THE BRIEF EARLY MAORI/EUROPEAN HISTORY
OF THE TAITA AREA
INTRODUCTION
In essence the history of this area was crucial in two
aspects; firstly due to its land usage and secondly its
settlement pattern. Land usage was agricultural and food
gathering. Land settlement, in the European sense, was twofold:
rural and then dense suburban housing.
Between the time of the arrival of the New Zealand Company
settlers in 1840 and 1848, when NZ Company land titles were
officially recognised, the question of land ownership was the
most vexed problem in this part of the Valley. This related in
part to Maori claims and to the allocation of their Reserves by
the NZ Company. To understand which Maori groupings the
selections were made for, it is important to step back and
briefly chronicle the arrival of Te-Ati-Awa Taranaki in TeWhanganui-a-Tara after 1824.
BFIEF MAORI HISTORY
The first Taranaki hapu after 1824 were Ngati Tama and
Ngati Mutunga who settled in the relatively unoccupied harbour
area. They lived in harmony with the resident Tangata Whenua
Ngati Rakaiwhakairi, Ngati Kahukuraawhitia and Ngati Ira until
about 1827. Conflict arose and the resident tangata whenua were
driven from the lower Hutt Valley and the eastern shore of the
harbour. Although Taranaki hapu had control of the lower valley
the former residents tried to reassert their rights from time to
time with no success.
Soon after Te Ati Awa from Ngamotu (New Plymouth) arrived
in the valley from Waikanae. One group lead by Honiana Te Puni
and Te Wharepouri came over land through Korokoro and the second
lead by Wi Tako Ngatata and Ropiha Moturoa came from the Hawkes
Bay via Upper Hutt. While passing through the upper valley Wi
Tako’s party attacked and sacked the Tangata Whenua Pa called
Puniunuku obtaining satisfaction for the death of the Ngati
Mutunga Rangatira Te Momi. Ngati Mutunga gifted land in the
Waiwhetu area to these incoming groups as a mark of their
gratitude. Between 1833 and 1835 the majority of the incoming
Ngamotu people went on to the Wairarapa. They returned in
November 1835 when Ngati Mutunga and Ngati Tama, after gifting
the rights to the land to Te Ati Awa, left for the Chathams.
It is not known when Ngati Rangatahi, who were important
participants in the 1846 confrontation first entered the valley.
It is known that they were present at the Wakefield purchase
negotiations in September 1839 with Te Ati Awa. They were in the
valley initially gathering food for Ngati Toa, at the sufferance
of Te Ati Awa to whom they paid regular tribute. After 1842 they
began to cultivate with Taringakuri and Ngati Tama at various
places between Boulcott and Taita. The name Taita itself comes
from the idea of either a large bend in the river or an
obstruction in the river and as the area is close to Taita Gorge
then both terms are relevant.
The Valley was fully utilised by Maori and it should be
remembered that in these early years of European settlement
Maori played a huge part in supplying both food and labour to
the incoming settlers.
BRIEF EARLY EUROPEAN SETTLEMENT HISTORY
The influence of the settlers on the Maori Community in the
valley should not be understated either. The pressure from the
settler community to take up what they saw as their legitimate
Company rural selections led to the 1846 conflict known as the
Boulcott Farm incident. In essence the story is that Te Atiawa
and elements of Ngati Toa closely related to Te Ati Awa, with
Crown sponsorship drove Ngati Rangatahi from the Hutt Valley.
Ngati Tama had earlier left the valley in 1846 after Governor
George Grey promised to make land available to them in other
parts of Wellington.
Shortly after the Boulcott Farm incident Colonel William
McCleverty arrived from London to settle the NZ Company’s land
problems. His investigations saw a number of reserve sections
being granted to Te Ati Awa. Sections 42 and 58 were granted to
the Ngati Tawhirikura/Ngati Te Whiti hapu at Pito-one. Manihera
Te Toru, who in his latter life went to live on his Taita land
was a highly significant Rangatira of Te Ati Awa. He is one of
the more prominent Te Ati Awa people buried at Christ Church,
Taita. Sections 36 and 57 were granted to Te Matehou of
Waiwhetu. These sections wre granted to Maori because this is
where they were cultivating and living and the allocation of the
sections were in recognition of that fact. By the end of the
twentieth century only a small part of Section 58 remained in
Maori hands.
As far as European settlement in Taita went, briefly, the
area saw two sets of European settler-farmers: one during the
period of 1840 to 1845 and another, those arriving after 1847.
Up to the violent confrontations of 1846 the pattern of
land development was limited to the availability of suitable
land.
Instead of the neat enclosed fields of the Wakefield Scheme
image what was evident was a rather untidy patchwork of partly
cleared sections and squatters. Instead of the Wakefield dream
of “landed gentry”, it had become a reality of land speculation
and the small, barely self-sustaining farmer, ”scratching
amongst the stumps”. The acknowledged land holders were actually
land agents, such as R.D.Hanson and Baron Alzdorf, acting for
their absentee clients. Other landowners were Molesworth and
Riddiford, busy NZ Company men with extensive holdings
elsewhere. Some of the smallholdings belonged to aspiring
settlers like Hughes, Hughey, Williams, Buckeridge, Farrar and
Milne. Other slightly larger, more established farms belonged to
Mason and Boulcott.
The escalating land conflicts between Maori and settler
exploded in 1846. The McCleverty Commission of 1847 and the
subsequent Crown Grants of the land sections in this area
brought a second wave of settlers. These were people such as
Bowler, Mabey, Rush, King, Brown, Futter, Scott and Hooper. It
was from these people and others that came later that the market
gardening and town-supply agriculture grew up in Taita area. Its
fertility and ready accessibility to a main market, that is
Wellington, shows how important the Taita area was. In fact the
continuity from Maori cultivation to European farm supply is
remarkable.
BRIEF LATER EUROPEAN HISTORY
This state of agricultural affairs continued right through
to the 1930s and late 1940s. It is at this time that when the
state, that is the First Labour Government, began converting the
farms into large suburban housing estates. This was first of all
to add to the housing stock of a growing population, but after
World War Two, it was to accommodate, in part, returning
soldiers.
Street names in Taita bear witness to some of those early
European settlers and the detail about those can be found in
Alison Carey’s excellent book about the meanings of the street
names in the Hutt Valley: “Valley & Bays” which was published in
2008. The paucity of street names in the area named after Maori
is embarrassing given the long and important history of Maori
occupation.
The name given to the area and the Railway Station at
Pomare is a case in point. Just who was the person that “Pomare”
was named after? And when did the area acquire the name of
“Pomare” anyway? Which Authority gave the name its official
status? It has been suggested, both anecdotally and by
inference, that the name of the area was “Taita North”.
References
Adkin.G. The Great Harbour of Tara. Christchurch. 1959
Carey.A. Valleys & Bays. Lower Hutt. 2008
Hall.L
Lower Hutt Past & Present. Lower Hutt. 1941
Millar.D. Once Upon A Village. Lower Hutt. 1972
Ward.L. Early Wellington. Wellington.1929
Newspapers
The Evening Post
The Hutt News
Articles
Gilmore.N. & Johnston.W. Maori long-established here before
conflict with settlers came to a head. Hutt News. 20 July 2004.
pgs.81-82.
Personal Communication
Neville Gilmore, Liz Melish.
Warwick Johnston
Historian
24 June 2014