NEW ZEALAND LIGHTHOUSES

The Brothers (1877)

Photo courtesy of MSA.

The Brothers is a rocky series of islands on the western side of Cook Strait, known to the Maori as Nga-whatu ("The Rocks"). On one of Captain Cook's voyages his ship the "Endeavour" came close to wreaking on the rocks after being becalmed in a strong tide-rip while when sailing from Queen Charlotte Sound in February, 1770. ^a

In 1856,  the northernmost of The Brothers islands, off the north-east tip of the South Island, was considered an excellent site for a lighthouse. But Marine Board members visiting on a still, fine day in 1863 nevertheless found that neither island offered easy access. The precipitous coastline and choppy waters were a danger to anyone landing, and building would be expensive. The board opted for Mana Island, off the south-west coast of the North Island, as a site – although that tower would later be moved to Cape Egmont, and a new tower was built on the Brothers in 1877. ¹⁸

The Mana Island light was first lit on February, 1st, 1865. 

Unfortunately the Mana Island light displayed the same characteristics as Pencarrow Head lighthouse at the entrance to Wellington Harbour and this may have caused the loss of two ships the City of Newcastle and Cyrus, in 1870, with their masters confusing the two lights. ³

Therefore, in 1874  a decision was made to move the Mana Island lighthouse to Cape Egmont where a lighthouse had been planned since the 1860's, ¹⁰ and a lighthouse was planned for the The Brothers. ¹⁸

In 1876 construction commenced on the lighthouse. ¹⁰  Due to poor weather it took sixty days for the men and their building supplies to be landed on the rock so work could begin on constructing the tower. ⁴  And during the construction the winds were so strong it was decided to fill the space in the walls with rocks to strengthen the wooden tower. Later wooden stays and cables were added. ¹⁶

The Brothers was first lit in September, 1877, at the same time the light at Mana Island was extinguished. ¹⁰

As the island has no soil or drinking water all supplies had to be shipped in. So a crane was used to winch a basket carrying the supplies and keepers from the deck of the supply ships to the rock. This was a hazardous process therefore the station was restricted to single men and was staffed in the later years by a roster of relieving keepers. ¹

Originally the lighthouse had four keepers, three rostered on the island and the other worked at the Marine Department, Stores, in Wellington. Later it was reduced to three keepers, then two. ¹

It  was converted to diesel-generated electricity in 1954. ¹

The light was one of the last to be automated in July 1990. ¹

The original light beacon has now been replaced with a 50 watt tungsten halogen beacon which is powered from batteries that are charged by solar panels. ¹

POSTAGE  STAMPS:

The Brothers lighthouse has along with others been featured on New Zealand postal stamps issued by the Government Life Insurance Office. 

The lighthouse featured on the 1947 issue with a value of 6d. This was overprinted with 5 cents in 1967 when the country changed to decimal currency.

Stamp Web Sites

http://100megsfree3.com/glaw/lighthouse/

http://stamps.nzpost.co.nz/Cultures/en-NZ/Stamps/StampsHistoricalIssues/1969+-+1965/Government+Life.htm

http://www.newzeal.com/theme/LH/lighthouses.htm

DIRECTIONS:

The island is now a restricted-access wildlife sanctuary administered by the Department of Conservation and is inaccessible to the public.  It is home to the endangered Brothers Island tuatara.

Distant views can be obtained on a clear day from the Cook Strait ferry.

Sources

Additional Sources:

^a. Wellington City Library

^b. 

If anyone has any information on this light please contact me. thekiwimark@msn.com

Last Updated: January 3. 2010