JOHN WHITELEY.

Taranaki Daily News, 3 February 1923, Page 7

JOHN WHITELEY.

A MEMORIAL CAIRN. STORY OF HIS DEATH. AN HISTORIC EPISODE. A simple ceremony, yet one full of historical interest, was performed at Pukearuhe yesterday, when the memoTial cairn to the Reverend John Whiteley, Methodist missionary and martyr, wa* unveiled. The ground, on which the cairn stands is holy ground, sanctified by the blood of the missionary murdered while performing the service of the Master to whom he had dedicated his life. The cairn itself is in keeping with the life of the martyr—there is the stone denoting the strength of his character, the cross of the sacrifice he made, the inscribed grey granite slab perpetuating not only his memory but the perpetuity of the faith for which he died. Dead though he has been for 54 years, John W. Whiteley lived at that hallowed .spot yesterday, and there was something inspiring and appealing in the little band of mourners at the base of the monument standing ‘bareheaded in the sun, singing ‘‘From Everlasting Thou Art God.” It was noteworthy that there were present: Messrs. W. Moon, W. B. Davie.?, and J. Grylls, who had carried his remains from the spot of his martyrdom, and the presence of his descendants, Mr. and Mrs. Harold Rawson and Mis* Rawson. ; A REPRESENTATIVE GATHERING. The gathering was representative of the churches, civic bodies and laiety, and included the Rev. H. Laws (president of the Methodist conference), the Rev. W. Avery (Wai tara circuit), ’Rev. W. Grigg (chairman of the Taranaki-Wanganui district), Rev. Robt. Haddon (superintendent of the Methodist Maori mission), Rev. F, Gavin (Anglican Church, Waitara), Major Winton (Salvation Army), Mr. F. E. Wilson (Mayor of New Plymouth), Mr. J. S. Connett (chairman of the Taranaki County Council), and Mr. W. H. Skinner. A welcome was extended on behalf of the trustees of the Whiteley Memorial Church and the memorial committee by the Rev. W. J. Elliott. Following the singing of the hymns “O God. our help in ages past.” and “Give me the wings,” a scripture reading from Revelations VII., verses 9 to 17. and a prayer, the Rev. Laws performed the simple unveiling and dedication ceremony with the words: ‘Tn the t ame of the Father. Son, and Roly Ghost. I unveil and dedicate this cairn to-day in memory of a great and good mam. who Joved God and served His church anil laid down his life for our Lord Jesus Christ.” The inscription i*:— In memory of JOHN WHITELEY, Who was killed on thia spot, 13th February, 1869. Erected by his admirers throughout the Dominion. (Repeated, in Maori).

Mr. Skinner read a brief resume of Whiteley’s life and work among the Maori* and pakehas. He described the influence of the missionary with both races and of his move into Taranaki, until the descent of the taua of Hone Wetere Terenga on Pukearuhe and the massacre of Lieutenant Gascoigne and Lis family. Describing the approach of the Rev. Whiteley to the scene, Mr. Skinner said: “It wa* late in the evening when the aged missionary rode up the track leading to the block house at Pukearuhe where Lieutenant Gascoigne and his family had lived, and he must have noticed some strangeness in the surroundings oven in the darkness. FEARLESS IN LIFE AND DEATH. Presently a Maori voice called out to him: “Hokia! hokia! (go back! go back!),’ and the answer came: “Why should I go back? My place is here.” Again the order from Wetere: “Go back, Whiteley, your place is not here!” ”My place is here,” answered the brave old man, “and here I remain, for my i-hihl-ren are doing Again the Maori s order to go back was given without effect, but an evil voice cried out in the darkness. “Kahori atangi nga tikaka mati’’ (Dead cocks do not crow). No longer could the taua be restrained: they had scented the blood of men and babes, and a shot was fired that brought the faithful old horse, Charlie, to his knees, and his aged master to the ground. Kneeling beside his dying horse in prayer, Whiteley was shot again and again. And so he died as he had lived —a man without fear, and ever ready to give his life in his Master’s service, and never shrinking from what he believed to be his duty.” The strength of their faith and the sense of the nearness of God was the keynote of the address given by the Rev. C. H. Laws, who said that they would have felt that the centenary celebrations of Methodism would have been incomplete did they not give honor to the Rev. John Whiteley, who was essentially a great Christian, and one of the band who had laid the ' foundations of the. religious life of New I Zealand. After paying an eloquent trii bute to the work of the Anglican misI rionaries, who were the first ordained I ministers in New Zealand, Mr. Laws | went on to refer to early Methodist I missionaries—Samuel Lees; the Rev. ; Butler, who landed in 1819; Rev. James | Puller, who conducted the first service I when the first immigrants arrived in I Wellington; and the Rev. James Within, who conducted the first Methodist service in the South Island at Waikouaiti. He said he felt a little justifiable pride when he re inhered some of the activities of these men of their church. AN ELOQUENT TRIBUTE. “I am very pleased to be present at this ceremony and to be on the spot where John Whiteley, the father of the Maoris, laid down his life for the church of my choice,” said the Rev. Haddon, in commencing an eloquent address. "I am here in a spirit of tangi. When one looks back to the great and good work of the servant of God, who gave his life for both Maori and pakeha, it makes me ashamed of being a descendant of the Maori people, who cruelly committed this crime. I have great sympathy for the near relatives of John Whiteley, because I myself can appreciate their feelings. As long ago as 1842 mv grandfather was a teacher in the Methodist church on the shores of Taranaki. He was Te Manihera and was taught by the Rev. Laurie, at I Riversdale. on’ the .Waimate Plains.

