ISSUES
www.waikatotimes.co.nz
MONDAY, MAY 16, 2011
Two VCs from action in Waikato
Duncan Cameron was
an experienced
professional soldier. He
was aware of what had
happened in Taranaki
and refused to be
tempted by every Maori
fortification and chose
to bypass several,
leaving the Maori
defenders isolated and
frustrated.
During the first Taranaki Land War of
1861-1862, the leaders of Maori fighting
forces – Te Rangitake and Hapurona –
found that they had only to erect a pa of
any sort and the British forces, under
Major General Sir Thomas Simson Pratt,
would attack it.
This gave them the ability to choose
their own battlefields and set ambushes for
the British. This tactic worked several
times and almost led to the abandonment
of European settlement in the region.
In the Waikato Campaign, which started
when General Duncan Cameron crossed
the Mangatawhiri Stream in July 1863, this
situation was reversed.
Cameron was an experienced professional soldier. He was aware of what had
happened in Taranaki and refused to be
tempted by every Maori fortification and
chose to bypass several, leaving the Maori
defenders isolated and frustrated. Cameron
was also aware of the importance of supply
lines and spent more than a year building
a road from Otahuhu to Mangatawhiri to
supply his army. He also had a second
supply route by sea from Onehunga up the
Waikato River. To protect these supply
routes from highly mobile Maori raiders
he built redoubts or forts along his Great
South Rd and at strategic places on the
river. These forts were the key to
maintaining his army in the field.
The leader of the Waikato tribes, Rewi
Maniapoto, who had led a fighting force
against Pratt at Taranaki, had also learned
Among critics of the Hamilton V8s – and
the raucous socialising that goes with it –
are those who feel timing the event around
the Christian celebration of Easter is in
especially bad taste. But Easter has always
been a time of year around which occur
seemingly ‘‘unchristian’’ celebrations.
Brazilian Carnival is perhaps the best
example. And not only does Brazilian
Carnival always occur just before Easter, it
is intimately connected with Easter. The
V8s may be Hamilton’s Carnival!
For centuries in Europe, the Christian
season of Lent, leading up to Easter, was
observed every year. For 40 days during
Lent, people would prepare themselves for
Easter by being on their best behaviour.
Before this, many would cut loose and
binge on food and drink and generally play
up for several days as they said goodbye to
their more indulgent habits.
The Italian phrase has stuck: carne vale
– goodbye meat. In France, the culmination
of Carnival was Fat Tuesday or Mardi
Gras. The English called it the Festival of
Misrule and the general theme was to
‘‘turn the world upside down’’. Ordinary,
day-to-day life was stood on its head. Men
and women would dress in each other’s
clothes. Plays would be performed in
which masters obeyed servants, students
beat teachers and the social roles of men
and women were reversed – men were seen
washing clothes and nursing babies while
women got drunk and fought with each
other. Often, things could get out of hand
and turn to rioting, looting, the destruction
of property and even death. The Hamilton
V8s are pretty tame by comparison.
Dr Rowland Weston
History Programme, Faculty of Arts and
Social Sciences, The University of Waikato
Heritage: The Baths are among the oldest in New Zealand.
a lot about British fighting abilities and
tactics. He was aware that, unlike his
Maori fighters, British soldiers could not
live off the land and would have to be
supplied regularly with food and other
provisions. He also knew from his
experience in the Taranaki war that his
force of about 3000 poorly armed men could
not match the British forces of several
thousand well-armed soldiers in a pitched
battle on open ground.
At the most, Rewi Maniapoto could have
had only 1000 to 1200 men under arms at
any time, because they had to return to
their homes every few weeks to tend to
gardens and food-gathering tasks.
Each leader knew much about the
other’s strengths, weaknesses and tactics.
They also developed a significant degree of
mutual respect, which was to prevent a lot
of bloodshed before the wars were over.
When he realised he was unable to stop
the flood of British troops into the Waikato,
Rewi Maniapoto decided to attack their
redoubts and try to sever Cameron’s
supply lines.
But the redoubts were heavily fortified
and well defended and, without artillery,
almost impossible to overrun by fighters
armed only with a few rifles and shotguns.
One of the river redoubts was built at
Tuakau, then a landing place for the
growing flax-milling trade. A detachment
of the 65th Regiment led by LieutenantColonel Alfred Wyatt built a fort on the
high ground overlooking the Tuakau
landing and called it the Alexandra
Redoubt. About 150 men under Captain
Richard Swift had the task of protecting
British supply boats on the river.
A month after Cameron launched his
campaign in Waikato, provisions were
arriving at the Waikato Heads by steamer
and being transferred to smaller vessels to
be taken to another redoubt at Pokeno,
upstream from Tuakau, the British
military headquarters for the Waikato
invasion.
Between the two redoubts was a small
army depot called Camerontown, attacked
by Ngati Maniapoto early on September 7,
1863. Gunshots were heard from Alexandra
redoubt, and 50 soldiers who were sent to
the rescue were ambushed in heavy cover.
In the close-quarter fighting Swift and
three of his men were killed and Swift’s
second-in-command, Lieutenant Villars Le
Marchant Butler, was wounded. Sergeant
Edward McKenna assumed command and
led his shattered detachment back to the
redoubt next morning.
A number of soldiers were decorated for
the actions in the fight including McKenna
and Lance-Corporal John Ryan, who both
received the Victoria Cross. Sadly, Ryan
was drowned in the river trying to save a
soldier a few months later, before he could
be presented with his VC.
The remains of the Alexandra Redoubt
earthworks are now part of a memorial
reserve above the right bank of the
Waikato River overlooking the Tuakau
Bridge. A memorial stands at the entrance
to the site, which is dedicated to the British
soldiers who died in the Franklin District
in 1863-64.
