas Morrin, David Cruickshank, Alexander McGregor, Thomas Ball , James Macfarlane and James McCosh Clark were
504-583: A substantial operation as travel agents and tour operators. Union was instrumental in establishing this business in particular by buying the first three flying boats which began operations in April 1940. TEAL became Air New Zealand . During World War II , Falla returned to the army with the rank of brigadier. He was later based in London as New Zealand representative on the Ministry of War Transport . He joined
560-492: A week. In 1905 this became a daily service year round. In 1933 the name "Steamer Express" was adopted for the service. Over the years a number of ships were used, including two Maoris , two Wahines , two Rangatiras , and a Hinemoa . TEV Wahine entered service in October 1966 and foundered and sank at the mouth of Wellington Harbour 18 months later in April 1968. The TEV Rangatira entered service in 1972 and
616-709: A whole. During the Last Glacial Period when sea levels were over 100 metres lower than present day levels, the North and South islands were connected by a vast coastal plain which formed at the South Taranaki Bight . During this period, most of the North Island was covered in thorn scrubland and forest , while the modern-day Northland Peninsula was a subtropical rainforest . Sea levels began to rise 7,000 years ago, eventually separating
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#1732790319325672-465: Is in the North Island", "my mother lives in the North Island". Maps, headings, tables, and adjectival expressions use North Island without "the". According to Māori mythology , the North and South Islands of New Zealand arose through the actions of the demigod Māui . Māui and his brothers were fishing from their canoe (the South Island) when he caught a great fish and pulled it right up from
728-474: Is one of the two main islands of New Zealand , separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait . With an area of 113,729 km (43,911 sq mi), it is the world's 14th-largest island , constituting 43% of New Zealand's land area. It has a population of 4,077,800 (June 2024), which is 76% of New Zealand's residents, making it the most populous island in Polynesia and
784-576: The 1913 Great Strike , NSS backed a ‘ scab’ union (the Auckland Seamen and Firemen's Union). Charles Ranson was born, in Ipswich about 1850. He emigrated in 1876, managed an auctioneering and shipping business in Hāwera , then went to Auckland as an accountant in 1881. In 1887, he was about to return to England, when NSS director, James McCosh Clark, mentioned that the board had decided to wind up
840-448: The 28th-most-populous island in the world. Twelve main urban areas (half of them officially cities) are in the North Island. From north to south, they are Whangārei , Auckland , Hamilton , Tauranga , Rotorua , Gisborne , New Plymouth , Napier , Hastings , Whanganui , Palmerston North , and New Zealand's capital city Wellington , which is located at the south-west tip of the island. The island has been known internationally as
896-506: The North Island for many years. The Te Reo Māori name for it, Te Ika-a-Māui , also has official recognition but it remains seldom used by most residents. On some 19th-century maps, the North Island is named New Ulster (named after Ulster province in northern Ireland) which was also a province of New Zealand that included the North Island. In 2009 the New Zealand Geographic Board found that, along with
952-515: The North Island Main Trunk (NIMT) opened in 1908 between Auckland and Wellington , New Plymouth passenger traffic dropped. NSS and Union agreed there wasn't enough traffic for two steamers and formed a joint service. The office at Canaan Landing, served from May 1881 and providing for freight between Te Puke and Maketu , closed on 29 September 1917. By 1922, reductions in traffic resulted in 9 vessels laid up. Pay cuts later in
1008-548: The Union Bulk barge made its last voyage. At the end of the 20th century Brierley Investments bought all the shares, broke Union Steam Ship into components and sold up what it could. Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand owned more than 350 ships and has been the subject of a number of books. Union Steam Ship began regular sailings between Wellington and Lyttelton in 1895 with the Penguin making two round trips
