HISTORIC CEMETERY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23232, 29 December 1938, Page 10

HISTORIC CEMETERY

PRESERVATION SOUGHT MEMORIALS TO TWO CHIEFS RENOVATION AUTHORISED A plea for the preservation of the historic cemetery alongside St. James' Church at Mangere Bridge has been answered by a decision of the ,Interna! Affairs Department to authorise the extensive renovation of the memorials to Epiha te Tuhi and Kati Takiwaru, two Waikato Maori chiefs famous in the early history of the colony. The churchyard was found to be in a very neglected state and. following the restoration of the memorials, it is hoped that steps will be taken locally to keep the burial ground in order, . St. James' Church itself was built in the missionary era and, in a perfect state of preservation, it is still used regularly for services in which Europeans and Maoris join. Efforts have been made recently by Onehunga Maoris to improve the condition of the burial ground. It is recalled that on April 16, 1849, an agreement was signed by 121 Maoris of the Ngati-Mahuta tribe and by the then Surveyor-General, Mr. C. \V. Ligar, on behalf of the Goreniment, defining conditions under which the tribe was to be settled at Mangere. The list of signatories was headed by Kati Takiwaru, to whom one of the memorials was raised. In a report written to the Governor. Sir George Grey, in 1849. on the establishment of the Mangere settlement, Mr. Ligar said it was an interesting sight to witness the natives taking over in the first village set apart for them and designed in accordance with the European custom. Their first care had been to examine every part with the object of ascertaining the best site for a church and a place for the clergyman's residence.