"White Wings"

His most interesting work, the fruit of his experience as a shipping reporter, was "White Wings: Fifty years of sail in the New Zealand Trade" of which the first volume was published in Auckland in 1925. This book originated in two articles Mr Henry Brett wrote for the Auckland Star to clear up doubts about the quickest passages made by the old sailing ships trading with Auckland. The original design was, however, enlarged into a general narrative, in the form of biographies of these fast and beautiful vessels, well illustrated with their portraits, and the book abounds with stories of narrow escapes and feats of seamanship.

The Late Sir Henry Brett Sir Henry BRETT was born and educated at St. Leonard's, Hastings, Sussex on February 23, 1843. He obtained his knowledge of the printing business in the office of his uncle, who was proprietor of the Hastings and St. Leonard's Gazette. Henry arrived in Auckland in September 1862 aboard the 'Hanover', and before going ashore was offered work on a daily newspaper the Southern Cross for Ł1 a day, as a shipping reporter, and in 1865 transferred to the N.Z. Herald, (Auckland NZ Daily.) After five years he bought an interest in the Evening Star (later named Auckland Star) and this was the start of his career as shipping journalist. He married Mary Moon, daughter of Mr James Moon, in 1864 and they had two sons and three daughters. In 1865 he was transferred in this capacity to the NZ Herald. In 1870 he joined Mr McCullough Reed in founding the Auckland Star, of which he became sole proprietor in 1878. The Star's politics have always been Liberal. Its early success was largely due to the use of carrier pigeons to cope with the then very incomplete telegraphic communication. In 1890 Mr Brett started the New Zealand Graphic, the first illustrated weekly newspaper in Australasia. In the 1880s he moved into the field of book publishing and he produced a number of quarto volumes including A history of Printing In NZ, Life & Times Of Sir George Grey and The Albertlanders. He was Mayor of Auckland in 1877 and 1878, president of the chief musical societies in Auckland, a founder and past president of the New Zealand Press Association, Commissioner for New Zealand at the Paris Exhibition in 1889, and a Commissioner of the New Zealand Exhibition in 1906-7 and the recipient of a knighthood in 1916. He personally collected the information for both volumes of White Wings. As a shipping reporter he was able to talk to captains, crew and passengers as the vessels docked. He wrote both volumes late in his life and died at Rotorua on 29 January 1927 in his 84th year and regrettably did not see White Wings Vol. 2 published in 1928.

References:
Obituary The Times 1 February 1927 pg 17
New Zealand Encyclopaedia.
Jacket of White Wings Vol. 1
Jacket White Wings edited by Cyril R. Bradwell. A full page preface by Mr Bradwell, gives more details of the life and times of Sir Henry Brett. DNZ Bio

Master Mariners in White Wings Vol.1

Ships mentioned in "White Wings" pdf Wellington ship arrivals Captains Vessels Icebergs
The Admant. The Halcione The Rodney The Carnatic The Inverene wayback

Illustrations appearing in 'White Wings Fifty Years of Sail in the New Zealand Trade, 1850-1900' Vol. 1 by Henry Brett. Auckland: The Brett Printing Company, Limited, Publishers, Shortland Street, 1924. Reprint by Caper Press Christchurch, NZ from the copy in the University of Christchurch Library 1976.

