EARLY HISTORY.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVII, Issue 5002, 19 July 1926, Page 3

EARLY HISTORY.

STIRRING PAEROA DAYS.

MISSIONARIES AMONG MAORIS.

On Tuesday evening the meji of the Parish of St. Ra,ul’s, Paeroa, held a social evening, the chief item being an. address by Mr W. H. Taylor, Hill Street Paeroa. on the early history of Paeroa and its, .association with

mission work amongst the Maoris. In opening his address Mr Taylor said that he would endeavour to show that the ea,rly missionaries gave to this country the greatest example of Christian charity and self-sacrifice that was, ever conceived by the human mind. The noble band that attached themselves to the work were no ordinary characters. They were possessed of that essential quality necessary for the promotion and inculcation of that spirit which is so strongly spoken of to-day by Rotarians as, "Service.” The modern Rotarian, ensconsced in his comfortable and expensively upholstered armchair at his spacious chambers, can well afford to be magnanimous in opinions on service. The chielf Rotarian reviews the situation apiidst the glamour and plaudits of his, equally comfortably-seated compatriots, who shout ever and anon, "Hurry for Rotary and Service.’’ "But I ask in all seriousness,” said Mr Taylor, “what of the early missionaries who landed in this country in the early days to be confronted with some ©f the most revolting scenes that it is possible to witness among human beings ? Yet one hears people prattling alxjut 'Service.’ • Those noble mc'n and women, at the imminent . peril of their lives, dared to walk where angels feared to tread; but do We se® any monuments around to ma,rk their noble, lives, ? I say, without hesitation, that it is to the eternal shame of every Englishman in this cciuntry that no mark of recognition of the great service rendered to this country and the British nation is anywhere tb be seen. ■

"I wish now to de,al with the. early pioneers, of whom the late Mr Joshua Alfred Thorp was the first to arrive at Paeroa to take up mission work among the Maoris under the auspices of the Church Mission Society. From the meagre information available regarding this gentleman’s career and early history it would appear that Mr Thckp was a civil engineer and surveyor to the Ne.w South Wales Government. At that period of the country’s; history there was a land company operating in New Zealand having considerable concessions of land from the New South Wales Government, which at that time had some kind of control over New Zealand, but the company’s headquarters were at Sydney. Samuel Marsden, the greatest of a,ll, missionaries of the South Pacific, was, very interested in the mission work in New Zedland, and in his capacity of mission chaplain to the Botany Bay pena,l settlement urged Mr Thorp to seek his fortune in New Zealand. Marsden knew the character of the man he was choosing for New Zea ; - land, and recognised the value of such a man, who had numerous qualifications and was temperamentally fitted far a situation that required the greatest tact and diplomacy in dealing with the savage, mind. From what I knew of Mr Thorp’s careen and his work amongst the Maoris at Paeroa he succeeded with < outstanding ability.’ Mr Thorp’s value to this country was not confined tci his professional skill. He W'd f s eminently suited for dealing with the Maoris, who presented so many difficulties owing to their superstitious proclivities. He was, a man of wide agricultural knowledge, a great orchardist, and he alsb-had the reputation of being a cattle man. In a book written by Sir George Grey mention is made of the very fine mob of fat cattle which were on Mr Thorp’s place in Ohinemuri. “Mr Thorp arrived in Paeroa in the year 1842 and took up his residence at the Puke'on the property now owned and occupied by Mr Jack Wight. Mr Thorp was accompanied by his wife and family, and laiided from a small vessel which brought to Ohinemuri the first cattle, together with .a mare and foal, and other necessary equipment for the making of a new home. The first thing to be done on arrival was to interview the Chief and ascertain the; legation of his, homestead. At that time the present home of the widow and daughters of the late Mr John W. Thorp was the main pah of .the Ngatitemstera tribe. There was also another pah on the other side of the river which is now included in the farm of Mr Robert McKee. It was, however, decided that Mr Thorp should have that portion of high ground which I . have already mentioned, together with other concessions of land granted, which made' a total area of approximately 2000 acres. Mr Thorp came prepared to pay the. Maoris a fair price for the land he had received from them. He therefore had nd qualms of conscience in handing the Maoris £2OO sterling ■as the price of the land, that being ■considered a very fa,ir price for land in Ohinemuri at that time. The money was duly handed to the Chief, and he requisitioned a large mat, which he spread on the' ground in order to see that the money was correct The Chief with a number of his henchmen squatted around in a circle, and commenced the operation of dividing the money amongst the numerous relatives of brothers, sisters, uncles, a.unts, and cousins. The process of division continued for two days, and was no nearer a solution a,t the.end of that tim.e It seemed that the longer they laboured the, more confused they became, till at last they became exasperated and gave, up the mathematical problem in despair. The result was that they handed the money back to Mr Thorp with a request that they would take the mare and foaj in full payment for the land instead ot" the actual cashHistory says, ‘thus Mr Thorp became a landed proprietor in Ohinemuri and parted with his mare and fdal.’

