OVER THE SIDE.

Gisborne Times, Volume LXV, Issue 10392, 9 May 1927, Page 11 (Supplement)

OVER THE SIDE.

SAILOR WHO SLIPPED ASHORE AT HAITI.

ECHO OF EARLIEST WHALING DAYS.

WHY WILLIAM BROWN NEVER RETURNED TO' ENGLAND.

HIS REASON FOR. WEARING

HAIR LONG

•Not long after Captain T. W. Harris, grandfather of .Mr. Frank Harris, of Haiti, settled in Gisborne at the claim of the ,30’s he and his few pakeha helpers were surprised to find in their midst a new settler in the person of one William Brown or, as he became known to the Natives, Wirenin Paronc, a sailor whom they had previously seen ashore with some of his comrades prior, to the sailing of a whaling vessel that had called in at the Bav.

ONE OF THE VERY EARLIEST ' SETTLERS.

As to the date of William Brown’s advent, even as to the name of the vessel from which he ran away, history is silent. In the past, it has been supposed in same qua i ters that he came here about the same time as Capt. Harr’s, if not before. Enquiries, however, go to show, conclusively, that the vessel by which lie came out to New Zealand was an English boat and that her object in calling

was to pick up oil, whale-hone and provisions, it is also known by lus descendants that lie landed on the Haiti beach ana that, at tne time ot his arrival, C'apt. Harris was not the only pakeha resident here. As Captain Harris did not commence whale hunting at Papawliiriki, near Tuamotu island, until about 1837, it would seem, therefore, that that would be about the date of Wm. Brown's advent. Even so, it requires to he set down that William Brown was one oi Poverty Bay’s very earliest settlers. Unfortunately, the names are not known of all the palcehas who assisited Capt.iip Harris in his trading and whaling activities. Some, it would seem, moved about a great deal and wbuld be only temporary residents. Tom Ralph was> cf course, one. Barnet Burns, it was. in the early days, thought was another, but Burns’ account of Iris strange exploits on the East Coast indicates that lie visited here a year or two earlier, prior to settling at Telaga Bay. Maybe, Mr. Thos. Halbert, father of Pitau, Wi Pere and Thos. Halbert, who lives at Makaraka. w;,,,, like Capt. Harris, also established here before Wm. Brown’s day. That Mr. R. Poulgrain. Mr.-Espie, sehr., or -the n’Eer.s preceded him is uo«. supportable.

LUCKY IX LOVE. What led tills William Brown to forsake his roving life on the ocean wave to partake of the hardships incidental to p’onecring life in this isolated part of the Dominion amongst Natives who had, op till that time, come into contact with hot few Europeans, is not known. It,is, however, well authenticated that he did not leave the vessel with the master’s

permission, for ho had signed on for a three years’ voyage. In short, William Brown quietly slipped ashore one dark evening on tthe Kait-i beach and succeeded in keeping under cover until his good ship could not‘be detained any longer and had to resume her voyage to England. From what can be learned, William Brown, came of a. good family. His people, it is generally supposed, were English, but. even on that point his grandchild, Mahaki Brown, or Pulia, for instance, is far from emphatic, having come to the conclusion that lie might also have had Scottish b’ood in his veins. At all events William Brown had some petty difference with his people and, in consequence, he decided to quit the British Isles and see something o' the wide, wide world for himself. In those early days of pakelia. venturesomeness in these parts it was highly advantageous for an intruder to get into the good hooks of an influential Native chief, and it• so happens that it was William Brown’s good fortune to find favor with no less o Native nobleman than Kaliutia, for historv records that, vgrv soon after he landed here, Kalinina j gave him for a wife one of-his relatives. -Maybe, this narticular damsel may have lured William Brown from his duties aboard ship. The voung Native woman who became Mrs.. William Brown could trace her descent thus wise—Te Kanpa begat Ruku and Tu Tapir. Ruku begat Kaliutia who begat Ripirnta Kali nti a, who lmprat Lady Carroll. Tu Term begat Aoikara, who begat Hiire Whati o te Rangi, the wife of William Brown. SURVIVORS OF THE UNION, ■On every hand, it i s agreed that the, . ma tr imon ia 1 ■ al I iiince Wlas' a rrtos b hah-; Py one. It by . the • ad-1 ventv pf five .children—- L ■ ," V AVi;Brown, wbb lived near Makaraka, dying iii 1895. - X, _ • v Mere Klhgi Fafon'c, a resident of Manutuke; - ‘,;.AiXK Eruera Paronc, who died at Ma-

