La présence étrangère à Wallis au XIX ème siècle

7 Novembre 2012, 20:43pm

Publié par kodamian

Il n'y avait que quelques étrangers qui vivaient à Wallis au XIXème siècle, et en consultant des documents sur internet, on apprend qu'ils étaient à peine une demi-douzaine dans les années 1870.

En consultant le site internet suivant,

http://wendtfamilytree.tribalpages.com/

qui est consacré à une famille présente sur le fenua, on apprend la chose suivante :

John Henry Smith était d'origine allemande, son nom véritable étant SCHMIDT, et qui était arrivé à Mata-Utu via les Etats-Unis en 1859. Il travaillait dans le commerce du Coprah.

Ce commerce était florissant à cette époque et le coprah était acheminé en Europe avec les bateaux qui revenaient d'Australie où ils avaient convoyé des émigrants européens. Ces compagnies étaient basées à Hambourg pour certaines, port important d'Europe d'où partaient les navires vers l'océanie lointaine.

John Henry SMITH se maria avec Helena TOIFALE ( originaire de Rotuma ), et leur fille , Elizabeth , née à New-York, se maria avec Ernst Jerome WENDT en 1876. Ce dernier travaillait pour une compagnie allemande , J.C.GODEFROY et compagnie, justement spécialisée dans le commerce de Coprah acheté localement. Le couple eut 14/15 enfants entre les années 1876 et 1898.

On apprend sur un article trouvé sur internet que John Henry Smith, citoyen américain, fut expulsé en 1876 de Wallis par la Reine, accusé d'avoir comploté contre la mission et de tentative " d'assassinat " contre l'évéque.

http://books.google.fr/books?id=R6WqaV8vPJ4C&pg=PA24&lpg=PA24&dq=commerce+du+coprah+%C3%A0+wallis+et+futuna&source=bl&ots=OVg0D-5N5B&sig=dCP169fJaiUTWESDXuPr17gpMWM&hl=fr&sa=X&ei=Li2aUKmiKIrJ0QX_9IDQCA&ved=0CB8Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=commerce%20du%20coprah%20%C3%A0%20wallis%20et%20futuna&f=false

Au cours des années 1880, Ernst Jerome WENDT fit de nombreux déplacements, au samoa tout d'abord qui était une ile sous domination allemande et où était basée la compagnie pour laquelle il travaillait, mais il se déplaça également aux iles fidji. Il eut également deux enfants avec une femme samoanne, qui vinrent vivre à Wallis pendant quelques années avec le reste de la fratrie, mais qui retournèrent par la suite vivre avec leur mère. Ernst mourut à Samoa en 1902.

Vous pourrez lire sur le lien l'histoire de la famille telle qu'elle est racontée.

( en anglais ).

Ernst's sons Maxwell , Louis , William & Otto carried on his work as agents for the Deutsche Handels
und Plantagen Gesellschaft fur Sud-See Inseln zu Hamburg, [DHPG - shortened name)the company that
had taken over from J.C.Godefroy & Company, Hamburg who were forced into bankrupcy in the year 1879
over investments in Russian Paper and Westphalian iron.

The copra trade continued until the break out of the first world war (1915-1919), when French
traders via New Caledonia started arriving in the Wallis & Futuna Islands and as the territory was
French were given more stakes in the local trade.

It is not clear what happened next , but I believe Ernst's sons pulled out of the copra trade split
what they had earned over the years and started to look for greener pastures.

My grand father Maxwell Wendt Sr the eldest in the family moved his family to the Fiji Islands
around 1926-1927 as Fiji was developing into the "HUB" of the Pacific as business and trade was
thriving big time here as it is still today.Descendants are here in Fiji , NZ , Australia , New
Caledonia and France. He died in Fiji.

Grand uncle Otto Wendt had already settled in Levuka , Fiji , around 1905 some years earlier and
married here to Lucy 'A' Costa. A number of descendants are still living here in Fiji also in NZ and
Australia. He died in Fiji.

Grand uncle William Wendt married a Wallisian maiden and his family also moved to Fiji for a short
period of time then relocated to New Caledonia , a few of his children married Wallisians and
Futunans and did end up in Wallis & Futuna again.He has a very large family in New Caledonia ,
France and Wallis & Futuna.He died in New Caledonia.

Grand uncle Louis Wendt married Wallisian maiden and had 4 daughters in the Wallis Islands ,
descendants we have just managed to locate via facebook very recently.Decendants are found in Wallis
& Futuna , New Caledonia & France.He died in the Wallis Islands.