1064-520: The Waihou River . This got rid of another competitor, Hauraki Steamship Co, who sold out to NSS. Much of the expansion of the company was by takeovers. Thames River Steam Navigation Co Ltd was bought on 1 August 1890. In July 1906 NSS bought Manukau Steam Shipping Company. On 1 October 1908 Settlers' Steamship Company (SSC) merged with NSS, adding six steamers to the fleet. The company slowly recovered from its near liquidation. Until 2 1 ⁄ 2 %
1120-597: The Waiuku ferry end on 11 April 1928, with a cargo replacement for a short time. Competition from cars, completion of the railway to Tauranga in 1927, trains not connecting with the steamer and complaints of undercutting, brought an end to the Tauranga passenger service on 2 April 1929. Many ships were laid up in Little Shoal Bay in the late 1920s. The Onehunga-New Plymouth passenger service closed on 3 May 1930,
1176-444: The 1960s, when it increasingly turned to coal and grain, including some trade with Australia, before losing out to natural gas conversions, a shipwreck ( Maranui ), trade fluctuations and reliance on the grain trade , which faltered due to a poor harvest in 1974. NSS briefly tried replacing a ship with a partly owned trucking company, when it closed its Paeroa service in 1947. Captain A. G. Hardy, formerly New Plymouth manager for
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#17327903193251232-590: The 2023 census, 63.1% of North Islanders identified as European ( Pākehā ), 19.8% as Māori , 10.6% as Pacific peoples , 19.3% as Asian , 1.9% as Middle Eastern/Latin American/African, and 1.1% as other ethnicities. Percentages add to more than 100% as people can identify with more than one ethnicity. Māori form the majority in three districts of the North Island: Kawerau (63.2%), Ōpōtiki (66.2%) and Wairoa (68.5%). Europeans formed
1288-475: The FSU claimed that Jubilee lost £14,000 and NSS £22,000. It also caused another company to withdraw from the west coast, which in the end was helpful to NSS. When Ranson took over, one of his first acts was to re-engage all the FSU members, though he also cut staff. He remained a lifelong friend of the union boss, John A. Millar , and received an award from staff in 1897 for his considerate attitude to them. However, in
1344-505: The Harbour Steam Company's vessels on 1 July 1875. Union Steam Ship became a major shipping line dubbed "The Southern Octopus" with a near-monopoly on trans-Tasman shipping. It steadily mopped up trans-Tasman and coastal shipping businesses including - In 1878 McMeckan and Blackwood, who ran a weekly service between Melbourne and New Zealand, sold Albion , Arawata , Tararua and Ringarooma to Union. From 1889 there
1400-582: The North Island is provided by fifteen District Health Boards (DHBs) . Organised around geographical areas of varying population sizes, they are not coterminous with the Local Government Regions . Union Company Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand Limited was once the biggest shipping line in the southern hemisphere and New Zealand 's largest private-sector employer. It was incorporated by James Mills in Dunedin in 1875 with
1456-464: The South Island, the North Island had no official name. After a public consultation, the board officially named it North Island, or the aforementioned Te Ika-a-Māui, in October 2013. In prose, the two main islands of New Zealand are called the North Island and the South Island , with the definite article. It is also normal to use the preposition in rather than on , for example "Hamilton
1512-437: The South Island, this is solely due to the North Island having higher natural increase (i.e. births minus deaths) and international migration; since the late 1980s, the internal migration flow has been from the North Island to the South Island. In the year to June 2020, the North Island gained 21,950 people from natural increase and 62,710 people from international migration, while losing 3,570 people from internal migration. At
1568-462: The South Island, with the country's largest city, Auckland, and the capital, Wellington, accounting for nearly half of it. There are 30 urban areas in the North Island with a population of 10,000 or more: The sub-national GDP of the North Island was estimated at NZ$ 282.355 billion in 2021 (78% of New Zealand's national GDP). Nine local government regions cover the North Island and its adjacent islands and territorial waters. Healthcare in
