The Hermit of Island Bay was a well-known personality, and somewhat of a tourist attraction, at the end of the 19th century in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. His name is recorded as "Persse" by several newspapers of the time, and as "William Persse" by a biographer. The Hermit lived for 17 years in a cave beside the southern coast, in

Island Bay, New Zealand Island Bay is a coastal suburb of Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, situated south of the city centre. Island Bay lies on the bay which shares its name, one of numerous small bays off Cook Strait and west of Lyall Bay. 500m offshore in ...

, close to

Houghton Bay Houghton Bay and Valley is one of the southern suburbs of Wellington, New Zealand. It is located between Island Bay and Lyall Bay, on the rocky shores of the Cook Strait. It has two beaches, Houghton Bay and Princess Bay, used by surfers, swi ...

. The cave had a single opening, through which smoke from his fire exited. Many tourists approached his cave and interacted with the Hermit, who is reported to have been neither pleased nor unhappy with the attention. His cave was boarded up and partially destroyed when ''Queens Drive'' was built in 1894. An oil painting, depicting the Hermit in his cave beside his fire, is held in the collection of the national museum of New Zealand,

Te Papa Tongarewa The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. ''Te Papa Tongarewa'' translates literally to "container of treasures" or in full "container of treasured things and people that spring fr ...

.Object: The hermit of Island Bay
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hermit Of Island Bay, The People from Wellington City History of Wellington New Zealand hermits 19th century in Wellington