Grand uncle Alfred Wendt is also said to have moved to Fiji and married Louisa Wedlock a number of
their descendants are in Canada now.It is said that he lived and died in Fiji.

Grand uncle John Wendt (Soane Tukuo) - no information at this point in time - believed to have lived
and died in the Wallis Islands . Grand uncle William named one of his sons after him.

Grand uncle Metotio Wendt is said to have married a Wallisian maiden by the name of 'Senelosa' -
have no information on him at this point in time - believed to have lived and died in the Wallis
Islands.

Grand uncle Ernest Wendt Jr - is known to have not married and lived and died in the Wallis Islands.

Grand uncle Arthur Wendt - there has not been any information about his life to date.

Grand aunty Ellen Wendt - is said to have married a 'Charles Peterson' and relocation to the Samoa
Islands - have not been able to make contact with descendants.

Grand aunty Sofia Wendt - is said to have married 'Alfred Joubert' a frenchman - have yet to make
contact with descendants.Sofia is said to have relocated to the Samoa Islands after her husbands
death in the early 1900s but is said to have returned and died in the Wallis Islands.

Grand aunty Emma Wendt - is said to have married Jacob Steiner Jr and settled on Nukubati Island in
the northern Fiji group. Descendants still own the island and live there - a number of descendants
are known to the family.

Grand aunty Emalita Wendt - is said to have married a Futunan 'Ateleno Amole Keletaona' - have yet
to make contact with descendants. I believe she lived and died on the island of Futuna.

Grand aunty Helena Wendt  - there has been no information available about her and her descendants.

Grand uncle Heinrich Johannes Wendt Sr - married Mary Trood in the early 1900s - there are a great
many descendants today in Samoa , NZ , Australia and the US.

Grand uncle Hans Wendt - very little information we have of him, but also lived his life in the
Samoa and descendants are also found in Samoa.

We have yet to find descendants of relatives of Ernst Jerome Wendt and the exact location in Germany
he was originally from , except he was born around 1838 and worked for J.C.Godefroy & Company,
Hamburg until 1879 and then Deutsche Handels und Plantagen Gesellschaft fur Sud-See
Inseln zu Hamburg, [DHPG)until the late 1800s.
Hopefully in the not too distant future , someone will find a list of employees on either of the
above Germany companies operating in the Pacific Islands from around 1855 to about 1900 to enable us
to know our ancestors exact name , where in Germany he originated from and whether there are
descendants of his family and relatives somewhere.



I think it is very important that all Wendt Families especially those who are in the
Pacific area or who originated from this part of the world, come on board and share on
line our relationships with each other and other related Wendt Families. We are all
descendants of a very old Eastern European Family which came into being, many hundreds
of years ago. 

The main intentions for going on line with what information I have managed to gather
over the last few years was to ensure that future generations  of our Wendt’s know
exactly who their ancestors were, how they were related to other Wendt’s and also how
they were related to other families who intergrated into our Wendt Family through
marriage over the last 4 to 5 generations. The benefits or advantages of having the
knowledge of all your relatives far outweighs the advantage of being isolated from
them, as the saying goes “United We Stand Dived We Fall”.

As we continue with our research, discussions, and sharing with other family members,
some of the above information will be changed from time to time, to improve our
accuracy of our family history records.


J.C.Godefroy & Company, Hamburg
Merchants & Shippers

As per our research to date we beleive nearly all Wendt Families in the Pacific today
are Descendants of Ernest Jerome Wendt. ( Ernst Johann Wendt )
who is said to have been born around 1838 in Germany and died in 1902 in Wallis. He
arrived in the Pacific Islands with his brother or a close cousin of his between the periods of
1860-1870 on a Copra Trading/Immigrant Vessel. I believe his brother or close cousin of his, was
Captain HW Wendt who was around this part of the Pacific at same time. Oral stories handed down
about our forefathers were that there two Wendt brothers in the Pacific Island during this period.
We know now that Ernst our ancestor was an agent for the J.C.Godefroy & Company, Hamburg
Merchants & Shippers. During this period this company concentrated on transporting immigrants to
Australia and other countries. On the vessels return voyage to Germany they would pick up copra
(coconut meal)from their agents who were stationed in each of the islands , buying from the local
population and storing ready for the various vessels returning to Germany.

