HISTORY OF EAST COAST CONNECTED WITH BAY AREA

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 15, Issue 51, 31 May 1950, Page 4

HISTORY OF EAST COAST CONNECTED WITH BAY AREA

The early history of the Bay of Plenty is closely interwoven with that of Poverty Bay and' the East Coast and much of the history of the district is revealed in a new publication “Historical Poverty Bay and East Coast”, which has just been published by Mr J. A. Mackav, Gisborne. Many well known people of early Bay of Plenty/ are mentioned and some interesting inicvrnation has been brought to light by Mr Mackav, who has obviously spent a lot of time in painstaking research. Published as a centennial memor • lal on behalf of the Poverty BayEast Coast Centennial Council, the book will be heartily welcomed not only by the residents of the district but of the Dominion generally. There has long been a need for an historical publication of this nature covering the early days of the unfortunately misnamed Poverty Bay, aboundingly rich in historic interest, and Mr Mackay is to be warmly commended for the vast amount of research which his book represents. It contains some valuable hitherto unpublished records of Captain Cook’s visit, particulars of other early visitors and fasciaatmg stories of the early colonists'who ventured into this almost unknown territory.

Perhaps the main object of the. book is stated in the preface, which runs:—

“This outline of the district’s history is dedicated to the cherished memory of those brave pioneers who were required to risk—and, in a number of cases, to lay down—their lives during the troublous times which preceded the establishment of law and order in accordance with British principles in Poverty Bay and on the East Coast, and also to the equally honoured memory of their loyal friends among , the Maoris, many of whom also fell victims at the hands of rebellious sections among their kinsfolk.”