EARLY HISTORY

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 77, Issue 6566, 15 September 1948, Page 7

EARLY HISTORY

TE AWAMUTU AND DISTRICT ILLUMINATING ADDRESS BY DR J. B. W. ROBERTON As stated in Monday’s issue the speaker at Saturday night’s meeting of the Te Awamutu Orphans Club was Dr J. B. W. Roberton, who was chairman of the meeting. Dr Roberton, in the Course of an illuminating and interesting address on the early history of Te Awamutu and district, said:— “In these days of centenaries all over New Zealand, it seems to me unfortunate that we have no written V record of our very early dates; other- * wise we might, some years ago, even before it acquired the status of borough, have celebrated the tercentenary of Te Awamutu. To illustrate my point I propose to give you a very sketchy outline of the history of Te Awamutu, with particular emphasis on the earlier centuries of its life. The first migration of Maoris from Hawaiki occurred about the year 1350. One of the canoes was Tainui which settled at Kawhia. About 100 years later, about the middle of the 15th century, a Tainui chief, named Turongo, settled near Otorohanga. He was the father of Raukawa, the progenitor of Ngatiraukawa and great grandfather of Maniapoto, progenitor of Ngatimaniapoto. Early in the 16th century two other families of Tainui people came inland from Kawhia. The Ngatiapakura settled at Ngaroto, and the* Ngatikauwhata at Puahue. Towards the end of the 16th century there was a war between Ngatiraukawa and Ngatikahupungapunga, people of a previous migration, who were the earlier owners of the land. Ngatikahupungapunga were defeated and disappeared from the land. The war leader of Ngatiraukawa was a grandson of Raukawa called Whaita. After the war Whaita set himself up in part of the enemy’s territory at Te Mawhai and built Whakapirimata pa. This pa is still to be seen in a good state of preservation on the bank of the Puniu at the boundary between Baxter’s and Conlan’s farms in St Leger’s Road. Whaita died and was buried at a spring on the farm of Brothers Cyril and Joe Linehan. This spring was reputed in olden times to be the haunt of fish of all kinds, including sharks and flatfishOn the death of Whaita, his second son, Ngutu, reigned in his stead. Ngutu may be regarded as the real founder of Te Awamutu, as he was the builder of Otawhao pa, which was probably where Wallace Terrace now stands. This would be somewhere about the year 1600. At this time there was a truculent chief of Ngatikauwhata at Puahue called Tikitiki who was a thorn in the flesh to Ngatingutu and Ngatiapakura, so I think we may assume that Otawhao pa was for defence against Ngatikauwhata of Puahue. Kaipaka pa in the junction of the Mangapiko and the Mangaohoi, was built by Ngatiapakura and may have been designed for the same purpose. During the next century or two the greater part of the present borough must have been neutral ground. It was approximately the meeting point of four tribes Ngatimaniapoto, which embraced Ngatingutu, Ngatiapakura, Ngatikauwhata, and Ngatiraukawa, who were at Maungatautari and Wharepuhunga. It was also the cross-roads of a number of important tracks crossing the island in all directions. During the latter part of the 18th and the early part of the 19th centuries, there were Waikato-Maniapoto alliances. About 1780 was fought near Ngaroto the great battle of Mingaakaka where this alliance defeated a formidable alliance of Ngatitoa of the West Coast, Taranaki, and East Coast tribes. Early in the 19th century the Waikato-Maniapoto alliance broke the strength of an alliance between Ngatitoa and Ngatiraukawa, which led to the migration of Ngatitoa to Kapiti under the famous Te Rauparaha. They were joined later at Kapiti by a large body of Ngatiraukawa. I mention these disturbances as they led to some re-arrangement of tribal lands in the district. This was roughly the position when, in the early twenties the Ngapuhi from North Auckland made their murderous expeditions with the first fire-arms. The Waikato’s were thrown into confusion and fled up country for shelter. At this stage Ngatingutu handed over Otawhao pa to Ngatiruru, who I believe came from about Ngaruawahia. I think it is probable that at this time Otawhao pa was greatly extended in size. Following the disastrous defeat of the Waikato and Matakaitaki (at Pirongia) the Waikato and Maniapoto people set to work feverishly to obtain fire-arms. A second Ngapuhi expedition was annihilated at Te Rore. Being thus secure, thoughts turned to further revenge, and Waikato and Maniapoto ravaged and devastated Taranaki. In the meantime missionary endeavours were bearing fruit, and in the early thirties peace became general. When the missionaries came here in the late thirties Otawhao was the chief and most popular pa in the district and the Mission Station was known as Otawhao. On one occasion a war party went from Otawhao and returned with loads of human flesh. Morgan bravely upbraided them for their cannibalism and called on his consorts to come with him and “make a new pa for Jesus”. He was followed by about 200. I believe that this new pa was probably the Awamutu pa at the site of the sale-yards. Te Awamutu is one of the number of locality names defining boundaries on deeds of sale of land to the Missionaries, but few of these localities can now be identified. I was told by a member of the Ngatiapakura tribe, which owned the land there, that Te was an old name for the , junction of the two streams, a point which is quite close to the sale-yards. In course of time most of the people of Otawhao pa were converted to Christianity and transferred to the Christian pa, leaving only a handful at Otawhao. So we have as it were a transfer of population from one suburb of the town to another on the other side of the town. The Church of St John was built in the mid-fifties. By this time the Mission Station was at what is now Selwyn Park, alongside Awamutu pa. It was, however, still called the Otawhao Station. This brings us to the time when the

