For most of his working career, he was based around the southern part of the South Island of New Zealand and is regarded as one of the greatest whalers of that region.
The infant was named Thomas and was born around the time Chaseland senior married and he was raised in the family home with his other children at Windsor in the Hawkesbury River region.
From this base, Chaseland worked as a whaler, sealer, whaling station manager and maritime pilot.
[3] Chaseland was shipwrecked several times and, on one of these occasions, had to navigate a small open boat many miles back to land.
[3] He was also involved in various skirmishes with Maori clans and is presumed to have taken part in a massacre of local villagers near Milford Sound.
[3] In 1850, Puna died and Chaseland married a young Maori woman named Pakawhatu, with whom he had four children.