Little Ships of Patea, Tauranga in Tauranga, Bay of Plenty for sale
The rise and demise of Patea's port was typical of the numerous local harbours around the NZ coast. Situated near the mouth of the Patea River, on the south Taranaki coast, its first commercial use was in the 1830s when a trade in flax with Australia developed, but in the 1860s it became important for military purposes as Maori and settlers experienced"a state of disturbance"as the Taranaki phase of the land wars developed. A settlement was established near the river entrance and when hostilities ceased in 1869 settlers returned to take up land abandoned during the Taranaki campaign and the port's location moved upsteam where a permanent town was built. By this time Patea had already seen the loss of a number of ships, mainly small coastal sailing craft. The Port of Patea was officially established in February 1871 and construction of a jetty began. As farming and other forms of production increased so did the importance of the port. A number of small shipping companies were formed with Patea their home port and many local industries used it to export dairy produce, meat, wool and other commodities while general cago, coal and motor fuel was brought in by coastal shipping which then loaded local product. However, by the early 1900s trade through Patea began to fluctuate with 1919 being the port's best year in terms of tonnage handled and shipping movements. A number of factors contributed to this, including increasing competition from the railways, (and later road transport) and the navigational difficulties experienced by ships using the port with frequernt groundings and occasional losses. Although the port survived the Depression of the 1930s with good returns the increasing compettion and the disruption of WWII reduced its income and soon after the port celebrated its 75th anniversary in 1956 the decision the following year to centralise Taranaki dairy exports on New Plymouth saw that major source of trade removed and the port"was now moribund,"But it was 1965 before administration was transferred to the Taranaki Habours Board, after a number of failed attemps to revive Patea. Ian Church's story of Patea provides an imporant record of one of the many NZ ports through the days when coastal shipping was the main source of trade and communicatiions for dozens of coastal communities. First edition of 1977 from the Dunmore Press, 125 pages including impressive list of ships that served Patea, sailing directions for the port., bibliography, index to ships and index to people and companies, 31 b/w photos, three contemporary art, document reproduction and port plan. Light brown hard covers with gilt spine title VG+, small former owner ink name top title page, text block otherwise excellent, Original wrap-round art dust jacket is somewhat battered with large section missing spine top extending to front/rear panels, smaller section missing rear top adjecent back fold, three tape repaired short tears, few chips. 21.5cm By 15cm
Author
Ian Church
Title
Little Ships of Patea
Publisher name
Dunmore Press, Palmerston North, NZ
Shipping time
2 - 4 days
Publication year
1977
Edition
First edition
Binding type
Hard cover
Listing condition
Used
Item condition
Very good
Vendor name
BOPBooks
Vendor rating
Key words
New Zealand, Maritime History, Port Of Patea, Taranaki, Coastal Shipping
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