By Roselyn Fauth
Williams, William, 1858-1949. The SS Fifeshire and other ships berthed at Port Chalmers. Williams, Edgar Richard, 1891-1983: Photographs and papers. Ref: 1/1-025516-G. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. /records/22433460
I have been emptying out my phones photos and found a few pages I had photographed for later reading on Timaru's frozen and meaty past. Coming across them again inspired this blog about a champagne party that was thrown for frozen meat. Yep, I know it sounds absurd. But it wasn’t...
In the 1880s, frozen meat was still a gamble. Refrigeration was new, complex and fragile. If machinery failed during the long voyage to Britain, thousands of carcasses could arrive spoiled. Fortunes could vanish. A port’s reputation could collapse overnight. So when frozen meat worked, it mattered. And when it worked at scale, it was worth celebrating. Around the time of this sailing Timaru's Port reputation was recovering from being known as a ships graveyard. It was my understanding that if we had been seen as a safer more reliable option, we cold have been the first in the country to claim the first succesful frozen meat export from New Zealand. Unfortunatly for us, but great for the country, that claim to fame was won in 1882, when the steamship Dunedin sailed from Port Chalmers (Otago) to London. That voyage proved frozen meat export was viable and is widely recognised as a turning point in New Zealand’s economic history.
So while we can't lead with a nationally significant first, Timaru can say it was the first port in Canterbury to export frozen meat directly from its own district, rather than sending produce north through Lyttelton. That distinction still matteres as this moment marked South Canterbury’s independence as a producing and exporting region in its own right, with its own farms, freezing works, rail connections and port infrastructure working together successfully.
So while Otago proved frozen meat could be exported from New Zealand, Timaru proved that Canterbury’s southern districts could do it themselves. That is what was being celebrated on the wharf...
In January 1888, the steamer Fifeshire arrived in Timaru during her maiden voyage from Britain. According to a detailed report in the Oamaru Mail, she was one of the most advanced ships afloat, built to the order of Messrs Turnbull, Martin & Co., owners of the Shire Line of steamers. (If you have read a few of my blogs you'll know I went on a Turnbull deep dive, but I am not sure if the family have links to this Company, this will have to be a side quest for another day!).
The Fifeshire was built at Newcastle-on-Tyne under special survey and designed so she could be utilised as a troopship if required. She measured 355 feet in length, 48 feet in breadth, with a depth of hold of 24 feet. Her net register tonnage was 2,426 tons, and her carrying capacity was estimated at 5,100 tons. When fully loaded, her draught was 24 feet.
She was engined by Messrs Blair and Co. of Stockton-on-Tees, using triple-expansion engines. The cylinders measured 27 inches, 44 inches and 71 inches in diameter, with a 48-inch stroke. The Fifeshire steamed at around 11 knots an hour, consuming approximately 23 tons of coal per day.
Coal mattered. Every mile steamed, every frozen carcass delivered, depended on it. I am working on another blog about the wins and costs of coal, and so learning about the ships that needed it it particularly timely.
Usually I would skip past a ships technology but now I am a bit more interested and I found a great article that gave some great detail on the arrival of the Steamer Fifeshire,” Oamaru Mail, Vol. X, Issue 4010, 14 January 1888, p. 3. Her meat-freezing chamber was described as the largest afloat, capable of stowing around 35,000 carcases of mutton, kept frozen by Lightfoot’s patent refrigerating machinery, working alongside Siemens and Gorman’s engines. She was fitted with four spacious hatchways and “all labour-saving appliances” for loading and discharging cargo. The saloon, situated aft, was fitted with highly polished oak and ash and illuminated by electric light, a detail still worth remarking on in 1888. The newspaper concluded that, from her appearance, the Fifeshire could be regarded as a very comfortable boat.
The people behind the technology of the frozen ship
Captain W. A. Millar, formerly of the steamer Elderslie, was in command.
Mr Falconer served as chief officer, also previously of the Elderslie.
Mr Duncan was second officer and Mr Ireland third officer.
Mr Small was chief engineer, and Mr Frank Morgan acted as purser.
The Fifeshire left London on 12 October 1887. Fine weather accompanied her as far as Las Palmas, where she took on coal. After rounding the Cape, her speed was impeded on 14 November by an accident to her machinery. Despite this, she reached Hobart on 1 December, landing 600 tons of cargo.
