1976 Commemorative - New Plymouth Centennial.
century under a snowcap sc
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verjoyed to feel the firm earth beneath their feet after a journey of 12 000 miles in the barque "William Bryan", the passengers must, at the same time, have looked at the wilderness around them with doubt and apprehension. But these people founded a city - a city wh ich is now the centre of one of the richest dairying provinces in New Zealand. Those early travellers named it after their place of origin and set about to clear the land and fight for a secure foothold in the new country. The achievements of those settlers who reached New Plymouth aboard the "William Bryan" and all those who contributed to the making of the City of New Plymouth are commemorated in a stamp recognising the founding of New Plymouth Borough 100 years ago. The stamp was released by the New Zealand Post Office on February 4 - one of five stamps in the 1976 Commemorative issue. Designed by Invercargill artist Allan Derrick, the 8c stamp features the "William Bryan", the cone of Mt Egmont and the crest of the city itself merging together in the stamp, as they have through time and history. The three images, drawn in stark simplicity, convey the richness of the past that is unique to New Plymouth. New Plymouth city nestles at the foot of the snow-capped Fujiama of the Southern Hemisphere - 2 429m Mt Egmont - on the fertile coastal plain of Taranaki province which ships cheese, frozen meat and butter back to the homeland of those original settlers and to many other parts of the world.
Today It also supplies the North Island of New Zealand with natural gas and indications are that, at some future date, New Plymouth could be a centre for oil production. The first Europeans to establish themselves at Ngamotu Beach in 1828 saw only the riches of the sea in the whales they hunted. It was left to those pioneers who came later, either to fight in land wars with local Maori tribes or to farm the land, to discover the hidden riches of the area.
It soon assumed the characteristics of a market town and transport terminus for areas around being being cleared of forest. The advent of refrigeration in 1882 hastened the transformation of the lowlands into pastoral land. Improving sea and new rail services made New Plymouth the obvious centre for the area. In 1876, just 35 years after the first emigrants landed, the fledgling settlement was granted borough status. The value of the town had been officially recognised.
But even before the arrival of those first settlers, whalers became involved in Maori inter-tribal wars and, in 1832 an invading force of 4 000 Maoris besiged local Maoris. The whalers joined them in successfully defending their homes and lands.
Since then the population of New Plymouth has grown to 37 900 and the city itself has evolved as one of the most beautiful in the country.
It was in indication of some of the difficulties pioneers would have to face before they could become truly a part of the new land.
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Early in 1841 the chief surveyor of the Plymouth Company - a company set up to bring settlers from the United Kingdom - began the work of laying out a town and in March the first ship the "William Bryan" arrived. For the embryo city the period from 1841 to 1860 was one of consolidation. Land was purchased from the local Ngatiawa tribe but by 1860 relations with local tribes had deteriorated and the new settlers and the Maoris found themselves fighting a war neither side wanted. The Taranaki Wars were the most bitter to erupt between local tribes and settlers and they continued intermittently until 1869. During this time New Plymouth became a military encampment and many disillusioned settlers left the district but once peace was restored New Plymouth began to prosper.
Yvonne Ashworth
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