Back Roads

Aoteaora's first Maori police woman

2025-04-18T06:41:00.001+12:00

Evelyn Mete Kingi was born Evelyn Owen in Moerewa and has been described as a woman of resilience and character.

She was born in 1922 and joined the third intake of women into the police force in Wellington in 1943 then serving in Auckland. Back then women were expected to get married, stay at home and have babies instead of having a career.

After 3 years she left to marry but then later became a justice of the peace. She passed away in 2018 and was honoured by at her tangi at Maungarongo Marae by Northland District Commander Superintendent Russell Le Prou and Far North Area Commander Riki Whiu.

Evelyn's story is part of the book "Tact and Tenacity: New Zealand Women in Policing".

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Private Ernest Moody

2025-04-12T13:24:00.003+12:00

With ANZAC Day coming up I thought it would be appropriate to share a few stories from those who have fought in our wars.

From the Northern Advocate, 20th November 1916:

Private Ernest Moody of Whangarei who was in Carterton on weekend leave from Featherston Camp, passed away suddenly soon after dinner. He said that he did not feel well, collapsed immediately and died within an hour. The medical man called in certified to haemorraging of the brain and word to the effect had been received by Private Moody's relatives in Whangarei. He was the youngest son of T.P. Moody, a pioneer of the coal industry in the Bay of Islands and Hikurangi. Private Moody joined the staff at the Whangarei branch of Bank of New Zealand as a youth about 21 years ago and after several years was drafted to other branches including Auckland, Timaru, Christchurch and Inglewood.

Lest we forget.

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Charlotte Alexander

2025-02-02T08:08:00.001+13:00

Charlotte Harata Hone Rameka Alexander was born in 1887 at Waimate North and passed away at Rawene on 14th October 1933, now resting at St Catherine's Cemetery in Okaihau.

She is described by family members as being a wonderful mother, extremely kind, gentle and always willing to help people including caring for her husband's father until his passing in 1923.

She married William Alexander in 1918 at Okaihau and they had 5 children; Mary, Annie, Charlotte, Alfred, Wilson, Sara, Sidney, John Graham and John Rameka. Her parents were Hone Rameka and Kahuwhero Pirika. Her siblings were Anaru, Horomona, Peti, Naru, Winiata, Ngangi and Peti.

Photo of headstone not mine, taken from Family Search by Yvonne Going.

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RIP Mr John Kerr

2024-12-31T07:07:00.005+13:00

REHIA SETTLER DROWNED - Auckland Star Volume 55, Issue 82, 5 April 1924, Page 11

(Back in 1924 there was a terrible flood in Dargaville.) So far there has only been one life lost in the floods that have done so much damage on the flat country bordering on the Kaipara Harbour. The victim was Mr John Kerr, a well known settler of Rehia who was drowned while trying to cross a creek between Tokatoka and his own property. He was a married man with a grown up family and formerly lived in Auckland where he was a member of a well known firm Messrs Kerr and Owsley. The body has been recovered

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Mangawhai Wharf

2024-11-19T07:24:00.001+13:00

Mangawhai Wharf about 1927 showing the shed where incoming and outgoing goods were checked - Mangawhai Museum.

In 1880 finance was made available for a wharf to be built at Mangawai landing at Mangawai Village. The successful application for 600 pounds from the Public Works Dept. by the Mangawai Highway board, had been drawn up by Mr McDonald, C E Auckland. Mr TW Webster was chairman at the time, and he and his Board members contacted Mr A Stewart to get the construction done.

Mr and Mrs Harry Stone on Mangawhai Wharf 1938 - Mangawhai Museum.

On 19th February 1881 the Daily Southern Cross reported that the new wharf at Mangawai was nearly complete, and reflected great credit on the contractor Kenneth Stewart. The main proportions of the wharf were: 330 feet long by a breadth of 10 feet. Handrail along one side of it and a curb on the other side. Iron train rails were fixed on which a trolley or truck ran, for transporting goods either to be exported or for delivery of that which had arrived. Across the far end of the wharf, a 'T"'section was added. This was 40 feet by 19 feet. On this section a warehouse was built 34 feet by 19 feet was erected with a door that hung on rollers. The door was 10 feet wide by 8 feet high which gave room for cargo to be loaded directly from ship to safe storage.