ship photos*

Vessel	Comments	Page	Captain	Page
Akaroa*	at Auckland	174
Alcestis*	at Dunedin	121
Alice Cameron	barque	12
Ann Gambles	wrecked at Bluff	281
Antiope	in port	332
Assaye	at Gravesend	287
Asterion	at Nelson	225	Collingwood	226
Auckland	under full sail	31	Charles James	33
Auckland*	loading wool at Wellington	34	Jenkins	41
Avalanche*	off Gravesend	165
Ben Venue	in port	300	McGowan	301
Ben Venue & City of Perth (Turakina)	wrecks at Timaru. City of Perth refloated	302
Blue Jacket	under a press of canvas	327
Calypso	at Dunedin	138	James Leslie	138
Canterbury	clipper in port	71
Caroline	at Port Chalmers	236
Charlotte Gladstone*	at Gravesend	229
City of Auckland	under sail	20	William Ashby/ Ralls	19/25
City of Cashmere	wrecked at Timaru	339
City of Dunedin	entering Otago Heads	87	Ross	87
Cospatrick*	in port	62	Elmsley and survivors	63
Coromandel	capsized at Wellington wharf	145
Crusader*	at Port Chalmers	37
Dallam Tower	dimasted	78
Dallam Tower*	2000 miles under jury rig	79
Dover Castle	at Port Chalmers	120
Dunedin	at Port Chalmers	148
Eastern Monarch	at port	312
Edwin Fox	formerly used as a landing stage	44
Edwin Fox	used as a hulk at Picton	45
Electra	in port	210
England's Glory	wrecked at Bluff	286
Euterpue	at Port Chalmers	127	A. Banks	127
Famenoth	in port	172
Fernglen	in port	283
Glenlora *	barque	51
Glenlora	storm-tossed	52
Gladys	disabled at Wellington	102
Halcione*	in port	74
Helen Denny*	in port	158	William Ruthe	159
Hermione*	in port	142
Hinemoa (4 masted)	towed down River Avon	216
Huia	topsail schooner	16
Hudson*	at Port Chalmers	178
Himalya	at Wellington	139
Hurunia	at Lyttelton dock	258
Hydaspes	under sail	95	Edwin s. Babot	96
Ida Zeigler	under sail	218	Abraham Lewis Reynolds	219
Invercargill*	in port	65
Jessie Osborne*	full sail	278	Falconer	278
Jessie Readman*	stranded at Chatham Islands	97
Kate*	under sail	14
Lady Jocelyn	at Port Chalmers	40	photo
Lady Jocelyn	in a storm in the English Channel	42
Loch Awe	under sail	193	Weir
Loch Dee	at Port Chalmers	306
Loch Trool	under sail	310
Lutterworth	alongside Firth's wharf Auck.	112
Lutterworth	battered hull at Wellington	113
Lyttelton	at Port Chalmers	151
Marlborough	at Port Chalmers	116
Margaret Galbraith	or old "Maggie"	54
Mataura	at Port Chalmers	268	Greenstreet	269
May Queen	entering Nelson	83	R. Tatchell	84
Merope*	anchored at Gravesend	89	Rose	90
Nelson*	loading at Wellington	105
Neva	schooner	18
Northumberland	on the beach, Napier	335
Novelty	under sail	15
Oamaru	in port	124	Maxwell	125
Ocean Mail*	stranded at the Chathams	315
Okta (Jessie Osborne)	stranded at Bluff Harbour	279
Opawa	at Port Chalmers	298
Orari*	under full sail	266	Richard Mosey
Otago	anchored at Gravesend	155	Pebbles	155
Otaki	Wellington wharf	264	Devitt	265
Parsee	at Port Chalmers	176
Peter Denny*	at Dunedin	153
Piako	under full sail	271
Pleiades*	at Picton	133
Pleione*	stranded at Waikeane Beach	161
Prince of Wales	hulk at Wellington	337
Rakaia	at Dunedin	288	J. Bone in 1880	289
Rangitiki	under sail	255
Red Jacket	surrounded by ice	330
Robert Henderson	under sail	188
Saint Vincent	under sail, English Channel	214
Sam Mendel	at Port Chalmers	60
St. Leonard's*	in the river Thames	69	Richard Todd	70
Taranaki	at Wellington Wharf	170
Thomas Stephens	at Gravesend	342
Timaru	under Patrick Henderson's flag	122
Trevelyan *	at Port Chalmers	82
Turakina	at Port Chalmers	129	Power	131
Tweed	on the Thames	136
Vanduara	under sail	196
Waikato	in port	295	wayback
Waimate	at Port Chalmers	252
Waimea	in port	296
Waipa	when rigged as a barque	262
Waitangi	in heavy weather	291
Waitara	anchored at Gravesend	277
Wanganui (Blenheim)	under sail	293
Warwick	at Port Chalmers	201
Wave Queen	in port	185
Weathersfield	in port	197
Wellington	at Port Chalmers	48	Cowan	50
Wellington	after terrible experience with ice	49
Westland	under sail	28
Wild Deer	A fo'c'sle group	118	item item
William Davie	at Dunedin	168
Zealandia (1869)	at Port Chalmers	108

Illustrations appearing in White Wings Vol. 2 : Founding of the provinces and old-time shipping: passenger ships from 1840 to 1885. Brett Printing 1928.

Vessel	Comments	Page
Alumbagh	in port	192
Duchess of Argyle	and Jane Gifford at anchor, Auckland	40
Ivanhoe	in port	192
Philip Laing	arrival on April 15, 1848	81
Mairi Bhan	in port	177
Rodney	in port	112
Strathmore	wreck at the Crozets	112
St Lawrence item (no photo in White Wings)

Brett, Henry, Sir, 1842-1927. White Wings: Immigrant Ships to New Zealand, 1840-1902. Wellington [N.Z.]: Reed, 1984. Condensed and edited version of the two volume works by Brett. Editor: Bradwell, Cyril R. (Cyril Robertson) Auckland. The story of 113 of the ships which brought immigrants to New Zealand in the 20th century. Contains information mainly on ships of the New Zealand Shipping Company, the Shaw, Savill Company, the Patrick Henderson Albion Shipping Co. (the chief rival of the Shaw, Savill Company before the advent of the New Zealand Shipping Company) and some Willis, Gann and Co.'s ships, the White Star Line, the Blackball Line Houlder Bros., and other privately owned ships which sailed to New Zealand. Gives data on voyages not immigrants and includes photographs. There were hundreds of vessels making only one or two voyages to New Zealand that do not appear in the volumes. Trans-Tasman shipping is not included and the book does not contain passenger lists. This book is interesting to read as it has more stories as opposed to factual statistics. e.g.. diary excerpts.