1624-590: The Waterfront Industry Commission, became NSS manager from 5 January 1947. After the war NSS switched from serving the northern ports to linking some of them to South Island . This required increasingly larger ships, so NSS bought Apanui (1948–61), Tainui (1949–63), Hotunui (1950–67), Ratanui (1952-56), and then started building Maranui (1953–68), Maunganui (1955–71), Poranui (1956–69) and Tawanui (1959–73), Moanui (1961–66), Awanui (1962-73). A major contract in this period
1680-737: The backing of a Scottish shipbuilder, Peter Denny . Bought by shipping giant P&O around the time of World War I it was sold in 1972 to an Australasian consortium and closed at the end of the twentieth century. James Mills had worked for Johnny Jones and his Harbour Steam Company. After Jones’ death in 1869 Mills tried twice to float a Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand Limited without attracting enough interest from local investors but in 1875 he found backing from Scottish shipbuilder Peter Denny in return for Union Steam Ship orders for Denny's Dumbarton shipyard. The Denny-built Hawea and Taupo , both then large by local standards, arrived in mid 1875 and entered service. Union Steam Ship took over
1736-411: The circumnavigation of New Zealand. The maps described the North Island as " Ea Heinom Auwe " and " Aeheinomowe ", which recognises the "Fish of Māui" element. Another Māori name that was given to the North Island, but is now used less commonly, is Aotearoa . Use of Aotearoa to describe the North Island fell out of favour in the early 20th century, and it is now a collective Māori name for New Zealand as
Northern Steamship Company - Misplaced Pages Continue
1792-537: The company. When Charles took over, NSS had 8 (or 9) vessels, and 100 employees. When he retired, in July 1921, NSS had 40 vessels and 850 employees. Cargo had increased from 51,000 tons a year to 220,000 and passengers from 39,000 to 190,000. After his appointment, NSS bought some second-hand screw-steamers, the Rotomahana , Waiotahi and Ohinemuri and small paddle steamers , Te Aroha and Enterprise , to work on
1848-451: The conclusion of the Otago gold rush in the 1860s, New Zealand's European population growth has experienced a steady 'Northern drift' as population centres in the North Island have grown faster than those of New Zealand's South Island. This population trend has continued into the twenty-first century, but at a much slower rate. While the North Island's population continues to grow faster than
1904-551: The death of founder Sir James Mills. Falla ordered two new passenger ships and began a steady renewal of cargo ships commissioning 11 ships between 1935 and 1939. Falla also took Union Company into airlines. First in 1934 into East Coast Airways and then Cook Strait Airways in 1935. Union in conjunction with Holyman's Airways and Huddart Parker set up an airline across Bass Strait which began business in September 1934. In 1935 they added Adelaide Steamship Company as
1960-613: The end of 1920, it became known that the board of directors would remain in Dunedin, but that all headquarters staff would transfer to Wellington. The move happened in late 1921, with all head office functions in Wellington after the New Year holidays. About 70 staff transferred to Wellington, ending 46 years of Dunedin as the company's headquarters. With the Dunedin staff came Norrie Falla as general traffic manager. He had joined as
2016-630: The first directors. NSS paid a 10% dividend in its first year and started acquiring extra ships. The 256 ton Macgregor entered service in September 1881. In 1883 Capt. McGregor went to Britain to buy new steamers for the Tauranga and Russell routes. In 1884 Clansman and Gairloch arrived. In 1886 the Waimarie was one of the first to have electric lighting. NSS was also active in opening up new ports, such as at Te Puke in 1881 and ports north of Whangārei in 1893. On 6 June 1888 Capt. McGregor
2072-494: The information that USSCo had a valuable coasting trade within New Zealand, connections with India and Australia and a line of steamers running between Australia, New Zealand and Canada. The Union Steam Ship fleet was described as 74 high class steamers with a tonnage of 237,860 and of an average age of 12 years. In November 1920, rumours surfaced that the head office of the company would shift from Dunedin to Wellington . At