She sailed for Melbourne on the evening of the 3rd, encountering head winds and heavy seas before arriving on the 6th. After discharging approximately 2,000 tons of cargo and landing passengers, she proceeded to Sydney, arriving on the 13th after a rough two-day passage. There she was docked and her machinery thoroughly overhauled before leaving for Timaru on 5 January.
She arrived at Timaru at noon on Monday and departed at six o’clock the following evening.
What happened in that short window mattered enormously and explains why there was champagne,
In just 24 hours, the Fifeshire loaded frozen meat and wool from South Canterbury. Contemporary accounts record that ships departing under such circumstances were cheered from the port. Harbour dues were waived, and Captain Millar hosted a champagne lunch on board for local pastoralists and officials whose livelihoods were tied to the success of the cargo.
This was not champagne for indulgence. And a sip probably was swallowed with feelings of relief.
Before landing passengers in the Australian colonies, Captain Millar was presented with a testimonial and an address conveying appreciation for his kindness during the voyage. The paper reported that good health prevailed among the passengers generally, though one steerage passenger, Hugh Lavell, sadly died from consumption during the journey.
From Timaru, the Fifeshire proceeded to Oamaru, where she berthed at the Sumpter Wharf, before taking on approximately 13,000 additional carcases of mutton and 1,200 bales of wool, then sailing for Port Chalmers to complete her loading for Home.
Shipping at Timaru, New Zealand in the 1880's. From a volume titled 'New Zealand Owned Shipping Lines and Early Shipping Views'. This section comprises New Zealand Owned Shipping Lines. New Zealand Early Shipping Views. This image is from the A.D. Edwardes Collection of about 8,000 photographs, mostly of sailing ships from around the world, taken between about 1865 and 1920. Mounted in 91 albums, the photographs are arranged by country of ownership, with some special volumes such as 'Shipping at Port Adelaide' and 'South Australian outports'. Additional information, giving the history of the ships where known, has been provided by maritime historian, Ron Parsons. https://collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/resource/PRG+1373/42/45
That celebration on the wharf must have been years in the making.
Long before frozen meat ships arrived, attention had turned to water. In the early 1870s, William Rolleston, then Superintendent of Canterbury, warned that lack of water was limiting settlement and farming across South Canterbury. Dry land could not sustain stock at scale. His solution was practical rather than poetic. Build water-races. Move water where it was needed. Let the land work.
Local road boards and county councils acted. The Levels County Council built its first water-race in 1885. By the end of the century, hundreds of miles of water-races crossed South Canterbury, turning dry plains into productive farmland.
The local farmers had to adapt too. Sheep were were bred deliberately. Uniform size, weight, good for freezing. From the late 1880s, the fat lamb trade expanded rapidly, reshaping farming choices and practices across the district.
Infrastructure followed innovation, and the Smithfield freezing works, opened in 1884, expanded again and again as demand grew. Railways stitched paddocks to port. Wool stores rose near the harbour. Brokers and merchants established offices. Systems formed quietly and efficiently.
If you wander the Timaru Cemetery you'll spy a stunning grave marker for the Grant family. William Grant became one of the wealthiest men in the country off the back of the frozen meat trade in South Canterbury.
With the opportunity, investment and income boom, banks, insurance offices, churches, schools and solid brick shops were established on Timaru’s streets. This was not a boom town built on gold, coal or timber. It was a town built on confidence that ultimately was what our local grazing land could provide. Confidence that exports would keep flowing and the region had an exciting future.
I wonder if this was why people cheered as the ship left the docks to the open waters.
Engraving showing the Timaru Breakwater 1888. Picturesque atlas of Australasia"; The Picturesque Atlas Publishing Co.
Today, ships come and go without much comment and the refrigeration trade, to most of us locals is invisible. Coal consumption is no longer counted by the ton in newspaper columns. Trains pass with barely a glance. The port feels ordinary. I wonder if most of us take for granted the investment and work that is done at the warf, and the impact it has to us all. A place of exchange from local farms to international markets.
But once, as we can see from an old newspaper back in the day, a ship like the SS Fifeshire was worth pages of technical description, public celebration, and champagne raised to a cargo hold full of frozen sheep.
Timaru did not just export frozen meat.
It exported belief that a small port, powered by coal, water, labour and land, could help feed the world.
New Zealand continues to export large volumes of frozen and chilled meat, especially: Lamb, Beef, Mutton, Venison.
Frozen meat is still essential for long-distance markets where shelf life matters.
Now that I know that, it is hard to look at the harbour, the railway, or our small city and wider region quite the same way again.
