AFTER EIGHTY-FIVE YEARS.

Taranaki Daily News, 26 August 1922, Page 10

AFTER EIGHTY-FIVE YEARS.

. WHALER WHO MARRIED A PRINCESS. ROMANTIC HISTORY OF “DICKY” BARRETT. (Wellington Dominion.) Unsuspected romance lies buried in the associations which throng some of the busiest spots in the bustling Wellington of to-day. An inquiry by parties in England—eighty-five years afteit a roving son of his family had landed on these shores—have resulted in recalling one of the most widely-known and loved men of his day in New Zealand, whether by Maori or pakeha—Richard Barrett (Tiki Parete), whose sterling integrity and hospitality were watchwords. who took part in the NgatiawaWaikato Native wars, and who, rnrough his marriage with the sister ot Te Wharepouri, was able to assist greatly the negotiations of the first colonisers; the man, in fact, whose opinion was consulted in the fixing of the site of Wellington itself.

The inquirers said that they understood that Barrett, a whaler, had been wrecked on the coast of New Zealand, and had married a Maori princess, and they wished to know if there was a will. There is a will, probate of which was granted on August 10, 1847 (the thirteenth will of which probate was granted in New Zealand), but the searchers are more likely to be interested in the part taken in this country’s early history by the man who left England at least eighty-five years ago than in the contents of the will.

Barrett is first heard of in New Zealand in 1838, as a whaler and flax trader at the Sugar Loaf Islands, off the present site of New Plymouth. An important part was taken by him in helping the Ngatiawas against the war of extermination waged on them by the advancing Waikatos. The possession of a preponderance of muskets, then only obtainable with diffculty, gave the Waikatos a decided advantage. Barrett and other Europeans were in occupation of a whaling station on the Sugar Loaves, established in 1828, and soon after the massacre of thousands of the Ngatiawas at the Pukerangiora pa, some twelve miles distant, the remnants of the fleeing Ngatiawas joined the Europeans, who were loth to lose all their belongings and the settlement they had established, and determined to fight for them. Leadership of the combined party was given to John Love (whose descendants live on the hill at Petone to-day), and Barrett was appointed second in command. The marauding Waikatos num bered 1300, were well armed with muskets, and were flushed with succeeding victories, fresh from an orgy of grisly tortures and rapine, gorged to their uttermost capacity with human flesh, supplies of which were driven before them. The defenders numbered eleven Europeans and 250 Natives, armed with only 100 muskets, ■ but possessing three long guns, and a i supply of powder^but only a limited sup- i ply of ball, which was supplemented by stones. Yet the Nga-Motu pa was hold for three weeks against? attacks and treachery, and in full view of unspeakable tortures to the captured. % The Waikatos were beaten off, but dreading their return in greater numbers, the Ngatiawas, in 1834, collecting in small parties from various parts of the country, decided to migrate, and moved off through the bush at the base of Mount Egmont, eventually reaching the coast again near Hawera. Barrett followed them down by sea, and thereafter his fortunes were linked with theirs. STIRRING DAYS.

This is the first recorded appearance of Barrett on the stage ot early New Zealand. The stormy nature of his life in Taranaki up to that time can only be guessed from the narrated sequel, for nowhere is there a record of it. The fact that he was wrecked on the New Zealand coast, as mentioned in the inquiry from England, is not elsewhere recorded. But those eany days must have been of a stirring nature. All that is certain is that Barrett’s honesty, hospitality, courage, and strength of personality endeared him to the Natives, the name of Tiki Parete being well known and respected in remote parts of both islands by Maoris who had never seen him. An interesting sidelight on the freedom of those days is that two of his European companions were awarded Native wives as their share of the spoil in Native wars, and took them to Lord Howe Island.

When the first expedition of the New Zealand Land Company reached Te Awa-iti, in 1839. in charge of Colonel William Wakefield. Barrett, at the head of one of his whaling parties, went off to the vessel. In “Wakefield’s Adventures in New Zealand" is the first impression of him recorded by a person capable of literary expression. “We had been much amused,” says the chronicler, “at the comfortable obesity of Williams. . . a good example of the effects of New Zealand feeding. Wnat was our surprise on finding ‘Dicky’ Barrett, as he was called, shorter and stouter in person. Dressed in white jacket, blue dungaree trousers, and a round shraw hat, he seemed perfectly round all over, while his jovial ruddy face, twinkling eyes, and good humoured smile, could not fail to excite pleasure in all beholders.” Barrett had then been a whaler at Te Awa-iti, in Queen Charlotte Sound, for five years. He had married Rangi, the daughter of an influential chief, and the sister of Te Whare-pouri, and had daughters, but no sons. His house at Te Awa-iti was on a knoll overlooking the whole of the town. It was a superior sort of house for those days, built of sawn timber, iicored and lined inside, with an ample verandah. Wakefield found “a long room, half filled with Maoris and whalers. His wife, a fine stately woman, gave us a dignified welcome, and his pretty halfcaste children laughed and commented on our appearance. He had three girls of his own, and had adopted the son of an old trader (Jacky Love), whose death the Natives regretted as of one of themselves.”