kauri in 1920. Paku Brown,' of Makauri, who was killed at Tiniroto by Te Ivooti rebels whilst carrying despatches from Gisborne to Wairoa in 1868; and - Ha to Ruru. (the esteemed mother I of Henry Ruru, of Te.Karaka) who . very kindly, at her son’s request, j supplied much ol the information j._ now' being placed on record concerning her grandfather, Mr. Brown. Incidentally, it may be mentioned that lvato Ruru, Wm. Brown’s youngest daughter, married Karaitiami Ruru, who ; was a son of Henare Keepa Ruru, who was the donor of the Waerenga-a-liika Mission site of 600 acres to the Rev. W. Williams, a property which to-day is worth probably up to £60,000. Henare Keepa Ruru was the first Native buried with military honors in this district, his burial talcing place at Waerenga-a-Hilca in 1873. It was to him, Recording to Mr. Henry Ruru, that the Native rebels after the Waerenga-a-Hika rising, livid down their arms. . What is further of interest concerning Henare Keepa Ruru is that Mr. Henry Ruru claims that Kahutia and his grandfather were the last Maori males to be- tattooed in Poverty Bay. Many of the females ot, high rank subsequently underwent the operation. To-day, however, tattooing is a thing of the past for Maori female as well as Maori male in this district. Mr. Ruru also says that in different districts the" tattooing differed and that the tattooing of the East Coast can be readily recognised by exports. In fact the old experts could give the name of the operator on studying the markings. Both Wm. Brown’s daughters were tattooed.

SETS UP AS STOREKEEPER. It has been suggested in some quarters that Win. Brown, when ho ran away from his ship, managed to get ashore a chest of tools.- This, however, is not well established. What is certain,’ however, is that when he landed lie had with him an olcl-styto large English Bible, which lie greatly treasured and which, much to his sorrow, was burnt in a fire at Makaraka many years afterwards. William Brown, strange as it may appear, never became a master of the Native language. However, lie ’quickly gained a sufficient smattering; to enable him to converse and con .a teach English to Natives with whom he came into contact. He conducted family prayers every morning mm taught the Scriptures to his wife and family on Sundays, and to Natives who carecl to join in Iks religious observances. Being nil industrious man and of. a quiet disposition lie got on remarkably well with the Maoris, who showed him every consideration. In due course, William Brown setup shop at Ngnwnierua, which on the side towards the sea between Awapuni and Onnu, his steck-in-trade consisting for the most part of clothing, blankets, etc. Barter was, in those days, the only means of exchange and with the .produce which he obtained from the Natives in return for goods he was abj.e to enlarge his stocks in the course of trading with vessels calling in to Poverty Bay. William Brown was also given in return for goods the right to use certain lands.

Prior to the Hauhau trouble breaking out in 1866 Wm. Brown had established himself as a flour miller on the Flats near Makaraka. Where he got the plant does -not seem clear, but it was probably obtained from Sydney. The Natives as -well as the few- white settlers thereabouts brought their wheat to the mill to he ground. A pakeha named Neri (Ned) Paranoid was his chief assistant. Oftentimes, helpers came from the Waerenga-a-Hika mission to assist at the mill and, not infrequently, the growers of the wheat lent a hand. The mill had, however, to close down when the rebellion started and Wm. Brown and his family came in to the Haiti redoubt.) After the Hauhau trouble had subsided he opened a store in the Makaraka district. It was destroyed by fire in 1878.

PLAN TO VTSPT FNGLAND FRUSTRATED. William Brown sustained a heavy blow when his wife died in the middle 60’s. For a 1 one:, time he ban contemplated re-visiting England, but his love for his wife and children refrained him from taking the step. Up tiil then, he and his relatives had maintained correspondence. When Mrs. Brown died, ho firmly made uphis mind, to return Home, hut the elders ef his late wife’s tribe would not agree to his proposal to take with him two of the hoys. They told him that if he wished to go he could go by himselk Off lie went, but on reaching Melbourne, ho began to miss !iis family so much that ho retraced his steps; Jt seems that the elders were afraid that lie would not return if he took any of the children with him. Afterwards his relatives cc* ,c ra to write to hini and their identity remains unknown on account of the destruction of all his correspondence in the fire at Makarnka.

In later life, William Brown became a more conspicuous figure ,m the streets of Gisborne by reason of the fact that he wore his hair long. After the death of his wife, he would not suffer his hair to be cut and it hung down to his waist. This decision on his part was questioned by members of his family, but he would in'i visibly! -rqplv that keeping his hair long was a token of respect for his dead wife. Ho lived to die advanced age of 87, dying at his home, “Brown’s Point,” not' far from Makaraka, and near the old Kia Ora Coy.’s factory, in 18S9.