Descendants will gather at Te Kuiti

Tu Tangata, Issue 20, 1 October 1984, Page 41

Descendants will gather at Te Kuiti

by J. Taane

One of Te Kuiti’s most prominent families is to hold a reunion in October.

Descendants of Thomas Martin Tamepureke Anderson, a King Country pioneer and first postmaster of Te Kuiti, will gather over the Labour Weekend for a grand reunion.

Founder Thomas Anderson set sail for New Zealand in 1848. A young 19, he left his home in Sussex, England, on board the British ship Larkins. He arrived in New Zealand at the port of Wellington in October, 1848.

Pioneering his way up the North Island he arrived in the King Country in 1850 where he quickly made friends with many of the local maori people.

After being accepted into one of the tribes, Ngati Kinohaku (a sub tribe of Ngati Maniapoto) Anderson married a prominent chieftaness, Hira Te Ruruanga. They had three children (sons Moera, Kereama and daughter Pare Auati). They settled on his wife’s ancestral farm (today known as Mangapu).

Bringing up a family was no easy task for Anderson. He worked hard on the farm to make ends meet. At this period in his life he became withdrawn and virtually lost contact with many of his european friends and family.

Likened to the legendary Robinson Crusoe, Anderson lived, ate and clothed himself like the local inhabitants. For years he wore nothing else but a maori cloak made of flax called pureke, hence his name Tamepureke.

No man can live like a recluse for ever and Anderson started to come to grips with his life. A new era was beginning for him.

Anderson and his sons worked hard on their farm breeding pigs, curing bacon, growing potatoes, maize and wheat. He built a water mill for grinding flour and the mill ruins can still be seen today.

Life began to prosper for the Andersons. River transport along the Mangapu River was opening up new areas of trade.

Long convoys of canoes brought a boom in trading and as a result trade missions were set up. The Andersons made many trade trips up the river to european settlers living in the Auckland area.

Journeys of this kind were often long and arduous and very dangerous.

The Andersons worked on their farm for many years and it was considered one of the best in the district.

With the farm prospering tragedy struck the Anderson family, Thomas’ wife Hira died.

In 1870, Anderson married his second wife, a chieftaness from the Ngatiroa tribe, Te Aomarama Taonui. They had five children (Pukunui Barney, Tokihana Henry, Maata Martha, Tetatau and Rangikahae).

Throughout the latter years of his life Anderson was a very astute businessman. He became Te Kuiti’s first postmaster in September, 1885, and retired from the position in June, 1887.

Pukunui Barney and Tokihana Henry inherited from their father his tactical knowhow and did much to promote early industry in Te Kuiti at the turn of the century. Their foundry was responsible for the steel work of the railway viaduct, south of Te Kuiti.

Thomas Anderson died in 1914 and was buried in the family cemetery, Upoko karewa, Te Kuiti. He left behind him a wealth of experience and business acumen.

To mark the memory of this great pioneer the Anderson clan have organised a reunion for the weekend of October 19 to 21. It will be held at Te Kuiti’s Tokanganui-a-noho marae and will include a full programme generation photographs will be taken, recreational outings planned, a social evening and a church service to mark this occasion.