The description of Barrett’s trying out station at Te Awa-iti is interesting. “The stench was awful. . . The men were uncombed and unshaven, covered in dirt and oil, strong and muscular.” Their appearance when the try-pots were in full swing reminded him of Schiller’s ballad of Fridolin.

For Barrett's nature, Wakefield and other historians have nothing but praise. “We found a character for hospitality and kindness, to either Natives or fellow-countrymen, invariant? accorded him . . kind-hearted to a fault, always good huaeured and iauguius.

scrupulously honest in all his transactions, his acquaintance was eagerly sought for his sterling worm?’ THE FIRST PILOT. At about this time Barrett becamie too fat and heavy to go out in his boats himself, but he continued to pursue the business of whaling with success. It was Barrett who piloted Wakefield’s vessel in between Pencars row and Baring Heads, and Barrett, 1 who was of inestimable value to the j expedition in every way, notably in t its land purchases from the Natives. By reason of his marriage he was ret lated to all the important chiefs, and r acted as interpreter between Te i Whare-pouri and Te Puni and the New Zealand Land Company. It was, i indeed, the emphatic confirmation by , Richard Barrett of the half-formed de- ’ cision to make Fort Nicholson the centre of the company’s operations L which virtually decided the actual site ( of Wellington itself. Trusted by the Natives, Barrett’s explanations of the entirely new system of purchase of land did much to smooth the way of the company. Of his assistance in such matters in the Taranaki Purchases, Wakefield says:— “Barrett’s influence and persuasiveness effectually conquered numerous effects to outbid the expedition in the purchase of the Taranaki district. Too great praise cannot be given to him for zeal in our interests, and his disinterestedness in refusing the offers of some of these parties, even though we had much exceeded the time given for our return.” Fat, jovial, and fond of a yarn, “Dicky” had evidently courage and the gift of handling men. On one occasion in Taranaki two large factions of Ngatiawas and a rival tribe met, and had danced hakas and eocked their guns preparatory to a bloody battle. The chronicler of this event threw himself on the ground to escape the musket balls that seemed imminent, but “Dicky” tripped up two leading warriors, grabbed another by the arms, and soon had the whole affair turned, into a joke, which all seemed to joyREMOVAL TO WELLINGTON. Just exactly when he moved to Wellington seems in doubt. At one time he had a house at Thorndon, where the hospitality of his large cooking pots and spacious table was too undiscriminating to appeal to some of his European visitors. Barrett’s Reef is named after him, but of course the most wirely-known landmark he has left is Barrett's Hotel, though he never occupied the present building. The original Barrett's Hotel was built on the site of the present Hotel Cecil, to which ground Bartett, by reason of his marriage and also because he was there before the first attempts at colonisation were made, laid claim. A letter from the then Commissioner of Native Affairs, dated June 4. 1342, states:—“A part of Town Acre No. 514, on which Barrett’s Hotel stands, has been let on lease to Richard Barrett for seven years, at a yearly rental of I 55., being at the rate of ss. per foot for the frontage on which the house stands, and 20s. per foot for some ground adjoining. the depth being 100 ft.” Barrett underleased the hotel to one Smith. The licensee, in 1849, when the lease fell in, took the license, and the name, which from the prominance of Barrett in the community, might well have been a ponderable asset, ■.to the present site of Barrett’s Hotel. The original Barrett's Hotel was erected in 1810, and was a portable house orought out from England—part wood and part canvas. Here, says the late Mr. F. G. Moore, in rc.-niniscences of .Wellington. Dick dispensed very good English bottled beer, rum and Geneva. On the beach in front of the hotel were whaleboats on skids, like any whale station on the coast, equipped ready for launching, and when a not infrequent whale visited the harbour, Dick would muster a crew of all sorts, the-' chase often taking place in view of the settlers ashore. The cause of Barrett’s death in 1847 is not recorded, nor is there any indication of his age at the time of'death. The cause of his retirement from the hotel business is not stated, but it is certain that order and decency prevailed during his presidency at the bar, and that joviality and good yarns were plentiful. Dicky’s signature itself is like a row of partly barrels.