The Office of the Colonial Storekeeper was the government apparatus responsible for providing logistical services to the early Colonial Government of New Zealand. Established in 1840, the appointment of Colonial Storekeeper was discontinued in 1844, only to be re-established in the early 1860s until falling into disuse in 1871. Having both military and civilian responsibilities, the Colonial Storekeeper can be considered the foundation of New Zealand’s Military Stores services. This article provides an overview and background, offering a brief history of the Colonial Storekeepers of New Zealand.

The establishment of New Zealand as a British colony in 1840 saw the adoption of the British system of colonial government, already in use across the 40 colonies of the British Empire. The system consisted of a Governor and a range of administrative departments, such as Survey, Surgeon, Customs, Police/Militia, and Stores. As New Zealand was initially annexed as part of the Colony of New South Wales, the laws and institutions of New South Wales were duplicated in New Zealand, utilising individuals seconded from New South Wales institutions until November 1840, when New Zealand became a separate colony. [1]

The Office of the Colonial Storekeeper has its origins in the colonial administration of New South Wales, which from 1836 had two distinct supply organisations:.

• The Ordnance Board, responsible for British Government (Imperial) Stores
• The Colonial Storekeeper, responsible for “Colonial stores.”

Although they had separate roles, the two organisations overlapped as they shared the same magazines and storehouses. Between 1836 and 1844, the position of Ordnance Storekeeper and Colonial Storekeeper was held by the same individual.[2]

The Office of the Colonial Storekeeper was included in the first wave of administrators to arrive with Governor William Hobson in January 1840.[3] Mr. Charles Hook Gordon Logie, of the Sydney-based Colonial Storekeepers, was appointed on the 15th of January 1840 to hold the appointment of Colonial Storekeeper in Hobson’s administration.[4]

Charles Logie (1810-1866) was a 29-year-old English immigrant then working for the Colonial Storekeeper in Sydney. Establishing the Office of the Colonial Storekeeper at Old Russell with stocks dispatched from Sydney on HMS Herald, Logie held the position of Colonial Storekeeper until October 1840. [5] [6] The Colonial Storekeeper was responsible only for providing stores and supplies to colonial entities, not for the Imperial troops stationed in New Zealand. Imperial forces, such as the 80th Regiment, which arrived early in 1840, had their immediate logistic requirements met by a Staff Sergeant from the Ordnance Board.[7] Subsequent echelons of Imperial troops had their logistic needs met by the Commissariat Transport Corps and the Ordnance Board (renamed the Military Store Department in 1855).[8]

In October 1840, Logie moved on, and approval was given on the 30th of October 1840 by the Colonial Secretary of New South Wales for Henry Tucker to replace Logie as Colonial Storekeeper. Tucker, a Royal Navy Officer and purser aboard HMS Buffalo, had been stranded in New Zealand when the ship was wrecked and sank in the Coromandel on the 28th of July 1840.[9] During Tucker’s tenure, the capital was transferred from Russell to Auckland in March 1841, and in July 1841, New Zealand was granted the status of a full colony, separating it from New South Wales.[10][11]

The role of the Colonial Storekeeper in early colonial New Zealand was critical, striving to meet the store needs of the expanding colonial administration. Stocks were either provided by the Colonial Storekeepers’ office in Sydney, purchased on the local market, or obtained from the Board of Ordnance representatives in New Zealand. The Colonial Storekeeper was responsible for providing the local militia with arms and accoutrements but had no responsibility for Imperial troops. Imperial troops in New Zealand were under the purview of the Board of Ordnance. Stores and services provided to the Colonial Storekeeper from Board of Ordnance stocks were on a “repayment” basis, an arrangement that remained in place until the withdrawal of Imperial troops in 1870.

In late 1843, the Colonial Secretary of New Zealand, under pressure from the Colonial Office in London to reduce expenditure, deemed the positions of Colonial Surgeon, Harbourmaster, and Colonial Storekeeper unnecessary and had them cancelled. By February 1844, the duties of the Colonial Storekeeper had been divided between the Colonial Secretary and the Superintendent of Public Works. [13][14]

From 1844, there is little evidence of the existence of a Colonial Storekeeper in New Zealand. The passing of the Militia Act of 1845 established a militia administered by the Colonial Secretary and equipped directly by stocks provided by the Imperial Military Store Department or purchased from the Colonial Storekeepers in Sydney, New South Wales.[15] 

The outbreak of hostilities in Taranaki in the early 1860s led to the calling out of the militia across the country and the large-scale use of Imperial troops. The conflict in Taranaki resulted in the passing of the Colonial Defence Act on the 15th of September 1862, and the formation of the Colonial Defence Force, the first regular force in New Zealand, with detachments throughout the country.[16]

Under the Quartermaster General Office of the Colonial Defence Force, the Superintendent of Militia Stores was responsible for supplying the Colonial Forces from 1863 to 1865. In 1865, the responsibilities of the Superintendent of Militia Stores were transferred to the new Colonial Storekeeper, Captain John Mitchell. The exact date that the Office of the Colonial Storekeeper was reinstated is unclear, but correspondence originating from the Colonial Storekeeper shows that the position existed from March 1862.[17]

Captain John Mitchell had been a long-serving member of the 58th (Rutlandshire) Regiment of Foot, which arrived in New Zealand in 1854. He served as a Corporal in the Bay of Islands in 1846, and by the time he took his discharge on the 31st of August 1853, he had risen to the rank of Sergeant.[18][19]. 

Entering government service in October 1856, Mitchell joined the Auckland Rifle Volunteers and advanced to the rank of Captain in 1864, when he was placed on the unattached list of officers.[20][21].

