The Robinson Family of Niihau

Captain and Mrs. (Eliza) Sinclair in 1843


Thought our Kauai friends might be interested in this: I mentioned in the previous blog that while in Akaroa last week we visited their local museum. One of the interesting sidelights of the visit was that, while going thru some of historical photographs of the early settlers to the region, we came across these two: one of Capt. and Mrs. (Eliza) Sinclair and other of their daughter Helen. People in Hawaii know the Robinson name from Gay & Robinson - one of the original Kama'aina families which bought vast holdings from the King back in 1863. They're the family that own the private island of Niihau as well as around 20,000 acres on Kauai where they've been growing sugar for almost 150 years. Thing is, they originally came from New Zealand - and from this particular area. We came across some historical records here in addition to the photos that told the family history on Banks peninsula, back when this was the first (and only) European settlement on the South Island.


Helen Sinclair, who later married G. A. Robinson


The Sinclairs arrived in Wellington from Scotland in 1841. After some unsuccessful ventures there Capt. Sinclair, who had fought for England in the Napoleonic Wars, built a small ship (a 12.5 meter sloop called the Richmond) and began trading up and down the east coast of both north and south islands. On one of his voyages he first saw Pigeon Bay, which was next to Paua Bay (where we were staying) in 1843, and was immediately attracted to it. Shortly thereafter he moved the family to the Banks peninsula and purchased land from the French, making them some of the first British settlers in the region. They established a farm, which they called Craigforth, and apparently operated a pretty prosperous business for a few years until May 11, 1846 when the Captain and his son were lost at sea during a storm while ferrying supplies to Wellington. Mrs. Sinclair remained in New Zealand for several more years before selling off her holdings and purchasing a ship to carry 3 families: the Gays, Robinsons and the Sinclairs to British Columbia where she intended to buy land in the Vancouver area. Enroute they passed thru Honolulu, remained briefly while resupplying, then continued on to the Pacific Northwest. They were unfortunately disappointed in what they saw there - either too expensive or too cold & rainy I guess, and turned around intending to try their luck in Australia. Again they passed thru Honolulu where King Kamehameha enticed them to remain by offering large tracts of land, including Niihau, which they ultimately purchased.

Eliza Sinclair was the matriarch of the family in Hawaii for many years. Their Makaweli homestead became well known - both Mark Twain and Isabella Bird visited and wrote about it.

Helen Sinclair married a man named Robinson, the first magistrate of the town of Akaroa, before they all departed in 1863. One of the other daughters (Jane) married the Captain of the whaling ship Offley, which visited Pigeon Bay in 1849, named Thomas Gay. So...that's the short version of how the Robinson family wound up in Hawaii, and why the company name on Kauai is Gay & Robinson.

One of the interesting side notes about the Sinclair family history on the Banks peninsula was their close and warm relationship with the local Maori, something they would carry with them to Hawaii where their relationship with the native Hawaiians has always been noteworthy.