2128-660: The islands and linking the Cook Strait to the Tasman Sea . The North Island has an estimated population of 4,077,800 as of June 2024. The North Island had a population of 3,808,005 at the 2023 New Zealand census , an increase of 213,453 people (5.9%) since the 2018 census , and an increase of 570,957 people (17.6%) since the 2013 census . Of the total population, 733,893 people (19.3%) were aged under 15 years, 743,154 (19.5%) were 15 to 29, 1,721,427 (45.2%) were 30 to 64, and 609,534 (16.0%) were 65 or older. Ever since
2184-473: The main board of P&O in 1944. On his way back to New Zealand aged 62 he suffered a cerebral haemorrhage and died at sea 6 November 1945. Australian road transport business, Thomas Nationwide Transport , had a substantial road transport stake in New Zealand. With New Zealand investors TNT bought USSCo from P&O in 1971. In 1990 Union Steam Ship operated seven ships, and was involved in ship management, tourism, real estate and other ventures. By 2000,
2240-470: The plurality in the Auckland region (49.8%) and are the majority in the remaining 39 districts. The proportion of North Islanders born overseas at the 2018 census were 29.3%. The most common foreign countries of birth were England (15.4% of overseas-born residents), Mainland China (11.3%), India (10.1%), South Africa (5.9%), Australia (5.5%) and Samoa (5.3%). The North Island has a larger population than
2296-408: The railway opening to Te Aroha in 1885, though, after 1896, the river became too silted and the charges at Paeroa Railway Wharf were at a level to encourage use of the railway, so that Junction Wharf, further downstream, was used. In 1937 passenger services still ran to Algies, Coromandel , Great Barrier , Matakana , Mahurangi, One Tree Point , Waiheke , Warkworth and Whangārei . In 1938 Kawau
Northern Steamship Company - Misplaced Pages Continue
2352-477: The remaining five ships were carrying bulk grain from South Island to Auckland, Tauranga, and, less often, Wellington, New Plymouth and Whanganui . Dido (1970–75) was added to the fleet and, being largest, was used for 10 grain trips to Australia. At that time Brierley Investments made an unsuccessful bid for the company. NSS made a record profit in 1970. By 1971 Awanui was the only general cargo vessel, running an Onehunga- Bluff - Jackson Bay round trip, but she
2408-486: The sea. While he was not looking, his brothers fought over the fish and chopped it up. This great fish became the North Island, and thus a Māori name for the North Island is Te Ika-a-Māui ("The Fish of Māui"). The mountains and valleys are believed to have been formed as a result of Māui's brothers' hacking at the fish. During Captain James Cook 's voyage between 1769 and 1770 , Tahitian navigator Tupaia accompanied
2464-486: The year resulted in a 12 week strike, with union members replaced by 'free labour'. A pay cut in 1933 again provoked a strike. In 1925 opening of the railway to Whangārei cut passenger traffic and required reductions of fares and freight rates; the Onerahi passenger service from Whangārei ended on 24 September 1926, due to fewer passengers and charges by the railway for cargo and coal over their wharf. Bus competition saw
2520-435: The £6000 (or £5000) building, with a frontage of 66 ft (20 m) to the street, and a depth of 85 ft (26 m), opposite the wharf used by their steamers, on newly reclaimed land, leased from Auckland Harbour Board (AHB). In 1899 NSS moved from Palmerston Buildings on Queen St to their new 2-storey brick building with dark green joinery, a public office, manager's office, space for other staff, telephone room and
2576-575: Was a demand from small coastal settlements for a regular shipping service to link them with the major ports. For example, in 1874 a steamer service from Onehunga to Raglan and Port Waikato was given a subsidy by Auckland Province . Capt. Alexander McGregor had the steam ship Rowena built in Auckland in 1872. He joined with a syndicate of owners to run the Argyle , Iona , Glenelg , Staffa , Rowena , Fingal and Katikati , as Auckland Steam Packet Co. ASP went into liquidation in 1878 due to losses on
2632-518: Was advertised as running summer weekend excursions to Waiheke. By 1939 the only remaining passenger steamer was Hauiti . Auckland registered ships dropped from 226 in 1904 to 55 in 1944 and their tonnage from 20,546 to 5,627. In 1902 NSS had 28 ships totalling 6000 tons and costing an average of £34 per ton. By 1945 NSS was down to 10 ships, ranging from 56 to 351 tons. NSS had lost most of its trade to road and rail, so switched to inter-island trade, which it gradually lost to Cook Strait ferries from