“I will now relate an incident of interest of old-time Maori customs

which do not now occur. Amongst the collection of oil paintings which adorns the walls of the Auckland Art Gallery, in a Maori group are to be seen Taraia, te Hira, and Tukuktao, who were High Chiefs of this town. Taraja is, the eldest, and was a, cannibal. Not long after Mr Thorp’s arrival here Taraia led an expedition, or what was known to the Maoris as a ‘taua,’ or raiding party, to Kati K.a.ti, some forty miles distant from Paeroa. These raiding parties were of frequent occurrence, and arose from various causes, such as the encroachment on Ashing grounds, the boastfulness of a fighting chief, kidnapping of women, declaration of tapu, and numerous other causes. Taraia’s expedition sallied forth and duly arrived at Kati Kati and at once engaged the foe. A fierce encounter ensued with the result that Taraia was victorious. This etn’counter almost d- cimated the Ka,ti Kati tribe, while Taraia and his followers rested and fasted for many days, during which time was occupied in cooking and preserving the hea.ds of victims, as trophies to take back home with them. - The return journey occupied several days, but the victors finally reached Paeroa and the pah (which is now the site of the home of Mrs John Thbrp). The. late Mr Thorp, the man who came among them to te,ach the Gospel, knew the tribe would be burdened with cooked spoils of the chase, and he gave orders for ajl the children to be at once removed to the pah on .the opposite side of the river in order that they might not cbime in coiitact with the; contents of the kits that were being carried home by the taua party. Taraia, on his arrival, noticed that no clamorous children were in and he asked what had become of them. He was told that piey were sent away out of sight of what the party had brought home, and that a great number of the tribe had Embraced Christianity, and that consuming human flesh most obnoxious and would not be tolerated by the Christian faith. “It so happened that evening that a prayer meeting was in progress in a large Maori house, when, to the astonishment of the Maoris' present Taraia, was seen a.t the entrance of the meeting house. With a loud cough he unburdened himself in this manner: T am told the Christ yoti are praying to can bring people back to life after being dead. If that is s.o, here is R'akaraia’s head (bowling the head down the ite. of the meeting house), and his body is in my belly. See if He can bring, him to life again.” "So we find this brave Englishman and his, family that came to Paeroa, to- administer the teaching of the Gospel, and other civilised agents which arrested the Mapri from the practice of cannibalism to hat satisfactory s.tate of a modern citizen as we And him to-day. But alas, T fear to-day the agency tha.t expected his regeneration was more than the Gospe.l, and when we realise the utter isolation oT Mr Thorp and his family, living as they did, amongst turbulent hordes of savages, dependent for their lives on the whims and superstitious humour of a despotic sayage, we can all the more readily appreciate the great service rendered by these early missionaries to the 'country and to the empire. We also And Mr Thorp to be an industrious man. We And that’ in 1863 the. Maoris of Paeroa ha,d acquired the knowledge of agriculture, and wheat-growing was carried on extensively. During the Maori war vessels were engaged freighting wheat to Auckland to supply th©troops that were engaged in the war that , raged in the North Island at that timp. This needful and welcome' foodstuff was directly the; result of Mr Thorp's energy and industry in imparting the knowledge to the Maoris df Paeroa.

