15

Gr. 1

8. Early Management op the Reserves, and selecting the Country Sections. On his arrival in New Zealand Mr. Halswell was appointed by Governor Hobson to the joint offices of Chairman of Quarter Sessions and Commissioner of the Court of Requests for the southern district of the North Island, and he was also gazetted as Commissioner of Native Reserves and Protector of Aborigines for that district^ 1 ) General directions were given by the Chief Protector of Aborigines, Mr. George Clark, regarding the management of the Native reserves, and he was empowered to lease for periods not exceeding seven years, and instructed to pay into the hands of the Colonial Treasurer every quarter all sums received on account of the reserves. The first lease affecting the Wellington town reserves appears to have been granted by Mr. Halswell to " Dicky " Barrett, the whaler, who had assisted Colonel Wakefield in making his alleged 20,000,000-acre purchases. The lease was over part of Town Section No. 514, on which was erected the premises known as Barrett's Hotel, then the rendezvous of business men, and where the present Hotel Cecil now stands. There was some trouble at the time, as Barrett claimed the land by virtue of having erected and occupied the house previous to the formation of the Company's settlement, but the matter was finally settled in 1842 bv granting a lease for seven years at an annual rental of £54 ss.( 2 ) The first and apparently only selection of country lands in the Wellington district was made by Mr. Halswell in April, 1842, when 4,200 acres were set aside as reserves in 100-acre lots in accordance with the first prospectus. In the course of a long report to Colonel Wakefield Mr. Halswell stated, — " I attended at the office of the Company's principal surveyor on 7th April last, the day appointed for the selection of land recently surveyed in the districts of Manuwatu [Manawatu], Orewenua [Horowhenua], and other places. With the information derived from personal inspection of the country, and from other sources, I was enabled to select for the Natives, according to the order of choice, a portion of the reserved lots. The lands selected are 300 acres on the Porirua Harbour, 200 in the Ohariu Valley, 300 on the Manuwatu River, and 3,400 acres on the Orewenua. In making these selections for the Natives I have carefully attended, whenever possible, to their own wishes, such as I have been able to collect; my attention has been particularly drawn to their own clearings and pahs, and I have secured for them as much water frontage as possible."( 3 ) It is difficult at the present time to record accurately those events dealing with the setting-aside of reserves in the country districts of the New Zealand Company's first settlement. The surveyors had their headquarters at Wellington, and were thus in close touch with the Principal Agent, so that written reports were, no doubt, considered unnecessary. In forwarding a sketch showing land surveyed, and under survey, within the limits of the first purchase (Port Nicholson conveyance) of the Company, Mr. S. C. Brees, Principal Surveyor, stated that 47,500 acres of country land, besides the 1,100 town acres, had been dealt with, out of which 110 town reserves had been made and thirty-four country sections were to be set aside.( 4 ) According to the old plans, the country reserves selected by Mr. Halswell in the vicinity of Port Nicholson are made up of the following sections : —

The above list has been compiled from a map of the country sections in the vicinity of Port Nicholson signed by Lieut.-Colonel McCleverty and William Wakefield. No date is mentioned on the plan. The map is in the custody of the Lands Department (District) Office, Wellington. According to the original scheme, each section was to contain 100 acres, but in 1847 Lieut.-Colonel McCleverty reported that the areas varied from 100 to 130 acres. (!) Great Britain —Papers relating to New Zealand, 1842. ( 2 ) Halswell to Colonial Secretary, 29/11/41; Halswell to Colonel Wakefield, 4/6/42: Great Britain—Report on New Zealand, 1844. ( 3 ) Halswell to Colonel Wakefield, 4/6/42 : Great Britain —Report on New Zealand, 1844. ( 4 ) S. C. Brees to Colonel Wakefield, 31/1/44 : Great Britain —Report on New Zealand, 1844.

Number of . District. Sections Section Numbers. I PPJo x i m a e selected. | Area " Acres. Ohiro .. .. .. . . 4- 15, 19, 20, and 21 .. .. 400 Town .. .. .. .. 2 6 and 7 .. .. 200 Harbour .. .. .. .. 2 5 and 6 .. .. 200 Horokiwi .. .. . . .. 1 11 .. . . .. 100 Kinopora (Porirua) .. .. 3 7, 8, and 9 .. .. 300 Lower Hutt .. .. .. 8 1, 2, 3, 16, 20, 42, 57, and 58 800 Upper Hutt .. .. .. 3 98, 102, 132 .. .. 300 Lowry Bay .. .. .. 2 1 and 4 .. .. 200 Wainuiomata .. .. .. 1 39 .. . . .. 100 Ohariu .. .. . . .. 7 12, 13, 17, 88. 91, 97, and 98 700 Makara .. .. .. .. 4 22, 24, 37, and 39 .. .. 400 Kaiwarawara .. .. .. Not stated Not stated .. .. .. 500 Total area .. .. .. .. 4,200