2688-426: Was also adapted to carry grain in 1972. NSS added the 1562 ton Tainui II (1973–76), but there was a poor grain harvest and, after they were used to import grain from Australia, all three ships were soon idle. NSS blamed the problem on the government's grain price policy. Tainui II 's last voyage brought coal to Auckland from Westport on 6 November 1974, Moanui 12 days later (or another account says her last cargo
2744-761: Was barley from the South Island to Auckland in September) from Dunedin and Dido , the last NSS ship ever to berth, arrived on Sunday 8 December 1974. When NSS failed to change government policy, it decided in April 1975 to sell the ships and the company was taken over by Brierley. For a few years NSS continued operating forklifts and being an agent for the Japan Line . 1944 Scuttled 04/12/1944. El Ferrol 1945 - 1961 North Island The North Island ( Māori : Te Ika-a-Māui [tɛ i.kɐ ɐ mɑː.ʉ.i] , lit. 'the fish of Māui', officially North Island or Te Ika-a-Māui or historically New Ulster )
2800-653: Was excluded but the cargo and stock trade was divided 2/3 to USSCo and 1/3 to Huddart Parker. Mark Twain criticised travel conditions on a Union Company ship in 1897 in his travel book Following the Equator . Mills was a UK resident after 1907 and died in London in 1936. By 1914 Union Steam Ship had 75 ships. It was the biggest shipping line in the southern hemisphere and New Zealand's largest private-sector employer. In 1917 P&O shareholders were asked to confirm their directors' prior purchase of Union Steam Ship with
2856-522: Was paid in 1890, no dividends had been paid since 1881, but then 5% was paid in 1891, 6% 1892-6, 7% in 1897 and for many years, and 8% in 1925. 5% was paid in 1944. By 1895 NSS was asking for urgent extension of its wharf space at Auckland to serve its growth. In the 1890s the fleet grew rapidly, with new iron ships built in Britain and timber ships in Auckland. In 1909 NSS and Union Steam Ship (Union) aimed to save money on their repairs, when they set up
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#17327903193252912-523: Was replaced as manager by Charles Ranson. He retired in 1921, after greatly expanding the company. By 1887 the depression was affecting the company; wages and overtime pay were cut, and seamen who objected were replaced with non-unionists. In response the Federated Seamen's Union formed the co-operative Jubilee Steam Ship Co, competing on the northern and Waitara routes. It wasn't expected to succeed, but, between September 1887 and October 1888,
2968-628: Was shipping materials for the Manapouri Tunnel . A second Moanui (1967–75) and Seaway Princess (1967–69) were added to the fleet, the latter for a weekly Onehunga- Lyttelton ro-ro service. However, as AHB didn't build a ramp at Onehunga, she had to use the only one at Auckland, sharing it with Union, which had priority, hence her short service with NSS. In the 1960s NSS had offices at Onehunga, Tauranga and Whangārei, as well as its head office. It closed Tauranga-Timaru in July 1966 and Whangārei-Lyttelton from 30 January 1967. By 1970 three of
3024-478: Was three-way competition between Union Steam Ship, Huddart Parker and Tasmanian Steam Navigation Company (TSNCo) on the Tasmanian routes ( Melbourne – Launceston , Hobart – Melbourne and Hobart – Sydney ). TSNCo did not have other routes to absorb their Tasmanian losses and was bought out by USSCo in 1891. The rivalry between USSCo and Huddart Parker lasted to 1895 despite an earlier agreement in 1893. There
3080-809: Was undercutting of fares and there were steamers shadowing each other from port to port. USSCo's Rotomahana and Mararoa would sail alongside the Miowra and Warrimoo , with other ships like the Te Anau and Manapouri sailing before and after and bracketing the Huddart Parker ships. The 1895 agreement between the two lines pooled the Auckland-Sydney profits and losses; the Melbourne-Launceston profits were divided 4/7 to USSCo and 3/7 to Huddart Parker. The Sydney-Hobart passenger trade
3136-745: Was withdrawn in 1976, bringing the Wellington–Lyttelton "Steamer Express" to an end. In what has been described as "a fatal mistake", the Union Steam Ship announced in 1956 that the Tamahine was to be withdrawn from the Wellington- Picton route in 1962 and unlikely to be replaced (despite an offer of a $ 3 million government loan). The designer of the replacement ferry the GMV ; Aramoana recalled that, "The media said
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