Charles Heaphy

Charles Heaphy, VC (1822-1881) was a New Zealand explorer.

Charles Heaphy was only seventeen ears old when he was appointed as resident Artist and Surveyor to the first New Zealand Company expedition to New Zealand, sailing with William Wakefield on the Tory and arriving in what later became known as Wellington late in 1839. In 1841 he joined Arthur Wakefield on the expedition that lead to the founding of Nelson. From here he took part in several expeditions to explore the North West corner of the South island.

In 1848 he was appointed gold fields commissioner at Coromandel. In 1859 he joined the Armed Constabulary as a volunteer and subsequently took part in the Invasion of the Waikato. It was during this conflict that he was awarded the Victoria Cross for saving a wounded comrade; the first and for a long time the only Colonial Soldier to receive it.

In 1865 he was appointed Chief Surveyor for Auckland and in 1867 elected to the House of Representatives for Parnell, a area of Auckland. In 1878 he was appointed as a judge of the Native land Court but retired two years later due to ill health. He died in Brisbane in 1881.

Charles Heaphy was an accomplished artist and his watercolours are an important record of the many of the scenes in the early days of European settlement in New Zealand. However he is probably best remembered for the Heaphy Track which is named after him. He and Thomas Brunner were probably the first Europeans to walk through this area in the North west corner of the South Island