Mangawhai Wharf in 1916 - Mangawhai Museum.

In 1881 Mr Pearson Wilson was still Hotelier and also manager of The Store, where he was acting 'Wharfinger' . It was a booming trade as huge tonnage of Kauri gum was written up, passed through and loaded for export to Auckland. The wharf became a focal point for inland industries, involved in the export of goods and cargo. For passengers, travelling to Auckland, it was a huge improvement to all previous services that had meant rowing, then climbing from a dinghy to the cutter or schooner. Eventually the wharf fell into disrepair over the years and was sadly demolished. Information from the Mangawhai Museum.

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Discovery of Cinnabar at Puhipuhi

2024-10-31T08:39:00.001+13:00

On this day 31st October 1891 - in the Northern Advocate Page 3 a Mr Rathbone discovered Cinnabar in Puhipuhi, north of Whangarei. If you didn't know, Cinnabar is a very toxic mercury sulphide mineral prized for it's mercury content as well as it's colour.

These days Mercury is highly poisonous and toxic, in fact one of my ancestors was a Mercury miner in Thames and he passed away at aged 50. It is still being mined today.

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Box factory fire in Kohukohu

2024-05-08T08:21:00.005+12:00

On 2nd April 1937 a serious fire occurred in Hokianga's Kohukohu. It is not known how the fire started but it originated in the factory that makes wooden butter boxes and it spread to the local general store.

According to the Waikato Times, Volume 121, Issue 20158, 2 April 1937:

There is no estimate of the total damage when fire destroyed the plant and buildings of the KDV box factory and a general store plus contents owned by Mr T. Downs at Kohukohu early this morning. It is understood the insurances on the mill plant and stock destroyed totalled 3300 pounds. The tide was out at the time and other water was not readily available which ruined any effective attempt to quell the blaze which was soon out of hand.
With the aid of buckets, a section of the crowd eagerly undertook to save a detached house which had been occupied by a member of the company. The task was successful, but Mr Downs had no insurance on his stock, and he estimates his loss at around 900 pounds. About 70 employees will lose their jobs in the mill and in the box factory on account of the fire.

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Sinking of the SS Ventnor

2024-03-31T08:39:00.003+13:00

The SS Ventnor leaving Westport in 1901

The SS Ventnor was built in Glasgow, Scotland in 1901 for Gow, Harrison and Co as a British cargo steamship. Her length was 344.7 ft and her depth was 25.7 ft with tonnages of 3,961 GRT, 2,581 NRT and 6,400 DWT. In 1902 it sank off the coast of New Zealand with a loss of 13 crew members.

The cargo of the ship is even more interesting and tragic as it was carrying the remains of 499 Chinese gold miners who had died in New Zealand and were in the process of being taken back to China. 9 elderly Chinese people were "coffin attendants" who were caring for the remains. The ship was also holding 5,347 tonnes of coal and sacks of fungus, tow and flax.

The first survivors to land at Omapere.

The charity named Cheong Sing Tong had chartered the ship to return the remains back to China as the men who had been mostly gold miners were from the Guangdong province but the sinking marked the end of ships returning exhumed remains.

Mr Bryer's house in Omapere where the survivors were accommodated.

Group portrait showing the surviving officers.

The Ship left Wellington for Hong Kong on 26 October 1902 and about 12.30am the following morning it became stuck on a reef off the South Coast of Cape Egmont. It freed itself under it's own power but water was leaking into the number one hold. Because Wellington didn't have a suitable dockyard to repair the ship, the master decided to carry on to Auckland but water continued coming in faster than the pumps could push it out.

SS Ventnor memorial, Ōpononi

Everyone was instructed to abandon the ship as it started sinking about 9 nautical miles off the Hokianga coast. 2 lifeboat, 1 commanded by the first officer reached Omapere beach and a 3rd landed later but sadly a 4th capsized drowning 24 people including Captain ferry and the elderly Chinese attendants. An enquiry into the disaster on November 1902 found that the sinking happened because of either negligence or incompetence. They couldn't prove drunkenness, the blame lay with the Captain.

Over the next months the remains of the Chinese gold miners started washing ashore and the iwi Te Roroa and Te Rarawa buried them near their own Urupa. This memorial commemorates the event and remembers the people who died including the cultural connections between New Zealand and China.