He then went to evangelise the Maoris at Waitotara and Wanganui, and there through the Waikato to 'Rotorua and Taupo. Here he preached to the people, and after the service knelt down to pray, when a warrior clubbed him to death. There died a great martyr for the people.’

Mr. Haddon then recounted the Maori tradition of the life and death of John Whiteley as told to him ; by his iin'.-10, who died when he was 110 years of age. “John Whiteley,” the tradition runs, “was the father of the Maoris of Kawhia and of all the district. He later removed to New Plymouth to be the father of the Maoris of Taranaki, hut when he learned that his former children of Kawhia were coming down to turn the Taranaki Maoris against the pakeha life camo .out to stop them. The Maoris of Taranaki were very wroth at the act of the Maoris of the Waikato, and they said then that they would stop fighting the pakeha because they loved Whiteley.”

The ceremony was closed with the I singing of the hymn “Jesu, lover of my soul,” the pronouncing of the benediction, and the singing of the national enthem. Thanks for the way in which the contractor (Mr. W. F. Short) had erected the memorial and for assistance given by the Wells Bros, and their helpers in providing stone, and others who had assisted in making the cairn an accomplished fact, were tendered by the Rev. W. J. Elliott, while cheers were given on the call of Mr. Wilson for the residents of the district, who provided an enjoyable and. welcome afternoon tea. THE REV. JOHN WHITELEY. LIFE GIVEN TO MAORIS. REMARKABLE SERVICE. The Bov. John Whiteley was bo’-n of Christian parents at .Kneesal, Nottinghamshire, England, on July the 20th. 1806. From childhood ho was religiously disposed, and in his /Oth ye-:, he came a decided, and, as ho believed, an accepted Christian. At this period he became a member of an Tndepjndent Church, but shortly afterwards his connection with that holy of Christa! ns was severed by his removal to the vicinity of Newark, where he threw in his lot with the Wesleyans, and became a local preacher. In 1831, he was accepted as a candidate for missionary work. He was married on the 4th of September, 1832, at a small parish church in the Newark circuit, and proceeded with his wife to the bld Mi -:-'i >a House in Hatton Gardens, London, where he received a very kind reception. After receiving recognition as a Missionary Minister at Lambeth Chapel, he proceeded to Porstmouth, and there embarked with his wife, bn the sth of November, 1832, in the ship Caroline, Captain Treadwell, bound for Hokianga, New Zealand. WORK WITH THE MAORIS. Early in the following year the ship reached the coast of New Zealand, but, the weather being rough Captain Treadwell declined to enter the Hokianga River, and took the vessel round the North Cape to the Bay of Islands, where the disembarkation was safely effected. The Wesleyan station at that time was at Mangungu on the Hokianga, the original station at Wangarpa having been destroyed by the natives in 1827, and there was but one missionary there. Mr. Whiteley proceeded to his post overland, and found his solitary brother awaiting his arrival. Here he learned the Maori language, and qualified himself for the. great work of his life. After residing for a few years at Hokianga, Mr. Whiteley removed to Kawhia*, and there among the Waikato tribes spent the 'best of his days. Strong, active, abstemious, loving the country and people, he was not troubled with sickly longings for home, or sentimental languishing* for refined society, but as a good soldier and servant of Jesus Christ ho nimbly trod the narrow arid devious paths, paddled his canoe up the rivers, or travelled oji horseback long distances over the open wilderness, or along the wide reaches of the solitary sea-beach in search of the villages of the dusky race he had given his life to serve. Sitting in the rush-built hut upon, a cushion of fern he would partake with the people of their homely supper from the steaming oven, and after the meal would hold “karakia,” or devotional service, singing with his flock the evening hymn in their own tongue, and to an air perfectly hideous to most European ears, but musical to him. Then after refreshing sleep, in the early hour* he would awake at the voice of the bird, proceed to some neighbouring stream, shave, perform hi* ablutions, not forgetting his feet, return to the pa, hold “karakia,” breakfast, and depart to some other portion of his large diocese, there to repeat the of the previous day. IN NEW PLYMOUTH. Without forgetting that he was a civilised Briton, so