New Zealand Post Office directory map of the town of Timaru and suburbs, compiled by Smith and Boys shows the Breakwater loading warf, Warf No2, Lighthouse and the Baths. - 1887 - Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections Map 6621
What has changed most since the 1880s is not so much what we export, but the risk.
Back then, refrigeration was risky and every voyage was watched closely.A single failure could ruin reputations and livelihoods, which is why ships were cheered from the port and successful sailings celebrated with speeches and champagne. Today, refrigeration is routine. Temperature-controlled supply chains are highly reliable, failures are rare and quietly managed, and no one raises a glass when a shipment departs. What once felt miraculous has become normal. The technology itself has also faded from view. Modern frozen meat export relies on advanced freezing systems, containerisation, GPS-tracked cold chains, automated ports, and fleets of refrigerated trucks and ships. Unlike the Fifeshire, today’s vessels are not individually famous, are not described column by column in newspapers, and operate as part of a seamless global logistics network. That invisibility is a sign of success. There has also been an important shift in what we export.
In 1963, an all-weather meat loader was built at the Timaru Port to service the export demand of the South Canterbury and Mackenzie farming community. This loader allowed more efficient loading of meat export cargo in all conditions and was a significant piece of mid-century export infrastructure.
16 December 1967 Loading meat for export into the Tekoa cargo ship at Timaru Port using the sling method. Christchurch Star archive. Archive 1072. Shipping: Cargo handling www.canterburystories.nz/collections/star/prints/1965-1969/ccl-cs-9289
Although modern mechanised cranes and container facilities have largely taken over general cargo handling at PrimePort Timaru, that 1963 meat loader was an important milestone in the port’s evolution from manual cargo handling to specialised, mechanised systems capable of servicing large-scale agricultural exports.
Frozen meat remains essential for long-distance markets, storage flexibility and price stability, but chilled meat has grown for premium markets, with faster shipping, higher value, and greater emphasis on branding and provenance. The frozen meat story did not end. It evolved. South Canterbury remains a major meat-producing region, freezing works still operate in the wider area, and the port of Timaru continues to export primary products. The legacy of Smithfield, water-races, rail links and port infrastructure still underpins the system. The same fundamentals apply — land, water, animals, energy, transport and people — only the noise level has changed.
Thank you to all the farmers, the middle people, and the harbour teams that move ships from our shore to the world. The efforts bring a vibrant hub of opportunity which I am sure is worked hard for, and not always a given.
View of the Port from the sky in 2014. Photograph by Geoff Cloake.
Side Quest: What happened to the SS Fifeshire?
The SS Fifeshire, so celebrated in Timaru in the late 1880s, met a tragic end more than twenty years later.
Built for the Elderslie Steamship Company and managed by Turnbull, Martin & Co., the Fifeshire entered service in the late 1880s on the United Kingdom–Australia–New Zealand route, flying the British flag. In 1910, she was sold to the Scottish Shire Line Ltd, though management remained with the same firm.
On the night of 9 August 1911, at around 10.30 pm, the Fifeshire ran aground in fine but hazy weather in waters about four fathoms deep, approximately 20 miles south of Cape Guardafui at the entrance to the Gulf of Aden. She was on passage from Brisbane to London, carrying general cargo and passengers.
There was no immediate loss of life.
The following day, the captain sent a lifeboat under Mr Woods, the first officer, with five seamen to seek assistance. Tragically, this boat encountered a gale and was blown some 250 miles away from the wreck. After five days at sea, the exhausted occupants were rescued by the steamship Ardandearg.
Meanwhile, the situation aboard the Fifeshire worsened. The ship’s position became increasingly dangerous, and the captain made the decision to abandon her. Four lifeboats were launched, under the command of the captain, the second, third, and fourth officers, carrying all remaining passengers and crew.
The last boat left the wreck at midday on 11 August. During daylight hours the boats managed to remain reasonably close to one another. By the following morning, however, the boats had become separated. The captain’s boat was found alone. One boat was later picked up by the Messageries Maritimes liner Adour, which also subsequently rescued the captain’s boat.
The second officer’s boat, however, disappeared and was never found.
Search efforts were mounted by the Italian warship Volturno and the Indian Marine vessel Dalhousie, but no survivors were located. The boat was ultimately declared lost.
In total, 24 people were lost, including 10 passengers.