As, an orchardist he earned a widespread reputation for the propagation of an apple called ‘‘Ohinemuri?’ This apple was famed throughout this district' and also the southern Wairoa, now known as Clevedon, for its prolific growth. . KOPUTAUAKO.

In the year 1863 Koputauako was the site df one of the most up-to-date mission stations, in New Zealand. It was, situated on the coast hear Coromandel. It possessed a particularly fine church and school, the property of the. Church Mission Society. It had for its pastor the Rev. Lamfear, with his Wife and two children, and a Mr Preece. There was, also a very large Maori settlement of the Ngatitematera tribe, the head chief of which was Mataia, father of Hihitoto, of Paero>a, or better known as Mrs Nicholls, widow of the late Hon. W. G. Nicholls, M.IaC, This mission station was in a flourishing state when the country was plunged into strife and war. Skirmishes were frequent round the, Waikato Heads, and Mataia, fearing bombardment from gunboats, decided to abandon the settlement and proceed, inland out df reach of gunboats and; to safety. Although the Ngatitematera tribe never entered the war they were extremely excited, and a,nything was likely to, happen. “The Rev. Lanfear returned to England with his family, but the Preece family 'remained, and ,th®ir descendants are at Cdromandel to this day. One of the Preece sons, now deceased, was a distinguished soldier who gained the New Zealand Medal for bravery in the pursuit of Te Kooti, the notorious Maori rebel who escaped from confinement at the Chatham Islands.

“Ngatiteimatera,, as a tribe, ruling over a territory extending from Cape Colville to Paeroa. and allied with minor tribes such as Ngatimaru, Ngatihake, Ngatikoi, Ngatirahiri (Te Aroha), and Ngatipoara (Miranda), has no outstanding features recorded beyond its., association with the Thames goldfields and the Ohinemuri goldfields, which at one period of the Colony’s history attracted, world-wide attention owing to the richness of the Caledonian mine, which on record produced twot ons of gold in one week.

“The late Mr James Mackay was Najtive Commissioner at the time the field was flourishing, and was responsible for most of the dealing with the Maoris and their rights to roy'dl-

ties. Mr Mackay was eminently suit-

ed for dealing with the Maoris, for he was Arm and just in ajl his dealings with them- Often times he could not please them all: as a matter of fact, Maoris, are a very difficult people to deal with. It so happened that some of Mr Ma,ckay’s decisions displeased some of the Maoris interested, and they let a threat go forth that the next time Mackay came their way they would make a sieve of his body with bullets. To this threat Mr Mackay paid not the slightest attention, and as he proceeded up the Kauaeranga River in his, boat the Maoris were on the river bank seated with guns in their arms. As he came up to the Maoris Mackay stood up in the boat and said to them : ‘Shoot away. If you kill me another will take my place, perhaps worse than me.” This was too much for the. Maoris and they acknowledged his superiority. He had won their admiration, and ever afterwards, they regarded him as a great Toa, or Chief. Mr Mackay was one of New Zealand’s greatest public men, but was not populai’ with the authorities. He did not receive sufficient public recognition for the services he gave to this country. In his old age he passed out, memory unhonoured, unsung: and forgotten he sleeps, in the Pukerimu Cemetery, Paeroa.” MORE RECENT TIMES.

Coming down to more recent times, Mr Taylor related that in .the year 1874 Tukukino objected to the main road going through his territory, and related the, result of his visit to the Ma.ori king at Maungaka- The speaker also told of the difficulties of transporting the mails through Pa<>roa to Tauranga. At that time the telephone wires went up through Hikutaia. In 1876 Mr Daldy MacWilliams wa,s shot and left for dead at Rotokohu by the Ngatikoi natives, and Wani Epiha was apprehended at Alexandria. Messrs John Law and William Bunting of Thames, received a. contract from the Thames County Council for snagging the Waihou River. During the year there was also a raid by the Ngatihake tribe. ■*