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The clipper ship Flying Foam on her maiden voyage from London to Auckland in 1864 brought back the Maori chiefs and their wives who had journeyed to England to offer their allegiance to Queen Victoria. Also aboard were a number of immigrant families including Henry and Eliza Palmer and their children from County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. Three-year-old Jackson Palmer was to have a distinguished career as a lawyer, politician and chief judge of the Land Court, but it was his father Henry who saw boundless opportunities in the new country and made an impressive contribution to the Mahurangi area.
Within two years of arriving in the colony, Henry was in charge of the flour mill first built by John Anderson Brown on the Mahurangi river. He advertised maize flour prepared on the American principle and soon had plans to adapt the original mill to produce oatmeal and to build a three-storey flour mill alongside. By 1867, he was paying rates to the Highway Board, of which he was a member, on 200 acres of land. At early agricultural shows, his exhibits included dairy cows, sheep, horses, wheat and oats. His team won the inaugural ploughing match and, like a number of settlers, he dabbled in lime burning.
His greatest contribution was as an engineer and employer. His skills were called upon when Fletcher’s Auckland mill was converted to a distillery and he travelled to Waikato to help establish a flour mill there. Closer to home, his building projects included the first schoolroom on the Percy Street site and, with six other settlers, he founded the Mahurangi Co-operative Store in a building which stood in central Warkworth until demolished to make way for Hamilton’s buildings. As the road north slowly extended, Henry Palmer was the contractor who accepted the daunting task of linking the Albertland settlement with Mahurangi. This included spanning the Hoteo River with a bridge. If his workmen absconded to the Thames goldfields, as did often happen, their places were soon taken by newly-arrived immigrants.
Mrs Palmer cared for her growing family in their home Mill View. It is recorded that her harmonium was lent to whichever church was holding a soiree and was played by Miss Hyde, governess to the Palmer children.
Henry Palmer was also involved in the timber trade. His largest venture was at Makarau where, in partnership with Sir Frederick Whitaker, he employed more than 50 men producing railway sleepers from kauri logs. By the 1880s Henry’s interests had spread to Great Barrier Island where he ran a large flock of sheep and explored the possibility of mining silver and gold. As a Justice of the Peace and Coroner for the area, he was called upon to deal with one of New Zealand’s worst shipping disasters. On a dark, foggy night in October 1894, the steamer Wairarapa struck Miner’s Head, on Great Barrier Island, and more than 120 lives were lost. Henry Palmer died aged 63 in December 1897. His achievements during his 35 years as a colonist were quite remarkable.
