Taieri Island / Moturata
island in New Zealand
Taieri Island / Moturata, also called Taieri Island, is an island in the mouth of the Taieri River in southern New Zealand. It is a tidal island connected to the mainland by a sandy causeway at low tide.
The island is a nature reserve, and is home to many protected seabirds, notably yellow-eyed penguins. It was the site of a whaling station, primarily targeting southern right whales and secondly humpbacks and others in the 1830s and 40s. Many shore-whaling stations were operating all around New Zealand's coastline in this time, causing whale numbers to deplete to almost extinction. Today, whales are making a comeback slowly, occasionally being seen in this area in their migrating season. In June 2006, a pod of four southern right whales were seen frolicking off Taieri Mouth. The group was composed of 3 males and 1 female, thought to be a mating group, which had not been observed in the waters of New Zealand for long period.
History
Taieri Island may have been the "Isle of Wight" where The Brothers, a Sydney sealer chartered by Robert Campbell and commanded by Robert Mason landed eight of a gang of eleven men in November 1809. William Tucker, to Māori "Taka" and "Wioree" who settled in 1815 at Whareakeake (Murdering Beach) near the Otago Heads, was in the gang.
“Taieri Island / Moturata” enters the record as island in New Zealand. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Taieri, Island and Moturata can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Taieri Island / Moturata” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Taieri, Island and Moturata provides the most credible route into that argument.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 15, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1719733. Authority coordinates are -46.058, 170.217. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2006, 1809 and 1815.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Taieri Island / Moturata”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Taieri Island / Moturata primary sources, Taieri Island / Moturata archive and Taieri research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
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Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Taieri Island / Moturata” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.