King Billy Island (; officially Aua / King Billy Island) is a small island and Scenic Reserve in

Lyttelton Harbour / Whakaraupō Lyttelton Harbour / Whakaraupō is one of two major inlets in Banks Peninsula, on the coast of Canterbury, New Zealand; the other is Akaroa Harbour on the southern coast. It enters from the northern coast of the peninsula, heading in a pred ...

Banks Peninsula Banks Peninsula is a peninsula of volcanic origin on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It has an area of approximately and encompasses two large harbours and many smaller bays and coves. The South Island's largest cit ...

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 ...

Location and description

The island is situated between

Ōtamahua / Quail Island Quail Island ( mi, Ōtamahua or ) officially Ōtamahua / Quail Island is an uninhabited island within Lyttelton Harbour / Whakaraupō in the South Island of New Zealand, close to Christchurch. The island was given its European name by Captain Wi ...

(some away) and Moepuku Point, a peninsula between

Teddington Teddington is a suburb in south-west London in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. In 2021, Teddington was named as the best place to live in London by ''The Sunday Times''. Historically in Middlesex, Teddington is situated on a long m ...

and

Charteris Bay Charteris Bay, officially Te Wharau / Charteris Bay, is a large inlet on the southern coast of Lyttelton Harbour / Whakaraupō, New Zealand. It abuts Diamond Harbour to the east and Teddington to the west. The boundary of the bay also includes � ...

, off

. The island is approximately long and metres wide, covering an estimated at mean high water mark. It is composed of Charteris Bay

Sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

, with a thin layer of soil supporting forest.

Name

The Māori name is considered to mean "no name". The origin of the English name is unknown: it might refer to a comic book character,

King William IV William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded h ...

, or an Aboriginal Australian whaler Billy Lanny.

History

Archaeological sites are recorded on the island showing evidence of quarries, landing sites, and

midden A midden (also kitchen midden or shell heap) is an old dump for domestic waste which may consist of animal bone, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and ecofact ...

s. In pre-European times, the island was a source for

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

of coarse sandstone used for grinding stone including

pounamu Pounamu is a term for several types of hard and durable stone found in southern New Zealand. They are highly valued in New Zealand, and carvings made from pounamu play an important role in Māori culture. Name The Māori word , also used ...

(greenstone). As such the island has cultural significance to

Ngāi Tahu Ngāi Tahu, or Kāi Tahu, is the principal Māori (tribe) of the South Island. Its (tribal area) is the largest in New Zealand, and extends from the White Bluffs / Te Parinui o Whiti (southeast of Blenheim), Mount Mahanga and Kahurangi Poi ...

, especially to Te Hapū o Ngāti Wheke, based at

Te Rāpaki-o-Te Rakiwhakaputa Te Rāpaki-o-Te Rakiwhakaputa, commonly known as Rāpaki or Rapaki, is a small settlement within the Lyttelton Harbour basin. Rāpaki is one of four Banks Peninsula ''rūnanga'' (communities) based around ''marae'' (tribal meeting grounds). The ...

. This sandstone was later quarried by colonists for the corners and facing of the Lyttelton Gaol, among other buildings. The area was included in

Walter Mantell Walter Baldock Durrant Mantell (11 March 1820 – 7 September 1895) was a 19th-century New Zealand naturalist, politician, and land purchase commissioner. He was a founder and first secretary of the New Zealand Institute, and a collector of moa ...

's controversial securing of the harbour (then called Port Cooper) and surrounding land for the Crown in 1849. In April 1858 the island was part of a purchase by Mark Stoddart, and was subsequently sold to

Thomas Potts Thomas Henry Potts (23 December 1824 – 27 July 1888) was a British-born New Zealand naturalist, ornithologist, entomologist, and botanist. He also served in the New Zealand Parliament from 1866 to 1870. Biography The son of a small ar ...

, then to

William Rolleston William Rolleston (19 September 1831 – 8 February 1903) was a New Zealand politician, public administrator, educationalist and Canterbury provincial superintendent. Early life Rolleston was born on 19 September 1831 at Maltby, Yorkshire as th ...

for public purposes. It was owned by the Anderson until 1975, then sold to the Crown. In 1979 it was classified as a Recreation Reserve, but in 1980 this was changed to a Scenic Reserve.

References

{{Authority control Uninhabited islands of New Zealand Islands of Canterbury, New Zealand

Location and description

Name

History

See also

References