Stephen James Carkeek (12 April 1815 – 27 November 1878) was a New Zealand civil servant, the colony's first Inspector of Customs, and the builder of the oldest-surviving observatory in the country.
Early life and Australia
Carkeek was born in Swansea, Wales, on 12 April 1815; his name is Cornish, as his father Morgan was a Cornish sea captain who had moved to Swansea. Stephen Carkeek joined the Navy (possibly after attending the Royal Naval College) and in late 1837 came to New South Wales as the first officer of a convict transportation ship. He then worked for the colonial administration in Sydney and was appointed first officer of the revenue cutter Ranger, a coastal patrol vessel that enforced tariffs, on 21 February 1838. He became commander of the Ranger and its crew of 13, based in Port Phillip, on 23 July 1839. In Sydney he married Martha Piotti (1807–1892), and his daughter Frances was born there in 1840.
Career in New Zealand
On 3 March 1840 he and the Ranger were loaned to the New Zealand colonial administrators (New Zealand was still administered by New South Wales at the time) under the orders of William Hobson. Carkeek acted as a government pilot, and with Felton Mathew surveyed the Firth of Thames, the Waitematā harbour, and the Hauraki Gulf. He also transported government stores and officials around the Bay of Islands and Auckland, confiscating stolen or indebted ships and returning runaway convicts to Sydney.
Carkeek resigned his position in Sydney and was assigned the government brig Victoria on 18 March 1841, transporting Māori chiefs to Mahia, goods to the Marsdens, and George Cooper and his family from Russell (then known as Kororareka) in the Bay of Islands to Auckland. However, after neglecting some victualling paperwork he was forced to hand over command of the brig on 23 April 1841. He and his family settled in the port of Russell, where Carkeek was soon employed as landing-waiter (a customs house officer in charge of the landing of cargo) and tide surveyor. On a salary of £200, he enforced permits and fines on the sale of liquor – a significant revenue stream for the young colony.
On 7 February 1842 Carkeek was ordered to move to the newly established settlement of Nelson, promoted to landing-waiter and sub-collector of customs (but at the same salary). His two-room house, which for nine months had also been serving as the customhouse in Russell, accompanied him when he arrived in the Abercrombie on 5 March – its transportation cost £86 9s, which he had to borrow from his superior. The customhouse was set up on Wakefield Quay, and Carkeek began collecting duties on landed goods and intercepting alcohol being smuggled ashore, which made him unpopular with the settlers. He employed five armed boatmen, "in view of the desperate boats" frequenting the area. By 1843 Carkeek was harbourmaster and member of the board of management, taking over responsibilities for the postal service as well (again at no extra pay); he was also on the Committee of the Nelson Literary Institution. During his time in Nelson Carkeek was known for his long trenchant letters to authorities defending the rights and duties of customs officials.