White Child Kidnapped By Maoris In Revenge.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18805, 6 July 1929, Page 27 (Supplement)

White Child Kidnapped By Maoris In Revenge.

HAS JUST BEEN RESTORED TO FRIENDS, AFTER FIFTY YEARS.

(Specially Written for the “ Star.”) THERE is probably no part of New Zealand in which the early history of the pioneer is more closely interwoven with the Maori troubles than Taranaki, and an interesting page in which the mysterious disappearance of a young girl from the Lepperton (or as it was then known, the Manutahi) district, has recently been cleared up by the discovery of that girl, now' a woman of sixty-three, as the wife of a prosperous native farmer in the Whakatane-Taneatua district.

The story is associated with the very early history of the province, for on February 24, 1842, William Perrett arrived in New Plymouth by the Timandra as a young man of about 21, and later married Miss Mary Ann Hurlstone, who had arrived with her people by the Oriental on November 18, 1841. Mr Perrett went through the Maori wars and later took up a small property in the Manutahi township. He was very friendly with the Maoris and, being a fluent speaker of their language, knew, of course, a lot of their customs and naturally was expected by them to know more. Like most of the early pioneers Mr Perrett had to leave his wife and family on the holding while he sought em ployment elsewhere. In the early sev enties during the construction of the railway line from New Plymouth to Inglewood, through the Manutahi district, it was found necessary to remove the bodies of some Maoris who had been killed in the war, and Mr Perrett took the contract for their removal and successfully carried out the work. Desecration of a burial ground is, of course, a serious matter to the Maoris, who regard their dead as most sacred, and some of the natives expressed surprise to Mr Perrett that he, a man so familiar with their customs and language, should have undertaken the work which, they said, he would have cause tc regret. He did not regard this as a threat at the time. Maoris Carry Out Threat. Some time later, however, when he ■ was working for the Government on road construction between Inglewood and Stratford, it was forcibly brought home to him that the Maoris meant revenge. One morning in the late summer of 1874 there were at home on the farm Mrs Perrett, her son William (now of Inglewood), George (Stratford), Maria (Mrs H. Robinson, who died last week), James (Eltham.', Mary Ann (Mrs Kay, Lower Hutt), John (Inglewood), Caroline or Queenie, the subject of this sketch, Charlie (Mangorei), and Robert (Auckland). Their ages ranged from about eighteen years to two or three. Three elder sisters, Martha (the late Mrs D. Roberts), Jane (Mrs J. Henwood) and Sarah (the late Mrs T. Langman), were away from home married. It was, remarked Mrs Kay, Lower Hutt, from whom a “ Star ” representative gathered the story at Eltham, the season for gathering fungus. That was how she could identify the season of the year, for fungus was a marketable commodity, the gathering of which enabled many settlers to tide over their early difficulties. Her mother was ill in bed that morning, she said, when the little girl Caroline, or Queenie, as she was affectionately known in the family circle, was sent to bring in a couple of cows from their own clearing. The family little thought that that was the last they would see of her for over fifty years. The cows duly came home but the little girl' did not. Meanwhile, Mary (Mrs Kay) had been to the store at Lepperton for groceries, and on her return about 10.30 &jn. asked her sister where Queenie was, receiving the reply that Queenie was out somewhere in the clearing playing with the younger children. However, as she did not return they became anxious and searched all day through their own clearing. With assistance they searched further afield and heard that she had been seen standing on a log in Street’s property by a man named Dick Bridle This was three miles away from their clearing and meant a tramp through bush tracks. A comprehensive search was organised. Search Party Organised. As showing the difficulties to be faced, Mrs Kay stated that it took three days before they could get the news through to the father and the father could return home, as it was necessary to walk the whole distance. A party of over 1.30, organised by the Government, searched the bush and creeks thoroughly for over a fortnight without success. The father and other members of the family, remembering the Maoris’ threat, held the opinion that she had been stolen by the Maoris and they often followed clufes that came to nought owing to the Maoris

frequently moving, and as the years went by all hopes of ever hearing of the lost Queenie were given up, though the surviving members of the family never forgot her. Meanwhile, of course, both parents had long passed away, Mr Perrett in 1898 and his wife some years previously. It was left to Mrs F. J. Hayward, Taneatua, a daughter of Mrs Kay, to elucidate the mystery. She, of course, was familiar with the story of her lost aunt and one day she saw a white woman with some natives at Taneatua. Seizing the opportunity to speak to her, Mrs Hayward said, “You are a white woman; what are you doing with the Maoris? ” She received the reply in- perfect English, “I know that I am a white woman. I have been with the Maoris all my life and I do not remember how I came to be with them. Where I came from I do not know.” Mrs Hayward then asked her to show her neck, because she knew that when h «* f missing aunt was quite a young child she had fallen out of a chair while asleep on to the red-hot bars across an open fireplace, and bore on the front of her neck a mark that would last all her life. Sure enough this white woman bore that mark, thus making the identification certain, though from the striking likeness to her own mother Mrs Hayward was certain from the start that this was the missing aunt. Mrs Hayward communicated with her mother, who proceeded to Taneatua and identified her sister. After “a good cry” which somewhat relieved their feelings, it was some time the two sisters could talk, but Mrs Kay asked her sister if she could remember how she came to be with the Maoris. Her sister said she could not. All she could remember was that when quite a big girl, even, she was always crying and she did not know what she was crying for; possibly it was at the unconscious memory of the terrible experiences she had gone through. She could remember the Maoris taking her in an open canoe across the sea to some gumilelds near Whangarei, where she married a Maori chief and had two children. Her husband died and she later married heri present husband. When her husband removed to Taneatua, as she was coming towards Taranaki the Maoris would not let her take her children with her and she has not seen them since. She has been residing about thirty years in the Taneatua district, her husband, Munga, being a prosperous farmer. She has had sev- j eral children by the second marriage, of whom three are alive. They are highly educated and some of the boys served at the front for several years. She is living in a comfortable home, and as she has been living there so long and practically knows no other conditions she will continue to reside there. A strange feature is that her three children are called James, Charlie and Bob, which are the names ; of three of her brothers, 'the last two being babifes at the time she was stolen. The Maoris themselves called her Sarah, which was the name of one of her elder sisters, and possibly it was this sister they thought they had stolen. Among the many clues regarding the lost girl. Mrs Kay, who was formerly Mrs H. Marchant (mother of Mr 11. 11. Marchant, Eltham), stated that many years ago a young surveyor named Coxhead told her that he had met a young white woman among the Maoris while he was engaged in surveying and had given her some biscuits. lie thought that she might be the missing girl. When spoken to by her sister recently Mrs Munga remembered the incident of the white man, a surveyor, giving her some biscuits, but said that as soon as the Maoris saw her talking to the white man they called her away and told her she was never to talk to any white people. So far she appears to remember nothing of her early life at Lepperton, but who knows now that the keynote has been given the memories of childhood may not be revived? She was particularly anxious tc secure her birth certificate so as to prove her identity. The certificate was procured by her sister from the registrar at New Plymouth last week. It shows that she was born on September 10, 1866.