NZ Bound   Index   Search   Hints    Lists   Ports

The Comber Index

Rev. Comber was interested in shipping.  His passing means that others will benefit for years to come from his methodical records.  Passenger names do not appear.  

From the Comber Index -
1882 March
        Rangitiki
        Woodville
        Glenora
        Lutterworth
        Birker
        Timaru
        Rakaia
        Wild Deer

The Comber Index to Ships Arriving in New Zealand 1839-1889 in chronological order of sailing date (departure date) can be a useful tool if you don't know which vessel an assisted emigrant ancestor arrived on but have pinned down the arrival date within a few months and entry port. The index goes to 29 December 1889. Many immigrants settled near their disembarkation port.  By the process of elimination you may discover which vessel your predecessor came over on.  Allow approximately three months from departure date to arrival in New Zealand. Remember some of us will never be able to identify which vessel an immigrant ancestor was aboard.  For the most part records of government-assisted rather than paying passengers survived.  The dates between the Comber Index and the card index of immigration arrivals at Archives NZ varies between a day to a month or so which is correct could be ascertained by referencing newspapers of the day on the   site. The number of days port to port also vary slightly.

The Comber Index comes in handy when trying to pin down a possible vessel an ancestor arrived on.

The Comber Index gives voyage dates, ship names, captains of ships from the UK and Europe (brief details, from newspaper shipping pages, of ship arrivals) (no passengers). It was the work of Reverend William Charles Comber M.A., a long time member of the New Zealand Ship & Marine Society, and served as the president for many years, along with a stint as editor of their journal New Zealand Marine News. He wrote regular articles on shipping for the Taranaki Herald for over twenty years. He was a Presbyterian minister and in an interview theorised that his maritime interests came from seeing a striking model of the Aroha in the Canterbury Museum as a boy.  His interest developed in childhood as he cut out shipping reports from the newspapers.  In his retirement years he resided at Eastbourne.  He had great interest in and knowledge of shipping, and followed movements of ships in retirement on ship frequency radio.  We believe the Bill Comber was still working on the Index at his death on 4 October 1972 in Wellington, aged 67. The funeral service was in St. David's Church, Petone, on 6th October. 

Useful information as to which ports individual immigrant ships unloaded passengers. 

Where to find the Comber Index:

• Gavin has created a very helpful website, Immigrant Ships to New Zealand from the United Kingdom & Ireland 1835 to 1910, listing vessels  by New Zealand arrival port and then by chronological order of date of departure from the Old Country with the data gathered from numerous sources including the two volumes of the "White Wings"  by Sir Henry Brett to give him the basis of the database, then comparing the "White Wings" details with those of the "Comber Index" and any other resources. Gavin has linked to many of the New Zealand passenger lists on the various www sites. If you know the name to the ship and not the arrival date check the site. The advantage of combining both works, Comber Index and the volumes of "White Wings" is if one voyage or vessel was missed in one it might be picked up in the other. The Comber Index lists the 'Cartvale', "White Wings" fails to give it a mention at all.  DPS site has vessels sorted by arrival date, info from "White Wings." 

• The Museum of Wellington - City & Sea  holds the original card Index which was formally donated to the Museum after the Reverend's death. The Museum also holds the copyright. The Museum of Wellington - City & Sea and NZGS has joint copyright of the Comber Index on microfiche. There is no plans at present to put it on CD.  Covers only the front of the cards.
  
• There are photocopies of the front of the Comber Index cards available at the National Library of New Zealand in the Alexander Turnbull Library, on the second floor.  View the content book first.  The content book to the Comber Card Index, lists the ships in alphabetical order and the ship name, ports of arrival and departure and the dates and the folios to the card index. It is a series of photocopies (loose-leaf sheets in a folder, eight cards per page) which gives more detailed information about a ship e.g. barque, tonnage, captain etc. If you know the name of the vessel and approximate date of arrival it is a simple task of cross-referencing. 
  
• Microfiche copies are held by the Wellington Library 2nd Fl., Archives New Zealand, the Society of Genealogists, Family History Centres, Christchurch Cities Libraries Aotearoa NZ Centre, Hocken Library, Dunedin (Hocken Library also have a paper copy of the index), NMM at Greenwich, and many other institutions and even individuals. The Comber Index is on microfiche and available at many larger libraries in New Zealand and Australia can be ordered through Family History Libraries throughout the world. e.g. on microfiche at: 
  Kapiti Branch NZSG
  Auckland Cities Libraries
  Hastings Central Library 
  Macmillan Brown Library  Canterbury University
  North Otago Museum Oamaru
  Whangarei District Library
  Palmerston North Public Library
  
  Australian National Maritime Museum, Darling Harbour, Sydney 
  Institute Library Unit 1, 41 Railway Road, Blackburn, Victoria 
  Western Australian Genealogical Society Inc. Perth 

• Available on seven microfiche (front of the cards only).
  Comber Index to ships arriving in New Zealand 1839-1889 (No passengers) 
  #1-6. Index in chronological order of departure
  #7.    There are two indices : 1. Alphabetical lists of ships'  
                                              2.  Alphabetical lists of captains' names of passenger vessels 1839-1889
  
  A. Ship's Name
  B. Passengers  P or N
  C. O'seas Departure Port
  D. N.Z. Arrival Port 
  E. Page
  Columns C and D have a single Y or N at the end of each entry, this tells if the vessel made any calls to other ports after departure and or upon arrival.
  
  The index of Ships names: 40 vessel names per page. 
  Row 1 had 20 pages across, rows 2, 3, 4 had 24 pages across so this represents c. 1740 voyages to NZ on the microfiche.

