The Dunedin took the first shipment of frozen meat to Britain in 1882. Photo: Image of oil painting by Frederick Tudgay supplied
Celebrations have been held this week to mark the 140th anniversary of the first shipment of frozen New Zealand lamb arriving in the UK. George Berry has been researching the history of that first voyage for many years.
The idea of William Davidson, the British-based general manager of the New Zealand and Australian Land Company, the first shipment saw 5000 lamb carcasses from Totara Estate near Oamaru sent by rail to Port Chalmers before being loaded onto The Dunedin.
The old passenger ship had been fitted out with a coal-powered Bell Coleman freezing plant.
It set sail for London on February 15 and after weeks at sea only one carcass was condemned when the ship arrived at London on May 24 1882.
The cargo originated from Totara Estate, near Oamaru. At that stage the property stretched over 15,000 acres or 6,000 hectares.
Fifty years ago George Berry moved on to the then much smaller estate and began researching the history of that first voyage.
He caught up with Country Life this week.
George Berry: It was an interesting exercise because for some reason they chose to send the meat by sailing ship frozen in the hold of the ship because there were no freezing facilities on shore. And the stock was killed on the estate here and railed down to Dunedin, in insulated railway wagons. Within a few days of filling the holds with the first 600-odd sheep, the freezing machinery broke down. And the first people to eat frozen meat from New Zealand were actually the residents of the area where it had to be offered for sale. So anyway, they had more success, once that was repaired, and the ship took off on the 15th of February 92, for London around the Cape Horn.
Country Life: They used coal to provide the energy to keep the lamb frozen. Is that right?
George Berry: I'm no expert. But effectively the coal-fired steam boiler was used. The steam fired a compressor. The compressor compressed the warm air and when it was released, again from the compressor, it came out at a very low temperature and that's how freezing was achieved. It was quite innovative for its time. The machinery involved progressed very rapidly. But this was a very early one and it worked very well because it was 98 days on the journey from Port Chalmers to Tilbury Docks in London. And they had a lot of excitement on the way, one way and another. If you can imagine sailing around Cape Horn that deep in the Southern Ocean and then through the Tropics, doldrums. Some of the drama revolved around the sailing ship belching steam and smoke and of course, occasionally the sails would catch on fire. There were times when passing steam ships saw a sailing ship with smoke.
That didn't seem to concern the captain Whitson, who was in charge; ships would come over to offer assistance, which was an embarrassment to him to say the least. It was a successful voyage. The meat arrived at Tilbury Docks, they anchored it up there for a month using it as a freezer and fed the meat into Smithfield market. And the 4300 sheep and 600-odd lambs were double the price and profit that they would have achieved in New Zealand. So that's how it all started.
Country Life: Did anything spoil on the way?
George Berry: There was only one carcass in the whole lot that was condemned, and that was thought that was because it had been dumped before it was frozen. The biggest drama on the journey actually was in the Tropics when the ship was caught on one tack for a long time and the cold air wasn't moving in the hold. So the temperatures were rising. And Captain Whitson, who was a real hero, lowered himself down on a rope on a ventilation shaft into the holds and cut holes to allow more circulation of the air. Now that nearly killed Captain Whitson because he was almost frozen to death when they managed to pull him out by a rope that they had secured around his legs back up the ventilation shaft. And when he got to London, the land company directors were so impressed with his performance they awarded him 100 guineas, and the shipping line gave him 20 pounds. So his efforts were rewarded. That was a fortune in those days.
He seems to have been one of the best sailing masters of his time. So he completed three more voyages before he took ill in Oamaru and died here so he wasn't on the last voyage.
You know, there were hundreds of ships wrecked on the Cape Horn route. There were icebergs and fierce storms, so it was pretty gutsy stuff.
Country Life: Was there much feedback about the quality of the lamb? What did the British farmers think about New Zealand lamb arriving on their shores?
George Berry: Even before the first shipment arrived in Britain, British farmers were concerned it would damage the market. But there was a scarcity of meat in UK at that time, so their fears were never realised. When the sheep arrived at Smithfield market, the butchers there who bought the meat said they'd never seen such big sheep. It's a great story.