There are a few errors in "White Wings" such as the spelling of mariners surnames and very few first names are mentioned. A few dates are wrong but over all a wonder resource for any library public or private focusing on the sailing ships in the last half of the 19th century heading for New Zealand. Examples:

Captain Llewellyn Davies was master of Crusader. not Captain Llewellyn.
Captain Bongard commanded the Pareora 1885
Captain Bungard command the Wairoa 1887 - 1890
Captain Forsdick commanded the Waitangi 1893 - 1894
Captain Forsdock commanded the Rangitiki 1897-1898
Captain Mordue - commanded the Auckland 1885
Captain Mordeau Auckland 1886
Captain Nicol commanded the Glenlora 1890
Captain Nicholl commanded the Glenlora 1891
The Canterbury arrived in Lyttelton on August 1851 not 1857

Where do you obtain White Wings?

Local library
Interlibrary loan
LDS Family History Centre on microfilm
Second hand book stores may be able to order the book. The 1924 edition would cost $250 approximately and the later edition around $100.
Another option is to buy the microfiche. BAB Microfilming (Anne Bromell) in Auckland produced the two volumes White Wings on seven microfiche, c.$NZ15.00. A secondhand microfiche reader sells for approximately around $NZ25.00. BAB Microfilming, 4 Kathryn Ave, Auckland. Ph 09-6259778. Check out 'Tracing Family History in New Zealand' by A. Bromell. A microfiche reader with the roll attachment works may work for viewing microfilm
MacBeth's Genealogical Services has 'White Wings' on 7 fiche
Interlibrary loan programmes. Check the New Zealand Bibliographic Network. NZ Libraries
'White Wings' is available in the U.S.A. through the interloan service. University of Houston Libraries has the 1976 'White Wings' edition. Ask the librarian to check "WorldCat" a database containing over 37 million items.
Library book sales.

Evening Post, 27 March 1906
Mr. Henry Brett, proprietor of the Auckland Star, arrived from the South this morning by the Rotomahana.

Evening Post, 14 February 1910, Page 7
Mr. Henry Brett, of the Auckland Star, is a passenger by the P. and O. liner Malwa, due at the Northern port from London via Australian ports on Wednesday morning.

THE MARTHA RIDGWAY
Transcribed from White Wings - Fifty Years of Sail in the New Zealand Trade - 1840-1885, by the late Sir Henry Brett. Vol. II page 24
            Shortly after the Martha Ridgway, 621 tons, Captain James Forbes Bisset, left England, smallpox broke out, and during the passage to New Zealand the ship was never wholly free from cases. She sailed from Gravesend on July 5th, 1840, with 225 emigrants, and arrived at Port Nicholson on November 14th. The first to contract the disease was a steward, who developed it soon after leaving England. It must have been of a mild type, for we do not read of any deaths. Several of the passengers we re down when Port Nicholson was reached, so a quarantine ground was established on the eastern shores of the harbour. The ship was taken across, and everybody aboard was placed in strict quarantine for three weeks. Like everything else it did, the Company had seen carefully to it that the new settlement was supplied with first-class medical men, and these soon had the disease stamped out.
     It was by the Martha Ridgway that news came out of the intention of the directors to change the name of the settlement from Britannia to Wellington, after the Duke of Wellington. In 1834 the Duke had succeeded in getting through the House of Commons the South Australia Act, which was the charter under which that colony was colonised. It had been thought that the chief town of the South Australian colony would have been called after His Grace, but it was stated that other influences prevailed at the Colonial Office, and the place was called after the Queen. Some of the people at the head of affairs in the South Australian colonisation scheme were also connected with the colonising of New Zealand, and they decided to honour the Duke by naming their principal settlement after him. Many people think that New Zealand's capital got its name from the pride men took in the memory of the great victory of Waterloo, whereas it was due to this appreciation of a much more peaceful side of the character of the Iron Duke.
    This splendid Liverpool-built ship had been constructed expressly for the passenger trade. She had a very spacious poop, with a height of 6ft gin in the 'twist decks, and was replete with every arrangement for the comfort and health of the passengers. The end of the Martha Ridgway was that, while bound from New Zealand to Bombay, she was wrecked on a reef at Nimrod's Entrance, Torres Strait, and was abandoned by the crew. Mr. G. B. Earp, the well-known Wellington merchant, member of the Legislative Council, and author, was a passenger.

"Wireless has robbed the sea of half its terrors - as well as most of its mystery."
Henry Brett

White Wings

Sail! home, as straight as an arrow,
My yacht shoots along on the crest of the sea;
Sail! home, to sweet Maggie Darrow,
In her dear little home
She is waiting for me.

High up! where cliffs they are craggy
There's where, the girl of my heart waits for me
Heigh! ho, I long for you, Maggie
I'll spread out my "White Wings"
And sail home to thee.

Yo! ho, how we go!
Oh! how the winds blow!
"White Wings" they never grow weary,
They carry me cherrily over the sea.
Night comes, I long for my dearie,
I'll spread out my "White Wings"
And sail home to thee.

Words and Music by Banks Winter (1912)
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