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Deaths of John and Emily Webster

2024-02-22T15:49:00.001+13:00

In Pakanae Cemetery is this grave belonging to Mrs Emily Webster (nee Russell), wife of John Webster, born 1829 in Kohukohu and married in 1855. Her husband was a shareholder of the Northern Steamship Company. It looks like they had 4 children; George (who managed the family property as well as acting for an agent of the company), Boyd, Alexander and John.

I cannot find a photo of Emily but there is plenty of information about her husband John.

Photo from 1890-1899 by John Hanna

The house they lived in at Opononi. Auckland Museum Collections.

From the Southern Cross paper 15th June 1912

and this one:

From the NZ Herald 31st May 1912.

All in all it seems like John had a pretty eventful life and I can only imagine his wife was a typical stay at home housewife, most likely with servants in their grand house raising their children. Find a grave says he was buried in Devonport either in the military cemetery or in Victoria Cemetery. I was in Auckland last year and took photos of every grave in the latter and I couldn't find it but there are a few that no longer have headstones so that may explain why.

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Thomas and Lydia Griffin

2024-02-16T11:38:00.001+13:00

This Wesleyan house located in Schoolhouse Lane in Paparoa is apparently still there and just as pretty. The house features Thomas Nicholas Griffin and his wife Lydia standing in front.

Thomas was born in 1853 in Whitehaven, Cumberland, England and married Lydia Augusta De Carteret in New Zealand in 1884. His parents were Robert Griffin and Isabella Kinrade. Thomas and Lydia had 4 children; Isabella, Annie, Adelaide and Lillian.

Thomas passed away in 1924 and Lydia in 1923.

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Motukaraka Butter Creamery

2024-02-12T09:23:00.002+13:00

Photo taken in 1910 - Auckland Weekly News, Kura Heritage Collections Online

In the early 1900s dairy farming became the way to go with the herds being small and the families doing the milking each day. In 1907 a co-operative was formed to establish a dairy factory at Motukaraka on the Hokianga Harbour. Waimamaku farmers who had their cheese factory already operating had to choose between butter or cheese. Whole milk or cream? Big or small cans? Launches collected the cream and was only possible by the tide times.

Photo taken in 1908

By around the 1920s farmers were experimenting with milking machines and cream separators. Dairying was still a family affair until world war 2 took many of the men away to fight.

Man and packhorse taking cream cans to the cream boat destined for Motukaraka.

The Hokianga did not get electricity until the early 1950s but until then people used kerosene lamps and petrol for the milking machine along with a diesel generator which was shared between the house and shed.

The 2 dairy factories being Motukaraka and Waimamaku were facing demands to upgrade with the latter's cheese now having to be made from pasteurised milk. A merger took place linking the 2 with the larger Bay of Islands Dairy Company.

In 1957 Motukaraka suppliers were told that their cream would now be transported to Moerewa by road and Motukaraka would close with the launch costing too much to run. In Waimamaku it's cheese making carried on until 1972 but it found keeping up with the stringent rules and regulations so sadly it closed.

Information taken from Our Hokianga.

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Settler's Hotel - Whangarei

2024-02-09T11:24:00.002+13:00

The Settlers Hotel in Whangarei is located near the Hatea River and is named after the original hotel which was there in the 1850s and owned by a Mr and Mrs Naylor but sadly it was destroyed in a fire in 1875.

A similar hotel built from wood a year later also burned down in the early 1900s. A much larger hotel was built again and opened in 1967 by Lion Breweries and was marketed for sale in 2003.

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Henare Te Ua

2024-02-01T11:08:00.001+13:00

Henare Te Ua was born in Rotorua in 1933 of Ngati Porou descent. His father Whiu Te Purei fought with the 28th Maori Battalion in World War 2 and was killed at Cassino.

His mother Hinehou Ngata passed away from tuberculosis in 1938. Henare was adopted by his mother's eldest sister Rina and her husband Hetekia Te Kani-a-Takirau Kerekere Tuhoe te Ua. He was raised in Gisborne and educated at Gisborne High School before spending a year at Nelson College in 1951.

In 1965 Henare became a radio announcer at Radio Northland. Based in Whangarei he travelled throughout the region reporting on local news and events. He then moved to Radio Geyserland in Rotorua as an announcer in charge in 1976 and then to Te Reo o Aotearoa as assistant programme director 3 years later. There he became involved with Radio New Zealand's Maori programme archive which later merged with the general programme archive to become Sound Archives Nga Taonga Korero.

