MAORI WAR VETERAN

Taranaki Daily News, 4 June 1934, Page 4

MAORI WAR VETERAN

DEATH OF MR. T. McGLOIN.

PARIHAKA ARREST RECALLED.

The arrest of Te Whiti, the Maori prophet, at Parihaka, Taranaki, on November 5, 1881, is recalled by the death in Hamilton on Friday of Mr. Thomas McGloin, of Ohaupo Road, at the age of 77 years. He witnessed the incident when he was a member of the Armed Constabulary. ■ . „ Mr. McGloin was bom in County Leitrim, Ireland, and after periods in Scotland, America and Australia came to New Zealand when a young man. He joined the Armed Constabulary in Wellington in 1880, and was posted for service to Opunake, where Major Goring and Major Tuke were in charge. The Government had decided to build a road around the Taranaki coast, and when severe! blocks of native land were confiscated the Maoris were led, in a resistance to the advance of the paheka, by Te Whiti arid Tohu Kahahi, who were living at Parihaka, a large Maori settlement where natives from all parts of the North Island had assembled. • The Government determined to end the Maori hostility by arresting the leaders, and an armed body of volunteers and 630 members of the Armed Constabulary were engaged in the movement to invest the pa. Mr. McGloin was a member of the A company of the Armed Constabulary, under Captain W. E. Gudgeon. The men of the company were armed with revolvers, and were given instructions to fire if they saw any'Maori attempting to use a weapon. While the pa was surrounded, the A company was led to the entrance of the marae, and a gun was posted near th gates. Th situation was very delicate and fraught with danger for a time, but eventually Te Whiti and Tohu submitted to arrest. After the trouble with the Maoris ceased, Mr. McGloin engaged in farming in Taranaki, and was elected a member of the Taranaki County Council. About 25 years ago, he went to the Waikato district to. take up farming at Waitoa, becoming a member of the Piako Coutity Council and the "Waikato Hospital Board. Mr. McGloin had lived in retirement at Hamilton for the last 20 years. He was actively connected with the Waikato and Cambridge Show Associations, and took a kten interest in sport. He is survived by his wife and an adult son.