Mitchell was suspended as Colonial Storekeeper in May 1869 due to a dispute about some absences. Resigning on the 5th of July 1869.[22] Mitchell was replaced by Major William St Clair Tisdall, who assumed the position of acting Colonial Storekeeper. [23]. Tisdall served only briefly as acting Colonial Storekeeper before Lieutenant-Colonel Edward Gorton, Acting Quartermaster-General, was appointed Inspector of Defence Stores and Colonial Storekeeper in 1869.[24] With the passing of the Public Stores Act 1871, all Colonial Government stores were brought under his audit and inspection. The Act defined the responsibilities of Storekeepers and Sub-Storekeepers, and the term “Colonial Storekeeper” fell into disuse.

Although the position was only filled for just over ten years between 1840 and 1871, the Office of the Colonial Storekeeper is significant for several reasons. The first iteration under Logie and Tucker established the first civil/military stores organisation in New Zealand. Given that Logie was under the employ of the Government of New South Wales, it can be said with some certainty that Henry Tucker was the first New Zealand Colonial Storekeeper. The second iteration under Mitchell and then Gorton is equally important because the Colonial Storekeeper was the head of the first full-time Defence Stores organisation in New Zealand. The Defence Stores organisation of 1865 remained a constant fixture of the New Zealand Defence Forces for the next 51 years before becoming the New Zealand Army Ordnance Corps in 1917.

Copyright © Robert McKie 2018

Notes

[1] Malcolm McKinnon, “Colonial and Provincial Government – the Crown Colony, 1840 to 1852,”  https://teara.govt.nz/en/colonial-and-provincial-government/page-1.

[2] “Ordnance Stores and the Ordnance Storekeeper in the Colony of New South Wales,”  http://users.tpg.com.au/borclaud/ranad/ordnance_storekeeper.html.

[3] “Government Notice,” Sydney Herald (NSW: 1831 – 1842), 03 July 1840 1840.

[4] Letter From Charles Logie Colonial Storekeeper, Bay of Islands To Willoughby Shortland, Esquire, Acting Colonial Secretary Item Id R23629593, Record No 1840/76 (Wellington: Archives New Zealand, 1840).

[5] Jack Lee, Old Russell : New Zealand’s First Capital: A History of the Opanui and Kahikatearoa Blocks at Okiato, Bay of Islands, on Which, in 1840, Lieutenant-Governor William Hobson Established the Town of Russell, His First Seat of Government in New Zealand (Russell, N.Z.: The Society, 1998, 1998), Bibliographies

Non-fiction.

[6] Way Bill of Stores to Be Conveyed to New Zealand Item Id R23629569 Record No 1840/30 (Wellington: Archives New Zealand, 1840).

[7] Joseph S. Bolton, A History of the Royal New Zealand Army Ordnance Corps (Wellington: RNZAOC, 1992), 43.

[8] Due to the Ordnance Boards poor performance during the Crimean War, the British Army administration system was reformed in 1855, and the Military Store Department was formed as a result. Brigadier A.H Fernyhough C.B.E. M.C., A Short History of the ROC (London: RAOC, 1965).

[9] P. Owen Wheatley Chas Ingram, Shipwrecks New Zealand Disasters 1795 to 1950. , 2 ed. (Wellington: AH & AW Reed., 1936).

[10] Stephen Levine, “Capital City,”  http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/capital-city.

[11] “Crown Colony Era,” Ministry for Culture and Heritage, https://nzhistory.govt.nz/politics/history-of-the-governor-general/crown-colony-era.

[12] “Symptoms of Reform,” Daily Southern Cross, Volume I, Issue 29, 1 November 1843.

[13] “Parliamentary Papers for 1843. Encolsure to No 11 Copy of Treasury Minute, Dated March 10, 1843,” Daily Southern Cross, Volume 1, Issue 41, 27 January 1844.

[14] Bolton.

[15] “Militia Act 1845,”  (1845).

[16] “Colonial Defence Force Act 1862,” ed. General Assembly of New Zealand (Wellington1862).

[17] Reporting That the Whole of the Ammunition Has Been Removed from the “Glance” to the Magazine at the Albert Barracks, Item Id R24477365, Record No Dag1862/133 (Wellington: Archives New Zealand, 1862); Rain Coming in through Roof of Armoury, Item Id R24477407, Record No Dag1862/186 (Wellington: Archives New Zealand, 1862).

[18] Pandora Research http://www.nzpictures.co.nz/pandoraresearchANZ-AJCP3828-58thRegt-1846JunQt-WO12-6747.pdf.

[19] “John Mitchell,” Victoria University of New Zealand, http://heurist.sydney.edu.au/h4-alpha/?recID=17838&fmt=html&db=SoE_NZmedals.

[20] “Nominal Roll of the Civil Establishment of New Zealand on the 1st July 1868,” AJHR D-13 (1868).

[21] “Militia and Volunteer Appointments,” Daily Southern Cross, Volume 2075, Issue XX, 14 March 1864.

[22] John Mitchell, Captain Mitchell, Auckland Resigning His Appointment as Colonial Storekeeper, Item Id R24175549 Record No R24175549 (Wellington: New Zealand Archives, 1869 ).

[23] Suspension of Captain Mitchell Colonial Storekeeper for Absence from Duty. Major Tisdall Is Placed in Temporary Charge of Stores, Item Id R24175550 Record No Cd1869/2824 (Wellington: New Zealand Archives, 1869).

[24] “Arrival of Colonel Gorton in Wellington,” Wanganui Herald, Volume III, Issue 589, 23 April 1869.

[25] “The Public Stores Act 1871,” ed. General Assembly of New Zealand (Wellington1871).