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THE STORY OF AUCKLAND.

IMPERIAL PENSIONER SETTLEMENTS. • VALUE OF THE NEW ZEALAND FENCIBLES. NO. XIV. (By JAMES COWAN.) The story of that "toanga-roa," the "long haul," as it is called by the Maoris (in allusion to the dragging of the canoes to low water at the Governor's command) has frequently been told from the pakeha standpoint. The' Maori narra-. tive makes it clear that the war party wag not so numerous as some published accounts have it. One story I have seen places it as high as 800 men, and some exaggerated versions speak of twenty or thirty canoes. However, the demonstration of well armed men was sufficiently alarming to young Auckland. The "Black Cufia" and the Fentibles. The troops whom Governor and the officer in command, Lieut.-Colonel Wynyard, had* so quickly turned out to line Constitution Hill and the Parnell slope were the 58th Regiment and the Royal New Zealand Fencible*—the Imperial pensioners who had been settled in 1848 at Onehunga and other places on the outskirts. Four field guns were trained on the Maoris from Constitution Hill; the traces of the earthworks thrown up there were still to be seen in the turf when old Hori told me of the adventure. The War Council at Orakei. The sullen and disappointed expedition did not return direct to Waiheke Island, but drew in 'to Orakei Bay, and landed at the beachside rillage of Okahu, the home of Apihai Te Kawau, his nephews Te Hira and Paora Tuhaere, Paora Kawharu and other chiefs of Xsptti-Whatua. These people were all very friendly to the whites, and at a meeting that night they urged the Ngati-Paoa and Ngati-Whanaunga to return peaceably to their homes before the great warrior laraia arrived with his tribe from the Waihou and Ohinemuri. Te Kawau feared that Taraia's fiery temper and his obstinate opposition to the Government would cause bloodshed if Hoera's taua remained to be swayed by hinu A reinforcement did arrive in a war canoe from Piako; this armed party consisted of men of the NgatiTamatera, Ngati-Hako and Kiriwera tribes, and a few Ngati-Maru.

Te Kawau sent messengers off to Governor Grey and to the church mission people at St. John's College, two miles away. In the end there was a peaceful settlement. The chiefs made submission, gave the Governor greenstone meres in token thereof, and the town breathed freely again. As for the Maori shirt-stealer, Ngawiki, the cause of all the trouble, he had been sentenced to three months* imprisonment. When he returned to his village, his people, with a fine sense of the appropriate, gave him a new name, and thenceforth he was known as Toru-Marama ("Three Months"). Auckland's Bulwark of Veterans. | The military forces which Governor Grey had [ assembled to protect Auckland town from the war canoe party of Ngati-Paoa (April 17, 1851) consisted of three companies of the 58th Regiment, with some field artillery, and three companies of the Royal New Zealand Fencibles. The history of the establishment of this corps of i Fencibles makes an interesting story, for it is also the history of the foundation of Onehunga, Otahuhu, Panmufre and Howick settlements. | Soon after the close of Hone Heke'i war in the I*orth in 1840, Captain Grey, Governor, wrote to Earl Grey, the Minister for the Colonies, informing him that in his opinion 2500 soldiers would be required in New Zealand for some years to come, and explaining how he proposed to distribute the troops. There was at that time, it must be remembered, some fear of war with France, partly as the result of French annexations of Pacific islands (Tahiti and New Caledonia) and partly because of European politics, and it was considered that New Zealand was a likely object of attack by the French squadron in the South Seas. The construction of fortifications in Auckland, therefore, was undertaken with a view to possible foreign aggression as well as trouble with the Maoris. Composition of the Corps. The British Government granted the request, and informed the Governor that the military force would be made up partly of a corps to be called the Royal New Zealand Fencibles, composed of selected enrolled pensioners and discharged soldiers without pensions; the latter not to exceed a quarter of the whole number. Men of good character and still of vigorous constitution would alone be permitted to join the corps. The age of eurolled pensioners was not to exceed fortyeight years, and that of discharged soldiers thirty-eight years. Discharged soldiers must have served seven years, and the term of service in the Fencibles was seven years. On arrival in New Zealand each soldier was to be granted a two-roomed cottage and an acre of land, onequarter cleared and ready for cultivation; also advances for furniture and stock; these advances were to be paid off gradually. There was to be twelve days' drill in the year, and church parade every Sunday; the men were to bring muskets as well as side-arms to church parade for inspection. When called out for service the pay was to be 2/6 per day for privates, up to 4/ per day for a sergeant-major. Each officer was to be provided with a nine-roomed house and 50 acres of land; the commandant to have a twelve-roomed house 'and a two-stalled stable. The commandant of th£ force was to receive £600 per annum and forage for two horses; captaips £300 per annum.'Each officer have a pre-emptive right to purchase fifty acres of land in the vicinity of his tillage at a low price, to be fixed by the Governor and not to exceed £200; each Fencible to have a similar right over five acres of land, the prica not to exceed £20. These conditions were drawn up by the War Offiee. The Pensioner Villages. The Royal New Zealand Fencibles formed a splendid regiment of veterans 850 strong, and their arrival from England in 1848 provided Auckland with a reliable and experienced outer guard, covering the approaches to the town from the Waikato, Manukau, and Tamaki sides. Three companies were located at Onehunga, three at Howick, one at Otahuhu and one at Panmure. Most of the veterans had wives and children, and these families founded industrious and thriving settlements, and also provided inuch-needed labour for the farmers on the outskirts of the town. The strategic advantages of the outposts thus established were very obvious. The one exception was Howick, which was too far-from Auckland to be of value as a military station. The late Captain Eyre Kenny, son of Major Kenny, the commandant of the force, who put on record a description and history of the •-•orps, stronglv criticised Governor Grey for planting nearly half of the Fencibles ou a quite unsuitable site. "The settlement of Howick," he wrote in his reminis- 1 cences, "bore for long the nickname of 'Grey's I Folly.' Major Kenny in vain urged the Governor to station one wing of four companies at Onehunga, and to distribute the remaining four companies between Panmure and Otahuhu." Labour and Cash. \"The arrival of tlie Fencibles was, according .to Captain Kenny, a godsend to the Auckland settlers of that day. Auckland's crying needs were labour and money. Labour was ho scarce that Lieut. Wynyard, commanding the 58th Regiment, for two successive seasons gave passes, to many of his men to enab'e them to help the farmer at harvest time, at 2/6 per day. When the Fencibles came the labour shortage was relieved; and moreover, over £1000 a month was distributed in cash, in pensions, pay and incidental expenditure. ' . .(To be continued.)

Permanent link to this item

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS19281023.2.45

Bibliographic details

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 251, 23 October 1928, Page 6

Word Count
1,260

THE STORY OF AUCKLAND. Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 251, 23 October 1928, Page 6

THE STORY OF AUCKLAND. Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 251, 23 October 1928, Page 6

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