Charles heaphy biography

Born in London, Heaphy was the son of a professional painter and inherited some of his father's artistic skills.
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Charles Heaphy VC (1820 – 3 August 1881) was an English-born New Zealand explorer and recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest military award for.

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Charles Heaphy

ca. 1822 — 3 August 1881

Major Charles Heaphy, VC (1‑5‑34)

Heaphy, born ca. 1822 in London, was an artist and surveyor who explored New Zealand in the 1840s. He landed in New Zealand in 1839 as a draughtsman for the New Zealand Company. He settled in Auckland in 1848 and later joined the local militia, the Auckland Rifle Volunteers. He was awarded the Victoria Cross for rescuing a wounded soldier under fire in the Māori Wars on 11 February 1864 at the Mangapiko River. Heaphy himself was hit in three places by musket balls while assisting the wounded man, with whom he had stayed all day. He was the first soldier of an irregular unit to be awarded the Victoria Cross.

After his army career, he had a lengthy career as a civil servant, chiefly concerned with surveying and became a Member of Parliament. He retired from public life in 1881 and sailed with his wife to Brisbane. He died in Ann Street, Brisbane on 3 August 1881 of tuberculosis.

Charles Heaphy. Ref: 1/2-003062-F. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. /records/22544487

Headstone

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Charles Heaphy 1820-1881

The young Charles Heaphy was initially employed by the New Zealand Company as an artist and draughtsman, but his duties were varied and included helping to chart the coastline and channels of the new colony.

Charles Heaphy The Nelson Provincial Museum, Tyree Studio Collection 68969/3
Click image to enlarge

Heaphy was an ideal colonist as he was an acute observer, energetic, persistent and versatile. He arrived in Wellington in 1839 and was soon convinced there was flat, farmable land in the centre of the South Island. The New Zealand Company employed him as an explorer.

In February 1846, Heaphy set off to search for land with William Fox, Thomas Brunner and their guide, Kehu (Ngati Tumatakokiri). They reached the beginning of the Buller Gorge and returned to Nelson via the Hope Saddle.

In March, Heaphy persuaded Brunner and Kehu to accompany him in search of the mouth of the Buller River. Both Heaphy and Brunner may not have survived without the hospitality of Maori along the coast and Kehu's expert guidance.

Heaphy's account of the gruelin

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Charles Heaphy

English explorer, recipient of the Victoria Cross and artist

Charles HeaphyVC (1820 – 3 August 1881) was an English-born New Zealand explorer and recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest military award for gallantry "in the face of the enemy" that could be awarded to British and Empire forces at the time. He was the first soldier of the New Zealand armed forces to be awarded the VC. He was also a noted artist of the colonial period who created watercolours and sketches of early settler life in New Zealand.

Born in England, Heaphy joined the New Zealand Company in 1839. He arrived in New Zealand later that year and was commissioned to make a visual record of the company's work which was used to advertise the country to potential English migrants. Much of the next 2+1⁄2 years was spent travelling around New Zealand and executing paintings of the land and its inhabitants. When his contract with the company ended in 1842, he lived in Nelson for several years and explored large parts of the West Coast. He later moved north to Auckland to take up em