Side Quest: When was the breakwater completed
In 1878 construction got underway of a main trunk railway between Christchurch and Dunedin. Completed in 1878, it linked Timaru to both cities, and to Temuka and Waitaki North (Glenavy) along the way. South Canterbury had only two significant branch lines. The line from Washdyke reached Pleasant Point in 1875 and was opened to Eversley, beyond Fairlie, in 1884. The line from Studholme Junction to Waimate opened in 1877. It was extended to Waihao Downs in 1883. In 1881, the branch line in North Otago to Kurow was extended across the Waitaki River to Hakataramea. A proposed line up the Hakataramea Valley was never built. The last of South Canterbury’s branch railway lines closed in the 1960s.
That same year, in 1878, work began on the construction of the 700-metre southern breakwater.
1878 The first of the large brick flour mills along the railway line at Timaru was built. New Zealand’s first roller mill began production in this area in 1882. Later, these mills also produced oatmeal, pasta and stockfood. Flour and stockfood are still made in Timaru.
1880s, the northern breakwater was built to keep sand shoals out of the harbour.
1883 Timaru had one wharf 880 feet long. Five years later the Moody Wharf was built and was extended in 1905. No. 3 Wharf was built in 1908, since when all the wharves have been altered to make them more efficient. The total berthage space is 3,400 feet. A wharf for fishermen was built in 1911.
1883 Before refrigeration, surplus stock was disposed of in boiling-down and meat-preserving works at Pleasant Point, Washdyke and Milford. The South Canterbury Refrigerating Company, formed in 1883, built a freezing works near Timaru in 1885. In January 1886 its first cargo of frozen meat was sent directly from Timaru to the United Kingdom. The works were rebuilt in the 1890s, reopening as the Smithfield Works in 1898. In 1904, the Christchurch-based Canterbury Frozen Meat Company built a second South Canterbury works at Pareora.
Timaru Herald, 10 January 1882, Page 2: Theatre Royal. There was crowded house at the Theatre Royal last evening to greet Lyons' Tourist Party, on their second appearance in Timaru. The hit of the evening was made by Miss Horton, when she gave the following impromptu verses:
Our Breakwater is very near completed,
Of its success there's not the slightest fear,
We soon will have a safe and handy harbor
If Captain Sutter does not choke the Engineer.
They quarrel over nothing every meeting,
And fight about the gravel and the Bills,
But their fuss about the harbor and the Cashmere,
Was blighted by our old friend Captain Mills.
THE TIMARU HERALD Wednesday, January 14, 2009
"The official beginnings of Timaru Harbour could well be marked by a Government Gazette notice of September 1865. It declared Timaru a port of entry, the extent of the port being defined as "a circle of one mile radius, whereof the centre is the centre of the Market Place; and the beach at Timaru, to the extent of 40 chains measured along the line of the beach in each direction north and south of the small stream watercourse which crosses the Market Place, shall be deemed to be the local quay or landing place for the landing of goods under the Customs Regulation Act, 1858."
The merits of the various landing sites were vigorously argued between Rhodes Town and Government Town advocates, but the first Harbour Commission, which reported to the Provincial Government in 1864, decided in favor of the Rhodes Town site, at the foot of Strathallan Street. From the early 1840s, when whaling was carried on in the bay, ships of all kinds had used the roadstead, described as providing good anchorage except during south-easterly gales—probably the first official recognition of Timaru's potential as a port.
Small trading ships seem to have been calling regularly from the early 1850s onwards, bringing essential supplies to the first settlers and taking wool from the Levels station, worked by the Rhodes brothers. In 1857, the merits of the roadstead were again drawn to the attention of the Provincial Government. One report, by Lyttelton Captain C. Conradi of the ship Highlander, suggested that with good moorings, Timaru could be safely visited by "large vessels."
As for harbour construction, the commission dismissed the idea of building any type of jetty, wrote off a breakwater, mole, or other retaining wall of masonry as too costly, and submitted that the only thing to do was to improve the landing-boat service as a means of coping with Timaru's expanding trade. Local opinion was incensed by this write-off of harbour hopes, and the Government was induced to look further at the problem. Proposal followed proposal, but in the meantime, vessels were being wrecked in alarming succession.
By 1873, the public demand for action had become so strong that the Provincial Government asked its agents in London to commission a report from reputable consulting engineers. Designer Sir John Coode recommended a scheme to cost about £250,000, including a wall 1300 feet long, parallel with the coastline, a pier, and a viaduct to permit the northward drift of the shingle. At the same time, Lyttelton engineer Mr. Isaac Jacobsen put forward a proposal to convert the Milford lagoon, at the mouth of the Opihi River, into a harbour.
