A shipboard journal kept by Captain Martin Huggett between April 1899 and December 1899 has been generously donated by Paul Struthers for the archives collection at John Kinder Library.
Paul is the great, great nephew of Captain Huggett. He has spent considerable time transcribing the diary as well as researching and writing an article about Captain Huggett and Southern Cross IV, which you can read in full here.
The Anglican Mission to Melanesia and Southern Cross IV
The Anglican Mission to Melanesia was founded by Bishop Selwyn in 1849. The Mission’s activities extended over the islands west of Fiji, including the Solomon Islands and the New Hebrides (now Vanuatu).
Up until the 1890s, the Melanesian Mission was making three voyages per year covering some 10,000 nautical miles and needed a strong and reliable vessel capable of handling the challenging weather conditions of the Pacific Ocean.
Southern Cross IV was a three-masted auxiliary barquentine built for the Melanesian Mission. She was launched in August 1891 at Wivenhoe, England, and was one of a succession of ships built for the Melanesian Mission, all named Southern Cross. You can read about the launching of the ship in this article in the New Zealand Graphic.
Southern Cross IV
Southern Cross IV was in service between 1892 and 1902. She voyaged between Auckland, Norfolk Island, Vanuatu, and the Solomon Islands. The ship was a vital lifeline for communication and transporting missionaries, teachers, supplies and medical aid between the many remote island groups of Melanesia. You can see a model of this ship in the John Kinder Library beside the photocopier.
Captain Martin Huggett and the Southern Cross IV
From 1897, until the end of her service, Southern Cross IV was under the command of Captain Martin Huggett, who had succeeded Captain Bongard as master. After he resigned from the Melanesian Mission in March 1902, Captain Huggett was appointed master of the Government schooner Countess of RANFURLY.
Following a lengthy career at sea, he came ashore and grew fruit in Henderson for a while before joining the New Zealand Customs Service in 1908. Martin Huggett passed away in 1933 at the age of 84 and is buried in St Andrew’s Cemetery, Epsom.
On Pūmotomoto, you can also view images of the various Southern Cross ships and read issues of the Log of the Southern Cross, a monthly magazine produced by the Melanesian Mission to describe to the public the voyages of the ship and the work of the missionaries.
Southern Cross X
Nearly 170 years after the first ship in the series was launched, a small, sturdy steel-hulled yacht was purchased and refitted in Nelson.
In 2024, this new mission ship was christened Southern Cross X. Unfortunately, due to high operating and maintenance costs, this vessel proved to be unsuitable for mission work. The Anglican Church of Melanesia decided to sell the ship in 2025 and use the proceeds to acquire another ship in the near future.
Also see: New vessel blessed for the Church of Melanesia and ACoM Announces Sale of Southern Cross 10
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