HISTORIC CEMETERY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23199, 19 November 1938, Page 16

HISTORIC CEMETERY

MANGERE BRIDGE CHURCH TOMB OF MAORI CHIEF EARLY DAYS RECALLED Memories of several notable figures in the early colonial life of New Zealand are preserved in the old cemetery alongside St. James' Church at Mangere Bridge. The church itselt 1 was built during the missionary era by the Maoris, who carried the stones !>cm the mountainside on their backs, while the cemetery is regarded by residents as an important feature of Auckland's historic links. However, there has been lack of attention to the burial ground, and local Maoris are holding a -working bee to-day in an endeavour to restore the area. , • To protect the western • side of Auckland from attack by hostile natives, Sir George Grey placed 80 families of friendly Maoris at Mangere in 1849, the defenders including the man who was to become the Erst Maori King. Although sadly requiring repair, and with the inscription barely legible, a memorial stands in St. James' 'Cemetery to-day to Te Wherowherc s brother, Kati Takiwaru. The memorial is stated to bear the following words:—"Sacred to the memory of Kati Takiwaru, a chief of Waikato, and younger brother of Te Wherowhero, who. with his children and grandchildren, descendants of Tapaue, their ancestor, lie buried in this tomb. This stone is raised to their memory by the Government of New Zealand during the administration of George Grey, Premier, and John Sheehan, Native Minister, in the month of September, 1878.*' (The cemetery also contains the graves of other chiefs, together with a number of Mangere's pioneers.