In 1987 Henare produced the songs "E Pa To Hau" and "Parihaka Te Whiti Tohu Tawhiao" on the Patea Maori Club's "Poi E". Between 1995 and 2003 he presented the Maori magazine programme "Whenua" on National Radio.

In the 1992 New Year's Honours Henare was awarded the Queen's Service Medal for public services. He was recognised for his outstanding contribution to radio at the 1998 New Zealand Radio Awards and was a recipient of the Sir Kingi Ihaka Award at the 2002 Te Waka Toi Awards by Creative New Zealand. He passed away on 2 May 2007 aged 74.

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The Whangarei Garrison Band

2024-01-26T11:08:00.000+13:00

It's been a while since we posted but hopefully we will be a bit more regular for 2024. This post is about the Whangarei Garrison Band in 1900. A bit of history about bands like this:

Before 1910 New Zealand's military bands were attached to volunteer force units. There were a few regulations about the structure of the bands but they were allowed 5 men per volunteer company in the garrison. In 1910 the newly created territorial force absorbed the volunteers. Territorial unit bands were restricted to 25 members each all of whom had to be military age.

Some New Zealand military bands were brass bands while others were an important part of the military band repertoire. Bands also performed music, including hymns and anthems for ceremonial occasions. They also played popular tunes to entertain the troops and the general public.

Information from Te Ara.

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George Frederick Russell

2023-11-28T17:15:00.005+13:00

It's been a while since I last posted but here I am back into it. This photo from historical Mangungu Cemetery in Horeke belongs to George Frederick Russell. This interesting man was a timber trader and lived in Kohukohu during the 1930s and 1840s.

His house and timber yard is depicted in a watercolour painted by the famous Charles Heaphy in December 1839 which shows Kauri spars being loaded onto ships with his house visible in the background.

He was born on 22 November 1809 in Shoreditch, London and was married to Herina Russell (Nuku and niece of Tamati Waka Nene, a famous Ngapuhi Chief). They had 4 children; Ani, Caroline, Fanny and Frederick. During the 1830s his occupation was a manager and agent for Thomas McDonnell then later became a Sawyer.

He purchased 8 blocks of land mainly in the Waihou-Mangamuka region which was full of Kauri but disposed of them before buying the property in Kohukohu in 1839 of which time he had left McDonnell and trading by himself. His business quickly expanded and and Kohukohu became a bigger timber centre than the Hokianga.

He was a friend and associate of both John Logan Campbell and Frederick Maning, who wrote about him in 1844 "I would have often been puzzled to get on only for my friend Frederick Russell who was a very good man and has lent me many a helping hand". Frederick helped to supply the early Hokianga war parties who were opposing Hone Heke and was later on helpful in preventing the war spreading.

Being small in stature but known to move quickly, he was known to the Maori people as "Piwakawaka" aka Fantail. After he died his business was taken over by John Webster who married Frederick's eldest daughter

On the 27th June 1855 he died aged 46 but newspaper articles do not state what the cause was. His headstone says this:

"Sacred to the memory of George Frederick Russell who died at Hokianga on the 27th day of June 1855 aged 46 years, deeply regretted. This tribute is raised to his memory by his affectionate children".

Information taken from Te Ara.

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William Wallis, Horeke

2023-09-26T08:44:00.003+13:00

This is one of the many sad tales belonging to the residents of the Mangungu Cemetery in Horeke.

William Wallis was born 11th May 1815 in Poplar, London, England. Sadly there isn't much information about him apart from the fact that he was probably either a sailor on the barque "Patriot" manned by Captain Shorter which sailed from Sydney for the Bay of Islands on 8th April 1836 with 29 spars and 600 pine planks.

After another voyage to New Zealand she sailed from Sydney for London with colonial produce (evidence of early trading) and passengers on 3rd January 1837.

William was the brother of Reverend J. Wallis and his death is listed by drowning in 1836 while taking the spars to the ship, possibly the smaller boat he was in overturned? Nevertheless sadly he was only 21 years old.

