Build Date
1908
Boat Builder
Davey Darroch
Length
67.1 Feet
Beam
18.6 Feet
Jane Gifford’s Early Trading Days
Built out of kauri in 1908 by Davey Darroch Jane Gifford was named her after the ship that brought his grandfather George out to New Zealand in 1842. From 1908 to 1916 she was owned by several people including Davey Darroch and NZ Granite Quarries Ltd. Although ketch-rigged the Jane Gifford carried a 8hp launch on board to help get up the rivers. She was deck scow that carried shingle and Coromandel granite from Paritu Bay to Auckland. This granite was used to build many NZ landmarks including Auckland Museum, the Parliament Buildings and Seddon memorial.
In 1916 she was sold to Reg Collins and Henry Kasper to transport stock but Henry would pull out two years later making Reg the sole owner for the next 21 years. Reg used a crew of two and used the Jane Gifford to transport manuka from Kawau Island, sand, scoria and timber.
She then moved to Mahurangi in the 1920s to carry cement shell from near Miranda to Wilson’s cement works near Warkworth. This journey took 8 hours under sail through she had an engine installed in 1921. Wilson’s cement works would later close and the Jane Gifford would move to Auckland to transport cattle
Draught
2.6 Feet
Weight
34.25 Gross Tons /19.86 Net Tons
Jane Gifford In The 1930s to 70s
Jane Gifford had her engine updated in 1931 with an engine room built on the deck for a 24hp Gardner to be installed. Later a second marine engine was added but this never worked well so they replaced it with another Gardner. One of these engines would later be installed in Rahiri in 1947.
In the late 1950s Jane Gifford was sold to Waiheke Shipping Company Ltd., where she was used to transport heavy cargo until they stopped this side of the business and focused on carrying passengers between the island and the mainland. The Jane Gifford was then sold to Subritzky’s Tamaki Water Transport in 1964. They used her to transport freight between Kings Wharf, Matiatia and Ostend. They owned the Jane Gifford and Owhiti with Bill Goodall until 1975 making these two scows some of the last scows still working the Auckland waters.
Restoring Jane Gifford
The Waiuku Museum Society brought Jane Gifford in 1985 for 10 dollars. They spent 7 years and $250,000 restoring her and she was relaunched her on the 28 November 1992. They replaced very bolt in the hull (all 2500 of them), added macrocarpa planks and protective sheathing on the hull, they refitted her stern and new engines were added.
She spent the next few years sailing the Manukau harbour but was again in need of restoration in 2000. She was put on the hard at Okahu Bay with the plan to relaunch her in 2001 but funding was tricky. Jane Gifford ended up changing owners and being moved to a campground in Warkworth for restoration. They removed all the rotten timber in the hull and replaced it with H3 treated pinus radiata planks as they were unable to get kauri. They particularly wanted to stop freshwater getting into the hull which was the cause of many a scows demise. To do this the planks were laminated, glued and nailed. Two reconditioned four cylinder 70 HP 4LW Gardner diesel engines were installed. The restoration was completed in May 2009 and she was relaunched again. She is kept at Warkworth Wharf and is used for charters.
References
To research Jane Gifford we used the book A History of New Zealand Scows and their Trades by David Langdon and the Jane Gifford Society’s website.
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