Historical records matching Capt. Henry Abbott Mair
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About Capt. Henry Abbott Mair
Henry Abbott Mair was the third son of twelve children to Elizabeth Gilbert Puckey and Gilbert Mair, a merchant trader in kauri gum.Two of his brothers, Cpt. Gilbert Mair and Mjr. William G. Mair, were also both active in the New Zealand Wars. See Gilbert and William's individual Cenotaph records for more details. "In 1868 he raised the Opotiki Volunteer Forest Rangers, and served in a number of skirmishes in the Opotiki, Waimana, and Whakatane districts." (Cowan, p. 323n).
In search of Spanish treasure: Parents Gilbert Mair and Elizabeth (nee Puckey) Mair to settle in the Bay of Islands. Their son is remembered as up for anything and always in search of new adventure. Enlisting to fight in the ‘Maori Land Wars’, this veteran of the ‘Hauhau campaign’ served as Captain in the Opotiki Volunteer Rangers in the attack on Rauporoa Pa. After his regiment was disbanded, Mair found his next campaign in the Pacific, and it all pointed to Suwarrow. There is no doubt that some treachery had gone down in the Suwarrow deal, Mair travelling there from Auckland in 1878 on behalf of Henderson and McFarlane in Auckland, their instruction to ‘re-establish control of the island’. But on the week-long voyage from Rarotonga aboard the chartered brig Ryno, he grew to strongly suspect key members of the crew were conspiring against him, intending to assert control of the island before sailing off with the big cache of pearl shell and beach-de-mer. Hayes had grabbed a heap of both as payment for rescuing Sterndale’s crew, but much remained. Realising his vulnerability, Mair devised a plan to thwart the crew. The ship had arrived late evening at Suwarrow lagoon where they dropped anchor for the night. Mair waited for all the crew to fall asleep before he rubbed himself all over in coconut oil and slid silently down the Ryno’s anchor chain to swim the hundreds of metres to shore. His intention that moonlit night was to warn Mrs Sterndale and her handful of of workers left behind by her husband, to be picked up later. Bully Hayes’ ship would have been inconceivable for any woman at that time, such was the blackbirder’s frightful reputation. Making the beach on Anchorage Island, Mair collapsed exhausted to recover on the sand, soon realising from the noise that not far along from him a sea turtle was laboriously digging a nest to lay its eggs. But then the sound of turtle sifting sand soon changed to a more of a ‘chunk, chunk chunk’ as the turtle’s flippers came against something metallic. Chasing the turtle off, Mair began scooping out handfuls of coins glinting in the moonlight. Using his knotted singlet, all he had come ashore in, he stashed three lots of coins further up in the trees along the beach. Going back to the nest to dig deeper, Mair realised there was some sort of rusted chest underneath. Prizing open its corroded lid, he was astonished to find it full of precious stones, rings and more gold coins. A frantic few hours followed for Mair as he reburied the treasure with his bare hands before running down the track to warn Mrs Sterndale and her workers to be alert for foul play, and keep their gun loaded. Back to the beach after that, he readied himself for his return swim, putting on as many rings on his fingers as he could before tying the twisted singlet of coins around his waist. Arriving back on the brig before anyone had a chance to wake up, Mair secreted his booty and was ready to confront the crew who all backed down after realising those ashore now proved a greater threat. Returning to New Zealand, Mair intended to find another ship to go back to Suwarrow to recover his reburied treasure, but no ship was ever going that way. His death in 1881 was tragic; clubbed to death by islanders on Santo Island in the New Hebrides (Vanuatu). Quite likely he was on a roundabout route to get back to Suwarrow. His story would be near unbelievable if he hadn’t left behind with his niece for safekeeping a detailed handwritten account of how he came about his find, his hand drawn treasure map of Suwarrow lagoon (with the location of the treasure marked by a blacked-in square), along with most of the rings and coins he had swum back to the Ryno with.End of story? Appears so. No more sign of the treasure has been found on remote Suwarrow, bar a few loose coins. Source: Gerard Hindmarsh via Stuff (13 January 2024).
Sources
- Cenotaph: https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/record/...
- Cowan (p. 323n).
- Hindmarsh, Gerard (13 January 2024). In search of Spanish treasure.
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Capt. Henry Abbott Mair's Timeline
| 1836 |
August 17, 1836
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Te Wahapu Inlet, Kororareka (now Russell), Bay of Islands, North Island, New Zealand
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| 1870 |
1870
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New Zealand
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| 1872 |
1872
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Russell, Bay of Islands, North Island, New Zealand
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| 1873 |
1873
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New Zealand
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| 1875 |
February 16, 1875
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Russell, Bay of Islands, North Island, New Zealand
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| 1881 |
November 12, 1881
Age 45
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Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu, South Pacific
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November 15, 1881
Age 45
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Suva, Rewa, Central Division, Fiji
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