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Riverhead Guest House

2023-09-22T09:22:00.001+12:00

Black and white photo of a wooden house on a ride. The house is partially obscured behind a slope, while the veranda and peaked roofline, gables and finials stop of each are visible. Photo by Marion Spicer.

This beautiful house is located in Horeke and probably overlooks the water. Originally located in the Kaipara district and built by the owner of a Kauri Mill, it is now being used as a guest house named Riverhead Guest House.

The website says this:

In the 1970s it was moved to Horeke and located on a prominent hill above the village where it enjoys extensive views at the head waters of the Hokianga Harbour. The resilience of it's Kauri construction and use of other native timbers is evident today 150 years after it was first designed and built.

These days it is owned by Utakura Investments, a New Zealand owned and operated company and used as a lovely guest house.

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William White, Horeke

2023-09-19T08:38:00.005+12:00

William White was born 11th February 1794 in Ingleton, England to Francis and Hannah White. He emigrated to New Zealand in 1823 to help establish the first Wesleyan mission station in Kaeo near the Whangaroa Harbour.

A cabinet maker by trade, he was also a lay preacher in the Wesleyan Church and was ordained as a missionary in 1822 then was sent to New Zealand to assist Reverend Samuel Leigh in forming the first WMS mission in the country.

He later took charge of the Mangungu Mission station in Horeke having returned to England in the meantime to find a wife. He was well known as having a rather difficult personality and seemed to alienate fellow missionaries and was recalled to England in 1836.

After a full investigation he was dismissed from the ministry 2 years later after he was found to have been conducting inappropriate commercial activity while in charge of the New Zealand missions.

He briefly worked for the New Zealand Company, who is now known to have been selling land off while ignoring the Treaty of Waitangi.

After returning to New Zealand he settled in the Hokianga preaching and trading but his business interests suffered when a cargo of timber was lost in a shipwreck William died at his home on 25th November 1875 aged 81 after he had ridden a horse for 40 miles and then exhausted himself gardening the following day. He was survived by his wife Eliza and 2 adult children. John Hobbs presided over the interment of White's remains in Symonds Street Cemetery, Auckland.

More information here.

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The Kaikohe Tragedy

2023-09-06T08:45:00.004+12:00

Amy Elizabeth Stewart, Auckland Weekly News, 9 July 1898, p.4, Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections AWNS-18980709-04-04

Kaikohe is one of those little towns that you don't forget. I came across this case by accident as I was searching for something else. This is the case of Amy Elizabeth Stewart who was charged with killing her daughter and was later committed to a mental asylum but I wonder if there was more to it.

The NZ Herald Volume XXXV Issue 10792, 29th June 1898 says this:

The mother insane - the mother before the court. An inquest on the Stewart child was held on Monday afternoon by Mr P. Dickson, acting coroner. The jury found that Amy Stewart committed the murder of her infant child owing to insanity. Dr Carolan of Kawakawa made an examination of the accused and pronounced her insane. It seems that on Saturday afternoon a man named Fred Jones, a gum digger who returned home to his camp and the accused woman's eldest child ran over and said "mama, knife, neck, sister". Jones ran over and discovered the woman cutting the child's throat. He immediately gave the alarm and set some women to watch over the accused while he went to Kaikohe for assistance.

The constable was away at the time on duty but on his return he arrived at the camp and arrested the woman. She appeared perfect composed and answered his questions in a rational manner. She had washed the body and laid the child out on the bed. She did not appear to realize her situation until the Sunday morning. After the inquest the child was buried at Kaikohe Cemetery and the accused woman was taken to Kawakawa enroute for Auckland to stand her trial.

At 7 o'clock last night Amy Isabella Elizabeth Stewart was bought up before the police court at Kaikohe and formally charged with the murder of her daughter Mary Ann. The courthouse was packed and the accused woman occupied a seat on the dock. Her demeanor throughout the proceedings was quiet and unconcerned.

Frederick Jones, gum digger of Rakauwahia near Kaikohe stated that he knew the accused and had known her since she was 11 years old. He also knew the husband, Thomas Stewart now in Auckland Hospital and the family who had lived in the same camp. When the husband went to Auckland he had left no provisions for the family and Fred's wife had given some food for the children. He had seen her shouting violently on former occasions and after fetching her father, he managed to pacify her then about 3 weeks ago Mrs Stewart took an axe and attempted to open a neighbour's door. She was confused at the time and didn't understand what she was doing.