After some further fact-finding, it was decided by the harbour board—the first board had been elected at the beginning of 1877—to proceed with the construction of a 300-foot mole, built of concrete blocks, as proposed by the engineer Mr. John Goodall. The first wharf was built as the building of the mole proceeded. The shingle accumulation south of the mole posed a problem, but it was concluded at that stage that dredging was the cheapest and most effective way to deal with it. Then a sandbank began to form at the harbour entrance, and to correct that, further wall extension was found to be necessary.
The shingle question came to a head in 1898 when pounding southerly seas tipped thousands of tons of shingle over the breakwater into the harbour. When the entrance became partly closed, it seemed obvious that the shingle-drifting policy would have to give way to something more positive, and it was decided to build an extension from the beginning of the curve of the concrete breakwater. This idea was put forward by Wellington consulting engineer Mr. J. P. Maxwell.
One more commission looked at the situation and approved the extension idea, and the board was finally empowered to borrow £100,000 for the purpose. This touched off a lively loan campaign, during which more than 20 meetings were held throughout South Canterbury, with speakers having to submit to a barrage of questioning. But the loan proposal was approved handsomely by the ratepayers—by 2065 votes to 754.
Work had hardly begun on the first stage of the extension project when the sea breached the concrete breakwater, thus emphasizing that urgency was the essence of the contract. The board took this view in 1901 when, to enable faster progress, it took over the construction job from the contractors. The planned 3000-foot extension was completed in 1906, when nearly half a million tons of rock had been tipped at a cost of about £136,000. By 1914, the wall had been taken out to 3474 feet and had cost about £150,000."
- Timaru 1859-2009, Celebrating 150 years. Aoraki Heritage Collection, accessed 12/09/2024, https://aorakiheritage.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/3330
1899 - 1906 the eastern extension of the main breakwater was completed, preventing shingle drifting north into the harbour. During the 20th century the breakwaters were extended, realigned and raised.
1903 - Imports and exports during the six months ending June 30 last totalled 73,312 tons, valued at £586,514, and whose shipping tonnage during the same period amounted to 193,504 tons. Timaru ranks third in importance in the matter of exports, having sent away during the first six months of this year 463,498 carcases. - trove.nla.gov.au/128462244
1907 A Dredge 'The Taniwha' was purchased to keep the harbour entrance clear.
1911 Flour milling became an important industry in Timaru and Waimate, and wheat and flour were exported through Timaru’s port. The peak export years were 1911 for wheat and 1913 for flour. Wheat growing declined during the First World War, and by 1924 wheat was being imported to keep the mills operating.
1963–67 An all-weather meat loader was built. A second northern breakwater allowed land to be reclaimed for cargo storage and a fish processing factory.
The building of the harbour changed the coastline at Timaru dramatically. Shingle accumulated south of the harbour, and this new land was used for grain and wool stores and oil tanks. North of the harbour, sand piled up under the clay cliffs to form the beach of Caroline Bay.
William Ferrier (1855-1922), Breakwater Timaru Running a Southerly Gale, 1888, Oil on canvas, Aigantighe Art Gallery Collection 2002.10
William Ferrier was born in Edinburgh, Scotland and immigrated to New Zealand in 1869. He trained as a photographer in Christchurch and Oamaru, and in 1881, set up his own studio in Timaru. Ferrier was the grandfather of the well-known New Zealand painter, Colin McCahon (1919-87), who was born in Timaru. Ferrier is known for his success in documenting a vital part of Timaru’s history on photographic film, but he was also a painter. His landscape paintings were exhibited with the South Canterbury Art Society, of which he was a founding member. He was also a member of the Otago Art Society and Canterbury Society of Arts. Breakwater Timaru Running a Southerly Gale was produced from one of Ferrier’s photographs (see reproduced above). This seascape, with its crashing waves and stormy skies shows the power of nature, and was a popular theme Ferrier returned to in both photography and painting.
People bathing at the beach in Timaru with the port in the background photograph by William Ferrier 1894-01-06 from the The New Zealand Graphic and Ladies Journal - Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections NZG-18940106-0001-02
Timaru breakwater photographed by William Ferrier circa 1896-1899. - natlib.govt.nz/85664
Timaru Harbour & Breakwater, circa 1904, Canterbury, by Muir & Moodie. Purchased 1943. Te Papa (PA.000203)