  Published by NZ Society Of Genealogists Inc. PO Box 8795 Auckland 3 New Zealand Copyright 1985 ISBN 0-9597555-3-5

  Filmed by: Manawau Microfilm Services Ltd 69 Heretanuga Street Palmerston North, NZ

Example from a page of fiche. Eight cards listed per page. 

The information would be of interest to people interested in New Zealand ship arrivals.

page 227

1874 Shaw Savill CARRICK CASTLE Ship 879 tons
Master: Thyne

April 19	 Sailed from Liverpool
April 23	 At Queenstown, Ireland, to embark emigrants
April 27	 Sailed from Queenstown
May   19	 Spoke [to another ship] on Line 27 West
May   21	 Spoke [to another ship] 5 South 30 West
July  13	 Arrived at Bluff, 77 days, 220 immigrants
September 1	 Sailed from Bluff for Newcastle
September 15	 Arrived at Newcastle

Reverse side of card
879 tons, 197,5 length x 34.0 width x 19.6 depth in feet, Skinner & Co [owner]. Randolf [builder], Glasgow, October 1868.
Composite. Bottom wood and coppered. Frames and topsides iron. Owner Thomas Skinner, Glasgow.

Adamant

In 1884 the Ruapehu made two voyages to New Zealand:
27 July1884 	Arrived Auckland
8 March 1884 	Arrived Wellington
13 March 1884 	Arrived Port Charmers
25 March 1884 	Arrived Lyttelton
Departed from Plymouth 31.05.1884
14 July 1884 	Arrived Wellington
21 July 1884 	Arrived Lyttelton 
Departed from London 25 September 1884 - arrived when?

... the back of the cards certainly seem to give a bit more of the colour to the voyages that are recorded.

Some examples, all 1859:

Willis: Clontarf, Captain Barclay...
`...rough in Bay of Bisscay long passage bad weather throughout and incessant rain, 5 adults died, 28 children almost all from measles and hooping cough...'

Shaw Savill: Jura, Captain Chalmers/Chambers...
`...Jura a fine roomy vessel credibly clean...
...of larks, blackbirds, linnets and other birds shipped by Mr. Stafford, one cock partridge is sole survivor, hand raised birds. - N Zer 18 1 60'

Willis: Roman Emperor, Captain Dewar...
`...Samuel Butler a passenger...Good account of voyage in Butler's `First Days' year in Canty. settlement. Started Oct 1 1859 anchored off Ramsgate and again of Deal...We have a good ship, a good captain and victuals sufficient in quantity. Everyone but myself abuses the owners like pickpockets...'

White Star, Shooting Star. Captain E. J. Allen...
`Mainmast sprung on passage out, repairs at Auckland see N Zer 11 4 60'

J. Lidgett & Son, Snaresbrook, Captain John Straker...
Arr: Wgtn* Sep 8
Sld: Wgtn Oct 15 Capt Geo. Mundle.
Arr: Napier Oct 19
Arr: Auck Nov 1
*Master and mate arrested see NZ Adv. Dec. 7
brothers on trial for murder...

Obituary

A full obituary and comprehensive tribute to the Rev. W. C. Comber, a long-time and highly respected member of the Society, was published in the New Zealand Marine News: Vol. 24, No. 2, Spring 1972. Pages 34-36. Editorial. (Journal of the New Zealand Ship & Marine Society).  First Church of Otago Genealogy Database 

Served as Dominion President from 1958 to 1965, since when he has been a Dominion Vice-President, and for some years was the Honorary Editor of `New Zealand. Marine News.'  In early 1971 he as appointed as the Society's first Research Officer, a task he pursued with characteristic thoroughness until his recent illness. ...Long remembered, must be added some appreciation of his scholarly contribution and skill as a historian. This was in part due to his training and natural aptitude, but just as much to the discipline of accurate recording and methodical filing. The weekly articles to the `Taranaki Herald' over twenty years were not pieces of slick journalism, but significant and well-rounded essays on the subjects selected. His interest in shipping led him to undertake an incredible amount of research and the results are impressive in their scope and accuracy. Any enthusiast in need of research help was always given it generously, and if such service meant a sacrifice of time that could have been used for his own urgent work, he never appeared grudging or impatient. 

Rev. Comber b. 29 January 1905; w. Annie White (Nancy) b. 7.9.1902 m. 3.11.1931 d. 28.5.1976. He was educated at Christchurch BHS. Worked in a bank during his studies of Arts at the Canterbury University Bank; obtained a MA at Otago University. Ordained at Lumsden, his first parish, 1931.  His pastorates: Stirling 1936,  Island Bay, Wellington 1943, Stratford 1948, Petone 1956, and while at Petone, a Turnbull Trust preacher at Scots Church, Melbourne for six months, and retired 28 February 1970.  Beyond his own discipline of theology he was keenly interested in history, particularly New Zealand history. He had an orderly, well-stored mind, from which information and wisdom flowed almost without effort.

The tributes paid by his colleagues in the work of the Church he served so well made clear that through all the discipline of scholarship and the responsibilities of a pastor and preacher, he never lost the human touch. To many of us who knew him well it seemed that through all the stages of his development he had firmly retained and nourished a youthful enthusiasm. Bill Comber loved ships. He derived real pleasure from looking at them, or from talking to people who worked with them. He even found it relaxing at night, when there were none to be seen and no-one to talk to, to listen on the appropriate frequencies to the radio exchanges from ship to ship, and ship to shore.

When he had to expound the revelation that in eternity there would be no more sea he must have cherished the hope that somewhere, somehow, there must be a haven where its mystical essence continues.

The index can be helpful to date ship photographs.

Sample of Comber Card Index
Soukar
Carisbrooke Castle
Hermione 1883