Henry Tucker

Henry Tucker (1793 – 26 August 1850) was a Royal Navy officer and the first colonial storekeeper for the newly established Colony of New Zealand. Early life Tucker entered Royal Navy service at the Plymouth Yard on 29 November 1802, initially as a Shipwright apprentice under the Master Measurer. Tucker completed his apprenticeship on 14 December 1811, when he then became the Clerk to the Master Measurer, remaining in this role until 1822. This was a role of some responsibility requiring above-average literacy and numeracy skills and would have provided Tucker with intimate knowledge of the behind the scenes logistic workings of the Royal Navy. On 16 November 1817 Tucker married Elizabeth Howell (1795–1844) at South Wraxall, Wiltshire, England. It is known that their union produced a daughter Emma Mary who was born in 1829 (died 1859) and a son, William Tucker who was born on 5 January 1843. Elizabeth died on 16 December 1844, and Tucker remarried on 20 December 1845 to Emily Shell. Tucker, with a wife to support, must have decided that a career as a purser would be a profitable and logical path of advancement. At that time pursers were warranted by the Admiralty but did not require professional qualifications. However, some kind of financial surety was required; 20 years as Clerk to a Master Measurer provided that. The duties of a purser were to oversee supply and issue of victuals, slops and other consumables. The purser was one of the five standing officers of the ship. (A standing officer was permanently assigned to a ship.) The purser's position presented many opportunities to the canny to enrich himself, often at the expense of the crew. Bligh of fame, served as his own purser, with the actual work falling to his clerk. The regulations of the Royal Navy demanded that individuals aspiring to become pursers serve at least one year as a captain's clerk, which Tucker completed on HMS Calliope, and in 1825 he obtained his promotion to the rank of Purser and Paymaster.