I'm not an expert and I know nothing about psychology but it seems to me based on information we have today that Amy Stewart possibly had a nervous breakdown due to her situation. Back then gum digger's camps were extremely hard to live in plus there was no family benefit or financial help from the government. With her husband away in hospital she had no way of making money and a young family to raise - how difficult this must've been for her. What do you think?

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Waipu Settlers and Family Reunion 1903

2023-09-03T12:33:00.000+12:00

Waipu in Northland is a place that is famous for it's Scottish history mostly because the settlers that first moved there from Nova Scotia in the 1800s with Reverend McLeod have many descendants there today.

Every year on New Year's Day the Scottish clans gather in the Caledonian Park in Waipu to celebrate their heritage.

The New Zealand Herald Volume XL, Issue 12195, 14th February 1903 shares one such event:

The Highland Gatherings today are probably quite different to what they once were. Last time I attended about 10 years ago there were stalls set up for each clan, barrel throwing, highland fling competitions etc.

This photo above shows Mrs Annie McInnes (nee Finlayson) demonstrating how spinning wool would've originally been done.

Auckland Weekly News 1903, Kura Image Collections

This one is showing visitors queueing outside the dining tents during the lunch time period. It is a huge event lasting all day and great for those who are exploring their Scottish ancestry.

This isn't my video but one I found on YouTube showing one family's outing to the 2023 - 150th Highland Games in Waipu this year. The town that I lived in for about 15 years would be about 20 minutes away so I know this town very well.

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Mary Marriner

2023-07-13T09:53:00.003+12:00

Who is this grand looking Victorian lady

Introducing Mary Marriner (nee Rowntree), wife of John Woon Marriner (married in 1866), daughter of Edward Casson Rowntree and Hannah Rowntree born in 1845, lived in the Hokianga and is buried in Rawene Cemetery. I don't think she and John had any children.

Photo by Terri Williamson-Lee at Find-a-grave.

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The Kohukohu Undertaker

2023-06-25T08:54:00.001+12:00

This is a story of girl power in the 1800s of small town Kohukohu in Aotearoa's Hokianga.

Margaret Ann Williams was born on July 10th 1869 in Opara, Whirinaki. She was the daughter of James Fergusson and Elizabeth Leaf, being of Maori/Scottish/English descent she also had 15 siblings (Harriet, Hudson, Mary, George, Jane, Te Rangihua, Susan, Robert, Annie, Neil, Adelaide, Frederick, Emma, Shirley, Hazel, Lillian and Grace who was adopted.

She married Henry Archibald Williams and they had a son named Basil. Henry at that time was the local Kohukohu undertaker but according to relatives Maggie was the main business provider while her husband worked as a builder.

In those days most women were not business owners or managers, they were at home raising families. She sounds like quite a character.

Maggie passed away on October 15th 1935 aged 66 in Kohukohu,

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The old Rawene Butchers

2023-06-08T07:57:00.000+12:00

Photo taken by Stuart Park from the Northland Regional Council Website.

This little building (on the historic places trust category 2) which was the original Rawene Butchers sits at the end of 3 buildings along Clendon Esplanade right on the edge of the water. When it was in use the leftover meat, bones, offal etc would've been dropped into the water from inside. Here is more information about it - author Liz Ferry:

At the beginning of the 20th century Rawene township had a small mixed population with no major industries. The settlement functioned mainly as a distribution center, with 3 hotels, post and telegraph office, a court house and a few stores. The Kohukohu based partnership of George Edwin Halliwell, Frederick Halliwell and Herbert Halliwell trading as the Halliwell Brothers, had established the first butcher business in Rawene with a branch store under Frederick's management in 1901. It continued until 1921 when the partnership was taken over by the partnership of Berridge and Jones.

Earlier in late 1908, the Hokianga Co-operative Dairy Company Ltd had established a butter factory across the river at Motukaraka. With the development of the dairying industry, combined with the introduction of the motor launch and the addition of new roads, by 1922 Rawene's local economy was thriving.

