EDWARD POHAU ELLISON

Te Ao Hou, September 1963, Page 46

EDWARD POHAU ELLISON by Kingi M. Ihaka ‘E tama, hei aha!’—(Son, never mind.) Such was the brief reply of a humble man to my request that during his lifetime an account of his life and work be published. I first met him and his charming wife at Oeo Pa, Taranaki. The occasion was a Church service, and I wondered then who this fine looking, fine build Pakeha was. I was soon to learn that he was the sole medical practitioner stationed at Manaia, and was also an active Churchman and an officer and member of practically all the different organizations in the district. For years there was a gentleman's agreement between the Anglican and the Methodist Churches to the effect that Maoris in the Taranaki district would be under the charge of the Methodist Church. But in recent years Maoris from other tribes had migrated in fair numbers into this district and from them came an appeal for a clergyman of their own church. The lot fell to me to answer the call, and at the very first meeting of the South Taranaki people an Anglican Maori Mission Committee was formed, with Pohau Ellison unanimously elected its first chairman. But, who was this man? Where has he lived all these years? Why isn't there much known or heard of him? Was he really a Pakeha? When I was introduced to him, I realised that I had met the sole survivor of the ‘Young Maori Party’. Thomas Ellison, the grandfather of Edward Pohau Ellison, left his home in England as a cabin boy on one of the East India Company's boats, and settled in Australia. Later he went to Otakou in New Zealand, and established a whaling industry off the Sounds in Cook Strait. He married Ika-i-raua, daughter of the chief Whati of the Ngati-Tama Tribe, but shortly after the establishment of his station he was drowned in a violent storm at sea. The whaling station was taken over by a son, Raniera Ellison, and the business flourished. At the same time another whaling station was established at Otakou by the Weller brothers. Edward Weller had married Nikuru Taiaroa, who died immediately after giving birth to her first child, Hannah. Taniera Ellison gave up whaling for goldmining, and in later years he married Hannah Weller. He then became a farmer, and after many years at Otakou he decided to lease the farm and settle at Waikanae near Otaki. It

was there, in a ‘tin’ house just below the present Waikanae traffic bridge, that Edward Pohau Ellison was born on 26th November, 1884. Here is the family tree: Te Whati Teikairaua m. Thomas Ellison Raniera Ellison m. Hannah Nani Taiaroa Edward Pohau Ellison ⋆⋆⋆ Matenga Taiaroa m. Hinewhareua Nikuru m. Edward Weller Hannah Nani Weller m. Raniera Ellison Edward Pohau Ellison Pohau was adopted by his father's cousin, Mrs Harirota Eyes, who lived at Punehu, opposite the present Pihama Dairy Factory in Taranaki. It was there, in an old fashioned five-roomed house, nestling under the protective wings of Maunga Taranaki, that Pohau spent the first ten years of his life. ‘My childhood life in Taranaki’, wrote Dr Ellison, ‘was a rather strenuous one, but it had its compensations. Snow-capped Taranaki (Mt Egmont) was always a delight to see. To go by cart to collect tawhara was an enjoyment. As a child, I had little companionship and no toys. I got pleasure straddling and riding a long flax stick. When six years old I was milking cows, and at eight, milking as many as twenty-three during emergencies. There were no milking machines in those days!’ When he was nine years old Pohau's foster mother died in an accident. This was a terrible blow to young Pohau, and Mr Eyes sold the farm and went with his foster son to Wellington. At Wellington Pohau met a stranger, one Tom Ellison, a lawyer and a famous footballer. Young Pohau was later to learn with surprise and delight that the stranger, Tom, was his own brother! Pohau returned to his natural parents at Waikanae, where for two years he attended the local primary school. Then the Ellison family returned to Otakou, their native home. Referring to this, Dr Ellison wrote, ‘I liked this place immensely … Otakou commanded a beautiful view of both the Otago Harbour entrance and the channel to Port Chalmers with a background of high bush-clad hills. It was a delight to see both trading and passenger steamers passing to and fro along the channel, while fishermen plied their trade along the banks or in the blind channel as the tide receded. What a wonderful place this was!’ When he completed the sixth standard at school he went to Wellington to do clerical duties in his brother's office. He was keenly interested in sports, in particular rugby, and went to practically every football match at Athletic Park. There he saw many great footballers in action, among them Alwood, Wallace, Roberts and many others. These visits stimulated a keen desire to enter Te Aute College, the nursery of many famous Maori footballers. Eventually he persuaded his brother to allow him to enter Te Aute, and at the age of fourteen years he became a pupil there. ‘Three years after my entry into Te Aute,’ Pohau writes, ‘I matriculated. The teachers were always very helpful to us and in particular our beloved headmaster, Mr John Thornton, together with the first assistant, Mr Long. The occasions on which they addressed us, be they in church, in chapel or school, were always very impressive and had a marked uplighting influence on the School, in manner, behaviour and character…. The staff accompanied our rugby football team in 1904 to Australia … never was there such an enjoyable trip and our teachers helped to make it so.’ His brother Tom had died in 1904, and his father wished Pohau to study for law, and eventually to take up his brother's practice. But Pohau was not interested in law. He had seen how high the mortality rate was amongst the Maori people, and he had decided that one day he must study medicine and work amongst his own people. Through the assistance of Mr Long, his former teacher, he was admitted to Te Raukahikatea Theological College at Gisborne; Archdeacon Samuel Williams had agreed to assist Pohau in his medical studies at Te Rau provided that on completion of his studies, he would devote his work to the Maori people. ‘This pleased me immensely’, wrote Pohau, ‘as I was anxious to delve deeper into the foundations of Christianity’. While he was studying medicine he also attended theological lectures, and within two years had passed grades one and two of the Durham Theological College and as well gained his medical preliminary examination. Whilst at Te Rau, Pohau had a revelation. Continued on page 49