The redoubt covered about a third of a
hectare with flanking bastions on diagonally opposite corners to protect the high
walls. It was named after the popular
Danish princess who, in March 1863,
married the Prince of Wales, later King
Edward VII.
There were two redoubts named
Alexandra. The second was built in 1869 at
the British Army settlement of Alexandra,
now known as Pirongia, founded in 1864 by
Colonel Theodore Haultain.
Lianne Dalziel’s concerns about adult
content on Coronation Street have given
the world its biggest laugh at New
Zealand’s expense since we became the
only Western country to censor The
Muppet Movie.
We’ve always had an unhealthy appetite
for state control of our media. There have
also been as many counter-arguments put
for the cause of freedom.
As early as 1915, Catholic and Baptist
churches were both calling for film
censorship ‘‘based on the broadest moral
considerations’’. The Baptist Union was of
the opinion that ‘‘the portrayal of sexual
depravity and crime was especially
dangerous to the nation’’. A witty response
to these pleas was given by a Wellington
cinema owner: ‘‘There may be something
to be said in favour of a censorship of
kinematograph films, but Heaven preserve
us from having the work done by a board
of ‘old women’ and killjoys . . . the sort of
censorship we want is a healthy public
opinion, not the ruling of a policeman, or a
clergyman, or even a magistrate.’’
Post World War I censorship came under
like attack from a 1920 correspondent of
New Zealand Truth. Noting that the censor
‘‘cuts and carves (or prohibits . . .
altogether) according to his own sweet
will’’ the writer laments ‘‘a most elaborate
set of rules under which even the
permissible length of kisses and embraces
on the screen is regulated’’.
It is observed that ‘‘the people apparently
have no objection to being treated like little
children, as there has been no public outcry against all these secret censorships’’.
Sixteen years later, C H Burnett, looking
– like Dalziel – to make political capital out
of the issue, argued in the House for
‘‘special types of film to be . . . utilised for
children of impressionable age’’. Burnett
advocated ‘‘a more rigid censorship’’ as
‘‘there are many films exhibited
throughout New Zealand that are totally
unsuitable for children’’.
Mary Edith Reynolds
(1881-1881)
Emily Chidley Reynolds
(1886-1887)
In Hamilton East Cemetery, in a
small double-width grave fenced
with iron railings, are the bodies
of two of Henry and Elizabeth
Reynolds’ children, Mary and
Emily. Mary died in 1881 at four
days old and Emily in 1887 just a
few days short of her first
birthday. Their deaths are just
two examples of the high infant
mortality rates in Victorian times
– indicative of poor sanitary
conditions and the lack of
adequate health care, despite the
relative affluence of their parents.
Their father was a major
investor and developer of the
Waikato dairy industry. Henry
arrived in New Zealand as an
18-year-old in 1868; in 1876, he was
appointed manager of the vast
Eureka Estate and in 1879 became
an owner – along with Thomas
Russell, William Steele and others
– in the Waikato Land
Association. He married Steele’s
daughter, Elizabeth, in 1879 and,
while living at Woodlands,
Gordonton, continued to manage
the drainage of the Piako swamp
and develop productive farmland.
In 1886, at Pukekura near
Cambridge, Reynolds built a
butter factory, created the Anchor
brand and supplied the Auckland
and overseas markets with butter.
Major investment in building a
large coolstore in London and
more factories in the Waikato,
Bay of Plenty and Taranaki led to
financial difficulties. He sold up to
the New Zealand Dairy
Association in 1896. He then left
the Waikato with Elizabeth and
their two surviving children and,
after farming in Argentina,
retired to England.
Sister graves: The graves of Mary Edith Reynolds and Emily Chidley
Reynolds are examples of high infant mortality rates in Victorian times.
Hoe-o-Tainui
Photo: SHANE MORTON
Hamilton may well be able to boast having
the oldest municipal swimming pool in
New Zealand.
The Municipal Tepid Baths in Victoria
St are certainly one of the city’s most
historic recreational resources and they
are listed as a heritage item in the
Hamilton City Plan.
In the early 20th century, swimming
baths were being built by local councils all
over New Zealand. On December 23, 1912,
Hamilton Borough Council officially
opened the Coronation Baths, named in
honour of George V, who ascended to the
throne in 1910 and was crowned on June
22, 1911.
The baths were planned for Hillsborough
Terrace, but when contractors struck a
‘‘strata of shifting sand’’ in June 1912, the
new site was quickly found.
Hamilton Mayor Arthur Manning
announced at the opening of the baths that
they belonged to the town’s younger
generation, who should be encouraged to
learn to swim. And swim they did. Sixyear-old Mary McWhannell of Ngahinapouri School is thought to have set a
national record when she swam 440 yards
[about 400 metres] at the pool in 1939.
The Hamilton Amateur Swimming Club
has a long history of using the pool and,
more recently, managing its operation.
Hopefully the pool’s centenary in
December 2012 will give the club the
chance to host a fabulous pool party.
Those attending that event should spare
a thought for eight-year-old Murray Milne
St George, who died at the Baths in
January 1953.
The name Hoe-o-Tainui, 26 kilometres from Morrinsville, translates as
paddle of Tainui. Legend has it that when the migratory waka Tainui was
taken up the Piako River, a paddle was used as a depth gauge in much the
same way modern boaties use an oar to find the bottom before running
aground. The place where the paddle stuck in the muddy river bottom
became known as Te Hoe-o-Tainui.
Sources include: Places Names of New Zealand (Reed), New Zealand
Encyclopedia (Bateman).
7