ITS GLORY GONE

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 152, 29 June 1932, Page 7

ITS GLORY GONE

HISTORIC'HOUSE

CHIEF TE PUNI'S HOME

■ Standing forlornly in the middle of a timber yard near the Petono beafeh is a small wooden,- house with an interesting history. : It was the homo of the descendants of . the great Maori ■■chief, Honiana Te Puni, and it is claimed to be the oldest wooden building in the Petone district, having been erected, between 1868 and 1870. It was •the only house in the locality at that time 1 and being of substantial wooden construction, with an. attic • under a shingled roof, it must have been an object of great interest to the Maoris.and fhe early settlers. To-day it' is used as a storehouse for old machinery and other unwanted odds and ends. Tall stacks of timber-completely surround,it and prevent its being seen from the Tbad, which is just as well, for"with its present commonplace corrugated iron roof, its barred and broken windows,, and its general appearance of dilapidation and neglect this, perhaps the most interesting building in Petone, is better left unseeni

Information about the house was obtained by: the "Evening Post" 'from Mr, T. Love, who is a descendant on his mother's side of the famous Honiana Te Puni. Mr. Love declares that the house, was built between 1868 and 1870 by a; European for Henare Te Puni, a son; of the old chief. The locality on which it stands was called/by the Maoris "Te Koro Koro" and this eventually became the name of the house. In it Judge Mackay held his first Native Land Court in Petone in .1889. Although Pitoone, the. home of Honiana Te Puni, standing on what is now the beach end of Te Puni street, was the family home, in later years To Koro Koro became the Te Puni family home. The land on which the house stands vas left by will to a Taranald cousin, who eventually sold it to its present owners, to become part of the timber yard.

-■ A liyely interest in the old house is . taken by the Mayor of Petone (Mr. D. McKenzie), who is of the opinion that the place- should be preserved asa national possession. "It is a sad sight," said Mr. McKenzie, "to see this famous home ruthlessly allowed to die. It is but as yesterday since Te Puni and his family were revered for the many gratuitous services given to the white settlers when they were in desperation and in peril of their lives. The Te Puni home was.a place ,of .beauty, teeming with romance and glory." But all^this is gone and only, vandalism and disrespect confront the eye."- ' ■ The. great" ».hief, Honiana Te Puni iyas often referred to in historic documents, said Mr. McKenzie, for Te Puni and his family earned the everlasting gratitude of the white settlers by showing themselves to be true friends in the early arid troublesome days'. Honiana Te Puni was the steady friend and adherent of the Europeans and for his loyalty was presented by Queen. Victoria with a sword of honour. He was a man of great influence, not only with his own tribe but with the Ngatitoa.' "With their assistance he and his people had conquered the country around .Wellington.

. Honiana Te Puni died at an advanced ago in 18.70, and was buried in the Maori cemetery near the Petone beach, :aad not very far from, the house, Te Koro Koro. : A monument, erected by the Government over his grave, still marks recognition of his services to tho early settlers. On one face is the inscription: • "To the memory^ of Honiana Te Puni," a chief of Ngatiawa, who died on the sth December, il870," and on the other is: ■ "This "monument-is erected -by -the*w Zea» land Government in consideration of the unbroken friendship between' him and the pakeha." The" other two sides of-the monument bear the same inscriptions in Maori. ..' .' '. . -