identified did he become with his people, and so readily did he fall into their habits of thought and catch the idiom of their language tha; he became one of the best Maori preachers, and obtained great influence over the native people. Shortly after the foundation of the New Plymouth Settlement, he was chiefly instrumental in inducing the Waikato tribes to manumit the Ngatiawa slaves they took at the siege of Pukerangiora. In 1844, at the special request of Governor Fitzroy, he attempted to smooth the ill-feeling which arose between the freedmen and lhe pioneer settlers of Taranaki. In 1856, in consequence of the Puketapu feud, Mr. Whiteley was stationed at New Plymouth. Here he labored amidst all the scenes of alarm, misery, and 'blood-shedding, with which this province was afflicted for so many years, preaching both to friends and foes, now in the camp of the British, and now in the war pa of the Maori. There was no outpost too remote for the missionary to reach, and he has frequently entered a blockhouse on a Sunday wet to his loins by wading though swollen rivers. He labored for some years in the endeavour to impart instruction to ‘the natives at the Grey Institution on the Mission Reserve at Ngamotu. He was instrumental in causing the erection of a native chapel on the Kawau Pa in Now Plymouth, and when, during the war, the' pa and chapel were purchased by the Government, it was chiefly by his exertions that another native chapel was built at the Henui. In 1859, he accompanied Mr. Wells, the historian, with Rev. J. Fletcher, Messrs. Webster, senior, Hulke, Burton, and Knight, with a party of natives, on a long forest journey from 801 l Block to Mount lEgmont. HIS LAST JOURNEY. At length the good old man finished

the work which was given him to do. It was his custom to ride out to some remote post on 'Saturday, sleep there bn Saturday night, rise and hold early Sabbath service, and then proceed homewards, preaching at all the villages on bis way. In pursuance of this plan he left New Plymouth on 'Saturday, the Llth day of February, 1869, on horse back, for Pukearuhe, “fern root hill,” an out-post in the White Cliff district in the extreme north of Taranaki. He was not unconscious of danger, for he had written a warning letter to the Government concerning this very outpost. As the old missionary rode along, now on the margin of the high sea cliffs, with the spectacle of Ruapehu in front and Egmont on his right, both lifting their snowy crefets from the bosom of the dark forests to the bright blue sky, and the dancing wavelets flashing the reflected sunlight in the watery abyss on his left, now cantering along the sandy beach amidst the irridescent bubbles of the sea foam, little did he think how black a crime was being perpetrated on the spot he was rapidly approaching. Pukearuhe had that day been stained with the blood of a young English mother of 27, and of her three babes, with the blood of three harmless men, and even with the blood of their domestic cat and dog. The missionary crossed the stream at the foot of the hill and commenced to ascend the steep path, when from among a war party of 20 Ngatimaniapoto, headed by a chief, who had been baptized as a believer in a merciful Saviour, and by the name of Wesley, voices were I'.eard exclaiming, “hokia! hokia!"—go Lack! go back? Then there was a discharge of arms, and the missionary's horse fell. Disengaging binfeelf from the dying beast, the aged minister fell on his knees, and clasped his hands in the attitude of prayer. Arms were again discharged; five bullets pierced his body, and so he passed to his everlasting rest. THE MASSACRE. TRAGIC DAY RECALLED. TRAP FOR THE VICTIMS. (By “Juvenis.’) One of the best and most authentic accounts of the massacres at the White Cliffs is contained in Wells’ History of Taranaki. The late Mr. B. Wells was editor of the Taranaki News for many years, and his history of the province is recognised by students as a standard work. Other histories, peculiarly enough, do little justice to such an important, though terribly tragic, event in the history of the province. Wells tells the story as follows: On Saturday, the 13th day of February, 18(59, excited by the success which had attended the arms of the rebels under Te Kooti and Titoko Warn, and encouraged by the fact that the whole of the Imperial and Colonial troops had again been withdrawn from the Taranaki Northern outpost, a “taua,” or war party of Ngatimaniapoto, the section of the great Waikato tribe residing at Mokau, approached Pukearuhe, the British redoubt at the White Cliffs.