The first recorded documents of Ernst in the Pacific is the year 1876 when Ernst Jerome Wendt Sr is
said to have married Elizabeth Smith, a daughter of a John Henry
Smith and Helena Toifale a maiden from the island of Wallis (Uvea). John Henry Smith a German-Jew
arrived a decade or two earlier via the United Sates of America (Copra/General
Traders)had based themselves at Matautu . It was said the surname Smith was originally Schmidt.

As per our research to date we beleive nearly all Wendt Families in the Pacific today
are Descendants of Ernest Jerome Wendt. ( Ernst Johann Wendt )
who is said to have been born around 1838 in Germany and died in 1902 in Wallis. He
arrived in the Pacific Islands with his brother or a close cousin of his between the periods of
1860-1870 on a Copra Trading/Immigrant Vessel. I believe his brother or close cousin of his, was
Captain HW Wendt who was around this part of the Pacific at same time. Oral stories handed down
about our forefathers were that there two Wendt brothers in the Pacific Island during this period.
We know now that Ernst our ancestor was an agent for the J.C.Godefroy & Company, Hamburg
Merchants & Shippers. During this period this company concentrated on transporting immigrants to
Australia and other countries. On the vessels return voyage to Germany they would pick up copra
(coconut meal)from their agents who were stationed in each of the islands , buying from the local
population and storing ready for the various vessels returning to Germany.

The first recorded documents of Ernst in the Pacific is the year 1876 when Ernst Jerome Wendt Sr is
said to have married Elizabeth Smith, a daughter of a John Henry
Smith and Helena Toifale a maiden from the island of Wallis (Uvea). John Henry Smith a German-Jew
arrived a decade or two earlier via the United Sates of America (Copra/General
Traders)had based themselves at Matautu . It was said the surname Smith was originally Schmidt.

As peAs per our research to date we beleive nearly all Wendt Families in the Pacific today

are Descendants of Ernest Jerome Wendt. ( Ernst Johann Wendt )
who is said to have been born around 1838 in Germany and died in 1902 in Wallis. He
arrived in the Pacific Islands with his brother or a close cousin of his between the periods of
1860-1870 on a Copra Trading/Immigrant Vessel. I believe his brother or close cousin of his, was
Captain HW Wendt who was around this part of the Pacific at same time. Oral stories handed down
about our forefathers were that there two Wendt brothers in the Pacific Island during this period.
We know now that Ernst our ancestor was an agent for the J.C.Godefroy & Company, Hamburg
Merchants & Shippers. During this period this company concentrated on transporting immigrants to
Australia and other countries. On the vessels return voyage to Germany they would pick up copra
(coconut meal)from their agents who were stationed in each of the islands , buying from the local
population and storing ready for the various vessels returning to Germany.

The first recorded documents of Ernst in the Pacific is the year 1876 when Ernst Jerome Wendt Sr is
said to have married Elizabeth Smith, a daughter of a John Henry
Smith and Helena Toifale a maiden from the island of Wallis (Uvea). John Henry Smith a German-Jew
arrived a decade or two earlier via the United Sates of America (Copra/General
Traders)had based themselves at Matautu . It was said the surname Smith was originally Schmidt.

r our research to date we beleive nearly all Wendt Families in the Pacific today
are Descendants of Ernest Jerome Wendt. ( Ernst Johann Wendt )
who is said to have been born around 1838 in Germany and died in 1902 in Wallis. He
arrived in the Pacific Islands with his brother or a close cousin of his between the periods of
1860-1870 on a Copra Trading/Immigrant Vessel. I believe his brother or close cousin of his, was
Captain HW Wendt who was around this part of the Pacific at same time. Oral stories handed down
about our forefathers were that there two Wendt brothers in the Pacific Island during this period.
We know now that Ernst our ancestor was an agent for the J.C.Godefroy & Company, Hamburg
Merchants & Shippers. During this period this company concentrated on transporting immigrants to
Australia and other countries. On the vessels return voyage to Germany they would pick up copra
(coconut meal)from their agents who were stationed in each of the islands , buying from the local
population and storing ready for the various vessels returning to Germany.

The first recorded documents of Ernst in the Pacific is the year 1876 when Ernst Jerome Wendt Sr is
said to have married Elizabeth Smith, a daughter of a John Henry
Smith and Helena Toifale a maiden from the island of Wallis (Uvea). John Henry Smith a German-Jew
arrived a decade or two earlier via the United Sates of America (Copra/General
Traders)had based themselves at Matautu . It was said the surname Smith was originally Schmidt.

Commenter cet article