"Rawene may boast of the distinction of being the location of the county courthouse, county office, hospital and new high school. Here too is situated the largest sawmill on the river. A considerable quantity of timber is exported by this mill to Sydney, whence once a month served by several powerful cream launches. Water transport plays an important part in the local activities. They carry the mail and the travelers, collect the cream and other farm produce, serve the settlers, tow the log rafts to the mills, bring the children to school, take the doctor to his/her patients and bring the patients to hospital. There is so little flat ground on the water's edge that in some cases the water at high tide literally laps the front doorstep, in others the building are supported on piles, kind at high tide but the verandah is over the water."

The store was built from Kauri set on pilings supported by timber bearers over the harbour bed and foreshore. A copper clad Frigidare cool room with a viewing window (still in situ) was installed sometime after 1937 with a nameplate supplied by Bond and Bond (an Auckland based retailer).

This one shows part of the interior with a copper clad Frigidaire cool room - photo by Stuart Park.

Photo taken by Stuart Park.

In the 1980s a couple who owned the shop spent some time and money replacing the weatherboards, the windows (which were beyond repair) and the replacement windows came from a local resident's house named Mrs Andrews. These days it's a little gift shop.

More information here.

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Accidental death of Thomas Gaudin

2023-05-02T16:47:00.001+12:00

"As briefly appeared in our town edition of yesterday, a well known farmer of the Waikato, Mr Thomas Gaudin was found accidentally shot on his farm in Matakohe. The deceased who was only 32 years old had but recently bought the farm and had taken possession last Monday. For some 15 months he served in South African within the first New Zealand contingent and was held in high regard by his comrades. He leaves a widow and one child. Mr Fred Gaudin of Auckland and Mr Walter Gaudin of Gisborne are brothers of the deceased.

Particulars of the death show that he was trying to have a shot at a pheasant on his property. Whilst he was passing through a gate, his gun caught in some wire netting, the shot entering into his chin."

From the Auckland Star Volume XXXVIII, Issue 201, 23rd August 1907, page 4.

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Otamatea Marae history

2023-04-25T09:48:00.004+12:00

The runanga house Aotearoa now located at Otamatea Marae was a Maori Parliament house. Throughout its tenure various hui were held. This one in particular reported in 1887 is of particular importance. Note the report is written in the language style of the era: Source: New Zealand Mail, Issue 791, 29 April 1887, Page 19
The Maori Parliament at Shelly Beach, Kaipara, which opened on the 13th instant, under the Presidency of Paul of Orakei, has just closed. Resolutions were unanimously adopted claiming the right of the Natives to manage their own affairs, according to the Treaty of Waitangi, and condemning the Native Land Act of last session as the pulminating point of oppression of the Natives by the Government, and declaring they will not submit to such law on their lands. Copies have been forwarded to the Premier, the Native Minister, and Sir George Grey. This Parliament represents the Ngapuhi, Rarawa, Ngatimaru, and Ngatiwhatua tribes.

An article written was in the Auckland Star in January 1883, which mentions the opening of the runanga house at Aotea. It was built by building contractor John Sheehan who also built the wharf and first part of the railway formation for the Kaihu Valley Railway Company in the mid-1880s.

A large and important gathering of the various hapu of the Ngatiwhatua tribe has taken place at the above locality during the present week for the purpose of formally opening the whare runanga or meeting House recently built to their order at that place Aotearoa, the name they have given it, is a plain but neat structure, measuring 40 feet in length by 20 feet width, and the walls are 12 feet high. It has been substantially built, is lined and varnished throughout inside, the ceiling which is an arched one, gives an additional height to the interior, besides greatly improving its acoustic properties. The cost is about £210. There is also an exceedingly well-executed bust of the Queen, which will be fixed upon the tablet before mentioned. The formal opening of the hall took place on Thursday, the 25th inst. A little after 9 a.m ...

The next speaker was Te Keene Tangaroa, who gave a resume of the causes leading to the erection of the building, and winding up by exhorting his people to continue firm in their friendship for the Europeans and uphold the mana of the Queen. He was followed by the principal chiefs present, after which the statue of Her Majesty the Queen was formally unveiled amid great cheering. 

Te Keene Tangaroa a rangatira of Ngati Whatua was instrumental in the establishment of the Maori Parliament at Aotea. In May 1883, he wrote a letter to Sir George Grey and mentions the establishment of the runanga at Aotea and almost made mention of the monument that had been put in place as well as the governor of the time refusing to come to Kaipara for the hui.

Information by Liz Ferry.

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