Pukearuhe is situated about 36 miles from New Plymouth, and commands the approaches from the Mokau and Waikato country. To the south it affords a view of the country for at least two miles, but from the eastward it is commanded by a range of hills, distant •from it about 500 yards. There is, however, a deep gully between these hills and the redoubt, which affords a protection from any sudden attack. ATROCITY DESCRIBED. The “taua” approached in broad daylight, and found two Europeans at the blockhouse, whom they enticed away by telling them there were pigs on the beach for sale. Milne went first, and was tomahawked on the path leading to the beach. 'Seeing that Richards, the other man, did not follow, the party returned, urging him to come and look at the pigs. The unfortunate man descended the hill, and was killed bear to where Milne fell. The “taua” then rushed up to the redoubt, and found that Lieutenant Gascoigne and his family were absent in their field of corn and potatoes. Lieutenant Gascoigne looking up saw the natives at the blockhouse, and at once proceeded towards them, carrying his youngest child; Mrs. Gascoigne and the other children followed him. On arriving at a little stream at the base of the hill on which the blockhouse stood, Lieutenant Gascoigne gave the child to his wife, and went forward to meet the Maoris. Approaching them they shook hands with him and accompanied him to the door. Upon his raising his hand to open the door he was struck from behind and fell. 'Soon after Mrs. Gascoigne camo with her. children, and she and the little ones were, killed. The murderers . then tomahawked the house dog and the cat. About sunset Mr. Whiteley was seen approaching on horseback, but ho was not recogiised until he descended the hill which led to an old pa. After crossing the stream and ascending Pukearuhe he was ordered to return, but refusing to do so, he and his horse were shot. The blockhouse and huts were then burned. This frightful atrocity was first discovered on the following Monday by a young man named Macdonald, who immediately took the news to New Plymouth. DETAILS OF THE VICTIMS. On the following day an armed party proceeded to the Cliffs in the s.s. Wellington, and recovered the bodies. The remains, gory, mutilated, and partially decomposed, were brought up to New Plymouth, and interred with miltary honors in the public cemetery where an obelisk of trachyte has been erected to their memory bearing the following names:— Rev. John Whiteley, aged 62 years. Lieutenant Bamber Gascoigne, aged 40 years. Annie Gascoigne, aged 27 years. Laura Gascoigne, aged 5 years Cecil John Gascoigne, aged 3 years. Louisa Annie Gascoigne, aged 3 months. John Milne, aged 40 years. Edward Richards, aged 35 years. Mr. W. N. Searancke, Resident Magistrate at Waikato, in a letter to Dr. Pollen, gave the following account of these murders: “The actual murderers at the White Cliffs were a half-caste lad, a son of a European, named Frank Phillips, residing at Mokau Heads; Wetere, a son of the late Takerei, of Te Awakino, near Mokau; Herewini, a son of the late Peketai, formerly residing at the Waitara, subsequently of Mokau; and Te Tana of Mokau Heads. These four actually committed the murders. Mr. Whiteley was shot by Wetere. He was told to go back and refused. His horse was then shot. Mr. Whiteley then.s.unk on his knees and commenced praying; while so doing he was shot at twice by Wetere with a revolver, and missed.

