The silent story tellers of Russell
The little church in present-day Russell, or Kororareka as it was then called, was where, on 30 January 1840, New Zealand was officially, if temporarily, absorbed into New South Wales.
Today, the inscriptions in its graveyard reflect the life-and-death stories of those whose names and deeds are legend.
Christ Church, Russell
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Ironically, the first resident to occupy the cemetery in 1835 was a grog-seller – his burial fee was applied to building the church he had opposed. Many stories are related to the sea. A 28-year-old whaler, George Sherman, had been left aboard as lookout while his ship, Lancaster, was fumigated for rats, and it is thought he may have been sleepwalking when overcome by smoke. Here also lies Thomas Garrighty, a whaling ship fourth mate, stabbed by his drunken crewmates on shore leave. Ernest and Maud Fuller, who began the shipping company that still bears their name, rest here. Captain Christie who died after a fall at sea is buried beside the six children of the surgeon who was unable to save him. Captain Bell of HMS Hazard, the ship involved in defending the famous flagpole, died after falling overboard while ill with malaria.
Children are part of the story, and you should stop at the moving poem inscribed by Janey Deery’s parents. You’ll pass Hannah Letheridge, the second white girl to be born in New Zealand. The clasped hands on the stone of Sawkins and Bagley symbolise friends inseparable in life and death. Meet our first surgeon, Samuel Ford, first American Consul, James Clendon, and Chief Tamati Waka Nene, who sided with the government after Hone Heke felled the flagstaff.
Outside the picket fence, Russell remains a romantic, closely communal seaside town. The shingle beach still slopes up to historic buildings, including iconic Pompallier, Mission Station of the first Catholic Bishop. The first police station, beside the country’s first pub, and some older timber cottages are staunchly holding their own against less noble, recent additions to the village. The stories of those who lived here and forged New Zealand, who still have the power to hold their land sacred, are alive in the stone tablets of Christ Church.
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