Thomas Brunner

This article is about the English explorer. For German soccer player, see Thomas Brunner (footballer).

Thomas Brunner (baptised 22 August 1821, in Oxford, England; died 22 April 1874 in Nelson, New Zealand) was an English-born surveyor and explorer remembered for his exploration of the western coastal areas of New Zealand's South Island.

In 1836, aged fifteen, Brunner was sent to learn surveying from an Oxford architect and surveyor, Thomas Greenshields. Five years later, in 1841, he was appointed by the New Zealand Company as an apprentice surveyor and joined a party of colonists travelling to establish a settlement at Nelson, New Zealand. They arrived at Port Nicholson, New Zealand, on September 9 and then crossed the Cook Strait to the new site, arriving on November 4.

For two years thereafter, Brunner assisted in the laying out of the new settlement. During that time, the colony began to appropriate more and more of the nearby Wairau plain, but after the Wairau Affray in 1843, the settlement was forced to look south for more farming land. Brunner, working with Kehu, a Māori he had befriended, was one of those exploring the area. In February 1846, he, Kehu, Charles Heaphy and William Fox explored the upper reaches of the Buller River as far as the Maruia River, before dwindling provisions forced their return. Three weeks later, the party, less Fox, left Nelson on a five-month expedition tracing the western coast of South Island as far south as Hokitika. During this time, Brunner and Heaphy became the first Europeans to visit the Poutini Ngāi Tahu settlements at Taramakau, Arahura and Mawhera (now Greymouth). They also identified Aoraki/Mount Cook as New Zealand's highest mountain.

In December 1846, Brunner began what became his longest and most arduous expedition, following the Buller River to the sea and the west coast as far south as Milford Sound. He and his party also searched for a pass across the Southern Alps. By the end of the following year, they had returned to Mawhera and in early 1848 began the journey back to Nelson, via the Grey and Inangahua river valleys. Also during this time, Brunner and his party ran out of provisions and so were forced to kill and eat their dog. While in Buller Gorge, Brunner apparently suffered a stroke, leaving him paralysed on one side of his body. However, with the aid of Kehu and the rest of his party, he was able to reach Nelson in June 1848. As well as further information about the west coast, Brunner informed the colony that coal was to be found in the Grey River valley.

When news of Brunner's exploits reached England, the Royal Geographical Society awarded him their Patron's Medal in 1851. Brunner's ill-health, however, prevented him from undertaking any further expeditions, although he later returned south along the west coast to lay out the settlements that would become Greymouth and Westport. He retired in 1869 and died on 22 April 1874, in Nelson. A large Māori party attended his funeral at Nelson Cathedral, including his long-time friend Kehu.

See also

• Brunner and Lake Brunner, a town and a lake in the South Island named in Brunner's memory.

Bibliography

• Thomas Brunner ed. John D. Pascoe, The Great Journey: Journal of an Expedition to Explore the Interior of the Middle Island of New Zealand, 1846-1848, Pegasus Press, 1952.
• Nancy M. Taylor (ed.), Early travellers in New Zealand, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1959.
• Philip Temple, New Zealand Explorers, Christchurch: 1985.