Wetere then went up close, and shot the unfortunate gentleman dead/’ ' ANOTHER ACCOUNT. Looking up my old records I find in the Blue Book published about the time the following references: On February IS, 1869, Mr. Parris wrote: ‘'The very painful duty devolves upon me of having to report for the information of His Excellency’s Government the massacre of eight Europeans, and amongst them the Rev. Mr. Whiteley. on Saturday last, the L3th inst., at Pukearuhe. These murders, it is believed, were committed by four Mokau natives (whose names I give below) who came up from Mokau on. the Bth inst., and were stopping until Sunday morning with the Urenui natives, fraternising with them and the European settlers, and professing to be friendly d isposed. The Rev. Mr. Whiteley left Mr. Macdonald's about sunset on Saturday evening, on his way to Pukearuhe, where he proposed to hold service early on Sunday morning, and call again at j\lr. Macdonald’s in the afternoon on his return; but up to Monday morning, nothing having been heard of him, Mr. Macdonalds’ eon rode on to Pukearuhe to ascertain what was detaining him. On arriving at the entrance to the redoubt ho saw both Mr. Whiteley and his horse lying dead on the road, the sight of which convinced him that the Europeans at that place—three men, one woman, and three children—had all been killed.” In the same despatch Mr. Parris names the following as those whom the natives suspect of having actually committed the murders—Rawiri Ritimana Ponga, Hone jPihama, Henry Phillips (half-caste), all residents of Mokau heads. Tn a letter of the 23rd February from New Plymouth, Mr. Parris says: “Several hundred natives assembled this day at the Public Cemetery to cry over the grave _of their cruelly murdered and universally beloved missionary, the Rev. Mr. Whiteley, than whom no one perhaps better understood native, character, and who with all others (natives and European*) was completely thrown off his guard by the friendly visit from the four natives of the Ngatimaniapoto tribe, and who, if Rawiri’s letter is true, meant friendship, and were not aware of the treacherou* design of the chiefs Wetere Ta Kerei and Tikoohao, until they meet the party under Wetere on the north side of the White Clift’s, two miles from Pukearuhe.’’

In tha same letter Mr. Parris says: “The letter signed Tikorungi (one of the letters enclosed) is the Maori name of Rawiri, who state* that lie had a narrow escape of his own life for opposing the chief Wetere Ta Kerei in his advance upon Pukearuhe for the purpose of executing hi* plans for the massacre of the Europeans of that post,” (Enclosed in tin* despatch are several letters circulated, by Te Wetere previous to his going to White Cliffs. One of these is a* follows:—“Mokau, 19th Feb., 1869. Go this letter to the Martiwehi, to Wi Tamihana, Riwai. Ketu, and Pamariki, Te Raketau Paekaho, and all of you. Salutations to you in the love of God* This is a single word to you: live quietly at your place at Maruwehi. Be not alarmed at what the Governor and I are doing; leave me to walk unmolested 'by yon. Rest, O people, upon your high place of observation; if ours becomes a great work, leave us alone to do it. Do not go cither to the left or right. When this little bird lhe pitongatonga says. ‘Look, look;’ do not look. — ■Wetere and Tawhana.”

THF ACTUAL MASSACRE. The actual massacre is thus described in a letter from Captain Good, of Urenui:—“The war party arrived at the Cliffs in broad day. Only two- 'Europeans were at the blockhouse. Richards and Mullen. They were enticed away by being told that there were a number of pigs for sale on the beach. Seeing that Richard* did not follow, the murderers returned, urging him to come and look at the pigs. The unfortunate man followed, and was killed near to where ' Mr. Mullen fell. The ‘tana’ party then rushed up to the redoubt. Lieutenant Gascoigne, wife, and children were absent, being in their field of com and potatoes on Pukearuhe township. On looking up he observed natives at the block-house. He at once returned towards them, carrying the youngeet child, Mrs. Gascoigne and the other two children following. On arriving at the little stream at the ba*e of the hill upon which the block-house stood Lieutenant Ga*coigne turned and gave the child to his wife, going forward to see the Maoris. Upon meeting with .the scoundrel* they shook hands with him right and left, accompanying him to his own door. Upon Lieutenant Gascoigne raising hi* hand to open the door of the house, he was struck from behind and there fell. 'Soon after Mrs. Gascoigne came with her children, tvhen they were all killed. About *unsct Mt. Whiteley was seen approaching on horseback, though not recognised until descending the hill leading to the old pa. He was permitted to advance, cross the stream, and ascend the hill opposite. He was then met and ordered to return. This the poor gentleman refused to do. His horse wa* then shot, and Mr. Whiteley himself killed by five shots.”

Mr. Parris states subsequently that the reason of the massacre was the return of the Ngatitamas from the Chatham Islands, and that Ngatimaniapoto did it as a declaration of their intention not to surrender Poutama to the Ngatitamas. A native named More subsequently went to Mokau, and he informed the Native Minister that Wetere said to him “The killing at Pukearuhe is not mine, it is Tawhiao’s.” This native contradicted him. It may be mentioned by the way that the natives claimed that Tawhiao approved of the massacre at the White Cliffs.