DEATH AT 90

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23339, 6 May 1939, Page 16

DEATH AT 90

MR. DANIEL COE< FRIENDSHIP WITH MAORIS MANY EARLY ADVENTURES The death has occurred in Auckland of one of New Zealand's oldest pioneGrs. Mr. Daniel Coe, aped 90, of Waiuku. Mr. Coe was born in Hobart in 1849 and came with his parents to Auckland at the age of two years. At an early ago he assisted his father in one of Auckland's first butcher businesses, but on his father's death a few years before the Maori War in the Waikato, and while still a lad, he made his home among the Maoris of the Waikato and Taranaki' districts. He acquired a good knowledge of the Maori language,, •which served him in later life when ho; became an interpreter. Notable Figures Recalled

While Mr. Coe was with the Maoris,, he mado the acquaintance of such notable iigures as the Maori King Potatau, Te Kooti, Waharoa, Wiremu Tamehalia and von Tempsky. He was, in fact, "adopted" at one stage by To Kooti, who was many years later to become such a terror to tho early' settlers.

Mr. Coe decided about 1870 to follow the sea, and for a number of years ho was engaged in the New Zealand coastal trado, with occasional trips to the South Sea Islands. •

Trade During Gold Rushes

During the adventurous years of the gold rushes at Thames and Coromandel, he was engaged in sailing his own ketch between Auckland and Coromandel. He later settled in the Waikato and King Country districts. Mr. Coe married in 187S Miss Sophia Moore. Until about 20 years ago, when he returned to Waiuku, he was a wellknown figure in the Waikato and King Country. He was a friend to both Maori and pakeha, and on many occasions acted as interpreter before the Native Land Court.

Mr. Coe is survived by his wife and eight children.