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hmss Buffalo and her impact on the first European settlement…

…in the Auckland region, in the Mahurangi Harbour
Octavius’s brother Gordon Davis Browne

Octavius’s brother Gordon Davis Browne

Gordon Davis Browne was born in early 1805, and baptised at St Mary’s Lambeth on 22 March that year. The explanation for his given name of Gordon is not known. Charles Gordon Browne (who was born in January 1845, and whose own second name was obviously a…

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Bay where no ships has been 60 years with no name

Bay where no ships has been 60 years with no name

It was almost certainly a good thing, that 60 years ago the name of the Auckland region’s first European settlement slid unnoticed into the next bay north. Had the bay been known by a descriptive name, such as Spar Station Cove, or by any name…

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hmss Buffalo arrives at Mr Browne’s establishment

hmss Buffalo arrives at Mr Browne’s establishment

His putative youngest brother was Charles Dickens’ friend and illustrator, Hablot Knight Browne, aka Phiz. Putative, because Hablot was in fact the nephew of the founder of the Auckland region’s first European settlement, Gordon Davis Browne…

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Gordon Browne and his spar station

Gordon Browne and his spar station

Gordon Davis Browne was both the first recorded timberman and the first Pākehā resident on the Mahurangi, although he stayed for only four years. His credits extend far beyond the bounds of Mahurangi—from his pioneer timber station of 1826 in the…

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