The Hermit of Island Bay

The Hermit of Island Bay was a well-known personality, and somewhat of a tourist attraction, at the end of the 19th century in Wellington, New Zealand.[1]

The cave used by the hermit

His name is recorded as "Persse" by several newspapers of the time,[2][3] and as "William Persse" by a biographer.[4]

The Hermit lived for 17 years in a cave beside the southern coast, in Island Bay, New Zealand, close to Houghton Bay. The cave had a single opening, through which smoke from his fire exited.[5]

Many tourists approached his cave and interacted with the Hermit, who is reported to have been neither pleased nor unhappy with the attention.[6]

His cave was boarded up and partially destroyed when Queens Drive was built in 1894.[7]

An oil painting, depicting the Hermit in his cave beside his fire, is held in the collection of the national museum of New Zealand, Te Papa Tongarewa.[8]

References

  1. ↑ Evening Post, Volume XXVIII, Issue 133, 2 December 1884, Page 3
  2. ↑ Star , Issue 6248, 4 August 1898, Page 1
  3. ↑ Star, Issue 6215, 1 August 1898, Page 3
  4. ↑ The Hermit of Island Bay / by Pat Hutchison
  5. ↑ Dominion Post
  6. ↑ Colonist, Volume XXVIII, Issue 4261, 6 October 1885, Page 4
  7. ↑ Hermit made way for coastal tour
  8. ↑ Object: The hermit of Island Bay
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