Maoris, who lacked nothing in common sense, began to fear for the tenure of their land. The King movement, which was started with a view to applying the pakeha system of justice to the Maori people, developed more into a land protection movement. Not long before the Waikato war, Gorst was sent here by the Government to make propaganda against the King movement. He ran a school at the Mission and later he was made resident magistrate. I have been told, but have not yet myself had a chance to confirm, that in his book, “New Zealand Revisited”, written in 1906, Gorst refers to Otawhao up to the year and after that refers to Te Awamutu. This may be a recognition of the transfer of population from the old Otawhao pa to the new Awamutu pa and may well be the clue to the origin of the present name of the town. I have seen a map dated 1865 in which the name Te Awamutu appears where it definitely refers to a settlement or a district and not merely to a locality or point. With the advent of the war, Morgan and Gorst were ordered away and most of their consorts dispersed, many of them taking up arms with the Maori forces, whose conduct of the war reflected great credit on their Christian teaching. A few stayed and looked after the mission property which was never molested, and were there to meet Bishop Selwyn when he arrived with the troops. After the war there was a garrison at Te Awamutu for a few years. An area down towards Arawata Street bridge was set aside as a village. In 1868, where the town now stands, was known as the Mission property. It included both sides of Alexandra Street from College Street, back to Arawata Street, and included about five acres known as Edward’s property (from Ahier’s to Newton King’s). Gorse hedges and tall fern grew on both sides of Alexandra Street. These conditions lasted well into the eighties.

Accounts vary as to the date of the first store and the first hotel. One account says that the first store was built by Mr John Roche where Ahier’s now stands, about 1873 or 1874, and later an hotel was built close to Edward’s reserve. Another account says that the first hotel was built by Lewis in 1866. An early map shows an hotel between the sites of Ahier’s and Newton King’s. That hotel was burned down later and another was built at the present site of the Te Awamutu Hotel. In 1882 advertisements in the Waikato Times show the presence of a number of establishments at Te Awamutu.

Te Awamutu was a town district by 1880. In 1912 it ceased to be a part of Waipa County and in 1915 it became a borough. Here I will close my history. As you have seen, the foundations of the town were laid back at the beginning of the 17th century—34 centuries ago —24 centuries after the arrival of the Maoris from Hawaiki—half a century before the first European discovery of New Zealand by Abel Tasman in 1642. Though the people living here changed, the changes were in logical sequence. Unlike many of its neighbours, Te Awamutu was never designed. Its origin as a Maori settlement was dictated by circumstances. Its rebirth as a European settlement and its inevitable growth were also dictated by circumstances. The lie of the land, the spirit of adventure, probably the aggression of Ngatikauwhata, the murderous raids of the Ngapuhi, the peace-loving Missionaries, the landgreedy policy of the Government, the pioneer settler, the enterprising storekeeper, the railway, the home separator and the milking machine, the most prolific dairying district in the world—All these have contributed to make Te Awamutu what it is”.