The Nelson Evening Mail. MONDAY, APRIL 27, 1874.
THE LATE MR. BRUNNER.
Another of the pioneers of Nelson has passed away. He did good service however while he was among us, and his name and his actions will long be remembered in New Zealand. Thomas Brunner was one of the very first who arrived on behalf of the Nelson settlement, the second settlement founded by the New Zealand Company. In anticipation of the arrival of the bulk of the settlers, two ships were dispatched by the Company, carrying their agent, Captain Wakefield, and a party of surveyors and laborers charged with the duty of making preparations for the emigrants who were to follow. The two ships in question were the Whitby and the Will Watch. They left England in 1841 and on board the former was Thomas Brunner, at that time a fine, active, spirited lad of the age of 19, educated to the profession of a land surveyor, and in the service of the N.Z. Company. We do not pretend, we have not time, nor are the materials at hand to follow all the incidents in Mr Brunner's life. For some years there was plenty of work to be done in surveying the sections to be allotted to the land purchasers, and dividing, as far as it would extend, the limited quantity of land on the shores of Blind Bay. But it soon became apparent that the extent of country in that locality was not sufficient to meet the requirements of the projected settlement, and it became in consequence an object of great importance to ascertain whether there was not within reasonable distance some other district available for agricultural occupation. In pursuit of this object expeditions were from time lo time made into the interior of the country. Mr Fox, the then Company's agent, a man of considerable physical strength and endurance, took personal charge of some of these expeditions, but without discovering anything of importance; and volunteers on various occasions, and from time to time, filled with expectations of discovery, used to sally out into the wilderness. It is difficult for those who travel about now over the excellent roads and tracks of the settled portions of the province to realise what it was in its earliest days. If they wish to be in a position to form an accurate estimate of the primitive character of the New Zealand scrub they must go to some region on the west side of the Island which has not yet been invaded by settler, surveyor, or road party. The result of most of the expeditions was that the parties who went out did not reach any great distance from home. The obstacles they had to encounter were too great, and they used to return exhausted in body, and with their clothes in tatters. Thomas Brunner determined to examine the country in a more thorough manner. In the year 1845, we think it was, that, accompanied by Mr Heaphy, subsequently Major Heaphy and now decorated with the Victoria Cross for bravery, he started from Massacre Bay down the coast of this Island, and after encountering great hardships and personal risk they, reached a part of the coast much further than any previous explorer had J gone. The results of that exploration were not however commensurate with the fatigue and the risk encountered, as no country of any extent available for settlement was found. After a brief period of repose Mr Brunner conceived the idea of a fresh exploration upon a larger scale than anything that had been previously attempted, and attended by different followers and accompanied by four natives he plunged into the forests about the sources of the Buller River, followed that river down through its almost impenetrable gorges, reached its mouth, and followed the coast down to the mouth of the River Grey. It was there his good fortune to be rewarded by the discovery of the coal mine that bears his name, a mineral deposit destined some day to be a source of great wealth to New Zealand, and after remaining at Greymouth for some time to recruit his strength, he proceeded still further southward, and then turned homeward towards the north, but taking this time an inland course that led him up the valley of the Grey, and by some of the tributary valleys of the Buller to the banks of that river at a considerable distance from the sea. About the middle of June, 1848, Mr Brunner, after an absence of sixteen months and a fortnight, re-appeared among his fellow-settlers, who for many months had been speculating whether he were alive or dead. The first place that he reached where there was any white man was a station in the Motueka Valley, belonging at that time to Messrs Dillon and Stafford, managed by a man of the name of Fraser. We have often heard Fraser describe Mr Brunner's appearance when he first reached the station The garments of the pakeha had long since yielded to the hardships of the bush, and had been replaced by blankets and Maori mats, and as for his feet, it was commonly asserted that he had eaten his boots, poor fellow, a year before, and accordingly he wore Maori sandals made of flax and cabbage tree. Another circumstance connected with Mr Brunner's return we recollect hearing Fraser relate. After all the privations he had undergone, it might have been supposed that he would have hungered and thirsted for the luxuries of the "flesh pots" in the shape of beef or mutton, or bread and butter, or the many other savoury things which the civilised man feeds upon. But these were not the things he longed for. After exchanging greetings with Fraser, and hearing the principal events that had occurred in his absence, the first thing that Mr Brunner asked for was a pipeful of good tobacco. That must have been a smoke such as a man rarely enjoys in his life.
Mr Brunner's daring and successful exploration created a considerable sensation at the time, and established his reputation for public spirit, great courage, and indomitable perseverance. In crossing some of the flooded torrents of the interior he had the misfortune to lose nearly all his notes of his journey, sketches and memoranda. But upon his return he wrote a very modest and well-told tale of what he had seen and met with. The Government of the day paid him the compliment of publishing it in extenso in the Government Gazette, and from all the leading men of the colony he received flattering acknowledgments of the service he had rendered. But a still higher honor was reserved for him. The Geographical Society of England bestows annually a gold medal upon the explorer who in their opinion has done the most to extend the boundaries of geographical knowledge. That distinction appeared to them to have been earned by Thomas Brunner and the medal for the year was accordingly conferred on him, a distinction of which both he and all his friends were well entitled to be proud.
We do not propose to follow Mr Brunner's career any farther, or to mention the dates of his various appointments to public office. When the colony of New Zealand, after its early difficulties, had been fairly established, and the machinery of Government was gradually created, the abilities and services of Mr Brunner were recognised, and he was appointed to various offices of trust and responsibility. For many years he presided with much zeal and ability over the Survey Department of Nelson, and at the time of his death he occupied the position of Consulting Surveyor of the province. The latter part of his life, like that of most of the settlers of the country, was comparatively an uneventful one, yet it was at all events distinguished by a punctual and faithful discharge of every public duty. If the public have lost in the death of Mr Brunner the services of an honorable and long fried public servant, a large circle of persons mourn the loss of a warm hearted and affectionate friend. Few persons possessed more kindliness of nature and warmth of feeling than Thomas Brunner. A long and intimate acquaintance with him enables us to say that we never knew him say an illnatured thing of any one, nor do we believe that he ever willingly did any man an injury.
The kindliness and courteousness of his character were more especially appreciated by those children of nature, but keen observers, the Maoris. The name of Brunner was a watchword among them. They looked upon him as a friend, and knew that he could recognise and reciprocate faithfulness and affection under whatever colored skin it was met with. Many of the natives of the country had a great personal regard for him, and one of them in particular, who had been his attendant and companion for nearly thirty years followed him to his last resting-place as chief mourner. Mr Brunner leaves behind him a widow, for whose sore affliction and trial the deepest sympathy is generally felt. -Nelson Evening Mail, 27/4/1874.
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